Arteev Sharma,Tribune News Service.Jammu, January 15

Cross-border terrorism continues to bleed Jammu and Kashmir as the state has witnessed on an average eight terror-related incidents in a day during the past 25 years.During this period of turmoil and bloodbath, as many as 18,881 civilians and security personnel have been killed in over 69,000 terrorism-related incidents across the state since 1990, while around 21,800 terrorists have been gunned down in encounters with security forces during the period.This information was provided by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in response to an RTI application here.“A total of 69,387 terrorism-related incidents have taken place in Jammu and Kashmir till December 13 last year since 1990. However, the number of terror incidents has shown a declining trend after 2002. The highest number of terrorism-related incidents was reported in 1995 when the state saw 5,938 such incidents followed by 5,829 terror incidents in 1994. Only 170 incidents, the lowest-ever in past 25 years, were witnessed in 2013,” the Union Home Ministry said.It said a total of 13,920 civilians have fallen to the bullets of terrorists from across the border since 1990. “In 1990, 461 civilians lost their lives, while the highest number of civilians (1,341) fell to the bullets of terrorists in 1996 followed by 1,031 civilians in 1995. The civilian causalities, too, have recorded a declining trend after 2003,” it said.After the eruption of insurgency in J&K, the Centre had to extend the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which gives sweeping powers to the armed forces to detain suspects and use force, as the Armed Forces (Jammu and Kashmir) Special Powers Act, 1990, in the Kashmir valley in 1990 and the Jammu region in 2001, to deal with the terror situation.“A total of 4,922 security personnel laid down their lives while fighting terrorists during the past 25 years. Security forces suffered the maximum collateral damage in 2001 when 536 of their personnel were killed followed by 453 in 2002,” the Union Home Ministry said, adding that the collateral damaged being suffered by forces was significantly brought down in 2012 when only 15 personnel lost their lives. However, as many as 39 security personnel were killed last year till December 13.The security forces eliminated 21,777 terrorists till December 13 last year since 1990 and the maximum number of terrorists (2,020) was gunned down in 2001 followed by 1,707 terrorists in 2002. Last year alone, 105 terrorists were gunned by security personnel in the state.

Heavy casualties

• 4,922 security personnel laid down their lives while fighting terrorists during the past 25 years.
• Security forces suffered the maximum collateral damage in 2001 when 536 of their personnel were killed followed by 453 in 2002
• The collateral damaged was brought down in 2012 when 15 personnel lost their lives.
• 39 security personnel were killed last year till December 13.
• 461 civilians lost their lives in 1990. 1,341 and 1,031 civilians fell to terrorists’ bullets in 1996 and 1995, respectively.

All-women patrols along Himalayan frontier on the cards

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, January 15

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police Force (ITBP) is beefing up its strength on the Himalayan frontier with China by adding eight new battalions. Four of these battalions will be deployed in the Ladakh Sector and the remaining four in Arunachal Pradesh.“We will be getting the additional battalions for Ladakh first and thereafter for the north-east,” ITBP Director-General Krishna Chaudhary said on the sideline of a passing out parade of women constables at the force’s Basic Training Center at Ramgarh near here today. “The overall plan is to raise 16 new battalions of which these eight are being raised in the near future,” he added.He said at present the distance between border outposts (BOPs) along the Himalayas ranged up to 25 km, which will be reduced with the induction of new battalions and facilitate more effective border management.The ITBP is also planning all-women patrols along the border with China. It has decided to post women personnel on BOPs on regular border guarding and combat duties. “Initially, women would form part of joint patrols with men and once they get the desired experience, all women teams would be constituted for both short range and long range patrols,” a top officer said. Many of the newly inducted constables have been posted to battalions deployed on the front.The ITBP is deployed at altitudes ranging up to 18,000 feet in remote snow bound areas with temperatures remain below zero. To provide better amenities for its troops, the force is experimenting with a new design for BOPs in Ladakh, which would be centrally heated and have solar power back up and other facilities required to alleviate the tough conditions. The design is being vetted by the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.On the issue of transgressions across the Line of Actual Control, he reiterated that since the border is not demarcated, perceptions on both sides differ and patrolling is carried out accordingly and movements are monitored.

The Indian ex-servicemen movement has decided to take the Narendra Modi government to court for what they claim is a nonimplementation of the ‘one rank one pension’ (OROP) as agreed by the Ministry of Defence.

The Indian ex-servicemen movement has decided to take the Narendra Modi government to court for what they claim is a nonimplementation of the ‘one rank one pension’ (OROP) as agreed by the Ministry of Defence.

The veterans want the government to implement OROP as approved by the Koshiyari Committee of Parliament. The veterans have roped in experienced lawyer Ram Jethmalani to fight their case in the Supreme Court.

A group of veterans led by Major General (retd) Satbir Singh have been agitating for OROP implementation for the past 238 days at Jantar Mantar.

The governing body of the agitating veterans’ has decided to challenge the government in court and not submit its case to the one-man commission set up by the Modi government to look into the anomalies in OROP implementation.

Adverse effects

“We are in the final stages of our paperwork to be submitted in court. The government did not fulfill the promise made to veterans on OROP and we will challenge the government in a court of law for OROP,” Major General (retd) Satbir Singh told Mail Today. The veterans have also decided to continue their agitation at Jantar Mantar till OROP is implemented.

The government had on February 3 announced the notification of the tables regarding the implementation of OROP.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) in a statement said that the annual recurring cost of OROP would be `7,500 crore and arrears from July 1, 2014 to December 31, 2015 would be an additional Rs 10,500 crore.

The government had claimed 86 per cent of this money would go to personnel below officer rank (PBOR).

“This is one rank five pensions. The government is silent on the equalisation of pensions. So within two years juniors will draw a higher pension than seniors, again defeating the purpose of OROP. The government has also cleared one increment less,” Singh claimed.

The agitating veterans are also miffed with the fact that instead of taking the highest pension at a particular rank and years in service as bench mark for OROP, the government has gone in for the average of pensions, which will affect the veterans adversely.

The government on the other hand insists OROP was finally granted for veterans by the Modi government after four decades of agitation by the veterans.

“Veterans have been agitating for OROP for the past 42 years. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has fulfilled his promise to the veterans. Most are happy, only a section is agitating. They may approach the commission to discuss anomalies that remain,” a senior MoD official said.

The defence budget for pension is estimated to go up from Rs 54,000 crore to around Rs 65,000 crore, that is by almost 20 per cent, on account of OROP.

Government sources are of the opinion that some of the agitating veterans are politically inclined and will keep up their protests ahead of the crucial Punjab elections to create trouble for the government.

“If there are anomalies then the one-man commission, that has been set up, will address them and come up with necessary solutions within six months. Instead of agitating on streets the veterans should submit their issues to the commission,” sources at MoD said.

The war for these veterans is far from over.

Ajay Banerjee,Tribune News Service,New Delhi, January 15

India and France are not likely to ink the much-awaited deal for the Rafale fighter jets when French President Francois Hollande arrives in India on a three-day visit as chief guest at the Republic Day function. As some issues still remain, India will go for a better price than take a hasty step at this stage, top sources said, indicating the deal may not be inked during Hollande’s visit.In April last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a decision to buy 36 Rafale fighter jets from France in a “fly-away” condition. After that, the cost negotiation committee met to fix a price for the jets and also the arsenal. Initially, the IAF had projected the need for 126 such fighter jets and a global tender was floated, which is now in cold storage after the decision to buy Rafale was announced.Already faced with a dwindling fleet of fighter jets, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has formally told the Ministry of Defence (MoD) that it needs at least 80 Rafale-type multi-role combat fighter jets to be battle ready in the next few years. These need not be the Rafale, but should be jets of similar capability.The IAF has conveyed the need for five squadrons and estimated a squadron at 16 jets each, instead of the normal number of 18 jets, as the Rafale with its high-end technology is available to fly at short notice and has a shorter maintenance “turn-around”.This works out to be 80 jets of Rafale or planes of such type. The number is more in tune with creating minimum facilities for servicing and training of pilots and on-ground technicians. A “mere” 36 jets – presently on order — would not meet the shortfall due to the phasing out of fleet of MiG-21 and MiG-27 jets by 2022. There are some 260 obsolete MiG-21s and MiG-27s (Soviet Union-era single-engine fighter jets) in the fleet. The IAF needs 400 jets over the next 10 years. As of now, the IAF has 35 fighter jet squadrons (having 16-18 planes each) against its projected requirement of 42 squadrons to tackle any simultaneous war with China and Pakistan.

Punjab and Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki felicitates a cadet at the Haryana Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh. A Tribune photograph

Tribune News Service,Chandigarh, February 4

NCC cadets of Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, who participated in the national-level Republic Day camp in New Delhi last month, were honoured by the Governor of Haryana and Punjab, Prof Kaptan Singh Solanki, at a function held at the Haryana Raj Bhawan here today.The Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh NCC Directorate had won the Prime Minister’s Championship Banner — 2016 among 17 directorates for the second time consecutively.The contingent of the Directorate comprised 53 cadets from Punjab, 39 cadets from Haryana and 11 cadets from Chandigarh.The Governor announced a cash incentive of Rs 11,000 to each cadet of Haryana who participated in the camp and an award of Rs 51,000 to cadet Sonika of the Hisar Girls’ Battalion for representing the country and winning a silver medal at the Asian Shooting Championship held in Kuwait recently.Maj Gen GS Chima, Additional Director General, NCC, Vijai Vardhan, Additional Chief Secretary, Higher Education, Haryana, Mohammad Rafi, from the office of the Director Public Instruction (DPI), Punjab, and Rubinderjit Singh Brar, DPI, Chandigarh, were also present.

Tribune News Service,New Delhi, January 8

In a first, a military contingent of a foreign country will take part in the Republic Day Parade on January 26. A contingent of the French army, which is already in India for a joint military exercise, will take part in the parade along with Indian armed forces.In 2009, the Indian armed forces had achieved a similar landmark when a contingent led the massive Bastille Day military parade down Paris’s majestic Champs Elysee. Then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was the Chief Guest of Honour in that event. This year, French President Francois Hollande will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations. This will be the fifth time that a French leader will be a chief guest at R-Day celebrations.

100 flights delayed

• Dense fog blanketed many areas in and around Delhi on Friday with poor visibility affecting over 100 flights and hitting rail traffic
• The Northern Railway said 24 trains were cancelled, 16 others were running late and 11 were rescheduled due to the fog which severely curtailed visibility

A soldier takes position in the Hajin area in north Kashmir’s Badipora district on Thursday. — ANI photo

Srinagar, February 4

A gunbattle broke out between militants and security forces in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday morning.Police suspect two-three militants are hiding at Hajin village.The encounter started after security forces launched a cordon-cum-search operation at Khushi Mohalla in the district, 35 km from Srinagar, following information about presence of militants in the area, a police official said.No causalities have been reported so far on either side.Further details are awaited. — TNS/Agencies

OFFICERS 1 AND 2

AMC OFFICERS

OROP PENSION TABLES FOR DEFENCE PERSONNEL – PENSION TABLE FOR REGULAR COMMISSIONED OFFICERS

Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare issued orders regarding the scheme of One Rank One Pension for Defence Personnel with effect from 1.7.2016. The detailed instructions relating to implementation of OROP along with tables indicating revised pension for each rank and each category. The order including the 101 pension tables indicating rates of pension/family pension.

Arrears of account of revision of pension from 1.7.2014 till date of implementation shall be paid by the Pension Disbursing Agencies in four equal half yearly installments. However, all the family pensioners including those in receipt of Special / Liberalized family pension and all Gallantry award winners shall be paid arrears in one installment.

INDEX OF TABLES IN APPENDIX TO MOD LETTER NO.12(1)/2014/D(PEN/POL) (Part-II) dated 3.2.2016

(CLICK THE LINK TO VIEW THE TABLE)

Table No.1 – Regular Commissioned Officers (Excluding Oficers of AMC/ADC/RVC/MNS/TA/EC/SSC)

Table No.2 – Commissioned Officers of AMC/ADC/RVC

Table No.3 – Commissioned Officers of Territorial Army

Table No.4 – Commissioned Officers of Military Nursing Services

Table No.5 – EC/SSC Officers (Other than AMC/ADC/RVC)

Table No.6 – EC/SSC Officers AMC/ADC/RVC doctors

Table No.7 – JCOs/ORs Including Honorary Commissioned Officers

Table No.8 – JCOs/ORs of DSC in receipt of 2nd Pension

Table No.9 – JCOs/ORs of Territorial Army

More Tables for JCOs / ORs

Authority: www.desw.gov.in