1. Major SPS Waraich IC-12712 15 Punjab

2. Major Kanwaljit Singh Sandhu IC-14590 15 Punjab

3. 2/Lt Sudhir Mohan Sabharwal SS-23957 87 Lt Regiment

4. Capt Ravinder Kaura SS-20095 39 Med Regiment

5. Capt Giri Raj Singh IC-23283 5 Assam

6. Capt Om Prakash Dalal SS-22536 Grenadiers

7. Maj AK Ghosh IC-18790 15 Rajput

8. Maj AK Suri SS-19807 5 Assam

9. Capt Kalyan Singh Rathod IC-28148 5 Assam

10. Major Jaskiran Singh Malik IC-14457 8 Raj. Rifles

11. Major SC Guleri IC-20230 9 Jat

12. Lt Vijay Kumar Azad IC-58589 1/9 G R

13. Capt Kamal Bakshi IC-19294 5 Sikh

14. 2/ Lt Paras Ram Sharma SS-22490 5/8 G R

15. Capt Vashisht Nath

16. L/Hv. Krishna Lal Sharma 13719585 1 JAK RIF

17. Subedar Assa Singh JC-41339 5 Sikh

18. Subedar Kalidas JC-59 8 JAKLI

19. L/Nk Jagdish Raj 9208735 Mahar Regiment

20. L/Nk Hazoora Singh 682211303

21. Gunner Sujan Singh 1146819 14 Fd Regiment

22. Sepoy Daler Singh 2461830 15 Punjab

23. Gnr Pal Singh 1239603 181 Lt Regiment

24. Sepoy Jagir Singh 2459087 16 Punjab

25. Gnr Madan Mohan 1157419 94 Mountain Regiment

26. Gnr Gyan Chand Gnr Shyam Singh

27. L/Nk Balbir Singh S B S Chauhan

28. Capt DS Jamwal 81 Field Regiment

29. Capt Washisht Nath Attock

Indian Air Force

30. Sq Ldr Mohinder Kumar Jain 5327-F(P) 27 Sqn

31. Flt Lt Sudhir Kumar Goswami 8956-F(P) 5 Sqn

32. Flying Officer Sudhir Tyagi 10871-F(P) 27 Sqn

33. Flt Lt Vijay Vasant Tambay 7662 –F(P) 32 Sqn

34. Flt Lt Nagaswami Shanker 9773-F(P) 32 Sqn

35. Flt Lt Ram Metharam Advani 7812-F(P) JBCU

36. Flt Lt Manohar Purohit 10249(N) 5 Sqn

37. Flt Lt Tanmaya Singh Dandoss 8160-F(P) 26 Sqn

38. Wg Cdr Hersern Singh Gill 4657-F(P) 47 Sqn

39. Flt Lt Babul Guha 5105-F(P)

40. Flt Lt Suresh Chander Sandal 8659-F(P) 35 Sqn

41. Sqn. Ldr. Jal Manikshaw Mistry 5006-F(P)

42. Flt Lt Harvinder Singh 9441-F(P) 222 Sqn

43. Sqn Ldr Jatinder Das Kumar 4896-F(P) 3 Sqn

44. Flt Lt LM Sassoon 7419-F(P) JBCU

45. Flt Lt Kushalpal Singh Nanda 7819-F(N) 35 Sqn

46. Flg Offr. Krishan L Malkani 10576-F(P) 27 Sqn

47. Flt Lt Ashok Balwant Dhavale 9030-F(P) 1 Sqn

48. Flt Lt Shrikant C Mahajan 10239-F(P) 5 Sqn

49. Flt Lt Gurdev Singh Rai 9015-F(P) 27 Sqn

50. Flt Lt Ramesh G Kadam 8404-F(P) TACDE

51. Flg Offr. KP Murlidharan 10575-F(P) 20 Sqn

52. Sqn Ldr Devaprasad Chatterjee

53. Plt Offr Tejinder Singh Sethi

He has participated in Indian Peace Keeping Operations (IPKF) in Sri Lanka, United Nations Peace Keeping in Namibia, Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorist operations in Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir.

Lieutenant General Devraj Anbu, AVSM, YSM, SM

GOC-in-C, Northern Command

 on Wednesday was appointed as the new chief of strategically important Northern Command in place of Lt Gen D S Hooda, who retires at the end of this month. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi cleared the name of Anbu for the post of General Officer-in-Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) with effect from December 1. Udhampur-based Northern Command is a strategically important army formation that overlooks the functioning of Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Jammu-based 16-corps and Leh-based 14-Corps. Anbu was posted as the Corps Commander of Tezpur-based 4 Corps. His last posting in Jammu and Kashmir was as a Brigadier in 2008-09.

He takes over at a time when exchange of fire along the Line of Control has been happening quite frequently especially after the Indian army carried out surgical strikes on September 29 this year, killing at least 19 Lashker-e-Taiba militants inside the territory in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir. Lt Gen Anbu Commissioned in the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment in June 1980 has had a distinguished military career in which he has executed important Command and Staff appointments in India and abroad. He has participated in Indian Peace Keeping Operations (IPKF) in Sri Lanka, United Nations Peace Keeping in Namibia, Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorist operations in Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir.

He was awarded the Sena Medal Gallantry for operation in Siachen Glacier. The General has also been awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Yudh Seva Medal for his distinguished service.

Northern Command (India)

North Western Army” redirects here. For the Chinese revolutionary army, see Guominjun.

Northern Command
Northern Command’s insignia today
Active	1908-1947 1972 – Present
Country	India
Branch	Indian Army
Type	Command
Garrison/HQ	Udhampur
Commanders
Current commander	Lt Gen Devraj Anbu

The Northern Command is a Command of the Indian Army. It was originally formed as a formation of the British Indian Army in 1895, scrapped upon India‘s independence in 1947 and later reformed in 1972. Its present commander is Lt Gen Devraj Anbu.^[1]

History

The Presidency armies were abolished with effect from 1 April 1895 when the three Presidency armies became the Indian Army.^[2] The Indian Army was divided into four Commands (Bengal Command, Bombay Command, Madras Command and Punjab Command) each under a lieutenant general.^[2]

In 1908, the four commands were merged into two Armies (Northern Army and Southern Army): this system persisted until 1920 when the arrangement reverted to four commands again (Eastern Command, Northern Command, Southern Command and Western Command).^[2] Northern Command was re-formed again as North Western Army in April 1942 to guard the North West Frontier. It controlled the Kohat, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Baluchistan and Waziristan Districts.^[3] The former Western Command, was absorbed by the new North Western Army at that time.^[4] The formation reverted to the title Northern Command in November 1945.^[5]

In 1947 Headquarters Northern Command became the new headquarters of the Pakistan Army. General Sir Frank Messervy continued to serve as Chief of Staff of the Pakistan Army from 1947 to 1948.^[6]

Composition 1942-45

The composition was:

• 7th Indian Infantry Division, April 1942 to January 1943
• 84th Indian Infantry Brigade, May 1942 to October 1943
• 33rd Indian Infantry Brigade, July 1942 to December 1942
• 55th Indian Infantry Brigade, July 1942 to September 1942
• Risalpur Training Brigade (15 Nov 1940-April 1944) then redesignated 155th Indian Infantry Brigade, April 1944 to August 1945^[3]

Commanders prior to Independence

Commanders included:^[7]
General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Punjab Command

• 1895 – 1898 Major-General Sir William Lockhart
• 1898 – 1899 Major-General Sir Arthur Palmer
• 1899 – 1901 Major-General Sir Charles Egerton
• Oct 1901 – 1907 Lieutenant-General Sir Bindon Blood

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Army

• 1907 – Nov 1908 General Sir Alfred Gaselee
• Nov 1908 – Oct 1910 Lieutenant-General Sir Josceline Wodehouse
• Oct 1910 – Aug 1914 Lieutenant-General Sir James Willcocks
• Aug 1914 – Feb 1915 Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Scallon
• Feb 1915 – Apr 1915 General Sir John Nixon
• May 1916 – Nov 1920 General Sir Arthur Barrett

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command

• Nov 1920 – Nov 1924 General Sir William Birdwood
• Nov 1924 – May 1926 General Sir Claud Jacob
• May 1926 – May 1930 General Sir Alexander Cobbe
• May 1930 – May 1934 General Sir Robert Cassels
• May 1934 – May 1936 General Sir Kenneth Wigram
• May 1936 – Jun 1940 General Sir John Coleridge
• Jun 1940 – Jan 1942 General Sir Alan Hartley
• Jan 1942 – Apr 1942 General Sir Cyril Noyes

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief North Western Army

• Apr 1942 – May 1943 General Sir Cyril Noyes
• May 1943 – Aug 1943 General Sir Edward Quinan
• Aug 1943 – May 1945 General Sir Henry Finnis
• Jun 1945 – Oct 1945 Major-General Cecil Toovey
• Oct 1945 – Nov 1945 General Sir Richard O’Connor

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command

• Nov 1945 – Oct 1946 General Sir Richard O’Connor
• Oct 1946 – Aug 1947 Lieutenant-General Sir Frank Messervy

Re-raising

The government of India decided to raise a separate command to oversee operations in the northern borders with Pakistan and China. Lt Gen Premindra Singh Bhagat, VC was appointed as the first Army Commander in June 1972. Bhagat’s main activities as Army Commander were the improvement of defences and the living and working condition of his troops.

^[8]Headquarters for the command was established at Udhampur, J&K.^[9]

The XIV Corps (Leh), XV Corps (Srinagar) and XVI Corps (Nagrota) control the operational units in Northern Command.

71 Independent Sub Area is part of the Command. III Corps and its 57th Mountain Division were shifted into the command as a reserve for Operation Parakram in 2001-2002.^[9]

New Delhi, November 7

A number of abnormalities or ailments which earlier rendered people unfit to gain entry into the Air Force or fly aircraft are soon set to go.With no scientific evidence to back notions such as spinal deformities affect flying, the Air Force will soon modify its medical norms for pilots and new applicants declared unfit due to this reason.Also, with new medical technologies and better drugs available for treatment, several ailments such as asthma, diabetes, coronary heart diseases and hypertension may also go off the list. The Medical Board of the Air Force has also removed 19 drugs like anti-diabetics off the list, which were earlier considered as a “taboo” for flying.“After going through several national and international literature and various research we have done in our Institute of Aerospace Medicine, we are trying to get some of the pilots, who are declared unfit for flying…We are looking into those issues and taking out a new order for commissioning, selection and flying purposes and they will be declared fit (for flying),” Air Marshal Pawan Kapoor, Director General Medical Services (Air), said referring to spinal deformities. “There are 10-12 ailments which have already been taken off. Rest are in the pipeline and decision is likely in 7-10 days,” he said. He said while medical approval has been taken, an administrative approval is awaited and the process will be done without compromising with flight safety.Kapoor was speaking on the sidelines of 64th International Congress of Aviation and Space Medicine here, attended by experts across the world from the field of aerospace medicine from both civil and military aviation.The IAF had formed a panel comprising spinal surgeons, neurosurgeons, physicians, radiologists and it was concluded that there is no evidence to show spinal deformities can affect flight safety and physical capability and conditioning of the pilots. — PTI

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India]: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Saturday reiterated that his government is committed to the welfare of the retired army personnel and added that his government has taken several measures for the welfare of the military personnel and some more are in the offing.

The Chief Minister held a high-level review meeting on the welfare of the retired military personnel at Pragathi Bhavan here.

During the meeting the Chief Minister decided to implement double pension scheme for the retired military personnel.

The double pension benefit will also be given to the spouse incase of death of the army pensioner. This pension will also be paid along with pensions of other employees every month.

He has also decided to extend benefits given to the army personnel martyred while serving to those lost their lives due to ill health and accidents too.

He has instructed the officials not to show any discrimination in this regard and said that retired army personnel working as Special Police Officers will be paid salaries along with other employees every month.

Rao said there is a need to strengthen the Army Welfare Boards. There are only 10 Sainik Welfare Boards in the districts, which will be extended to all the newly formed districts in the State.

He said steps will be taken to set up two Army Welfare Offices in Medak and Adilabad districts.

The compensation money given for those getting the gallantry awards would be more in the Telangana State compared to other states.

He also said that reservation should be given to the children of serving and retired army personnel in the Government residential Schools.

“The State government should accord recognition to the schools run by the army. Students joining NCC, Scouts and Guides should be encouraged and those pursing courses in National Defence Academy from the State should be given fellowships,” Rao said.

Since the Centre has agreed to set up an Army School in Warangal, Rao said, a Memorandum of Understadning in this regard will be signed as early as possible.

He also waived off vehicle tax for the the army personnel and will be exempted from paying tax in the state.

Meanwhile, the retired army personnel representatives have thanked the Chief Minister for enhancing the pension of war widows, giving two per cent reservation while allotting the two bed room houses, thereby exempting the military personnel from paying tax on their property.

Ministers Naini Narasimha Reddy, State Government’s Principal Advisor Rajeev Sharma, MPs Capt. Laxmikanth Rao, Vinod Kumar, Principal Secretaries Rajiv Trivedi and S Narsing Rao, Home Secretary Ms Anitha Rajendra, Southern India Army Commandant General Maj Gen S Pachauri, Secunderabad Station Brigadier Ajay Singh Negi, Colonel Tarun Kumar, Colonel Atul Rajput, Lieutenant General Jaswinder Singh, Captain Navneeth Singh, Army Welfare Committee Members Sri Suresh Reddy, Jagan Reddy, Pochaiah, Prabhakar Reddy, Manohar Reddy and others participated in the meeting.

Border residents moving to a safer place at Kunthal village in Kathua district. Tribune photo

Sanjay Pathak

Kathua, October 21

Continuous shelling on border Bobiya and Pati villages on the Zero Line along the international border in the Hiranagar sector has triggered migration of locals.The shelling started around 9.35 am today and has been going on intermittently, reports said.Official sources said the district administration had launched an operation for the safety and rescue of the border residents. Due to the intermittent firing and shelling, the administration has decided to fully vacate Bobiya and Pati villages which fall in the firing range.“The administration has sent its bullet-proof vehicle to Bobiya and Pati villages and shifted residents of the villages to a temple at Kunthal village in Hiranagar and Higher Secondary School, Hiranagar,” a source said.Deputy Commissioner, Kathua, Romesh Kumar and MLA, Hiranagar, Kuldeep Kumar along with civil and police officers visited Bobiya village today to assess the situation.“We are fed up with repeated migration and suffering. India should take a one-time hard step to end our miseries,” said Surjeet Singh, a resident of Bobiya, who has taken shelter at the migrant camp in Kunthal village.“Just after 20 days, we have again been forced to migrate from our homes,” he added.Rani Devi, another Bobiya resident, said: “Due to the migration, our children are suffering. Their studies have been badly affected and their future seems bleak.”Meanwhile, the Kathua Deputy Commissioner and the Hiranagar MLA held a meeting with the villagers and promised them all help.

Security personnel keep vigil during Army Chief Dalbir Singh Suhag’s visit to the Army camp in Nagrota on Wednesday. Tribune Photo: Inderjeet Singh

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 30

Tuesday’s terror attack at Nagrota, which claimed lives of seven Army men, including two Majors, has once again brought back memories of devastating terror attack of May 14, 2002, at the cantonment town of Kaluchak on the Jammu-Pathankot national highway. The worst-ever terror strike in J&K had left over 35 soldiers, their wives and children dead.Fourteen years after the incident, terrorists managed to reach near the family quarters at Nagrota. Their aim was to repeat another Kaluchak by targeting family members of the soldiers but they could not.Fortunately, it was bravery and presence of mind of the wives of two Army officers that terrorists’ nefarious design to repeat Kaluchak at Nagrota was frustrated.“The brutality of terrorists, which we witnessed on May 14, 2002, was revived after Tuesday’s incident at Nagrota,” said Ravinder Singh, who runs a shop near Kaluchak.Even after passing of 14 years, signs of terror’s cruelty have still not been erased from the block of family quarters which the terrorists had managed to enter after storming the Army formation. “The block, which witnessed bloodshed and destruction 14 years back, still wears a deserted look,” Brij Nath, a local of Kaluchak said while recounting how three terrorists, who were dressed in Army uniforms, had lobbed grenades and fired on the soldiers, their family members, including small kids.Sources in the intelligence agencies said the initial investigation had established that the terrorists, who attacked the Army formation at Nagrota, had conducted a thorough recce before executing their plan. “It appears that terrorists were well aware about the location of the family quarters which was their target,” the sources said.As reported earlier, soon after the terrorists entered the Army unit located at Nagrota they were desperate to enter the family quarters where they could take the families of the soldiers and officers hostage.However, due to the bravery of two women, who were staying in the family quarters along with their newborns, the nefarious designs of the terrorists were frustrated.The wives of the two Army officers displayed exemplary courage as they blocked the entry of their quarters with all household items, making it difficult for the terrorists to break into the houses.

Fidayeen aimed for families

• The terror strike in Nagrota brought back memories of devastating terror attack of May 14, 2002, at the cantonment town of Kaluchak on the Jammu-Pathankot national highway which left over 35 soldiers, their wives and children dead.
• On Tuesday, the three fidayeen terrorists managed to reach near the family quarters at Nagrota and their aim was to repeat another Kaluchak by targeting family members of the soldiers.
• Fortunately, the presence of mind of the wives of two Army officers nixed the nefarious designs of the terrorists.

Recently by a judgement of one of the bench of Armed Forces Tribunal a THREE STAR ranked officer was demoted to ONE STAR rank.

It would be pertinent to view this decision of AFT in the context that for promotion to the TWO/THREE STAR rank, the promotion board is normally headed by the respective Service Chief. Other members of the board are the GOC-in-Cs/FOC-in-Cs/AOC-in-Cs, PSOs at respective Service HQs and a specialist THREE STAR ranked officer. Composition of the promotion boards may vary only marginally in terms of members in each Service. Needless to emphasize that promotability of every TWO/THREE STAR ranked officer is APPROVED by the SENIOR MOST HIERARCHY of that particular Service. Therefore any reversal of decision taken by the promotion boards comprising of the entire hierarchy of each service by Armed Forces Tribunal effectively states that ALL MEMBERS INCLUDING SERVICE CHIEF of that particular Service were/are incompetent/dishonest/biased/lack integrity and many other negative personal  traits, both individually and collectively. It does not stop here. Promotion of TWO/THREE star officers is approved by Min of Defence ( Raksha Mantri and Defence Secretary are invariably in the loop in case of Three Star definitely).

Ironic it would appear that AFT benches comprising of retired Judge and a retired THREE STAR (normally)  (total 2 individuals) have been entrusted with demonical powers of  setting aside a considered opinion of nearly a dozen (may be more) senior most appointments of each service, thus  unequivocally calling the entire military hierarchy dishonest, lacking in integrity, incompetent and much more in the name of DISHING out justice.

Was the ARMED FORCES TRIBUNAL created for such incongruent conduct, behaviour and question the entire hierarchy of a particular Service by appearing to be SUPER JUDGES next only to the almighty GOD?

If the judgement of the AFT in above case is assumed to be rational, the entire promotion board ought to be dismissed from the Service for demonstrated professional profligacy, dishonesty and total lack of integrity.

Both decisions viz clearance for promotion by the two successive promotion boards       (Brigadier to Major General and Major General to Lt General) and reversal by the AFT can obviously not co-exist. Or can it? As is the case in this instance.

Even if we were to believe that the decision of AFT was the ‘RIGHT’ decision based on factual evidence, but the insanity of AFT’s decision stems from the fact that in reversing the decision the AFT members have deliberately and knowingly (not unwittingly) attempted to destroy the institution of military. No individual, irrespective of his/her status, can ever be bigger than the institution.

There cannot be better instance of ‘SELF-GOAL’ than the military leadership’s desire to establish the ARMED FORCES TRIBUNAL. Incidentally it was not forced on the military by a ‘BABU’ or a politician. We simply wanted to behave like a COPY-CAT by having AFT because ‘BABUS’ had the CENTRAL ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL(CAT). Incidentally CAT came into existence after a constitutional amendment vide article 323A.

Armed Forces Tribunal, which came into existence in 2007 has done nothing extra-ordinary to cover itself with glory in nearly a decade of its existence. Indeed it has provided an opening to the dozen odd THREE STAR ranked officers another five years of leisure at government expense.

There is absolutely nothing that could not be resolved within the laid down rules of each Service. Establishment of AFT has resulted in more indiscipline and false belief amongst service personnel that each and every decision of service HQs can be challenged. Is this state of affairs acceptable and more importantly does it augur well for the military in the long run?

Reversal of Service HQs decision on matters of promotion/postings etc by the AFT cannot, should not and must not be compared to reversal of lower court decision by higher court. In judicial hearing/decision making there is normally a single judge (except in case of benches at high/supreme court). In case of military the promotion board comprises of dozen odd senior most appointments of the military. To question their collective wisdom/decision by a single judge, who is largely unaware of matters military, is nothing short of judicial fratricide.

A word about members of AFT bench must be placed for an inquisitive reader and follower of the laws of the land/institutions. Each of the THIRTEEN AFT bench comprises of a retired Judge and a THREE STAR (normally) ranked officer as ‘nothing more’ than an Administrative Member.

The Judges of this great nation (from lower to supreme court) are protected by one of the most DRACONIAN ACT called Judicial Officers Protection Act (JOPA), which enables them to reverse the judgment (for reasons best known only to themselves) of a lower court/of a smaller bench without any accountability to anyone whatsoever, based on the same evidence, which had resulted in conviction/acquittal and vice-versa, notwithstanding ‘crocodile tears’ shed on account of non-appointment of judges to higher courts. Indian judiciary is one of the worst ‘self-serving’ organization of this country, which insists on selecting its ‘own people’. No other democracy in the world follows the collegium system as is in vogue in our great nation. The ‘self-righteous’ approach of Indian Judiciary is evident from their knee-jerk reaction towards establishing a National Judicial Commission.

Military opted to do a ‘self-goal’ by seeking and accepting appointment of a civil judge in Armed Forces Tribunal. No civilian judge, irrespective of his/her exposure/experience can comprehend military needs.

Perhaps it may not be too late to disband this monolith, which threatens to destroy and tear the  still largely unscathed disciplined fabric of Indian Military. In making this recommendation I am willing to take the wrath of the ‘dirty dozen’ THREE STARS, who will have no further employment after having retired at 60. Do not worry about the judges. They will find some opening, be it heading a consumer court or  become member/head of numerous judicial commissions forever alive in our great nation.

As I write this piece, let me assure the ‘nay-sayers’ and ‘silencers’ that this incident alone has not forced me to recommend dissolution of AFT. My interest in this domain is self-explanatory, since I wrote about MAT more than a decade back. I have closely monitored the AFT decisions (without claiming to be a ‘know-all). AFT was established to ensure that while individual grievances were redessed on priority but at the same time institutional standing was not compromised. In the instant case, irrespective of genuineness of the AFT decision, the institution of Military has been abused publicly. Perhaps saner action would have been to approach the current Army Chief, apprised him about the impending AFT decision and requested him to advise the officer (who was demoted) to put in for premature release. In this action a vacancy of Lt Gen would have been created and hopefully the ‘wronged’ officer promoted, if he was still in service. Most importantly ‘DIRTY-LINEN’ would not have been washed in public domain. Statistics, if viewed pragmatically, give clear evidence of efficacy or otherwise of the supposed more efficient mechanisms introduced for betterment of organisation as well as individuals. A mere look would indicate that after AFT came into being number of cases filed by military persons on absolutely frivolous issues may have risen considerably ( as told to me in off the record conversation by a three star, who held the post of AG at Army HQ that number of cases have trebled- authenticity not guaranteed). Thus it is evident that the moment a superior gives unfavourable decision, the individual runs to challenge the decision in AFT because it is more accessible than civil courts. Needless to add that constitution of AFT has actually caused to create more indiscipline in the rank and file of officers and men. It is for this reason it is recommended that AFT should be disbanded as soon as practicable because it has failed to meet organisational aspirations. Individual aspirations, always and everytime, are subservient to organisational needs.

Indeed the grievances of a military personnel must be addressed. In order to meet this very pressing need, I had recommended establishing a MILITARY ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL (MAT) in 2004. Article was sent to each Service Chief and Raksha Mantri. Only one Service HQ acknowledged receipt saying that MAT is not required on the lines proposed since AFT was already in pipeline. Entire text of my proposal for establishing MAT is attached below.

Gp Capt TP Srivastava

02 November, 2016

9818926254

After India’s surgical strikes on terror cells across the border in September, militants attacked the Nagrota Army base in November, raising disturbing questions on the ability of security agencies to second guess terror. Perhaps it is time New Delhi took a closer look at new age tools developed by researchers to fight terro.

Security agencies across the world employ more than 40 math models to stay a step ahead of terrorists. Jonathan Farley, professor at the University of the West Indies, uses the lattice theory — a branch of mathematics that deals with ordered sets — to ascertain the probability of how many members need to be ‘taken out’ before a terrorist cell can be disrupted. This, in turn, helps to determine the structure of an ‘ideal’ terrorist cell which is most resistant to the loss of its members. Mathematicians Stephen Trench and Hannah Fry of the University College, London base their model on the Hawkes process (used in earthquake prediction programmes): It assumes that terror strikes occur in clusters and an attack is likely to be followed soon after by others — like after-shocks following an earthquake.

Neil Johnson of Miami University and his team mix maths and social media to predict terrorist attacks. Their algorithm detects signs of imminent terror strikes by monitoring social media posts used by radical groups. Prof. Johnson says social media serves as a recruitment platform for extremists and even seemingly innocuous online conversations on extremist topics could portend violent terrorist acts.

By studying pro-ISIS posts , for instance, he found strong linkages between terrorist-inspired posts and the likelihood of terror attacks happening. In fact, he says, it’s possible to see people “materialising” around certain social groups to share information in real-time, just like “crystals form in a test-tube”. This technology could help security agencies track sympathisers who get together at random before becoming terrorists themselves. Thus online ‘lone wolf’ actors act on their own only for short periods of time. After a while, a “coalescence process” begins in the online activity of such individuals and they become identifiable with different groups, or “aggregates”. Prof. Johnson calls this the “ecology of aggregates,” which allows his algorithm to track the trajectories of individuals through it.

But of especial interest to India would be the Temporal-Probabilistic Rule System developed by Venkatramana Subrahmanian, University of Maryland, which not only predicts terror attacks but also suggests counter strategies. The programme is based on the Stochastic Opponent Modeling Agents (SOMA) and the multiplayer game theory models. Both are built on data reflecting hundreds of variables relevant to terror groups in South Asia like the LeT, JeM, and SIMI.

SOMA identifies environment conditions favourable for the group’s actions and predicts the probability ‘P’ that it will carry out action ‘A’ with intensity ‘I’, when some condition is true in the environment. The multiplayer game theory correlates sets of actions that each player can perform and assigns a “payoff” for each combination of actions that a group can take.

This yields something called a ‘payoff matrix,’ showing all possible combinations of actions, and the payoffs for each scenario. In the LeT game theory, these actions include covert action or coercive diplomacy that policy makers could use. So in a hypothetical situation with five players (LeT, Pak military, Pak civilian government, US, and India), for each combination of actions these players could take, the model evaluates how good or bad that scenario could be for them.

Prof. Subrahmanian’s programme derives from Nash equilibria and calculates both ‘pure’ equilibria— where each player may or may not take an action, and ‘mixed’ equilibria—where each player can take probabilistic combinations of action. We found that of all the Nash equilibria in which LeT behaves well (i.e., does not carry out attacks),” says Prof. Subrahmanian, “the US and India both use covert action against LeT and/or coercive diplomacy with respect to Pakistan, and there is no additional military/development aid to Pakistan.”

During World War II, the United States Navy neutralised Germany’s U-boat threat by asking chess grandmaster Reuben Fine to analyse the probability of U-boats surfacing at certain points in the sea.

And Britain recruited several chess masters to devise a mathematical model to crack the German Enigma code, which virtually won the war for the Allies.

More than six decades later, the free world is again turning to mathematical models and the science of probability to help fight a new enemy: Terrorism.

NEW DELHI: Top military officers nearing retirement are abusing disability benefits to extract higher and tax-free pension, HT has learnt. The revelations come at a time when the government is under fire over “sharp cuts” in benefits for disabled soldiers.

The military’s medical services wing warned the government two years ago about an “alarming trend” of absolutely fit generals, admirals and air marshals exploiting the welfare measure by getting themselves placed in the lower medical category.

A medical downgrade entitles a soldier to better retirement benefits. “I would like to apprise you of an alarming trend evolving in the services, with regards to claims for disability pension being preferred by senior officers of the rank of lieutenant general and major general and their equivalent,” Lt Gen BK Chopra said in a letter to the defence secretary. He was then heading the armed forces medical services.

These senior officers, who have stayed in Shape-1 medical category throughout their career, suddenly present (themselves) with diseases… at the fag end of their service,” said the communication dated December 16, 2014. HT has a copy of the letter.

The ministry was aware of the problem and attempts were being made to make the system more rigorous, a defence ministry official said on Monday.

Chopra’s letter reveals how military doctors are under pressure from top officers to write their medical reports. “Specialists and medical officers working in hospitals under their command find themselves constrained to oblige these officers,” the letter said.

Sources said the claims for disability pensions have shot up significantly during the last 10 years following the implementation of the sixth pay commission report in 2006 that enhanced benefits.

Chopra, who retired in June 2016, told HT that he pursued the matter for one and half years after writing the letter and the details that emerged were shocking.

“A detailed scrutiny of records showed that before 2006 hardly any top officers claimed disability pension. But by 2015, about 21% of them were claiming benefits. If someone has disability, they should declare it earlier in service and not a few months before retirement,” Chopra said.

Last week, defence minister Manohar Parrikar referred the issue of calculating disability pension for soldiers to the anomalies committee of the seventh pay commission, amid a controversy over defence personnel drawing lower benefits compared to their civilian counterparts. Chopra’s letter said, “I would like to reiterate that disability pensions have become an easy & attractive source of tax-free supplementary income rather than the lifeline to wounded veterans.” It said the officers were eyeing lower medical category mostly with diseases such as osteoarthritis, spondylosis, diabetes and hypertension.

Apart from disability pension, senior officers also seem to be milking another medical provision, the letter pointed out. It said top officers who retired in Shape-1 were submitting “post discharge claims” for disabilities “they claim to have contracted while in service”. The provision was being misused by few veteran officers who claimed disability benefits for diseases such as corns in their feet, eczema, a skin disorder, and hearing loss, the letter said.

In the past, officers took pride in leaving service in top shape but the trend was on the decline, an army officer said.