Current Events :
A flight lieutenant was caught stealing a wallet from a CSD canteen in Mumbai on CCTV cameras and has been court-martialled by the Indian Air Force for the petty theft worth Rs 531.
The incident had happened when the officer (name withheld) – who gets a salary of around Rs 65,000-70,000 per month – visited the CSD canteen in the Madh Island air force base in Mumbai in February 2013 to buy something and stole one of the two black wallets kept there, an IAF officerl told Mail Today.
The theft of the wallet could not be detected by the canteen officers for two days and an investigation into the matter had started when one of the wallet covers was found lying empty, they said.
“When the CCTV footage was checked, it was observed that the officer of the rank of Flt Lt had picked up the wallet and put it in his rear trouser pocket for concealing it from canteen staff, and after that, he was attached for trial by the authorities concerned,” said the officer.
The General Court Martial also found him guilty and recommended him to be severely reprimanded, pay back Rs 531 as the cost of the wallet stolen by him to the unit and also forfeit one-year service for the purpose of promotion.
However, the then Air Force chief took a lenient view of the case and removed the loss of seniority from his punishment but the officer decided to approach the Armed Forces Tribunal to get the proceedings against him to be quashed completely.
In the tribunal, the judges watched the CCTV footage before deciding the case. The bench headed by AFT chairman Justice Virender Singh found him not only indulging in theft but also trying to conceal his act.
It said it supported the decision taken by the IAF whose chief had already applied his mind in the case and given relief to the officer.
WAS CONFERRED THE AWARD IN 2010 FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO WRESTLING
ROHTAK: Dronacharya awardee and acclaimed wrestler Capt Chand Roop who breathed his last on Tuesday late evening in Delhi was cremated at his native village Sundana of district on Wednesday.
He was 88. Capt Chand Roop was conferred the Dronacharya award in 2010 by the government for his contribution to wrestling for many decades and for nurturing over 500 wrestlers of national and international fame.
Roop who was born in 1930 joined the Indian Army in 1948 in Grenadiers regiment.
After retirement from Army in 1979 from the post of captain, he opened an akhara at Azadpur Mandi of New Delhi in 1980. Olympic bronze medallist Yogeshwar Dutt was among several sports persons and politicians who attended his funeral.
Against the backdrop of controversies over using combat soldiers as buddies, the Indian Army is now planning to employ 10,000 civilians to be provided as sahayaks for officers and JCOs posted in peace areas for helping them in their official work.
The move being undertaken by the Army headquarters – in consultations with the defence ministry – will help in freeing an equal number of combat soldiers from performing tasks of sahayaks, which have been under the scanner after a few jawans made videos against the system and made them viral on social media.
“We are going to employ around 10,000 civilians who would be helping officers and JCOs in pace stations by performing the roles of sahayaks,” Army sources told MAIL TODAY. At the moment, the Army uses around 40,000 combat soldiers who perform sahayak duties in their respective units and regiments.
In the peace stations also, the civilians would be provided to officers from static formations such as the Army headquarters in New Delhi or the seven command headquarters in different locations in the country who don’t have to move out in field areas during their posting there, they said.
Units which are deployed in places like Delhi but are part of a fighting formation like the infantry battalions here would continue to use combat soldiers as sahayaks as they have to move into field areas for months during exercises in Rajasthan and Punjab at regular intervals, they said.
‘BUDDY SYSTEM IMPORTANT FOR ARMY’S FUNCTIONING IN TIMES OF WAR’
Soon after he took over, Army chief General Bipin Rawat had said the Army Headquarters had submitted a proposal to the government that “sahayaks” could be done away with in peace locations, but had said the buddy system is important for functioning of the Army in times of wars and for deployment of forces in field areas.
Buddy system is a colonial system where combat soldiers are used as orderlies or sahayaks to polish boots and maintain the uniform of the officers and junior commissioned officers.
However, there have been several complaints of misuse in the recent times. After controversies over misuse of sahayaks, Army formations have asked officers to ensure that dignity of jawans is maintained and they are not used for looking after pets and children of officers and washing private cars.
“Please refer to social media outburst by serving soldier and media statement issued by the Chief of Army Staff thereto. All formations and unit are requested to ensure that dignity of serving soldier be maintained and employment of buddies should be restricted to entitled duties only,” an instruction letter from a formation in Eastern Command had said.
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EVER since the Soviet invasion of December 1979, Afghanistan has been the virtual epicentre of global geopolitical rivalries. Afghans assert that the main cause for their misery and suffering has been the policies and ambitions of their malevolent neighbour, Pakistan. While there was a significant reduction in external rivalries immediately after the post-9/11 American-led military intervention in 2001, the prospects for reconciliation and peace in Afghanistan have now receded. The US and its NATO allies have deep differences with Russia, China, Pakistan and Iran on the way forward for restoring peace in Afghanistan. India and Afghanistan’s Central Asian neighbours regard the role of the Taliban and its ISI mentors with deep suspicions and misgivings.There has been no change in Pakistan’s policies of seeking a takeover of Afghanistan by radical Islamist groups it backs, like the Haqqani Network and the Taliban. India has legitimate concerns, based on past experiences, that a Pakistan-sponsored takeover of Afghanistan will lead to Afghanistan again becoming a centre for Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and aircraft hijacking directed against New Delhi. China has provided very little economic assistance to the democratically elected government in Afghanistan. Beijing has, however, used the ISI to strengthen ties with the Taliban, while backing Pakistan’s efforts to promote a ‘dialogue’ between the Taliban and the Afghanistan government. These joint Chinese/Pakistani efforts, earlier backed by the Obama administration, and designed to promote the Taliban as an ‘equal partner’ in its talks with the internationally recognised and elected Afghanistan government, predictably failed. No self-respecting Afghanistan government can, or will, recognise the ISI-backed Taliban as an ‘equal partner’ in talks about the future of the country.With the Americans occupied in presidential elections, Russia entered the scene. Joined by China and Pakistan, Moscow tried to corner the Afghanistan government by seeking to act as a mediator/facilitator in promoting a dialogue between Kabul and the Taliban. The Afghanistan government rejected Moscow’s offer, which echoed Pakistan’s strategic priorities. New Delhi also saw these developments as a diplomatic effort by Russia, Pakistan and China to give the Taliban unacceptable international legitimacy. As the Indian and Afghan displeasure and unease became evident, the Russians broadened the talks to include India, Iran, the Central Asian republics and the US. The US declined to join, saying that Russia had not answered its queries on what the precise purpose of the Moscow talks was.The recent round of talks in Moscow with the expanded membership ended inconclusively. Backed by New Delhi, Afghanistan rejected Moscow’s moves to act as the ‘good Samaritan’ in brokering talks between the Taliban and the Afghanistan government. The Taliban, in turn, with a so-called ‘office’ in Qatar, wants to be treated as an ‘equal participant’ in any talks with the elected Afghanistan government. Going beyond the limits that China has observed in its ties with the Taliban, Moscow has significantly broadened its contacts with the Taliban, in collusion with Pakistan. According to the Americans and the Afghanistan government, Russia has supplied the Taliban medium weapons, including machine guns. Moscow has also evidently persuaded Iran, its ally in Syria, to back its moves in Afghanistan. Given the American hostility towards it, Tehran has duly obliged Moscow, even though it had earlier worked together with India and Russia to back the ‘Northern Alliance’ against the Taliban. It was amidst these developments that the US National Security Adviser Lt Gen McMaster recently visited Kabul, Islamabad and Delhi. The visit came in the wake of the Trump administration authorising the use of a massive ordnance airburst bomb (MOAB) against the IS positions in the Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, bordering Pakistan. This bombing may have looked spectacular, but was not particularly meaningful. Speaking in Kabul, McMaster averred that the US was weighing diplomatic, military and economic responses to the Taliban and the IS in Afghanistan, adding: ‘Pakistan must pursue its interests in Afghanistan and elsewhere, through the use of diplomacy and not through the use of proxies’.Zalmay Khalilzad, who was the Bush administration’s ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq, is now in touch with the Trump team on developments in Afghanistan. Khalilzad has indicated that the Trump administration will work with Afghanistan to make it self-reliant and to prevent the country from becoming a terrorist haven again. As this will involve working closely with US allies, Trump’s policies on Afghanistan are to be finalised before the G7 Summit in Italy on May 15. While it appears evident that there will be no precipitous US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Khalilzad’s remarks suggest that while the US and Nato military logistical and training missions and economic support to Afghanistan will continue, the Afghan army will have to be professionalised and trained for combat to meet national challenges. The brutal killing of over 140 soldiers in the northern Balkh province by the Taliban should incentivise the Afghan army to raise its levels of professionalism and strike back vigorously.Pakistan’s continuing links with global terrorism have been reconfirmed by information that Bin Laden’s successor, Ayman al Zawahiri, is now known to be living under ISI protection in Karachi. With the US forces still fighting the Al-Qaeda in Yemen and elsewhere, India and Afghanistan would be well advised to mount a diplomatic offensive in the US and elsewhere, to expose Pakistan’s continuing support for radicalism and global Islamic terrorism. Regionally, India will have to engage Iran, the Central Asian republics and Russia about the need to render unqualified support to the elected Afghanistan government and back its efforts for internal reconciliation. In the meantime, we will have to await the result of the policy review on Afghanistan by the Trump administration, even as we continue to provide economic and military assistance to Afghanistan.Given the growing strategic nexus between China and Pakistan, it would be futile to believe that the Afghanistan policies of either can be influenced by India. Pakistan can be persuaded to change its policies on Afghanistan only if we cooperate with others in raising the costs domestically and internationally for its army’s GHQ in Rawalpindi, in cooperation with others, who are similarly inclined. New Delhi will, no doubt, be considering what can and needs to be done on this score.
Chandigarh: The Congress-led government on Wednesday announced five more political appointments as Officers on Special Duty (OSD) with Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. The OSDs are Gurpreet Singh Sonu Dhesi, Jagdeep Singh Sidhu, Sandeep Singh Brar, Damanjeet Singh Mohi and Ankit Bansal. A spokesman for the CMO’s office said the terms and conditions of their appointments would be finalised shortly. More political appointments of advisers under newly appointed Senior Adviser Lt Gen TS Shergill is expected in coming days. Sources said Kewal Dhillon, former MLA who lost from Barnala in the recent Assembly elections, could also be rehabilitated. Meanwhile, the process of assigning rooms to CM’s advisers and political secretaries began on Wednesday. TNS
Assembly session from tomorrow
Chandigarh: The 15th Punjab Vidhan Sabha formally constituted on March 14 has been summoned by the Governor to meet for its first session on March 24. The session will begin with the taking of oath by the new MLAs followed by the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker on March 27. On March 28, there will be Governor’s address and March 29 has been fixed for obituaries and passing the vote of account. TNSPay panel chief Mann resignsChandigarh: RS Mann, who was made the chairman of the Sixth Pay Commission of Punjab by the previous government, on Wednesday resigned from the post citing personal reasons. Jai Singh Gill will replace him. This would mean that entire process would have to be started all over again. TNSAjit Singh Kohar SAD deputy leaderChandigarh: Ajit Singh Kohar has been appointed as the deputy leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the Assembly. The party has 15 members in the House and party president Sukhbir Singh Badal is the leader of the House. TNS
Union leader wants lal batti
Tribune News Service
Muktsar, March 22
In a telling satire on bureaucrats bending the rules for the coveted red beacon, a union leader here has sought permission from the DC for doing so.Rajesh Behal, president, Jai Vishavkarma Mistri Mazdoor Union, in a letter written to DC Sumeet Jarangal has cited frequent traffic jams and shortage of space in parking lots of the state for this request.The DC said, “I am not the competent authority to take a decision in this regard.”
How will beacon move benefit commoners, Badal asks Cong
Tribune News Service
Lambi, March 22
Former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today said there would be no impact of removing red beacons from vehicles of the VIPs on the commoners in the state. He advised the Congress government to take decisions for the welfare of people.“It doesn’t matter whether the red beacon is allowed or banned. What is the impact of it on the common man? The government must do works that directly benefit people. In the first cabinet meeting, the Congress has not announced any such work,” said Badal, while visiting villages on the second day of his thanksgiving tour in Lambi.He, however, added that the SAD would not react on the initial performance of the government, saying, “We will wait and watch.”On the controversy over Navjot Singh Sidhu continuing his TV shows, Badal said: “It is his own sweet will or if the law permits. What can I say?”
Cable operators lock Fastway offices
Gagan K Teja
Tribune News Service
Patiala, March 22
With the change of guard in the state, the much anticipated dispute over a private channel allegedly run by Akali stakeholders has begun. Cable operators who were operating in 2006-07 forcefully locked offices of Fastway Cable Operators in Sanaur and Devigarh towns of Patiala district today.The matter has reached the respective police stations but no formal complaints have been made. Sources said the old cable operators had been very annoyed with the SAD-BJP government since it came to power in 2007 as their cable services were allegedly taken over forcibly and they were “thrown out” of their offices.They said the resentment kept brewing but there was no one to support them all these years. However, soon after the Congress came to power, they decided to take back “their” properties, considering they were shareholders in the cable services, they said.Sub-Inspector Vijay Kumar said, “Yuvraj Singh, who locked a Fastway office today, has shown us an agreement made in 2006-07. In the agreement, the property stands in his name and it states that he is the owner of 52 per cent shares in this cable service. However, he alleged that Vikas Puri took over the entire network in the area, ousting them. We will take action once the investigation is complete.”
Muktsar sarpanch not allowed to disburse pension
Tribune News Service
Muktsar, March 22
A few Congress workers at Gurusar village in the Gidderbaha Assembly segment today stopped the village sarpanch and panchayat secretary from disbursing pension among beneficiaries.Bhupinder Singh, party general secretary, Muktsar, said, “The village sarpanch and panchayat secretary had come to disburse pension at Sidhu dharamshala in the village, but we asked them to disburse the money at Panchayat Ghar. We not only stopped them from the disbursal of pension but also asked the status of pension of the past five months. They were distributing pensions of just one month.”However, Naib Singh, SAD sarpanch of Gurusar village, said, “We received the pension of October 2017 and started the disbursement today. They are now making an issue because the Congress has come to the power.”
Health Dept raids medicine stores, seizes contraband
Nikhila Pant Dhawan
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, March 21
In an attempt to tighten the noose around the illegal sale of drugs, as promised by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh in the first cabinet meeting, as many as 16 medicine stores across the city were raided late this evening.Deputy Commissioner Diprava Lakra had directed the District Health Department to conduct surprise checks at unauthorised stores selling medicnes without prescription and also selling contraband drugs.“Following the directions, the Health Department had constituted three teams comprising of officials from the department and the district administration. Raids were conducted at medicine stores located in the rear of the bus stand, Haji Ratan Chowk, Mall Road, Hospital Bazaar, areas located across railway lines, Bhatti Road and Powerhouse Road,” said Civil Surgeon RS Randhawa.As per information, the teams confiscated proscribed drugs from some of the stores.A team headed by tehsildar Lakhwinder Singh, drug inspector Amandeep Verma and policemen Kulwinder Singh and Rajwinder Singh raided stores in Hospital Bazaar. At one of the stores, Alprex and Tramedol tablets were found.Strips of Illegal medicines were also found from the pockets of the workers at these shops. Anticipating raids at their stores, owners of some of the stores closed their shops earlier than their scheduled timings and left.
Shopowners stage protest
Irked over the raids, almost 100 drug store owners and workers of these shops staged a late night protest outside Jawahar Medical Store. They lifted the dharna after they decided to convene a meeting tomorrow in this regard. They argued that the state government had resorted to troubling the small-time medicine sellers rather than getting hold of the big drug peddlers.
GS Paul
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, March 21
Hours after CM Capt Amarinder Singh sought legal opinion on his minister Navjot Sidhu’s continuity as a celebrity-judge on a popular TV comedy show, the latter’s wife Dr Navjot Sidhu said the ‘office of profit’ clause was not applicable in her husband’s instance but he would abide by the law.She stated that if his TV commitments clashed with Punjab’s interest, he is prepared to quit them, including the famous Kapil Sharma show.After discussing the matter with personalities who were in the entertainment industry before venturing into politics, Navjot had stated that he won’t quit TV.Dr Sidhu said that TV was their only source of earning as of now and he needed hardly five hours a week for the the comedy show.Navjot had already quit 90 per cent of the TV programmes, including the IPL cricket commentary, WWF, and scores of other product endorsements.“If need be, he would quit the remaining 10 per cent TV shows. I fail to understand why the matter was being blown out of proportion. When Chandigarh MP Kiron Kher continued her association with TV shows as a judge, Shatrughan Sinha too had done a movie after becoming an MP, so did Hema Malini. Why the objections on my husband’s commitments,” she questioned.Nonetheless, she had convinced her husband who is now ready to give up his TV career. “Even if Navjot quits the entertainment industry, we can survive on rental income though on a lesser scale sans flamboyance. We have left plum political positions just because it prevented us from working for the interests of Punjab and Punjabiat”, she said.The debate over the new Local Bodies Minister brewed up after Navjot announced that he would continue doing TV shows.Dr Sidhu had defended her husband on her facebook account a few days ago. “Shooting for two shows (of the comedy show) takes only five hours a week and that also mostly on Saturday night. I think it is a meagre time for a non-socially active God-fearing workaholic (sic),” she wrote.However, some reports suggest that the flamboyant commentator and comedy show judge has asked for lighter responsibilities so that he could continue with his professional commitments.
Sidhu will quit show if AG says it’s office of profit: Wife
Amarinder is the boss and the boss is always right. He would be worried as a father figure, which is why he is seeking legal opinion on my participation in a TV show. NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU, local bodies and tourism minister
CHANDIGARH: Reacting to chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh seeking legal opinion on local government and tourism minister Navjot Sidhu’s participation in The Kapil Sharma Show, his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu told a news channel in Chandigarh that the show was their only source of income as Sidhu had left all cricket commentary assignments.
“Yet, if the Punjab advocate general office finds any illegality, he will leave the show. Our daughter is studying in London. We too have expenses to take care of,” said Kaur, who earlier represented Amritsar East segment in the Punjab assembly, now represented by her husband.
Kaur has also courted controversy over attending an official meeting with her husband. She defended it by saying she has been a MLA and knows the problems of urban areas and was only sitting behind Sidhu at the meeting.
Meanwhile, Sidhu said: “Amarinder is the boss and the boss is always right. He would be worried as a father figure. I have left all commentary for the Indian Premier League. I only do one TV show. I have gone through the entire Supreme Court ruling. It clearly states the minister should not be appointed at any other government position, the government should not have a right over his position and remuneration, he performs no function of the government and the government should not have any control over his functions. Where is my TV show in conflict with this rule?”
Sidhu took a flight to Mumbai on Monday evening from Chandigarh, shot for The Kapil Sharma Show and was back in his office at 9.30am on Tuesday.
NOW, GOVT WILL BE GOING TO PEOPLE, SAYS SIDHU
On being asked that a government office is usually full of people seeking services, but his is not, the new local bodies and tourism minister says: “Earlier, people came to the government, but now, the government will go to them.” But how would that happen if cannot be approached directly over a mobile phone?
“I have got three new mobile numbers. I will be getting three new phones too — one for the media, one for MLAs and one for people of my constituency. You will find me sitting in this office from Mondays to Thursdays and in my constituency from Fridays to Saturdays,” he said.
Ottawa, May 2
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has rebuffed resignation calls for Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan over his comments on a 2006 offensive against the Taliban.Sajjan, a decorated former military intelligence officer, erroneously claimed before the Indian think-tank Observer Research Foundation last month to have been the “architect” of Canada’s largest military operation since the 1950s, known as Operation Medusa.It delivered a blow to the Taliban, loosening its grip on Kandahar province, but at a cost — a dozen Canadian and 14 British soldiers died.Trudeau and his embattled Minister endured a withering question-period offensive as Opposition MPs accused Sajjan of “stolen valour” for overstating his role in planning Operation Medusa.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Opposition parties trained their sights squarely on Sajjan, who apologised again in the House of Commons.Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose called it a “cardinal sin” in military circles for stealing valour of others. Trudeau, however, seemed unmoved. “The Minister made a mistake,” the PM said repeatedly. “He acknowledged his responsibility and apologised; that’s what Canadians expect.”Sajjan, on his part, repeated his apology. What he didn’t do is explain his “mistake”, which Ambrose noted he’d made twice — once in 2015 and again two weeks ago. “It’s not an error when you keep repeating the lie,” New Democratic Party Leader Tom Mulcair said. — Agencies
