Monthly Archives: August 2018

Sub-lieutenant Shivangi while joining as the first woman pilot of Indian Navy, at a ceremony in Kochi on December 2, 2019. PTI

Kochi, December 2

Sub-Lieutenant Shivangi of the Indian Navy on Monday became first naval woman pilot and joined operational duties in the presence of top naval officials at its base here.

It is a very proud feeling for me. It is a different feeling,” Shivangi told reporters here.

Fulfilling her long-cherished dream, she received her ‘qualification wings’ from the chief of Southern Naval Command Vice Admiral AK Chawla.

I have been craving for this for a long time. It is a great feeling, she said.

She joined the Indian Navy as its first woman pilot on completion of operational training here.

Hailing from Muzzafarpur in Bihar, Shivangi would be flying the Naval Dornier surveillance aircraft.

As part of her training, Shivangi has flown Pilatus PC 7 Mk II, Basic Trainer at AFA and completed Dornier Conversion with the Indian navy in Kochi.

She would continue her training at INAS 550, the Dornier squadron at INS Garuda, to become a fully operational pilot on Maritime Reconnaissance (MR) aircraft.

Later, interacting with the media, she said she started dreaming of becoming a pilot ever since she saw a chopper carrying a minister landed in the neighbourhood of her grand parents’ place in Bihar during her childhood.

Shivangi recalled that everyone in the area had gathered around to see the helicopter and she was one among them.

She got ‘super-inspired” when she saw the helicopter and the man flying it.  She said her family is supportive and they never questioned her wish to join defence forces.

“In fact, they were proud,” Shivangi said.

Shivangi, who joined the force just two days ahead of the Navy Day, also thanked the Navy staff and Qualified Flying Instructors (QFIs) for their support.

They have always encouraged me, she said.

The Navy congratulated her on her achievement.

Along with her, two trainee officers of the 7^th Dornier Conversion Course (DOCC) also qualified as Dornier pilots and were awarded the coveted golden Wings at the simple and solemn ceremony, a defence spokesman said.

Vice Admiral AK Chawla was the chief guest for the ceremony who presented the Wings to the passing out officers, signifying their qualification as naval aviators.

The FOC-in-C South Rolling Trophy for standing first in overall order of merit was awarded to Lieutenant Shivam Pandey, he said.

The award of the Wings marks the culmination of one year of flying training at the Air Force Academy (AFA), Dundigal and Indian Naval Air Squadron (INAS) 550, INS Garuda in Kochi.

From here on, these pilots would join the Dornier Operational Flying Training course at INAS 550 from mid- January 2020, prior to joining an operational maritime reconnaissance squadron. PTI

Captain Amarinder with Navjot Singh Sidhu. File photo

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 1

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday said Pakistan Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid’s disclosure that Kartarpur Corridor was the brainchild of their Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had exposed Islamabad’s nefarious intent behind the initiative.

Also read: Kartarpur corridor Army chief Bajwa’s brainchild, will hurt India: Pak minister

Even as he expressed serious concern over this admission by the Pakistan minister, the Chief Minister said that in  validating his (Captain Amarinder’s stand) on the issue, Rashid had completely bared the wicked design of Pakistan behind the Corridor, which India had hoped would emerge as a bridge of peace between the countries.

The Chief Minister also took strong exception to Rashid’s remarks that “the Corridor would hurt India, which would forever remember the wound inflicted on it by Gen Bajwa with the Kartarpur Corridor.”

Terming it an open and blatant threat against India’s security and integrity, Captain Amarinder warned Pakistan not to attempt to indulge in any misadventure against its neighbour.

“Don’t make the mistake of reading weakness in our gratitude for the opening of the Corridor,” warned the Chief Minister, asserting that India would give a befitting response to any bid by Pakistan to attack its borders or its people.

Declaring that India would never let Pakistan fulfill its despicable ambitions against the former, he said any such attempt by Islamabad would be met with retaliation of the kind that they would never be able to survive.

Captain Amarinder recalled that he had all along maintained that while he was extremely happy, as a Sikh, at the opening of the Corridor to enable access to Indian devotees to the historic Kartarpur Gurdwara, the threat it posed to our country could not be ignored. The Chief Minister had, in fact, been repeatedly urging caution over the matter, warning that Pakistan was trying to win the sympathies of the Sikhs by opening the corridor to further the ISI-backed Referendum 2020 agenda.

This had been quite evident from various facts, most notably that Bajwa had disclosed the Pakistani decision to build the Corridor to then Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu at the time of Imran Khan’s swearing-in ceremony, said the Chief Minister.

“Imran had not even taken over then, yet their Army Chief had spoken about this to Sidhu. How was it possible unless Bajwa was the one behind the Corridor decision,” asked Captain Amarinder, recalling that he had pointed this out long back.

Given the revelation of the Pakistan minister, Captain Amarinder also urged Sidhu to be more cautious while dealing with the Imran Khan government and not allow his personal friendship with the Pakistan Prime Minister cloud his judgement in any way, as that could be harmful to India’s interests.

The corridor was thrown open on November 9. File photo

Chandigarh, December 1

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Sunday made it clear that devotees applying online to visit Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan were not being charged facilitation fee by ‘sewa kendras’ set up by the state government and said anyone asked to pay any fee should inform his office directly.

Reacting to reports of pilgrims beings charged some kind of facilitation fee for applying through the online portal at the ‘sewa kendras’, which provide citizen centric services, the chief minister said there was no question of charging the devotees and the application process was totally free of cost.

“If any specific complaint is received by the state government, I will personally ensure strict action against the officials found guilty of such misconduct, which would be a total violation of my government’s decision to provide free application service to the devotees,” he said in a statement here.

Singh pointed out that he had been personally opposing the USD 20 fee imposed by the Pakistan government for devotees travelling to the historic Darbar Sahib Gurdwara in Kartarpur through the Kartarpur Corridor, as the imposition of any fee for such purpose was totally against the religious tenets of Sikhism.

In fact, India had never charged pilgrims from any country, including from Pakistan, for visiting and paying obeisance at any religious shrine, he said, adding that his government was completely against any deviation from this practice.

Singh said the ‘sewa kendras’ had been issued detailed guidelines for facilitating and processing online applications of those desirous of visiting the gurdwara at Kartarpur.

These guidelines did not include any facilitation fee, he said, adding that he would take serious note of any violation of these guidelines.

The Kartarpur Gurdwara, where Sikh faith founder Guru Nanak Dev spent the last days of his life, held a special place in the life of every Sikh, and in fact of every follower of the great Guru, and he, like his father and great grandfather before him, would do everything in his power to ensure that the revered shrine is preserved for Sikhs for centuries, Singh said.

The corridor, connecting Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district with historic Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan, the final resting place of Guru Nanak Dev, was thrown open on November 9.

On November 9, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the portion of the corridor falling on the Indian side while his Pakistan counterpart Imran Khan inaugurated corridor’s part on the Pakistani side, three days ahead of the 550^th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. — PTI

Import of military equipment for the Army, IAF and the Navy has been to the tune of Rs 42,974 crore or nearly $6 billion for the financial year ending March 31, 2019.

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 30

India’s plans on making military equipment on its own have two-pronged story. While orders to the domestic industry and defence public sector undertakings have grown, the import of equipment has also grown in the past five years.

Import of military equipment for the Army, IAF and the Navy has been to the tune of Rs 42,974 crore or nearly  $6 billion for the financial year ending March 31, 2019. The import was Rs 29,222 crore or $4.18 billion for the year ending March 2015. These are actual payments that have been made during a fiscal.

The Defence Ministry informed the Rajya Sabha about the spending on foreign sources in a written reply on November 25. The figures are based on the data received from the Comptroller General Defence Accounts (CGDA), the ministry said in its reply.ayments to international vendors are staggered. This includes some upfront payment followed by installments. Sweden-based think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in its March 2019 assessment, done for a five-year period (2014-2018), said India was the second largest importer.

Titled “Trends in International Arms Transfers-2018”, it says, “India was the world’s second largest importer of major arms in 2014-18 and accounted for 9.5 per cent of the global total.”  On India being labelled as the largest importer, the MoD said there was no authoritative and official information on India being the largest importer of weapons as no country officially reveals information on import of defence equipment.

During a period of five financial years starting April 2014 and ending March 31, 2019, India has spent Rs 1,62,283 crore ($ 23.2 billion) on foreign purchases. Giving out details of indigenous equipment, the MoD said the government in the past five years from 2014-15 to 2018-19 and current year till September 2019 had accorded Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) to 218 proposals, worth Rs 4,09,244 crore to promote domestic manufacturing.

Also India’s nine public sector companies now collectively have orders of $33.1 billion to make equipment that includes warships, planes, helicopters, tanks and missiles, among other items. The “order book” volume of defence PSUs was told in the Lok Sabha on November 27 and the collective total worked out to be Rs 2,31,931 crore.

• Rs 42,974 crore Import of military equipment for Army, IAF and Navy for financial year ending March 31, 2019
• Rs 29,222 crore Import for year ending March 2015
• Sweden-based think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in its March 2019 assessment said India was the second largest importer of major arms in 2014-18 and accounted for 9.5 per cent of the global total

The hideout was busted iRafiabad area of Sopore in north Kashmir

Srinagar, December 1

Security forces have busted a militant hideout in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir and seized a cache of arms, ammunition and other items, including a satellite phone, police said on Sunday.

The hideout was busted in Rafiabad area of Sopore in north Kashmir, a police official said.

He said the recovery includes two AK rifles, 2000 AK rounds, three RPG rounds, two wireless sets and a satellite phone.

A case has been registered, the official said, adding that the incriminating material has been seized by the police and taken into records for further investigation.

Investigation in the matter is in progress, he added. —PTI