Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 8

Of the 33 cadets from Punjab, who were commissioned as officers at the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, today, as many as 15 are alumni of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute (AFPI), Mohali.

A total of 382 officers of the 144th Course, along with 77 foreign cadets, passed out from the IMA today. Punjab stood at the fourth place in terms of the number of officers in the batch, a marked improvement over previous years.

The highest number of officers are from Uttar Pradesh (72), followed by Bihar (46) and Haryana (40). The passing out parade was reviewed by Lt Gen C Mathson, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South Western Command.

The cadets from the AFPI are from the institute’s third batch. They had undergone two-year training at the institute along with completing their Class XII from 2013 to 2015, followed by three years at the NDA and a final year at the IMA. The senior most among them was Battalion Under Officer Harshdeep Singh Sohi, who has been commissioned into the Mechanised Infantry.

Amongst the rest, two have joined the Armoured Corps, four each have opted for the Infantry and the Artillery while two each have chosen the Signals and the Army Ordnance Corps.

“With this, the total number of commissioned officers from the first three AFPI batches comes to 50. Another five cadets are under training at the Air Force Academy and are expected to be commissioned into the Indian Air Force on June 15,” said Maj Gen BS Grewal, Director General, AFPI.

In the batch that had passed out in June last year, over half the cadets from Punjab were AFPI alumni. General Grewal said so far, six AFPI courses had contributed 119 cadets to various service academies.

The AFPI was set up by the Punjab Government in 2011 for training boys for joining the armed forces as commissioned officers through the NDA or other service academies. Earlier, the entire state was sending just six to eight boys to the NDA for each course.

NEW DELHI: The defence ministry is set to invite private sector companies to participate in the Rs 21,000 crore deal for new naval utility helicopters, which will be the first project to kick off under the strategic partnership (SP) policy under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

Sources said that the first ‘expression of interest’ (EoI) to the private sector under the policy will be issued for the helicopter deal in the coming days while others like a mega plan to manufacture submarines,  ..

Itanagar/New Delhi, June 5

A massive day-night search for a transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force, which went missing two days ago, continued on Wednesday in remote mountainous Mechuka in Arunachal Pradesh’s West Siang district.

The Russian-origin AN-32 aircraft with 13 people on board lost contact on Monday afternoon after taking off from Jorhat in Assam for Menchuka advanced landing ground near the border with China.

IAF sources on Wednesday said additional assets, including two Sukhoi-30 aircraft, were deployed on the third day to locate the missing plane apart from the fleet of C-130J and AN-32 planes and two Mi-17 and two ALH helicopters.

The ground forces included troops from the Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and state police.

The two Sukhoi-30 and two C-130J aircraft will carry out night missions, they said.

The IAF has been regularly updating the families of all air-warriors on board the aircraft about the rescue operation.

Military sources said rescuers have not received any signal from the emergency locator beacon in the missing plane, adding there is a possibility that the device may not have been functional.

They said the plane that went missing is yet to be upgraded with latest avionics and radars, though some of the AN-32 were strengthened with advanced systems.

The Indian Navy’s P-8I aircraft was deployed on Tuesday as it has electro-optical and infra-red sensors which could be helpful in the search operation.

IAF officials said ISRO’s Cartosat and RISAT satellites are taking images of the area around Menchuka to help the rescuers find the plane.

They said the area has thick vegetation and difficult terrain which are making the rescue operation challenging.

The IAF on Monday said the aircraft took off from Jorhat at 12.27 pm for the Menchuka advance landing ground, and its last contact with the ground control was at 1 pm.

A total of eight aircrew and five passengers were on board the aircraft.

The AN-32 is a Russian origin aircraft and the IAF currently operates a sizeable number of it. It is a twin-engine turboprop transport aircraft.

An AN-32 aircraft had crashed near a village in West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh in June 2009 in which 13 defence personnel were killed.

The aircraft had crashed over the Rinchi Hill above Heyo village, about 30 km from Mechuka advance landing ground.

In July 2016, an AN-32 aircraft went missing while taking off from Chennai for Port Blair with 29 people on board.

The aircraft could not be traced following weeks of massive search operations covering 2,17,800 square nautical miles by multiple aircraft.

Months later, an IAF court of inquiry concluded that it was unlikely that the missing personnel on board the aircraft would have survived the accident. — PTI

Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 5

Tributes were paid to the heroes of the Chhamb battle of 1971 at a solemn ceremony at Pannu War Memorial in Akhnoor under the aegis of the Crossed Swords Division on Wednesday.

A contingent of the 5 Sikh Regiment comprising Junior Commissioned Officers and other ranks was also present. It also paid homage to the heroes of their unit.

A defence spokesman said: “During the 1971 Indo-Pak war, a Company of the 5 Sikh Regiment was entrusted with the vital role of defending the important approaches to the Chhamb sector under the leadership of Major DS Pannu.”

“Over a period of four days, the brave soldiers successfully repulsed as many as 14 attacks, thereby foiling the designs of the Pakistan army in the sector. The brave soldiers stood fast till the end despite all odds and inflicted prohibitive losses on the enemy. Many of them, including Major DS Pannu, the Company Commander, sacrificed their lives in the line of duty in the finest traditions of the Indian Army,” he said.

On the solemn occasion, Maj Gen Rajinder Dewan, General Officer Commanding, Crossed Swords Division, Col NJS Pannu (retd), brother of Late Major DS Pannu, who was awarded the Vir Chakra posthumously, and other serving and retired soldiers laid wreaths at Pannu War Memorial.

A kirtan, ardas and langar were also organised at the memorial. A number of ex-servicemen and locals also attended the ceremony and paid respects to the brave sons of the nation.

Col Manmohan SIngh father of Lt Gen Ranbir Singh contradicts surgical strikes due to name changed for Raids conducted earlier .Her himself had conducted Raids in J& K.

In a sign of improved India-China ties, a senior Colonel of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is currently in India for a year-long course in military management. Sources said the officer is currently with the College of Defence Management in Secunderabad, Telangana. He arrived in March this year. In another sign of the thaw in relations, the two armies will hold a counter-terrorism military exercise named ‘Hand in Hand’ in Chengdu between December 10 and 23. The joint exercise was cancelled in 2017. India will send 130 soldiers of the 11 Sikh Light Infantry.

India and China have exchanged personnel for courses in their military establishments but it was discontinued after a trust deficit between the two countries, especially after the 73-day stand-off in Doklam, Bhutan, last year.

“This is a good development. India and China are mature nations committed to improving relations further,” said Lt Gen SL Narsimhan (Retd), a member of the National Security Advisory Board.
He said more of such activities would result in improving mutual understanding.

The exchange of officers had started about 20 years back but it had few takers. The maximum exchange took place in 2003, when once officer each from the Army, Navy and Air Force went from India to China for a course in their military establishments.

Photo for representation only.

Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 12

Almost three years after 19 people lost their lives in a massive fire that had broken out at the Central Ammunition Depot (CAD), Pulgaon, it has now emerged that the Army had made multiple requests to the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) for removing defective anti-tank mines from the depot but no action was taken.

A petition filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court by the widow of Lt Col RS Pawar, herself an Army officer hailing from Rohtak, has averred that the Army had in strong terms put on record that the matter was being “delayed deliberately” and “dragged unendingly”, thereby posing a serious threat to safety and security of personnel and endangering the establishment.

No effective action whatsoever was taken by the OFB, ultimately leading to the tragic blast in depot, one of the largest in Asia, on May 31, 2016, because of defective mines.

Two officers, including Lt Col Pawar, who was posthumously decorated for gallantry, and 17 others were killed and a huge stockpile of ammunition was destroyed.

Taking cognisance of the petition filed by Maj Reenu Ohlan, the high court has issued notices to the Department of Defence Production (DDP) and the OFB.

Besides seeking compensation “as the court may deem fit” from these two establishments, she has also sought action on the directions passed by the defence minister for fixing accountability and culpability in the incident and also for ensuring time-bound removal of all defective ammunition to prevent any such catastrophe in the future.

It was the mandate of technical experts from the OFB and the Quality Assurance Directorate to remove the mines categorised as defective.

The Army, which controls the CAD, is not authorised to handle such ammunition. In fact, there was another blast at CAD, Pulgaon in 2018, in which six persons were killed.

The petition states that thereafter the statutory Court of Inquiry established the lapses at various stages at the end of the OFB and directions were issued by the then defence minister in July 2016 to fix responsibility and criminal culpability and also to replace and dispose all defective ammunition.

Despite orders from the highest political executive, that the aforesaid action be taken within one month, no effective steps have been taken till date, the petition claims.

Pointing out that though the Army and the Department of Defence (DoD) in the MoD are supporting her, she has averred that there has been total apathy, negligence and indifference on part of the DDP and OFB.

New Delhi, January 25

It was love at first sight for Mahajabeen, wife of Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, when the two met at a school in South Kashmir around 15 years back.

Nearly one-and-a-half months after Wani’s death in an anti-terror operation in Shopian, Mahajabeen, a teacher and mother of two, says his immense love for her and fearless persona are a source of motivation for her to encourage youngsters to become good citizens.

“I did not cry when I was told he is no more. There was an inner resolve which did not allow me to cry,” she said after the government announced the Ashoka Chakra, India’s highest peacetime gallantry award, for Wani who hailed from Cheki Ashmuji in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Wani, a militant-turned-soldier who had joined the Army’s 162 Infantry Battalion (Territorial Army) Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry in 2004, will be conferred the award posthumously on Saturday by President Ram Nath Kovind.

“He loved me so much. For me, he was my guiding light. He always encouraged all of us to make people around us happy, to address people’s problems.

“As a teacher, I am dedicating myself to creating good citizens for my state. Leading the young minds in the right direction is my resolve and I am drawing inspiration for it from my beloved husband–the best in the world,” said Mahajabeen.

Refusing to share details about their school and college days, Mahajabeen said, “We met at school. It was love at first sight. He was a great husband, always fiercely protecting us.”

Recalling the fateful day of November 25, Mahajabeen said she was at her parents’ house when the shocking news came.

“He had telephoned me the previous evening and enquired about our well-being. I had told him to take care of himself. But destiny had something else for him,” said Mahajabeen in an interview to PTI.

“He always wanted to make his 162/TA Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry battalion proud. For him, duty was supreme. He was a source of inspiration for people in our area and community,” said Mahajabeen, who is in her late 30s.

On November 25, 38-year-old Wani lost his life in a counter-terror operation against six militants at Hirapur village near Batgund, in Shopian.

Under intense hail of bullets from the militants, he eliminated the ‘district commander’ of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and one foreign militant in a daring display of raw courage, officials said.

In the ensuing gunfight, he was hit multiple times, including on his head. He also injured another militant before succumbing to grievous wounds, they said.

Apart from his wife, he is survived by two sons Athar (20) and Shaid (18).

“He was a brave soldier and a hero right from the beginning. He always served for peace in his home state of Jammu and Kashmir,” said a senior Army official.

Wani was a recipient of the Sena Medal for gallantry twice in 2007 and 2018. “He always had the interest of the nation in his heart. He operated with the Rashtriya Rifles units in Kashmir. Throughout his active life he always willingly faced grave potential threats and was a source of inspiration to others,” said one of his colleagues. PTI