Monthly Archives: August 2018

Put up on GNDU campus & a large number of students, scholars came to see the exhibition

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 9

Student organisation ‘Sath’ organised a photo exhibition based on documents, photographs and literature on 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

The exhibition was put up at Guru Nanak Dev University (GNDU) campus and a large number of students, scholars came to see the exhibition at the Arts Cafe.

At the opening ceremony, a booklet published by the organisation was also distributed. The organisation, Sath, has been organising various programmes to mark the 1984 Sikh riots through awareness programmes. A spokesperson from the organisation said efforts were made to create awareness among students through lectures, marches and photo exhibitions.

The exhibition, through these pictures, depicted the historical events leading to the events in 1984 and also included literary works by prominent Punjabi writers related to the subject.

The announcement was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 25

PTI

New Delhi, November 6

Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has issued the notification renaming the Chandigarh International Airport as Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport.

On September 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Chandigarh airport will be renamed after Bhagat Singh as a tribute to the freedom fighter.

The 115th birth anniversary of the freedom fighter was celebrated on September 28. On the same day, it was announced that the Chandigarh airport has been renamed after Bhagat Singh.

In a notification dated November 2, MoCA said, “It is notified that the Chandigarh International Airport in Chandigarh is named as ‘Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport, Chandigarh’ with immediate effect.

An elaborate process is followed in naming and renaming of airports, and the final approval has to come from the Union Cabinet.

Generally, airports are known by the name of the city where they are located. In some cases, a specific name is proposed by the respective state government supported by a resolution passed in the state legislative assembly concerned.

The same is then sent to the Union Cabinet for the final approval.

With the good growth potential of the country’s civil aviation sector, the government aims to have a total of 220 airports by 2030.

“Just before the birth anniversary of Bhagat Singh, an important decision has been taken as a tribute to him. It has been decided that the Chandigarh airport will now be named after Shaheed Bhagat Singh. It had been in waiting for a long time,” Modi said on September 25

Delhi prioritising national interests amid US pressure

mid the geopolitical tussle triggered by the Ukraine war, India and Russia have recorded significant growth in bilateral trade, underlining the strength and endurance of their time-tested ties. During his first visit to Moscow after Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine in late February, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made it clear that India would continue to import crude oil from Russia despite western pressure. Russia became India’s top oil supplier in October, overtaking traditional vendors Saudi Arabia and Iraq, even as Jaishankar said at a joint media briefing with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov on Tuesday that it was New Delhi’s ‘fundamental obligation’ to ensure that Indian consumers had the best possible access to the ‘most advantageous’ terms in international crude markets.

India has rightly gone all out to safeguard its interests rather than toeing the line of western powers during the ongoing energy crisis. No wonder India-Russia bonhomie has not gone down well with the US. The White House has said that the Biden administration is committed to working with India on its transition away from Russia, adding that a number of countries have learned the hard way that Moscow is not ‘a reliable source of energy or security’. India, however, is in no mood to reduce its dependence on Russian oil and fertilisers. Instead, the two countries are looking to expand economic cooperation, especially in the energy sector. The US is welcome to cement its partnership with India in various sectors, but it is well advised not to dictate terms to the latter with regard to Russia.

While setting its sights on an annual trade volume of $30 billion with Russia, India has indicated that it is not oblivious to the global headwinds. New Delhi has stated that it would be supportive of any initiative that ‘de-risks’ global economy and stabilises the world order. Being an old ally, India is justified in nudging Russia to make efforts for ending the Ukraine conflict in view of global concerns over energy and food security. Another challenge is to make Russia more receptive to exports from India so as to reduce the burgeoning trade deficit.

I still remember the horrors of Partition. Nine of our women relatives were burnt alive in a straw godown by rioters. The screams still haunt me

Vanti Devi

I WAS 18 and newly married when Partition took place. Life had always been uneventful in my husband’s village Thedi (Alipur tehsil, Muzaffargarh). There had never been any problem or enmity between Hindus and Muslims. People of both communities lived peacefully.

I came from Kothla (Reham Ali Shah village, Jatoi tehsil) also in Muzaffargarh. I studied till Class II and learnt to read Punjabi while my cousin brothers learnt Urdu. My father was a goldsmith. He would visit neighbouring villages to get jewellery orders and would often stay there for four to five days at a stretch.

I still remember the horrors of Partition. Nine of our women relatives were burnt alive in a straw godown by Muslim rioters. The screams still haunt me.

There are some good memories too. In my immediate family, there were four members, including my parents and a sister. My extended family was quite big, having nearly 25 members. I remember going to the lake with my cousins and enjoying all festivals, irrespective of religion. There was a feeling of brotherhood among neighbours. My friends and I used to go to the village pond for playing and washing clothes.

In 1947, one of our neighbours who was in the police informed us that Muslims were attacking Hindu families. Pre-Partition violence and riots came as a shock to us. We took shelter in the village gurdwara and stayed there for three-four days. There were almost 20 others there too. The news of Hindus leaving their houses and going to India was coming from all over after Pakistan had been declared as a Muslim country. There weren’t many options before us — accept Islam, leave Pakistan, or get killed. Muslims around us were threatening to kill us if we did not convert to Islam. Some Hindus had already been killed after they refused to accept this condition.

The men in our family were worried about the safety and protection of women. Two to three Muslim families in the village who were on good terms with us. Despite the riots, there was no change in our relationship. They protected us from the rioters, hiding us in their barn. We lived there for four-five days, surviving only on dates. Initially, most people thought this was a temporary phase but soon everyone realised that this division would be permanent. We decided to leave for India. Our neighbours helped us pack our belongings. They also provided food and milk for the children. Nearly 30 male members of these Muslim families safely escorted at least 25 members of our family and relatives to Sherpur in Muzaffargarh, from where we took a train to Attari and then from Attari to Sangrur.

In Sangrur, we lived in a refugee camp. There was no arrangement for food. All our money had been spent and there was no more stock of food/ration. There was no way to earn money as there was no employment. After a few days, we left for Shahabad Markanda in Ambala to look for work. My family struggled to earn money to buy essential items. The men worked as labourers at a coal shop. It took us nearly 15 years before we could decently settle down at Palwal. Our survival was made more difficult by the fact that we had lost the papers of our houses in Pakistan, due to which the government did not give us settlement dues. Fleeing for safety, we were not able to bring other valuables as well.

I am in my 90s and have never felt the urge to go back. What purpose would it serve? We went through hell. I don’t want to relive any of those moments. May no one witness such tragedy.

— The writer is based in Faridabad

(As told to Renu Sud Sinha)

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 9

The Malabar series of naval exercises involving India, Japan, Australia and the US began off the coast of Japan today in the backdrop of China’s increasing military muscle-flexing in the region.

The Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF), the host, said the aim of the wargame was to “realise a free and open Indo-Pacific and improve the inter-operability of the JMSDF with the US, Indian and the Australian Navies”.

“Free and open Indo-Pacific” is a euphuism for opposing Chinese hegemony and attempts to impede traffic at sea and air. China is the past has been objecting to warships in the South China Sea.

The opening ceremony was hosted by the JMSDF onboard JS Hyuga, a flat-deck helicopter carrier, at Yokosuka, Japan. Rear Admiral Sanjay Bhalla is leading the Indian delegation.

The Malabar series of maritime exercises commenced in 1992 and have grown in complexity over the years. It includes four prominent navies in the Indo-Pacific region; incidentally, all four are partners in the Quad. Indian ships INS Shivalik and INS Kamorta and surveillance plane P8-I are participating. From the US, the super carrier USS Ronald Reagan is part of the exercise.

PTI

Islamabad, November 6

Pakistan and China have agreed to use bullet-proof vehicles for all outdoor movements of the Chinese nationals working on the CPEC projects in Pakistan to protect them from terrorist attacks after Beijing expressed concern over their security, according to a media report on Sunday.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) links Pakistan’s Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea with Kashgar in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The USD 60 billion CPEC is part of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a pet project of President Xi Jinping.

The security of Chinese workers has been a huge hurdle in the implementation of its various projects.

According to the draft minutes of the 11th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of the CPEC, both sides have also agreed to strengthen the capabilities of the law-enforcement agencies and investigators, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

“It has been decided that bullet-proof vehicles shall be used for all outdoor movements of the Chinese employed on projects,” said the draft minutes of the 11th JCC, which had been exchanged by Pakistan and China.

President Xi last week had expressed “deep concern” over the security of Chinese nationals working in Pakistan on the CPEC projects and sought “reliable and safe environment” for them in his talks with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during his maiden visit to Beijing to bolster the all-weather friendship.

The decisions may help address the concerns of the Chinese government, the report said.

The draft minutes further showed that the Chinese side committed to providing security-related equipment for the capacity building of the Pakistani law-enforcement agencies.

To speed up the investigations into the crimes involving Chinese nationals, it had been decided the National Forensic Science Agency (NFSA) would be built on modern lines.

The Pakistani side requested China’s support for a full upgrade of the National Forensic Science Lab in Islamabad. The Chinese side assured their full support for the purpose, according to the draft minutes.

The Chinese side has also committed that it would establish a training centre for the private security guards and law enforcement agency personnel to equip them with modern techniques and modules.

With recurring attacks on its workers, China had even asked Pakistan to let its security personnel protect the Chinese nationals, according to sources.

In view of increasing incidents of terrorism, involving the non-corridor projects, Pakistan had proposed the establishment of a separate joint working group for coordination on security efforts.

But it was mutually decided that a Joint Technical Expert Working Group (JTEWG) would be established for the security of non-CPEC projects. The JTEWG would evaluate the services of private security companies.

The draft minutes suggested that Pakistan had not been able to achieve its goal to fast-track the work on some of the CPEC energy projects, although it once again committed “to maintain the tax and tariff policies stable”.

The draft document stated that financial closure would remain dependent on clearance by a Chinese insurance company that was suffering badly due to non-payment of energy dues by Pakistan.

China has not backed out from its demand that Pakistan should timely clear the outstanding dues and set up a revolving bank account.

“The Chinese side appreciated the efforts made by the Pakistani side to fully pay the tariff of the CPEC energy projects in a timely manner and hoped for a further increase in the tariff settlement ratio to ensure repayment of the bank loan and normal operation of the CPEC energy projects”, according to the draft minutes.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 9

The senior-most leadership of the Army today briefed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on how the force was transforming itself to meet future challenges.

The Defence Minister was participating in the Army Commanders’ Conference, an apex biannual event, in New Delhi. He was briefed on the “transformational imperatives for a future-ready force”.

Rajnath complimented the Army for the high standard of operational preparedness and capabilities. He commended its efforts in developing niche technologies in collaboration with industry and premier educational institutions.

“I have full faith and confidence in the Army and its leadership,” he said, asking the Army to be ready for operational contingencies.

During the conference (November 7-11), Army’s senior leadership is comprehensively deliberating upon all aspects of existing security scenarios and challenges for the present security apparatus. In addition, the conference is also focusing on issues pertaining to organisational restructuring, logistics, administration, human resource management, modernisation through indigenisation and induction of niche technologies.

IANS

New Delhi, November 6

The recent bridge collapse incident in Gujarat’s Morbi district has triggered a debate over the reliability of old bridges across the country.

After the incident that shook the whole country, it seems necessary to examine the condition of the bridges which are more than 100 years old to avoid such accidents in the future.

The British-era suspension bridge built over the Machchhu river in Morbi was famous as ‘Jhulta Pul’ and visitors are charged to climb over it to see the view of the river.

Talking about railways, there are many such bridges that are more than 100 years old, and of which repair and maintenance are also done from time to time so that the credibility of such bridges remains intact.

As per the data by the Centre in the Rajya Sabha on December 13, 2019, there are 38,850 railway bridges which are more than 100 years old.

The government also shared the zone wise data of such bridges, according to which, the Central Railway has 4,346 bridges that over 100-year old while the Eastern, East Central and the East Coast Railways have 2,913, 4,754 and 924 such bridges respectively.

Similarly, the Northern Railway has 8,767, North Central Railway (2,281), North Eastern Railway (509), Northeast Frontier Railway (219), North Western Railway (985), Southern Railway (2,493), South Central Railway (3,040), South Eastern Railway (1,797), South East Central Railway (875), South Western Railway (189), Western Railway (2,866) and West Central Railway has 1,892 such bridges which are over 100-year old.

Replying to a question, the then (2019) Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had said that there is a systematic process for inspection of railway bridges.

The railways carry out inspection twice a year — the first one is done before the monsoon and the second one is done after the monsoon season on a broader scale. After inspection, each bridge is assigned an overall rating number (ORN) and the bridge is rebuilt based on its ORN.

Goyal had also informed the Rajya Sabha that a total of 4,032 bridges have been repaired/restored/reconstructed during the last five years (2014-15 to 2018-19) while the work on 861 bridges were carried out between 2019 and 2020.

A total of 4,168 railway bridges have been sanctioned for repair/restore/reconstruction as on April, 1, 2019.

It is evident that the railways remain vigilant in the maintenance of bridges that are more than 100 years old.

The railways halts operations, when the water level in the Yamuna river crosses the danger mark, the oldest railway bridge on the Yamuna river in Delhi is closed as a precaution. The work on this bridge was started in 1863 and was completed in 1866. Earlier it was made a single line bridge but in 1934, it was expanded to a double line bridge.

PTI

New Delhi, November 10

India does not believe in a world order where a few countries are considered superior to others, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday and noted that the possibility of a global framework could be envisaged if security becomes a truly collective enterprise.

In an address at the National Defence College, he also called for concerted efforts of the international community to counter “grave” emerging security threats such as cyber-attacks and information warfare.

According to Singh, information warfare has the potential to threaten political stability.

“There is no account of how much fake news and hate material is likely to be brought in society through social media platforms. The organised use of social media and other online content generation platforms is being used for engineering the opinion or perspective of the masses,” he said.

“The deployment of information war was most evident in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Throughout the conflict, social media has served as a battleground for both sides to spread competing narratives about the war and portray the conflict on their own terms.” The defence minister described national security as the prime focus of the Modi government, stressing that the full potential of the country can be tapped only when its interests are protected.

“Security is sine-qua-non for civilization to flourish and prosper.” Singh also sounded a note of caution about cyber warfare and said it has increased the vulnerability of critical infrastructure.

“I would like to tell you that the conduct of our strategic policy should be moral. India does not believe in a world order where few are considered superior to others,” he added.

“India’s actions are guided by the very essence of human equality and dignity, which is a part of our ancient ethos and its strong moral foundations, give us our political strength. Even our freedom struggle was based on the bedrock of high moral values.” Singh’s comments came amid increasing concerns over China’s aggressive military posturing along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) as well as in the Indo-Pacific.

The defence minister said a strong and prosperous India would not be built at the cost of others. “Rather, India is here to help other nations realise their full potential.” Singh said if security becomes a truly collective enterprise, “we can think of creating a global order which is beneficial to all of us”.

The defence minister also said realpolitik cannot be the fig leaf for being immoral.

“Rather, enlightened self-interest of nations can be promoted within the framework of strategic morality, which is predicated on the understanding and respect for the legitimate strategic imperative of all the civilised nations.” “It is for this reason that when we partner any nation, it is on the basis of sovereign equality and mutual respect. Forging relations comes naturally to India, as we work towards mutual economic development,” Singh said.

Quoting Martin Luther King Jr, he stated that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”.

“The recent Ukrainian conflict showed how its ripple effects could adversely impact the whole world. Together, Russia and Ukraine export nearly a third of the world’s wheat and barley, but this conflict had prevented grain from leaving the ‘breadbasket of the world’ and led to food crisis in various African and Asian countries,” he said.

Key infrastructure like power generation and distribution is increasingly becoming more complex and there is a need for dealing with such challenges effectively, Singh said.

The energy sector, he added, is one of the main targets of cyber-attacks but it is not the only one; transport, public sector services, telecommunications and critical manufacturing industries are also vulnerable.

Singh emphasised that national security should not be considered a “zero-sum game” and that there is a need to create a win-win situation for all.

“We should not be guided by narrow self-interest which is not beneficial in the long run, but by enlightened self-interest which is sustainable and resilient to shocks,” he said.

The minister said the world’s increasingly interconnected financial systems are also at great risk.

“You all must be aware that in February 2016, hackers targeted the central bank of Bangladesh and tried to steal 1 billion dollars. While most transactions were blocked, 101 million dollars still disappeared.

“This was a wake-up call for the finance world that cyber risks in the financial system had been severely underestimated. Today, the assessment that a major cyber-attack poses a threat to financial stability is not a question of if, but when,” he said.

The defence minister also threw light on the narrowing gap between internal and external security and said that new dimensions of threats are being added with changing times, that are difficult to classify.

He asserted that terrorism, which generally falls in the category of internal security, is now classified in the category of external security as training, funding and arms support of such organisations are being carried out from outside the country.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 4

The Army has okayed five equipment — all niche technologies — that will be developed through indigenous means. The industry has been called in to develop prototypes.

It has approved Project Sanction Orders of five projects. These are essentially industry-funded projects involving design, development and innovative solutions by Indian vendors for development of prototypes.

The Army has given an assurance of order after successful development of prototype. It wants a drone kill system made indigenously. In all 18 industry partners have been identified.