Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Dera Baba Nanak, October 25

The Punjab Government, apparently to prevent a repeat of last November’s function when Vice-President Venkaihah Naidu laid the inauguration stone of the Kartapur corridor amid controversy and chaos, has formed various committees and sub-committees to ensure all impediments pertaining to the corridor’s opening are removed well in time.

Last year’s November 26 fiasco is playing heavily on the minds of ministers and officials alike forcing them to make preparations in advance. At that time two venues were prepared, one by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the other by the Punjab Government under the supervision of Cabinet minister and local MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa. Chaos ruled supreme and there was even talk of calling of the festivities at the eleventh hour because of the confusion. Finally things were sorted out after Randhawa prevailed upon the NHAI to hold a joint function.

This time, apparently to remove any confusion occurring due to possible over-lapping of responsibilities, all committees and sub-committees have been asked to report to Randhawa.

The Cooperation Department has been given charge of the main ‘pandal’ following which five senior IAS officers have been deputed to supervise.

The ‘pandal’ is being established just adjacent to the Tent City on the T-point which is an area on the Kalanaur-Dera Baba Nanak road from where a road branches off to the International Border, the site of the corridor.

Sources said the selection of leaders who will deliver speeches is yet to be sorted out. “The speakers should be chosen in advance to avoid a fracas like it happened during the vice-president’s visit. Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, much against the wishes of many Punjab ministers, was allowed to deliver an extempore but once on the stage she went off in a tangent extolling the achievements of the Modi government before a minister complained to Naidu about her alleged misdemeanour. I have been made to understand that this time the list will be prepared jointly by the state and Union governments and will have the final approval of the Prime Minister’s Office,” said a senior officer.

The PWD has been made the nodal agency to supervise the facilities at the Tent City which will house nearly 3,500 pilgrims. The tents have been divided into three categories. Langar (community kitchen) will be served by the management of Ghalari Sahib Gurdwara.

Three parking lots are being established, two within the city and one on the outskirts. Buses will be plied from these lots till the ‘Darshan Sthal’ where the BSF is in the process of installing 11 high resolution telescopes.

Dera Baba Nanak SDM Gursimran Singh said several religious organisations had been asked to hold community kitchens till the rush of devotees subsides.

Batala SSP Opinderjit Singh Ghuman has been made head of the committee which would supervise the security arrangements. A special police cell is being set up to oversee the movement of VVIPs which is likely to include PM Modi, his predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh, CM Capt Amarinder Singh, MPs, Ministers and MLAs.

PWD nodal agency for Tent City

• The PWD has been made the nodal agency to supervise the facilities at the Tent City which will house nearly 3,500 pilgrims
• Batala SSP Opinderjit Singh Ghuman has been made head of the committee which will supervise the security arrangements.
• A special police cell is being set up to oversee the movement of VVIPs which is likely to include PM Modi, his predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh, CM Capt Amarinder Singh, MPs, Ministers and MLAs.

BEIJING: Pakistan’s powerful Army chief General Qamar Javed  ..

Islamabad, October 7

The Afghan Taliban said it had freed three Indian engineers held hostage for over a year in an exchange for securing the release of 11 of its members, including some high-ranking officials of the militant group, according to media reports on Monday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, two Taliban officials refused to say who the militant group exchanged the prisoners with and whether the freed Taliban members were being held by Afghan authorities or US forces in Afghanistan, The Express Tribune reported.

However, the Associated Press reported that the 11 militants were released from Afghan jails.

The prisoner swap happened on Sunday, the paper quoted the Taliban officials as saying, but it did not disclose the location.

Seven Indian engineers working for a power plant in Afghanistan’s northern Baghlan province were kidnapped in May 2018.

One of the hostages was released in March, but the fate of the others remained unknown.

The identities of the released hostages were not disclosed by the militant group, the paper cited an RFE/RL report.

The officials said the freed Taliban leaders included Sheikh Abdur Rahim and Mawlawi Abdur Rashid, who had served as the insurgent group’s governors of Kunar and Nimroz provinces respectively, during the Taliban administration before it was deposed by the US-led forces in 2001.

The Taliban officials provided a photo and footage of what they said was the freed militants being greeted after their release.

There was no immediate comment from Afghan or Indian authorities, the report said.

The release follows meetings between US special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban representatives led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

Baradar, along with a 12-member delegation, had been in Islamabad since Wednesday on the invitation of the Pakistan government.

The Taliban delegation also called on Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and exchanged views on peace and stability in the South Asian region and bilateral relations in their meeting.

Since his appointment in September last year, Afghanistan-born Khalilzad has met all sides in an attempt to end America’s longest war in which the US has lost over 2,400 soldiers in more than 17 years.

The US and the Taliban had agreed on draft peace plan, but the process was suspended by US President Donald Trump following killing of an American soldier in Kabul last month in a suicide attack claimed by the Taliban.

Trump stunned the world when he suddenly declared that the Afghan peace talks with the Taliban were “dead”.

He cancelled a secret meeting with the Taliban and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at Camp David near Washington after the Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in Kabul, in which an American soldier was among the dead.

The US has continued to push for a ceasefire in the war-torn country and the opening of negotiations between the Taliban and the Kabul government.

The Taliban, however, have repeatedly refused to meet officials of the Afghan government, whom they dismiss as “puppets”. PTI

Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 4

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is laying the Srinagar-Leh road at Zojila with concrete blocks which can bear extreme weather conditions on one of the highest motorable roads.

According to a BRO official, 3-km stretch of the upper alignment of the Zojila has been completely paved with the “interlocking concrete block” on which vehicles can move smoothly.

“The laying of concrete blocks will provide smooth road access to the vehicles. As the stretch is located at a very high altitude faced with extreme weather, the blocks provide friction and can withstand extreme weather in freezing cold and icy surface. The block laying is a fine replacement for black topping, which is not possible at such an unfavourable spot,” the official said.

The official said the plan was to lay concrete blocks for 6 km of the Pass and thus far, 2.5 km had been completed.

“The pending work will be completed in the upcoming season. Because of the heavy rush of transport due to stocking time, this season won’t provide much time for the laying of blocks on the stretch,” he said.

As the road is vulnerable to landslides due to snowfall and frequent rainfall which damage the road surface, the interlocking technique of concrete blocks offers much resistance against weather and has a longer life.

“The concrete blocking is best for such conditions. Blocks will not slide or move as these are fixed on all four sides for strong and firm grip,” the official said.

The Srinagar-Leh highway remains closed for half of the year due to snow and slides during winter, and restoring and repairing Zojila is a daunting task for the BRO.

The highway sees a daily rush of hundreds of heavy truckloads and passenger vehicles from the Ladakh region, putting a lot of pressure on the stretch.

Army Chief Bipin Rawat inaugurated the Young Leaders Training Wing at the Officers Training Academy in Chennai last week. The belated attention to personnel training is a laudatory effort that addresses several issues the Army is facing – the shortage of officers and stagnation. It is also an admission that despite the extra focus on nationalism, the Army is not getting, retaining and upgrading the quality of officers. The Army needs to rebrand and market itself again. Tackling twin issues The Young Leaders Training Wing (YLTW) at the Officers Training Academy (OTA) aims to better the prospects of jawans through a structured ‘personality enrichment programme’ so that they are better equipped to clear the tough Services Selection Board (SSB) and join the military academies to become officers. There are three schemes in vogue – regular entry through Army Cadet College/Indian Military Academy, Special Commissioned Officers, and Permanent Commission (Special List). For each of these schemes, there is a written examination. Selected candidates have to clear the SSB tests and interviews, which the soldiers find tough to crack, resulting in intake shortfall. Earlier, such training was being carried out in an ad hoc manner within the formations and in a semi-structured manner at the Army Education Corps Training College, Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh. The results were not up to the mark. The soldiers also resorted to going to private institutions run by retired officers and paid hefty fees to improve their prospects. General Bipin Rawat emphasised the dual benefit of YLTW: “We will get more officers and there will be a further promotion opportunity for JCOs (Junior Commissioned Officers) and NCOs (Non Commissioned Officers).” The Army Chief also made an interesting observation when asked about the shortage of 7,680 officers in the Army: “Promotion within the Army is very tough. This shortage is actually helpful because otherwise the promotion will become even tougher. The Army is managing very well.” The establishment of YLTA and the Chief’s observation with respect to the shortage of officers raises two important, interlinked issues – the empowerment of soldiers and junior leaders, and the management of the officers corps. Empower junior leaders, build academies For the last three decades, the shortage of officers has been a major issue within the Army, adversely affecting the operational efficiency in operational and counter-insurgency areas. The situation was such that it was made mandatory for young officers commissioned into the services to do a three-year stint with infantry/Rashtriya Rifles units in operational/insurgency areas. The Parliamentary Committee on Defence has raised this issue on several occasions. The shortage of officers is a result of rapid expansion of the Army, inadequate capacity of military academies, poor quality of candidates, an increase in authorisation of officers in units to compensate for non-empowerment of junior leaders, and poorly managed short service commission. A related problem is poor career prospect for the officer corps due to the rank hierarchy in the Army – more the number of officers, greater the frustration due to supersession. A lopsided rank-related pay structure as well as a strict premature retirement policy have only compounded the problem. Through concerted efforts on increasing the capacity of the military academies, the shortage has been reduced from an alarming 20 per cent to a manageable 15 per cent, which, as the Chief said, actually “helps the rest”. All other things being equal, and based on the capacity of military academies, it shall take 15 years at the rate of 1 per cent per year to completely wipe out the deficiency. The Army needs to have a visionary approach towards management of the officer cadre, and the linked issue of empowerment of soldiers and junior leaders. During World War 2, an infantry battalion fought the war in Burma, with 11 officers and 24 JCOs authorised in a unit. Today, we have 21 officers and 55 JCOs authorised in a unit. Similar situation persists in other arms and services. Grassroots fighting still takes place at the section and platoon level and both these are commanded by NCOs/JCOs. If officers have to step in to ‘lead them from the front’ in the battle, then it reflects poorly on the calibre of the junior leaders. We need to optimise the authorisation of officers in the units and not view them as a tool to compensate for poor junior leadership. To empower our junior leaders, we need to raise the standard of educational qualification from matriculation to 10+2 and graduation at the time of recruitment. Graduates are required for technical operations and high technology weapons and support systems. Dedicated junior leaders’ academies must be set up. No one must become a section or a platoon commander and equivalent without requisite formal training in a junior leaders’ academy. Deal with stagnation About 15 years ago, it was decided that to deal with the stagnation issue, the intake of regular and short service commissioned officers must be in the ratio of 45:55. We have failed to make the short service commission attractive. The Indian government does not absorb them laterally in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) or give them any weightage for selection in civil services. Compounding the problem, the Army itself is liberal in giving permanent commission as a ‘welfare measure’, defeating the aim of reducing stagnation. The Chennai-based OTA, which trains cadets for short service commission, has a capacity of 750 cadets but is functioning at 500 due to poor intake. This reduced capacity of 500 is itself undersubscribed by 16 per cent. Even the Indian Military Academy is functioning at 11 per cent below its capacity. There is a need to make it mandatory for students passing out of the state-subsidised Sainik schools and military schools to apply for the National Defence Academy (NDA). The Army should look at reducing the contractual liability to reduce stagnation. All western armies have taken this route – reduced contractual period with attractive incentives for a second career. There is a strong case for reducing the contractual period to 15 years in our case. Premature retirement also must be liberalised. It is not the gun but the ‘man behind the gun’ that matters. The more we invest in human resource the better would be the dividends. The shortage of officers was a bogey call. While a reformed short service commission, reduced contractual obligation and liberalised premature retirement will help, the key to better manage the officer cadre is through empowerment of soldiers and junior leaders. Posted in India

Captain Amarinder Singh and PM Narendra Modi.

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 3

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday urged the Central Government to take up canalisation of the state’s three eastern rivers of the Indus water system as a national project, to enable conservation of water and enhancement of the region’s economic growth.

In his proposal presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting here, the Chief Minister suggested construction of high-speed economic corridors on 985 km long river embankments, apart from river training works, flood protection measures and lining of internal side-slopes of the Sutlej, Ravi and Beas.

The move, Capt Amarinder said, would help the state enhance its ‘jal shakti’ (water power) to encourage diversification of agriculture, promote quality urbanisation and colonisation, and to speed up industrialisation for better and quicker economic emancipation of our citizens.

Complimenting the Prime Minister on his initiative to provide drinking water to each household in the country, through the creation of the new Ministry of Jal Shakti, and the inception of Jal (water) Jeevan (life) Mission and the “Nal se Jal” (tap water) scheme, Captain Amarinder said his government also stands committed to the cause of providing drinking water to its citizens under the initiative ‘Har Ghar Pani, Har Ghar Safai’ (water and sanitation for every household).

The Chief Minister, while expressing concern over the state’s reduction in ‘jal shakti’ at the time of India’s Partition and against during the reorganisation of the state in 1966, pointed out that the three perennial rivers of the Sutlej, Ravi and Beas irrigate only about 27 per cent of the state’s cultivated area, leading to over-exploitation of the ground water. It is apprehended, he further noted, that seven districts of the state will transform into a desert in the near future, with sure signs of poverty revisiting these areas.

Underlining the need to increase water productivity through augmentation and strengthening of water management, control and regulation infrastructure, Captain Amarinder suggested launch of the cannalisation project with the Sutlej river, which would require an investment of about Rs.4000 crore (US $ 0.7 billion) over a period of 3 to 5 years, exclusive of external incentives such as commercial exploitation of Government and private land and waiver of taxes, duties and cesses, as relevant.

The task may begin with a feasibility study that may be assigned to techno-economic experts of international repute, he suggested.

The Chief Minister assured that the state would extend its full cooperation to get the proposal realised in terms of sending a team of officers from the Punjab Government to engage and discuss the same with the officials of the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti.

Captain Amarinder also underlined the need to harness the river water which was currently flowing into Pakistan during the monsoons. Pointing out that the three rivers as of now have kutcha (earthen) embankments, measuring 945.24 km; (Sutlej 484.12 km, Ravi 245.28 km and Beas 215.84 km), covering almost over 60 per cent of state’s area, he observed that the 1/3^rd of the state’s population living in the riverfront areas was also suffering due to the flooding that occurs during the monsoon period.

The canalisation of rivers and development of riverfront areas will expand activities leading to widening of the base of Punjab’s economy, diversifying economic activities and sources of livelihood for State’s rapidly growing younger generation, he added.

Srinagar, September 29

Security forces have intensified surveillance and area domination operations in Kashmir following Saturday’s militancy-related incidents, including a grenade attack on security forces in old city, a senior security official said.

Anti-insurgency operations were intensified as part of a proactive strategy to foil any plans of militants to stage any attacks on security forces in the Valley, the official said.

The official said: “As the situation has more or less normalised on the law and order front, the anti-terrorist operations have been intensified to ensure ultras do not stage any attacks.”

As part of the drill, security has been beefed up around vital installations, including the Srinagar airport and police offices. Security bunkers were being constructed in the Valley, the official said.

Extended security perimeters had been established around police offices and other vital installations, he added. — PTI

Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria took charge as the 26th chief of the Indian Air Force. Image: Twitter/@IAF_MCC

New Delhi, September 30

Hours after taking charge as the Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Monday said his force is monitoring the evolving “developments” in the region and is fully prepared to deal with any “contingency”.

The IAF chief also said induction of Rafale aircraft into the force will enhance combat capabilities of IAF over India’s adversaries.

“We are monitoring the developments and I reassure the country that we are ready to deal with any situation where our services are required by the nation. We are always vigilant and are fully prepared to deal with any contingency,” Bhadauria told PTI.

Asked about Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat’s recent comments that the Balakot terrorist training camp in Pakistan has been reactivated, the Air Chief Marshal said, “We are prepared for any eventuality and will carry out any mission as directed by the government.”

Earlier, Bhadauria took charge as the 26^th chief of the Indian Air Force. He succeeds Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, who retired after 41 years of service in the IAF.

Air Marshal Bhadauria was commissioned in the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in June 1980, and has held various command, staff and instructional positions.

An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Bhadauria was commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF in June 1980 and won the coveted ‘Sword of Honour’ for standing first in the overall order of merit.

During his nearly four-decade career, Bhadauria commanded a Jaguar squadron and a premier Air Force Station.

He devised a method for carrying bombing from the Jaguar aircraft using the Global Positioning System (GPS). This was especially relevant for the bombing role of Jaguar aircraft in Operation Safed Sagar in 1999.

Bhadauria also has 4,250 hours of flying experience on 26 types of fighters and transport aircraft.

Indian Air Force✔@IAF_MCC

Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria, took over as 26th Chief of the Indian Air Force today.
He was commissioned into the fighter stream of IAF in Jun 1980.

Bhadauria is one of the few Air Force pilots to fly a Rafale jet. In July, during Exercise Garuda between the Air Forces of India and France, Bhadauria had flown the Rafale aircraft.

He was the Air Attache at the Indian Embassy in Moscow, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Projects), Commandant of the National Defence Academy, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff at Air Head Quarter and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Southern Air Command. —PTI