19 Jan news below
Current Events :
PAKISTAN has a knack for taking one step forward, two steps back — or worse, to keep going around in circles. In an interview with a Dubai-based news channel, Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif held out an olive branch to India, saying that wars between the two neighbours had ‘only brought more misery, poverty and unemployment to the people.’ He urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to sit at the table and have ‘serious and sincere talks to resolve our burning issues, like Kashmir.’ Hours later, the Pakistan PM’s Office ‘clarified’ that no bilateral negotiations were possible unless India reversed its ‘illegal action’ of revoking Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir. New Delhi has repeatedly asserted that its decision to abrogate Article 370 is its ‘internal matter’ in which Pakistan should not meddle. This firm stand has been endorsed by countries such as the US and Bangladesh. India has also made it clear that talks with Pakistan are not possible as long as the latter keeps aiding and abetting cross-border terrorism. Islamabad has come a cropper on both counts. Shehbaz’s overture is an exercise in futility because Pakistan is not ready to mend its ways despite the embarrassing loss of its credibility.
Going by past experience, India has no reason to trust Pakistan’s seemingly conciliatory approach. The neighbour is a past master at making treacherous U-turns and going back on its word. Months after the Sada-e-Sarhad ‘bus of peace’ carried the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Lahore in 1999, Pakistan inflicted the Kargil war on India. Days after PM Modi made a surprise stopover in Lahore to greet the then PM Nawaz Sharif on his birthday on December 25, 2015, a terror attack rocked the Pathankot Air Force station. Pakistan-based terror groups continue to foment trouble in Kashmir, even as the intrusion of drones with payloads of arms and drugs has become a routine occurrence in the border districts of Punjab.
Facing an economic meltdown, exacerbated by food and fuel shortage and last year’s devastating floods, Pakistan is desperate to resume trade with India. However, the onus is squarely on Islamabad to create conditions conducive to the normalisation of bilateral ties with New Delhi.
Nurpur, January 18
Naik Bhupender Singh, who hails from nearby Rinna village here, was awarded the Sena Medal at an Army function in Bengaluru recently.
Serving in the 2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment (special forces), he was part of a cordon and search operation in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, on October 15, 2021.
During the operation, terrorists opened indiscriminate fire on the security forces. Naik Bhupender Singh retaliated with accurate fire and eliminated the terrorists. Two dreaded terrorists were killed, while one was captured alive.
The Sena Medal was awarded to Naik Bhupender Singh by Lt Gen Ajay Kumar Singh at a ceremonial function of the Army in Bengaluru. His father Naseeb Singh is also an ex-serviceman, while his mother Meena Devi is a homemaker. Naik Bhupender Singh is presently serving in 2-Para Special Force, Bengaluru.
Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi (left) with Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi at a seminar in Nagrota, Jammu, on Tuesday. ANI
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Jammu, January 17
Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Northern Command chief, today said the Army faced the unique challenge of dealing with two adversaries on the borders, coupled with the threat of state-sponsored actors attempting to destabilise internal security.
He was speaking at the two-day Northern Command Techno Commanders Seminar, 2023, which culminated at Military Station Nagrota, Jammu. The seminar was planned in conjunction with academics and think tanks to brainstorm the issue and prepare commanders for future conflicts.
“There is an ever-increasing need to incorporate technology to ensure efficient use of human resources in dealing with the adversaries. Therefore, the seminar worked towards further honing the skills of commanders to exploit technology for future battlefields,” he said.
“The Army has embarked itself on a path of capability-development and force modernisation by leveraging new technologies and encouraging innovations through indigenisation and ‘aatmanirbharta’,” he said. He said future conflicts would not only be restricted to the military but be fought as a whole-of-nation approach where technology would be extensively utilised.
New Delhi, January 18
The Indian Air Force on Wednesday said the Republic Day flypast would have 50 planes and helicopters, including the fighter jets like Rafale, Sukhoi 30MKI, MiG 29 and Jaguar among others flying over Kartavya Path.
The flypast will have a formation of armed helicopters, including the newly inducted Light Combat Helicopter, the Apache of Boeing and ALH mark IV. The LCH will make its debut at the parade.
The Rafale doing a ‘vertical charlie’ will conclude the flypast.
Special operations planes like C17 and C130J and airborne early warning and control plane called the Netra will be part of the flypast.
On ground, the IAF tableau is ‘power beyond boundaries’. It will depict technology and network-centric abilities of IAF operations. It will have a surveillance plane, the ‘Netra’, which is shown to be connected to the IAF’s satellite, the GSAT-7A.
It will also depict the recent air effort to evacuate from Ukraine.
The tableau will also have LCH and LCA mark 2 made by Aeronautical Development Agency and C295 being made by a joint venture of Tata and Airbus.
Flight Lieutenant Komal Rani will unfurl the flag when the Republic Day parade starts.
The marching contingent will be led by Squadron Leader Sindhu Reddy.
New Delhi: The CBI has registered an FIR and launched a probe against 31 persons based in Kerala, including 18 Navy personnel, for allegedly claiming income tax refunds worth over Rs 44 lakh by making false claims of various deductions, which were not included in Form-16. Agency officials said the CBI had booked Navy and police personnel, and executives of two private companies for allegedly using services of agents to make false claims. TNS
Guild concerned over ‘changes’ in IT rules
New Delhi: The Editors Guild of India said it was ‘deeply concerned’ at some of the rules in the draft amendment made to the Information Technology (IT) Rules, 2021, saying these empower the government to muzzle the press. TNS
Olympics probables being groomed: PM
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said 500 Olympics probables were being prepared and groomed to win. He also said the government was working on providing national level sports facilities at the grassroots. He stated this while inaugurating the second phase of Saansad Khel Mahakumbh, 2022-23, in Basti district of Uttar Pradesh via video-conferencing. TNS
UP youth detained for ‘romancing’ on 2-wheeler
Lucknow: A youth has been detained for public display of affection on a two-wheeler in Hazratganj area here. The girl with him was a minor. IANS
Microsoft to cut 5% of workforce
Washington: Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday it would cut 10,000 jobs, almost 5 per cent of its workforce, by the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2023, the latest sign that layoffs are accelerating in the US technology sector. In a note to staff, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said customers wanted to “optimise digital spend to do more with less” and “exercise caution as some parts of the world are in recession and other parts are anticipating one.” The company is grappling with a slump in the personal computer market. — Agencies
Tribune News Service
Nitin Jain
Ludhiana, January 17
Almost two months after the work of the upcoming international airport at Halwara in Ludhiana resumed following the release of funds by the state government, it has picked up pace.
With the government is making available Rs 50-crore corpus for the project, the construction of the interim terminal building and allied works has touched the 30 per cent mark till date.
Sharing details, the Public Works Department (PWD) Secretary, Rajat Agarwal, told The Tribune, here on Monday, “The remaining work to build the new international airport has been taken up on a war footing. All stops have been pulled to complete the ambitious project at the earliest.”
He disclosed that the flight operations from the new terminal building could begin any time before June 30 before which the new international airport would be made operational.
“While 30 per cent of the terminal building work has been completed, the construction of internal roads has been temporarily stalled due to some issue with the contractor,” the PWD Secretary revealed, while stating that the process to impose penalty as per the agreement and blacklisting the defaulter contractor had been initiated.
Agarwal made it clear that in any case, both the terminal building and internal roads would be built before June 30, even if the re-tendering of the stalled work was required.
“The Civil Aviation Department has begun the process to launch the flight operations by the time a new airport comes up,” he said.
He added that following the allocation of Rs 50 crore by the state government, a sum of Rs 12.5 crore had already been transferred while the total requirement estimated so far was of Rs 45 crore.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had visited the airport site for reviewing the project recently and directed officials concerned to complete the ongoing work within three months.
“We have put the work on fast track mode and no delay will be tolerated at any cost,” the CM asserted, while adding that there was no dearth of funds for the project.
The construction of interim terminal building and allied works at the cost of Rs 47 crore was stalled in March last after contractors, who were awarded the work, refused to carry on the ambitious project following non-payment of their dues.
It was in November last that the state government had formally taken over the pending work to build the international airport coming up at Air Force Station in Halwara.
For this purpose, the Finance Department (FD) had released Rs 30 crore while the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUDD) through the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) had undertaken to bear the expenditure of Rs 20 crore.
Jammu, January 18
The J&K administration has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the encounter on December 28 last year in which four terrorists were killed in Sidhra area here.
The administration has appointed Assistant Commissioner, Jammu, Piyush Dhotra as the inquiry officer. In a statement, Dhotra said, “In order to gather facts of the matter and to conduct inquiry in a fair and transparent manner, anyone having any information can come to the office and record his or her statement.” The inquiry is being conducted under Section 176, CrPC.
Four terrorists who were travelling in a truck to Kashmir were killed when they were intercepted by security forces. The driver ran away from the spot and is still absconding.
Ravi Dhaliwal
Gurdaspur, January 18
The BSF today seized Chinese-made weapons dropped by a Pakistani Drone in the frontier village Uncha Takala in the district last night.
Interestingly the BSF did not share information of the drone’s flight and subsequent arms cache with the Punjab Police. The Gurdaspur police, later on its own, conducted a search operation which yielded nothing. Under normal circumstances, a joint search is carried out by both security agencies.
BSF DIG Prabhakar Joshi said four Chinese-manufactured pistols, 47 rounds and eight magazines were found in the agriculture fields during a search.
He added that the consignment bore the name of ‘Norinco.’ “Later, we got to know that the arms and ammunition were manufactured by China North Industries Group Corporation going by the acronym ‘Norinco’,” he said.
An official said ‘Norinco’ is a Chinese state-owned defence corporation that manufactures a diverse range of commercial and military products. It is said to be one of the world’s largest defence contractors.
The DIG added that his troops were carrying out a training session at the Ambedkar play ground in the village when they heard a humming sound. “Later, my jawans fired 17 rounds at the drone which then flew towards Pakistan. A search of the adjoining agriculture fields revealed that the drone, before making its about-turn, had dropped the arms cache,” he said.
According to sources, what is worrying the security agencies is the fact that the drone managed to infiltrate 11 km inside the Indian territory.
Officials say last night’s incident has spurned a combing operation among villages that are located near the international border. “Generations of these villagers have been involved in drug-trafficking. It is possible that some of these people may have been the recipients of the arms cache. We are checking their antecedents,” he said.
Amritsar, January 18
With Joshimath, the gateway to pilgrimage sites like Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib, facing a major challenge due to land subsidence, the situation would also take its toll on the pilgrimage this year.
Thousands of pilgrims opt for night halt at Joshimath before travelling onwards to the revered shrines.
Gurdwara Sri Hemkund Sahib Management Trust president Narinderjit Singh Bindra said it would be too early to say whether the situation would affect the pilgrimage or not.
Gurdwara Gobind Ghat manager Sewa Singh said, “The Gurdwara Hemkund Sahib Management has rescued affected residents and made arrangements for langar.”
