All posts by webadmin

New Delhi, September 4

Any case of moral turpitude and corruption would be dealt with sternly, Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat said on Tuesday, referring to Major Leetul Gogoi, who was found guilty of “fraternising” with a local woman at a Srinagar hotel.

Gen Rawat said action would be taken against Maj Gogoi in keeping with his guilt.

“I had clearly said that any case of moral turpitude and corruption will be dealt with in a very stern manner. The Court of Inquiry has recommended that we should go in for courtmartial proceedings.

“If it is related to moral turpitude, then we will take action accordingly. If it is something else, the punishment will be (according) to the crime he has committed,” Gen Rawat told reporters in New Delhi in response to a question on Maj Gogoi.

Last month, an Army Court of Inquiry indicted Maj Gogoi for “fraternising” with a local woman at a Srinagar hotel and being away from his place of duty.

Maj Gogoi was detained by police in May following an altercation when he was allegedly trying to enter a Srinagar hotel with the 18-year-old woman.

Last year, the officer was at the centre of a human shield row after his decision to tie a civilian to the bonnet of his vehicle in Kashmir, purportedly as a shield against stone-pelters during polling in the Srinagar Lok Sabha by-election.

He was honoured by Gen Rawat with the Army chief’s Commendation Card for his sustained efforts in counter-insurgency operations. PTI

New Delhi, August 29

As Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Arun Jaitley engage in a social media war about India’s purchase of 36 combat jets from France for an estimated Rs 58,000 crore, here’s an explainer to help understand what the agreement was.

What is Rafale?

Rafale is a French twin-engine multi-role fighter jet designed and built by Dassault Aviation. The Rafale jets are considered one of the most potent combat jets globally.

The UPA deal

India began the process to buy a fleet of 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) in 2007 after the Defence Ministry, headed then by Congress leader AK Antony, cleared the proposal from the Indian Air Force.

The contenders for the mega deal were Lockheed Martin’s F-16s, Eurofighter Typhoon, Russia’s MiG-35, Sweden’s Gripen, Boeing’s F/A-18s and Dassault Aviation’s Rafale.

After a long process, bids were opened in December 2012 and Dassault Aviation emerged as L-1 (lowest bidder). In the original proposal, 18 planes were to be manufactured in France and 108 in India in collaboration with the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

There were lengthy negotiations between the then UPA government and Dassault on prices and transfer of technology. The final negotiations continued till early 2014 but the deal could not go through.

Details of the negotiated price per Rafale were not officially announced, but it was suggested by the then UPA government that the size of the deal would be $10.2 billion. The Congress claimed per aircraft rate including avionics and weapons was zeroed in at Rs 526 crore (As per Euro exchange rates prevailing then).

The NDA deal

During his visit to France, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 10 announced India would purchase 36 Rafale jets in a government-to-government agreement.  After the announcement, questions were raised by the Opposition on how the prime minister finalised the deal without approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security.

A joint statement issued on April 10, 2015, after talks between Modi and then French President François Hollande, said they agreed to conclude an Inter-Governmental Agreement for supply of 36 Rafale jets on terms that would be better than conveyed by Dassault Aviation as part of a separate process underway.

The statement said the “aircraft and associated systems and weapons would be delivered on the same configuration as had been tested and approved by Indian Air Force, in clear reference to negotiations and testing process for the Rafale jets under the UPA government.

The final deal

India and France signed Euro 7.87-billion (Rs 59,000 crore approximately) deal on September 23, 2016, for 36 Rafale jets. The delivery of the aircraft will start from September 2019.

The deal was finalised on the basis of the procurement procedure followed under the UPA government.

The allegations

The Congress has been accusing massive irregularities in the deal, alleging that the government was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against the UPA’sRs 526 crore. The party has also demanded answers from the government on why state-run aerospace major HAL was not involved in the deal.

The Congress has also sought to know price details of the aircraft and how the rate per aircraft has gone up from Rs 526 crore to Rs 1,670 crore. The government has refused to share the details, citing a secrecy clause of a 2008 pact between India and France.

Congress’ AK Antony, who was defence minister in 2008 when India and France inked an inter-governmental agreement on defence procurement, said the government’s claim that the secrecy clause was forcing it to not reveal price details of the deal was “totally wrong”.

The party claimed that Qatar had purchased 12 Rafale fighter jets in November 2017 for $108.33 million per aircraft (Rs 694.80 crore).

The Congress has also alleged the government was benefiting the Reliance Defence Ltd (RDL) through the deal as the company has set up a joint venture with Dassault Aviation to execute the offset obligation for the Rs 59,000 crore deal.

The party has claimed that Reliance Defence was instituted merely 12 days before the announcement of the Rafale deal on April 10, 2015. The RDL has rejected all the charges.

Under India’s offset policy, foreign defence entities are mandated to spend at least 30 per cent of the total contract value in India through procurement of components or setting up of research and development facilities.

On October 3, 2016, RDL and Dassault Aviation announced a joint venture (JV) in the aerospace sector, and a year later, foundation stone of a manufacturing facility was laid in Mihan, Nagpur.

Government’s response

Minister of State for Defence, while replying to a question in Parliament two years ago, had said the cost of each Rafale aircraft is approximately Rs 670 crore but did not give details of prices of associated equipment, weapons and services.

Later, the government refused to talk about the prices. It has been maintaining that the cost of 36 Rafale jets cannot be “directly compared” with the original proposal to buy 126 combat aircraft because the “deliverables” were significantly different.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley wrote a Facebook post on Monday, accusing Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi of “peddling untruth” and carrying out a “false campaign” on the deal. He said the deal signed by the NDA government was on better terms than the one agreed to in 2007 under the UPA regime. PTI

Islamabad, August 20

Pakistan’s new Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday extended the hand of friendship to India soon after taking oath by offering “uninterrupted” dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues, saying it is the “only wise course” as the two countries could not afford any “adventurism”.After the swearing-in ceremony at the President House, Qureshi went to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and addressed media.Qureshi was the foreign minister from 2008 to 2011 under the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government when the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks took place. He was in New Delhi when 10 Pakistan-based LeT terrorists attacked India’s financial capital.The new foreign minister said Pakistan wanted to rebuild ties with eastern and western neighbours and create peace in the region.He said Pakistan wanted to resolve all issues with India through talks. “We need a continued uninterrupted dialogue. It is the only wise course for us,” he said.  The India-Pakistan ties nose-dived in recent years with no bilateral talks taking place.The ties between the two countries had strained after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based groups in 2016 and India’s surgical strikes inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The sentencing of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to death by a military court in April last year further deteriorated bilateral ties.Qureshi, the vice president of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, on Monday said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj sent a letter on Sunday to congratulate Prime Minister Imran Khan and mentioned about talks to resolve issues.“I welcome her letter,” he said.“I want to say to Indian Foreign Minister that we are not only neighbours but also nuclear powers. We have old issues and we both know what these issues are. We need to address these issues,” he said.Qureshi said the two countries could not afford any adventurism due to close proximity.“We cannot afford any adventurism as response time is so short. The only option is to engage with each other. We cannot live in enmity and we have to accept that there are outstanding issues,” he said.He said Kashmir is an issue and both countries knew about it.He said former prime minsiter Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Lahore and Islamabad and recognised the reality of Pakistan and the issue of Kashmir. “Whether we wish or not, Kashmir is an issue and both countries have recognised it. In my opinion there is no option other than talks to resolve it,” he said.Prime Minister Khan in his maiden address to the nation on Sunday said Pakistan would hold talks with all its neighbours to normalise ties as without it peace could not be brought in the country.Earlier, in his address after leading his party to victory in the general elections on July 25, Khan had said that Pakistan is ready to improve its ties with India and his government would like the leaders of the two sides to resolve all disputes, including the “core issue” of Kashmir, through talks.“If they take one step towards us, we will take two, but at least (we) need a start,” he had said.Talking about Afghanistan, Qureshi said he would make a phone call to the foreign minister of Afghanistan and also visit Kabul with a “solid message” that both countries had same destiny. “There will be no peace in Pakistan without peace in Afghanistan,” he said.“I want to tell people of Afghanistan to understand each other’s problems and bilaterally try to resolve all issues,” he said. Talking about relations with the US, he said there is trust deficit between the two countries but Pakistan wanted to have good ties based on its interests. Qureshi said the foreign policy of the new government would be based on interests of Pakistan and it could be fine-tuned according to the needs of the nation.He said that priority of Pakistan’s foreign policy would be “how we can change lives of common people through economic diplomacy”.“We will try to change lives of people through socio-economic development,” he said.He said there are enormous local and regional challenges but “we want to make progress on these issues”.“Some forces have been trying to isolate the country but it will not happen now,” he said.He said his government would build national consensus on foreign affairs. “I will follow bipartisan approach on the issues of foreign policy.”He announced that he would invite Opposition leaders for consultations before the next month’s UN General Assembly session. PTI

Our Correspondent

Chamba, August 16

Himachal Pradesh was also known as Veer Bhoomi. Keeping in view the contribution of the paramilitary forces for the country, the state government had taken a decision to give employment to the kin of martyrs of the paramilitary forces on compassionate ground at par with the Army. This was said by Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Virender Kanwar while presiding over the district-level Independence Day celebrations at the historic Chowgan here on Wednesday.The minister unfurled the national flag and took salute of the march-past presented by the contingents of police, home guards and NCC cadets.Speaking further, the minister said that the state government had enhanced the honorarium of representatives of the panchayati raj institutions.The government had also enhanced the mandays under MNREGA from 100 to 120 days.He said the government was according priority to the welfare of minorities. The Chief Minister had recently launched Minorities Welfare Scheme in the state.The minister awarded Dr Sanjeev Suri, Principal of Rising Star School, Chamba, in recognition of his services in the field of education.The minister also gave away prizes to the participants of cultural performances and others.

Two years ago, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman impressed the world when he spoke of a new Saudi Arabia that he wished to put together for 2030, by when he expected that his country would have to get more realistic about an economy and a nation which could no longer run on only hydrocarbon energy resources.

A nation which had become used to being indulgent due to divine bounty had to get real. Nothing like an educated dynamic young man from the ruling disposition to get that reality in place. He vowed to roll back obscurantist Islamic practices and return the kingdom to a more tolerant and moderate form of Islam; a fairly courageous path to adopt in a country known to be the chief exponent of the radical belief – Wahabi Islam.

Mohammad bin Salman has allowed live concerts, while multiplexes are planned to be opened. Women can now attend soccer games, a major decision in gender handling in the conservative Islamic society. In June this year, his bold promise to overturn the country’s ban on women driving finally came into effect, bringing much cheer to the fairer sex in the kingdom, especially to hundreds of expatriate women to whom the no-driving rule equally applied.

Yet, the public relations blitz surrounding the young crown prince and his supposed liberal ways has suddenly become unstuck with a strike from an unexpected direction – the virtual breaking of diplomatic relations between Saudi Arabia and Canada, on the basis of a tweet by the Canadian Foreign Ministry criticising the Saudi human rights record.

The Canadian Foreign Ministry under its handle @CanadaFP tweeted this – “Canada is gravely concerned about additional arrests of civil society and women’s rights activists in #SaudiArabia, including Samar Badawi. We urge the Saudi authorities to immediately release them and all other peaceful #humanrights activists”.

Canada is one country which does this quite often wherever it senses violation of rights. Many in India will be surprised to know that Indian Army officers, including retired ones, have problems getting a visa to visit Canada if they have served in any counter-insurgency zones in the country. No doubt Canada has always been high on the liberal ideology front and extremely active on observation of human rights the world over, but in a realist world, it can hardly sit on a high horse and moralise because independent nations do not like being sermonised to.

India’s rather cool reception towards Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau was based upon Canada’s unreal perception of freedom and liberty which was permitting anti-Indian activity on its soil by protagonists of Sikh separatism who wish to create an independent state of Khalistan. Despite conclusive evidence on the bombing of the Air India aircraft Kanishka over the north Atlantic in 1985 by pro-Khalistan supporters in Canada, which led to 329 fatalities, Canada has never taken seriously India’s many observations on the support that separatist elements receive on Canadian soil. No doubt there is internal Canadian politics involved in this with a large expatriate Sikh community in that country. Yet that stance on terror in another country does not sanctify Canada’s actions and certainly do not qualify it to occupy a high ground on libertarian values that it professes.

Canada does not seem to learn from its experience. It is one thing for the national media, strategic think tanks and academia to comment on liberty and human rights issues around the world and quite another for an official foreign ministry Twitter handle to issue a near official condemnation of Saudi human rights record.

While the sentiment behind the tweet would be appreciated by all who profess the need for women’s rights, many would not entirely agree that the Canadian stance is helpful towards those who wish to fight and resist the strict Saudi system of limiting the rights of its women. Brazenness about another country’s record of human rights does not help dilute such controls. In fact, it may lead to the opposite and actually work against even those at the highest levels who aspire to bring change; in this case, bin Salman himself, although many may have begun to have doubts about the relative seriousness or degree of control he actually exercises.

Saudi Arabia took exception to the tweet, according it an out-of-proportion official interference in its internal affairs. Officially, it may have caused some consternation that ignoring such messaging from ever expanding social media platforms would open up a stream thus empowering rights groups around the world to put pressure on their national governments to adopt more such methods. New York Post wrote: “The kingdom called Canada’s response an unacceptable affront and a direct violation of its sovereignty. That’s a valid, diplomatic response. But every other measure is utterly disproportionate”. The ‘every other measure’ included here refers to the spate of actions by Saudi Arabia such as suspending diplomatic ties, recalling its ambassador, asking the Canadian ambassador to leave Riyadh, freezing all new trade and investment activity and surprisingly, the ordering of its 16,000 students in Canadian universities to return.

There is no doubt that both nations have acted as per what they would perceive as their national interests but have not kept the context of the times in place while carrying out their actions. Canada should have better understood that bin Salman is attempting something extremely challenging and such official criticism would not be helpful towards the cause of his efforts. Saudi Arabia on its part has definitely moved beyond the strict codes for its population but it must also realistically assess its own comprehensive power.

The volume of trade with Canada is $3 billion in comparison to $674 billion that Canada trades with the US. The 10 percent of Canada’s oil import needs that comes from Saudi Arabia will easily be made up from the US. The withdrawal of students may adversely impact Canada’s education economy but with issues arising out of Indian and Chinese admissions in the US due to immigration-related problems, many of these vacancies could be filled after a short interval. On the other hand, it will equally impact the Saudi mission by depriving the kingdom of the talent and know-how that it needs to increase private-sector employment.

What Saudi Arabia under bin Salman’s guidance will have to learn, and it will happen in transit of time, is that its society too is undergoing a change that cannot happen in a hurry. A more subtle, under radar and unofficial diplomacy with nations following liberal ideologies must be undertaken to sensitise them. In recent years, Saudi Arabia has had similar problems with Sweden and Germany, making this a trend which bin Salman and his supporters will need to seriously introspect upon.

Yamunanagar, August 11

The police have booked six persons for allegedly raping a woman in a village here.In a complaint to the police, the victim stated that her husband was working with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) in Panchkula. On August 5, he went to Delhi for Independence Day duty.She alleged that Majid, Kasim, Najir, Kala and two more persons forcibly entered her house late in the night on August 5 and gang-raped her. They threatened her with dire consequences if she narrated the incident to anyone.She alleged that the accused came to her house the next day also and asked her to go with them. When she refused to go with them, one of them pointed a revolver at her and they took her on a motorcycle to an unknown place and gang-raped her in a hut there, she alleged. She said that one of the accused had left her near her house after committing the crime.The victim said that when she told her husband about the incident, he asked her to lodge an FIR against the accused. A case was registered against six persons under Sections 452, 376-D and 506 of IPC and the Arms Act at Bilaspur police station on Saturday. — TNS

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 3

The Ministry of Defence, in a terse order, has barred the use of “local designations” being used in the armed forces and the civilian staff from July 30.The order is to sort out the long-festering “rank parity” issue between the forces and the civilian staff – called the armed forces headquarters (AFHQ). The forces have been saying that the AFHQ cadre has assumed designations to place themselves on a par with higher ranks of the forces.A letter in this regard says the AFHQ-Civil services officers in the “grade” of Director and Joint Director shall use cadre designations of same ranks. In case of the forces, a separate set of instructions has been issued as to what could be the names of the posts when officers are posted to the headquarters. These are for Brigadier, Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel and Major.Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman issued a letter on January 4 withdrawing “local designations” assigned to the armed forces and civilian officers. The forces and the civil staff had agreed to revert to original designations on July 30. Besides, there has been another flare-up for the nomenclature of the posts to be held by Major General-rank officers.

A Lieutenant Colonel of the Indian army, Dharamvir Singh has alleged that his unit was behind fake encounters of innocent civilians and extortion in north-eastern state of Manipur, a media report said on Tuesday.

Lt Colonel Singh’s wife has moved to the Manipur High Court claiming that her husband was wrongly detained by army soldiers on July 1 morning and was kept under house arrest till the court ordered his release, ANI reported.

“Ranju Singh on July 20 had submitted an affidavit with the court on behalf of her husband highlighting possible reasons behind latter’s arrest,” said the report.

The affidavit accused few army officers of demanding extortion money and carrying out fake encounter of innocent individuals in the north-eastern state of Manipur.

Fearing that the Army officials will continue to harass her husband and family, Ranju mentioned in the affidavit that Lieutenant Colonel Dharamvir Singh in the year 2016 had complained about wrongdoings of some officers.

The affidavit accused few army officers of demanding extortion money and carrying out fake encounter of innocent individuals in the north-eastern state of Manipur.

Following the complaint, some senior officers turned vindictive and began to harass Lieutenant Colonel Singh, said the affidavit.

Owing to pressure mounted on Lt. Col. Singh, he, later on, withdrew the complaint on the assurance that action will be taken against the perpetrators.

Notably, Lt. Col. Singh was serving as officer commanding, 3 CISU at M Sector, Imphal when he was allegedly arrested.

“He was taken away by the officials in front of me. We don’t know why he was arrested and where he has been taken. I don’t know anybody over here. Nobody was ready to help me, at last, I sought the court’s help in this matter. My husband has done nothing, he is innocent,” Ranju told ANI.

The affidavit mentions three alleged fake encounters and an extortion case by one unit and one particular team of the CISU.

The affidavit further divulges about the extortion and fake encounter killings of Manipur boys, Phijam Naobi, R.K. Ranel and Th Prem who were picked up from Dimapur in Nagaland and allegedly killed after being tortured.

Their dead bodies were found in Lakhijan area under Bokajan police station in Karbi Anglong district of Assam on March 12, 2010.

It also mentions the custodial killing of PLA leader Gypsy and her friend who were picked up from a rented accommodation near SM College in Dimapur.