Ajay Banerjee
New Delhi, October 4
The creation of proposed defence theatre commands is back to the drawing board with fresh permutations and combinations being now studied by the Department of Military Affairs (DMA).
Sources said this includes the task of defining fresh geographical and operational limits of the proposed commands and a consensus on the rank of theatre commanders. A formula to integrate existing logistics, maintenance, training and supply lines of the three forces is also being worked out.
Training, logistics under consideration
The DMA, working under Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, and the three services had originally arrived at an understanding on having three theatre commands — one each for the northern and western fronts and third for maritime domain.
DMA seeks feedback
The Department of Military Affairs (DMA) has sought feedback from the govt on the structure
“This concept has been put on hold for now,” the sources told The Tribune. They said the services and the DMA have options of having more than three commands. “The previous formula of three theatre commands is not final. A new combination is under examination,” said an official. The DMA has sought a feedback from the government on what kind of structure would be acceptable, as this is seen as the single biggest change to the form and shape of the country’s war-fighting structure. The idea is to have a structure that is acceptable to the government and the services. Once the outline is made, the theatre commands can be allocated resources, assets and manpower.
Working on Formula
Previous 3-command formula not final. A new combination is being studied. — An official
A theatre commander is expected to control all war assets of a defined geographical area. At present, the Army, Indian Air Force and Navy have their separate war-fighting assets and strategies. One thing is certain within the top echelons of the government that the theatre commander will be a three-star officer, and not a four-star officer.
“It is logical to have three-star officers at the helm of theatre commands, else what will be the service chief’s role,” said an official, adding that the US concept of the chief just looking after recruitment, training and sustaining the forces might not work in India.
The services chiefs are likely to retain their operational control of the forces. A notification in December 2019 that created the post of CDS explicitly bars him from having any operational command over the military.
Also, once the theatre commands come up, the role of 17 regional commands of the three services will need to be defined. The big question is whether these will be subsumed within the theatre commands.
The CDS is to give a report to the Defence Minister recommending the structure of commands, ranks of commanders and crucially who will be in-charge operationally. “It will take some more time for the report,” said another official, adding that fresh inputs were being examined.
Originally, the CDS was to give the report to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh by August-end. The minister is then to initiate the decision-making process at political level.
Ajay Banerjee
New Delhi, October 4
Ten persons have died while 82 others, including 22 Army personnel, are missing after a midnight cloudburst led to a breach in the Lhonak lake in north Sikkim, triggering flashfloods in the Teesta river basin. One of the jawans who was washed away was rescued 14 hours later in the evening. His condition is stated to be stable. The local administration has recovered 10 bodies and the number is expected to rise. Three of the dead were washed up in north Bengal.
The floodwaters destroyed several kilometres of the vital Siliguri-Gangtok national highway (No. 10), while 40 Army vehicles were washed away. The road access to Nathu La, the pass on the India-China boundary located east of Gangtok, was snapped and more than six bridges on the highway were swept away. With hundreds of tourists stranded, IAF and Army helicopters were pressed into service to evacuate them but rain hampered the operations. A report of the state disaster management authority attributed the sudden flooding to the breaching of the Lhonak glacial lake in Mangan district of north Sikkim. This resulted in water levels rising with very high velocity downstream along the Teesta river basin in the early hours, reportedly causing heavy destruction in Mangan, Gangtok, Pakyong, and Namchi districts of the state.
Journal had Warned about threat in 2021
As the huge amount of water – from the cloudburst and the glacial lake — gushed down the Teetsa, a dam at Chungthang in Mangan district gave way, compounding the crisis. The downstream areas like Teesta bazaar were badly hit.
Dam gives way
Around 1 am, major flooding of the Teesta river was reported from Chungthang. Within 90 minutes, the floodwaters had caused serious destruction to public properties, infrastructure and the communication network.
As the Lhonak lake at an altitude of 17,000 feet breached its banks, the water levels rose 15 metres per second. The central water commission measuring site at Malli in south Sikkim at 6 am recorded the water level at 227 metres, which was about 3 metres above the danger mark. Army jawans were probably caught unawares, either they did not get the time to escape or were swept away in their sleep.
The National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) under the chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba ordered the evacuation of tourists and people near the Chungthang dam on priority.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has already deployed three teams, while additional teams are on standby in Guwahati and Patna.
Chandigarh, October 3
The Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, known as the cradle of military leadership, commemorated its 91th Raising Day on Tuesday with elan and traditional gaiety.
As part of the celebrations, various activities were organised which included a wreath laying ceremony at the IMA war memorial to pay homage to martyrs, felicitation of the civilian staff for their performance and a bara khana.
On the occasion, Lt Gen VK Mishra, Commandant IMA, conveyed his appreciation to the academy fraternity for their dedication and contribution towards transforming the academy into a world class military institution.
He said that the IMA had rendered outstanding service to the nation by nurturing and churning out well trained and professionally capable officers. He urged the service and civilian employees to work with the same zeal and synergy to bring even greater laurels to the Academy.
The IMA came into existence on October 1, 1932 and in the last 90 years, the academy has raised its training capacity from 40 gentlemen cadets to 1,650. Till date, 64,862 cadets have passed out from the portals of the Academy as officers, including 2,885 cadets from 34 friendly foreign countries.
The IMA has a rich history and its alumni have excelled in all spheres of military and sports activities. They have etched stories of heroic valour and outstanding leadership in numerous battlefields, winning many gallantry awards. As many as 889 alumni have made the supreme sacrifice.
On this special day, all members of the staff, gentlemen cadets, service and civilian employees rededicated themselves to uphold the glorious legacy of this institution imbibed in its motto,‘Veerta aur Vivek’.
New Delhi, September 24
The Army has decided that its annual parade will be conducted in Lucknow in January 2024.
Lucknow is the headquarters of the Army’s Central Command that has been tasked with, among other areas, strengthening its position along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
In January this year, the parade was conducted in Bengaluru, making it the first such Army Day Parade outside the Capital. A decision has been made to rotate the Army Day Parade venue across different cities in India.
After the Bengaluru event, the Army has planned to ensure that each of its six operational commands gets a chance to host the parade. The idea is to conduct the event in selected venues within all commands, on a rotational basis. The last event was conducted in the Southern Command area.
The objective of this landmark decision is to diversify the locations and allow various regions to witness the grandeur of the event, said an official.
The rotation is not just about changing cities but about shifting the spotlight to various commands, each of which plays a unique and critical role in the nation’s defence. This also offers a chance to highlight the distinct cultural and regional backdrops against which our Army operates, the official said. — TNS
Was organised in Bengaluru this year
Rohit Mahajan in Hangzhou
Truly a night of matchless weirdness and madness, but it ended with a sense of normalcy — Neeraj Chopra had the gold medal on his chest, and all was well with the world, which seemed to have gone mad an hour previously.
Jena’s Silver feat
88.88, 80: These numbers stood out for India on a crazy night — the organisers failed to figure out how far Chopra had thrown the javelin in his first attempt! The Asian Games have been a stage for China to display its breathtaking technological advancements — failure to measure the distance between two points less than 90m apart, thus, simply boggles the mind.
Archers strike gold
Archers Ojas Deotale and Jyothi Surekha Vennam win India’s maiden gold in compound mixed team event
Chopra, thus, was forced to throw the javelin seven times instead of the customary six; more weirdness ensued when Kishore Jena, who practically worships Chopra, led the field after three throws — with a best of 86.77 metres to Chopra’s 84.49m.
That, said Chopra later, fired him. “That throw by Jena warmed me up, because I was feeling a bit down after the first attempt, which was ruled out… So, thank you Jena bhai!” Chopra, whose fourth throw secured gold at 88.88m, said later.
Lightning speed
The Indian men’s 4x400m relay team wins the gold medal for the first time after 61 years
Also on Wednesday, India breached the 80-medal mark for the first time in the Asian Games; the number now stands at 81, an all-time record, 11 more than the mark of 70 achieved five years ago in Jakarta. With several more medals assured — including at least silver in hockey and cricket — 90 seems a real possibility.
Chopra’s first throw of the evening was big — it comfortably sailed over line that marks 85m on the field. But then came a period of drama caused by rare ineptness — before Chopra’s mark could be measured, another athlete was allowed to throw! The marks where their javelins landed were mixed up, apparently — which is weird, because Chopra’s throw was massive, and no one in the field could have come anywhere close.
Chopra argued and argued, but his mark was lost. “They didn’t measure it properly. The next athlete threw quickly after me, and then they lost the mark,” Chopra said later.
“For a while they kept searching… I knew it was a good throw… and I protested, but it was breezy and other athletes were in danger of their bodies getting cold, so it was unfair on them. The organisers then offered me a re-throw, and I accepted,” Chopra said.
India’s third gold today was brought in by the quartet of Muhammed Yahiya, Amoj Jacob, Muhammed Ajmal Variyathodi and Rajesh Ramesh, in men’s 4x400m — no surprise there.
The real thrill of the evening was provided by a breathtaking escape to silver by Harmilan Bains, who won her second silver with a stunning surge in the final 15-odd metres in the women’s 800m final. For most of the race, Hoshiarpur’s Harmilan was struck in the back, trapped between athletes in front, right and back of her — there seemed to be no way out. “It was so, so hard. Honestly, I don’t know how I did that,” she said. “I was like — ‘I have to break out of this bunch.’ I kept trying with my hands, as everyone was trying to do that.” But she broke through, finding space, making room by using her arms and shoulders, and slowly chasing down four competitors.
She passed one, two, three, four others — she now had China’s Liu Dong in her sights. “I told myself — Milan, keep moving, just keep moving!” she said. With about 15 metres to go, Harmilan shot past the Chinese girl, ensuring herself of a silver in 2 minutes, 3.75 seconds, 0.55s behind Sri Lanka’s Tharushi Dissanayaka.
She now has two silver medals — one more than her mother Madhuri, who won hers 21 years ago in Busan. The daughter is suitably pleased: “I’ll tell her I have one medal more than her!”
Amritsar, September 28
The annual pilgrimage to Gurdwara Sri Hemkund Sahib will discontinue on October 11 as declared by the Gurdwara Hemkund Sahib Management Trust.
This year, nearly 2.25 lakh pilgrims have visited the shrine. The journey to the holy place started on May 20.
Located at a height of over 15,000 feet on the banks of a Himalayan lake in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district, Sri Hemkund Sahib is the highest Sikh shrine in the world.
Narinderjit Singh Bindra, president of the Gurdwara Sri Hemkund Sahib Management Trust, confirmed that the portals of the Sikh shrine would be closed on October 11 after the mid-day prayers.
Vijay Mohan
Chandigarh, October 4
The ongoing controversy over the transfer of the judicial member of the Chandigarh Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT), has taken a new turn with the AFT Chandigarh Bench Bar Association claiming to have proof of direct interference of the Ministry of Defence in the judicial functioning of the AFT.
In a letter written to Chief Justice of India, Dr DY Chandrachud, on October 4, the Bar has averred that the remarks made by defence minister Rajnath Singh at an event conducted by the Defence Accounts Department (DAD) point towards this.
“A video clip which has gone viral on social media of an event conducted by DAD on October 1 shows the defence minister openly admitting the interference of the ministry in the matter of the transfer of the judicial member just before he could hear the case of contempt, wherein he is openly heard saying ‘that one cannot keep everybody happy and one of your officers just got saved and escaped, and further adding that a hint was enough regarding this incident,” the letter states.
On September 25, Justice Dharam Chand Chaudhary, the senior-most Judicial Member-cum-Head of Department of the AFT’s Chandigarh Bench, was transferred to the Kolkata Bench “for administrative reasons in public interest.”
The move had prompted the Bar to write to the Chief Justice of India, averring that it was a direct assault on the independence of the judiciary because strict orders were being passed against senior government officials for non-implementations of AFT judgments. The Bar has since abstained from work.
In its letter today, the Bar has referred to two previous letters written to the Chief Justice. On September 25, the Bar had averred that Justice Chaudhary was posted out a day before he was to hear a contempt case against a DAD officer for non-implementation of judicial orders in order to save her. All contempt applications in other benches have also been transferred by the AFT Chairperson to his own court.
On August 3, the Bar had written that the Defence Secretary had asked the Chandigarh Bench to submit a report on the decisions on pay and pension matters taken by the Bench. Since the defence ministry is the first respondent in all cases before the AFT, it amounted to direct interference.
While stressing that the integrity of the defence minister and the defence secretary is not being questioned, the Bar has claimed that they are being misguided by officials of the defence ministry who face much heat from various courts and tribunals.
Stating that interference in judicial functioning of the tribunal is neither acceptable to the lawyers nor litigants and has shaken the faith of veterans, disabled ex-servicemen and widows who constitute the majority of litigants before the tribunal, the Bar has urged the Chief Justice to take cognizance of this matter.
London, October 4
As many as 55 Chinese sailors were killed in a mishap after their nuclear submarine was caught in a trap meant to snare British as well as the US sub-surface vessels in the Yellow Sea in August, stated a UK media report.
Daily Mail Online has cited a top-secret UK report, claiming the crew members were poisoned by the oxygen system’s catastrophic failure. The UK report, which is based on military intelligence, has a high level of secrecy. It stated 22 officers, seven officer cadets, nine petty officers and 17 sailors were dead. The victims included Colonel Xue Yong-Peng.
