Cyber Criminals on the Prowl: Defence Personnel easy prey?

80 Indians fall prey to cyber fraud every minute
Published: Monday, Sep 17, 2012, 9:00 IST
By Sunchika B Pandey | Place: Mumbai | Agency: DNA
If most of us have gone mobile, so have the cyber criminals. And like many of us, most of their time is being spent on the social networking sites. The cyber criminals are making a living out of it.
According to Norton Cybercrime Report 2012, 66% of Indian online adults have been a victim of cyber fraud in their lifetime. In the past 12 months, 56% of online adults in India have experienced cyber fraud.
As per the report, at least 1,15,000 people fall prey to cyber fraud every day, while 80 per minute and more than one per second leading to a rise in the average direct financial cost per victim to around Rs10,500.
According to the survey, the cybercriminals have now shifted their focus to the increasingly popular social platforms. One in three adults online Indians (32%) have been either social or mobile cybercrime victims.
While most internet users delete suspicious emails and are careful with their personal details online. However, 25% don’t use complex passwords or change their passwords frequently and 38% do not check for the padlock symbol in the browser before entering sensitive personal information.
Online adults are also unaware of the evolution of most common forms of cybercrime. In fact, 68% of adults do not know that malware can operate in a discreet fashion, making it hard to know if a computer has been compromised, and one third (35%) are not certain that their computer is currently clean and free of viruses.
“Malware and viruses used to wreak obvious havoc on your computer,” said Ibrahim. “You’d get a blue screen, or your computer would crash, alerting you to an infection. But cyber criminals have evolved new methods to avoid detection,” added Ibrahim.
80 Indians fall prey to cyber fraud every minute
Website Security
Website security indicators:click here

IESM 2 Years ago: Will future Jantar Mantar Protests yield any results?

EX-SERVICEMEN RALLY AT JANTAR MANTARON SUNDAY, 28 NOV 201011.
On the Ex-Servicemen Rally of 28 Nov 2010 organised by IESM at Jantar Mantar, as against the earlier ones of 8 Feb 2009 & 12 Apr 2009; I observed that:

Attendance. The attendance was comparatively thinner, not exceeding 1000, as against the claimed 5000 Ex-Servicemen having taken part in the Rally. It is necessary that we all realize that until & unless IESM spreads its wings all over the Country, ONE RANK ONE PENSION will only remain a mirage. And, our presumption that 1000 Ex-Servicemen rallying at Jantar Mantar would coerce the Govt. of India to grant ONE RANK ONE PENSION, is badly misplaced.

Signing of Petition in Blood. At Jantar Mantar, the venue of the Rally, on Sunday, 28 Nov 2010; around 10.00 AM, I saw a Nursing Asst. draw blood from Ex-Servicemen and store it in a bottle. When Col Himmat Singh Kaushal from Ambala and Lt Cdr Mayil Vahanan from Tanjavur (Tamil Nadu) went the table where Ex-Servicemen were busy signing their names in blood and stretched out their hands for blood to be drawn; they were told to dip a quill in the bottle of blood kept on the table and affix their signatures. It is felt that drawing of blood from Ex-Servicemen and their signing the Petition in blood ought to be done more visibly, in full glare of the Media to enable photographs of the same to appear in leading media, on the next day.
Finally, considering that the elections for a pan-India organisation were conducted without enabling any serious level of participatory credibility; with immense pain, I hereby choose to resign from the primary membership of IESM, an organisation of which I had the privilege of being one among the Founder Members.
JAI HIND.
Regards,
Col SS Rajan
click here for the full report
Comment: Lessons learnt in earlier Rallies must be analysed before jumping into another protest rally. OROP is slowly losing steam because the case is not projected precisely with adequate legal baggage. Just harping on OROP like a broken record will not enhance our Pension rights/ entitlements to satisfy all sections of the Military. What will be more prudent is to fight for enhanced pay and pensions for our Sepoys, NCOs and JCOs and removal of all anomalies. The Rank Pay case should act as an eye opener. IESM need to employ advocates who can fight our cases in a befitting manner. Wasting money on Rallies will bear no fruit unless backed with at least a lakh of protestors.

Widow of war hero granted disputed land

Rahul Gandhi moved at plight of soldier's wife
Updated: Wednesday, September 26, 2012, 17:05 [IST]
Ranchi, Sept 26: The plight of Balamdin, wife of Albert Ekka, a soldier who died fighting in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, moved Congress leader Rahul Gandhi after he came to know that the five-acre plot of land allotted to his family by the government turned out to be disputed.
"We apprised him of our plight, told him about the disputed land, now in a court, and urged him to help find a job for me. We are very happy to meet Rahul Gandhi," said Bhisent, who was nine-months-old when his father Lance Naik Albert died while fighting Pak troops at Ganga Sagar.
Albert was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra. "He assured us to help in whatever way possible," Bhisent, who met Gandhi along with his mother here, said. Over two decades ago, the government had allotted the land to the family in Gumla district as a mark of respect to the soldier's sacrifice.
The land was, however, allotted without proper inquiry and later it was found out that it belonged to someone else. Gandhi, who placed a wreath at the Bhagwan Birsa Munda Samadhisthal here this morning, left for Bokaro to finish with his two-day engagement in Jharkhand. PTI
Rahul Gandhi moved at plight of soldier's wife

Rank Pay: CDA (O) Pune News Flash

Ref: CDA(O) Pune: News Flash

Supreme Court Verdict regarding Rank Pay and related matters and Undertaking (25/09/2012)
CDA (O) Pune Instructions and Undertaking- Click here

All reitred/ released Army officers who were in service in the rank of Capt to Brig as on 01/01/86, are requested to furnish their details in the appended format at the earliest to PCDA(O), Pune so that arrears on account of pay revision with effect from 01/01/86 in view of the order of Hon'ble Supreme Court may be credited in the bank account". (28/09/2012)
Click here for the Appended Format

Fake Encounters haunt the Army

Army forcing us to withdraw case against Gen Bikram Singh: NGO
Harinder Baweja, Hindustan Times
Srinagar, October 05, 2012
The army has been accused of putting pressure on the civil society in Kashmir to withdraw a PIL against its chief, General Bikram Singh.
YES Kashmir, an NGO, had approached the Jammu and Kashmir high court in October last year to raise the issue of an encounter that occurred in Janglat Mandi, Anantnag, in March 2001.
In the clash, Singh — then a brigadier posted in the Valley — suffered gunshot wounds while two army officials lost their lives.
According to the police, an alleged militant dressed as a beggar had approached Singh and opened fire. In the battle that ensued, the militant was killed.
The PIL, however, questions the police theory. A family had come forward in October 2011, claiming that it was their son Abdullah Bhat, an innocent bystander, who had been killed.
The timing of the PIL was questioned in military circles, with many seeing it as an attempt to narrow down Singh’s chances of becoming the army chief.
Soon after Singh took over as the chief of army staff, NGO head Khurshid Ahmed Mir approached the court once again and — in a sworn affidavit — claimed that the force was pressurising him.
Mir has now alleged in the affidavit that “officers of Sector–1 RR are pressurising me to help them withdraw the case by influencing relatives and the counsel for the petitioners… Since the case has turned out to be a high-profile one, I feel insecure in the hands of the army. They are repeatedly putting pressure on me, and can harm me and my family.”
The police had then closed the case, saying the beggar was actually Mateen Chacha — a Pakistan-trained Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist.
They are now refusing to produce a photograph of the ‘beggar’ or identify his grave, demands that the family has made through the PIL.
The board of officers inquiring into the funding of the controversial intelligence unit, constituted by former army chief Gen VK Singh, is now probing possible links between the ‘snoop unit’ and the NGO.
The inquiry notwithstanding, the petition can be embarrassing for the chief as well as the government, particularly if the court orders an investigation into the ‘fake encounter.’ The army declined to comment on the grounds that the inquiry was still on.
>Army forcing us to withdraw case against Gen Bikram Singh: NGO Comment: Fake Encounters and Gallantry Awards was a sure sign of Career Success for many Senior Officers. This short cut was fine tuned by AHQ from 1995 to 2007. When busted the reactions are for a cover up by all means... The AHQ CoI is waste of time. The Army is not designed for IS duties or Anti Insurgency ops. The designed role is only COMBAT- defensive and offensive.

NDA Scam: Godfathers in the Army perpetuate Greed, Corruption and Sleeze

My story, is about the accused colonel and who is Anil Kumar Singh, the Physical Training Officer, NDA and is the Presiding Officer of the BOO.
This officer, like many others transferred from the Mechanised Infantry into the Army Physical Training Corps (APTC) and has served under me, while I was in service. While I was his superior and the Head of Service of the APTC, A K Singh was always and ever on the lookout for any opportunity which came his way to ingratiate himself to me as also others, who mattered. The officer, an ex NDA himself and from India Squadron, is of an average calibre but ambitious to the extent of going to any distance, for self seeking positional and promotional gains. On an occasion, when I was the Deputy Director General (DDG) in the Integrated Head Quarters of Defence (Army), he wrote to me an unsigned demi official letter, requesting for an undue favour regarding his posting, which was most unbecoming in the circumstances, keeping in mind the turnover of officers in the interest of the Corps and the Organization. This was seen by me in a very adverse and poor manner, and I recommended suitable administrative action against him, to his superior officer and the commandant.
The commandant doled out an innocuous warning to the officer, as a matter of routine compliance to my observation, probably because of his closeness to the officer for whatever good reason or otherwise. Given the unbecoming alliance between some senior officers in the Army institute of Physical Training (AIPT) and the Directorate General of Military Training, A K Singh managed to get his way with regard to his posting, with tacit support from the then Director General of Military Training, who also happens to be the ex officio Colonel Commandant of the APTC and who prevailed upon the parent Military Secretary’s branch, to do the needful. By the time I learnt about this, The DGMT and the Colonel Commandant was on his way on promotion to command a Corps in the Northern Sector. I, then wrote to the Deputy Military Secretary (Dy MS) about the grave wrong which was about to get done, should the officer’s request be upheld with regard to his posting, notwithstanding the favourable recommendation of the erstwhile DGMT and Colonel Commandant, who, was by now comfortably ensconced in his new appointment, on promotion. My letter was also forward to the ex DGMT, apprising him about my request to the Dy MS, to ignore the former’s directions on AK Singh’s request about his posting. The Dy MS saw good reason in my recommendations to undo what had been done and posted out the officer from where he wanted to remain for another year or so.
A K Singh smelled the opportunity, ingratiated himself through the staff officer to the commandant NDA, and emerged as the prime candidate to be assigned the responsibility to become the Presiding Officer of the now infamous BOO.
Major General (retd) Gagan Deep Bakshi, I am not willing to believe you when you defend the corrupt and the arrogant in the Army, by always finding an escape route for yourself from a vulnerable situation, during a debate on the sliding standards of probity and rectitude in the Armed Forces, by becoming patronising towards the anchor and sermonising him on how the day starts for a cadet in the NDA, by reciting the PRAYER of, truth, courage and values.
When the guardians and custodians start eroding the value system themselves, just akin to the fence which grows and eats into the lawn, what will be the credibility of an officer and a leader, who commands and leads, not by example but by the positional authority vested in him by the Rashtrapati. The making of a revolt or else a mutiny in the rank and files of the Army, is not a distant possibility. Beware!
Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal
Extracted from: Click here for the full details
Comment: This story has all the ingredients for a Bollywood Blockbuster. The story is same or similar in all the Army Training Institutions like Staff College, College of Combat, IMA, and more... most of the sleeze scams are generally covered up.

Tatra Scam: Will Corrupt Babus and Generals still get their kickbacks?

HT New Delhi, September 17, 2012
The defence ministry is planning to cancel the BEML order, worth over Rs. 50 lakh, given to UK-based Tatra Sipox for supplying one truck, in the wake of the CBI probe into the allegations of irregularities in the supply of these vehicles. The order for the truck was placed by BEML in May for the Defence Research and Development Organisation.
The Ministry is planing to cancel the order worth over Rs. 50 lakh placed by BEML with the UK-based Tatra Sipox, sources told PTI here.
When asked about the development, defence ministry's Department of Defence Production refused to comment on it.
BEML had written a letter to Tatra Sipox in May this year seeking urgent delivery of a Tatra truck for around Euro 88,000 (over Rs. 50 lakh).
The tie-up between BEML and UK-based Tatra Sipox for supplying Tatra trucks to the Indian forces has been under the scanner after former Army Chief Gen VK Singh alleged that he was offered a bribe of Rs. 14 crore for clearing a file for procuring over 600 such vehicles.
After the allegations came to light on March 27, defence minister AK Antony ordered a CBI inquiry into the allegations.
BEML's chairman and managing director VRS Natarajan has also been removed out of his office by the Ministry for ensuring a free and fair probe into the charges.
BEML and Tatra have supplied more than 6,000 such heavy-duty trucks to the armed forces and the DRDO for carrying missiles and other heavy systems.
Defence ministry to cancel DRDO's Tatra truck order PTI

POWs: Court directs UOI to be proactive and provide relief to NOKs

It was on 23 December 2011 that the Hon’ble Gujarat High Court rendered a landmark judgement in a Writ Petition filed by the late Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora and others in the year 1999.
Besides other reliefs that were sought, the case was filed by the late General praying that the Govt may be directed to treat all missing Prisoners of War (POWs) as “on duty” for all intents and purposes till their date of retirement. It was also prayed that the Union of India be directed to take up the issue of the missing personnel with the International Human Rights Committee.
The High Court, through a very detailed and extensive order, which at places recorded bone chilling details on the subject alongwith all related evidence on the matter, directed the Union of India to approach the International Court of Justice in this regard and also to pay all retirement and service benefits to the kin of the missing personnel as if they had retired on superannuation.
The detailed judgement on the writ petition which was ordered to be treated as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), not only traced the entire length and breadth of the issue but also dealt with accounts of individual cases.
The Ministry of Defence, though has challenged before the Supreme Court the part of the order which dealt with directions to the Govt to take up the case with the ICJ, has however implemented the other part which dealt with treating the missing personnel on duty and releasing benefits to the kin as if they (the missing personnel) remained on duty till their respective dates of retirement.
The Defence Ministry has already forwarded the order for implementation to the Services HQ who in turn have asked the respective Record Offices to immediately take requisite steps.
The entire judgement of the High Court can be accessed and downloaded by clicking here. Posted by Navdeep / Maj Navdeep Singh at 7:42 PM
Govt of India implements the landmark orders of the Gujarat High Court in a PIL filed by the late General Aurora

Adarsh Scam: Judicial Commission being bombed by lies!

Had no idea of kin having flats in Adarsh: Chavan
Thursday, October, 04 2012 - 17:35
MUMBAI:Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, whose three relatives got flats in Adarsh, today claimed before the judicial commission probing the scam he came to know of their membership in the housing society only after the news of alleged irregularities was broken by the media.
"It was at the end of October 2010 that I came to know that some of my relatives had applied for membership in Adarsh society and the same was granted to them," he told the two-member inquiry commission led by Justice (retd) J A Patil set up by the Maharashtra government to probe the Adarsh scam.
Chavan's mother-in-law Bhagvati Sharma, his father-in- law's brother Madanlal Sharma and his sister-in-law Seema Sharma had flats in the building.
Chavan, who had to step down as chief minister after it emerged that his relatives had flats in the scam-tainted housing society, appeared before the commission today for the second time.
He had earlier deposed before the commission in June to answer allegations against him of bestowing undue favours while granting permission for construction of 31-storey Adarsh building in high-end Colaba in south Mumbai.
Replying to questions put forth by commission's counsel Dipan Merchant, Chavan said he was not aware that his relatives had applied for membership in the Adarsh society.
In his brief appearance that lasted barely 10 minutes, Chavan said he was also not aware if Seema Sharma's application for membership of the society was rejected in 2004 but approved in 2008 when he was the chief minister.
He said soon after he came to know of the membership of his relatives "at the end of October 2010", they relinquished it on October 29 the same year.
Had no idea of kin having flats in Adarsh: Chavan

OROP: White lies and Half truths

Why ex-servicemen are angry?
COL NK BALAKRISHNAN | 02/10/2012 05:17 PM
In a mail to fellow veterans, Col Balakrishnan says the men in uniform, due to constraints of discipline, can't come out with truths against the government. And, the ex-servicemen are spread thinly all over the country, without any central organisation to speak of. So, the government is having a field day with half truths and white lies over “one rank one pension”. This mail was written on 25th September
Hi All,
This mail is mainly addressed to my friends in the civil street. You must have seen in all the TV channels last night and read in today’s newspapers as to how the government has “ANNOUNCED A BONANZA OF Rs2,300 CRORE TO THE FAUJI BHAIES” by granting them the long pending demands of OROP (One Rank, One Pension). Nothing can be further from the truth. I shall just high light a few points, since typing with five thumbs is a problem for me...
Click here
Related Reading
Issue small, fallout fearsome! KARAN KHARB | 02/10/2012 12:52 PM
A military veteran laments the government’s apathy towards the Indian armed forces with respect to pension and the lack of leadership could turn out to be disastrous
Click here for the original post

Pune Ex-servicemen urge Centre to Enhance Pensions

Ex-servicemen urge Centre to address pension issues
TNN | Oct 4, 2012, 05.57AM IST
PUNE: The Pune chapter of the All India Federation of Military Veterans' Organisation on Wednesday alleged that the Union government was not serious about implementing one rank one pension scheme for all three defence wings.
The other pending issues such as help to widows and enhancement of pension were also not addressed, the organization said.
Addressing a news conference, Ravindra Pathak, coordinator of Pune chapter, said, "Issues relating to ex-servicemen, pension and related problems were being ignored by the Union government. Besides one rank one pension, enhancement of family pension, dual family pension and family pension to mentally or physically-challenged children of servicemen are not properly addressed."
Recently, the Union government had claimed that one rank one pension scheme would benefit families of ex-servicemen. Pathak claimed it was nothing but correction of anomalies that crept in as a result of wrong implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.
Enhanced family pension is only a correction of the Union government's error. In many situations, the family does not benefit from improvements in the scheme and for many it is also not possible to pursue the matter, he added.
All ex-servicemen are going to approach the Centre to pursue their demands and improvements in various policies that are currently affecting the ex-servicemen, said Pathak.
Click here for the original post

Rank Pay: RDOA Felicitates the Legal Team

FELICITATIONS: LEGAL TEAM IV CPC RANK PAY CASE: 30 SEPT 12

The legal team which was instrumental in getting the Armed Forces officers their legitimate dues in the landmark and historic judgment given by the Supreme Court on 04 Sept 2012, pertaining to the IV CPC Rank Pay case was felicitated on 30 Sept 2012 at DSOI Dhaula Kuan by Retired Defence Officers Association (RDOA). Over a hundred officers were present.
The function commenced with the Col Satwant Singh, Secretary RDOA, welcoming the guest present in the meeting. Col Satwant Singh, explained the sequence of the case and read out the operative part of the judgments, issued by various Courts as under –

The Single Judge Order passed in the case of Maj AK Dhanapalan.

The Supreme Court Order Passed in favour of RDOA on 08 Mar 2010.

Subsequent appeal filed by the Union of India against the case.

The Supreme Court Order of 04 Sep 12, dismissing the appeal of Union of India.
The said order will be applicable to all affected officers of the Armed Forces with effect from 01 Jan 1986 to 01 Jan 2006. It would also be applicable to all pending cases in various courts and AFT’s across the country on the subject case.
The interest will be applicable @ 6% wef 01/01/2006 and not 1986. This is the only change made by the apex court. The court has also directed that all arrears should be paid within outer limit of 3 months from the date of the order, 04 Sept 2012.
It was explained by the Secretary RDOA as to how the pay/pension would be revised with the cascading affect from 1/1/86 (IV CPC), 1/1/96 (VCPC), 1/1/2006 (VI CPC). To this affect the commitment made by the UOI on an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court with financial implications of 1623 crores was also read out to the members.
After the Secretary RDOA finished his talk, Col BK Sharma, President of RDOA, welcoming the guests, who had arrived by then, and members said that it was a proud moment in the history of the Armed forces, where a few have mustered strength to fight for the majority and seek a judgment which will benefit all officers of the three Services, holding any rank from Capt to Brig (and equivalent) on 01 Jan 1986.
The President then formally welcomed the guests, Senior Advocate Mahabir Singh and Advocates on Record Gp Capt KS Bhati and Mrs Aishwarya Bhati. A brief introduction of each of the guests highlighting their achievements and contribution to the case was given to the members. The guests were presented bouquets on behalf of all members of RDOA.
As a token of their commitment and unflinching support to the cause of Ex Servicemen, each of the guests were honoured with an ‘Honorarium’ amount in the form of cheque; which is nothing as compared to the Services rendered and the legal fees charged by them. As a reciprocate gesture, Senior Advocate Mahabir Singh donated Rs 50000/- to the corpus of RDOA.
Advocate on Record Gp Capt KS Bhati requested all officers to make RDOA strong and the nodal agency to fight and stand for securing denied benefits to the veteran fraternity.
Col Sharma also welcomed out station officers Lt General VK Oberoi, Air Marshal Savur, Maj’s NS Gill & Sadana. Speaking on the occasion Air Marshal Savur was delighted at the ‘Perseverance and Gusto’ of the RDOA team in getting the judgment. He came all the way from Bangalore to attend the felicitation.

Lt General Oberoi was appreciative at the ‘Resoluteness’ and brain power shown by RDOA and the legal luminaries.
Appreciations and thanks giving were also given by Cdr Ahuja on behalf of Naval Foundation, Delhi Chapter since Admiral Harinder Singh was out of the country. It would be pertinent to mention that Admiral Harinder gave his complete unconditional support for the case from day one and was always supportive of actions taken by RDOA.
Col Kirit Joshipura, Executive Member IESM, on behalf of IESM, applauded the efforts of RDOA in getting the judgment for the benefit of all the Armed forces officers.
Thanks Giving
Team RDOA wishes to thank all its members in supporting it for the ‘cause’ and for all the congratulatory messages sent/expressed on phone/email.
Team RDOA also wants to thank all others who are not members of RDOA, yet have applauded their efforts and achievements.
The felicitations culminated with a contributory lunch.
Next the battle for implementation instructions of the Court order begins.
SECY RDOA

Adarsh Scam: Gen NC Vij did not apply his mind

Ref:‘I did not apply my mind to question whether Adarsh was security threat’
Former Army Chief General (retd.) N.C Vij, says he was not aware of a parliamentary query about land ownership
COMMENTS:

Dear Gen. Vij; This is not expected of a retd. army chief. Army chief not being informed about the parliamentary questions and applying for the membership of the same society after retirement. It is not done, Sir.
from: Krishnan Posted on: Aug 23, 2012 at 05:20 IST

Sad that an ex- army chief can give such evasive answers that reeks of malafide intentions. Despite visiting the 28 floor of the building where he had been allotted a flat, if he did not think of Adarsh as a security threat to the military installations surrounding the area, then he should not have been in the position of military chief. Any layman - not necessarily with a military background, knows that a civilian construction offering a birds-eye view of military installations is a security threat. And he says " people occupying the building need to be scrutinised from security angle and whether the persons occupying the building are trustworthy and dependable". How in the world is that possible in a civilian premises? Can he please offer an answer?
from: V.J. Nambiar Posted on: Aug 23, 2012 at 07:38 IST

Firstly, while unequivocally accepting the unimpeachable personal integrity of the former chief of army staff and former vice chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, the simple legal stand in most cases of land ownership and issue of encumberance certificate that precedes transfer of title to property presupposes that ignorance of a possible fraud, forgery, foul play or manipulation committed cannot stand in the way of title and access to disputed property being restored to the legal owner / lessee. Ignorance of law and absence of malice could only perhaps somewhat mitigate the legal exposure of the victims but cannot stand in the way of title of ownership from being restored to the rightful owner. Hence all those who had invested in or been awarded membership will stand to lose title to the disputed property if it is proven that the Society had no legal title to begin with or if the legal title had been obtained in violation of rules and regulations in force.
from: R.N. Iyengar Posted on: Aug 23, 2012 at 08:29 IST

CSD goods finds its way to civil shops

Army stores goods surface in open market
TNN Aug 30, 2001, 01.20am IST
Secunderabad: The shop owners in Secunderabad cantonment -- particularly in Trimulgherry and Lal Bazar -- are selling commodities 'procured' from the canteen stores department (csd) managed by different units of army.
The csd services are for serving defence personnel, retired army personnel and their dependents and civilians who work in defence establishments. some of the shop owners in the cantonment purchase the essential commodities like soap, toothpastes, shampoos and oils on the cards of the defence personnel and sell them at the market rates.
The csd seal can be seen on the commodities sold by the shop owners at Trimulgherry and Lal Bazar. goods like fans, suitcases, pressure cookers, mixer grinders and stoves are purchased from the csds at subsidised rates and sold in the open market in Secunderabad cantonment. the central csd depot of the army at Trimulgherry supplies the commodities to more than 50 csds in the cantonment. As the difference between the market rate of a commodity and the subsidised rate at the csd is nearly 25 per cent, shop owners who sell them get a good profit. the supplies department of the army conducted raids on several csds in July. in the raids, the canteen cards with names included unauthorisedly were recovered.
The army personnel also caught middlemen delivering the goods from csds to shop owners and left them with a warning. Army stores goods surface in open market

IESM in perspective

Dear Veterans,
Sanjha Morcha formation on 02 Dec 2009, was the outcome of all ESM organisation/ Individuals who disassociated themselves from IESM in 2009, formed a common umbrella to continue struggle for OROP.
IESM is now a fragmented Organisation. Veterans like Col Rajan who played pivot role in formation of IESM was shown the door, Veteran Col Bharwaj again a stalwart also dissociated himself due to mishandling of funds and went to court and now asking for elections. Veteran Major SS Dhillon, Col Ranjit Bopari, Col SS Sohi and many others who generated heat in Punjab also dissociated themselves as IESM deviated toward BJP, Leader like Mr LK Advani to meet their own ambitions. In the bargain Gen Satbir Got security contract for his security company and Gen Kadiyan as one of the organisor during Asian games. Again they are up, to degrading the ESM community to meet their own ends and collection of funds. Now asking ESM to be present in uniform to degrade the same like medals. click here to read more
The Views expressed above by Veterans/ ESM organisation are appreciated and Sanjha Morcha agrees with them. Even today IESM has not approached any organisation/ Individuals who have left the IESM in 2009. We don't believe in collection of funds, nor there is need for the same, the funds held in large amount with IESM belong to all ESM hence let individuals organisation look after themselves.
Major SS Dhillon Chairman
Col R S Boparai President
Sanjha Morcha
Moderator Comment
The multi- branded ESM's need to cement their differences and ideas to fight for the rights and welfare of Veterans especially the Jawans who retire early after 17 to 20 years service. Senior retired Officers who govern the ESM Bodies need to be service oriented and not confine to generating funds and enriching the banks. Ideally the Bank Balance should be zero before asking for more... (ref to rules and guidelines incorporated in the Indian Society Act of 1860).

Good Governance: MP's and Gandhi Jayanthi

The worst thing about indian Judiciary and politicians is that corrupt MP's are never ever convicted and their cases never end. Shame on Indian Parliamentarians who try to sabotage honest uprising against their corrupt deeds.
The criminalization of politics continues to be a very big concern, with an increase in the number of MPs with criminal records from 128 to 150. Even the number of MPs with serious criminal cases has gone up. The biggest reason for this seems to be the undemocratic and autocratic selection and nomination of candidates by political parties. In order to ensure the winnability of candidates, parties ignored honesty to give preference to muscle power and money power. As media reports seem to indicate, the misuse of monetary incentives to buy votes has increased sharply since last elections and continues to be a source of threat to real democracy. While voter awareness on this issue is very high, the problem is that those who win after spending huge amounts are unlikely to focus on good governance. They are more likely to focus on recovering the funds they spent and on giving favours to those who supported their campaigns.
For more details: Indian MP's with Criminal Offences - A list

Remembering Father of our Nation Mahatma Gandhi

Throughout his life, Mahatma Gandhi inspired countless Indians to lead a simple and principled life free of vices and desires. His message of non-violence that he practiced against the British rule in India has inspired many important world personalities. On Gandhi’s birth anniversary, Guylife presents a few important people who have been inspired by the Mahatma.

Aung San Suu Kyi
Prominent Burmese freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi has been heavily influenced by Gandhi’s life and teachings apart from Buddhist philosophy. Suu Kyi has been credited with ushering in reforms in Burma (now Myanmar) that is helping the country reach out to the world by removing sanctions placed against the country that is ruled by military junta. Suu Kyi has said she read works by Gandhi to keep herself disciplined when she was placed under house arrest by her country's military dictators.
Last week, addressing a packed hall of students at Columbia University where she got a standing ovation, the 67-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said she has been very inspired by Gandhi's writings and strongly urged the students to read his works. "Gandhi is somebody really phenomenal. I think you must all read his works, the more you read Gandhi, the more impressed you are by who he was and what he was. You must remember that change through non-violent means was not ever thought of before Gandhi. He was the one who started it, he was the one who decided that it is possible to bring about revolutionary change without violence," Suu Kyi said.
Leaders Inspired By Mahatma Gandhi by Priyanko Sarkar|Posted on Oct 1st 2012|
Comment: So sad to see our MP's living a lavishous life style at the expense of the tax payer. Their performance can be seen on daily basis through the Parliament session...

Rank Pay and SCPC Anomalies: Military discipline and morale on the decline?

Recipe for disaster for the military
by Arun K. Singh.
The writer, a vice-admiral, retired as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam
The state of morale in the armed forces in general, and the Army in particular, should be a cause for worry because of the latter’s rapidly declining combat capability. Moreover, an Army with low morale, insufficient manpower and lacking in the required combat equipment is a recipe for national disaster at the hands of foreign invaders.
The recent Supreme Court ruling giving “rank pay” to those officers who were in military service between 1986 to 1996 following a 25-year-long court battle by a few retired officers shows how this rank pay, given by the fourth Central Pay Commission (4th CPC), had been withheld by unaccountable bureaucrats, who had issued the final implementation orders. Even if the rank pay is finally given in the coming months, many of those eligible have passed away or are bed-ridden, and, many had received lower pension also. Today, there are 39 unresolved anomalies from the 6th CPC, which gave its award in 2008...
The Army, for its part, needs to set its own house in order, weed out corruption, reward merit and concentrate on regaining its past glory, which was based on pure professionalism, discipline and leadership. Can the Prime Minister do something drastic to improve morale and combat capability of the military?
Extracted from original article click here for more

Tatra Scam: MOD and AHQ taken for a tata ride

BEML allegedly surrendered Tatra truck manufacturing rights partially
DEVESH K. PANDEY: The Hiondu NEW DELHI, September 25, 2012
The Central Bureau of Investigation has strong reasons to suspect that Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), through a memorandum of understanding with the Ravi Rishi-owned British company Tatra Sipox U.K., during the tenure of the suspended BEML chief V. R. S. Natarajan, allegedly partially surrendered the manufacturing rights of all-terrain Tatra trucks in 2003. The agency might now seek the opinion of the authorities concerned to verify the suspicion.
Investigations into the alleged irregularities in the supply of the trucks through BEML to the Indian Army have so far revealed that based on the 1986 and 1997 agreements with the manufacturers, BEML had gained exclusive rights to manufacture the trucks in India. However, through an MoU with Tatra Sipox U.K. in February 2003, it is alleged that the manufacturing rights were partially surrendered by excluding the axle part of the truck.
The CBI probe has revealed that the public sector unit had in 1986 entered into an agreement with Tatra of the erstwhile Czechoslovakia for supply of Tatra T815 trucks. Simultaneously, under the agreement, documents on technological know-how pertaining to the manufacturing of the trucks were also bought for Rs. three crore. It was agreed that BEML would progressively indigenise the trucks and the target was fixed at 85 per cent indigenisation by 1991.
However, when Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, the manufacturing company also split into two. While the one manufacturing 70 per cent of the product was renamed as Tatra AS, the other was called Vab Sipox. According to agency sources, investigations revealed that Vab Sipox was gradually privatised and 80 per cent of the company was taken over by Josef Majsky, who allegedly had prior business links with Ravi Rishi.
During the turbulent phase, the supply of trucks was hit, and subsequently Ravi Rishi’s Venus Projects bagged one order of 100 trucks from BEML. It is alleged that Venus was awarded the contract despite the fact that it was neither a manufacturer nor its subsidiary, but a marketing company. In 1994, CBI probe revealed that Venus and Tatra Sipox allegedly came together to set up Tatra Sipox U.K. through a 50-50 partnership. Later, the company was allegedly taken over by Mr. Rishi.
The Slovak-based company, which earlier manufactured the truck axle and backbone tube part, during the correspondences with BEML, allegedly started exerting that BEML could not manufacture the axle as it was a patented product and thus had to be imported.
The agency has found that the agreement for supply of the truck components that was renewed in 1997 reinforced the exclusive manufacturing rights of BEML in India. Also, it allegedly mentioned that the technological know-how documents had been transferred to BEML.
However, soon after Mr. Natarajan took over as BEML chief, the PSU entered into an MoU with Tatra Sipox U.K. allegedly excluding the rights to manufacture the truck axle, thus partially surrendering the manufacturing rights. “The BEML was supposed to import only the components and manufacture the trucks on its own,” said a CBI source.
Investigations have also revealed that BEML had also developed a prototype of the Tatra truck axle, but it was not allowed to further develop it and was allegedly forced to import the axle, causing huge losses to the exchequer. Interestingly, agency sources said the then Secretary Defence Production had then raised objections asking cancellation of the 2003 MoU. However, the objections were ignored.
On the issue of the alleged surrendering of manufacturing rights, BEML Chief of Public Relations B. S. Sridhar said over the phone that he did not know anything about it. Several attempts to contact Mr. Natarajan also did not elicit any response.
BEML allegedly surrendered Tatra truck manufacturing rights partially
Hindu Readers Comments

How could a scam of this magnitude remain hidden from scrutiny for so long? What were the Vigilance Officers at BEML and the CVC doing? To me it seems almost impossible that a scam of this magnitude could have remained unknown for so long without the knowledge politicians at the highest levels. Will any of these politicians be brought to justice at any time? from: krishna Posted on: Sep 25, 2012 at 02:06 IST

Such negligence is very common in technology driven PSUs of defence ministry.Removing the cover of OFFICIAL SECRETS ACT can bring the can of worms in the open.It is really a criminal wastage of public money and scarce resources of our poor nation without the knowledge of tax paying public. from: Atis Posted on: Sep 25, 2012 at 09:52 IST

In a criminal case it is in the chargesheet that must do the talking. All these reports are nothing better than idle talk. A waste of time and space. from: Hilary Pais Posted on: Sep 25, 2012 at 10:05 IST

OROP: Sampling of Readers Comments

Ref: Taking steps for one-rank, one-pension demand: Govt
TNN | Sep 27, 2012, 02.02AM IST
ESM Definition and FAQ's: Click here
Readers Comments

J.Rajagopalan (Coonoor) 2 days ago
By means of a constitutional amendment Defence Secretary and defence minister of our country should be nominated by the president among the serving/retired defence officers.Only then true representation and redressal of grievances of the forces can be achieved. As for OROP is concerned, we have no other way than continue struggling till we achieve our goal.

S N (Secunderabad)
2 days ago
The so-called improvement in pension is to avoid being castigated by the supreme Court and being asked to pay interest on the arrears. Even now ex-servicemen should fight for the arrears with interest. During the implementation of the 6th CPC the Babus twisted the recommendation of the Pay Commission and gave a pension equal to the minimum of the Pay Band instead of minimum of the pay fixed in the Pay Band. This is is similar to the cheating of the award of the 4th Pay Commission. To avoid paying arrears and interest therein they have quietly tried to palm this off as OROP or a step towards it. Ex servicemen should fight for the arrears and any delaying tactic by UOI should be punished by a higher rate of interest on these arrears. What has been announced is a lame attempt to fool people and to close the gates for a judicial solution. How Mr.Anthony and the PM got fooled by these crooked and cunning Babus beats one hollow. All these recent incidents prove that the Government is not serious about the Defence of this country. This is what will happen if we have an Italian waitress heading a Party who acts as an extra-constitutional centre of power. All in all this, country needs a bitter war to set matters right and our poor voters who are still in the 19th Century wake up to the reality when they vote. The people should not join the Armed Forces until an assurance is given that there will be no more cheating of this sort by bureaucrats.

Ex-Sgt Ravindran Nair (Nagercoil) 2 days ago
The central government has finally concurred OROP issue, a big thanks goes to them for their efforts, but no way it’s acceptable to Ex-servicemen as the core issue has not been looked into. Our bureaucrats, Defense minister and Prime minister are jointly misleading the entire nation on the issue by giving wide propaganda that Rs 2,300 crore pension package has been announced for ex-servicemen. I strongly have a doubt maybe it could be an advance election campaign foreseeing the political situation which will happen in near future. The treatment is just like throwing bones to barking dogs. The long plea for justice that is going on for more than two decades has been totally ignored and they say it will be done phase by phase. When the next phase comes how many will be alive and how many in the graveyard? It would be great if you could account for this query raised? (Ex-Sgt Ravindran Nair)

C Mohan Sharma (Panchkula) 2 days ago
Lt Col Shourie To win over the Ex-Service Men votes the UPA II has enacted a drama which is going to prove very counter-productive. It is not understood as to why the RM, FM and PM are easily taken for a ride by shrewd Babus and make fool of them ( politicians ). The struggle for justice will continue and may be the next Govt ( without Congress ) may understand the real issues, the OROP and take the credit and win over the armed forces including Ex-Service-Men. Good luck Manmohan Singh Ji

Balbir Singh Sooch-Sikh Vichar Manch (Ludhiana) 3 days ago
Government tried to boast wrongly and misleadingly on the issue: However, no-doubt, the Ex-servicemen will be benefited, but not at all to their satisfaction as being projected the matter more politically and not realistically without giving the details in earlier reports. It is clear that fight of ex-servicemen for ‘one rank, one pension’ is not over and their frustration for the reason has to remain intact against political ruling class as well as against bureaucrats. Balbir Singh Sooch, (Ex-Sgt. Indian Air Force)

kumar (ggn) 3 days ago
I do not understand why people have a tendency to put themselves in knots for no reason is there a deliberate attempt to demean the retired armed forces officers and men , you do not call it a joke it is downright insult to the braves of yesteryears.

Col G I Balakrishnan (Hyderabad) 3 days ago
They think that they can joke away the issue by this step. It is only going to add to the dissatisfaction of the servicemen and prove to be counter productive .

Qamrul Hasan (Ex-IN) (Siwan) 3 days ago
The government (any party) response towards the serving of retired defence personnel is doubtful. They promise and when they come to power forget it. It will demoralized our defence to perform their duties faithfully and honestly. I think this govt. is dump & deaf and most of the ministers are busy to find the way to make big Ghotala.

Ghost distributors of Reebook India siphon off Rs 870 crores

Reebok India case: Corporate mismanagement led to scam
New Delhi, Sep 23, 2012, (PTI):
Agencies probing the alleged Rs 870 crore corporate fraud in the operation of Reebok India have detected a systemic "mismanagement" in the business planning and running of the company reportedly done by some of its officials and employees.
Three different agencies -- the I-T department under Finance Ministry, the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) under Corporate Affairs Ministry and the Economic Offences Wing of Gurgaon police -- have recorded the findings almost four months after a criminal case was filed by Reebok India against two of its former employees.
"The governance and operations in the company were mismanaged. The bills were inflated and not recorded correctly. So, the probe clearly indicates that it was not a corporate scam in the apparel manufacturing firm but it was non-adherence to the rules and guidelines of business procedures in the firm," sources privy to the probe said.M
The guidelines under the Companies Act were violated which is suspected to have led to other contraventions like tax evasion, they said.
The I-T which has indicated to an alleged Rs 140 crore tax evasion in the case, the sources said, will now work to ensure that the company, later, does not claim any "bad debt".
A bad debt is that amount that is owed to a business or individual and has to be written off by the creditor as a loss because the debt cannot be collected because of a host of reasons.
"There were no serious borrowings or lendings of Reebok India. The probe agencies investigation will make sure that the firm does not qualify to claim bad debt from anywhere in the later course," they said.
Probe agencies have also found that some of the officials of the company could have been involved in the inflation of bills and over-valuation of the goods of the firm.
In the much publicised criminal complaint filed at the Gurgaon police's Economic Offence Wing in May, Reebok India had alleged that its former Managing Director Subhinder Singh Prem and Chief Operating Officer Vishnu Bhagat were involved in a Rs 870-crore fraud by indulging in "criminal conspiracy" and "fraudulent" practises over a period of time.
Gurgaon police had some days back arrested Singh and Bhagat along with three others -- Sanjay Mishra, Prashant Bhatnagar and Surakshit Bhat.
Singh and Bhat were booked for fraud, criminal conspiracy and other charges under IPC for allegedly siphoning off the sportswear company's money by creating ghost distributors across the country and generating forged bills over the last five years.
While the I-T is scrutinising documents related to accounts and imports of the firm, the SFIO is probing the entire governance affairs of the company under Section 235 of the Companies Act.
According to sources, the probe agencies also do not rule out the culpability of accounting officials of the firm at this stage for their "deliberate" or "mistaken oversight" in account books which led to the alleged financial irregularities.
Reebok India duped Rs 870 crores
Comment: Reebok is an American-inspired, global brand that creates and markets sports and lifestyle products built upon a strong heritage and authenticity in sports, fitness and women’s categories. Right now they are learning lessons of Fakes, Business Ethics and Fraud!

Lohegaon defence land scam

Court summons two officers in Lohegaon defence land scam case
Brigadier Talwar and Colonel Shukla told to be present in court on September 20 in the Rs 800 crore case
Pune Mirror Bureau
Posted On Thursday, August 30, 2012 at 08:42:24 AM
The court of Judicial Magistrate (First Class) M Y Doiphode on Tuesday issued summons to Brigadier Sanjeev Talwar (Corps of Engineers), ex-commander of station headquarters, Kirkee (Aundh), and Colonel Sharad Shukla, ex-commanding officer of Dunkirk Lines- Signals Regiment, Pune, to be present in court on September 20, 2012 in the Rs 800 crore Lohegaon defence land scam case.
City-based builder Harish Milani (57) has alleged in his complaint filed against the duo in court that they misused their authority to show a piece of private land as defence land.
Earlier, Kevin Pinto, who had purchased the land from Milani, as well as then Defence Estate Officer S R Nayyar and Milani were arrested by the CBI for allegedly cheating the Government of India in this matter. They face the charges of falsely claiming ownership of the 69.4 acres of defence land on Survey no 233-A in Lohegaon.
In his complaint filed in May, Milani has stated that based on the land ownership certificate of Dunkirk Lines (dated July 17, 2009), Sector 6, the land (79 acres and 3 gunthas) is not part of the said certificate.
The complaint categorically states, “Talwar misused his official position and prepared a forged land ownership certificate dated July 24, 2009, and included the said land as part of this certificate.
Thus the total area of land jumped to 150 acres and 24 gunthas. This was signed by Shukla and Talwar. They had forced the then DEO to sign the allegedly forged certificate.”
Earlier in this, case Milani had also filed a complaint in the court, alleging that CBI officials and Ramesh Govani, chairman of Kamala Mills Limited had conspired and created fabricated evidence to frame him in the matter. Milani has also demanded Rs 100 crore as compensation for the mental torture he has undergone.
Brigadier Sanjeev Talwar, ex-commander of station headquarters, Kirkee (Aundh), and Colonel Sharad Shukla, ex-commanding officer of Signals Regiment, Pune, to remain present in court on September 20. They had allegedly misused their authority to show a private land in Lohegaon as defence land.

OROP: TV Panel Discussion- 29 Sep 2012

Defence Line - One Rank One Pension - 29 Sept 2012 - Part 1 & 2




Detailed TV Panel discussion after the announcement of pensionary benefits on implementation of recommendations of the PM appointed committee.
Earlier, a TV panel discussion was posted on the blog in the aftermath of the announcement of the Prime Minister constituted Committee of Secretaries looking into pay & pension anomalies of defence personnel.
The following is a panel discussion, recorded and telecast yesterday night, dissecting the benefits finally granted on the implementation of the recommendations of the PM constituted committee, and other issues.
The Panelists were Maj Gen Surjit Singh, former Chairperson of the 4th Pay Commission Cell, Prof JK Sharma, former member of National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), and Major Navdeep Singh.
Posted by Navdeep / Maj Navdeep Singh

OROP: Army faces shortage of officers

VINAY KUMAR The Hindu Sunday September 30, 2012
Programmes under way in several colleges and universities to motivate the youth to join the force
The Indian Army is facing a peculiar problem – not enough youngsters are attracted to join the 1.1-million strong force as officers.
Expressing concern at the situation, the Army Chief, General Bikram Singh, has said that about 10,500 officers are needed. The shortage, he said, was impacting the officer-jawan relationship.
According to official figures, the shortage is around 10,500 in the Army, 1,400 in the Navy and 1,100 in the Air Force.
Union Defence Minister A. K. Antony has said the shortage is “partly attributable to accretions from time to time, tough selection procedures and difficult service conditions coupled with perceived high degree of risk involved in recruitment and training.”
He said a number of steps to attract youth to the armed forces have been taken. These include increase in tenure of Short Service Commission (SSC) officers from 10 years to 14 years, increasing promotional avenues for officers by implementing the A.V. Singh Committee recommendations on restructuring of officers’ cadre of the Indian Army and implementing the suggestions of the Sixth Pay Commission report. Last week, the Government had broadly rolled out the one rank-one pension scheme for ex-servicemen and also hiked family pension.
For the purpose of recruitment, the country is divided into recruiting zones and every zone is allotted a quota based on a percentage of its population and ethnic grouping. A legacy, slowly being diluted, is that of combat arm units or regiments recruiting from a particular zone or mixture of ethnic groups.
The shortage of officers has been plaguing the force for several years, resulting in poor management at the unit level. The Army’s sanctioned strength is about 46,600 officers. Army officials attribute the shortage to accretion in force levels from time to time and say that as a career option the job is characterised by hardship in the form of unsettled life, disruption of children’s education, risk factor and early retirement age. Every year about 600 officers retire as Lt. Colonels and Colonels at the age of 54.
The Army Chief said programmes were being held in several colleges and universities to motivate the youth to join the force.
“The youngsters feel motivated to join but their motivation level goes down when they discuss the Army as a career option with their parents. We intend to reach out to parents. Risks are everywhere but in the armed forces these are managed well,” said General Singh.
“We are taking measures like spreading awareness and convincing parents to send their children into the force to address the shortage. The disenchantment is also affecting soldiers as more than 10,000 took pre-mature retirement from the force last year. In 2011, 10,315 soldiers opted for premature retirement, while the figure for 2010 and 2009 was 7,249 and 7,499 respectively. The jawans, who are better educated than in the past, retire around a productive age of 35 years to look for greener pastures instead of continuing in the force,” senior Army officials added.
They said the Government has sanctioned establishment of two additional Service Selection Boards (SSBs) under the selection centre in the North at Roopnagar, Ropar, in Punjab which would facilitate the intake of more officers.
With its motto of “Live for something rather than die for nothing”, the Army is planning intensive publicity campaigns targeting both urban and rural areas. Officials said a number of “image projection campaigns” have been launched by the recruitment directorate to attract quality youth and spread awareness about the “Army as a career”.
Army faces shortage of officers
Realted Reading
General Bikram Singh sees officers’ shortage behind face-offs

Gen J J bats for ESM Corporation at the fag end of his governorship

Governor bats for setting up of ESM Corporation in State
ITANAGAR, Sep 22, 2012: While terming ex-servicemen as disciplined and professional lots, State Governor Gen (Retd) J J Singh opined that the State govt needs to utilize this pool of talented human resources.
Addressing a meeting of State Managing Committee at Raj Bhavan here today to review the initiatives taken up for the welfare of ex-servicemen in the State, he called upon the members to start small, grow more.
Appreciating the idea of setting up of an ex-servicemen corporation, a self sustaining organization to fulfill the need and aspiration of the ex-servicemen and their dependents, and also unemployed youths in ‘certain situation’, Gen Singh said that it will help in channelizing employment opportunities of the retired personnel and give them a rightful place in the society.
With right persons and proper advice, such organization will definitely help the ex-servicemen to avail GoI welfare schemes and programmes, he added.
On tourism potentials of the state, the Governor said that the ex-servicemen have huge scope for jobs as guides, instructors and in security establishments besides opportunities in hydropower and road projects which are coming up in the State. He expressed hope that the organization (ESM) will help in tapping employment opportunities for their former associates in a better way.
Finance and Home Commissioner Ramesh Negi, Secretary to Governor and Secretary Planning, Ankur Garg, Special Secretary (Finance), Swati Sharma, Special Secretary (Home) Shalini Goel, Capital Complex DC Sanjay Goel, Director Disaster Management, Y W Ringu among others were present.
Wing Commander Gyati Kago and Hony Captain Lobsang Monpa, President ESM Association also participated in the deliberation.
Earlier, Brigadier (Retd) Ramesh Bhatia, in a power-point presentation, gave a brief on the proposal for formation a State Govt Ex-Servicemen Corporation in the line of Uttarakhand Purv Sainik Kalyan Nigam Ltd.
Giving a brief background, Brigadier Bhatia said that a very large number of ex-servicemen who are highly disciplined and well-trained proceed to retirement, every year in order to maintain a youthful profile of the Armed Forces.
Earlier these persons were exploited to work at low wages by unscrupulous placement agencies. To check this trend the Government of India established an Inter Service organization as the Director General of Resettlement (DGR), functioning directly under the Department of ESM Welfare, Ministry of Defence. The DGR had requested all State govts to form their respective State Govt Corporations. But till 2003, seven states only – Punjab, HP, UP, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have formed their corporations.
Brigadier Bhatia, who has been with UPNL since its inception, said that in year 2000, when Uttarakhand became a separate State, it decided to establish its own ESM Corporation but it took the State Government nearly four years to commence its operation.
Sharing his experience, Brigadier Bhatia informed that UPNL commercially operates as a placement company on behalf of the State govt and bids for security and allied services in CPSU’s, State PSU’s and in private sector as well. The jobs are provided on contractual basis only to the ESM & other youths of Uttarakhand. Since the jobs in Uttarakhand are limited, UPNL seeks contractual jobs outside the state as well. Volunteer potential job seekers who wish to proceed outside the State on hire wages are encouraged.
He emphasized that focus is on providing employment and welfare measures rather than profit making. (PRO)
Governor bats for setting up of ESM Corporation in State
Comment: Retired JJ General present Governor of AP who has done nothing for the Welfare for ESM is comparable to Retired President Pratiba Patil, is now batting for the ESM. Both deserve to be consigned to history. All the so called ESM Corporations are scam ridden entities which must be shut down.
Tailpiece: Will Tejinder spill the beans?
Gen JJ, Gen Deepak Kapoor and Lt Gen Tejinder Singh linked...

Tejinder joined the army in 1970, a year after VK Singh. Before becoming DG, DIA, he was area commander of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa. He was allotted a flat in the infamous Adarsh Society in Mumbai, where army officers and politicians stole land meant to house Kargil war widows.

Tejinder is believed to have been close to General JJ Singh and General Deepak Kapoor, the two immediate past army chiefs. JJ Singh made him commander in Mumbai and Kapoor, who had a cold war with VK Singh, brought him in as head of the DIA. Tejinder retired in June 2010. He was in the running for the post of chief of the powerful National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) but failed to get it due to the Adarsh aftermath.
Click here for One-Man Army?
Tracking Tatra: Click here for more on Tejinder

OROP: Why BJP supports ESM demand

One Rank One Pension’: Why the BJP supports Ex-Servicemen’s demand
1. The ‘One Rank One Pension’ issue has been raised before both the V and VI pay commissions.
2. The issue is about the considerable disparity in pension between pensioners that retired pre 1996, between 1996-2006 and post 2006.
3. The tying up of pensions with the last drawn pay is applied universally to both civilian and defence personnel.
4. Since the pay scales were revised by the V and VI pay commissions, the tie up with the last drawn pay had widened the disparity in pensions.
5. But for the senior officers in both the Officers cadre (e.g. Lt. General) and PBOR (Personnel Below Officers Rank) cadre (e.g. Honorary Captain), the pensions are based on rank and not on the last drawn pay.
6. The V pay commission, in 1996, has recommended parity in pension between pre and post 1986 pensioners. This was a follow up to the KP Singh Deo report in 1984 and a One Time Increase in 1992 towards bringing parity in pensions. But the V pay commission’s recommendations on the pension of ‘post 1996’ retirees, was still tied to the last drawn pay.
7. The V pay commission has also made provisions for neutralization of price rise.
8. The VI pay commission has given a ‘fitment benefit’ to all retired employees, both civilian and defense, to partially compensate for the disparities in the pre 2006 and post 2006 retirees.
9. Also in order to compensate for the reduced employment of defence personnel period a ‘year weightage’ is included in calculation of benefits.
10. Due to the widening disparity, the note asks for pay to be not tied to the last drawn pay but to the rank thereby making all future increases applicable to existing pensioners also.
11. It is a highly emotive issue, since the soldiers retain their titles post retirement and the financial benefits accruing to them is determined by the retirement date.
12. Fiscal outlay for implementing the ‘One Rank One Pension’ is going to be modest — only in the order of Rs.1500 crores.
Considering the fact that the soldiers serve the best years of their lives in defense of the country in life threatening environments and retiring early, the ‘One Rank One Pension’ demand deserves to be implemented in an expedient way to honor our soldiers. A future BJP-led government, if elected, will implement this demand without any delay.
Source: http://www.lkadvani.in/eng/content/view/811/ ‘One Rank One Pension’: Why the BJP supports Ex-Servicemen’s demand

OROP: Report of Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari of Dec 2011 confined to the dust bin

One rank one pension to the armed forces personnel…
Parliament of India
(Rajya Sabha Secretariat)
Press Release
Hundred and Forty-second Report on the petition praying for grant of one rank one pension to the armed forces personnel.
The Committee on Petitions of Rajya Sabha under the Chairmanship of Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari, MP, presented its Hundred and Forty-second Report to the Rajya Sabha on 19th December, 2011 on the petition praying for grant of one rank one pension to the armed forces personnel.
2. The Petition was submitted by Shri Sanjay Prabhu and others, resident of Bangalore and countersigned by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP, Rajya Sabha.
3. The Committee during the course of its deliberations interacted with the petitioners, representatives of Departments of Ex-servicemen Welfare (M/o Defence), Expenditure (M/o Finance) and Pensions and Pensioner’s Welfare (M/o Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions) and some organizations/individuals.
4. Following are the important recommendations of the Committee:-
4.1 The Committee has taken note of the fact that a sum of Rs.1300 crores is the total financial liability for the year 2011-12 in case OROP is implemented fully for all the defence personnel in the country across the board. The Committee was informed that out of this, 1065 crores would go to retirees belonging to Post Below Officer Ranks (PBOR) while the Commissioned Officers would be getting the remaining i.e. 235 crores. The Committee felt that 1300 crores is not a very big amount for a country of our size and economy for meeting the long pending demand of the armed forces of the country. The Committee understand that this 1300 crores is the expenditure for one year which might increase at the rate of 10 percent annually. Even if it is so, the Committee does not consider this amount to be high, keeping in view the objective for which it would be spent.(Para 11 of the Report)
4.2 The Committee was not convinced with the version of the Ministry of Finance that the grant of OROP to the defence personnel would eventually generate similar requests from the civilian work force of the country under the Central Government and the State Governments. The Committee feels so because of the quite different terms and conditions of service of the two different categories of employments. The terms and conditions of armed forces are tougher and harsher than the civilian Government employee. On the issue of returning of service medals by the defence personnel of our country to the President of India in view of the Governments’ apathetic attitude towards their demand of grant of OROP, the Committee was of the view that our defence personnel should not feel alienated to this extent again and they are not forced to surrender their hard earned service medals in this manner to exhibit their discontent with the government policies.(Para 11.2 of the Report)
4.3 The Committee also felt that the decision of the Government to bring our defence personnel on the pattern of the civilians with regard to their pay, pension, etc. (from Third Central Pay Commission onwards) is not a considered decision which has caused hardship to the defence personnel and has given birth to their demand for OROP. The Committee understand that before the Third Central Pay Commission, the defence personnel were getting their pay / pension on the basis of separate criteria unconnected with the criteria devised for the civilian work force. That criteria acknowledged and covered the concept of OROP which has been given up after the Third Central Pay Commission.(Para 11.4 of the Report) *****
Source: www.rajyasabha.nic.in
One rank one pension to the armed forces personnel