Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 6

Eleven years after India went scouting for a foreign fighter jet, it on Friday invited global military aviation companies to make fighter jets in India.The Tribune was the first to report this in its edition dated February 22 this year as to how India would float a fresh tender and scout for foreign firms to come and make in India.The Ministry of Defence invited global plane makers to send in their initial proposals. Termed as the request for information (RFI), this is the first step in the tendering process and is expected shortly.It was in 2007 that tenders for the 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) were floated. An intensive flight trial process later, two planes–Eurofighter Typhoon and French Dassault’s Rafale–were selected in 2012.Price negotiations followed, but the deal couldn’t be completed and was scrapped. In April 2015, the Government announced a move to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets in an off-the-shelf condition from French major Dassault.India’s move comes as the Indian Air Force is now down to 31 squadrons against the need of 42, as mandated by the Cabinet Committee on Security. Each squadron has 16-18 planes. The MoD and the IAF have kept their options open and are not restricted to, say a “single engine” fighter jet. The option will be to get a “fighter jet” and it will not specify the number of engines as that restricts the options.These will be under ‘make in India’ and to get global manufactures to have a production line in India, the project needs adequate numbers with possibility of future expansions. To speed up matters, the MoD will be looking at new additions made by global players since the MMRCA trials were carried out in 2011. The planes tested then were Lockheed Martin’s F-16IN, US Boeing’s F/A-18IN, Eurofighter Typhoon, French Dassault’s Rafale, Swedish Saab’s Gripen and Russian MiG-35.In the past two years, the IAF and the MoD were in talks for a “single engine” fighter jet with two global manufactures. However, this has been superseded by the thought process to just focus on getting additional jets without getting into “single engine” or “twin engine” variants.The existing production of 123 Tejas fighter jets being made by public sector giant Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is just taking off and it will take more than a decade for the entire lot to be manufactured. The IAF has the mandate to have 272 Sukhoi 30 MKI in its fleet. The MiG 21s are on their last legs and have to be phased out.

Jammu/Rajouri, April 3

A young Army soldier lost his life, while four others, including an officer, suffered serious injuries in unprovoked firing by Pakistan across the Line of Control in the Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch on Tuesday morning.Sepoy Mustapure Shubham Suryakant, 20, was critically wounded and succumbed to his injuries at the Command Hospital, Udhampur. “The firing and mortar shelling lasted about 45 minutes,” tweeted a senior police officer posted in Poonch. The injured were airlifted to the Command Hospital.The slain soldier belonged to Parbhani district of Maharashtra and is survived by his mother Sunita. The injured were identified as Lt Kallamputi Bhargva, Naib Subedar Mahlya V Motilal, Subedar Sakunday S Kashinath and Naik Dhumal Sandeep. — TNS

Kashmiris stand along a barricaded street during unrest following gun fights between suspected militants and Indian forces in south Kashmir, in Srinagar on April 1. AFP

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 1

Militant groups in the Valley suffered a major setback as 11 militants were gunned down in counter-insurgency operations in three different areas in South Kashmir in which three Army jawans and two civilians were also killed.

At a hurriedly called joint press conference of army, police and CRPF, Jammu and Kashmir Police chief S P Vaid said this is one of the biggest counter-offensives in recent times against terror groups operating in the Kashmir Valley.The operations by security forces rendered a severe dent to militant groups such as the Hizbul Mujahideen and the Lashker-e-Toiba, officials said here.Three army jawans have lost their lives in the operations at Kachdooru in Shopian, officials said, adding three bodies of militants have been recovered from the debris so far.The operation has been called off at Kachdooru and the security personnel were search the debris tomorrow again, the officials said.Earlier, at a press conference called at Victor Force headquarters at Awantipura, around 33 kms from here, Corps Commander of XV Corps, Lt Gen A K Bhatt, termed it one of the biggest operations in recent times and said the death of Lt Umar Fayaz, who was brutally killed in Shopian last year, had been avenged.”Among the militants killed are Ishfaq Malik and Rayees Thokar. They were responsible for his death,” Bhatt said.Fayaz, 22, was killed by militants in May last year. His body was found with bullet wounds in the Hermain area of Shopian district in south Kashmir.The DGP also made a special mention of an SSP’s efforts to convince a militant to surrender during the Dialgam encounter.”I would like to make a special mention about the Dialgam encounter where our Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) made a special effort, which is unheard of in any part of the world.”He called the family members of one of the terrorists. They spoke with him for 30 minutes, to convince him to surrender,” the officer said.”Unfortunately, he did not heed the advice of his family. During the talks, the district SSP tried to get him over. Instead he fired on the police leaving the police with no option other than to retaliate. He was killed. The other one was caught alive,” he said.On the ongoing operations at Kachedoora, the DGP said there was information about the presence of four to five militants, but “we will be able to give a clear picture only after the debris is cleared”.One civilian death was reported from Draggad and the other at Kachudoora, both in Shopian district, the police chief said.Violence broke out at the Kachedoora encounter site in which 25 civilians received pellet injuries while six others suffered bullet injuries, the police chief said.The DGP said all the seven militants killed in the Draggad encounter were locals and their bodies have been claimed by their families.Inspector General of CRPF Zulfikar Hassan pointed out that people came in large numbers at the encounter site in Shopian.”The operations will not stop and we will have to take all offensive measures in case they do not refrain from throwing stones at the jawans engaged in the counter-insurgency operations,” he said.It was painful to see young boys getting killed in this manner, the DGP said.”I urge all the parents to appeal to their children to shun the path of violence and join the national mainstream,” Vaid said. With PTI

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 25

In an important move, the ‘Made in India’ Arjun Mark-2 tank project is set to  see the light of the day. Chairman of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) Dr S Christopher in an interview to The Tribune said,  “We have had a meeting with the Vice-Chief of the Indian Army where it was agreed on accepting Mark-2. Modalities are  being worked out”. Once done, the acceptance of necessity (AON) for 118 will be revived, he added. The AON is decided by the Defence Acquisition Council headed by the Defence Minister. A total of 93 modifications have been done on the first version of Arjun —  124 were inducted — in 2010-2011. On being asked if the Army was okay with the weight of the tank, the DRDO boss said: “The weight (the tank is almost 58 tonnes) has been accepted; that is a major change”. Most modern European tanks are of the same weight, and tank-transporters   (specialised trucks) for Arjun are available. The DRDO has promised to set up a system to maintain the Arjun Mark-2 within India. It will be an annual maintenance contract with the Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) as a possible agency, Dr Christopher said. On the trials, he said,  “These have done 4,000 kms of run, the upgrades will be tested.” On artillery guns, Dr Christopher  said the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun Systems (ATAGS), of which the Army has agreed to accept 40 pieces to start with, will get a more powerful engine to enable rapid movement. The guns designed by DRDO have been made by two private companies under the transfer of technology. The DRDO is keen to get a slice of the 1,580 towed guns the Army is looking to buy. “Both companies (Tata Power SED and Bharat Forge) are gearing up produce more. We need an order for 200-300 guns to tie up logistics,” he said.Talking about the next version of the Tejas, called ‘Mark1-A’, Dr Christopher said: “The design other than the AESA radar and the jammer pod is complete.”  Hindustan Aeronautics Limited is looking to import the AESA radar even as DRDO made a radar that will be tested next month. The IAF is looking at 83 ‘Mark1-A’, with 59 improvements over the existing Tejas.The Indian Air Force  has projected a need for 324 fighter jets over 15 years and has officially indicated that it needs the ‘Tejas Mark 2’ (medium combat aircraft). It will carry a more powerful engine and weigh almost 20 per cent heavier than Tejas.

A statue of Bhagat Singh erected atop a residence at his ancestral village, Khatkar Kalan in Nawanshahr ahead of his martyrdom day. Photo: Sarabjit Singh

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Khatkar Kalan, March 21An increasing following for Bhagat Singh as the youth icon is evident from the fact that the residents of his ancestral village have started installing his statues atop their houses here.Two houses from this village have got erected nicely painted statues of the martyr and one can see residents passing by these houses bowing before their revered hero as they move ahead to their destinations.Satnam Singh, a farmer whose house falls on the back of the museum at Khatkar Kalan, says, “I got the statue installed last week. I got it made and tastefully painted from an artisan in an adjoining village. I have brought up my children telling them the heroic deeds of Bhagat Singh for the country begin their day. We had his portrait in the living room of our house, too, but my family insisted that we could put up his statue too.”The statue of the freedom fighter atop the house of Bhag Singh is even more depictive. Here he has a pistol in one hand and the Tricolour in the other. Sarpanch Sukhwinder Singh of the village said, “There are about 430 families in the village and all have appreciated the move.”

In Leh today. Sitharaman to discuss border security

Leh, March 10

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is arriving in Leh on a day-long visit tomorrow.She is scheduled to attend the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s International Women’s Day function at Leh town. She will hand over the ‘Deep Lakshmi Baton’ to the next year’s host.She is also expected to meet the representatives of the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Leh. She will also interact with local farmers and women self-help groups. Sitharaman is also expected to review the security situation on the Indo-China border with the top Army officers. — OC

Army men at the Sunjuwan military station. File photo

Suhail A Shah

Anantnag, March 5

The alleged mastermind of the “Sunjuwan attack” and operational commander of the Jaish-e-Mohammad in the Kashmir valley, Mufti Waqas, was today shot dead in a brief encounter with security forces in the Lethpora area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.Waqas had taken over the reins of the Jaish following the killing of Noor Muhammad Tantray, alias Noor Trali, in December last year.The security forces are describing Waqas as a category A++ militant, directly involved in the planning of the fidayeen attack on the Army base camp in Sunjuwan, Jammu. Nine people, including five Army men, three militants and a civilian, were killed in the February 10 attack on the Army camp.According to police reports, there were specific inputs regarding the presence of militants in a residential house in the Hatiwara area of Lethpora in Pulwama district. “A joint team of the police, Army and the CRPF was dispatched to the area. As the cordon was being laid, a militant barged out of the house firing indiscriminately to shield himself,” a senior police officer said. He said the fire was duly retaliated, briefly, before the militant was gunned down. “The militant was later identified as Mufti Waqas of the JeM,” the police officer said. Waqas was the mastermind of several attacks and was active in south Kashmir since mid-2016, the officer added. Sources in the police, meanwhile, maintained that two more militants who were probably with Waqas managed to escape. Following the encounter, as the security forces were returning to the base, heavy stone-throwing erupted in the Lethpora area along the Srinagar-Jammu national highway. Dozens of youths came on to the streets and engaged the security forces in a pitched battle. There were no reports of any injuries during the clashes. The traffic on the national highway was halted for a while though.

A++ militant 

• Mufti Waqas had taken over the reins of the Jaish following the killing of Noor Muhammad Tantray, alias Noor Trali, in December last year.
• The security forces are describing Waqas as a category A++ militant, directly involved in the planning of the fidayeen attack on the Army base camp in Sunjuwan, Jammu.
• Waqas was the mastermind of several attacks and was active in south Kashmir since mid-2016

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The GUARDIANS OF GOVERNANCE (GOG)  training for 3 Distt commenced today at Nawasahar.

The ESM were briefed by Brig Prahalad Singh .Few Pictures as under