The Samyukta Kisan Morcha has condemned RSS-affiliated Bhartiya Kisan Sangh, saying that the right-wing farmers’ organisation “has eroded its public support through baseless allegations against the protesting farmers”.
The BKS had on Monday issued a scathing statement against the SKM’s proposed “Black Day” on Wednesday.
The SKM said it was sad that “a so-called farmers’ union had stooped down to denigrating a historical farmers’ struggle led by it”. ‘
Terming the BKS’s allegations “baseless”, the SKM said it is “apparent that political and party affiliations are coming in the way of BKS’s understanding of the three black central laws, as well as the fight for MSP as a legal right”.
“The SKM believes that any farmer outfit that maligns the current genuine farmers’ movement is bound to be made irrelevant by Indian farmers themselves. The BKS’s statement is to be understood in this background, where because of the ongoing widespread farmers’ movement, it is finding that its support base is eroding rapidly,” SKM claimed.
The SKM also asked the BKS to appeal to the government to fulfill the farmers’ demands, “instead of proving itself as the anti-farmer government ever in independent India”. The umbrella body of farmers unions said that the movement is “running on truth and non-violence and will complete six months of its historical struggle tomorrow” and urged all Indians to celebrate and mark Buddha Poornima tomorrow, “so that truth and non-violence find a strong place back in our community, at the time when attempts are being made to erode these basic values in our society”.
“The repeated attempts of the BJP government(s) to portray the movement as violent have failed again and again. Farmers have only strengthened themselves with peace and non-violence throughout this struggle,” it said.
The BKS had claimed that the “real intent of those sitting at Delhi’s borders in the name of farmers was demonstrated when they spread fear and terror in the most undemocratic way on January 26”. BKS general secretary Badri Narayan Choudhary said the entire farming community is “feeling angry and questioning that who gave these people the right to defame farmers in such a way”.
“Ever since the inception of this so-called farmer’ agitation, genuine farmers are ashamed of the undemocratic, anti-people way of these so-called farmer leaders who are being financed by anti-India agencies outside India and terrorising people with the help of terrorist elements”, said the leader of the farmers’ organisation associated with the Sangh.
Choudhary said that the BKS had objected to the “presence of anti-social, anarchic elements in this agitation from day one itself” and that “after January 26, it was confirmed that the so-called farmers’ agitation has been completely hijacked by anti-social, anti-democracy and anarchic people”.
“Last month, a farmer’s young daughter from WB was gang-raped at the agitation site and pushed to death. The so-called farmer’s leaders tried to destroy evidence. Perhaps now to divert and silence the investigation, these pressure tactics are being adopted. This is a usual practice among ultra-left and anti-democratic activists,” he alleged.
New digital rules: IT Ministry demands compliance report from social media companies
Comes after Whatsapp challenged Centre’s new IT rules in Delhi HC
For representation only. Photo credit: iStock
New Delhi, May 26
The Ministry for Information and Technology asked social media platforms to submit a compliance report to its controversial new digital rules—a development after Facebook-owned Whatsapp sued the central government over the new rules.
The new rules, announced on February 25, require large social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter to follow additional due diligence, including the appointment of a chief compliance officer, a nodal contact person, and a resident grievance officer.
Non-compliance with rules would result in these social media companies losing their intermediary status that provides them exemptions and certain immunity from liabilities for any third-party information and data hosted by them. In other words, they could be liable for criminal action in case of complaints.
Sources with knowledge of the matter said the ministry asked the social media companies to immediately provide details and contact information of the chief compliance officer and resident grievance officer.
The Centre’s deadline for compliance with the new rules ended on Tuesday.
After the deadline ended, Whatsapp took the central government to court over the new rules over privacy concerns. The petition in Delhi High Court that challenges the new rules asks the court to declare that one of the new IT rules is a violation of privacy rights in India’s constitution since it requires social media companies to identify the “first originator of information” when authorities demand it, Reuters reported.
A statement from the central government issued later in the evening denied any such allegation saying that new rules would have no impact on the normal functioning of Whatsapp.
The lawsuit comes in the middle of an already raging debate about the shrinking democratic space in India. Critics of the current establishment see the controversial new rules as an attempt by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s central government to tighten its noose over the digital space.
This also comes in the middle of another controversy over Twitter’s tagging a toolkit shared by Prime Minister Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and some others over the Covid-19 pandemic as manipulated media. The toolkit is the subject of an ongoing investigation. Meanwhile, tensions rose further when teams from the Delhi Police visited Twitter’s offices in the national capital on Monday.
A priest runs to a safer place in Balasore district, Odisha. REUTERS
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 26
As cyclone Yaas made landfall near Balasore on the coast of Odisha, the armed forces and the Coast Guard pressed men, machines, equipment, boats, ships, helicopters and opened medical camps and shelters in Odisha and West Bengal.
On ground, the Army has deployed 17 columns — some 1,700 men — with boats, life jackets and dry ration across the two states. A specialist engineer task force with heavy equipment has been stationed at Balasore, Odisha, the spot where the cyclone hit land.
Relief and rescue work commenced today in East Midnapore and Digha, where cyclonic rain hit areas in West Bengal. The Army has spread its teams to Purulia, West Bardhaman, Jhargram, Bakura, Birbhum, Hooghly, Howrah, Kolkata Port, 24 Parganas and Kolkatta south.
The Eastern Command of the Indian Air Force has mobilised its assets, like helicopters for a quick response. A task force has been set up to monitor the efforts, in addition to co-ordinating with all agencies.
The Navy has arranged relief material and set up a community kitchen for thousands of people. The Naval Officer-in-Charge (Odisha), Operations Room, has been monitoring ships movement along the coast in coordination with authorities at Gopalpur, Paradip and Damara ports.
The Indian Coast Guard had commenced preventive and response measures on the eastern seaboard as early as May 19. “No loss of life or property at sea was reported,” the Coast Guard said.
All fishing boats had returned ships at anchorage off Odisha and West Bengal coast had taken safe shelter and Single Point Mooring (SPM) operations of the crude oil industry were suspended. All ships, planes and helicopters of Coast Guard are maintaining a high state of readiness.
Ready to stretch stir till 2024: Samyukt Kisan Morcha
Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) leaders today said they were prepared to continue their agitation against the three farm laws and one on the MSP till 2024 when the next General Elections are due.
Don’t be misled: BJP to farmers
The BJP on Wednesday reiterated that the Narendra Modi government is “always ready” for talks with farmers on the three farm laws.
Party leaders also said farmers should “not be misled by political parties or union leaders having political aspirations and that the “agitation will be over after the Assembly elections in Punjab”.
Speaking at an event, organised by the Indian Women Press Corps on the six months of ‘kisan andolan’, BKU leader from Western UP Rakesh Tikait said the SKM was prepared for a long haul.
“The talks will begin from where they ended. There is no going back. Only the government can now take back the agitation. We are prepared to continue the agitation till 2024,” he said. Tikait said they had not received any reply from the Modi government on their letter for resumption of talks, adding “we cannot leave them like this, it is a democratic country”.
Speaking on the six-month agitation that had catapulted the farmers’ issue to the international level, Tikait and farm leader from Haryana Gurnam Singh Charuni said farm unions managed to gain the confidence of people.
“This despite the government telling lies, making all sorts of allegations against us. Today, it will say that because of us Covid is spreading,” Tikait added.
WhatsApp moves High Court against new digital rules
WhatsApp has moved the Delhi High Court challenging the Centre’s new digital rules.
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 26
WhatsApp has moved the Delhi High Court challenging the Centre’s new digital rules that require the company to provide access to encrypted messages, saying it will break privacy protections.
Filed on Tuesday, the petition challenged the rules on the ground that mandating the service provider to identify the first originator of any message that undermined sovereignty of India went against the right to privacy, which has been declared a fundamental right by the Supreme Court.
Firm’s stance
WhatsApp says, “Requiring messages to trace chats is the equivalent of asking us to keep a fingerprint of every single message sent on WhatsApp. This would break end-to-end encryption and fundamentally undermines people’s right to privacy.”
The petition comes on the last day of the three-month period given to social media platforms to comply with the rules, non-compliance of which could effectively deprive the companies such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp of the legal protections for user-generated content.https://5a1eadd9b916f567d42ddc39b856eba4.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
The rules defined ‘’significant social media intermediaries’’ as those having more than 50 lakh registered users. They have been mandated to use automated processes to take down pornography.
Facebook and Google have maintained they were working towards complying with the new guidelines announced on February 25.
“Requiring messages to trace chats is the equivalent of asking us to keep a fingerprint of every single message sent on WhatsApp. This would break end-to-end encryption and fundamentally undermines people’s right to privacy,” WhatsApp said in a statement, adding that tracing messages would be “ineffective and highly susceptible to abuse”.
Solely owned by the Ministry of Defence, CSD is the most profitable retail chain in India
Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 25
As part of the efforts to reduce operating costs and revamp functional structure, the Army has issued orders to merge unit run canteens (URC) of the Canteen Stores Department (CSD) functioning from various static military establishments located in the same station.
Any one URC of a static unit, preferably the one with largest dependency, be nominated as the ‘merged URC’ and all other URCs be kept in ‘suspended animation’. URCs of those units that are likely to be affected by rotational movements should be exempted from the merger, a letter issued by the Quartermaster General’s Branch at Army Headquarters to the establishments of all three services on May 24 states.
Based on the recommendations by a board of officers (BOO) comprising all stakeholders, formation commanders, local military authorities and station commanders will have the leeway to nominate the merged URC, which should be centrally located so that it is convenient for all to commute, the letter adds. Station Canteens for ex-servicemen can continue in accordance with the BOO’s recommendations.
The letter also states that all URCs in suspended animation shall retain their names and URC Codes, but the supporting CSD depots shall not process any demands received from such URCs. Pro-rata portion of profit will be shared with the units of URCs kept in suspended animation under supervision of the headquarters concerned.
Last year the Minister of State for Defence, Shripad Naik, had stated in Parliament that while the government has not given any orders for closure of URCs. merger of URCs is a periodic process based on the number of beneficiaries in the area, proximity to other URCs and organisational efficiency. All efforts are made to ensure that there is no inconvenience to the clientele, including ex-servicemen, he had further stated.
Solely owned by the Ministry of Defence, CSD is the most profitable retail chain in India, selling a wide variety of products like groceries, household appliances, liquor, vehicles, cosmetic and sports equipment at subsidized rates to serving and retired armed forces personnel and civilians employed in defence establishments.
It has 34 depots and 3,809 URCs located across India and an inventory of over 4,000 products sourced from 436 companies. A significant amount of profit is generated by CSD out of which 50 per cent is deposited into the Consolidated Fund of India (CFI). For the 2019-20 fiscal, the amount deposited in CFI was 384.5 crore.
Last year the sale of directly imported items, including liquor, in CSD canteens was stopped. As many as 422 such items were taken off the CSD’s inventory in a bid to promote indigenously manufactured products.
More recently, CSD has started online purchase for ‘Against Firm Demand (AFD)’ items, that include items such as vehicles and high end appliances. All purchases of AFD items are now being made through CSD’s online portal.h
CSD has also had its share of functional problems such as inadequate budgetary support, non-availability of certain products, pilferage of goods and delays in processing demands from clientele.
The Sri Lanka Parliament has passed the Port City Economic Commission Bill, which officially declares 269 hectares of land reclaimed from the ocean and annexed to the city of Colombo as the country’s first special economic zone (SEZ) for services-oriented industries.Advertisementhttps://5594ee15af99553344f1a17c25bb5e1a.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html?n=0Advertisement
The bill was passed on Thursday with 149 votes in favour and 58 against, reports Xinhua news agency.ADVERTISEMENT
Under the legislation, a President-appointed commission will be established to govern the SEZ.
It will enable the businesses to operate in any recognized foreign currency within Port City.
After the Port City bill was tabled in Parliament on April 8, 19 petitions were filed with the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.
The Supreme Court’s ruling was delivered to Parliament on Tuesday, saying that the bill could be passed with a simple majority provided key clauses be amended to confirm with the country’s constitution.
Parliament debates were held on Wednesday and Thursday, following which a majority of lawmakers voted to approve the bill amended in line with recommendations by the Supreme Court.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Wednesday told Parliament that the Port City project would create 200,000 jobs in the first five years, with the majority going to Sri Lankan nationals.
He said that the Port City bill provides a competitive framework to attract investment.
Port City Colombo Director of Sales and Marketing Yamuna Jayaratne said that Sri Lanka already enjoys several advantages in the cost of doing business in comparison with established and mature services hubs such as Hong Kong and Dubai.
Colombo is planned to become a major financial and services hub in South Asia.
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he second stage of reforms in India’s higher defence management is likely to get off the ground over the next two three months with the military leadership in the process of finalising the contours of at least two joint theatre commands to be formed this year, as all indications suggest.
The Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC) under the Chairmanship of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat is likely to discuss two studies authored by the Vice Chiefs of the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force for the creation of the Maritime Theatre Command and an Integrated National Air Defence Command over the next few days.
From all indications available in the public domain, the Maritime Theatre Command (MTC), to be headed by a three-star (Vice Admiral) level naval officer will include the existing Eastern and Western Naval Commands, a scaled-down Andaman and Nicobar Command, the Southern Air Command and two brigades of the Army, capable of carrying out amphibious operations, besides two squadrons of the air forces’ maritime strike aircraft.
To be most likely headquartered in Karwar, which has one of the biggest naval bases in the country, the Maritime Theatre Command will have a vast area of responsibility stretching from the western Indian Ocean to the western Pacific (in keeping with India’s definition of the Indo-Pacific region). The Andaman Nicobar Command, India’s first tri-services command, in its 20th year currently, is likely to revert to being Fortress Andaman and Nicobar or FORTAN to be headed by a Lt General or equivalent officer in the other two services by turn. The head of FORTAN will report to the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C), Eastern Naval Command, according to the recommendation of the study on Maritime Theatre Command. While the Air Force element in the Maritime Theatre Command will be provided by the assets of the Southern Air Command based in Trivandrum, two squadrons of the IAF, comprising its maritime strike aircraft Jaguars and Su-30s, based in Jamnagar and Thanjavur respectively will also form part of the Maritime Theatre Command.
The Trivandrum-based 91 Brigade and the Port Blair based 108 Mountain Brigade will provide the Army element in the MTC. Both these brigades have been working in close tandem with the Indian Navy for years and are well-versed with the requirements of maritime operations, quite distinct from land-based manoeuvres.
While the structure of the MTC seems more or less settled, the details of the National Air Defence Command are yet to be firmed up. In fact, some conceptual issues require resolution before Air Defence National Command is structured. How will the mobile and short-range air defence resources of army formations be grouped for command? What will be the design for provisioning air defence for ships/ fleet at sea beyond territorial waters? These questions are apparently being debated. The headquarters of the new air defence command is likely to be located either at Allahabad or at Nagpur, reports say and it is certain to be headed by a three-star rank Air Force officer.
The Air Defence Command has also some practical difficulties to overcome since the air defence assets, systems and equipment that all the three forces hold currently is diverse and of a different vintage. In addition, the personnel of the three services handling air defence are trained differently. Combining all or most assets and getting everyone on one page will be a mammoth and time-consuming task, according to those dealing with the task of integrating the disparate elements.
There are some reports that an announcement of the creation of the two theatre commands may come as early as August after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approves it. The implementation may take some more time though. Once the first two theatre commands are rolled out, the top military leadership is likely to turn its attention to the creation of two or three more theatre commands to be headed by Army officers.
One school of thought is that there should be one theatre each for the western front (against Pakistan) and the entire northern front against China. However, given the twin challenges of a vast frontage of the northern borders and complexities of handling a proxy war waged by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir, another view is to have a Western Theatre Command (for Pakistan), Northern Command (to include Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and northern border west of Nepal), and an Eastern Command (starting from East of Nepal and extending to the Myanmar and Bangladesh borders). Discussions for finalisation of these commands are on currently but their approval may come in the third stage, according to all indications available so far.
The theatre commanders will become the operational commanders once the commands are rolled out and will be taking instructions from the CoSC, headed by the CDS and comprising the three Chiefs of Staff of the respective services. The Chiefs will thus continue to have a say in operational matters through the CoSC. However, they will mainly be responsible to raise, train and sustain the three services. All these steps are likely to get implemented progressively.
While the timelines may vary, what is certain is that jointness and integration of the three armed forces is now an irreversible process since the decision was approved by the CCS, India’s highest decision-making body on security matters way back in mid-2019. The ball was set rolling on 30 December 2019 with the appointment of Gen Bipin Rawat as the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).
The announcement of the creation of India’s first CDS was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Red Fort during his customary Independence Day speech on 15 August. While making the announcement, the Prime Minister said: “India should not have a fragmented approach. Our entire military power will have to work in unison and move forward. All the three (Services) should move simultaneously at the same pace. There should be good coordination and it should be relevant to the hope and aspirations of our people. It should be in line with the changing war and security environment of the world. After formation of this post (CDS), all the three forces will get effective leadership at the top level.”
As a follow-up, four months later, on 24 December 2019, the Government notified the appointment of the CDS. It also went a step further by creating a Department of Military Affairs (DMA) and made the CDS the Secretary of the Department within the Ministry of Defence (DMA). The CDS, now the Principal Military Adviser to the Government, is also the Permanent Chairman CoSC. Among many other tasks mandated to him, according to an official press note issued that day, the CDS is to function as the Military Adviser to the Nuclear Command Authority, bring about jointness in operation, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance, etc., of the three Services, within three years, ensure optimal utilisation of infrastructure and rationalise it through jointness among the services, and finally bring about reforms in the functioning of three Services aimed at augmenting combat capabilities of the Armed Forces by reducing wasteful expenditure.
The DMA meanwhile, is now manned by a mix of civilian and military officials with a three star Army officer designated as Additional Secretary (No. 2 to the CDS, who is also Secretary, DMA) and three Major General rank officers drawn from each service serving as Joint Secretaries. Two civilian officers are also part of the DMA as Joint Secretaries. This arrangement is certainly a major departure from the past and is indicative of the change that is currently underway in the MoD.
Difficulties in implementation of major plans notwithstanding, India’s defence reforms are well and truly on track.
State Stalwarts
FAUJI HEART
PATRON ALL INDIA SANJHA MORCHA
MAJOR GEN HARVIJAY SINGH, SENA MEDAL ,corps of signals
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PRESIDENT HARYANA STATE UNIT SANJHA MORCHA
BRIG HPS BEDI , VSM ,JAK Rif
PRESIDENT PANCHKULA HARYANA UNIT SANJHA MORCHA
BRIG DALJIT THUKRAL (Retd) BENGAL SAPPERS
SECY (HONY) NRI’s ESMs , ALL INDIA SANJHA MORCHA
SUB AVTAR SINGH
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INDO-CANADIAN VETERANS GROUP
FOUNDER CHAIRMAN SANJHA MORCHA
MAJOR SANTOKH SINGH DHILLON,SIGNALS
FOUNDER PRESIDENT SANJHA MORCHA
COL RANJIT SINGH BOPARAI ,ASC
INDIAN DEFENCE FORCES
DEFENCE FORCES INTEGRATED LOGO
FORCES FLAGS
15 Th PRESIDENT OF INDIA SUPREME COMMANDER ARMED FORCES
Droupadi Murmu
DEFENCE MINISTER
Minister Rajnath Singh
CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF (2nd)
General Anil Chauhan PVSM UYSM AVSM SM VSM
INDIAN FORCES CHIEFS
CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF(29th)
GENERAL MANOJ PANDE, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC
CHIEF OF AIR STAFF(26th)
Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari PVSM AVSM VM ADC
Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS)
Admiral R Hari Kumar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC
COMMANDS
GOC-in-C NORTHERN COMMAND
Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi, AVSM,
GOC-in-C WESTERN COMMAND
LIEUTENANT GENERAL MANOJ KUMAR KATIYAR, AVSM
GOC-in-C CENTRAL COMMAND
LT GEN YOGENDRA DIMRI, AVSM,VSM
GOC-in-C Eastern Command
LT GEN RANA PRATAP KALITA, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM,
GOC-in-C Southern Command
Lt Gen Ajai Kumar Singh, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM
GOC-in-C SW Command
LT GEN AMARDEEP SINGH BHINDER, AVSM, VSM,
PRESIDENT PANCHKULA HARYANA UNIT SANJHA MORCHA
BRIG DALJIT THUKRAL (Retd) BENGAL SAPPERS
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PRESIDENT DISTT SAS NAGAR
BRIG MANOHAR SINGH
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Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Western Naval Command
ice Admiral R Hari Kumar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM
Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Eastern Naval Command
Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, AVSM, YSM, VSM
Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Southern Naval Command
