Tata Safari to replace Army Gypsy
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, April 27
The Army will now start using an upgraded Tata Safari vehicle to replace the three-decade-old Maruti Gypsy for movement.
The Army has ordered 3,192 units of the Tata Safari Storme 4×4 drive.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) wanted the replacement vehicle to fulfil three basic criteria — minimum payload capacity of 800 kg; hard roof and air-conditioning. Safari Storme was tested across various terrains across the country.
A company statement said Safari Storme was conceived and designed keeping in mind the need for a rugged, comfortable and reliable vehicle, making it popular with law enforcement agencies.

Face of linemen job protests to keep at it as MLA
Pirmal Singh
Amaninder Pal
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 14
Pirmal Singh, 37, has braved police batons in front of Capt Amarinder Singh’s New Moti Mahal, set himself on fire at Parkash Singh Badal’s Lambi village and climbed atop a water tank in Badal’s pocket borough of Bathinda — all for a Rs 10,000-a-month job.
The unemployed lineman from Barnala’s Dhaula village, who once “broke the law” as a protester to secure a Class-III job for himself and 5,000 others, will now sit in front of the “Maharaja” and Badal as an Aam Aadmi Party lawmaker from Bhadaur.
Pirmal, who has seen jail five times in the past seven years and has observed fast-unto-death thrice to protest the state’s failure to generate enough jobs, defeated Akalis’ Balbir Singh Ghunas and Congress’ Joginder Singh Punjgrain, both MLAs in the outgoing Assembly.
(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)
The face of unemployed linemen agitation over the past 11 years, Pirmal took to agitation in 2006 when he was denied a job by Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) despite having completed two-year apprenticeship with the corporation.
“While a regular lineman got around Rs 20,000 per month those days, we were ready to work at half the salary. In Patiala, police rained ‘lathis’ on us,” says Primal, who heads the Unemployed Linemen Union having 5,000 members.
In 2009, when union members were burning effigies of the Badal government at Lambi, Pirmal poured kerosene over himself and jumped over the burning effigies. “I suffered burns on the lower limbs. The next year, I climbed atop a water tank in Bathinda carrying kerosene. We came down only after being assured jobs.” He was among around 1,000 linemen who were employed by the PSPCL after a long agitation.
“However, I continued to struggle for 4,000 unemployed linemen. I was sent to jail for the fourth time in 2012 and my services were terminated.”
Pirmal says his “only wish is jobs for youths without resorting to protests. As an MLA, I’ll keep reminding Capt Amarinder of his promise of a job to each household”.

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 24

The 79th annual meeting of the J&K Rajya Sainik Board, followed by 64th meeting of the State Managing Committee, for the Flag Day Fund was held at Raj Bhawan here under the chairmanship of Governor NN Vohra.The Governor appreciated the efforts put in by the Sainik Welfare Department to further enhance interaction between the ex-servicemen/serving soldiers and the civil population, including programmes organised during the Flag Day celebrations.The Governor mentioned that due to their presence in far-flung areas, the Army should be able to complement efforts of the Sainik Welfare Department in maintaining effective liaison with ex-servicemen/widows. He expressed his deep concern about the status of non-pensioner ex-servicemen/widows and observed that he had recently written to the Defence Minister to consider significantly enhancing the quantum of relief to non-pensioner widows below and above 65 years of age, which is presently too meagre to meet the cost of living.He suggested that the Sainik Welfare Department should consider organising “Defence melas” to raise funds for the welfare of ex-servicemen and their families.He called upon the citizens and civil society organisations to donate liberally for the J&K Flag Day Fund, which is used for promoting the welfare of ex-servicemen and families of martyrs.The Governor complimented the Northern Army Command Headquarters for developing software for the Sainik Welfare Department to computerise the database of ex-servicemen.He emphasised that an institutional framework should be put in place in facilitate re-employment of eligible and qualified ex-servicemen for the jobs available in the Central and state governments and impressed the importance of increasing awareness about the horizontal reservation of 6 per cent for ex-servicemen in jobs under the state government.The Governor observed that all welfare schemes for ex-servicemen and their wards should be regularly revised and updated to address their problems and stressed the need for an effective grievance monitoring system to be put in place at the district and state levels to ensure that their problems are solved expeditiously.The Rajya Sainik Board approved grants to the non-pensioner ex-servicemen and widows from the state Flag Day Funds being doubled to Rs 12,000 pm to help them financially. It increased the grant for decent last rites to Rs 5,000. For wards of ex-servicemen and widows figuring in merit list of Class XII, an incentive of Rs 5,000 has been approved and dependent children clearing the Civil Services Exams will get an award of Rs 10,000. Education grants to children of martyrs have been enhanced from Rs 1,200 to Rs 3,000 per annum.Earlier, there was no provision for widows to buy four-wheelers from the CSD, which has now been approved. The status of a number of other welfare schemes of the Centre and state governments for helping out ex-servicemen and their families in various fields, including daughter marriage, education, house repair and penury grants, was discussed and decisions taken.Brig Harcharan Singh (retd), secretary, Rajya Sainik Board, made a detailed presentation and provided details of the various measures taken for the welfare of the ex-servicemen and financial status of the board.Prominent among those present in the J&K Rajya Sainik Board meeting were BR Sharma, Chief Secretary; Lt Gen Devraj Anbu, GOC-in-C, Headquarters, Northern Command; Prabhu Dayal Meena, Union Secretary, Department of ESM Welfare, New Delhi; Umang Narula, Principal Secretary to the Governor; RK Goyal, Principal Secretary (Home) and Navin K Choudhary, Secretary, Finance.

PARRIKAR RESIGNS AS DEFENCE MINISTER; HEADS FOR GOA IN BID TO FORM GOVT

CAPT’S SWEARING-IN ON MARCH 16; TASK FORCE TO CURB DRUG MENACE

CAPTAIN SHOWS NO MERCY ON GENERAL

KNOW NEW HOUSE

SINGH IS KING

RECORD MAKERS

COMEBACK CAPT: CONG WINS PUNJAB ON AMARINDER’S CHARISMA, FIGHTING SPIRIT

AAP lost badly in Punjab and Goa.

New Delhi, March 11

It was to have been a day of celebrations for the Aam Admi Party, but the BJP stole the show by winning big. Barring Punjab, the saffron party won largely in four states.

After AAP lost badly in Punjab and Goa, gloom enveloped Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence in Delhi.

Ever since the February 4 election ended in both the states, the Aam Aadmi Party was supremely confident of taking office in Punjab although its claims were muted vis-a-vis Goa.

As late as last week, AAP leader and Punjab’s election strategist Sanjay Singh boasted that the party would not win less than 100 of the 117 seats, wiping out both the Congress and the ruling Akali Dal-BJP combine.

When the votes were counted on Saturday, the reverse happened. The Akali-BJP did lose but the Congress stormed back to power with a thumping majority.

AAP activists, stunned into silence, slowly began dispersing from outside Kejriwal’s residence, taking away the brooms —the party symbol —they had brought along.

Shock and disappointment was writ large on everyone’s face. Many refused to speak to journalists.

Slowly, arrangements made for the announcement of the election results from Punjab and Goa were removed. In Goa, the AAP fared much worse, not winning even one seat.

A large TV screen placed outside Kejriwal’s residence displaying the live trends and results was switched off as the day progressed.

AAP workers also removed the tricolour balloons used to decorate the street leading to Kejriwal’s residence.

An audio system, playing songs since the morning about the AAP and its election symbol broom, was switched off. The big speakers were removed by around 1 pm.

Soon after, the entire area wore a deserted look.

—IANS

Illustration: Sandeep Joshi

Chandigarh, March 10

The stage is set for the counting of votes tomorrow to wrap up a staggered poll process in five states —  the biggest electoral contest ahead of the 2019 General Election — in what is largely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation move.Early trends will start pouring in 8 am onwards for Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, where thousands of central forces have been deployed at the counting centres.In Punjab, counting at 54 centres for the 117 Assembly and the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency will begin simultaneously. Punjab, that went to the polls on February 4, saw a turnout of 77.3 per cent, with Mansa district recording 88.75 per cent polling, the highest, and Mohali 71.2 per cent, the lowest. The CEO, VK Singh said other than the observers, micro observers have been deployed at counting stations.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Pollsters have predicted the fall of the ruling SAD-BJP  with the Congress and AAP neck and neck. But the Akalis debunk the exit polls as biased. In the past, it had been a direct fight between the Congress and the SAD-BJP. But AAP, that has made its maiden foray in the state elections, has made the fight a triangular one.The most interesting battle is in Lambi where CM Parkash Singh Badal is pitted against Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh and AAP’s former Delhi MLA Jarnail Singh. Equally interesting is the fight for the Jalalabad seat where Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal faces a challenge from AAP’s firebrand leader Bhagwant Mann and Congress MP Ravneet Bittu.  A win in Punjab will resurrect Congress’ political fortunes, losing the elections may sound its death knell in the state. For AAP, a defeat would be a setback to its national ambitions. The party has set sights on the PM’s home state of Gujarat.SAD-BJP has been in power for 10 years. A defeat may see the end of the alliance. Already there are murmurs in the BJP that the Akalis must take the entire blame for the “failure”. — TNS

Quotes

• Our alliance is winning (in Uttar Pradesh). Such exit polls we saw in Bihar also. We will talk on Saturday —Rahul Gandhi, Congress vice-president
• The BJP has got votes from every section of society. We are going to form the government in UP with a thumping majority. — Keshav Prasad Maurya, UP BJP chief
• History is in the making. We will form the next government after registering a landslide victory.Bad days for Punjab and its people are over —Durgesh Pathak, national organisation building head, AAP
• Kaale Badal chhatne wale hain…aur surya nikalne wala hai (Black clouds are set to dissipate and new sun will rise) —Navjot Singh Sidhu, Congress candidate from Amritsar East

Security men near the house in Padgampora village where two militants were hiding on Thursday. PTI

Tribune News Service

Srinagar/Pulwama, March 9

Three militants were killed while three security personnel, including an Army Major, were injured in two anti-militancy operations stretched across north and south Kashmir on Thursday. Two civilians also lost their lives during protests and clashes that broke out in south Kashmir.Two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were killed in an encounter at Padgampora village, 25 km from Srinagar, in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The militants have been identified as Jehangir Ahmad Ganai, a resident of Koil village, and Mohammad Shafi Shergojri, a resident of Banderpora village of Pulwama district.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)In another gunfight, a local militant was killed and a Major injured in north Kashmir’s Bandipore. The gunfight erupted when the militant opened fire at a checkpoint, the police said.In Pulwama, security forces, including Special Operations Group, Central Reserve Police Force’s 130 Battalion and 55 Rashtriya Rifles, cordoned off Padgampora village and started a search operation following specific inputs.The security forces came under fire from a house, triggering an encounter, said Awantipora Deputy Superintendent of Police Parvaiz Ahmad.The security personnel tried to persuade Shergojri to surrender by calling in his family but he declined. Shergojri is survived by two children and wife.Clashes erupted between security forces and protesters near the encounter scene leading to the death of a civilian and injury to several others. The deceased has been identified as Amir Nazir (15), a class IX student, of Beegum Bagh village, near Kakapora.Health officials said Amir was brought dead to the Primary Health Centre, Kakapora, with a bullet in the abdomen.Deputy Inspector General of Police (south Kashmir range) SP Pani, however, said: “Someone from the crowd fired at the police, injuring at least two of our men, who are stable. We showed maximum restraint. During the clashes that followed, a civilian was killed.”Another civilian, Jalaluddin of Tahab was brought dead to the Pulwama district hospital from Padgampora. While doctors said the victim did not bear any pellet or bullet injuries, locals claimed he was killed during shelling.The police said the two militants were behind the killing of security personnel and political activists, besides attacks on police installations in south Kashmir.“They had been threatening locals to stay away from upcoming elections, and motivating youths to join militancy in Awantipora, Pulwama and Shopian. They were also involved in recent bank robberies and weapon-snatching incidents in south and central Kashmir,” a police spokesman said.The authorities, meanwhile, suspended rail services on the Srinagar-Banihal line because of encounter site’s proximity to the Awantipora railway station.

Terrorists moving along Line of Control, DGMO tells Pak

• New Delhi: Army Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen AK Bhatt on Thursday spoke to his Pakistani counterpart and expressed concern over the “movement of terrorists” along the LoC. The Director General of Pakistan’s Inter-Service Public Relations, Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, tweeted: “Indian concern on terrorists’ movement was strongly rejected during hotline. Indian Army asked to look inward, share evidence.” The Pakistani DGMO was also informed about the repatriation of two Pakistani nationals apprehended in Uri, Kashmir. They will be repatriated through Wagah on March 10. The youths had accidentally crossed over fearing repression from within Pakistan after they had allegedly teased the daughter of a local man. TNS
• 

Sindhav Jogidas who vent his ire on social media. Photo courtesy the Facebook account: @veteranjawans

New Delhi, March 7

Another soldier has taken to the social media to complain about the system of ‘batman’ in the Army and ‘poor quality’ food served to the men in uniform.Sindhav Jogidas of the Army Medical Corps said he was airing his grievances publicly because his complaints to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Defence Ministry had gone unheeded.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)“I apologise to the people of the nation and the government (because) my video will hurt your sentiments. Every Jawan wants the respect of the Army to be high,” Jogidas said, speaking in Hindi.“How long can we tolerate? A lot of wrong things are happening.” Referring to the “batman” system, called “Sahayak” duty, he said some officers treated soldiers attached to their residence as their servants.“Jawans have to follow orders because those who speak (against it) are victimised.” He said he went to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office and the Defence Ministry to complain and again to the Prime Minister’s Office.“I did not want the issues related to the Army to come on the social media.“When the reply came, they slapped a case of disciplinary action against me and there were two courts of inquiry. I was harassed for a year but I kept quiet.“I took leave again and came to Delhi… I went to the Sena Bhavan (Army Headquarters) but no one allowed me to go inside. Then I wrote a letter to General Bipin Rawat but there was no reply.“At the end, I was given a chargesheet because I had written against my officers. I have already been punished twice. This time I had to give up 14 days of salary as fine.Video courtesy: Facebook posted on account of @veteranjawans“If we refuse any duty or break a rule, we are punished immediately. But when officers break rules, there are no rules or regulations for them,” he said.The soldier said “because of some officers, the Army is maligned”.“It is sad that instead of fighting the enemy, we have to fight within the force. It is true that we take salary for our duty but we are giving the most important years of our life to the Army.“Many brothers are united in this fight and we have been raising our voice time and again.“But no on listens to us… I want to ask if the government is really unaware of these facts or we are just being ignored.”The soldier also alleged that the food given to soldiers was of poor quality.“In many units they send food just for survival—the cheapest vegetables, fruits and worst kind of food is given. But I have no proof, so I will not say much on this.”The video comes days after Lance Naik Roy Mathew, who was seen criticising the ‘Sahayak’ system in a sting video, was found dead in a barrack in a Maharashtra cantonment on March 3.The Army said his “suicide” could be the result of events triggered by the sting operation.In January, another soldier, Lance Naik Yagya Pratap, alleged in a video that soldiers were exploited by officers. — IANS

Video courtesy: Facebook posted on account of @veteranjawans

“If we refuse any duty or break a rule, we are punished immediately. But when officers break rules, there are no rules or regulations for them,” he said.The soldier said “because of some officers, the Army is maligned”.

THE REALITY ABOUT THE DISGRUNTLED SOLIDIER

 

1. With reference to the recent video uploaded by an individual of the Army Medical Corps (AMC), played on few TV channels, the matter has been investigated. The individual concerned is Sepoy Sindhav Jogidas Lakhubahi employed in AMC in the trade of ‘Housekeeper’. He has rendered nearly three years of service in the Army.

 

2. Investigations have revealed the following facts:-

 

(a)        While on his initial posting at Military Hospital (MH) Ranikhet, Sepoy Sindhav was late in rejoining duties after availing the leave for 2015.  He was awarded Pay Fine for unauthorized absence from duty.

 

(b)        The Sepoy applied for premature release from the Army for which his application was duly processed. The AMC Records, considering his limited service, advised counseling of the individual before taking the final decision. After the counseling, the individual changed his mind and decided to continue in service. He however, sought posting to a ‘field’ location.

 

(c)        Subsequently, while still at MH Ranikhet, he, while on duty at the ICU, refused to obey instructions of Duty Nursing Officer to clean ‘bed pan’ of a bed-ridden patient at the hospital. It is to be noted that the task which he refused to perform, was a mandated task of his trade of Housekeeper. For this act of indiscipline, the Sepoy was awarded Seven Days Imprisonment within the Unit.

 

(d)       Subsequent to his release from confinement, while on leave in January 2016, the individual submitted written complaints to the PM, RM and Director General of Medical Services, Army (DGMS-Army) against CO MH Ranikhet and OIC Section Hospital Haldwani. The complaints were independently investigated through a ‘One-Man Inquiry (OMI)’ and were found to be baseless. A Staff Court of Inquiry by the Formation HQ also found him blameworthy for having violated the established Chain of Command and laid down Chain of Correspondence. He was tried summarily for this act of indiscipline and awarded 14 Days Pay Fine.

 

(e)        As per his request, the individual was posted to a MH in ‘field’ (Leh) and dispatched on posting on 27 February 2017. The individual is currently in transit to his place of posting.

 

3. It must be noted that the individual has never been employed as ‘Buddy’ of any officer or JCO nor has he ever been asked to perform such a duty. His allegations related to this and ill-treatment of jawans by superiors, are false and baseless.

 

4. It may also be noted that even in an earlier instance of a jawan putting allegations through a video uploaded on Social Media, of ill-treatment of ‘Buddies’, the said jawan also had never ever been employed as ‘Buddy’ of any officer or JCO in his 15 years service. The media must, therefore, verify the factual information from Army before going public on such issues that cast defamatory allegations on the institution of Indian Army.

 

5. The operational and professional effectiveness Indian Army which rests on bedrocks of discipline, trust and spirit de corps cannot be diluted based upon false and non-existent perceived grievances and misdemeanors of a few.

Col Aman Anand

PRO (Army)

 

Uttar Pradesh Anti Terror Squad personnel during their operation against a suspected terrorist holed up inside a building in the Thakurganj area of Lucknow on Tuesday evening. PTI

Lucknow, March 7

The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad on Tuesday launched an operation to flush out a suspected terrorist holed up in a house on the outskirts of Lucknow following inputs that he may be linked to Bhopal-Ujjain train blast this morning.

The suspect was hiding in a house in Kakori area. The densely populated neighbourhood was cordoned off and at least 20 commandos were involved in the operation, police said.”The operation is the result of the UP police receiving specific inputs regarding possible terror suspects in the state,” Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Daljeet Chaudhary said, adding the terror suspect might be linked to train blast in Madhya Pradesh this morning.At least 10 persons were today injured, two of them seriously, in the blast in Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train near Jabdi station in Shajapur district. Read: 10 injured in IED blast on train in MP; terror angle suspected

The ATS operation came hours before the final phase of polling in Assembly election covering 40 seats in eastern Uttar Pradesh.According to locals, at around 3.30 pm over 30 policemen started vacating the houses in the locality to corner the suspect.”As the suspect got wind of their plans, he started firing at police party. Gunshots were fired from both the sides,” local residents said.IG, ATS, Aseem Arun summoned elite commandos from Bijnaur police facility. The ATS team is trying to ensure that the suspect runs out of ammunition before barging inside.IG, Lucknow Zone, A Satish Ganesh said, “The suspect was not surrendering. Instead he was resorting to firing. Chili bombs were used to smoke him out.”Arun, who was conducting the operation, said, “When the police knocked the door (of the house where the terror suspect is holed up), he closed the door, and then there was a sound of pistol fire, which proved that he has weapons.”We are not in a hurry to finish the operation, but want to catch him alive. Hence, we are using chili powder,” he said.He said the suspect resorted to intermittent firing. “We have withheld firing from our side. It appears only one person is hiding inside the house,” he said.The UP Police were tipped off by central intelligence agencies, Chaudhary said, and added that one arrest was made in Kanpur and there could be more than one terror suspect in Lucknow.He also mentioned that terror linkage, connection to Ujjain train blast and details of the module would be revealed only after interrogation of the suspects.Police said the area where the suspected terrorist is holed up is densely populated.”We would be able to comment on the motive of the person once he is arrested. There is no point in sharing any input before the operation was over,” the ADG said.He said it was a tactical operation, aimed at incurring minimum loss.UP DGP Javeed Ahmed, when contacted, said the UP Police were trying to convince the person holed up in the house to surrender.He also said, “We have detained someone from Kanpur.However, it is too early to link this suspected terrorist to the train blast.”To a question on the incident taking place a day before the final phase of polling in UP tomorrow, the DGP said, “The conduct of polls in UP has been so far peaceful.” — PTI 

Shyam Sood

Rajouri, March 5

After undergoing rigorous training for eight months, 101 youths from 83 remote and inaccessible villages situated in Rajouri, Poonch, Reasi and Jammu districts have finally joined the Territorial Army.An attestation parade was conducted by the 156 Infantry Battalion Territorial Army (Home and Hearth), Punjab, under the aegis of Romeo Force at Palma in Rajouri. It was chaired by Maj Gen Yogendra Dimri, GOC, Romeo Force.The main aim behind the recruitment of the youths, especially from Rajouri-Poonch and Reasi districts, was to bring them into the main stream.“Raised on the concept of ‘Sons of the Soil’, the Territorial Army (Home and Hearth) units form an interface between the Indian Army and the local population since they provide an opportunity of employment in the security forces to the local youth,” a senior army officer said.He added that in October 2015, 101 best candidates were finally selected out of the 14,000 aspirants during the recruitment rally held at Surankote in Poonch.Most of the recruits come from humble backgrounds. One of the recruits is a postgraduate, three are graduates while the rest are undergraduates.The recruits were sent to the Punjab Regimental Centre at Ramgarh (Jharkhand) to undergo eight months of rigorous training.While addressing the newly recruited soldiers, the GOC said, “Be dedicated to your commitment to protect the nation and its borders in Poonch and Rajouri districts.”He reminded them of the rich heritage and the glory of the Indian Army and stressed upon the importance of discipline and physical fitness in a soldier’s life.

Selection after 8-month training

• In October 2015, 101 best candidates were selected out of 14,000 aspirants during a recruitment rally held at Surankote in Poonch
• Most of the soldiers come from humble backgrounds. One of the soldiers is a postgraduate, three are graduates while the rest are undergraduates
• The recruits were sent to the Punjab Regimental Centre at Ramgarh (Jharkhand) to undergo eight months of rigorous training