All posts by webadmin

NEW DELHI: Pradeep Chauhan, the man who has been accused of blackmailing Union minister VK Singh’s wife, has filed a police complaint alleging that there was a threat to his life as he was aware of some “secrets” of the minister’s family.

In his complaint, a copy of which is with HT, he stated, “I am being threatened because I have strong evidence against Singh and his family planning to eliminate a Colonel and his OSD (officer on special duty). I have both audio and video clips to support my claims.”

He also named VK Singh’s daughter, wife Bharti Singh, brother-in-law and a captain of the army in his complaint.

Sources said that Chauhan has recorded conversations between Singh and some officials of the ministry of external affairs related to some inquiries. The recordings also had some correspondence between Singh and defence ministry officials.

“We are not aware of any such allegations. All of this is rubbish. Let the investigation agency work and get to the bottom of it,” Singh’s counsel Vishwajeet Singh said.

Chauhan has reportedly submitted his phone to the Gurgaon police for investigation. It will now be handed over to the Delhi Police who are looking into the case. “The mobile will be sent for forensic examination. If Chauhan pursues the case, then voice samples of Bharati and Singh will be collected and compared with the audio clips recovered from Chauhan’s phone,” an investigator told HT.

Sources said that Singh’s family approached the police to quash the case. The police, however, refused to act saying that the matter was now in the court.

Army marching band members perform during ‘Know Your Army’ exhibition at the Panther stadium in Amritsar on Wednesday.

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 10

Reaching out to civilians with some intricate details about the working of Indian Armed forces, 15 Infantry division of army kicked off the six day exhibition at Panther stadium. It was inaugurated by 15 infantry division General officer Commanding Major General Nav K Khandhuri. The exhibition displays weapons, engineering equipment, tanks and other significant ammunition in use by army.The Army band playing signature tunes, the first day of the exhibition saw moderate crowd with school students thronging the stadium to know about the combat weapons and equipment used by the army. A minor disruption due to sudden rainfall, notwithstanding, the exhibition progressed with cultural programmes on national integration. Battle tanks displayed at the exhibition were a major crowd puller and army officers also gave out information regarding the recruitment procedure to the enthusiastic young visitors.Addressing the gathering at the exhibition, Major General Khanduri said, “The purpose of the exhibition is to make youngsters aware about the armed forces as a lucrative career option and also make them privy to the various technical know-how. It will help inculcate the spirit of patriotism in today’s youth and motivate them to come forward in nation-building.” He also said that the army will continue organizing such exhibitions after few months. The exhibition was attended by the NCC cadets, retired army officers, IAS officers and students in heavy number.With series of such exhibition to promote Army-civilian interaction being organized over the years in various cities, Major General Khanduri said that such exhibitions will continue to reach out to youngsters.

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 6It’s unprecedented. Key posts in the military are without regular appointees. These include posts of Western Army Commander, Director General Military Intelligence (DGMI) and Master General Ordnance (MGO).Even a top Air Force officer, Air Marshal S Neelakantan, who was holding temporary charge as CISC, has been posted out. The post of DGMI, too, does not have a regular appointee after Lt Gen KG Krishna superannuated on July 31. Normally appointments to such posts are made a month in advance. In the Western Command headquartered at Chandimandir, the General Officer Commanding of Jalandhar-based 11 Corps, Lt Gen Jagbir Singh Cheema, is the officiating Chief after Lt Gen KJ Singh superannuated on July 31. The Western Command is the only command dual-tasked with Pakistan and China (Himachal Pradesh) border.Lt Gen DR Soni, an Armoured Corps officer who till a fortnight ago was commanding the Bathinda-based 10 Corps, is a contender for the Western Command as well as the Shimla-based Army Training Command. He was set to be the Commander-in-Chief Andaman and Nicobar Command but the proposal to keep the post with the Navy, and not to rotate it between the three services, has held that back.Meanwhile, ARTRAC commander Lt Gen PM Hariz has been appointed to head the Southern Army Command on September 1, replacing Lt Gen Bipin Rawat, who has been appointed as the next Vice Chief of the Army after Lt Gen MMS Rai superannuates on August 31. The other contender for the Western Army Commander post is the Sukna-based 33 Corps Commander Lt Gen Surinder Singh.

New Delhi

American defence major Lockheed Martin on Thursday said it has offered to move its lone production line of the latest version of fighter aircraft F 16-Block 70 to India from Texas to meet Indian and global requirement. “The offer is unmatched and unprecedented,” Randall L Howard, F16 Business Development head, said. PTI

Patna

Toppers scam: One held

The third rank holder in science stream of the Intermediate Examination from Bishun Rai College in Bihar has been arrested by the Patna police, which is probing the toppers scam in the state. Rahul Kumar was arrested from his uncle’s house at Azampur village. It has been revealed that a deal of Rs 5 lakh was struck to make him a rank-holder, City SP Chandan Kushwaha said. PTI

Lucknow

Relief for farmers

The UP Awas Vikas Parishad has decided to return 35,000 acres acquired across 15 cities for housing colonies to farmers. Housing Commissioner RP Singh said most housing projects had been planned in the 1980s and the process of acquiring land had started after that, running into legal disputes. TNS

Gorakhpur

Ex-minister gets life term

A former Uttar Pradesh minister was on Thursday sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in a 22-year-old murder case. According to the prosecution, a body was recovered from the farmhouse of Jitendra Jaiswal alias Pappur Bhaiyya at Pipraich in 1994. After hearing arguments, the court held Jaiswal guilty. Jaiswal was a minister in the state cabinet during the BJP regime in the 1990s. PTI

Chennai, July 31

There is no stepping down of search operations for the Indian Air Force AN-32 plane with 29 people on board that went missing on July 22, despite no signs of debris or oil slick on the sea surface, a senior Indian Coast Guard officer said on Sunday.“Whether it is the Coast Guard or Indian Navy or IAF, the search operations have not been slowed or stepped down,” the officer, who did not want to be named, said.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)He said now hopes are pinned on the Sagar Nidhi vessel belonging to the National Institute of Ocean Technology that is expected to join search operations soon.The ship has the capacity to search under water and is expected to join search operations on August 2 or 3.The plane went missing shortly after taking off from Chennai for Port Blair. Its last pick-up was 151 nautical miles east of Chennai when it took a left turn with a rapid loss of height. — IANS

Candidates take part in a physical test during a police recruitment drive at Sector 78 in Mohali on Friday. Tribune photo: Vicky Gharu

Ishrat S Banwait

Mohali, July 29

Ex-servicemen ruled the day of the police recruitment drive in Mohali. With all 18 candidates passing the dope and physical tests, the indomitable Army spirit was on display.The physical test included a run of 1,400 metres in 12 minutes and 50 sit-ups.According to the Superintendent of Police, Harbir Singh Atwal, three per cent of the posts had been reserved for the ex-Army men. While the ex-servicemen said their Army training made test easy, the rest of the candidates said their performance was inspirational.In three days, only one ex-Army man has flunked the dope test.While 334 candidates appeared on the third day of the drive, seven failed the dope test and 174 flunked the physical test. Atwal said, “Yesterday, three ex-Army men had failed to clear the physical test, that too, because they did not have the minimum required height of 5’7.” He added that most of the ex-Army men 1,400-meter run in seven minutes.

Lots of people asked for the link/URL to the debate on AFSPA.

Xinhua can send replacemnts, though

New Delhi/Beijing, July 24

Even as sources in China’s state news agency Xinhua confirmed that three of its journalists have been told to leave India by the end of this month, it is reliably learnt that replacements can be sent for the three.Wu Qiang and Lu Tang, who head Xinhua’s bureaus in New Delhi and Mumbai respectively, and She Yonggang, a reporter based in Mumbai, have been asked to leave India by July 31.“They have been asked to leave because of adverse intelligence reports against them,” a source in New Delhi confirmed, while adding that their visas “had expired by January-February this year”.“The reports said they had been doing work incompatible to their profession.” But the source said this should not be seen as an expulsion.“This cannot be called an expulsion as Xinhua can send replacements for the three who have been asked to leave,” the source said.“It is true. I don’t know why they have done that,” a senior journalist in Xinhua, who was formerly based in India, told IANS in China. “I would not like to say more as I don’t have more details,” the scribe added.IANS tried to reach Xinhua over phone in New Delhi but there was no response. IANS

Chandigarh, July 23

A former city-based Army major, who had figured in the controversies surrounding the 1999 Kargil war, has penned a book on Kashmir and the war. The book is said to be a piece of military fiction that has several coincidences with the war.The book has two young officers as the central characters who are tasked to investigate the case of a major for events pertaining to the Kargil war.The author, Manish Bhatnagar, contends that the war and the real game plan behind it has still not been understood and he tries to convey his thoughts in the form of findings and deductions made by the officers in their reports to the higher authorities.The author, who has served with the Special Forces and is now a practising advocate in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, had faced a general court martial after the war on charges of disobedience of lawful command. His case is pending before the Supreme Court. — TNS