Monthly Archives: August 2018

PTI

Drass (Ladakh), August 6

Goa’s Sarita Chavan, who turned to cooking to make ends meet after her husband’s death, is the chef behind the delicious meals served on Kargil Vijay Diwas, a service she offers for free to pay homage to the martyrs.

Chavan travelled from Goa to Drass with her eight-member team for the annual event in remembrance of the martyrs at the war memorial.

From pastries and pan pizzas to Dalgona coffee for breakfast and a lavish north Indian spread for lunch with phirni as the sweet dish, Chavan cooked for over 1,000 people who attended the various events to mark the occasion on July 26.

However, the journey hasn’t been an easy ride, she said.

“I came to Goa in 1980 after my marriage. I started reading cookbooks as my husband would motivate me to cook until I could perfect the dish. In 1994, after my husband quit his job and was later bedridden due to illness, I was forced to take up cooking to earn for the family,” Chavan told PTI.

However, she didn’t start cooking from the outset and sold readymade masala paste door-to-door in Margao, Panjim and Vasco.

“A few years later, when my husband passed away, I began preparing tiffins for neighbours. Soon, my tiffin meals rose in popularity and I started getting bulk orders from companies for packed lunches for their employees and, later, for catering at big events,” she added.

However, the lack of a professional degree was an impediment for Chavan’s confidence to dream big.

“It hasn’t been easy. I always had this apprehension whenever I wanted to expand that I don’t have a professional degree, why would someone hire me? When I visited Kargil for a personal trip, I went to the war memorial and that is when the idea struck me. I reached out to Army officials to give me a chance to cook for the guests on Vijay Diwas,” she said.

Chavan added, “Initially, they weren’t sure. So they asked me to cook for some small events. When I successfully executed those, I got a chance to cook for the main day last year and I plan to continue it every year,” she added.

While Chavan was offered payment for her services, she refused to accept it, saying it would be huge disservice to the soldiers who laid down their lives during the war.

“I was offered to at least cover the travel costs for the team from Goa to Kargil, I said no. It will be a huge disservice to our martyrs. Their families come here every year and they still break down. The least I can do is provide them some comfort with a good meal,” she added.

On July 26, 1999, the Indian Army announced the successful culmination of Operation Vijay — a fierce counter-assault launched to push back Pakistani forces — declaring victory after a nearly three-month battle at the icy heights of Kargil, including locations such as Tololing and Tiger Hill.

The war saw the Indian Armed Forces fight in the most challenging terrains amid harsh weather conditions in the Drass, Kargil and the Batalik sectors. Kargil Vijay Diwas marks India’s victory over Pakistan.

Tribune News Service

Mohali, August 6

Led by a large number of women, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta-Ugrahan) today took out a rally to protest against the deteriorating law and order situation in Manipur and the crime against women in the past four months.

The protesters, mainly women, from 20 districts of Punjab gathered at the Amb Sahib gurdwara and staged a march towards the Punjab Governor’s house in Chandigarh. They were stopped near the Burail jail where they submitted a memorandum to the ADC to the Governor.

“Strict punishment should be awarded to the culprits who mobilised mobs to devastate the markets, assaulted women, indulged in arson, looting and desecration of religious places. The Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2023, should be withdrawn,” the protesters demanded.

Union president Joginder Singh Ugrahan condemned the Chief Minister Biren Singh-led government and the silence adopted by the Central government towards such inhuman acts. The protesters began gathering in the town around 12 noon and took out a rally till 3 pm.

Heavy police force led by senior police officials from Mohali were deputed to maintain law and order situation in the area.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 7

In separate incidents, the Border Security Force (BSF) shot down two Pakistani drone near the international border in the Amritsar and Tarn Taran Sectors on Sunday night. Both the downed drones were recovered by a joint BSF – Punjab Police team on Monday morning.

On August 6, at about 10 PM, BSF troops deployed at the border, heard the buzzing sound of a drone entering Indian territory from Pakistan near Rattan Khurd village, a BSF officer said.

As per the laid down drill, troops acted to intercept the drone by shooting at it, he added.

On the morning of August 7, a joint search operation with Punjab Police was carried out, during which a hexacopter along with a damaged battery was found from the fields near  the village.

In the second incident, BSF troops heard the sound of a drone near Rajoke village in Tarn Taran district at about 3.30 AM and fired at it.

The drone, a Quadcopter DJI Matric RTK- 300, was recovered by a joint team from the fields adjacent to the village.

Had been tasked by Pak’s ISI with revival of terrorism in Jammu region

Arjun Sharma

Jammu, August 7

Hizbul Mujahideen’s divisional commander Muneer Hussain was gunned down during an infiltration attempt in Poonch on Monday. Another terrorist sustained a bullet injury but managed to sneak into the forest area close to the Line of Control, taking advantage of the thick foliage, rain and rocky outcrop, the Army said. Hussain, whose body has been retrieved, was tasked by the Pakistan’s ISI with reviving terrorism in Rajouri and Poonch, officials said.

Dreaded terrorist

• Hizbul commander Muneer Hussain of Poonch went to Pak-occupied Jammu & Kashmir in 1993 for arms training.
• He returned in 1996 and again went to PoJK in 1998. He orchestrated several attacks on security men.
• An AK-56 rifle with magazine, a 9-mm pistol with nine rounds, two hand grenades and medicines were found during a search operation.

The incident took place near the Pintu nullah in Degwar Terwan area of Poonch along the LoC at around 2 am. The Army and the police, who had kept an eye on the terrorists through night vision devices, opened fire at the intruders when they came close to the LoC fence. A search operation was carried out in which an AK 56 rifle, a 9-mm pistol with silencer, a magazine of AK-56, 10 rounds of 7.62 mm, nine rounds of 9 mm, two hand grenades, eatables and medicines were found.

A resident of Poonch, Muneer had gone to Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) in 1993 for arms training when terrorism was at its peak in J&K. He returned to Poonch in 1996 and again went to PoJK in 1998 where he had been staying. “He has masterminded a number of attacks on security forces. As per the police records, he had two wives and children in Surankote, Poonch,” said Lt Col Suneel Bartwal, PRO, Defence, Jammu.

Muneer was a close associate of terrorist Maulana Dawood Kashmir, said to be a close associate of Hizbul chief Syed Salauddin.

The Army informed that recently a high-level meeting of the Hizbul Mujahideen outfit took place in Islamabad which was attended by Muneer. The agenda of the meeting was revival of the terror outfit’s activities in Rajouri and Poonch. ISI officials and representatives of Pakistan army were also present in the meeting.

“Hussain had been told to revive terrorism in the region,” a senior Army official informed.

Muneer is the most dreaded terrorist killed in the last 10 years in Rajouri and Poonch.

“It is evident that Pakistan has been trying to send terror veterans to J&K to motivate and recruit youth, thus making desperate attempts to revive terrorism,” said the Defence PRO.

Meanwhile, the search operation continued for the second terrorist in Rajouri’s Khawas area where a militant was shot dead on Saturday.

Allow use of disaster fund to pay relief: State

Tribune News Service

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, August 7

The Punjab Government has sought the Centre’s intervention for allowing the use of disaster relief funds to compensate farmers whose transplanted paddy saplings were destroyed in the flashfloods last month.

The schedule

• The seven-member team will visit villages along the Ghaggar in Mohali, Patiala and Sangrur on Tuesday
• On Wednesday, the team will visit villages in Ropar and Jalandhar along the Sutlej

Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has reportedly sent a demi-official letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Earlier, Chief Secretary Anurag Verma had written to the Government of India in this regard.

As the inter-ministerial team from the Centre is starting a three-day tour of flood-affected areas from Tuesday, the state government is pinning hopes on the team to accept its request to allow the payment to the farmers from the disaster relief fund.

While 75 per cent of the funds towards disaster relief are contributed by the Centre, the rest is given by the state government. However, the rules allow compensation for standing crop alone and not for damage to saplings. When the flashfloods hit the state in early July, the paddy saplings had just been transplanted. According to the state government’s own estimates, crops on 2.59 lakh acres were destroyed in the floods.

A seven-member team, to be headed by Ravinesh Kumar, Financial Adviser in the National Disaster Management Authority, Ministry of Home Affairs, will visit villages located along the Ghaggar in Mohali, Patiala and Sangrur on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the team will visit villages of Ropar and Jalandhar along the Sutlej.

Financial Commissioner, Revenue, KAP Sinha told The Tribune that during the debriefing session to be held with the central team on Thursday, the issue of damage to crops and compensation to be given, would be discussed.

Yeoman’s service by farmers

Even as farmers wait for the government to compensate them for the loss, many other farmers used a portion of their lands to immediately grow saplings of paddy to be distributed free of cost to those whose lands were submerged under water. One of them is Satnam Singh of Kila Bharrian village in Sangrur, who not just grew the paddy saplings, but also went about in his tractor trolley to distribute these to the affected farmers for transplantation on about 60 acres of land.

PTI

New York, August 7

A Sikh man is among two convenience store workers in the US being probed by the authorities for “assaulting” a suspected thief who tried to rob the shop, the video of which has gone viral.

The incident took place on July 29 at a 7-Eleven store in California’s Stockton city, according to news website cbsnews.com.

In the viral video, a masked man is seen emptying shelves of cigarettes and other products from the store’s shelves before two employees of the shop stepped in to stop him. The clip shows one of the employees pinning the alleged thief down, while the Sikh man beats him with a stick.

In an update on its Facebook page on Sunday, Stockton police said they are investigating the assault of the 7-Eleven robbery suspect by two workers.

“It has been brought to our attention that a video of two 7-Eleven employees assaulting a robbery suspect has been circulating. We are aware of the incident and the investigation is ongoing,” it said.

The suspected thief is believed to have robbed the store two other times within the same 24-hour period, online portal kcra.com reported, quoting Stockton police.

“The case has been assigned to our Investigations Bureau for follow-up interviews and evidence review. Once the investigations are complete the findings will be forwarded to the San Joaquin County District Attorney for review,” the police said in the Facebook update.  

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 7

Union Minister of State for IT and Electronics Rajeev Chandrashekhar on Monday drew parallels between the farmers’ agitation and Manipur violence, saying anti-India narrative, fanned by vested interests, was witnessed in both.

“When a group of people and vested interests get together and invest in platforms, these operate in remarkable coordination. They cross post, share each other’s content and share a remarkably common consistent goal — lies and hatred about the PM, about the government, fanning communal disharmony and incitement. We have seen this in Manipur recently, we had seen this in farmer agitation too,” Chandrashekhar said, referring to a US media report on how an American millionaire financed networks to push Chinese propaganda worldwide, including in India.

Plea alleges gender discrimination

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 7

The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Centre on a petition alleging gender discrimination and reservation for male candidates in selection for the posts of Judge Advocate General (JAG) in the Army.

Asking the Centre to respond to the petition filed by two women JAG aspirants in four weeks, a Bench said, “Considering the nature of the interim relief, we deem it appropriate to order to keep aside two of the notified vacancies, until the returnable date.”

The petitioners have challenged the January 18, 2023, notification reserving six of nine JAG posts for male candidates on the ground that it denied equal opportunity to women aspirants. Senior counsel Gopal Sankaranarayanan pointed out that the two petitioners had secured fourth and fifth rank, respectively, but they were deprived of their entitlement for appointment.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 7

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar today expressed guarded optimism about resolving the border dispute with China but was resolute on the need to keep on improving the infrastructure on the northern borders.

Full solution with china yet to emerge

There were five-six areas that were very tense. There has been progress (there). Full solution has not emerged but talks are underway.

S Jaishankar, EAM

“There were five-six areas, including Pangong Tso, Galwan and Hot Springs, that were very tense. There has been progress (there). Full solution has not emerged but talks are underway. In diplomacy, it takes time, this is a complex issue,” the minister told newspersons as part of the government’s ministerial outreach programme.

“How much distance one has to go…to which side…it will be done according to the principle of mutual disengagement to take it forward,” he added.

The minister said there had been “good progress” and “talks are going on”. At the same time, he expressed the government’s intention to keep improving the border infrastructure in order to go head-to-head with opposing forces if the need arose.

Blaming the opposition Congress for neglecting the building of roads in border areas, he said: “It’s not the quality of how loudly you speak and what language you speak. It is what you have done on the ground. A government, a political party that is serious will actually deliver on border infrastructure.

Those who neglect border infrastructure cannot then claim they are serious.”

“The overall mobility of both the armed forces and the civilian population in the border areas has increased tremendously in the last few years because of the government’s focus on the rapid enhancement of infrastructure in the frontier areas. The capability is growing year after year,” he said.

Jaishankar said India could deploy its troops quickly in 2020 following the border row in eastern Ladakh because of the construction of roads, bridges and tunnels. “If the same thing had happened in 2014, we would have been at a huge disadvantage. They developed infrastructure and we did not match it,” he said.

The second major security challenge was on the Myanmar border with the Manipur violence having disrupted work on the trilateral highway from India to Thailand. The Arakan\ohingya civil disturbances have already affected India’s second major project in the North-east – operationalisation of Sittwe Port. “The operationalisation of Sittwe is a concern…..the trilateral highway (India-Myanmar-Thailand) is facing a big challenge today due to the law and order situation,” he said. The minister also went over recent initiatives, including plans to link Bhutan with rail connectivity, have petroleum pipeline and land bridge with Sri Lanka and pipeline and rail links with Nepal.

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, August 7

The Supreme Court on Monday appointed former Maharashtra DGP Dattatray Padsalgikar to oversee the probe into Manipur ethnic violence cases and report back to ensure the investigation was carried out properly.

Allows shifting of 11 abuse cases to CBI

• SC allows transfer of 11 cases of sexual violence to CBI
• 5 DSP/SP-rank officers from other states to ensure ‘objectivity’
• Officers will function within administrative setup of CBI

A three-judge Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud also appointed a “broad-based committee” of three retired women high court judges, led by former Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Justice Gita Mittal, to look into diverse aspects of humanitarian nature in the ethnic violence-hit state.

DIG-rank officers to supervise 42 SITs

• 42 SITs will look into cases not transferred to CBI, says SC
• Will be supervised by six DIG-rank officers from other states
• At least 1 inspector from other states to be part of each SIT

The committee — which will also include Justice Asha Menon, a former Delhi High Court judge, and former Bombay High Court judge Shalini Phansalkar Joshi — will look into relief, rehabilitation, remedial measures, restoration of homes and places of worship.

The directions were intended to “restore a sense of faith in the rule of law and build a sense of confidence”, it said.

Congress brass meets state leaders

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former chief Rahul Gandhi met party’s leaders, including ex-CM O Ibobi Singh, from Manipur and discussed the situation in the violence-hit state.

The Bench — which also included Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra — said a formal order would be released later.

While allowing the transfer of 11 cases of sexual violence to the CBI, the top court said it would depute five DSP/SP-rank officers from other states to ensure there is a sense of “faith” and “objectivity”. These officers will function within the administrative setup of the CBI, it added.

Regarding cases not transferred to the CBI, the top court said 42 special investigation teams (SITs) would look into these. The SITs would be supervised by six DIG-rank officers from other states to ensure the investigations were carried out properly.

As ordered, Manipur DGP Rajiv Singh appeared before the top court. In addition, the state Chief Secretary was also present during the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Bench.

At the outset, Attorney General R Venkataramani said: “The government is handling the situation on a very mature level… Today the position is still sensitive and any externally directed investigation doesn’t inspire confidence.” He suggested that sexual violence cases should be investigated by a team comprising only female officers.

Before indicating the broader points of its directions, the Bench heard senior counsels Indira Jaising, Colin Gonsalves, Manindar Singh and Ranjit Kumar; and advocates Vrinda Grover, Prashant Bhushan and Nizam Pasha on various aspects of the problem, including illegal immigration and poppy cultivation and last rites of bodies kept in Imphal hospitals.

A lawyer from Manipuri said: “Today, we are in the limelight for wrong reasons. For nearly 90 days nobody came out for us and when a video became viral, everybody was talking about it… Everybody was concentrating on one incident. I request this court to control what is going on in Manipur.”

Stating “we are all suffering”, he said people sitting in AC rooms in Delhi didn’t know the reality of the situation in Manipur. “I request all advocates to come to Manipur and stay there for a night… Then you will know ground reality.”