SOLDIER'S CORNER

Promotion IPS

2010-06-06T12:10:00.000+05:30

I WONDER : 1992 BATCH ARMY = COLONEL ONLY

Lalit Das of 1992 batch is being promoted to the rank of IG in Orissa.

UPA REPORT CARD : Welfare of ex-servicemen & serving defence service personnel

2010-06-06T09:09:00.000+05:30

PIB

http://www.pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=62240&kwd=

I WONDER :

1. I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND HOW PARA 42 AND 43 IS RELATED TO DEFENCE !!

2. PARA 37: RESETTLEMENT COURSES WERE ALWAYS THERE !!!!!

3. PARA 38: THERE IS MORE MONEY SANCTIONED PER INDIVIDUAL IN CGHS AS COMPARED TO ECHS. TEETHING ADM PROBLEMS ARE OVER AND ABOVE THIS FACT.

4. PARA 39: OROP IS STILL A DISTANT DREAM. COMMITTEE OF SECY THEN GOM THEN PM COULD ONLY PARTIALLY HELP THE SOLDIERS. HIGH LEVEL COMMITTEE (HLC) NO WHERE IN SIGHT. AFTER LOOSING CASE ON RANK PAY IN SUPREME COURT GOVT APPEALS FOR RE-LOOK ON DECISION SIGHTING ADM/FINANCIAL PROBLEMS. EXTENDING BENEFITS OF RANK PAY CASE TO 6TH CPC APPEARS DIFFICULT. SETTING UP OF EX-SERVICEMAN COMMISSION IS OUT OF SIGHT. AFT IS A WELCOME STEP FOR SURE.

5. PARA 40: WAS THERE EARLIER TOO. INDIAN AIRLINE IS ONLY THERE TO FLY YOU ALONG WITH ALL THEIR DIFFICULTIES !!!!

6. PARA 41: WELCOME STEP THOUGH I DONT KNOW THE DETAILS.

7. PARA 42 & 43: TOO TECHNICAL FOR ME TO UNDERSTAND :)

37) It is a constant endeavour of the UPA government to provide suitable employment for ex-servicemen as also to impart necessary training to prepare them to take on new assignments/jobs. This has enabled more than 50000 ex-servicemen to obtain employment during 2009-10.

38) The health coverage for the ex-servicemen has been widened by empanelling more civil hospitals and diagnostic centers. Disabled ex-servicemen are now entitled to get prosthetic aid from an additional 149 Central Government Health Scheme empanelled centres apart from the Artificial Limb Centre, Pune. The membership of Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) has crossed 30 lakhs.

39) A committee was set up to give specific recommendations for the welfare of defence service personnel and pensioners. The recommendations were accepted by the UPA government and this is likely to benefit about 12 lakh personnel. An Armed Forces Tribunal has been established to provide an appellate forum to the aggrieved personnel.

40) To boost the morale of troops, who are posted in far flung border areas and face difficult topographic and climatic conditions, chartering of civil flights has been sanctioned for their faster movement during leave.

41) Prime Minister's Scholarship Scheme was started under the aegis of the National Defence Fund. Under the scheme, scholarships are provided every year to wards of retired personnel and martyrs below officer rank of armed and para-military forces. In 2009-10, scholarships have been granted to 4525 students amounting to Rs.7.40 crore.

42) It has been decided to set up a National Social Security Fund for workers in the unorganized sector like weavers, toddy tappers, rickshaw pullers and bidi workers with an initial allocation of Rs. 1000 crore.

43) Government has also taken important steps for the benefit of workers in the organised sector. Workmen Compensation Act, 1923 has been amended to enhance the benefits to the workers. Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 has been amended to raise the limit of maximum gratuity payable from Rs.3.5 lakhs to Rs.10 lakhs. Comprehensive amendments have been made in the Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 to improve the quality of delivery of health care and other benefits being provided to the insured persons in the organized sector and also to enable ESI infrastructure to be used to provide health care to workers in the unorganised sector. Plantations Labour Act, 1951 has been amended for providing safety and occupational health care to plantations workers.

Army meet on Maoist fight

2010-06-05T10:32:00.000+05:30

THE TELEGRAPH

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100605/jsp/nation/story_12531271.jsp

New Delhi, June 4: Army sources today said some units in Jammu and Kashmir had been told to be “on standby” and be ready to leave for Maoist-hit central India at short notice if such an order came.

The sources, however, clarified that the Centre’s current policy of not deploying the army in the battle against the Maoists still stood, and that any new strategy had to be cleared by the cabinet committee on security.

“As of now there is no decision to deploy the army. Even the defence minister has said that unless the cabinet committee on security approves (such a move), nothing can be said,” an army source said.

A cabinet meeting, scheduled yesterday, was cancelled without any reason being cited. Nor was the cabinet committee on security meeting held.

Army sources said a series of meetings was held at the Eastern Command headquarters today to discuss the anti-Maoist strategy. Government sources added that a Rashtriya Rifles battalion could be the one to be moved from Jammu and Kashmir to central India.

It’s not clear what the army’s role will be if it is deployed in the Maoist zone.

The Centre’s strategy is to secure major routes in Chhattisgarh and, if the cabinet committee on security allows it, even the army’s special forces could be sent to de-mine and secure roads and vital infrastructure, the government sources said.

Any move to send the army after the Maoists will attract protests from civil society organisations and even from sections within the government. Even today, many MPs who called on Union home minister P. Chidambaram advised against army deployment against the rebels.

There are 48 CRPF battalions in nine Maoist-affected states, of which 14 are in Chhattisgarh alone. However, the recent setbacks suffered by the paramilitary forces have prompted the government to rethink its strategy.

Jharkhand is under President’s rule and, as its governor said on Thursday, the government has decided to continue with the anti-Maoist operations there.

India's bureaucracy is 'the most stifling in the world'

2010-06-03T18:28:00.000+05:30

BBC NEWS

The report ranks bureaucracies across Asia on a scale from one to 10, with 10 being the worst possible score. India scored 9.41.

Rest is Here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/10227680.stm

UPA REPORT CARD ON DEFENCE

2010-06-02T17:16:00.001+05:30

Govt looks at direct role for Army against Naxals

2010-06-02T08:19:00.001+05:30

THE TIMES OF INDIA

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Govt-looks-at-direct-role-for-Army-against-Naxals/articleshow/6000189.cms

I WONDER : GOVT IS ALREADY CREATING IGP(OPS) FOR CRPF. EARLIER THEY HAD OFFERED DIG POSTS TO BRIGs. NOW DIRECT ROLE FOR ARMY. BUT THE COMMAND AND CONTROL ROLE AND THE SENIORITY ISSUES CROPPED UP DUE TO 6TH CPC LIKE A COLONEL WILL HAVE PROBABLY MORE SERVICE THEN EVEN SOME OF THE IGs, SAME IS THE CASE FOR BRIGS, MAJ GEN ETC ALSO NEEDS TO BE SEEN........AS NO EXTRA VACANCY IS OFFERED TO ARMY AS YET...... BUT YES IF THE SITUATION DEMANDS ARMY SHOULD RISE TO THE OCCASION BUT WITHOUT COMPROMISING THESE ISSUES.....

NEW DELHI: The government is veering around to expanding the role of the armed forces in the ongoing anti-Naxal operations, with a hard look even being taken at whether they should be "directly deployed'' in the fight against the Maoists.

While an enhancement of their present surveillance, logistical and training mandate is a certainty, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting likely on Thursday will take the final call on whether to enlist the armed forces in a more direct combat role.

The decision will be influenced as much by political considerations as security imperatives. Yet, the possibility of armed forces being asked to take on the Left-wing extremists is no longer being summarily dismissed like before.

Defence minister A K Antony on Tuesday sounded out the three Service chiefs on the sensitive issue, with the 90-minute meeting with Air Chief Marshal P V Naik, Admiral Nirmal Verma and General V K Singh discussing "all dimensions'' of the security situation.

Independent of whether the government decides to push ahead with the idea, the very fact that direct engagement of armed forces is being looked as a serious option is significant.

It marks a critical shift on the part of the government, which had so far shied away from deploying soldiers in the Naxal battle. But a big cause for concern is the increasingly savage and audacious Maoist attacks, which have inflicted heavy casualties on paramilitary forces as well as non-combatants.

In May alone, as many as 172 civilians and 29 security personnel were killed by Naxals, if the derailing of the passenger train in West Midnapore on May 28 is also taken into account.

Though the meeting chaired by Antony examined the "pros and cons of different options'', it's for the CCS to decide on the exact mandate. "But one thing is certain even if the armed forces are deployed in a more direct role, it will be a limited mandate for a limited period,'' said a source.

One possible option could be to divert a few of the 63 battalions of Rashtriya Rifles, the Army's specialised counter-insurgency force operating in Jammu and Kashmir, "for selective missions'' in states worst-affected by Maoist depredations, said sources.

Successive governments have been averse to enlisting the Army in the fight because of the concern that it might lead to a perception about the Indian State not being in control of vast swathes in its own heartland.

There is also the issue of suitability of armed forces, which are trained to kill with heavy force, operating against an adversary who blends into the civilian population and is, in fact, adept at using them as shields.

The top military brass have their own reservations, extending from the lack of familiarity with the terrain and concrete ground-level intelligence to the armed forces being already overstretched in counter-insurgency in J&K and the North-East as well along the long unresolved borders with Pakistan and China.

But underlining the government's resolve to take the battle to Maoists, PM Manmohan Singh on Tuesday said, "In dealing with the challenge of Naxalism, we will pursue a policy that genuinely seeks to address developmental concerns at the grassroots, while firmly enforcing the writ of the state.''

But the dice could still fall either way in the CCS, with the home ministry keen to bolster the fight against the Maoists with "some more help'' from the armed forces but the defence establishment remaining largely reluctant about getting sucked into "yet another internal security duty''.

There has, however, been a significant shift in Antony's position in the last few days, from earlier being a strong opponent of deploying armed forces against Maoists in a direct role to now holding they will "accept'' the government's decision and "implement it with vigour and commitment''.

IAF, on its part, feels it can enhance its "air-support'' beyond the current four Mi-17 helicopters deployed in the region but continues to maintain the use of "offensive airpower'' is not a practical option since it can lead to collateral damage on the ground.

The armed forces, of course, are preparing for the worst-case scenario by finalising action plans to meet any contingency, as reported by TOI last week.

Having already trained around 47,000 paramilitary personnel since 2006 in its counter-insurgency and jungle warfare school in Vairengte and other institutions, the Army is also keen that a separate and dedicated counter-Naxalism training facility be established to train "homogeneous companies'' of police personnel.

2 Army officers fight over top post

2010-06-02T08:08:00.000+05:30

THE ASIAN AGE

http://www.asianage.com/india/2-army-officers-fight-over-top-post-708

The Army’s image is set to take a further beating with an ongoing tussle between two senior lieutenant generals of the Indian Army over appointment to the top post of the tri-services Director General of Armed Forces Medical Services (DGAFMS). The tussle, between the Director General of Hospital Services Lt. Gen. Pradeep Bhargava and the Commandant of the Army’s Research and Referral Hospital Lt. Gen. Naresh Kumar is now likely to reach the courts. Lt. Gen. Bhargava is senior to Lt. Gen. Kumar in service. This will be the first controversy of its kind to hit new Army Chief Gen. V.K. Singh who took over earlier this year as chief and comes in the wake of incidents such as the Sukna land scam last year that had dented the Army’s image.
The current DGAFMS (Lt. Gen. N.K. Parmar) retires on June 30 this year and the matter has therefore acquired an urgency in government circles.
It all started when the Army and ministry of defence (MoD) actively began to consider expunging a numerical grading in a confidential report (CR) of 2005 that would have probably have resulted in Lt. Gen. Kumar becoming DGAFMS.
This was being considered on the grounds that one of the numerical gradings that year could be “technically invalid”.
Sources said Lt. Gen. Bhargava then complained to the government that such a move would not be in accordance with the “system of good governance that the armed forces represent”. Both the officers had been empanelled for promotion from major-general to lieutenant general in 2008.
If the government and Army approve expunging of a grading in one of Lt. Gen. Kumar’s CRs, he could be considered by a review board to have been empanelled in 2007 itself thus making him the front-runner for the post of DGAFMS. This would also mean that Lt. Gen. Bhargava would be superseded.
Lt. Gen. Bhargava retires on August 31 this year while Lt. Gen. Kumar retires next year.
But appointment to the post of DGAFMS will give them more tenure till they reach the age of 62.
But what has added to Lt. Gen. Bhargava’s fears is that the MoD and Army are likely to expunge the numerical grading, resulting in Lt. Gen. Kumar becoming the new DGAFMS.
Lt. Gen. Bhargava is now likely to petition the armed forces tribunal against any such move.

Defence Salary Account

2010-05-30T13:03:00.000+05:30

KNOW MORE ABOUT DEFENCE SALARY ACCOUNT. ITS SAME FOR ARMY, AIRFORCE AND NAVY :

http://www.irfc-nausena.nic.in/irfc/dpa/mou_sbi.htm

http://www.irfc-nausena.nic.in/irfc/dpa/MoU_Defence_package.pdf

Govt finds new ways to dodge RTI

2010-05-29T08:29:00.002+05:30

HINDUSTAN TIMES

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Govt-finds-new-ways-to-dodge-RTI/Article1-549523.aspx

The government may have refrained from amending the Right to Information Act after Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s intervened, but it has found a subtler way to refuse information.

Public authorities can refuse information in a particular format on the ground that “it would disproportionately divert the resources of a public authority” or that it “can be detrimental to the safety or preservation of the records”.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the nodal office for RTI law, has said the section 7 (9) of the RTI law gives right to a public authority to deny information if it leads to diversion of resources disproportionately.

In a circular issued this week, the department also rules out the possibility of the public authority asking the RTI applicant to pay for diversion of public resources to get the information in the sought format.

Seeking a charge for diversion of resources was often used by Central Public Information Officers (CPIOs) to deter RTI applicants. In one case, the Delhi Police had asked for Rs 20,000 for providing some information.

While that has been termed illegal, the DoPT has provided a more lethal tool to CPIOs —that is to deny information. The department said information sought in a particular format can be refused.

The circular was issued in response to transparency watchdog Central Information Commission asking the government to frame rules for charging fees for providing information that is priced and towards mailing charges.

“The government has not considered it desirable to charge fees towards expenditure involved in mailing information or overhead expenditure,” the circular said.

Rahul's healing touch for slain CRPF man's kin

2010-05-29T08:23:00.000+05:30

TIMES OF INDIA

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Rahuls-healing-touch-for-slain-CRPF-mans-kin-/articleshow/5924052.cms

LUCKNOW: Shiv Narain Yadav may finally sleep through the night without getting up every half an hour. The octogenarian father of constable Vinod Kumar Yadav — one among the 76 CRPF men killed during the Maoist strike in Dantewada — admitted to having turned an insomniac since the news of Vinod's gruesome death reached the little uneventful hamlet, Pure Khushal, last month.

There has been a constant trickle of visitors ever since but none could bring the solace the family needed till Rahul Gandhi stepped in the modest little house at Pure Khushal in Sangrampur block of Amethi.

"Though his son would not come back, Rahul's visit," says the old man, "could save the family particularly his daughter-in-law Savitri and two grandchildren from ruination". Rahul dropped in unannounced at 9am on Wednesday and spent nearly half-an-hour with the grieving family members.

"He proved to be an extremely patient listener... senior Yadav was hardly coherent... women were wailing and would not calm down and there was quite a din..." says Brijesh Kumar Singh, block pramukh of Sangrampur, who accompanied the MP.

IAF helicopters engaged in relief, rescue operations

2010-05-29T08:16:00.000+05:30

PTI

http://www.ptinews.com/news/675083_IAF-helicopters-engaged-in-relief--rescue-operations

Shillong, May 28 (PTI) Indian Air Force today engaged four helicopters for relief and rescue operations in the derailment of the Mumbai-bound Gyaneshwari Express in West Midnapore district in West Bengal in which over 71 people have been killed and hundreds injured.

Two MI-17 helicopters, one Advanced Light Helicopter and one Cheetah helicopter have been pressed into service, defence spokesman Wing Commander Ranjeev Sahoo said here.

The helicopters are operating from the Air Force Station, at Kalaikunda in West Midnapore district, he said adding an AN-32 aircraft had carried a surgical team from Jorhat in Assam to the Air Force Base in Kalaikunda.

He said a medical team from the Air Force base in Kalaikunda consisting of three doctors and seven paramedics were also despatched along with ambulances and coaches.

Two Indian Air Force engineers caught taking bribe

2010-05-29T08:13:00.000+05:30

PTI & HINDUSTAN TIMES

http://www.ptinews.com/news/668375_Two-Indian-Air-Force-engineers-caught-taking-bribe

I WONDER : ITS MES NOT IAF !!!!! WE MUST ISSUE CLARIFICATIONS ON SUCH PRESS RELEASES AS THEY FURTHER TARNISH THE FORCES IMAGE......

Two engineers attached to Military Engineer Services and posted at the Indian Air Force base at Nashik, were arrested for accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000 from a contractor.

The Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Rajendra Kukkar, assistant garrison engineer (contracts) and Shashikant Patil, junior engineer attached to the office of garrison engineer (Indepe-ndent) in Nashik from Hotel Sai Palace, where Kukkar had thrown a birthday party.

Deputy Inspector General of Police, CBI ACB, Praveen Salunke said the contractor had done road construction work at the air force base, for which he was yet to be paid.

The engineers promised him money only if he paid the bribe. Initially, the engineers demanded a bribe of Rs 70,000, but the contractor negotiated and brought the amount down to Rs 50,000, the CBI said.

Last Friday, the contractor approached the Mumbai office of the CBI and lodged a complaint.

The CBI recorded telephone conversations between the engineers and the contractor to gather evidence. The engineers asked the contractor to deliver the amount on Monday but at the last moment postponed it to Tuesday.

The CBI found that the engineers had on earlier occasions taken a two to three per cent commission to clear bills of various other contractors.

ECHS EXPANSION

2010-05-29T07:44:00.002+05:30

Government Approves Massive Expansion of Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme

To provide equitable treatment to all eligible Ex-Servicemen and their dependents under the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) and to enhance the scheme’s coverage, the Union Cabinet today approved Establishment of 199 new polyclinics including 17 mobile medical facilities and 15 new regional centres at a cost of Rs. 141 crores. With this, the ECHS facility will now be extended to those areas, where Ex-Servicemen population is below 2,500 by setting up polyclinics which are within reasonable distance from Ex-Servicemen concentrations.

The Cabinet also approved reorganization and strengthening the Central Organisation ECHS by suitably increasing the manpower. It has authorized additional manpower – 2263 in number on contractual basis, to man the additional 199 polyclinics. It has also authorized 315 serving personnel – 60 officers and 255 PBORs, for proposed regional centres and seven officers and 15 PBORs for Central Organisation ECHS.

Financial implications towards creation of infrastructure will be about Rs.141 crore. This will entail a capital expenditure of Rs. 118.52 crore towards cost of land, construction and medical equipment. An amount of Rs. 22.25 crore of expenditure will cover purchase of furniture etc, and IT hardware. On the recurring side, an expenditure of Rs.43 crore per annum is envisaged.

It may be recalled that the ECHS was introduced on April 01, 2003 to provide comprehensive medical coverage to Ex-Servicemen pensioners, war widows and dependents by establishing 227 polyclinics at stations with Ex-Servicemen population above 2500 throughout the country. 106 polyclinics are at military stations and 121 polyclinics are at non-military stations. Where the Ex-Servicemen population is less than 2,500, the Ex-Servicemen face hardships in reaching polyclinics because of the distance. There are over 30 lakh ECHS beneficiaries now. On an average 60,000 Servicemen retire every year and this results in a further addition of 60,000 Ex-Servicemen and 1,44,000 dependents to the list of beneficiaries each year. Over 7 lakh Ex-Servicemen, who retired prior to April 01, 2003 have not opted for the scheme primarily due to non-availability of polyclinics near their places of residence. There are also insufficient number of regional centres to monitor the polyclinics.

Following is the list of additional polyclinics planned to be established:-

Jammu & Kashmir

Baramulla, Doda, Poonch, Baribrahmna (Jammu), Kargil, Nagrota (Kathua)

Himachal Pradesh

Rampur (Shimla), Nahan (Sirmaur), Shahpur (Kangra), Palampur (Kangra), Kullu, Dera Goppipur (Kangra), Jogindernagar (Mandi), Chamba, Ghumarwin (Bilaspur), Sarakaghat (Mandi), Barsar (Hamirpur),

Punjab

Mohali, Ajnala (Amritsar), Tarantaran (Amritsar), Beas (Amritsar), Nawansahar, Suranassi (Jalandhar), Uchi Bassi (Hoshiarpur), Abohar (Ferozpur), Jagraon (Ludhiana), Batala (Gurdaspur), Srigovindpur (Gurdaspur), Sultanpur Lodhi (Kapurthala), Phagwara (Kapurthala), Samana (Patiala), Barnala (Sangrur), Nabha (Patiala), Doraha (Ludhiana), Samarala (Ludhiana), Mahalpur (Hoshiarpur), Talwara (Hoshiarpur)

Haryana

Gohana (Sonepat), Mehan (Rohtak), Sampla (Rohtak), Loharu (Bhiwani), Kosli (Jhajjar), Bahadurgarh (Jhajjar), Gurgaon, Nuh (Gurgaon), Charki Dadri (Bhiwani), Mahendragarh, Narwana (Jind), Palwal (Faridabad), Hansi (Hissar), Dharuhera (Rewari), Narayangarh (Ambala), Kharkhauda (Sonepat)

National Capital Territory of Delhi

Shakurbasti, Timarpur, Khanpur, Preetvihar

Rajasthan

Neem Ka Thana (Sikar), Shergarh (Jodhpur), Dausa, Sanganer (Jaipur), Bhuwana (Jhunjhunu), Bhilwara, Suratgarh (Hanumangarh), Dungarpur, Rajsamand, Rajgarh (Churu), Chirawa (Jhunjhunu), Behror (Alwar)

Uttar Pradesh

Bagpat, Gonda, Basti, Jaunpur, Greater Noida (GB Nagar), Lakhimpur, Moradabad, Bijnaur, Rampur, Hardoi, Banda, Roberts Ganj (Mirzapur), Barabanki, Unnao, Hathras

Uttarakhand

Joshimath (Chamoli), Dehradun, Vikas Nagar (Dehradun), Tehri, Rudraprayag, Ranikhet, Almora, Bageshwar, Banbasa (Champavat), Rudrapur (Udham Singh nagar), Dharchula (Pithoragarh), Lansdowne (Paurigarhwal), Uttarkashi, Ramnagar (Nainital)

Bihar

Bhagalpur, Kathiar, Motihari, Siwan, Samastipur, Madhubani, Buxar, Vaishali, Sasaram (Rohtas) Khagaria, Munger, Sitamarhi

Jharkhand

Deoghar, Gumla, Chaibasa (West Singhbhoom), Daltonganj (Palamu), Dhanbad

Madhya Pradesh

Satna, Ujjain, Amla (East Nimar), Pachmarhi (Hoshangabad)

Chhattisgarh

Jagdalpur (Bastar), Bilaspur, Raigarh

West Bengal

Berhampore (Murshidabad), Baruipur (South 24 Pargana), Bankura, Howrah, Raiganj (North Dinajpur), Cooch Behar, Kalimpong (Darjeeling), Binaguri (Jalpaiguri)

Assam

Lanka (Naugaon), Bongaigaon, Tinsukia, Tezpur (Sonitpur), Misamari (Darrang), Dibrugarh, Goalpara, Dhubri, Lakhimpur

Manipur

Chura Chandpur

Nagaland

Mokokchung

Mizoram

Lunglei

Arunachal Pradesh

Tezu (Lohit), Along (West Siang)

Orissa

Puri, Sambalpur, Koraput, Angul, Bhawanipatna (Kalahandi), Dhenkanal

Andhra Pradesh

Srikakulam, Anantapur, Karnool, Cuddapah, Nellore, Karimnagar, Eluru (West Godavari), Secunderabad (Rangareddy), Khammam, Mehbubnagar

Tamil Nadu

Erode, Sivagangai (Sivaganga), Kumbhkonum (Tiruvallur), Chennai, Ramanathapuram, Tambram (Kanchipuram)

Kerala

Mavelikara (Alleppey), Kanhangad (Kasargode), Kalpetta (Wayanad), Thodupuzha (Idukki), Thiruvananthapuram, Changanacherry (Kottayam), Moovattupuzha (Ernakulum), Iritti (Kannur), Kunnamkulum (Trichur), Kottarakara (Kollam), Ranni (Pathanamthitta), Killimanur (Thiruvananthapuram)

Karnataka

Kolar, Tumkur, Hassan, Shimoga, Bangalore, Gulbarga, Bidar, Virarajendrapet (Kodagu)

Maharastra

Beed, Nanded, Karad (Satara), Wardha, Navi Mumbai (Mumbai), Pune, Khadki (Pune), Yavatmal, Dhule.

Goa

Vasco – Da – Gama

Gujarat

Gandhidham, Surat, Rajkot

Pudduchery

Pudduchery

In addition to these polyclinics 15 regional centres will also be set up at Shimla, Jalandhar, Dehradun, Ambala, Hissar, Meerut, Allahabad, Ranchi, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Nagpur, Vizag, Bangalore, Coimbatore & Trivandrum.

COAS TO REVIEW CURRENT PROMOTION POLICY

2010-05-25T11:29:00.002+05:30

TIMES OF INDIA

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5918224.cms

NEW DELHI: When he took over as Army chief last month, General V K Singh promised to improve the "internal health'' of his 1.13-million force. He has set the ball rolling now.

Gen Singh is putting his weight behind a comprehensive review of the "quantification-based'' promotion policy for officers, which was ushered in by his predecessor Gen Deepak Kapoor and the now-retired military secretary (MS) Lt-Gen Avadhesh Prakash in January 2009, say sources.

The steeply-hierarchical armed forces certainly need a "healthy'' promotion policy to ensure that officers with "robust moral fibre'' reach the upper echelons.

This has become crucial after a flurry of liquor, ration, fuel and meat scandals, with several senior officers in the dock, has rocked the traditional high standards of probity and discipline in armed forces like never before.

Incidentally, Prakash, who as MS was in charge of all promotions and postings in Army, is himself embroiled in the alleged Sukna land scam case with three other generals.

Sources say Gen Singh has tasked a committee led by director-general of artillery Lt-Gen K R Rao to suggest changes in the January 2009 promotion policy, which are likely to be discussed in the Army commanders' conference next week.

This comes in the backdrop of "negative feedback'' from the "environment'' (Army parlance for its formations spread across the country) about the policy.

Under it, 95% marks are given for "quantified parameters'' like ACRs (annual confidential reports), courses, honours and awards. Only 5% is kept for "value judgement'' by selection board members on criteria like performance, recommendations, potential for employability in higher ranks and, importantly, "degree of difficulty'' in tenures.

"This policy ignores environmental reality by relying too much on quantification. It virtually eliminates the human angle,'' said a senior officer.

Added another, "It gives little credit to officers for serving in tough field postings like high-altitude areas or counter-insurgency operations. Earlier, gallantry awards and field service had much more weightage.''

The bifurcation of major-generals and lieutenant-generals into "command'' and "staff'' streams, with the former heading operational formations and the latter administrative duties, has also not gone down well in several quarters.

The counter-view is the policy quantifies as many selection criteria as is feasible for "greater objectivity'' and enables the "most deserving'' officers from a batch are picked for higher ranks. "It keeps human subjectivity down to a minimum,'' said an officer.

READERS MAY LIKE TO READ THIS TOO :

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Resentment+in+Army+over+promotion+policy-a0206370340

PROMOTION GUIDELINES IAS & IPS

2010-05-25T10:54:00.000+05:30

IPS PROMOTION GUIDELINES:

http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/ProGuidPAR160410.pdf

IAS PROMOTION GUIDELINES :

http://persmin.nic.in/EmployeesCorner/Acts_Rules/IASPromotionGuideLines.pdf

PC reviews deployment, operational strategy of CRPF

2010-05-23T07:52:00.001+05:30

THE TIMES OF INDIA

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/PC-reviews-deployment-operational-strategy-of-CRPF/articleshow/5964130.cms

NEW DELHI: Home minister P Chidambaram on Saturday took stock of the deployment of CRPF personnel across the country, especially in the Naxal-affected states, and reviewed the force's operational strategy.

The meeting came a day after the CRPF transferred three of its officers posted in Chhattisgarh and set up a court of inquiry as a follow-up action on the Rammohan Committee report.

During the over two-hour meeting at the CRPF headquarters here with the force, Chidambaram also had a detailed discussions on the report of the Rammohan Committee which had inquired into the April 6 incident in which 76 CRPF personnel were killed by Naxals in Chhattisgarh. The minister is also understood to have sought information related to latest pattern of Naxal violence and what steps could be taken to deal with the situation, sources said.

On Friday, the home ministry had shunted out its deputy inspector general Nalin Prabhat and two other officers for their alleged lapses in the Dantewada tragedy after considering the report.

Besides Prabhat, a 1993 batch IPS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, the other two officials who have
been sent out are Commandant A K Bisht and inspector Sanjeev Bangre. While Prabhat will be joining in Chandigarh, a charge he was already holding, Bisht has been moved to a training centre Aradi in Orissa. Bangre has been shifted to Anantnag in Kashmir. A separate court of inquiry to be headed by an officer of the rank of inspector general has been instituted against these officers. R S Sahota will replace Prabhat while Ashok Swami will move in as Commandant of 62 Battalion.

Indian Army Military Police help line launched

2010-05-21T07:32:00.000+05:30

ONE INDIA

http://news.oneindia.in/2010/05/20/indianarmy-military-police-help-linelaunched.html

New Delhi, May 20 (ANI): The Indian Army has launched the Military Police help line here.COAS inaugurated the facility on Wednesday during the biannual Army Commanders Conference.

Common Military help line telephone number 155200 can now be accessed across the nation to provide assistance to military personnel.

The number that is available at Military Police Control Rooms has been instituted to provide immediate assistance and be instrumental in solving and mitigating crisis being faced by military personnel.

In addition, it will provide an excellent facility for the civil police and the public to contact the Army Military Police to provide first hand information of any situation where military persons are involved or has potential to affect the military persons.

The telephone number has been allotted in coordination with department of telecommunication and can be accessed locally and from outside the locality by prefixing the STD code of that station.

The facility has been activated presently at some of the metro cities and state capitals, and is likely to be extended across the nation soon. (ANI)

Army man, uncle held for spying by ATS in Gujarat

2010-05-21T07:26:00.000+05:30

PTI

http://www.ptinews.com/news/661905_Army-man--uncle-held-for-spying-by-ATS-in-Gujarat

I WONDER : ITS MES MAN NOT ARMY MAN !!!!

Ahmedabad, May 20 (PTI) An army man and his relative have been arrested in Kutch district by the Gujarat anti terrorist squad (ATS) on charges of spying and passing on Indian Army's confidential documents to Pakistan-based intelligence agencies, ATS officials said today.

Ibrahim Sama, recruited through the Military Engineering Service (MES), and his maternal uncle Osmaan Sama were arrested yesterday from Bhuj in Kutch, which has borders with Pakistan, on charges of spying and criminal conspiracy to disturb internal security, they said.

Confidential and sensitive documents of the Indian Army and some phone numbers of their Pakistani contacts, were recovered during searches conducted in the duo's houses, the officials said.

Both were produced before a local court in Bhuj, which sent them to nine-day police custody for further interrogation, they added.

Chinese firms in India say situation is not 'too bad'

2010-05-20T15:56:00.000+05:30

INDIA TODAY

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/96807/India/Chinese+firms+in+India+say+situation+is+not+%27too+bad%27.html

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh's outburst in Beijing notwithstanding, many Chinese companies operating in India do not feel the situation is too bad.

Dragon on leash

Click here to Enlarge

With the exception of telecom equipment manufacturers such as Huawei, the ministry of home affairs has still not granted a hearing to the Chinese telecom equipment manufacturing companies waiting to clarify their stand. The Chinese ambassador is expected to meet the home secretary to seek a level playing field for these companies.
A Huawei official said the company had approached the ministry last week to seek an appointment but is still awaiting a response.
He said Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE have now gained a 15 per cent share in the Indian telecom market as their equipment is priced 30 to 40 per cent cheaper than their Western rivals Ericsson, Alcatel- Lucent and Nokia Siemens Networks.
Huawei sales have been growing rapidly in India and touched $ 1 billion in the last fiscal which is a 35 per cent jump over the 2008- 09, he added.
However, with the home ministry turning cautious due to security considerations, the Chinese companies are worried about losing their foothold in India.
The scare created by Chinese hackers targeting computer systems in India's security establishments has only added to the security concerns.
According to senior government officials, while Chinese companies are welcome to participate in Indian infrastructure projects, security issues in select areas cannot be ignored.
Chinese companies have a major presence in power, with Chinese firms bagging orders for setting up a third of the 60,000 MW of power capacity to be added in the 11th Five- Year Plan ( 2007- 12).
Leading Chinese companies such as Dongfang Electric and Shanghai Electric have been the major beneficiaries and have been allowed to compete openly with India's BHEL. The oil exploration and production sector is another field in which Chinese companies have been allowed to take up contracts.
But some restrictions have been placed in the eastern offshore region as the Indian Navy feels vital data pertaining to the sea could be misused by hostile submarines to creep into Indian waters. The Navy has a point as the Chinese have developed a strong military presence in Myanmar and this cannot be overlooked from the geo- political standpoint.
Restrictions have also been placed on Chinese companies operating in areas such as the North- East as Beijing claims these to be disputed areas. Officials claimed that there is no blanket ban.
According to Ravi Perti, GM marketing and communication, mobile division, Haier: "Generally, the Indian market is suspicious of Chinese products as they are considered of poor quality. And it is true to some extent. However as our quality is good, there is no issue. So far, we have established ourselves well and not faced any specific problem." However, Irfan Alam, council member, India China Economic and Cultural Council, feels Chinese companies do face some problems. " One of the biggest problems is visa. The visa process is not smooth for the Chinese companies". "On the policy level things should be smoother. People do not know when some Chinese product will be banned, so there is always an air of uncertainty about doing business," Alam said.
The same problem is faced by the Indian companies in China. So both governments should ease their policies if they want healthy economic ties, he said.
"Chinese companies certainly feel some bias. How can we be a threat to India as 80 percent of our workforce is Indian. This is like singling out Chinese company. If they are so particular about security why single out China?," a ZTE official said.

IAF rejects RTI application on questionable grounds

2010-05-20T15:48:00.001+05:30

THE HINDU

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article433542.ece

Four years after the Right to Information (RTI) Act was enacted to ensure easy access to information for citizens, officials are still rejecting applications on questionable grounds, which may make them liable for punishment.

The Indian Air Force headquarters rejected an RTI application saying that fee attached in the form of Indian postal order was drawn in favour of “Accounts Officer, Indian Air Force” and not “Air Force Public Fund Account, Air Headquarter, New Delhi” as per their internal rules.

The sub-section “RTI-regulation of Fee and Cost Rules, 2005” under the RTI Act section of Indian Air Force’s official web site clearly states that fee can be drawn in favour of Accounts Officer of the Public Authority, which in this case was the IAF.

When the concerned Central Public Information Officer, Wing Commander T. Sajan, was contacted, he said, “The information on the web site may be wrong. We don’t have any such head to accept the fee.”

The Department of Personnel and Training, nodal agency for the implementation of the Act, had in a circular dated December 5, 2008 to all ministries and departments of Government of India made it clear that RTI applications with fee drawn in favour of “Accounts Officer” should not be rejected.

“Refusal to accept an application on the ground that the demand draft/banker’s cheque/IPO submitted by the applicant has been drawn in the name of the Accounts Officer may amount to refusal to accept the application. It may result into imposition of penalty by the Central Information Commission on the concerned CPIO under section 20 of the Act,” it read.

When contacted, Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah said this was a clear case of violation of RTI Act and an immediate complaint should be filed with the CIC.

The Sports Ministry had last year rejected two applications seeking details of expenditure incurred on the preparation of Commonwealth Games.

“Your both applications along with postal orders are returned herewith as the information asked for is not readily existing and is not held by the public authority (Sports Ministry),” Pramod Agrawal, Director, International Sports Department of the Ministry, had said in his reply.

The cases are also seen by experts as an indication of poor training given to officials handling RTI requests.

Frequent change of postings too make it difficult to keep a tab on the regular updates which keep coming from Information Commissions and Department of Personnel and Training.

“Most of the officials have been trained but it is a difficult task. Frequent transfers also add to problem,” Mr. Habibullah said.

Globemaster will be flown to India for trials in June

2010-05-20T15:45:00.001+05:30

THE HINDU

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/article433082.ece

The Indian Air Force's quest to acquire a tactical heavy lift transport aircraft from the United States will get under way with user trials scheduled for next month in India.

In the last week of April, the U.S. Department of Defense notified Congress of a letter of request from the Indian government for acquiring 10 of Boeing Globemaster III.

Briefing a group of correspondents at its facility here, company representatives said the aircraft, to be taken on lease from the U.S. Air Force, would be flown to India by June 21.

“Unlike many other countries that have brought these aircraft, the Government of India insists on trials, and we will be there in June,” Tommy Dunehew, vice-president, Business Development, Boeing, told The Hindu.

The trials would be one part of a possible $5.8-billion deal, negotiations for which will begin only after Congress approves the sale. The product Boeing offers is the latest Block 18 aircraft, and much will depend on the configuration the IAF will want.

It is for India to decide whether it wants to join the worldwide virtual fleet Boeing has set up with other countries — Australia, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, the UAE and the European Union consortium of 12 nations — that have bought these planes.

The IAF plans to base these tactical aircraft at Agra. They can carry 73,616 kg of payload and can be operated by a crew of just three (two in the cockpit and one loadmaster).

Delivery will begin 24 months after the contract is signed. At present, Boeing is producing one plane every three-and-a-half weeks, or up to 15 a year. Its current order book, including some 30-odd pieces for the U.S. Air Force, will run on till 2011. However, should India order these planes, the schedules will be negotiated, Mr. Dunehew said.

It is being deployed for disaster relief operations in various parts of the world. The U.S. Air Force has transported a brigade of men, tonnes of equipment and 400 vehicles over five nights, flying 17 shifts, he said, explaining the ability of the workhorse.

The plane can carry 188 passengers, has reverse thrust engines for short turnaround and equipped with missile warning system with flares to disengage the incoming missiles.

THIS IS HOW WE TREAT OUR WAR HEROES

2010-05-19T15:56:00.000+05:30

READ THE LINK BELOW

http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_and-this-is-how-we-treat-our-war-heroes_1384804

army cdrs conf

2010-05-18T09:20:00.002+05:30

PIB

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=61890

The Army Commanders’ Conference commenced at Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Army) on 17 May 10. The five days conference, scheduled from 17 May 10 to 21 May 10 is being chaired by Army Chief General VK Singh.

The Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in his inaugural address emphasised on the necessity for force modernisation to meet emerging threats. He stressed on the requirement of Tri-Services synergy across the spectrum of conflict to meet our National Security needs. The Defence Minister brought out that Cyber Security is the next generation of threat. He stressed the need to make our cyber space fully secure. He said that the Govt was taking all necessary steps to ensure that the Indian Army is kept in a high state of operational preparedness as also ensuring high morale of troops through training and welfare measures.

The Army Chief General VK Singh during his address reviewed the Regional security situation, in which he spoke of the Asymmetric means adopted by non state actors and terrorists to achieve their objectives. He also mentioned the multi spectral threats, which directly affect military doctrines and restructuring.

General Singh stressed on the need to transform the Indian Army so as to customise its operational effectiveness. Talking about training, the Army Chief emphasised on realistic, imaginative and practical training. Referring to Low Intensity Conflict he stressed on “zero tolerance” to Human Rights violations.

Army Chief also emphasised on morals, ethics and value systems in the Army. He brought out that professional commitment, loyalty, sacrifice and integrity were the need of the hour and that there would be no compromise with respect to the image of the Army.

The Deputy Chief of Army Staff and Adjutant General also presented updates in the afternoon session. Discussion on Raising of Arunachal and

Sikkim

scouts Battalions were also carried out. While discussing the Counter Naxal Training it was brought out that 46,343 personnel of CPO have been trained so far.

The Adjutant General brought out that in future a personality development programmewill be included in the Training curriculum of recruit. It was recommended to be on a trial basis for a period of 2 years. With respect to empowerment of PBOR the followingprogrammes have been given impetus:-

(a) Gyan Deep - Providing Educational Certification to PBOR through IGNOU.

(b) Kshamta - Developing of IT and English speaking skill in PBOR.

(c) VTC - Vocational Trg in last year of service through Centres of excellence which will be established at selected location.

The five days conference will also focus on macro level issues pertaining to prevailing security challengers prevalent in the country and the neighbourhood, military strategy, operational logistics and matters impacting the welfare and enhancement of satisfaction levels amongst all ranks of the Indian Army. The operational preparedness of the Army will be reviewed by senior commanders to include operational plans and the on going modernisationprocess.

KVs restore old quota policy for admission

2010-05-17T11:15:00.000+05:30

I WONDER : FAUJIS WERE THE WORST HIT

KVs restore old quota policy for admission

To ensure smooth admission for children of Central government employees, the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangthan has restored its earlier quota policy under which the class strength would not be affected while accommodating students in reserved category.

As per the restored system, reservation will be given to students over and above the existing strength of a class in a central school.

According to this system, each class will have 40 seats. But another five students can be given admission under reserved category.

The students given admission under reserved category will be above the normal strength, the Board of Governors of KVS has decided.

"The reserved students will not eat away the seats for general category students. The reservation will be above the existing class strength," a ministry official said.

The KVS was following this quota system previously. But it was amended few months back bringing the quota seats within the class strength.

However, it created problems for the kids of Central government employees who very often are transferred and have to look for fresh admission for their kids in new schools.

The KVS has also put in place a new transfer policy under which those teachers will be given most priority to get transfer if their spouses are working in the school of their choice.

The KVS has also decided to set up one disabled friendly school in each of its 18 regions.

These schools will have all facilities to help physically challenged students get education.

Besides, teachers of Sanskrit can now switch over to Hindi by appearing certain examination. This will open up their promotional avenues, the official said.

Fed up of being terrorist, man crosses LoC with wife

2010-05-11T15:53:00.002+05:30

HINDUSTAN TIMES

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Fed-up-of-being-terrorist-man-crosses-LoC-with-wife/Article1-542032.aspx

A Kashmiri militant crossed over from the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district with his Pakistani bride because he was "fed up" of living the life of a terrorist, police said on Tuesday.

Mohammad Ashraf, who went from Badagaon village in Poonch to Pakistan administered Kashmir for arms training and joined the Lashkar-e-Taiba there, returned on Monday evening with his wife Asma to this side of the LoC, which divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan, a police officer said.

He said Ashraf had left in 1999 along with many others for arms training "but gradually got fed up with his life as a militant".

He got married this March and decided to come back home. Indian Army soldiers allowed him to cross over from Poonch sector, about 240 km from Jammu, when they saw him with a woman. After hearing their tale, the army handed the couple over to the local police.

"Further questioning is going on. They would have to be produced in court," the officer said.

Chinese intrusions become frequent

2010-05-11T15:50:00.000+05:30

TIMES OF INDIA

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Chinese-intrusions-become-frequent-/articleshow/5913913.cms

NEW DELHI: China continues to intrude into Indian territory in the real as well as virtual worlds with sheer impunity. Along with mounting cyber-attacks, China persists in needling India all along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC).

At least three incursions by motorised armed patrols of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in the strategically-located Trig Heights and Pangong Tso lake were recorded during last week, said sources on Monday.

Chinese "transgressions'' into these sectors in Eastern Ladakh this year have registered "a sharp jump'', ranging from 27% to 52%, as compared to the same timeframe in 2009. "Just in Trig Heights area, for instance, almost 30 Chinese transgressions have already been witnessed this year,'' said a source.

Similarly, both the north and south banks of Pangong Tso, two-third of which is controlled by China as it extends from India to Tibet at an altitude of 4,218 metres, record incursions by Chinese foot, vehicle and boat patrols on a regular basis.

This continuing cat-and-mouse game to strengthen its claims over disputed areas is yet another indicator that China has very little intention of softening its posture in the protracted border talks with India to delineate the 4,057-km LAC.

Indian troops, of course, also indulge in similar moves but they are nowhere near as aggressive as the assertive border management policy of the 2.25-million strong PLA, which has already unnerved the Indian defence establishment with its massive build-up of military infrastructure in the border areas.

This flexing of muscles is not restricted to Eastern Ladakh alone. It spreads across all the three sectors -- western (Ladakh), middle (Uttarakhand, Himachal) and eastern (Sikkim, Arunachal) -- of the LAC. "Chinese armed patrols, for instance, have intruded in the Asaphila sector of Arunachal as well this year,'' said a source.

Even Sikkim, which India considers to be "a settled matter'' after the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to China in 2003, has not been impervious to incursions across the state's 206-km border with Tibet. The so-called 2.1 sq km "finger area'', the northern-most tip of Sikkim, for instance, is still on China's radar screen.

The UPA government, however, continues to publicly downplay all these concerns. The consistent official line is that the transgressions take place due to "differing perceptions'' of the unresolved LAC, with both New Delhi and Beijing trying to "amicably resolve'' the issue through talks.

But the concern underneath can be gauged from the fact the Border Roads Organisation is now being pulled out of Naxal-hit areas to concentrate on infrastructure build-up in forward areas.

This has become necessary because of the tardy progress in the construction of the 73 all-weather roads earmarked for the Sino-Indian border, with only a dozen ready till now.

Then, of course, apart from beginning to base Sukhoi-30MKI fighters in North-East as well as upgrading airstrips and helipads, India is also raising two new specialised infantry mountain divisions (35,000 soldiers) and an artillery brigade for Arunachal Pradesh.

India also plans to progressively base six surface-to-air Akash missile squadrons in the North-East to counter the threat posed by Chinese fighters, helicopters and drones in the region.

Army officer held in city for child porn

2010-05-08T11:26:00.000+05:30

TIMES OF INDIA

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Army-officer-held-in-city-for-child-porn/articleshow/5904868.cms

MUMBAI: A 42-year-old lieutenant colonel of the Indian Army was arrested by the cyber crime investigation cell (CCIC) of the Mumbai police on Thursday for allegedly posting obscene pictures of children on an international web site.

The accused, Jagmohan Balbir Singh, who worked in the supply and transport wing of the army, has been remanded in police custody till May 12. A commerce graduate, Singh joined the Indian Military Academy in 1989 as second lieutenant.

The investigation had its origin in Germany. While probing a complaint against minor's pornography in September, 2009, the German Federal Police found that the objectionable pictures were being uploaded from a computer the Internet Protocol (IP) address of which was in India. The German police alerted the Interpol, which through CBI, forwarded the case to the Mumbai police.

"We caught Singh downloading porn clippings red-handed as we entered Singh's government flat at Namdar Manzil in Colaba. Eeven as we questioned him at his home for four and a half hours, the downloading continued. We have also taken printouts of the pictures so that we can use it as evidence in court,'' said an officer.

The police claimed to have seized the hard disk of Singh's personal computer, which contained lots of pornographic material, as well as his two cellphones that also had objectionable clippings. The children in the clippings—as tagged in the title—fall in the age group of three to 15 years. Singh, who is not very tech-savvy, would commit this crime from his residence.

"Singh was acting difficult. To make him confess to the crime, the police asked if his two sons were involved in the uploading and downloading of obscene clippings. Sacred that his sons would be implicated, Singh admitted that he was responsible for the crime,'' said a source. During the interrogation, neither Singh's wife nor his two sons came in the room. Singh told the police that he would download obscene clippings from various sites and then upload them on a specific site.

From one of the two hard disks, the cyber police have got 157 obscene clippings (files) and porn movies. The police will now obtain the mirror image of the two hard disks before it is sent for cyber analysis.

Singh, who is attached with the Western Command of the army that covers Maharashtra and Gujarat, has been booked under Information Technology Act 2000. If convicted, Singh can be sentenced to a maximum seven years in jail and also fined
Rs 10 lakh.

Crime branch chief Himanshu Roy said, "He was not doing it for commercial purpose. We have secured his custody and will question him.'' The police are also scanning Singh's email account to check if he would send/receive such stuff to and from other persons.

Captain N Nambiar, chief public relation officer (Defence), said details were being ascertained from the police. "An application seeking his bail has been moved so that the case can be dealt with by the army authorities,'' Nambiar said.

Originally from Mohali in Chandigarh, Singh had joined the army as he was inspired by his father who was also in the military. He had been posted twice in Jammu and Kashmir and Bangalore and had also served in Ulfa-controlled areas in Assasm.

Singh told the police that he had been on leave since June 2009 to complete his study on Labour Law.

Army orders inquiry into death of officer in fire

2010-05-08T11:23:00.000+05:30

THAINDIAN NEWS

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/army-orders-inquiry-into-death-of-officer-in-fire_100360323.html

Jalandhar, May 7 (IANS) The Indian Army Friday ordered a court of inquiry into a fire incident in Hoshiarpur district in which an officer was charred to death and another sustained serious injuries, said officials.
According to defence officials, Captain N. Anand was killed and Major Sudhir Parmar was badly injured after the tent in which they were sleeping was engulfed in flames Wednesday night.

The officials were part of the Vajra corps, which was camping at Miani village in Hoshiarpur district here for the last few days.

“This is a serious issue and demands a thorough probe. Therefore a court of inquiry has been ordered to find out the real cause of fire,” said Naresh Wig, Indian Army spokesperson, here Friday.

He added: “The deceased official was a native of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. Parmar is stable and he is recuperating at an army hospital in Tibbri Cantt in Gurdaspur district.”

Police have registered a case in the incident. Sources in the police said the fire was caused due to a mosquito repellent coil and the flames spread because of the strong winds.

Pak wargames to blunt India's strategy

2010-05-05T10:27:00.000+05:30

TIMES OF INDIA

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Pak-wargames-to-blunt-Indias-strategy/articleshow/5891362.cms

NEW DELHI: Even as Indian Army refines its 'pro-active' war strategy to mobilise fast and strike hard across the border under the 'cold start' doctrine, Pakistan army is practising its own swift response to counter such multiple offensive thrusts into its territory.

While the massive Indian 'Yodha Shakti' and Pakistani 'Azm-e-Nau-III' (New Resolve) wargames are not exactly being conducted eyeball-to-eyeball across the border, both high-voltage exercises with around 50,000 troops each have entered their final phase this week.

Indian watchers tracking the Azm-e-Nau exercise say Pakistan is validating its "new war-fighting concept", which primarily seeks to "blunt and defeat" India's cold start strategy, as also test its new weaponry, reconnaissance and early-warning capabilities.

Though an "extremely professional" 5.2-lakh force, Pakistan army seems to be slightly rattled by the 11-lakh strong Indian Army's cold start concept. "They are trying different manoeuvres, first in the southern sector and now in the northern one, to counter the multiple thrusts India may launch in the event of a war," said a senior officer.

It's not that the two countries are going to war anytime soon but militaries perforce have to factor in worst-case scenarios, drafting doctrines to deal with them and then validating them through mock battles in realistic settings.

Indian Army's gameplan is to launch self-contained and highly-mobile 'battle-groups' — with Russian-origin T-90S tanks and upgraded T-72 M1 tanks at their core — for strikes across the border within 96 hours, as reported by TOI earlier.

"The aim is to hit fast and hit hard... and keep the enemy guessing," said the officer. This cold start doctrine took shape after it took almost 30 days to mobilise troops on a large scale for Operation Parakram following the December 2001 terrorist attack on Parliament.

The 'Yodha Shakti' wargames in the blistering heat of Thar Desert, with temperatures touching 50 degrees celsius, for instance, are centred around swift offensive manoeuvres by "mission-oriented battle-groups" with airborne forces and lethal firepower "to rapidly dominate the entire spectrum of battlespace".

Army chief General V K Singh will review the exercise on May 8, in which the Mathura-based 1 Corps, one of the three principal 'strike' formations, has come together with formations drawn from places like Babina, Patiala, Hissar and Allahabad.

Incidentally, the Army is now also revising its doctrine to effectively meet the challenges of a possible 'two-front war' with China and Pakistan, as also deal with asymmetric and fourth-generation warfare and enhance strategic reach and joint operations with IAF and Navy, as reported earlier.

Government considering common law for defence services

2010-05-03T22:57:00.000+05:30

THAINDIAN NEWS

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/government-considering-common-law-for-defence-services_100357941.html

I WONDER : COME ON ITS AN OLD TEXT BOOK ANSWER ON "CDS". YOU SAID THIS ONE YEAR BACK TOO. I CAN ONLY QUOTE A OLD SAYING " WHERE THERE IS WILL THERE IS WAY"

New Delhi, May 3 (IANS) The government is considering a common law for the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force to ensure effective operational coordination between them, parliament was informed Monday.
Defence Minister A.K. Antony said the draft of the Tri Services Act has already been prepared and was submitted to the ministry for approval from the Chiefs of Staff Committee in August 2009.

“The act is under consideration in consultation with the three services,” Antony said in a statement laid in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.

He informed the houses on the status of implementation of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Unified Command for Armed Forces recommendations submitted to the Lok Sabha in February last year.

The minister said the proposal to establish a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), as recommended by the Kargil Review Committee (KRC), was “under examination”. The decision on this matter would be taken after completion of the ongoing consultations with political parties, he said.

He said the institutional support and infrastructure was already in place in the form of the Integrated Defence Staff Headquarters to support the CDS, whenever created.

Antony said the government was trying to build consensus on appointment of CDS and had taken up the matter with political parties, but a number of them were had not responded so far.

Armyman killed in police action

2010-05-03T22:51:00.000+05:30

PTI

http://www.ptinews.com/news/636145_Armyman-killed-in-police-action

I WONDER : I can't believe it. Will army try to find out the truth for the benefit of the family and organisation's IZZAT !!!!!!!!

An army jawan, who along with his accomplice allegedly seized a private car after throwing out its driver from the moving vehicle, was killed in a shootout with police in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh.

The incident happened yesterday when the police tried to intercept the taxi near a barricade at Chola, UP Additional Director General of Police Brij Lal told reporters here today.

Army jawan Kuldeep and Gaurav booked a taxi in Mathura on April 30 and went to Sadabad where they asked the driver to take the car to some place which he refused, Lal said.

The two then overpowered the driver, robbed him of his mobile and Rs 1000 in cash and threw him out of the moving car on the Bulandshahr-Khurja highway.

The driver informed the police who immediately swung into action, the ADGP said.

DA Rates with effect from july 2010

2010-05-02T12:11:00.000+05:30

The DA wef 01 July 2010 is likely to be somewhere around 43%-45%.

comparison : MOD vs MHA

2010-05-01T17:02:00.001+05:30

Can we have report card for MOD ???

read these links and judge yourself....

MHA Report Card : http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=61260

MOD :

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=61232
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=61140
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=61047
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=61046
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=61045

Could you feel the difference !!!!!!!

IAF's radars 'inadequate, obsolete': MPs' panel

2010-05-01T14:10:00.000+05:30

IBNLIVE

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/iafs-radars-inadequate-obsolete-mps-panel/114222-3.html?from=tn

New Delhi: In a damning indictment, a parliamentary panel said on Thursday the surveillance radars of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were not only inadequate but were also obsolete and prone to frequent breakdowns.

Noting that air defence is "critical to the nation's security", the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), in its report tabled in parliament Thursday, said: "The IAF possesses less than the adequate number of surveillance radars needed for providing efficient and reliable detection."

The committee was also "surprised" that none of the Air Defence Ground Environment System (ADGES) plans prepared after 1971 had been approved by the government "although some components have been sanctioned a piece-mean basis".

Thus, a "serious mismatch exists between availability and the IAF's requirements of radars and although the defence ministry has formulated a long-term perspective plan till 2022, which includes the ADGES plans, it is not clear whether the plan is as yet operational or not", the PAC report said.

The committee was also critical of the fact that several contracts had been signed for procuring radars but no delivery timelines had been specified.

"The committee is constrained to point out that even though contracts have been signed, defence ministry and IAF officials could not provide scheduled dates of delivery for the radars and also by when these would be eventually commissioned" and to what extent they would "fill the existing gap in the air defence system" and "how the present threat perception will be addressed".

"To be specific, the committee would like to emphasise that commissioning and installation of medium power radars and low-level transportable radars and completion of associated civil and development projects be expedited so that gaps in provision of AD (air defence) assets can be avoided," the report said.

The committee also noted that the IAF's air defence radars "are facing obsolescence and need urgent upgradation and modernisation".

The ministry's argument that the Defence Procurement Procedure was being followed and the time taken in processing acquisition cases has been reduced "does not satisfy the committee, given the hostile environment in which we live", the PAC said.

"The fact remains that the need for defence preparedness and capability was never so acute as it is today. It is, therefore, essential that the purchases are timed and so sequenced that the armed forces are never short of their requirements," the committee said.

Frowning on the frequent breakdowns of existing radars and the non-availability of spares, the PAC also noted that the "hours of watch allocated to the units of all types of radars are much below the hours prescribed for these units."

"The fact that additional radars are being procured itself indicates that the present position regarding planned hours versus what is actually being achieved is not adequate for proper air defence of the country," it said.

"It may be ensured that watch hours as prescribed by the government are adhered to once new acquisitions materialise and the IAF does not operate with any shortfalls as on date, thereby eliminating any compromise with security considerations," the PAC said.

S-300 DEFENCE FOR CHINA FROM RUSSIA

2010-05-01T14:06:00.000+05:30

NEW JAG

2010-05-01T13:54:00.002+05:30

PTI

http://www.ptinews.com/news/634001_Army-gets-new-law-officer

Major General C S Nair, the senior most law officer in the Army, will take over as the new Judge Advocate General tomorrow.

Nair will advise Army Chief General V K Singh on all legal issues concerning the force in his capacity as the head of the law branch.

A post-graduate in English and an alumnus of the Kerala Law Academy, Nair was commissioned in the Army Education Corps (AEC) in December 1978.

Before joining the Army, the officer had practised law in the Kerala High Court.

After his pre-commission training in the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun, he served in the Education Corps before being transferred to the JAG?s Department in 1980.

Since then, he has held most of the appointments tenable by an officer of the department.

Cops stealing bullets for Maoists to kill men in khaki

2010-05-01T13:50:00.000+05:30

TIMES OF INDIA

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cops-stealing-bullets-for-Maoists-to-kill-men-in-khaki/articleshow/5878724.cms

I WONDER : SIMPLY GR8... " JAI HO"

The big question after every big Naxal attack is how Maoists are arming themselves to strike with such ferocity. Part of the answer may have been found, with UP cops stumbling on a massive ring involving UP police and CRPF men which allegedly supplied weapon parts and ammunition to Maoists.

In a crackdown on Friday, the Special Task Force (STF) of UP Police arrested four serving and a retired armourer of the state police and two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel for allegedly stealing government issue weapon spares and bullets and giving them to criminal gangs and possibly Maoists.

"Though it's yet to be established if the arrested people were supplying ammunition and arms spares to the Maoists, we are sure that the supplies were not meant only for gangsters," said additional director general (ADG), STF, Brij Lal, who supervised the operation.

More than 5,500 live rounds, 245 kg of bullet shells, nearly 2.5 quintals of `used cartridges', 16 bullet magazines and around 100 kg spares of Insas, AK-47 and self-loading rifles (SLRs), 9mm and .38 and .303 bore, apart from Rs 1.73 lakh cash were recovered from their possession, raising suspicion that the huge quantity of ammunition was meant for guerrilla outfits like the Maoists.

The modus operandi of the gang was to convert the `used cartridges' into live ones at different firing ranges in UP. The gang inflated the number of rounds fired during practice and reclaimed more bullets from the armoury and sold these.

According to sources, the STF operation came after probes by central security and intelligence agencies into the Dantewada massacre threw up pointers to such a supply chain. Searches were conducted at 26 locations across eight districts of UP, including the residential quarters of four serving UP policemen and two CRPF personnel posted at the Group Centre and CWF in Rampur.

CRPF director general Vikram Srivastava told TOI that the paramilitary force was in constant touch with the UP Police and was extending all help.

"We have already suspended three CRPF personnel (including the two arrested ones) and ordered an immediate Court of Enquiry," Srivastava said, adding that UP cops in Basti, Moradabad, Lucknow, Allahabad, Jhansi and Gorakhpur might also be involved.

"A third CRPF personnel - Chote Lal Verma - was detained. He was, however, not arrested as no recovery was made from him," said an officer.

The arrested people were identified by cops as Yashoda Nand Singh, retired Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) armourer; police armourers Nathi Ram, Bans Lal and Akhilesh Pandey; Vinod Paswan and Dinesh Singh of CRPF units in Rampur. Bans Lal's son Virendra was also held.

Lal told TOI that interrogation of Yashoda of Dandi area under Naini police circle of Allahabad led to the arrest of two CRPF men. Then Nathi Ram, who was posted at Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar Police Academy in Moradabad, was questioned which led to the arrest of Bans Lal and Akhilesh Pandey both from Jhansi. Raids were also conducted at their native places, leading to the arrest of Virendra after bullets were recovered from his house.

On the modus operandi of the gang, STF SSP Naveen Arora said the armourers told police that the shells provided by Yashodha were mixed with those spared during the firing practice sessions at the police academy and CRPF group centres.

"For example, 800 rounds were fired in a particular training session. The spent shells of these used cartridges, as a rule, are surrendered to the armoury. They mixed 200 shells that they had got from Yashodha and showed in the records the total rounds used in the session as 1,000," Arora told TOI.

The additional SP (STF), leading the investigations, said there were reports that such practices were rampant at 30th battalion PAC Gonda, 36 PAC Varanasi and district police armouries at Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi, Basti, Jhansi, Police Training College in Moradabad, Chandauli, Mirzapur and Sonebhadra.

INCOME TAX RETURNS

2010-04-29T17:21:00.000+05:30

As the IT Returns will be required to be filled by us soon....

you may like to check out this link :

http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/

PROMOTION CIVIL SERVICES

2010-04-28T12:50:00.000+05:30

1. 20.5 % IG ( = Maj Gen, GP 10000/- ) level posts have been approved from the earlier sanctioned 17% after IPS cadre review. An incr of 3.5%.

2. Over 100 IPS Officers of 1996 batch promoted as DIG ( =Brig, GP 8900/-)

Source : Whispers

GOC TIGER DIVISION

2010-04-28T12:02:00.000+05:30

THE TRIBUNE

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100428/j&k.htm#8

Major-Gen TPS Waraich, VSM, is the new GOC of 26 Division (Tiger Division). He took over from Major-Gen K Surendranath, SM, VSM, GOC Tiger Division, who is proceeding on transfer as MGGS, Southern Command.

Major-Gen Surendranath was given a farewell by Gautam Sen, Principal Controller of Defence Account: Northern Command, IDAS officers and senior officers of his PCDA (NC) office here today.

Both Major-Gen Surendranath and the PCDA recalled the all-round close functional cooperation between the Army establishments at Jammu and the Defence Account Department, particularly in the matter of logistics, functional and accounting support.

Over 200 armymen killed in JK, NE in 3 years

2010-04-28T11:50:00.000+05:30

PTI

http://www.ptinews.com/news/626787_Over-200-armymen-killed-in-JK--NE-in-3-years

Over 200 Indian Army personnel have lost their lives in last three years during the anti- terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the north-eastern states, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

"There have been 208 casualties of Army personnel during the last three years in anti-terror operations," Defence Minister A K Antony said in a written reply.

The highest number of casualties were suffered in 2007 when 83 followed by 64 in 2008, he said.

To another query, Antony said contract has been signed with Israel on March 4 this year to procure two Heron UAVs for deploying them for surveillance along the Eastern and Western seaboard of the country.

MEA woman officer posted in Pak arrested for spying

2010-04-27T17:15:00.000+05:30

PTI

http://www.ptinews.com/news/628127_MEA-woman-officer-posted-in-Pak-arrested-for-spying

A Second Secretary-level woman diplomat working in the Indian High Commission in Islamabad has been arrested here for allegedly passing on information to Pakistani intelligence agencies.

Simultaneously, the station head of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in Islamabad R K Sharma has also come under the scanner, official sources said.

A promotee officer of Ministry of External Affairs, 53-year-old Madhuri Gupta, was arrested here four days back after she was summoned to Delhi on the pretext of discussions on the current SAARC summit meeting held in Thimpu, Bhutan, the sources said.

The officer, a Second Secretary working in the Mission for nearly three years, is alleged to have been passing on information from the Mission to her contacts in ISI till her movements came under surveillance of Intelligence Bureau sleuths.

Home Secretary G K Pillai said Gupta had been passing information to Pakistani agencies.

BJP MPs table breach of privilege notice against PM

2010-04-27T17:12:00.002+05:30

PTI

http://www.ptinews.com/news/627968_BJP-MPs-table-breach-of-privilege-notice-against-PM

Fifty BJP MPs today tabled a breach of privilege notice in Lok Sabha against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for announcing outside Parliament his decision to reject setting up of a joint parliamentary committee on the issue of alleged phone tapping.

The MPs submitted the petition to Lok Sabha Secretary General P D T Achary.

Their action comes close on the heels of Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj objecting to the Prime Minister's announcement on the issue.

"This is a disrespect to the House. The Prime Minister should give a statement in the House on the issue," she said in Lok Sabha.

She insisted this was a serious matter as phones of even cabinet ministers were allegedly tapped. BJP has also demanded a JPC into the IPL controversy.

Court accepts CBI's closure report against Tytler

2010-04-27T17:10:00.000+05:30

PTI

http://www.ptinews.com/news/628143_Court-accepts-CBI-s-closure-report-against-Tytler

In a reprieve to Jagdish Tytler, a city court today let off the Congress leader in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case after accepting CBI's closure report giving clean chit to him.

"There is no sufficient material to send Tytler to trial," Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Rakesh Pandit said.

It pointed out that the statement of California-based witness Jasbir Singh had "no relevance" and that the statements of another witness Surinder Singh were "self- contradictory".

Accepting the CBI's closure report giving a clean chit to the former Union Minister, the court said that there was no ground to order further investigation in the case.

The CBI had submitted that there was nothing to proceed against 66-year-old Tytler as two witnesses, Jasbir Singh and Surinder Singh, were not reliable and their statements were "false and concocted".

Two JCOs shot dead by jawan

2010-04-27T17:07:00.002+05:30

PTI

http://www.ptinews.com/news/628187_Two-JCOs-shot-dead-by-jawan

In a fresh case of fratricide in Army, a jawan belonging to 12th Maratha Rifles allegedly shot dead two Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) in Manipur's Churachandpur district, officials said here today.

The incident took place yesterday at Khengjong outpost, about 70 km from here, after a quarrel broke out between the JCOs -- identified as Mrinthunguan and Thanattan-- and jawan Ambeti Narayan, they said.

Narayan shot at his colleagues with his service rifle, killing them on the spot, the officials said.

Narayan fled soon after the incident, but was arrested today, they said.

Meanwhile, the Army refused to divulge any details regarding the JCOs and Narayan.

Promotion PBORs

2010-04-27T17:05:00.000+05:30

Government has not restricted promotion opportunities for the Personnel Below Officers Rank (PBOR) in the Armed Forces. The Government has, in fact, improved the career prospects by approving grant of three Assured Career Progression (ACP) to PBOR at 8, 16 and 24 years of service as against three Modified Assured Career Progression Scheme (MACPs) for the Central Government Civilian Employees at 10, 20 and 30 years of regular service. At the time of each financial upgradation under ACP, the PBOR would get an additional increment and next higher Grade Pay in hierarchy.

Army: PBORs (including Jawans) are eligible for grant of commissioning into Officer Cadres through various In Service entries i.e. Army Cadet College (ACC) / Special Commissioned Officers (SCO) / Permanent Commission Officers (Special List) [PC(SL)].

Navy: Adequate promotion avenues exist through time based, roster based and selective promotion for sailors. Promotion upto the rank of Leading Seaman/equivalent for non-Artificers and upto the rank of Artificer 3^rd class for artificers are time based. Roster based and selective promotions are for higher ranks against the available / anticipated vacancies. Promotion avenues also exist for sailors to be promoted to officer rank through the Commission Worthy Scheme and the Special Duty List Scheme.

Air Force: A PBOR during his service career can be promoted upto the rank of Master warrant Officer (MWO) subject to fulfilling eligibility criteria and availability of vacancies.

Number of PBORs including Jawans promoted to Senior Officers post in the three services of the Armed Forces during the last three years is as under:

Year	Army*	Air Force	Navy
			Commission Worthy Scheme	Special Duty List Scheme
2007	159	94	54	82
2008	139	64
2009	205	59

* Excluding Army Medical Corps and Army Dental Corps

Government proposes to review the promotion policy for PBOR to ensure greater opportunities for PBORs. In the Army, review of the promotion policy for PBOR is under process to ensure better opportunities. A cadre review for the PBOR has been ordered in May 2009. The Navy is also working on a proposal for cadre restructuring of sailors, which would enhance their promotional avenues.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri Arjun Ray in Lok Sabha.

A Soldier

2010-04-25T11:06:00.000+05:30

There is discipline in A Soldier
you can see it when he walks,
There is honor in A Soldier
you hear it when he talks.
There is courage in A Soldier
you can see it in his eyes,
There is loyalty in A Soldier
that he will not compromise.
There is something in A Soldier
that makes him stand apart,
There is strength in A Soldier
that beats from his heart.
A Soldier isn't a title any man
can be hired to do,
A Soldier is the soul of that man
buried deep inside of you.
A Soldier's job isn't finished after
an 8 hour day or a 40 hour week,
A Soldier is always A Soldier
even while he sleeps.
A Soldier serves his country first
and his life is left behind,
A Soldier has to sacrifice what
comes first in a civilian's mind.
If you are civilian -
I am saying this to you.....
next time you see A Soldier
remember what they do.
A Soldier is the reason our land
is 'Home of the free',
A Soldier is the one that is brave
protecting you and me.
If you are A Soldier -
I am saying this to you.....
Thank God for EVERY SOLDIER
Thank God for what YOU do!

SOURCE : INTERNET

Common Errors in ACRs

2010-04-22T09:04:00.001+05:30

COMMONLY OCCURRING ERRORS
IN INITIATION AND ENDORSEMENT OF CONFIDENTIAL REPORTS

1. It has been observed that a large number of CRs are received wherein there are errors of trivial/technical nature and the ratee and the endorsing Officers have not followed the specified procedures. Resultantly the CRs have to be processed through the files causing infructuous paper work. This results into either the CRs getting set aside or a portion of it getting technically invalided. This may at times adversely affect the officers in their career progression.

2. The commonly occurring errors are listed below: -

(a) Part-I (Personal Data, Service Record and Authentication Data) not filled correctly and also not signed by ratee and IO.

(b) Requisite enclosures are not found attached to the CRs. The required enclosures to be attached with the CRs are as per DGMS(Army) letter No 15013/ACR/Policy/2003/DGMS-1A dt 16 Dec 2003 and 15013/ACR/Policy/2003/DGMS-1A dt 08 Jan 2004.

(c) The ratee has not completed mandatory 90 days physical service with IO, 75 days and 90 days service (not physical) with RO and FTO respectively.

(d) Average of box grading at Para 12, 27 of IO, RO, FTO and STO incorrectly calculated or rounded off. These averages must be calculated upto second decimal point without rounding off.

(e) Variance found in award of numerical marking between the two copies of CRs in respect of Naval and Air Officers.

(f) Signatures of IO, RO and SRO are missing in Para 29.

(g) Wide variation in assessing the ratee by the reporting Officers with difference of more than 2 points without any justification in pen picture or comments offered in this regard whether over-assessed or under –assessed by the reporting Officers.

(h) After initiation of an ICR the balance of reporting period is not covered by an ACR or NIR as applicable thus leaving a gap in the reporting period.

(j) The SRO/STO/HTO have endorsed the CR when they were not holding the appointment on the last day of the period covered by the report.

(k) Wrong forms have been used for initiation of CRs and the RO and other superior reporting officers have not rectified the defect and even endorsed and sent to higher authority for endorsement.

(l) CRs are initiated not on due date or when not due. Raising of CR on change of rank (e.g. A Major becoming Lt Col on 22 Apr is due for an ACR on 01 Jan of following year covering the period of 19 months) is governed by Para 39 of SAO 8/S/91.

(m) Sanction of SRO for RO to initiate CRs (Para 52 of SAO 8/S/91) and sanction by DGMS (Army) for officiating incumbents (Para 20 of SAO 8/S/91) are not found enclosed which is a mandatory requirement.

(n) NIRs are received without the details of physical service under the IO and RO respectively. In many cases the ratee and reporting Officers have not signed the NIR.

(o) The endorsement by NSROs have been dispensed with in terms of DGMS(Army) letter No 15025/ACR Policy/00/DGMS-1A dt 16 Mar 2000 for AMC/AMC (NT)/AD Corps Officers. Despite this the NSRO have endorsed the CR.

(p) The CRs are received without any endorsement by any Medical Officer as FTO/STO/HTO (Dental Officer in case of AD Corps Officer). This is a mandatory requirement and at least one of these Officers should have endorsed the CR. If the reporting Officers have retired, the endorsement can be obtained from the retired reporting Officer to make the report technically valid.

(q) The SROs/HTOs have awarded marks in fraction instead of whole number. Also the Senior Advisors have awarded marks in fraction at professional qualities at Para 9 of PCR. The SROs & HTOs can award numerical grading in whole number only.

(r) ICR has been initiated for a period less than 180 days and without fulfilling the conditions of Para 48 of SAO 8/S/91.

(s) The laid down channel of ACR reporting has not been followed. Any channel other than that laid down must have the sanction of the DGMS (Army).

(t) The adverse /advisory remarks have not been communicated to the ratee Officer in terms of Para 77 of SAO 8/S/91. This lapse leads to complaints from the ratee when there is delay in communication of remarks by this Dte Gen /Office of DGAFMS on the final scrutiny of CRs.

(u) The procedure prescribed at Para 11 of SAO 8/S/91 for overwriting/erasing has not been followed. Overwriting should always be scored off first, then re-written afresh while ensuring that the scored off number/remarks is clearly visible. All amendments should be authenticated by making full signatures with date. Pasting of slip or use of whitener is not permitted as it makes the assessment invalid.

(v) Two CRs for the same period have been initiated which is highly irregular and leads to invalidment of last CR received for the same period.

(w) Period covered by the report is not entered in the PCR, which should be corresponding, to the period of ICR/ACR. It has been observed that PCRs are being raised without the corresponding ICRs/ACRs. In many cases, PCRs are received for period for which NIRs have been raised.

(x) Speciality of the ratee Officer is not mentioned in Para 5 (a) of PCR.

(y) Instances have come to notice where it is seen that though CR should have been initiated due to posting out or retirement of IO, but it has not been done and later NIR was forwarded. Officers (Ratee) avoided submitting CR Forms in time or purposely delayed to avoid initiation by IO. Higher HQs at the level of Corps/Command have not taken any timely action against ratee Officer or IO for such intentional omission/commission. These instances should be viewed seriously and appropriate action be taken.

3. It is emphasized that the environment, particularly the ratee and the endorsing Officer, must be made aware of the provisions of SAO 8/S/91 and various policy letters issued from time to time.

(O/O DGMS (Army)/DGMS-1A letter No 15013/ACR Policy/2004/DGMS-1A dt 15 Jan 04).

25% INCR IN IPS CADRE STRENGTH

2010-04-21T08:27:00.000+05:30

I WONDER : ALREADY POST UPGRADATION AND STATUS UPGRADATION HAS BEEN DONE IN 6TH CPC AND LATER VIDE VARIUOS GOVT ORDERS.

The Union Home Ministry, in a bid to strengthen policing in the country, with special emphasis on Maoist-infested regions, has increased the cadre strength of IPS officers in 16 States and Union Territories, by about 25 per cent, from the present 1,178 IPS officers to 1465. The states where the cadre strength has been increased include Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh.(WHISPERS)

Govt designates Indian Navy responsible for maritime security

2010-04-21T08:21:00.000+05:30

MY NEWS

http://www.mynews.in/News/Govt_designates_Indian_Navy_responsible_for_maritime_security_N46877.html

New Delhi: The Government has designated the Indian Navy as the agency responsible for overall maritime security, including coastal security of the country, the Lok Sabha was informed today.

The Indian Navy, the Coast Guards, State Marine Police and other Central and State agencies work in coordination for the coastal security and to deal with threats of vulnerable targets, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora said in a written reply.

He said the measures instituted in this regard include enhanced surface and air surveillance along with coastal exercises by Indian Navy ships and aircraft along the coast and in all offshore development areas, including those on the east coast of India.

India launches first anti-submarine corvette

2010-04-21T08:19:00.000+05:30

IBN LIVE

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/india-launches-first-antisubmarine-corvette/113602-3.html?from=trending

Kolkata/New Delhi: India on Monday launched its first anti-submarine warfare corvette that will boost Navy's fighting capability when commissioned in 2012.

According to officials, the corvette, Yard 3017, was launched by Mamatha M, wife of Minister of State of Defence M M Pallam Raju, at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) in Kolkata.

"Four ships of this class are under construction at GRSE, Kolkata. The first ship is expected to be commissioned by mid-2012 and will be closely followed by the other three ships with the last expected to be commissioned by early 2015," a naval official said.

The corvette, a small fast-moving ship, was ordered in 2003 and the production is delayed by two years.

The official said the 3,100-tonnage ship would be fitted with the latest indigenously developed sonars to detect submarines.

"The torpedo tubes, and scutter (torpedo decoys) launchers contribute to its anti-submarine punch. In addition, the ship will also be equipped with vertically launched Point Defence Missile System (PDMS) and Close In Weapon Systems (CIWS) such as AK 30's and Super Rapid Gun Mount (SRGM)," the official added.

"The ship is also equipped with decoy system Kavach, which is designed to counter the threat of various anti-ship missiles," he said.

At present the Indian Navy does not have any anti-submarine corvettes. It had some Russian corvettes, which were decommissioned long ago.

For anti-submarine operations, navy uses bigger ships like frigates and destroyers.

Sino-Indian war records 'top secret', says govt

2010-04-21T08:15:00.000+05:30

PTI

http://www.ptinews.com/news/616820_Sino-Indian-war-records--top-secret---says-govt

New Delhi, Apr 19 (PTI) The government today refused to make public an Army study on the 1962 war debacle with China, saying the internal report was "top secret" and "extremely sensitive".

Defence Minister A K Antony told the Lok Sabha that the Henderson Brooks Report had "current operational value".

Asked by Congress member Manish Tewari if the report would be made public, the minister replied in the negative.

"Henderson Brooks Report is a TOP SECRET document, based on an internal study by the Indian Army, contents of which are not only extremely sensitive, but are of current operational value," Antony said in a written reply.

However, on the 1947 Indo-Pak war, the Defence Minister said the official historical record had been compiled and it was in the public domain since 1987.

ELEPHANT WAKING UP

2010-04-21T08:13:00.000+05:30

INDIAN DECADE

http://the-diplomat.com/indian-decade/2010/04/20/elephant-waking-up/

While the Chinese dragon has been hissing in recent months through its aggressive incursions into Indian territory and its warning to the Indian leadership over issues like Arunachal Pradesh and the Dalai Lama, the Indian elephant is now showing signs of gradually shrugging off its complacence. New Delhi has many China-centric strategic projects in the pipeline, but I’ll focus on just one of the many long-term measures it is taking with China in mind.

The Government of India has sanctioned raising two mountain divisions (one division has roughly 10,000 troops) to be deployed along the India-China border. More significantly, New Delhi has for the first time lifted its 37-year-old freeze on fresh recruitment for the China-specific mountain division. The proposed two mountain divisions will be in addition to the two presently deployed two divisions of the Indian Army. These two new divisions are much needed for better patrolling of the 4,057-kilometre Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China, and they would help the Indian Army plug gaping operational gaps. As there is no properly demarcated border between the two Asian giants, the LAC is the effective border between India and China. The LAC traverses three parts of Indian states: the west (Ladakh, Kashmir), the centre (Uttarakhand, Himachal) and east (Sikkim, Arunachal).

In another move, the Indian government has also decided to fast track the process of procuring specialized weaponry needed for mountain warfare. The Indian Army’s plans are to procure at least 200 Howitzer guns, which can be carried on horseback or in choppers (depending on local operational requirements) for lending teeth to the remotest posts in these rugged mountains.

Nightmare 2012: Chinese Special Forces cut off Siliguri corridor

2010-04-18T09:02:00.001+05:30

SIFY NEWS

I WONDER : EXCELLENT !!! MUST READ THEM ALL....

India has the potential to be to Asia what America is to the world - a symbol of hope, liberty and freedom.

Closed societies like China or Pakistan do not fit the bill. Due to authoritarian regimes in Beijing and Islamabad, in times to come they will remain preoccupied with growing internal societal turmoil.

Therefore, they will naturally tend to threaten democratic India, militarily and with the help of their irregular forces to divert attention from the brewing internal storm. Also because on one hand, the Indian democracy negates their authoritarian philosophy, and on the other, the Union is perceived as a soft target to be conquered or ruptured.

But technology driven 21st century cannot be China’s century in Asia as is being touted by its proxy Pakistan or the Chinese themselves. Simply because these are very brittle, regressive and perpetually paranoid societies. Societies that cannot sustain such enlarged influence and get into an over reach. While the People’s Liberation Army, the largest in the world, consists of 3.5 million soldiers to project power, Beijing employs whopping 21 million to police internal dissent.

Military threat from such dictatorial regimes to free societies like India will increase as the western democracies retreat from Asia. There already exists a severe trust deficit between China and the small countries in the region.

India is the perhaps the only country in Asia that can boast of the potential to occupy the strategic high ground gradually being vacated by the retreating western forces, provided it develops offensive orientation at the political level.

Unlike China, its soft power increasingly impacts on Asia. The young demographic profile will continue to propel Indian economy to greater heights at least till end of 2050. China’s ageing profile shows trends that it will, first grow old then rich, unlike Japan, which grew rich then old. India if governed fairly well, will grow rich and then old like Japan.

India’s multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious society is the melting pot in Asia that benefits from rich diversity and open society. However, it is not as fortunate to be situated geographically in a safe haven like America, which is surrounded by nations with similar values.

READ THE COMPLETE WRITEUP HERE:

http://sify.com/news/Nightmare-2012-Chinese-Special-Forces-take-Siliguri-news-kerrLlchfeb.html

OTHER IMPORTANT LINKS :

http://sify.com/news/why-pak-china-will-win-news-columns-kccrKIdjcgf.html
http://www.indiandefencereview.com/2009/11/the-big-picture.html
http://www.indiandefencereview.com/2008/06/threat-from-china.html

Antony asks forces to counter cyber attacks

2010-04-17T08:40:00.000+05:30

REDIFF NEWS

http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/apr/16/antony-asks-forces-to-repel-cyber-attacks.htm

In the wake of reports of Chinese hackers stealing vital data from Indian defence and diplomatic computer networks, Defence Minister A K Antony said on Friday asked the armed forces to coordinate closely with other cyber security agencies to prepare a crisis management action plan against cyber terrorism. The minister noted that cyber-space had emerged as an important medium for information sharing, but at the same time the existing technology was susceptible to misuse by anti-social and anti-national elements."Of late, extraordinary and unprecedented cyber crimes have taken place across the globe, exposing gap holes in cyber security systems," Antony told the armed forces Unified Commanders' Conference in New Delhi
"Although the defence services at all levels have taken steps to counter cyber threat through stringent implementation of cyber security policy, there is still a requirement to ensure that all loopholes are suitably plugged. A few recent cases are reminders of our own vulnerabilities," he said.
Close interaction with national agencies like Computer and Emergency Response Team, NTRO, Home and IT ministries to prepare a crisis management action plan for countering cyber attacks and cyber terrorism is essential, he said inaugurating the conference. Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju, Chiefs of Staff Committee Chairman and IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal P V Naik, Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma, Army Chief General V K Singh, Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar and Chief of Integrated Staff Committee Air Marshal S C Mukul were also present on the occasion.
Expressing happiness over the progress made to improve jointness among armed forces in various spheres, Antony said increasing involvement of Integrated Defence Service headquarters in defence issues, the functioning of Andaman and Nicobar Command and the progress of Strategic Forces Command were a few examples of the success of the inter-operability concept.
He said the future of optimal military power lay in joint operations. "Towards this end, the first-ever Long Term Integrated Perspective Plan for 201227 is nearing completion under the aegis of IDS headquarters. Once finalised, it would be yet another milestone in our progress towards jointness," he said.

SBI launches defence salary package for Indian Air Force

2010-04-17T08:35:00.000+05:30

BUSINESS STANDARD

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/sbi-launches-defence-salary-package-for-indian-air-force/91487/on

The State Bank of India (SBI) today launched a defence salary package for the Indian Air Force with an array of concessional services such as zero balance accounts, interest rate concessions on loans, preferential allotment of lockers and free mobile banking.

"I recommit that SBI would serve the very best we can," SBI chairman O P Bhatt said at the launch of the product here.

The package includes free drafts and free cheque books and provides for free funds transfers to any of the State Bank Group's network of almost 16,000 branches or any other bank in India, besides free ATM cards and other features.

SBI further said that it plans to add 5,000 ATMs to its existing count of 20,000, which will benefit more than one lakh Air Force personnel, as the bank intends to establish a large number of ATMs to serve Air Force formations.

The package enables Air Force personnel to open zero balance accounts with an unique lifetime account number, valid even after retirement, and offers free mobile banking services, preferential allotment of lockers and interest rate concessions on home, car and personal loans, among others.

"The bank's network of business correspondents appointed in unbanked rural areas will also be available for the basic banking requirement of the Air Force personnel and their families," SBI said.

Speaking on the occasion, Air Chief Marshal P V Naik said, "I hope SBI would meet the expectations of defence personnel," adding that he would urge the SBI chairman to translate it into a reality at the earliest.

A similar package was announced for Army and Navy personnel earlier.

Safeguard yourself from credit card frauds

2010-04-15T09:00:00.000+05:30

In recent times, there have been a spate of news items revealing a credit card fraud. In one such item, two youngsters were caught duping credit card holders by offering them new credit cards with higher credit limits by trading in their old credit cards. The youngsters then used the old cards to make their purchases, mostly electronics. This is how they laid the plot.

They would call up credit card holders representing themselves as employees of the credit card company. They would inform these clueless customers about a new scheme about new credit cards with greater purchase limits in exchange of old ones. Then they would also inform customers that the company's representative would soon visit them with the new card, which would be activated as soon as they filled in a form!

This news only reinstates the importance of being a vigilant customer and using credit cards with utmost prudence. Here are a few things one can do:

1. If you lose your credit card, it is necessary to inform your credit card company immediately. This will enable the card issuer to freeze the card with immediate effect and prevent any purchases on the card. The important thing for you is that your liability is limited once you inform the credit card issuer.

2. Destroy your old card completely before you begin using your new card. This is important even if your old card has expired or you are upgrading your card.

3. Keep your card in a safe place and do not allow other people to handle it.

4. Be prudent about signing up for new offers. Double-check the genuineness of the scheme. A simple way to verify genuineness of any scheme is to call up the credit card company and inquiring with them.

5. Change your PIN at regular intervals. Do not use obvious PIN like birth dates.

6. Inform your credit card company immediately if you do not receive your monthly credit statement. It could be a case of identity theft where the fraudster has changed your billing address.

7. Use chip based credit cards. These cards offer better security than credit cards with black magnetic stripes. This is because in a chip based card, all information is stored in the small chip in encrypted format and it also uses a PIN. This makes changing or copying this data extremely difficult.

8. So, the chance of data being misused while swiping the card is very remote. It is the highest level of security that credit card companies can offer at present. Citibank and Kotak Mahindra issue chip based cards to select high range customers. Axis bank's VISA Platinum card is also chip-based. HDFC Bank also has begun issuing these cards.

9. Be careful while shopping online. This is because you are required to give the CVV number for making purchases over the Internet. For this, be sure you shop only from secure websites. Ensure that the website is certified by VeriSign. Look for a yellow lock on the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

10. If you have a large credit limit on your card and use it frequently for several purchases including online and telephone purchases, it is a good idea to get your card insured. You cannot prevent credit card fraud but at least minimize its impact on your financial stability! You can protect yourself from fraudulent charges on your card up to 12 hours before reporting the loss to the credit card issuer.

http://in.finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/loans_basics/75/safeguard-yourself-from-credit-card-frauds/

Shortage of 2000 CPMF Officers..

2010-04-14T13:33:00.000+05:30

As per a popular website there is a shortage of around 2000 CPMF offrs. I feel defence Offrs with good track record who are unable to make it to next grade due to organisational structure of armed forces should be allowed to join to meet this shortage. It will be a happy situation for all.

Awards.....

2010-04-14T13:22:00.000+05:30

PIB

http://www.pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=60187

President, Smt Pratibha Devisingh Patil conferred two Kirti Chakras and twenty five Shaurya Chakras to Armed Forces Personnel for displaying conspicuous gallantry, indomitable courage and extreme devotion to duty at a solemn ceremony in Rashtrapati Bhawan, New Delhi today.

The President also conferred fifteen Param Vishisht Seva Medals, two Uttam Yudh Seva Medals, one Bar to Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and twenty six Ati Vishisht Seva Medals to senior officers of the Armed Forces for distinguished service of an exceptional order. The following is the list of awardees:-

GALLANTRY AWARDS

KIRTI CHAKRA

1. IC-59630 Maj Amit Oscar Fernandes

2. IC-61390 Maj Suresh Suri (Posthumous)

SHAURYA CHAKRA

1. GS-173875N Operator Excavating Machinery Grade – II Satish Kumar

2. 26696 Sqn Ldr Harkirat Singh

3. IC-64795 Maj Ankur Garg

4. IC-62248 Maj Saurabh Dutt Kholia

5. 15330627 Lance Naik Sujith Babu V (Posthumous)

6. IC-57104 Maj Dinesh Singh Parmar

7. IC-63089 Maj Subramaniam Anand

8. 25871 Sqn Ldr Tarun Kumar Chaudhry

9. 776951 Sgt Mustafa Ali (Posthumous)

10. GS-171792-K Operator Excavating Machinery Pritam Chand (Posthumous)

11. GS-173772-P Driver Mechanical Transport Grade – II Piar Chand (Posthumous)

12. 9107449 Rifleman Mohd Abdul Amieen Bhat (Posthumous)

13. IC-70145 Lt Satbir Singh (Posthumous)

14. 13625790 Naik Manoj Singh (Posthumous)

15. 2795178 Sepoy Hanmant Mahadeo Yevale

16. 13622147 Hav Vipan Thakur (Posthumous)

17. SS-39651 Maj Ajay Singh

18. JC-74651 Naib Subedar Ganesh Nath

19. IC-61038 Maj Harmeet Singh Samra

20. G/114735 Hav Thangjalet (Posthumous)

21. IC-59470 Maj Manoj Aruparayil Pothen

22. 4478544 Lance Naik Davinder Singh

23. IC-63580 Capt Mudassar Iqbal

24. IC-69343 Capt Anoop Pandey

25. 120351-A POWTR CD III Chandra Sekhar (Posthumous)

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARDS

PARAM VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL

1. IC-24198 Lt Gen Chanroth Kunnumal Suchindra Sabu

2. 01248-K Vice Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin

3. 12939 Air Marshal Venkatraman Ramamurthy Iyer

4. 13472 Air Marshal Pramod Vasant Athawale

5. MR-03364 Lt Gen Naresh Kumar Parmar

6. IC-24219 Lt Gen Ajay Kumar Singh Chandele

7. IC-25053 Lt Gen Dalip Bhardwaj

8. IC-25064 Lt Gen Shreedharan Shyam Kumar

9. IC-25126 Lt Gen Rajinder Singh Sujlana

10. IC-24706 Lt Gen Kammula Ramachandra Rao

11. IC-25213 Lt Gen Mukesh Sabharwal

12. IC-25469 Lt Gen Karan Singh Yadava

13. IC-23689 Lt Gen (Retd) Narinder Singh Brar

14. IC-29915 Lt Gen (Retd) Vinod Chopra

15. 12833 Air Marshal (Retd) Keshava Murthy Rama Sundara

UTTAM YUDH SEVA MEDAL

1. IC-25538 Lt Gen Rabindran Krishna Swamy

2. IC-25816 Lt Gen Bikram Singh

BAR TO ATI VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL

3. IC-25457 Lt Gen Vijay Kumar Ahluwalia

ATI VISHISHT SEVA MEDAL

1. IC-24654 Lt Gen Tejinder Singh

2. IC-27146 Lt Gen Uma Shankar Prasad Sinha

3. IC-25141 Lt Gen Deepak Raj

4. IC-25442 Lt Gen Swatantarta Nand Handa

5. IC-25056 Lt Gen Inderjit Singh

6. IC-25815 Lt Gen Gurdeep Singh

7. IC-27325 Lt Gen Rajesh Kochhar

8. V-00330 Lt Gen Jai Krishan Srivastava

9. 02373-T Vice Admiral Paras Nath

10. 01701-R Vice Admiral Pradip Kumar Chatterjee

11. 01773-D Vice Admiral Anurag Gopalan Thapliyal

12. 13606 Air Marshal Simhakutty Varthaman

13. IC-25280 Maj Gen Ashok Vasudeo Taskar

14. IC-30052 Maj Gen Brijinder Singh Daulta

15. IC-30076 Maj Gen Sathish Chandra Nair

16. IC-30137 Maj Gen Sukhraj Pal Kochhar

17. IC-30389 Maj Gen Sanjiv Chachra

18. IC-30571 Maj Gen Rajeev Datt

19. IC-33450 Maj Gen Darshan Lal Chowdhary

20. IC-30687 Maj Gen Sanjiv Langer

21. 01660-Y Rear Adm Chander Shekhar Patham

22. 13508 Air Vice Marshal Dinesh Mukundan

23. 14446 Air Vice Marshal Anil Kumar Behl

24. 15327 Air Vice Marshal Ajit Shankarrao Bhonsle

25. 13487 Air Vice Marshal Salem Sunder Ram Gunashekar

26. 15220 Air Cmde Kulwant Singh Gill

Prime Minister Shri Manmohan Singh, Defence Minsiter Shri AK Antony, Minister of State for Defence Shri MM Pallam Raju, Marshal of the Air Force Arjun Singh, three Service Chiefs and several other senior civil and military officials were present on the occasion.

I FEEL THIS.... ON RECRUITMENT OF EX-SERVICEMEN

2010-04-13T16:51:00.000+05:30

There is a proposal to recruit ex-servicemen for the training of CPMF on contractual basis. In my personal opinion the govt should instead permit lateral movement of army men into CPMF with full service benefits. I feel the govt should permit lateral movement into CPMF this will save thousand of crore rupees which they are spending on training of CPMF and will also provide much needed stability to soldiers.

Don't send in the Army but learn from them

2010-04-13T14:25:00.000+05:30

INDIA TODAY

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/91859/India/Opinion:+Don

I WONDER : ARMY SHOULD COMMENT OR OFFER HELP ONLY WHEN THEY ARE ASKED. FREE ADVISES ARE NOT REQUIRED. I STILL REMEMBER AN OLD STORY WHERE A BIRD TRIES TO ADVISE A MONKEY ON BUILDING A NEST/HOME TO STAY IN IT DURING RAINS. MONKEY TRIES AND FAILS, SO HE DESTROYS THE NEST OF THE BIRD TOO. ARMED FORCES HAVE TAKEN ENOUGH BEATINGS IN TERMS OF CASUALTIES, OROP ISSUES, 6TH CPC ISSUES. THE STRONG COMMENTS WRITTEN BY MANY KNOWN PERSONALITIES AGAINST THE ARMED FORCES AND THEIR REQUIREMENT ARE STILL FRESH IN MANY MINDS.

The doyen of modern military thinkers, Carl von Clausewitz said that war was the extension of politics by other means. The Maoists understand this dictum well since their icon, Mao Zedong, said equally famously that power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

Unfortunately, the Indian state has yet to comprehend the link between politics and the military.

Because they claim to speak for the poor and wave red flags, most Indian politicians are unable to understand the mortal threat Maoists pose to the nation.

We need to quickly grasp, that, at this juncture at least, the only way we can meet the political challenge of the Maoists is through military means.

Why is it that in Kashmir, counter- insurgency operations in the urban and semiurban areas are left to the police forces, including the CRPF, and the task of handling the larger groups of militants in the forested heights of the Pir Panjal and the Rajwar area is taken on by the Army? The answer is simple. In terms of training and their working the police are most effective where the militants have to be ferreted out of the populace with the use of ground intelligence. Whereas the Army alone is equipped and oriented to handle larger groups of insurgents who are wellversed in guerilla tactics.

Wrong-headedThis simple truth of the Indian experience in counter- insurgency is staring at us in the face, yet, the mandarins of New Delhi are unable to see it. The media, too, has been knocking on wrong doors. Neither KPS Gill nor Prakash Singh have really dealt with insurgencies involving thousands of armed men who are organised like an army and operate freely in a large geographical area. Such experience only resides with the Indian Army- or in a specialised unit like the Assam Rifles.

Ambushes are a devastating military tactic that the Indian Army understands well.

Besides the element of surprise, the ambusher has the luxury of being able to site his own deployments and carefully prepare what is called the " kill zone". The army has a long institutional memory that encapsulates the experience of Burma in World War II, the Naga uprising of the 1950s and the Sri Lanka campaign of 1987- 90. Perhaps no one could beat the Nagas in laying deadly ambushes. But in no one incident did the Army lose 76 men.

The maximum I have been able to research is some 14 who were killed on April 1, 1957. So ambush and counterambush are basic small- unit tactics taught to all army personnel.

Caught in an ambush, even highly skilled forces find the going tough; for the CRPF

company in Dantewada, the chance of escape was nil. Neither through training, nor doctrine and equipment, is the CRPF, or the BSF, oriented towards such combat.

That is the reason why Maoist ambushes of police teams in Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal have been so devastating and one- sided.

As it is, there are chilling parallels in the Green Hunt strategy of sending in small groups of paramilitary to hold the ground to enable development activity, with the 1961 decision to send Indian forces in penny packets across the Sino- Indian border in what was optimistically called the " forward policy." The Chinese military response to this fat- headed effort led to a disastrous military defeat for India.

The Green Hunt's disaster is only now becoming manifest.

Sending in ill- trained paramilitary forces where others fear to tread, too, is not a new development either. In April 1971, after General Sam Manekshaw turned down Indira Gandhi's suggestion that the Army act in East Pakistan immediately,immediately, the government decided to entrust the task to the BSF. According to Lt Gen J. F. R. Jacob, the BSF commander K. F. Rustomji boasted that his forces would lead a victory parade in Dhaka in a short matter of three weeks. The BSF and their Mukti Bahini allies were so badly plastered by the Pakistan Army, that in May 1971 the government promptly handed over the security responsibility of the entire border to the Army.

Support
Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram has no doubt spoken in shock and anger when he termed the Maoists as barbaric and decried their cowardice in fighting from the jungle. The facts, however, suggest that a better trained and motivated force used a legitimate military tactic to wipe out an entire CRPF company.

The only way to respond to this challenge is to meet it in kind. Unfortunately, there is no indication that either the government or the Home Ministry are even aware of the nature of the threat, leave alone any idea as to how to confront it.

The Home Secretary's bleating about " pressure bombs" reveals his ignorance of the fact that pressure mines are the basic weapons of insurgents and not undefeatable atomic weapons.

The same holds true for his quick rejection of the use of air power. To not do so is to deny yourself an advantage. The government has been rightly reluctant to use helicopter gunships ever since the Chavakacheri incident in Sri Lanka where scores of civilians died in a strike that ignited a fuel bunker. They were right, too, in not using them in the crowded landscape of Kashmir where the excellent road network enables the forces to reach any spot within the hour or less.

The jungles of Chattisgarh are different and air support could be the only means of assisting beleaguered columns, especially those under ambush. If appropriate rules of engagement are framed to avoid strikes in villages- whether or not Maoists were suspected to be there- there is no reason why gunships cannot operate there.

LeadersThe problems of a police- led counter insurgency campaign are fundamental.

Normally CRPF and BSF battalions, which are in themselves one thousand or so strong, are deployed in company-sized formations of some 100-120 men. These may be spread out in an unconnected fashion. The company commanders and battalion commanders are cadre officers, whereas most of the senior officers belong to the Indian Police Service who are most likely not to have served with the battalions at an operational level.

The army, on the other hand does not deploy anything less than a battalion which can be anywhere from 800- 1000 men. While these are divided into companies, the command and control is exercised at the battalion level by a commanding officer who deploys his companies in a mutually supporting role.

Army officers learn combat craft along with their men. Their first posting is with the jawans in mountain pickets, and their experience is gathered in long- range patrols and operations in Kashmir or the North- east. The vital bonding that takes place between an officer and a soldier in the army at a lower level serves in good stead when confronted with an emergency like an ambush. Given their rural and semi- educated background, Indian jawans require good training and leadership to be effective, whether in the Army or police. But while the Army caters for this, the police units do not.

This is not an argument for sending in the army to take on the Maoists, yet.

There are several other options before the government. It could set up a new Assam Rifles like force which is officered by Army personnel, matches the Army in its training, but is run by the Home Ministry.

The other is to sharply upgrade the quality of the existing CRPF units through better training and provision of better officers. In the meantime, perhaps, the Home Minister should persuade his Home Secretary to confine himself to running the day-to-day affairs of the ministry, and get himself a new security aide-an experienced Army officer-to advise him on the military aspects of tackling the Maoists.

Govt trims troop presence along Jammu-Srinagar highway

2010-04-13T13:58:00.000+05:30

THE PIONEER

http://www.dailypioneer.com/248830/Surge-in-strikes-but-Army-cut-to-size.html

Even as the Centre is facing criticism for cutting down the number of Army personnel in Jammu & Kashmir under the US pressure, the Indian Army has further trimmed its presence along the strategic Jammu-Srinagar national highway.

Official sources said, “Two battalions of the Central Reserve Paramilitary Force (CRPF) have replaced Army jawans along the only surface link connecting the Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country, while two more CRPF battalions would soon be deployed along the highway after undergoing training in the second phase.” The training of these two CRPF battalions is yet to begin.

Inspector General of the CRPF AS Sidhu, in an exclusive interview with The Pioneer on Monday, said, “After undergoing full two weeks of training from the Army and CRPF instructors, we have taken over the charge of independently securing the strategic NH 1-A between Jammu and Ramban (up to 145 km along the 294-km-long highway) from March 26.”

Sidhu said that immediately after the training the CRPF carried out joint road opening drills with the Armymen on vulnerable locations. The move to remove the Army from along the highway seems part of the same strategy under which the Government pulled out 30,000 troops from the two frontier districts of Jammu region in the last several months.

The CRPF will deploy two more battalions between 145-km and 204-km milestones (up to Jawahar tunnel) soon.

Surprisingly, the fresh relocation of troops has taken place at a time when incidents of militant violence have been recording an upward trend across J&K. In the recently concluded operation Khoj, the Army had managed to eliminate 16 LeT militants in different encounters in Rajouri district only.

The decision to move out Armymen ahead of shifting of the ‘durbar’ and start of the annual pilgrimage to Amarnath cave shrine in the coming months has also raised eyebrows in the security establishment in view of the surge in violence in the State.

Coupled with this, the spectre of ‘hot summer’ was looming large on the minds of the people in the security establishment even as more than 300 infiltrators have been eagerly waiting to cross the Line of Control after coming straight from PoK jihadi camps.

IG CRPF said, before replacing the Army from the highway duty, the CRPF personnel carried out joint road opening drills for two weeks and learned the art of sanitising the strategic highway.

The Army would, however, still mark its presence along the highway in the form of its sophisticated surveillance equipment used on daily basis to sanistise the highway and detect the presence of any explosive/IED material near the culvert/bridge or under the ground, the senior CRPF officer said.

“The CRPF has initiated the process of procuring its own surveillance gadgetry, but for the time being it is relying on the Army,” he added.

Cheaper call rates for ''jawans'' in border areas

2010-04-13T13:53:00.000+05:30

PTI

I WONDER : I HOPE ITS FOR FAUJIs TOO.......

The government today reduced call charges to Re 1 per minute from Rs 5 per minute for satellite phones used by forces along the border areas. The reduction in charges will be for the para military forces like ITBP and BSF serving along the border outposts throughout the country, a DoT statement said.

Telecom PSU BSNL has been providing the forces with satellite phones to ensure that these ''jawans'' enjoy access to telecom services, the statement said. This decision was taken after a recent visit of Union Minister of State for Telecom and IT Sachin Pilot to the North Eastern border areas where it was brought to his notice that ''jawans'' were required to pay Rs 5 per minute for using the satellite phones to make calls to their families.

Pilot, in a separate statement, said, "We have decided to reduce the call rates for satellite phones used in the border areas, from Rs 5 to Re 1."

Promotion Civil Services

2010-04-12T12:09:00.000+05:30

1. About 72 IPS officers of the 1996 batch have been approved for the rank of DIG.

2. 1990 batch IAS Officers file for promotion to the rank of Joint Secretary (= Maj Gen ) in the Government of India is believed to have been cleared by the govt.

Army plans sub-area headquarter in Jagdalpur

2010-04-12T12:00:00.000+05:30

INDIAN EXPRESS

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/army-plans-subarea-headquarter-in-jagdalpur/605019/0

I WONDER : DEEDS SOW THE SEEDS.

The Indian Army’s footprint in the Naxal-infested states of Chhattisgarh and Orissa is all set to increase with an already approved sub-area level headquarter, headed by a Brigadier, coming up shortly at Jagdalpur, another being proposed at Ambarda on the Orissa-West Bengal border and the proposed shifting of the special forces training school from Nahan in Himachal Pradesh to Chakarbhata near Raipur.

Top government sources told The Indian Express that after the Maoist attack on CRPF personnel in Dantewada on April 6, Home Secretary G K Pillai called on Army Chief General V K Singh in South Block and discussed the prospects of synergy between the paramilitary forces and the Army in the fight against the Naxals.

Among the points discussed at the meeting were:

• Paramilitary forces should send homogenous companies of personnel for four-six week induction training with the Army, to infuse camaraderie among the forces. Anti-insurgency operations are group tasks, not individual operations.

• Home and Defence Ministries to sort out the problem of who is going to provide administrative arrangements to the security forces during the induction training. The paramilitary forces say that the Army wants them to make administrative arrangements for trainees.

• Each paramilitary company involved in anti-Naxal duties should identify personnel who could be trained as intelligence scouts so that local intelligence is developed by the forces themselves rather than relying on the state or Intelligence Bureau for every small issue.

• Anti-Naxal operations should be discretely done as there is a serious possibility of sabotage or interception of communication from Maoist sympathisers.

While the government has kept its option open on getting the Army involved in anti-Naxal operations, the military top brass has decided to make its presence felt in the red zone of Central India. The basic idea is to sensitise its own men in the area in case called upon to do the duty.

As a first step, a sub-area level headquarter is going to come up in Jagdalpur in the next six months, while the Orissa government has already offered land for another sub-area headquarter at Ambarda, south of west Midnapore in West Bengal.

However, the most significant development is the proposed shifting of the special forces training school from Nahan to Chakarbhata near Raipur with the Raman Singh government willing to offer nearly 2,700 acres of land with an airport for airborne operations to the Army. The first step in this direction was taken during the visit of then Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor to Chhattisgarh in March 2009.

While the finer details of handing over the airport to the Army are being sorted out between the Defence Ministry and the Civil Aviation Ministry, the Army’s presence will bring not only development but also security to the region apart from on-the-ground training to the paramilitary forces.

Dantewada incident.

2010-04-12T11:48:00.000+05:30

ECONOMIC TIMES

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Standard-procedures-not-followed-CRPF-casual-nonchalant-Prakash-Singh-ex-BSF-chief/articleshow/5770070.cms

I WONDER : Thought for the day "More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren't so busy denying them. "

Three factors could have led to the Dantewada incident. First, lack of coordination and cooperation between the CRPF and the state police. There is a complete lack of understanding between the two — the state police complains about the central forces while the CRPF has reservation about the state police.

Second, if 1,000 Naxals were part of the attack, Chhattisgarh Police should have provided intelligence. There is enough information in the states, but the question is how much of the information is shared. The third factor is complacency on the part of the CRPF; they did not follow standard operating procedures.

It is a well-known fact that in these areas one should not take the beaten track. One is not supposed to use vehicles on the beaten track as it is mined, you must move on foot, as it is less dangerous. The maximum casualties happened due to the explosion. You can only blame the leader for this kind of a situation. Even home minister P Chidambaram said something had horribly gone wrong.

The CRPF was not following standard operating procedures; they were casual and nonchalant. The problem is that there is a tendency to opt for the easy way. I have this uncomfortable feeling that one reason for this is the tremendous expansion of the CRPF. They have increased intake, and you can get manpower given the levels of unemployment. But you need to equip, train and motivate these men. The home ministry should see if the CRPF has the right training. You need to have pre-induction training before sending them to the battlefield.

The state police should bear the brunt. In Punjab, the tide turned after the police took on the terrorists head on. The CRPF, the BSF and the Indian Army play a supporting role. The state police are sons of soil; they know the terrain, the language. They must be motivated, given training and the right kind of equipment. The state police need to be raised to a level to take the Naxals head on. West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar have been lukewarm; they have been reluctant partners. The CRPF when deployed gets battalion from all over, and they have no knowledge of the terrain or the local language.

Soldier, heal thyself

2010-04-06T09:47:00.000+05:30

BUSINESS STANDARD

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/ajai-shukla-soldier-heal-thyself/390930/

I WONDER : I SAID IT EARLIER TOO THE COAS HAS DIAGNOSED THE DISEASE CORRECTLY BUT HE NEEDS TO KNOW THE CAUSE AND ELIMINATE THAT.....

Figuring out the state of an army’s morale is easy. All it takes is a couple of drinks with two groups of people: the officers and the enlisted men. If the chatter is mainly about sports and professional competitions, ongoing training and about how much tougher and smarter they are than their rival units, morale is high. If talk centres on pay and allowances, promotions and postings and on the world outside the army, you can bet money that morale is low. Applying this yardstick to the Indian Army I believe the morale of officers is low, while that of the jawans is high.

In this gloomy assessment I have illustrious company. The new Chief of Army Staff, General VK Singh, on assuming office on the 1st of April, has wisely identified the army’s “internal health” as his key focus. Pointing out that an internally vibrant army would easily swat aside external threats, the army chief has promised to revitalize traditions, core values and the army’s ethos.

Earlier chiefs, some as well-intentioned as General VK Singh, have embarked on similar paths. General K Sundarji, on taking over as chief in 1986, wrote to army officers individually, urging them to follow their professional convictions and promising to tolerate dissent. But that led nowhere as actions failed to follow words. Today, as the new chief implicitly accepts, the army has become a personality cult where officers either conform to the inclinations of the boss or get weeded out. Originality and eccentricity, those priceless attributes of a successful military leader, have been rendered extinct by a dull, humourless routine that is set by what the boss thinks his boss wants.

Keeping the officers in line is a terrible God called the Annual Confidential Report before which even the brightest and most capable officer must kneel or be scythed down. While annual reports are an evaluation tool in many professions, the army has accorded the ACR absolute control of an officer’s career. Considering that this primacy is born of the army’s laudable quest for an impartial, empirical evaluation system, it is ironic that the ACR has turned into a monster of subjectivity. If the boss is unhappy with an officer — for any reason whatsoever — a single lukewarm ACR can sink a brilliant career.

Dismantling this tyranny, and unlocking the potential of his officer corps, is the task ahead for General Singh. This is easier said than done. Blocking any radical change is the tribal ethos of the Indian Army. An officer belongs first to his regiment or battalion; only after that is he an Indian Army officer. An army chief’s first duty is towards the regiment and battalion that nurtured him; reforming the army conflicts with the role of regimental patriarch.

When General JJ Singh, an infantry officer from the Maratha Light Infantry, took over as chief, the honour guard that welcomed him to South Block was from the Marathas. So was his aide-de-camp and most of his personal staff. The tenure of his artillery successor, General Deepak Kapoor, saw the Corps of Artillery quickly muscling out the infantry as the flavour of the month. Upwardly mobile artillery officers were quickly posted into friendly environments, under “friendly” superiors, to ease their paths towards higher ranks.

These are only the most recent examples of the army’s longstanding patriarchal tradition that General VK Singh can now embrace or dismantle. A key step would be the creation of a clearly enunciated promotion policy, printed as a manual and sanctioned by the government, to ensure that each successive chief cannot tinker with the policy to suit his constituency. Today, 63 years after independence, the military has no promotion manual; policy exists only in a constantly revised torrent of letters from the Military Secretary’s branch.

The other major change that General VK Singh could implement is the reversing of promotion quotas to higher rank: the “Mandalisation” of the army as it is evocatively referred to. From the institution of the Prussian General Staff in the early 18th century, professional militaries have employed the criterion of merit alone to select their senior command. For over half a century, so did the Indian Army; but recently, in a burst of patrimonial fervour, quotas were instituted to ensure that each combat arm got its share of the senior ranks. Initiated by artillery and infantry chiefs to safeguard the interests of their officers, the quotas are now favouring less talented officers of other arms.

Few chiefs would voluntarily divest themselves of power but, paradoxically, the institution of the COAS would be greatly strengthened by transparency and the absence of discretion in promotions and postings. It would also free army chiefs from accusations of prejudice; a lever that Ministry of Defence officials — and in one well-known case, a defence minister — have successfully employed to demand favours for their own candidates.

Old... But Still many of us are not knowing much about AVS-2

2010-04-04T08:18:00.000+05:30

PIB

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=43392

In a major step to improve career mobility, to fulfil aspirations and to achieve combat effectiveness by bringing down age profile of commanding officers, the Union Cabinet today approved the Ministry of Defence's proposal for effecting upgradation of 1896 posts in the Services.

Popularly known as Phase-II of the Ajay Vikram Singh Committee Report, the proposals approved today would result in reduction in stagnation. The Defence Minister Shri A K Antony had taken a personal interest in the implementation of the proposal and played a crucial role in evolving a consensus among the Services. The measures taken today will also lead to progressive promotion of junior batches without adversely affecting promotional aspects of senior batches, thereby reducing the age profile of officers in select ranks.

The upgradation will be carried out in the Army over a period of five years, in the Navy over the next ten years and in the Air Force over a period of five years. The total number of posts to be upgraded will be 1051 in the Army, 342 in the Navy and 503 in the Air Force. Of the 1051 posts in the Army, 20 are at the level of Lieutenant General and equivalent, 75 at Major General and equivalent, 222 at Brigadier and equivalent, and 734 at Colonel and equivalent. The corresponding figures in the Navy will be 4 at Vice Admiral and equivalent, 14 at Rear Admiral and equivalent, 324 at Commodore, Captain and equivalent. In the Air Force upgradation will be effected for 6 post at Air Marshal and equivalent, 21 at Air Vice Marshal and equivalent, 61 at Air Commodore and equivalent, 415 at Group Captain and equivalent.

The Cabinet also approved the proposal for the reduction in the regular cadre and corresponding increase in the support cadre consisting of Short Service Commissioned Officers and re-employed officers (for Army) as envisaged in the Ajay Vikram Singh Committee (AVSC) Report and as per requirement of the three Services irrespective of gender.

It may be recalled that the Ministry of Defence had set up a Committee on 16th July, 2001, under the Chairmanship of Shri Ajay Vikram Singh, the then Special Secretary with representatives of the three Services with an aim to achieve 'combat effectiveness' by bringing down the age profile of battalion / brigade level commanders. The Committee submitted its report on February 2003 and the Raksha Mantri accorded in principle approval to the report in September 2003. AVSC Phase-I in respect of non-select ranks i.e. Lieutenant Colonel and equivalent and below was implemented in December 2004.

Promotion IPS

2010-04-02T09:10:00.000+05:30

1994 batch IPS officers to be IG in Haryana.

New chief vows to fix Army's 'internal health'

2010-04-02T09:03:00.000+05:30

TIMES OF INDIA

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/New-chief-vows-to-fix-Armys-internal-health/articleshow/5752194.cms

I WONDER : THE DISEASE HAS BEEN RIGHTLY DIAGNOSED . I HOPE LIKE A PROFESSIONAL DOCTOR ITS CAUSES REPEAT CAUSES AND PREVENTIVE MEASURES TOO ARE KNOWN TO HIM

NEW DELHI: As a third-generation officer, General Vijay Kumar Singh knows the poison of corruption and indiscipline is slowly but surely contaminating the once pristine environs of the armed forces. On his first full working day as the 24th army chief, he spelt out his top priority: improving the Army's "internal health".

Taking charge of the 1.13-million strong Indian Army, Gen Singh said fast modernization to build "a networked force" capable of operating in "a digitized battlefield", equal focus on the two-and-a-half fronts (China, Pakistan and counter-insurgency) and enhanced synergy with Navy-IAF would be his major thrust areas.

The message on day one was loud and clear: he means business on the corruption front. `Crackdown' is too strong a word but yes, the Army needs to ensure it retains its robust moral fibre of yore.

"Army has very strong traditions, core values and way of working, and that is what I want to emphasize. For any organization to do well, it must ensure its internal health is good. Till our internal health is not good, we cannot fight well outside," said Gen Singh.

"We have to set our own culture right. We have to ensure the image and dignity of our soldiers is upheld. To that extent, our core values, our ethos, traditions will receive due attention," he added.

This comes in the backdrop of a flurry of scandals hitting the force, ranging from liquor, meat, cereal, petrol and other scams to even sexual harassment cases, in recent times. The Sukna land scam case, in which as many as four generals were indicted by a court of inquiry, in fact, even cast a shadow on the Army chief's high office.

The oft-repeated argument that the Army draws its rank and file from the society at large, which is facing a general decline in standards of probity and integrity, does not hold water for the straight-talking new chief.
"Armed forces have their own value systems, which have to be different from civil society. As a third-generation officer, I feel that way," said Gen Singh.

Turning to the other challenges ahead, Gen Singh said the new focus on the long-neglected eastern sector did not mean the Army -- which is raising two new mountain infantry divisions and an artillery brigade for Arunachal Pradesh and Assam -- was shifting its priorities from the western front with Pakistan to the eastern one with China.

"As a country, we have challenges everywhere. We are very well prepared to tackle them. It's only that over the last two years, we have realigned the focus in the East, which is the future of India," said Gen Singh.

There is `concern' over China's rapid modernization of its 2.25-million People's Liberation Army, which is not restricted to just the Tibetan Autonomous Region but spreads all across.

"They are working to make their forces more capable of working in a digitized battlefield. We also have to ensure we become a networked force, capable of working in a joint services environment," he said.

The chief will push hard for Army's modernization, stretching from heavy 155mm artillery guns to basic infantry gear, to ensure better operational readiness across the entire spectrum of conflict. "I am looking at ensuring our deficiencies are made up in a shorter timeframe," he said.

He also articulated the Army's well-known opposition to both withdrawal of the iron-fisted Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from Jammu and Kashmir and being dragged into combating Naxalism, which is more of a law and order, socio-economic problem, "not a secessionist movement".

Apex court slams government for mistreating army officer

2010-04-02T08:57:00.000+05:30

SIFY

http://sify.com/news/apex-court-slams-government-for-mistreating-army-officer-news-national-kebtadahfig.html

I WONDER : AGHAST......

The Supreme Court has lashed at the Union government for mistreating an Indian Army officer and denying him his due wages despite the officer suffering crippling injuries in an accident that he met while on duty.

'We regret to say that the army officers and the army men in our country are being treated in a shabby manner by the government,' a bench of Justice Markandey Katju and Justice A K. Patnaik said Wednesday.

The apex court rued the mistreatment to the army officers and men by the government while dismissing its appeal against a Punjab and Haryana High Court order that asked the government to grant pension to army officer C.S. Sidhu after taking into account his full period of service till June 1978, when he actually retired from service.

Sidhu joined the Indian Army on short service commission in June 1968 and met with a crippling accident in November 1970. The accident eventually led to amputation of his right arm, and he also suffered a compound fracture of his thigh and jaw bone.

As Sidhu met with the accident in 1970, the army while calculating his pension considered his working tenure only till November 1970 despite the fact that he was eventually released from service in 1978.

The army accordingly fixed a very low pension for Sidhu.

'In this case, the respondent (Sidhu), who was posted at a high-altitude field area and met with an accident during discharge of his duties, was granted a meagre pension of around Rs.1,000. This is a pittance,' said the bench.

'If this is the manner in which army personnel are treated, it can only be said that it is extremely unfortunate. Army personnel are bravely defending the country even at the cost of their lives, and we feel that they should be treated in a better and more humane manner by the governmental authorities, particularly in respect of their emoluments, pension and other benefits,' the bench said.

Ordnance Corps headless for 2 yrs

2010-03-28T07:44:00.000+05:30

THE TRIBUNE

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100328/nation.htm#8

Army Ordnance Corps (AOC), the key logistics branch responsible for weapons, ammunition and equipment, has been headless for past about two years as four of its senior most generals have been embroiled in graft cases. This is perhaps the highest number of generals from a single branch to face graft charges concurrently.

According to sources, a court of inquiry that concluded at New Delhi a few days ago, held Maj Gen GS Narula blameworthy for lapses in procurement of equipment and recommended action against him. Presided by Lt Gen P. Mohapatra, Signals Officer-in-Chief at Army Headquarters, had investigated irregularities in the procurement of items of personal clothing and personal kits for troops proceeding on UN assignments.

The inquiry had been ordered in December after Lok Sabha member Harsh Vardhan reportedly wrote to Defence Minister AK Antony earlier this year, highlighting irregularities in procurement of supplies for troops on UN missions. According to the letter, some items were procured at double the cost and the loss to the Army on this count was Rs 2.82 crore. Narula was posted as Additional Director-General (ADG) in the Ordnance Directorate at Army HQs at the time the said purchases were made. Earlier, two other Maj Generals, who had also served on the same post as Narula, have been held blameworthy by the courts of inquiries. Sources said summary of evidence (SOE) in case of Maj Gen Anil Swarup is currently underway at Jammu.

Swarup, who has been attached to the Yol-based 9 Corps, was blamed by the CoI for procuring generators, cables and boots at inflated prices. Swarup moved the Armed Forces Tribunal, challenging the proceedings against him and the case is expected to come up for hearing later this month.

The third officer, Maj Gen SP Sinha, at present posted at Chandimandir, was accused of irregularities in the purchase of general stores for the ordnance depot at Choeki. Inferior goods were allegedly bought at inflated prices.

Then there is a case of Maj Gen AK Kapur, against who the CBI filed a chargesheet for possessing assets disproportionate to known sources of income. A Maj General from the AOC has recently been approved for promotion to the rank of Lt General. There are two vacancies of Lt General in the AOC, one of Director-General Ordnance Services at Army Headquarters and the other as Commandant of the AOC Centre at Secunderabad.

1997 IAS Offrs get GP of 10000/- in Tripura

2010-03-22T12:17:00.000+05:30

Five IAS officers of 1997 batch have been granted Super-Time Scale( GP 10000/-) in the state of Tripura. They are namely : Dilip , L Darlong, Santanu Das, Kishore Ambuly , Samarjit Bhowmik and Vijoy Debbarma. (whispers)

Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.......

2010-03-20T16:04:00.000+05:30

THE TIMES OF INDIA

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/GENERAL-IN-THE-HOOD/articleshow/5704928.cms

Those who know him say he is a brooder. But those who know him well will tell you that's just one of the layers to the deeply complicated and thinking mind of Pakistan army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. The bluster that marked Musharraf has been dumped for quiet gravitas as the man from Rawalpindi goes about turning friends like the US and Britain into closer allies and outmanoeuvering not-so-friendly neighbours like India and Afghanistan at international fora. In a country brought to its knees by terror, corruption and an inept political system, the former ISI chief is putting up a masterly show as he calls the shots.

Sitting with foreign minister S M Krishna this February, US defence secretary Robert Gates said he was going to Pakistan the next day. So who was he going to meet? Oh, a number of people, said Gates, but his most important conversation would be with Pakistan army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. "Why not Zardari?" asked Krishna, referring to the Pakistan president. "Because Kayani is the most important man out there," Gates said matter-of-factly . And Gates should know - in Washington, he's often described as the most powerful defence secretary Pentagon has had in a long while.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, this low-profile general has emerged from the shadows. The obvious ineptitude of the Pakistan political establishment seems to have finally helped burnish the credentials of the Pakistan Army whose reputation was in tatters in the final days of the last military dictator, General Pervez Musharraf. And with its return has emerged its boss Kayani. Compared to Zardari's gang that just can't shoot straight, many in Pakistan seem to view the Army chief as a better bargain - although it's debatable that they'll want a return to military rule.

As boss of Pakistan's infamous spy agency ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence), Kayani had a reputation for being slightly nervous. It would now appear that he was being circumspect rather than nervous. As the civil government got its knickers in a twist every so often, the general quietly plotted the return of the military to its position of pre-eminence in Pakistan society.

He has since quietly started calling the shots. Remember how Zardari promised to send the ISI chief Shuja Pasha to India after the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, and how Kayani vetoed him? That was just the beginning of his new assertiveness.

But who is this man really? Is he a bumbling military brass in the mould of Yahya Khan, who lost East Pakistan because of his ham-handed ways, or is he a modern-day version of the suave Ayub Khan, Pakistan's first military dictator who introduced the army to the intoxication of political power? Or is Kayani just a product of circumstances, the man who is willy-nilly filling up the political vacuum created by the messy management of Zardari & Co?

Details about the 57-year-old Kayani are somewhat sketchy. He doesn't have the kind of privileged background that most Pakistan military brass does. His father, Lehrasab, was a naib subedar in the army - in other words, a non-commissioned officer. Born in Rawalpindi in Punjab, Kayani came up the hard way after being commissioned in 1971, the year of the Bangladesh War.

Those who have seen him up close say Kayani is the brooding type. He was given to long, solitary walks until November 2007, when Gen Musharraf named him the army chief - thereafter, it was no longer possible for him to remain unattended. Kayani is a chain smoker - he reportedly lights up every 15 minutes - and is given to long drags on his cigarette as he engages in deep listening during briefings by his trusted commanders. It's said he interrupts only to seek either a clarification or elucidation of a point.

Kayani's slightly unnerving silence contrasts strongly with Musharraf's volubility. But it would be stupid to infer from this that he has little to say. They say Kayani has a lot more going on in his head. He is also a Pakistan army "traditionalist" which means his worldview is India-centric . The eastern neighbour, India, is seen by the army as enemy No1, and policies and responses flow from that basic understanding.

UNFRIENDLY NEIGHBOUR
A strategically shrewd army chief, Kayani doesn't count India among Pakistan's allies - something that is likely to make him appear in New Delhi to be more dangerous than someone like Musharraf. In any case, since it's Kayani who holds the reins, New Delhi would do well to sit up and take notice of this man.

It needs to know whether Kayani's anti-India stance is a strategic move to bind together the army at a time when political parties in Pakistan are slipping fast into an inchoate body of disparate noises, and when the people see the solidity of the army as a source of reassurance. Or is it genetically coded - that come what may, he will be hostile towards India.

Says a top Indian official, "On a scale of 1 to 10 for anti-India sentiment, if Musharraf was at 5, Kayani is at 8." "And as he is seen increasingly to be in control, it's bad news for us."

Kayani started out as an apolitical army chief. Now as he is in the driving seat in Pakistan, he is showing political sense. The way he has latched on to the water issue between India and Pakistan to drum up paranoia about India "starving" Pakistan of water shows he knows how to press the emotive buttons. When India offered foreign secretary-level talks with Pakistan, Islamabad took its time to respond, allegedly because Kayani hadn't given his nod; he wanted a composite dialogue that would include Kashmir, and not just terror. And it was Kayani who gave directions to Pakistan's foreign secretary, Salman Bashir, when he came to New Delhi to meet Nirupama Rao.

Significantly, the day before, Kayani told the defence committee of the National Assembly that the army under him would remain "India-centric" . "India has the capability, intentions can change overnight," he told legislators.

G Parthasarathy, who was high commissioner to Islamabad, says, "Gen Kayani represents an institutional hostility towards India because promoting it enables the army to dominate Pakistan without responsibility. Given the fact that he is the de facto ruler of Pakistan, India should be prepared for more covert and overt hostility directed at it from Pakistani soil."

The quiet rise of Kayani hasn't gone unnoticed in capitals around the world. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton spends more time with Kayani than with the civvies. Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who has had a testy relationship with the Pakistani army, is mending fences with it. Pakistan's strategic outreach is being managed by Kayani: He made a much talked about power-point presentation at the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) headquarters in Brussels on how he could help the West get out of Afghanistan; he talked turkey with the Turks on keeping control of a key conference in Istanbul on Afghanistan's future; and he's assumed the role of the point person on 'reconciliation' with Taliban.

This week, Kayani will be the pre-eminent member of the Pakistan delegation at a strategic dialogue with Washington where demand No.1 will be a nuclear deal like the one signed with India, apart from agreements on more mundane matters like trade and agriculture. In preparation for the talks, Kayani presided over a meeting of government secretaries on Tuesday, the first time that top-level bureaucrats have been called to army headquarters in a civilian regime.

WOWING THE WEST
It was not always so, even as recently as in 2009. Through most of last year, Pakistan, and its army, were on the back foot. Terrorists in Swat and other parts of FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) and NWFP (North-West Frontier Province) were on the rampage and inching towards Islamabad, setting off alarm bells the world over. To make matters worse, there was talk of the army playing fast and loose with the Americans as well as with the Taliban. The US media was awash with CIA leaks on how Kayani had described Afghan Taliban leader Sirajuddin Haqqani as a 'strategic asset'.

There was little trust between the two sides.

Cut to January 2010, and the scenario had changed dramatically. Pakistan had 'fixed' the trust problem with the Americans. In July 2008, when Kayani and ISI chief Shuja Pasha were 'summoned' by General David Petraeus, head of the US Central Command, to be scolded about Islamabad's misdemeanors, especially the attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul, it was a low point for a country which had tomtommed its "shared anxieties'' with America.

By the end of 2009, Kayani was taking the US joint chief of staff chairman Mike Mullen and US commander in Afghanistan Stanley Mc-Crystal on helicopter rides in Swat and Waziristan to show progress in his battle against the Taliban. Pakistan had effectively re-established itself in the West as a part of the solution, even as it continued to be a part of the problem.

Kayani's message to the NATO brass in January, made adroitly yet forcefully through a 62-slide presentation, was disarmingly simple: Pakistan had a strategic future in Afghanistan well beyond the US presence and should not be taken lightly. This meant the government in Kabul had to be mindful of Pakistani interests; and India had to be out of Afghanistan, or at the very least, needed to greatly reduce its presence.

Kayani scored another big victory at the January 28 London conference on the future of Afghanistan. The idea promoted by the British and backed by the US, that Pakistan would be the lead player in the Taliban 'reconciliation' process, was met with enthusiastic response. The army chief came out smelling of roses, confident in his belief that he had successfully outmanoeuvered India even as New Delhi fumbled in its opposition to the Taliban being accommodated.

This was quite a contrast to Musharraf's last days, when the army stumbled from one political miscalculation to another and ended up with the disastrous storming of Islamabad's Lal Masjid where radical imams were threatening the state. Meanwhile, the Tehreek-e-Taliban was growing in strength and firepower with a string of terror attacks throughout Pakistan, leading up to the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

Worryingly for the hawks, Musharraf had also found a common language with Manmohan Singh and back-channel talks with India hinted at some sort of non-territorial adjustment in Kashmir. His 'out-of-the-box' proposals on Kashmir as well as 'tactical restraint' on the Kashmir jihad between 2004 and 2007 undermined the traditional mindset. As both Siachen and Sir Creek remained unresolved, there rose many voices within the Pakistan military establishment questioning the wisdom of abandoning the old position of bleeding India.

BACK TO BRASS TACKS
Enter Kayani, with a 18-handicap in golf and a Plan. Admiral Mullen recently gushed in Time magazine: "Gen Kayani commands an army with troops fighting in what President Barack Obama has rightly called the 'most dangerous place in the world.' He's lost more than 1,000 soldiers in that fight. He knows the stakes. He's got a plan."

Convinced of the centrality of the army as the bulwark of the Pakistan state, Kayani was bringing back to it its robbed glory and quintessential values. He has figured that the only way to regain influence for Pakistan would be to somehow make the Taliban a part of the power structure in Kabul and help the US pack its bags. That would force India to leave Afghanistan and help Pakistan regain control of the region.

Until that happens, Kayani knows the India bogey has to be kept alive and leveraged against Pakistan's efforts at taming the Taliban. Against the US's better judgment, but impelled by recession and public opinion, Washington is giving the Kayani worldview more than a nod and a wink. Washington's approach to Islamabad is old-fashioned bribery: sophisticated military toys are winging their way to Pakistan as 'incentive' to fight the Taliban.

It knows full well that these weapons will actually be directed against India. As an Indian official explained, "Kayani is pegging the modernisation of the Pak army on US money." By end-2010 , Pakistan will get an additional $3.4 billion in military aid from the US, bringing the total up to almost $12 billion since 2003.

IT'S IN HIS BLOOD
Kayani cut his teeth in the army during the Bangladesh war. Thirty years later as director-general military operations (DGMO), he directed the 10-month stand-off with the Indian army. He earned his spurs with Musharraf when he conducted, with efficiency and confidentiality, the investigation into the assassination bids on Musharraf in 2003. Musharraf has himself reminisced that until Kayani took over, the investigation was a mess. It led to his appointment as DG-ISI in 2004.

Revision Of Pay Scales

2010-03-20T15:49:00.000+05:30

I WONDER : WILL IT AFFECT FAUJI'S? I DON'T KNOW!!!!!

No.AB.14017/61/2008-Estt. (RR)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, P.G. & Pensions
(Department of Personnel & Training)
New Delhi

Dated, the 12th March, 2010.

OFFICE MEMORANDUM

Subject:- Sixth Central Pay Commission's recommendations - revision of pay scales - amendment of Service Rules / Recruitment Rules

***

The undersigned is directed to invite reference to this Department's OM of even number dated 24th March, 2009 on the above subject.

2. In the Annexure to the said OM, the entries pertaining to the following grades may be revised as under:-

Sl. No.      From       To          Minimum qualifying service
    1.          1800     1900                     3 Years
    25.        10000   HAG                    3 Years
    26.        HAG     HAG + Scale     1 Year
    27.        HAG     Apex Scale         2 years

3. Hindi version will follow.

(J.A. Vaidyanathan)
Deputy Secretary to the Government of India

Upgradation on anvil.....

2010-03-20T07:59:00.003+05:30

I WONDER : FOR ARMY ONLY 33% LT GENs CAN MAKE IT TO THIS SCALE.

50 per cent posts of Chief Commissioners in the Central Board of Excise & Customs (CBEC) will soon be put in the higher pay scale of Rs.75000 to Rs. 79000.

Eastern Army Cdr

2010-03-18T19:57:00.000+05:30

Lt Gen Bikram Singh is likely to take over as new army cdr eastern command.

Women Officers in Army

2010-03-16T08:07:00.001+05:30

PTI

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=59630

The present strength of women officers is 1012 in the Army (excluding Army Medical Corps, Army Dental Corps and Military Nursing Service). Twelve women officers in the Army are due to retire in 2010 after 14 years of service. As per the present policy, the tenure of both women and men Short Service Commissioned Officers is ten years extendable upto 14 years. Both women and men are inducted in the Short Service Commission in the Army. Women officers serving in the Army are entitled to the same benefits as available to similarly placed men officers. However, women SSC officers are not eligible for being considered for grant of Permanent Commission in all Branches. Permanent Commission to SSC (Women) officers have been granted prospectively in Judge Advocate General (JAG) Department and Army Education Corps (AEC) of Army. Women officers in the Indian Army are not assigned to the combat arms. A study carried out by HQrs Integrated Defence Staff in 2006 on all aspects of employment of women officers in the armed forces, recommended exclusion of women officers from close combat roles.

The number of cases of alleged exploitation/harassment of women officers in the Armed Forces reported during the last three years, service wise is as follows:

	Total number of cases	Punished awarded	Disciplinary proceedings/court of inquiry/general court martial are in progress	Complaint found baseless
Army	06	03	02	01
Air Force	05	03	02	-
Navy	01	01	-	-

Some of the important actions taken to check recurrence of sexual harassment cases are as under:

(i) Orders have been issued on definition of sexual harassment and procedure to deal with such complaints.

(ii) Instructions have been issued emphasising ‘Zero Tolerance’ towards sexual harassment cases.

This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in separate written replies to Smt Yashodhara Raje Scindia and Shri Rakesh Sachan in Lok Sabha today.

DA Incr....

2010-03-12T14:54:00.000+05:30

DA wef 01 Jan 2010 is going to be 35%, an increase of 8% over the existing rate of 27%. The increase is likely to be declared soon.

women power....

2010-03-12T14:45:00.000+05:30

NDTV

http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/women-air-force-officers-score-big-victory-in-court-17605.php

In a landmark judgment, the Indian Air Force has been ordered to grant permanent commission to women officers.

A group of women officers had approached the court to get equal rights with male officers.

They will now get permanent commission on completion of their fixed tenure of 15 years, along with financial benefits.

It should be pointed out that permanent commission does not mean that women will be given an opportunity to serve in the fighting arms - this is a decision which has still not been taken. Women who work as medical officers have been entitled to full tenure in the past, but women pilots and officers serving in areas like Administration, Logistics, Air Traffic, Engineering and were granted only a 15 year term.

NEW DG-INF.....

2010-03-12T08:08:00.000+05:30

THE TRIBUNE

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100312/nation.htm#2

Lieutenant General SN Handa will take over as the Director General of Infantry of the Indian Army tomorrow.Commissioned on November 14, 1971 into the 5th Battalion of the 3rd Gorkha Rifles on the eve of the Indo-Pak War of 1971, the General has served along the borders of the country from Rajasthan and Punjab in the West to Jammu and Kashmir in the North, Himachal-Tibet Border in the Centre and Sikkim, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh in the East.

He commanded his battalion at Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab at the peak of militancy in the state from 1990-93. He has also commanded a brigade during Op Parakram.

Do You Know....

2010-03-11T17:32:00.000+05:30

The PVC was established on 26 January 1950, by the President of India, with effect from 15 August 1947, and presently it is the second highest award of the Government of India, after the Bharat Ratna . This amendment in the statute was done on 26 January 1980.

SC relief to officers over pay anomalies

2010-03-10T07:46:00.002+05:30

I WONDER: I HOPE IT WILL HAVE SOME POSITIVE IMPLICATIONS ON 6TH CPC TOO OR MAY BE WE MAY HAVE TO FILE A FRESH CASE TO CORRECT FIXATION OF 6TH CPC PAYS IN THE LIGHT OF THIS DECISION.

THE TRIBUNE

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100310/nation.htm#9

Ruling that rank pay forms part of basic salary, the Supreme Court, in a significant decision affecting thousands of armed forces personnel, granted arrears arising out of anomalies in the fixation of pay consequent to the Fourth Pay Commission.

Upholding an earlier High Court ruling, the apex court has also ordered that interest at the rate of 6 per cent be paid on the arrears. The Fourth Pay Commission recommendations were implemented with effect from January 1, 1986.

Legal experts are of the opinion that this would require re-fixation of pay based on the Fourth and in some cases Fifth Pay Commission. Though the calculation of the exact amount of arrears could be a time consuming and tedious exercise, some officers estimate that they could amount from several thousand rupees to a few lakh rupees, depending upon the rank and length of reckonable service of an individual.

After the Fourth Pay Commission, an integrated pay scale of Rs 2,300-5,100 was implemented for officers from the rank of second lieutenant to brigadier. In addition, rank pay ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 1,200 was authorised to officers from the rank of captain to brigadier, which was to be added into the basic pay for all intents and purposes.

However, while fixing the pay in the new scales, an amount equal to the rank pay was deducted from the emoluments resulting in financial loss to all affected officers. Hence all officers holding the rank of captain to brigadier as on January 1986 suffered cumulative losses.

Deciding a case filed by Maj AK Dhanapalan, the Kerala High Court had termed this deduction of rank pay as illegal. An SLP filed by the Union government against this order was also dismissed, though not on merits but on technical grounds of limitation.

Soon thereafter, many similar petitions were filed in various high courts all over the country. These were clubbed together and transferred to the Supreme Court to be heard along with an SLP of similar nature that had arisen out of a case that was allowed on the basis of the judgement in Dhalapalan’s case.

The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the judgement in Dhalapalan’s case, delivered in 1998, and the apex court granted relief to all similarly placed officers. Some officers had also contended that incorrect fixation for pay in 1986 also had an adverse effect in pay fixation during subsequent pay commissions.

A large number of veterans and ex-servicemen’s organisations had also written to the defence minister and the prime minister in this regard. In their letters to the government, some veterans had estimated that about 40,000 to 50,000 officers, both serving and retired including widows would be directly affected.

Military Murphy's Laws

2010-03-07T11:47:00.003+05:30

SOURCE : INTERNET

MY FAVORITE FOR THE PROFESSIONAL INDIAN ARMY : "Professionals are predictable, its the amateurs that are dangerous."

1. Friendly fire - isn't.

2. Recoilless rifles - aren't.
3. Suppressive fires - won't.
4. You are not Superman; Marines and fighter pilots take note.
5. A sucking chest wound is Nature's way of telling you to slow down.
6. If it's stupid but it works, it isn't stupid.
7. Try to look unimportant; the enemy may be low on ammo and not want to waste a bullet on you.
8. If at first you don't succeed, call in an air strike.
9. If you are forward of your position, your artillery will fall short.
10. Never share a foxhole with anyone braver than yourself.
11. Never go to bed with anyone crazier than yourself.
12. Never forget that your weapon was made by the lowest bidder.
13. If your attack is going really well, it's an ambush.
14. The enemy diversion you're ignoring is their main attack.
15. The enemy invariably attacks on two occasions:
a. When they're ready.
b. When you're not.
16. No OPLAN ever survives initial contact.
17. There is no such thing as a perfect plan.
18. Five second fuses always burn three seconds.
19. There is no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole.
20. A retreating enemy is probably just falling back and regrouping.
21. The important things are always simple; the simple are always hard.
22. The easy way is always mined.
23. Teamwork is essential; it gives the enemy other people to shoot at.
24. Don't look conspicuous; it draws fire. For this reason, it is not at all uncommon for aircraft carriers to be known as bomb magnets.
25. Never draw fire; it irritates everyone around you.

FOR MANY MORE VISIT HERE : http://www.military-quotes.com/murphy.htm

OFFICER INTAKE CONTINUOUSLY FALLING.....

2010-03-03T07:49:00.000+05:30

I WONDER : BOUND TO HAPPEN INSTEAD OF ADDRESSING CORE ISSUES WE ARE LOWERING SSB STANDARDS AND OPENING ANOTHER OTA IN BIHAR. LEAST REALISING THAT HR POLICY CLEARLY STATES "MONEY IS A NECESSARY BUT NOT SUFFICIENT CONDITION TO ATTRACT AND HOLD CAPABLE CANDIDATES."

Officer Intake hits new low:

http://www.stratpost.com/armys-officer-intake-hits-new-low

Promotions IPS...

2010-03-02T17:03:00.000+05:30

Eight 1996 batch IPS officers have been promoted to the rank of DIG in Andhra Pradesh. They are Mssrs S Bagchi, Charu Sinha, Anil Kumar, VC Sajjanar, N Sanjay, Ms Bhavana Saxena, Naveen Chand and Surya Prakash.

AVS-2 BENEFITS INF AND ARTY ONLY........

2010-03-01T21:53:00.000+05:30

STRATPOST

http://www.stratpost.com/50-lt-cols-promoted

The Indian Army’s results for the promotion of officers to the rank of full Colonel are out. The good news is that more than fifty per cent of infantry and artillery Lieutenant Colonels from the batch of 1994 will get their red collar dogs, with the increase in the number of vacancies due to the AV Singh committee’s recommendations. 55 per cent of the artillery officers and 53 per cent of the infantry officers under scrutiny have been promoted to the rank of Colonel.

Officers from the armored and mechanized infantry have not, however, benefited much from these recommendations because of the comparatively smaller number of vacancies available at the rank of Colonel. Less than 40 per cent of the 1993-batch armored officers under consideration have been approved.

While in infantry regiments there is a ratio of 21 junior officers to a Colonel, in armored regiments the proportion is roughly 26 junior officers to a Colonel.

Significantly, across all the arms and services, all officers having attended Technical Staff College courses at the Institute of Armament Technology in Pune have been approved for promotion. Also, more than 90 per cent of the infantry and artillery officers who have passed staff college courses at the Defense Services Staff College in Wellington have been promoted, with the figure swelling to 100 per cent in the case of armored officers.

The purpose of the AV Singh committee’s recommendations was to effect a general reduction in the age of the commanding officers of the units of the fighting arms.

But while this result has shown an increase in the number of officers getting promoted, there is still dissatisfaction at the number of officers who can no longer hope for further promotion. “Half the number of army officers still find their career progression blocked. In contrast to civil and police service officers, the army will still be a dead-end for many Lieutenant Colonels,” said one officer, who did not wish to be named, as he was not authorized to speak on this issue.

The percentage of Lieutenant Colonels promoted is only in the context of the existing officer strength of the Indian Army. This percentage would be diluted, and fall, if the army were to achieve its sanctioned officer strength of more than 45,000.

yesterday and today....

2010-02-28T21:02:00.003+05:30

THE LINK IS HERE: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100227/jsp/bengal/story_12158367.jsp

Slain Capt let go cushy jobs to serve country

2010-02-25T07:26:00.000+05:30

I WONDER : MUST READ FOR THOSE.... WHO FEEL THAT PEOPLE OPT FOR ARMY ONLY AS A LAST RESORT. I SALUTE CAPT. DEVENDRA SINGH , INFORMATION WARRIOR TURNED PARA COMMANDO......

THE TIMES OF INDIA

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Slain-Capt-let-go-cushy-jobs-to-serve-country/articleshow/5613687.cms

GHAZIABAD: He let go cushy offers from the corporate sector to serve the country. And true to his conviction, the 26-year-old laid down his life fighting terrorists in the insurgency-hit valleys of Jammu and Kashmir. The only son of his parents, Captain Devendra Singh (26) sacrificed his life in an armed encounter with militants on Tuesday.

Though the martyr did his engineering and masters in business administration (MBA), he always cherished a dream to be a part of the Indian Army, said his shell-shocked but proud Bhupendra Singh. He joined the Army in 2007.

‘‘It was the happiest day of his life. Since he had an engineering background, he was inducted into the signals wing. But, his adventurous spirit took him to the para commandos. He volunteered to join it. I told him it involved a lot of risk, but he retorted: ‘I do not bother about any risk’,’’ recalled his father, who retired as a senior executive in the Ghaziabad-based firm, Dabur.

The grieving father said that he never came in the way of his son’s career choice.

‘‘Devendra, who did his schooling from Guru Harkishan Public School near India Gate in New Delhi, always wanted to be in the Army. I told him that he should simply pursue his passion. I never came in the way of his sister choosing her own career. And, she (Harpreet) has opted to become a professor at Jamia Milia Islamia in Delhi,’’ said Bhupendra, adding that his son was also a great dancer and singer.

The late captain’s father said that his son came home to Indirapuram last October when his grandmother had passed away.
‘‘On Tuesday morning, I had a premonition that something was wrong with my son. And, at 7 pm, his commanding officer called to say that Devendra had died doing his duty,’’ he said.