New Delhi, January 16

BJP leader Ajay Agrawal, who fought the 2014 LS election against Congress  leader Sonia Gandhi from Rai Bareli, had a difficult time on Monday in the SC which questioned his locus standi to file a special leave petition to revive the politically-sensitive Rs 64 crore Bofors pay-offs case.“You need to satisfy us that a third person can file a special leave petition in a criminal case,” a bench headed by CJI Dipak Misra told Agrawal, who went on to argue about threat to national security due to the scam, rather than the legal point raised by the Bench. He accused the CBI of being hand in glove with the accused Hinduja brothers.The Bench pointed out that the CBI had not filed any appeal before it against the 2005 verdict of the Delhi HC and wondered how a person not connected with the case could move the SC. — TNS

New Delhi, April 20

Top Army commanders have favoured a collective approach in bringing the radicalised youth of Jammu and Kashmir into the mainstream and focus on minimising collateral damage in anti-terror operations in the state.The commanders, at a six-day conference which began on Monday, also delved into a host of issues, including the situation along the borders with China and modernisation of the force with a limited budgetary allocation, a senior Army official said.Director General Staff Duties Lt General AK Sharma said the commanders confabulated on the prevalent situation in the Kashmir valley and reviewed recent developments affecting the modus operandi of the operations of the armed forces deployed there. “It was felt that priority must be accorded towards ushering in peace by conducting counter-terrorist operations that minimise collateral damage,” he said.Security forces have been facing stiff opposition from Valley residents some of whom had resorted to stone throwing at them in certain areas. Sharma said the commanders felt that radicalised youth must be brought into the mainstream by carrying out de-radicalisation initiatives and favoured a collective approach that focuses on convincing the youth to shun violence and gun culture.He said the commanders also reviewed the situation along the Line of Control and the increase in ceasefire violations there. They also talked about “adequacy of the response mechanisms” to ceasefire violations by Pakistan. He said Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat expressed satisfaction at the way the Army was adapting to dynamic security challenges and stressed the need to lay down judicious priorities to ensure that the allocated resources are utilised optimally. The Army commanders will discuss matters related exclusively to military operations on Saturday. — PTI

New Delhi, January 15In a stern message to Pakistan, Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat asserted today that the Army would not allow anti-India activities to succeed in Jammu and Kashmir and it was ready to escalate military offensive to combat cross-border terrorism if Islamabad forced it to do so.Addressing Army personnel on the occasion of Army Day, Rawat said disputes along the Line of Actual Control with China were continuing and the Army was trying to stop the Chinese transgressions.“Ensuring security along the Line of Actual Control (with China) is our main duty,” he said without elaborating further.Talking about the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, he said the Pakistan army has been continuously trying to help terrorists sneak into India along the Line of Control (LoC) in J&K.“We will not let these anti-national elements succeed at any cost. If we are forced, then we may escalate our military action and carry out (the) other action,” he said.The Army has been adopting a ‘tit-for-tat’ approach in dealing with ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops as well as foiling infiltration bids by terrorists.“The Army is using its might to teach them a lesson. Terrorists and their handlers are creating various challenges within the country by adopting new tactics,” the Army Chief said. — PTI

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NEW DELHI:  Nine years after it first made a request for more than 1.86 lakh bulletproof jackets, the government today signed a major ‘Make in India’ contract which will see the army finally acquire the life-saving kit its soldiers desperately require during operations.

The contract has been won by SMPP Pvt Ltd, a small Delhi-based company which has a Research and Development Centre in the Okhla Industrial Area. The Rs. 639 crore order signed today is the biggest order SMPP have ever signed. In a statement, the company, which hopes to complete delivery of all the jackets within three years, has said its body armour meets the most stringent standards of the Indian Army. “These bulletproof jackets have ‘Boron Carbide Ceramic’ which is the lightest material for ballistic protection,” the company said.

The army, which has struggled to acquire body armour for its soldiers because of an oppressively slow procurement system, says the new jackets have modular parts which provide “immense protection and flexibility to soldiers operating in different operational situations ranging from long distance patrolling to high risk room intervention scenarios”. The jackets are designed to sustain the impact of even the latest hard steel core bullets in saving the lives of soldiers in operations.

In 2009, the government accepted an army requirement for 1.86 lakh bulletproof jackets but the order fell through after none of the vendors cleared trials conducted by the army. Only one of the four participants cleared the first round where the jackets had to demonstrate their ability to withstand .30 calibre armour-piercing bullets in a series of tests in different conditions.

he manufacturer which cleared the first round failed in the next where the bulletproof jacket was deliberately degraded to replicate typical wear and tear in real life conditions.

With a glaring lack of bulletproof jackets at its disposal, the army signed on for 50,000 bulletproof jackets as part of an interim emergency purchase in March 2016. This was hardly a solution since these jackets were designed to older specifications and did not meet the standards that the army was looking for. Neither did the order of 50,000 jackets make a serious dent towards meeting the army’s overall requirement of more than 3.5 lakh bulletproof jackets for its soldiers.

With today’s contract out of the way, the top brass of the army will be relieved to know that its soldiers will finally have world class basic equipment. Besides being a significant win for the government’s Make in India initiative, the new body armour “will boost the confidence of the soldier and provide moral ascendency to security forces”.

Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat. — PTI

New Delhi, January 14

Political initiative must go “hand-in-hand” with military operations in Jammu and Kashmir to bring peace, Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat said on Sunday, and favoured ramping up military offensive to pile up heat on Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism in the state.Gen Rawat said the armed forces operating in the state cannot be “status quoist” and must evolve new strategies and tactics to deal with the situation, which he feels is “marginally” better since he took over a year ago.In an interview to PTI, the Army chief asserted that there was room for ramping up heat on Pakistan to cut flow of cross border terror activities, clearly indicating that the Army will continue its policy of hot pursuit in dealing with militancy.”The political initiative and all the other initiatives must go simultaneously hand-in-hand and only if all of us function in synergy, we can bring lasting peace in Kashmir. It has to be a politico-military approach that we have to adopt,” the Army chief said.In October, the government had appointed former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma as its special representative for a “sustained dialogue” with all stakeholders in J-K.”When the government appointed an interlocutor, it is with that purpose. He is the government’s representative to reach out to the people of Kashmir and see what their grievances are so that those can then be addressed at a political level,” the Army chief said.Asked whether there is room for ramping up pressure on Pakistan to force it to stop sending terrorists to the state, he said, “Yes, you cannot be status quoist. You have to continuously think and keep moving forward. You have to keep changing your doctrines and concept and the manner in which you operate in such areas.”Gen Rawat said the Army will have to evolve new strategies and new tactics to deal with the situation. At the same time, he said an overall approach was required to deal with the Kashmir issue.Since beginning of last year, the Army pursued an aggressive anti-terror policy in Jammu and Kashmir and, at the same time, forcefully responded to all ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control with a tit-for-tat approach.”Military is only part of the mechanism to resolve the Kashmir issue. Our charter is to ensure that the terrorists who are creating violence in the state are taken to task and those who have been radicalised and are increasingly moving towards terrorism are prevented from doing so,” he said.Gen Rawat said some youths continue to be radicalised and are joining militancy. The Army has been trying to maintain pressure on terror groups, he said.The Army’s aim is to ensure that it continues to maintain the pressure on the terrorists and those fomenting trouble there, Gen Rawat said.”But at the same time, we have to also reach out to the people,” he said.Asked whether the situation in Kashmir has improved since he has taken over as the Army chief a year ago, Gen Rawat said, “I am only seeing a marginal change in situation for the better.”I do not think it is time to become over confident and start assuming that the situation has been brought under control because infiltration from across the borders will continue.”The LoC has remained volatile in the last year. According to official figures, 860 incidents of ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops were reported in 2017 as against 221 the year before.India has also been effectively retaliating to Pakistani firing and even crossed the LoC to punish Pakistani troops on several occasions as part of tactical operations. — PTI 

DEHRUNA(ANANTNAG): Hizbul Mujahedeen militant Rouf Khanday, all of 18 years old, and one of the 13 suspected insurgents gunned down by security forces in Kashmir on Sunday, had two last wishes: one, that his father lead his funeral prayer and second, that his parents repay the ₹150 he owed to the shopkeeper who sold mobile recharge coupons in his village.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar. — ANI

New Delhi, January 11

India on Thursday said National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met his Pakistani counterpart Lt Gen Nasser Khan Janjua (retd) last month in Thailand, noting that “talks on terror” can go ahead.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Raveesh Kumar, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, told reporters that the focus of the “operational-level talks” was “cross-border terror” and ways to ensure the elimination of terrorism from the region.”India and Pakistan have a dialogue process and we have said terror and talks cannot go together. However, there are other dialogue mechanisms like at the DGMO level or between the BSF and Pakistan Rangers.”Similarly, the NSA-level engagement is part of operational-level talks. We have said terror and talks cannot go together, but talks on terror can definitely go ahead,” Kumar said.The meeting between the two NSAs took place in Thailand nearly three weeks ago. — PTI

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 5

Questioning the government’s claim that Aadhaar will enable authorities to check frauds in banks and financial institutions, the Supreme Court on Thursday said such scams happened because bank officials were hand-in-glove with fraudsters and Aadhaar can do little to stop it.“A bank fraud does not take place because of multiple identities. A loan is given by a banker and he knows who the borrower is. A fraud can take place if the banker is hand-in-glove with the customer… Aadhaar can do little to stop it,” a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra told Attorney General KK Venugopal after he said Aadhaar would prevent bank fraud.As the top law officer said Aadhaar would stop creation of benami accounts and help authorities to track illegal transactions, the Bench – which also included justices AK Sikri, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, agreed. “But, to stop bank frauds, the manger or official at that level needs to carry out due diligence before advancing loans,” said Justice Sikri.The courtroom burst into laughter after the AG said, “What the court wants to say is that Nirav Modis will continue to flourish despite Aadhaar.” As the AG’s arguments remained inconclusive, he would resume on April 10.The Bench wondered if asking the entire population to link their mobile phones with Aadhaar “just to catch a few terrorists” was the right thing. “What if authorities, through administrative orders, ask citizens to part with their DNA, semen and blood samples as part of their Aadhaar demographics?” asked the Bench.Justice Chandrachud questioned the government, saying it has assumed that all the services for which it was asking for Aadhaar amounted to legitimate state interest.“The core issue is that how far you can cast the net of Aadhaar asking citizens to give their biometric details for services that are not covered under Section 7 (deals with welfare schemes) of the Aadhaar law,” Justice Chandrachud said.