Monthly Archives: October 2022

The pilot rescued after the helicopter crash in Tawang on Wednesday. PTI

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 5

An Army pilot, Lt Col Saurabh Yadav, was killed and another sustained serious injuries after a Cheetah helicopter crashed in a forward area near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday.

Another injured

• Cheetah copter crashed in Tawang during routine sortie
• One of two pilots succumbed to injuries during treatment
• Cause of crash not immediately known; probe underway
• The Army is in the process to replace the single-engine copters with advanced ones

The incident took place around 10 am during a routine sortie in the forward area, a defence spokesperson from Tezpur, Assam, said. After the crash, both pilots were airlifted to the nearest military hospital. Lt Col Yadav succumbed to his injuries during treatment. “The cause of the crash is not known at this stage. Further details are being ascertained,” the spokesperson added.

The single-engine Cheetah helicopters are based on Alouette Aérospatiale 315B Lama of France designed in the 1950s. The Army has already planned to phase out Cheetah helicopters and replace these with twin-engine advanced light helicopters.

US ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome. Photo: @usembislamabad-Twitter

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 5

The Foreign Office here has not reacted so far to US ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome’s visit to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) this week with the US embassy in Islamabad highlighting it with a series of tweets over the three days that he was in the disputed region.

In April, the MEA had not taken kindly the PoK visit of US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, describing her as a practitioner of “narrow-minded politics”. This was the first official US delegation to PoK in three years.

However, the difference is that Omar directly touched on the human rights issue in J&K as well as Article 370. But the US envoy’s visit was aimed at restoring Pakistani heritage and cultural sites as well as highlighting the American aid for the victims of the 2005 earthquake and the recent floods in Pakistan.

This is the second visit by a US official to PoK. Also, Blome throughout mentioned PoK as AJK (Azad Jammu and Kashmir), which is anathema to New Delhi as it holds that the region was forcibly occupied by Pakistan in 1947. Analysts say the US ambassador may also be showing up China, which had taunted Washington last week by stating that “instead of passing unwarranted criticism against China-Pakistan cooperation, the US side might as well do something real and beneficial for the people of Pakistan”.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

The PoK visit adds to US-UK’s attempt to mend fences with Pakistan, which had been kept at an arm’s distance by the Trump administration for “not being sincere in combating terrorism.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh performs ‘shastra puja’ on the occasion of Vijayadashmi at Auli, Uttarakhand, on Wednesday. ANI

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 5

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday celebrated Dasehra with jawans of the armed forces and the ITBP in Auli, Uttarakhand.

The minister performed “shastra puja” (worship of weapons) during his visit.

In an impromptu address to the soldiers, Rajnath Singh said: “Interacting with men and women in uniform is always a source of motivation. The secure environment has enabled India to pursue economic growth and achieve new heights of development under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

He hailed the “unparalleled bravery and courage” of the military personnel during the clashes in eastern Ladakh’s Galwan Valley in June 2020.https://72cd6e994e8496b1489a050ee9c340ab.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

He said India believed in the principle that “the whole world is one family”, but gives a befitting response if any outsider casts an “evil eye” on it.

Rajnath also spoke of the significance of “shastra puja” and highlighted the traditions and uniqueness of the Indian culture, which emphasises the unity of all things.

Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande and Central Army Commander Lt Gen Yogendra Dimri were present on the occasion.

Later, the Defence Minister visited the Badrinath temple.

“I feel blessed to visit Badrinath Dham on the auspicious occasion of Vijayadashmi festival,” he tweeted.

India, US, UK and France strongly condemn North Korea’s ballistic missile launch

PTI

United Nations, October 6

India, joining the US, UK and France, has strongly condemned North Korea’s ballistic missile launch which overflew Japan, with New Delhi underlining that these launches affect the peace and security of the region and beyond.

The missile fired on Tuesday was the first from North Korea to fly over Japan in five years. The launch mark the 24th time this year that North Korea has conducted missile tests.

“We have noted with concern the reports of ballistic missile launches” by the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj said at a UN Security Council meeting on DPRK on Wednesday.

“These follow the launch of the intercontinental ballistic missile by the DPRK in March this year, which was discussed in this Council, as well as other successive launches,” she said.

Later, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield delivered a joint statement on behalf of Albania, Brazil, France, India, Ireland, Japan, Norway, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States at the UN Security Council stakeout on North Korea’s ballistic missile launches.

“The United States, Albania, Brazil, France, India, Ireland, Japan, Norway, the Republic of Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom, strongly condemn the DPRK’s long-range ballistic missile launch which overflew Japan” on October 4 and its seven other ballistic missile launches conducted since September 25, the joint statement said adding that North Korea has now launched over 35 ballistic missiles this year alone.

These launches violate multiple Security Council resolutions and pose a threat to not only the region, but to the entire international community, the joint statement said.

North Korea on Tuesday conducted its longest-ever weapons test, a nuclear-capable ballistic missile that flew over Japan and could reach the US Pacific territory of Guam.

Kamboj, in her remarks to the Council, stressed that these launches constitute a violation of the resolutions of the Security Council relating to the DPRK and “they affect the peace and security of the region and beyond.”

India called for full implementation of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions relating to DPRK and “reiterated the importance of addressing the proliferation of nuclear and missile technologies related to DPRK in our region. These linkages have an adverse impact on peace and security in the region, including on India.”

Kamboj said the Global South has already been disproportionately affected by the prevailing geopolitical situation and related challenges. “It is therefore important to continue to make all efforts to maintain peace and stability.

Ensuring peace and security in the Korean Peninsula is in our collective interest. Going forward, we will continue to support dialogue and diplomacy as the means to resolve the issues in the Korean Peninsula,” she said.

Kamboj reiterated New Delhi’s continued support for denuclearisation towards peace and security in the Korean peninsula.

In the joint statement, the 11 countries said that North Korea had made its intentions clear in April and September when its leader signaled an effort to accelerate the DPRK’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs and even alluded to pre-emptive use of nuclear forces.

“We are witnessing the DPRK’s pursuit of this objective,” it said.

“We call on all UN member states, especially Council members, to join us in condemning this reckless behavior and in urging the DPRK to abandon in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible manner its unlawful weapons programmes and engage in diplomacy toward denuclearisation,” the joint statement said, recalling the Council’s decision referring to “further significant measures.”https://af4dac1533f6da79ab0a492f32218e56.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

The US Ambassador said Washington, and those who have joined her at the podium for the joint statement remain committed to diplomacy and continue to call on the DPRK to return to dialogue.

“But we will not stay silent as the DPRK works to undermine the global nonproliferation regime and threaten the international community,” she said.

The joint statement called on the member states to fully implement the relevant Security Council resolutions.

Noting that following North Korea’s provocations and escalatory behaviour in 2017, the Council came together and unanimously took action to hold the DPRK accountable for its unlawful actions, the joint statement said that “now again the DPRK is testing the Council’s resolve and we must act accordingly. The Council will continue to engage over the course of the next week to find a unified voice and way forward.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had “strongly” condemned the launch of the ballistic missile, calling it a “reckless act and a violation of Security Council resolutions.” Guterres said it is also of “serious concern” that North Korea has again disregarded any consideration for international flight or maritime safety.

The Secretary-General urged North Korea to resume dialogue with the key parties concerned with a view to achieving sustainable peace and the complete and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Dehradun, October 6

Five more bodies were recovered on Thursday, two days after a team of climbers from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering were trapped by an avalanche in Uttarkashi, the institute said.

Twenty-two mountaineers are still believed to be missing. The avalanche hit Draupadi Ka Danda II peak at a height of 17,000 feet on Tuesday when the team was returning after summiting.

According to the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering (NIM), the recovery of five more bodies takes the number of bodies retrieved so far to nine after four were recovered on the day of the avalanche. Of the nine bodies, seven are of trainees and two of instructors.

Uttarakhand Police had said on its Facebook page on Wednesday that 10 bodies had been retrieved.

Earlier in the day, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) here said, without accounting for the five bodies recovered, that of NIM’s 61-member advance training course team, including trainees and instructors, four bodies had been recovered, 30 were safe and 27 still missing.

Earlier in the day, a 14-member team from High Altitude Warfare School based in Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir joined the rescue operation for the missing mountaineers.

The team, which specialises in high-altitude rescue operations, will help in the joint efforts by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and mountaineers from NIM in their efforts to find the missing climbers, the SEOC said.

Patiala (Punjab) [India], October 1 (ANI): Actor Nimrat Kaur recently visited Patiala for the inaugural ceremony of her father late Major Bhupendra Singh’s statue in the Patiala regiment.

To celebrate her father’s contribution to the nation, a bronze statue of Major Bhupendra Singh was inaugurated at the Heritage Hall at his parent regiment 64 Assault Engineer Regiment in Patiala.

“It’s a really special moment for us all to be here to honour his memory and partake in this wonderfully noble and incredible gesture by the Indian Army,” Nimrat said.

“Patiala is very close to my heart because I have been in Patiala with my parents in two different tenures that my father had his postings there; when I was a little baby, and incidentally we lived in the same house for both our postings and the second time we were all together as a family as after that we lost him in Kashmir where we couldn’t join him. Patiala is also my favourite because I completed my 5th, 6th and 7th standard in a school there and that really laid the foundation where I am today, as extra-curricular activities, dramatics and incredible values were instilled in me as a child,” she added.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Nimrat, who was last seen opposite Abhishek Bachchan in Dasvi, will be seen in Maddock Films’ next titled ‘Happy Teachers’ Day’. (ANI)

This report is auto-generated from ANI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.

REHEARSAL ON OCT 6, FOLLOWED BY FINAL EVENT ON OCT 8 TO BE PRESIDED OVER BY PRESIDENT DROUPADI MURMU, A.S. PRASHAR PUNJAB EXPRESS BUREAU Chandigarh, October 4 The UT Administration has declared Sukhna Lake out of bounds for visitors till 6 pm on October 6 and October 8 in view of the rehearsal for the IAF air show and the final event that will be presided over by President Droupadi Murmu, respectively. Apart from this, all kinds of entertainment activities for the general public will also remain closed on these two days. During her twoday maiden visit to Chandigarh, after the air show on October 8, the President will also attend a civic reception at the Punjab Raj Bhavan, where she will also be retiring for the day. On October 9, she will be the chief guest at PEC’s annual convocation, and also lay foundation stones and inaugurate some projects the same day. According to UT adviser Dharam Pal, as regards the air show, which was scheduled from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm on both October 6 and 8, the entire Sukhna Lake area had been divided into seven zones with separate entry staircases. Each zone has also been mapped with 11 alighting/parking points for smooth movement. He said the public was allowed to attend both the rehearsal and final event, but only with entry passes that can be obtained from the Chandigarh Tourism App. Being organised to mark IAF Day, the event will feature all modern aircraft, including Rafael, Sukhoi Su-30, Jaguar, MiG 29, C-17 Globemaster, IL76, Chinook, Apache and Mi-17, with performances by the Sarang air display and Surya Kiran aerobatics teams. Before commencement of the air show, a halfan-hour programme will be presented by the Akashganga Paratrooper team. On October 9, President Droupadi Murmu will be the chief guest at the annual convocation of the Punjab Engineering College (PEC), which is being held after a two-year Covid-induced hiatus. As many as 669 BTech, 168 MTech and 34 PhD degrees will be awarded during the ceremony. However, students’ parents will not be allowed to attend the event. PEC officials said a pandal will be set up in the football ground, with a seating capacity of around 1,000 people: “Under these circumstances, allowing parents is not possible.” PEC director Baldev Setia said, “The institute is privileged that the President is coming to the convocation. This will also be the closing ceremony for PEC’s centenary year celebrations.” This year, the graduating students will ditch the western graduation robes in favour of traditional Indian attire – a first at any city college.

Islamabad: United States’ double standards stand exposed with its “weakest diplomatic” justification for the “dangerous” F-16 assistance to Pakistan as the same US in the past has given out a clean slate to Islamabad for sponsoring terrorists, media reports said.
US assistance to Pakistan’s “terror policy” is “treacherous” as the country had been asking Pakistan to act against terrorist groups operating from its soil, reported Islam Khabar. The irony of the matter is that the F-16 deal comes near the anniversary of the deadly 9/11 Twin Tower attacks.
It is not to be forgotten that this is the same attack where the role of Pakistan in sheltering and supporting the al-Qaida chief and its key ally Taliban was widely questioned, reported Islam Khabar.
The diplomatic outlook of the US towards Pakistan seems to be toppled now. US previously persuaded global anti-terrorist financing watchdog, FATF, to keep Pakistan on the hook of a greylist. US also used its diplomatic channels to hold back the International Monetary Fund relief deal for Pakistan.
US Vice-President Kamala Harris has urged Pakistan to not support terrorists harbouring on its soil. President Joe Biden. Early March this year, the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs discussed a bill that sought to designate Pakistan as a state sponsor of terrorism, the outlet said.
There is well-documented material which suggests that Pakistan was protecting al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and deputy chief Ayman al Zawahiri. Apart from these two, Pakistan’s protection of several other anti-US groups like the Haqqani Network is also documented.
US exit from Afghanistan was disgraceful which led to the takeover of the South Asian nation by the Taliban soon after the exit. Taliban has since then been putting extreme curbs on women and there are reports of widespread human rights violations.
A US think tank, Hudson Institute, in 2017 reported that the “longest war in American history is a proxy war with Pakistan”.
The report pointed out Pakistani safe havens for the Taliban “remain the single most difficult challenge to the NATO effort to stabilise Afghanistan.” The report co-authored by former Pakistan Ambassador to the US, Dr Hussain Haqqani, pointed out that despite over USD 25 billion in US assistance by two Presidents over 15 years, Pakistan Army had refused to stop its patronage of the Haqqani Network and the Taliban.

What’s Russian President Vladimir Putin thinking? JOHN LEICESTER Will President Vladimir Putin pull the nuclear trigger? For Kremlin watchers trying to figure out whether the Russian leader’s nuclear threats are just bluffs, there is no more pressing — or tough — question. For now, analysts cautiously suggest that the risk of Putin using the world’s biggest nuclear arsenal still seems low. The CIA says it hasn’t seen signs of an imminent Russian nuclear attack. Still, his vows to use “ all the means at our disposal “ to defend Russia as he wages war in Ukraine are being taken very seriously. And his claim on Friday that the United States “created a precedent” by dropping atomic bombs in World War II further cranked up the nuclear stakes. The White House has warned of “catastrophic consequences for Russia” if Putin goes nuclear. But whether that will stay Putin’s hand is anyone’s guess. Nervous Kremlin watchers acknowledge they can’t be sure what he is thinking or even if he’s rational and well-informed. The former KGB agent has demonstrated an appetite for risk and brinkmanship. It’s hard, even for Western intelligence agencies with spy satellites, to tell if Putin is bluffing or truly intent on breaking the nuclear taboo. “We don’t see any practical evidence today in the US intelligence community that he’s moving closer to actual use, that there’s an imminent threat of using tactical nuclear weapons,” CIA Director William Burns told CBS News. “What we have to do is take it very seriously, watch for signs of actual preparations,” Burns said. Kremlin watchers are scratching their heads in part because they don’t see how nuclear force could greatly help reverse Russia’s military losses in Ukraine. Ukrainian troops aren’t using large concentrations of tanks to wrest back ground, and combat is sometimes for places as small as villages. So what could Russian nuclear forces aim for with winning effect? “Nuclear weapons are not a magic wand,” said Andrey Baklitskiy, a senior researcher at the UN’s Institute for Disarmament Research, who specialises in nuclear risk. “They are not something that you just employ and they solve all your problems.” Analysts hope the taboo that surrounds nuclear weapons is a disincentive. The horrific scale of human suffering in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the US destroyed the Japanese cities with atomic bombs on August 6 and August 9, 1945, was a powerful argument against a repeat use of such weapons. The attacks killed 210,000 people. No country has since used a nuclear weapon. Analysts guess that even Putin may find it difficult to become the first world leader since US President Harry Truman to rain down nuclear fire. “It is still a taboo in Russia to cross that threshold,” said Dara Massicot, a senior policy researcher at RAND Corp. and a former analyst of Russian military capabilities at the US Defense Department. “One of the biggest decisions in the history of Earth,” Baklitskiy said. The backlash could turn Putin into a global pariah. “Breaking the nuclear taboo would impose, at a minimum, complete diplomatic and economic isolation on Russia,” said Sidharth Kaushal, a researcher with the Royal United Services Institute in London that specializes in defense and security. Long-range nuclear weapons that Russia could use in a direct conflict with the United States are battle-ready. But its stocks of warheads for shorter ranges – so-called tactical weapons that Putin might be tempted to use in Ukraine – are not, analysts say. “All those weapons are in storage,” said Pavel Podvig, another senior researcher who specializes in nuclear weapons at the UN’s disarmament think tank in Geneva. “You need to take them out of the bunker, load them on trucks,” and then marry them with missiles or other delivery systems, he said. Russia hasn’t released a full inventory of its tactical nuclear weapons and their capabilities. Putin could order that a smaller one be surreptitiously readied and teed up for surprise use. But overtly removing weapons from storage is also a tactic Putin could employ to raise pressure without using them. He’d expect US satellites to spot the activity and perhaps hope that baring his nuclear teeth might scare Western powers into dialing back support for Ukraine. “That’s very much what the Russians would be gambling on, that each escalation provides the other side with both a threat but (also) an offramp to negotiate with Russia,” Kaushal said. He added: “There is a sort of grammar to nuclear signalling and brinksmanship, and a logic to it which is more than just, you know, one madman one day decides to go through with this sort of thing.” Analysts also expect other escalations first, including ramped-up Russian strikes in Ukraine using nonnuclear weapons. “I don’t think there will be a bolt out of the blue,” said Nikolai Sokov, who took part in arms control negotiations when he worked for Russia’s Foreign Ministry and is now with the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation. Analysts also struggle to identify battlefield targets that would be worth the huge price Putin would pay. If one nuclear strike didn’t stop Ukrainian advances, would he then attack again and again? Podvig noted the war does not have “large concentrations of troops” to target. PTI The induction of India’s first indigenous light combat helicopter, capable of offensive operations in high-altitude areas like Siachen Glacier and eastern Ladakh, marks another important milestone in the country’s march towards self-reliance in meeting its defence needs. It also marks the rise of a new self-confident India who no longer needs to import important military hardware to defend itself. To demonstrate to the whole wide world that India-made flying machines are second to none, the Defence minister Rajnath Singh himself flew a sortie in the helicopter before handing it over to the Indian Air Force. The chopper is armed with 20mm turret guns, 70mm rocket systems and air-to-air missiles, and is named ‘Prachanda’. With its tremendous power and versatility, Prachanda will not only enhance IAF’s combat capabilities but is also a big step towards self-reliance in defence production as envisioned by Prime Minister Modi, Singh said. Chief of defence staff General Anil Chauhan and IAF chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhuri, among other top officials, were present at the ceremony. Complimenting the IAF, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the formal induction of the light combat helicopter (LCH), designed and developed by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), into the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Jodhpur, reflected the collective resolve of all Indians to make the country self-reliant in defence equipment. Rajnath Singh observed that the induction of LCH underlines the fact that just as the country trusts the IAF, the force equally trusts indigenous equipment,” the minister said, citing the examples of the home-grown Tejas fighters, Akash surfaceto-air missile systems and Dhruv advanced light helicopters. The need for LCHs for mountain warfare was first acutely felt during the 1999 Kargil conflict with Pakistan. Two LCHs were even flight-evaluated in eastern Ladakh in 2020 amidst the still-continuing military confrontation with China there. Overall, IAF and Army require an estimated 160 LCHs in the coming years. The Cabinet Committee on Security had cleared the first contract for 15 LCHs (10 IAF and 5 Army), at a cost of Rs 3,887 crore, along with infrastructure sanctions worth Rs 377 crore, in March this year. Defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics has produced eight of the 15 choppers till now, of which four have been inducted by IAF. The first LCH for the Army, in turn, was handed over on September 29. The raising of the Army’s first LCH squadron commenced in June. As per the delivery schedule, four more LCHs will be handed over by October and the squadron will become operational in the eastern theatre in the first week of November. These LCHs have 45% indigenous content by value, which will progressively increase to more than 55% for the next version. The LCH is touted as the only attack helicopter in its weight class in the world which can land and take-off at an altitude of 5,000-metre or 16,400-feet with a considerable load of weapons and fuel. The phased induction of these 5.8-tonne choppers will boost the capabilities of the Army and IAF against enemy infantry troops, tanks, bunkers and UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) in high-altitude areas as well as in other terrains