PAURI GARHWAL: The twisty 2km trek from the paved road to a quaint mountainside village in Uttarakhand’s Pauri district is hard to detect. It is overrun by thickets, bears lurk behind the bushes; and leopards too.

ARVIND MOUDGIL /HTShyam Prasad stays all alone at Baluni village in Pauri district of Uttarakhand.

Besides the calls of the jungle, an eerie silence surrounds the trail to Baluni, 50km from Pauri town, which looks like any of the quintessential ghost villages dotting this side of the Himalayan landscape.

“Hark, who goes there?” a deep baritone warns as one approaches the spattering of homesteads at the end of the slog. That’s a warning shot, strong enough to freeze hungry cats. From the vantage point of the village temple, that still stands tall amid the ruins of razed stone-and-wood houses, a voice emerges.

The lone sentinel is retired soldier Shyam Prasad, 67, but for whom Baluni would have been any of the 340 abandoned villages in the district.

In his youth, Prasad protected the country’s borders. Now he guards his birthplace in Pauri Garhwal — alone for the past four years.

Two decades ago, this village thrived with 15 families. All of them, save the Prasads, migrated to urban areas for jobs and “better life”. He stayed put with his family after retirement in 1985. When his wife died and his five daughters were married off, he was left alone. His son, also in the army, visits him occasionally.

“Had the government addressed the problem of drinking water, some families would have stayed back,” Prasad said. “No one cares.”

Jilted army jawan kills fiancé of woman he loved, injures her

VICTIMS SHIVANI AND NEERAJ GOT ENGAGED SOME TIME BACK AND THEIR MARRIAGE WAS FIXED FOR THE COMING AUGUST 28

KIRATPURSAHIB:A jilted army man killed a 24-year-old youth and injured his fiancee, whom he once loved, with a sharp-edged weapon at Kiratpur Sahib on Monday morning. The victim has been identified as Neeraj Sharma and his fiancee as Shivani Sharma.

The accused jawan, Kamal Dev, wanted to marry the girl, and was upset as his parents didn’t approve of the match. Shivani and Neeraj got engaged some time back and their marriage was fixed for August 28 this year.

According to police, Neeraj of Sahrera village of Una district in Himachal Pradesh, along with his fiancee Shivani of Haroia Kalan village in the same district, was going in a bus to Nalagarh on Monday morning.

The accused army man Kamal Dev of Changerdolan village of Una district also boarded the same bus at Mehatpur (Una) and allegedly started teasing them. Kamal, Neeraj and Shivani got off the bus at Kiratpur Sahib bus stand, where they entered into a verbal duel. Kamal attacked both of them with a sharp-edged weapon. Neeraj died on the spot and Shivani sustained serious injuries and war rushed to Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh.

People gathered on the spot and beat up Kamal Dev before handing him over to the police. A case has been registered.

Ranjit Thakur

Doda, February 17

Inspector General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Jammu sector, AV Chauhan today endorsed Army Chief Bipin Rawat’s statement that tough action would be taken against those persons creating hurdles during anti-terror operations in Kashmir.General Rawat’s statement had come a day after four Army personnel, including a Major, were killed in two encounters in the Kashmir valley.On his maiden visit to Doda, Chauhan said, “We endorse the Army Chief’s statement as both forces are working together for the national interest. Those who are working against the nation should be treated firmly but according to the law.”“What sort of treatment you expect for those who are providing safe passage to armed militants. They should be treated strictly for working against the national interest. The national interest is supreme,” he said.To a query regarding pressure on public from militants, he said, “I have not been in Kashmir for a long time, but from what we have heard from people, there is some pressure on public.” He said the CRPF was fully equipped and ready to deal with any situation in the state.On the upcoming panchayat elections in the state, he said, “Our forces are working in Uttar Pradesh and a few other states for conducting peaceful elections. We are ready to offer our services for the panchayat elections in Jammu and Kashmir as well.”Chauhan during his visit to Doda and Bhaderwah held meetings with jawans and officers at 76 Battalion Headquarters.Praising their dedication, he directed them to remain alert on duty owing to prevailing situation in the state.Chauhan visited State Motor Garage E-76, and 76 Battalion Headquarter at Beoli to take stock of deployment, duties and the basic infrastructure. He also checked food being provided to jawans and their accommodation.

The military’s preoccupation with importing hardware, irrespective of its appropriateness or cost, must change, writes BHARAT KARNAD

The unambitious and low-key budget is emblematic of the Narendra Modi government’s approach of trusting in only small, cautious, steps. So nobody expected that the defence allocations would be used to reorient an Indian military that’s been long in the rut. This would have been a disruptive thing to do to shake up the armed services which, owing to weak political direction and oversight have compelled governments to rubber-stamp whatever they decide is in the national interest.

ARVIND YADAV/HT PHOTOSoldiers display war skills at Army Day Parade, Delhi Cantt, New Delhi, January 15. (Representative photo)

Predictably, defence allocations of ₹2.74 trillion falling to 1.63% of GDP has sparked concern, while ignoring the fact that an enlarged budget would have led to the squandering of the taxpayer’s money anyway. The problem at heart is this: The Indian military weighs its self-worth purely in terms of in-date weapons. Absent contrary political instructions as corrective, the preoccupation is with importing hardware, whether or not this is cost-effective, or even appropriate. The result is a mangled decision matrix in which instead of threats and grand strategy defining strategy, force structure, and weapons requirements, in that order, the existing force composition dictates the threat and the choice of armaments and strategy. Whence, the army’s money-guzzling three strike corps, that are way in excess of need, have monopolised the army’s modernisation and maintenance budgets, even though this capability is usable only in the desert and the plains, justified only by the “Pakistan threat”, and driven by a largely unimplementable ‘Cold Start’ strategy.

The Modi government has talked smart, not acted smart. It has failed to channel efforts and resources to secure military capabilities principally to deter China, which would, naturally, also take care of any contingency involving Pakistan, and fetch a larger strategic and international political dividend besides. Indeed, the raising of the only mountain strike corps (17 Corps) is languishing for want of funds. A desperately needed reorientation of the armed services will have to be rammed down resisting throats. Left to itself, the Indian military, which seems incapable of transformative change, will stick to its outdated outlook, operational bearing and plans.

The Modi regime can use the fact of scarce financial resources as lever to change the military mindset as is routinely done in the more mature democracies. Selective approval of expenditure schemes can re-shape and redirect the armed services. A start along these lines can, perhaps, be made to prepare for next year’s budget. The defence capital (or procurement) budget — the nub of the issue — is, in any case, declining. It was ₹945.88 billion in 2015-16, decreased by 8.7% to ₹863.4 billion last year, plateauing at ₹864.88 billion in this fiscal, except only two-thirds of this sum will be actually available for purchases. It is a trend that’s likely to continue.

Considering that in excess of ₹3.71 lakh crore( or, roughly $55 billion) are already committed to purchasing weapons systems from abroad, and 10% as first payments in hard currency amounting to some $5 billion on the numerous contracts already made, the only option is to shrink the numbers of units contracted for, and to adjust the payments already made against the reduced outgo.

If the idea is to channel monies to realise more rational forces and capabilities, the signal has to be sent to the armed services that the government will not tolerate business-asusual. Certain programmes are ripe for down-scaling and would set a precedent. Thus, the Field Artillery Rationalization Plan estimated to cost $12 billion can be shaved to $4 billion, leaving enough hardware to meet the requirements of a single, compact, consolidated, corps-strength mobile warfare capability on the western border.

The deal for 464 Russian T-90MS tanks costing $4.3 million each, requires termination, not least because it is a buy at the expense of the indigenous Arjun Main Battle Tank that comprehensively out-performed the T-90 in test trials in all aspects in all terrains. This is an outrage requiring speedy rethink, if defence minister Manohar Parrikar is serious about not cutting the “indigenous” out of the government’s ‘Make in India’ policy. The plan for new generation infantry combat vehicle numbers too will require pruning to around 730 units costing ₹52.5 billion, instead of 2,200 new ICVs for ₹157.5 billion.

A similarly ruthless attitude should lead to the nixing of the 36 Rafale aircraft deal for $12 billion — engagement of Modi’s ego to this transaction notwithstanding, especially as the air force sees it as a means of pushing the government into buying 90 more of this supposedly “medium” multi-role fighter — a category of aircraft known to no other major air force. It will save India the down payment of ₹97 billion. The navy, likewise, should be strongly dissuaded from accepting the American EM A LS( electro-magnetic aircraft launch system) costing $533 million each for the second and third Kochi-built aircraft carriers.

Savings from such hard-headed procurement decisions will make available funds for appropriate capabilities, and indigenous design and technology projects, such as the Tejas 1A and Mk-II, and the navalised LCA, ordered to proceed on the concurrency principle of induction along with capability refinement, senior air force and navy brass made accountable for their success a procedure followed by all major militaries.

As this can happen within the time-frames for induction of imported aircraft, imports are pre-empted. The freed-up funds should also be invested in designing, developing, and producing a small 25 ton tank with an engine optimised for high-altitude operations to equip three mountain strike corps. Bharat Karnad is professor at the Centre for Policy Research, and author of Why India is Not a Great Power (Yet)

The Moscow meet: An Afghan solution possible only through political means.

As India tiptoes toward the six-nation conference on Afghanistan in Moscow on Wednesday — comprising Russia, China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan — a new process is beginning with regard to regional security. Quintessentially, a novel regional format is in the making. Kabul’s participation in such a process will give it added international legitimacy. However, issues remain, which can be put into three clusters. At the most obvious level, it needs to be understood at the outset that India happens to be the odd man out in this proposed regional format. India is not quite there where the rest of the grouping has reached as regards perceptions regarding Taliban. The regional consensus — as indeed international consensus — is that Taliban’s reconciliation, being an Afghan entity, is the key to an enduring settlement. Also, there is consensus that the prolongation of the war makes no sense, and the stalemate cannot be broken except through political means.All the other five countries participating in the Moscow meet maintain contacts with the Taliban in one way or another and they are willing to acknowledge it, too. India, therefore, needs a reality check: How long can it bury the head in the sand and insist on the imperative of waging a robust war against the Taliban when others tend to see the conflict more as fratricidal strife?Second, there is no gainsaying the fact that Pakistan has a key role to play in an enduring Afghan settlement. Even Iran, which has been at loggerheads with Pakistan over the Afghan situation, has harmonised its stance with Pakistan. Again, India is a solitary exception. From the second half of the nineties, India began viewing the Afghan situation in zero sum terms – although Taliban or the al-Qaeda operating out of Afghanistan — never perpetrated terrorist acts on Indian soil. Suffice it to say, India-Pakistan tensions today have become a significant complicating factor in reaching an Afghan settlement, and, arguably, that could be an unspoken leitmotif of the Moscow meet. The surprising part is that Pakistan is no longer insisting on the exclusion of India from regional formats on Afghanistan as a pre-condition. Has Moscow prevailed upon Pakistan to show flexibility? Or, did Moscow and Beijing act in tandem during their ‘trilateral’ meeting with Pakistan in Moscow in late December? Interestingly, all the participants in the Moscow meet have one common credential – namely, their association with the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). India must decide how far it is comfortable with that proposition. Pakistan, evidently, is. So are the others meeting in Moscow. Clearly, a new regional security paradigm is taking shape. So far, India largely bandwagoned with the US-led war in Afghanistan. That has reached a stalemate and the US’ effort is primarily to see how outright defeat can be averted. Meanwhile, the regional states doubt the US’ intentions in Afghanistan. Certainly, SCO states are “frontline states” in the war that so far has been dominated by the US and NATO, given its genesis in the 9/11 attacks. The regional states harbour profound disquiet that the war has been mishandled. It has become difficult for the US to shoo them away.   This aspect highlights a third cluster of vital issues: How far Indian concerns and interests coincide with those of the United States in the period ahead? The answer to this also brings us to the Donald Trump presidency. We still do not know Trump’s likely policy trajectory in Afghanistan. There is evidence of a tussle going on within the Washington establishment regarding foreign policies. It is playing out against the tumultuous backdrop of US’ future relations with Russia and the future of “Euro-Atlanticism” as well as the application of Trump’s “America First” doctrine in relation to the US’ wars abroad. Afghanistan is a classic case demanding US-Russia cooperation and coordination. But Washington establishment thinking takes a negative view of Russia. Trump wants a muscular military but he also claims to be less interventionist in the application of military force. On the other hand, he also disavows the kind of ambivalence (or nuance) that had been the hallmark of the Barack Obama administration. Things have deteriorated on the ground in Afghanistan. The US Special Inspector-General for Afghan Reconstruction, John Sopko, estimated last month that Afghan forces are losing territory and only around 60 per cent of the country’s districts are under government control or “influence”. The US acknowledges that the war cannot be won on the battlefield, but Trump has not shown interest in “nation-building”. Without micro-management from Washington it is difficult to see how the tottering National Unity Government in Kabul can hold out, especially with the return of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, which rips open old ethnic rivalries. However, the phone conversation between Trump and Afghan President Asraf Ghani on Thursday hints at broad continuity in policies. Notably, Trump emphasised the “on-going importance of the US-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership” and discussed “the opportunities to strengthen” security. A beefing up of US/NATO troop presence may ensue. In fact, in a two-hour testimony last Thursday before the US Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, the US’ top commander in Afghanistan, Gen John Nicholson, while admitting that the war is in stalemate, promised that Pentagon is working on a strategy to succeed in the war. He harped on the threat to “US homeland security” emanating from Afghanistan. Nicholson’s remarks regarding Pakistan were highly nuanced. While repeating the long-standing complaint that Pakistan has not acted against the Haqqani Network, he also stressed “common interests” with Pakistani military  and the need “to work closely together” with Rawalpindi, underscoring that Pakistan’s cooperation is the “number one factor that can produce positive results” in Afghanistan. Nicholson called for “holistic review” of the US’ policies toward Pakistan. The US approach toward Pakistan is likely reverting to the traditional mode, leveraging the special ties that existed between the security and defence establishments of the two countries.Meanwhile, Afghanistan is turning into an arena of contestation between Washington and Russia. The timing of Trump’s call to Ghani just ahead of the Moscow conference is no coincidence. Nicholson was critical of Russia’s “return” to Afghanistan. All too obviously, Pentagon feels challenged. Nicholson alleged that Russia is “legitimising”  Taliban and “undermining” the US and NATO presence. He touched on the geopolitics of holding on to a regional hub of high strategic significance bordering China, Central Asia and Iran. The regional environment of unprecedented big-power rivalry shaping up right on India’s doorstep doubts the efficacy of Delhi’s current foreign-policy trajectory toward Afghanistan, which is largely derived through the prism of India-Pakistan tensions.

The nine councillors nominated to the municipal corporation largely failed to live up to the residents’ expectations since they were unable to solve problems or suggest something concrete for the betterment of the city. HT talks to each nominated councill

From page 01 How do you plan to contribute to the city’s development as a nominated councillor?

Nominated councillors are as important as elected representatives. To execute any important project in the city, public participation is very important. The Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) and other elected bodies should be part of committees in the municipal corporation House. We need to improve the sanitation system in cities, colonies and villages. Others issues like non-functional street lights, ill-maintained parks, bad roads in southern sectors will also be taken up in municipal corporation’s House meetings.

Do you think nominated councillors have enough powers? Will you suggest any changes to the system?

We have all the power, except financial and do make a difference to lives of residents. Elected councillors only take care of their respective wards, but nominated can help develop the entire city. At the end of the day, all councillors work for the betterment of the city.

Should nominated councillors

have the voting right?

We are not here as mere spectators and definitely need the voting right. Without this right, how we are going to elect the mayor or approve important agenda pertaining to the development of the city.

Have they been performing properly? What difference do you want to bring in?

I do not know much about how have the nominated councillors been functioning in the past. However, there is no dearth of issues to be taken up. These include improvement in infrastructure, education and taking care of the under-privileged, who remain unaware of their rights. We also need to come up with a solution to the parking woes and non-functional street-lights across the city.

Dehradun: Uttarakhand Sub Area celebrated its 55th Raising Day on Friday. The event was marked by a number of functions. A Sainik Sammelan was organised at the Doon Sainik Institute in which the General Officer Commanding Major General Balraj Mehta congratulated all ranks and exhorted them to work tirelessly.—TNS

New Delhi/Washington, Feb 9

US defence firm Lockheed Martin wants to push ahead with plans to move production of its F-16 combat jets to India, but understands President Donald Trump’s administration may want to take a “fresh look” at the proposal.With no more orders for the F-16 from the Pentagon, Lockheed plans to use its Fort Worth, Texas, plant instead to produce the fifth generation F-35 Joint Strike Fighter for the US Air Force.Lockheed would switch F-16 production to India, as long as the India agrees to order hundreds of the planes that its Air Force desperately needs.Trump has criticised US companies that have moved manufacturing overseas and which then sell their products back to the US. In Lockheed’s case, however, the plan is to build the F-16 to equip the Indian Air Force, and not sell them back into the US. — Reuters

PATIALA:Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate from Patiala Balbir Singh slammed his Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) counterpart JJ Singh for abusing the voters for not voting in his favour. Balbir held a meeting at Jai Jawan Colony on Monday with ex-servicemen to thank the voters for supporting him.

While attacking JJ Singh, Balbir said, “Election is a fight of views and policies and nobody should take it personally to take the revenge from some particularvoters.” Headdedthathewill remain thankful to the residents of Patiala for their overwhelming support and favour.

He said that AAP is committed to the development of entire Punjab without any discrimination and will initiate the development projects soon after the formation of government in the state.

“What so ever result comes out on the day of counting, I will be always available for the residents of Patiala. I will not discriminate on the basis if they have voted for me or not,” Balbir Singh said.

File photo of the Indian Army personnel. For representation only.

New Delhi, February 6

The CBI has initiated a probe into an alleged cheating case wherein Army was being made to pay rent for the land situated in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.As per the FIR registered by the agency, the criminal conspiracy was allegedly hatched in 2000 by the then Sub Divisional Defence Estate Officer, Patwari, Nowshera along with several private persons.“It has been learnt that as per ‘Jamabandhi’ register for the year 1969-70 of the land in question, Khasra no…it is under the occupation of Maqbooza Pakistan but rents are being paid by Defence Estate to the alleged owner,” CBI alleged.It has surfaced that then Sub Divisional Defence Estate Officer R S Chanderwanshi, Patwari, Nowshera Darshan Kumar along with several private persons including one Rajesh Kumar, allegedly showed the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) land as “on rent to Army.”The board comprising an Army officer, estate officer and other officials kept disbursing rental worth Rs 4.99 lakhs for the land measuring over 122 karnals because of forged documents submitted to them, the FIR said, adding that a loss of Rs 6 lakh has been caused to the exchequer in the case.“It has been further learnt that the Army acquired the land on rent from civilians. A board comprising Army officer, defence estate and revenue department approved the rent after physically verifying the land, but in this matter the Board of Officers, in criminal conspiracy with each other wrongly verified that the land was acquired by the Army, whereas the same is situated in PoK,” the FIR alleged.CBI claimed that the board proceedings were convened in 2000, wherein Chanderwanshi and Darshan Kumar were declared to be under the occupation of defence forces, and the rental compensation to the tune of Rs 4.99 lakh was disbursed to Rajesh Kumar. — PTI

Ministry of Defence asks forces to be fully stocked up for 10-day intense conflict

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 28

In a move that will change the way India prepares for war, the Ministry of Defence has okayed a policy to maintain total military readiness for a minimum of 10 days, indicating the possibility that future conflicts could be short, swift and sudden.A month ago, on December 30, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, after consulting the armed forces, okayed a policy that says forces should be fully stocked up to last a minimum 10-day intense conflict.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The Vice-Chiefs of the three services have been given adequate fiscal powers to maintain this level of readiness, which has opened up the long held back slow-moving procurements. This includes weapons, ammunition, missiles (launched from land, air or sea) and ensuring all radars are functional. In military parlance, this is called the Minimum Accepted Risk Level (MARL).As per the operational doctrine, India is required to maintain a war wastage reserve (WWR) of 40 days of ‘intense war’ and is militarily called the ‘40-I’ level. The ‘40-I’ targets shall be on track as usual but within that, the 10-day intense war benchmarking will be the new normal.  It does not mean reducing higher stock levels of most of the other ammunition types, sources said.The reality is that a ‘40-I’ level is very expensive to maintain. Ammunition being an expendable commodity with a fixed shelf life, maintaining stocks at a full-fledged war requirement level at all times was not a wise move, a senior functionary explained. Wisdom, it was added, lies in maintaining ‘optimal’ stocks as per security contingencies and having the capacity to ramp up production.The Army Vice-Chief would have the authority to spend up to Rs 200 crore for ordnance stores (ammunition) in consultation with the internal financial auditor. The Navy Vice-Chief can authorise expenses up to Rs 80 crore to repair ships and submarines. The CAG had in 2015 pointed out the low levels of WWR.