Ravi Krishnan Khajuria,Tribune News Service,Jammu, December 21

In a major step forward, over 1,200 traders from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) have unanimously decided to constitute a joint federation of traders from Poonch and Anantnag in J&K and Rawalakote and Chakoti in PoK.In the absence of travel permits from New Delhi and Islamabad, traders from both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) met in Dubai on December 16 and 17.“It is a big achievement for traders from PoK and J&K. The joint federation exclusively meant for trans-LoC traders from Poonch, Anantnag, Rawalakote and Chakoti will be put in place by March 31,” said Pawan Anand, president of the Chakan-da-Bagh LoC Traders’ Association.“Once such a federation comes up, we will be able to efficiently thrash out trade-related disputes and, at the same time, think of more measures to streamline trade,” he added. He admitted that in the absence of travel permits to trans-LoC traders, they had to hold their third meeting in Dubai.“Two years ago, we held our second meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The first meeting took place in Istanbul. Had traders been sanctioned travel permits, there would have been no need for us to meet abroad,” said Anand.YV Sharma, president of the Jammu Kashmir Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Rakesh Gupta, president of the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mushtaq Wani, president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Hilal Turki, general secretary of the Cross LoC Traders’ Federation, attended the meeting.“Being purely a meeting of traders from PoK and J&K, we discussed opening more trade routes via the LoC, more tradable items in the trade list, travel permits and banking facilities to take trade to another level,” said Anand.Traders from both sides felt the need for providing direct ISD facility to traders from J&K. They urged their respective governments to reopen the Kargil-Skardu road, which was part of the once flourishing Silk Route.Traders from PoK could call up traders in J&K on their cell phones, but there was an embargo on ISD facility from J&K to PoK.Trans-LoC trade was started in 2008, but the absence of basic facilities continued to hamper its growth. The trade was a brainchild of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed in 2002 during the PDP’s alliance with the Congress.

Manish Sirhindi
Tribune News Service
Ambala, November 12
Cabinet Minister for Health and Sports Anil Vij today said former Army men should try to resolve the remaining issues of One Rank One Pension through dialogue instead of returning their medals.
He said the Union Government had made an earnest effort to resolve the issue, which had not been addressed for the last 42 years. But some of the ex-servicemen were feeling that it was not enough.
Vij claimed that the Union Government had already provided Rs 10,000 crore to implement One Rank One Pension scheme for the ex-servicemen.
Making an appeal to the ex-servicemen, the Health Minister said the previous governments at the Center had only made false promises on the issue and the veterans should take this into consideration before returning their medals.

The operational capabilities of the Indian Army’s mechanised forces could be severely hampered given the state of the BMP infantry fighting vehicles in the Army. The latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has brought out that only 53 per cent of these vehicles were available for use by the Army.

The CAG report says that the MoD also accepted that the acute shortage of BMP would have an adverse impact in the 12th Army plan as five more Mechanized Infantry Battalions were planned to be raised.

“The shortfall in production and overhaul of BMP vehicles affected the operational preparedness as only 53 per cent of authorised vehicles were available with Army,” the report says.

The BMP is a Russian origin tracked infantry vehicles which is the mainstay of the Army’s mechanised infantry battalions. These vehicles can carry seven to eight soldiers and are presently manufactured by the Ordnance Factory, Medak. The mechanised infantry battalions form an integral part of the armoured brigades and are expected to be a crucial part of any strike formation of the Army which has to carry the battle into enemy territory.

The CAG report has brought out that the Army has a shortage of 47 per cent in holding of BMP vehicles. The main reason for shortfall was the delay in supply of 389 BMPs by Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) which not only adversely affected the operational preparedness of Mechanised Forces but also entailed a minimum extra liability of Rs 270.97 crore due to cost escalation.

The current production capacity of the Ordnance Factory Medak is 100 BMP vehicles per year, which includes variants of BMP like Carrier Mortar Tracked (CMT), Armoured Ambulance Tracked (AAT), Mine Protected Vehicle (MPV) and Bullet Proof Vehicle. Apart from the Mechanised Infantry, the Corps of Engineers and Corps of Signals of the Indian Army too are authorised for BMP vehicles to provide support elements to combat troops. The CAG report says that against the authorisation of 2,827 BMPs and 323 BMPS respectively, the Mechanised Infantry and the Corps of Engineers are holding 2521 and 170 numbers of vehicles only.

In order to meet the deficiency of BMP vehicles in Mechanised Infantry and Corps of Engineers, the Army HQ placed two indents on Ordnance Factory Medak in 2009 and 2011. Against the indents for 389 numbers of BMPs placed on the OFM in 2009, the delivery for Mechanised Infantry was to be completed by 2011-12 and for Corps of Engineers by 2013-14. The CAG, however, found that only 179 numbers were only delivered till January 2015. Further, against production capacity of 600 BMPs (100 BMPs per year x 6 years) OFB could produce only 265 BMPs during the last six years resulting in shortfall of 55 per cent of assessed capacity and thereby impacted operational preparedness of the Army.

The audit scrutiny of the case further revealed that out of the total number of 2,691 BMPs held, 1,025 numbers of vehicles were due for overhaul up to 2014-15. As a result only 1,666 vehicles were effectively available, which indicates that only 53 per cent of the authorized vehicles were available for use. On being pointed out by audit (September 2012) regarding supply status and impact on operational preparedness of Army due to delay in supply of BMP vehicles, Ministry of Defence/Army HQ replied in November 2012 that the indents were placed considering the urgent operational requirement and acute deficiency within the field units. They further stated that as per the current production capacity of the OFM, six to eight years would be taken to meet the projected requirement as OFM was not dedicated to production of BMP vehicles only.

– See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/shortfall-of-bmp-infantry-fighting-vehicles-affecting-operational-preparedness-of-army-cag/#sthash.U5iFmXph.dpuf

Majid Jahangir,Tribune News Service,Srinagar, December 16

The Army today said it had begun a probe into the disappearance of Kupwara’s missing persons and promised that if anyone was found guilty of anything wrong then it would not “play favourites”.Three persons have gone missing from the frontier district of Kupwara district since November 17 and while police suspect that at least two among them have crossed over to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, the families fear they might have been killed in a fake encounter.“Whenever any such incident takes place which has been taken cognisance of by the police or the judiciary, the Army automatically institutes an investigation. So, our own investigation is also on,” General Officer Commanding, 15 Corps, Lt Gen Satish Dua told reporters on the sidelines of a function at Badami Bagh Cantonment. “If anyone actually is found guilty of something wrong, the Army will not play favourites. We are committed to zero tolerance for human rights violation.”The two missing persons, Ghulam Jeelani Khatana, 46, and Mir Hussain, 50, both residents of Kralapora in Kupwara, were earlier working as guides to help militants cross the Line of Control. It is alleged that the duo might have been sent across for spying by the security agencies. The J&K Police have already arrested a local Territorial Army man, Manzoor Khwaja of 160 Battalion, for kidnapping the two civilians.Besides the duo from Kralapora, Ali Mohammad Sheikh, a resident of the neigbouring Trehgam, is also missing and his whereabouts are not yet known.On one of the longest anti-militancy operations in Manigah forest close to the LoC in Kupwara, which was called off from the residential areas last week, the Corps Commander said the search for militants was still on. A Commanding Officer of the elite Special Forces was killed and a Lt Colonel was wounded along with six security men during the monthlong operation.“We lost an officer (in the operation). We got two militants. We did not get all of them. The terrain is such that beyond a certain point we don’t want inconvenience the locals and we have our own modus operandi of continuing the search for the very same militants,” Lt General Dua said.On infiltration, Lt General Dua said there was still a possibility that militants might try to sneak in before snowfall fully closed the mountain passes along the LoC.“The snow levels in some places are not so prohibitive that the militants may not make any more attempts. In fact there is a chance that before there is further snowfall they might make a few attempts. The Army is ready for all this,” he said.

‘Zero tolerance for rights violation’

• Whenever any such incident takes place which has been taken cognisance of by the police or the judiciary, the Army automatically institutes an investigation. So, our own investigation is also on. If anyone is actually found guilty of something wrong, the Army will not play favourites. We are committed to zero tolerance for human rights violation. —Lt Gen Satish Dua, GOC, 15 corps

Army orders probe into civilians’ disappearance

ALLEGATION Families of three Kupwara men have blamed a territorial army personnel

Our investigations are on, and if anybody from the army is found involved, action will be taken. The army is committed to zero tolerance on human rights violations in the state.
LT GEN SATISH DUA, GOC, Srinagar-based 15 Corps

SRINAGAR: The army has ordered a probe into the disappearance of three civilians in the Valley’s border district of Kupwara, amid fears that the case could be another fake encounter by army personnel for winning awards.

The families of Ghulam Jeelani Khatana, 42; Mir Hussain Khatana, 45; and Ali Muhammad Sheikh, 40, who are missing since November, have blamed a territorial army man, Manzoor Ahmed Khwaja, for the disappearances. Khwaja has already been arrested.

Lt Gen Satish Dua, the General officer Commanding (GoC) of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, said: “Investigation is on, and if anybody from the army is found involved, action will be taken.”

Dua said the army was “committed to zero tolerance on human rights violations” in the strife-torn state.

The families of the missing men have told a local court that Khwaja had taken them away on November 17.

Ever since the case came to fore, local news reports quoting anonymous police officials have been alleging that the three missing men might have crossed over to Pakistan-administered Kashmir to work as spies for the security agencies.

Valley residents, however, fear that the three men might be killed in a fake encounter by army personnel and be dubbed as foreign militants to win awards.

The fears stem from the infamous Macchil encounter of 2010, in which three civilians were killed in a staged encounter after being lured with jobs as porters.

The six army personnel, including a colonel, who were found guilty of the killings were sentenced to life by the army in 2013.

Ajay Ramola
Tribune News Service
Mussoorie, November 22

This lake is the eye of the mountain, jade green, placid, unwinking, and also unfathomable. Whatever goes on under the high and stony brows is guessed at. It is believed that one or another of the blind mountain lakes is bottomless. Often they lie in such deep crains of broken boulders on mountain tops that one never gets quite to them or gets away unhurt. It stuns one with its clean water and the view of the mighty Thaliasagar peak.
Kedartal is known as the emerald glacial lake and Shiva’s lake as well. An avid trekker and photographer says the mirror reflection of the Thaliasagar peak in the lake is an unforgettable sight for any tourist here. The view of Meru, Bhrigupanth and Jogin peaks overpowers and numbs your senses.
Kedartal in the Hindu mythology is regarded as Lord Shiva’s contribution to the Bhagirathi, a source stream of the Ganga. The glacial lake melts and descends mountains as Kedar Ganga that finally joins the Ganga at Gangotri, 17 km away, which is the starting point of the Kedartal trek. The trail follows Kedar Ganga through Bhoj Kharak and Kedarkharak to finally frost at Kedartal.
Uttarkashi district boasts of several natural lakes that are situated in the foothills of various snow-laden peaks. One such lake Kedartal is one of the finest high altitude Himalayan lakes situated at around 4,912 metre from where one can catch a breathtaking close view of Thaliasagar, Brighupant and Jogin group of peaks.
One can encounter a good variety of high altitude fauna e.g. Bharal (blue sheep), Goral, Himalayan black bear with a great variety of birds. The trek is a bit strenuous, but the rewards are very high. The 10-day trip involves a drive to Gangotri and the trek to Kedartal punctuated with a breath stopping close view of Greater Himalayan peaks i.e. Thaliasagar (6,904 m), Brigupanth (6,772 m) and Jogin group of peaks.
The Kedartal trek starts from Gangotri. The trek from Gangotri to Bhoj Kharak is 8. 5 km and it takes about 6 hours to reach on foot. From Bhoj Kharak to Kedar Kharak, it is a 4 km trek and it takes around 3 to 4 hours to reach there. The Kedar Kharak to Kedartal trek is about 5 km and it takes 3 to 4 hours to reach Kedartal. The best season for trekking to Kedartal is late June till July but it can also be done in September and the first week of October.
The steep climb to Bhoj Kharak starts from the camp at Gangotri and after an ardous one-hour climb, one reaches Bhoj Kharak traversing through Kedar valley. The complete trek is along Kedar Ganga that is dotted with fir (cedus) and Bhoj (birch) tree forests.

Tehri lake

The biggest lake in the state is Tehri lake that is around 45 sq km in area and provides a breathtaking view of the hydroelectric dam considered as the marvel of modern engineering. Various sports activities are proposed in the lake that could make it a major tourist attraction. It can be reached from Rishikesh as well as from Mussoorie.
There are many other lakes in the state, namely Bhimtal, Sat Tal and Nainital, which are far easily accessible for tourists who are unable to trek on high mountains. The government wants to promote trekking to these lakes in the winter as well. However, it will have to provide facilites at various points en route to these tourist places to sustain the interest of tourists.

Roopkund

Roopkund is another high altitude glacial lake that lies in the lap of Trishul massif and is famous for the hundreds of human skeletons found at the edge of the lake. Roopkund has attracted attention because of the human skeletal remains that are visible at its bottom when the snow melts. There are many theories and opinions, both spiritual and scientific, attempting to explain the existence of these skeletons, which date back to the ninth century.

Homekund

Another lake that is an important tourist destination for altogether different reasons is Homekund, which is approached via Sutol or Roopkund after crossing the Shila Samudra glacier. It is a small lake encompassing a view of the Trishul and Nanda Ghunti base camps.