Current Events :
Thiruvananthapuram, December 30
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said India wants to have and maintain friendly relations with its neighbours, but it will not be done at the cost of national security.
Speaking at the 90th annual pilgrimage of Sivagiri Mutt here, Singh recalled former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s remark that we can change friends but not our neighbours.
“Therefore, we need good and friendly relations with our neighbours. However, we will not compromise on national security to maintain good relations. We do not want good relations with anyone at the cost of our national security,” the Defence Minister said.
Singh also spoke about Kerala-based social reformer Sree Narayana Guru’s teachings, like ‘prosperity through industry’ which is the basis of the Indian’s government’s ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’ policy.
As a result of the same, the country is considered as one of the top five economies in the world and our military is seen as a force to be reckoned with, he contended.
“His preaching of prosperity through industry is the basis of the Government of India’s resolution of ‘Self-reliant India’. Today, India is one of the largest economies of the world because of its hard work and enterprise. Today, India has become one of the top five economies of the world.” “The world today recognises India as military power to be reckoned with, due to the government’s pitching for ‘Self-reliant India’ which is based on ‘Prosperity through industry’ preaching of Sree Narayana Guru,” the Defence Minister said.
Singh said that self-reliance has been an intrinsic part of India’s culture and Sree Narayana Guru spread this message in the public through his teachings, and Sivagiri Mutt was also working to take it forward continuously
He further said that while he was working to protect the “body”—boundaries—of India with the help of the armed forces and under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the saints of the math were working to protect the soul of the country.
“I appreciate the work you are doing. We can survive as a nation only when both the body and soul are safe,” Singh said and expressed confidence that this year’s annual pilgrimage would also be a success.
In January 1928, Vallabhasserry Govindan Vaidyar and T K Kittan jointly requested Guru to have a Sivagiri pilgrimage as all the higher classes and others had their own pilgrim centres, but ‘avarnas’ had nowhere to go, according to the math website.
Guru gave his consent to the proposal and fixed a date of first of January of every year for the pilgrimage, prior to which pilgrims have to maintain a 10-day long austere life and wear only yellow clothes, the website said.
The Defence Minister, at the event, also condoled the death of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mother—Hiraben.
Singh said that when he learned about the tragic news he was contemplating returning to Delhi, but the Prime Minister told everyone that all should fulfill their official commitments before coming back.
“So on behalf of everyone here, the Sivagiri Mutt and myself, I would like to pay tribute to Ma Hiraben,” he said.
Thereafter, a one-minute silence was observed by everyone present there.
Earlier, in his speech, he said many allege liberty, equality and fraternity are not part of Indian tradition and ideologies and that it reached us through the French Revolution.
“However, that is incorrect. Sources of liberty, equality, fraternity and world peace can be seen in Indian culture. In fact, the concept of human equality can be seen in our ancient texts and the preaching and literary works of saints, philosophers and poets of the ‘Bhakti’ period.
“Rather, they took it a step forward by talking of universal equality, equality between all living things or the whole world being one family,” he claimed.
Singh also said that it was the far-sightedness of Sree Narayana Guru that he ordered Sivagiri Mutt to spread consciousness among the common people on subjects like education, cleanliness, etc.
“With the grace of Guruji and the blessings of revered saints, our government has also focused its special attention on these subjects,” he said.
Sivagiri Mutt is a famous tourist pilgrimage place in Varkala town of Thiruvananthapuram district in Kerala.
The math is also headquarters of Sree Narayana Dharma Sangham, an organisation of Sree Narayan Guru’s disciples and followers.
cash prize of Rs 1 lakh to its “hit” team, an assortment of jammers and spoofers, and multi-layered patrols by security personnel are some of the measures taken by the Border Security Force (BSF) to check infiltration of drones carrying drugs and arms from Pakistan into India.
New Delhi, December 30
A cash prize of Rs 1 lakh to its “hit” team, an assortment of jammers and spoofers, and multi-layered patrols by security personnel are some of the measures taken by the Border Security Force (BSF) to check infiltration of drones carrying drugs and arms from Pakistan into India.
According to the official data, 2022 witnessed a massive increase in the number of drone “onslaughts”; majority of them were sighted in Punjab. Such sightings have gone up three times the previous year.
Officials said each of the BSF “hit” team at the border that brings down a drone through rifle firing or using jamming technology is being rewarded with a cash incentive of Rs one lakh. This has been decided with an aim to motivate the troopers battling drone menace, they said.
Similar reward was announced by the Jalandhar-based Punjab frontier of the force in April for civilians living in the border areas who inform the BSF about those involved in using drones to get drugs and arms from Pakistan.
Till December 25, the BSF downed 22 drones and reward of Rs 1 lakh each has been given to more than 10 “hit” or shooting teams deployed at the front. The awardee could be a single trooper or more than one on a case-by-case basis, said officials.
According to the official data, drone sightings along the 2,289-km-long India-Pakistan International Border (IB), running along Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, has gone up from 77 in 2020 to 104 last year and 311 this year (till December 25). Almost 75 per cent of sightings have been recorded in Punjab, where drones have been majorly used by the other side to drop drugs and weapons.
The force has deployed an assortment of electronic jammers and spoofers to block the frequencies and navigation path of these narcotics and weapon-carrying drones, leading to their immobilisation.
10 teams awarded
Spl outfit for women’s unit
The BSF has said its women contingent atop camels, who will take part for the first time in the next year’s Republic Day parade, will be wearing military regalia designed by fashion designer Raghavendra Rathore
Ajay Banerjee
New Delhi, December 30
The construction of 71,000 dwelling units for troops and their families is running behind schedule, a parliamentary standing committee on defence has said. Of the 71,000 units to be built under a housing project — “married accommodation project” (MAP) — 70,432 will be for the Army.
The committee led by BJP MP Jual Oram presented its “six-month statement regarding the status of implementation of recommendations” during the winter session of Parliament that ended on December 23.
The committee has backed a plan to bring the MAP under the existing “annual works programme” of the Army rather than having a separate budgetary allocation for it.
The MAP, planned in four phases, envisages the construction of 1.98 lakh dwelling units at various locations for troops and their families. The third and fourth phases, under which 71,102 units will be constructed, have been clubbed together. Phase-II is slated for completion by 2023.
The committee pointed out “reduced budget reallocation” and cited a delay in the commencement of Phase-III, besides a delay in executing Phase-II.
The estimated cost of building 71,702 units at 13 locations across the country is Rs 23,279 crore.
“Budgetary constraints have caused delays in the construction. Therefore, the Department of Military Affairs has decided that the maximum number of dwelling units will be constructed under the annual works major programme,” said the committee.
To kick off Phase-III, it has been decided to start with 24,592 dwelling units.
SPARSH PENSION SCHEME NEEDS IMPROVEMENT
Brig CS Vidiyasagar (Retd)
its beyond comprehension why Govt is forcing ESM pension to be paid from non tested sparsh application . Its a total harrasment to ESM staying in villages or far away in hill areas , how will they coupe up with internet technology .
the Bank system of payment was tested and tried but govt has listed out mant advanges which have not been accepted by ESM. No detailed lectures or literatures available resulting in dead end of sparsh . Now Defence Secretary Assures NO More Migration till All
Mistakes in Software of SPARSH are removed
Govt of India, Ministry of Defence embarked on Central
Pension disbursal system for Ex-Servicemen and widows as per
the vision of Hon’ble PM of digitization. The new system of
Central Pension disbursal is called System for Pension
Administration for Rakshak (SPARSH). There is no difference
in receipt of pension in that the banks will continue to remit the
pension to the Ex-Servicemen. The only difference is SPARSH
will act as Central Pension Processing Centres of 28 PSU banks
and 4 private banks from nowonwards. They say all
improvements in pension in future will be done centrally.
Motto : Correct Pension at Right Time. They assured all
the services rendered now by banks such as (a) issue of pension
slips every month (b) deduction of income tax (c) annual life
certificate generation will all be done by SPARSH. Every
pensioner shall be issued with a smart card where his PPO and
other details shall be embedded.
SPARSH was initially tried in 2020 on few pensioners by
taking their data from their pension paying banks. Then they
embarked on mass migration of pensioners to SPARSH. As on
27 Dec 2022, 22,51,371 have been migrated with the promise
that right pension at right time. Has this motto been achieved is
the moot question? There are unending problems the
pensioners are facing on migration to SPARSH. The major four
problems are : (a) stoppage of pension by banks the moment
the data of pensioner has been sent to SPARSH though the
pensioner is yet to be migrated. Pension of such Ex-Servicemen
and widows has been stopped since Sep 2022.The banks say the
pension is no more their responsibility and SPARSH says they
cannot give pension of previous months as the Ex-Servicemen
or widow is not yet migrated. (b) widows are unable to upload
death certificate and (c) Many Ex-Servicemen and widows have
not got E-PPOs introduced since Jan 2016 and (d) till date not even one PPO or pension slip has been correctly generated.
There are plenty of mistakes in PPO.
CGDA has entered into contract with TCS, the software
developer to provide hardware support and software support at
a cost of Rs 250 crores for a period of five years. The software
for SPARSH is to be made by TCS after SPARSH team gives
them their user requirements. As on today not even one correct
PPO or pension slip has been issued. The married Ex-
serviceman is shown as un-married and wife is shown as dead
since 01 Jan 1970 though it appears to be a dummy data. It is
very clear from the way the SPARSH has been functional since
Apr 2021 that it is a disaster. If choice is given to migratercd
pensioners, they all will migrate back to old system i.e. legacy
system.
It is not clear TCS a world class software developer cannot
make a simple software? Sri Giridahr Aramamane, IAS,
Defence Secretary, during seminar on SPASH on 14 Dec 2022
near Army Base Hospital in Delhi Cantt during his address has
advised TCS and SPARSH team to sit together and sort out all
problems in SPARSH and make it user friendly. He informed
that in the Ministry of Agriculture of Union Govt, details of two
crore farmers from 30 states and all Union Territories were
collected in just six months by asking just three simple data (a)
Mobile no (b) Aadhaar No and (c) Bank account no. He
wondered why SPARSH is taking so much time to collect data
from just 33 lakh pensioners? He also told that he, Secretary,
Min of Def (ESW) and FADS of Min of Def will sit together
periodically and review the progress of SPARH. Def Secy
assured the pensioners that till all the glitches in SPARSH are
removed, SPARSH will not be thrust on them.
New Delhi, December 29
Embracing new technology, the Indian Army inaugurated its first ‘3D’ printing technology-based house for soldiers at Ahmedabad. The unit has a ground floor and first floor configuration.
The Military Engineering Services (MES) has done the construction in collaboration with a private company MiCoB Private Limited using the latest ‘3D rapid construction technology’.
The construction work of the dwelling unit measuring 71 square metre (some 710 square yards) with garage space was completed in just 12 weeks by utilising the 3D printed foundation, walls and slabs. The disaster-resilient structures comply with Zone-3 earthquake specifications and green building norms.
The 3D printed houses are symbolic of the modern-day rapid construction efforts to cater to growing accommodation requirements of the Armed Forces personnel.
The technique uses a concrete 3D printer that accepts a computerised three-dimensional design and fabricates a 3D structure in a layer-by-layer manner by extruding a specialised type of concrete specifically designed for the purpose.
Indian Army units have already started using 3D printing technology in construction of pre-casted permanent defences and overhead protection meant for operations. These structures are currently being validated over a period of one year and are incorporated in all terrains, the recent one being in Ladakh.
Islamabad, December 29
Pakistan on Thursday said that it wants good ties with India, but New Delhi should show seriousness in having a dialogue to resolve all outstanding issues, including Kashmir.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said at the weekly briefing that Pakistan continues to pursue a policy of peaceful neighbourhood, based on mutual respect and sovereign equality, with all countries of South Asia.
“Pakistan is interested in peace and dialogue and it is up to the Indian authorities to take a responsible position to improve relations,” she said.
“Pakistan consistently maintained that bilateral relations cannot fully normalise until the resolution of the outstanding disputes, especially the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir,” she said, adding that Islamabad would make efforts for the settlement of the Kashmir dispute as per the UN resolutions.
Relations between India and Pakistan have been strained over the Kashmir issue and cross-border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
The ties between the two countries nosedived after India abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcating the State into two Union Territories on August 5, 2019.
India’s decision evoked a strong reaction from Pakistan, which downgraded diplomatic ties and expelled the Indian envoy.https://cf8860a761ed018d06558196297de71b.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
Trade ties between Pakistan and India have largely been frozen since then. India has told Pakistan that the entire Union Territory of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh were and will always be an integral and inalienable part of the country.
Baloch said Pakistan wants good ties with other South Asian countries, including Sri Lanka, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
She said that Islamabad enjoys good ties with the leading nations around the world and would further deepen the relations in days to come.
She added Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari visited several countries to demonstrate an interest in expanding and strengthening friendships around the world.
New Delhi, December 29
The anti-graft central probe agency CBI has arrested an officer of the Indian Defence Accounts Service in connection with a case of alleged bribery of Rs 10 lakh, officials said on Thursday.
The officials said that it was alleged that a company based in Jind in Haryana had transferred the money to a middleman seeking favours from the 1988-batch officer.
The officer, who worked as Integrated Finance Adviser at the South Western Command in Jaipur, was allegedly favouring several companies in giving clearances for contracts and clearing their bills, the officials said, adding that the action against the officer has been taken on the basis of source information about the alleged activities.
The agency got to know that a payment of Rs 10 lakh was made to a suspected middleman for allegedly seeking favours from the officer after which the agency nabbed him, they said, adding that he was later arrested after completion of formalities.
Gurdaspur : The counter-intelligence wing of Punjab Police has arrested two drug smugglers and recovered 10kg of heroin along with arms and ammunition from their possession, state’s director general of police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said on Wednesday.
The accused, both residents of Punjab’s Gurdaspur district, were in contact with a Pakistan-based operative who pushed the consignment through the fences into India, the DGP said.
The accused have been identified as Harshdeep Singh and Sarwan Singh, police said, adding that two .30 bore foreign-made pistols were also recovered from them.
“Arrested persons were in contact with Pakistan based operative who pushed the consignment through the fences into India. FIR has been registered and investigation ongoing,” Yadav said in a tweet.
A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and Arms Act at the State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) police station in Amritsar, said police.
