Guwahati, April 19

The Army’s Veterans Cell located at 51 Sub Area here helped Sangita Das, the wife of a missing jawan in Assam, get pension benefits more than 15 years after her husband had been declared “deserter” and later as “missing” by the Army.Sangita, wife of Pradip Das, a jawan of 5 Rashtriya Rifles Battalion, had first moved the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) in 2004, informing that her husband had been missing since July 2001 when he was supposed to report back to his unit in J-K after returning from leave. The Army unit where Das was posted later declared him “deserter” much to the agony of Sangita as it deprived her of pension benefits, thereby plunging her into abject poverty.Poverty compelled Sangita to work as domestic help and at a noodles factory in Guwahati at Rs3,000 a month. She with help of some relatives moved Guwahati bench of the AFT in 2004 seeking justice and pension. Though the AFT ruled in her favour in 2013, the Army still did not provide any pension benefit to her. She then brought her case before Veterans Cell, HQs 51 Sub-Area, here during an ex-servicemen rally held on December 9, 2015.“Veterans Cell swung into action and the 5 Rashtriya Rifles republished orders amending Pradip’s status from ‘deserter’ to ‘missing’. She finally got pension payment order on March 21, 2016. Sangita has been given a job by the HQs 51 Sub Area and her daughter Dinisha has been admitted to Army school in Narangi with free education,” said a defence spokesman. — TNS

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 18

The Army recruitment rally for candidates belonging to Ludhiana, Moga, Rupnagar and Mohali will be held at the Dholewal Military Complex here from April 25 to May 6.Recruitment director Col Kamal Kishore informed that physical test of candidates from Moga, Baghapurana, Nihal Singh Wala and Dharamkot tehsils would be held on April 25 while those from Moga and Badhni Kalan tehsils will appear for the test on April 26.“On April 27, the test will be held for candidates from Chamkaur Sahib, Nangal and Rupnagar tehsils while the same test for candidates from Sri Anandpur Sahib and Nurpur Bedi will be held on April 28. On April 29, candidates from Ludhiana South, West, East and Central tehsils will appear for the test and on April 30, candidates from Jagraon and Khanna Tehsils will take the test. Meanwhile, the test for candidates from Samrala, Payal and Raikot is scheduled for May 1 and for candidates from Dera Bassi, it will be held for May 2. Finally, on May 3, candidates from Kharar and Ajitgarh (Mohali) tehsils will take the physical test, Col Kishore added.Medical examination will be done next day. Documents of successful candidates will be taken on May 6. Meanwhile, the written test will be conducted on May 29. The candidates can download admit cards from website www.joinindianarmy.nic.in.

Chief of Army Staff General Dalbir Singh and his wife Namita Suhag console late Major Amit Deswal’s wife and father at Palam Airport in New Delhi on Friday. Tribune photo: Mukesh Aggarwal

Jhajjar (Haryana), April 15

Mortal remains of Major Amit Deswal, who was killed on Wednesday in a gun battle with militants in Manipur, were consigned to flames on Friday with full military and state honours at his village in Haryana.

Deswal, who was from Surheti village of Jhajjar district, is survived by parents, wife and four-year-old son Arjun.

Major Deswal of the 21 Special Force of Rashtriya Rifles died fighting militants in Manipur’s Tamenglong district on April 13.

His body arrived on Friday at the technical area of Palam airport in Delhi, and after a wreath-laying ceremony, it was moved to the Major’s Surheti village.

It was a sad and proud last farewell for Major Deswal. Family members, relatives and hundreds of residents, including politicians, officials, social workers, said they were saddened by the death of young officer, but they were also proud of the braveheart’s “martyrdom”.

Full military honours and a gun salute were given to Major Deswal.

One of the military officers at the funeral said the braveheart breathed his last in the true traditions of a warrior.

Deswal was commissioned on June 10, 2006, into the Regiment of Artillery.

After basic service, Deswal recognised that his calling was somewhere more adventurous. He opted for the Special Group at first, but finally opted for the coveted Special Forces. — IANS

Karachi, April 12

An alleged Indian spy arrested in Pakistan has been charged with terrorism and sabotage in an FIR filed against him by the provincial Balochistan government, a media report said today.Kulbhushan Jadhav was reportedly arrested in Balochistan after he entered from Iran and was accused by Pakistan of planning “subversive activities” in the country.The Counter Terrorism Department, Quetta, has lodged a case against Indian “spy” Jadhav, the report said. The department lodged the case in provincial capital of Quetta, the report said without specifying on what date was the FIR registered.The alleged “RAW agent” was arrested last month from the Chaman area of Balochistan that lies near the Afghanistan border. The case against him has been registered on the complaint of the provincial home department on the directive of the federal government, the report said quoting police sources. — PTI

Our Correspondent

SUNDERNAGAR, April 10

The Honorary Commissioned Officers’ Welfare Association has criticised the hike in the salaries and allowances of legislators. Members will request Governor Acharya Devvrat not to give his assent to the Bill passed by the Vidhan Sabha especially when the state was experiencing financial crunch.Talking to mediapersons, Jagdish Verma, president of the association, termed it the most unfortunate that within five minutes, the salaries and allowances of ministers, legislators and ex-legislators were enhanced without any discussion which was against the spirit of democracy.He said it exhibited the greed on part of the elected representatives of the public.He said it took more than 40 years to accept the one- rank, one-pension scheme that too after a lot of agitations.

Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit. — ANI photo

New Delhi, April 7

The peace process between India and Pakistan has been “suspended” and there are no talks scheduled between the two countries, Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit said here on Thursday.

“As far as I know, there is no meeting scheduled between foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan yet,” Basit told reporters at a function here.His remarks have come in the background of the January 2 Pathankot air base attack and the recent visit by a Pakistan team to investigate the attack.This is the first official word from Pakistan about the latest breakdown in the now-on-now-off peace process with India.After a team of Pakistani officials visited Pathankot, New Delhi had expected Islamabad to allow a National Investigation Agency (NIA) team to visit that country to take the investigation forward.Basit ruled out the possibility.“The investigation (into the Pathankot attack) is not about reciprocity,” he said.“There shouldn’t be any doubt that Pakistan wants to have a normal and peaceful relationship with India on the basis of sovereign equality and mutual interest,” Basit said.Maintaining that “we need is to engage uninterruptedly, comprehensively and meaningfully”, the Pakistan High Commissioner said, “It is the J&K dispute that is the root cause of mutual distrust between India and Pakistan and other bilateral issues.Therefore, its fair and just resolution, as per aspirations of people of Jammu & Kashmir, is imperative, he added. “It is high time to break the carapace of complacency and dispense with self-serving approaches.”Basit also said the arrest of an alleged Indian spy, Kulbushan Jadhav, proved Islamabad’s allegations that New Delhi was causing unrest in Balochistan.Reading out a prepared statement, Basit referred to the arrest of alleged Indian spy Jadhav in Balochistan last month and said that it “irrefutably corroborates what Pakistan has been saying all along”.”We are aware of all those who seek to create unrest in Pakistan and destabilise the country. They are bound to fail.” He said Pakistan had arrested scores of terror operatives with “foreign linkages” over the past month. “The presence of such elements is quite disturbing, to say the least.” On the issue of China blocking India’s bid to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar by the UN, Basit said he subscribed to the Chinese viewpoint on this. — Agencies

A screenshot of Italian firm Elettronica SpA’s website.

Hidden in hundreds of pages of agreements and contracts in the Mossack Fonseca files are details of alleged commissions, since 1996, for electronic warfare equipment and other supplies to the Indian Air Force and Indian Navy by Italian major Elettronica SpA through two offshore entities.

The agreements date back to 2000 and there is mention of commissions, between 5% to 17%, being paid by the supplier firm to two companies, one owned by an Indian and the other located in the BVI, via offshore entities registered by Mossack Fonseca.

– See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/panama-papers-mossack-fonseca-files-iaf-navy-italian-firms/#sthash.Yaw7MpuB.dpuf