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Pilot has died rescuing trekkers stranded in treacherous conditions in Lahaul-Spiti region of Himachal after a cloudburst

Over a quarter of a century after an IAF pilot was killed in a helicopter crash while rescuing German trekkers in the Himalayas, his widow has been granted a liberalised family pension, which is typically given to battle casualties, after judicial intervention by the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT).

In August 1999, Flight Lieutenant SK Pandey, a skilled helicopter pilot, was on a delicate mission at the request of the civilian administration to rescue German trekkers stranded in treacherous conditions in the Lahaul-Spiti region of Himachal Pradesh after a cloudburst.

The liberalised family pension, which is higher than an ordinary pension, was refused to the widow, Rakhi Pandey, by the authorities, despite the fact that the widow of the helicopter’s co-pilot had already been granted a liberalised pension based on similar orders by the AFT in 2023.

Two years after her husband’s demise, the central government in 2001 implemented the recommendations of the Fifth Central Pay Commission, wherein widows whose husbands had died in such missions were now entitled to a liberalised pension.

The orders were made applicable to all cases retrospectively, with effect from January 1996. However, the requisite pension was still not released to the officer’s widow due to the absence of a “battle casualty” certificate from the Air Force authorities.

After a long struggle, the Air Force authorities finally issued the “battle casualty” certificate to the widow, stating that she was now entitled to the liberalised pension, with effect from 1999.

The certificate issued by the Air Force was, however, rejected by the Joint Controller of Defence Accounts, who observed that the widow’s case did not fall within the policy for the grant of a liberalised pension.

Holding her fully entitled to the liberalised pension, the AFT’s Chandigarh Bench, comprising Justice Umesh Chandra Sharma and Air Marshal Manavendra Singh, held that the government circular of 2001, which was made applicable from January 1996, fully covered the circumstances of the late pilot’s death for the grant of the liberalised pension.

The AFT, based on law settled earlier by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, also observed that once there was a positive declaration by the Air Force authorities stating that the widow was covered under the rules for the grant of such benefits, then the Accounts Branch had no right to override such an opinion of the Air Force and that the job of the Accounts Branch was only to calculate the pension and release it, and not to overrule the findings of the competent authorities.

Crucially, the MoD has not restricted its search to single-engine copters and is open to twin-engine ones too

Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is looking for getting 200 helicopters for the Army and the Indian Air Force. These will be replacements for the six-decade-old Cheetah and Chetak copters.

The MoD on Friday issued a Request for Information (RFI) – the first step in the tendering process. The plan is to buy 120 of these reconnaissance and surveillance helicopters for the aviation corps of the Indian Army while the remaining 80 will be for the Indian Air Force.

This RFI allows helicopters manufacturers to partner with Indian companies and bid for the project but the copters will need to be made in India.

The MoD aims to identify probable vendors including an Indian company that will form a joint venture with the original equipment manufacturer. The manufacturer could be Indian or foreign company. A meeting with the vendors is scheduled in a month.

Crucially, the MoD has not restricted its search to single-engine copters and is open to twin-engine ones too. The copters should be able to perform the following roles by day and night; do reconnaissance and surveillance; carry a small body of troops or quick reaction teams for special missions; carry internal and external loads in support of ground operations; do scouting duties in conjunction with attack helicopters.Since the usage will be in extreme climates like the hot deserts or the perma-frost of Siachen, the MoD has asked for specific load-carrying capacities when operating in Siachen or areas above 16,000 feet altitude. So far the Army and IAF  use, in the mountains,  the single engine Cheetah and Chetak copters or the twin-engined advanced light helicopters (ALH).

The need to get these 200 copters is due to the ageing fleet of Cheetah and Chetak.

The Chetak is based on the French-designed Aérospatiale Alouette-III and was inducted in 1962 and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited began manufacturing them under licence in 1965. The

Single-engine Cheetah is derived from the Aérospatiale SA 315B Lama and entered service in 1976.

A demand to retire the ageing choppers has gained traction in recent years in the wake of a string of accidents, including several fatal ones.

Out of 246 Cheetah/Chetak helicopters produced, the Indian Army Aviation Corps currently operates around 190 choppers, out of which nearly 30 are in maintenance. While the Army and the IAF together have a requirement of over 450 light helicopters, the Army will need around 250 of them.

The Army is also planning to buy 80 indigenous Light Utility Helicopters from the HAL. However, the delivery is delayed because of some technical issues with the aircraft’s autopilot system. The LUH completed the high-altitude trials in 2020 and received the Initial Operational Clearance in 2021.

The committee pointed out that recently there has been a paradigm shift in the technology used in fighting a war

Vijay Mohan Tribune News Service

Underscoring India’s success in Operation Sindoor — undertaken in May as retribution to the terrorist attack in Pahalgam — Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence stressed the need for urgent military modernisation to meet the wide spectrum of threats that have emerged in the contemporary battlespace.

In May, the Indian Armed Forces had carried out precision strikes on terrorist camps in Pakistan as well as successfully targeted several key Pakistani airbases and air defence and other military sites while effectively neutralising a series of attacks by enemy drones and missiles along the western borders.

“The committee notes that the country’s recent military operation is a testimony to the Armed Forces’ mounting prowess in both conventional and modern warfare,” the committee said in an apparent reference to Operation Sindoor in its report tabled in Parliament today.

“The committee is cognizant that a paradigm shift in the strategy of warfare is taking place in contemporary theatre of war where non-conventional means such as non-kinetic warfare, cyber warfare, cognitive warfare, etc are being increasingly employed,” the report observed.

“In this regard, the committee recommends that urgent and coordinated efforts by all the stakeholders i.e. the Ministry of Defence, Services, Defence Research and Development Organisation, Defence Public Sector Undertakings etc may be made to achieve excellence in hybrid and modern war tactics,” the report stressed.

The committee called upon the stakeholders in the defence sector to work in mission mode, while also leveraging technological innovations, human resource, strategy and tactics to further bolster our operational preparedness in all dimensions of warfare.

The committee also pointed out that conventional wars were earlier fought in only three modes – land, air and water — but recently there has been a paradigm shift in the technology used in fighting a war.

“There have been innovations and experiments in western countries, and the use of drones, space, cyberspace, kinetic and non-kinetic format etc has enveloped the sphere of war, which can be fought from very distant locations through a remote controlled mode,” the committee observed.

The Ministry of Defence said that information, cyber and digital media have acquired considerable significance. The Armed Forces are also correspondingly becoming increasingly dependent on digital assets. These digital assets, however, are vulnerable to deliberate/unintended disruption/infection, which may have an effect on the operational performance of the Armed Forces and needs to be guarded against.

Air Chief Marshal AP Singh talks about the S-400 strikes while delivering the Air Chief Marshal LM Katre memorial lecture in Bengaluru

ndian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh on Saturday said that the Indian S-400 air defence system had shot down five Pakistani fighter jets in the air along with a Pakistani surveillance plane at a distance of about 300 km, besides some parked F16s at the Jacobabad air base.

The IAF Chief was delivering the Air Chief Marshal LM Katre memorial lecture in Bengaluru during which he mentioned about the IAF operations during Operation Sindoor (May 7-10).

The IAF Chief said, “…We have at least five fighters confirmed kills and one large aircraft, which could be either an ELINT aircraft or an AEW &C aircraft, which was taken on at a distance of about 300 km. This is actually the largest-ever recorded surface-to-air kill that we can talk about.”

He then mentioned the Pak F16 base at Jacobabad, saying, “One of the major airfields that was attacked. Here there’s an F-16 hangar. One half of the hangar is gone. And I’m sure there were some aircraft inside which have got damaged there…”

“The IAF also hit at least two command and control centres, like Murid and Chaklala. At least six radars, some of them big, some of them small. Also, there is an indication of at least one hangar for surveillance planes and few F-16s.”

The security forces had launched a search operation in Dool area of the hilly district following specific information about the presence of terrorists

An encounter broke out between terrorists and security forces in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, officials said.

The security forces had launched a search operation in Dool area of the hilly district following specific information about the presence of terrorists, they said.

On noticing the security search parties, the hiding terrorists, believed to be two in number, opened fire, leading to a gunfight, they added.

Army’s White Knight Corps confirmed the encounter in an X post. It said the alert troops, while carrying out an intelligence-based operation, have established contact with terrorists in the early hours on Sunday and exchanged gunfire.

The Army said the operation is under progress.

He said it was a mission in the grey zone where they did not know what the enemy’s next move would be

In Operation Sindoor, we played chess, remarked General Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) while inaugurating ‘Agnishodh’ — the Indian Army Research Cell (IARC) at IIT-Madras. He asserted that Operation Sindoor was unlike any conventional mission and that it was akin to playing a game of chess as “we did not know” what the enemy’s next move would be.

“We did not know what the enemy’s next move was going to be, and what we were going to do. This is called the grey zone. Grey zone means that we are not going for the conventional operations. What we are doing is just short of a conventional operation,” he said.

While addressing the faculty and students on “Operation Sindoor — A New Chapter in India’s Fight Against Terrorism”, he highlighted it as a calibrated, intelligence-led operation reflecting a doctrinal shift.

“We were making the chess moves, and he (enemy) was also making the chess moves. Somewhere, we were giving them the checkmate and somewhere, we were going in for the kill at the risk of losing our own but that’s what life is all about.”

Speaking on the Operation, the COAS said, “What happened on April 22 in Pahalgam shocked the nation. On April 23, the next day itself, we all sat down. This was the first time that RM (Defence Minister Rajnath Singh) said ‘enough is enough”.

He said the free hand was given to all three chiefs. “You decide what is to be done,” we were told, adding, “That is the kind of confidence, political direction and political clarity we saw for the first time. That is what raises your morale. That is how it helped our army commanders-in-chief to be on the ground and act as per their wisdom.”

“On the 25th, we visited the Northern Command, where we thought, planned, conceptualised and executed the seven targets out of the nine that were destroyed, and a lot of terrorists were killed. On April 29, we met the Prime Minister for the first time. It is important how a small name Op Sindoor connects the whole nation. That is something which galvanised the whole nation. That is the reason the whole nation was saying why have you stopped? That question was being asked and it has been amply answered,” Dwivedi added.

The initiative ‘Agnishodh’ aims to upskill military personnel in emerging fields such as additive manufacturing, cyber security, quantum computing, wireless communication and unmanned systems, fostering a tech-enabled force. (With Agencies)

Punjab ex-servicemen to boycott all independence day government functions in protest of shielding of guilty police officials by Mann sarka

SC DISMISSES PETITION COL BATH’S ACCUSED AGAINST CBI PROBE

Colonel assault case: Supreme Court junks plea against transfer of probe to CBI

Boycott Spicejet till they apologise for insulting a serving Army Officer: GEN BIPIN BAKSHI

NDTV PANNEL DISCUSSIONS : LT GEN KJS DHILLION HITS NAIL ON TH HEAD

Watch at 19 and 32 seconds. Spicejet staff assaulted the officer first. What followed was a befitting reply.

When the elephant trumpets

Fallout of Agniveer :: Stupidity of our Govt : Our Loss and British Gain 

1965 war Maha Vir Chaka recipient’s family presents his medals to Garhwal Rifles Regiment

J-K ex-governor Satyapal Malik dies at 79

Colonel Assault Case: “Respect the Army; You Sleep Peacefully Because of Them”: Supreme Court Backs CBI Probe in Assault on Colonel

Colonel Bath ਕੇਸ ਦੇ ਰੋਸ ਵਜੋਂ ਆਜ਼ਾਦੀ ਦਿਹਾੜੇ ਦੇ ਸੰਬੰਧੀ ਸਰਕਾਰੀ ਸਮਾਗਮਾਂ ਦਾ ਬਾਈਕਾਟ ਕਰਨ ਦਾ ਵੱਡਾ ਫ਼ੈਸਲਾ

High Court’s tight slap to CM Maan, Punjab & Chandigarh police in Col. Bath case || Connect Newsroom

‘Have respect for Army people…They go and defend you, and they come back wrapped in the National Flag,’ says Bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, dismissing police officers’ petition against CBI probe

Satya Prakash Tribune News Service

‘Have respect for Army people…They go and defend you, and they come back wrapped in the National Flag,’ says Bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma, dismissing police officers’ petition against CBI probe

Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath and his son Angad were allegedly assaulted by Punjab cops, including four Inspectors, during a parking dispute near a roadside eatery close to Rajindra Hospital in Patiala. File photo

The Supreme Court on Monday deprecated the conduct of Punjab Police officers accused of assaulting a serving Army Colonel and his son over a parking dispute as it rejected police officers’ petition against the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order for a CBI probe into the incident.

“Have respect for Army people. You are sleeping peacefully in your house because that man is serving at the border at minus 40 degrees… They go and defend you and they come back wrapped in the National Flag,” a Bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma said, dismissing the police officers’ petition against the high court’s July 16 order for a CBI probe.

“When the war is going on, you glorify these Army officers…Your SSP says, I am not able to arrest them in spite of rejection of anticipatory bail (plea) because they are police officers…Eight-day delay in lodging FIR!” the Bench wondered.

“This kind of lawlessness is not acceptable. No legal arguments, nothing is there…Your bail was dismissed, they are roaming freely and they have not been arrested…Let the CBI look into this,” the top court said, describing the High Court’s order as “well-reasoned”.

The counsel for the police officers contended that the high court’s order indicted them even before the trial could commence.

The alleged incident took place on the intervening night of March 13 and 14 when Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath and his son were having food at a roadside dhaba in Patiala. He alleged four Inspector-rank officers of the Punjab Police and their armed subordinates attacked him and his son without provocation, snatched his ID card and cell phone, and threatened him with a “fake encounter”—all in public view and under CCTV camera coverage.

On April 3, the high court had assigned the probe to Chandigarh Police and directed them to complete it in four months. However, on July 16 the high court transferred the probe to the CBI—two days after it reprimanded the Chandigarh Police over laxity in their probe into the matter.

Colonel Bath alleged that Chandigarh Police “failed” to ensure a free and fair investigation that was conducted by a special investigation team, led by Chandigarh Superintendent of Police.