Defence Ministry also said that CBI and Enforcement Directorate are vigorously pursuing all aspects of the investigation, including the arrest and extradition of three alleged middlemen of the AgustaWestland deal.

Defence Ministry said it was the NDA, on July 3, 2014, that had actually put on hold all procurement and acquisition cases in the pipeline of six companies involved in the VVIP chopper scam. (PTI Photo)

Noting that the core issue in the VVIP chopper scam was corruption, the Defence Ministry on Thursday said the government will leave no stone unturned in pursuing all means to bring to justice the corrupt and the wrong-doers in this case.

Refuting the Congress claims that the Anglo-Italian helicopter maker AgustaWestland was blacklisted by the UPA government, it said it was the NDA, on July 3, 2014, that had actually put on hold all procurement and acquisition cases in the pipeline of six companies involved in the VVIP chopper scam.

It also said that CBI and Enforcement Directorate are vigorously pursuing all aspects of the investigation, including the arrest and extradition of three alleged middlemen of the deal — Carlo Gerosa, Guido Haschke Ralph and Christian Michel James.

“Publicly available information on the procurement of AgustaWestland helicopters clearly shows that the core issue in the matter is corruption. The present government has taken effective action to bring out the truth and will leave no stone unturned in pursuing all means to bring to justice the corrupt and the wrong-doers in this case,” a statement released by the ministry said.

It said the time taken is largely because some of the key perpetrators of this “misdeed” are outside the country.

In certain quarters, questions have been raised on certain trivial technicalities, which appear to be intended to distract attention from the core issue of corruption, it said.

The ministry said that the contract for supply of 12 helicopters signed with AgustaWestland International Ltd (AWIL) on February 8, 2010 was terminated with effect from January 1, 2014.

“The main reason was breach of the provisions of the Pre-Contract Integrity Pact and breach of terms of contract by AWIL. However, the company was not debarred by the said order. Various bonds and bank guarantees were invoked.

“It is the present government which through its order dated July 3, 2014, put on hold all procurement/acquisition cases in the pipeline of six companies figuring in the FIR registered by the CBI. No new capital procurement has been made thereafter from these companies in the tenure of the present government,” the statement said.

The said companies are AgustaWestland International Ltd, Finmeccanica, Italy and its group of companies, including subsidiaries and affiliates, IDS, Tunisia, Infotech Design System (IDS), Mauritius, IDS Infotech Ltd, Mohali and Aeromatrix Info Solution Pvt. Ltd, Chandigarh.

On the Congress allegation that the NDA gave clearance to a joint venture involving AgustaWestland through the Foreign Investment Promotion Board, the ministry said this proposal was approved on September 2, 2011 based on an application by Indian Rotorcraft Ltd, a joint venture of Tata Sons with AgustaWestland NV, Netherlands.

“This was later changed to AgustaWestland S.p.A, Italy due to re-organisation within the group. On February 7, 2012, an industrial licence for the manufacture of helicopters was granted by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion to Indian Rotorcraft Ltd. However, the validity of the licence has since expired,” it said.

On the “core issue of corruption”, it said the two agencies concerned, namely CBI and Enforcement Directorate, are vigorously pursuing all aspects of the investigation, including the arrests and/or extradition of the three foreign nationals.

“Red Corner Notices were issued in December 2015 and January 2016 through Interpol under Prevention of Money Laundering Act and Prevention of Corruption Act. Extradition request has also been made for Christian Michel James. One of the agencies (Enforcement Directorate) has arrested an Indian national and attached approximately Rs 11 crore of property belonging to Indian nationals and to Christian Michel James,” it said.

Congress had on Tuesday claimed that AgustaWestland was blacklisted by the UPA dispensation but “removed” from the blacklist by the Modi government.

Congress leader and former Union minister Anand Sharma had said, “The chopper deal was scrapped. Action was taken by the UPA government. A K Antony, the then Defence Minister, had made a statement in Parliament and AgustaWestland was blacklisted.”

NEW DELHI: For the first time, the Indian Army chief and his counterparts in the IAF and the Navy will draw more salary than the top general and equivalent in the US based on purchasing power parity (PPP) terms when the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission are implemented.
A comparison drawn by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA), a defence ministry think tank, on the pay packets of Army chiefs and equivalent in the US, the UK and India said a general and equivalent in the US was paid $181,500 per annum (in PPP terms). The salary in the UK for similar ranks was $269,868. In India, the three services chiefs, who enjoy pay equivalent to the Cabinet secretary, received $140,520.

If the recommendations of the 7th pay panel are implemented, the Indian Army chief’s annual salary will jump to $189,482 (in PPP terms), almost $8,000 more than what a general and equivalent ranks draw in the US. The huge salary hikes will apply equally to civilian officers too.

The purchasing power parity conversion factor, used worldwide to compare income levels in different countries, is “the number of units of a country’s currency required to buy the same amounts of goods and services in the domestic market as a dollar would buy in the US”.

These conclusions are, however, equally applicable to civilian employees of the government who are similarly placed. The pay panel’s analysis did not take into account the augmentation of pay being recommended by the 7th CPC.

The IDSA, an autonomous institution funded by the government, was in 2015 commissioned by the Pay Commission to study how well the military and the generals were paid.

Shyam Sood

Rajouri, April 26

The Army has apprehended two ISI agents in Rajouri district soon after they crossed the Line of Control and entered Indian territory on Sunday.Alert personnel of the Nowshera Brigade apprehended the two ISI agents from the Line of Control in the Lam-Jhangar area.They were identified as 30-year-old S Hassan and 18-year-old H Ali, residents of Sazarkot in the Khuiratta tehsil of Kotli district in PoK.“Both the persons arrested are hardcore agents of the ISI. They were sent to the Lam-Jhangar sector on a recce for a possible infiltration attempt,” said an official source. He added both agents were detected via surveillance equipment and allowed to enter Indian territory they were arrested by the soldiers.During their sustained interrogation, they admitted links with the ISI and reportedly informed the interrogators that they had visited the area in the past as well.Sources added that both agents were testing Indian defence deployment in the area and looking for a possible weak point to push terrorists into the state.Lt Col Manish Mehta, PRO Defence, admitted the Army had apprehended two PoK residents who had trespassed from Nowshera sector and were handed over to the police for further action.“The Army has neither shared information about the arrests of two PoK nationals nor handed them over to us. It is not feasible to share any information at this stage,” said Rajouri SSP Rajeshwar Singh.

New Delhi: The Indian Army is conducting a massive exercise ‘Shatrujeet’ in the Thar desert near to the border with Pakistan to fine-tune its proactive war strategy to respond swiftly to any threat to nation’s security.
As per a report in The Times of India, the exercise is being steered by the 1 Corps – one of the three principle `strike corps of the Indian Army` – based in Mathura near Delhi.Several infantry, armoured and artillery fomations are taking part in the operations being conducted under a simulated nuclear, biological, chemical warfare environment. Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag will review the final phase of the exercise.

The exercise is o critical importance for the Indian Army as Pakistan has often flaunted its 60-km Hatf-IX missiles as a counter to India’s conventional military superiority. Shatrujeet aims to fine-tune the strategy to tackle the threat.

The TOI quotes a defence expert as saying, “Pakistan might be foolish enough to talk about tactical nukes as weapons but India’s no-first-use nuclear policy is clear. It warns of a massive and harsh retaliation to any first NBC strike by an adversary, be it tactical or strategic.”

To add teeth to the strategy, the Shatrujeet exercise will also see major airborne operations, including para-dropping of around 3,000 soldiers.

Villagers in South Kashmir’s Karimabad and Gudoora are up in arms against the army and blamed them for vandalizing and desecrating the graveyard at Karimabad village

A police vehicle was set on fire in Karimabad on Thursday. (Source: AP)

Villagers in South Kashmir’s Karimabad and Gudoora are up in arms against the army and blamed them for vandalizing and desecrating the graveyard at Karimabad village where militants who were killed on Thursday are buried.

Army, however, denied the allegations and termed it as a ploy to malign the image of the army by separatists.

On Thursday after killing two militants at Vehil Shopian, the villagers intercepted the police bulletproof vehicle at Muran chowk in which body of a militant was being carried. The villagers hijacked the vehicle and later set it on fire while the body of militant Naseer Ahmad Pandit who was a former police constable turned militant was buried in the graveyard of his native village Karimabad.

The villagers alleged that the army at night came to the village and took away the damaged vehicle and also vandalized the graveyard and desecrated the graves. “This has been done by the army and their agents who are not happy with the participation of huge number of people in the militant funerals,’’ a villager alleged.

Even some villagers alleged that they (army) also damaged an apple orchard in the neighborhood of the graveyard.

On social networking sites, many people reacted on the desecration of the graveyard and termed it as an inhuman act and circulated the pictures of the graveyard. “After yesterday’s (Friday) massive participation in the funeral of Naseer & Waseem in South Kashmir, the desecration of the martyr’s graveyard perhaps by frustrated Indian army only reiterates that our revolutionaries even after death haunt the Indian army. This growing insecurity of India on Kashmir is encouraging,’’ Khurram Parvez, a human rights activist wrote on the face book.

Army on its part strongly termed these allegations as baseless and said the story has been cooked up by separatists with an obvious intent to malign the fair image of the army.

“The Indian Army, during the Kargil conflict, had given a befitting and honorable military burial to even Pakistani soldiers. Desecrating the ‘graves’ of our own youth even if they are misguided is unimaginable for a disciplined force with a proven track record in displaying due dignity to the adversary during and after combat,’’ the army spokesman said adding that such irresponsible allegations are only indicative of intellectual bankruptcy of ignorant and ill informed minds.

– See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/shopian-encounter-villagers-blame-army-for-vandalising-graveyard-where-militants-are-buried/#sthash.xyaO5hmz.dpuf

Ravi Krishnan Khajuria

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 7

At its recruitment rallies in the state, the Army has been relying on different stages of verification and character certificate to check youth with separatist sentiment, or shady past, from donning the olive green.While the Army’s recruitment rallies have been evoking overwhelming response from youths of the state, in recent times there have been instances of some BSF personnel (serving and retired) spying for Pakistan in the state.However, the response to such rallies could be gauged from the fact that 42,868 candidates had registered themselves for one a rally that started at Samba on April 2.The Delhi Police Crime Branch, in November last year, had arrested a BSF head constable and a Rajouri-based resident on charges of leaking sensitive information to Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).However, a Defence official said, “There is an in-built mechanism in the Army to monitor every single recruit. Instead of being apprehensive, we should appreciate the state-centric recruitment rallies.”While the Army has plans to conduct two more recruitment rallies in Bandipora and Anantnag in Kashmir region, Deputy Director General Recruiting (Punjab and J&K) Brigadier JS Samyal had said at Samba that candidates proceed to the final stage of selection only after proper verification.“Candidates have to go through different stages of verification and are required to submit a character certificate from the police. Hence, there are no possibilities of such incidents,” Brigadier Samyal had said. The Army has been conducting these recruitment rallies across the state to ameliorate socio-economic condition of unemployed youth of the state.