ESM Welfare Thiruvananthapuram

State would favourably consider issues concerning ex-servicemen and service personnel:CM
Thiruvananthapuram 05-10-2012: Inaugurating the Civil-Military Liaison Conference, CM said that the State would favourably consider issues concerning ex-servicemen and service personnel.
He added that exemption in age criterion, weightage mark, and reservation for ex-servicemen would be considered in select posts apart from strengthening the functioning of ex-servicemen’s grievance redressal cells.
The Sainik Welfare Board should take up recruitment of kin of war heroes and those incapacitated during action to civilian posts in Defence establishments including the Canteen Stores Department (CSD) said the CM.
The State would ensure land for expansion activities of Army units stationed here, including handing over of 10 acres at Muttathara or Vithura for rehabilitation of ex-servicemen.
There are no hassles in handing over 70.40 acres near the Cochin international airport at Nedumbassery for the Coast Guard Air Enclave. The Army could prepare a consolidated list of land issues it faces, to be discussed in a separate meeting led by the Chief Secretary and the Collectors concerned, the CM said.
Civil Military liaison Conference

Goa to rope in ex-Navy officers to assist marine police

PTI, May 20, 2010, 01.59pm IST
PANAJI: The Goa government has decided to rope in former defence officers to guide its marine police force, armed with sophisticated boats to man the coast.

“We do not have trained manpower to handle such boats. We will have to be dependent on ex-officers of Indian Navy or Indian coast guard for the guidance,” chief secretary Sanjay Srivastava said.

“Officers can be employed with the special police unit for two to three years. The marine police will work in tandem with the Navy and coast guard to safeguard the state coastline, where vigil has been stepped up after 26/11 and recent terror alerts,” he said.

Srivastava was talking to the media after taking possession of a high-speed interceptor boat, constructed by Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL).

The boat which is the fifth to be acquired by Goa has been provided under an initiative of the Union Home Ministry to strengthen coastal security.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Ravindra Yadav said the need for these boats was felt after the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai when coastal security was breached.

“The basic responsibility of marine police is to use these boats to ensure there was no sea-bound terror attack and also detect and stop smuggling and other illegal activities,” he said.
Goa to rope in ex-Navy officers to assist marine police: Times of India

Stranded ship (the "River Princess") at Calangute Beach, Goa. The ship stranded in 2000 during an unexpected storm. Photo: Soman

Lowest bid for Princess's removal is Rs 108 crore
TNN, May 22, 2010, 01.51am IST
PANAJI: Getting rid of the grounded River Princess may now cost the state at least Rs 100 crore. When tourism department on Friday opened the financial bids of the two companies left in the fray for removing the grounded vessel, Goa-based Madgavkar Salvage was found to have submitted the lowest bid for Rs 108 crore.

"Madgavkar has submitted a financial bid of Rs 98 crore plus 10% tax. That works out to Rs 108 crore," tourism director Nikhil Desai told TOI.

Desai, however, said he was unable to provide details of the financial tender submitted by Madgavkar's competitors, US-based Titan Salvage.

"Titan Salvage has quoted higher. However, it does not mean that we have awarded the tender to any one of the bidders. We are yet to scrutinize Titan's bid," the tourism director said.

The decision on who gets the contract to get rid of River Princess lies with the Goa State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA), which will meet shortly.
Lowest bid for Princess's removal is Rs 108 crore

Mumbai Mayhem: Coastal Security Fast Tracked

Cabinet Secy to head review panel
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 18
Backed by the Indian Navy’s assessment that it will take up to two years to make the 7,600-km- long Indian coast line “totally safe”, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Home, in separate developments, today got down to ensure that the matter is speeded up and all plans are kept on track.

The Union Cabinet Secretary was today appointed to head a high-level committee that will, at regular intervals, review the measures taken for the coastal security. Other members of the committee will include the Chief of Naval Staff, Secretaries of Ministries like Defence, Home, Petroleum and Chief Secretaries of all coastal states.

The decision to set-up the committee was taken by Defence Minister AK Antony here today. The National Security Adviser, MK Narayanan and the Defence secretary Vijay Singh were a part of the decision making process. This comes within weeks of the Navy having conveyed that procurement of additional boats, setting up coastal radars, sensors and tracking equipment, besides having other systems in place, will take time.
Coastal Security: Cabinet secy to head review panel

SCPC: Pay anomalies- Naval chief lists pending issues

Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 23
In the first-ever official communiqué to the three-week old contentious and half-baked decision on the pay related anomalies of the armed forces, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta yesterday handed over a letter to the Defence Minister AK Antony. It lists out the issues that are pending and need to be looked into immediately.

Sources confirmed that Admiral Mehta, in his capacity as the Chief of Staff’s Committee, has listed out the aspects that are still rankling the forces. The latest move of the forces comes after the Prime Minister Office (PMO) sent out a note on December 30.

The three forces contributed their inputs that were collated for Admiral Mehta and the same has been handed over to the Defence Minister. The high-powered committee set up for sorting out issues of command, control and status of the armed forces personnel will also be told about the issues. The Defence Secretary heads the committee.

The PMO note did not sort out two core issues that the forces had originally raised. These were grant of higher administrative grade (plus) to all Lt Generals restoring their parity with the DGP’s in states. The other was the grade pay at par with their counter parts in civilian services. These anomalies remain and the same form part of the letter handed over to Antony.

Yesterday, Antony while speaking at a function said "sincere" efforts to resolve pay anomalies were being made. “The remaining issues, we are examining,” he added.

The PMO had agreed to one demand that was to retain 70 per cent pensionary weightage to the jawans. The fourth demand was agreed but with riders. It stated that the Lt Colonels would be placed in pay band-IV salaries provided they were in “combat or ready-to-combat” roles. Those on deputation would not get it. There are about 2,000 such officers on deputation to various forces like NSG, Assam rifles or other such posts.

The forces will also point out to a 1970 order of the Ministry of Defence that says the last drawn pay of an officer would be protected.
Pay anomalies: Naval chief lists pending issues
Interesting article: Civil services: The blunted edge by Asst Editor V Eshwar Anand examines the Moily Commission’s prescription for reforms

Responses to "Shameful Naval Gazers"

Dear Friends,

Letter to Hindustan Times in response to an Article “Shameful Naval Gazers” (December 04) is enclosed. You all may also write your responses.
With Kind Regards,
Yours Sincerely,
Maj Gen Satbir Singh, SM (Retd)
Response to: Shameful Naval Gazers by Vir Sanghvi


Dear Editor,

1. Vir Sanghvi’s Article “Shameful Naval Gazers” (December 04) calling the Naval Chief, who also happens to be Chairman Chief of Staff Committee and ipso facto the senior most appointment of three services foolish and lacking in leadership qualities smacks of total bias and unpardonable yellow journalism displayed by a senior editor of the prominent News Paper like yours. The Naval Chief has rendered four decades of unblemished, meritorious and dedicated service to the nation and his professional acumen and high leadership qualities are well known and duly acknowledged by the Govt through various awards and decorations. That a person of Vir Sanghvi’s stature is ignorant of this does not speak highly of your esteem paper in general and Vir Singhvi’s in particular.

2. The press has been denigrating the defence forces of late and it appears that this piece written by Mr Sanghvi appears to be part of the overall campaign orchestrated by the bureaucracy. Such irresponsible articles/ editorials will definitely have demoralizing and demotivating affect on the Armed Forces.

3. My advice to Vir Sanghvi is to confine himself to writing about “Rude Food” and giving tips on dining and wining to his readers and spare the Defence Services of whom he has little knowledge.

(The author is a Former Senior Fellow and Security Analyst of Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA), has been examiner PhD thesis in Defence & Security Studies, Ex Commandant Services Selection Centre & President SSB, besides being Instructor at four premier institutions of the Army. Presently he is a Vice Chairman Indian Ex Servicemen Movement.)
With Kind Regards,
Yours Sincerely,

Maj Gen Satbir Singh, SM (Retd)

Vir Sanghvi's report shameful naval-gazers (HT December 4) is most regrettable. His comments on Navy and Chief of Naval Staff have hurt the entire Naval fraternity and service personnel. The Naval Chief is a prodigious figure for his men and is highest honoured person He could have clarified the matter from the Naval headquarters rather than making such disparaging personal remarks This was not his field perhaps he should restrict his writings on eateries only.

Cdr JK Sharma (Retd)

The following letter to the editor of The Hindustan Times was sent by me on the day following publication of Vir Singhvi's article. Of course the paper never published it.
Brig Chaitanya Prakash (Retd)

To,
The Editor
The Hindustan Times,

Just because Vir Singhvi has a pen and unrestricted column space, doesn’t mean he can question the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Mehta’s professional integrity and berate and abuse him unquestioningly. He is better off making his living commenting on the ten star gourmet food and life in the worlds most expensive real estate. Leave the soldiers alone Mr Singhvi, if you cannot fight for them stop berating them. Why are you being so defensive for fellow journalists? Why are the fourth state so combative when it comes to their own creed? Are you guys some holy cows who are beyond criticism and wrong doing?

Brig C Prakash (Retd

War on Terror: Intelligence agencies at war

3 Dec 2008, 0329 hrs IST, TNN
NEW DELHI: A no-holds barred "leak" war has broken out between intelligence agencies which has engulfed PMO as well with India's security bosses— scrambling for cover after the Mumbai attacks, engaging in a fierce blame game and settling departmental scores.

The issue at hand is whether the external intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing generated specific inputs which were not acted on by Navy, Coast Guard and IB. The inter- agency sniping has placed National Security Advisor M K Narayanan in the line of fire for not taking the "tip offs" seriously enough.

With allegations flying thick and fast, Navy chief Sureesh Mehta on Tuesday took the extraordinary step of publicly stating that his force had received no "actionable" intelligence while admitting to a "system failure". "What is important is that we should have intelligence which is actionable and specific," he said.

The leaks were initially sourced to RAW which has been steadily generating bad news for factionalism and poor leadership. Its chief Ashok Chaturvedi has been criticised for globe- trotting at official expense and the 26/11 Mumbai attacks have put his agency under adverse scrutiny. The embellishment of the "attacks foretold" story is seen as a shrewd move to deflect the heat.

Even though RAW did flash a warning on November 19, it is pointed out that the agency which claims to have decent assets in Karachi with the city's Mohajir population, was not aware that the team of 10 terrorists had trained there for a full month before setting off.

The "intelligence ignored" story has generated political heat with defence minister A K Antony even offering to quit at Saturday's meeting of the CWC if the Navy was found to be at fault. It has also provided fodder to the NSA'sdetractors whose jurisdiction is envied by MEA and a section of PMO and who has annoyed many, most recently on the Batla House encounter when he argued against a judicial probe into the shootout.

Within days of Manmohan Singh's promise to overhaul India's anti- terror response, turf wars have become more heated with calculated leaks about RAW pointing to both a sea- borne attack and targeting of hotels in Mumbai.

Well- placed sources said that while an input was indeed generated, it was not as specific as is being claimed by some quarters. It was after the Mumbai attacks that some dots were now being joined and a larger picture was falling in place. It would be incorrect to say that an alert had been issued about a marine jihadi attack on hotels in November.

It is being pointed out that RAW did not link the September 18 warning about hotels to the November 19 signal on a LeT trawler with dangerous cargo heading for India. There was undoubtedly a lapse in intercepting the trawler and dingies carrying the Lashkar-e-Taiba team, but it was not as if the plan to spread mayhem and death was known before hand.

The November 19 intercept is also being evaluated in light of interrogation reports of the captured terrorist Ajmal who has indicated the LeT team could have left as late as November 23. Also two MV Kubers have now been indentified. While affixing responsibility, it was important to clarify how urgent RAW considered its input and whether an effort was made to alert top levels in government. Was the intercept and analysis placed before the joint intelligence committee?

On his part, Narayanan has spoken forthrightly over the jihadi threat and continues to enjoy the PM's confidence. Authoritive sources said the NSA was not under pressure to quit even as political circles debated whether his standing with the Congress leadership had been hit. But the point is also being made that he has concentrated on managing postings and short-term objectives while not addressing the systemic deficiencies of IB and RAW.

On being asked whether the NSA was being retained, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi provided a hint of what the party was thinking when he said on Tuesday that it was "unlikely" that a specific warning had been ignored.
Intelligence agencies at war

Comment: The Naval Forces and Coast Guard need to be given more executive powers to contain Smuggling and Terrorists activities in all the coastal regions East, West and South.

Response to Singhvi's "Shameful Naval Gazers"

Response to: Shameful Naval Gazers by Vir Sanghvi

To: feedback@hindustantimes.com
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2008 10:54 AM
Subject: Naval-Gazers!

Dear Sir,
I read the article by Mr. Vir Sanghvi in today's edition of HT with dismay & patience. I hope the HT will read my comments with equal patience.

Firstly, Chiefs of Armed Forces taking salutes today were not laterally inducted. They were junior officers once & went through the rigors & risks of Armed Forces just like those of the present generation. A remark like that, at best, is disrespectful towards the Officer's service in the Nation's cause. Where does this remark place the thousands of ex-servicemen, who took part in numerous operations, won gallantry awards & also took salutes towards the end of their time in the Armed Forces?

As regards coastal defence, I would recommend Mr.Sanghvi to check out the existing responsibilities assigned to various authorities, notwithstanding his own story earlier. Perhaps an article in TOI dated 4th.December captioned "Time right for a single-window marine security agency" would be a good point to start with.
Marcos. Yes, the press conference need not have taken place. Yes, Marcos are not media savy. They are not trained for it & they are also not as trained for hostage situations as the NSG are. But they did not just "prowl around". They filled the vacuum admirably till the NSG arrived. They rescued hostages & suffered their own casualties. Should one be so dismissive of them?

The SAG of NSG, who did such a good job during the whole episode, comprised of Army personnel. Adverse comparison of Naval commandos vis-a-vis their Army counterparts is counter-productive. It may give rise to unnecessary friction between components of the Armed Forces fraternity in times of tension & external hostility.
Finally, it seems that Admiral Mehta has been picked on for speaking the truth. Perhaps reference to the Kargil rumours could have been avoided. But the rest? Or is it that truth be damned-just don't criticise the media?

Yours truly,
MB Ghosh
Vice Admiral PVSM,AVSM,NM I.N.(Retd.)

Mumbai was a sitting duck

Vice-Admiral Arun Kumar Singh, who retired as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, had sounded an eerily prescient warning in an article in this newspaper over six months ago. On May 19, 2008, he wrote that the next major terror attack might come from the sea.

On the evening of November 26 I was on a TV panel, explaining how the Indian Navy had taken the correct action on November 18, 2008 by sinking a pirate ship in the Gulf of Aden. This act marked a refreshing departure from our timid national response to the war on terror. A few hours later I watched the TV in horror and disbelief as news unfolded about the terror strike in Mumbai. It was being reported that the two dozen odd terrorists had come by a mother ship from Karachi, disembarked on Mumbai harbour and arrived at the Sassoon Docks, in high-speed rubber inflatables, with their automatic weapons and heavy bags of ammunition and grenades.

The terrorists obviously had fifth columnists’ help since they went to their 11 targets with pinpoint accuracy and caused mayhem, which flashed across TV screens around the globe. My horror changed to anger and then disgust at the sheer inaptitude of our national leadership to protect our citizens from terrorist attacks. I remember writing an article in The Asian Age of May 19, 2008, where I said: "The next terror attack could be from the sea". I also remember writing another half-a-dozen articles about the urgent need for institutional and legislative reforms, along with accountability, given the experience of how ruthlessly other nations have dealt with terrorists and protected their citizens.

Of course, our politicians and bureaucrats, in their ignorance and arrogance, would have the people believe that "India is unique and we have nothing to learn from others... Besides, our people have resilience".

The customary noises about "bringing the culprits to book" are already being made, while young Army, Navy and police commandoes are again shedding blood to ferret out these terrorists. A few TV debates will take place with a few ignorant participants and the politicians will soon get back to their "election mode," unmindful of the terrible beating India’s reputation has taken by this act. Hopefully, the sacrifices of our young soldiers and sailors during this attack will not be communalised in the way the Batla House shootout in Delhi was, despite police inspector Sharma sacrificing his life at the altar of national security.

At the time of writing this article the Navy had launched a search by ships and aircraft and captured the terrorist mother ship the MV ALFA. which had brought these killers from Karachi to Mumbai. I sincerely hope and pray that the Indian Navy again replicates its ruthless action of sinking a pirate mother ship. This will be the best tribute to the numerous innocent lives lost and will send a signal to our politicians, bureaucrats and citizens that India’s military will act ruthlessly against terrorists.

What needs to be done to prevent a repeat of such attacks? The answers are simple:

Single-window approach to deal with terrorism, modelled on the US’ department of homeland security

Anti-terror legislation with dedicated fast-track "anti-terror courts"

Legislation permitting the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard to stop and search suspected merchant ships before they enter the Indian harbour

Double the strength of the Navy, Coast Guard, Marine Police and intelligence agencies

The ridiculous policy of making an unequipped Port Authorities responsible for port security must be discontinued. Security of all the 13 major ports must be handed over to the Navy and security of the 36 minor ports be handed over to the Coast Guard.

A single-window National Maritime Advisor be created, headed by a professional Naval or Coast Guard officer, and not a bureaucrat. Set up a national electronic anti-terrorist data link and data bank, based on the American system. Co-operation with other maritime nations who face the same threats of terrorism and piracy. This is a war on terror against a faceless and fanatic enemy. This war is not for the faint hearted, and can only be won by ruthless action.
Mumbai was a sitting duck: Asian Age
Mumbai was a sitting duck: Deccan Chronicle