A Meeting with Mr Manish Tewari will be scheduled soon with all veterans of Chandigarh on any week end or Sunday/holiday to ensure maximum availability of veterans/ESM.

All Veterans are requested to confirm their AVIALBILITY WITH their t points to be included in agenda, like related to various problems of

1, Pay & Pensions,

2.Sparsh issues,

3.CSD issues,

4. ECHS issues,

5.Short Service officers Issues,

6.Toll Tax,

7. Aginiveer,

8 ANY OTHER………

Sanjha Morcha will be inviting all veterans for a meet over a cup of tea and snacks soon. All veterans to kindly confirm their attendence on following mobile numbers ––99988266450 Col CJS Khera ___9915090555,Col Shanjit Bhullar—–.9589143386 Maj Gen Harvijay Singh, SM, Veterans are welcome to send their discussion points on the above contacts or on email —sanjhamorcha303@gmail.com

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 23

Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande on Tuesday mentioned the need for developing critical technologies saying “if we are import-dependent for critical technologies, we must be very clear that we will always remain behind the technology cycle”.

45 niche technologies

The Army is pursuing 45 niche technologies, which have been identified for military application. — Gen Manoj Pande, Army chief

He shared his thoughts on ‘Relevance of Hard Power in India’s Rise, and how the Indian Army is shaping capabilities through self-reliance’. General Pande was speaking at the All-India Management Association (AIMA) national leadership conclave.

The Army Chief said the current geo-strategic landscape is characterised by change, taking place at unprecedented scale and speed. “Countries will not hesitate to go to war for their national interest,” he added.

Military strength and capabilities are necessary to prevent war — to present a credible deterrence. The Indian Army, he said, has taken unprecedented steps for the potential of disruptive technologies and is looking at four key drivers of Indian Army’s transformation efforts.

The vision for the future is to transform into a modern, agile, adaptive, technology enabled and self-reliant future ready force, capable to deter and win wars in a multi-domain operational environment, across the full spectrum of operations, to protect our national interests, General Pande said.

The transformation has ‘five pillars’ — force restructuring and optimisation, modernisation and technology infusion, improving our systems, processes and functions, human resource management and promoting jointness and integration with other armed forces.

The Army, he said, was pursuing 45 niche technologies, which have been identified for military application.

New Delhi, April 23

The United States, in its report on ‘Human Rights 2023’, today said ‘significant human rights abuses’ happened in Manipur following the outbreak of ethnic conflict in May 2023. The report also mentioned raids by tax authorities on UK broadcaster BBC and transnational cases like killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.

Released by the US State Department, the report flags armed conflict, rapes, assaults in Manipur and speaks about violence against journalists and unjustified arrests of citizens.

The Ministry of External Affairs has not yet responded to the incidents in the report.

On Manipur, the report mentioned that at least 175 persons were killed and more than 60,000 displaced due to the ongoing conflict.

The report also highlighted what it termed as “worrying trend” of violence against journalists, unjustified arrests and the application of criminal libel laws to suppress dissent.

On the searches at BBC, the report said tax officials also seized equipment from journalists who were not involved in the organisation’s financial processes. Last year in February, the Income Tax Department carried out surveys at the premises of the BBC in Delhi and Mumbai. The development came weeks after the British broadcaster released a documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots titled “India: The Modi Question”.

The US report also mentioned human rights abuses committed in regions plagued by terrorism, including J&K, and areas affected by the Maoist insurgency.

On Hardeep Nijjar, the report said it indicated a “pattern of extrajudicial actions by state agents”. The report does not mention the case of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The US has accused an Indian intelligence official of planning to allegedly kill Pannun.

The VVPAT is an independent vote verification system which enables electors to see whether their votes have been cast correctly

PTI

New Delhi, April 23

The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce on Wednesday certain directions on a batch of pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT).

The VVPAT is an independent vote verification system which enables electors to see whether their votes have been cast correctly.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta is scheduled to pronounce the directions on the plea in which order was reserved by the apex court on April 18.

Underscoring the importance of voter satisfaction and trust in the electoral system, the top court had during the hearing told petitioners, who sought its direction to go back to using ballot papers not to suspect the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and appreciate if the Election Commission does good work.

NGO ‘Association for Democratic Reforms’ (ADR), one of the petitioners, sought reversal of the poll panel’s 2017 decision to replace the transparent glass on VVPAT machines with an opaque glass through which a voter can see the slip only when the light is on for seven seconds.

During the hearing, which spanned for nearly two days, the bench had interacted for nearly an hour with senior Deputy Election Commissioner Nitesh Kumar Vyas to understand the functioning of EVMs and told advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO that voter satisfaction and trust are at the core of the electoral process.

Senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the Election Commission, had submitted that EVMs are standalone machines and cannot be tampered with but possibility of human error cannot be ruled out.

On April 16, the top court had deprecated criticism of EVMs and calls for reverting to ballot papers, saying the electoral process in India is a “humongous task” and attempts should not be made to “bring down the system”.

The seven-phase Lok Sabha polls began on April 19 and the second phase is slated to be held on April 26.

The ADR has sought matching the count in EVMs with votes that have been verifiably “recorded as cast” and to ensure the voter is able to verify through VVPAT slip that his vote, as recorded on the paper slip, has been “counted as recorded”.

New Delhi, April 23

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is set to extend further. The US is poised and ready to begin delivering the needed military capabilities to Ukraine, said Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder. The US Department of Defence put out the remarks of Maj Gen Ryder on Tuesday.

The General was referring to ‘supplemental budget legislation’ passed by the US House of Representatives, the lower Chamber of the US Congress. The US Senate will take up the bill this week before it is approved by President Joe Biden.

Ryder said the legislation will make the US and its allies and partners more secure. This new legislation is proof to Russian President Vladimir Putin that his supposition that the group supporting Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion would fall apart was absolutely wrong, Ryder said. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Air Force Gen CQ Brown will host the 21st meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group on Friday.

Bhadarwah/Jammu, April 23

Army Commander Lieutenant General MV Suchindra Kumar on Tuesday reviewed the counter-terror training here and commended the collective efforts of the Army and police towards enhancing operational synergy and interoperability among the forces.

Collective effort

• Army Commander Lt Gen MV Suchindra Kumar reviews counter-terror training at the White Knight Corps Battle School in Bhadarwah area
• Commends the collective efforts of the Army and police towards enhancing operational synergy and interoperability among the forces
• A total of 1,114 police sub-inspectors (PSIs), including 146 females, are undergoing training in guerrilla warfare

A total of 1,114 police sub-inspectors (PSIs), including 146 females, are undergoing training in guerrilla warfare at the White Knight Corps Battle School in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bhadarwah area.

The Army commander felicitated outstanding achievers among the trainee PSIs undergoing training since March 18.

During his address, the Army commander emphasised the significance of the joint training programme between the Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police, commending their collective efforts towards enhancing operational synergy and interoperability among the forces. He exhorted all ranks to maintain physical fitness as a hallmark of a professional responder to all security challenges.

Acknowledging the participation of 136 female PSIs, he underscored the commitment towards inclusive training initiatives. The collaboration between the Army and the Jammu & Kashmir Police was emphasised as indispensable in striving towards a secure and prosperous Jammu and Kashmir.

An Army spokesperson stated that this is the first major training capsule of its kind, where the Army is training officers of the Jammu and Kashmir Police in such large numbers at one go.

The trainee cops expressed confidence that the training provided by the Army would result in better coordination between the two elite organisations through sharing and understanding each other’s strengths, ethos, culture, values, and best practices.

“Obviously, we have learned a lot here, and this has given us a lot of confidence to overcome difficult situations, as evident from the positive change in our behaviour,” said Sonalika Sharma, a trainee PSI with the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Another PSI said that what we have learned here has really boosted our confidence, especially at the beginning of our careers. “Besides this, the joint training with the Army will surely help us work in synergy with the Army and coordinate better to help bring peace in Jammu and Kashmir,” he added. (With PTI Inputs)

DUBAI, April 23

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group said on Tuesday it had launched a drone attack against Israeli military bases north of the city of Acre, in its deepest strike into Israeli territory since the Gaza war began.

The Israeli military said it had no knowledge of any of its facilities being hit by Hezbollah, but had said earlier on Tuesday that it intercepted two “aerial

Hezbollah said it acted in retaliation for an earlier Israeli attack killing one of its fighters. The group published what appeared to be a satellite photo, with the location of the strike symbolized by a flash with a red circle around it that sat halfway between Acre and Nahariyya to the north.

Israeli airstrikes killed two Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon, the military said earlier on Tuesday. Hezbollah later confirmed the death of one of its fighters, Hussein Azkoul, but provided no further details.

A separate Israeli strike overnight Monday to Tuesday killed a fighter in Hezbollah’s elite unit, Radwan Forces, the military said, though Hezbollah has not confirmed his death. Since October, Israeli strikes have killed about 270 Hezbollah fighters as well as about 50 civilians. Hezbollah’s rocket and drone fire has killed about a dozen Israeli soldiers and half as many civilians. The shelling has displaced tens of thousands on each side. — Reuters

Gaza struck by heaviest shelling in weeks

• Israel bombarded northern Gaza on Monday night in some of the heaviest shelling in weeks, causing panic amongst residents and flattening neighbourhoods in an area from which the Israeli army had previously reduced its troops, residents said on Tuesday
• Army tanks made a new incursion east of Beit Hanoun on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, though they did not penetrate far into the city
• Gunfire reached some schools where residents were sheltering. In Israel. Shelling was intense east of Beit Hanoun and Jabalia and continued on Tuesday

UNHRC chief ‘horrified’ by mass grave reports

Geneva: UNHRC Chief Volker Turk said on Tuesday he was “horrified” by the destruction of Nasser and Al Shifa medical facilities in Gaza and reports of mass graves containing hundreds of bodies there. Palestinian authorities reported finding scores of bodies in mass graves at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.

SANJHA MORCHA has decided to support pro- veterans candidate Mr Manish Tewari from Chandigarh. He is a local and not a parachuted candidate like earlier and Chandigarh suffered for the last two terms. A highly qualified and disciplined parliamentarian. He is an excellent and respected speaker in Lok Sabha. His talk during Military Literature Fest (MLF) Chandigarh in 2023 kept listeners spell bound. He has promised to take up veterans points in the new parliament like Agniveer, OROP, Commuted Pensions, GST on canteen items etc Sanjha Morcha will be inviting all veterans for a meet over a cup of tea and snacks soon. All veterans to kindly confirm their attendence on following mobile numbers ––99988266450 Col CJS Khera ___9915090555,Col Shanjit Bhullar—–.9589143386 Maj Gen Harvijay Singh, SM, Veterans are welcome to send their discussion points on the above contacts or on email —sanjhamorcha303@gmail.com

Besides Khokhar, former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar is serving a life term in the case

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a furlough plea by former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar, who is serving life imprisonment in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

As a Bench led by Justice JK Maheshwari made it clear that it was not inclined to entertain the plea, Khokhar’s counsel chose to withdraw the petition which was “dismissed as withdrawn”.

The Bench, however, said the petitioner could approach the competent authority for furlough. 

Khokhar’s counsel had earlier said he was seeking furlough for maintaining social ties.

Around 3,000 people, mostly Sikhs, had died in the riots in the national capital in the aftermath of assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.

Besides Khokhar, former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar is serving a life term in the case. Ex-MLA Mahender Yadav, who was awarded 10-year sentence, died from Covid in Mandoli jail.

Sajjan Kumar and Balwan Khokhar are lodged in Tihar jail since their conviction on December 17, 2018.

Khokhar’s life sentence was upheld by the Delhi High Court in 2018, while it overturned Kumar’s acquittal by the trial court in 2013.

The case relates to the killing of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar Part-I in Palam Colony in southwest Delhi on November 1-2, 1984, and burning down of a gurdwara in Raj Nagar Part-II.