New Delhi, October 17

Intelligence agencies have alerted the government that at least five ISI-backed Pakistan terrorists, highly trained, are placed in Nepal to infiltrate into India either through Uttar Pradesh or Bihar border ahead of Diwali, sources said.

Sources in the agencies said telephonic intercepts of conversations between the terrorists in Nepal and their handlers in Pakistan suggest they have a plan to strike in India in a big way with the help of a few of the home-grown Kashmiri militants, who will meet them in Delhi.

Their last location was found to be near Gorakhpur on Nepal border, but for a few days they stayed at Beerganj, near Raxaul border in Bihar. Officials in the MHA said following the input, a high alert has been issued across the country.

On Wednesday, several defence bases in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab were put on orange alert after intelligence inputs suggested a group of terrorists is planning to target these, they said, adding a general alert had already been issued on August 5, when the government took the decision to do away with special status to J&K under Article 370.

In the last week of September, the multi-agency centre that collates data and inputs from human intelligence, radio intercepts and other sources had indicated that 60 terrorists had infiltrated into India since the government’s decision on Article 370, but most of them could manage through LoC. — TNS

Impending threat  

• Inputs suggest 60 terrorists infiltrated into India after decision on Article 370. Most entered through the LoC
• Around 450-500 ultras are there in Pak & PoK; 250 are at launch pads as well as camps along the LoC

Srinagar, October 31

As the clock struck 12 and a new day beckoned, Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday transitioned from a state into two union territories with a wary Valley shutting down as it has for 88 days and Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the “new system” is aimed at “building a strong link of trust”.

President Ram Nath Kovind revoked President’s rule imposed in the restive state, long the centre of global attention, and took over control of the administration of the two new union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

This is the first time that a state is being downsized into union territories, the two new entities taking the total number of UTs to nine and bringing down the number of states in India to 28.

This was in accordance with the government’s August 5 announcement withdrawing the state’s special status under Article 370 and bifurcating it into union territories.

Girish Chandra Murmu in Jammu and Kashmir and Radha Krishna Mathur in Ladakh stepped into history as the first lieutenant governors of the new union territories. Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Gita Mittal administered the oath of office to the new appointees, first in Leh and then later in the day in Srinagar.

As the changes came into effect, the Prime Minister was at the Statue of Unity in Kevadiya in Gujarat where he paid glowing tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his 144th birth anniversary and led the “national unity pledge”.

Defending the abrogation of Article 370, he said the special status provisions only generated terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

“The new system in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh is not meant to draw a line on the land (to draw a boundary) but to build a strong link of trust,” the Prime Minister said.

In a swipe at Pakistan, he said those “who cannot win wars” against India are trying to destroy its unity.

“The country took the decision of abrogation of Article 370, which had given only separatism and terrorism to that state,” Modi said.

“Patel had once said that had he handled the Kashmir issue, it would not have taken so long to resolve it,” Modi said, in a veiled swipe at Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first prime minister whom the ruling BJP often blames for the Kashmir issue.

Addressing a gathering in the national capital, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Articles 370 and 35A were the gateway of terrorism into Jammu and Kashmir. Modi closed the gateway by repealing them, he said.

With this move, the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and the Ranbir Penal Code have ceased to exist.

In the Kashmir Valley, however, it was another day of shutdowns and tension with markets shut, deserted roads and children staying away from school.

“This is a decision against our interests. They have robbed us of our special status and our identity,” Muzammil Mohamad, a resident of Srinagar’s Civil Lines area, said.

Another local, Umer Zargar, said, “Kashmir was a disputed territory and India’s decision was illegal, immoral and unconstitutional.”

“India cannot abrogate Article 370. This issue is in the United Nations. There are resolutions on it. This decision is illegal, immoral and unconstitutional,” he said.

For the third consecutive day, no vendors set up stalls on the TRC Chowk-Lal Chowk road, the officials said.

The roadside vendors, who had regularly set up their stalls over the past two months, have not been turning up for business since Tuesday when a delegation of EU parliamentarians landed for a two-day visit to assess the situation.

Landline and post-paid mobile phone services have been restored across the Valley, but all internet services continued to remain suspended since the night of August 4.

Most top-level and second-rung separatist politicians have been taken into preventive custody while mainstream leaders, including two former chief ministers–Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti–have been either detained or placed under house arrest.

Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar Farooq Abdullah has been arrested under the controversial Public Safety Act, a law enacted by his father and National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1978 when he was the chief minister.

In a late-night notification on Wednesday, the Home Ministry replaced the state of Jammu and Kashmir with the “union territory of Jammu and Kashmir” and announced omission of “permanent residents or hereditary state subjects”.

The ministry’s Jammu and Kashmir division announced a slew of measures, including application of central laws to the state. PTI

New Delhi, October 15

Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat on Tuesday pitched for greater inclusion of indigenous technology in the armed forces and asserted that India will fight and win the next war with home-grown solutions.

In his address at the 41st DRDO Directors Conference, he also said the development of weaponry and other systems should be done keeping “future warfare” in mind.

“And, if we are looking at the contours of future warfare, it may not necessarily be contact warfare. So, there is realm of non-contact warfare. We need to start looking at development of cyberspace, space, laser, electronic warfare and robotics… and, along with that Artificial Intelligence (AI),” Rawat said.

“And, if we do not start thinking on it now, it will be too late,” he said.

He praised the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for its achievements in the last few decades and said India is making great strides in research and development. “We are confident the services will greatly benefit from it,” he said.

“India is one of the largest importers of weapons and ammunition, and after 70 years of Independence, it is not a very proud statement to make. But in the past few years, it is changing. DRDO is striving to ensure our requirements of services are met with home-grown solutions,” Rawat said.

“We are confident that we will fight and win the next war with indigenous weapon system,” the Army chief said.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was the guest of honour at the inaugural session of the two-day event held at the DRDO Bhawan here.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and DRDO chief G Satheesh Reddy were also present on the dais on the occasion.

The defence minister earlier paid tribute to former president APJ Kalam by garlanding his bust at the DRDO premises as the event coincided with the 88th birth anniversary of the distinguished scientist.

“Let us get inspired by his life and work towards realising his dream of making India a developed country through scientific advancement,” Singh said.

He also emphasised on the aspects of disruptive technologies that is changing the world and asserted that “India will have to emerge as a leader in this”.

Singh also pitched for working on indigenous system towards making the country “fully self-reliant”.

“All stakeholders must come together and hold interactions and come up with action plans as far as research is concerned, so as to increase our defence capabilities to take India to a new height,” the minister said.

Doval said, to make a strong and secure India, the role of DRDO would be very important. — PTI

IAF’s policy of 2011 under which Sqn Leader Sangeetha Damodar was denied permanent commission not applicable in her case, says AFT

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 28

Eight years after a woman IAF officer was released from service after her claim for permanent commission was declined, she may be reinstated in service as the Armed Forces Tribunal has held that the policy under which her claim was rejected was not applicable in her case.

In her petition, Sqn Ldr Sangeetha Damodar had averred that she was not granted permanent commission by applying the eligibility criteria under the IAF’s policy of August 2011 whereas she ought to have been considered under the policy issued in November 2010.

Setting aside the IAF order that rejected her claim for permanent commission, the AFT, in its order earlier this month, directed the IAF to consider her case on the basis of the IAF’s policy of November 2010, read with the policy of September 2004, within four months and if found eligible, reinstate her in service.

Sqn Ldr Damodar joined the IAF as a short service commission officer in July 2000 and was released from service in August 2011.

She contended that she was commissioned on the basis of a letter issued in June 2003, which was reiterated in the policy of September 2004 that listed the criteria for grant of extension to women short service commission officers. The policy did not provide for permanent commission to women officers.

Some women officers had approached the Delhi High Court for grant of permanent commission, which allowed their petitions in March 2010, making all women officers eligible for grant of permanent commission on the same parameters as applicable to male short service officers.

New Delhi: The Navies of India and Bangladesh will conduct their first -ever bilateral exercise at Visakhapatnam on the east coast from Saturday. The five-day exercise (October 12 to 16) was preceded by a two-day (October 10-11) coordinated patrol in northern part of the Bay of Bengal. This was the second edition of Indian Navy-Bangladesh patrol in Bay of Bengal. INS Ranvijay, a guided-missile destroyer, and INS Kuthar, an ingeniously built missile Corvette, participated in the patrol along with BNS Ali Haider and BNS Shadinota of Bangladesh. TNS

Our Correspondent

Jammu, October 10

Lt Gen Harinder Singh on Thursday assumed the command of ‘Fire & Fury Corps’ from Lt General YK Joshi.

Lt Gen Harinder Singh has had a distinguished career in the Army, tenanting a number of important command and staff appointments after being commissioned into the Maratha Light Infantry. He has served extensively along the Western and Northern borders, including command of the Rashtriya Rifles Battalion in North Kashmir, an Infantry Brigade Group in the United Nations Peace Keeping Mission in Congo and the Infantry Division in North Kashmir.

Lt Gen Harinder Singh has also served in several important staff and instructional appointments, including tenures in the Directorate General of Military Operations (DGMO) and the Directorate General of Operational Logistics and Strategic Movement (DGOL&SM) at the Integrated HQ of MoD (Army). Prior to assuming the command of ‘Fire & Fury Corps’, he was appointed as the Director General Military Intelligence at the Integrated HQ of MoD (Army).

Lt Gen YK Joshi conveyed his gratitude and deep appreciation to all ranks of the ‘Fire & Fury Corps’, for their professionalism and steadfast dedication in the service of the nation, even in the most hostile terrain, weather and altitude challenges faced by any Army in the world.

On taking over, Lt Gen Harinder Singh exhorted all ranks of ‘Fire & Fury Corps’ to continue to discharge their duties with the same commitment and zeal, and always be prepared to deal with any threat to national security. He urged them to continue to keep ‘Nation First’ in all their endeavours.