New Delhi, November 3 The suicide case of ex-serviceman Ram Kishan Grewal which triggered a political row has been handed over to the Crime Branch of Delhi Police, considering “the sensitivity of the matter”.Special Commissioner of Police (Crime) Taj Hassan confirmed the development and said the Crime Branch has initiated inquest proceedings in the case.The 70-year-old ex-serviceman from Haryana’s Bhiwani district consumed poison in the lawns behind Jawahar Bhavan, which houses some offices of the Ministry of External Affairs, on November 1. He was rushed to RML Hospital where he died later.Grewal’s suicide had yesterday snowballed into a huge political showdown in the capital with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi being detained twice by Delhi Police amid high drama and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also being detained by the policemen.”The case has been transferred from New Delhi district to Crime Branch keeping in mind the sensitivity of the matter.District police, especially the New Delhi district police, is usually busy with law and order duties. The New Delhi district is a sensitive area since it houses the residences of MPs and important landmarks,” said another senior police officer.Grewal, along with three of his companions, had come to the city apparently to submit a memorandum to the Defence Ministry over the issue of OROP. — PTI

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 26

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has decided to do away with having a system of “blanket blacklisting” and put in place a new “blacklisting” policy that will remove the dichotomy between tackling corruption in defence deals and having a method to deal with foreign companies which pay bribes.The new “blacklisting” policy has been okayed, it will be formally approved in the forthcoming Defence Acquisition council (DAC) meeting planned after Diwali. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar heads the DAC, which is the apex decision-making body of the MoD.The new policy will have a pointed product specific ban, aimed at punishing the corrupt among the foreign suppliers and not hold to ransom the country’s military and defence needs. The new policy envisages that a person of a foreign company, if found to be indulging in corruption, will not be allowed to deal in another case of the company’s subsidiary. During the tenure of the Congress-led UPA (May 2004 to May 2014), a “blanket blacklisting” was followed and several new procurements were held up.The MoD has decided to do away with “blanket blacklisting” of foreign companies, which were found guilty of offering bribes, a top official in the MoD said. Blacklisting a firm may not be a good option as it just forecloses options for India. There are no more than four to five equipment makers that are largely integrators of specialised parts produced by niche companies.A sub-committee formed by the MoD will issue guidelines on the extent of blacklisting, its tenure and the procedure.The challenge is from corrupt elements on the one side and cutting down on the delays in equipping the forces with the best equipment, weapons and aircraft on the other.In 2015, a committee headed by former Union Home Secretary Dhirendra Singh submitted a report on defence procurement procedure (DPP) and suggested that misdeeds of an entity or its employees should not be visited on the equipment or system.In other words, it has been suggested that there is no need to block the supply of equipment in case some bribery charge emerges.The question before the MoD was how to deal with foreign companies which — despite being the best in their class — offer bribes or are forced to offer bribe to bag contracts in India.In August 2014, just months after the Narendra Modi Government took over the MoD informally decided that “blanket bans” will not help, now this has been firmed up in way of a policy.The MoD banned the Bofors artillery gun in the late 1980s. Since then, there has been no artillery gun purchase. In 2013, the purchase of AgustaWestland helicopters was stopped midway. In both cases, suspected bribery charges emerged.After the new policy is implemented, the MoD will not buy helicopters or have any business relationship with AugustaWestland – a subsidiary of the Finmeccanica – but will be free to negotiate with the other company within the conglomerate.To give an example, a source said Finmeccanica, headquartered in Italy, is the source of critical equipment like main guns for warships and heavy torpedoes. The Navy has been affected as companies owned by Finmeccanica are needed. The Navy hasn’t been able to procure torpedoes for the Scorpene submarine, which is slated to be commissioned in January 2017.

Military procurement won’t be held up

• The new policy will have a pointed product-specific ban that will aim at punishing the corrupt suppliers and not holding toransom the country’s military and defence needs
• It envisages that a foreign firm’s employee, if found to be indulging in corruption, will not be allowed to deal in another case of the company’s subsidiary
• During the tenure of the Congress-led UPA (May 2004 to May 2014), a “blanket blacklisting” was followed and several new procurements were held up

NEW DELHI: The government has downgraded the status of military officers compared to their counterparts in civilian administration, a new defence ministry letter accessed by Hindustan Times has revealed.

A civilian principal director, who was equivalent to a brigadier, has been equated to a twostar general, a director-ranked officer to a brigadier and a joint director to a colonel, triggering widespread resentment in military circles.

Until now, a colonel was equivalent to a director and a lieutenant colonel to a joint director.

The letter, dated October 18, talks about rank ‘”equivalence” between defence officers and “armed forces headquarters civil service officers”. It says issues regarding rank equation were examined in detail.

“By this equation, a captain is equivalent to a civilian Group B section officer. This isn’t mischief, but mischief-plus by bureaucrats,” said an army officer on condition of anonymity.

The letter, signed by a joint secretary, says the government has referred to administrative orders issued by the army, navy and air force during 2003-08.

Several serving officers Hindustan Times spoke to said the orders mentioned in the letter were only for internal cadre management.

“They have deliberately misinterpreted the orders. It’s an attempt to reverse clearly established protocols established by successive pay panel reports and court rulings,” said another officer, who did not wish to be named.

He said the diktat was also against the spirit of recommendations made by a GoM headed by Pranab Mukherjee after the 6th Pay Commission report.

The letter states the rank equation laid down in it is to be followed in assigning duties/ functional responsibilities and for all purposes such as channel of reporting, detailing of officers for training courses, providing stenographic assistance etc. Hindustan Times is in possession of the letter.

A defence ministry official said he was aware of the communication but not all the details, adding that the letter says some points have been reiterated.

The letter says in the recent past some directorates have sent communications questioning the established rank equations by relying on incorrect information.

BJP Yuva Morcha activists protest against the film “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil”. PTI

New Delhi, October 22Senior Army officials and veterans were “upset” over the force being dragged into “politics” over films after the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) demanded that producers of movies employing Pakistani actors pay Rs 5 crore to an army welfare fund.The controversy erupted after Karan Johar’s ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ ran into a storm of protests led by MNS because Pakistani actor Fawad Khan has a role in it.

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The film has been allowed to be released after its producers met with three conditions put forward by MNS chief Raj Thackeray, including payment of Rs 5 crore to Army Welfare Fund.”All contributions (to welfare fund) are to be voluntary.Extortion is not allowed. We would want people to contribute on their own rather than under any coercion,” a senior army official said today.He said the army is “upset” over being dragged into this politics.”The army is completely apolitical. It is wrong to drag the force into politics,” another army official said.”(We) would never support it,” Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd), former military secretary, said when asked if he supports the move of the MNS.”Why should the armed forces be made a part of this extortion? By accepting this money they would become a ‘receiver’ of tainted money,” tweeted Air Vice-Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (retd).Army sources said they have a system in place to check all contributions and can even reject a contribution made under duress or by any person whom the force does not want to be associated with. — PTI

Islamabad, October 19

Amid Indo-Pak tensions, Pakistan’s media regulatory authority on Wednesday decided to enforce a complete ban on Indian TV and radio contents from Friday and warned that the licences of those found guilty of violating the ban will be suspended.

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) decided to ban airing of Indian content from October 21 at the request of the federal government, it said.

“The ban will come into effect at 3 pm on October 21, and radio and television stations which violate the ban will have their licences suspended without a prior show cause notice,” PEMRA said in a statement.

The ban extends to all Indian content on cable and radio being aired in Pakistan.

The authority also decided to cancel one-sided rights given to Indian media by the government of former military dictator Pervez Musharraf in 2006.

PEMRA has already decided to get tough with Indian contents after complaints that most of the local channels were using more than 5 per cent foreign contents as allowed by it.

The regulator on August 31 said that strict action would be taken against the channels airing foreign content more than the prescribed limit and traders selling illegal DTH sets.

The decision was implemented from October 16 as PEMRA launched crackdown on those channels using foreign contents illegally.

Earlier in October, PEMRA granted its chairman Absar Alam final authority to revoke or suspend licences of companies illegally using Indian content.

Tensions have run high between India and Pakistan since the terror attack on an Indian Army base in Uri on September 18.

Later, India said it carried out “surgical strikes” across the LoC and destroyed terrorist launch pads on September 28.

Pakistan has denied any surgical strikes took place, but said two of their soldiers were killed in cross-border firing by the Indian Army. — PTI

Punjab CM will open the memorial and museum on October 23.

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 18

When a 97-year-old British Army Colonel who had fought in World War II lands in Amritsar on October 21 for the inauguration of the Punjab State War Heroes Memorial and Museum, he would be carrying a rare regimental association with the erstwhile British Indian Army and the present-day Indian Air Force that goes back four generations of warriors.Col Tom Conway had served with the Guides Cavalry that was raised at Peshawar in 1846 and primarily recruited Sikhs, Dogras and Pathans. It is the same regiment in which Marshal of the Air Force (MAF) Arjan Singh’s grandfather and great-grandfather had reportedly served. The 97-year-old Grand Old Man of the Air Force, the sole officer at present to hold a five-star rank, has also been invited by the Punjab Government to the inaugural function scheduled for October 23, though his presence is not yet confirmed.MAF Arjan Singh’s father retired as a Risaldar from Hodson’s Horse. His grandfather Risaldar Major Hukam Singh served with the Guides Cavalry between 1883 and 1917 while his great-grandfather, Naib Risaldar Sultana Singh, was among the first two generations of the regiment who had enlisted in 1854, according to available historical records.The Guides Cavalry’s pre-Independence campaigns included the North West Frontier Province, Second Sikh War, Indian Mutiny, Second Afghan War and the two World Wars. Col Conway’s squadron was mechanised during World War II where he served as a tank commander in the Battle of El Alamein, fought in the deserts of Egypt during the North African Campaign.Accompanying Col Conway are Hugh Mackay and Richard Hill. Mackay is a co-trustee in the Sikh Pioneer and Sikh Light Infantry (LI) Regimental Association in the United Kingdom, whose father had served in 34 Royal Sikh Pioneer Regiment (now Sikh LI). Hill is secretary of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission that looks after graves and memorials of the World Wars.Col PS Bajwa (retd), Deputy Director, Defence Services Welfare, said the invitees would be treated as state guests.The war memorial will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. The project coordinator, Maj Gen Raj Mehta (retd), said a team of 10 researchers have been toiling over the past two years to collect, document and compile historical facts in chronological order covering the martial history of the Greater Punjab area over the past 3,000 years that would be displayed along with artifacts and war trophies in the museum.

Brigadier Satinder Singh, deputy GOC of 25 Infantry Division, paying tribute to sepoy Sudees Kumar, who was killed after being hit by a sniper fire at LoC, in Rajouri on Monday.

Tribune News Service

Jammu, October 17

The Army, in its bid for civic-military partnership has initiated an e-literacy programme for 15 teachers at the Rashtriya Rifles Battalion based at Kalakote in Rajouri district.The four-week course will cover the broader aspects of elementary computer knowledge to include Windows operating system, MS Office, Internet and system management amongst others.The course themed “Train the Trainer” is being conducted by experienced staff from certified institutes. It is aimed at bringing a change in imparting education to rural students by embracing e-literacy and making students as well as teachers prepared for a challenging future.The teaching faculty of schools in the region expressed their gratitude to the Army for the course and said it would go a long way in maintaining the continuity of e-literacy in schools and help students sharpen their technical skills apart from connecting them with the outside world through the internet.

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 13

The Army stepped forward to facilitate peaceful processions through traditional routes as Muharram was observed with religious fervour and solemnity.An Army spokesman said in a show of solidarity and bonhomie the Army camps at Sumbal and Widdipora in Ganderbal district undertook a unique initiative to assist the mourners in every possible way.“The camp established various “sharbat” points for mourners taking part in the processions and also provided water tankers as a part of the processions. Medical camps were also set up for providing immediate medical aid to the mourners,” the spokesman said.

A soldier takes position near an Army Brigade camp during a terror attack in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir. PTI file photo

Baramulla/New Delhi, October 9

Pakistan-based terror outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) suffered the maximum damage in the cross-LoC surgical strikes on terror launch pads carried out by the Indian Army, with assessment reports of radio intercepts indicating that around 20 of its militants were killed.

The assessment reports available from Indian Army field units, which included radio conversations between various Pakistani formations, showed maximum damage was inflicted on the LeT, a banned terror group, at Dudniyal launch pad in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, opposite to Kupwara sector of North Kashmir, according to sources in the know of details of the recent surgical strikes.

The sources said on Sunday that five teams culled out from the Army division in the area were tasked to destroy launch pads of terror groups located at Kail, also known as Kel and Dudniyal.

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In a well calibrated operation, which started on the intervening night of September 28 and 29, the Indian Army moved across the LoC and smashed four launch pads that were under the guard of a Pakistani post located 700 metres from the LoC.

The sources said that the terrorists were not expecting an action by the Indian Army and therefore were taken by surprise.

The terrorists, mainly belonging to the LeT, were seen running towards the Pakistani post when they were killed by the Indian troops, according to the assessment reports.

After the successful strike inside the PoK, an effective radio monitoring and strict vigil was maintained, the sources said, adding the wireless messages from radio intercepts of the Pakistani Army indicated that at least 10 LeT terrorists had been killed during the multiple and near-synchronised surgical strikes on four launch pads.

There was heavy movement of Pakistani Army vehicles till the break of dawn and all the bodies were cleared off and taken away, the sources said, adding as per the radio intercepts there was a mass burial in the Neelum Valley.

Similar blow was dealt to the terrorist launch pads located at Balnoi area opposite of Poonch in which nine terrorists belonging to the LeT were killed as per the radio intercepts of the Pakistani Army, the sources said.

Two Pakistani soldiers belonging to 8 Northern Light Infantry were also killed in the strike in this sector, they said.

However, the sources said that post 8.30 am of September 28, radio and wireless intercepts between various formations of Pakistan have fallen silent.

According to the sources, there were intelligence reports that terrorists were planning to enter into India from various directions in Kashmir as well as Jammu region.

The sources said that the Army waited for the opportunity when the terrorists were in the process of gathering at one place before giving them a bloody nose.

Pakistan has contested the claims of the Indian Army and said that there was no surgical strike carried out. They only admitted that two of their soldiers were killed in cross-border firing.

However, after the operation was over, the sources said, duty officer at the Director-General of Military Operation in Pakistan was informed about the strikes carried out by the Indian Army in PoK.— PTI