Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 1

In a major initiative to curb forest fires, two Indian Air Force (IAF) Mi 17 helicopters today sprayed water in severely fire-affected forest areas in the state. A helicopter was pressed into service in the Garhwal region and another in the Kumaon region. The raging fire has so far affected more than 23,000 hectares of forests in Uttarakhand.A helicopter deployed in Nainital lifted water from the Bhimtal lake to spray it in the affected forests. The other helicopter at Srinagar Garhwal took water from the Koteshwar dam for the purpose.Significantly, police personnel from Uttar Pradesh also reached Uttarakhand today to help douse forest fires. Personnel from the National Disaster Relief Force, the State Disaster Relief Force, the Forest Department, the Pranteey Rakshak Dal and other civil and police units from Uttarakhand are already working round the clock to douse the flames.Chief Conservator of Forests BP Gupta, who is also the nodal officer for forest fires, said Pauri, Tehri, Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Almora, Pithoragarh and Nainital districts have been declared sensitive vis-à-vis forest fires. He said 1,082 forest fire incidents had taken place in the state till date this season. The loss due to the environmental tragedy has been pegged at Rs 2 lakh.Meanwhile, Additional Chief Secretary S Ramaswamy convened a meeting of forest officials today to review the efforts being undertaken to extinguish forest fires. The officials concerned informed that 40 master control rooms had been set up and around 6,000 persons were working round the clock to curb forest fires.Besides Rs 8 crore released from the compensatory afforestration fund, an additional provision of Rs 14 crore has been made keeping in view the gravity of the situation. Ramaswamy said besides short-term efforts, long-term initiatives were required to deal with such challenges. Efforts were needed for water conservation, he added.Meanwhile, the MeT department has forecast rain in Uttarakhand in two or three days. If rain occurs, it will be a great relief to the forest fire-hit state.

Centre allocates Rs 5 cr

• Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar said in New Delhi on Sunday that Rs 5 crore had been allotted for firefighting efforts and 6,000 labourers had been deployed for the purpose. In the last one month, fire had broken out in more than 1,000 places, the minister stated. “Our top forest officers, including Director General of Forests SS Negi, are on-the-spot in Uttarakhand since yesterday. They have been holding meetings and guiding local workforce. Today, 6,000 labourers have been deployed for firefighting. The expenditure required for firefighting efforts will be granted. Yesterday, we have granted Rs 5 crore. We will study the reasons for such fires and come out with an action plan to control them in the future all over the country,” he added.

Poor mgmt reason for forest fires: Experts

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 1

While environmentalists and activists are largely blaming the timber and land mafia for raging “manmade” forest fires in Uttarakhand and now Himachal Pradesh, they also fault the poor management of such expected “cyclic” events.The lack of compliance of general management practices required to pre-empt such eventualities, which are now being further aggravated by climate change events — low rainfall, high temperatures and erratic wind patterns — are among the reasons why, they say, the hill states are facing the environmental catastrophes.Dr Yogesh Gokhale, an ecologist with TERI, says ideally the forests floors should have been cleared of accumulated pine needles — a readymade combustion source — well in time, meaning well before the hot and dry season approaches.“Fires have obviously been triggered by manmade circumstances like a burning beedi or a deliberate action. Therefore, forest floors should be cleared of pine needles with the help of early controlled burning,” he adds.Since the shortage of forest staff is a perpetual problem, participation of local people and van panchayats should be encouraged for early detection, reporting and management of forest fires, the TERI ecologist says, adding while local participation may not be of much use if the act is deliberate, if land or timber mafia is involved or villagers themselves have started the fire to ward off wild animals, it may come useful in case of inadvertent cases.Meanwhile, to manage the accumulated pine needles— one of the major causes of forest fires — ecologists advocate promotion of manufacture of pine needle briquettes—the freely available renewable energy source, Pine needles are an excellent form of energy and can be used to prepare biomass briquettes. Pine needles are a good source of environment-friendly fuel as they have combustion characteristics very similar to firewood, he says.

Mumbai, April 29

Holding that the scam-tainted 31-storey Adarsh Housing Society was illegally constructed, the Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests to demolish the tower in Colaba area of South Mumbai and sought criminal proceedings against politicians and bureaucrats for “misuse” of powers.

However, on a plea made by Adarsh Housing Society, a Division Bench stayed its order for 12 weeks to enable it to file an appeal in the Supreme Court, despite opposition by the Maharashtra government.

The demolition should be carried out at the expense of petitioners (Adarsh society), ruled the court.

The court also asked the Centre and Maharashtra Government to consider initiating civil and criminal proceedings against bureaucrats, ministers and politicians, if not already done, for various offences in acquiring the plot on which Adarsh society stands and also for misuse and abuse of powers.

However, it noted that the courts concerned shall decide the cases on the basis of evidence on record and in accordance with law, undeterred by the observations or findings made by the high court in this judgment.

The order was delivered in an open court by a Bench of Justices R.V. More and R.G. Ketkar on a bunch of petitions filed by Adarsh society challenging the demolition order of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests and a title suit filed by the Defence Ministry claiming that it owned the land on which the 31-storey society building was constructed.

The court further asked the Centre and state government to consider taking departmental proceedings in accordance with law against bureaucrats.

“The disciplinary authority shall take decision in accordance with law without being influenced by the findings of the high court,” said the bench.

The bench placed on record its appreciation for the complainant Simpreet Singh, a member of National Alliance of People’s Movement. “But for this intervention, perhaps the gross violation by the petitioners (Adarsh Society) would have been detected,” said the Judges.

The court also asked the Adarsh Society to pay Rs 1 lakh as cost to each of the  six respondents, including Bharat Bhushan, Director of Ministry of Environment and Forests, Nalini Bhat, Adviser and Competent Authority, MoEF, Sitaram Kunte, former Commissioner of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and three others. — PTI

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 20

The Navy will further open more opportunities for women and allow them as pilots on its fleet of reconnaissance planes.Starting 2017, women officers can choose to join as pilots of Maritime Reconnaissance planes, the Navy said today. The Navy operates the Boeing P8I, Dornier 228 in a reconnaissance role along the sea line of communication, or sea trading routes, carrying billions of dollars of cargo. The Navy protects these from pirates.On April 15, a Boeing P8I had scarred off possible pirates who were chasing a merchant vessel in the Arabian Sea. The Boeing had made low pass over the pirates’ boat in high seas which forced them out of fear to stop.In the Indian Air Force, women already fly helicopters and transport planes and the first women fighter pilots are under training.Women will also be allowed in the Naval Armament Inspectorate cadre from 2017. Thus, a total of eight branches/cadres will be opened for women officers in the Navy.Several first-time initiatives have been taken by the Navy in the past few months towards empowering women officers. Recognising the importance of providing equal opportunities to women officers, seven women officers from the batch of Short Service Commission officers of the Education branch and Naval Constructor cadre, who joined in 2008-09, have been granted permanent commission.The Navy is also finalising the policy for women officers to serve on select warships that have appropriate facilities for women. A crew of six Naval women officers, including the skipper, is meticulously preparing for the first, all-women, circumnavigation of the world in 2017 by an Indian team, in an indigenously built ocean sailing vessel, Mhadei II.Meanwhile, the Navy commanders’ conference starts tomorrow in New Delhi. It will be inaugurated by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and the entire top brass of the Navy would discuss key issues such as shortage of submarines and naval helicopters.

Permanent commission

• Breaking gender barrier, seven women officers of Short Service Commission batch of 2008-09 have been granted permanent commission by the Navy
• Navy is the last of the three wings of the armed forces in the country to allow permanent commission for women

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 19

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has started the reconstruction of military assets in Jalandhar cantonment that had to be demolished due to the expansion of the National Highway No. 1 passing through the city.The new buildings will replace the ones that had to be removed for paving the way for the highway.The first such building being constructed is the Junior Commissioned Officers Mess of one of the units of the Vajra Corps.“A number of other structures, which are being demolished, will be constructed at appropriate sites in due course of time,” a statement issued here today said.The foundation stone for the reconstruction work was laid today by Major General Sanjiv Bajaj, General Officer Commanding, Jalandhar sub area.The ceremony was attended by a number of senior officials, including Brigadier RPS Sandhu, Station Commander Jalandhar, Kamal Kishore Yadav, Deputy Commissioner, Jalandhar, and Vipin Sharma, Project Director, NHAI.The construction of a security wall by the NHAI is about 65 per cent complete and work is in progress to complete the remaining portion.The work on the NH-1 expansion is likely to commence once the construction of the security wall and guard posts is completed by the NHAI.This will alleviate the problem of traffic congestion at the Rama Mandi Chowk and PAP Chowk.The Army authorities, district administration and the National Highway Authority of India have been working in close coordination to expedite the widening of the national highway and ensuring the security of the cantonment.

ribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 18

The Prakash Singh inquiry commission, appointed by the Haryana Government to look into lapses by officers during the Jat agitation, will now submit its report by month-end.“I will submit the report to the government by April-end. It is taking time given the volume of evidence collected during my visits to arson-hit districts. The report is at the halfway stage. It is, though, gathering momentum,” he told The Tribune.He further said the only copy of the report, which was still being prepared, was with him. “Nobody has access to the content. There is no way it can be known.”Earlier this month, the former IPS officer had hinted at dereliction of duty on the part of officers, resulting in large-scale violence.Having met about 2,500 people during the course of its visits, the commission collected recorded statements, written representations and several videos, besides oral testimonies.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar along with Chinese counterpart General Chang Wanquan inspects the guard of honour at the PLA headquarters in Beijing on Monday. PTI

Beijing, April 18

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today kicked off his first visit here by holding talks with Chinese counterpart Gen Chang Wanquan stating that India attaches highest priority to its relationship with China and is committed to further develop the ties.“India attaches highest priority to relations with China and committed to further developing friendly and cooperative relations with China,” Parrikar told Chang in his opening remarks before the two delegations started the talks.Parrikar was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the headquarters of the Chinese military here by a contingent of PLA soldiers. Welcoming Parrikar, Chang said: “Hope your visit improve strategic mutual trust between the two armed forces.” After his meeting with Chang, Parrikar will hold talks with Gen Fan Changlong, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, (CMC).In Chinese military hierarchy Gen Fan is ranked higher, as CMC is overall head of the 2.3-million-strong People’s Liberation Army (PLA).He is also due to call on Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and visit China’s recently-integrated western command military headquarters in Chengdu which has jurisdiction over entire borders with India.During Parrikar’s talks today with top Chinese military officials, recurring incidents of incursions, implementation of an agreement to reduce tensions between border patrols and Sino-India strategic concerns are expected to figure.While Indian officials said the talks were expected to review the whole gamut of bilateral ties, India’s concerns over aggressive patrolling by Chinese troops especially in the Ladakh sector remains high. China denies any incursions, asserting its troops patrol areas within its territory along the 3,488-km disputed border. The two militaries also have strategic concerns over each other’s military tie-ups with other countries.Ahead of Parrikar’s visit, China hinted that it may take up the recent decision by India to open up military bases to the US for logistics and efforts to conclude a pact to share aircraft sharing technologies. — PTI

Azamgarh (UP), April 17

With rumors amuck of late freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose making an appearance as the mysterious godman Gumnami Baba, Netaji’s driver Colonel Nizamuddin is now set to make headlines by opening a bank account at the ripe old age of 116 years.

According to Colonel Nizamuddin alias Saifuddin’s voter identity card and passport, which he produced as proof of identity before the State bank of India for opening the account, he was born in 1900.

In February this year, a Japanese man, who was believed to be the oldest man alive, passed away at the age of 114.

That way, Colonel Nizamuddin is the oldest human being alive on the planet right now, as he completes 116 years 3 months and 14 days on Sunday.

Another startling aspect is that Colonel Nizamuddin’s wife, Ajbunisha, is 107 years old and the couple has opened a joint account with SBI.

Locals and the district administration were delighted to know about Colonel Nizamuddin amazing feat of being the oldest man alive. They are, in fact, proud of the fact that such an elderly person is part of their neighbourhood. — ANI

Over 300 officers of the Indian Army’s Combat Support arms have moved the Supreme Court over the non-implementation of the promotion policy. The officers claim that new ‘Colonel’ vacancies have not been created. This comes after the SC had directed the Defence Ministry in October last year to create 141 additional posts of ‘Colonel’ for the Combat Support stream.

US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter

New York, April 9

India is a “very influential and powerful player” in the Asia Pacific and is going to play an ever increasingly role in the region, US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter has said on the eve of his visit to India during which “exciting new projects” will be discussed to boost Indo-US strategic ties.

“India is already a very influential and powerful force in the whole Indo Asia Pacific region, starting with the Indian Ocean,” Carter told PTI.

He said that his three-day trip to India, beginning tomorrow, would be an important step in the implementation of some of the key decisions being taken by US President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last two years.

However, Carter remained tight-lipped on the decisions to be taken during his India trip that would take him to Goa and New Delhi.

“We will talk about exciting new projects, the details of which I cannot got into this afternoon,” the Defence Secretary told a New York audience before the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) yesterday for which he specially flew to the Big Apple to give a key policy speech on Asia Pacific.

Obama Administration’s “Asia Pacific rebalance” and Modi Government’s “Act East Asia” is what Carter described to the New York audience as “strategic handshake”, between the two largest democracies of the world.

“Obviously it (India) is going to play an ever-increasing role, a very positive role because of the values it stands (for).., championing of a co-operative approach to security,” Carter said in response to a question.

The Defence Secretary acknowledged that India’s “influence stems all the way around, South East Asia and into East Asia”, and also referred to the close relationship it now has with Japan in the Asia Pacific region.

Carter, who has played a key role in this new phase of India-US defence relationship – which started in his previous capacities at the Pentagon – believes that India-US relationship is destined to be one of the most significant partnerships of the 21^st century.

And his second visit to India, in less than a year, is aimed to realise that, he said.

“It’s (India trip) to take some very important new steps and to implement what the President and the Prime Minister agreed last year and the (defence) framework (agreement) that I signed with Minister Parrikar last year,” Carter said.

Carter said the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI), which was started in 2012 in his previous stint at the Pentagon, “grasps hands” with Modi’s “Make in India” campaign to expand the nation’s industrial and defence base.

“In the area of the DTTI, in the area of joint military exercises and activities, we would have the opportunity in a very tangible and significant way to signify our co-operation,” he said.

Carter said that enhanced co-operation in the maritime security would be another key feature of his India trip.

At the invitation of his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar, Carter would be spending nearly two days in Parrikar’s home town Goa.

“I would be visiting western naval base,” he said, adding that last year he had visited the eastern naval base.

When Parrikar was in the US in December last year, Carter took him to a nuclear-powered air craft career and the two leaders spend nearly one day.

His Goa trip is also expected to be marked by the India visit of USS Blue Ridge.

“The fact that there is a US navy vessel in port at the exact time, nothing could signify better close co-operation between us,” Carter said.

After spending two days in Goa on April 10 and April 11, Carter would fly to New Delhi where among others he would meet Prime Minister Modi and the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

Without going into details, he said the two countries would also be concluding several important agreements, including one on commercial shipping information exchange, which will “make many new things possible” in the future.

“US India relationship has grown incredibly over the past several years. And of course, Secretary Carter takes a strong personal interest in US-India defence relationship,” a senior defense official said, adding that Carter has a close personal relationship with Parrikar.

“That’s why he is going to the Minister’s home town of Goa,” he added.

The US is very interested in exploring the possibilities of co-production of fighter aircrafts and the issue is being discussed with India, the senior defence official said when asked about news reports of talks on manufacturing of fighter jets in India.

India, the official said, has also expressed interest in buying armed drones from the US.

Under the Modi Government, the defence official on condition of anonymity said there has been strong progress in bilateral relationship.

The scope and depth of US-India defence ties has become much stronger, he said in response to a question. — PTI