Recruits during a passing-out parade on the outskirts of Srinagar. Tribune Photo: Yawar Kabli

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 29

Over 140 youth from the state were inducted in Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) regiment at a colourful passing out parade on Tuesday.A defence spokesperson here said: “143 recruits successfully completed strenuous training regime of 11 months at the JAKLI Regiment Centre at Rangreth.”“The passing-out-parade was attended by over 2,500 parents and relatives of the young soldiers from the state along with a number of civil and military dignitaries. The parade was reviewed by Major General BK Jain,” the spokesperson added.Major General Jain congratulated the young soldiers for their immaculate parade and impressed upon selfless service towards the nation.He also praised their contribution towards encouraging more and more youth from J&K to come forward to join the security forces and also highlighted the vital role played by the parents in motivating their wards to join the noble profession.Major General Jain also presented awards to the meritorious recruits, who excelled in various facets of training, said the spokesperson.Shabir Ahmed of Reasi received the Chewang Rinchen Medal. He was adjudged ‘best in firing’. Iftikar Beigh of Jammu was conferred the Bana Singh Medal for being ‘best in drill’.The JAKLI Regiment came into being as Jammu and Kashmir Militia in 1948 when the volunteers rallied to the clarion call given by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah from the historical Lal Chowk for fighting the Pakistan-backed raiders.

The city bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal on Tuesday fined the Union government ` 50,000 for being insensitive towards a physically challenged soldier and denying him war injury pension

The Baglihar dam on the Chenab in Doda district. Tribune file Photo

Arteev Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 28

Scanty rain and less snowfall are set to compound electricity woes of Jammu and Kashmir this summer as the state continues to generate only 50 per cent of its total power generation capacity due to low discharge of water into all major rivers.“The generation capacity of the state is 770 MW. Generation has come down drastically to around 400 MW due to low discharge into rivers. We have been running only two turbines of 150 MW capacity each of BHEP-I due to low water level in the Chenab. The generation capacity of other projects has been affected in view of low discharge into rivers,” said a senior official of the Jammu and Kashmir State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC).The 450-MW BHEP-II is yet to be put on generation fully despite its inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With its functioning, the energy generation capacity will go up to over 1,200 MW.The JKSPDC runs 21 power projects, including the 900-MW BHEP (BHEP-I and BHEP-II with 450-MW capacity each) in the state.The state requires 2,500 MW to meet energy requirements. The state purchases power from the Northern Grid and other resources to meet its power demand.“At least eight small power projects being run by the JKSPDC with an aggregate generation capacity of around 35 MW have been shut due to low discharge. Generation has been affected by scanty rain and snowfall in the upper reaches of the state,” said the official.He added that the current electricity demand of the state was nearly 2,000 MW, which was being met by purchasing power from outside the state.Ajay Gupta, Executive Director (Electric), JKSPDC, said they had been running only two of the six turbines of 150-MW capacity each of BHEP-I and BHEP-II due to low discharge of water.“Other turbines will be made operational only after snow starts melting, which will increase the water level in the river,” he said. He added that day-to-day power generation depended on the availability of water.To a query, he said less snowfall and scanty rain “could affect the overall power scenario” of the state in the coming summer.“The availability of water in rivers is not in our control. Power generation is dependent on discharge of water into the river, snowfall and melting of glaciers. It is a natural phenomenon and the prevailing scenario can disturb the power scenario,” Gupta said.The estimated hydro power potential of the state is 20,000 MW, of which 16,480 MW has been identified. Of the identified potential, only 2,458 MW (about 15 per cent) had been exploited so far.It consists of 770 MW in the state sector from 21 power projects, 1,680 MW from four power projects in the Central sector and 17.5 MW from two private-sector projects.

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 11

The 63rd Cavalry Diamond Jubilee Cycle Expedition reached the holy city today after covering a distance of 1920 km. The expedition was flagged off by Lt Gen KJ Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, from Bhuj on February 13 to commemorate the 60 glorious years of dedicated service to the nation.The team traversed through the challenging terrain of Thar Desert, Aravalis and plains of Punjab and Haryana with an aim to establish a connection with the regiment’s veterans and to rekindle the glorious past and heritage.The expedition was covered in two phases. In phase one, the team from 5 (I) Armoured Squadron under Capt Himanshu Karan covered a distance of 1,200 km and reached their destination Alwar on February 27. Enroute to Alwar, the team also carried out a camel and mountain safari through the Aravalis in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan.The phase two team from the regiment under Lt Abhijeet Mahajan was flagged off by Lt Gen KJ Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, from Alwar for its final destination Amritsar.The flagging off ceremony also included the inauguration of a heritage wall dedicated to the service of the regiment. The expedition traversed through Rohtak, Ambala, Jalandhar and Ludhiana before reaching Amritsar. LieutenantColonel KG Jalnawala, the senior most veteran of the regiment, flagged off the expedition in Amritsar. “The expedition provided an opportunity for regiment personnel to inculcate the spirit of camaraderie through a judicious mix of challenge, adventure and thrill by pitting them against nature,” said PK Sharma, an Army spokesperson, in statement here today.

Pathankot, March 5

There are some “disturbing” inputs about a terror attack in India aimed at creating the “maximum media impact” during the Shivratri festival and the ongoing Parliament session, a top army commander disclosed here today with an assurance that steps have been taken to deal with it.“There are security related problems today. You know, Maha Shivratri is coming. There are inputs which are disturbing but notwithstanding that extra care has been taken,” Western Army Commander Lt Gen KJ Singh told reporters here on the sidelines of a function. When asked to elaborate, he refused but said such events were planned to create “maximum media impact”.“See elaboration is neither required nor warranted. These events (terror attacks) are planned to create maximum media impact and when can you create a media impact when Parliament is in session, when a festival is taking place, so both happen to be going on… so that is why, there are inputs but we have taken steps against that. I must assure you of that,” he said.The General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Western Command went on to add that such “mischievous” activities will not deter a great nation as the Army is fully geared to meet any eventuality.“We want to tell whoever has got this mischievous intentions that nothing can deter us, one Pathankot, one Arnia, one Janglot, once more Samba, cannot deter us. This nation is too great. The Indian Army is fully organised. We will take care of every situation,” Lt Gen Singh said.When asked about inputs that some Pakistan-based terrorist commanders were in touch with their Kashmiri counterparts, he said, “there are certain inputs. There are certain indications. I should only tell you this much that we are fully prepared for that.”With regard to the detection of a tunnel in Jammu on the International Border with Pakistan, he said it had helped avert a major terror attack. He added that a survey would be carried out in all the border areas to see if there are any more such tunnels, for which a team of officials of Home Ministry and other security agencies has been formed. — PTI

Another Pathankot-like attack was being planned

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Amk Post (RS Pura), March 5It is no reel scene from a Bollywood flick. Had Pakistan’s secret tunnel gone undetected and the terrorists sneaked in, the heavily militarised Satwari Cantonment, with Jammu Air Force Station and Tiger Division headquarters, was just six km away for them via the almost dry Nikki Tawi river.The tunnel that originated from Afzal Saeed post on Pakistan’s side and crossed India’s defence layers of an embankment and five-foot-wide barbed fence, ran close to the Nikki Tawi river.“For trained terrorists who staged the Pathankot airbase attack, covering between six and seven km via the Nikki Tawi river and reaching the heavily militarised area in Satwari would have been no big deal,” said sources in the counter-insurgency wing of the police.“Satwari houses the Jammu Air Force Station, Military Hospital, Tiger Division headquarters, several schools of the Army and Air Force and a convent school,” they said.There had been numerous instances of Pakistani terrorists sneaking in via the international border, covering between 10 and 12 km through the night, appearing on the Jammu-Pathankot highway and staging attacks, they added.The Nikki Tawi, in the vicinity of Jammu, had no serious checkpoint. Barely two km from the tunnel, residents of Basti Derian village were frightened following the latest development.“Never before did we see or hear about a tunnel being dug in our area. It has happened for the first time since 1947. Had they succeeded in their sinister designs, terrorists could have caused carnage,” said Chain Singh, a grocer.He said the village had three high schools. “We could have been soft targets for gun-wielding ultras,” he said.Narayan Singh, a village elder, said AMK Post had been witness to Pakistani shelling and firing, but there was no intrusion bid so far. “This development has certainly sent a shiver down our spines,” he said.“It was a coincidence that a BSF tractor passed over the stretch and the land caved in. Had this not taken place, armed terrorists could have spelt doom on poor villagers in the night,” he added.Ram Pal and Tilak Raj, who echoed similar views, said the spot where the tunnel had been detected was close to the Nikki Tawi.

EX SERVICEMEN JOINT ACTION FRONT

(SANJHA MORCHA) WELCOME HONY CAPT SOHAN LAL CHAWLA TO THE FAMILY FOLDS OF SANJHA MORCHA.

HE HAS SETTLED DOWN IN YAMUNA NAGAR AFTER HIS RETIREMENT FROM 4 GR.

His two sons are Army officers. One serving Colonel and second took premature as a  Major and have settled abroad

WE WISH HIS ALL THE BEST AND LOOK FORWARD FROM HIS LONG EXPERIENCE FOR THE WELFARE OF EX-SERVICEMEN, WIDOWS,DEPENDENTS AND FAMILIES OF MARTYRS FROM HIS AREA.

HE DOWNLOADED THE MEMBERSHIP FORM THE WEB SITE OF SANHA MORCHA  UNDER THE PULL DOWN MENU “MEMBERSHIP”
“AND FORWARDED THE SAME TO THE BRANCH OFFICE ALONG WITH HIS CONTRIBUTION.

Asks Home Secy to speed up return of several pockets occupied by Army

An Army camp on land belonging to Jammu University.

Arteev Sharma,Tribune News Service.Jammu, March 2

In a significant development, the state government has decided to expedite the process of vacating of land by the Army. This is an indication to parties to form a government in Jammu and Kashmir, which is under Governor’s rule at present.Highly placed sources said the state government had directed Home Secretary RK Goyal to expedite the process of return of certain pockets in possession of the Army, which was agreed upon in the Civil-Military Liaison (CML) conference that was held in Srinagar on September 29 last year.“The Governor, who recently addressed the Union Defence Minister regarding enhancement in rental compensation for land under the Army’s occupation, would shortly review the return of certain pockets of land, with the Army at present,” a Raj Bhawan spokesperson said here today.The government, administered by the Governor, had taken all possible measures to restore people’s confidence in the administrative set-up as it vigorously followed decisions taken by the previous political dispensation headed by late Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who died on January 7.The Governor’s resolve to review the return of certain pockets of land, in possession of the Army at present, was a sequel to the decision taken during the first CML conference of the previous PDP-BJP government held last year.The follow-up of major policy decisions was a part of the Governor’s efforts for early restoration of a popular elected government in the state. So far, he had sought the response of the PDP and BJP, the two largest political parties, on government formation twice.Referring to the ‘Agenda of Alliance’ of the PDP-BJP government during the CML conference, Mufti had asked the Army to expedite vacating of Tattoo Ground at Batmaloo in the heart of Srinagar. He had said, “It will enable the government to develop basic facilities at Tattoo Ground in the interest of the public.”On November 3 last year, the then Chief Minister laid the foundation stone of a citizens’ park at Tattoo Ground. It was for the first time that the Army had agreed to part with a chunk of land for development of a citizens’ park.Issues pertaining to vacating of land by the Army in Gulmarg, High Ground in Anantnag, Tattoo Ground in Srinagar, Lower Khurbathang in Kargil, Jammu airport and Jammu University campus in a time-bound manner were discussed.The ‘Agenda of Alliance’, which was the framework for governance of the PDP-BJP government, stated, “All land other than that given to security forces on the basis of lease, licence and acquisition under the provision of the Land Acquisition Act shall be returned to rightful legal owners, except in a situation where retaining the land is absolutely imperative in view of a specific security requirement. In any case, monetary remuneration, be it in the form of rent or compensation, should be made fairly at market rates.”The state government constituted a high-level panel on January 29 to oversee the process of taking possession of land from the Army and security forces.