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New Delhi, November 14
Railway fares for travel in the upper class categories will go up from tomorrow as a service tax levy of 14% and a Swachh Bharat cess of 0.5% become effective.

A Railway Ministry circular says fares will go up by 4.35% for First Class and all AC Classes from November 15. There was a notification by the government for imposing a Swachh Bharat cess on all taxable services on November 6.
“Service tax of 14% and Swachh Bharat cess of 0.5% are chargeable on 30% total passenger fare equivalent equivalent to 4.35% of the total fare on first class and all AC fares,” the circular said. However, the service tax will not be applicable for tickets issued before November 15. The levy will not be applicable for general and sleeper class travel. — PTI

Arakkonam/New Delhi, Nov 13

The OROP row escalated today with Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar terming attempts by veterans to burn medals as an insult to the nation and asked the protesting ex-servicemen to prove there was no political motive behind their stir even as Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal voiced support to them.
“If I say something, it will become an allegation. Let them prove that it is not political,” Parrikar told reporters in Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu when asked if he saw a political link to continuing agitation despite the government’s response and notification on “one rank, one pension” (OROP) scheme.
He said the medals were a recognition of the nation for the sacrifice done by the armed forces. “Burning and returning them is an insult to the nation and the defence forces,’ Parrikar said.
His comments came on a day when Kejriwal visited the protesting ex-servicemen at Jantar Mantar wearing a cap and T-shirt with OROP slogans.
He asked the Centre to implement OROP for the veterans in its “true spirit” rejecting its recent notification in this regard.
Kejriwal, who spoke to the media near the makeshift stage of the protesting veterans, however, he did not address the gathering as he was asked not to make any “political statement” by Major General Satbir Singh (retd), who is spearheading the movement.
“The government notification is a farce because it is not in its true spirit. Please don’t fool the veterans. Implement OROP as per its definition. They are not begging but asking for their rights. It is unfortunate that the country’s soldiers are fighting for their rights on the streets,” Kejriwal said.
The Chief Minister also tweeted his support for the ex- servicemen saying all their demands are “logical” and that the BJP-led Centre has been “unjust” to them. “Centre shud immediately accept their demands.”
The protesting ex-servicemen had earlier met Kejriwal and briefed him about the “shortcomings” in the OROP notification. — PTI

Our Correspondent
Ambala, November 10

Nearly 30 ex-servicemen unhappy with the Centre’s OROP (one rank, one pension) notification reached the Deputy Commissioner’s (DC) office here today to return their medals.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Shakti Singh, who was present in the DC’s office, asked them to keep their medals with them as it would be an insult of them if these were kept in the office. Since the ex-servicemen were adamants on surrendering their medals, the SDM asked them to deposit the medals with the Zila Sainik Board.
Subedar (retd) Attar Singh said Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar had misled the Army personnel.
“The main demands have not been accepted in the notification and it is not acceptable to ex-servicemen. According to the notification, Army personnel who took premature retirement are not qualified for the one rank, one pension,” he said.

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 7
The Centre tonight issued a notification implementing ‘one rank one pension’ scheme for the retired armed forces personnel, but the ex-servicemen said it was not acceptable to them.
The notification comes a few days after some decorated veterans threatened to return their medals next week in protest against delay in OROP implementation.
Ministry of Defence spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said pension would be revised every five years. The protesting ex-servicemen had demanded a revision every two years. The pension of the past pensioners would be re-fixed on the basis of the benefits being given to retirees of the calendar year 2013. The scheme will be effective from July 1, 2014.
The pension will be re-fixed for all pensioners on the basis of the average of minimum and maximum pension of personnel retiring in 2013 in the same rank and with the same length of service. The pension of those drawing above the average will be protected.
The arrears will be paid in four equal half-yearly installments. However, all family pensioners, including those getting special/liberalised pension, and gallantry awardees shall be paid arrears in one installment. The government has also decided to appoint a judicial committee to look into the anomalies, if any, which would submit its report in six months.
The issue of giving pension to those opting for premature retirement (PMR) has been settled, though it could have long-term repercussions. The notification says those opting to quit on their own request in the future would not be entitled to the scheme benefits. This shall be effective prospectively, meaning officers and jawans who took PMR in the past shall be benefitted but those opting for PMR now onwards would be excluded. It also means there will be fewer PMR applications, which may strain the existing housing and infrastructure as officers were likely to stay on.
Maj Gen Satbir Singh (retd), Chairman of Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement, a body spearheading the OROP stir, said the notification “would not be acceptable”.

OF the many epic infantry battles in history, Porkchop Hill, battle of Imjin, Saragarhi, Rorke’s Drift, Basha Hills, Mortar Bluff and Water Picquet are some. The raw courage and tenacity displayed in close quarter battle is conspicuous when compared with contemporary stand-off attacks or drone attacks, which delete human qualities of valour and courage. Three such battles were fought during the first and second Burma Campaigns of World War II by Second Fifth Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force), earning it three Victoria Crosses, two in one single action — in less than 24 hours. These small unit infantry actions prevented the Japanese from reaching Imphal in 1943-44.

The battles were fought astride Tiddimpur-Bishenpur-Imphal road after the battalion had suffered a terrible mauling while retreating across the Sittang river in February 1942, as the bridge was prematurely blown off in the fog of war, reducing the unit’s strength during the fighting withdrawal to half its original. The first Victoria Cross was won by Havaldar Gaje Ghale on May 26, 1943 for capturing Basha Hill occupied by the Japanese. Ghale led a platoon of raw soldiers when neither had been under fire. The approach to Basha Hill was along a narrow ledge devoid of foliage, covered by a dozen machine guns and subjected to artillery and mortar fire. Entering this killing zone and leading his men through it twice unscathed was a miracle. Crossing it a third time, he suffered multiple wounds but charged the Japanese positions shouting ‘Ayo Gorkhali’. He stormed enemy fortifications, refusing to be evacuated. This inspired his men to press the assault, forcing the Japanese to flee.

The next two Victoria Cross actions were fought around Bishenpur on June 25/26, 1944, where the Japanese were attempting to outflank defences astride the road to Imphal and also dominate the track to Silchar. This happened after the Japanese had been repulsed in Kohima and Japanese 15 Army then turned to Imphal. On June 25, Second Fifth was ordered to take hill features Water Picquet, Mortar Bluff and BP Picquet. Subedar Netra Bahadur Thapa led a reinforced platoon of 41 men and occupied Mortar Bluff.

The Japanese started their first assault on Mortar Bluff in overwhelming strength, but were beaten back. Heavier attacks led to their gaining a foothold near the post. Two machine guns going out of action and depletion of ammunition among the defenders led to a dangerous situation. Six ammunition reinforcement couriers were hit but Thapa personally retrieved the ammunition. Two of his posts were overrun but Thapa rallied his men to fight back. They held on even as he was mortally wounded. His body was found the next day, khukri in one hand and the head of a Japanese soldier nearby.

After Mortar Bluff came the epic battle for Water Picquet. It entailed first recapturing Mortar Bluff and then taking Water Picquet. Naik Agan Singh Rai’s section was the first to reach the barbed wire but they were pinned down by machine guns. Rai instantly charged and silenced the machine gun, which inspired his men to advance and capture Mortar Bluff, which was under fire from a 37-mm anti-tank gun from the nearby Water Picquet. Without waiting, Rai and Charlie Company charged towards Water Picquet and destroyed the gun emplacement. So stunning was the action and so resolute the spirit of his company that Water Picquet was seized. The recapture of Mortar Bluff followed so swiftly after its epic defence as to make it one historic battle and in less than 24 hours.

In 2015, 70 years after its two VC actions, Second Fifth returned to Bishenpur to Mortar Bluff and Water Picquet, this time, chasing Nagas and Kukis and occasionally paying homage to the Japanese war memorial nearby. Now, at Dehradun, veterans from India and Nepal have joined to remember the three winners of the Victoria Cross and other brave Bahadurs, who collectively have made Second Five a name to reckon with.

Rajnath Singh erred by transforming what is traditionally a simple domestic military ceremony in the IAF into a political and religious one with all the trappings of a single religion abroad. Singh does not represent a single-service faith. He is the Defence Minister of a multi-faith military which is secular, apolitical and professional.

Maj Gen Ashok Mehta (retd)
Military Commentator

The images of India’s third most powerful leader — Defence Minister Rajnath Singh — in a flying suit with Rayban glasses after flying in the Rafale and in dhoti-kurta performing shastra puja before the flight — are two contrasting visuals of India’s state of defence equipment: from the legacy Russian MiG variants still flying to the fourth generation French Rafale fighter in the pipeline.

It is also a reflection of Singh’s conviction in religion, superstition and personal faith which he displayed on the 87th Air Force Day and Dasehra while performing the traditional shastra puja in France on receipt of the first Rafale aircraft from his French counterpart. The deification of the Rafale was very elaborate. The Ambassador to France was asked to arrange for a pandit.  Singh cracked a coconut, placed flowers, tied mouli, applied the Om tilak, all behind the cockpit while tying chillies and lemons to the wheels of the aircraft — the ritual watched by a bemused French audience. In this puja, Singh was assisted by an Indian priest and Air Commodore-rank military air attache to France.

As a soldier, I have witnessed and performed the shastra puja in my battalion for six decades on Vijayadashami, a ritual which is strictly in the domain of three persons: the Commanding Officer, the unit priest and the seniormost non-officer rank officer, the Subedar Major. All weapons are symbolically worshipped before they are returned to the Quarter Guard. One has never known an outsider perform this ceremony even if he is the Defence Minister of India. 

The Rafale belongs to the IAF, which has never performed a religious ceremony abroad while receiving a new imported aircraft. At an election rally in Haryana, Singh had announced that he wrote Om on the Rafale, ‘as per our tradition’. After Bofors, Rafale has proven to be politically volatile, especially the procedure followed in its acquisition on which the Supreme Court has reserved its judgment, even as the ruling party showcased it electorally before its operationalisation. Applying the tilak on an aircraft is not an IAF tradition.

Singh’s actions and his self-defence have attracted criticism from the opposition, many calling it theatrics and puja politics. NCP chief and former Defence Minister Sharad Pawar mocked Singh for tying chillies and lemons to ward off evil as truck drivers do. Singh’s colleague, Finance Minister and former Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, whose main contribution to defence was the defence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the purchase of Rafale, both inside and outside Parliament, said: “Those who had faith had the right to conduct rituals because he is no ordinary citizen but Defence Minister of India.” She compared his shastra puja with Indian diplomats/politicians launching ships abroad by cracking a coconut (used to be a bottle of champagne). But no Om was emblazoned on the ship. A letter to the editor of The Pioneer newspaper read: ‘Politicians wedded to Hindutva ideology are adept at converting every event into an opportunity.’ He suggested that chillies and lemons should have been attached to Chandrayaan-II. 

In the military, it is best not to mix religion with superstition or politics.

Singh’s final statement was defiant: ‘I did what I thought was right and will continue to do so. This is our faith, that there is a super power, and I have believed it since childhood.’ Never to be left out of India’s internal affairs, Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, head of Pakistan’s ISPR (Inter-Services Public Relations), chipped in: ‘Nothing wrong in Rafale puja as it goes by the religion and that must be respected. It is not machine alone which matters, but competence, passion and resolve of the men behind the machine. Proud of Pakistan Air Force Shaheens.’

Singh erred by transforming what is traditionally and essentially a simple domestic military ceremony in the domain of the IAF into a political and religious one with all the trappings of a single religion, abroad. Singh does not represent a single-service faith. He is the Defence Minister of a multi-faith military which is secular, apolitical and professional. In all-India caste Army regiments, the prayer room contains multi-faith areas where soldiers of different denominations worship their God. Although Singh has asserted he will do what he did in France, again, for the sake of the Indian armed forces, he should take a leap of faith and avoid doing it.

As Defence Minister, Singh has done great things: sending powerful signals of India’s rise as a great power; raking up the issues of No-First Use after visiting Pokhran and retaking PoK in the aftermath of the parliamentary resolution of 1994; opening up Siachen to tourism and generally boosting the morale of the armed forces. At his election rally in Satara, Maharashtra, PM Modi had said his government had brought India’s armed forces on a par with those of other countries and provided the three services with modern weapons.

Judging from the sparse funding for capital account of the defence budget in the last five years, Modi’s claim is an exaggeration. Singh’s real contribution to the military would be in getting at least Rs 50,000 crore annually for capital spending, over and above the existing liabilities during the remaining term of this government in order to catch up with China. Deterring Pakistan has largely been achieved. The government has shown recently how it can loosen its purse-strings. When there is a will, there is a way.