Army strengthens Borders

Army chief releases cover of Project Himank
Leh (J&K): Army Chief General VK Singh on Friday dedicated a commemorative cover on the glorious 25 years of Project Himank launched by Border Roads Organisation for development of road communication in the Ladakh region.
General Singh, who had arrived in Leh, released the commemorative cover of Project Himank, aptly known as 'Mountain Tamers'.
The project started on December 4, 1985 at Leh exclusively for the development of road communication in Ladakh region, which till 1960 was connected with the rest of the country only by mule tracks, a defence spokesman said.
All units and roads of the project are located in high altitude areas at heights above 10,000 feet, he said, adding that there are nine major passes in the project ranging from 12,200 feet to 18,380 feet, he said.
PTI First Published: Friday, December 02, 2011, 08:12
Army chief releases cover of Project Himank

Indian Army gifts Engg equipments to Myanmarese counterpart
Imphal, November24: The 45th Indo-Myanmar Border Liaison Meeting between Indian Army Officers and Myanmar Army Officers is being held at Myanmar from Nov 24 to 28 Nov 11. A fourteen member Indian Army Delegation headed by Major General Binoy Poonnen, GOC Red Shield Division under the aegis of HQ 3 Corps left today morning for Myanmar to attend the Indo-Myanmar Border Liaison Meeting said a press release of the PIB (Defence)
The Indo-Myanmar Border Liaison Meet is a landmark event where representatives of both the Armies interact and exchange views on matters relating to security of border areas and measures to be initiated to control insurgency in both countries. The event also gives an opportunity to all the delegates to exchange views which help in further strengthening the friendly bond and co-operation between both the countries.
Major General Binoy Poonnen, VSM also handed over 18 Tippers to the Myanmar Army as part of assistance to Myanmar for Road construction today at border town of Moreh. The Myanmar Army was represented by an officer from RCC Kalay, who took over these Tippers. The event was attended by Indian Army delegation and officials of Myanmar Army, according to the press release.
Indian Army gifts Engg equipments to Myanmarese counterpart

Armed Forces Tribunal clarifies Liberal Family Pension

Armed Forces Tribunal orders pension to mother of jawan who died in Siachen Karthika Gopalakrishnan, TNN | Sep 22, 2011, 01.10AM IST

CHENNAI: A woman, whose 27-year-old armyman son died after contracting a fatal illness while serving at the Siachen Glacier, is still awaiting his pension. Pointing out that she is fully entitled to the benefits, the regional bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal in the city has directed the authorities to speed up the process. A bench of Justice A C Arumugaperumal Adityan, member (judicial), and Lt Gen (retd) S Pattabhiraman, member (administrative) passed orders.

Hellan Sagayamony from Nilgiris district had moved the tribunal when she did not get any relief even three years after her son's death. Her son A Stalin had enrolled as a sepoy in the Madras Regiment on January 28, 2002 and posted to high-altitude regions, including Siachen Glacier, between October and December 2007. While serving at the international border and the Line of Control, he developed breathing problems due to the extreme cold.

Though Stalin was given medical treatment by the doctor at the post, he was later evacuated to the field hospital where he was diagnosed with 'High-Altitude Cerebral Edema' (HACE) and placed on the "dangerously ill" list. He was transferred to the Command Hospital, Chandimandir in Haryana and then to the Army Hospital (Research & Referral), New Delhi on January 24, 2008. He died the next day due to spontaneous intra-cerebral hemorrhage.

With his death classified as "battle casualty", claims for liberalised family pension (LFP) and ex-gratia payment were made to the principal controller of defence accounts (Pension), Allahabad, but both were rejected on the ground that death was due to stress and strain and not due to climatic conditions.

LFP can be claimed when death takes place during action in a war, war-like operations, border skirmishes, operation against terrorists and other such actions. However, Stalin's dependents were sanctioned a special family pension, which is given when the cause of death is attributable to military service. The pension is lower than the LFP. An ex-gratia payment is made for death occurring due to accidents in the course of performing duties.

Passing orders, the bench referred to a government order (GO) issued by the ministry of defence on January 31, 2001 which said that disease contracted because of continued exposure to a hostile work environment was a condition under which one could claim LFP. Another GO issued on October 21, 1998 added that the ex-gratia amount had been enhanced from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.

Relying on both GOs: The bench ruled that Hellan Sagayamony was entitled to both allowances and directed authorities to expedite the relief within three months. Failing which, she would be entitled to 9% interest per annum on the arrears.
Liberal Family Pension

Related Reading: Non-pensioners entitled to MH facilities: AFT

Kargil Vijay Diwas Celebrations, New Delhi

Kargil Vijay Diwas Celebrations 25 Jul 2011
Dear Friends,
Kargil Vijay Diwas (26 Jul) is here, We celebrate on 25 Jul (as hall available that day). You are all requested to come and pay homage to our defenders of Motherland (martyrs and living), in this case on the icy and daunting heights of Kargil.
This was a task of such magnitude that the world held its breath when we battled the Pakis, and perhaps few believed that we would be able to achieve this, but the indomitable spirit and valour of the Indian soldier led by the best trained cadre of NCOs, JCOs and Officers made it look so easy.
We need to bring this feat home to the nation every year in the same way we do for the glorious victory of 1971 when Indian arms carved out a new nation in just 14 days.
Both these victories stand out as the great feat of our arms and national victories uncomparable to any in the past 2 millenium. So as inheritors of that glory, let us celebrate these two in big way, and bring these home to our youth so taht they emulate these feats of valour in whatever field they be engaged.
We look forward to welcome you at the Deputy Speaker hall Constitution Club Rafi Marg, New Delhi on Monday, the 25th July 2011 at 3.30 pm. Gen KM Seth, Gen Chandra Shekhar and Shri Jaswant Singh will be speaking on this occasion to bring home the military, political and diplomatic efforts behind the victory.
We have requested Gen Mohinder Puri, then GOC 8 Mtn Div that broke the back of the enemy and fought the hardest battles of Tololing and Tiger Hill to give us his thoughts, worries, grief and happiness in those momentous days. But even more important, 'can we be warned and prepared for another Kargil in one form or the other to our coming generation and leadership' that is the challenge.
So COME ONE , COME ALL. LET US CELEBRATE OUR GREAT VICTORY OF KARGIL. 25 Jul 2011 3.30 pm at Deputy Speaker Hall Constitution Club Rafi Marg New Delhi. Constitution Club is just 200 M away from the Patel Chowk metro station on the Rajiv Chowk- Gurgaon Metro line.
PS It would be wonderful if we can all be in our uniform, with a side cap, regimental tie or cumerband or any regimental or military signia.
Niranjan Malik
Lt Gen NS Malik, PVSM

Give the military veterans their due

Rediff.com Last updated on: March 5, 2011 09:57 IST
Any nation that yearns to fulfil the aspirations of its people needs two emotional nutrients: Sense of pride and sense of shame. Wonder whether the sight of military veterans protesting governmental injustice will prick the national conscience, asks M P Anil Kumar.

I had just landed at the base camp of Siachen Glacier for my stint as the Forward Air Controller. A subedar hustled to the captain of the helicopter, implored him to evacuate a havildar in his early thirties to the army hospital at Leh. The bawling of the havildar was intermixed with howls of him seeing only white all around.

I learned from the medic later that his terrible condition was caused by overexposure to the combo of intense ultraviolet rays at high altitudes and glare rebounding off the snow. He added the havildar was lax in protecting his eyes with goggles, he could not be evacuated in time because of inclement weather, and he thought the retinal burn had become irreversible.

Two weeks later, I temporarily shifted base to Kumar -- named after the veteran alpinist Colonel Narinder Kumar. Another jinx: A pallid, wan major was being evacuated to the base camp. He and his detachment were manning a crucial 21,000-feet-high post on the Saltoro Ridge. Elemental fury claimed all his three subordinates, but the helicopters could not make it because of impenetrable clouding.

By the time he was rescued, frostbite had laid waste his hands and feet, starvation had enfeebled him and the loss of his men had transformed him into a wreck. His expressionless face said it all. All his frostbitten fingers and toes would be amputated at the Leh hospital.

It was February 1986. Since neither could continue in service because of physical disability and blindness, both the major and the havildar would be discharged from the army on medical grounds some time in 1987. That meant another battle, a lifelong one, with life itself.

The vast majority of our countrymen and women think that our soldiers get killed or crippled only in wars, or fighting armed militants in Jammu & Kashmir and the Northeast. Battlefield or not, our men in uniform can get maimed in a day’s work too. And those who get disabled in peacetime outnumber the war casualties. Since they cannot find alternative employment, the government pays them what is called disability pension – an amount parsimoniously calculated by our babus to help them make both ends meet, but not live a life of dignity as a former Indian soldier who unfortunately fell by the wayside.

Since they were involved in Operation Meghdoot (the military action we launched in April 1984 to regain and hold our territory in Siachen Glacier), the army would declare the Major and Havildar as war casualties, and the two would get war injury pension.

What would the Major and the Havildar get as war injury pension today? The Major Rs 17,742 plus dearness relief (DR), and the Havildar Rs 10,520 plus DR (hereafter, DR needs to be added to the figures mentioned as pension). However, if they hadn’t suffered disability in a war zone, the Major would be eligible for disability pension of Rs 11,862 and the Havildar Rs 7,010.

Mind you, the two were struck off the rolls in 1987. Now suppose a Major and a Havildar with the same years of service (6 and 14-15 respectively) were discharged in 2010 on the same grounds. How much would each draw as war injury pension? The Major Rs 36,410 and the Havildar approximately Rs 14,800. (In case of disability pension, it would be Rs 16,905 for the Major and approximately Rs 7,940 for the Havildar.) Too many numbers, but I hope you are still with me.

We can make the following observations from the above:
The government practises ‘soft apartheid’. When the cost of living is same for both, why should personnel getting disabled in wartime and peacetime be treated differently for pensionary benefits? A life of disability is a life of disability; the context of the injury should not matter. The government needs to ensure parity while fixing pension among a class of its employees, to provide for a certain standard of living of all parties. I believe peacetime disabled soldiers deserve to be paid as much as the wartime ones, but the war disabled must be paid a large sum as compensation. Two soldiers of the same rank and same service getting disabled two and 25 years ago receive different amounts as pension. The Major gets just 49% of what his 2010 counterpart gets as pension. Similarly, the Havildar gets 71% of his 2010 counterpart.

War injury and disability pension are special cases and few thousands receive it. The ordinary military veterans – vast majority pensioned off in their mid-thirties to early-forties – too are victims of the government’s discriminatory policy of paying different rates of pension for retirees from different periods.

Given the unique rank-based hierarchy and service conditions, and early retirement, rank-based ‘military pension’ was instituted as recompense till the second pay commission, but the third pay commission overturned the policy and equated civil and military pension. Ever since, the military veterans have been demanding ‘One Rank One Pension’ (OROP). It implies the rank and the length of service must be the sole determinants of calculating military pension. The date of retirement should not figure in the calculus. Like, the Major and Havildar of 1987 must get the same war injury pension as the pair of 2010.

The OROP argument has been won by the veterans – including securing the imprimatur of the Supreme Court and the approbation of the leading lights of political establishments. (To know more about OROP, read my article The government cons the military, again.) However, as is their wont, the IAS babus – the self-appointed arbiters of what’s good for you and me, the wellsprings of enlightenment and wisdom – throw a monkey wrench into the works by rehashing the defeated counterpoints, over and over, just to deny the veterans their due. Spite.

The games babus play
As for our governments, it won’t be an exaggeration if I say the tail wags the dog – the ministers rubber-stamp what the IAS babus decide. Doesn’t matter if the Peter Principle (in a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence) has overtaken the now totally corroded ‘steel frame’.

Though it defies reason, though the recommendations of the Sixth Central Pay Commission (SCPC) did not make any such distinction, why the disparity in the amounts of old and new pensioners? Our ‘creative’ babus created the division. They decreed that those who retired before 1 January 2006 (the day SCPC awards came into effect) would be an underclass of pensioners drawing only a percentage of what those retired on/after 1 January 2006 – the upperclass – was bestowed by the SCPC.

But wouldn’t such a division pigeonhole the bureaucratic nobility too? Don’t worry, our babus know how to skim the cream off! The cabinet secretary and the secretaries tap the same pension scales irrespective of their date of retirement (people in the know will tell you that unless vigilant citizens like Prashant Bhushan get them implicated in serious crime through the courts, the system has been artfully manipulated to enable all IAS officers to reach secretary level without exception!). To dispel the impression of them having and eating the cream, they have served some stuff to their equivalents too.

But why have the rest of the pensioners been denied their due? Soft apartheid!

The SCPC is a mishmash of illogicalities. Common sense tells you that pension must be derived from the last drawn pay, which in turn must be a function of service, but this applies only to the upperclass, not the underclass. For example. While the SCPC acknowledged and retained the rank structure of the defence services within the four pay bands by referring to ‘minimum of the rank pay band’ to compute pension, the babus sank ‘rank’ sans a ripple, and implemented the rest of the phrase – ‘minimum of the pay band’. Consequence: sepoys to havildars who put in 17 to 21 years’ service will take home pension equivalent to one year’s service. Boo!

Anomalies and oddities galore, but the troubling issue is: How can a committee of secretaries mutilate those recommendations of the Pay Commission that were unpalatable to the IAS? Nature of the beast.

Pension scales must be unitary, and as I argued earlier, the amount of pension fixed must enable the entire lot belonging to a class recognised by the government to lead a certain standard of life. Instead of tying in knots to justify the unjustifiable, the government would have become a model employer if it had devised a unitary pension mechanism. The SCPC muddle only amplifies the call for OROP, for OROP is built on the bedrock of equity.

Mr Pallam Raju, minister of state for defence, informed the Lok Sabha on 21 April 2010 that “the Government would not be able to meet the ‘one rank one pension’ demand due to administrative, financial and legal implications.” (You don’t have to be a genius to demolish the stock administrative-financial-legal contention.)

But wait. The government being a government, has to be two-faced if it has rejected anything. Lately its functionaries, despite the ministerial assertion, are claiming that they have nearly implemented OROP for Junior Commissioned Officers and Other Ranks, and would soon surprise the Officers with similar benevolence. Sheer sophistry, as believable as the government’s trumpet to fetch the filthy lucre stashed in foreign vaults!

Hard-done-by, the next option for the veterans is to seek adjudication, i.e. knock the doors of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT). While drafting the AFT Act, 2007, the babus ensured that the Tribunal was not vested with the powers of civil contempt. (The Contempt of Courts Act of 1971 defines: civil contempt essentially means wilful disobedience to any judgement/order, wilful breach of an undertaking, etc., while criminal contempt means scandalising the court, lowering its authority, obstruction of the administration of justice in any manner, etc.)

Without the power of civil contempt, the AFT cannot call to account the government (read babus) for temporising or not executing its orders. (Interestingly, in a proactive interpretation, a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court has told the AFT to take coercive action for non-implementation of its orders by treating it as criminal contempt. This is bound to be challenged in the Supreme Court.) Here’s the long and the short of it: if the babus thumb their nose at the AFT, the AFT can only wink at that gesture. Spite, again.

Contrast this. Section 17 of the Administrative Tribunals Act – the Central Administrative Tribunals for the babus draw power from this statute – capacitates the CATs with full powers of contempt!

The other recourse, the Armed Forcers Grievance Redressal Commission, has only recommendatory role, not adjudicatory teeth. Which means we are back to square one: the validation of the Commission’s pronouncement will be the prerogative of a babu! (While every babu isn’t unresponsive or a stonewaller, the service not short of officers with positive outlook, the SCPC and OROP experience does not inspire the veterans with confidence in the bureaucracy.)

The veterans feel they have been outflanked, and boxed in. The only avenue left is to protest against the injustice, adopting the same badge of decorum they lived by while donning the uniform. On the 6th of March, aggrieved military veterans will hold rallies in different cities to highlight three primary issues: denial of OROP, disregard for widows’ entitlements and non-implementation of AFT orders. In the capital, they would submit a memorandum to the President, signed in blood.

Forsaken, at the Supreme Commander’s doorstep
Although they are veterans now, they still look up to the President as their Supreme Commander, but tragically, this veneration remains unrequited. The veterans had sought the President’s availability, several times, to personally hand over the memorandum and deposit their medals. This time too, citing unavailability, the President’s office has detailed an officer to be the receiver. Unlike last time, the veterans have decided not to hand over the medals to the President’s staff.

The last time, the official refused to accept the memorandum signed in blood, I believe, for the fear of getting infected! Well, it’s okay when the same blood is spilled while battling the nation’s enemies.

Whenever I read about the American President, qua commander-in-chief, walking that extra mile to embrace and empathise with the veterans, I naturally wish for the Indian President emulating him. What a world of difference that would make. The Supreme Commander surely can be more than a complaint box.

Veterans and a government caught up in jobbery
In Greek mythology, Zeus sentenced Sisyphus to roll a huge boulder up a steep hill, but it would always roll down just short of the peak, forcing him to start all over again! Though there is a Sisyphean parallel, Sisyphus’ struggle seems like a stroll today if one compared it to the Indian military veterans’ tortuous toil since 1983 to obtain OROP.

I doubt whether even an unfeeling government would let things slide so much as to compel the country’s military veterans to take it to the street.

Can the military veterans stir the present dispensation, widely perceived to be, uncharitable though, a government of the corrupt, by the corrupt and for the corrupt?

I believe that any nation that yearns to fulfil the aspirations of its people needs two emotional nutrients: sense of pride and sense of shame. A sense of shame to prick the national conscience to set right the wrongs and the inequalities. These could be slavery, dehumanising caste stratification, discrimination, institutional apathy or even indifference to people simply because they cannot collectively bargain with their employer like the soldiers who surrender their fundamental rights.

Wonder whether the sight of military veterans protesting governmental injustice will prick the national conscience. Jai Hind!
MP Anil Kumar is a former fighter pilot. He contributes a regular column to Rediff.com
Images: Veterans Rally at Janatar Mantar seeking Justice on 06 Mar 2011.
Photographs: Col TN Baba (Retd)
Give the military veterans their due

Who is MP Anil Kumar?
AIRBORNE TO CHAIRBORNE
MP Anil Kumar a former Air Force Pilot writes about his traumatic experience in life- Writing with the mouth- using will power to lead normal life

Rat Menace Grips the Armed Forces

Armed Forces Medical Services tasked to reduce rat population
New Delhi: Army is searching for a Pied Piper in Ladakh where rats are gobbling up its ration which reaches there through a long and arduous supply route. The Indian Army stocks supplies for winter in the summer itself as the road links to higher altitudes remains cut-off from the rest of the country in winter due to heavy snowfall for around six months.
As the roads are too narrow, they take the help of mules to carry these rations and other essential supplies to an altitude of over 15,000 feet. Since there is significant rodent infestation in the Army settlements in higher altitudes, the Medical Research Wing of the Armed Forces Medical Services are going to undertake a study to find out the extent of the problem of rodent nuisance in eastern and western Ladakh armed forces settings.
"Rats cause a great deal of nuisance everywhere. They spoil precious stocks, lead to nuisance and also spread diseases. Army settlements in higher altitudes are not spared from this as these rats are spoiling the winter stocks.
"All conventional methods of controlling them are not as effective as they are in the plains," Lieutenant General Naresh Kumar, Commandant, Army Hospital Research and referral and officiating DGAFMS said.
Conventional methods exist to control rodent nuisance like rat traps, rodenticides and repellents have failed in Ladakh. "Carrying rations and other essential supplies to an altitude of over 15,000 feet is no easy task. As such we have decided to conduct a study to identify the problem of rodent nuisance in eastern Ladakh and western Ladakh in Armed Forces setting and evaluate various methods to control them for effective management of their infestation in our areas in eastern and western Ladakh," Major General Mandeep Singh, ADG, Medical Research, Armed Forces Medical Services said.
Rats not only waste our food grains like wheat, rice and atta but they also cause a great deal of nuisance by scampering, running around and making noise.
And needless to say they are carriers of various diseases, he said.
"None of these conventional methods are of help to us. In the study that will be undertaken, we will concentrate on three aspects. We will look for measures to identify the most effective technique to control the nuisance spread by rats.
While looking into the various nuisance spread by them we will also find if they have the potential to spread diseases," Lieutenant Colonel Dennis Abraham, preventive medicine specialist said.
"These rats never were present here in the higher altitudes or came in with the food stock in trucks and gradually breeded in large quantities -- all these details need to be found out.
"There is no established study of rodent nuisance in higher altitudes," he said. PTI
Army is searching for a Pied Piper in Ladakh

Comment: Chinese love Rats. Mr Zhang's restaurant is as trendy as they serve rat dishes. The 15-table, two-story eatery is a mixture of blond wood furniture, stucco walls and wooden lattice laced with plastic vines. What we need to do is trade rats with PLA Soldiers in exchange for critical food items.

Former Indian Army general arrested after sentencing in court martial

Economic Times 19 Feb, 2011, 10.50AM IST,IANS
JALANDHAR: Army authorities at the 11 Corps have put a former top general under formal arrest after he was convicted of professional misconduct and sentenced to three years rigorous imprisonment by a general court martial (GCM) in a multi-million ration scam in this cantonment city Friday.

Lt Gen. S.K. Sahni, who was from the Army Service Corps (ASC) and served as Director- General for supplies and transport, was indicted by a probe by the army authorities for allegedly supplying sub-standard meat and dry rations to troops stationed at high altitude areas, including the highest battle-field in the world, at Siachen glacier.

The officer has been accused of allowing the purchase of expired rations for troops during his tenure as Director-General of the ASC. He was also accused of reversing the tendering process for procurement of pulses, over-looking recommendations of stock sampling, failing to ensure timely completion of supply contracts and over-looking other procedural formalities.

The ex-general was under virtual house arrest since August last year. He had got himself admitted to the military hospital here soon after the GCM commenced against him and he was taken into custody.
click here to read more

Supreme Court asks defence secretary to spend ten days in High Altitude Areas

How about spending 10 days in high altitude Army posts, SC asks defence secy
TNN, Oct 19, 2010, 04.11am IST
NEW DELHI: A little over a month ago, the Supreme Court had suggested to the Centre to keep its armed forces personnel happy by providing them with an independent pay tribunal where they could ventilate their grievances instead of returning their medals and burning artificial limbs.

But finding the response lukewarm, a Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and T S Thakur expressed unhappiness in no uncertain terms and termed the bureaucracy in the ministry of defence "insensitively effective".

"Sitting somewhere in a plush office in Delhi and finding fault in each proposal is easy. The defence secretary must be sent for 10 days to the high altitude posts. He will at least see first hand the conditions in which these people serve the country," the Bench said.

To minimise further flow of anguished remarks, solicitor general Gopal Subramaniam, who appeared for the Centre, sought time to respond to the proposal but not before clarifying that the government was getting objections to the proposal for setting up a panel to look into pay-related and pension-related grievances of armed forces personnel.

The Bench reluctantly gave a final opportunity to Subramaniam to come back with a proper response from the government to the suggestion of setting up an independent pay tribunal but also reminded him that on the last two occasions, the government had done nothing better than seeking further time.

"Your bureaucrats are not bothered. People in the Army are returning medals in thousands and some have even burnt their artificial limbs in protest. They get a feeling now that these bureaucrats do not hear them. If you have a commission, at least some steam (anger among the armed forces personnel) will be let out," the Bench reasoned.

Subramaniam said, "I see value in what the court has suggested, but this involves more than one ministry. Even the recurring liability would be high."

The Bench posted the matter to November 8 asking the Centre to respond specifically to the suggestion, setting out the areas and parameters it was willing to consider. The apex court on September 8 had suggested setting up an independent pay tribunal chaired by a retired Supreme Court judge that would be a recommendatory body.

The Bench said, "If this was a proposal for the bureaucrats, it would have been implemented. We don't expect the bureaucracy to support this proposal. We need to deal with them (armed forces) separately as a distinct class."

The court even asked the Centre to consider including the paramilitary forces in the scope of the tribunal as they too have tough assignments, quite similar to the task performed by armed forces.

Read more: How about spending 10 days in high altitude Army posts, SC asks defence secy - The Times of India Click here for the TOI Report

Jawans at borders get stale food: CAG Report

Wed, Aug 4 04:49 AM
The Indian Army soldiers posted at some of the most difficult locations in the world along the China and Pakistan border are getting food that is unfit for human consumption and at times is more than two years beyond the expiry date, a latest government report on supply of rations in the armed forces has revealed.

The audit report says the Army has violated its own norms and has been supplying troops with food items, including rice, sugar and wheat, which are way past their expiry date. Most of the cases, the report reveals, pertain to the Northern Command, the largest Army formation in the country that has troops along the Pakistan and China border as well as the Siachen glacier.

"It was found that atta, sugar, rice, tea, dal, edible oil and raisins were consumed six to 28 months after the expiry of their normal storage life," the report says, adding that the food items were given illegal life extensions by a Jammu-based lab that were against the standing rules of the Army.

While soldiers have been complaining about the bad quality of food served at forward locations, this is the first official report of a large-scale violation of norms across the Northern Command.

The report also suggests a large-scale rigging of prices by revealing that 36 per cent of cases of procurement of fresh rations were based only on single quotations, taking away any scope of competitiveness. Not only that, raising suspicions of corruption, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report has found that rations worth almost Rs 2 crore, meant for soldiers in high altitude areas, remain untraceable in the Northern Command. A majority of these rations, the report says, were issued during 2005-06, during which former Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor was heading the Northern Command.

The report also quotes an internal Army study that reveals only one per cent of soldiers in units across the country find the quality of rations they receive as excellent. A majority of the jawans have graded their rations as satisfactory or below.

While the armed forces have been trying to improve rations, the damning report has come as a shocker. The ministry is currently working on a long term plan to improve the quality of food as well as storage locations and is likely to come up with a new set of regulations soon.
Jawans at borders get stale food: CAG Report

Avalanche near Gulmarg kills 18 Indian soldiers in Kashmir

A heavy weekend of snow led to deadly destruction on Monday. Three miles from Gulmarg, the Himalayan ski area, an avalanche plowed over and through an indian Army high-altitude training camp. The massive slide killed 18, injuring 25 of the 350 Indian soldiers who were conducting a skiing test.

Storm totals approaching 135cm at the elevation of Gulmarg village. Estimates at 3 meters in the start zone of the Chooti Nali avalanche path. Our speculation is that this path produced the avalanche which hit the military group training in a forested area near treeline. Sadly this tragedy was caused by a natural avalanche which exceeded previously known runout limits. Due to ongoing storming conditions, it is difficult to determine the exact characteristics of this avalanche. The exception is the deposition zone whose devastation was evident in 100 year old trees broken 50 feet above the ground by the air blast. The dimensions of the deposition extended 300 meters in length, 100 meters width and averaged 4 meters depth. All imaginable configurations were present at the initial response with 7 partially buried victims, all with serious injuries, being stabilized and evacuated. Then a wave of dead victims were found in typical locations, a probe strike near a ski, 4 deep burials in front of trees. 3 more partially buried men were found together and alive, covered by broken tree branches. Ski patrollers assisting in the search later found a victim by probe line near the one of the flanks of the debris area. A snow groomer was used to excavate 4 more victims, all over 4 meters deep prior to the search being postponed at nightfall. None of the victims were reported as wearing avalanche transceivers.
Avalanche near Gulmarg kills 18 Indian soldiers in Kashmir

Report My Signal Forum and Readers extend their condolences to the members of HAWS staff, trainees and their families.

Railway on the Roof of the World

Lhasa Railway Station
Key facts about Qinghai-Tibet Railway
China opened the world's most elevated railroad, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, on Saturday 01 July 2006. Below are some facts about the Qinghai-Tibet Railway:

Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the first railroad linking Tibet with the rest of China.

China has solved three major difficulties, namely frozen tundra, high altitude and plateau environmental protection, to rewrite the world's history of railway construction with the completion of Qinghai-Tibet Railway.

Qinghai-Tibet Railway is the world's highest railway. Some 960 kilometers of its tracks are located 4,000 meters above sea level and the highest point is 5,072 meters, at least 200 meters higher than the Peruvian railway in the Andes, which was formerly the world's most elevated rail. The line has a capacity of eight pairs of passenger trains, and the carriages are specially built and have an oxygen supply for each passenger.

The railway is the world's longest plateau railroad, extending 1,956 kilometers from Qinghai's provincial capital Xining to Lhasa in Tibet. The Golmud-Lhasa section zigzags 1,142 kilometers across the Kunlun and Tanggula mountain ranges.

About 550 kilometers of the tracks run on frozen earth, the longest in any of the world's plateau railways.

Tanggula Railway Station, 5,068 meters above sea level, is the highest railway station in the world.

Fenghuoshan Tunnel, 4,905 meters above sea level, is the world's most elevated tunnel on frozen earth.

Kunlun Mountain Tunnel, running 1,686 meters, is the world's longest plateau tunnel built on frozen earth.

The maximum train speed is designed to reach 100 kilometers per hour in the frozen earth areas and 120 kilometers per hour on non-frozen earth.

About 29.46 billion yuan (3.68 billion U.S. dollars) had been spent on the Golmud-Lhasa section which runs 1,142 kilometers.

The basic coach ticket, called a hard seat, sells for 389 yuan (48.6 U.S. dollars) from Beijing to Lhasa, while the price for hard sleeper or bunk costs 813 yuan (101.6 dollars), and the price for a shared compartment or soft sleeper is 1,262 yuan (157. 75 dollars).
Train to Lhasa- fact sheet
Largest construction project built on permafrost since the Trans-Alaska Pipeline was completed in 1977

Army Expedition to Jongsang Glacier

Kripan Division organised an expedition to the Muguthang sector in North Sikkim from June 24 to July 9.

The area is a typical glacial zone with steep cliffs, ice pinnacles and walls, hanging glaciers and frozen lakes which may burst any time. The expedition by the Trishakti Corps was in consonance with the army’s practice of developing love for nature, mountains, flora and fauna among the men in uniform.

The trek was also aimed at developing key leadership traits such as mental and physical robustness, camaraderie, decision making and problem solving ability among the junior leaders of the army. The expedition team, led by Captain Shanu Krishna, comprised three officers, one junior commissioned officer and 24 personnel of Kripan Division.

While most of the team members were the personnel of the Punjab Regiment, others were from Corps of Signals and Army Medical Corps for technical support. The expedition traversed through Jongsang Glacier to complete its mission by scaling Point 5630 near Jongsang Peak.
Army Expedition to Jongsang Glacier