The Bench questioned senior counsel Prashant Bhushan on the nine-year delay in filing the petition.

Legal Correspondent
New Delhi, September 23 

The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Centre’s response to a PIL seeking an independent probe into the purchase of an Agusta A109 VIP helicopter by the Chhattisgarh government in 2007-08 and the alleged offshore accounts of Chief Minister Raman Singh’s son Abhishek Singh.

A Bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and C Nagappan, however, refused to issue a formal notice to the Centre and the Chhattisgarh government on the PIL by NGO Swaraj Abhiyan and Dr AA Degwekar.

The Bench questioned senior counsel Prashant Bhushan on the nine-year delay in filing the petition. Bhushan pleaded that most of the details about the deal were available only now.

The petition said the deal was for $6.57 million (about Rs 44 crore) and nearly one-third of this ($2 million or Rs 13 cr) was paid to a company registered in British Virgin Islands as commission for early supply. In 2011, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had indicted the state government for wasting considerable money by going through a charade of global tender.

An Internet search showed that several other companies were selling helicopters with same specifications at prices ranging from $1.3 million to $2.6 million, the petition said.

Soon after the state government paid the amount to Agusta dealer Sharp Ocean, Abhishek Singh also opened an account through a company called Quest Heights Ltd, allegedly incorporated in British Virgin Islands, on July 3, 2008, the petitioner pleaded.

Maj Gen Satbir Singh,Chairman IESM(JM) write to Brig Indermohan ,President IESL Punjab unit on Whats App Groups::

A war of Words read at Voice of Ex-Servicemen Blog.Click link

http://voiceofesmpunjab.blogspot.in/

comments can be sent to Sanjha Morcha  sanjhamorcha303@gmail.com

NEW YORK: Strongly reacting to Pakistan Prime Minister’s remarks at the UN, India today described them as non-factual and full of “threat bluster” and said glorification of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani by him at the world forum is an act of “self-incrimination” by Pakistan.

“We just heard a speech full of threat bluster and rising immaturity and complete disregard of facts,” Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar said at a press conference at the India’s permanent mission here after Sharif’s address to the UN General Assembly.

He also criticised Sharif for glorifying Wani, who was killed in an encounter with security forces on July 8, and said India “will not succumb to blackmail tactics of the Pakistan Government that seems eager to use terrorism as policy”.

“We heard the glorification of a terrorist. Wani is declared commander of Hizbul, widely acknowledged as a terror group. It is shocking that a leader of a nation can glorify a self-advertised terrorist at such a forum. This is self incrimination by Pakistan PM,” Akbar said.

Rejecting Sharif’s offer to India to enter into a serious and sustained dialogue for the peaceful resolution of all outstanding disputes, the minister said, “Talks and guns don’t go together”.

“Pakistan at this moment seems to be run by a war machine rather than a government. Pakistan wants dialogue while holding a terrorist gun in its hand,” he said.

He also rejected Sharif’s allegations against India with regard to the current unrest in Kashmir and said, “Kashmir occupation is by Pakistan occupation army. The world also knows that Pakistan has been indulged in ethnic cleansing of its own people,” he said.

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 13

After witnessing a consecutive decline in the number of premature retirements since 2013, the number of officers who opted to hang up their boots before reaching the age of superannuation has gone up in all three services this year.The reversal of trend, which some officers opine could be temporary, comes in the backdrop of the Armed Forces facing a continuing shortage of officers, which is about 17 per cent for the Army, 13 per cent for the Navy and minuscule for the Air Force.According to the Ministry of Defence, the number of premature retirements in the Army was 221 in 2013, 120 in 2014 and 62 in 2015. This figure till the end of May this year is 64.In the Navy, the retirements from 2013-15 were 96, 91 and 68, which went up to 89 in July this year. The corresponding figures for the Air Force are 131, 108 and 59, with the number of officers opting out early this year shooting up to 109 till the beginning of this month.Service conditions and monetary benefits remain the prime reason for officers leaving early.Sources said one reason for the downward trend in premature retirements in the recent past was the Seventh Pay Commission, for which officers were waiting in the hope to get a better pension package. “While there is an all-round hike in the salaries, and consequently the pension, the general perception in the services is that the pay commission has given them a raw deal and further eroded their status and equation vis-à-vis other Central Government services. Several anomalies and demands pertaining to the earlier pay commissions have also not been addressed,” an officer said.The Army has an authorised strength of 49,833 officers but currently has 41,162 officers, having to make do with a shortfall of 8,671 officers mostly at the junior level, which is operationally critical.With a shortage of 1,518 officers, the Navy has 9,866 officers against the authorised strength of 11,384. The Air Force, which reported no deficiency of officers last year, is now short of 29.

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 21

When India and France ink their much-awaited contract to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets this week, it will not only bridge a two-decade gap in procuring new fighter jets for the Indian Air Force (IAF) but will also provide a technological edge.The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) today cleared the final draft of the inter-governmental agreement to be signed with France.The IAF has not procured any new fighter jets since the start of this century. The last one being the Sukhoi 30-MKI from Russia first ordered in mid-1990s and since then licence produced in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).The two countries are set to sign a €7.878 billion (Rs 58.828 crore) contract with Dassault Aviation of France this week for these 36 Rafale jet fighters. This means around Rs 1634 crore for each plane that will add more power to the IAF’s fleet – currently operating at its lowest force levels in a decade.The first jet is to be delivered in 36 months (September 2019) and the entire lot will be delivered over the following 30 months.The French company will make India-specific changes like the next-generation missiles such as Meteor and Scalp, which will add capability much beyond India’s immediate adversaries. The Meteor, is a BVR (Beyond Visual Range) air-to-air missile with a range in excess of 150 km. It will allow the IAF to hit targets inside both Pakistan and Tibet from within its own territory. The Scalp is a long-range air-to-cruise missile with a range of 300 km.The Ministry of Defence and the IAF team that negotiated the price has secured a concession of almost €722 million (Rs 5390 crore). In January, a day before French President François Hollande and Prime Minister Narendra Modi were to jointly issue a statement during the French President’s visit to India, the French team had quoted a price of €8.6 billion. The negotiations ended at a price of €7.898 billion, sources in the Ministry of Defence said. Of this, €3.42 billion is the cost of the bare planes, €1.8 billion of associate supplies for the infrastructure and support, €1.7 billion for India-specific changes, €710 million is the additional weapons package and €353 million is the cost of ‘Performance-based Logistics Support’.Under this logistics support, Dassault will ensure that at least 75 per cent of the fleet remains operational or air worthy at any given time under what is called the existing frontline fighter, the Sukhoi 30-MKI has only 60 per cent availability. Other concessions include free training for nine IAF personnel, additional guarantee for 60 hours of usage of training aircraft for Indian pilots and six months of free weapons storage without charge. Under the originally planned (and now scrapped) proposal to produce 126 planes in India, the first batch of 18 planes were to be manufactured in France and 108 were to be manufactured in India. France cited that cost of man hours (labour) needed in India to produce a plane was 2.7 times higher due to lack of automation. This along would have meant additional Rs 150 crore per plane.

First jet by September 2019

• France is set to deliver the first jet in 36 months (September 2019) and the entire lot will be delivered over the following 30 months
• The IAF has not procured any new fighter jets since the start of this century. The last one being the Sukhoi 30-MKI from Russia first ordered in mid-1990s and since then licence produced in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited

Sushma Swaraj with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. PTI

Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 13

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today to discuss issues of mutual interest and to prepare for Modi’s China visit in September.India at the meetings, it is learnt, raised the issue of China blocking its Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) membership and also of China preventing Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar from being designated a terrorist by the United Nations. Sources in the government maintained that China did not bring up the issue of the South China Sea.Sources said Wang met Modi for about 20 minutes and briefed the PM on the G20 Summit to be held in China. Wang and Swaraj held three-hour discussions, including over lunch, where sources said a discussion was held on India’s NSG membership. It is learnt that India has offered to discuss any technical issues China may have. “It was agreed that the Directors-General of Disarmament of the two countries would meet soon.”India raised the issue of China’s technical hold on listing of Masood Azhar in the UN Security Council. Swaraj also expressed concern over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Sources said the two sides decided to set up a new mechanism at the level of the foreign secretaries to discuss ties.Wang arrived in the capital after his stopover in Goa where he visited the premises where the BRICS Summit will be hosted by India in October. Chinese President Xi Jinping will be among the world leaders who will attend the Summit and Wang’s visit to Goa was to oversee the preparations. Sources maintain it’s unusual for a foreign minister to oversee Summit’s preparations, but the Ministry of External Affairs shrugged it off as normal.Meanwhile, a commentary in Global Times made two points: India has “wrongly” blamed China for blocking its entry into NSG and that the door to NSG entry for India “is not tightly closed”.

Talks only on relevant issues: India to Pak

• New Delhi: A day after Pakistan said it wanted to have an exclusive dialogue with India on Jammu and Kashmir, the Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday said it was ready for talks but only on “contemporary and relevant” issues, including stoppage of Pakistan’s support to cross-border terrorism and infiltration of terrorists like Bahadur Ali”. PTI

Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher dances during the inauguration of the meet at the Sector 16 Cricket Stadium on Monday 19 Sep 2016

THERE MAY NOT BE ANY CUTS IN COMBAT AREAS BUT ADMINISTRATIVE AND SUPPORT PERSONNEL ARE LIKELY TO BE AFFECTED

NEW DELHI: The possibility of a two-front war with China and Pakistan, the need for boots on the ground to fight in mountains, the ability to endure a drawn-out conflict and force levels required to support India’s rising influence on the world stage.

These are some key questions being pored over by a defence ministry panel tasked with mapping out a strategy to sharpen India’s combat edge and suggest measures to initiate targeted reductions in personnel, sources familiar with the ongoing study told HT.

The 11-member panel, headed by Lieutenant General DB Shekatkar (retd), will submit its report to the government by mid-October, recommending how more money can be funneled into scaling up military capabilities and what steps should be taken to improve the military’s tooth-to-tail ratio — the number of personnel (tail) required to support a combat soldier (tooth).

There may not be any cuts in combat areas but administrative and support personnel are likely to be affected by the streamlining exercise, sources said. “Instead of taking pride in being the secondlargest army in the world, the focus should be on being the most effective. Just being an obese force can’t win you a war,” said an official involved in the study.

The panel, which has five retired three-star officers on board, is studying the existing models of workforces and budgets of leading militaries, including China’s People’s Liberation Army, for a comparative analysis, sources said.

“No other military has to stay prepared to fight in the kind of terrain we may have to — Siachen glacier, mountains of Ladakh and Northeast…We can’t reduce altitudes and the army will have to remain a mountain-oriented force. If that’s flab, so be it,” the sources said, stressing that cutting-edge combat forces will not be touched.

Some departments where workforce could be trimmed include the Military Engineer Services, the Defence Research and Development Organisation, Directorate General of Quality Assurance, Directorate General of Defence Estates and the Ordnance Factory Board. Spending cuts have squeezed India’s military budget. The committee will list out measures to help cut down the revenue budget required to meet the current expenses of the armed forces and making more money available for buying weapons and equipment.

In May, army chief General Dalbir Singh ordered a separate study to determine how the force can be streamlined. As first reported by HT on May 9, Singh asked one of his top generals to come up with recommendations by August-end.

Our Correspondent

Jaipur, September 19

The body of a soldier who died in Sunday’s terror strike at a military camp in north Kashmir’s Uri was brought home to a village Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district on Monday. Havaldar Chef NS Rawat was among the 18 who died in the attack on Sunday. His family, an army unit and the district administration received his body on Monday evening.After a wreath-laying ceremony, the body was taken in an army vehicle Rawat’s village, Rajawa, in Rajsamand’s Bhim tehsil.His funeral rites will be held with state honours on Tuesday, a defence spokesperson, Lt Col Manish Ojha, said.Rajasthan PHED Minister Kiran Maheshwari cancelled her tour to Dausa and is now on her way to the district to offer her condolences to Rawat’s bereaved family.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership were on the same page on Indian home minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Islamabad to attend a SAARC interior ministers conference earlier this week. It was army chief Gen Raheel Sharif who pushed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif not to cancel the meet at the last minute, officials of the Foreign Office said.

Sharif is already under pressure from the main opposition Pakistan People’s Party and Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf over the Panama Papers scandal, observers said. The leaks showed Sharif’s three children were among Pakistanis who own offshore assets worth millions of dollars.

“In such a situation, if the religious parties had started a public agitation which resulted in violence and deaths, the situation could have turned precarious for the government,” said analyst Ali Zaidi. Instead of cancelling the SAARC meet, the Pakistani leadership decided to downplay it for the domestic audience.

“That is why we saw the blacking out of coverage of the event on channels as well as the downplaying on most media,” said senior journalist Tahir Najmi.

Journalists and editors said they had received advice from the military’s public relations arm not to telecast events at the SAARC meet live or to play them up. “We thought the army was trying to undermine the political leadership while in fact it was working to ensure that they were both on the same page,” said one journalist who didn’t want to be named. The timing of the meeting was the main issue. It came at a time when J&K was engulfed in violence and the Pakistan government had already started a very visible campaign to protest what is happening across the Line of Control.

“At such a time, the arrival of the Indian home minister, who is seen as one of the players behind the violence, would have been very difficult for the Sharif government to justify,” said Zaidi. However, to cancel the SAARC meet would have been perceived as an obvious rebuff to the Indian leadership at a time when Pakistan is aware of its growing isolation in world affairs.

PTI FILEPakistan’s PM Nawaz Sharif (2nd from left) with Indian home minister Rajnath Singh (extreme right) in Islamabad.

One senior official said the visit was a testing time for the Nawaz Sharif government because of the increased violence in Jammu and Kashmir and the resulting pressure built up by Pakistan’s religious parties and groups over the issue. Officials said it was the army that discouraged the religious and hardline parties and groups from banding together under the banner of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council (Defence of Pakistan Council) and holding countrywide protests. There were protests by Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawah, Syed Salahuddin’s Hizbul Mujahideen and other groups during Singh’s visit.