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Islamabad, May 7
Pakistan needs modern F-16 fighter jets for the war against terrorism but rejects the conditions the US has attached with the sale, Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry said on Saturday.Chaudhary said no conditions should be attached to the sale of F-16s because Pakistan planned to use the jets only for the purpose of fighting terrorists, Dawn online reported. The US State Department earlier this week said Pakistan would have to pay from its own funds if it wanted to buy F-16 fighter jets, after the US Congress last month withdrew funds for the deal to force Islamabad to act against the Haqqani network.Chaudhry said diplomatic efforts were underway to convince the Congress to subsidise the sale of the fighter jets. Pakistan had earlier reached an understanding with the US for buying eight F-16 planes. Under the deal, Pakistan was to pay about $270 million from its national funds. The US was supposed to provide the rest from its Foreign Military Financing fund. — IANS
DEHRADUN: President Pranab Mukherjee expressed concern on Monday over the forest fires in Uttarakhand that gutted vast Himalayan jungles as police arrested four villagers for allegedly starting blazes.
BIRBAL SHARMA/HTSmoke billows from a forest fire in Kamru valley, 50km from Mandi, in Himachal Pradesh on Monday. CHAMBA KANGRA HAMIRPUR MANDI UNA BILASPUR SOLAN HIMACHAL PRADESH LAHAUL AND SPITI KULLU SIRMAUR KINNAUR SHIMLAMukherjee’s letter triggered swift action from governor KK Paul who first briefed the President, then Prime Minister Narendra Modi and finally environment minister Prakash Javadekar on the steps taken to douse around 100 fires across 13 districts blazing for over a week. The hill state is under President’s Rule at present.
Uttarakhand additional chief secretary S Ramaswami said cases were registered against locals under the Indian Forest Act and the Indian Penal Code for burning forests as firefighting personnel struggled to control the blazes ravaging wildlife and vegetation in the hill state.In the state’s Chamoli district, a 25-year-old police constable was killed while dousing a forest when a rock fell on him. Police were also asked to investigate the possibility of the timber mafia setting forests deliberately on fire.
“We are investigating all possible reasons, including the timber mafia’s involvement,” a police officer said.
The blazes have razed over 2,900 hectares of lush Himalayan forestland in the past three months and killed at least four people, besides inflicting injuries on countless fire-fighting personnel. Vast tracts of the badly hit Garhwal region are engulfed in thick smoke.
Uttarakhand HC also questioned the state forest department on preparations for controlling the calamity. Under section 30 of the forest act, persons found guilty of burning forests can be sentenced 7 years imprisonment or penalty of over ‘1 lakh. “Villagers are culprits, cases have been lodged against them,” BP Gupta, chief conservator of forest (CCF) and nodal officer, told HT. More than 6,100 personnel and three IAF choppers have been deployed in Uttarakhand to extinguish hundreds of forest fires. But many local personnel have complained they were pressed into service without adequate gear, resulting in mounting injuries.
“The department is giving us away as fire offering. We don’t have fire fighting uniforms that could save us from blaze,” said Ramesh Kothiyal, forester Gohri range.
Summer forest fires, sometimes deliberate, are not uncommon as local residents start blazes to have new vegetation after the rains.
But villagers have may started the fires early this year — weeks before the mid-May predicted rainfall — because of a forest fodder shortage triggered by drought conditions in 11 districts, including Pauri and Pithoragarh that are the worsthit regions.
State disaster management department said the situation will be brought under control soon as firefighting is taking place on a war footing. Officials said an IAF MI17 helicopter carrying 5,000 litres of water made 25 sorties on Sunday and Monday to douse fires in Almora and Srinagar areas.
The fire also spread to J&K and Himachal Pradesh, where summer blazes in grasslands and forests caused 378 incidents, mainly in the low hills, and destroyed flora and fauna in over 3,000 hectares. “As per the latest information, fire has been contained.
Situation is under control now,” minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju told reporters in Delhi.
Kochi, March 26
Home Minister Rajnath Singh today assured Lok Sabha MP K C Venugopal that CRPF would hold an inquiry into the alleged disrespect shown by the paramilitary force to the body of one of its jawans, who died in Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh.The Alappuzha MP told PTI that the body of Anil, hailing from Harippad in the district, “was treated with utmost disrespect by the CRPF authorities.””Anil, a native of Chingoli panchayat, died in a drowning accident on Thursday at Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh. But when the body reached Alappuzha, it was found naked, not embalmed and covered in a plastic sheet,” he said.His shocked relatives protested and refused to receive it.Local police then took the body and kept it at the mortuary of a nearby hospital for autopsy.Venugopal said he wrote to Rajnath Singh and Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, seeking an inquiry into the ‘disrespect’ shown by CRPF authorities.”The Home Minister telephoned me today. He told me that he has directed the CRPF Director General to conduct an inquiry into the incident,” Venugopal said.He said Anil’s agitated relatives were pacified after the Home Minister’s assurance and received the body for cremation.”As a civilised society, it is a common gesture that the body of a person be treated with utmost respect and dignity,” he said.He said those responsible for the ‘disrespect’ must be severely punished. — PTI
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, May 1
The first of the six indigenous Scorpene-class submarines set out for sea trials today. Named Kalvari—sea tiger shark—the 66-m-long vessel is set to be inducted into the Navy in October-November this year.The submarines are being built by Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks Limited (MDL) in collaboration with French company DCNS. The remaining five vessels are set to be inducted by 2020.The submarine sailed out around 10 am today using its own propulsion for the first sea trial off the Mumbai coast. It completed a number of preliminary tests on propulsion system, auxiliary equipment and systems, navigation aids, communication equipment and steering gear. Various standard operating procedures were also validated for it. The submarine then returned to harbour in the evening, the India Navy said tonight.The Scorpene is equipped with weapons launching tubes (WLT) and can carry weapons on board that can be easily reloaded at sea through special handling and loading equipment. The array of weapons and complex sensors fitted on board the Scorpene are managed by an advanced combat management system, which integrates various diverse systems fitted onboard.However, despite today’s good news, the submarine’s plan to purchase heavyweight torpedoes for the vessel remains stuck due to the VVIP chopper scam. Over the past 15 years, India’s submarine arm is the slowest growing in the otherwise fast-growing war machinery.
To be inducted into Navy by year-end
The 66-m-long vessel is set to be inducted into the Navy in October-November this year
Kalvari is the first of the six indigenous Scorpene-class submarines being built by Mumbai-based Mazagon Docks Limited in collaboration with French company DCNS
The remaining five vessels are set to be inducted by 2020
The Indian Army is currently conducting a major exercise in the deserts of the western state of Rajasthan to test its operation capabilities during a battle.
The military exercise， titled Shatrujeet， is being undertaken by the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh’s elite Mathura-based Strike 1 corps， the Indian Defense Ministry said.
The exercise is focusing on “validating integrated battle theatre fighting concept” incorporating new-age technologies， weapon platforms and systems as well as long range precision targeting vectors， Indian Defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Ojha told the media Saturday.
In fact， the Indian Army regularly conducts such exercises to evaluate its operation capabilities during a war with the enemy.
The exercise will continue till April 23.
Retd army general who served in J&K urges for greater use of ‘soft power’ in the Valley and reiterates the need to engage with the people and change how they perceive India
As debate rages over the death of five protesters in the Kashmiri town of Handwara, Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain feels that the army needs to ease up on using its power arbitrarily against citizens.
“The army need not come in contact with mobs in Kashmir. We need to use 80 per cent soft power and 20 per cent hard. Instead, we are doing the reverse,” Hasnain said, while speaking on ‘National Security and the Threat of Radicalisation — A perspective’ at Abasaheb Garware College on Sunday. The lecture was organised by Maharashtra Education Society and Akhil Bharatiya Poorva Sainik Seva Parishad, Pune.
Hasnain was handpicked as general officer commanding (corps commander) at the Srinagar- headquartered 15 Corps when Kashmir was rocked by the turbulent stone-throwing agitation in 2010. All military operations in the Valley are controlled by them and they are popularly known as the Chinar Corps. His approach had weakened the militants and created an atmosphere of hope in the Valley which saw a major increase in tourist traffic afterwards.
“During the beginning of militancy in 1989-90, it was necessary to use more hard power. But, things have changed now. The number of militants has come down to 250 from over 5,000 during the early 1990s. My experience shows that the army generates only 10 per cent intelligence, while the rest comes from the special operations group of the J&K police. The army should remain in the rural areas and the police and Central Reserve Police Force should deal with mobs,” the general said.
“Soft power involves the army penetrating the villages and helping people in various tasks to create a bridge with them, while ensuring that this approach is not misused by militants and hardliners. When I met the people of J&K, they would hand over small chits mentioning their problems. I found that there had been no effort to connect with the masses in the last 25 years. There is a need to create hope among Kashmiris and change their perception about India,” he further explained.
“Maoists use ideology while terrorist organisations like ISIS use religion to lure people. None of the Indian Muslims joined Al- Qaeda but there have been attempts by at least 27 to join ISIS,” stated the second generation army officer. Without naming Darul- Uloom, Deoband, one of the largest Islamic institutions in the world, Hasnain said, “The Saharanpur-based institution should come out against (Islamic) terrorism more often and not once in three years.”
He also believes that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence is trying to create problems using certain fault lines. “We need Indian nationalism and not subnationalism based on regions within the country. Anti-national elements use social media aggressively to create rifts which we should guard against,” he concluded.
█ We need Indian nationalism and not sub-nationalism based on regions within the country. Anti-national elements use social media aggressively to create rifts which we should guard against
– LT GEN (RETD) SYED ATA HASNAIN
Samaan Lateef
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, March 25
The Jammu and Kashmir Government is mulling over giving Tragbal meadows in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district to the Army for setting up an artillery firing range in lieu of the Tosa Maidan field firing range.Taking into consideration the damage which could be caused to flora and fauna, the government has dropped the plan to hand over land at Tulail in the Gurez area of the district to the Army and is instead thinking over giving the higher reaches of Tragbal, adjacent to Razdan Pass, for a field firing range.“The Army is in possession of over 200 hectares at Tragbal. It would be proper that the Army expands its possession there so that we could assuage public anger,” said an official of the state Home Department.The proposal to hand over Tragbal came after the state government faced public criticism for allowing the Army to set up an artillery firing range at Bajpathri in Budgam district or at Tulail in Bandipora district.The Army had sought notification of the Bajpathri meadows for setting up a field firing range after the previous government headed by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah refused to extend lease of the adjacent meadow of Tosa Maidan for its use as a firing range on April 18, 2014.However, the move was opposed by civil society, separatists, opposition National Conference and Save Yusmarg Movement, saying the firing range will adversely affect the biodiversity of the area.Even the National Green Tribunal, in January this year, raised voice against handing over the Bajpathri meadow to the Army for undertaking field firing drills.Later, the Army moved a proposal of Tulail in Gurez for setting up a firing range. However, the move has been opposed by the people of Gurez, saying it will affect the human habitation, besides the flora and fauna.More than 60 civilians have lost their lives due to the explosion of shells in Tosa Maidan, which was under the Army’s control for more than 50 years.In September last year, the state government had agreed to examine the Army’s demands for notifying land for setting up an artillery firing range in lieu of Tosa Maidan.A high-level committee of the state Home Department and the Army has been mandated to look for an alternate and feasible place for a firing range.Officials say the Army is yet to submit the denotification letter on the Tosa Maidan meadow.Chief Secretary BR Sharma said the process to provide land to the Army against the Tosa Maidan field firing range was yet to be concluded. “We are considering several options, but the final decision is yet to be taken,” Sharma said.
