Flying Officer Bhawana Kanth

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 17

The country’s oldest airbase, Ambala, witnessed another landmark in the history of military aviation when the Air Force’s first woman combat pilot, Flying Officer Bhawana Kanth, flew her maiden solo sortie in a fighter aircraft from the base on Friday.Bhawana took off in a MiG-21 Bison belonging to the IAF’s No.3 Squadron, the Cobras, from Ambala, where she has been posted, at 2 pm and the sortie lasted about half an hour.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)She became the second woman combat pilot to fly a fighter solo. Flying Officer Avani Chauturvedi, posted with No. 23 Squadron, the Panthers, became the first to fly solo in a fighter from the Jamnagar airbase on February 22.An engineer, Bhawana is among the three pioneering women combat pilots in the IAF, the third being Flying Officer Mohana Singh. They were commissioned into the IAF in June, 2016, by the then Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar, at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal near Hyderabad. They underwent training on the Hawk advanced trainer jets for about a year before moving on to fly the supersonic fighters.The Bisons are the last remaining variants of the venerable MiG-21 fighter that entered the IAF service in the early 1960s. 

Consumer commission directs firm to refund Rs 29 lakh for not giving possession of flat in time

Ishrat S Banwait

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 15

The State Consumer Commission has come down heavily on a builder for not giving the possession of a flat in time to an Army man, owing to which he was forced to live on a rented accommodation post retirement.The commission has directed Ansal Properties and Infrastructure Limited to refund the amount paid by Milap Chand, the Armyman, and to pay a fine of Rs 1.30 lakh.A complaint was filed by Milap Chand and his wife Sulochna Rani against the company, its two directors and managing directors. The complaint stated that while serving the Indian Army, Chand had planned to settle down near Chandigarh post retirement. He had booked a flat in ‘Golf Links II’ in Sector 116 of Mohali in July 2012. While the basic cost of the flat was Rs 42.33 lakh, Chand had initially paid Rs 29.59 lakh. The floor buyer agreement was signed in the same year and possession was to be given within three years, along with a grace period of six months. However, when Chand visited the site, no development had taken place. He was thus forced to take a house on rent after his retirement in 2015.In December 2016, the company sent an e-mail to Chand stating that the possession was delayed and they would pay the interest. Chand was asked to take possession of another flat, which he had agreed to. However, the company failed to hand over the possession of that flat as well. Chand visited the site in August 2015, then in March 2016 and again in July 2017, but no development had taken place at the project site. Chand then asked the company to refund his money several times, but in vain.The company had replied that Chand was not a “consumer” as he bought the property for commercial purposes. They said the complainant defaulted in payments regularly and willfully breached the terms and conditions. Stating that the possession time was tentative and no fixed time was promised, it also said that the commission had no jurisdiction in the case as the property was in Mohali.The commission observed, “Not mentioning the exact date of delivery of possession of the unit(s) in the buyer’s agreement is an unfair trade practice”. It thus ordered the builder to refund Rs 29.59 lakh to the complainants and pay Rs 1 lakh as fine for causing mental agony and physical harassment, along with Rs 30,000 as the cost of litigation.

Masked youth hold ISIS and Pakistani flags during a protest in Srinagar. Tribune Photo: Amin War

Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 13

The three militants who were eliminated in Anantnag on Monday drew inspiration from the global Islamist movement, revealing the growing influence of radical Islamism in the region.Eisa Fazili, a young engineering student who joined militancy, first appeared in a video in September last year in which he quoted Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Anwar al-Awlaki, two prominent ideologues of the global jihadist movements.In the months since then, the police kept chasing him as he escaped the dragnets. Fazili joined militant ranks in August last year and soon emerged as the face of a nascent and fledgling unit of the Islamic State, a militant organisation born out of the Al-Qaida in Iraq. Amaq, the media agency of the Islamic State, claimed responsibility for the attacks in which the police found the involvement of Fazili.Last month, the police identified him as one of the assailants in the attack on a policeman guarding separatist leader Fazal Haq Qureshi. The policeman was killed, his rifle snatched and the attack claimed by Amaq.Even as authorities remained tight-lipped about the presence of Islamic State militants in the region, police officials investigating the cases began joining the dots.The emerging links, more evident on social media sites where militants frequently share their pictures and statements, are opening a new form of insurgency that is rapidly evolving and drawing its inspiration from global jihadist movements.Fazili was killed in a pre-dawn counter-insurgency operation in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Monday along with two other militants. The police identified the second militant as Syed Owais and details shared on social media provided his other name as Abu Bara al-Kashmiri, hinting to a possibility that he was the militant who had recently appeared in a video where he announced the formation of the local unit of the Islamic State.The third militant killed in the operation has not been officially identified even as unverified claims on social media identified him as a resident of Hyderabad.A senior police official said the police were verifying these claims. “They were initially with the Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen but later claims were made by the Islamic State which are a point of investigation,” the official said.The official said the three militants were killed in a “swift operation”. Even as the police remain tight-lipped about the presence of the Islamic State-inspired militants in the region, the signs of their emergence are too obvious.The drift in the region’s insurgency towards global Islamism has also pitched it against the quarters harbouring pro-Pakistan agenda. Insurgency is undergoing a drastic evolution as the global jihadist narrative, promoted by the Al-Qaida-linked Zakir Musa and by militants like Fazili, is finding supporters across the region as evidenced by the changing slogans at funerals.At Fazili’s funeral on the city outskirts in Soura, the pro-Pakistan activists insisting on waving green flags clashed with the Islamists who were waving black flags – a reflection of the deepening fissures and ideological faultlines in the separatist camp.

Jihadist narrative

The drift in the region’s insurgency towards global Islamism has also pitched it against the quarters harbouring pro-Pakistan agenda. Insurgency is undergoing a drastic evolution as the global jihadist narrative, promoted by the Al-Qaida-linked Zakir Musa and by militants like Fazili, is finding supporters across the region as evidenced by the changing slogans at funerals.

MC Thakur

BEAS NULLAH (MANALI), MARCH 12Equipped with modern machinery and technically skilled officers and jawans, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) today started snow-clearance operation on the Manali-Leh highway after organizing a puja near Beas Nullah, about 32 km from here.Colonel Arvind Kumar Awasthi, Commander, 38 Border Road Task Force (BRTF), said massive efforts were being made to open the Rohtang Pass, the gateway to Lahaul-Spiti, as early as possible provided the weather conditions remain favourable. Efforts were also being made to open the Manali- Leh highway from the other side of Rohtang Pass in the Lahaul valley, he added.He further said the early opening of the 13,050-ft-high Rohtang Pass for vehicular traffic will also bring great relief to the Lahaul-Spiti valley inhabitants. He said three snow-clearing teams had been deployed for opening of the 222-km Manali- Sarchu road. Snow cutters and other modern machines were being used besides the services of dedicated and well organized team work of officers and jawans.Awasthi said they had to cut through 10ft to 15ft of snow near Beas Nullah. Thickness of snow near Rohtang could be 30ft.The Commander said the first team from Manali was clearing snow near Beas Nullah towards Rohtang Pass, while the second team is clearing snow between Koksar and Rohtang Pass. The third team is moving from Darcha towards Baralacha Pass. Five snow cutters, six excavators, eight dozers and other machines have been deployed to execute the task.The Colonel said the work started after organizing a puja near Beas Nullah where all officers, jawans and machine operators prayed for their safety and favourable conditions. He has directed jawans to take their safety on priority. He further added that his prime goal was to open Manali-Rohtang-Keylong highway to bring relief to thousands of people of Lahaul valley.Meanwhile, SDM, Manali, Raman Gharsangi said two rescue posts had been established on either side of Rohtang Pass for the convenience of the people of Lahaul. He requested pedestrians to register themselves at both the posts before and after crossing the mighty Rohtang Pass. He also said that pedestrians should not risk their lives and should cross Rohtang only after ensuring that the weather was clear.

In Dock: Pakistan’s calculations have back-fired; it will have to be accountable.

G Parthasarathy

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), set up in 1989 by the G7 countries, and with headquarters in Paris, acts as an “international watchdog” on issues of money laundering and financing of terrorism. It has 37 members, including all five permanent members of the Security Council, and countries with economic influence all across the world. Two regional organisations — the Gulf Cooperation and the European Commission — are members of the FATF. Saudi Arabia and Israel are observers. India became a full member of the FATF in June 2010. The FATF is empowered to ensure that financing of UN-designated terrorist organisations is blocked. It has the power to publicly name countries not abiding by its norms, making it difficult for them to source financial flows internationally.Pakistan is particularly vulnerable to pressures from this task force as the Afghan Taliban, Haqqani network, LeT and JeM — all internationally designated terrorist groups — operate from its soil. Pakistan has long claimed that it has done its best to prevent terrorism emanating from its soil. It has also averred that there is no firm evidence against the LeT and the JeM, even after these groups have publicly acknowledged that they were promoting terrorism in India. Pakistan has also rejected evidence like wireless transcripts of conversations of Jaish terrorists involved in the Pathankot airport and the vast evidence available internationally of the Lashkar role in the Mumbai 26/11 attack. The Americans and their allies have focused attention primarily on Pakistan support for the Haqqani network in Afghanistan. Pakistan has believed that sooner, rather than later, the Americans would cut their losses and withdraw from Afghanistan, leaving the country open for a Pakistan-backed Taliban takeover. President Donald Trump, however, made it clear that he was determined that the US would not “lose” in Afghanistan. He is augmenting the US troop presence and moving fast to strengthen the Afghan armed forces, including its air force. American economic assistance to Pakistan has been placed on hold. In addition, the US has mobilised its NATO allies to take a tougher line on Pakistan. The NATO allies are also expanding their deployments in Afghanistan. More recently, the US has initiated moves to get the task force to place Pakistan on its “grey list” at its next meeting in June.The American effort in the FATF on Pakistan funding of terrorist groups predictably ran into problems initially. Pakistan had mobilised support from China, the Gulf Cooperation Council led by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and quite evidently Russia to counter the American-led move. Islamabad banked on Russian support, given the bonhomie that Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov manifested when he invited his Pakistani counterpart Khawaja Asif to Moscow on the eve of the FATF meeting. Further, despite parliamentary opposition, Pakistan declared, just over a week before the FATF meeting, that it would be deploying additional troops in Saudi Arabia. It clearly expected Saudi support in the FATF after its decision was announced. The Lavrov bonhomie led the inexperienced Khawaja Asif to proclaim hastily and prematurely that Pakistan had succeeded in prevailing over moves to place it on the FATF “grey list” involving monitoring of its international financial flows. The Americans responded immediately to these developments. Saudi Arabia and the GCC fell in line with American demands for the FATF to act against Pakistan. European powers like the UK, Germany and France remained steadfast in their determination to corner Pakistan. Russia quietly receded to the background. Recognising that its support for Pakistan would leave it isolated in the FATF, where it was aspiring to become its vice-chairman at the forthcoming FATF session in June, Pakistan’s “all-weather friend” China pulled back its support for Pakistan. The only country that steadfastly continued supporting Pakistan was Turkey, whose egotistic President Recep Erdogan would certainly not win an international popularity contest today!Pakistan will now have to provide a detailed action plan on actions it proposes to take on curbing funding for UN-designated terrorist groups. It would then be placed on the FATF grey list, where its financial flows would be subject to intense international scrutiny. Pakistan would, thereafter, be placed on the FATF “black list” if it fails to present a credible and comprehensive action plan to the FATF by June. This would virtually end any prospect of it receiving adequate financial flows. There has been disappointment, anger and frustration in Pakistan at the FATF decision. Hardly anyone in Pakistan is prepared to publicly advise that it is time for Pakistan’s rogue army to end support on its soil to armed terrorist groups, acting against India and Afghanistan. While Pakistan recently claimed it had closed Lashkar offices, it was soon found that only the gates of these offices were closed, while routine activities continued inside.In these circumstances, India should urge members of the European Union and Japan to join the US and end providing concessional credits to Pakistan. Given its precarious foreign exchange position, Pakistan will inevitably have to go to the IMF for a bailout in a few months. Institutions like the IMF, World Bank and Asian Development Bank need to be persuaded to withhold providing concessional credits to Pakistan, even if it takes some token measures to claim it has acted against UN-designated terrorist outfits. India should urge that no concessional credits should be provided to Pakistan till it dismantles the infrastructure of terrorism on its soil irrevocably. China will not follow suit; but its “aid” for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will only increase Pakistan’s already heavy debt burden.The withdrawal of Chinese support in the FATF has shaken the Pakistan establishment’s belief that Chinese support to “contain India” has no limitations. China recognises that backing Pakistan unconditionally in the FATF would not only earn it the ire of the mercurial Donald Trump, but would also sully its image internationally. At the same time, this does not mean that there will be any change in China’s policies on issues like declaring Jaish chief Masood Azhar an international terrorist. Moreover, we should also clearly recognise that President Trump’s actions are primarily in response to Pakistan’s support for the Haqqani network in Afghanistan. They are not highly or significantly focused on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism on Indian soil. That is a battle that will have to be fought primarily by us. 

Had said they’re not covered under definition of officer

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 4

The Indian Army has given a strongly-worded reply to a letter written by an official of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) who had stated that Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) are “not gazetted officers”.The official, a Joint Secretary-cum-Chief Administrative Officer (JS & CAO) in the MoD, had said since “JCOs are not covered under the definition of officer”, they do not merit such a status while being posted in the Army Headquarters at South Block, New Delhi.The Army, in its reply to the JS & CAO, questioned his authority to decide on the status of JCOs. It has said: “The CAO officials have no competence or locus standi to comment/question the provisions of an Act of Parliament or the Defence Services Regulations.”In the letter, the Army, on a separate matter, has asked the CAO to stop issuing communications that do not form its charter. “Office of CAO is not mandated by government to deal with any personnel aspects involving combatants (the armed forces).”The JS & CAO is the cadre-controlling officer for Armed Forces Civilian Employees who number over 12,000. Sources point out that the civilian-employee cadre was set up for administrative management, not to issue policy letters on personnel matters of the forces.The Tribune had reported on February 26 how the JS & CAO had rejected the move to give “gazetted officer” status.On JCO issue, the Army in its latest letter pointed out that JCOs were accorded “Group-B” gazetted officer status. The Army Act, 1950, accords status of Group-B equivalent gazetted officers to JCOs. Section 151 of the Defence Service Regulations 1987 states JCOs are granted commission by the President.There are some 64,000 personnel of JCO rank or equivalent in the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy. The JCOs are promoted from among jawans. In the forces, they hold pivotal positions.In January, the issue relating to rank parity — wrong equation of forces with civilian staff — was settled after Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman corrected the anomaly. The MoD had said: “The letter dated October 18, 2016, on the issue of equivalence between armed forces’ officers and Armed Forces Headquarters Civil Services (AFHQ) officers is withdrawn.” The matter of JCO’s getting their status was not linked to this.

Impressive #InvestitureCeremony conducted at Pune #GeneralOfficerCommandingInChief #SouternCommand felicitated awardees of Sena Medal (Gallantry). Army Commander bestowed Unit Citations to 14 Units of Southern Command for their outstanding performance.

New Delhi, February 9

The NHRC has taken cognisance of a complaint filed by three children of Army officers alleging violation of human rights of the force’s personnel in recent incidents of stone-pelting in Jammu and Kashmir.The National Human Rights Commission said the complainants have also sought its “intervention for an appropriate inquiry into the incident of stone-pelting and assault by an unruly and disruptive mob on Army personnel in Shopian district on January 27”.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)In their complaint, the children have said they were “disturbed” by the recent incidents of stone-pelting and assaults by mobs on security forces.The NHRC observed that in view of the facts narrated and allegations levelled, “it will be appropriate to call for a report from the Ministry of Defence to know the status of the situation and steps taken by the Centre on the points raised by the complainants regarding alleged humiliation and violation of human rights of the Army personnel in Jammu and Kashmir”.A communication has been sent to the defence secretary, seeking a report in four weeks, it said. — PTI

Slippery road: A $10 price rise will affect GDP growth by nearly 0.3 percentage points.

Sushma Ramachandran

THE NDA government has been lucky for much of its term as far as global oil prices are concerned. These crashed from a peak of $140 a barrel to around $40 per barrel within six months of it coming to power. The luck seems to have run out. International prices are currently hovering at nearly $70 per barrel and agencies like Goldman Sachs are projecting it will reach $80 dollars within six months. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said in post-Budget interviews that oil prices crossing the $70 mark will be a worry for the next fiscal.The reason for rising world prices becoming a headache for policy makers is that India imports over 80 per cent of its crude oil requirements. The oil import bill for the current financial year, 2017-18, is expected to reach $81 billion, $10 billion higher than in 2016-17. This is despite the fact that the volume of crude oil imports will be roughly the same, at 213 million tonnes. The trade deficit is also widening as a result of higher oil imports. The net result is that the government is left helplessly monitoring the situation in the international oil markets.In this arena, the short-term outlook depends a great deal on the global economic and political scenario. The two most important issues will be whether the oil cartel, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is able to maintain production cuts laid down a year ago and also whether US shale oil companies will be able to raise their output levels. On the first issue,  there has been surprising unanimity in maintaining these production quotas by OPEC members till now. Saudi Arabia, as the largest exporter, has been the main motivator in this regard. However, there may be some glitches in future as output from Venezuela has crashed owing to political developments there. The role of Russia will also be crucial as it has been cooperating with OPEC for production cuts since January 2017. It is this combination of OPEC and Russia that became the big driver for the hardening of world oil prices in 2017.As for US shale oil production, it is rising rapidly once again with the aid of improved technology. In addition, US crude inventories are being built up yet again. It must be recalled that it was primarily the entry of shale oil supplies produced through the technique of fracking that led to the softening of world oil prices in 2014. In case shale oil production is ramped up in coming months and inventory buildup continues, there is a distinct possibility that global prices can be contained around the $70 mark, despite pessismistic predictions by financial agencies.Geopolitical developments will also cast their shadow on world oil markets. The tensions between the US and North Korea will have an impact in case these continue to remain at the high level that has been witnessed over the past year. Similarly, the fate of the conflict in Syria and Iraq will play a role in maintaining the stability of the markets.As far as India is concerned, the issue of high fuel prices has several ramifications. Firstly, a large oil import bill will be a huge burden on the exchequer.  Raising resources just to meet the country’s essential and critical oil needs is unavoidable, but will make it difficult to meet the fiscal deficit target, even though it has been pegged at a more achievable 3.2 per cent for next year. Besides, it has been estimated that a $10 rise in oil prices will affect GDP growth by nearly 0.3 percentage points. Secondly, it will lead to a rise in the subsidy on petroleum products. The subsidy has been pegged at Rs 24,933 crore for 2018-19, marginally higher than the previous year. The bulk of the subsidy, as much as Rs 20,377 crores is on account of LPG and the balance for kerosene. This is mainly due to launch of the Ujjwala free LPG scheme for rural women. Higher world prices will lead to a substantial increase in subsidy.  Finally, it will hurt consumers as prices of most petroleum products  will rise steeply unless the burden is mitigated in some way. The simplest method is to cut Central and state excise levies on petroleum products. The Budget has marginally cut excise duties but, strangely enough, brought in a road cess so prices will not fall for the general public. In fact, the heavy taxation on products like petrol and diesel and the resulting revenue bonanza is the main reason these have been kept out of the purview of the GST. What really needs to be done is to bring petroleum into the GST net, so that the tax can be capped at 28 per cent. Keeping such a major commodity out of the GST ambit makes it a rather unrealistic system. But states are strenuously resisting this move, given their reliance on the big revenues garnered from these products.The issue of high oil prices is thus a complex one. On the plus side, imports may not be cheaper than expected owing to rupee appreciation that has been taking place for some time now. This may be bad news for exports, but it makes imports cheaper.On the minus side, Mr Jaitley has little leeway to act on world prices. But he can and should give relief to consumers by cutting the new road cess and pushing the GST Council to include petroleum under its regime. In the long run, the government thus needs to try and find more oil in onland and offshore areas by making a more attractive oil exploration policy. Even more important is the need to finalise a long-term energy policy by examining all the options available, including natural gas, nuclear power and renewable energy. This should ensure that the country is not largely dependent for essential energy needs on petroleum. If it does not evolve such a policy rapidly, the country will have no option but to rely on the vagaries of world markets for its critical fuel requirements.