Monthly Archives: August 2018

On Monday, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had assured them that justice would be delivered in the case of ‘assault’ on the Army officer

The wife of Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath on Tuesday said she has a feeling that the Punjab government was playing a game with them in the “assault” case even after the chief minister’s assurance.

Bath accused 12 Punjab Police personnel of assaulting him and his son over a parking dispute on the intervening night of March 13-14 in Patiala. Recently, he filed a plea in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking transfer of the probe to the CBI or another independent agency.

The chief minister had recently given the family time to meet him on Monday in connection with the incident.

“When CM Mann gave an assurance yesterday, I felt hopeful. Mann sahab placed his hand on my head and said ‘daughter, you will get justice’. During the meeting, he had said one of his OSDs will reach out to us with an update yesterday,” she said.

Kaur quoted the chief minister as saying she was not only the country’s daughter but also like his daughter.

She further said, “The way the police did not initially register an FIR and did not do what they ought to have done in the case, they kind of played a game with us. Now again, I have this feeling that the government is also playing a game with us,” she alleged.

“Mann sahab, you had said we will get justice. Today, the country’s daughters and Punjab’s daughters are waiting for this justice. No one contacted from your office after my meeting with you yesterday,” she said.

Earlier, after her meeting with Mann, Kaur had told reporters, “I thank the chief minister for promising to take appropriate action in the matter… I salute him. He said justice will be delivered in the case. He said he will be holding meeting with officials”.

“He (CM Mann) kept his hand on my head and said I am Punjab’s daughter. He listened to us patiently,” she said.

“I have been given assurance that justice will be delivered,” Kaur said.

Last week, the Army called for a fair and honest investigation in a transparent and time-bound manner to punish the guilty in the Colonel Bath assault incident.

“We reiterate the need for a fair and honest investigation in a transparent and a very time-bound manner to punish the guilty and restore the faith in the system,” Lt Gen Mohit Wadhwa, Chief of Staff, Army Western Command headquarters Chandimandir, had last week said at a joint media briefing here with Punjab’s Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav.

DGP Yadav said at the joint briefing that the Punjab Police reiterated its highest respect to the Indian Army and was committed to maintaining and upholding the dignity of the Army officers.

The DGP said any person who had assaulted the serving Army officer would be dealt with severely and in accordance with the law. The investigations would be completed swiftly so that the culprits were brought to book soon, the DGP said, as he talked about various steps taken by the Punjab Police after the incident, which included setting up of a high-level Special Investigation Team headed by a senior Punjab Police officer.

A S Rai, head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up to probe the case, had on Monday appealed to the people of Patiala to share with the team any evidence if they had in the form of video recordings or any other information pertaining to the assault incident.

The Punjab Police had lodged a fresh FIR based on Colonel Bath’s statement a week after the alleged incident.

Bath has alleged that the assailants — four inspector-rank officers of the Punjab Police and their armed subordinates — attacked him and his son without provocation, snatched his ID card and mobile phone, and threatened him with a “fake encounter”, all in public view and under CCTV camera coverage. The colonel suffered a broken arm, while his son had a cut on his head in the incident.

All 12 police personnel have been placed under suspension and departmental proceedings have been initiated against them, the Punjab Police earlier said.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Jaswinder Bath, wife of Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath, accused Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann of failing to act on his assurances against the cops implicated in the assault on her husband. Jaswinder met Mann in Chandigarh Monday, seeking action against the officers charged with attacking Bath on March 14.
However, she now claims she was misled by the CM’s promises. “I saw hope when CM assured me of justice,” Jaswinder said in a video message on Tuesday. “But, now, I feel deceived. Punjab govt seems to be playing same game as the police – first registering a false FIR, then making superficial suspensions, and now failing to take real action.”
She said that since her meeting with Mann, neither his office nor any officials contacted her, despite his assurances. “I have been calling the CM’s OSD since Monday , but he hasn’t responded to a single message… It feels like the govt just wanted to end our protest, not deliver justice.”

https://static.toiimg.com/thumb/msid-119881865,imgsize-1511728,width-400,resizemode-4/119881865.jpg

The Royal Cape Yacht Club will host INSV Tarini for two weeks for maintenance and repairs before its scheduled departure on April 15

The Indian Navy’s sailing vessel, INSV Tarini, reached Cape Town, South Africa, marking the final stop of its global circumnavigation expedition, the Navy announced on Tuesday.

The expedition, Navika Sagar Parikrama-II, was flagged off on October 2, 2024, by Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi and is set to conclude in Goa this May. The mission, led by two women officers, Lt Cdr Dilna K and Lt Cdr Roopa A, aims to cover over 23,400 nautical miles (43,300 km).

So far, the vessel has made three stopovers — Fremantle (Australia), Lyttelton (New Zealand) and Port Stanley (Falklands, UK). Upon entering Cape Town, Consul General Ruby Jaspreet and Rear Admiral Lisa Hendricks, Chief of Staff of the South African Navy Fleet, welcomed the crew, with the South African Naval Band performing at the port.

The Royal Cape Yacht Club will host INSV Tarini for two weeks for maintenance and repairs before its scheduled departure on April 15. During their stay, the crew will engage with the South African Navy at Simon’s Town Naval Base and Gordon’s Bay Naval College, along with outreach events for the Indian community.

The journey has been gruelling, with the crew braving 50-knot (93 kmph) winds and 7-m (23-foot) high waves in stormy conditions.

Commissioned in 2018, the indigenously built 56-foot INSV Tarini has participated in several such expeditions, furthering India’s maritime legacy.

Defence Minister Riajnath Singh to deliver the keynote address at the five-day Army Commanders’ Conference in New Delh

Top generals of the Army assembled at New Delhi on Tuesday for the five-day Army Commanders’ Conference to discuss key policy and operational matters. The biennial conference serves as a platform for senior leadership of the Army officials to review and assess the overall security situation and deliberate on key priorities to deal with emerging challenges.

Aligned to the Army’s goal of an agile, adaptive, technologically-enabled and future-ready force, the senior hierarchy will also engage in intense deliberations with domain experts to usher in new methodologies for effective decision making, a defence spokesperson said.

Other issues under deliberation will focus on enhancing the overall organisational health and easing the processes of the field army to make them more resilient and responsive. The forum will also discuss issues concerning the welfare and wellbeing of its personnel aimed at enhancing the quality of life for soldiers and their families.

Besides, the keynote address by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and a talk by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, a presentation on Indian Army’s focus in the ‘Year of Reforms’, a talk by NITI Aayog’s CEO on India’s journey and the envisaged role of the armed forces to build a strong progressive nation are also on the agenda.

It is one of the most critical and challenging high-altitude passes in the world, connecting Kashmir valley to Ladakh

The Border Road Organisation (BRO) has reopened the strategic 11,500 feet high Zoji La Pass in record time after remaining closed for vehicular traffic for just 32 days during the winter season.

Director General BRO, Lt Gen Raghu Srinivasan, flagged-off the first convoy from the Srinagar side towards Ladakh. Zoji La Pass is one of the most critical and challenging high-altitude passes in the world, connecting Kashmir valley to Ladakh.

This year, the pass faced an unusually short but intense closure period due to relentless snowfall caused by a western disturbance for 17 days — from February 27 to March 16 — a defence spokesperson said.

The sheer volume of accumulated snow posed a formidable challenge. The BRO personnel, working under extreme conditions, battling sub-zero temperatures, high velocity winds and avalanche-prone terrain, cleared the snow within a period of 14 days, from March 17-30.

Referred to as the “mountain pass of blizzards” in local folklore, Zoji La experiences heavy snowfall, forcing its closure during the harsh winter months. This temporary closure impacts not only the movement of troops and essential supplies but also disrupts the daily lives of the local population in Ladakh, which depends on this route for trade, medical support and economic activities.

Due to technological advancements, improved snow-clearance techniques and the relentless efforts of BRO, this closure period has been drastically reduced from about six months a few decades ago to a few weeks now.

A 14 km long two-way tunnel is also being constructed under the pass, which will reduce the time to cross the Zoji La from over three hours to just 15 minutes. When completed, it will be the longest bi-directional tunnel in Asia in high altitude area.

The exercise reflects the deepening convergence of US-India strategic maritime interests and the countries’ defence partnership

Exercise Tiger Triumph – 2025, the fourth edition of the bilateral joint humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) amphibious drill between India and the US, began at Vishakhapatnam on Tuesday, with the opening ceremony being held on-board the Indian Navy’s INS Jalashwa.

The exercise reflects the deepening convergence of US-India strategic maritime interests and the countries’ defence partnership. The present edition is aimed at further enhancement of interoperability and combined joint all-domain operations during large-scale HADR operations, according to an official statement.

“Exercises like these enable our forces to work quickly when our partners in the region are facing humanitarian crises,” Jorgan K Andrews, Charge d’Affaires at the US Embassy in India said at the ceremony.

The harbour phase of the exercise is being conducted at Visakhapatnam from April 1 to 7, which involves a planning process for the execution of various training events at sea, as well as further refinement of procedures established in previous iterations of the exercise.

In addition, the harbour phase will include training and subject matter expert exchange (SMEE) events on a range of professional subjects, such as special operations, emergency medical response procedures and operations across the air, maritime, cyber and space domains.

The sea phase from April 8 to 12, will witness the bilateral forces working together to train for maritime, amphibious and HADR operations through a Joint Combined Command and Control Centre.

This phase will conclude with establishment of a joint combined humanitarian relief and medical response camp following an amphibious landing at Kakinada.

Participating units from the Indian Navy include Landing Platform Dock INS Jalashwa with integral landing crafts and helicopters, the Delhi-class guided-missile destroyer, INS Mumbai, Magar-class amphibious assault ship, INS Gharial, Deepak-class fleet tanker, INS Shakti, and P-8 long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft, MH60R helicopters and the Hawk aircraft.

The Indian Army will be represented by an Infantry Battalion Group, including mechanised forces. Special operations force from all the three services, as well as cyber and space specialists will also participate in the exercise.

The Indian Air Force will demonstrate the capability of C-130, Mi-17 V5 and showcase the air portable Bhisma medical equipment.

The participating US task force comprises a US Navy Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship, USS Comstock, with embarked US Marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the 1st Light Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion, as well as the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, USS Ralph Johnson and a Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft. The US Space Force and Air Force are supporting the exercise with subject matter experts and a C-130J aircraft, respectively.

The US Army is represented by a platoon, a medical platoon, civil-military operations centre and multi-domain task force combined information effects fusion cell.