1997 BATCH IPS GET INTO GP 8700 IN RAJASTHAN...

IMPORTANT : 1997 BATCH FAUJI's STILL IN GP OF 6600..............

As many as 11 IPS officers of the 1997 batch have been elevated to the selection grade by the Rajasthan government. They are: Vishal Bansal SP A.C.B. Jaipur, Vijay Kumar Singh A.D.C. to Governor Rajasthan, Hawa Singh Ghumaria SP Inlelligence Jaipur, S. Sengathir SP CBI S.C.B. Chennai, Gurcharan Rai SP Karauli, Dr. Girraj Lal Meena SP Chittorgarh, Gajanand Verma SP CID CB Jaipur, Girdhari Lal Sharma SP Kota Rural Kota, Mohan Singh Nitharwal SP Hanumangarh , Devendra Singh SP Dausa & Ravi Kant Mittal SP Pratapgarh .

Antony: CRPF to control J-K highways from Jan 15

THE TRIBUNE
 

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2010/20100113/main5.htm

With an improved situation on the terror front in the state, the Army’s visibility would be far less from January 15 onwards, as Defence Minister AK Antony today announced that the CRPF would take control of the highways and the police would have a greater role in urban areas.

Besides, the Defence Minister said his ministry had written to the Home Ministry to give instructions to the security forces to discontinue the use of “combat” uniform to ensure their lesser visibility. The minister said this while addressing the top brass of various security forces and agencies at the Unified Headquarters in Jammu today.

He disclosed that on the request of the Defence Ministry, the Home Ministry had issued instructions to the CRPF to take over the entire responsibility of the opening of roads on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway-1A from January 15. “This has been done to reduce the visibility of the Army, without in any way, diluting our counter-terrorist grid,” he added.

Antony said a request had also been sent to the MHA to issue instructions for the discontinuation of the use of combat uniform by all central police organisations and the state police.

The minister, however, did not make any statement on troop withdrawal from the state, which was the main demand of the state government. He asked the security agencies not to be complacent and work towards consolidating the gains achieved in the last couple of years.

Antony said year 2010 may prove to be crucial as forces inimical to stability and peace in the state would make all-out efforts to neutralise the gains of 2008 and 2009, when the state witnessed considerable improvement in the security situation.

“The incidents of the first week of January in the valley are indicative of the shape of things to come,” the Defence Minister said in reference to the terrorist attack in the Lal Chowk area of Srinagar.Antony said time had now come for the state police to shoulder far greater responsibility, particularly in major towns, in tackling the threat of terrorism. However, the handing over of the responsibility must be meticulously planned and undertaken in a gradual, phased manner,” he said.

Taking part in the deliberations, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah requested the Defence Minister to explore the possibility of recruiting more youth from the state in the three armed forces.

Revealed: What army won’t say about Bengal land scam

 THE TELEGRAPH

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100113/jsp/frontpage/story_11977983.jsp

New Delhi, Jan. 12: Yesterday’s scam is today’s strategic blunder. But Fort William came in between.

An investigation by the Eastern Command of the Indian Army has found that senior officers, including the top aide to the army chief, overrode national security concerns to strike a deal with a realtor in north Bengal’s Siliguri Corridor, the strategic “Chicken’s Neck” that runs between three international boundaries and connects the Northeast with the rest of the country.

On Monday, army headquarters issued showcause notices for administrative action against military secretary Lt Gen. Avadhesh Prakash, Lt Gen. Ramesh Halgali and Maj. Gen. P. Sen and disciplinary proceedings (that may lead to a court martial) against Lt Gen. P.K. Rath.

Meagre information that trickled out on the “Sukna land scam” from army headquarters has so far painted a story of corruption. Even today, sources in army headquarters insisted that there was no “scam”, a view that reflects the opinion of the realtor, Dilip Agarwal, too.

That might as well be true. The investigation has found much more than hands in the till. The findings and the opinion of the court of inquiry that was convened by the Eastern Army commander, Lt Gen. V.K. Singh, in Fort William invest far greater strategic importance in the case.

It has found that the 33 Corps, headquartered in Sukna, was facilitating underhand commerce in a corridor it is tasked to protect militarily. The area of responsibility of the 33 Corps is on the China front and includes territory in Sikkim, north Bengal and Bhutan.

But officers commanding it and the military secretary, in charge of posting the officers and troops, not only ignored security concerns in allowing a commercial project on land adjacent to its headquarters but also actively facilitated Agarwal’s venture.

They bent rules, altered policies, escorted the realtor, ignored the higher (Eastern) command, tailored formal agreements to suit the deal and put pressure on juniors to hurry it through while they kept suppressing evidence, the court of inquiry has found. All the while, the military secretary was in constant touch with Agarwal.

Lt Gen. Prakash introduced Agarwal to the 33 Corps commander and deputy chief-designate (now the appointment has been cancelled), Lt Gen. Rath, as a family friend, the court of inquiry says in its report forwarded to army headquarters.

Agarwal used to visit the military secretary in his house in Delhi. Agarwal and Lt Gen. Prakash were likely to have met when the military secretary served as commander of the Indian Military Training Team (Imtrat) in Bhutan, within the 33 Corps’ area of responsibility.

Agarwal issued a media release in Siliguri on December 31 in which he said: “The question of an ‘army land scam’ does not arise. The land never belonged to the army and the controversy is unnecessary.”

Today, a day after the showcause notices were issued, an army headquarters source said he did not know why the Eastern Army commander had recommended such strong action (“termination of service”) against the military secretary because “we never owned the land and, therefore, there is no scam”.

What army headquarters’ spin meisters are conveniently ignoring is that the force was actually in the process of acquiring the land from the Bengal government because of security concerns. The Bengal government appreciated these concerns and had conveyed to the army that it was “favourably disposed” towards transferring the land.

The controversy relates to a “tea tourism” project to build villas and malls in an estate surrounded by army units. When construction was stopped, an “education” project was proposed to get around the ban.

The court of inquiry found that Agarwal had floated the Geetanjali Education Trust registered in Ghaziabad in 2001. “It has not functioned in a true sense and has constructed no school or college so far,” the report said. Agarwal was “reluctant to part with information regarding his companies”.

Yet, the 33 Corps headquarters entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with him after deleting “Paragraph 17” of the draft. The report describes this clause as “the most potent” paragraph because it gave rights to the army to terminate the MoU “on security grounds”.

In their review of the case, the investigators reported that the Chumta Tea Estate spread over 2,711 acres was on a 33-year lease from the Bengal government. It is inside the Sukna military station and is surrounded by army units.

Of this land, nearly 72 acres were barren and was handed over to the Bengal government. The Bengal government in turn offered it on lease to four firms (Mata Vaishnodevi Mercantile Pvt Ltd, Sheetla Vyapaar Pvt Ltd, Akshara Vanijya Pvt Ltd and JF Low and Co Ltd) represented by S. Bajoria.

“The barren portion of 71.55 acres is enclosed like a lobe within the tea garden, with one side literally bordering the (33) Corps Headquarters,” the report said and pointed out that “the sensitivities of the Siliguri Corridor also necessitated that no civil construction be permitted in the close proximity of the Corps Headquarters”.

In February 2008, the army discovered in newspaper reports that the barren land was being developed for “tea tourism” and would include a film city, villas and malls. Then 33 Corps commander, Lt Gen. Deepak Raj, informed the Eastern Army commander and told the Bengal government’s chief secretary that all construction on the land must be stopped. The Bengal government agreed and gave the orders accordingly.

“The army’s objections to civilian construction on Chumta Tea Estate were based on security implications, arising out of proximity of the site to corps headquarters and Ascon (the army’s dedicated telecommunications network) node,” the report said.

In July-August 2008, Agarwal went to Bajoria and with him proposed building a girls’ school at the site.

On December 29, 2008, Lt Gen. Rath, who was then the 33 Corps commander, received a request for a “no-objection certificate” to establish a residential school with a franchise of Mayo College.

The next month, Agarwal and Bajoria met Rath. Rath forwarded the proposal from Agarwal with a note “Please examine — a new angle project we may consider” to the administration in charge, Brigadier (now Maj. Gen.) Sen.

In between, in October 2008, military secretary Prakash visited Sukna on an official trip and met Agarwal. He introduced Agarwal to Rath and Lt Gen. Ramesh Halgali, who was chief of staff of the corps, as a friend. In July 2008, Prakash and Agarwal were said to have met Gaj Singh of Jodhpur.

That set the ball rolling till the MoU was signed in talks between March 18 and 20, 2009. In those three days, Agarwal and Lt Gen. Prakash were in constant touch, according to telephone records called by the investigators who describe this connection as the “influencing factor”.

The Eastern Army commander, Lt Gen. V.K. Singh, grew suspicious and called off the deal. He convened the court of inquiry on September 30.

Pakistan up to something big, Army informs Antony

ECONOMIC TIMES

 

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Pakistan-up-to-something-big-Army-informs-Antony/articleshow/5439117.cms

SRINAGAR: Defence minister A K Antony has asked for ‘intensive operations’ against militants and stepping up of vigilance on the Line of Control to ensure development process in Jammu and Kashmir does not fall prey to militant activities.

Chief minister Omar Abdullah requested Mr Antony to consider more recruitment of the youth from border belts in defence services and using choppers to address the winter isolation of these areas.

During his day-long visit to Jammu, Mr Antony was briefed about the repeated infiltration bids from Pakistan and the status of the counter-insurgency operations. Border Security Forces gave the visiting minister a detailed presentation about the recent bid to infiltrate, using dynamite to destroy the fence on the international border.

Militants who returned after over 40 minutes of firing on BSF positions, according to the presentation, had used cordex wire to blast an IED that destroyed a vast portion of fencing including cobra wire and seven wires of concertina . The incident took place between Pillar Nos. 621 and 627 near Alfa Machail post in Gho Manasan area between Domana and Kanachak sectors.

The Army informed the minister about the ongoing operations against militants. They referred to the encounter in a Pulwama village in which one militant was killed. Reports said another militant who was besieged had actually fled. Reports from Jammu suggested that a senior Army officer in the unified headquarters meeting told the defence minister that “Pakistan is up to something big” and “we need to know what it is” .

“Outside forces inimical to the country are making several attempts to infiltrate borders, therefore, there is need to heighten vigilance,” Mr Antony told the meeting. He complemented J&K Police and security forces for efficiently handling incidents in Lal Chowk, Khrew, Pulwama and Reasi and hoped such incidents would be handled with same efficiency. He informed the meeting that the Army had vacated all hospitals and school buildings in the state.

Mr Antony asked the defence forces to mount pressure on militants to neutralise them at every level. He said the current situation called for intensive operations against militants in the state, and also put an effective mechanism in place along the LoC and international border to check infiltration.

I AM TOUCHED BY THIS STORY.........

 SOURCE : EMAIL FROM A DEAR FRIEND......


A man was polishing his new car.
His 4yr old son picked up a stone and scratched on the side of the car.
In anger, the furious Man took his child's hand & hit it many times,
not realizing he was using a wrench.
At the hospital, the child lost all his fingers due to multiple fractures.

When the child saw his father, with painful eyes he asked
'Dad when will my fingers grow back?'
The man was so hurt and speechless.
He went back to the car and kicked it many times.
Devastated by his own actions, sitting in front of the car he looked
at the scratches,
His son had written 'LOVE YOU DAD'.
Next day that man committed suicide.

Remember, Anger and Love have no limits....

Always remember.... .
"Things are to be used and people are to be loved"

But the problem in today's world is....
"People are being USED & Things are being LOVED"

Befriending China

 DECCAN HERALD

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/46337/befriending-china.html

Two centuries ago the share of India and China in the world economy was 25 and 33 per cent respectively. This declined in the colonial period and their share was reduced to about one and two per cent after the Second World War.

The last two decades have seen some improvement and presently their shares have increased to about two and six per cent, respectively. China is moving faster than us. Our laggard position is visible in the nature of our mutual trade as well. We are mainly exporting raw materials like iron ore while importing manufactured goods like toys and bulbs from China. This is the same pattern of trade that the British made with colonial India leading to our severe impoverishment: we exported raw cotton and imported finished cloth. The main reason is that we are not cooperating with each other in remolding the world economic order that is stacked against us.

Both countries are deprived of global leadership by the US but refuse to cooperate with each other. We see each other as enemies. Just as the British conquered and impoverished India — using the policy of ‘divide and rule’ — America is forging an anti-India, anti-China global consensus in global fora because India and China are bickering.

The share of the western countries in the world economy today is about 75 per cent while the combined share of India and China is about eight per cent. It is necessary that incomes of the developed countries should decline for us to regain our historical stature.
Some experts believe that instead of opposing the western countries we must cooperate with them and focus on increase in our incomes within the present world economic order. I am not convinced of this. We have been able to secure a paltry one per cent increase in the share of the world economy in 60 years of cooperation with the western countries.
The three power centres of the world today are India, China and America. India and China want to become No 1 while America wants to retain its position. All three see each other as competitors, if not as enemy. America is ruling the world because India and China are fighting each other.

At Copenhagen, for example, America was able to throw out the Kyoto Protocol because India and China did not make a joint strategy during the early negotiations. They can jointly try to remove the patent laws from the WTO and deprive the West of huge royalties which are a major source of their wealth and our deprivation today.
The roots of this mutual distrust appear to lie in our historical experiences. But the responsibility of crafting a new policy in this changed circumstance is with India because it is falling behind in the race for power. It is for us to take the first steps to be friends with China and jointly challenge the American might. Otherwise, America will rule the world just as the clever cat ate away the bread taking advantage of the fight between two monkeys.

The forward policy
The main impediment to such cooperation comes from the 1962 war. In his book ‘India’s China War’, Neville Maxwell had provided a wealth of data establishing the fact that the war was triggered by then defence minister Krishna Menon’s reckless ‘forward policy’.
The Indian Army made various uncalled for incursions into areas traditionally controlled by China. Real Admiral (Retd) Raja Menon says: “The Chinese have a saying called ‘teaching a lesson’. It is a part of their strategic vocabulary. As far as they are concerned, 1962 was not about grabbing territory but it was about teaching India a lesson.” We should accept our folly of 1962 and move ahead otherwise the America-China combine will crush us. Great powers should have the humility to accept their mistakes.

This atmosphere of mutual distrust pervades the actions of both sides. China is regularly advancing help to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan with the intent to weaken India’s influence in her backyard. It is opposing India’s membership of the UN Security Council. China condemned India’s 1998 Pokhran nuclear explosions. Ninety per cent of the arms sold by China are reportedly going to countries around the Indian Ocean. On the other hand India has consistently given protection to the Dalai Lama. She has also repeatedly broken ranks with China and other developing countries and toed American diktats as in Copenhagen. Our conflicts have provided a free run to the US to play one against the other.

We must take a lesson from the European countries. Germany had done much worse to France than China has done to India. Yet, the two countries are major players in the European Union. They have understood that holding on to old problems will impair their joint future. They have joined hands to strengthen their economic and political muscle. India and China should similarly let go of old disputes and focus on jointly defeating US machinations.

India and China should set aside their lingering border disputes when the United States is strangulating their economies. They must first together make sure that American supremacy is put to an end and then settle their claims. The US will continue to come up with new stratagems to keep us backward. The decision to kill Kyoto at Copenhagen is an indicator of the things to come. Both India and China will be deprived of their claims to global leadership and there will remain nothing much to fight about if they continue their infighting and do not rise against the United States together.

Antony to visit JK today

 GREATER KASHMIR

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/today/full_story.asp?Date=12_1_2010&ItemID=73&cat=1

Jammu, Jan 11: Amid reports of ceasefire violations and fresh infiltration attempts along India-Pakistan border, Defence Minister AK Antony will be in Jammu and Kashmir on a one-day visit on Tuesday.
Accompanied by Indian Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor, Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar and senior defence ministry officials, the defence minister is schedule to review the security scenario in the state especially in view of the fresh infiltration attempts and recent militant attack in heart of Srinagar city.
Well informed sources told Greater Kashmir that the minister and the army chief will arrive in Jammu in the morning and will attend the Unified Command meet with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah at the latter’s official residence at around 11 AM. “The minister and army chief will be guests in the meeting,” sources said adding, “The meeting will review the security scenario across the state.”
Sources said that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is also expected to hold a brief meeting with the Defence Minister before the Unified Command meeting.
The minister will later visit forward areas along India-Pakistan border in Rajouri-Poonch sector. Army has kept the schedule of this visit a close secret for security reasons and even the media was being kept out of the reach.
This is the second high profile visit of union ministers to the state in less then three months. Earlier Home Minister P Chitambaram had visited Jammu in November. In December 2009, Antony had announced that nearly 30,000 army soldiers have been withdrawn from Jammu and Kashmir in the last one year and more troops will be withdrawn if the situation improves.
“Whenever we feel the situation has improved or is improving we will further reduce the visibility and presence of the army in the state... it is because of the presence of the army that we have been able to counter terrorism in the state,” Antony had added. Home Minister P. Chidambaram has been seeking transfer of law and order responsibilities to the state police with the incidence of violence, both against civilians and forces, being the lowest in 2009 since the insurgency began two decades ago.
The Indian Army has begun withdrawing troops from the Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir in a move seen as a confidence building measure to get Kashmiri separatists, especially the hardliners, on board for talks. The twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch were brought under the Disturbed Areas Act along with the Kashmir Valley in July 1990 and the forces were given sweeping powers under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act around the same time.
The two districts lie along a 200-km-stretch of the Line of Control with Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

Indian Army soldiers get a second career with IGNOU

 INDIA EDU NEWS

http://www.indiaedunews.net/Delhi/Indian_Army_soldiers_get_a_second_career_with_IGNOU_10205/

New Delhi: The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) recently entered into a partnership with the Indian Army aiming to provide the soldiers a second career option post retirement.

The new venture, called 'Gyandeep', will award degrees to train the soldiers during their service period.

IGNOU will register the Army's 38 regimental training centers, 55 human resource development centers, 11 central training centers and other established schools of instruction as community colleges where soldiers will be trained and imparted learning in their chosen vocations.

The scheme is based on the US system of community colleges in Defence cantonments which is expected to benefit a majority of the 1.2 million soldiers in the Army.

The initiative will not only enable the jawans to earn B.A., BBA, B.Sc. and B.Com. degrees but will also help them master livelihood-driven courses.

Typically Indian Army soldiers retire around 40, with a productive span of nearly 15-20 years ahead of them.

Because of their long training and discipline, post retirement, there is a demand for ex-Servicemen in industries, enterprises and security services.

A formal degree will not only enhance their personality but create new employment opportunities for them.

With the entry of soldiers into the community college system, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) as well as the Gross Graduation Ratio (GGR) is expected to increase.

The soldiers can get themselves enrolled to a community college in their training academy and pursue the course according to their convenience.

An associate degree will be provided to those who successfully complete the two years of training.

Thereafter they will be given lateral entry to the third year of a three-year degree course for a graduate degree.

96 credits are required by the soldiers to be legible for a graduate degree.

A five-member joint consultative committee representing IGNOU and the Army has been formed to formulate a curriculum for the two-year associate degree as well as lay guidelines for in-servicesoldiers to enhance their education.