Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, April 1
Divyanshi (in pic) of Palampur has been commissioned as a medical officer in the Army.She is the first girl from the region to join as a medical officer in the Army.Her first posting will be at the Command Hospital, Northern Command, Udhampur.Her father Pradeep Kumar Sharma said Divyanshi won many prizes, both in academics and extra-curricular activities, during her college days. She had also won a title for exceptional dance performance.
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, March 30
Lieutenant-General Ashwani Kumar, General Officer Commanding, Chetak Corps, was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) by President Pranab Mukherjee during the Defence Investiture Ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan.The general is an alumnus of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. He was commissioned into the Air Defence Artillery (now Army Air Defence) in June 1980.He later commanded a Light Air Defence Regiment, which was actively involved in Operation Parakram.He has the distinction of commanding an infantry brigade in Western Theatre and was the Deputy General Officer Commanding of an infantry division in Jammu and Kashmir.He is the second Army Air Defence Officer to command an infantry division and has the distinction of being the first Army Air Defence officer to command a Corps.Currently heading the Chetak Corps at Bathinda, Lieutenant-General Ashwani Kumar was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal on the Republic Day for his distinguished services as Additional Director General (Discipline & Vigilance) and Director General (Discipline, Ceremonial and Welfare) as part of Adjutant General Branch at the integrated headquarters of the Ministry of Defence (Army).
Chetak Corps to hold rally for ex-servicemen
Bathinda, March 30
The Chetak Corps will organise a rally for ex-servicemen of Bathinda and Mansa districts at the Bathinda Military Station on April 2 from 10am to 5pm.The aim of the rally is to assist ex-servicemen for resolving their problems, if any, and increasing awareness regarding the latest policies and job opportunities.The administration has given its consent to set up stalls of agriculture, health, fisheries, irrigation, horticulture, banks and many more for the benefit of ex-servicemen.The Military Hospital, Bathinda, will also organise a medical check-up camp during the rally. — TNS
PUNJAB XI The 15th assembly of Punjab witnessed a historic departure from the bipolar politics practised by the state since independence. For the first time, the leader of the Opposition was not from the two traditional rivals, Congress or Shiromani Akali Dal, but from the debutant Aam Aadmi Party. It’s also arguably the youngest assembly in the history of Punjab with 43% firsttimers, 34 of them below the age of 45. The fresh faces reflect the demographics of a state growing younger by the year. Youngsters between 18 and 39 constituted 53% of the state’s voters in the assembly polls. Little wonder then that the poor state of education, rampant unemployment & drugs are the three concerns raised by almost every young legislator. Manraj Grewal Sharma speaks to the 11 young legislators between 25 and 36 years of age to find out how they propose to be the agents of change for a resurgent Punjab.
Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 24
The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has upheld sentence of a Major who was cashiered from service and awarded three years rigorous imprisonment by a general court martial (GCM) on charges that included abetting a soldier to set a Captain’s house afire, stealing his car, encouraging the soldier to desert and improperly borrowing money from a subordinate.In his petition, the officer had contended that false charges had been levelled against him and the trial by the GCM was without jurisdiction as his trial had commenced and concluded before the trial of the main accused had started. He said he could not have been tried as an abettor until the charges against the main accused in the case had been established in a legal proceeding.The petitioner, ex-Major Om Prakash, had been tried on seven charges under various provisions of the Army Act and the GCM had held him guilty on five of the charges. The AFT, later, absolved him of a charge and finally, upheld the conviction on four charges.The GCM, convened by the General Officer Commanding, 24 Infantry Division, had tried him for abetting the jawan to set a Captain’s official accommodation on fire at the Suratgarh military station, thereby causing a loss of Rs 4.08 lakh to the victim and of Rs 2.01 lakh to the government.He was also tried for abetting the jawan to steal the Captain’s Santro car; inciting the jawan to desert, which he did the same day; improperly granting excess casual leave to the jawan; failing to pay transportation cost to a private contractor for transporting goods to his village and borrowing Rs 35,000 and Rs 5,000 from two soldiers in contravention of rules.
The Chief of Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat releasing the ‘Compendium of Problem Statements Vol II’, in New Delhi on March 24, 2017.
CNR :94857 Photo ID :100246
General Bipin Rawat chaired a combined session of ‘the user and the provider’ attended by renowned industrialists, academicians as well as the decision making hierarchy of the Army and released the ‘Compendium of Problem Statements Vol II’, which has been prepared by Army Design Bureau (ADB) after detailed interaction with all stake holders including soldiers deployed in field.
The first volume, with 50 problem statements released on 5th December 2016, was received with tremendous amount of enthusiasm, 28 new problem statements have now been added which will enable industry and academia to understand the ‘Felt Needs’ and come up with indigenous solutions incorporating the latest technology trends for India’s military power.
Giving feedback on the first vol, industrialists and academicians expressed keenness to step up R&D for solutions to Army’s problems and deeply appreciated Army’s efforts calling the raising of ADB as a path breaking step. Mr RS Bhatia pointed that India is probably the only great nation where Industrial might of the country is not yet reflected in its Defence Forces.
General Rawat took the opportunity to challenge the industry and academia by asking them to align the solutions to the stated problems. ‘We want to fight next war with technology on our side and not like the past’, he said. He sought efforts towards the most important need to bring in transparency of the battlefield to allow better decision making. Pointing out the drawbacks in trial equipment, he asked the industry and academia to focus on the fact that Indian Army will fight its wars in varied terrain and weather conditions seeking them to come up with robust, rugged, miniaturised yet technologically compatible solutions. He further nudged them to come up with a ‘Society for Defence Manufacture’ as the next step.
Industry leaders and the academicians who seemed greatly ‘fired up’ committed to work towards ensuring that‘Indian Army Will Win India’s Wars with Indian Solutions’.
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Col Aman Anand
PRO (Army)
(Release ID :159931)
Welfare Of Families Of Martyred Soldiers
Assistance / other facilities provided to and welfare schemes for the families / Next of kins (NoKs) of martyrs and disabled soldiers are at Annexure. In addition, some State Governments also extend benefits to the families of martyrs.
Petitions are received from widows and dependents of Defence Personnel disabled, incapacitated or killed in action with regard to payment of family pension, special family pension, ex-gratia etc. from time to time. Efforts are made to dispose these petitions expeditiously, based on the Government policies in this regard and their disposal is monitored at appropriate levels.
This information was given by Minister of State for Defence Dr. Subhash Bhamre in a written reply to Shri Naranbhai Kachhadiya in Lok Sabha today.
NAMPI/Rajib
(Release ID :159867)
Nitin Jain
Chandigarh, February 19
A war veteran father-son duo and the son’s wife had invested their hard-earned money in what they thought would be their own home where they would live a peaceful life post-retirement. However, over a decade later, they have neither got the dream home nor their money back.This is one of the many such cases which are awaiting execution at the Chandigarh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.In separate complaints of war veteran Col Pritam Singh, who had fought World War-II, his son Brig DS Grewal, who had fought for the country in the war against Pakistan in 1971, and Grewal’s wife Manveen Grewal, the commission had issued non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against the respondents, Castle Concrete Infrastructure, through its directors Aashish Goel and Sumita Goel, 35 times and recovery certificates 37 times before declaring the respondents proclaimed offenders in May 2016.However, surprisingly, the commission is still awaiting compliance of its orders.On the execution appeals filed by the war veteran family way back in 2011, the commission had issued NBWs and recovery certificates against the respondents first time on May 17, 2012, and till March 30, 2017, it had issued NBWs for a record 35 times and recovery certificates for a record 37 times but to no avail. As a last resort, the commission declared the respondents proclaimed offenders on May 31 2016, but that also failed to deliver justice to the war veteran family.Besides the war veteran family’s case, there are at least 16 other such execution appeals that are awaiting justice at the commission despite issuance of NBWs and recovery certificates for a number of times.“It is due to the absence of power to initiate contempt proceedings that we are rendered helpless to take the accused to task even after declaring them proclaimed offenders,” the commission president, Justice Jasbir Singh, told The Tribune when asked about the reason behind the long delay in the execution of commission’s orders.However, there was an exceptional case in which the owners of Shalimar Estate were caught by the Panchkula police in some other case and the commission asked the police to procure their production warrants to arrest them in seven separate execution appeals wherein they were wanted.In the remaining six such cases, the police have failed to execute the NBWs and recovery certificates issued by the commission for delivering justice to the consumers.
Rajmeet Singh
The government will soon reduce the fee in government-run polytechnics, Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) and technical institutions.This is the agenda of Charanjit Singh Channi, Minister of Technical Education and Industrial Training. “The fee will be more affordable, while industry-driven vocational and technical courses will be introduced,” he says.His priority, the Chamkaur Sahib MLA says, will be to open a skill development university. “I have already instructed officials to revise the syllabus and make it industry-driven so that students graduating from vocational and technical institutions get jobs.”Channi is clear in what he wants to achieve. “The impetus will be more on skill development and maximum utilisation of funds given by the Centre. The syllabi will be on a par with that of Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) and other prominent institutions in the country,” he tells The Tribune.He further says the youth will be encouraged to pursue technical education. “The focus will be to improve the functioning of institutions imparting technical education. A committee will assess the requirement of infrastructure in government-run institutions.”Among the other things on his agenda are complaints about the distribution of post-matric SC scholarship funds to students enrolled in private institutes. He says he will get the complaints investigated. The Congress leader also talks about investigating into cases of polytechnics and ITIs, where the infrastructure was lying unutilised. Recently, anomalies in the purchase of desktops, laptops and machinery worth Rs 7 crore came to surface. The case has come under the scanner of the CAG.Besides, the Finance Department failed to release funds under a centrally sponsored scheme for the upgrade of ITIs, resulting in non-utilisation of Rs 40 crore.
The Army chips in with recovery vehicles wherever it can, but it’s never enough.
Winter is all but over, and life in Kashmir can be quite uncomfortable, specially after the highest recorded snowfall in 25 years. J&K’s infrastructure doesn’t really support this. The “bandobast”, or lack of it, that brings a level of misery in areas on both sides of the lofty Pir Panjal ranges and Ladakh, needs a revamp to cater to the severe winter. However, development related to such revamp has been hostage to the insecurity that prevailed over so many years. The need to treat Ladakh as a virtual arctic zone hasn’t emerged in development plans. The power situation is abysmal and the traditional heating systems in J&K’s mountainous regions have all but disappeared. The fuel situation is critical despite the storage facility at Pampore, as distribution gets paralysed over slippery or snow-laden roads. Over the years, the snow-clearing machinery has not kept pace with the needs of development. The Army chips in with recovery vehicles wherever it can, but it’s never enough.
Among the many effects of winter and low availability of power is the modern-day glitch involving charging of mobile phones. No power means no charge and therefore no means of communications. I never tire of mentioning, and people usually don’t tire of listening to the example I came across in 2011: traders with gensets who charged `75 for one full charge of a mobile—one of the most unique bits of exploitation. The Army took them on as only it can. Overnight, its many workshops and technical units created multiple charging facilities and placed them on wheels, allowing these to be parked at crossings and marketplaces. It was of course free of charge as a goodwill gesture.
As public health centres report absenteeism in large numbers, urban areas still have private clinics a short walk away. Not so rural areas and mountain villages that remain without medical aid. That’s where the Army swings in once again. Very adept at being out at the most unearthly hours, its patrols now transform into medical aid patrols. Women in the family way are evacuated by soldiers with the help of stretchers through the rough and tumble of snow, ice and slush.
We can blame successive governments, but may be it’s just that there are enough excuses to be found, mostly related to the security situation and the inability to push for the needed energy to do something. Terror and turbulence over years has taken its toll of development, and perhaps added to the callousness of administrations and administrators. My experience over many years has shown that there are some outstanding administrators in J&K who can get their act together very quickly, and with splendid results. A case in point is the activation of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road in 2005, as part of the confidence-building measures with Pakistan. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s government was in power. It was a bad winter in 2004-05; termed the year of the snow tsunami. South Kashmir in particular was swamped by heavy snow. Ironically even a few militants were rescued from their hideouts. I was the commander of the Uri Brigade. Around January 26, 2005, I received orders that the Uri-Muzaffarabad road had to be restored to working order to enable the Karvan-e-Aman trans-LoC bus service to be launched. The route hadn’t been in use for many years, was mined in many places, needed security for work to be done to remove the many rockfalls and, most of all, required the facilities of a customs house, immigration post, telecommunications, banks and other things needed to open up a border.
The Army and Border Roads Organisation got the road functional by April 7, 2005 and a fresh bridge laid across the rivulet at Kaman Aman Setu. The Army even cleared up a mined site next to the bridge, flew prefabricated structures from Ahmedabad and built the facilities. The roads and bridges department of the J&K government set up a full tourist reception centre at Salamabad in just six weeks. It gave me a taste of how quickly J&K officials could work when they have deadlines and competition exists. The Army’s breakneck speed of work energised all departments, who would not be left behind.While the security situation may be worrisome, there is no reason why imaginative people-oriented projects can’t be initiated: the capability is all there. Given the mischief that will continue from across the Line of Control, we can’t afford to put development on hold — that means essentially the core areas of ensuring adequate supplies of fuel, food, medicines and power; having the roads clear so that life can’t get paralysed and sufficient focus on health that is affected the most during winters.There is one problem I have always envisaged — the duration of the working season in the Valley and nearby areas. By the time the winter thaw ends, spring is truly upon us and the government back in Srinagar; projects start getting unwrapped from the previous year’s legacy. It takes time for the tempo to build, and by the time that happens a kind of paralysis sets in with bandhs and protest calendars. By late October each year the J&K government again gets into packing mode for the shift to Jammu, the winter capital.
On top of this is the dearth of activity to attract tourists. Skiing is not everybody’s idea of fun and thus can’t be the main attraction. Unless there is an assurance that airports will remain open, and hotels have adequate heating and water, the experience can be hellish. Movement even between Tangmarg and Gulmarg can be unsafe due to the state of the road.
To the Army’s credit, this entire winter its PR efforts revealed the quantum of activities it generated for young people. The government’s physical absence must never deter its officials from taking up activities to bring back normality into the lives of people.
This is the time when militant activity is low, so perhaps it’s a good time to push efforts to change the minds of the people with some positivity — there has been far too much negativity thanks to the activities of the separatists. There are reports of depression among people: this is quite understandable when the climatic conditions are supplemented by the gloom of the environment.
The current government should seek some innovative ways to bring positivity into the environment. On both sides of the Pir Panjal I find people involved in riling each other with critiques about the attitude of the other. As a start, one would strongly recommend that cultural and sports activities, intellectual engagement between people of different regions and other recreational activity be planned through the winter months, and short periods of infrastructural breakdown shouldn’t allow minds to close. Kashmir is really an issue to do with mindsets and negativity. A lot of how that can be overcome depends on people themselves. Incidentally, one wonders why no one in the J&K government has sought an air arm, with a few transport aircraft and helicopters, for its administrative needs.
Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh holding a meeting with DCs and SSPs in Chandigarh on Monday. PTI
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 20
With a view to bringing in transparent and quality governance in the state, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday issued a series of stringent directions to the district administration and police officers to crack down on corruption and ensure strict adherence to rule of law, setting a three-day deadline for filing of a chargesheet against the corrupt.
Chairing a meeting of DCs and SSPs here, Amarinder asked them to ensure that rules are followed and to work according to statutory procedures. He urged the officers to go digital in order to speed up work and monitor delays.
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Directing the officers to take quick and decisive action against the corrupt, he directed them to issue notice and chargesheet promptly, within a maximum of three days. Asking them to be fair and to hear each party, while following due process, Amarinder directed the officers to monitor the actions of their juniors and, at the same time, report their own actions to their seniors.
Observing that his government had decided, in its first cabinet meeting, to implement various measures to improve the delivery of public services and welfare of the government employees, the Chief Minister said he expected all district officers to get cracking immediately and ensure expeditious action for the welfare of the people. The impact of these changes, he said, should be visible in their public dealing.
The Chief Minister ordered a clean work culture to be imbued immediately in the seven main officers dealing with the public, namely Sub Registrar, Tehsil, Sub-Division, Transport, Food and Supplies, Police Stations and Powercom. Officers should be present in their offices from 9 am to 5 pm on all working days, with tours to be announced on website and notice board.
He said appointment hours should be fixed and appointments should be given on phone or web, and all applications should be scanned and followed up on computer. Reply should promptly be sent to the applicant on email, SMS or through post, within the RTS Act time limit.
The Chief Minister directed that all registrations should be returned the same day, with refusal, if any, to be recorded in writing. All mutations would now have to be decided within seven days, and mutation application with full names and addresses of parties should be forwarded by Sub Registrars (SR) to Fard Kendra the same day.
In a bid to clean up the transport system, he ordered online payment of all transport taxes, with computerised recovery of arrears. All power connection applications should be made online, and pendency should be displayed on website and monitored by the DC, the Chief Minister said.
Urging the officers to give citizens due respect, the Chief Minister directed them to ensure good seating, cooling, sufficient space and drinking water. Information boards, pamphlets, kiosks, counters should be provided to the public, along with assistance in filling up forms and applications and response through SMS.
Urging them to interact politely, and to be courteous and kind to people, Amarinder asked the officers to try and understand the problems of the taxpayer even if they could not immediately resolve it.
Director Colleges AWES
