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Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 28

IPS officer V K Johri has been appointed as the next Director General (DG) of country’s largest border guarding force, BSF, an official order said.

The order has been issued by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and has Home Minister Amit Shah as its member.

Johri, a 1984-batch IPS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, is presently serving as the Special Secretary in the external intelligence agency RAW, under the Cabinet Secretariat.

He will be taking over from present DG Rajni Kanti Mishra who retires on August 31.

The order also stated that Johri has been appointed as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Union home ministry with “immediate effect”.

Johri will attain superannuation in September 2020, the order stated.

The Border Security Force, with a present strength of about 2.5 lakh personnel, is country’s largest border guarding force and is tasked to secure two of India’s most important and sensitive fronts with Pakistan and Bangladesh.

The two other border guarding forces are ITBP (China) and SSB (Nepal and Bhutan). — With PTI inputs

Mandi, July 23

Kargil Park near the Seri Manch has been in a state of neglect for the past several years. Heaps of garbage and broken walls in the park present an ugly picture. The park was constructed to set up a Kargil war memorial.

Asha Thakur, a local resident, said the park needed urgent repair. Although it was set up to honour the war heroes, its condition presented a different picture.

She said 12 soldiers from Mandi district had sacrificed their lives during the Kargil War. She said the war memorial was now proposed to be established in the Indira market in Mandi town. — TNS

Washington, July 25

US President Donald Trump is undoing the achievements of his predecessors on India by “blundering” to volunteer to mediate over the Kashmir issue and has committed “diplomatic malpractice of a high order” that could further alienate an important country, according to a top American daily.

The US President on Monday stunned the world by saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan, sought his help in resolving the Kashmir issue.

India quickly denied it saying Modi made no such request and Kashmir is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan.

“Trump just committed diplomatic malpractice of a high order,” said a report in The Washington Post.

“After his trade war with India, his blundering into the Kashmir conflict further alienates an important country whose friendship the United States needs to counter the rise of China,” it said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has refuted that Modi ever made the request to Trump.

“I would like to categorically assure the House that no such request has been made by the Prime Minister to the US President. I repeat, no such request was made by the Prime Minister to the US President,” he said in a statement to Parliament.

After Trump’s remarks, the US State Department, in a damage control effort, later said it considered Kashmir a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and was ready to help only if the two countries wanted.

“Presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama had cultivated India; Trump is undoing their achievements with a few ignorant words,” the top American daily said.

The report alleged that Trump was incapable of seeing the big picture and unwilling to listen to advisers who did.

“He is focused on a pullout from Afghanistan, and he is convinced that if he flatters Pakistan, it will make it possible for the United States to exit ‘with honour’, as Richard M Nixon said of the Vietnam War,” it said. PTI

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, July 13

India’s second aircraft carrier, INS Viraat, is all set to be sold as scrap after the Maharashtra government failed to turn it into a maritime museum.

After several attempts to get private bidders to jointly develop INS Viraat into the country’s first-ever moored maritime museum-cum-hospitality facility failed, the state government has given up all efforts, according to officials here.

The Devendra Fadnavis government had last November sought to set up the facility off the Sindhudurg coast and had even earmarked a sum of Rs 852 crore for the purpose.

However, despite several efforts no bidder showed interest in developing the facility, according to Maharashtra government officials. “We have not received a single bid so far,” said a source from the Maharashtra Maritime Board which was to develop the project.

Recently, Union Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik told Parliament that the Central government in consultation with the Indian Navy has taken a decision to sell INS Viraat as scrap.

It will, however, be a while before INS Viraat meets the fate of its predecessor INS Vikrant which was broken up at a scrapyard.

Some retired naval personnel have suggested that INS Viraat be turned into a maritime museum off Colaba in south Mumbai.

The proposal envisages grouting the aircraft carrier on a bed of concrete before turning it into a tourist destination. However, similar attempts to salvage INS Vikrant too had failed.

On INS Vikrant way

• The British-made INS Viraat has been docked at the Mumbai harbour since its decommissioning on March 6, 2017
• The Devendra Fadnavis govt had earmarked Rs 852 crore to turn the carrier into a tourist destination
• Similar attempts to salvage INS Vikrant had failed

The recommendations for restructuring were made by the army for turning itself into an agile, lethal and capability-based force to tackle the challenges of future warfare.

The Defence Ministry has approved the proposal to restructure the Army Headquarters under which the force would be revamped to face the challenges of modern warfare.

“The Defence Ministry has approved the proposal to restructure the Army Headquarters. Now we will start the implementation of the plans,” Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said.

The recommendations for restructuring were made by the army for turning itself into an agile, lethal and capability-based force to tackle the challenges of future warfare.

Restructuring is part of transformation plans of Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat for the reorganisation of the amy headquarters which would result in saving of 20 per cent officers posted in Delhi who would now be posted to field fighting formations along the borders.

According to defence ministry officials, after the approval, 229 officers would be optimised from army headquarters and would be relocated to units and formations of the field armies.

As per the new plans, the army will get a third deputy chief who would be known as Deputy Chief (Strategy) and who will look after all the important directorates of military intelligence, information warfare and operations in the force.

Currently, there are two deputy chiefs in the Army. The first Deputy Chief is known as Deputy Chief (Planning and Systems) who looks after capital procurement in the force while the second one is known as Deputy Chief (Informations systems and Training), officials said.

As per the new plan which is the brainchild of Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat, the Army will get rid of the post of the Director General of Rashtriya Rifles who would now be shifted to Northern Command in Udhampur and will now be looked after a Major General rather than a Lieutenant General.

In the other significant plans of the restructuring of Army Headquarters and reorganisation of the force, entire modernisation and revenue procurement of the Indian Army is going to be done by the Deputy Chief (Capability Development) who was earlier known as Deputy Chief Planning and Systems.

To look after the cases of corruption and ensure probity and transparency, a new officer of the Major General rank has been appointed under the Army Chief who would report directly to him while another post has been created for the Army who will look after human rights.

Jammu, June 29

An old and rusted anti-tank mine, suspected to be of the 1971 war time, was found lying abandoned along the International Border in the Ramnagar sector of Samba district on Saturday.

Villagers spotted the suspicious object on the Basanter riverbed in Samba and informed the police about it. Soon, the police and Army reached the spot and started investigating the matter.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Samba, Koshal Sharma, said the mine was handed over to the Army. — OC

Srinagar, June 20 The Army on Thursday said its operations in Jammu and Kashmir are conducted in a professional and dedicated manner and the force had a code of conduct which valued human dignity.

“We have a very strong code of conduct which values human dignity and the values of society. So I wish to assure you that all the operations by the Army in Jammu and Kashmir are being carried out in a professional and dedicated manner,” Army’s northern command chief Lt Gen Ranbir Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a function at Wuzur in Anantnag district.

In response to a question, the Army commander said, “Wherever there are actions to be taken, those are taken at appropriate levels.”

Lt Gen Singh was at Army Goodwill School, Wuzur, which has been renamed after Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, who was awarded Ashok Chakra posthumously in January this year.

Wani was killed in an anti-insurgency operation at Batagund in Kulgam district on November 25, 2018. Six militants were killed, three of them by the militant-turned-soldier, in the operation.

He was awarded Ashok Chakra for his role in the operation, thereby becoming the first person from the Valley to be awarded the highest peacetime gallantry award of the country.

“It is a matter of great pride for us today to be here at Army Goodwill School at Wuzur because today we have dedicated this school to pay homage to our martyr late Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, who was a recipient of Ashok Chakra.

“He was also two-time recipient of the Sena medal for gallantry by the government,” Lt Gen Singh said.

On the functioning of the Army Goodwill schools in Kashmir, the Army commander said there are always some distractions which work against the interests of the country.

“It is to the credit of our children, their parents and our teachers that we have been able to ensure that there has been no disruption in the education, which we are trying to impart to the children in these schools,” he said.

“The children of Kashmir are our hope. We are sure that in the times to come they will work hard. They have a huge potential and they will become useful members of society and take us on the trajectory of growth and development as far as Kashmir and the nation are concerned,” he added. PTI