Ex-servicemen burn the national flag of Pakistan in Ambala on Monday.TRIBUNE PHOTO

Ambala, June 27

Ex-servicemen under the banner of the Ex-servicemen Welfare Committee, Ambala, today held a demonstration and burnt the national flag of Pakistan to mark their protest against the attack on a CRPF convoy in which eight security personnel were killed in Pampore.Subedar Attar Singh Multani, president of the committee, said, “For how long do we keep mourning our soldiers? We request PM Narendra Modi to take the right decision and direct the Indian forces to attack all militant camps being run in Pakistan.” — TNS

https://youtu.be/2CYJyRPyOi4

http://

Kolkata, September 10

Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh today described pellet firing as non-lethal and said it was a “sensible and well-thought decision” by the Home Ministry to use the weapon for controlling the protesting mobs in the Kashmir valley.“Pellet firing is non-lethal. The Home Minister’s (Rajnath Singh) decision was sensible and well-thought. People who come close to firing get injuries,” the minister said on the sidelines of a seminar organised by the Federation of Association of Small Industries of India.However, pellet firings have caused at least six deaths, including one today, when security forces fired at a protesting mob in a south Kashmir village.Hundreds of civilians, including minors, have lost their eyesight, partially or fully, after they were hit by pellets in the restive Valley. — IANS

We owe it to ourselves to take a hard look at the way we conducted ourselves, diplomatically and politically in this entire NSG saga. We have ended up looking rather indigenous, a little immature and a bit desperate to grab things. What about some quiet diplomacy

PM Narendra Modi with Chinese President XI Jinping in Tashkent:China was not the only nation that stalled India’s NSG bid. PTI

THANK heavens for Brexit. It helped take some attention off the fiasco in Seoul where India’s desperate bid to get into the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) suffered a rejection. What makes it even more embarrassing for the government is that this is a twin failure. First, a rebuff at the diplomatic level, where despite the Foreign Secretary rushing off to Seoul failed to save the mission; and, second, a substantive failure at the political level where the Prime Minister received a royal Chinese snub. The double rebuff was totally avoidable.  India’s desire to get into the NSG is understandable but what puzzles an observer is the hype that was created around it. Any oldtimer would have told the Modi establishment; do the smart diplomatic homework before shouting about it from the rooftops. Politically, one wonders who advised Prime Minister Narendra Modi to invest his personal prestige to the extent of himself raising the issue with the Chinese President. A smart diplomat and an astute politician should know that the Prime Minister steps in only to seal a deal, not to make requests. In the case of the NSG fiasco, India messed up at both the fronts and pretty badly.It makes no sense to now make a case that it was “one country” that repeatedly raised procedural issues and thwarted India’s bid. China, to its credit, was very public in its opposition to India’s entry. In the runup to the NSG plenary meeting in Seoul on June 23-24, China repeatedly issued statements that made it amply clear that it was in no mood to let India into the elite nuclear club. India had its work cut out —  and that was to talk and convince China. From President Pranab Mukherjee travelling to China last month, to the Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar making a below-the-radar visit to Beijing just two weeks before the NSG session, India tried convincing China — and failed. The failure to convince China should have made the Foreign Ministry more cautious about going so public about its NSG bid. Again, this failure should have alerted the top bosses in the Foreign Ministry not to advise the Prime Minister to raise the stakes by taking up matter with the Chinese President when they met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) in Tashkent. To any observer of foreign policy, it remains a puzzling scenario as to who advised Prime Minister Modi to then raise this issue with President Xi Jinping. Did someone really think that China would reverse its decision just because the request was being made by India at the highest level? Surely, no one could have been that naïve not even in this national security establishment. Maybe it was a political decision to hype the NSG berth and for Modi to raise the issue with Xi Jinping himself. After all the headlines would have been awfully good if the Prime Minister’s request had been accepted by the Chinese leader. It makes one wonder who is doing all this fantastical thinking in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the Prime Minister’s Office. Is it the Foreign Office which misled the Prime Minister in thinking that India’s NSG berth would give him the same kind of historical legacy as the Indo-US civil nuclear deal in 2008 gave former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh? Or was it a political push to the Foreign Office to deliver, to make this desperate bid so that a political historical “event” could be created? Whoever might be at fault, one thing that has emerged crystal clear from the NSG fiasco is that many of the top officials — bureaucrats and politicians — in this government are yet to grasp the brutal realities of geopolitics. If legacies were this easy to create, well, our history books would be way thicker. But both past and current history teaches us one valuable lesson — which was conveniently forgotten this time around — do the groundwork, be sure of the outcomes, before going public with it. Also, somewhere let us not be parsimonious with facts. China was not alone. Turkey, New Zealand, Brazil and even Switzerland raised their objections in Seoul. Now Switzerland is another blot here. Modi travelled all the way to Switzerland, again made a public spectacle of the Prime Minister requesting the Swiss leadership for support for a berth in the NSG. The Swiss “agreed”, a diplomatic feather was added to the Prime Minister’s hat and everyone went ga ga over how India and the Prime Minister is winning the world over. Cut short to Seoul, a few weeks later, and the Swiss don’t seem to be supporting India. Again,  should we not be asking some tough questions of the people who were leading the charge. China, yes, is uncomfortable with India’s rise and wants to always hyphenate us with Pakistan and hence no support. We always knew that, but “pray” what happened to the Swiss? Someone should be doing a lot of explaining here. Even Turkey took a “principled” stand and said that India and Pakistan’s applications be considered simultaneously. The world knows about Pakistan’s proliferation record and no one needs a re-introduction to A Q Khan, but didn’t India realise that “right” arguments do not always convince the other? We owe it to ourselves to take a hard look at the way we conducted ourselves, diplomatically and politically in this entire NSG saga. We have ended up looking rather inelegant, a little immature and a bit desperate to grab things. And as India moves into the next round of negotiations for NSG or other “clubs”, a bit more grace and quiet diplomacy should be the preferred norm.  

simraj68@yahoo.com.

NEW DELHI: Finally, the ‘burst of fire’. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government on Wednesday cleared the much-awaited deal to buy 36 fighter jets from France’s Dassault Aviation.

The green signal for the deal worth ¤7.87 billion ($8.84 billion) was taken in a meeting presided by Modi.

The deal is expected to be signed on Friday, as French defence minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is arriving in Delhi on that day. Of the ¤7.87 billion, about 50 per cent will be covered under offset, which means either France will reinvest this amount in India or source equipment of this value from India.

French President Francois Hollande and Modi had intervened in the procurement of the nuclear-capable Rafale jets in 2015, ordering government-to-government talks after several years of commercial negotiations with Dassault had collapsed.

Besides other features that make the Rafale a strategic weapon in the hands of the IAF is the Beyond Visual Range Meteor air-to-air missile with a range of over 150 km. Its integration on the Rafale jets will mean the IAF can hit targets inside both Pakistan and across the northern and eastern borders while still staying within Indian territory.

Pakistan currently has only a BVR with 80 km range. During the Kargil war, India used a BVR of 50 km while Pakistan had none. With Meteor, the balance of power has again tilted in India’s favour. Scalp, a long-range air-to-ground cruise missile with a range of over 300 km also gives the IAF an edge over its adversaries.

Tough negotiations by the MoD-IAF team extracted many concessions from the French before arriving at a price that is almost ¤750 million less than what was quoted by France in January.

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 6

Set up seven years ago to provide an ‘independent’ forum for redressal of grievances for ‘quick dispensation’ of justice to armed forces personnel, the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) is facing a massive shortage of judicial members. Of the eight Benches, only three are functional. Making matters worse, one of these could become non-functional this month.The AFT has eight Benches across the country, with each Bench comprising two or three courts. Each court is held by two members— a judicial member, who is a retired judge of a High Court, and an administrative member, who is a senior retired defence officer.The three functional  benches include the ones at Chandigarh and Lucknow. The judicial member of the Guwahati Bench is functioning as officiating chairman and travels between New Delhi and Guwahati. Consequently, either Bench is functional at one time. A ninth Bench at Jammu has been approved, but is yet to be notified. This has left armed forces personnel, including ex-servicemen and disabled soldiers, without any effective means of seeking relief.The AFT is required to have 17 judicial members, but is doing with just five. The sole judicial member at Chandigarh will retire this month. The number of administrative members is the same.When the AFT came into being, the number of pending cases was 9,449, according to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence. By 2015, the pendency had risen to a staggering 16,138. “The number of cases being filed has over the years also increased, particularly those related to Pay Commission anomalies. But then it is the disposal rate that matters, which has been dismal,” said a lawyer.While the AFT adjudicates on service matters pertaining to court martial verdicts, promotions, pay, allowances and pensions, it is the High Courts that decide on transfers and postings, summary punishments and verdicts of summary court martials. “This is a bizarre situation where smaller issues have been placed with a higher court and larger issues  before a court lower in the hierarchy,” another lawyer said.A vital issue regarding the functioning of the AFT pending before the Supreme Court is moving the AFT outside the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence and placing it under the Law Ministry. The Punjab and Haryana High Court last year accepted the argument that there was a conflict of interest in AFT members being selected by a panel in which the Defence Secretary was a member and the MoD paying these members salary and allowances.

नई दिल्ली: सातवें वेतन आयोग (पे कमिशन) की रिपोर्ट लागू हो गई है। नरेंद्र मोदी सरकार ने 1 जनवरी 2016 से इसे लागू करने की घोषणा कर दी है। कुछ ही दिनों में सारी प्रक्रिया पूरी कर ली जाएगी और जुलाई या फिर के अंत तक मिलने वाले वेतन में इसे शामिल कर दिया जाएगा। सरकार ने घोषणा भी कर दी है कि इसी साल जनवरी से एरियर भी दे दिया जाएगा। इसे लेकर तमाम वेबसाइटों और आज सुबह के अखबारों में तमाम बातें लिखी गई हैं। बातें इतनी हैं कि कर्मचारियों के मन में तमाम सवाल पैदा हो गए हैं। इन सिफारिशों से 1 करोड़ से भी ज्‍यादा कर्मचारी लाभान्वित होंगे। इनमें 47 लाख से ज्‍यादा केंद्रीय सरकारी कर्मचारी और 53 लाख पेंशनभोगी शामिल हैं, जिनमें से 14 लाख कर्मचारी और 18 लाख पेंशनभोगी रक्षा बलों से संबंधित हैं।

वेतन आयोग लागू करने संबंधी केंद्र सरकार के वित्त मंत्रालय ने यह बयान दिया है। 11 बिंदुओं में यह बयान जारी किया गया है।

1. पे बैंड एवं ग्रेड पे की वर्तमान प्रणाली समाप्‍त कर दी गई है और आयोग की सिफारिश के अनुरूप एक नई वेतन संरचना (पे मैट्रिक्‍स) को मंजूरी दी गई है। अब से कर्मचारी के दर्जे का निर्धारण पे मैट्रिक्स में उसके स्‍तर के आधार पर होगा, जबकि अभी तक ग्रेड पे के अनुसार इसका निर्धारण होता था। अलग-अलग वेतन संरचनाएं असैन्‍य (सिविलयन), रक्षा कार्मिकों और सैन्य नर्सिंग सेवा के लिए तैयार की गई हैं। इन संरचनाओं के पीछे सिद्धांत और तर्क एक समान हैं।

2. सभी वर्तमान स्‍तरों को नये ढांचे में समाहित कर दिया गया है। कोई नया स्‍तर शुरू नहीं किया गया है और न ही किसी स्‍तर को हटाया गया है। वेतन संरचना के हर स्‍तर पर न्‍यूनतम वेतन तय करने के लिए सुव्यवस्थीकरण के सूचकांक को मंजूरी दी गई है, जो वरिष्ठता क्रम में हर कदम पर बढ़ती भूमिका, जिम्मेदारी और जवाबदेही पर निर्भर करता है।

3. न्‍यूनतम वेतन को 7000 रुपये से बढ़ाकर 18000 रुपये प्रति माह कर दिया गया है। न्‍यूनतम स्‍तर पर किसी भी नवनियुक्‍त कर्मचारी का शुरुआती वेतन अब 18000 रुपये होगा, जबकि नवनियुक्‍त ‘क्‍लास I’ अधिकारी का शुरुआती वेतन 56100 रुपये होगा। यह 1:3.12 के संकुचन अनुपात को दर्शाता है, जिससे यह पता चलता है कि सीधी भर्ती वाले किसी भी ‘क्‍लास I’ अधिकारी का वेतन न्‍यूनतम स्‍तर पर न‍वनियुक्‍त कर्मचारी के वेतन से तीन गुना अधिक होगा।

4. वेतन एवं पेंशन में संशोधन के उद्देश्‍य से 2.57 का फिटमेंट फैक्‍टर वेतन संरचनाओं में शामिल सभी स्‍तरों पर लागू होगा। प्रचलित दर पर डीए को शामिल करने के बाद सभी सरकारी कर्मचारियों/पेंशनभोगियों के वेतन/पेंशन में 1 जनवरी, 2016 को कम से कम 14.29 प्रतिशत की बढ़त दर्ज हो जाएगी।

5. वेतन वृद्धि की दर को 3 प्रतिशत पर बरकरार रखा गया है। उच्‍च मूल वेतन की बदौलत कर्मचारी भविष्‍य में लाभान्वित होंगे, क्‍योंकि भविष्‍य में उनके वेतन में जो वार्षिक वृद्धि होगी वह वर्तमान के मुकाबले 2.57 गुना ज्‍यादा होगी।

6. कैबिनेट ने स्‍तर 13ए (ब्रिगेडियर) के लिए सुव्यवस्थीकरण सूचकांक में वृद्धि कर और स्‍तर 12ए (ले.कर्नल), 13 (कर्नल) और 13ए (ब्रिगेडियर) में अतिरिक्‍त स्‍तर (स्‍टेज) सुनिश्चित करके रक्षा संबंधी वेतन संरचना को और बेहतर कर दिया है, ताकि संबंधित स्तरों के अधिकतम पायदान पर संयुक्त सशस्त्र पुलिस बल (सीएपीएफ) के समकक्षों के साथ समता लाई जा सके।

7. रक्षा और संयुक्त सशस्त्र पुलिस बल (सीएपीएफ) कार्मिकों समेत विभिन्‍न कर्मचारियों पर असर डालने वाले कुछ अन्‍य निर्णय भी लिए गए हैं, जिनमें निम्‍नलिखित शामिल हैं।
• ग्रेच्‍युटी की सीमा 10 लाख रुपये से बढ़ाकर 20 लाख रुपये कर दी गई है। जब भी डीए 50 प्रतिशत बढ़ जाएगा तब ग्रेच्‍युटी की सीमा 25 प्रतिशत बढ़ जाएगी।
• असैन्‍य एवं रक्षा कार्मिकों के लिए अनुग्रह राशि एकमुश्त मुआवजे के भुगतान हेतु एक आम व्यवस्था की गई है, जो उनके परिजनों को देय होगा और इसके तहत वर्तमान दरों को विभिन्‍न श्रेणियों के लिए 10-20 लाख रुपये से बढ़ाकर 25-45 लाख रुपये कर दिया गया है।
• रक्षा बलों के कर्मियों की विभिन्न श्रेणियों के लिए सैन्य सेवा वेतन की दरें 1000, 2000, 4200 एवं 6000 रुपये से संशोधित करके क्रमश: 3600, 5200, 10800 एवं 15500 रुपये कर दी गई हैं।

8. कैबिनेट ने आवास निर्माण से जुड़ी अग्रिम राशि को 7.50 लाख रुपये से बढ़ाकर 25 लाख रुपये करने संबंधी आयोग की सिफारिश को भी मंजूरी दे दी है। कर्मचारियों को कोई दिक्‍कत न हो, यह सुनिश्चित करने के लिए 4 ब्‍याज मुक्‍त अग्रिमों को बरकरार रखा गया है, जिनमें चिकित्सा इलाज के लिए अग्रिम, टूर/स्‍थानांतरण के लिए टीए, मृतक कर्मचारियों के परिवार के लिए टीए और एलटीसी शामिल हैं। अन्‍य सभी ब्‍याज मुक्‍त अग्रिमों को समाप्‍त कर दिया गया है।

9. कैबिनेट ने केंद्र सरकार कर्मचारी समूह बीमा योजना (सीजीईजीआईएस) में किए जाने वाले मासिक अंशदान में भारी वृद्धि करने की सिफा‍रिश को भी न मानने का निर्णय लिया है, जैसी कि आयोग ने सिफारिश की थी।

10. आयोग ने कुल मिलाकर 196 वर्तमान भत्‍तों पर गौर किया और इन्‍हें तर्कसंगत बनाने के उद्देश्‍य से 51 भत्‍तों को समाप्‍त करने और 37 भत्‍तों को समाहित करने की सिफारिश की है।

11. सातवें सीपीसी द्वारा लगाए गए अनुमान के मुताबिक, वर्ष 2016-17 में इसकी सभी सिफारिशों पर अमल से अतिरिक्‍त वित्‍तीय बोझ 1,02,100 करोड़ रुपये का पड़ेगा। इसके अलावा वर्ष 2015-16 के दो महीनों के लिए वेतन एवं पेंशन से जुड़ी बकाया राशि के भुगतान हेतु 12,133 करोड़ रुपये का अतिरिक्‍त बोझ वहन करना पड़ेगा।

Air Marshal Navkaranjit Singh Dhillon

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 23

A decorated officer of the Indian Air Force, Navkaranjit Singh Dhillon, has been promoted as Air Marshal. He joined as Air Marshal on June 5.It is a proud moment for the holy city in particular. Born on January 2, 1961, Dhillon was brought up in Dhand village, near Amritsar. Now, his family is residing at Ranjit Avenue in Amritsar.Air Marshall Dhillon is an alumnus of St Francis School, Amritsar; Sainik School, Kapurthala; and Khalsa College, Amritsar. He is a graduate of National Defence Academy, Defence Service Staff College and National Defence College.Air Marshall Dhillon was awarded the Ati Vishisht Sewa Medal by the President of India in 2014 for his distinguished service.Dhillon joined Indian Air Force as fighter pilot in 1981. He has a total 3,700 flying hrs to his credit of which 3,100 hrs are exclusively for flying MIG 21.Air Marshal Dhillon was the topper of the fighter strike leader course at Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE). Later, he served as directing staff at the TACDE in the capacity of head of the Training and Deputy Commandant. He has commanded a MIG-21 squadron and has been the chief operations officers of a premier flying base.He also commanded a helicopter base in DR Congo as part of UN Peace Keeping Mission. Dhillon served as Principal, Director Air Defence, and Assistant Chief of Air Staff (inspection) at Air Headquarters.Dhillon comes from the family, who has been rendering its services for the country for the last five decades. Dhillon acknowledges contributions of his father, Advocate Khazan Singh Dhillon, and mother Balbir Kaur Dhillon. His elder brother Prof Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, an economist, is currently the registrar of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, His younger brother Preetinder Singh Dhillon is a business professional.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti pays tributes to the soldiers, who were killed in the Uri attack, at Badami Bagh Cantonment on Monday. Tribune Photo: Amin War

Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Sarwa (Vijaypur), September 19Thousands of people and Army men bid a tearful adieu to Havaldar Ravi Paul and Subedar Karnail Singh, two of the 18 soldiers killed in the Uri attack on Sunday, at their native villages in Samba and Jammu districts, respectively.Mortal remains of both soldiers were brought to the Jammu technical airport on Monday afternoon in an Army helicopter and from there they were taken to their respective villages — Sarwa in the Vijaypur area of Samba district and Shibu Chak in the Bishnah area of Jammu district.In Sarwa village, since morning all roads led to the house of Havaldar Ravi Paul (42), who is survived by wife and two sons, Vansh Salotra (10) and Sudhansheesh Salotra (7).This village is situated a few kilometres away from the international border in the Ramgarh sector. Around 50-60 people of the village are working with the Army. Ravi Paul, youngest of six siblings, was in 10 Dogra Regiment while his two elder brothers have also worked in the Army. His children want to continue the tradition by joining the Army.“My father wanted me to become a doctor and I will fulfil this by becoming a doctor in the Army,” Vansh Salotra told The Tribune. His younger brother Sudhansheesh also thinks on similar lines.Vansh said it was routine that his father used to call them early in the morning to wake them up so that they could get ready for school. “On Sunday also, we got a call from my father at around 5 am and our talk was about routine things,” he said, adding, “I know why people have gathered today here. Because my father has died and they are waiting for his mortal remains to reach the village.”Ravi Paul’s elder brother, Mohan Lal, who is working with Defence Service Corps (DSC) at Ludhiana after taking retirement from the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) Battalion, said they used to take leave at the same time and visit the family. “We spent good time together. We also used to talk over phone regularly. The last time we talked was on September 17,” he said.Once the mortal remains of Ravi Paul reached his home, people raised slogans in favour of the Army and against Pakistan. Paul was cremated with full military honours as a galaxy of people including state minister Chander Prakash Ganga, Lok Sabha member Jugal Kishore, Rajya Sabha member Shamher Singh Manhas, the Jammu IG, Army officers and people from all walks of life were present.While on the one hand people felt proud of the sacrifice of the son of the soil, on the other hand there was anger among them over the death of soldiers while they were sleeping.“We don’t want our soldiers to die in sleep. If they have to die, let them die in a battlefield but not inside tents. It is the time to shun rhetoric and do something concrete,” said Roop Lal, naib sarpanch of the village.Meanwhile, thousands of people also attended the last rites of Subedar Karnail Singh at his native village Shibu Chak in the Bishnah area of Jammu district. He was cremated with full military honours.