Territorial Army to raise, deploy all-women wing in northeast, J&K

RAJOURI: The Territorial Army, a reserve force of trained civilians for the Indian Army, proposes to raise two all-women battalions, and deploy one each in insurgency-hit areas of northeast and Jammu and Kashmir.

The project has the defence ministry's nod and is being given a final shape, sources said. At present, women can only join as doctors and nurses in the Territorial Army, which has a strength of 40,000.

The decision to deploy these battalions, around 300-women force, in counter-insurgency areas has been taken in view of an increasing number of women in militancy operations and to help deflect any kind of allegations of sexual abuse of local women by male soldiers, Rajouri-based spokesperson for TA unit of 38 Rashtriya Rifles said.

These battalions would primarily be used to investigate and interrogate women militants and female residents during counter-insurgency operations. They would also be deployed at the gates of fencing near the Line of Control for checking the movement of local residents, especially women.

There are incidents when a lot of hue and cry is raised and allegations of human rights violations levelled against officers carrying out search operations in insurgency-hit villages, the officer added. There have been instances when suspected women militants have managed to escape when such ruckus is kicked up, the spokesman said.

With the deployment of women battalion, we would not only be able to curb militancy but our operational procedure would also become more transparent. The necessity to set up all-women TA battalion was felt when the security agencies observed that terror outfits were using women against them, he said. They have clear instructions from their mentors that once across the border, they are to rely heavily on women ground workers to hit out at security officials involved in counter-insurgency operations, he added. Many women have been arrested in the past, who worked as couriers and overground workers of militants.

The Territorial Army is a voluntary, part-time Citizens Army, consisting of people who are not professional soldiers but civilians eager to do their bit for the country's defence. It acts as a reserve for the regular Army in times of need and draws men from the 18-42 age group.

On joining the TA, officers have to undergo mandatory training of arms handling and crisis management. In Jammu and Kashmir, the Army guards around 740 km of Line of Control (LoC) and the Border Security Force (BSF) 216km of international border. The BSF has now inducted women battalions and deployed them along the border.

Pak troops fire on Indian positions, no casualties

Jammu, Sep 21 (PTI) In yet another violation of the ceasefire, Pakistani troops fired nearly 135 rounds on Indian positions in Poonch district (in India's northernmost state of Jammu and Kashmir) Sunday night, but there were no casualties.

Pakistani troops fired intermittenly from nine of their posts on Indian forward positions in Mendhar and Krishanghati from 1955 to 2020 hrs IST, Brigadier General (Staff), 16 Corps, Gurdeep Singh Puri said.

"There were no casualties," he said adding Indian troops did not retaliate.

"Nearly 15 rounds were fired from each Pakistani post on Manji Takri and Sabri Gali forward posts," the Brigadier said adding "we will lodge a strong protest soon".

He said this was second ceasefire violation by Pakistan along the Line of Control (LoC) this month.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/293705_FIFA-World-Cup-trophy-coming-to-Delhi-on-Jan-16

Army jawan commits suicide

JAMMU, Sept 19: An [Indian] army jawan allegedly committed suicide while another made a bid to end his life by consuming some poisonous substance in the city outskirts, here today.

The police spokesman said that one Army sepoy of 21 Grenadier died here at Army Hospital, Satwari after consuming poisonous substance in the unit in Sunjwan. It was reported that he had returned to his duty after attaining leave, two days back. He wanted to shift his family to Army quarters and during talks with his official, he started vomiting. The official rushed him to army hospital.

Doctors immediately provided stomach wash treatment followed by other medicare. Seeing his deteriorating condition, doctors shifted him to polyclinic where he breathed his last.

The deceased has been identified as Davinder Singh, son of Dalair Singh, resident of Bhopar, Khour in the Akhnoor tehsil.

The body was handed over the family members after post-mortem and other legal formalities.

Police has registered the case for inquest proceeding at Bathindi police post under section 174 CrPc.

Meanwhile, Naresh Kumar, son of Shanker Dass, resident of Sunderbani allegedly made attempt to commit suicide by consuming poisonous substance at his residence. He was immediately shifted to local hospital and later shifted to GMC, Jammu,

It was reported that he was responding to medicines when the last report came in.

Police has registered the case and initiated investigation.

http://www.kashmirwatch.com/showheadlines.php?subaction=showfull&id=1253457581&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&var0news=value0news

Army trains state police to tackle Naxalites

BANGALORE: Concerned over the Red Brigade (Naxalites) spreading its tentacles across the country, the Indian Army has been sharing its expertise and training various state police forces to combat the Naxalites.

Colonel Commandant of the Madras Engineer Group (MEG), Major General Brajesh Kumar on Saturday told reporters that the sappers have been training the state police personnel and civil defence forces in tackling the Naxal movement which has been spreading its tentacles across the country especially south of Andhra Pradesh.

“ We have been sharing training personnel in handling Improvised Explosive Device (IED’s) and other areas where we have an expertise.

Various state government’s have approached us including Karnataka in the past and we are more than willing to help them,” he said.He added that the Sappers who have been an integral part of the relief operations after various natural disasters such as Tsunami, cyclones, earthquakes, railway accidents, floods etc have also been involved in training police and civil defence forces to tackle inland insurgency like the 26/11 and Mumbai attacks. On the rehabilitation efforts for the ex-sappers, he said “ We have a fully functional Rehabilitation Cell, where we attempt to provide gainful employment to these families along with retired personnel. Being engineers, our men are trained in some technical field. Around 65 per cent of our ex-servicemen are employed after retirement, we want it to be 100 per cent. I make a sincere appeal to the business houses to take these retiring service men who are fairly young in the 40-45 years age group, with an opportunity and in turn gain from their expertise.”

MEG’s 229th Anniversary celebration

The MEG which celebrated its 229th Anniversary in the city from September 16 to September 19, held a concluding Ceremonial Parade on Saturday.

Call of the Bugles, horse drawn carriages, and immaculately dressed soldiers comprised the parade of one of the finest regiments of the Indian Army.

Six contingents of smartly dressed soldiers, with blue Dooptas on their heads, gold and maroon coloured jari bands on their waists and spotless white spats on their boots, marched proudly to the tunes of the Pipes and Drums.

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Army+trains+state+police+to+tackle+Naxalites&artid=O4rIQqmb1/A=&SectionID=Qz/kHVp9tEs=&MainSectionID=fyV9T2jIa4A=&SectionName=UOaHCPTTmuP3XGzZRCAUTQ==&SEO=Red%20Brigade%20%28Naxalites%29

China working on a military plan against India?

New Delhi: A day after India downplayed the China threat, calling it a media creation, CNN-IBN has access to a confidential intelligence note that suggests that Beijing is acting on a definite military plan on the border.

“There is no mutually agreed or delineated line of actual control between the two countries,” Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said underscoring why intrusions take place.

According to the Government, no defined border exists and the armies of both countries follow a vague and illogical line where hostilities ceased in 1962.

But the perils of this situation cannot be minimised. A confidential intelligence note with CNN-IBN suggests the Chinese are working to an India centric plan:

In Arunachal Pradesh, the behaviour of Chinese troops has become more aggressive. Border pillars in some areas have been deliberately broken and bunkers have been built on the Indian side of the McMahon Line.

Opposite Sikkim's eastern border a new highway and permanent army structures have come up. Chinese forces are now positioned to cut the strategic Siliguri corridor in India in the event of hostilities.

A joint command of the Lanzhou Military Region opposite Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and the Chengdu Military Region opposite India's North-east have come up.

From Tibet, China can airlift 20,000 troops to anywhere along the frontiers with India in two hours.

By comparison the infrastructure in India's north-east remains poor. A key highway in Arunachal Pradesh has only now received environment clearance. In Ladakh, the pace of road construction linking key points along the Line of Actual Control is laggard and Chushul remains without an all-weather road link.

The only silver lining here is that hostilities of any kind could rebound on China. It would confirm suspicions about Beijing's intentions and reinforce moves in South-East and North-East Asia to form powerful new coalitions against the expansion of Chinese power. 

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/china-working-on-a-military-plan-against-india/101817-3.html