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Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, October 31

‘Age is indeed just a number’, and the Indian Air Force proved it by sharing an inspirational video of retired Air Marshal PV Iyer, who turned 90-years-old, hitting the gym.

PV Iyer, who is an active sportsperson, is also known as the ‘Running Air Marshal’ in the IAF.

The Indian Air Force wished the retired Air Marshal a “joyous occasions”.

In a tweet, on Wednesday, IAF wrote: “It’s heartening to see the enthusiasm of Air Mshl PV Iyer (Retd), a nonagenarian. Air Mshl has been a source of inspiration to many, he is an active sportsperson & has proven that ‘Age is indeed just a number’, we wish you a very happy 90th birthday & many more joyous

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Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Pathankot, October 28

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flew in to the Pathankot Air Force base from Rajouri yesterday afternoon and distributed sweets to soldiers after getting the barricading placed between him and the air personal removed in his endeavour to have a direct interaction. The PM also had a look at the newly inducted state-of-the-art Apache helicopters in his brief 30 minute interaction.

Modi surprised many when he asked the Special Protection Group (SPG), which provides him with security cover, to keep aside the barricade saying “soldiers were his family members and there was no need to separate him from them.”

He also distributed sweets to celebrate Diwali.

The PM was accompanied by Army Chief Bipin Rawat, Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh and Pathankot Station Commander Air Commodore IT Kurien. The PM also inspected the fleet of Apache choppers which was formally inducted into the force on September 3 during a ceremony presided over by then Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa.

The PM’s visit was kept under wraps and even top district administration officials were not kept in the loop. Deputy Commissioner Ramvir claimed that he had no knowledge of the PM’s trip.

Meanwhile, sources disclosed that ever since eight cutting edge Apache helicopters were brought to the air base, security threat has gone up considerably.

“The Integrated Perimeter Security System (IPSS) is being deployed in the air base. It will be in place by December and later it will also be deployed at five other bases across the country considered to be critical. The base is under intense scrutiny of the authorities, particularly after a report of the Parliamentary standing committee on Defense in 2017 which did not speak well about it,” said a source

The IPSS will include a smart fence, surveillance systems, thermal cameras, motion detectors and a central control and command centre. On January 2, 2016, the air base was attacked by four Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists. They gunned down seven security men before being annihilated in a 48-hour-long operation.

Our Correspondent

Jammu, October 25

Lieutenant General YK Joshi assumed the charge of Chief of Staff, Northern Command, at Udhampur on Friday. He relieved Lieutenant General SK Sharma. Both General Officers paid tributes to martyrs at Dhruva Shaheed Samarak, Udhampur.

Lt Gen YK Joshi was commissioned into 13 JAK RIF on June 12, 1982, and later went on to command the same unit in ‘Operation Vijay’ and ‘Operation Parakaram’. In ‘Operation Vijay’, the unit was awarded 37 gallantry awards, including two Param Vir Chakra, eight Veer Chakra and 14 Sena medals. He is an alumni of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla.

Shyam Sood

Rajouri, October 24

Northern Army Commander Lt General Ranbir Singh sustained injuries when the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) he was flying in crash-landed near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district today.

Nine persons, including two Colonels, two Lieutenant Colonels and two pilots, were on board when the helicopter developed a technical snag and crash-landed in the Mandi-Bedar area, around 25 km from Poonch town and 5 km from the LoC.

“Army Commander was visiting units in Poonch sector, when the ALH developed a technical snag and crash-landed. All passengers and crew sustained injuries. The injured were evacuated to Command Hospital, Udhampur. As per medical investigations, all have sustained blunt and superficial injuries but are stable. The local villagers assisted the Army in evacuation of the injured. We salute them,” said Jammu-based Defence PRO Lt Col Davender Anand. Besides, a civilian, Mohammad Afzal, was injured.

The helicopter was on its way to Srinagar from a forward area in Poonch, which had been witnessing shelling from Pakistan, said sources.

The Army has ordered a court of inquiry into the incident. Sources said around 1.50 pm, the pilot noticed a snag in the helicopter while flying over Bedar area and attempted an emergency landing on the riverbank.

“We saw a helicopter return soon after it passed over the area. Before it could land, it got entangled in some wires and crashed onto a tree. Locals rushed to the site and informed the Army and police,” said an eyewitness.

The helicopter, which is believed to have developed a technical snag, crash-landed in Poonch district’s Bedar area, officials said. File photo

Jammu, October 24

Northern Army commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh had a narrow escape when a helicopter carrying him and his staff crash-landed in Poonch in Jammu region on Thursday, officials said.

The Advanced Light Helicopter was on its way from forward area in Jammu to Srinagar when it developed a snag and had to crash land at Bedar area in Poonch district, the officials said.

A civilian is reported to have suffered injuries, they said.

Lt Gen Ranbir Singh was part of a seven-member crew, including two pilots.

The army general and others were taken to a nearby army medical centre for examination, the officials said, adding there were no serious injuries to anyone in the crew.

Lt Gen Singh was on a visit to forward areas of XVI corps which has been witnessing cross border shelling from Pakistan side quite regularly these days. PTI

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat during the collective training conducted by troops of Eastern Command at Sela, approximately 90 km from the Line of Actual Control (LAC), in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang district, on Wednesday. PTI

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ammu, October 22

The Army has defused three live mortar shells fired by Pakistan troops along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, officials said on Tuesday.

With the safe defusal of the mortar shells by Army engineers, a tragedy had been averted in Karmara village of Poonch district, they said.

Pakistan has been resorting to heavy mortar shelling along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir for the past over one month. PTI

Govt seeks three months to finalise revised Information Technology Rules to regulate social media

Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 21

Noting that Internet has emerged as a “potent tool to cause unimaginable disruption to the democratic polity”, the Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that the rules governing social media needed to be revised for effective regulation of intermediaries in view of ever growing threats to individual rights and national security.

In an affidavit filed in the top court, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said it needed three months to frame guidelines for social media in order to check misuse of technology for criminal activities.

The draft ‘Information Technology Intermediaries Guidelines (Amendment) Rules, 2018’ was published on its website on December 24 last year and 171 responses were received. Once notified, the new Rules would replace the present Rules related to the intermediaries, i.e. ‘The Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011’ which are in place since April 13, 2011.

The affidavit has been filed in response to the top court’s September 24 direction asking the Centre to submit a status report within three weeks on framing of guidelines for social media. The top court is seized of petitions seeking transfer of cases on linking of social media accounts with Aadhaar pending in various high courts to the top court.

The top court is likely to take up the matter on Tuesday.

The free-for-all that existed on social media where anyone can say anything anonymously and get away should come to an end, it had said. “There is no fear…. Suppose somebody says something which is defamatory. Why can’t the affected person ask who originated such a message?” It had wondered while taking a serious note of the “dangerous way technology is developing”.

The Ministry said in view of the complexity involved and the significant impact it entails on the functioning of all stakeholders including netizens, government departments/ministries, social media platforms, messaging platforms, websites and mobile apps etc., it took a “conscious and bonafide decision” to call for further inter-ministerial consultation for framing “effective, robust and comprehensive rules, covering all aspects of matter”.

“The deponent (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) has bonafide belief that a further period of three months would be required for finalising and notifying the final revised rules in accordance with law,” the affidavit read.

The Ministry said, “In the last few years there has been an enormous increase in the use of social media and with lower Internet tariffs, availability of smart devices and last-mile connectivity, more and more people in India are becoming part of the Internet/social media platforms.

“If on one hand technology has led to economic growth and societal development, on the other hand there has been an exponential rise in hate speech, fake news, public order, anti-national activities, defamatory postings, and other unlawful activities using Internet/Social media platforms,” it said.

Ivninder Pal Singh

Are you inspired by the men in uniform? Do you love the idea of fearlessly defending your country across conflict-ridden zones? Are you ready to act as a shield for the internal security of India? If your answer is ‘yes’, then here is a great option for you. No, I am not talking about making a career in armed forces (Army, Air Force and Navy) or the Indian Police Services, but a career in the paramilitary forces.

With growing concern for internal security, a lot more opportunities are emerging for those aspiring to be in the paramilitary forces. These forces act as the second line of defence in securing the Indian borders and are mainly responsible for internal security. If the Border Security Force (BSF) is charged with guarding India’s land border during peacetime and preventing transnational crime, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) looks after the internal security of every part of India with countering Naxal operations as one of its major responsibilities.

Apart from maintaining India’s internal security by patrolling the land borders, from the northeast to the Thar desert, the paramilitary is also being deployed in diverse roles such as ensuring fair and peaceful conduct of elections, guarding against terrorists and Maoists, VIP protection and providing help in a natural calamity.

All paramilitary forces function under the purview of Ministry of Home Affairs (on the other hand, the Indian Army, Navy & Air Force come under the Defence Ministry)  and have different components and roles.

Three steps to selection

1 The selection procedure begins with a written test which includes two papers. Paper I has multiple choice questions testing the general ability and intelligence of the candidates and is of 250 marks (125 questions). Paper II (General Studies, essay and comprehension) is subjective in nature and is of 200 marks. Here candidate has the option of writing the essay component in English or Hindi, but the medium of précis writing, comprehension components and other communications/language skills are in English only. One needs to score minimum qualifying marks separately in each paper as may be fixed by the UPSC. Paper I is evaluated first and evaluation of Paper II is done only of those aspirants who get minimum qualifying marks in Paper I. And be careful while answering in Paper 1 as you will invite penalty for every wrong answer.

2 Those who clear the written test are summoned for Physical Standards/Physical Efficiency Tests and Medical Standards Tests.

The physical standards include height (165 cm for men and 157 cm for women), chest (81 cm with 5 cm of minimum expansion for men and not applicable on women) and weight (50 kg for men and 46 for women).

The Physical Efficiency Tests (PET) includes four events — 100 metre race; 800 metre race; long jump ; and shot put (7.26 kg).

All four events are for men while only first three are for women (see box for details).

Medical Standards Tests — to check vision, colour blindness, hearing disability etc — are conducted only on those candidates who  qualify in PET.

3 After clearing the first two hurdles, the candidates appear for an interview/personality test, which is conducted by the UPSC and carry 150 marks.

After shortlisting candidates for the interview, they are given Detailed Application Form (DAF) in which, among other things, they are required to indicate their preference of Forces.

The final merit list is prepared on the basis of marks scored in both written examination (250+200) and interview/personality test (150).

Success mantra

It is often said that there is no shortcut to success, you have to take the stairs of hard work. But here we need smart work to accomplish our goal. We need different skills for both the written papers. To score big in Paper I, you need to be well read, very conscious about your surroundings, well armed with NCERT concepts and of course, the newspaper is your best friend because methodical reading of newspapers on a regular basis will help you at every stage of the recruitment process.

It keeps you aware about the events happening around and also aids in maintaining focus over a long span, which is good practice for reading comprehension.

The vocabulary and grammar usage in newspaper articles is top-notch and will help you in Paper II, which tests your comprehension and language skills. Your reading menu should also include a monthly current affairs magazine along with question papers of previous years and practice tests. One needs to be very careful while attempting a question in Paper I as wrong answers invite penalty here. No guess work please. For every wrong question, one third of the marks assigned to that question are deducted.

For scoring big in Paper II, one must be good at language and expression. This can be easily achieved by active reading. The latter means when while reading you ask yourself: “Can a question be framed on this?”

One must focus on current social, political and economic issue/problems and must think in an analytical manner while look ing for solutions to the prevailing economic and social problems along with suggestions for the betterment of society. This will surely help you while attempting essays and writing a report.

An aspirant must develop skill of counter-argument as this is an important part of Paper II. A counter-argument is an argument opposed to your thesis, or part of your thesis. It expresses the view of a person who disagrees with your position.

Make sure you express the counter-argument fairly and objectively. Ask yourself if the person who actually holds this position would accept your way of stating it. Put yourself in their shoes and give them the benefit of doubt. In the 2019 exam, the UPSC wanted candidates to write arguments for and against (a) Digital technology may replace books with computers and (b) Homework should be banned at primary-level education. So, if you want to don the uniform and are ready to help your motherland 24X7, wake up from your slumber. Pick up your books and newspaper, broaden your horizon, widen your vision and take on the UPSC challenge. All the best!

Prepare yourself

Write arguments for and against each of the following statements

n Privacy is an elitist idea

n Note-ban, effective tool against black money

n The youth in India are getting addicted to Android mobiles

n Power flows from the barrel of the gun

n The trend of nuclear families will make old age homes in India increase in number

Write reports on the following in about 200 words each

n Data leak from Facebook

n Violence on University campuses during Student elections

n The rising juvenile abuse

n Water scarcity and access to drinking water

n Corruption in politics

Write essays on any four of the following in about 300 words each

n Revamping our banking system is the need of the hour

n Cleaning and connecting the rivers in India

n Non-performing Parliament, unhealthy trend in Democracy

n Promoting innovative outlook in education

n Sustainable farming is the need of the hour than rhetorical promises

(Culled from questions papers of previous years)

Syllabi for written exam

Paper I (General ability and intelligence): The paper has multiple choice questions and cover mainly six areas — general mental ability, general science, current events of national and international importance, Indian polity and economy, history of India and Indian and world geography. The nature and standard of questions is such that a well-educated person is able to answer without any specialised study. They are framed so as to test a candidate’s general awareness on a variety of subjects and aim to judge a candidate’s awareness, understanding and analysis of contemporary events.

Paper II (General studies, essay and comprehension): It has two parts. First part has essay questions which are to be answered in a long narrative and is of 80 marks and can be attempted in English or Hindi. Part II consists of comprehension passages, precis writing, developing counter arguments, simple grammar and other aspects of language testing. This part carries 120 marks.

The journey

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) holds a written examination for Assistant Commandants (Group A) in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) — Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). In 2019, a total of 323 vacancies were advertised by the UPSC across all five paramilitary forces. Of these, 10 per cent vacancies are earmarked for ex-servicemen. In case these remain unfilled due to non-availability of eligible or qualified candidates, the same are filled by candidates from non-ex-servicemen category.

Important exam dates 2020

Notification         April 22, 2020

Last date to apply May 12, 2020

Written exam         August 9, 2020

The power test

Event Males Females

100 metre race       16 seconds 18 seconds

800 metre race      3 min 35 sec 4 min 45 sec

Long jump (3 chances) 3.5 metres 3 metres

Shot Put (7.26 kg)4.5 metresNA