File photo for representation only.

New Delhi, March 31

Ex-servicemen will require Aadhaar number to avail pension benefits the government informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.In written response to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre said the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare, through a notification on March 3, has said that defence forces are required to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number or undergo Aadhaar authentication.“However, if an eligible individual entitled to receive pension benefits does not possess the Aadhaar number or is not yet enrolled for Aadhaar, but desirous to avail pension benefits is required to make Aadhaar enrolment by June 30, 2017.“The pension benefit shall be given to such individuals till Aadhaar is assigned to the beneficiaries, subject to the production of identification documents,” Bhamre said.In response to another question, Bhamre said the delay in construction of the six submarines under Project-75 at Mazgaon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd, Mumbai are due to infrastructure augmentation requirements and procurement of material from foreign vendors.Bhamre said the Indian Navy has hosted a global Request for Information (RFI) for Multi-Role Carrier Borne Fighter (MRCBF) Aircraft in January 2017.Responding to another question, Bhamre said India and Vietnam have agreed to take forward a proposal for training Vietnam Air Force personnel on Su-30 aircraft.The minister, in his response to another question, said the government has prepared a long-term roll on works plan for construction of 519 roads by the BRO in the border regions. — PTI

The visit of Sheikh Hasina, the Bangladesh PM, to India next month is the time to re-calibrate Dhaka-New Delhi ties. While Hasina’s Awami League government bends over backwards to please India, the BJP has demonised Bangladeshis. It is high time that the party rose above electoral politics to look at strategic national interest instead.

Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, being received by the Union Minister for External Affairs and Overseas Indian Affairs, Sushma Swaraj during her viist to India in 2015. A file photograph.

THE Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, will visit India from April 7 to 10. There is something terribly amiss in India-Bangladesh relations, although Hasina — who is in power since 2009 and faces crucial elections next year — has fully backed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s moves to isolate Pakistan in South Asia. She has flushed out anti-India elements from her land, proactively partnered counter-terrorism operations and even extended transit facilities to New Delhi’s great relief. Yet her state visit had to be deferred twice in three months without any valid explanation, revealing that all’s not well between strategic allies. Bangladesh may be in our backyard but it can turn it into a minefield in no time. As we wait for Hasina, let’s not forget the darkest chapters in our bilateral ties like the killing of 16 BSF soldiers in 2001 or the expulsion of RAW’s B. B. Nandy from Dhaka. And in 2005, India’s deputy high commissioner Sarvajit Chakravarti’s wife was manhandled in Dhaka. Bangladeshi tycoon Shah Alam pulled Rupa Chakravarti out of a Mercedes with diplomatic number plate assigned to India and humiliated her in broad daylight; she was so traumatised that she needed psychiatric treatment. While India kept demanding Alam’s arrest, he got away scot-free because he enjoyed the backing of then PM Begum Khaleda Zia and Pakistan. Nobody can rule out the possibility of India’s prestige being punctured again, if we fail to stand by our real friends like Hasina who has often put India’s interests ahead of Bangladesh’s out of sheer gratitude for New Delhi’s role in liberating Bangladesh and the love and affection she received from leaders like Indira Gandhi and Pranab Mukherjee during her long asylum before her triumphant return to Bangladesh.In today’s scenario, the diplomatic and the security establishments of India and Bangladesh — headed by veterans like S. Jaishankar, Ajit Doval, Shahidul Haque and Tarique Ahmed — can iron out most sticking points like the pending Teesta River water-sharing treaty or Bangladesh’s growing ties with China which makes India uncomfortable. But these professionals are hamstrung by the ruling BJP’s ideological contempt for India’s Muslim neighbour. Hindutva policies and pronouncements are alienating Bangladesh, driving a wedge between the two countries and hurting India’s national interest.While Hasina’s Awami League government bends over backwards to please India, the BJP paints Bangladeshis as illegal immigrants, criminals and beef-eaters who torment Hindus in their country. Extreme anti-Bangladesh views seep out from the BJP’s 2014 general elections manifesto as well as manifestos for the 2015 Assam and West Bengal assembly polls. Narendra Modi, who will host Hasina in April, resorted to no-holds-barred, communally charged Bangladesh-bashing while campaigning. Discriminating between Muslim and Hindu Bangladeshi immigrants, Modi declared that those who worship goddess Durga are welcome but those who don’t must keep their “bags packed” for deportation if he captured power. He and other BJP campaigners repeatedly accused Bangladeshi Muslims of “destroying” India, virtually painting Bangladesh as an enemy nation. On the grounds of religion, the BJP categorises Muslim immigrants as “infiltrators” and Hindus as “refugees” or  “Mother India’s children” deserving asylum. After capturing power, one of the first tasks the Modi government assigned itself was to starve Bangladesh of beef by stopping India’s surplus, non-milk producing cattle from going to Bangladesh. Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who ordered the BSF to halt an informal trade determined by supply and demand that had been going on for decades, publicly boasted that the embargo had made beef so expensive in the Muslim country that its consumption had plummeted. Singh missed no opportunity to pat himself on the back for taking the BJP’s cow protection-cum-beef banning campaign to Bangladesh.    Attempts by the BJP government to rewrite citizenship laws to confer Indian nationality on Hindu Bangladeshis is another step which, besides being unconstitutional, indirectly accuses  the Bangladesh government of being so sectarian that its Hindu population is fleeing to India. On the one hand, New Delhi claims that its biggest foreign policy goal is to ensure that the Awami League is voted back to power in the forthcoming elections. But on the other, it is offering asylum and citizenship to Hindus who have a history of casting their vote in favour of the Awami League in countless constituencies, including Hasina’s Gopalganj seat where there are as many temples as mosques.  Such Hindutva-driven objectives like stopping cattle trade and making India a homeland for Hindus may serve the BJP’s narrow electoral interest but they are certainly not in the national interest as far as India-Bangladesh relations are concerned. Unless we show respect towards Bangladesh as a strategic ally instead of belittling and demonising it as a nation of Muslims, relations between India and Bangladesh will never achieve their full potential or become an example of good neighbourliness.    Instead of vilifying Bangladesh, we can learn how to implement sabka saath sabka vikas from Hasina’s Awami League government. In 2011, it repealed the Enemy Property Act to return properties seized from the Hindu minority under the1965 law implemented by the East Pakistan administration. The BJP captured power in Assam shouting itself hoarse about “demographic invasion” whereas Bangladesh’s Human Development Index is much better than Assam’s. Nothing exposes BJP’s lies more than Bangladesh’s per capita income which is 70 per cent more than Assam’s! And roughly half a million Indians live and work in Bangladesh, making them— according to the World Bank — the fifth biggest remitter of foreign exchange to India after the diaspora in United Arab Emirates, USA, Saudi Arabia and UK.Presumably taking their cue from the BJP, some members of the delegation accompanying then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar to Dhaka last November spoke insultingly to their Bangladeshi counterparts, which according to Anand Bazar Patrika newspaper, compelled Hasina to postpone her December 18-20 India visit. I think India should have atoned for those insensitive remarks by inviting Hasina to be the Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade on January 26, 2017. But India plumped for the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is not even a head of state, instead of a strategic ally like Hasina. There is something very reassuring and maternal about Sushma Swaraj. Fortunately, she is back in the hot seat. Another key player is Ram Madhav, the BJP foreign cell’s point man, who seems to have developed a keen interest in the neighbourhood. They must work in tandem ahead of Hasina’s long-overdue visit to take India-Bangladesh ties to a new level.  The writer is a senior, Kolkata-based journalist 

Medical attention being provided to an injured on the south side of Westminster Bridge, close to the Houses of Parliament in London, —PTI

London/Cairo, March 23

Islamic State was responsible for an attack outside Britain’s parliament which left four people dead, the group’s Amaq news agency said on Thursday, even as police arrested seven people in the investigation into a lone-wolf attacker who also injured 40.The attacker was shot dead by police near parliament in London, Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism officer said.

“The perpetrator of the attacks yesterday in front of the British parliament in London is an Islamic State soldier and he carried out the operation in response to calls to target citizens of the coalition,” the Amaq statement said.

Islamic State, which has controlled parts of Iraq and Syria in recent years, has lost territory this year to local forces in those countries supported by a US-led military coalition. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Mark Rowley, Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism officer, said there were four dead, including the attacker, and 29 people still being treated in hospital, seven of whom were in a critical condition. Police had said on Wednesday that the death toll was five in the worst such attack in Britain since 2005.

“We are not afraid…An act of terrorism tried to silence our democracy, but today we meet as normal,” Prime Minister Theresa May told the packed House of Commons which reopened today with a minute’s silence a day after the attack.“What I can confirm is that the man was British born and that – some years ago – he was once investigated in relation to concerns about violent extremism. He was a peripheral figure,” she told sombre-looking lawmakers.”It is still believed that this attacker acted alone, and the police have no reason to believe there are imminent further attacks on the public. His identity is known to the police and MI5, and when operational considerations allow, he will be publicly identified. Our working assumption is that the attacker was inspired by Islamist ideology,” May said.

The attacker sped across Westminster Bridge in a car, ramming pedestrians along the way, then ran through the gates of the nearby parliament building and stabbed a policeman before he was shot dead.

Authorities have described the attack as a “marauding terrorist incident” and said they were working on the assumption that it was Islamist-related.

Britons have been left shocked by the fact that the attacker was able to cause such mayhem equipped with nothing more sophisticated than a hired car and a knife.

Police believe they know the identity of the attacker but have not named him.

Rowley said police had searched six addresses in London, Birmingham and other parts of the country in their investigation.

“It is still our belief … that this attacker acted alone and was inspired by international terrorism. At this stage we have no specific information about further threats to the public,” Rowley said.

He said there was a mix of nationalities among the dead but gave no details. The victims were the policeman who was stabbed and two members of the public, a woman in her mid-40s and a man in his mid-50s. The fourth dead was the assailant.

Three French high-school students aged 15 or 16, who were on a school trip to London with fellow students from Brittany, were among the injured.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault was expected to arrive in London to visit them at hospital, French media reported.

There were also five South Koreans among the injured, South Korea’s foreign ministry said in Seoul.

Leave.EU, a group that has campaigned for immigration to be severely restrained as part of Britain’s exit from the European Union, accused mainstream politicians of facilitating acts of terror by failing to secure borders.

“We are sick, tired but perhaps even more so we are angry that recent governments across Europe have enabled these attacks through grossly negligible policies that have left us vulnerable,” the group said in a statement.

In France, far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen also drew a link, saying that events in London highlighted the importance of protecting national borders and stepping up security measures. — Reuters

CHANDIGARH:Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a special central government package to provide one-time loan waiver to the debtridden farmers of the state.

HT PHOTOPunjab chief minister Amarinder Singh with PM Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Amarinder, who met Modi at his Parliament House office, said the meeting was a courtesy call, during which the issue of farm debt waiver was also discussed.

“I have sought financial assistance from the Centre, my government is committed to waiving farmers’ loans and we have already initiated a timebound process for the same,” he said.

The state cabinet had, in its maiden meeting, started the necessary steps to implement the Congress poll promise on farm debt waiver, he pointed out.

Expressing concern over the recent spate in farmer suicides in Punjab, the chief minister said he had requested Modi to announce a special package to pull out farmers out of the debt-trap. In a letter to the PM, Amarinder said the total farm debt in Punjab is more than ₹80,000 crore, including the crop loans of ₹12,500 in the cooperative sector. The average debt per farm household in Punjab works out to be ₹8 lakh (including crop loan).

NO DISCUSSION ON SYL

With the SYL Canal matter in the Supreme Court, the Punjab CM did not discuss the issue with the PM, said a senior official. “Since the matter is sub-judice, there was no point taking it up with the PM. The CM met senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani to discuss Punjab’s stand on the issue,” he said.

Representatives of  Ex-Servicemen show a thanks-giving letter they received from CM Captain Amarinder Singh. Photo: Sarabjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 20

Few days since the appointment of Capt Amarinder Singh as the Chief Minister of Punjab, ex-servicemen of the region have assured him of full cooperation to fulfill his dream of creating a ‘New Punjab’.Led by convener Col Balbir Singh, said that lakhs of families of retired Army personnel across the state had voted for the Congress. He said Capt Amarinder Singh had even acknowledged so by sending them a thanks-giving letter.Col Balbir Singh said the members were confident that the new CM would pay full attention to their demands, which he had even put up in the party’s poll manifesto. “This is further apparent from the first Cabinet meeting that Capt has held wherein he had passed certain historic decisions. He has committed to us the formation of an ex-servicemen cell for welfare activities of the families of the personnel,” he said.Others who assured full support at their event were Maj Gen KS Aujla, Brig Manjit Singh, Col GS Bhullar, Col Balbir Singh Saran, Col TS Toor, Col SS Bajwa, Col Teja Singh, Col Gurdial Singh and Major JS Aulakh (all retired).

BARA KHANA FOR NEW ELECTED MLA’S

A country that is immensely proud of its culture, tradition and faith, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia values the significant role that women play in society. The robust inclusion of women in active worklife is a core component of the Saudi government’s Vision 2030.

ON THE ROLL: A Saudi woman films using her mobile in the first-ever Comic-Con event in Jeddah, last month. AFP

RECENTLY, under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, and earlier under the late Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdallah bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia has rolled out a series of women-friendly initiatives. These have established an enabling environment for women and helped to expand their participation in public life.Women in Saudi Arabia are drivers of the change we see today: participating in our workforce; leading multi-national corporations and becoming the champion of education, health, financial and other sectors. According to recent reports, there is a sound economic argument around the collaboration between women and men that can benefit our GDP by over $50 billion by 2025. The Kingdom’s aim is to have women account for 30 per cent of the workforce in the coming years, an increase from the current 22 per cent. In fact, according to the latest figures from Saudi Arabia’s Central Department of Statistics and Information, since 2010 the number of women employed in Saudi Arabia has increased by 48 per cent.The financial sector, in particular,  is experiencing noteworthy developments. Sarah Al-Suhaimi was appointed the first-ever woman to chair the Saudi stock exchange in February. She has established herself as a force to reckon with, Al-Suhaimi held various key positions in investment firms, finally taking charge of the stock exchange. Rania Nashar, was named the Chief Executive of the Samba Financial Group, becoming the first CEO of a listed commercial bank in Saudi Arabia.Education has been at the core of Saudi Arabia’s national policy agenda. The Kingdom has always offered an encouraging environment for women to explore careers in the  academic fields. Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University at Riyadh is the largest women’s university in the world. It bears testimony to Saudi Arabia’s committement towards women’s education and   excellence. We take pride in women achievers from our nation who have made great strides towards realising their professional ambitions by creating a niche for themselves globally. Dalal Moheealdin Namnaqani, an educator in medicine, has become the first Saudi woman to be appointed the dean of a university in which she supervises both male and female faculties. Mona Al Munajjed, another significant name in academics, is Saudi Arabia’s foremost sociologist. She has been instrumental in formulating several social development field projects. For these, she received the UN-21 Award for Excellence, outstanding coordination and individual productivity in 2005.  There are  many other women who have earned international accolades for their pivotal contribution to education, research, healthcare and science.We are proud of Hayat bint Sulaiman bin Hassan Sindi, a Saudi Arabian scientist. She was appointed Emerging Explorer by National Geographic in 2011. In 2012, she became a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for science education. She has served at the UN Secretary-General’s Scientific Advisory Board. Among the innovations Sindi has developed are a diagnostic tool used for the early detection of breast cancer and the Magnetic Acoustic Resonance Sensor (MARS).Khawla S. Al-Khuraya, another distinguished name in the field of medical research, is a Saudi Onco specialist and professor of pathology. Al-Khuraya is well known for identifying the FOSM1 gene, which prompts the human body to form cancer cells. She was the first Saudi woman to receive the Order of Abdulaziz al Saud in 2010 for her cancer research. It is a matter of pride for us to see our country making incredible progress to further education and expand opportunities for women. According to data from “The Global Gender Gap Report 2014,” released by the World Economic Forum, Saudi Arabia now has an astonishing female literacy rate of 91per cent — an unheard of feat in many nations across the world. Essentially, almost 52 per cent of the graduates in Saudi Arabia are women. The government’s focus on women’s education has had various positive effects. It has led to a noteworthy reduction in fertility and mortality rates, improved health and nutrition tables. As metioned earlier, it has led to an increase and involved participation in public life. Tens of thousands of scholarships to study abroad are provided to the women of Saudi Arabia every year. A recent achievement that gave me great  pleasure was that of Somayya Jabarti,  who took over the role of the first woman Editor-in-Chief of the English daily Saudi Gazette.For Saudi Arabia, it was an important, defining moment in 2013, when — for first time in the kingdom’s history — 30 women became a part of the Shura Council, a 150-member advisory body. In a landmark municipal election in 2015, four women were elected from Makkah, Jawf and Tabuk.Recently, Women’s Day was celebrated in Saudi Arabia with a gathering held at the King Fahd Cultural Centre. During the same time, the kingdom also celebrated the national cultural festival, Al Janadriyah — showcasing tradition, culture and the blend with modernity through creativity and ingenuity of the people. This year’s Al Janadriyah festival devoted some programmes to focus on women’s role and value in nation building.The government is leading a host of successful initiatives in gender empowerment and cultural development. Participation of women in the socio-economic structure remains the focus of the government today. A number of initiatives above are being undertaken for the promotion of participation and involvement of women in all walks of life in our country.The writer is Ambassador, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to India

File photo for representational purpose only.

New Delhi, March 17There were 15 terror attacks on the Army last year in which the force lost 68 soldiers, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.2016 also recorded 449 instances of ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the Jammu and Kashmir border.In a written response to a question in Lok Sabha, Subhash Bhamre, Minister of State for Defence, said 10 cases of terror attacks were recorded in 2014, followed by 11 in 2015, 15 in 2016 and three until March 15 this year.2015 and 2016 also saw a spike in the number of deaths of Army personnel, recording 67 and 68 casualties respectively in terror attacks and along the border.In 2014, 38 army personnel died in terror acts while 13 have lost their lives this year.Bhamre said, in 2016 the area along the Line of Control, which is under operational control of the Army, saw 228 instances of ceasefire violations while the area along the international border in Jammu and Kashmir, under the control of the Border Security Force (BSF), recorded 221 instances of ceasefire violations.This accounts for more than one instance of ceasefire violation everyday.In 2017, 30 instances of ceasefire violations were recorded along the LoC while six such instances along the international border were recorded until February 6 by the BSF. — PTI

Manohar Parrikar. ANI

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 15

As Manohar Parrikar took oath as Chief Minister of Goa on Tuesday, his 28-month stint in the Ministry of Defence leaves behind unfinished business.Two of these stand out–the new policy called the ‘strategic partnership’ policy of inviting foreign defence equipment producers to ‘make in India’ and the implementation of the long-delayed pay hike for armed forces.

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It will need a time-bound push by the next Defence Minister to take these over the last hurdle or else it could have a severe impact on military readiness and morale, respectively.Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has been tasked with the additional charge of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). It looks like a stop-gap arrangement as Jaitley is surely not expected to handle two large and critical ministries simultaneously—MoD spends some 12 per cent of all union budget—the biggest by any ministry.The 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) for the Armed forces–pending since September last year when the rest of the Central employees were given salary hikes–needs to be sorted. The forces had pointed to six key anomalies which had been discussed and put on a file for a final resolution before the poll results were announced on March 11.Parrikar can be credited for initiating things like identifying some 50 projects which are of critical importance.The ‘strategic partnership’ will form the core of ‘make in India’ in defence. On this hinges the production of new submarines, helicopters and fighter jets–all three listed as products to be made under the new policy. The navy is running short on subs and the selection process to make the next generation ones is pending. The three forces need some 800 helicopters which also hinge on the strategic partnership and so does the production of fighter jets–some 300 are needed to be produced in the next 10 years.The strategic partnership is a unique policy which will allow the foreign investors to tie-up with Indian partners to produce defence equipment in India. Parrikar before resigning had tied up the loose ends on February 25 to lay down the path of selecting an Indian partner.Sources said it would have a model by which the MoD would nominate a group of Indian companies for a particular type of equipment. The credentials, financial standing, capital assets and capacity to produce of the Indian companies will be all available to the foreign partner, meaning thereby that the MoD will give the foreign partner the choice of selecting the Indian partner.The strategic partnership will form an important part of the Defence of Procurement Policy (DPP)-2016, which was the first step towards making fundamental changes in the way weapons platforms are acquired in India. This included the Buy IDDM (Indigenously Designed, Developed and Manufactured) category; this has the clause to have 40 per cent of stuff made locally.The MoD is a slow-moving behemoth, which the next defence minister will have to keep pushing at ramping up production of the locally made fighter jet Tejas, buying new rifles, bulletproof jackets, modernising tanks and inducting artillery guns, to name a few.

Civilian officers say Ministry of Defence orders on reforms not being obeyed

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 14

Controversy and cadre rift is dogging the Military Engineer Service (MES) with a large number of the civilian cadre Indian Defence Service of Engineers (IDSE) officers writing to the Defence Ministry expressing “loss of confidence” in the administration of the organisation.One of the largest construction and maintenance agencies in India, MES is headed by a Lieutenant General at Army Headquarters.Alleging non-implementation of reforms and reorganisation that were recommended by a high-level committee and subsequently ordered by the Ministry of Defence, IDSE officers have sought a separate head of the MES, who is accountable only to the MoD.A senior member of the Delhi-based IDSE Association confirmed that individual letters written by officers, including those at the level of Chief Engineer, were sent to the Defence Minister, Defence Secretary, Army Chief, Army Commanders and Director General (Personnel) a few days ago.The MES, part of the Corps of Engineers, has an annual budget of about Rs 13,000 crore and is responsible for creating the strategic and the operational civil infrastructure and accommodation. Its officer cadre consists of about 1,200 Sapper officers drawn from the Army, 1,100 IDSE officers holding engineering degrees and another civilian cadre of surveyors and architects.Averring that the widening rift between the military and civilian personnel had now “reached a point of no return,” one such letter stated that non-implementation of the VS Jafa Committee report, on which orders were issued by the MoD last year, and not raising three Additional Director General formations created under the orders of the Defence Minister were examples of defiance of the ministry’s orders.Some serving sapper officers have, on the other hand, contended that some of the recommendations of the JAFA panel have been implemented over a period of time while some are either no longer relevant or are not warranted for operational reasons.

On warpath

• Civilian cadre officers have alleged loss of confidence in the administration of the organisation
• They have alleged non-implementation of reforms suggested by a high-level panel as well as MoD
• They have also sought a separate head of the MES, who is accountable only to the Defence Ministry

The apex court has agreed to an urgent hearing.

New Delhi, March 13

The Congress on Monday moved the Supreme Court to stop Manohar Parrikar from taking over as Goa Chief Minister tomorrow.The apex court has agreed to urgently hear the Congress petition, as per ANI.

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The Congress will also raise the issue of government formation in Goa and Manipur in Parliament tomorrow.Read: Jaitley gets charge of Defence Ministry after Parrikar heads to GoaThe party moved the apex court against Goa Governor’s decision to invite Parrikar to form government in the state, despite the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerging as the second largest party.The Congress claimed that the Governor should have invited them to form government, as they are the single largest party with 17 seats.The petition for urgent hearing was mentioned before Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar.Incidentally, Parrikar is slated to take oath as Goa Chief Minister tomorrow.President Pranab Mukherjee, as advised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has accepted Parrikar’s resignation from the Council of Ministers, with immediate effect, under clause (2) of Article 75 of the Constitution.  The BJP, which failed to cross the half-way mark in the assembly polls with its tally dipping to 13 from 21, pulled off a coup yesterday by enlisting the support of the Goa Forward Party (GFP), Maharastrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and two Independents, to reach the magic figure of 21 in the 40-member house. — Agencies