Handicapped children of government employees and pensioners are eligible for lifelong pension irrespective of age in case there is no other eligible claimant in the family.

The Armed Forces Tribunal’s Chandigarh bench has dismissed a petition filed by the Army Headquarters asking for ‘Leave to Appeal’ in the Supreme Court to challenge the grant of pension to a handicapped son of a former soldier even though a cabinet decision exists to grant pension in such cases.

Handicapped children of government employees and pensioners are eligible for lifelong pension irrespective of age in case there is no other eligible claimant in the family. Vinod Kumar, an 80 per cent handicapped son of an Army jawan of the rank of Naik was, however, refused his pension on the interpretation that handicapped children who got married were not eligible for pension. The AFT had held in 2010 that no such condition could be imposed and had directed the Government to release the pension to Vinod Kumar.

Later in the year 2013, on the directions of the Union Cabinet, a letter was issued by the Central Government clarifying that even married handicapped children shall remain eligible to pension thereby settling the controversy once and for all.

Contrary to government policy issued after cabinet’s sanction, the Army HQ filed an application in the AFT seeking leave to appeal to the SC stating that it wanted to challenge the verdict since it involved a point of law of “general public importance”.

Lawyers familiar with litigation, involving the Defence Services, say that the Army HQ has been directing government lawyers to file such appeals in many cases which have attained finality even at the SC. There has been a spate of applications for filing appeals and reviews against disabled soldiers and even in the issue of enhanced pension of Honorary Naib Subedars which have already been decided by the SC and in which even the Attorney General had asked the three service chiefs not to file further appeals since it was causing embarrassment to the government.

Lawyers further say that unlike the Air Force and the Navy, the Army HQ seldom strongly protests or informs the senior functionaries about the correct legal position when any entity in the MoD asks it to file an appeal, opting to rather obey rather than recording on file the law laid down by the SC.

The All Indian Ex-Servicemern Association had earlier pointed out to the Defence Minister that litigation by the Government had become “lucrative business” and officers were flaunting ‘legal opinions’ to justify appeals when the matter had been settled by the apex court and directions had been issued even by the Prime Minster and Defence Minister to reduce such litigation.

A lawyer dealing with the subject says that nothing would change unless courts impose personal costs on officers of the Army and MoD who are directing the filing of such appeals and reviews in settled matters.

In the past, while the Army HQ has been claiming that it is the MoD which asks it to file appeals, the MoD has been putting the blame on the Army HQ. Recently, multiple applications for appeals against disabled soldiers were filed by the Army HQ even when the SC had directed the grant of disability pension to them based on a series of consistent orders.

Sources say, crores of rupees are spent on govt lawyers by the three services by filing infructuous appeals in settled matters by alleging artificial distinctions. It is also said that rather than following law laid down by the SC or the political executive, officials tend to give more weight to legal advice by government lawyers in favour of filing appeals.

LUDHIANA: Vajra Air Defence Brigade, under the aegis of Vajra Corps of Indian Army organised a special welfare meet for 200 widows of veterans and inaugurated Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) Hospital for veterans in Jagraon, on Monday.

HT PHOTOAnupvir Kaur, zonal president, Army Wives Welfare Association, inaugurating the ECHS Hospital in Jagraon near Ludhiana on Monday.

With an aim to provide ease to more than 6,000 veterans in Jagraon, the hospital was inaugurated by Anupvir Kaur, zonal president, Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA). She said that the facilities of Canteen Store Department (CSD) and Defense Pension Distributing Office (DPDO) are provided along with ECHS in a single complex.

In the run up of special welfare meet, extensive outreach drive was undertaken and widows of the veterans of Ludhiana district were contacted to resolve the issues related to one rank one pension (OROP), pension anomalies, healthcare, and arrears of 6th pay commission along with recruitment of their wards. Medical camp with ENT, eye, gynecology and orthopedics specialists was also held to address the problems of the widows.

Anupvir interacted with the widows and distributed wheel chairs, hearing aids, special walking aids, adjustable walking aids along with ECHS and CSD cards to the entitled widows.

India blamed JeM for the January 2 attack. Reuters

Islamabad, June 27

The Pakistan government has said that it will decide whether or not to allow Indian investigators to visit the country in connection with their probe into a deadly terror attack on an Indian airbase, after Eid-ul-Fitr.On January 2, a heavily armed group attacked the Pathankot Air Force Station.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook and Twitter @thetribunechd)New Delhi has blamed Pakistan-based jihadi group Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) for orchestrating the brutal assault.A high-level meeting to be attended by top civil and military officials will be convened by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif after he returns from London to discuss India’s request for a visit by its investigators and issues related to bilateral dialogue between the neighbours, reports the Express Tribune.The Express Tribune has quoted a senior official, who is part of the government’s core team dealing with India, that the meeting would decide whether to allow a team from India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) to travel to Pakistan for carrying forward the probe into the Pathankot attack.A five-member Joint Investigation Team (JIT) from Pakistan had visited India between March 27 and 31 to collect evidence with regard to the attack.The team comprising officials from police and intelligence agencies had met officials from NIA in New Delhi and had also been given access to the Pathankot airbase where the attack took place.Islamabad, however, contended that its investigators were given limited access as they were not allowed to meet eyewitnesses.New Delhi in return requested Pakistan to allow its investigators to visit the country to question alleged masterminds of the attack, including JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar and his brother.So far, Pakistan has not officially responded to the Indian request. One of the reasons behind the government’s reluctance has been reported that it thinks India may use the visit to ridicule Pakistan.“We will take the final decision after Eid,” the Express Tribune quoted an official as saying.The official on being asked about the prospects of resumption of the bilateral dialogue said India appeared to be “hiding behind the Pathankot incident”. The Pathankot attack led to the cancellation of crucial foreign secretary-level talks, which were to take place in mid-January.External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj last week at a news conference in New Delhi said that foreign secretary-level talks were not cancelled but New Delhi is only awaiting probe from the Pakistan side on the Pathankot attack.Though the prospects of resumption of talks at present are grim, officials hope both nations will eventually return to the negotiating table before the next Saarc summit scheduled to be hosted by Pakistan in November this year. ANI

short by Shubhodeep Datta / 03:52 pm on 26 Jun 2016,Sunday
Pakistan Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry has claimed that India is using “their own” fissile material for military purposes while the country was “taking” nuclear material from other countries for civilian use. Further, he added that India’s NSG membership will increase the ‘strategic imbalance’ in South Asia. India will gain access to nuclear materials’ trade if it becomes an NSG member.

Security personnel inside the Pathankot air base. PTI file photo

Pathankot, June 22  

A day after a parliamentary panel claimed some “terrorists were still hiding” in villages close to the “vulnerable” Pathankot airbase, Punjab Police on Wednesday carried out a massive door-to-door search in at least 28 hamlets near here.“We conducted a search operation in 28 villages starting at 5 am for five hours. We asked people whether they have seen any person or suspect who is not from their village.They said they have not seen anyone,” Pathankot SSP Rakesh Kaushal said.Led by the Pathankot SSP, a total of 300 policemen including 2 SP-rank officers conducted search operation in villages such as Dhira, Tajpur, Akalgarh and Chonga near Pathankot air force base.The search team also comprised highly trained and specially equipped Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) commandoes.The police also inspected security outside the Pathankot air force base and found that everything was safe.“Everything is safe there,” said Kaushal, adding that the air force was also secured by its own Garud commandoes.Search operations were also carried in areas inhabited by ‘Gujjars’, officials said.“We found nothing suspicious,” said the SSP.He, however, said security had been intensified in the border district which had witnessed a terror attack at the airforce base in January.    Yesterday in Jammu, Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) on Home Affairs P Bhattacharya had said, “After going back from Pathankot, we made our suggestions to the government and said that there can be further attack on Pathankot… We were told by the villagers that some terrorists were still hiding in the villages there.”     “Do you know that a few days ago, government asked the CRPF, BSF and the Army to guard the air force station because some terrorists are hiding there…,” said Bhattacharya.    Notably, early this month, shoot-at-sight orders were issued at the air force station in Pathankot and security was stepped up following intelligence inputs.Meanwhile, a meeting was held between officials of Army, BSF, Air Force and Punjab police to review security arrangements here, the Pathankot SSP said. — PTI

From Times Square to Sydney Harbour, yoga unifies all

NEW DELHI: From several thousand enthusiasts participating in mass yoga sessions all through the day at New York’s iconic Times Square, to mass yoga in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, at the European Union parliament, and even atop Sydney Harbour Bridge — the ancient Indian tradition got a fillip across the world on Tuesday in the second edition of International Yoga Day.

MUMBAI Naval Cadets participate in a mass yoga demonstration on INS Viraat on International Yoga Day in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Lakhs of people across India stretched themselves in various postures to mark the day as Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the main event in Chandigarh. He performed asanas and maintained that yoga was not a religious activity. At the United Nations, UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon asked citizens across nations to embrace healthier choices to mark the International Day of Yoga.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tashkent on June 23 to seek support for NSG. AFP file photo

Beijing, June 21

China, which has been opposing India’s NSG membership bid, on Tuesday for the first time said the “door is open” for discussions on the issue but took a swipe at the US for backing India, saying it was one of those who made the rule against the entry of non-NPT countries into NSG.The Chinese Foreign Ministry, however, asked the 48-member NSG to “stay focused” on whether the criteria should be changed on entry of non-NPT countries into the elite group.I have not seen the US statement supporting India. But the US is one of those who made the rule that non-NPT countries should not join the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG),” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing.

Read: Any exemption to India for NSG must apply to Pak: China
“The relevant rule was made on the principle that NPT was the cornerstone of the NSG,” she said.Hua made the remarks in response to a question on the US asking members of the nuclear trading club to support India’s application.

Read: US again asks NSG members to support India’s bidLater, talking to Indian media, Hua said while discussions are going on among the NSG members, the admission of new members is not listed in the current plenary meeting in Seoul.“The door is open. The room is there. We never said we are against who (a country). We did not target any country, India or Pakistan,” Hua said

.Read: Modi to meet Chinese President to win support for NSGChina for its part cares about non-proliferation treaty (NPT) as criteria for admission of the new members into the NSG, she said.“This is the core of the international non-proliferation. If the non-proliferation regime is changed how can we explain the Iranian nuclear treaty,” Hua argued.“We just had a treaty with Iran. We have North Korean issues there…So this concerns the core issue whether NPT and non-proliferation system could be impacted by this,” she said.Reiterating what she said on Monday, Hua said, “According to my understanding, it (entry of new members) is not on the agenda of the NSG meeting in Seoul.”“The door is open for the admission of the non-NPT members. It is never closed. It is open. But the members of the NSG should stay focused on whether the criteria should be changed and whether non-NPT members should be admitted into the NSG,” she said.On US’s backing for India’s NSG bid, Hua said, “We care about rules. The US just sets the rules. This is not an issue between China and India but (about) the pillar for non-proliferation system,” she said.Amid China’s opposition, the US has given a fresh push to India’s NSG membership bid by asking members of the elite club to support India’s entry into the grouping during the ongoing plenary meeting in Seoul. PTI

During his poll campaign in January 2014 Narendra Modi talked of “tax terrorism” and advised tax officials, “You cannot treat every citizen like a thief”. Two and a half years down the line he is still offering almost the same advice to the tax administrators: “People within the country are not dishonest… but somewhere they have some problem” in paying taxes. It is time to go beyond the talking point and do something meaningful. The Prime Minister may be reminded of his own smart saying: “We need action, not Acts”. On black money, Modi has remained silent. It takes courage to admit failure. For black money holders within the country and outside, the government has proposed two amnesty schemes. Tax evaders have been invited to declare their illegal income and assets, pay a small price and turn their black money into white legally with no questions asked. Even though morally offensive to the honest taxpayers, these schemes have not tempted many to come forward and take the bait. And this is what Prime Minister Modi tells the tax administrators: “If you become taxpayer friendly, then taxes will automatically come to you”. The fear of the law and stiffer penalties, and not such homilies, yield the desired results. It is an established fact that the lower the tax rate, the higher the compliance. This government has neither simplified taxes nor lowered them. Even when global oil prices plunged, the benefit was not given to consumers; it actually raised taxes to fill its own coffers. Modi’s big dreams are being funded, not by downsizing government, not by a crackdown on black money, but by raising taxes, which is the easiest doable thing.   The competitive pursuit of appeasement politics has raised the burden on the existing taxpayers, whose number is small. Data shows only 1% of the population pays income tax. Only five crore people pay taxes and Modi wants their number to double. Surely, neither hare-brained schemes nor verbal exhortations would do. For that, the tax system needs to be reworked along with a technology push and simple, transparent rules. http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/editorials/simplify-lower-taxes/253137.html