Kolkata, August 4

A Hawk advanced jet trainer on Thursday crashed soon after take-off from Air Force Station, Kalaikunda, in West Midnapore due to a “technical snag” but both the pilots ejected safely.

IAF sources said the aircraft developed a technical problem at about 1100 hours, minutes after taking off from Kalaikunda air station in West Bengal, where another Hawk had crashed in June last year.

The crash occurred within the boundary of the air station, 138 km from here, and the two pilots ejected safely, they said.

“A Court of Inquiry has been instituted into the crash,” an IAF source said.

Last year in June, another Hawk had crashed after taking off from Kalaikunda station as it developed a technical problem. Budding fighter pilots undergo their stage-III training for a year on Hawk. — PTI

ANCHKULA: Lt Gen KJ Singh, Western Army commander Command, who is retiring on July 31, has said that the role of army in neutralising the terrorists at Dinanagar (Gurdaspur) on July 27 last year was underplayed.

He said the light machine gun (LMG) bullets that killed at least one of the three terrorists were those of army. “At Dinanagar, Punjab Police wanted to tackle terrorists on their own. But by the time they reached there, our jawans had taken positions. Of the three terrorists, our LMG fire killed at least one (or it can be two) as we backed the police,” he said. He said a bomb too was disposed of by the army, but all the credit went to the police.

“Pakistan wanted to alter the arc of terrorism by including Gurdaspur, Samba. We had terrorist incidents at Arambag, Arnia, Samba, Dinanagar and Pathankot. We thwarted Pakistan’s designs,” he said.

WILL RIDE THE TANK HE WAS COMMISSIONED ON

“I will spend some time on the tank at Amritsar on which I was commissioned,” said Lt Gen KJ Singh. He will go to Amritsar on Sunday for fulfilling his wish. On how did he find the tank, he said, “Like people find their exgirlfriends on Facebook, I also found ZX 1685. It’s a T-55 tank and is still in service.

My journey with the Army started 50 years ago at an age of 14 when I joined the Sainik School at Chittorgarh, in 1966. On May 30, 1973, I left the school and joined NDA on June 30 the same year. I never went to college. The only college I went to was Army War College,” he said.

Lt Gen Singh will hang up his boots after puttin in 39 years’ of service in the armed forces. ON SUCCESSOR

“Only I am retiring, not the Western Command. I cannot comment on why a permanent commander has not been appointed. But Lt Gen Jagbir Singh Cheema, General Officer Commanding (GOC), Vajra Corps, who has been given the charge as an interim arrangement, is fully competent. The only thing is that he doesn’t have a fixed tenure. He has been GOC of 11 Corps for a year and before that he was Chief of Staff, Eastern Command,” he said. ON CHINA

The Western Command shares 200-km border with China. “But we don’t have any boundary dispute with China in this area…At Kaurik and Shipki La passes, we are eyeball to eyeball with them. We have to remain vigilant,” he said. ON FUTURE PLANS

Lt Gen KJ Singh said he wanted to settle down in Gurgaon, but after coming here, he changed his mind. “As of now, I don’t have a house of my own, but I have invested in DLF Valley, Pinjore. I will settle down there,” he said. He thanked Panjab University for offering him the Maharaja Ranjit Singh Chair to him.

A FINAL BYE BEFORE HANGING UP BOOTS

Lt Gen KJ Singh, general officer commanding-in-chief, Western Command, bidding adieu to armymen at Chandimandir on Saturday. The general, who is hanging his boots after 39 years of service, on Sunday, plans to settle down at a Pinjore colony.

Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, July 28

The Supreme Court on Thursday denounced the practice of ruling parties misusing defamation laws to stifle criticism against the government.“Such acts amount to curbing free speech. Defamation laws cannot be misused as a political weapon to ward off criticism, which needs to be tolerated,” a Bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and RF Nariman remarked.The Bench made the comments while hearing actor-turned-politician Vijayakant’s plea for quashing 14 such cases filed against him by the Tamil Nadu government headed by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.Governments should not invoke such laws, particularly to deter people from exposing corruption in the administration, the Bench said.Seeking a list of the defamation cases filed by the Jayalalithaa government against its political opponents, the Bench stayed the non-bailable warrants issued against DMDK chief Captain Vijaykanth and his wife Premalatha for calling the administration corrupt.

UNDERSTANDING  26 AS FORM WHICH
                               ONE RECEIVES FROM INCOME TAX
                               DEPARTMENT ANNUALLY

              NOW INCOME TAX DEPARTMENT KNOWS EVERYTHING
              ABOUT YOUR FINANCIAL DEALINGS- READ ON
                                  BE CAREFUL

ANNUAL INFORMATION REPORT IS MUCH MORE THAN YOUR BANK
ACCOUNTS AND TAX DEDUCTED

 KINDLY SPARE FEW MOMENTS AND READ IT.

Under section 285BA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, “specified persons”
are required to record and report high-value financial transactions of
individuals.

If you have read your Form 26AS (an annual consolidated credit
statement), you will notice that apart from having details of tax
deducted at source (TDS), tax collected at source (TCS), taxes paid
and refunds,

IT ALSO CONTAINS DETAILS OF THE ANNUAL INFORMATION RETURNS FILED BY
DIFFERENT ENTITIES.  THE AIR COLUMNS LISTS DETAILS OF THE HIGH VALUE
TRANSACTIONS MADE BY TAX PAYER DURING THE FINANCIAL YEAR.  NOW KINDLY
READ ON.

WHO FILES IT?

Under section 285BA of the Income-tax Act, 1961, “specified persons”
are required to record and report high-value financial transactions of
individuals. These specified persons include: banks, mutual funds,
institutions issuing bonds, and registrars or sub-registrars; and they
have to file the AIR, containing details of high-value transactions,
by 31 May of the following year. Earlier it was allowed till 31
August.

WHICH TRANSACTIONS ARE REPORTED?

High-value transactions are those that are above a certain limit.

The list of high-value transactions, for which AIRs have to be filed,
is specified in rule 114E of the Income-tax Rules, 1962.

For instance, a bank has to file an AIR when the aggregate cash
deposits of all the savings bank accounts of a client exceed Rs.10
lakh in a year.

Similarly, registrars or sub-registrars have to file AIRs for every
individual involved in any transaction of an immovable properties
(land, house or building), where the value of the deal exceeds Rs.30
lakh. In case a deal involves joint parties, and the share of one or
more parties is less than Rs.30 lakh, even then AIRs are filed for all
the individuals.

The scope of AIR has been recently expanded by the Central Board of
Direct Taxes (CBDT). For example, effective 1 April 2016, a bank has
to report every person who makes one or more term deposits, which
total more than Rs.10 lakh in a year. The amount excludes renewal or
reinvestment of the deposits.

The threshold of some transactions has changed. For instance, earlier
a credit card issuer had to file an AIR for those whose aggregate
annual spending on a card exceeded Rs.2 lakh. This limit has been
raised to Rs.10 lakh now.

However, now an AIR has to be filed even for those who pay their
credit card bills by cash (instead of making the payment by cheques or
bank transfers), and the total of such payments exceeds Rs.1 lakh in a
year.

Similarly, earlier a mutual fund company had to file AIRs for those
unit holders who had invested more than Rs.2 lakh in a scheme. Now the
limit has been raised to Rs.10 lakh.

AIRs helps the government to collect information about high-value
transactions made by taxpayers. This information is cross-checked
against the income declared and tax paid by the income tax assessee in
her income tax return.

ITS AIM IS TO CHECK TAX EVASION AND CURB BLACK MONEY.

circulated by

NARENDRA AHUJA
MA LLB
PG DIP MANCHESTER 1964
WILL & MUTATION ADVISER
ADVOCATE
9971475800

A 10-member team of the Tripeak Brigade on a mountain cycle expedition in Kinnaur and Lahual Spiti districts. Tribune photo

Tribune News Service

Shimla, July 23

The 10-member team of the Tripeak Brigade has successfully covered 640 km route in Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts. The team started its expedition from Pooh on July 1 and cycled through Sangla, Thangi, Nesang and Spiti.The aim was to highlight the importance of cleanliness. The members covered 66 km a day. Facing harsh weather conditions throughout the route, encountering hailstorms, rain and high-velocity winds, they achieved their goal.The expedition concluded on July 16. It was flagged off by Brig Rajiv Ghai, Sena Medal, Commander, HQ 136(I) Infantry Brigade Group.On August 15 last year, 12 members of the Tripeak Brigade embarked on a cycling expedition covering a distance of 700 km in Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti, Kullu and Mandi districts.

The modern Islamic puritans need to recollect that the holiest place in Islam, the Kabah in Mecca, Saudi Arabia was a pre-Islam temple. It was chosen by the Prophet to show continuity. Indian Muslims, have remained committed to the democratic-secular Indian polity, despite grave provocation.

A woman puts flowers near the scene where a truck mowed through revellers gathered for Bastille Day fireworks in Nice, southern France on July 15. AP/PTI

AS per the initial investigations by the French intelligence agencies, the massacre at Nice in France by a French Muslim (of Tunisian origin), who riding a heavy truck ploughed through a big gathering celebrating French National Day, is reported to have been committed not as part of terrorism commanded by some Islam-o-fascist organisation. It seems to be the work of a volatile petty criminal with little interest in Islam.  This may be true, but the fact is that the juggernaut of the Islam-o-fascists is on the roll, marauding different parts of the globe with unparalleled savagery and sadism. They claim to represent the “true” spirit of Islam and target the West for wrongdoing to Muslims. The Islam-o-fascists, who originated in Arabia, not only outrightly reject any talk of diversity in the world but also within Islam. Islam originated in Arabia with its holy book in Arabic but spread to different parts of the world because as a religion it adapted itself to different environments and geographical realities. Iran’s conversion to Islam was complete by the mid-7th century but the former refused to abandon its Persian and linguistic heritage. When Arab caliphs tried to erode it, the Iranian Muslim intelligentsia launched a movement called Shu’ubiyyah to protect and revive their distinctive language and culture, a process known as Persianisation. Despite almost a century-long persecution, the Arab rulers failed to destroy this spirit and allowed sermons in Persian. South-East Asia is another example where Islam merged into the local social milieu. In countries like Indonesia, almost all Muslims carry Sanskrit names. The national airline is known as Garuda Indonesia. Garuda being a Sanskrit word. In these areas Islam became a permanent fixture due to its flexibility, otherwise it would have disappeared long back. The modern Islamic puritans need to recollect that the holiest place in Islam, known as Kabah in Mecca, Saudi Arabia was a pre-Islam temple and was chosen by the Prophet to show the continuity. Islam-o-fascists have not only been spilling the blood of  innocent children, women and men but also destroying wonderful historic pieces which human civilisation created in the last so many millenniums. The dastardly  destruction of giant Buddha statues of Bamiyan in Afghanistan, the greatest symbols of Gandhara art in the world, by the Taliban in 2001 and one of the most culturally significant pieces of architecture in the world —Temple of Bel in Palmyra, Syria— in September 2015 only shows ignorance of history.For them, it is difficult to comprehend that human civilisation did not start with the advent of Islam. It developed in thousands of years. There were conflicts but synthesis was the rule and Islam too developed as the synthesis of many cultures and religions. Also, no religion can claim that its followers make a monolithic whole or can be turned into one by some jihadi army. The Islam-o-fascists defend their criminal acts by arguing that they are fighting to “save Islam/Muslims” from Christian/non-Muslim adversaries. Their grouse is that in the name of fighting terrorism, the West is targeting all Muslims. See what these self-appointed guardians of Islam are doing. They are killing, raping and maiming innocent people who have nothing to do with rulers of any creed or hue. It’s idiotic to think that bombs and bullets are programmed to first verify from the victims his/her religion before striking. The recent carnage at Dacca showed that even if these criminals manually verify every hostage’s religion, there would be Muslims who would choose to be killed with other non-Muslims. They forget that on this earth almost everywhere people professing different religions stay and work together. The leaders of the West, the USA and allies like Saudi Arabia declare their firm resolves to crush Islam-o-fascists after every attack. The mainstream US media goes on to explain these terrorist attacks in the context of the “clash of civilisations” thesis of Samuel Huntington. It is interesting; those who created jihadi Islam are also fed up with it. This is West which faced with the rising tide of Arab nationalism, pan-Arabism, Arab socialism and anti-imperialist in the 1970s, under the leadership of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party which was led by both Muslims and Christians. The intelligence agencies of the West then starting sponsoring “Islamic” organisations which would fight the Arab socialists. When the Arab socialists decided to make the Arab world free of totalitarian kingdoms like Jordan, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the West ensured their safety and security against any socialist revolution in these kingdoms. 

Nurtured by the West

The official facts about how the Taliban was created and nurtured by the West, specially the CIA, are well-documented in a publication of the Yale University, Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, by Ahmed Rashid. The revelations are shocking. Under the direct supervision of the CIA chief William Casey in the 1990s, some 100,000 Muslim radicals from 43 Islamic countries in the Middle-East, North and East Africa, Central Asia and the the Far East were gathered in Pakistan and Afghanistan, armed with the latest armoury including stinger missiles in order to fight the Communists.This terrible fact may not be known to many that the ISIS was originally created as Al-Qaida-linked opposition militias in Syria by the CIA. Military hardware and cash were made available courtesy Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in order to dislodge the Shiite regime in Syria. Islam-o-fascists’ claim to be messiah of Muslims is a sheer lie. When the CIA sponsored the genocide of progressive Muslims in Indonesia in 1965-66, these were Islam-o-fascist organisations of Indonesia like, Nahdlatul Ulama Muhammadiyah who butchered approximately 1.5 million Muslims, Christians and Buddhists, in collusion with the Indonesian army. This genocide ranks as one of the worst mass murders of the 20th century. It was no different in East Pakistan during 1969-1971. The Islamist gangs were leading killers and rapists; approximately 2 million were killed and 4 lakh women raped. Most of the victims were Muslims but minorities were almost cleansed.

Indian Muslims

India with the third largest population of Muslims in the world would have been a good recruitment place for Islam-o-fascists. However, Indian Muslims have never been part of any such project in the past and there is no likelihood of their falling prey to such a nefarious project. It is heartening to know that out of almost 17 crore Muslims, according to Indian intelligence agencies, less than 50 persons have joined Islam-o-fascist ranks. Indian Muslims, despite the grave provocation from Hindutva organisations, have remained committed to the democratic-secular Indian polity. Interestingly, while challenging the Indianness of Indian Muslims Hindutva organisations and Islam-o-fascists are fully in agreement. According to the Hindutva discourse, Muslims (and Christians) cannot be part of the Hindu rashtra as they belong to a foreign religion. Islam-o-fascists too claim that Indian Muslims are Muslims only and not part of Hindu India.  Indian intelligence agencies concur with the fact that radicalisation of Indian Muslim youth took place only after the demolition of the mosque at Ayodhya. The successful running of democratic-secular India is a guarantee against any poaching of Indians by any brand of theocratic politics. 

The writer is a Professor of Political Science, Delhi University.

Capt Chanan Singh Sidhu (retd) with the portrait of Sepoy Balwinder Singh, an Indian PoW said to be languishing in a Pakistan jail. TRIBUNE FILE

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 15

A disabled Special Forces officer, who took part in the 1971 India-Pakistan war, has petitioned the Supreme Court, seeking directions to the Centre to earnestly work towards the repatriation of Indian prisoners of war (PoW) believed to be languishing in Pakistan jails for decades.“We filed the petition this week and expect it to be listed for hearing within the next few days,” Capt Chanan Singh Sidhu (retd) said. “Substantial evidence, including excerpts of books authored by eminent persons, extracts of official reports of human right commissions and affidavits have been attached with the petition,” he said.Last year, the Centre had in an affidavit submitted to the SC claimed that it had no details regarding the ‘missing’ defence personnel believed to be held captive in Pakistan jails after the 1965 and 1971 wars, but would continue making efforts for their repatriation. The SC had fined the government Rs 20,000 for laxity in placing the information before it.Capt Sidhu served with the Special Forces (5 Para) from 1968-1978 before being discharged on medical grounds after losing his right arm and suffering severe head injuries while deployed on the border with Tibet. He was posted at the Pathankot airfield during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. He now runs his business from Amritsar and Mullanpur near Chandigarh.Speaking to The Tribune, he claimed that over 78 persons ‘gone missing’ in the 1971 war were rotting in Pakistani jails and there was enough evidence ‘on their existence.’He said among the annexures attached with the petition were excerpts from the biography of a former US Air Force Chief, wherein he had mentioned that during his stint in Pakistan as part of a training team, he had interrogated 16 IAF PoWs to glean information on Soviet war machines. Also, in a book authored by Pakistani Premier ZA Bhutto’s lawyer it had been mentioned that Bhutto was unable to sleep at night while incarcerated in jail because of Indian PoWs screaming for help.Capt Sidhu pointed out that members of a human rights organisation, who had gone to meet alleged Indian spy Sarabjit Singh in Pakistan’s Kot Lakhpat jail, were greeted with appeals of help by some inmates who claimed to be Indian PoWs.Affidavits of prisoners released from Pakistan jails vouching for the Indian PoWs there had also been made part of the petition. Capt Sidhu said he would be petitioning the International Court of Justice and the International Human Rights Commission too.

Akash Ghai

Tribune News Service

Mohali, July 14

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has redesigned the Mohali-Kharar flyover, which will come up at a cost of Rs 368 crore by December 2018.After two previous designs were shelved following widespread protests by area residents, the flyover has now been designed as a “mix of elevated and surface project”. To be built by L&T Constructions, the 7.3-km-long flyover will start from Balongi and end at the Khanpur T-point in Kharar on the National Highway-21.A senior official of the NHAI said the project “is on since June 9 with a completion deadline of 30 months”.He said the new flyover design was with the higher authorities in Delhi. “It may be revised. The final decision is expected within a fortnight,” the official said.Under the new design, there will be a 3-km elevated road starting from the Balongi light point till Sunny Enclave. From Sunny Enclave to the BSNL building in Kharar, there will be a 2.96-km road on the surface and from the BSNL building to the Khanpur T-point, there will be again a 1.3-km elevated road.

Earlier designs were shelved

Under the original plan, the NHAI had decided to construct the flyover from Sector 39, Chandigarh, to Khanpur village. Later, the plan was shelved and the authorities redesigned the flyover from the Mohali-Chandigarh border at Phase VI to Khanpur village. The plan was again shelved following a protest by residents of Phase VI and members of the Phase VI Gurdwara Committee as some parts of the gurdwara and a number of houses had to be demolished for the construction of the flyover.

Shopkeepers up in arms

At present, another protest is being staged against the construction of the flyover. The protest is being led by the Chandigarh-Kharar Highway Sangharsh Committee, formed by owners of commercial establishments and shopkeepers of the area. The protesters claim that the construction of the flyover will destroy the business of at least 1,500 shopkeepers and other businessmen.

Expert’s viewpoint

An expert said the construction of a flyover here was not the solution. “According to a recent study, about 35,000 vehicles ply on the road on an average. On Madhya Marg in Chandigarh, about 60,000 vehicles ply daily and still there is no traffic jam. When we construct flyover, it mainly facilitates cars, that too those heading for long distances. Other vehicles such as buses, trucks, auto-rickshaws, two-wheelers and cyclists hardly use the flyover. The study here shows that the number of cars on this stretch is very less in comparison to other vehicles,” said the expert.

What traffic adviser says

“The viewpoint of affected people must be considered. A detailed socio-economic study should also be taken into consideration to find out the merits and demerits of the elevated road,” said Navdeep Asija, traffic adviser to the Punjab Government.