Jammu, February 24

Amid a growing controversy over Article 35A hearing and tension in the state, the Jammu and Kashmir Government today said it wanted the case to be adjourned in the Supreme Court.

The clarification comes at a time when there is buzz across the state that Article 35A may be scrapped.

“It is already in the public domain that the J&K Government had sought adjournment of hearing on February 11 till an elected government is in place. We stand by that today as well,” said Rohit Kansal, government spokesman.

After the February 14 Pulwama terror attack, unusual events have gripped the state. The government has inducted 100 companies of Central paramilitary forces, ordered stocking up of essential commodities and asked health institutions to remain prepared for any eventuality.

The government said forces had been inducted in view of polls and stocking was being done as the NH remained closed for several days. — TNS

Goa Shipyard Chairman and Managing Director Commodore B B Nagpal said launching of the vessel within two years of laying the keel is a significant achievement.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 21 asked public sector defence undertakings in India to look at the world as a market for their products.

She was speaking at Vasco town after launching a Coast Guard offshore patrol vessel (OPV) of the Goa Shipyard Limited, a public sector undertaking.

“I want not just the Goa Shipyard but every defence public sector undertaking to look at manufacturing of international class. Not just look at your captive market like the defence forces, but look at world as a market which you need to reach out to and compete globally,” she said.

Internationally there is an immense interest in buying defence products like the OPVs from India, she said.

Many overseas clients have shown an interest in buying from India, the minister said.

“I want the management (of defence PSUs) together with experts to capture those markets which are appreciative of your work. If they are appreciative of your work, half the work is done. You need to go and negotiate,” she said.

“You should have the confidence to get up and say that there is a market and can the government help us to get there and get it. You are capable of producing more. Please put on that attitude to say that we are able to compete globally and help us in that,” the minister said, adding, “We will still support you.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call is not just to Make in India but also to export, the minister said. “The PM is looking at India as a manufacturing hub,” she said.

Coast Guard Director General Rajendra Singh said launching of the OPV is essential considering the ever dynamic security scenario.

“The presence of Indian Coast Guard addresses twin objectives of deterrence and reassurance,” he said. The Yard 1233 ship isa new generation OPV equipped with sophisticated sensors and equipment. It is also capable of operating a light combat helicopter,” Singh said.

Goa Shipyard Chairman and Managing Director Commodore B B Nagpal said launching of the vessel within two years of laying the keel is a significant achievement.

The ‘Sachet’ vessel is the first of five such OPVs being built by the yard. The project of constructing the five OPVs for was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2016.

The OPV will be assigned the work of patrolling and policing Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), an official said.

The vessel is 105 metre long and has a displacement of 2,350 tonnes at full load and an endurance of 600 nautical miles. A team of 14 officers will be commanding it with a crew of 133 personnel.

The Indian Air Force is ever ready for an appropriate response as assigned by the political leadership, says Air Force Chief BS Dhanoa, two days post the Pulwama attacks wherein over 40 Central Reserve Police Reserve (CRPF) personnel were martyred.

“The IAF is ever prepared to deliver an appropriate response as assigned by our political leadership. It will always remain at the forefront in executing its missions,” said Dhanoa at the launch of the Vayu Shakti exercise, reported NDTV.

Furthermore, he said he wished to assure the people of this country of the capability of the Indian Air Force.

In the Vayu Shakti exercise, around 140 fighter jets, helicopters and a large range of missiles were used by the IAF in the fire power demonstration near the India-Pakistan border.

According to top IAF sources, the Vayu Shakti exercise was pre-planned and the drill was a demonstration of the force’s capability to hit targets with “pinpoint accuracy.”

The Congress has also reacted to Navjot Sidhu’s comment, saying people in public life must speak speak, act, express, totally in sync with and in keeping with the public sentiment.

Mr Sidhu, who calls himself a friend of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, was slammed by the opposition after he said that an entire nation cannot be blamed for the act committed by terrorists.

Amarinder Singh said Mr Sidhu’s intentions were not “anti-national”.

“Sidhu was a cricketer while I was a soldier, and both have different viewpoints on things,” he was quoted by news agency IANS as saying.

“Sidhu does not understand defence intricacies and had possibly reacted out of friendly motive,” he added.

Mr Sidhu and Amarinder Singh, though colleagues in the Punjab government, are world apart as far as views on dealing with Pakistan are concerned. Their opinions differed when Mr Sidhu had gone to Pakistan for the inauguration of the Kartarpur Sahib corridor. Mr Singh had said that he had asked Mr Sidhu to reconsider visiting the country.

“Sidhu told me he had already committed himself to going. When I informed him of the stand I had taken on the issue, he said it was his personal visit but he would get back to me. But I did not hear from him,” Mr Singh had said.

While Mr Sidhu defended his comments today, saying that terrorism had no community, Mr Singh took a more aggressive stance on the Pulwama attack as he said for every soldier killed, security forces must kill two terrorists.

“We should get 82 of them since 41 of our men have been killed,” said Captain Singh, who was an army officer before joining politics. He demanded an “eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”.

Over 40 soldiers were killed last week when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed a vehicle carrying explosives into their bus in Pulwama.

India has exerted diplomatic and trade pressure on Pakistan, by scrapping the Most Favoured Nation tag to the country, and enhancing duty on goods imported from there.

The Congress has also reacted to Mr Sidhu’s statement, saying nobody had the freedom to cross the limits.

“There is of course complete freedom of speech in this country, but everybody especially in public life, a ”karyakarta” or otherwise, owes it to himself and to the nation to speak, act, express, totally in sync with and in keeping with the public sentiment,” party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi was quoted by PTI as saying.

“I don’t think anyone of us have that freedom to cross the limits of that sentiment and that is a matter of self imposed discipline and maturity which I am sure each one of us must and will practice,” he added.

The Rafale tender stole the political thunder in the Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s (CAG) assessment of 11 capital acquisitions by the Indian Air Force over a time period that spanned both the UPA and Modi governments. Considering that previous CAG reports on coal and 2G had irrevocably damaged the credibility of the UPA government, the Modi government can consider itself fortunate to have escaped unscathed because of the inventiveness of the auditors. The CAG used a never-used formula (called alignment pricing) to declare the Modi tender cheaper than the UPA era’s now-cancelled 126 aircraft bid. An audit basically evaluates four criteria in a defence platform: quality, cost-effectiveness, delivery and objectivity. The CAG report gives conditional thumbs up on only two: cost-effectiveness and the delivery schedule. Even these are up for debate.

But the benchmark of objectivity, which includes intangibles such as transparency, fair play and integrity, stands in a grey zone. For instance, the comparison of UPA and NDA-era prices on the basis of a French index is debatable when payments are made in dollars. A dissent note alleging parallel negotiations (dismissed by then Defence Minister Parrikar as an overreaction) went unchallenged, while there was just a mild rap for not signing an integrity pact and succumbing to French refusal on opening an Escrow account. The Modi government was also easily let off the hook for failing to respond to a 20 per cent price cut by a Rafale competitor. Who knows whether Rafale would have still played tough if it had not been the single vendor.

Rafale was one of the 11 purchases studied by CAG and the common tale that emerges is of overambitious services whose requirements are frequently changed, leading to several vendors dropping out; the contract negotiations committee that rarely establishes the benchmark price, which, in turn, makes it difficult to establish the reasonability of the price. Complex and multi-level approval processes further add to the delays. Overall, the existing capital acquisition system is unlikely to effectively support the IAF in its war preparedness and modernisation.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh and J&K DGP Dilbag Singh carry the coffin of a slain CRPF jawan during a wreath-laying ceremony in Budgam on Friday. Twitter/PTI

Srinagar, February 15

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday helped carry the coffin of a slain CRPF jawan after he laid a wreath on the mortal remains of the troops, who were killed in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

Shortly after arriving from Delhi, the Home Minister attended a solemn function here where the remains of 40 CRPF personnel were kept in coffins, draped with Tricolour.

Singh helped carry the coffin of a slain CRPF jawan before it was flown out of Jammu and Kashmir in a special aircraft, an official present at the function said.

The Home Minister, Governor Satya Pal Malik, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, CRPF Director-General R R Bhatnagar, Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbagh Singh besides others attended the wreath-laying ceremony.

“The nation will not forget the supreme sacrifice of our brave CRPF jawans. I have paid my last respects to the martyrs of Pulwama. The sacrifice will not go in vain,” Singh said.

The dignitaries stood in silence till the coffins were loaded in a truck which went to the Srinagar airport, the official said.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.

The bus was part of a convoy of 78 vehicles CRPF travelling from Jammu to Srinagar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said those responsible for the attack will pay “a very heavy price” and security forces will be given a free hand to deal with terrorists.

In a hard-hitting speech, Modi said the “blood of the people is boiling” and forces behind the act of terrorism will be definitely be punished. PTI

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A senior officer says on condition of anonymity that these clauses have not been there in any Inter-Governmental Agreements in last three decades.

Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 30

Army Public School (APS), Ratnuchak, on Wednesday celebrated its annual day with enthusiasm on the school premises. Officers of Military Station, Ratnuchak, and other dignitaries were present on the occasion.

The function commenced with the lighting of the lamp followed by hoisting of the national flag. The annual report of the school was presented by Principal Sonal Sharma.

Colourful cultural items were presented by students to mark the occasion. The meritorious students of Classes X and XII were awarded commendation certificates.