Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 17The private industry that can make a product, equipment or weapon to be used by armed forces can now just send in proposal suo-moto and not wait to be invited to send in a proposal.Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has changed the norms that enable greater participation of the industry in acquisition of defence equipment. This process will greatly help in substituting imported equipment and promote innovative solutions.This will amend the ‘Make Procedure’ in Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP)-2016 and allow direct proposals from builders instead of the existing systems of the MoD sending out a Request for Information (RFI) that generally goes to integrator or the big established players.The industry, start-ups or individuals can suggest their projects, as per a list put out by the armed forces, especially among those items which are currently being imported. The industry or start-up sending the proposal can also have foreign tie-up to the tune of 49 per cent foreign holding, however, but at least 40 per cent of the content has to be Indian made.The suggesting industry will continue to have full intellectual property rights (IPR), the government can take controlling rights only in rare and specified circumstances involving national security.There will be no limit to the number of industries who may respond to the Expression of Interest for development of the prototype subject to meeting the minimum qualification criteria. The design and development time of 12 to 30 weeks will be granted to industry to offer the prototypes. There is no limit to the number of industry players who may show interest and offer prototype.After this selection, a commercial request for proposal will be issued. The industry which wins the bid is assured of an order.

Indian UN peacekeepers have rebuilt Akoka Bridge in Upper Nile region allowing local communities to reach Malakal with ease.

United Nations, January 14

People in a South Sudan village have been saved a perilous neck-deep wade across a river to reach a town and access basic services, thanks to Indian peacekeepers from the UN mission who have re-built a key bridge in record time in the strife-torn country. The bridge in Akoka village in the northern part of the land-locked country in East-Central Africa had been inoperable since last June when heavy rains washed away a 300-metre-long road segment. Rebuilt in a record 10 days by the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in collaboration with the government, it has greatly benefited humanitarians, enabling faster aid delivery as well as security patrol and outreach activities by the Mission, according to a UN statement.“The project was vital to allow other critical road repairs in the region,” Lt Col Nishkam Puri, in charge of the Indian engineering company that rebuilt the bridge, was quoted as saying. “The major challenge was reconstructing the bridge through a submerged area with a depth of up to 4 metres in some places,” he said.  The Akoka Bridge lies between provincial capital Malakal and oil-rich Melut town on a major service road that also reaches Bunj and Renk, both in the country’s northeastern part.According to the Mission, the next phase is installing structures to bolster the bridge’s strength to withstand the next rainy season. India, which has its 700 nationals living in South Sudan, has two battalions in the UNMISS deployed in two of the largest states. — PTI

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 11

A research paper discussing the interplay between religiosity and military life has suggested that religiosity can be an effective factor in coping up with stress and providing mental peace to troops.The paper, authored by Lt Col (Dr) Samir Rawat, a veteran of the 1999 Kargil conflict, has published in ‘Global Views on Military Stress and Resilience’ published by the Canadian Defence Academy in a book on Military Psychology that was released at the Swiss Military Academy, Bern a couple of months ago.Stress has been a cause of concern in the Indian defence forces, especially in the Army due to tough service conditions, prolonged deployment on internal security duties and changing socio-economic environment in the society. Figures on suicides and fratricide tabled in Parliament regularly bear testimony to this.The Indian Army has strong secular credentials with harmonious co-existence of diverse religious groups and the average Indian soldier, like his civilian counterpart, is deeply religious. The author claims that religiosity is one of the most powerful agents for sustaining troops’ morale in battlefield. Research studies in India have reported that religion also provides consolation when soldiers encounter fear, killing or witness death of other soldiers.In a study exploring levels of religiosity among military personnel, Rawat found that personnel below officer rank displayed more religiosity than a comparable sample of officers. In addition to rank differences, his research found that military personnel with 11-20 years of military service were more religious than military personnel with 0-10 years of military service. Also, serving military personnel who had combat experience were found to be more religious than military personnel who had not yet been exposed to combat.Referring to some studies, the paper states that religion, for most individuals, was beneficial when dealing with the aftermath of stressful combat experience. Some researchers observed that religiosity helps soldiers to draw strength from their religious affiliations and, in turn, share strength and confidence during intensive combat.Rawat states that his encounter with Indian soldiers deployed in Siachen Glacier, the world’s highest battlefield reveals that even though training is the best resource a soldier can possess, it is not enough to fully sustain him. God is the “first and last resort” amongst other factors such as family and friends that gives soldiers the strength to endure hardships, especially at high altitudes where climate and terrain are perceived as “foe”. Even the resolute and fearless Gorkha troops, give up on their staple non-vegetarian food in an effort to appease their Gods and turn to religion as a coping mechanism

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 6

The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has asked the Army to correct anomalies in the retirement age of Colonels and bring them on a par with similar ranks in the Air Force and the Navy.The AFT Principal Bench, comprising Justice VK Shali and Lt Gen SK Singh (retd), said the anomalies needed to be removed. “We strongly feel the anomalies in the retirement age of Colonels in the Army in relation to their counterparts in the Air Force and the Navy, which have got created due to recent judgments, need to be removed at the earliest by passing a comprehensive order increasing the age of retirement of Army Colonels,” the order said.Col Karunesh Kumar had moved the AFT to seek parity with IAF and Navy, where officers in the ranks of Group Captain and Captain (both equivalent to Colonel) serve till 56 years for age and not 54, as is the case with the Army.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)If the government does not come up with a policy on its own, it could open floodgates of litigation apart from making a particular level of officials in the Army perennially dissatisfied. “Neither such dissatisfied officers would give their best, nor would respondents be able to extract optimum. Such a situation in the force that protects the nation and its sovereignty and integrity can be ill afforded,” the Bench observed.It directed the respondents (Union of India) to increase the retirement age by two years for Colonels to 56 years to bring them on a par with their counterparts in the other two services. The Navy issued a letter dated October 14, 2015, to correct the anomaly. “The Colonels who retired during pendency of their petitions be given consequential benefits,” the Bench said, adding that the direction be enforced before April 30.

File photo for representation only.

New Delhi, December 27

The armed forces are facing a shortage of nearly 60,000 personnel with the Army topping the list with over 27,000 vacant posts, the government said on Wednesday.According to the details provided by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Lok Sabha, the total shortage of officers in the Army, Navy and the Indian Air Force is 9,259 while the number for below officer rank is 50,363.Replying to a question, she said the total strength of the Army as on July 1 is 12.37 lakh personnel against the authorised strength of 12.64 lakh and the total shortage is 27,864.The current strength of the Navy is 67,228 personnel and the number of vacant positions is 16,255.She said the Indian Air Force is facing a shortage of 15,503 personnel against the authorised strength of 1.55 lakh.The vacancies excluding personnel in dental and medical streams come to 59,622.“The recruitment in the armed forces is a continuous process. The government has taken a number of measures to reduce the shortages,” she said.Replying to a separate question, Sitharaman said MiG fighter jets of the IAF were involved in 10 accidents since 2014-15.“10 squadrons of IAF equipped with MiG 21 and MiG 27 aircraft are scheduled to retire by 2024 on completion of their total technical life,” she said.To another question, she said procurement of two more regiments of Akash missile system has been approved for the Army. — PTI

Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat with senior officers during ‘Hamesha Vijayee’ exercise in Rajasthan. Tribune photo

Jaipur, December 22

Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat today said peace talks with Pakistan can take place only when it stops supporting terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir. Given its actions, it doesn’t appear that Pakistan really wants peace, the Army Chief added.He was in the western sector, close to the India-Pakistan border, to witness the ‘Hamesha Vijayee’ exercise conducted by the Southern Command in Thar desert. Gen Rawat said Pakistan should stop supporting terrorists. “Only then can we say that peace talks should take place,” he told reporters in the exercise area near Barmer.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)“We also want relations should be better but given what kind of actions there are (from their side) and terrorism is spreading in Jammu and Kashmir, it doesn’t appear that they really want peace,” Gen Rawat said. His comments come a day after Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India would like good relations with Pakistan provided Islamabad takes action against terror groups.The assertions follow Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa pledging his support for better ties. According to media reports, Bajwa said he will support any initiative of the civilian government to resolve issues with India through talks. In a rare move, the Pakistan army chief briefed the Senate, the Upper House of Parliament, on the security situation and regional issues on Tuesday. — PTIHAL gets copter order

• Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) on Friday received a Request for Proposal for 15 Light Combat Helicopters from IAF and Army
• The LCH is a 5.5-tonne class, combat helicopter designed and developed by HAL