The union cabinet on Wednesday approved the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme for close to 16 lakh defence pensioners even as it leaves out those who would take voluntary retirement in future.

In a statement, the union government said that the benefit will be given with effect from July 1, 2014 and pensions will be re-fixed for those who retired before July 1, 2014 in the same rank and with the same length of service.

The benefit, it said will also be extended to family pensioners including war widows and disabled pensioners.

However, as in the past when the government notified OROP last year, it again made it clear through the union cabinet decision that “personnel who opt to get discharged henceforth on their own request will not be entitled to the benefits of OROP” and that “It will be effective prospectively”.

This has invited sharp criticisms from the ex-servicemen fraternity even as Constitution of Judicial a committee headed by former Patna High Court Chief Justice L Narasimha Reddy has been formed to look into any anomalies in implementation of OROP. The committee will give its report in six months. The arrears will be paid in four half-yearly installments. However, all the family pensioners including those in receipt of Special/Liberalized family pension and Gallantry award winners shall be paid arrears in one installment.

While in future, the pension would be re-fixed every five years, the government said that the financial implications on account of grant of OROP including Pre-Matured Retirees (PMR) cases would be to the tune of Rs 10925.11 crore for payment of arrears and annual financial implication would be Rs 7488.7 crore. Till March 31, 2016, 15.91 lakh pensioners have been given the first installment of OROP, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), which amounts to Rs. 2,861 crore.

MoD has sad that the information is being gathered for processing on priority basis, the cases of nearly 1.15 lakh pensioners who have not got their installments due to gaps of information such as the length of service being assessed and others.

Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar with Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Hekmat Karzai during a meeting at South Block in New Delhi on Tuesday. PTI

New Delhi, April 26

Ahead of the Heart of Asia conference on peace and stability that will host for the first time, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar held a bilateral meeting with Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Karzai here on Tuesday.

“Beginning with the bilaterals. Before Heart of Asia meeting, FS meets Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Karzai,” external affairs ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup tweeted.

The meeting comes ahead of the much expected bilateral meeting between Jaishankar and Pakistani Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhry.

On Tuesday afternoon, India will host the Heart of Asia Istanbul Process conference aimed at bringing peace and stability to Afghanistan.

Apart from India, the Heart of Asia initiative involves 13 other countries – Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and the United Arab Emirates.

There are 17 supporting countries – Australia, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Iraq, Japan, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Britain, the US and the European Union (EU) – as well as 11 regional and international organisations supporting this process, including the UN, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

Sharad Kumar, NIA Director General

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 19

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is learnt to have readied its team that would visit Pakistan for its probe into the Pathankot airbase terror attack.New Delhi would also be sending a fresh Letters Rogatory (LRs) to the neighbouring nation for confirmation on the evidences shared with the Pakistan JIT during their recent visit to India.Indicating that a team was ready to travel to Pakistan with all possible proof against the handlers of the attack, including JeM chief Masood Azhar, NIA Director General Sharad Kumar said, “We are awaiting a clearance from Islamabad. We have handed over all documents sought by the JIT and I believe the evidence provided to Pakistan can stand scrutiny in any court of law internationally.”The LRs are being despatched notwithstanding indications from the Pakistani side that it was not yet ready to receive Indian investigators.The NIA has also put the pictures of the four dead terrorists on its official website and sought help from the general public to identify them. Sources in the NIA confirmed that the agency was flooded with emails, some of which originated from Pakistan, giving information about the attackers.The agency, during its interaction with Pakistan’s Joint Investigation Team, had sought details about the residences of the terrorists whose names had been shared with the visiting team. However, there was no response from Pakistan.

Senior Army officials conversant with the military law said that action has been initiated in many cases against complainants based on rules and regulations mentioned in the Defence Services Rules. – Senior Army officials conversant with the military law said that action has been initiated in many cases against complainants based on rules and regulations mentioned in the Defence Services Rules. (source: PTI)

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar rapped the headquarters of the three services — Army, Navy and Air Force — for taking action against personnel who make representations to him and whose complaints he forwards to the services for inquiry.

In a letter written to the Vice Chief of Army Staff, Vice Chief of Naval Staff and the Vice Chief of Air Staff, the Ministry of Defence has conveyed the strong reservations of the Defence Minister that instead of informing him about the inquiry held into the complaints, the respective services have been initiating action against the complainants.

The MoD letter, accessed by The Indian Express, says the minister receives representations and complaints from various persons including serving armed forces personnel. Based on the nature and gravity of the complaints, directions of the Defence Minister are communicated to service headquarters for looking into or inquiring into the allegations made in these complaints. “Of late it has been observed that on certain occasions instead of apprising the ministry/RM of the findings of the inquiry conducted, action has been taken against the complaining officials including attachment at other formations/establishments,” the letter states.It goes on to say that, “RM has taken a serious note of the matter and has directed that henceforth service headquarters shall restrain from taking action against complaining officials. If any action needs to be taken as per procedure, the same shall be furnished to the Ministry for seeking approval of the RM when the complaint is addressed to RM and inquiry has been ordered by him”. Compliance of these instructions have been ordered at all levels of the three services. Speaking to The Indian Express, a senior official of the MoD said that Parrikar has also directed that all inquiries in complaints which have been marked by him should be conducted in a time bound manner. The minister has not been satisfied by the slow response to the complaints and the inordinately long time taken by the chain of command to respond to him. Senior Army officials conversant with the military law said that action has been initiated in many cases against complainants based on rules and regulations mentioned in the Defence Services Rules (DSR) which forbid the breaking of chain of command while communicating. “However, many officers as well as jawans have been writing directly to the Defence Minister after finding that their complaints are not being addressed at lower levels,” he said. Recently, an Army officer of the rank of Colonel even met the Defence Minister personally, after seeking time from him, to air his grievance after his repeated complaints to even the Chief of Army Staff did not receive the attention that they deserved.

Srinagar, April 19

Municipal authorities in violence-hit Handwara town in north Kashmir today removed three security force bunkers from the main market, fulfilling one of the long pending demands of local residents.

“Three bunkers, which were constructed on top of shops in Handwara main market, have been removed by municipal authorities,” a police official said.

He said the main bunker, located in the round-about of the main market, has also been vacated and taken over by municipal authorities.

“This bunker will also be demolished and the task will be completed by 2 PM today,” the official said.

The municipal authorities also erected a board on the premises of the bunker, marking the place for conversion into a public park.

The locals had been demanding removal of the bunkers for quite sometime but the Army had put its foot down, saying it was strategically important for the troops.

However, the demand for removal of these bunkers intensified after last week’s violence triggered by alleged molestation of a girl by an army soldier.

Three persons were killed in security forces firing while dealing with the protestors.—PTI

Tribune News Service

Ambala, March 29

Members of the Ex-Servicemen Welfare Committee today criticised the BJP government for permitting Pakistan’s Joint Investigation Team to visit the Pathankot air base to probe the terrorist attack. They said, by doing so, the government has insulted the martyrs who laid their lives for the country.Subedar Atrar Singh Multani, president, Ex-Servicemen Welfare Committee, said, “It was unfortunate the Government of India has allowed the Pakistan team, including the representatives of ISI, to visit the Pathankot air base. It will bring down the moral of the security forces.”He said it was like asking the culprit to investigate its own crime, adding that any positive outcome from the visit was highly unlikely.JP Mehta, senior president of the committee, said “The government has compromised national security by allowing access to the Air Force base. Pakistan will never punish or hand over Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar or Lakhvi to India, who have been the mastermind behind the terrorist activities in the country.”

Beijing: China has for the first time landed a military plane on one of its artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea, upping the ante amidst a raging territorial row with countries like Vietnam and the Philippines. The state media said an air force landed on the Fiery Cross Reef on Sunday and evacuated three injured workers. China turned Fiery Cross Reef into an artificial island through a massive dredging operation, and constructed buildings and an air strip in the strategically vital sea. PTIJoin talks or face consequences, Pak warns TalibanIslamabad: Embarrassed by Taliban’s refusal to join the fledgling peace process with the Afghan government, Pakistan has warned the insurgents to call-off their recently-proclaimed ‘spring offensive’ or face consequences, a media report said on Monday. The Taliban earlier this month announced the start of “Operation Omari”, named after the late Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, pledging to launch large-scale offensives to oust the West-backed Afghan government from power. PTI