Monthly Archives: August 2018

Also, the team carefully evacuated another bedridden woman on cot, carrying her on their shoulders to a boat

Amidst the ongoing relief operations in flood-affected areas of Punjab and Jammu, troops from the Western Command are undertaking life-saving evacuations. A 9-month pregnant woman in labour, who was stranded in Ramkot village in Jammu region, completely cut off by road, was airlifted to a hospital for urgent care.

Through rain and darkness, Army troops marched 18 km at night to coordinate the evacuation by a Dhruv helicopter in inclement weather, and the woman was safely evacuated to military hospital in Samba.

In another incident, a woman suffering from a cardiac ailment was successfully rescued by the flood relief team of Kharga Sappers from Sammoval village. Due to her medical condition, she was unable to move, making the rescue operation particularly challenging.

As access to her residence by boat was not possible due to the floods, the team proceeded on foot. Upon reaching the location, the team found the woman bedridden and immobile. The team carefully evacuated the bedridden woman on her cot, carrying her on their shoulders for approximately 300 meters to a boat.

The woman, along with her husband and daughter, was then transported in a Tarta high-mobility vehicle to her relatives’ residence in Amritsar for necessary medical care.

The Army has activated more than 50 columns in flood-affected areas of Punjab and Jammu, rescuing stranded people, restoring vital infrastructure, and delivering life-saving assistance. So far, over 5,500 civilians and 300 personnel of paramilitary forces have been rescued, more than 3,000 civilians have been provided medical aid, and over 27 tons of ration and essential supplies have been delivered to the affected communities.

In addition, seven fresh columns have been launched in the areas of Taran Taran, Ferozepur, Shahkot, Phillaur, Dhatewal, and in the areas of Sarala and Harchandpura due to rising water levels in the Ghaggar river. Troops are continuously supporting the civil administration and BSF in debris clearance and emergency construction tasks.

Engineer Regiments have reconstructed the Jaitpur bundh in the Mamun sector, repaired the main water supply line at Sidhra Bridge, and employed heavy machinery to restore damaged roads between Bikraman Helipad and Tawi View Point.

In Punjab, Army teams are containing breaches, strengthening bunds at vulnerable locations, transporting food and fodder to isolated villages, and clearing key water channels to prevent further flooding.

On Wednesday evening, the flood relief column from Golden Arrow Division, supported by an engineer task force, responded swiftly and worked through the night to contain a major breach in the Sutlej river embankment at Daudpur village near Ropar, preventing further damage and protecting the local community.

The Border Security Force (BSF) has also deployed its personnel, helicopters, and boats in flood relief operations. BSF organised a large-scale medical camp at Shamsekhurd village on the Gurdaspur border, extending vital healthcare to flood-affected residents. More than 300 persons, including children, were treated at the camp.

These drones will be employed in all kinds of terrain and associated weather conditions across the Indian sub-continent up to altitudes of 18,000 feet

The Indian Army will be deploying 5,000 tethered drones to guard the country’s frontiers across the vast terrain ranging from coastal areas to deserts and mountains.

The tethered drone systems can provide integral beyond line of sight surveillance capability to tactical commanders with prolonged endurance,” a request for information (RFI) issued by the Ministry of Defence this week states.

Tethered drones are unmanned aerial vehicles physically connected to a ground station by a cable that provides continuous power and a secure, high-bandwidth data link. This enables extended flight durations that can carry on for several hours or days at a stretch. This makes them ideal for applications like continual surveillance, disaster monitoring and telecommunications because battery life is a significant limitation for traditional free-flying drones.

These drones will be employed in all kinds of terrain and associated weather conditions across the Indian sub-continent up to altitudes of 18,000 feet, and be operational by day and night including light rain and snow and in temperatures from minus 50 degrees Celsius to 45 degrees Celsius.

A combined electro-optical and infra-red surveillance payload, minimum flying endurance of nine hours and flying altitude of at least 100 metres in the tethered mode, and flying endurance of at least 60 metres and altitude of 1,000 metres with an operating radius of at least 10 km in the non-tethered mode are among other technical requirements. The drones will also have an in-built battery to enable operations like a regular drone or for emergency back-up.

Besides having counter electronic warfare capability, the system, which would be operated by a single person, would also be compatible with GPS, satellite navigation systems and digital maps.

The army is looking for systems with a modular design to enable seamless upgradation of individual components through simple modifications without any design or structural changes. It should also facilitate integration and installation as well as easy upgradation with future technology without impacting the performance of any system or sub-system.
The Indian Army will be deploying 5,000 tethered drones to guard the country’s frontiers across the vast terrain ranging from coastal areas to deserts and mountains.

“

She is also the first woman officer in her family who has been commissioned into the Army Ordnance Corps after passing out from OTA, Chennai

Lieutenant Parul Dhadwal, a newly commissioned officer from Punjab, has achieved a remarkable feat by securing the gold medal for standing first in the order of merit at Officers Training Academy (OTA). She has also become the fifth-generation officer in a family with a long martial tradition. Lt Dhadwal, who is also the first woman officer in her family, has been commissioned into the Army Ordnance Corps after passing out from OTA, Chennai, on Saturday.

While there have been many second- and third-generation officers, fourth- and fifth-generation officers are relatively rare. Lt Dhadwal hails from Janauri village in Hoshiarpur district, Punjab. Her father, Major General KS Dhadwal, is a serving officer who has commanded the 27 Mountain Division. Both her father, a fourth-generation officer, and her brother, Captain Dhananjay Dhadwal, belong to 20 Sikh.

The family’s military tradition began with her great-great-grandfather, Sub Harnam Singh of 74 Punjabis, who served from January 1, 1896, to July 16, 1924. Her great-grandfather, Maj LS Dhadwal, served with 3 Jat. Col Daljit Singh Dhadwal of 7 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles and Brig Jagat Jamwal of 3 Kumaon represented the third generation.

The Army stated, “With Lt Parul joining their ranks, the family now has three serving officers in uniform simultaneously — a rare distinction and an inspiration to many.” Parul was part of the Short Service Commission (Women) – 34 Course that passed out along with the Short Service Commission – 120 Course for males. A total of 155 officer cadets, including 25 women, were commissioned into the Indian Army as Lieutenants. Additionally, 21 cadets, including 12 women from nine friendly foreign countries, completed their training alongside their Indian counterparts.

Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh reviewed the passing-out parade. Addressing the parade, he emphasised that the battlefield is becoming increasingly complex and that young officers will need continuous training to succeed in future conflicts. He urged them to expand their horizons and discover their true potential as they begin their learning journey, highlighting that strength comes from individual excellence and team cohesion. The Air Chief also presented the Sword of Honour and silver medal to Raj Biswas for being adjudged the overall best cadet of the course and the bronze medal to Pranjal Dixit for standing third in the order of merit.

It has increased its deployment to 59 columns, focusing on Madhopur Headworks to assist in early restoration

The Western Command has stepped up its Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations in flood-ravaged areas of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir, increasing its deployment to 59 columns, including 17 Engineer Task Forces. Heavy engineering equipment has also been mobilised to expedite repair and restoration works, with teams working round-the-clock to repair breaches and reopen critical lifelines.

Presently, an Indian Army team is deployed at Madhopur Headworks, which suffered heavy damage from high river water levels, to assist in early restoration. The operations were launched on August 26, and since then, 82 HADR missions have been executed. The Army has evacuated more than 6,000 persons, including approximately 300 paramilitary personnel, and provided medical assistance to over 13,000 persons, according to a spokesperson for the Western Command.

Essential supplies, including medicines, water, and 48 tonnes of rations, have been delivered to flood-affected areas via air drops and ground columns. Army Aviation and Indian Air Force assets, comprising three Dhruv ALHs, six MI-17s, six Cheetah helicopters, and one Chinook, have flown sorties totalling almost 300 hours to support relief efforts.

The Army is working in close coordination with the civil administration, National Disaster Response Force, and State Disaster Response Force to ensure optimal use of resources, timely relief, restoration of essential services, and rebuilding of damaged infrastructure. A flood control and water-level monitoring cell has been established at all headquarters, functioning round-the-clock to monitor water levels across major headworks, including Bhakra Dam, Ranjit Sagar Dam, and other critical points.

In the aftermath of recent floods, sustained efforts have been made to restore connectivity to a number of border outposts and adjoining areas that had been temporarily cut off. Dedicated engineer detachments have been deployed across affected regions to undertake urgent tasks critical to restoring normalcy and ensuring the safety of local communities.

Special attention has been given to areas severely impacted, where rapid restoration of infrastructure was vital for both operational and humanitarian reasons. Key engineering works include diversion of floodwaters in vulnerable pockets, repair of damaged bridges, restoration of washed-away stretches of road, and strengthening of embankments and anti-flood bundhs.

A sizable portion of the 5.14-km Shamti bypass in Solan district has caved in at Sheothal village following relentless rain barely three years after it was constructed. Several houses located below the road have been endangered due to continuous subsidence. A house has been vacated as a precautionary measure.

Gaping potholes are visible on the road reflecting shoddy construction work. A part of the road has become inaccessible, forcing the police to depute men to divert traffic.

Conceived to decongest Solan, this arterial road, now poses a threat to residents due to rapid land subsidence. Cracks, which appeared on the road surface last week, are widening with each passing day, thus raising fear among residents of potential damage to their houses and arable land.

Diljit Dosanjh, Karan Aujla, Jasbir Jassi, Satinder Sartaj, Sunanda Sharma, Gippy Grewal and others, come forward to offer their ‘sewa’ for ‘Sarbat da Bhala’

Nimrat Kaur and (inside) Randeep Hooda, personalities from the entertainment world, have supported flood relief work. Vishal Kumar

“Nanak Naam Chardi Kala, Tere Bhaane Sarbat da Bhala.” This simple Sikh prayer forms the central belief of Sikhism. It seeks in the name of God, with high spirit, a positive mindset and his blessings, prosperity for all.

At a time when Punjab has been wrecked by devastating floods and its people displaced and in despair, Punjab’s on-screen heroes have turned real-life heroes by actively offering practical support on ground. In Chardikala, the big names of Punjabi entertainment industry, including Diljit Dosanjh, Karan Aujla, Jasbir Jassi, Satinder Sartaj, Sunanda Sharma, Gippy Grewal and others, have come forward to offer their ‘sewa’ for ‘Sarbat da Bhala’. Joining the relief efforts across flood affected areas in Fazilka, Gurdaspur and Amritsar, several celebrated names of the Punjabi entertainment industry are working as volunteers and offering support in relief and rescue operations and pledging long-term rehabilitation support for villages.

One of the first ones to come forward with food and relief material for displaced families was Satinder Sartaj, through his Sartaj Foundation, which has already distributed relief material to more than 500 families and is currently working on ground operations in Ajnala and Fazilka. Diljit Dosanjh’s Saanjh Foundation is working to provide relief and reaching out to evaluate the damage due to floods in remote villages of Ajnala.

As Diljit begins his Aura tour across Australia and New Zealand, Sonali Singh along with her team, landed in Amritsar three days back and is working closely with volunteers of Global Sikh Foundation to distribute solar lights, tents, medicines and other essential items. Diljit Dosanjh’s Saanjh Foundation has pledged to adopt 10 of the most severely impacted villages in Amritsar and Gurdaspur, coordinating with NGOs and local authorities to ensure long-term rehabilitation of flood victims. Ammy Virk and his team have announced to adopt 200 homes, offering shelter and stability to families who’ve lost their dwelling, aiming to restore hope and dignity. Bollywood actor Vicky Kaushal has pledged support to Global Sikh Foundation, to run free ambulance and medical vans.

Singer-actor and now producer Gippy Grewal had been sending truckloads of silage for cattle and cattle feed for affected areas, knowing how cattle health is at risk in this hour. Grewal’s local teams at Ajnala and Fazilka are working together with villagers and the local authorities to reach out to people stuck in remote areas. Karan Aujla, Bunty Bains and Gurbaaz Singh have donated rescue boats while Sunanda Sharma and Raj Kundra visited the relief camps at Ajnala to interact with rescued families, offering emotional as well as inspirational support.

Punjabi mainstream singers have long been facing criticism, for glorifying guns, alcohol and misogyny, with individual singers, including Diljit, Aujla, AP Dhillon and Guru Randhawa being the target of online trolling. Now, these very singers have stepped forward to offer humanitarian aid, with accountability and commitment towards their people, their land.

Singer Guru Randhawa has set up two relief camps at Dera Baba Nanak and village Dharowali. Parminder Singh, a local villager from Dharowali, who is leading relief operations of Guru Randhawa’s team, said, “We received a call from Randhawa as he was interested in sending us financial help for relief work. Our camps provided dry ration, medicines, drinking water and cattle feed initially to 40-50 houses in two villages of Dera Baba Nanak. Currently, we are in Kharar Khurd village in Ajnala, where no help had reached and we are working to reach people stuck here,” he said. Parminder is a farmer and lost 15 acres of fertile land to floods. “We are all in this together. We need to hold and lift each other now,” he said.

Colonel Arup Ratan Basu’s humane and compassionate book, “The Kargil War Surgeon’s Testimony” looks at war, not through the eyes of one trained to take lives but one saving them

Avay Shukla

Book Title: The Kargil War Surgeon’s Testimony

Author: Arup Ratan Basu

All wars are invariably followed by books, but these are usually about the blood and glory, strategy and logistics, victories and failures. Colonel Arup Ratan Basu’s book is delightfully different: while being both humble and unassuming, it is also humane and compassionate, shedding light on the usually ignored ‘backroom boys’ who provide the spine to the arms that fight on the frontlines. Basu is a general surgeon, and this book is a personal account of the two months he spent in the Army field hospital at Kargil. It is special and refreshingly different in that it looks at war, not through the eyes of one trained to take lives but one trained to save them.

Freshly commissioned as a surgeon in the Army Medical Corps in December 1998, he was dispatched to Kargil on his first posting where war had just broken out between India and Pakistan. He is candid enough to admit that he was not prepared to be thrust into the jaws of war, ministering to casualties with the most basic of facilities. A field hospital is only the first responder, its job being to stabilise the wounded before shifting them to base hospitals for more advanced care, but that is in theory only, as Colonel Basu soon found out. Severely wounded soldiers have to be saved during the proverbial ‘golden hour’, sometimes with complicated operations field hospitals are ill-equipped to handle. But this reasoning cannot be an alibi, it has to be confronted as a challenge.

The wounded came every night for two months from sectors which are now household names — Batalik, Dras, Kargil; Colonel Basu and his team worked and operated at night and rested during the day. He gives us the reason for this peculiar time schedule: Indian soldiers, attempting to climb up the lofty mountains on which the Pakistanis were perched, could only do so at night. Casualties, therefore, occurred at night, but could be evacuated out of the battle zones only the same night (if lucky) but usually on the next night since during the day they would be sitting ducks for the enemy soldiers. So, they arrived at the field hospital at night, were attended to, and, if required, referred to Srinagar by chopper the next day. Interestingly, the author soon discovered that the number of casualties arriving every day was a fairly accurate barometer of how the war was progressing!

Doctors are the unsung heroes of any war, and the figures of the Kargil field hospital prove it: during his short two-month tenure there Colonel Basu surgically treated 350 casualties and operated on 250, that’s a mind-boggling 4 operations a day! He lost only two of his patients. It says something about the grit and commitment of Army doctors that he had to perform complex surgical procedures which even a state-of-the-art corporate hospital in a metro would find a challenge — splenectomy, thoracotomy, intestine resection and anastomosis; each of these would have ordinarily required a team of specialists. Colonel Basu counts as one of his triumphs his success in saving a havildar’s gangrenous, splinter-shattered arm from amputation by adopting some dexterous surgical procedures. His peers at the base hospitals, where his patients were forwarded for advanced care, soon conferred on him the well-deserved title of the Surgeon of Kargil!

Basu’s job afforded him many opportunities to interact with his patients, and he learnt a lot about the war from them, details of which have to be believed because they came from people who have lived them: how the “disconnect” of our Army field commanders led to the intelligence failure to anticipate that Pakistan was up to something on the commanding heights of the border, in spite of being informed by the shepherds and the Bakerwals that something was amiss; the complete initial unpreparedness of our soldiers to fight in these heights, without adequate clothing, footwear, snow tents, acclimatisation, even food, a prime reason for the high rate of casualties — 527 dead and 1,363 wounded; how the tide of war turned with the introduction of the Bofors guns; the deceitful nature of the Pakistan army, which planted mines even as they vacated the occupied areas when ceasefire was declared.

There are moments of great poignancy too. As when news filters down to the field hospital of the handing over of the bodies of the gallant Capt Saurabh Kalia and his six-man patrol; the anger and sorrow at learning of the horrible mutilation and tortures inflicted on them before their murder in cold blood. Or when Basu is informed to be ready to receive a special casualty; it turned out to be that of Squadron Leader Ajay Ahuja, whose MIG was shot down as he was trying to rescue Flt Lt Nachiketa whose plane had also been shot down.

Nachiketa was lucky — he was released after a week or so in captivity when India took up his case at international fora. Ahuja was not so lucky: when Colonel Basu examined his dead body, he found clear signs of torture and cold-blooded murder of a PoW. What happened to the Geneva Convention? he asks. Did the government fail in mounting pressure for his release, as it did for Nachiketa, he wonders. But he realises that though wars throw up many questions, they provide few answers.

It was not all shelling and surgery at the hospital, though. Soon enough, it was swarmed by journalists (Barkha Dutt, CNN, Reuters) and celebrities, for as news of the remarkable work being done here got around, Colonel Basu himself became a celebrity of sorts! The glamorous visitors included Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Suneil Shetty, Salman Khan, Raveena Tandon, Vinod Khanna, Javed Jaffrey, Bachendri Pal the Everester. They were a bit of a nuisance, at times, with their airs, but they were wonderful as morale boosters for the wounded jawans. The author recounts how one patient, bed-ridden with intense back pain and sciatica, jumped out of his bed to get himself happily photographed with the stars, hopping from frame to frame, his pain dissipated! This was noticed by the Commandant, who promptly had the chap discharged and sent off to the frontlines.

Kargil is located on the banks of the Suru river, originating from the snowfields and glaciers of Trishul. The last chapter is devoted to this river, which had seen so much bloodshed and disruption in these few months, and longed to return to the peace and tranquility its vales once enjoyed. The book ends with a number of poignant questions asked by the river: Why did our neighbours [Pakistan] have to tread into our territory, the territory that never belonged to them? Why did they cause so much destruction? Was it all worth it? There are also questions asked of the river by the gallant soldiers who laid down their lives for their country: Did we not do right in defending your vale? Have you forgotten us too, Suru, as all the others have? Why should you remember this tale, when my countrymen have forgotten me? Do you think that I deserved to die this way?

Questions that will haunt the reader for a long time. For they have no answers.

—  The writer is a former IAS officer

In this latest episode of #DecodePunjab, The Tribune Deputy Editor Ruchika M Khanna and Special Correspondent Vijay Mohan speak to former Secretary of Bhakra Beas Management Board, Satish Singla, on what led to the floods and on the water releases from dams. #PunjabFloods #BBMB #YKSingla #PunjabNews #FloodUpdate #DamSafety #BreakingNews #disastermanagement

In Ludhiana’s Sasrali village, residents and the Army joined forces to protect the banks of the Sutlej River from rising floodwaters. Community efforts, sandbagging, and timely intervention helped prevent damage to homes and farmland. Authorities continue monitoring water levels and providing assistance, highlighting strong local resilience and coordination during this flood situation in Punjab.

#PunjabFloods #SutlejRiver #Ludhiana #SasraliVillage #ArmyRescue #FloodRelief #BreakingNews #PunjabNews #FloodUpdate #CommunityRescue

While achievements like India being ready with its indigenously developed Vikram 3201 microchip brought in positivity, denial of bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the Delhi 2020 riots after spending 5 years in jail raised viable questions about UAPA

Chandni S Chandel Tribune News Service

After Himachal and Jammu and Kashmir, the rain gods continued to wreak havoc in the villages and towns of Punjab. The incessant flooding obliterated familiar markers on the Radcliffe Line in Ferozepur where parts of the border fencing that divides India from Pakistan have been submerged. It’s as if geography is taking its revenge on history, writes Editor-in-Chief Jyoti Malhotra in her edit Water will find a way, in India & Pak. The Bhakra dam has never been desilted since it was built in 1963. She has many formidable questions for which people need answers — If this is true about the Bhakra Nangal on the Sutlej, could it also be true about the Pong dam and the Ranjit Sagar dam? Does it follow that the dam officials had to release water from these dams this monsoon — which caused the flooding in Punjab — because they were concerned about protecting the integrity of the dam structure? If these dams had been desilted over the years, would they have been capable of carrying much more water?

In their Op-ed piece Floodwaters expose cracks in Punjab’s governance, JNU professor Seema Bathla and Ravi Kiran, Assistant Professor, Government College, Sri Muktsar Sahib, underline the need for a proactive, long-term strategy that addresses the fundamental causes of floods and the need for coordinated efforts between neighbouring states. A review of dam management protocols, a state-wide project for desiltation and a robust farmer-centric crop insurance policy is what they recommend.

In yet another informative article, science commentator Dinesh C Sharma explains in his edit piece Wake-up call on the climate front that the changing monsoon patterns are linked to larger patterns of climate change. Enumerating the solutions, he writes we need to make all our public policies compliant with climate change, review the Environmental Impact Assessment regime and conduct a ‘climate audit’ of all existing infrastructure — hydel projects, national highways, road and railway bridges, airports — not from a financial perspective but to check if it is climate-resilient.

With the SCO meet held in Tianjin earlier this week, among India, China and Russia, the weakest link in this chain is the India-China relationship, says former Ambassador to China Gautam Bambawale in his Op-ed piece Beyond photo-ops: Realities of India-China ties. The outstanding boundary question imposes limitations on how much India-China relations can improve, he writes. It is time for quiet backroom discussions and negotiations between India and China.

Amid the changing geopolitics induced by Trump 2.0, there are some good vibes coming in from Europe. Germany’s partnership with India will weather the current storms that are shaking up the international order, writes Germany’s Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann in his Op-ed piece Berlin bets on Indian talent for stronger ties. Many German companies have made Bengaluru a cornerstone of their R&D strategies and many Indian students trust the quality of German public universities and are placing their future on Germany.

A fallout of Trump’s tariff plan, the Centre announced the removal of 11 per cent import duty on cotton. That it has come at the time of harvest is a recipe for disaster, writes Sukhpal Singh, Chairman, Punjab State Farmers’ and Farm Workers’ Commission in his Oped Cotton imports spell disaster for farmers. The irony is that this decision came days after PM Modi assured the farmers that the government would not compromise on their interest at any cost. Supporting the cause of the farmers is another Op-ed piece Why India needs an agricultural policy where Kirti Kisan Union general secretary Rajinder Singh Deep Singh Wala writes that the pressure of corporate and imperialistic countries has been deciding the fate of our food and farmers. A policy that is advantageous to the farmers, not corporate giants, is needed, he writes.

The Delhi High Court refused bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in the Delhi 2020 riots. By declaring their involvement “graver” without showing how, the court avoids the hard question of equality before law, says Supreme Court senior advocate Sanjay Hegde in his Op-ed piece Burying justice in the Umar Khalid trial. This case is not just about Khalid or Imam, it is about the space for dissent in India. Five years in jail without trial for words and protests is not proportionate; it is punishment without conviction, he notes.

In a positive development, the ISRO presented the indigenously developed Vikram 3201 microchip at the Semicon conference marking a huge milestone in the nation’s self-reliance in the semiconductor technology. ‘Vikram’ is expected to find valuable applications in strategic and industrial sectors, besides playing a major role in space missions, explains IISER Mohali’s visiting Professor TV Venkateswaran in his Op-ed piece Why ISRO’s Vikram 3201 is a game-changer. The work on semiconductor technology was driven by necessity as ISRO heavily relied on imported processors earlier. Sanctions imposed after the 1998 Pokhran tests sharply highlighted the importance of developing home-grown strategic technology, he explains further.