The heliograph, the reason why the men fought to defend Saragarhi, would ironically be the source of their fame: details of their heroism were heliographed and then telegraphed back to London by a Timescorrespondent and then reported in newspapers around the world. The commander-in-chief of India recorded his “admiration of the heroism shown by those gallant soldiers”.

The British saw the significance of this last stand in inspiring more Indians to serve and fight, and built two Memorial Gurdwaras: one near Sri Harimandir Sahib (Golden Temple), Amritsar, and another in Ferozepur. The 36th Sikhs were duly rewarded a battle honour for the Samana and 12 September was set as a regimental holiday.

This commemoration continues to be marked in India by the descendant 4 Sikh Regiment while the chief minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh, has recently invoked a Punjab-wide holiday for the battle on 12 September.

 Saragarhi is now officially commemorated in the UK too, and other forgotten frontier battles are gaining more attention. This year, for the 120th anniversary, the annual commemoration event will be held at the National Memorial Arboretum, home of the UK’s inaugural First World War Sikh Memorial, to remember and honour all those who fought and died on the forgotten frontier.

Strain over rejection of hotel-stay claims by junior officers.

When the tunnel is completed, it will cut distance between Manali and Keylong by 46 km and travel time by 2 hrs.

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, November 21

In the wake of the forcible entry by Lahaul residents into the Rohtang tunnel late on Monday, the BRO has decided to reopen the Rohtang Pass to traffic in a day or two. The authorities have started the snow-clearing operation.

Security has been tightened around the Rohtang tunnel following a major security lapse on the part of the BRO, which failed to prevent the local residents from entering into it.

Nearly 80 persons, including women and children, had entered the tunnel. However, they had covered nearly three-km stretch of the 8.8-km-long tunnel when due to the lack of adequate oxygen, many of them felt suffocated and fell unconscious, prompting the Lahaul administration to begin a rescue operation.

Two of the rescued were taken to Manali. One of them has been referred to the PGIMER, Chandigarh, while the other is recuperating at Manali Mission Hospital. Others were taken back to Lahaul.

Residents of Lahaul had been waiting to reach Manali via the Rohtang tunnel since Monday morning. However, the authorities concerned did not allow them to move till late evening. Irked over this, they forcibly entered the tunnel.

To prevent the recurrence of such incident, the district administration has set up a police post at the north portal of the tunnel to keep a tab on the movement of the locals.

Deputy Commissioner, Lahaul Spiti, Ashwani Kumar Chaudhari said the tunnel was not a safe passage for the common man because of the ongoing construction work. Besides, it lacked adequate oxygen. The people had been informed about it. The Deputy Commissioner said the tunnel was used only in emergency cases.

The Deputy Commissioner said people had been advised to stay calm as the BRO had started clearing snow on the Rohtang. The residents were earlier planning to open the tunnel on their own by hiring machinery. They had even started collecting funds. Since the closure of the Rohtang Pass on November 12, the residents have been facing difficulty while moving between Kullu and Lahaul.

Additional Chief Secretary, PWD, Revenue and Disaster Management, Manisha Nanda said the BRO had started work on the reopening of the Pass on Wednesday.

She said the state government had taken up the matter with the BRO to restore the Rohtang Pass for vehicular traffic to facilitate the people of Lahaul valley. The Pass was officially closed for winter due to the recent heavy snowfall.

Tunnel not a safe passage for commuters, for now

• The tunnel is not a safe passage for commuters owing to the ongoing construction work. It lacks adequate oxygen.
• Lahaul residents were planning to open the tunnel by hiring machinery and collecting funds.
• Bowing to public pressure, the BRO has started clearing snow to open the Rohtang Pass.
• It is expected to be opened within a day or two.
• 

New Delhi, November 14

On a day when the Supreme Court began hearing petitions questioning the Rafale deal between India and France, the opposition Congress levelled fresh allegations against the government as part of its ongoing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the 36 aircraft deal.

“Rafale is not a government-to-government contract,” Congress leader Kapil Sibal alleged, adding that France had no provision for entering into a such deal and had only given a letter of comfort to Dassault which negotiated the contract with the BJP-led government privately.

“Dassault Aviation should make a public statement if they ever had a government-to-government contract as there is no such procedure in France. Such a procedure exists in the UK and is called Foreign Military Sales route. The French Government gave only a letter of comfort in the Rafale deal,” Sibal alleged.

Rebutting Dassault CEO Eric Trappier on a range of remarks he made over the Rafale deal, Sibal alleged that Dassault had in fact become non-compliant with the deal during the UPA’s time and the government “could therefore not deal with a non-compliant partner but still dealt with it.” — TNS

New Delhi, November 13

The sensitive pricing details of the 36 Rafale fighter jets, submitted by the Centre in a sealed cover, is scheduled to be examined by the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S K Kaul and K M Joseph will hold a crucial hearing in the case during which the petitioners, who have sought a court-monitored investigation into the deal, will also make submissions.

The Centre had on Monday handed over a 14-page document titled “Details of the steps in the decision making process leading to the award of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft order” to the petitioners in the case.

The government had also filed in the court in a sealed cover the pricing details of the Rafale jets.

The petitioners are likely to respond to the contents of the documents in which it has been stated by the government that the deal for 36 Rafale jets were negotiated on “better terms” and the Defence Procurement Procedure laid out in 2013 were “completely followed”.

The Centre has also said the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approval was secured before the deal was inked with France.

The details of the decision-making process and pricing were placed in the court in compliance with its October 31 order.

India signed an agreement with France for the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft in a fly-away condition as part of the upgrading process of the Indian Air Force equipment. The estimated cost of the deal is Rs 58,000 crore.

The Rafale fighter is a twin-engine Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) manufactured by French aerospace company Dassault Aviation.

The petitions seeking the probe in the Rafale deal were first filed by advocates Manohar Lal Sharma and Vineet Dhanda.

Later, AAP MP Sanjay Singh had also filed a petition.

Former union ministers Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan had also filed a joint petition in the apex court. – PTI

Suhail A Shah

Anantnag, November 6

Two militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen, one of them an Army deserter, were killed in a pre-dawn encounter on Tuesday in Shopian district of south Kashmir, some 60 km from Srinagar.

The slain militants have been identified as Muhammad Idrees Sultan, a resident of Safnagri village in Shopian district, and Amir Hussain Rather, a resident of Awneera village in the district.

Idrees deserted his Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) unit in Bihar in April this year to join the proscribed outfit, while Amir joined the outfit in May.

The cordon and search operation (CASO) in Safnagri village of Shopian district was launched by a joint team of the Army, CRPF and the police around 3 am on Tuesday morning.

“There were specific inputs regarding the presence of militants in the area,” a senior police officer from the district said.

He said the militants dashed out of a residential house they were holed up in as the cordon was being tightened and tried to flee the spot using indiscriminate fire as cover.

“The fire was retaliated and in the brief shootout both of them were gunned down, right outside the house. By 4 am, both were killed,” the police officer said.

The operation was declared over by 6 am. There were no clashes around the site of the encounter. Internet services were snapped across Shopian district when the CASO was being laid but was restored later in the morning.

The bodies of the militants were handed over to the families following which funerals were held at their respective villages. Thousands attended the funeral prayers.

Meanwhile, a complete shutdown was observed across Shopian district following the killing of the militants.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 28

Facing flak over officers getting improper Army owned guestrooms in lieu of hotel rooms, the Army Chief’s office has sent out instructions on how guestrooms will be allotted and simplified the procedure for booking.

Six months ago, the Army had asked officers to stay in Army guesthouses instead of hotels. However, complaints have been pouring in against the procedure to book a room in these guesthouses and lack of basic amenities.

Officers also complained against the requirement of procuring a “non-availability certificate” (NAC), indicating that no guestrooms were available. In such cases hotel stay is allowed.

Officers have been posting pictures on social media of the guest rooms that lacked even basic comfortable bedding. There have been several cases where the Defence Accounts rejected claims of officers who, while on temporary attachment, stayed in hotels in absence of guest rooms. The officers claimed to have paid out of their pocket for doing official work.

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat was informed about these rumblings. As per instructions issued on October 23, a ‘NAC’ can now be issued over phone to the officer needing a guestroom for official work.

Also by December-end, all guestrooms will be registered on the Army local ‘Armaan’ App and rooms will be available for allotment and booking from anywhere in India. Since the number of officers coming to Delhi for temporary duty is high, the Delhi station will collect data of all guestrooms. A system of online generation of NAC is also being worked out.

Also, the Army Chief office has directed that all guestrooms will be brought up to reasonable standards of living equipped with facilities like easy access power points for mobile and laptop charging and basic yet comfortable bedding.

Process simplified for booking

• As per instructions issued on October 23, a ‘non-availability certificate’, indicating that no guestrooms are available and the officer can stay in a hotel, can now be issued over phone
• Also by December-end, all guestrooms will be registered on the Army local ‘Armaan’ App and rooms will be available for allotment and booking from anywhere in India
• All guestrooms will be brought up to reasonable standards of living equipped with facilities like easy access power points for mobile and laptop charging and comfortable bedding