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Posted On: 13 JAN 2023 7:18PM by PIB Delhi
Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh will preside over 7th Armed Forces Veterans Day Celebrations by addressing an Armed Forces Veterans Rally at Jaswant Ground in Dehradun Cantonment on January 14, 2023 . He will also launch the ‘Soul of Steel Alpine Challenge’, a joint adventure sport initiative of the Indian Army and CLAW Global, by flagging off a car expedition from Dehradun to Ghamshali located in the Niti Valley. To pay homage to the supreme sacrifice and the dedicated service of our Armed Forces, he will dedicate Shaurya Sthal- developed by Uttarakhand War Memorial Trust, which unanimously decided to hand over its control to the Indian Army , to the Armed Forces on Veterans’ Day, 14 January, 2023.
This year the event is being celebrated at nine locations across the country, namely Juhunjhunu, Jalandhar, Panagarh, New Delhi, Dehradun, Chennai , Chandigarh, Bhubaneshwar and Mumbai by three Service Headquarters. The event at Chennai will be presided over by Raksha Rajya Mantri.
As a part of scaling up of the Veterans Day, the Chief Ministers/ LGs of States/UTs have been urged to observe the Veterans’ Day on 14th January 2023 in their respective States/Districts. During the event, felicitation for veterans will be done by giving them Medal/Souvenir/recognition certificate etc. During the celebration, the ‘We For Veterans’ Anthem– an ode to our Veterans commemorating their valor and sacrifice will also be played at the events.
The Armed Forces Veterans Day is celebrated on 14th January as on this very day, January 14 1953 , the First Indian Commander in Chief (C-in-C) of Indian Army- Field Marshal KM Cariappa, who led Indian Forces to Victory in the 1947 war, had formally retired from the Services. The Day is celebrated as Armed Forces Veterans Day and dedicated to our esteemed Veterans.
The First Armed Forces Veterans Day was celebrated on January, 14, 2016 and it was decided to commemorate this day every year by hosting such interactive events in the honor of our Armed Forces Veterans and their families.
Patiala, January 12
The district administration will hold a Military Literature Festival. The event will be part of the Patiala Heritage Festival. The two-day festival to be held on January 28 and 29 will also commemorate sacrifices of the Indian Army soldiers.
Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney today said, “The ceremony will be organised at Khalsa College as a part of the Patiala Heritage Festival.”
She said Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Maan had announced expansion of the Military Literature Festival (MLF). “He has also announced that the MLF will be organised at the district and university level across the state. This initiative has been taken in same connection,” she said.
She said the Military Literature Festival Association had decided to organise events, including panel discussions, clarion call episodes of bravery, martial dances, display of equipment by the Army, wreath laying, brave hearts motorcycle ride, archery demonstration-cum- competition and Army, ITBP and the police recruitment counselling as part of the festival.
“During the festival, visitors will also get an opportunity to taste the best food prepared by famous eateries of Patiala,” she added.
“The administration will also honour Army war heroes, writers, leaders, thinkers, poets, artists, journalists, film and documentary makers, sportsmen, technocrats and industrialists during the festival,” she said.
Chandigarh, January 12
The former Chief of the Army Staff, Gen VP Malik, today said that the Supreme Court order prohibiting conversion of independent residential houses into multi-storey apartments in older sectors of Chandigarh should also be extended to its sister city of Panchkula.
“Very happy to see the SC judgement highlighting needs to strike balance between sustainable development and environmental protection,” Gen Malik.
“Politicians+bureaucrats+developers/builders plundering cities without caring for environment, sustainable infrastructure, master plans and character,” he said on his Twitter handle today.
“What is good for Chandigarh should apply to Panchkula or in few years, this city will compete with Delhi, Gurugram and Bengaluru,” the former Chief, who is a resident of Panchkula, added
In September 2022, he had also written to the Haryana Chief Minister, Manohar Lal, pointing out that construction of residential buildings up to four floors that had been put on hold, had started again.
He had said that such construction was environmentally harmful, added to congestion due to narrow lanes, violated privacy and also put unbearable strain on water supply, sewerage and drainage. He has sought a permanent ban on such construction.
GS Paul
Amritsar, January 12
Akal Takht and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) have opposed an Army’s proposal to introduce ballistic helmets for Sikh soldiers, demanding that the move must be withdrawn.
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Akal Takht’s officiating Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh has termed it an “attack on the Sikh identity” and asked the Ministry of Defence, the Centre and the Army to reconsider the proposal as it was against the Sikh “rehat maryada” (tenets).
He claimed the British had also tried to introduce a similar proposal during the World War II, but then Sikh soldiers had rejected it.
“Wearing a cap or a helmet is strictly prohibited in the Sikh ‘maryada’. Turban is not just a piece of cloth, but a crown placed on the heads of the Sikhs by the Guru Sahib. It is a symbol of our identity. Replacing it with a helmet will be seen as an attempt to tarnish the Sikh identity. This cannot be tolerated at any cost,” he said.https://05e11f756fb3bb3b21da320e40ddf8ce.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
The Army has the Sikh regiment and Sikh light infantry. Besides, there are a substantial number of Sikh soldiers in the Punjab regiment and other infantry units.
The Ministry of Defence has invited a request for proposal (RFP) for 12,730 ballistic helmets for Sikh troops. Out of these, 8,911 should be of large size and 3,819 extra-large size.
The last date for submitting the bids is January 27.
Harjinder Singh Dhami, SGPC president, has written to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, demanding the withdrawal of the decision.
“Ordering a Sikh soldier to take off his turban and wear a helmet on the pretext that it presumably gives better protection to his head is ignorance of the Sikh’s psyche,” he said.
Chandigarh, January 13
Opposition Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab on Friday strongly opposed the reported move of induction of helmets for Sikh soldiers in the Army.
Senior Congress leader and former Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said that Sikhs bravely fought the 1962, 1965, 1971 wars and the Kargil battle, but no helmet issue arose then.
“We strongly condemn the move of induction of helmets for Sikh soldiers. A Sikh will never remove his turban for a helmet. Government should immediately withdraw its decision and the Prime Minister should apologise,” Randhawa told reporters here.
Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to personally intervene against implementation of the reported move to make helmets mandatory for Sikhs in the country’s armed forces.
Describing the move as “provocative and insensitive in the extreme”, Badal, in a statement, here said that it was not just unprecedented in history but also defied all logic as Sikh soldiers had always remained in the forefront of the country’s defence without ever feeling the need for such helmets in the past.
“If details emerging from various sources including newspaper reports are indeed true, then we are surprised that the Government has shown such callous disregard for the time honoured and established Sikh tenets, norms and practices on a matter of such critical emotional and religious sensitivity. It concerns ‘Sikh Maryada’ which no one has a right to tinker or trifle with,” said Badal in a letter to the Prime Minister.
He, however, hoped that the Prime Minister would look into the matter and order that necessary action be taken to stop any proposal in this regard.
“Not even the British had forced such a decision on the Sikh soldiers. Sikhs are fiercely patriotic people and have led from the front in 1948, 1962, 1965 and 1971 wars as also in all other military operations, including Kargil.
“Why this sudden development when no Sikh had ever felt the need for such a protection?” asked Badal, adding that he still hoped that the reports in this regard are not true.
In his letter to the Prime Minister, Badal also drew Modi’s attention to the serious concern expressed by Jathedar of Akal Takhat Harpreet Singh over the reported move of the Ministry of Defence in this regard.
According to a statement by Shiromani Akali Dal, Badal was referring to reports in a section of the press which said that the ministry of Defence had already placed orders for bulk purchase of these so-called “specially designed helmets” for the Sikh soldiers.
He said that the Sikh tenets forbade the wearing of any covering material over their turbans and in all combat operations, including the two World Wars, the Sikhs have neither asked for nor been forced to wear any such headgear over their turbans.” Akal Takht Jathedar, Giani Harpreet Singh had also criticised the reported move, saying that it is an attack on the identity of Sikhs.
Ravi Dhaliwal
Gurdaspur, January 13
Hundreds of farmers having their agriculture land across the barbed fencing along the International Border (IB) are likely to benefit in a big way if the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) goes ahead with its “proposed decision” to shift the fencing to within 200 metres of the zero line.
A proposal to this effect has been prepared by the BSF and would be soon forwarded to the MHA.
Thousands of acres of highly fertile land, which is sandwiched between the fencing and the zero line, will be freed from what farmers’ term /
as “encumbrances”.
“Once the notification is issued, the land acquisition process which is to be initiated by the Punjab Government will commence. The construction will be done by the CPWD,” said Gurdaspur Sector DIG Prabhakar Joshi.
At present, farmers have to go through the rigmarole of obtaining permits from the BSF, which in itself is a “tedious process”. Also, they cannot till their land during the night. To complicate matters, the BSF does not give them permission to sow sugarcane crop in this cane-rich area of Gurdaspur. The rates of land would also see an increase.
Jagdeep Singh Teja, a farmer whose land is near Thakurpur village, a stone’s throw away from the fencing, “We have been waiting for this to happen for the past several decades. We are stranded in no-man’s land. We will not require the mandatory permissions from the BSF to visit our own fields,” he said.
Officers said they need not worry about Pakistan seeing this as a provocative act as they would not be going beyond the zero line.
India had fenced 461-km long Punjab’s border with Pakistan from 1988 to 1993. This was done to stop militants and illegal immigrants from sneaking into Indian territory.
Sources said the new fencing may be in place by the middle of this year.
Srinagar, January 13
Authorities on Friday issued an avalanche warning for 10 districts which have witnessed moderate to heavy snowfall over the past 48 hours. The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) issued a ‘high danger’ avalanche warning for Bandipora and Kupwara districts of North Kashmir and a ‘medium danger’ warning for Baramulla and Ganderbal districts.
Officials said avalanches with low danger level are likely to occur in Anantnag, Doda, Kishtwar, Kulgam, Poonch and Ramban. People living in these areas are advised to take precautions and avoid avalanche-prone areas, the officials said. On Thursday, two labourers from Kishtwar had died when an avalanche hit a construction site in Sonmarg of Ganderbal district.
