WASHINGTON: There is increasing evidence that India could launch a pre-emptive first strike against Pakistan if it feared a nuclear attack was imminent, in a marked reversal of its wellknown no-first use policy, according to a nuclear strategist.

But this first strike will not be aimed at urban centres and conventional targets of a retaliatory strike intended to punish and prevent an escalation, but against Islamabad’s nuclear arsenal, to pre-empt a nuclear attack altogether.

“There is increasing evidence that India will not allow Pakistan to go first,” Vipin Narang, a nuclear strategist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said at a conference on nuclear policy hosted by Carnegie, a think tank, on Monday.

“India’s opening salvo may not be conventional strikes trying to pick off just Nasr batteries (launch vehicles for Pakistan’s tactical battlefield nuclear warheads) in the theatre, but a full ‘comprehensive counterforce strike’ that attempts to completely disarm Pakistan of its nuclear weapons…,” he said. Comprehensive counterforce is an informal phrase for counterattack on a nuclear arsenal.

Relations between the neighbours are at the lowest since a string of militant attacks on Indian military installations which New Delhi blames on Pakistan-based militants.

As evidence for his theory, Narang cited recent remarks from leading Indian strategists and a book by Shivshankar Menon, who oversaw nuclear targeting for India as NSA to PM Manmohan Singh.

To buttress his theory, Narang cited this para from Menon’s book, “Choices: Inside the Making of Indian Foreign Policy”: “There is a potential gray area as to when India would use nuclear weapons first against another NWS (nuclear weapon state). Circumstances are conceivable in which India might find it useful to strike first, for instance, against an NWS that had declared it would certainly use its weapons, and if India were certain that adversary’s launch was imminent.” New Delhi declared its no-first use policy in 2003, undertaking to not start a nuclear war in a neighbourhood packed with nuclear actors Pakistan and China.

Sehna Block in Barnala commemorates it’s martyrs every year in March. The function was held on 19 Mar. It is held in a different village every year.

. Akhand Path is held in the village gurudwara followed by Langar. NOK are honoured.

There are twenty of them. Sehna village also has Muslim residents. One of the martyrs is a young Muslim soldier, Baddu Khan from engrs. His father, Gulzar Khan easily passes of as a village Sikh.   Sub Karam Singh, PVC,  Sikh Regt belongs to Sehna.

Manipur CM N Biren Singh in the Assembly on Monday. PTI

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 20

N Biren Singh, country’s first sportsperson Chief Minister, was reportedly part of the BSF soccer team that won the Durand Cup by defeating Mohan Bagan in Jalandhar.BSF DIG RS Kataria says: “I have been told by football coach Suraj Bhan Handa that Biren served here in 1981 and was an ace football player. I am also told that he was a cheerful, energetic jawan who had a short stint here. He was just 20 then.”Another senior official said Biren was 18 when he was spotted by the BSF playing a football match in Imphal in 1979. “Recruited, he served the force representing its national football team for 14 years,” he said. The BSF personnel said there was an excitement about the development at the headquarters here. “We have begun keenly following the political activities of this ex-serviceman from our force through TV and newspaper reports,” he said.

New Manipur CM has a Punjab connection

JALANDHAR: The pride is palpable among Border Security Force (BSF) personnel at its Jalandhar headquarters for the western border, and the reason is close to the eastern extreme of India. One of the footballers from the BSF team here is now the chief minister of Manipur.

Officials here are busy finding more history and photographs of N Biren Singh, BJP’s first chief minister of Manipur who took oath on March 16. “Biren was posted in BSF as a constable,” Suraj Bhan Handa, the present coach of the team, said.

As per information from the BSF, Biren Singh came to Jalandhar in 1981 after he cleared the inter-frontier level in the force. His position was ‘right fullback’ on the field. Other officers say that as part of the team in Jalandhar, he also won the Durand Cup in 1981. Biren’s batchmates now reside in various parts of the nation. They remember the CM as a “jolly” and “funloving” person who was always popular.

Pardeep Kumar, who is a retired BSF employee and is now living in Siliguri, told HT that Biren and he stayed in the same room. “We would visit markets and go to watch movies,” said Kumar.

He added, “Biren had interest in politics at that time too, but his becoming a chief minister is something we batchmates are proud of.” He recalled that Biren Singh had a “very good diet” and was fond of rice. “He often cooked for himself.”

Vishwa Miter, who at present is the coach for Jammu Sports Council, said Biren was witty too. “We always talked to him in Punjabi, and he would understand little at first. With time, he started understanding the language.” Shyam Kumar Sharma, one of the coaches of Biren who now resides in Australia, said over phone that he was a great player and a true sportsperson.

As for the old pictures, the BSF officials are planning to get them framed and send to Biren Singh, the constable who is now CM.

Declare assets in 15 days: Yogi to officials

Curbing graft: Tells them to ensure implementation of ‘sankalp patra’ | Asks DGP to improve law and order

UP CM Yogi Adityanath with Deputy CMs Dinesh Sharma and Keshav Prasad Maurya at a meeting of police officers at Lok Bhawan in Lucknow on Monday. PTI

Lucknow, March 20

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath today directed officials to declare their assets within 15 days, following up on a similar order to ministers after assuming office yesterday, a move aimed at uprooting corruption.Separately, Adityanath directed state DGP Javeed Ahmed to ensure that there was no laxity in improving law and order situation, hours after a BSP leader was shot dead in Allahabad.At his first interaction with senior officials in Lok Bhawan, the CM also instructed them to ensure implementation of BJP’s ‘sankalp patra’ (manifesto). “It was an introductory meeting with UP government officials. The officials were told that the sankalp patra has to be implemented,” Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya said.The CM also asked officials to declare their assets — immovable and movable — within 15 days, Maurya said. The meeting was attended by nearly 65 senior officials. The officials were given a copy of the BJP’s ‘sankalp patra’ and instructions have been issued to them to prepare a roadmap for their respective departments, a senior BJP leader said.“As uprooting corruption is the main agenda of our party, the CM in his first introductory meeting with his new ministers directed them to give details of their income, movable and immovable properties, within 15 days,” cabinet minister Srikant Sharma had said yesterday.Sources said Adityanath expressed concern over the attack on the BSP leader and stressed that restoring law and order was the top priority of his government.BSP leader Mohd Shami, 60, was last night gunned down by assailants close to his residence in Mauaima police station area, 40 km from Allahabad.The UP DGP has been asked to hold video conference with the district magistrates and the superintendents of police of all the 75 districts of the state to take stock of law and order situation and other administrative issues, they said.Deputy CMs Maurya and Dinesh Sharma also met Adityanath. Maurya told reporters that the first meeting of the state Cabinet would discuss all key issues mentioned in BJP’s ‘Sankalp Patra’, which include loan waiver to farmers and ban on mechanised slaughter houses.Sharma told mediapersons that his meeting was just a courtesy call. “We will work for the welfare of the people with full vigour and ensure that the work is visible on the ground,” he said. — PTI

‘Purifying’ CM’s bungalow

• Hindu seers and priests on Monday made elaborate arrangements for sacred purifying rituals at the CM’s bungalow that will be the new home for Yogi Adityanath
• Adityanath stayed at the VVIP guest house overnight and has decided not to enter the bungalow without conducting prayers and purification rituals
• Even before dawn broke, seven priests from Gorakhpur and Allahabad trooped into the CM’s official residence to conduct prayers

For long used to slow or non-decisions, and the successive Congress-Akali Dal-BJP governments’ status quoist approach to issues confronting Punjab, it is a pleasant surprise to find a 75-year-old Chief Minister, who once enjoyed a reputation for a laid-back lifestyle, showing such youthful energy and getting through so many welcome decisions at the very first meeting of the state Cabinet with few ifs and buts. From containing the use of the red beacon, pruning security and limiting the annoying VIP culture to the bare minimum to reining in government expenditure, regulating transport, liquor, mining, cable and real estate businesses to proposing “conflict-of-interest” legislation — all are decisions in the right direction. The swiftness with which these have been taken shows a decisive leadership in command.Particularly significant is the proposed law to deny official positions to MLAs with business interests. There are Congressmen who too would be affected and they can scuttle the move. Given the extent of systemic corruption, the annual declaration of assets by those holding official positions is not enough; maybe Punjab needs to consider a Bihar-like law to seize properties of convicted politicians and civil servants. The direct transfer of subsidies will help plug leakages and an end to Inspector Raj, if enforced, would provide relief to industrialists. The abolition of the post of halqa in-charge should save people from police harassment. Depoliticising the police and the bureaucracy, however, should be the next step but would not be easy and would require efforts to make police and administrative reforms happen as outlined by the Supreme Court.There may be a case for the government to buy time by forming a committee to assess farmers’ debt or entrusting another panel the job of identifying unviable boards and corporations, but the decision to continue free power — that too unmetered — to all farmers regardless of their landholdings needs to be revisited since it encourages waste of scarce groundwater and ruinous cultivation of paddy. Farmers can be compensated with cash transfers over and above the MSP. To ensure that Saturday’s decisions are not lost in the bureaucratic maze, rigorous follow-up monitoring and action would be required at the CMO level.

From left: Yogi Adityanath (Uttar Pradesh CM); ML Khattar (Haryana CM); Sarbananda Sonowal (Assam CM); Naveen Patnaik (Odisha CM)

New Delhi, March 19

The club of bachelor chief ministers in the country has just expanded. Priest-turned politician Yogi Adityanath, 44, who was today sworn in as Uttar Pradesh CM, joins ML Khattar, 62 (Haryana), Sarbananda Sonowal, 54, (Assam) and 70-year-old BJD chief Naveen Patnaik (Odisha) in the league of singletons running state governments. Adityanath, the controversial mascot of hardline Hindutva, is also the first male bachelor CM of the country’s most populous state.And by coincidence, barring Patnaik and 62-year-old Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee (West Bengal,) all the chief ministers, who are unencumbered by a family, are from the BJP.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Refusing to accept defeat after numerous failures in her quest to dethrone the Left front in West Bengal, Mamata, a spinster, rose like the phoenix and finally succeeded in unseating the Left Front government in 2011. She is now serving her second term.The firebrand TMC leader has often said at public meetings that her life is dedicate to the people of West Bengal.Among the current crop of top politicians, Rahul Gandhi, 46, the scion of the Congress, BSP chief Mayawati, 61 and senior BJP leader Uma Bharti, 57, are single. “I’m of low caste, I’m unmarried, and I’m yours,” Mayawati has often proclaimed at her election rallies.Naveen Patnaik, who has been ruling Odisha since 2000, has often told the electorate that unlike the Congress family, there was no danger of his government indulging in family rule as he was unmarried.Rahul, asked about his singlehood ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, had replied, “Right now I am engaged in fighting the elections. Unfortunately, I have not been focused on private life.”Among the other chief ministers, Nitish Kumar in Bihar and Manohar Parrikar in Goa, are widowers. Mohan Bhagwat, RSS chief, has not tied the knot either.Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a BJP stalwart, who was Prime Minister thrice, never married. — PTI

Party men greet Capt Amarinder Singh as he takes charge of the Chief Minister’s office. — PTI

Capt Amarinder Singh, CM Portfolios: Home; Agriculture; General Administration; Industry and Investment Promotion; and Excise and TaxationChallenges:

Brahm Mohindraportfolios:  Health and Family Welfare; Parliamentary AffairsChallenges:

Navjot Singh SidhuPortfolios:  Local Govt, Tourism & Cultural AffairsChallenges:

Manpreet Singh BadalPortfolios:  Finance, Planning and Employment GenerationChallenges:

Sadhu Singh DharamsotPortfolios:  Forests; Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward ClassesChallenges:

.Tript Rajinder BajwaPortfolios:  Rural Development and Panchayats; Water Supply and SanitationChallenges:

Charanjit Singh ChanniPortfolios:  Technical Education and Industrial TrainingChallenges:

Aruna ChaudharyPortfolios: Higher Education and SchoolsChallenges:

Razia SultanaPortfolios: PWD (B&R), Social Security and Development of Women and ChildrenChallenges:

File photo for representational purpose only.

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 15

Transport companies in which former Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal, his associate Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon and Congress leader Avtar Henry have a stake, are among those whose bus permits are to be cancelled. In all, 6,000 odd bus permits are being cancelled on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)While the court orders were only for the cancellation of mini bus permits, a list of all permits/licences issued since 1997 are being reviewed by the Transport Department as recommended by the Advocate General’s office. On March 8, orders were issued to all four Regional Transport Authorities to prepare a list of companies with permits to run mini buses, AC coaches, super integral coaches and HV AC coaches and of transporters plying buses on inter-state routes covering short distances up to 15 km. Sources said while some mini-buses were being run “in collusion” with an officer in the Transport Department (who retired recently), the AC coaches were owned by politicians of Punjab’s two main traditional parties.The sources said the process to cancel the permits of companies plying buses on routes on which only the state transport undertakings are allowed (monopoly routes) have already been initiated. The mini bus operators, who have violated the provisions of permits by extending their routes, will also have to face the music. “Most of them, top politicians or a former Transport Department official, have an indirect stake,” said a senior official tasked with the cancellation of the permits. Directed by the court to revisit the transport policy and cancel permits issued in violation of the transport policy, the department has asked the Regional Transport Authorities to place the permit holders in two categories — those plying buses on monopoly routes and those plying on essential routes in rural areas.”Where there is just one bus operator on a single route, we will cancel the permit at a later stage so as not to inconvenience the public. In case the state transport undertaking is already operating buses on a particular route, permits to private operators will be cancelled immediately,” said a senior official. Already, the state transport undertakings are to launch the rural bus service soon.Though the state government was asked to cancel these permits earlier, the Transport Department had been delaying the cancellation process. Though the HC had pulled up the government in January this year, seeking an action taken report, it was only three days prior to the  declaration of the election results that the process was initiated.

The Corps of Signals, using the most sophisticated equipment have achieved great success in communications intelligence and electronic warfare

It takes two-three years to produce a piece of equipment but centuries to bring a tradition into being. Such traditions cannot be modified easily without causing harm to institutions. The Army has a robust grievance redressal system dating back to hundreds of years. A soldier can approach his superior, whether a non-commissioned officer, junior commissioned officer or commissioned officer with any sort of complaint regarding service conditions, food, leave, pay, promotion, etc. If his problem is not resolved to his satisfaction, the soldier is free to approach his next higher superior officer without any fear of any comebacks from the officer originally approached.

A unique institution held in high esteem in the Army is the Sainik Sammelan. Originally known as the Durbar until replaced by the more egalitarian term currently used, the custom dates back to medieval times. The British adopted it recognising its usefulness.

In essence, it is a more or less democratic gathering of troops of a unit or formation where everyone is free to air their grievances in front of their commander without fear of disciplinary action. Both these strains of rendering justice are forceful and produce the desired results. They have stood the test of time.

Now with one stroke all this has been undone. The Army Chief has notified a WhatsApp number to which complaints can be sent to him in person.

By making the Chief and his office the focus of imparting justice to over 12 lakh soldiers, this new system bypasses the established hierarchy rendering tens of thousands of leaders at all levels from section to army commander irrelevant. Tomorrow Sepoy Bhoop Singh may as well thumb his nose at Captain Clueless claiming, ‘I’ll send a WhatsApp message to the Chief’. All in all, a rather hasty move with little if any thought given to its ramifications.

SIGNALS INTELLIGENCE

Besides providing the telecommunication to the Army, the Corps of Signals also provides information through communications intercepts, locates enemy humint and insurgents’ radio networks and jams their wireless systems.

To do this, the Corps uses the most sophisticated equipment. A lot of their work involves cryptanalysis and breaking of the enemy’s codes. Traffic analysis is also used to generate information when codes cannot be broken.

I recently interacted with Colonel JS Chandoak, living in Chandigarh who did three tenures in this discipline. During the Bangladesh Campaign, he commanded an ad-hoc intercept company tasked with supporting the operations of XXXIII Corps. Generals ML Thapan and LS Lehl who commanded XXXIII Corps and 20 Division respectively told me that they had complete information about Pakistani orbat and operational orders. General JFR Jacob, who was chief of staff, Eastern Command testified to the effectiveness of signal intelligence in general.

In 1980-81 Chandoak commanded a signals intelligence unit located in the desert sector. The unit’s receivers listened into communications deep within Pakistan. Direction-finding equipment located transmitters of enemy spies.

Their task was to pass strategic information up the chain and feed affiliated formations with tactical intelligence. Chandoak’s last stint was with an electronic warfare group responsible for the northern part of the western theatre. Their equipment was state of the art at the time though it would be obsolete now. The Corps of Signals always lives up to its motto ‘Teevra Chaukas’ (Swift and Sure).

Looking for a sapper fd engr to over see road construction security and logistics of mining operations in Madagascar.

Urgent requirement.

A recently retired Col should fit the bill 

Urgent. Need to deploy end April/ early May.

-Lt Gen Vinay Shankar

Ex DG Arty

WhatsApp No 9811216333

The CV be sent to d Gen at d above WApp No.