KOLKATA: India’s first warship exporter, the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd. (GRSE), has attracted interests from nearly a dozen countries for building warships, a top official here said on Thursday.

“We have received interest from at least a dozen countries, including the Philippines, Cyprus, Vietnam, Algeria and Egypt, for building warships,” GRSE chairman and managing director Rear Admiral A.K.Verma said.

“Countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America have shown a keen interest in our ship-building capabilities,” he added.

Verma said talks were on with these countries for building offshore and inshore patrol vessels and landing craft utility (LCU) meant for transporting equipment and troops on the shore. He said the success of CGS Barracuda – an offshore patrol vessel that was commissioned by the National Coast Guard of Mauritius earlier in the year – has established the GRSE’s shipbuilding credentials.

“Most of the countries realise that shipbuilding cost here is far less than European shipbuilders and once our technology is proven, then there will not be any problem in getting foreign orders,” Verma said.

“The export of CGS Barracuda has already generated quite an interest among foreign countries and has played a part in establishing our technology credentials,” he added.

GRSE has also been shortlisted for the tendering process for building two frigates for the Philippines Navy.

“GRSE is the only Indian shipbuilder which has been shortlisted along with two Korean and two European companies. The bidding process is expected to commence in December and we are very confident of being competitive,” he said on the sidelines of a ceremony for the handing over of anti-submarine warfare (ASW) corvette ‘Kadmatt’ to the Indian Navy.

Kadmatt is the second of the four ASW corvettes being built at the GRSE.

The GRSE, which is currently building around 24 warships for the Indian navy, will also be entering into a contract in December with the Indian Coast Guard for building five inshore-patrol vessels.

ALLEGE DISCRIMINATORY PROVISIONS Premature retirees being kept out a sore point
Hundreds of ex-servicemen from Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh participated in the rally in Fatehgarh Sahib on Sunday.

FATEHGARH SAHIB: The United Front of Ex-Servicemen organised a rally of ex-servicemen here on Sunday to protest against the provisions of ‘one rank, one pension’ (OROP) notification issued by government.
Hundreds of ex-servicemen from Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh participated in the rally in Fatehgarh Sahib on Sunday.
Hundreds of ex-servicemen from Punjab , Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh participated in the rally.
The protesters shouted slogans against the Prime Minister and the defence minister and accused them of deceiving the ex-servicemen.
Maj Gen (retd) Satbir Singh, who has been on the forefront in the OROP agitation, led the rally.
He said the provision in the OROP notification that if someone took premature retirement, he would not be entitled to benefits under the OROP scheme, was unjustified. “This is not acceptable to ex-servicemen,” he added.
According to an earlier announcement, all the soldiers and officers, who opted for earlier retirement, were excluded from benefits, but later, the government included those, who had already taken retirement, and excluded those who would do so in future. Satbir Singh said, “All armymen served equally, so all should be included. The provision is not in the interest of a young army.”
“If someone, who wants to take premature retirement, is forced not do so in view of financial benefits and continues in service, it will ultimately lead to an army of elderly.”
“The notification says that the burden on the exchequer will amount to `8,300 crore, which if divided among all defence pensioners, will benefit each by around `950 per month in the basic pension. The notification further states that the expenditure will increase to more than `10,000 crore in the coming years, which is absolutely wrong as dearness allowance (DA) will be zero with effect from January 1, 2016 and the burden will be only of `950 to each of of 25 lakh pensioners, which amounts to `23,750 crore. This is just peanut in a likely bill of over `4 lakh crore,” said Kuldip Singh Grewal, president, SEWA.
“It will affect 60% ex-servicemen adversely if this notification is implemented. The government is trying to deceive us,” said Maj Gen (retd) Satbir Singh.

SATARA (MAHA): Hundreds of people from all walks of life today converged at a small village here as the mortal remains of Colonel Santosh Mahadik, who laid down his life battling militants near LoC in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, were consigned to flames with full military honours.

Family members of Colonel Santosh Mahadik after his body was brought to his hometown in Satara on Wednesday.
The 39-year-old martyr’s body was brought to Pogarwadi village in Maharashtra’s Satara district on Thursday moring where his last rites were performed.
The body was kept for sometime at his mother’s house in the neighbouring Aaray village where Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar paid homage to him. A large number of villagers from various communities gathered at the cremation site to pay their respects to the martyr.With teary eyes, the mourning villagers bid adieu to their son who made them proud and shouted slogans like “Col Mahadik Amar Rahe” as his mortal remains were consigned to flames.
Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis had paid tributes to Col Mahadik in Pune last night when the the Army officer’s mortal remains were brought there en route to his native Satara district. Col Mahadik, the Commanding Officer of 41 Rashtriya Rifles, was critically injured during an operation in the Haji Naka forest area of Kupwara near the LoC in Kashmir on Tuesday. He succumbed to his injuries at a hospital later.
An officer from the elite 21 Para-Special Forces unit, Col Mahadik was awarded a Sena Medal for gallantry during Operation Rhino in the North-East in 2003.
Born in a family of modest means at Pogarwadi village in Satara, Mahadik set the foundation to his journey of becoming an army man when he joined the Sainik school in 6th standard in the year 1987 and later went on to join the Army.
His father was a tailor and brother a milkman. Colonel Mahadik is survivied by wife and two children.

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Merignac (France), October 8

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday formally received the Indian Air Force’s first Rafale fighter jet from a series of 36 such aircraft purchased from France.

Singh attended the handover ceremony along with his French counterpart Florence Parly at aircraft maker Dassault Aviation facility in Merignac, southwestern France.

The minister performed a brief Shastra Puja on the new aircraft as he emblazoned it with an ‘Om’ tilak and laid flowers and a coconut, just before he was to take off in it for a sortie. He was joined by senior representatives of the Indian Armed Forces to mark the induction ceremony.

“Our Air Force is the fourth-largest in the world and I believe that the Rafale Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft will make us even stronger and will give a boost to India’s air dominance exponentially to ensure peace and security in the region,” Singh said, addressing the gathering in Hindi.

“I have been told that the French word Rafale means andhi in Hindi or gust of wind. I am sure that the aircraft will live up to its name,” he said.

BUREAUCRATIC WINDFALL Commission submits report to finance minister Jaitley, recommends a minimum salary of `18k per month, annual increment of 3%

NEW DELHI: In the new year, central government employees can look forward to fatter pay cheques and heftier allowances.

The seventh pay commission on Thursday recommended an average 23.55% increase in their salary, allowances and pension, a move that will benefit 4.8 million staffers and 5.5 million pensioners. The hike will be effective from January 1, 2016.
A minimum pay of `18,000 per month and a maximum of `2.5 lakh has been recommended by the commission, headed by justice (retired) AK Mathur, that presented its 900-page report to finance minister Arun Jaitley.
More cash in hand is likely to result in higher consumption by the government’s massive employee base, which accounts for a large segment of the Indian middle-class. More demand could boost the economy through higher spending on assets such as cars and housing.
The government usually accepts the broad proposals for pay revision — due every 10 years — and state governments usually respond with their own hikes. Jaitley said a secretariat will be set up to implement the pay panel recommendations. A separate empowered committee of various departments will examine the suggestions of the panel.
“The recommendations will be examined expeditiously and the government will take a final decision,” Jaitley said.
The government’s spending on employee payouts will rise by `1.02 lakh crore. Of this, expenditure on salaries will go up by `39,100 crore and allowances by `29,300 crore, while revised pensions would `33,700 crore.
A fresh IAS recruit will get a basic salary of `56,000 a month against R23,000 currently, while a sepoy in the Indian Army will earn `21,700 per month from `8,460 currently. NEW DELHI: The seventh pay panel has sought to make short-service commission (SSC) in the armed forces an attractive option by recommending easier norms for exiting service and increasing the payout of retiring personnel.

The panel has recommended that SSC officers be allowed to quit any time between seven and 10 years of service, compared to the existing exit option at 10-14 years.
The panel noted the attractive exit options would encourage SSC officers to switch to other careers. It noted that such a move would provide the industry and other sectors a young crop of well trained and disciplined officers at the middle-management level.
The panel has recommended that the military service pay (MSP) and hardship allowances for soldiers also be raised. Officers up to the rank of brigadier are now likely to get an MSP of `15,500 per month compared to the existing `6,000. For junior commissioned officers and jawans, the MSP will go up from `2,000 to `5,200.
The panel has also recommended an attractive severance package for lateral entry of officers into para-military forces. A sepoy’s salary will go up `8,460 per month to `21,700 plus allowances.
The allowance for soldiers serving on Siachen is likely to go up from `14,000 to `21,000 while for officers it will increase from `21,000 to `31,500.
The pay commission has recommended that the retirement age in central armed police forces (CAPFs) like the CRPF, BSF, ITBP and SSB should be uniform 60 years for all CAPFs. As of now, the retirement age for officers up to commandant level is 57 years.
The pay commission has also agreed to accord martyr status to CAPFs personnel and central police organisations like the CBI, NIA as well as police forces of Union Territories and Railway Protection Force, in case of death in the line of duty.

It has also suggested an “attractive severance package” for lateral entry of retired or decommissioned defence personnel into the CAPFs apart from other services. It batted for a full coverage of House Rent Allowance to troops and officers who are deployed in difficult and far-flung border areas for various internal security duties. The commission also recommended hiking the ex-gratia lump sum compensation paid by the government to the next of kin of these troops in cases of death in the line of duty.

NEW DELHI: Heeding to a long-standing demand of the Army, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has given in-principle approval to enhance monetary assistance to next of kin of battle casualties from existing Rs 2 lakh to Rs 8 lakh, officials said Saturday. They said the financial assistance will be granted under Army Battle Casualties Welfare Fund (ABCWF).

At present, financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh was given to battle casualti ..

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was among hundreds of people who converged on a small village in Satara, Maharashtra, as the mortal remains of Colonel Santosh Mahadik were consigned to flames with full military honours
The 39-year-old martyr laid down his life battling militants near LoC in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. He is survivied by wife and two children, who were present during the cremation
An officer from the elite 21 Para-Special Forces unit, Col Mahadik was awarded a Sena Medal for gallantry during Operation Rhino in the North-East in 2003

PUNJAB Police have busted a terror module involving the use of drones to drop arms in the state. The arms were dropped near Khalra village in Tarn Taran district and were ostensibly meant for terrorists in Punjab and also Kashmir that is currently witnessing a lockdown after the abrogation of Article 370. The police suspect it to be the handiwork of the ISI and the probe has been handed over to the NIA. The use of drones is reminiscent of the case in 1995 in which a Latvian aircraft was used to drop arms at Purulia in West Bengal. With a nearly 550-km-long border with Pakistan, Punjab is a target for terror outfits. The state has known peace now, but attempts have been made to test it, like at Dinanagar in 2015 and Pathankot in 2016. Its border with Jammu and Kashmir makes it an option for terror groups to use it as a launch pad.

The border, even in Punjab, is a difficult terrain, especially the riverine area. While the Indian side has lights and Cobra fencing through which electricity currents pass after sunset, no such arrangement is visible on the Pakistan side, dotted with tall elephant grass, a cover used to smuggle in drugs and other contraband. The rivers swollen because of floods make surveillance difficult. At many places, farming is done till the last inch, and checking infiltration can be tough. The seizure was preceded by reports saying that Pakistan had reactivated the Balakot terror facility, the Army Chief confirming it a day later in Chennai, and US President Donald Trump warning of Islamist terror in his meeting with PM Modi in Houston. All this goes on even as India and Pakistan prepare for opening the Kartarpur corridor.

A border state, Punjab has known the pain of Partition and the insurgency. That it lost a CM along with tens of thousands of others is the sacrifice it made to bring back peace without which there can be no progress. The Punjab Police should be complimented for nipping trouble in the bud.

New Delhi, November 15

Eating out, telephony and travel will become expensive from Sunday, with the government imposing 0.5 per cent Swachh Bharat cess on taxable services which is expected to yield about Rs 3,800 crore to the exchequer in the remaining months of the fiscal.
With the imposition of the cess, service tax rate will go up from 14 per cent to 14.5 per cent on all taxable services.
According to Revenue Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, the government expects to collect around Rs 10,000 crore from Swachh Barat cess for full year.
So in the remaining months of this fiscal till March 31, 2016, the cess would yield about Rs 3,800 crore to the kitty.
The Swachh Bharat cess would be levied only on the portion of taxable services (after abatement) and will go towards funding of the cleanliness drive, a pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
This means that service tax on restaurant bills will go up from 5.6 per cent to 5.8 per cent following the levy of 0.5 per cent Swachh Bharat cess.
The Finance Ministry has also clarified that the Swachh Bharat cess will not apply on those services for which payments have been received prior to November 15 and invoices raised before November 29.
The decision to impose 0.5 per cent cess will translate into a tax of 50 paise only on every Rs 100 worth of taxable services.
Explaining the provisions for the levy of cess, the Ministry said it would be calculated on the abated value or value arrived as per the Service Tax (Determination of Value) Rules, 2006.
For restaurants or eating joints having air–conditioning facility, the cess would be 0.5 per cent of 40 per cent of the billed amount, i.e., 0.2 per cent. “The cumulative service tax and Swachh Bharat cess liability would be 5.8 per cent (14.5 per cent of 40 per cent) of the total amount charged,” it said.
Travel in Railways’ upper class categories has also become costlier as a service tax levy of 14 per cent and a Swachh Bharat cess of 0.5 per cent became effective from today.

According to a rail ministry circular, the levies make for a 4.35 per cent hike for travel in First Class and all AC Classes from November 15.

The decision to increase passenger fares is in line with a government notification on November 6 for imposing a Swachh Bharat cess on all taxable services.

“Service tax of 14 per cent and Swachh Bharat cess of 0.5 per cent are chargeable on 30 per cent of total passenger fare equivalent to 4.35 per cent of the total fare on first class and all AC fares,” the circular said.

However, the service tax will not be applicable for tickets issued before November 15. Neither would the levy be applicable for general and sleeper-class travel.

With the hike, AC-I fares on mail and express trains from New Delhi to Mumbai are up by Rs 206 while the rise is of Rs 102 for AC-III fares from New Delhi to Howrah.

On the Delhi-Chennai route, the increased fare works out to about Rs 140 for the AC-II segment.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had in Budget 2015-16 proposed to levy a Swachh Bharat cess of up to 2 per cent “on all or certain services, if need arises”.
“Swachh Bharat cess is not another tax but a step towards involving each and every citizen in making contribution to Swachh Bharat. The proceeds from this cess will be exclusively used for Swachh Bharat initiatives,” the Finance Ministry had said while notifying the Swachh Bharat cess.
The government had in Budget 2015-16 estimated to collect over Rs 2.09 lakh crore from service tax. The Rs 3,800 crore collection from the cess would be over and above that. — PTI

Reminiscing about happy events is most rejuvenating. Memory takes me back to the sweltering summer of August 1994 when Udai Mehta, as Col Administration, and I, as Col General Staff designate, reported to the Corps HQ at Nagrota, of a yet-to-be raised new headquarters. Our temporary HQ, housed in a building, had bare essentials — skeletal staff of clerks, some stationery and limited furniture. The impending task was a cornucopia of challenges. Besides the enormity of administrative work was the added responsibility to find a suitable permanent location for the HQ.

We were to immediately take over the operational responsibility of ongoing counter-terrorism operations in Doda district. South of the Pir Panjal, spread over 2,625 sq km, and enclosing the townships of Doda, Bhaderwah and Kishtwar from where the Warwan valley stretches northwards, it ended just below the Amarnath cave. We got the ball rolling; chair-borne functions were carried out by night, and by day, we were road-bound.

Armed with maps and haversack meals, travel along the national highway (NH-44) from Nagrota to Banihal and other laterals became a routine. Location after location didn’t meet the military requirements. However, an interesting highlight is worth mentioning, the Aparna Ashram of late Dhirendra Brahmachari at Mantalai. He had a 101-point plan to create here a yogic centre-cum-holiday resort, with casinos and the works. It provided shelter and comfort, but we were not looking for that. Finally, the Dharmund Ridge, near Batote, caught our attention — a standalone mountain, with flat expanses along the top, and slopes dropping sharply into the swiftly flowing Chenab far below.

It was an ideal location for the HQ tactically, administratively and for command and control purposes. By the time our first General Officer Commanding, Maj Gen Yogi Bahl, arrived, we had a running HQ. We were extremely lucky to have him head our fledging HQ. A sound professional with great human qualities, directions were clear-cut and mission accomplishment was at our initiative. Three months later, our flag fluttered with pride at Dharmund, housed in tents and fully operationally functional.

The severity of the winter of 1994-95 welcomed us, heavy snow added to the difficulties and often  our snow-laden tents collapsed, literally on our heads. To add to it, the villagers started objecting to our presence and nefarious charges followed. Resoluteness, determination and subtle diplomacy with the villagers helped.

Creating a helipad was a major challenge. As starters, we managed a small clearing, but then like the proverbial camel, we expanded. Soon large enough to take four-five helicopters simultaneously and serve the dual purpose of a six-a-side hockey ground for our evening constitutional! We had firmed in.

Operations continued relentlessly through the long winter; summer was very welcome. Building of prefab shelters got underway and the HQ started shaping up: operational room, offices and accommodation for men came at priority, followed by the Flag Staff House (FSH), the Officers’ Mess and accommodation. To preserve some history, the FSH got the acronym ‘YOGSUM LA,’ comprising the first alphabets from the names of the GOC, and his two senior staff members, Sujlana and Mehta, and ‘LA’ meaning ‘beyond limits’. It was a salute to the dedicated team who worked conscientiously to establish the HQ. Interestingly, the bar in the Officers’ Mess found a very appropriate name: “Changa Bar”, named after a long-deserted village of the same name. The first ‘chhota’ there was indeed most ‘changa’!

This year marks the silver jubilee of Delta Force, and it has created a niche for itself in the Indian Army. On September 6, the Delta Force flag will proudly swell in the wind, promising many more years of dedicated service to the nation.