Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti during the Unified Headquarters meeting in Jammu. Tribune photo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 16

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today chaired a meeting of the Unified Headquarters (UHQ) to discuss and review the security situation in the state.The Chief Minister exhorted that a “humane” approach can yield better results in winning over the youth and widening the peace constituency. The Army said they were of the same view and that their restraint and humane approach was unmatched.The Army said it would not allow any let up in its anti-terror operations in the state as eliminating terrorism was their prime task and it maintained that it had “suffered casualties because of its restrained approach.”It said the elimination of terrorists becomes necessary when they refused to surrender. The instances when militants were given option to surrender were cited at the meeting, including the one in case of hardcore Lashkar militant Dujana in south Kashmir. It maintained that its role here was to protect the people and that’s why there was a fight against terrorists.Sources present at the meet said the Army was candid in telling that it respected human rights and had exercised maximum restraint at times against provocation by militants and stone-throwers. “One has to be in our situation to feel and understand that how much restraint is exercised by soldiers when bullets and stones are targeted at us,” a source told The Tribune.Instances were cited when soldiers were killed and wounded and people helped in enabling terrorists in escaping, it was the restraint of the Army that averted a bad situation.Mehbooba said the need of the hour was to engage meaningfully with the people, particularly youth, so that they were able to contribute to society and its welfare. She stressed on increased community policing activities and enhanced outreach by the administration.The meeting discussed the overall security scenario in the state and also discussed security for the upcoming panchayat elections. Security agencies had assured the CM that tight security would be provided for the panchayat elections, said sources.The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary BB Vyas, GoC-in-C, Northern Command, Lt Gen Devraj Anbu, Principal Secretary, Home, RK Goyal, GoC of 9 Corps Lt Gen YVK Menon, GoC of 14 Corps Lt Gen SK Upadhaya, GoC of 15 Corps Lt Gen JS Sandhu, GoC of 16 Corps Lt Gen Saranjeet Singh, Director General of Police SP Vaid, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Rohit Kansal, ADGP AG Mir and Muneer Ahmad Khan, ADGP, CRPF, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Ahmad Khan and other senior officers.

BEIJING: India, for the first time, took part in a meeting of the international military cooperation departments of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) since joining the bloc last year.
An Indian delegation led by Major General Ajay Seth participated in the meeting, which discussed issues of practical cooperation among SCO nations, an Indian Embassy press release here said.
The two-day meeting concluded on Tuesday.

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Ramgarh (Jharkhand), January 14

The consul general from Chinese consulate in Kolkata MA Zhanwu has said China wants the historical cemetery at Ramgarh to be developed as a global tourist destination.

As many as 667 Chinese soldiers who were a part of Allied forces during World War-II were buried at the garrison town of Ramgarh in Jharkhand.

A five-member team from the Chinese consulate in Kolkata led by MA Zhanwu visited the cemetery on Friday last and paid their tribute to the Chinese martyrs who fought against Japan during the war, official sources here said.

Talking to administrative officials of Ramgarh, the Chinese consul general said that China has formally requested the state government to develop the historical cemetery as a tourist destination.

He said China would co-operate with the Indian government on the issue as the Chinese cemetery in Ramgarh is a silent witness of Indo-China friendship as soldiers buried in the cemetery had stopped Japanese forces from occupying the Indian territory.

Ramgarh Deputy Commissioner Rajeshwari B said, “The consul general of China and his team was scheduled to visit the cemetery on Saturday but they arrived here a day before their schedule.”

The Chinese cemetery, located nearly 4 kilometres from Ramgarh, on the Bhurkunda-Patratu route, was built in December 1944 by Cen Cheng Tung Kuo in memory of the war heroes, who lost their lives in the World War II.

The cemetery is spread over nearly 7.25 acre of land and is covered with forests. PTI

A file photo of PM Benjamin Netanyahu

New Delhi, January 13

With Israel asserting that its relationship with India is much stronger than one vote in the UN, the stage is set for the arrival here on Sunday of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu on a six-day trip to give a fillip to 25 years of diplomatic ties between the two countries.This is the first prime ministerial visit from Israel to India since the visit of then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The visit comes less than a month after India voted in the UN against US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.However, Israeli Ambassador to India Daniel Carmon set at rest all speculation,  saying, “I think the relationship is much stronger than one vote in the UN here and there.”  B Bala Bhaskar, Joint Secretary (WANA) in the Ministry of External Affairs, said  PM Narendra Modi and Netanyahu will “will be discussing a lot of issues” when they meet on January 15. — IANS

Anna Hazare. File photo

Ahmednagar (Maha), January 12

Social activist Anna Hazare on Friday congratulated the four Supreme Court judges for airing their views about the way the top court was functioning.The areas of concern flagged by the four senior judges of the apex court “show that there is some kind of a nexus between some people in this government and some judges”, the octogenarian told PTI.This nexus had harmed the democracy, Hazare said, and congratulated the four judges for making their concerns public.There should be an inquiry and the Chief Justice of India as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government should come out with a clarification on the issue, he said, speaking over phone from Ralegan Siddhi, his native village.Four senior judges of the Supreme Court today mounted a virtual revolt against the Chief Justice of India, listing a litany of problems that they said were afflicting the country’s highest court and warned that these issues could destroy the Indian democracy. — PTI

Some 200 of twin-engine Dhruv are in use at present, though the requirement is quite high.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 11

Following an accident two days ago, the Army has suspended the use of advanced light helicopters Dhruv for ‘slither down’ operations by its troops.‘Slithering down’ is a technique by which troops are inserted into an operation and they have to ‘come down’ from the helicopter using a special rope attached to the helicopter through a contraption.The twin-engine Dhruv, a sturdy machine — some 200 of these are in use — is produced by the Ministry of Defence-owned public sector giant Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).Top sources confirmed to The Tribune that “slithering operations had been suspended till the cause of the accident could be known”. The Army is suspecting material failure—in simpler words, a fault with the material and its sturdiness on the copter.On January 9, three para-commandos were injured, one of them seriously, while practising slithering operations at New Delhi parade ground. The contraption fitted onto the helicopter had broken off. The HAL, headquartered at Bengaluru, produces 22 to 24 Dhruv annually and some 200 of these are flying even though the requirement is huge. Other than the Army, the Air Force and the Navy also use it.In September last, two top Army officers had a narrow escape when an Army Aviation helicopter carrying them crashed-landed in eastern Ladakh. The copter crashed at a location close to the Line of Actual Control, the de-facto boundary with China.Commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps Lt Gen SK Uphadya and the Division Commander of the Karu-based 3 Infantry Division Maj Gen Savneet Singh were on board the copter. The crash occurred near the area called ‘Hot springs’. India is making a new road between ‘Hot springs’ and Marsimkla. The location was north of the Pangong Tso (lake).

Sepoy’s death: Pall of gloom descends on Ferozepur village

Photo for representational purpose only. AFP

New Delhi, December 27

A total of 92 personnel from the three armed forces have committed suicide in 2017, with the Army having the highest number, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre told Lok Sabha, in a written reply, that as per the figures, two officers, and 67 Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and Other Ranks (OR) committed suicide in the Indian Army. The number of JCOs and ORs who committed suicide was 100 in 2016, 77 in 2015, and 82 in 2014.

Among the Army officers, there were four suicides in 2016, one in 2015 and two in 2014.

In the Navy, which has lowest suicide rate in the three services, there were no incidents of suicide among the officers in 2014, and 2015, while in 2016 and 2017 saw one suicide each. Among the sailors, there have been four suicides this year, five in 2016, three in 2015 and four in 2014.

In the Indian Air Force, three officers committed suicide in 2016, and two in 2014.

Among the airmen, there were 18 suicides this year, 16 in 2016, 14 in 2015, and 19 in 2014.

Bhamre said reasons for committing suicide include “family issues, domestic problems, marital discord, perceived grievances and personal issues”. — IANS