New Delhi: The One Rank-One Pension scheme, brought in last November to benefit more than 2.5 million ex- servicemen and war widows, on Wednesday received ex-post facto approval from the Union Cabinet.
Under the scheme, pension would be revised on the basis of the pension of retirees of calendar year 2013 and the benefit will be effective from July 1, 2014. In future, the pension would be revised every five years.
“The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval for implementation of OROP. Financial implications on account of grant of OROP, including pre-matured retiree cases, would be Rs 10,925.11 crore for payment of arrears and annual financial implication would be Rs 7,488.7 crore,” a statement here said.
Information is being gathered for processing on priority basis the cases of 1.15 lakh pensioners after filling in the gaps in information such as the length of service, it said.
Last month, the government had announced that it has credited revised pensionary benefits along with arrears under One Rank-One Pension scheme to more than 2 lakh pensioners drawing service and disability pensions.
Islamabad, April 5
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today formed a high-level judicial commission to probe any financial wrongdoing, a day after three of his children were named in the ‘Panama Papers’ for owning offshore companies prompting demands for an inquiry by the Opposition.Addressing the nation, Sharif announced formation of the panel to probe allegations against him and his family. “I announce to form a judicial commission that will be led by a former judge of the SC. It will weigh the allegations being levelled and will give its verdict after due investigation,” he said. The PM gave a detailed background of the businesses controlled by his family that he said were established years before Pakistan was founded. — PTI
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has flagged the Indian subcontinent as a challenge in the context of global nuclear security, saying India and Pakistan must ensure their military doctrines do not move in the “wrong direction”.
PTIPM Narendra Modi with Riyadh governor Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz on his arrival in Saudi Arabia on Saturday.Obama made the remarks during a news conference held after the fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit hosted by him. He also listed the reduction of the nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia, and North Korea’s atomic programme as other key challenges.
“The other area where I think we need to see progress is Pakistan and India, that subcontinent, making sure that as they develop military doctrines, that they are not continually moving in the wrong direction,” he told the news conference at the end of the two-day summit.
T hough Obama did not spell out his concer ns, his remarks appeared to be a reference to the growing atomic arsenals of India and Pakistan and the nuclear doctrines of the two countries.
Pakistan is believed to have the world’s fastest growing stockpile of nuclear weapons and US secretary of state John Kerry recently cited the example of the United States and Russia — which are working to reduce their arsenals — as he nudged Islamabad to cut the number of weapons and review its nuclear policy.
While India adopted a “no first use” policy soon after its nuclear blasts in 1998, Pakistan has not put in place a similar policy.
The world community has also expressed concern about Pakistan’s new policy of developing tactical or battlefield nuclear weapons to counter any possible military thrust by Indian forces. Obama said “one of the challenges” facing the US and Russia is that it is “very difficult to see huge reductions in our nuclear arsenal” unless both countries, as the largest possessors of nuclear weapons, are “prepared to lead the way”. Referring to the tensions arising from North Korea’s recent nuclear and missile tests, he said, “And we have to take a look at the Korean peninsula, because… North Korea is in a whole different category and poses the most immediate set of concerns for all of us, one that we are working internationally to focus on.”
Concerns about North Korea had figured in his trilateral meeting with the leaders of Japan and Korea and were “a major topic of discussion” with China’s President Xi Jinping, he added.
More needs to be done to prevent non-state actors from obtaining nuclear materials, world leaders said in a communiqué after the summit. The meet, attended by more than 50 world leaders, described the threat of nuclear and radiological terrorism as “one of the greatest challenges to international security”. The threat is “constantly evolving”, the communiqué said.
“We commit to fostering a peaceful and stable international environment by reducing the threat of nuclear terrorism and strengthening nuclear security,” it added. Obama also warned that terrorist groups such as al Qaeda and Islamic State will use nuclear weapons if they get hold of them.
The Modi government has recently warmly welcomed and rolled out the red carpet for a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan to come and investigate the Pathankot airbase attacks. On the subject of export of terror to India, India has always maintained that there is no distinction between the activities of State and non-State actors in Pakistan and the latter are only used as a proxy by the Pakistani establishment (mainly the army and ISI) to further its agenda of targeting India. Now, by callously inviting the Pakistani JIT to India, the government has played right into the hands of the Pakistani establishment, which conveniently offers “non-State actors” as an excuse for its export of terrorism to India. Past Indian governments have worked extremely hard and had succeeded in pushing Pakistan into a corner, by diplomatically asserting that the Pakistani State is an active abettor of terror rather than purely victim to it. The recent actions of the Modi government have washed away years of this effort and effectively dismantled the box that Pakistan was caged in; the invite to the Pakistani JIT, which includes an ISI member, is tantamount to giving it a clean chit on terror incidents.
PIBPrime Minister Narendra Modi, who, before the elections, used to talk about showing ‘red eyes’ and loudly condemned writing ‘love letters’ to Pakistan, has today adopted the ‘pappi-jhappi’ doctrine to win over his Pakistan counterpart Nawaz SharifWhat is even more damning is that India is yet to get a Letter Rogatory (LR) — a request from a court to share evidence to help investigations — from Pakistan. In the absence of this letter, any evidence collected by the JIT could easily be challenged in a court of law and may not even enjoy judicial admissibility in Pakistan. So, while India may hand over conclusive proof of Maulana Masood Azhar’s and the JeM’s involvement in the Pathankot attack to the JIT, it may be de-linked from the judicial process against them in Pakistan, effectively beating the entire purpose of the said investigation. The Indian government has claimed to have received assurances from the Pakistani authorities about the non-requirement of the LR, but by accepting Pakistan’s explanation, India is being absolutely careless and not according the technicalities of another country’s judicial procedures the seriousness they deserve. This episode is but one example of the Modi government’s dismal policy vis-à-vis Pakistan, which has been marked by the absence of farsightedness, complete non-transparency and flip-flops.
Cross-border infiltration and terrorism have an unfortunate pattern of rearing their ugly heads whenever any high octane engagement is undertaken by India and Pakistan — the Lahore declaration under the earlier BJP government was followed by the Kargil War and PM Narendra Modi’s stopover in Lahore to attend PM Nawaz Sharif ’s birthday and his granddaughter’s wedding resulted in Pathankot. This government has conveniently chosen to emphasise optics over outcomes when it comes to its Pakistan policy. There is absolutely no framework for engagement with Pakistan and decisions seem to be made spontaneously and on a whim. Pakistan is yet another example of the BJP’s post-election U-turns and its penchant for managing headlines over managing policy. The same Modi who, before the elections, used to talk about showing “red eyes” and loudly condemned writing “love letters” to Pakistan, has today adopted the “pappi-jhappi” doctrine to win over Sharif. Sushma Swaraj, then leader of the Opposition and now external affairs minister, who used to forcefully demand suspension of talks with Pakistan until their “aatankvaad ke thikaane” were destroyed, now refers to the Indian PM’s surprise visit to Pakistan as “statesman-like”, tweeting “Padosi se aise hi rishte hone chahiyen”.
Even after coming to power, the U-turns and flip-flops haven’t ceased. The main conspirators of the Mumbai attacks have not been brought to justice, Pakistani diplomats have not stopped meeting the Hurriyat leaders, there have been close to a 1,000 ceasefire violations since the government took office and there have been repeated terror strikes in Jammu and Punjab — killing three in Kathua (March 2015), seven in Gurdaspur (July 2015), seven in Pathankot (January 2016) and five in Pampore (February 2016). What is the BJP’s, and more importantly the government’s, position on Pakistan? Is it “talks and terror can’t go together” or “the two countries will talk only if they have to discuss terror and not Kashmir” or “the perpetrators of 26/11 and Pathankot should be brought to justice before we talk” or “any third party involvement with the Hurriyat is where we draw the red line”? Alternatively, is Modi’s Pakistan policy based on exchanging saris and shawls with the Pakistan PM, and visiting Pakistan to wish him on his birthday and attend his granddaughter’s wedding? The country needs to know, the Opposition needs to know and perhaps, most importantly, ministers in the government need to know.
India needs to negotiate from a position of strength — that means we must decide not just when and where we talk to Pakistan, but also what we talk about. The Congress has always advocated peaceful, but results-oriented, negotiations to settle all disputes with Pakistan and dealt with the situation skilfully and sensitively when in power. It made sure Parliament and the Opposition were always taken into confidence and the media periodically briefed through a single channel of communication. Now what we have is absolute mayhem and confusion — even the senior-most ministers of the government are unaware of the PM’s visit to Pakistan, the visit of the Pakistani JIT and whether or not the JIT will be provided access to the Pathankot airbase. The desire for media attention and personal glory seems to have superseded national interest to yield foreign policy that is directionless, toothless and ineffective.
NEW DELHI: India rejected a man’s purported video confession that Pakistan peddled on Tuesday to reaffirm its allegations about detaining an Indian naval officer for espionage and encouraging terrorist activities in Balochistan and Karachi.
AFP PHOTOPakistani Lt General Asim Bajwa (left) gives details about alleged spy Kulbhushan Yadav in Islamabad on Tuesday.Pakistani military spokesman Lt General Asim Bajwa began a media briefing with a six-minute video of the “Indian spy”, who makes a series of comments that match Islamabad’s allegations about India fuelling a separatist movement in Balochistan and inciting violence in financial capital Karachi.
The video features multiple quick edits and the audio appears to go out of sync from time to time, which hint that it was shot under duress.
India repeatedly denied both charges, saying the official took premature retirement from the navy and has nothing to do with the government.
The Indian foreign ministry said the man, identified as Kulbhushan Yadav, was harassed while operating a legitimate business from Iran.
“While we probe this aspect further, his presence now in Pakistan raises questions, including the possibility of his abduction from Iran,” it said and asked Pakistan to grant consular access to Yadav.
The man’s statements “clearly indicates tutoring”, the foreign ministry said and, hence, “We are naturally concerned about his wellbeing in these circumstances.”
The footage shows the man saying he began working as an intelligence recruit after the attack on 2001 Parliament in New Delhi in which nine people were killed. He apparently set up a small business in Iran that provided him cover for frequent trips to Pakistan before becoming an agent for Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) — India’s external intelligence agency — in 2013.
He says he was caught trying to cross into Pakistan from Iran on March 3.
“Kulbhushan Yadav is a serving Indian naval officer whose primary mission was to foment terrorism in Karachi and Balochistan,” Lt General Bajwa said. “He converted to Islam and worked at Gadani under the cover of a scrap dealer.”
But there is no proof that the retired navy officer was detained in Balochistan, India had countered.
Yadav owns a small ship and used to carry cargo from ports in Iran to various destinations, sources told PTI. He could have been detained after he strayed into Pakistani waters and was being wrongly charged.
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 26
Indian universities should produce experts in defence strategic studies to guide military personnel not to repeat their old mistakes if any war is fought in the future. Former Army chief and Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Statistics and Programme Implementation (Independent Charge) Gen V K Singh stated this while addressing a seminar on ‘1962 War: an Appraisal’ at Panjab University here today. The event also marked the book release of “1962 The War That Wasn’t” by Shiv Kunal Verma.Referring to the PU Defence Studies Department where courses related to the strategic studies was going on, he said such departments were the need of the hour. He said in other developed countries special departments were created by the government so that specialisation and analysis of history and wars of the country could be done to understand the loopholes. This was done so that their soldiers did not repeat such mistakes in future wars. But in India, defence studies meant what we learn in NCC and nothing else, he said. During his address, he said those who did not learn from history suffered a lot in future.Referring to the 1962 war, he appreciated the courage of the Indian soldiers and said they performed well but the defeat was due to political establishment and leadership at the top of the military which lacked in taking the right decision at the right time. He stressed upon analysing the situation of 1962 war to learn what went wrong so that it should not be repeated by the military in the future.Clarifying the myth that after Independence, the military was keen to go on war to show their might to the neighbours, he said during the 1962 war, military was not taken into confidence by political heads before taking a final call on the war. The political establishment cheated the military by not actively consulting it.Meanwhile, filmmaker and military historian Shiv Kunal Verma who authored the book “1962 The War That Wasn’t” mentioned that while signing the Panchsheel Agreement, India made concessions to China which was against the advice given by the military leadership. PU VC Prof Arun Kumar Grover called upon the Department of Defence and National Security Studies to reach out to the military leadership and retired military officers and create a think tank. Gen Kulwant Singh, Maj Gen Rajendar Nath, Brig Amarjit Singh Behl and Brigadier DK Khullar also shared their views.The 1962 war veterans Maj Gen Rajendar Nath, Brigadier Amarjit Singh Behl and Brig DK Khullar were also present. They were given standing ovation by the audience.
PUNJAB AND HARYANA HC ISSUES NOTICE TO ARMY ON PETITION FROM WIDOW OF WW II VETERAN ASKING FOR PENSION AFTER HUSBAND’S DEATH
CHANDIGARH: More than two years after Army authorities asked Gurdial Kaur, 99, the widow of a World War II veteran, to go to ‘Rangoon’ to get the records of her husband’s service before she could be paid pension after his death, the woman has finally petitioned the Punjab and Haryana high court and the Army authorities have been issued notice for April 12.
Gurdial, the widow of Naik Harnam Singh of the Myanmar (earlier Burma) Army, is entitled to family pension on the death of her husband in 2012, but has not been paid a penny since, with her application lost in the maze of the army’s maze of legalese and bureaucracy.
An instance of this is the army letter to her on October 8, 2013, that asked her to fetch her husband’s service record from Rangoon (the erstwhile capital of Myanmar), even as that country shifted its capital to a new city, Naypyidaw, in 2006.
As things stand now, even the Adjutant General Branch of the Army is not clear on which record office has to process her case. EVEN THE PRESIDENT WAS APPROACHED
When pension was first delayed to her after the death of her husband, she wrote to President Pranab Mukherjee for help who marked her letter to the ministry of defence. The letter then reached the army headquarters. The record offices of Artillery, Punjab Regiment, Bihar Regiment, Parachute and Army Air Defence claimed that they did not have any record pertaining to Naik Harnam Singh.
Finally, the office of Artillery Records who asked her to approach ‘Rangoon’ in Myanmar.
Gurdial then approached the high court in March this year claiming that her case was being kept in abeyance by the army even as there had been extensive correspondence between her and the army. In the petition, she claimed that the army officials had been totally devoid of any empathic approach towards her and had been merely engaged in internal discourse all the time.
She also claimed that her case was languishing from one table to another, from one record office to another, at the behest of the army authorities.
“I have not got anything so far. I can’t go from one office to another at this age,” she said. The last pension her husband got was of around ` 8,400.
After the British annexed Myanmar to the Indian province during their rule, a uniform system of administration throughout the colonial government was established. The system remained even after Myanmar’s separation from British India in 1937; whereby, many Indian nationals continued serving in Myanmar, as in the case of Harnam. He even served with the Myanmar Army during World War II.
As per the Myanmar government, in the event of death of the military personal concerned after retirement, the family pension was restricted to the period remaining up to 10 years from the date of retirement or up to the date on which the concerned personal would have attained the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
In 2009, the Indian government brought out a policy for paying pension to such employees. Harnam gained from the policy and continued to get pension till his death in 2012.
An Armyman died under mysterious circumstances in his rented house on Friday. Naib subedar Gurnam Singh of 24 Punjab regiment, a native of Raipur Munney village near Nurpur Bedi, lived at Gillco Valley Colony and was posted near Srinagar
RUPNAGAR: An Armyman died under mysterious circumstances in his rented house on Friday night here. Naib subedar Gurnam Singh of 24 Punjab regiment, who belonged to Raipur Munney village near Nurpur Bedi, lived at Gillco Valley Colony here and was posted near Srinagar.
Gurnam’s brother, Darshan Singh, said the soldier was due to resume duty on Saturday after a break. He said that around 6.30am on Saturday, house owner Satpal Singh had called him up to say that Gurnam had died of electrocution from a faulty television set. The soldier leaves behind his wife, Manjit Kaur, and a daughter.
Police and forensic experts visited the spot and collected fingerprints and other evidence. The autopsy was done at the local civil hospital. City station house officer(SHO) Pawan Kumar said since the soldier’s family suspected no foul play in the death, police had initiated inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and they would wait for autopsy report.
