Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 9

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced his government’s decision to mark December 26 as Veer Baal Diwas in memory of the sons of Guru Gobind Singh every year.

Paying rich tribute to the 10th Sikh Guru on the occasion of Parkash Purb today, Modi said, “Today on the auspicious occasion of Parkash Purb of Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, I am honoured to share that starting this year, December 26 shall be marked as ‘Veer Baal Diwas’. This is a fitting tribute to the courage of the Sahibzadas and their quest for justice.”

He said, “The Guru’s life and message give strength to millions of people. I will always cherish the fact that our government got the opportunity to mark his 350th Parkash Utsav.”

The PM shared on Twitter some glimpses from his visit to Patna at that time. Earlier, the PM had announced the decision to repeal three farm laws on November 19, birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

Punjab will go to the polls on February 14.

Name airports after gurus: SGPC

I urge the PM to name airports after Sikh Gurus to commemorate their sacrifices. — KS Panjoli, SGPC secy

he Defence Ministry surveyed 17.78 lakh acres of its land in a little over three years using modern surveying technologies. PTI

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 9

The Ministry of Defence has said a survey of the total of 17.78 lakh acres of land owned by the ministry has been completed. The entire exercise of survey of about 1.61 lakh acres of defence land inside 62 cantonments and 16.17 lakh acres outside the cantonments has been surveyed using technology.

The landholdings are spread across approximately 4,900 locations across the country and some of it is in inaccessible terrain.

Out of the 16.38 lakh acres land that is outside the Cantonments, about 18,000 acres is proposed for deletion from records on account of transfer to other government departments. The survey commenced in October 2018 using survey technologies, besides drone imagery and satellite imagery.

As part of the survey, a project for real time detection of encroachments has been initiated. Pilot test has been carried out on satellite imageries of defence land pockets procured from National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad.

Geo-referenced and digitised shape files are made available to enable quick decision making by officials of the MoD.

It is still difficult to sift the truth from the lies, but it is becoming easier by the day for those who are willing to call out the lies when they see them. The child still tells harmless lies, but the grown-ups are becoming more malicious and vocal. What kind of world will we leave them: With a beacon of light and truth, or a chimera of darkness all around?

Gurbachan Jagat

Over the years, I have often wondered as to why most of us tell lies. Lies that are harmless, lies that are malicious, lies that distort facts, lies that are the product of a vivid imagination, lies to mislead voters, lies to please bosses, children lying to escape the consequences of mischief, and so on. From a child’s lie to the malicious lies of the adult, there is a gradual progression. The ability to tell lies is only matched by the seeming willingness to believe lies. Although one was conversant with the phenomenon of falsehoods, yet one was confronted with it fully when listening to senior politicians. In one’s earlier days in the police, there were ample opportunities to be a close observer of even Chief Ministers indulging in it, both in private and public meetings. They told big lies with emotion and straight faces, and awe-struck people heard them open-mouthed. The CM knew that he was lying, the people knew the same and we all knew it, but everyone’s face showed utter belief. Was this the willing suspension of disbelief? I think that phrase was meant for another context that is drama.

Before proceeding, let us take note of the progression of lies from childhood to adulthood and then onto institutions, both private and public. The adult gradually, consciously and subconsciously, tends to make lies a big part of his quest for worldly success. In the society in which he operates, it does not always pay to be totally frank and straight-forward. You have to tweak facts and your opinions in tune with your goals; sometimes, you have to resort to outright fabrication. As you come to join government, public or private institutions, you come into contact with ‘pressure groups’ — with stated and unstated goals, with public and private faces. The final decision to align yourself with such forces and their goals lies with you and you should not, just for the sake of mere survival, barter away your ideals and your allegiance to the rule of law. Of course, this is a path that entails some amount of personal discomfort, but then the path of truth also leads to personal salvation… ‘the truth does set you free’.

Government is a huge business and has multifaceted duties to perform for which there are multiple departments. Let us divide them broadly into management of finances, development work and maintenance of law and order (internal and external security). Development is a huge task, but then gigantic promises are made. In the absence of fulfilment of these promises, humongous public relations exercises using sophisticated methodology for disguising the truth and telling lies have to be undertaken to befool the people.

As far as the domain of finances is concerned, we have data thrown at us to prove GDP growth, per capita income, poverty levels decreasing, inflation rising and falling; however, as we all know, data and statistics are only as good or bad as the people manufacturing them. The government comes out with one set of figures, the Opposition with another, the World Bank, the Asian Bank, Moody’s, and other private players have their own figures, and each set of figures comes with the stamp of eminent economists from the finance department, RBI, professors from Columbia, Harvard, etc. Recent events such as the telecom and coal scams, demonetisation, disinvestment of major national assets, etc, are all examples of muddled data and statistical artistry. You can believe whosoever you want to, some lies, some truth, some according to the ideology you subscribe to.

Let us briefly look at the internal and external security aspects. The normal uniformed police departments are supposed to perform their law and order duties. In India, these have become the handmaidens of the ruling parties, no matter which party is in power. In investigation and prosecution, fabricated versions of the truth are the norm today and not the exception. Then we have specialised agencies of the Government of India, that is the IB, NIA, CBI, ED, NCB, RAW, etc. Most of these agencies are not statutory bodies and are not answerable to Parliament. They have been created for specific purposes but again, made very flexible and malleable by the politicians in power to further their personal agendas. They get away with it because of no accountability. Foreign intelligence agencies of most countries indulge in intricate conspiracies, creating unrest in other nations, fuelling insurgencies. In most of these tasks, truth is the first casualty, the creation of misinformation and a cover story, etc, are the basic ingredients of this game. The Taliban were raised, trained and funded by the CIA with the help of ISI in order to oust the Soviets from Afghanistan.

Subsequently, after 9/11, the same Taliban and Afghanistan were bombed for 20 years; today, they are back again in the saddle and the Americans have left. New conspiracies are now being hatched by different blocs of countries to further their own goals in this strategic region. Similarly, in the second Gulf War, the Americans and the British with their allies descended on Iraq with all fury and fire — why? The Iraqis evidently had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) which posed a great threat to their national security. The United Nations inspectors came to the conclusion that there were no WMDs. The British and US intelligence said there was very reliable information to the contrary. And so, Iraq was reduced to rubble, Saddam killed, and petroleum resources were taken over. Later, it was admitted that no WMDs were ever found or that they existed — again, what was the truth, what were the lies and what did the people believe?

Coming closer home, what is happening on the LoC, the LAC and in the disturbed areas within the country? These are mostly inaccessible areas, and one has to go by the government’s handouts and by the media reporting on the handouts. Independent observers, mediapersons and Opposition parties have no access to these areas. Whereas government reports indicate that all is well at the LAC and LoC, other reports and purported satellite images show a different reality. Because of major national security issues being involved, I would like to believe the government’s truth, but I keep my fingers crossed.

One can go on and on and see how major and minor events have been preceded and succeeded by a web of lies. However, one more example of the big lie and which comes from the beacon of democracy is the last presidential election in the US. Joe Biden was officially declared elected, but his rival Donald Trump refused to accept the result and claimed that the election was stolen from him by the Democrats. He went on propagating ‘the big lie’ and encouraged an armed attack on the Capitol. Others labelled it as an insurrection and inquiries are ongoing. However, Trump continues his rhetoric, and his followers believe it. So, there is one truth that was officially declared, one enunciated by Trump and the people are divided on party lines. On the first anniversary of this infamous episode, President Biden stated that we have to face the truth for that is what great nations do: “they face the truth, deal with it and move on.”

I have not touched matters at home because of their religious and inflammatory nature. However, the major dramatis personae have their own brands of truth and lies — take your pick, but take it knowingly. It is still difficult to sift the truth from the lies, but it is becoming easier by the day for those who are willing to call out the lies when they see them. The child still tells harmless lies, but the grown-ups are becoming more malicious and vocal. What kind of world will we leave them — with a beacon of light and truth, or a chimera of darkness all around?

One last thought about the agency that was created by people and organisations of vision with lofty ideals and goals to help people sift through this maze of deceit and falsehoods — the media. From state-level newspapers and magazines to national chains, to the visual and social media, the original ideals have been replaced by a media controlled by state and corporate strangleholds. There are facts and alternate facts, myths and realities, heavy doses of fabrication and manipulation of truth… a few nuggets of truth are occasionally thrown in to keep up appearances. There do remain a few beacons of truth which shine ‘the light’. The emergence of social media with all its ‘freedom’ has led to further muddying the water and this medium is again dominated by those commandeering large armies of trolls. So, where do we go from here and whom do we believe — where does the truth lie? I, for one, hope that the media will rise to the occasion and follow the old dictum: “ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free”.

— The writer is ex-chairman of UPSC, former Manipur Governor and served as the Jammu and Kashmir DGP

Photo for representational purpose only.

Panipat, January 8

The police have arrested a member of the gang allegedly involved in the recruitment of airmen by providing help to the aspirants during an online examination of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in computer labs.

SP Shashank Kumar Sawan said the CIA-3 unit of the district police arrested the accused on Friday evening following a tip-off.

The accused was identified as Munish of Alewa village in Jind district. The accused was on the run for a long time and carried a reward of Rs 15,000 on his arrest. The BSc passed accused used to solve papers of mathematics and reasoning.

After getting the tip-off, the accused was arrested on Friday evening and produced in the court on Saturday. The court has sent him to four days’ police custody for further investigation. —TNS

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 8

More than 18 months into the military stand-off with China at the LAC, it is estimated the deployment of troops, military-related infrastructure, weapons, tanks and guns along the 3,488-km LAC will be the new normal.

The Indian side is clear that there can be no third-party intervention in the India-China talks. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh have met their Chinese counterparts abroad, notably in Russia in September 2020, but no intervention has been welcomed or allowed. That stance will continue. The ongoing talks notwithstanding, matters at the LAC could take a turn any way, even move towards a lingering and constant deployment by both countries, as per an assessment in security circles. The newly created infrastructure comprising roads, bridges, expansion of airstrips, shelters from fighter jets and military bases will not go away. It will remain at the LAC and so will be the new dual-use villages made by China close to the LAC on its side. All this means ability to quickly deploy by both sides.

India-US 2+2 talks likely in March

• The India-United States 2+2 dialogue that was first scheduled in December last year may not take place till March.
• The dates for the talks were pushed back from the first week of December to the ‘third week’ of January.
• It is now expected that the talks will be held in March

China is just not keen on demarcating the LAC and defining a border and till that is done a long-standing resolution will not be possible. The LAC is undefined and undemarcated. The Chinese have dithered on its alignment on ground. Commanders of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have been shifting goalposts even for the existing pullback from the LAC.

The military commanders are slated to meet on January 12. The agenda will be pullback from the military posturing along the 832-km LAC in eastern Ladakh. The existing impasse is over PP 15, also referred to as Hot Springs, besides Depsang Bulge, a 972-sq-km plateau.

India wants a three-step process to be followed. The first is disengagement from areas where troops are within close proximity. The next two steps, de-escalation and de-induction, would entail pulling back troops and equipment to the pre-April 2020 levels. Till that is agreed upon and complied, it cannot be assumed to be business as usual.

In October, Union Cabinet approved the affiliation of 100 schools from the academic year 2022-23 in government and private sectors with Sainik School Society under Ministry of Defence

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh addresses a webinar of Sainik Schools, in New Delhi, on Saturday, January 8, 2022. PTI

New Delhi, January 8

The government’s decision to set up 100 new Sainik schools will provide an opportunity for girl students to join the armed forces and contribute to national security, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday.

In an address at an online conference, Singh said the government is for increasing the role of women in the armed forces and a series of steps have been taken in that direction, including clearing the way for their admission in Sainik schools and providing permanent commission to women officers.

The defence minister exuded confidence that the decision to establish new Sainik schools will encourage girls to realise their dreams of serving the country.

Singh suggested that the department of defence and Sainik School Society should devise a mechanism for ranking all Sainik schools on the basis of their performance and audit.

This, he said, will lead to healthy competition among the schools, besides providing encouragement to introduce innovative steps.

He said, along with the curriculum, children should be exposed to patriotism and loyalty towards the nation as it will help in building their character and benefit the country.

The defence minister described the announcement of the expansion of Sainik schools as one of the many important decisions taken by the government in the last six-seven years to improve the quality of basic education of children and ensure the holistic development of the country.

“The setting up of 100 new Sainik schools will provide an opportunity to girls to join the armed forces and contribute to national security,” Singh said.

In October, the Union Cabinet approved the affiliation of 100 schools from the academic year 2022-23 in government and private sectors with Sainik School Society under the Ministry of Defence.

Singh stated that while ‘Sainik’ signifies unity, discipline and devotion, ‘School’ is the centre of education, therefore, Sainik schools are playing a pivotal role in making children capable citizens.

Singh said the government is focussing on providing quality education to the youth of the country as it lays a solid foundation for the all-round development of the society.https://d34b4428ae88635b46eadc1b139ddcd9.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

“Quality education is the fourth of the 17 sustainable development goals adopted by the United Nations. There are several other goals under ‘quality education’. It has been our strong political commitment to achieve these goals,” Singh said.

“Several schemes like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan are being run. Setting up of 100 new Sainik schools is another important step in that direction,” he said.

Singh mentioned that Sainik schools have contributed to the recruitment of more than 7,000 officers in the armed forces so far and have given the country officers like former Chiefs of the Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor (retd) and General Dalbir Singh Suhag (retd).

In this context, he also mentioned Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio, former RBI Governor D Subbarao and film director Rakesh Roshan.

“Today, our country is moving fast in the path of self-reliance in every field. It is touching newer heights in fields like defence, health, communication, industry and transport due to the synergy between public and private sectors,” he said.

Singh said there is a need for a revolution in the education sector and the holistic development of children.

“This is only possible if there is a strong collaboration of defence, education and private sector,” he said. PTI

जम्मू (हप्र) :

सुरक्षाबलों ने आज बडगाम में तीन आतंकियों को मार गिराया। मुठभेड़ की खास बात यह थी कि सुरक्षाबलों ने मोर्टार और आईईडी से उन घरों को ही उड़ा दिया जहां आतंकी घुसे हुए थे। पिछले सात दिनों में कुल 11 आतंकी मारे गये जिनमं से 4 पाक आतंकी भी थे। अधिकारियों ने बताया कि जवानों ने जालूवा (बडगाम) में छिपे तीनों आतंकवादियों को मार गिराया है। हालांकि उन्हें ढेर करने से पहले सुरक्षाबलों ने रात से लेकर सुबह तक उन्हें कई बार आत्मसमर्पण करने का मौका दिया। लेकिन उन्होंने हथियार डालने से इनकार कर दिया

ਨਵੀਂ ਦਿੱਲੀ:ਭਾਰਤ ਤੇ ਚੀਨ ਵਿਚਾਲੇ ਕੋਰ ਕਮਾਂਡਰ ਪੱਧਰ ਦੀ 14ਵੇਂ ਗੇੜ ਦੀ ਗੱਲਬਾਤ 12 ਜਨਵਰੀ ਨੂੰ ਹੋ ਸਕਦੀ ਹੈ ਤੇ ਇਸ ਦੌਰਾਨ ਗੱਲਬਾਤ ਪੂਰਬੀ ਲੱਦਾਖ ਦੇ ਰਹਿੰਦੇ ਵਿਵਾਦ ਵਾਲੇ ਇਲਾਕਿਆਂ ’ਚੋਂ ਫੌਜਾਂ ਪਿੱਛੇ ਹਟਾਉਣ ਦੀ ਪ੍ਰਕਿਰਿਆ ਅੱਗੇ ਵਧਾਉਣ ’ਤੇ ਕੇਂਦਰਿਤ ਹੋਵੇਗੀ। ਸੂਤਰਾਂ ਨੇ ਦੱਸਿਆ ਕਿ ਇਹ ਗੱਲਬਾਤ ਪੂਰਬੀ ਲੱਦਾਖ ’ਚ ਭਾਰਤ ਵਾਲੇ ਪਾਸੇ ਅਸਲ ਕੰਟਰੋਲ ਰੇਖਾ (ਐੱਲਏਸੀ) ’ਤੇ ਚੁਸ਼ੂਲ ਸਰਹੱਦ ’ਤੇ ਹੋਣ ਦੀ ਸੰਭਾਵਨਾ ਹੈ। ਭਾਰਤ ਵੱਲੋਂ ਇਸ ਦੌਰਾਨ ਦੇਪਸਾਂਗ ਤੇ ਡੈਮਚੋਕ ਮਸਲੇ ਦੇ ਹੱਲ ਸਮੇਤ ਰਹਿੰਦੀਆਂ ਵਿਵਾਦਤ ਥਾਵਾਂ ਤੋਂ ਫੌਜਾਂ ਪਿੱਛੇ ਹਟਾਉਣ ’ਤੇ ਜ਼ੋਰ ਦਿੱਤਾ ਜਾ ਸਕਦਾ ਹੈ। ਜ਼ਿਕਰਯੋਗ ਹੈ ਕਿ ਦੋਵਾਂ ਧਿਰਾਂ ਵਿਚਾਲੇ 13ਵੇਂ ਗੇੜ ਦੀ ਗੱਲਬਾਤ 10 ਅਕਤੂਬਰ ਨੂੰ ਹੋਈ ਸੀ ਜੋ ਬੇਸਿੱਟਾ ਰਹੀ।-ਪੀਟੀਆਈ

Tragic trajectory: Reasons for aviation hazards have not been easy to pinpoint. PTI

Group Captain Murli Menon (retd)

Defence Analyst

Media reports indicate CFIT (Controlled Flight Into Terrain) as the likely cause of last month’s Mi-17 crash at Coonoor that claimed the lives of General Bipin Rawat and 13 others. The Court of Inquiry has now apparently come out with its findings in good time. After the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder analyses, besides other inputs such as radio calls with ground stations, air traffic control and possibly even accounts from some ground observers, it must have been amply clear to them that the aircraft itself was airworthy and there were no other contributory aspects such as crew incapacitation.

The Kobe Bryant chopper crash in Los Angeles in 2020 was eerily similar. Another high-profile accident attributed to CFIT was the 2003 Fokker crash into hilly terrain near Kohat that killed Pakistan Air Chief Mushaf Ali Mir. In these VVIP cases, the pilots would have been under added pressure to make it on time and this could have induced disorientation for them, perhaps flying in marginal weather. Casualty numbers were high too in all three cases.

One of the basic subjects a trainee pilot learns in the IAF is aviation medicine. Any pilot, especially a military one, has to understand the aeromedical aspects of the flying ambit. Disorientation is a phenomenon all pilots are taught to recognise and counter during training. The main requirement is to realise when one encounters the situation. Thereafter is the need to revert to instruments in a timely fashion so that aspects such as “leans” and “autokinesis” do not endanger the flight.

In the Coonoor instance, it is plausible that the pilot in command, statedly the Wing Commander and CO of the unit, experienced disorientation while willy-nilly confronting hazy or cloudy conditions, which denied him visual cues and affected his situational awareness. The advantage in twin- crew aircraft is that the second pilot could save the situation as it is very unlikely that both pilots simultaneously get disoriented. But in this case, the fact that the co-pilot was a Squadron Leader, who was a subordinate of the Captain organisationally, could have affected his ability to intervene or take over control.

The IAF, more so in the transport and helicopter streams, spends considerable time towards crew resource management (CRM) exactly for this purpose. In the cockpit space, both pilots need to know exactly what is expected of each pilot. In any case, they are constantly in communication on the intercom (if for any reason that fails, they can physically attract each other’s attention to indicate taking over of flying controls or such. We just cannot afford to let a situation develop where one pilot is disoriented and unable to fly safely and the second pilot who is not disoriented is unable to intervene for whatever reason.

Another important aspect is the adage that disorientation spares no one, regardless of experience, if the requisite causatory conditions obtain. So, even very experienced pilots can get disoriented. Hence, the vulnerability to phenomena such as leans or autokinesis! In the first one of “leans”, the human middle ear vestibular organ causes a feeling of the aircraft turning to one side when actually the wings are level, all because the initial control inputs were below the sensory threshold of the celia within the vestibular organ and any subsequent control input causes a sensation of “leaning” to the opposite side and consequent disastrous implications, should the pilot not steadfastedly trust his instruments. These aspects of flying are reinforced during the Air Crew Examining Board visits and Instrument Rating Tests.

Autokinesis is another aero-medical condition wherein a single stationary light source at night gives a feeling as though the light source is moving, thus jeopardising the pilot’s situational awareness. Given that such situations could be confronted by any pilot in appropriate weather and visibility conditions, onboard features such as a terrain warning radar would of course make it that much easier for the pilot to reorient. But then, these are expensive add-ons on any aeroplane or helicopter and that is perhaps the reason why regulators such as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have not laid it down as a mandatory aid on board. While we don’t yet know what the recommendations of Air Marshal Manavendra Singh-led Court of Inquiry are, it is possible that a cut-off time to fly in a valley or mountainous terrain, especially for helicopters, may now be introduced in South India too, as has been in vogue up North and in the North-East. This, of course, is mainly weather-driven, and on account of prevalence of phenomena such as ‘mountain waves’ in the vicinity of peaks, causing unforeseen updrafts and downdrafts that could impact aircraft safety.

The CFIT is thus a real hazard in aviation, whatever be the causatory aspects. It may not always be “finger trouble” as the fly boys call it, but there’s no denying that experience does overcome such accidents generally. The need for a reasonable amount of monthly flying hours by each pilot in a flying unit need not be overstated. More so for VVIP flying tasks wherein pressures on the pilot are of a different kind and the consequence of any goof-up are invariably too prohibitive.

This is an aspect proven time and again all over the world in civil and military flying. Like they say, God never intended man to fly, but when his ingenuity took him into that realm, an entire slew of dos and don’ts became inevitable and anyone who flouted them without the wherewithal in terms of professional acumen as a back-up was bound to come a cropper.

Supplies were handed over to Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kabul

Photo credit: Twitter/MEAIndia

New Delhi, January 7  

India on Friday delivered two tonnes of life-saving medicines to Afghanistan as part of humanitarian aid to the war-torn country.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the supplies were handed over to the Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kabul.

“As part of our ongoing humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, India supplied the third batch of medical assistance consisting of two tonnes of essential life-saving medicines to Afghanistan today,” the MEA said in a statement.

It said India stands committed to continuing its special relationship with the people of Afghanistan and providing them humanitarian assistance.

“In this endeavour, we had recently supplied 500,000 doses of COVID vaccine and 1.6 tons of medical assistance to Afghanistan through World Health Organisation (WHO),” the MEA said.

“In coming weeks, we would be supplying more batches of humanitarian assistance consisting of medicines and foodgrains to Afghanistan,” it said.

On January 1, India had supplied 5 lakh doses of the Covaxin vaccine to Afghanistan and announced that an equal number of jabs will be sent in the coming weeks.

In December, India sent 1.6 metric tonnes of life-saving medicines to that country.

India on Thursday said it was in touch with Pakistani authorities to finalise the modalities for transportation of 50,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan through Pakistan. PTI