Protesting farm unions today rejected the government’s offer to suspend the three contentious agri laws for a year and a half, or any mutually agreed period, and set up a joint committee to find an amicable solution to end the impasse.
The Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, an umbrella body of around 40 unions, made the announcement following a meeting at Singhu border. It appeared to be a difficult decision for the union leaders to make as they held several rounds of talks through the day and even sought opinion from the protesters gathered on Delhi’s borders. The Haryana Police, meanwhile, have cancelled leave of its personnel in view of the stir.
Sources claimed 17 of the total 32 farm unions of Punjab rejected the Centre’s offer, terming it as a “tactic to derail the agitation by dividing the farmers”. “Repeal of the three central laws and a legislation for remunerative MSP were reiterated as the pending demands of the movement, which will be communicated to the Union ministers tomorrow,” said Joginder Singh Ugrahan of BKU (Ekta-Ugrahan).
SC panel interacts with 10 farm bodies
The Supreme Court-appointed panel on Thursday interacted with 10 farmer outfits from eight states
The states are UP, Karnataka, Kerala, MP, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana and TN
Ugrahan alleged the government was trying to buy peace for the time being by suspending the laws for 18 months, but the farmers would not relent till these were repealed. “The Centre is testing the patience of the farmers. The unions unanimously rejected the Centre’s offer. We won’t return till the laws are abolished,” he said.
BJP leader RP Singh, meanwhile, condemned the farmers saying such “adamant attitude” wasn’t good for democracy.
Earlier, the unions also rejected the Delhi Police’s proposal to shift their proposed Republic Day tractor rally from Delhi’s Outer Ring Road.
Don’t wear medals, ribbons at public functions, Indian Army advisory for ex-servicemen
New Delhi, January 20, 2021 (ANI): At a time when a number of veterans have been seen attending political rallies, the Indian Army has issued an advisory regarding wearing of ribbons and medals by ex-servicemen at public functions.
An advisory has been issued by the Army which cites where all these ribbons and medals can be worn by veterans as per the Army regulations. The Army rules do not permit the wearing of uniforms, ribbons and medals in political rallies, Army sources said.
In the recent past, there have been various incidents where ex-servicemen have been seen wearing uniforms with medals and ribbons at protest rallies like the farmer protests in Delhi.
Some political leaders have also claimed that the farmers would take out their own parade on tractors in the national capital on Republic Day. (ANI)
Terrorists sitting at protest sites, says BJP MP; kicks up row in Rajasthan
Farmers stand near a bonfire to warm themselves during the ongoing protest for repeal of the Centres Agri laws, at Ghazipur border in New Delhi on Wednesday. PTI photo
Jaipur, January 20
A BJP legislator triggered a row in Rajasthan on Wednesday by calling some protesters taking part in the farmers’ agitation ”terrorists”, with the party’s state unit justifying her comments.
In a video clip on social media, Dausa MP Jaskaur Meena is heard purportedly referring to the new agri-marketing laws and the protest over them by farmers camping at Delhi’s border.
“Terrorists are sitting there and the terrorists have AK-47s with them. They have pitched the Khalistan flag,” she is heard saying.
The MP was unavailable on phone for comment.
Meena’s statement drew criticism from the ruling Congress in the state, which said people in Rajasthan are “ashamed” that they voted for her.
State Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra said the BJP’s vision was limited to getting into power, alleging that its veterans did not even want to liberate India from the British.
“The BJP has always been an anti-farmer party,” he claimed.
In an apparent reference to strikes against Pakistan after terror attacks in India, he said, “In the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP leaders won due to the valour of the army.” “Now, people of Rajasthan are feeling ashamed that they voted for a leader with such a narrow mindset,” he added, apparently referring to Meena’s victory.
But state BJP spokesperson Ramlal Sharma justified her comment.
“MP Meena’s feelings were not wrong. She wanted to say that the kind of flags and slogans being raised at the farmers protest is wrong. Some people have entered the protest in the name of farmers,” he claimed.
He said the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre is concerned about the welfare of farmers and is holding talks with them to resolve the issue.
Farmers from Punjab and Haryana have been camping at Delhi’s border for weeks seeking the repeal of the central laws enacted last September.
Farmer unions claim that the laws weaken the minimum support price (MSP) system. But the government says they provide more options for farmers to sell their crops. PTI
Crack K-9 unit of ITBP requisitioned for anti-sabotage operations at RD parade
TBP is the largest contributor of dog teams to Delhi Police for various assignments for the past one decade.
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 20
Ahead of the Republic Day parade, Delhi Police have requisitioned the crack K-9 unit of Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) to sanitise and secure the area around India Gate and Rajpath.
ITBP K-9s highly trained and loyal dogs will sniff out explosives and IEDs with zero error to ensure that the ceremony held under a very high threat perception goes off without a hitch.
ITBP is the largest contributor of dog teams to Delhi Police for various assignments for the past one decade. The dogs are trained at ITBP’s National Centre for Training Dogs at Bhanu near Chandigarh.
These dogs form part of ITBP’S K-9 QRT (quick reaction team) that rushes to the assistance of Delhi Police whenever there is a requisition.
All the K9s deployed this year have already had a stint in the counter-insurgency grid and are battle-hardened dogs whose noses miss nothing.
India gets Ukrainian engines for its stealth frigates, sends them to shipbuilder in Russia
The two frigates under construction at Yantar shipyard in Russia | Snehesh Alex Philip | ThePrint
New Delhi: India has procured gas turbine engines from Ukraine and handed over to Russia to install them on the Admiral Grigorovich-class guided-missile stealth frigates that are being made for the Indian Navy by a Russian shipyard as part of $2.5 billion deal, ThePrint has learnt.
Sources in the defence and security establishment said the construction of the two frigates by Yantar Shipyard in Russia’s Kaliningrad is going on according to schedule, and the first of the two is expected to be delivered by the end of 2022.
The second vessel is scheduled to be delivered six months later in 2023.
“The engines from Ukraine have been delivered to Russia. The construction of the ship is as per schedule and there has been no impact due to Covid,” a source said, refusing to give a timeline.
The delivery of the engines, manufactured by Ukrainian firm Zorya-Mashproyekt, was also confirmed by a second source.
Following Crimea’s reunification with Russia in 2014, its ties with Ukraine went for a toss and Moscow stopped importing the engines from the Ukranian manufacturer.
India had to, therefore, procure and transfer the same to Russia, which also needed Ukranian permission that was given in 2016.
India had in 2016 inked an inter-governmental agreement with Russia for four frigates, a follow-on of the Talwar-class vessels, and its contract was signed at the end of 2018.
According to the deal, two ships are to be built in Russia, while the other two to be built at the Goa Shipyard in India with technical collaboration from Russia.
The Yantar Shipyard has also manufactured three of the six Talwar-class frigates that are in service with the Indian Navy.
Admiral Grigorovich-class ships are an upgraded variant of the Talwar-class frigates that were built between 2003 and 2013.
The hulls for the two ships had already been cut for the Russian Navy, but remained mothballed for several years.
ThePrint had in 2019 reported on the progress of the deal after a visit to the shipyard.
Eduard Efimov, general director of the Yantar Shipyard, had said at the time new ships will have 22 new systems, including navigation, communication and weapons.
The frigate deal also faces the prospect of American sanctions if India is unable to secure a waiver.
India is seeking a waiver from the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) on the ground that its military is heavily dependent on Russian equipment and the two countries share a unique, time-tested relationship.
A Reutersreport had last week said the United States has told India it is unlikely to get a waiver on its planned acquisition of Russian S-400 air defence systems, raising the risk of sanctions similar to those imposed on Turkey for buying the system.
Howrah-Kalka Mail renamed Netaji Express The order to rename the train was issued on January 19, when the central government had also decided to celebrate Netaji’s birth anniversary on January 23 as ‘Parakram Diwas’ every year
Ahead of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birth anniversary celebrations, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said the Howrah-Kalka Mail had been renamed ‘Netaji Express’.
Goyal tweeted: “Netaji’s ‘prakram’ (valour) put India on the express route of freedom and development. I am thrilled to celebrate his birth anniversary with the introduction of ‘Netaji Express’.”
The order to rename the train was issued on January 19, when the central government had also decided to celebrate Netaji’s birth anniversary on January 23 as ‘Parakram Diwas’ every year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit West Bengal on January 23 on the occasion. IANS
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary to be observed as Parakram Diwas
IAF to deploy Rafale, Sukhoi, Mirage 2000 combat jets during Indo-French air exercise
Rafale fighter jet of the IAF getting refuelled mid-air | File image | Credit: IAF
New Delhi: The Indian Air Force will deploy its Rafale, Sukhoi and Mirage 2000 combat jets besides other key assets in a five-day mega air exercise with French air and space force that begins near Jodhpur on Wednesday.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) said its deployment at the ‘Ex-Desert Knight 21’ will also include IL-78 flight refuelling aircraft as well as airborne warning and control system (AWACS).
“The French side will participate with Rafale, Airbus A-330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), A-400M Tactical Transport aircraft,” it said, adding around 175 French personnel will be part of the exercise.
The IAF deployment in the exercise will include Mirage 2000, Su-30 MKI, Rafale, IL-78 flight refuelling aircraft and the AWACS.
The drill is taking place at a time the IAF has been keeping all its frontline bases across the country in a high state of operational readiness in view of the Sino-India border row in eastern Ladakh.
“The exercise is unique as it includes fielding of Rafale aircraft by both sides and is indicative of the growing interaction between the two premier air forces,” the IAF said in a statement.
“As the two detachments commence their air exchange from January 20 onwards, they will put into practice operational experience gained across terrains and spectrums and endeavour to exchange ideas and best practices to enhance interoperability” it said.
The French and Indian air forces have been conducting ‘Garuda’ exercises for the last several years as part of efforts to boost operational cooperation. So far, six editions of ‘Garuda’ have taken place with the last one being held in 2019 at Mont-de-Marsan in France.
“As measures to further the existing cooperation, the two forces have been gainfully utilising available opportunities to conduct ‘hop-exercises’… Presently, the French detachment for Ex-Desert Knight-21 is deployed in Asia as part of their ‘Skyros Deployment’ and will ferry in forces to air force station Jodhpur,” the IAF said.
In a boost to its strike capability, the IAF received the first batch of five Rafale jets in July last year, nearly four years after the government inked an agreement with France to procure 36 of the aircraft at a cost of Rs 59,000 crore. A second batch of three Rafale fighter jets joined the IAF in November.
The Rafale jets, manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, are India’s first major acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the Sukhoi jets were imported from Russia.
The newly inducted fleet has been carrying out sorties in eastern Ladakh.
ile image of the Dakota vintage aircraft of the IAF | Twitter | @IAF_MCC
New Delhi: A Dakota — a vintage transport aircraft older than the Indian Republic itself — will fly overhead as a Bangladesh military contingent marches at New Delhi’s Rajpath on Republic Day to mark 50 years of the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war.
The aircraft, which participated in the 1971 war too but began to be phased out soon after, will be flanked by two Mi-17-1V at the flypast in a Rudra formation — a first for the Dakota.
The refurbished aircraft had made its maiden appearance at the Air Force Day flypast on 8 October 2018, flanked by other members of the IAF’s vintage fleet, which was formed to showcase the rich legacy of the force.
This was about six months after ‘Parashuram’, the refurbished Dakota bearing the tail no. VP 905, became part of the Indian Air Force’s vintage aircraft fleet that also includes the Tiger Moth (operated by IAF from 1939 to 1957, one aircraft was refurbished in 2012), and the T-6G Harvard aircraft (which served during the Second World War and was refurbished in 2014).
Aside from the Dakota, fighters such as the newly-inducted Rafale and the indigenous Tejas will also participate in the Republic Day flypast, along with the Apache and Chinook helicopters.
The Dakota holds tremendous significance in the history of India as it was the first of the major transport aircraft inducted into the IAF. The aircraft entered Squadron No. 12 of the IAF in 1946.
Talking to ThePrint, IAF veteran and author Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam (Retd) said the aircraft holds an emotional connect with the IAF as it was responsible for saving Srinagar from tribal raiders during the 1947-48 war with Pakistan.
“It was the transport squadron (Squadron number 12) left behind by the British and the aircraft had airlifted the first battalion of the Army’s Sikh regiment, which practically saved Srinagar at the time,” he said.
According to the former IAF officer, the transport aircraft had also landed at the Leh airbase at the time.
“The aircraft played a major role to ensure that Poonch didn’t fall to the invaders, by dropping supplies for months to sustain the population in the region,” he said.
While the Dakotas were not among the frontline transport aircraft during the 1971 war, as against the Russian AN-12s, they played a role in certain operations.
For example, the Dakota paradropped troops in Tangail, approximately 100 km from Dhaka, on 11 December 1971, just five days before Pakistan surrendered on 16 December.
The aircraft were phased out in 1988 and replaced by the transport aircraft Avro.
The Dakota that will participate in the Republic Day was gifted to the IAF by Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar after it was restored to a flying condition over a six-year process. The MP is the son of Air Commodore M.K. Chandrasekhar (Retd), who has flown the Dakota.
The World War 2-era aircraft has reportedly undergone refurbishment at £580,000 (approx. Rs 58 crore), conducted by the UK-based Reflight AirWorks Ltd.
State Stalwarts
DEFENCE MINISTER
Minister Rajnath Singh
ALL HUMANS ARE ONE CREATED BY GOD
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CHIEF PATRON ALL INDIA SANJHA MORCHA
LT GEN JASBIR SINGH DHALIWAL, DOGRA
SENIOR PATRON ALL INDIA SANJHA MORCHA
MAJOR GEN HARVIJAY SINGH, SENA MEDAL ,corps of signals
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PATRON ALL INDIA SANJHA MORCHA
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PRESIDENT SOUTH ALL INDIA SANJHA MORCHA
COL SS RAJAN BOMBAY SAPPERS,
PRESIDENT UTTARAKHAND ALL INDIA SANJHA MORCHA
COL B M THAPA ,BENGAL SAPPERSS
PRESIDENT HARAYANA STATE CUM COORDINATOR ESM
BRIG DALJIT THUKRAL ,BENGAL SAPPERS
PRESIDENT TRICITY
COL B S BRAR (BHUPI BRAR)
PRESIDENT CHANDIGARH ZONE
COL SHANJIT SINGH BHULLAR
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INDIAN DEFENCE FORCES
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Air Officer C-in-C WESTERN AIR COMMAND
AIR MSHL S PRABHAKARAN AVSM VM
AOC-IN-C, EASTERN AIR COMMAND
Air Marshal Inderpal Singh Walia
AOC-in-C SOUTH WESTERN AIR COMMAND
Air Marshal Vikram Singh
AOC-IN-C, SOUTHERN AIR COMMAND
Air Marshal J.Chalapati
AOC-IN-C TRAINING COMMAND
AIR MARSHAL SK GHOTIA VSM
AOC-IN-C MAINTENANCE COMMAND
Air Marshal Jagdish Chandra
Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Western Naval Command
ice Admiral R Hari Kumar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM
Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Eastern Naval Command
Vice Admiral Sanjay Bhalla, AVSM, NM
Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Southern Naval Command
