Breaking barriers: Squadron Leader Saanya becoming the first woman officer to earn the coveted Category-A Qualified Flying Instructor (QFI) qualification.

According to IAF officers, a Category-A QFI is the highest instructional rating awarded to military aviators

Women pilots in the IAF have broken another glass ceiling, with Squadron Leader Saanya becoming the first woman officer to earn the coveted Category-A Qualified Flying Instructor (QFI) qualification.

Terming it to a historic first, the IAF said on Monday that her achievement embodies dedication and relentless pursuit of excellence. “A proud milestone for the IAF and an inspiration for aspiring aviators across the nation,” the IAF said on its X-handle.

Commissioned in June 2015, Sqn Ldr Saanya belongs to the 42 Short Service Commission Course (Women) for pilots on the Flying Branch which had six women. She was promoted to the rank of Squadron Leader in June 2021.

According to IAF officers, a Category-A QFI is the highest instructional rating awarded to military aviators, and marks them as an exceptionally skilled pilot who is certified to train and evaluate other military pilots and instructors.

Such instructors undergo a 22-week course at the Flying Instructors School (FIS) located at the Air Force Station Tambaram, near Chennai. The rigorous training involves over 200 hours of ground-based courses and extensive flying instruction phases.

On successful culmination of the course, Cat-A QFIs are mandated with training ab-initio pilots as well as mentoring experienced operational pilots, evaluating other instructors and assessing flight skills.

The IAF has a structured grading system to evaluate and categorise the instructional skills of its pilots. Below the top tier Cat-A QFI is the A-Category comprising highly capable and skilful instructors with considerable experience. This is followed by the B-Category who are capable of standard instruction and below this is the C-Category comprising trainee or probationary instructors.

The IAF opened its doors to women pilots in 1994 in the transport and helicopter streams. In 2016, it opened a new chapter when the first women pilots were inducted into the fighter stream.

Initially, women pilots flew Cheetah and Chetak helicopters and smaller transport aircraft like the twin-engine AN-32 and Dornier-228. Later, they graduated to heavier helicopters like the Mi-17 and Dhruv as well as multi-engine and strategic airlifter like the IL-76. They now also form part of Rafale and Su-30 fighter squadrons.

Women officers in the IAF have now also assumed command roles, heading various operational establishments in 2023, Group Captain Shaliza Dhami, a helicopter pilot, became the first woman to command an IAF combat unit, a frontline surface-to-air missile squadron in the western sector.

In 2019, she became the first woman Flight Commander, when she took command of a Chetak helicopter flight at the Hindon Airbase. She is also the first woman Qualified Flying Instructor.

Himanshu Bali was arrested on May 18 from Kolkata and is being brought to Delhi, CBI sources say

The CBI has arrested an army colonel posted with the Army Ordnance Corps under the Eastern Command in Kolkata in an alleged Rs 50 lakh bribery case, official sources said on Tuesday.

Himanshu Bali was arrested on May 18 from Kolkata and is being brought to Delhi, CBI sources informed this newspaper.

Bali is accused of favouring a Kanpur-based company by allegedly manipulating the award of tenders, approving substandard samples, and facilitating clearance of pending and inflated bills.

In its FIR filed on May 18, the CBI said the colonel had contacted the industrialist over the pending bribe payment, to which the businessman cited cash constraints. Apart from the colonel, the FIR has named four other individuals.

The agency alleged in the FIR that the officer later called the industrialist’s driver and asked him to deliver the payment to one of his acquaintances. The pending bribe amount of Rs 50 lakh was to be routed through hawala channels, it further alleged.

The CBI arrested the colonel after registering a case against him and the private contractor in the alleged bribery case, officials said.

The Tribune Exclusive: Ministry of Defence grants NHAI working permission for 2.7461 acres at Chandimandir Military Station worth Rs 9.89 crore; NHAI to build 32 army quarters in lieu

Centre clears defence land hurdle for Rs 1,983-crore Zirakpur-Panchkula bypass

# The Tribune Exclusive: Ministry of Defence grants NHAI working permission for 2.7461 acres at Chandimandir Military Station worth Rs 9.89 crore; NHAI to build 32 army quarters in lieu

A copy of the MoD order is with The Tribune.

The working permission, issued with the concurrence of MoD (Finance), values the defence land at Rs 9,88,85,963 (approximately Rs 9.89 crore). However, instead of a cash payment, the compensation has been structured on an Equivalent Value in Infrastructure (EVI) basis — NHAI will construct approximately 32 Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and Other Ranks (OR) married accommodation units at Chandimandir Military Station at a total estimated cost of approximately Rs 12 crore, with the remaining Rs 2.21 crore to be met from the Defence Budget of the Army.

The order has been signed by Vikram Verma, Deputy Director (Lands), Ministry of Defence.

What the order says

Under the terms of the working permission, a Board of Officers (BOO) — comprising representatives of NHAI as the Indenting Authority, the Defence Estates Officer (DEO) and the Local Military Authority (LMA) — must be convened within four weeks of the order’s issue to carry out physical demarcation and measurement of the defence land, determine exact survey numbers and assess the security, safety measures and cost of relocation of any existing government or private assets on the plot.

The handing over of the land from the Army to NHAI is required to be completed within one month of the issue of the working permission. NHAI has been directed to use the defence land strictly for the purpose for which permission has been granted and for no other purpose.

The order further stipulates that NHAI must ensure no defence installation, utility or asset — including boundary walls, sewerage lines, water supply pipelines, communications networks and electrical lines — is compromised or damaged during construction. Any asset affected must be restored at NHAI’s cost.

The concessionaire must also comply with air and noise pollution norms prescribed by the Pollution Control Board and the Ministry of Environment throughout the construction period.

Crucially, the working permission is contingent on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to be executed between NHAI, the DEO and the LMA. Formal sanction for the permanent transfer of the 2.7461 acres of defence land will be issued only after obtaining Cabinet approval.

Why this matters

The MoD clearance directly enables ground-level work to begin on the 19.2-km Zirakpur-Panchkula Bypass — the Rs 1,380-crore project awarded to RKCPL Limited on March 27. The bypass, which runs from its junction with NH-7 (Zirakpur-Patiala) to NH-5 (Zirakpur-Parwanoo) across Punjab and Haryana, passes through the Chandimandir belt — making the defence land clearance a non-negotiable prerequisite for the project’s physical commencement.

The LOA for the bypass and its 10.3-km connecting Spur — awarded to Ceigall Infra Projects Private Limited at Rs 603 crore on the same day — together set in motion Rs 1,983 crore worth of construction that is projected to end Zirakpur’s status as the single most congested pinch-point in the Tricity. The Bypass is expected to be operational by early 2028, the Spur by late 2027.

Once built, the twin corridors will allow traffic from Delhi, Ambala and Chandigarh heading to Panchkula, Baddi and Shimla to leapfrog Zirakpur’s choked urban grid entirely — providing relief on NH-44, NH-205A and NH-152, the three most stressed national highway corridors approaching the Tricity from the south and west.

The two projects form the vital southeastern arc of the Rs 12,000-crore, 244-km Tricity Ring Road, which is designed to redirect non-local traffic away from the urban cores of Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula.

With the Ambala-Chandigarh Greenfield Corridor 80 per cent complete and the IT City-Kurali stretch already open to traffic, the MoD clearance brings the full ring road network meaningfully closer to completion.

Recovery of any excess amount paid earlier is legally prohibited, rules Armed Forces Tribuna

he Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has ruled that pay and pension can be reduced if it comes to light that it had been fixed incorrectly by the authorities earlier, though recovery of any excess amount paid earlier is legally prohibited.

A Navy sailor who had retired in 2014 had approached the AFT averring that his pension had been reduced after nine years and the excess amount paid earlier had been recovered from his pension.

He had contended that no opportunity or show-cause notice was afforded to him before passing the recovery order and as such the authorities concerned had violated the principles of natural justice.

“While the recovery of benefits mistakenly granted to an employee is prohibited on the principle of equity to prevent undue hardship, this does not grant the employee a vested right to receive such benefits in perpetuity. An employee has no legal entitlement to continue receiving erroneous benefits in the future once the error is identified,” the Tribunal’s Bench comprising Justice Suresh Kumar Gupta and Lt Gen Anil Puri observed in their order of May 13.

“We further hold that the mistake/error in fixing the pay, which was erroneously done due to inadvertence, the same can be rectified by the respondents at any stage when it came into light,” the Bench added while referring to Supreme Court and High Courts judgments on the subject.

The authorities had argued that government policy states that immediate corrective action must be taken as and when cases where the excess payment in excess of entitlement come to notice, and an undertaking was given by the sailor at the time of his retirement to the effect that as and when the excess payment made to him, the same would be recovered.

On the issue of recovery, the Bench held that according to law no such action can be undertaken against Group-C and Group-D. “The relief against the recovery is granted by the courts not because of any right in the employees, but in equity, exercising judicial discretion to relieve the employees from the hardship that will be caused if recovery is ordered,” the Bench observed.

Upholding the decision to reduce the sailor’s pension to its correct scale, the Bench directed the authorities to refund the excess amount that had been recovered from him within a period of three months.

Gen Dwivedi on Saturday said that if Pakistan continues to harbour terrorists and operate against India, then they have to ‘decide whether they want to be part of geography or history or not’

The Pakistan Army on Sunday criticised Indian Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi’s recent remarks, while urging New Delhi to learn to “co-exist” peacefully.

Gen Dwivedi on Saturday said that if Pakistan continues to harbour terrorists and operate against India, then they have to “decide whether they want to be part of geography or history or not”.

Terming Gen Dwivedi’s comments as “provocative”, the Pakistan Army said that responsible nuclear states reflect restraint, maturity and strategic sobriety.

“Threatening a sovereign nuclear neighbour with elimination from ‘geography’ is not strategic signalling or brinkmanship; it is sheer bankruptcy of cognitive capacities…,” the army said in a statement.

“India needs to reconcile with Pakistan’s salience and learn to peacefully co-exist with it,” it said.

It said that “any attempt to target Pakistan can trigger consequences that shall neither be geographically confined nor strategically or politically palatable for India”.

Recalling the four-day conflict in May last year, it said Indian leadership “would be well advised not to attempt to push South Asia towards another crisis or war whose consequences would only be devastating for the complete region and beyond.”

India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 last year in response to the Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were killed. It carried out airstrikes on nine terror infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, eliminating at least 100 terrorists.

The action triggered a rapid escalation in tensions, with Pakistan launching retaliatory strikes, though most of them were thwarted by the Indian military.

The hostilities ended with an understanding on halting the military actions on May 10 following talks over the hotline between army officials of the two sides.

Some of the prominent areas proposed for restoration include Queen’s Road, Lawrence Road, Empress Road, Krishan Nagar, Santnagar, Dharampura, Laxmi Chowk, Sant Nagar Jain Mandir Road, Mohan Lal Bazaar, Bhagwan Pura and Shanti Nagar

Pakistan’s Punjab government has approved a plan to restore the original pre-Partition names of several streets and roads in Lahore as part of an initiative aimed at reviving the city’s historical and cultural heritage, an official said on Monday.

The decision was taken during a Punjab Cabinet meeting chaired by Maryam Nawaz. The initiative has been proposed by former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who heads the Lahore Heritage Areas Revival project.

According to officials, several historic streets, alleys and neighbourhoods in Lahore had been renamed over the decades, replacing British-era and Hindu-associated names with those linked to Islamic, Pakistani or local figures.

“The Punjab Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, a few days ago had approved a plan to restore the original and historical names of various streets and roads in Lahore and its neighbourhood,” a Punjab government official told PTI.

Some of the prominent areas proposed for restoration include Queen’s Road, Lawrence Road, Empress Road, Krishan Nagar, Santnagar, Dharampura, Laxmi Chowk, Sant Nagar Jain Mandir Road, Mohan Lal Bazaar, Bhagwan Pura and Shanti Nagar.

Officials said the move is intended to revive Lahore’s historical identity and preserve its multicultural past.

Separately, Nawaz Sharif has also proposed restoring three cricket grounds and a traditional wrestling arena at Minto Park, now known as Greater Iqbal Park. The move is being viewed by many as an attempt to address criticism over the demolition of these facilities during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s tenure as Punjab chief minister in 2015.

Former Pakistan cricket captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was among the players trained at clubs located in Minto Park. Before Partition, legendary Indian cricketer Amarnath had also trained there.

The wrestling arena had once hosted legendary wrestlers such as Gama Pehalwan, Goonga Pehalwan and Imam Bakhsh. Before Partition, the park was also a major venue for Dussehra celebrations by Lahore’s Hindu community.

In May 1994, a soldier had suffered gunshot wounds in his leg and chest while participating in a small arms competition organised by the Army

Gunshot injuries sustained accidentally on the firing range during competitive events cannot be termed as ‘war injury’ and hence cannot be extended the same disability benefits as applicable to casualties during war or war-like situations, the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) has ruled.

In May 1994, a soldier had suffered gunshot wounds in his leg and chest while participating in a small arms competition organised by the Army. The accident occurred due to the negligence of his fellow soldier and he was evacuated to a military hospital for treatment.

The injury report and court of inquiry declared the wounds as attributable to military service, and he was downgraded to low medical category (LMC). His disabilities were assessed at 50 per cent for life.

His service, however, remained continuous and during that period he developed additional disabilities of bronchial asthma and aspergilloma of the lung, which were attributable to stress and strain of military service. He was discharged from service in 2008 with composite disabilities assessed at 80 per cent and accordingly granted disability pension.

In 2018, he contended that he was entitled to war injury pension since the injury had taken place in war-like conditions. War injury pension is significantly higher than disability pension.

He claimed that his injury fell under Category-E of a letter issued by the Ministry of Defence in 2001, which listed death or injuries during battle inoculation training exercises or demonstration with live ammunition to be classified as war injury.

He further stated that his case is also covered under Army Order 1/2003 which includes casualties occurring while carrying battle Inoculation / training or operationally oriented training in preparation for actual operations due to gunshot wounds / explosion of live ammunition / explosives / mines or by drowning or electrocution.

The Tribunal’s Bench of Justice Sudhir Mittal and Lt Gen Ranbir Singh observed that the applicant had not suffered disabilities due to battle inoculation, training exercises or demonstration with live ammunition but due to an accidental firing at the small arms range, which though attributable to military service does not qualify as war injury according to categories listed in the ministry’s letter of 2001.

The Bench, while holding that he was correctly being paid disability pension, allowed his plea to round-off the disability percentage to 100 per cent, in accordance with earlier directives of the Supreme Court, with effect from 2008.

The Artificial Limb Centre (ALC) in Pune is among the country’s premier military rehabilitation institutions and has played a key role in treating battle casualties and personnel with life-altering injuries for decades.The visit comes at a time when ex-servicemen associations and disabled veterans have raised concerns over the Union government’s proposed move to restrict income tax exemption on disability pensions in the armed forces.Under the new provision announced in the Union Budget, armed forces personnel receiving a disability pension after ‘superannuation’ may no longer be eligible for complete income tax exemption.The exemption is proposed to remain applicable only to those who are ‘invalidated out of service’ due to bodily disability. The visit, however, has assumed significance amid these concerns.The delegation interacted with officers and soldiers undergoing treatment and rehabilitation for apputations and spinal cord injuries.

speaking to TOI, Col Gaurav Dutta, former blade runner, said the visit by the Pay Commission members was important in helping policymakers understand the issue beyond technical definitions.“The government, in the Budget, has announced that armed forces personnel receiving disability pension after superannuation will no longer be entitled to income tax exemption. Only personnel who were invalidated out of service due to bodily disability will now be entitled to the exemption. The Income Tax Department is yet to issue a notification in this regard,” Dutta told TOI.“There are veterans who have taken home loans, education loans, etc., based on the expected tax-exempt pension and will be severely impacted. This will have huge financial ramifications for them. Therefore, the current visit was crucial to understand how injured and disabled soldiers go through in this phase and why disability pension is necessary,” he added.Veterans have argued that the distinction between personnel invalidated out of service and those who continue serving despite disabilities before superannuating is unfair and insensitive to the realities of military life.“Several disabled soldiers continue in service despite severe injuries, often taking up instructional, administrative or staff roles after rehabilitation. These personnel should not be penalised for choosing to remain in service and contribute further to the armed forces,” said another senior veteran on the condition of anonymity.Military veterans believe such engagements could influence future recommendations on pensions, rehabilitation support and welfare measures for injured armed forces personnel.“The cadets at the NDA also get injured during the training. Some of them even get medically boarded out. Such issues need to be dealt in a sensitive manner so they will get rehabilitated in a proper way,” said Col Vinay Dalvi (retd).

The Artificial Limb Centre (ALC) in Pune is among the country’s premier military rehabilitation institutions and has played a key role in treating battle casualties and personnel with life-altering injuries for decades.The visit comes at a time when ex-servicemen associations and disabled veterans have raised concerns over the Union government’s proposed move to restrict income tax exemption on disability pensions in the armed forces.Under the new provision announced in the Union Budget, armed forces personnel receiving a disability pension after ‘superannuation’ may no longer be eligible for complete income tax exemption.The exemption is proposed to remain applicable only to those who are ‘invalidated out of service’ due to bodily disability. The visit, however, has assumed significance amid these concerns.The delegation interacted with officers and soldiers undergoing treatment and rehabilitation for amputations and spinal cord injuries.  Speaking to TOI, Col Gaurav Dutta, former blade runner, said the visit by the Pay Commission members was important in helping policymakers understand the issue beyond technical definitions.“The government, in the Budget, has announced that armed forces personnel receiving disability pension after superannuation will no longer be entitled to income tax exemption. Only personnel who were invalidated out of service due to bodily disability will now be entitled to the exemption. The Income Tax Department is yet to issue a notification in this regard,” Dutta told TOI.“There are veterans who have taken home loans, education loans, etc., based on the expected tax-exempt pension and will be severely impacted. This will have huge financial ramifications for them. Therefore, the current visit was crucial to understand how injured and disabled soldiers go through in this phase and why disability pension is necessary,” he added.Veterans have argued that the distinction between personnel invalidated out of service and those who continue serving despite disabilities before superannuating is unfair and insensitive to the realities of military life.“Several disabled soldiers continue in service despite severe injuries, often taking up instructional, administrative or staff roles after rehabilitation. These personnel should not be penalised for choosing to remain in service and contribute further to the armed forces,” said another senior veteran on the condition of anonymity.Military veterans believe such engagements could influence future recommendations on pensions, rehabilitation support and welfare measures for injured armed forces personnel.“The cadets at the NDA also get injured during the training. Some of them even get medically boarded out. Such issues need to be dealt in a sensitive manner so they will get rehabilitated in a proper way,” said Col Vinay Dalvi (retd).

LEST WE FORGET :FESTUBERT ONE OF THE MOST GALLANT EPISODES OF THE WORLD WAR I(Maj Gen Harvijay Singh, SM)

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Maj Gen Harvijay Singh, SM) Senior Patron Sanjha Morcha

Jo to praym khaylan ka chaao, sir dhar talee galee mayree aao.Those who wish to play the game of love (Sikhi way of life), come to me with your head in your palm. Guru Gobind Singh

On 17 May 1915, a company of 15th SIKHs (Now 2nd Battalion, the SIKH Regiment) were in occupation of a section of a German trench. Engaged in the northern pincer of the offensive, near Richebourg l’Avoué, they were a part of the 3rd (Lahore) Division – 9th (Sirhind) Brigade Area between the two sides had been barricaded with corpses; the stench was un-bearing. Their state of ammunition was critically low. Resupply from the reserve trenches 250 yards away could enable them to hold out. British units had attempted to do so twice, on both occasions the officer in command had been killed and the party practically wiped out; a frightful situation to say the least.

Only a desperate action could save the day. Lieutenant John Smyth, 15th SIKHs, was ordered to take a bombing party. He took with him ten bombers from a crowd of volunteers. It became difficult for him to reject volunteers and finally he chose randomly perhaps looking for bigger guys who could pull the heavy load. Names of these heroes must be recalled with pride. Lance-Naik Mangal Singh, Sepoys Lal Singh, Sucha Singh, Sampuran Singh of 15th SIKHs. Sarain Singh, Sundur Singh, Ganda Singh, Harnam Singh of 19th PUNJABIs. Fateh Singh, Ujagar Singh, of 45th SIKHs. They set out with a gusty battle cry: ‘Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal’, ……. taking two boxes containing ninety-six bombs.

Dropping over the parapet they wriggled their way through the mud, pulling and pushing the boxes along with them. They used pagris attached to the boxes and the men in front pulled them along, over and through the dead bodies, those behind pushed. • Even before they progressed a few yards, Fateh Singh fell, severely wounded. • In another hundred yards, Sucha Singh, Ujagar Singh and Sundur Singh were shot. Extreme bravado and faith in their Guru kept the remaining six going. • They nearly reached the end, when, Sarain Singh and Sampuram Singh were shot dead. Ganda Singh, Harnam Singh and Mangal Singh were wounded.

The second box had to be abandoned. Lieutenant Smyth and Sepoy Lal Singh wriggled their way ahead yard by yard. Water around them churned by a hail of bullets, and, clambered up the far bank amongst their cheering comrades. Both were unhurt, though their clothes were perforated by bullet holes. • However, shortly afterwards Lal Singh was struck by a bullet and killed instantly. In the final count, all ten Brave Sikhs were casualties. Once again after Saragarhi all Sikh Soldiers in a detail, had fallen executing an extreme and impossible task. For them the ‘izzat’ (pride) of the regiment and devotion to duty was above any other fear and danger. So ended one of the most gallant episodes of the World War I. “Attaching their puggarees to the fronts of the boxes, the men pulled them over or through the dead bodies, all of the party lying flat on the ground.

At any moment the bombs in the boxes might have exploded, for the whole of the ground was hissing with the deluge of rifle and machine gun fire, while the air was white with the puffs from bursting shrapnel.” Page 37, Leader Newspaper (Melbourne), Saturday 31 July 1915 Lieutenant Smyth was awarded the Victoria Cross. Lance Naik Mangal Singh received the Second-Class Indian Order of Merit, while the Indian Distinguished Service Medal was conferred on all sepoys of the bombing party; another and only collective award after the epic battle of Saragarhi. Many critics have felt the Sikhs deserved higher gallantry awards; for the gallant bombers, this was never a consideration. The Indian Armed Forces stand tall among their global peers because of their rich battle-hardened heritage, high motivation and tough training. ………………Contd, because these stories must be told – Lest we Forget

The 15th Sikh Regiment of the British Indian Army – A rich legacy. Today the: 2nd Battalion, the SIKH Regiment (2 SIKH) — the direct, unbroken successor of the old 15th (Ludhiana) Sikhs. The 15th Sikhs built a formidable record across Asia and Africa: • China Expedition (1860–62) • Second Anglo-Afghan War — Ahmed Khel, Kandahar • Sudan (Mahdist War) — Suakin, Tofrek Chitral Expedition • Tirah Campaign • World War I o Western Front (France) o Egypt (Western Frontier Force) o Mesopotamia