Monthly Archives: August 2018

Elections Results
Appt – Aces——–Team-X
VC 525 – 463
F 560 -476
H 522 -471
E 524 – 474
B 532 -464
C 555 -462
ACES won

Congratulations to Aces from Team-X

NEVER SEEN SUCH LARGE NUMBER OF VOTERS AND DETERMINED TO VOTE WHILE STANDING FOR HOURS IN HEAT : IN QUE. AND ALL ROADS LEADING TO DSOI WERE JAM PACKED WITH CAR PARKING

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 23

Over 36 years after the CBI registered a case, a special court in Lucknow has sentenced eight persons, including two retired Lt Colonels and a Major, to three-year imprisonment in a Rs 3.82-crore scam related to local purchases made at inflated rates for the Military Engineer Services (MES), officials said today.

36-year-old case

The CBI lodged an FIR in Sept 1986 in a Rs 3.82 crore scam related to local purchases made at inflated rates for the MES in Allahabad

The CBI said Lt Col Satya Pal Sharma (retd), then posted as Commander Works Engineer (CWE), MES, Allahabad (Colonel Administration, Command Station, Srinagar) was sentenced by the special court recently. The others sentenced along with him are YK Uppal, then Garrison Engineer (West); KS Saini (Lt Colonel), then Garrison Engineer (West); Virendra Kumar Jain, then Garrison Engineer (East); and SS Thakkar (Major), then Garrison Engineer (Air Force), Bamrauli, all posted in Allahabad (now Prayagraj), the agency said in a statement. The court also sentenced Ashok Kumar Deora, Anil Kumar Deora and Pawan Kumar Deora, all proprietors and partners of different fictitious firms. The CBI had registered the case on September 25, 1986, on the allegations of huge local purchases made at exorbitant rates between November 1983 and November 1985 in violation of norms.

“The amount may look small in today’s terms, but it was a huge figure when the scam transpired,” a senior CBI official said. The agency had filed its chargesheet on December 19, 1990. The Allahabad High Court stayed the proceedings in 2002, which was vacated after 17 years in 2019 and the trial began, the officials said.

Ajay Banerjee

INDIA-FRANCE military relations are at a defining cusp. From New Delhi’s perspective, it sees itself as a natural partner — if not a compulsion — of the West as a counterweight to China in the Indo-Pacific. From a French viewpoint, the European country aims to be a long-term technology partner — for years, it has been India’s second biggest military equipment supplier behind Russia.

For India, it’s time to build capabilities of absorbing new technology on aero-engines and submarines.

Never before has France agreed to transfer cutting-edge technology. The offer has come within weeks of an Indo-US agreement on cutting-edge jet engine technology from General Electric. The Germans, in June, inked an MoU with Mazagon Dockyard Limited (MDL) to collectively bid on the next generation stealth submarines.

The Narendra Modi-Emmanuel Macron bilateral meeting in Paris on July 14 promised to redefine technology ties. In all, five notable projects have emerged from the meet. The fineprint on co-development agreements will be a test of diplomacy, setting benchmarks for India-France strategic ties. On ground, it will gauge the abilities of the Indian private and public sectors to be partners on such new technologies.

Prime Minister Modi, in his opening statement ahead of the bilateral, laid down a path: “We are looking at new technology for co-development and co-production. Be it submarines or naval jets, we want to make for our two countries and also for our friends.”

Sounds like adoption of a BrahMos-style joint venture (JV) between India and Russia. However, it would be naïve to compare the India-France partnership with the Cold-War (1945-1991) era strategic ties.

Tech transfer for existing engines

A contract has concluded between Safran and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the transfer of technology of ‘forging and castings’ for the Shakti Engine — it powers all variants of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) post 2009. The engine is being made under a joint venture; the 500th engine was delivered in February this year, but HAL is yet to lay its hands on core technologies.

Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (retd), a former helicopter pilot, explains: “Aero-engine design demands finesse in forging and casting, catering to extreme tolerance while operating at high temperatures. Metallurgical science comes in here.”

For now, the HAL’s responsibilities in the JV are peripheral. These include rotor dynamic analysis, casing design, static parts’ stress analysis, height monitoring unit design and electrical harness system. Additionally, it has developed and manufactured oil cooling system, oil pump, filter unit assembly pipelines and brackets.

AVM Bahadur, a former Additional Director General of the IAF-backed think tank Centre for Air Power Studies (CAPS), adds that HAL has been making engines for Chetak/Cheetah copters and ALH helicopters under licence from Turbomeca and later Safran. “That we have not been able to make an engine ourselves in the past five decades of this tie-up shows a lack of design and metallurgical abilities.”

An aero-engine demands varying speed and operations at altitude while being maintenance-free for longer periods, says AVM Bahadur.

Submarines to shore up undersea power

Mazagon Dockyard Ltd (MDL) and Naval Group of France signed an MoU for construction of three additional Scorpene-class submarines, with greater indigenous content. Named ‘Kalvari class’ in India, six such vessels have already been made, and the last one is set to be commissioned early next year.

Pierre Eric Pommellet, the CEO of Naval Group, was quoted in the media promising 60 per cent indigenous content, including high-level technologies like combat systems and air independent propulsion (AIP).

The first six Scorpenes have between 30 and 40 per cent local content.

Making three more subs is a stop-gap measure to shore up undersea abilities. As of now, India has 16 conventional and one nuclear submarine, much less than the envisaged plan drawn out in 1999 that spoke about having 24 conventional submarines by 2030. Barring the five Kalvari class submarines, rest of the 11 submarines are over 30 years old, running on an extended life cycle.

Commodore Anil Jai Singh (retd) says, “Additional Scorpenes will meet the immediate concerns of the Navy regarding its ageing submarine fleet.”

The additional subs will also come at a higher cost than the previous contract and greater indigenisation will add to costs, Commodore Singh, who has been a submariner, avers.

And it is not that construction of three subs will start off immediately. It will take some time for the commercial contract to conclude and it could be a few years before the first one sails out.

Rafale jets’ marine version

The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), the apex decision-making body of the Ministry of Defence, on July 13 cleared the necessity of 26 Rafale Marine aircraft along with associated ancillary equipment, weapons, simulator, spares, documentation, crew training and logistic support for the Indian Navy.

The price and other terms will be negotiated with the French Government. The estimated delivery of the first jet is a good five-six years away from now.

The Indian Navy at present uses Russian-origin MiG-29K jets, inducted in phases from late 2009 onwards. India has two operational carriers and is looking at a third. Each carrier needs 20 or more jets on board. The average life of a jet is about 25 years; the phase-out of the MiG-29K will start by 2035. The Rafale M and the under-development indigenous Twin-Engine Deck-Based Fighter (TEDBF) will form the frontline of air power at sea.

Former Deputy Chief of the Navy Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh (retd) says, “Serviceability issues and lack of spares (Russia-Ukraine conflict) mean the number of MiG-29K aircraft available for operational deployment is restricted, which impinges on the combat potential.”

Vice Admiral Singh cites the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General, which in 2016 said: “MiG-29K is riddled with problems relating to airframe, RD MK-33 engine and fly-by-wire system… deficiencies in the maritime fighter have compromised its battle-readiness.”

“The TEDBF induction timelines are likely to match the phase-out of MiG-29K,” the Admiral adds. The TEDBF will draw on existing programmes of the Light Combat Aircraft Mark 2 and the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA).

Engine for bigger copter

India is looking to make a 13-tonne Indian Multi-Role Helicopter (IMRH). It’s expected to replace the Russian Mi-17 copters in the Indian Air Force fleet.

The copter needs a new powerful engine. HAL and Safran have concluded a ‘shareholders’ agreement’ for development of the new engine.

AVM Bahadur says, “HAL will gain only if Safran shares all information and processes; only then it’s a true strategic partnership.” The fineprint of the IMRH engine contract — when it’s signed — will reveal what HAL is getting, he adds.

An official who did not wish to be named said HAL will participate in the design, development and production of the core engine components. The IMRH is expected to be launched in 2027.

HAL has carried out a preliminary design review and is looking at a new business model of public-private partnership.

Roadmap for jet engines

Jet engines are considered the epitome of aviation technology. Safran and DRDO are drawing up a roadmap for the project, which is expected to be ready before the end of this year. The engine, a 110 kilo newton power plant, is expected to roll out some 10 years down the line.

The Safran offer is for an engine to power the 6th generation AMCA Mark 2. This will be a new engine with a supply chain and manufacturing at an Indian location and will include a gas turbine technology centre. The US-origin General Electric F414 engine is for immediate needs. GE and HAL last month announced an MoU to produce engines for fighter jets. The announcement had come during Prime Minister Modi’s state visit to the United States.

Long association

• India, a natural democratic ally of the West, can reap the benefits by absorbing the technology on offer.
• Levels of co-development and co-production will set new benchmarks.
• Historically, it was in 1953 that France first supplied an aircraft, the Ouragan.
• The Naval plane ‘Alize’ followed in 1961.
• Mirage 2000 jets in 1980s and Rafale in 2019 continued the sequence.
• Scorpene submarines followed.
• MBDA missiles are used on multiple IAF platforms.

New Delhi, July 23

The Navy has come up with projects to enable smooth communication at sea. All warships will be connected through an upgraded India-made “software-defined radio”. A new combat management system is ready, and lastly, an unmanned boat will go for trials from Mumbai to Goa at the end of the monsoon season.

The Weapons and Electronic Systems Engineering Establishment (WESEE) — an organisation that will complete 45 years of formation on July 26 — is tasked with the projects.

The unmanned boat, once tested, will carry sensors and surveillance equipment. The trials were planned in June but had to be put off due to heavy rains.

The combat management system (CMS) serves as the nerve centre of warships. It integrates all sensors, radars and electronic warfare suite with weapons on board. Navy warships, including aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, have an indigenous CMS. The WESEE has come up with an upgraded CMS which will be functional in all warships to be commissioned between 2024 and 2029.

Sankar Sen

VIP security duty is one of the most challenging jobs in the police force. Some VIPs are paranoid about their safety and overlook the revulsion their cavalcade causes in the public mind. They forget that those in charge of their protection should be treated with civility and consideration. Then there are those who recklessly expose themselves to security risks and force the personnel accompanying them to deviate from the stipulated protocol.

During my long career in the police, I had to face such piquant situations at times. One such incident remains vivid in my mind. I was then posted as the Range DIG at Rourkela in Orissa. The President of India visited Rourkela to attend a function at the local steel plant. The then Union Commerce Minister Pranab Mukherjee arrived as the minister-in-waiting. There was a congregation of VIPs, including the Chief Minister, JB Patnaik. Hordes of bureaucrats and plant officers had gathered. Confusion prevailed all round.

The Government of India has laid down elaborate instructions to be followed during the visits of the Prime Minister and the President. These are encapsulated in a document known as the Blue Book. Going by the book, an elaborate security drill after the President’s arrival at the Rourkela airstrip had been worked out and thoroughly rehearsed. At the airstrip, people had gathered to welcome the VIP. They raised slogans and waved banners. When he alighted from the aircraft, the President was thrilled by the enthusiastic response. All of a sudden, he asked the driver to take his car near the crowd. The driver was flummoxed and did not know what to do. I was travelling with the President and respectfully pointed out that the car route may not be changed abruptly. Taking exception to my intervention, he cut me short and brusquely told me not to stand between him and the cheering crowd. He lost sight of the fact that the security drills and instructions had been meticulously worked out to safeguard the VIPs. In view of his insistence, I had no option but to remain silent. Fortunately, the visit passed off peacefully.

In my report to the state police headquarters, I highlighted the security problems caused by the VIP’s stubbornness and mentioned the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria at Sarajevo (June 28, 1914) — the spark that had ignited World War I. There had been a sudden change in the car route and the vehicle had been halted at a wrong place, which gave an opportunity to terrorists to open fire and kill the Archduke and his consort.

One does not know when the mindset of VIPs is going to change. Ironically, the mercurial ones compromise their own security sometimes and make the work of the police and the security staff more difficult and irksome.

Aman Sood

Patiala, July 23

Despite losses worth hundreds of crores due to floods, the Punjab Government is yet to declare the state as “flood-hit” and move a case for financial assistance to the flood-affected villagers and urban residents.

The Haryana Government has already declared 12 districts as flood-hit and also announced Rs 15,000 per acre for completely flood-damaged crops. But Punjab is still waiting for “assessment reports from the fields” before the state is declared flood-hit officially. On July 19, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister, Dushyant Chautala, who also holds the portfolio of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department, said 1,354 places have been flooded in 12 districts of the state.

Though the rescue work continues in various districts of the state on war-footing, the government is awaiting assessment reports from the fields. Senior officials in the Irrigation Department claimed that they were facing “financial constraints” to plug breaches and allotting fresh tenders as the state was not yet flooded officially.

Punjab BJP chief Sunil Jakhar has hit out at Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann over the flood situation in the state, accusing him of not utilising Rs 218 crore funds released by the Centre for relief measures and also not declaring floods in the state.

Questioning the delay in declaring compensation for the affected residents, Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa said in many flood-hit villages, farmers had sown paddy again and getting compensation would be tougher for them.

Will compensate every affected person

There is no delay and we will declare it flood-hit in a few days once complete report from urban and rural belts are received. We will compensate every affected resident in the state and demand for a relief package. — Bram Shankar Jimpa, rehabilitation and disaster management minister

No need to declare it flood-hit

As per guidelines, we have started with restoration and rescue work in the state and assessment of crops and infrastructure damage is being shared with the Centre. There is no need for declaring state as flood-hit. — KAP Sinha, additional chief secretary, rehabilitation and disaster management

Russia struck the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odesa again on Sunday, keeping up a barrage of attacks that has damaged critical port infrastructure in southern Ukraine in the past week.

At least one person was killed and 22 others wounded in the attack in the early hours, officials said.

Regional Gov. Oleh Kiper said four children were among those wounded in the blasts, which severely damaged 25 landmarks across the city, including the historic Transfiguration Cathedral.

After the fires were put out, volunteers donned hard hats, shovels and brooms at the Orthodox cathedral to begin removing rubble, combing through to salvage any artifacts — under the watchful gaze of the saints whose paintings remained intact.

Local officials said the icon of the patroness of the city was retrieved from under the rubble.

“The destruction is enormous, half of the cathedral is now roofless,” said Archdeacon Andrii Palchuk, as cathedral workers brought documents and valuables out of the building, its floor inundated with water used by firefighters to extinguish the blaze.

Palchuk said the damage was caused by a direct hit from a Russian missile that penetrated the building down to the basement. Two people inside at the time of the strike were wounded.

“But with God’s help, we will restore it,” he said, bursting into tears.

A woman who came to help with the cleanup said she loved the cathedral “for its tranquility and grace.” “When you enter this church, you feel like you’re beyond the world,” said Liudmyla, who gave only her first name. “I have a feeling that God, to protect apartments, took this pain, this explosion upon himself.”  Anna Fetchenko, who came to Odesa for a volunteer meeting, also pitched in to clear the debris. “I wanted to go to the seaside, but last night was so frightening that I cried for the first time in 2023,” she said.

“This is our Ukrainian heritage, and now it’s taken away from us.” Later Sunday, Palchuk urged people to gather in front of the destroyed part of the cathedral for an outdoor service and to pray in front of a sacred icon that “miraculously survived.”  “We will pray that it protects us from the Russians,” he said.

The cathedral belongs to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has been accused of links to Russia. The church has insisted that it’s loyal to Ukraine, has denounced the Russian invasion from the start and even declared its independence from Moscow.

But Ukrainian security agencies have claimed that some in the Ukrainian church have maintained close ties with Moscow. They’ve raided numerous church holy sites and later posted photos of rubles, Russian passports and leaflets with messages from the Moscow patriarch as proof that some church officials have been loyal to Russia.

Odesa’s historic center was designated an endangered World Heritage Site by UNESCO earlier this year despite Russian opposition.

Kiper said that six residential buildings were destroyed by the strikes.

Some people became trapped in their apartments following the attack, which left rubble strewn in the street and partly blocking the road.

Svitlana Molcharova, 85, was rescued by emergency workers. But after she received first aid, she refused to leave her destroyed apartment.

“I will stay here,” she said to the worker who advised her to leave.

“I woke up when the ceiling started to fall on me. I rushed into the corridor,” said Ivan Kovalenko, a 19-year-old resident of the building. “That’s how I lost my home in Mykolaiv, and here, I lost my rented apartment.” His unit revealed a partially collapsed ceiling and a balcony that came off the side of the building. All the windows were blown out.

Ukraine’s air force reported on the Telegram messaging app that Russia had launched 19 missiles in the Odesa region, including five high-precision winged Onyx missiles and four sea-to-shore Kalibr cruise missiles. It said that Ukrainian air defenses shot down nine Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday its forces attacked sites in Odesa “where terrorist acts against the Russian Federation were being prepared.” In a later statement, the ministry denied that its attacks struck the Transfiguration Cathedral, claiming the destruction of the cathedral was likely due to “the fall of a Ukrainian anti-aircraft guided missile.” Russia has been launching persistent attacks on Odesa, a key hub for exporting grain, since Moscow canceled a landmark grain deal on Monday amid Kyiv’s grinding efforts to retake its occupied territories.

Earlier Russian attacks this week crippled significant parts of export facilities in Odesa and nearby Chornomorsk and destroyed 60,000 tons of grain, according to Ukraine’s Agriculture Ministry.

The attacks come days after President Vladimir Putin pulled Russia out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a wartime deal that enabled Ukraine’s exports to reach many countries facing the threat of hunger.

Putin vowed to retaliate against Kyiv for an attack Monday on the crucial Kerch Bridge linking Russia with the Crimean Peninsula, which the Kremlin illegally annexed in 2014.

In other developments:

Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko were meeting on Sunday in St. Petersburg, two days after Moscow warned Poland that any aggression against its neighbor and ally would be considered an attack on Russia.

Putin announced at the start of the meeting that talks would also take place Monday, and declared that Kyiv’s counteroffensive had failed.

Lukashenko said Wagner troops, who launched joint drills with the Belarusian military on Thursday, almost a month after their short-lived rebellion against Moscow, wanted to go west “on an excursion to Warsaw, to Rzeszow” in Poland, but that Belarus would not allow the mercenary force to relocate.

“I am keeping them in central Belarus, like we agreed. … We are controlling what is happening” with Wagner, he said.

Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov reported Sunday morning that two people were killed in Russian strikes on the northeastern province Saturday, when Russia attacked populated areas of the Kharkiv, Chuhuiv, Kupiansk and Izium districts.

Donetsk regional Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said four residents of the eastern region were killed and 11 wounded in attacks the previous day. AP

C Uday Bhaskar

Director, Society for Policy Studies

INDIA is in a state of shock and disbelief over a video clip which shows two women being paraded naked and molested by their tormentors in Manipur.

The women were later gangraped and their two male relatives killed by a group of men in a barbaric display of tribal hostilities. The gory incident occurred on May 4 in the early phase of the ethno-religious violence that rocked the state, and it has now scorched the collective consciousness of the country.

Predictably, reports of similar cases of rape and murder have surfaced and it is likely that other horrific acts of killing and mutilation will emerge from the destruction and depravity that have engulfed Manipur.

Women being subjected to sexual violence during conflicts and wars has a hoary past. While this deplorable practice deserves condemnation and cannot be condoned in any manner by a modern democratic state, sadly, it still occurs in contemporary conflicts. Post-Cold War regional conflicts and recent local wars in Africa are illustrative.

In the Indian context, the 2012 Nirbhaya episode jolted the nation’s conscience for the extreme brutalisation of the hapless victim, but it was seen as an isolated case of diabolical criminality. However, the Manipur case will remain different for the impunity with which the two women were stripped naked by a mob and forced to walk, with men groping them — and all of this being recorded on camera.

One of the victims of the May 4 atrocity has revealed, “The police were there with the mob which was attacking our village. The police picked us up from near home, and took us a little away from the village and left us on the road with the mob. We were given to them by the police.” Alas, state complicity is an ugly reality and a distinctive characteristic of the Manipur horror.

This dastardly act is an unforgivable and shameful reflection on the institutional credibility of state and Central agencies, as also the media — for 76 days, this horrific act of degrading the bodies of women (to instil fear in the minority community) was either ignored or kept under wraps.

Prime Minister Modi’s belated statement before the start of the Monsoon Session of Parliament — “This incident is a shameful act for any civilised society… What has happened to the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven” — will not be enough to end the trauma that the victims and their families are undergoing.

It has since been reported that the husband of one of the humiliated women is an Army veteran who took part in the 1999 Kargil war and had served as a JCO (junior commissioned officer) in the Assam regiment. His remarks to a TV channel are heart-rending: “I fought for the nation in the Kargil war and was also in Sri Lanka as part of the Indian Peace-Keeping Force. I protected the nation but am dejected that after my retirement, I could not protect my home, my wife and fellow villagers. I am sad, depressed.”

The violence in Manipur began in early May and while the trigger was a hasty High Court order that pitted the majority Meitei community against the others, there is no denying the exacerbation of old fault-lines and fissures among the tribes and other groups by the prevailing socio-political churn in India that has prioritised the majority demography/religion over vulnerable minorities.

The polarisation between the local communities in Manipur has reached disturbing levels and the fact that police personnel are now deployed according to their ethnic/tribal identities is indicative of the state of affairs. And what points to institutional complicity is the manner in which the local police have become complicit in the spiralling violence.

The state, which is expected to ensure citizens’ security without making any distinction on the basis of identity, has become suspect in Manipur, and the larger national trend with respect to women’s safety is a cause for deep dismay. The kid-glove treatment by the Delhi Police of accused BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in the wrestlers’ sexual harassment case and the generous parole given to a rape convict (Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh) make a mockery of the much-touted ‘beti bachao’ slogan of the Modi government.

In an unusual but welcome development, the Supreme Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the May 4 Manipur crime and told the government to act, “otherwise, we will take action if nothing is happening on the ground.”

The current state leadership in Imphal has lost its ability and credibility to ‘act’ and restore stability in Manipur in a non-partisan manner. Hence, other options of governance will have to be explored. In such an exigency, the Army would have to be inducted to restore law and order and the recovery of arms and ammunition looted by local groups from the police armoury would have to be accorded the highest priority. The old adage — ‘remove the guns’ to stop the fighting — holds true in the current atmosphere of discord and bloodshed.

The Army, which has considerable experience in managing the troubled areas of the North-East, will now be dealing with a different Manipur, which is burdened by its trauma and venal institutional transgressions. Maintaining its much-respected professional credibility and constitutional fidelity will be an onerous challenge for the Indian fauj — the last-resort institution in the national quiver.