Tribune News Service

Mandi, August 11

An Indian Air Force car-cum-bike rally for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan reached Manali on Saturday.Participants of the rally also distributed dustbins and pamphlets to people to encourage them for cleanliness.The rally is being headed by Air Vice-Marshal AK Singh. He said the rally began from Delhi via Manali to Leh and Thoise on August 10, which will culminate on August 24. During that period, it will cover 2,372-km distance.He said the objective of the rally was to promote the Prime Minister’s noble mission of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. It aimed at spreading awareness among tourists and locals to maintain cleanliness in the mountain and make these garbage-free zones.The team has planned to collect garbage for its disposal at the designated places. It is also planned to carry out cleanliness campaign at Leh and Thoise.

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, August 11

The Maharashtra government has fast-tracked the setting up of a defence equipment manufacturing cluster at the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the Multi-modal International Cargo Hub and Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN).

According to state government sources, the cluster which will generate 50,000 jobs have already drawn interest from prominent investors and defence contractors. Earlier this week, the government allotted 20 acres of land for the project. Officials said work on the project will begin immediately.

The Vidarbha Defence Industrial Hub, a special purpose vehicle will construct the manufacturing unit at sector 10 in MIHAN where the cluster is coming up, according to state government sources. The
initial investment involved has been estimated at around Rs 235 cr.

Tata Technologies Ltd, a Tata group company, which will be investing Rs 70 cr in a project here to impart skills to personnel who would be absorbed by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Imparting of specialized training for technicians who will be employed at the defence cluster has already begun and they will be absorbed when the first units are set up in a year’s time, according to
sources.

MIHAN is a mega industrial project spread over 4,300 hectares and was inaugurated 15 years ago.

A few defence and aviation-related industries are already located at MIHAN. Apart from Air India’s MRO and Reliance Dassault Aerospace Park, there are many smaller defence establishments here and the government is hopeful of attracting more companies in this field, officials said.

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 5

The Anti-Terrorist Front will file a PIL in the Supreme Court to ascertain whether Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale is a martyr.ATF chief Veeresh Shandilya said politics was being done in the name of Bhindranwale. He said the ATF and the Shri Hindu Takht would file a PIL in the apex court to seek a clarification on the issue.He urged Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to set up a museum in Shimla in memory of 52 Kargil martyrs from the state. He urged the government to provide a financial assistance of Rs 50 lakh to next of kin of martyrs and a government job to a dependent.Paying homage to Vijay Kumar from Bilaspur who was killed during an encounter with militants in Jammu and Kashmir, he said his widow should be appointed as a head constable with immediate effect.

Tribune News Service

Ropar, July 31

Ropar MP Prem Singh Chandumajra has said the Army’s proposed Selection Centre (North) would not be shifted from here to Jalandhar. Recently, media reports stated that the Army was mulling to shift the proposed centre to Jalandhar citing many reasons, including poor rail and road connectivity, lack of military hospital and no army unit in vicinity to provide inherent security to the centre.Chandumajra said Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had assured him that the centre would be set up at Ropar only.

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 31

While intake of officers into the armed forces from Punjab has witnessed an encouraging trend over the past few years, there has been a consistent decline in the number of officers from the state getting selected into the Air Force at the graduate level.In 2013-14, as many as 35 graduate candidates from Punjab joined the IAF for pre-commission training, which has come down to just three in 2017-18, according to data compiled by the state government in June.The number of such candidates joining IAF academies was 27 in 2014-15; 26 in 2015-16; and 16 in 2016-17. These figures are based on the claims received for the grant of Rs 1 lakh that the Punjab Government gives to every person from the state who joins a service training academy. This does not include intake into the tri-service National Defence Academy at the 10+2 level, where some cadets later opt for the Air Force. The Air Force, having an authorised strength of 12,581 officers, including women, faces a shortage of 206 officers. At 1.6 per cent, this shortage is the lowest compared to 12 per cent for the Navy and 15 in the Army.Even as there are several factors that determine selection in the armed forces, experts seem unable to pinpoint the reasons for the sudden decline in graduate selections in the IAF from Punjab.According to a serving IAF officer, the medical parameters for the Air Force, especially the flying branch, are more exacting and stringent than the Army, which results in higher number of rejections.Education and grooming is also a major factor as the IAF requires at least 60 per cent marks at the graduate level for most branches, including flying, engineering and administration. “A consistent decline in intake can also be indicative of the quality of candidates,” he said.“Apparently, students are branching out into other streams that they consider more lucrative, given the large number of institutions offering a multitude of professional courses that have cropped up in the region,” says Dr Rakesh Dutta, a professor of defence studies.“This is a tremendous drop, and an alarming trend that needs to be studied,” he says. The increasing number of bright youngsters from Punjab opting to go abroad for higher studies or jobs adds another dimension to the issue. “For Punjabis, family tradition and the prestige associated with the uniform was the prime motivator, rather than money, for joining the services,” says Wing Commander DP Sabharwal (retd), a trainer and a career counsellor. “The present generation of young officers complains not only of an unhealthy equation with their civilian counterparts, but also a decline in status, perks and social life,” he adds.The intake also depends upon the annual vacancies available. Though the overall intake into the services, according to official sources, has witnessed a decline over the  past three years (1,961 in 2015 to 1,858 in 2016 and 1,773 in 2017), this is not proportionate to the  sharp decline in the graduate selection in the IAF from Punjab.

Key factors

• Medical parameters for the IAF, especially flying branch, are more stringent than the Army
• The IAF requires at least 60% marks at the graduate level for most branches
• Increasing number of bright youngsters are opting to go abroad for higher studies or jobs

he Congress said that both the prime minister and Union defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman “lied” to the nation in order to favour Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Infrastructure Limited.

New Delhi: With merely eight months left for the general elections, the purchase of 36 Rafale fighter jets – worth Rs 60,145 crore – is gradually becoming the biggest political thorn in the side of the Narendra Modi government. Days after Rahul Gandhi accused the Union government of hiding facts about the controversial fighter jet deal during the no-confidence motion in parliament, the Congress on Friday released a new set of documents to back up his claim that the Rafale purchase is one of the most blatant incidents of cronyism in independent India’s history.

Alleging multiple violations in the deal that could compromise India’s national security, the Congress said that both the prime minister and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman “lied” to the nation in order to favour the Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Infrastructure Limited.

The Rafale deal was shrouded in mystery from the very beginning, ever since the prime minister announced the purchase during his visit to France in 2015. Subsequently, it came to light that the then defence minister Manohar Parrikar had gotten to know about the deal only a week before it was announced in a foreign land – a convention-defying act by the prime minister. Such deals have to compulsorily be approved by the cabinet committee on security but Modi unilaterally concluded the agreement.

Then, it became evident that the Modi government bought each plane at more than Rs 1,600 crore while the previous UPA government had negotiated the deal with Dassault at only Rs 526 crore.

The controversy became worse when it emerged that a joint venture company between Reliance Defence Limited (RDL) – a subsidiary of the Anil Ambani-owned Reliance Infrastructure Limited (RIL) – and Dassault Aviation secured the offset deal at Rs 30,000 crore. This raised eyebrows as the public sector defence company Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) had landed the offset contract in the deal that the UPA government had struck with the French aviation company.

That RIL had no experience in manufacturing planes in contrast to HAL, whose sole occupation is manufacturing defence planes, ruffled many feathers last year. In addition, the clause which required Dassault to transfer its technology to HAL also found a quiet burial as the public sector company was denied its biggest ever offset contract.

Since then, the government has only said that the Congress was “shameless” in alleging a scam as the government bought the planes in an emergency situation because the UPA wasted many years in implementing the previous deal. However, according to estimates, the first plane to land in India should take another five years. Despite persistent allegations by the opposition, the government has been shying away from letting out significant details of the agreement. There has been no factual rejoinder by the defence ministry yet. Sitharaman has only said that the cost of the planes cannot be divulged because of a secrecy clause in the deal.

However, the matter assumed significance again when Gandhi on the floor of the parliament said that there was no secrecy clause and that the defence minister was misleading the nation to prevent the truth from coming out. Congress leaders since then have also alleged that none of the allegations made by the Congress over the past year found any response from the government.

New documents

On Friday, however, the documents released by the Congress made multiple points that the government will have to answer.

Although the offset contract given to the Dassault Reliance Aerospace Limited – a joint venture between RDL and Dassault – is worth Rs 30,000 crore, the Congress released RIL’s papers which claimed that “a consequent Lifecycle Cost Contract” of Rs 1 lakh crore was also awarded to it.

In this context, Randeep Surjewala, chief spokesperson of the Congress said, “What is surprising is that one of the biggest defence offset contracts went to a company, Reliance Defence Ltd, which was constituted only 12 days before (March 28, 2015) the announcement of purchase of 36 Rafale aircrafts by PM in France on 10th April, 2015. The company Reliance Defence Ltd. did not have the license to manufacture fighter aircrafts at that time.”

Surjewala placed records of the ministry of corporate affairs, RIL’s press releases and company records to make his point that the Modi government had gifted the Anil Ambani-owned company a huge defence contract despite the fact that it neither had any industry experience nor any required assets.

The Congress then trained its guns at the defence minister. Surjewala said that the ministry of defence had issued a press release on February, 7, 2018, which said, “…no Indian Offset Partner for the 2016 deal for 36 Rafale Aircrafts has been so far selected by the vendor (Dassault Aviation) because as per the applicable guidelines, Dassault Aviation is free to select the Indian Offset Partners and provide their details at the time of seeking offset credits, or one year prior to discharge of offset obligation”.

However, he said that RIL had issued a press release a year earlier on February 16, 2017, to announce that it had secured the offset contract in the Rafale deal. “Even Dassault Aviation in its Annual Report 2016-17 has claimed that ‘offset contract’ is being executed by Reliance.” Surjewala said.

“Simple question is, who is lying – Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman or Reliance/Dassault Aviation,” he asked.

He further said that if Dassault was free to choose its offset partner, as the defence ministry claims, it would be a clear violation of guidelines in such matters.

The defence ministry set up a permanent ‘Defence Offset Management Wing’ (DOMW) and issued ‘Defence Offset Contract Guidelines’ for all ‘offset contracts’ in 2016. Surjewala said that multiple clauses in these guidelines made by the Modi government warrant all offset proposals and their progress will have to be approved and monitored by the defence minister and the “acquisition manager” in the defence ministry. The guidelines also said that six-monthly audits have to be conducted by ministry officials.

“My questions to the government are as follows: Can Reliance and Dassault Aviation sign an ‘offset contract’ of Rs.30,000 crore without the approval of the defence minister? Has the ‘offset contract’ been countersigned by the ‘acquisition manager’ of the defence ministry? Why have the six-monthly audits by DOMW not been conducted? Has the ‘Acquisition Wing’ submitted an Annual Report to ‘Defence Acquisition Council’? Can a private corporate entity and supplier of the defence equipment in the largest defence deal of the country be permitted to wholly gloss over the Defence Offset Contract Guidelines/Instructions,” Surjewala asked, alleging that none of these regulations were followed in the offset deal.

To substantiate his charge that the Rafale deal was a case of cronyism, he highlighted a separate contract around the same time of the Rafale deal in which RDL’s sister company, Reliance Aerostructure Ltd benefitted.

“Another subsidiary of RIL, Reliance Aerostructure Ltd (RAL), was given the license to manufacture fighter aircraft in 2016 around the same time when RDL got the offset contract in the Rafale deal. Intriguingly, Reliance Aerostructure Ltd. was given the license to manufacture fighter aircraft by the Defence Ministry but it did not own any land or building on the date (it was awarded) the license February 22, 2016. What is even more surprising is the fact that even Reliance Aerostructure Ltd was incorporated on April 24, 2015, i.e 14 days after the announcement of purchase of 36 Rafale aircraft by PM in France on April 10, 2015,” Surjewala said.

He alleged that RAL was granted an Industrial Licence for Category A, High Security Defence Production in violation of several rules and acts like the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951, the Registration and Licensing of Industrial Undertaking Rules, 1952 and new Arms Rules, 2016.

“In its license application for manufacturing fighter aircrafts, Reliance Aerostructure Ltd. has given its address and location as ‘Survey No. 589, Taluka Jafrabad, Village Lunsapur, District Amreli, Gujarat’. At that time, these premises were not owned by Reliance Aerostructure Ltd. The aforesaid address belonged to ‘Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Co. Ltd.’ Even on the date of license i.e 22.02.2016, Reliance Aerostructure Ltd. did not own the land or building at the aforesaid address. It was Reliance Defence Ltd. that acquired the company only on 18.01.2016 and name was then changed to Reliance Defence and Engineering Limited.”

He cited the company’s annual report 2015-16, page number 5 to substantiate his allegation. Similarly, he said even RAL was allotted 104 acres in Mihan SEZ, Nagpur, Maharashtra on 28 August 2015 for around Rs 63 crore, which was paid only in July, 2017. “So when the RAL was awarded the license to manufacture fighter aircrafts, it technically had no assets of its own. Is the Modi government serious about our country’s security?”

Calls to two BJP leaders went unanswered at the time of writing. The story will be updated if and when the BJP’s response comes. Until now, although the Rafale deal has been a point of discussion in the public domain for over an year, the government has yet to give a factual rejoinder. The Congress’s allegations have opened a can of worms. If the government still chooses to be unresponsive, the Rafale deal may very well prove to be BJP’s own Bofors scam.

Our Correspondent

Anantnag, July 21

Militants on Saturday carried out attacks on security forces in Anantnag and Kulgam districts of the state, the police said.In the first incident, security forces were targeted in the Mattan area of Anantnag district along the Khannabal-Pahalgam road. The road is heavily guarded these days in view of the ongoing Amarnath yatra. There was, however, no pilgrim movement along the road when the attack took place, sources said. No loss of life or injuries was reported.Altaf Khan, SSP, said the attack took place around 1 pm. “They fired at a joint party of the police and the CRPF. The fire was retaliated. No one was injured. A hunt to nab the militants is on,” said Khan.In the second incident, militants opened fire at an Army patrol in Havoora village of Kulgam around 3:30 pm.“No one was hurt in the firing,” a senior police officer said, adding that a hunt had been launched to nab the militants.Gunfight along LoC in TangdharA brief gunfight broke out near the LoC in the Tangdhar sector in Kupwara district on Saturday when a group of infiltrating militants fired at an Army patrol in the Balthedyan area. “The Army has launched a massive combing operation in the sector,” sources said. Meanwhile, two overground workers of the Lashkar-e-Toiba were arrested in Sopore on Saturday, the police said. TNS/PTI

Uttarakashi, July 21: A body of one of the victims of 1968 Indian Air Force plane crash was found along with some parts of the aircraft at the Dhaka glacier base camp. The plane’s wreckage was found during a cleanliness drive organized by Indian Mountaineering Foundation at the Dhaka glacier base camp on July 1.

On 7 February 1968, an Antonov An-12 twin engine turboprop transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force disappeared while flying to Leh Airport from Chandigarh International Airport. While on approach to Leh the pilot decided to turn back due to inclement weather, the aircraft then went missing with the last radio contact over the Rohtang pass. It was declared missing after the failure to find the wreck. Previous recovery: In 2003 members of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute who were trekking on the South Dakka Glacier came across the remains of a human body. The body was identified as Sepoy Beli Ram, a soldier of the Indian Army who was on the flight. On 9 August 2007 an Indian Army expedition code named Operation Punaruthan-III, recovered three more bodies. From 2003 till 2009 three search expeditions have been carried out with the recovery of four bodies. The crash location lies at a height of about 18,000 ft 0 in (5,486.40 m), at a gradient of 80 degrees. On 21 July 2018 the Times of India reported that a mountaineering team at the Chandrabhaga-13 peak had found a body at the Dhaka glacier base camp.The team has found wreckage of the plane along with the remains of a soldier.

Read more at: https://www.oneindia.com/india/body-of-soldier-killed-in-1968-iaf-plane-crash-recovered-2739470.html

Officer cadre restructuring: Army mulls doing away with Brigadier rank 

Indian Navy regularly sends adventure expeditions to the Meghalaya caves, but diving in submerged caves is yet to be attempted.

It was the most daring operation in recorded history to rescue 12 boys and their coach stranded in Thailand’s flooded Tham Luang cave complex after 17 days of being underground. It will now become a case study in 21st century globalisation, leadership, crisis management, utilisation of technological resources and human skills coupled with efficient international coordination. It will also serve as a great precedent in the world of rescue operations in caves, mines and other underwater subterranean spaces. This will be something that future divers will study and be sure to learn from.

In India, most caving exercises are centered in Meghalaya. There are more than 1,200 caves and only about 400 of them have been explored. Indian Navy regularly sends adventure expeditions over there, but diving in submerged caves is yet to be attempted. The Marine Commandos and divers of the Indian Navy are qualified to undertake this kind of operation. In the past, the Navy has undertaken diving operations in the flooded Kolkata metro tunnel in 1991, and also some coal mines. However, the capability of cave diving per se does not exist.

The Tham Luang operation can be divided into three phases: search, rescue, and revival.

Search

The search phase lasted from 24 June to 2 July when the young ‘Wild Boars’ soccer team was located four km inside the caves, 800-1,000 meters below the surface of the Doi Nang Non mountains of Chian Rai province in northern Thailand. To facilitate quick search and rescue in the location and with the prevalent monsoon conditions, it was essential that the rising water levels in the caves be controlled, which posed the main threat to the safety of the trapped group.

The advanced technological capability of submersible pumps to de-water the caves came to the rescue and neutralised the threat of even more flooding. Round the clock pumping out of the water led to most of the cave length being walkable or at least ensured that the total dive time was reduced drastically. It was reported that nearly 120 million litres of water were pumped out over 75 hours, reducing the water levels by around 40 per cent. The submersible pumps installed deep inside the caves removed an estimated 16,00,000 litres of water per hour.

The Czech Republic and India had offered four of these pumps each, showing how camaraderie comes into play between nations in times of humanitarian crisis. Additionally, drones with powerful zoom cameras and thermal imaging were used to create a 3D image replica of the mountain to ascertain the water flow and divert it away from the caves and the location of the group specifically. The reduced level of water now facilitated the establishment of a support base 1.5 km inside the caves where hundreds of air cylinders and other necessary equipment were transported with the help of wire-pulley systems. Waterproof electric cables and lights were installed for better visibility and power requirements. This support base proved crucial for the search divers and extended their reach inside the caves along with prolonging their dive time and providing the trapped group various essentials and sustenance.

Rescue

The rescue phase lasted for eight days commencing on 3 July. This posed its own challenges primarily because the oxygen level down in the caves were reduced to 15 per cent as opposed to the normal 20-21 per cent in our atmosphere. The group was weak due to the lack of adequate food, water, and fresh air. To prevent hypoxia setting in, an air supply line was rigged into the chamber by 6 July. In addition to this, the group was supplied with high protein foods, vitalising liquids, necessary painkillers and antibiotics. A medic along with three divers were positioned with the group to boost their morale and teach them basic swimming and diving skills.

Fiber optic cables were laid up till the group so that they could communicate with the outside world, which would ensure that the spirits of the boys and their families outside along with the rest of the world stayed up. Apart from rescue by diving, the options of drilling an escape shaft and also waiting for the rains to subside were kept open and mulled over.

The Thai authorities had the benefit of advice and help from around a hundred diving experts and thousands of support professionals from across the world. Elon Musk of Tesla and Space X fame even left behind a mini-submarine if required. Israeli company Meshtec provided 17 hi-tech walkie-talkies to enable communication between the rescue teams deep within the cave. These sets could relay and broadcast data and video beyond the line of sight. It proved to be very useful and was responsible for the whole world remaining updated about what was happening in the caves.

In keeping with the adage ‘old is gold’, low-frequency radio sets developed 20 years ago in Britain, which could penetrate through hundreds of meters of solid rock were also provided. To overcome the problem of muddy waters and poor visibility, the divers rigged eight mm guidelines and divers were equipped with long endurance underwater flashlights. Navigation of narrow/tiny crevices and passages was made possible by the use of smaller, lightweight carbon fiber air cylinders which could be pressurised beyond 3,000 psi for longer endurance and dive times. The improved full face masks with positive pressure inside ensured easy breathing and zero leakage. This technology coupled with the latest diving suits and flexible stretchers proved useful in sedating the group and avoiding the risk of making them dive and swim. The method of rescue by sedation and carrying of the rescued persons’ air cylinders by the lead diver proved to be the most efficient.

Revival

After the rescue, the boys were quarantined in the city hospital to check their vitals and for their recovery to good health. It may still take a week or two before they are fully recuperated.

The Thai cave rescue was a combination of advances in technology, human selfless endeavour, the organising capability of the Thai authorities, and ready support of the locals and the world that won the day against all odds.

The author is the Founding Director of the recently established Kahnoji Angre Maritime Research Institute, Nashik. He was commissioned in the Executive Branch of the Indian Navy in July 1982,and later joined the Marine Commando cadre of the Navy. He was the Principal Director of Diving and Special Ops Dpt at NHQ Delhi.