Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 21

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said the manufacturing sector had been the worst-hit by the lockdown and the disruption in supply chains, and the defence sector was more aggravated than others as the only buyer of its products was the government.

Addressing a video conference on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) e-conclave, Singh said: “There are more than 8,000 MSMEs and partners of many organisations — ordnance factories, DPSUs and service organisations. They contribute more than 20 per cent of the total production of these organisations”.

The MoD, he said, had taken several steps for industries, especially MSMEs, such as extension of response dates of tenders and early clearance of pending payments. The definition of MSME has been revised for expansion. At the same time, there will be no distinction between manufacturing and services sector MSMEs.

In government contracts (procurements) of value Rs 200 crore or less, global tenders will not be allowed. This will help MSMEs to grow their business. In the event of being unable to participate in trade fairs due to Covid-19, e-market linkages will be ensured. The government and PSUs will also ensure the clearance of all outstanding payments in the next 45 days.

FM Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of measures to boost ‘Make in India’ in defence sector, including raising the FDI limit in manufacturing to 74%

While raising the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in defence manufacturing to 74 per cent from the current 49 per cent as part of the fourth tranche of the economic stimulus package, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will notify a list of weapons and platforms for ban on import with year-wise timelines.

This is a first for the sector in India.

The FM also stressed that there would be indigenisation of imported spares and separate provisioning for domestic capital procurement.

The indigenisation of spare parts has been in the works for long. It was kickstarted by former defence minister Manohar Parrikar.

Calling these “structural reforms”, Sitharaman said these steps will reduce the huge defence import bill.

Last year, India ranked as the second biggest importer of defence equipment in the world. India was the top importer for over a decade but last year’s ranking did not take into account the slew of multi-billion-dollar deals — S-400 Triumf air defence system, lease of a nuclear submarine, manufacturing of frigates and AK 203 — signed between India and Russia in the last three years, deliveries of which are yet to start.

Sitharaman also said the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) would be corporatised, but underlined that this was not privatisation. The OBF runs 41 factories across the country and its corporatisation has been under public discussion for some time.

The hike in FDI limit in defence manufacturing will come as a huge relief for foreign companies who have been consistently asking the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to give them the controlling stake in a joint venture.

The FM also announced a time-bound defence procurement process besides setting up of a Project Management Unit (PMU) to support contract management. She stressed setting up realistic demands for weapons and platforms that are intended to be purchased.

She also said the government has decided to overhaul trial and testing procedures.

The Army hospital was thrown open for the policemen after a request was made to the Army Headquarters by the Delhi Police.

he Army’s Base Hospital in Delhi Cantonment has extended its medical facilities to Delhi Police after latter made a request for admitting Covid-19 positive cases in the force.

At present seven policemen are undergoing treatment at the Base Hospital. Senior Army officers informed The Indian Express that the Army hospital was thrown open for the policemen after a request was made to the Army Headquarters by the Delhi Police.

“There are adequate arrangements at the Base Hospital to combat Covid-19 and since Delhi Police asked for our help we have had no hesitation in taking in their personnel who have tested positive for coronavirus. Seven of them are currently under treatment”, said a senior Army officer.

On May 6, a Delhi Police constable died of coronavirus after he was allegedly turned away from two hospitals. There had been allegations that had he been given timely help, the constable, in his early 30s, would have survived.

It is learnt that following this incident the top brass of Delhi Police decided to enlist the help of the Army medical authorities in order to ensure that its personnel who are infected by the virus while discharging their duties are ensured best possible medical treatment.

The GOC-in-C Western Command, Lt Gen RP Singh, also visited the Base Hospital in Delhi earlier this week and took stock of the anti-Covid measures. He also inquired about the facilities, which are being provided to the police personnel and directed that all possible help must be provided to them.

The GOC-in-C also visited the Delhi Area headquarters and was briefed by Lt Gen VK Mishra, General Officer Commanding Delhi Area about the prevailing Covid-19 situation and assistance being provided to civil authorities including Delhi Police.

The Army Commander also visited the quarantine facilities set up by the Army at Cariappa Parade Ground in Delhi Cantonment.

The study for the period 2014-19 has found that 80% of limb injuries were due to explosions caused by artillery shells and anti-personnel landmines.

Published in the latest issue of the Journal of Marine Medicine, the study on limb injuries shows that 80 per cent of such injuries, between 2014 and 2019, were due to explosions caused by artillery shells and anti-personnel landmines (APLM).

“From January 2014 to December 2019, we received 272 casualties, of which 166 (61.02 per cent) were with limb injuries”, said the study, Limb Injuries in Combat Trauma, compiled by Colonel Sanjay Maurya, Lt Colonel Vipin V. Nair, Colonel Onkar Singh and Lt Colonel S.K. Singh.

The analysis, however, is based only on 166 cases of injuries and not the fatal casualties. It is also from one tertiary care centre, which is likely to be the Command Hospital, Udhampur, in Jammu and Kashmir as the study has focussed on the western sector.

“Seventy-three (43.9 per cent) casualties had isolated upper limb injuries, 71 (42.77 per cent) had isolated lower limb injuries, and 22 (13.2 per cent) casualties had concomitant injuries,” the study said. “A total of 112 (67.4 per cent) injuries were caused by explosives or fragmentation devices, whereas 54 (32.5 per cent) were caused by bullets.”

It added that in most wars, fragmentation devices account for the majority of injuries. Fragmentation devices include IEDs, rocket-propelled grenades, mortar fire, APLM, and artillery shells.

Also read: CDS Bipin Rawat to work on items for import ban, artillery guns could be included

Artillery shells, landmines the worst offenders

The study also found that of the 112 injured, most had been hit by artillery shells or affected by landmines (APLMs).

“When we specified the explosive device, it was found that 80 per cent of these were caused by artillery shells and APLM,” the study said. “This high incidence is due to continuing hostilities across the Western border, where artillery shelling by the hostile nation is a constant feature.

“The movement of troops in the region of APLM during CI Ops also contributed to such high figures of landmine injuries. These findings can have implications for its administrative and logistic support for the military commanders,” the study added.

The study also underlined the importance of wearing body armour — bullet-proof jackets and helmets — which it said had improved the survivability of soldiers and the reason why 60 to 70 per cent of all injuries were recorded to hands and limbs.

The study itself is unique because it has for the first time evaluated limb injuries in a combat zone. It also demonstrates the grade of injuries, hospitalisation time, number of surgeries, and their correlation in the ongoing military operations by the Indian Armed Forces.

This study will be helpful for the Army commanders because it can form a basis of logistic and administrative support in providing quality combat trauma care and also focus on preventive aspects.

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 19

A gunfight has raged between joint forces and militants in old Srinagar city, police said.

The gunfight broke out in the wee hours when joint teams of police and CRPF launched a cordon and search operation in Kanemazar Nawakadal locality of downtown Srinagar after an input about militant presence.

“The operation was launched at around 2 am and the contact with militants was established immediately when the suspected area was being cordoned,” a police officer said. “The operation is underway.”

A policeman has been injured in the ongoing operation.

The authorities have suspended low speed mobile internet and the voice calling service of all operators except for BSNL has also been snapped in Srinagar district.

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 21

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld the acquittal of an Indian Army sepoy accused of raping the doctor wife of a lieutenant colonel. The prosecutrix had claimed that she was pregnant and had returned home from a visit to a hospital when the alleged incident occurred.

“Long silence regarding the alleged occurrence of prosecutrix and her husband, both of whom were well educated, creates doubt regarding the prosecution story,” the Bench of Justice Rajan Gupta and Justice Karamjit Singh observed.

The Bench also dismissed the prosecutrix’s application for grant of leave to appeal after terming it as “devoid of merit”. An FIR in the matter was registered for rape and criminal intimidation under Sections 376 and 506 of the IPC at Sujanpur police station in Pathankot against the sepoy. But Pathankot Additional Sessions Judge acquitted the accused after giving him the benefit of doubt in his judgment dated January 20, 2016.

In her complaint to the police lodged in February 2015, the prosecutrix had alleged that the incident had taken place in March 2014. She was pregnant and had gone to the hospital for medical check-up in her husband’s official vehicle driven by the accused. He followed her inside the house while carrying a bag of groceries before the incident occurred.

The Bench asserted the explanations put forth by the prosecution regarding delay in lodging the FIR did not appeal to the mind of the court.

The prosecutrix claimed she disclosed the alleged incident to her husband in January 2015. Even her husband stated the same. But the doctor treating her admitted that the husband of prosecutrix informed him about the incident in November 2014.

The Bench asserted it was not clear why the prosecutrix and her husband did not report the alleged incident dated March 4, 2014, to the police till February 2, 2015. The prosecutrix, while appearing in the witness box, admitted she kept accompanying the accused in the official vehicle to the hospital for her medical check-up during the next 15 days.

Anantnag/Srinagar, May 21

A policeman was killed and two other security personnel were injured in a militant attack in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district today.

Militants opened fire on a joint checkpoint set up by the police and the CRPF at Prichoo, Pulwama. “Two policemen and a CRPF jawan were injured in the incident. An injured policeman later succumbed to his injuries,” a senior police officer said.

The slain cop has been identified as Anoop Singh of 10 Battalion of the IRP.

Soon after the attack, security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to arrest the militants. This was the second attack on the forces in less than 24 hours in Kashmir. Two BSF men were killed in an ambush near Srinagar yesterday.

Meanwhile, a day after a picture of three gun-wielding youths went viral on social media, security forces arrested them in Kupwara district. The trio, the police said, had joined the Lashkar-e-Toiba.

SSP Ambarkar Shriram Dinkar said, “After their picture went viral, we started picking up their contacts. During a search operation, we nabbed the trio and recovered weapons from them.” — TNS

Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Khutra (Doda), May 17

In a breakthrough, security forces today killed a top militant, a close associate of Hizbul Mujahideen operational commander Saifullah, in a gun battle at Khutra village of Doda district. An Army jawan also lost his life in the operation.

Slain militant was behind RSS leader’s killing

• The slain HM commander was involved in killing of RSS leader & his PSO in Kishtwar and IED blast near CRPF convoy last year
• He was directed by HM to revive terrorism in Chenab region by targeting security forces and carrying out ‘sensational attacks’

The jawan has been identified as Naik Raj Singh of 10 Rashtriya Rifles belonging to Gurugram, Haryana.

The slain militant was identified as Hizb commander Tahir Ahmed Bhat of Malangpora in Kashmir’s Pulwama district. According to the police, Tahir was involved in the killing of RSS leader Chanderkant Sharma and his PSO in Kishtwar district in April last year.

The police said joint teams of Army’s RR, police and CRPF launched an operation on Saturday.

“The village was cordoned off and around 8 am, search parties came under fire, to which security personnel retaliated. The militant took shelter in a house. In the initial firing, an Army jawan was injured and he succumbed on way to hospital,” said a source.

The security forces blew up the house and later found the body of the militant. An AK-47 rifle, snatched during RSS leader’s killing, was also recovered.