GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Attari, September 25

Watching the 25-minute Retreat ceremony at the Attari-Wagah Joint check-post (JPC) will be a different experience from Wednesday onwards.

The Director General, BSF, KK Sharma, will inaugurate the expanded version of the spectators’ gallery at the Attari-Wagah JPC on Wednesday.

The revamped gallery offers a comfortable view with its enhanced seating arrangement in a horseshoe shape.

Recently, new gates were installed on both sides of the border to enable the viewers to have a clear glimpse of the ceremony.

Now, the 80-ft Swarn Jyanti Dwar welcomes the visitors. A milestone has been placed near it with “Pakistan Next Step” written on it.

Looking at the ever-growing number of visitors, the Ministry of Home Affairs had sanctioned this project in 2015. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had laid its foundation stone on March 22, 2015, coinciding with the golden jubilee celebrations of the raising of the BSF.

BSF DIG JS Oberoi said earlier, the capacity of the visitors’ gallery was just 5,000 whereas over 10,000 people used to gather on a daily basis. “On special days or weekends, the numbers used to shoot up to 15,000-18,000 and it was difficult for us to accommodate them. So the leftover crowd had to contend by just watching the ceremony on giant screens installed outside. Now, at least 20,000 persons can be accommodated at ease,” he added.

Former Superintending Engineer of the CPWD Nand Lal, under whose supervision the new gallery came up, said it cost around Rs 37 crore, including the new gate. He said It included a conference hall with the latest equipment, lounges, dining space, suites, medical room, public conveniences for men, women and disabled, ample parking area and a control room, along with a sound system, for proper acoustics and a network of CCTV cameras.

“The project has been carried out in five phases and completed in three years and four months despite several constraints. It is a tall and vast structure having fort like architectural features designed by an in-house CPWD team. Even the gate was designed by our team. The sitting steps have been provided flooring with the combination of traditional red and dholepur sand stones. We have also provided a provision for rainwater harvesting, besides a dedicated substation with power back up, audio-video conferencing system, automatic fire alarm and fire-fighting system and energy efficient LED lights,” he added.  Another added attraction is a museum parallel to the gallery.

ribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 26

Less than two months after the Indian Air Force expressed safety and other concerns regarding the Chandigarh international airport, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today ordered interim ban on further construction in a 100-metre area from the boundary wall of the landing field.

A Division Bench of the High Court also made it clear the to Greater Mohali Area Development Authority to carry on with the activity of demolishing illegal structures falling in the area under its jurisdiction. Taking note of GMADA’s assurance that it would issue orders in this regard by Monday, the Bench directed the state of Punjab to provide adequate police force.

The Bench of Chief Justice Krishna Murari and Justice Arun Palli also made the Zirakpur Municipal Corporation a party to the ongoing public interest litigation on making the airport fully operational. It was also directed to initiate action against illegal constructions in accordance with law. The Bench also called for a detailed report on the issue.

Appearing before the Bench, Assistant Solicitor General of India Chetan Mittal said the issue of illegal constructions was being raised since long. He added that the worst affected was Phabat village in Zirakpur, where multi-storeyed buildings were coming up overnight.

Elaborating, Mittal said the height of the airport boundary wall was 11 ft and any structure higher than that was dangerous. Quoting an example, he said a joint survey was carried out after a high-level meeting of all stakeholders was convened by the amicus curiae or the friend of the court, senior advocate ML Sarin. However, the Zirakpur EO did not participate in the process.

Besides, the construction of a building was brought to the Mohali Additional Deputy Commissioner’s notice again and again, initially when it started, again when the first floor was constructed and then when the second floor came up. Taking a serious view of the matter, the Bench verbally asked the EO to seek voluntary retirement.

The Chandigarh Administration, in the meantime, undertook to acquire and pay for 0.6 acre essential for providing the CAT-III facility to enable landing during poor visibility. The Bench, during the course of the hearing, was informed that major deadlines for pending works had been fixed following the meeting convened by senior advocate Sarin. The Bench was told that the work on resurfacing and extension of the airport would be completed by March 31 next year.

The work on completing lighting and installation of the CAT-II facility, too, would be over by that date. Tata Power SED, the company involved in the installation of the CAT-II system, has also been made a party for furnishing the requisite undertaking regarding the completion of work.

Multi-storeyed buildings at Phabat

• Appearing before the Bench, Assistant Solicitor General of India Chetan Mittal said the issue of illegal and unauthorised constructions was being raised since long. He said Phabat village in Zirakpur was the worst affected, where multi-storeyed buildings were coming up overnight. He said the height of the airport boundary wall was 11 ft and any structure higher than that was dangerous

Congress president Rahul Gandhi addressing a press conference on Rafale deal at AICC headquarters in New Delhi on Saturday. Tribune photo: Manas Ranjan Bhui

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 22

Congress president Rahul Gandhi Saturday said there was “clear-cut” corruption in the Rafale deal and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clear his position on the issue.

Gandhi’s blistering attack on Modi during a press conference came a day after former French president Francois Hollande was quoted as saying that the Indian government proposed Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence as Dassault Aviation’s Indian partner in the Rs 58,000 crore Rafale jet fighter deal.

The prime minister must clear his stand on the Rafale deal after Hollande’s remarks, he said.

“Why is the prime minister silent? It is a matter related to defence forces, it is a matter related to corruption,” he said.

He also claimed that various defence ministers of the NDA government have been lying to protect Modi.

Gandhi demanded a joint parliamentary committee probe and Hollande can also be called.

“We are absolutely convinced that the prime minister is corrupt… He must clarify,” Gandhi said.

“It is very important for the prime minister now to either accept Mr. Hollande’s statement or state that Mr. Hollande is lying and tell what the truth is,” he said.

‘Surgical strikes’

Taking to Twitter earlier in the day, Gamdhi called Reliance Defence’s involvement in the deal “surgical strike” on the country’s defence forces.

“The PM and Anil Ambani jointly carried out a One Hundred & Thirty Thousand Crore SURGICAL STRIKE on the Indian Defence forces. Modi Ji you dishonoured the blood of our martyred soldiers. Shame on you. You betrayed India’s soul,” Gandhi tweeted.

The report in ‘Mediapart’, a French language publication, quoted Hollande as saying recently: “It was the Indian government that proposed this service group, and Dassault which negotiated with Ambani. We had no choice; we took the interlocutor who was given to us”.

Modi had announced the procurement of a batch of 36 Rafale jets after holding talks with then French president Hollande on April 10, 2015, in Paris. The opposition party has been accusing the government of choosing Reliance Defence over state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd to benefit the private firm even though it didn’t have any experience in the aerospace sector.

Hollande’s remarks contradict the central government’s stand that Dassault chose Reliance Defence as an Indian partner to fulfil its offset obligations and that the establishment had nothing to do with it. With PTI

(From left) Lt-Commander Pratibha Jamwal, Lieutenant S Vijaya Devi, Lieutenant Payal Gupta and Lt-Commander Swati P, the crew of INS Tarini, India’s first all-women circumnavigation expedition of the globe, pose on the concluding day of the ISB Leadership Summit 2018 in Mohali on Saturday. A Tribune photograph

At home in sea, these voyagers sail to see the world

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 8

On the directive of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, the Punjab government has declared a gazetted public holiday on the occasion of ‘First Parkash Purab of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji’ (installation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji in Sri Harmandir Sahib in 1604) on September 10, Monday.

Disclosing this here, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s Office said that all the offices of Punjab government, boards, corporations and educational institutions would remain closed on the occasion. This holiday was earlier included in the state’s list of restricted holidays.

New Delhi, September 4

Any case of moral turpitude and corruption would be dealt with sternly, Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat said on Tuesday, referring to Major Leetul Gogoi, who was found guilty of “fraternising” with a local woman at a Srinagar hotel.

Gen Rawat said action would be taken against Maj Gogoi in keeping with his guilt.

“I had clearly said that any case of moral turpitude and corruption will be dealt with in a very stern manner. The Court of Inquiry has recommended that we should go in for courtmartial proceedings.

“If it is related to moral turpitude, then we will take action accordingly. If it is something else, the punishment will be (according) to the crime he has committed,” Gen Rawat told reporters in New Delhi in response to a question on Maj Gogoi.

Last month, an Army Court of Inquiry indicted Maj Gogoi for “fraternising” with a local woman at a Srinagar hotel and being away from his place of duty.

Maj Gogoi was detained by police in May following an altercation when he was allegedly trying to enter a Srinagar hotel with the 18-year-old woman.

Last year, the officer was at the centre of a human shield row after his decision to tie a civilian to the bonnet of his vehicle in Kashmir, purportedly as a shield against stone-pelters during polling in the Srinagar Lok Sabha by-election.

He was honoured by Gen Rawat with the Army chief’s Commendation Card for his sustained efforts in counter-insurgency operations. PTI

New Delhi, August 29

As Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Arun Jaitley engage in a social media war about India’s purchase of 36 combat jets from France for an estimated Rs 58,000 crore, here’s an explainer to help understand what the agreement was.

What is Rafale?

Rafale is a French twin-engine multi-role fighter jet designed and built by Dassault Aviation. The Rafale jets are considered one of the most potent combat jets globally.

The UPA deal

India began the process to buy a fleet of 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) in 2007 after the Defence Ministry, headed then by Congress leader AK Antony, cleared the proposal from the Indian Air Force.

The contenders for the mega deal were Lockheed Martin’s F-16s, Eurofighter Typhoon, Russia’s MiG-35, Sweden’s Gripen, Boeing’s F/A-18s and Dassault Aviation’s Rafale.

After a long process, bids were opened in December 2012 and Dassault Aviation emerged as L-1 (lowest bidder). In the original proposal, 18 planes were to be manufactured in France and 108 in India in collaboration with the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

There were lengthy negotiations between the then UPA government and Dassault on prices and transfer of technology. The final negotiations continued till early 2014 but the deal could not go through.

Details of the negotiated price per Rafale were not officially announced, but it was suggested by the then UPA government that the size of the deal would be $10.2 billion. The Congress claimed per aircraft rate including avionics and weapons was zeroed in at Rs 526 crore (As per Euro exchange rates prevailing then).

The NDA deal

During his visit to France, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 10 announced India would purchase 36 Rafale jets in a government-to-government agreement.  After the announcement, questions were raised by the Opposition on how the prime minister finalised the deal without approval of the Cabinet Committee on Security.

A joint statement issued on April 10, 2015, after talks between Modi and then French President François Hollande, said they agreed to conclude an Inter-Governmental Agreement for supply of 36 Rafale jets on terms that would be better than conveyed by Dassault Aviation as part of a separate process underway.

The statement said the “aircraft and associated systems and weapons would be delivered on the same configuration as had been tested and approved by Indian Air Force, in clear reference to negotiations and testing process for the Rafale jets under the UPA government.

The final deal

India and France signed Euro 7.87-billion (Rs 59,000 crore approximately) deal on September 23, 2016, for 36 Rafale jets. The delivery of the aircraft will start from September 2019.

The deal was finalised on the basis of the procurement procedure followed under the UPA government.

The allegations

The Congress has been accusing massive irregularities in the deal, alleging that the government was procuring each aircraft at a cost of over Rs 1,670 crore as against the UPA’sRs 526 crore. The party has also demanded answers from the government on why state-run aerospace major HAL was not involved in the deal.

The Congress has also sought to know price details of the aircraft and how the rate per aircraft has gone up from Rs 526 crore to Rs 1,670 crore. The government has refused to share the details, citing a secrecy clause of a 2008 pact between India and France.

Congress’ AK Antony, who was defence minister in 2008 when India and France inked an inter-governmental agreement on defence procurement, said the government’s claim that the secrecy clause was forcing it to not reveal price details of the deal was “totally wrong”.

The party claimed that Qatar had purchased 12 Rafale fighter jets in November 2017 for $108.33 million per aircraft (Rs 694.80 crore).

The Congress has also alleged the government was benefiting the Reliance Defence Ltd (RDL) through the deal as the company has set up a joint venture with Dassault Aviation to execute the offset obligation for the Rs 59,000 crore deal.

The party has claimed that Reliance Defence was instituted merely 12 days before the announcement of the Rafale deal on April 10, 2015. The RDL has rejected all the charges.

Under India’s offset policy, foreign defence entities are mandated to spend at least 30 per cent of the total contract value in India through procurement of components or setting up of research and development facilities.

On October 3, 2016, RDL and Dassault Aviation announced a joint venture (JV) in the aerospace sector, and a year later, foundation stone of a manufacturing facility was laid in Mihan, Nagpur.

Government’s response

Minister of State for Defence, while replying to a question in Parliament two years ago, had said the cost of each Rafale aircraft is approximately Rs 670 crore but did not give details of prices of associated equipment, weapons and services.

Later, the government refused to talk about the prices. It has been maintaining that the cost of 36 Rafale jets cannot be “directly compared” with the original proposal to buy 126 combat aircraft because the “deliverables” were significantly different.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley wrote a Facebook post on Monday, accusing Congress and its leader Rahul Gandhi of “peddling untruth” and carrying out a “false campaign” on the deal. He said the deal signed by the NDA government was on better terms than the one agreed to in 2007 under the UPA regime. PTI

Islamabad, August 20

Pakistan’s new Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday extended the hand of friendship to India soon after taking oath by offering “uninterrupted” dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues, saying it is the “only wise course” as the two countries could not afford any “adventurism”.After the swearing-in ceremony at the President House, Qureshi went to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and addressed media.Qureshi was the foreign minister from 2008 to 2011 under the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) government when the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks took place. He was in New Delhi when 10 Pakistan-based LeT terrorists attacked India’s financial capital.The new foreign minister said Pakistan wanted to rebuild ties with eastern and western neighbours and create peace in the region.He said Pakistan wanted to resolve all issues with India through talks. “We need a continued uninterrupted dialogue. It is the only wise course for us,” he said.  The India-Pakistan ties nose-dived in recent years with no bilateral talks taking place.The ties between the two countries had strained after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based groups in 2016 and India’s surgical strikes inside Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The sentencing of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav to death by a military court in April last year further deteriorated bilateral ties.Qureshi, the vice president of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, on Monday said External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj sent a letter on Sunday to congratulate Prime Minister Imran Khan and mentioned about talks to resolve issues.“I welcome her letter,” he said.“I want to say to Indian Foreign Minister that we are not only neighbours but also nuclear powers. We have old issues and we both know what these issues are. We need to address these issues,” he said.Qureshi said the two countries could not afford any adventurism due to close proximity.“We cannot afford any adventurism as response time is so short. The only option is to engage with each other. We cannot live in enmity and we have to accept that there are outstanding issues,” he said.He said Kashmir is an issue and both countries knew about it.He said former prime minsiter Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Lahore and Islamabad and recognised the reality of Pakistan and the issue of Kashmir. “Whether we wish or not, Kashmir is an issue and both countries have recognised it. In my opinion there is no option other than talks to resolve it,” he said.Prime Minister Khan in his maiden address to the nation on Sunday said Pakistan would hold talks with all its neighbours to normalise ties as without it peace could not be brought in the country.Earlier, in his address after leading his party to victory in the general elections on July 25, Khan had said that Pakistan is ready to improve its ties with India and his government would like the leaders of the two sides to resolve all disputes, including the “core issue” of Kashmir, through talks.“If they take one step towards us, we will take two, but at least (we) need a start,” he had said.Talking about Afghanistan, Qureshi said he would make a phone call to the foreign minister of Afghanistan and also visit Kabul with a “solid message” that both countries had same destiny. “There will be no peace in Pakistan without peace in Afghanistan,” he said.“I want to tell people of Afghanistan to understand each other’s problems and bilaterally try to resolve all issues,” he said. Talking about relations with the US, he said there is trust deficit between the two countries but Pakistan wanted to have good ties based on its interests. Qureshi said the foreign policy of the new government would be based on interests of Pakistan and it could be fine-tuned according to the needs of the nation.He said that priority of Pakistan’s foreign policy would be “how we can change lives of common people through economic diplomacy”.“We will try to change lives of people through socio-economic development,” he said.He said there are enormous local and regional challenges but “we want to make progress on these issues”.“Some forces have been trying to isolate the country but it will not happen now,” he said.He said his government would build national consensus on foreign affairs. “I will follow bipartisan approach on the issues of foreign policy.”He announced that he would invite Opposition leaders for consultations before the next month’s UN General Assembly session. PTI

Our Correspondent

Chamba, August 16

Himachal Pradesh was also known as Veer Bhoomi. Keeping in view the contribution of the paramilitary forces for the country, the state government had taken a decision to give employment to the kin of martyrs of the paramilitary forces on compassionate ground at par with the Army. This was said by Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Virender Kanwar while presiding over the district-level Independence Day celebrations at the historic Chowgan here on Wednesday.The minister unfurled the national flag and took salute of the march-past presented by the contingents of police, home guards and NCC cadets.Speaking further, the minister said that the state government had enhanced the honorarium of representatives of the panchayati raj institutions.The government had also enhanced the mandays under MNREGA from 100 to 120 days.He said the government was according priority to the welfare of minorities. The Chief Minister had recently launched Minorities Welfare Scheme in the state.The minister awarded Dr Sanjeev Suri, Principal of Rising Star School, Chamba, in recognition of his services in the field of education.The minister also gave away prizes to the participants of cultural performances and others.