Agnipath: Data shows veterans fail to find govt jobs after retirement

 Between 32 Central ministries, only 1.60% of the 22,168 positions reserved for veterans have been filled

A meagre 2.4 per cent of ex-servicemen who applied for a job could get one as state and central governments have been unable to recruit against the reserved quota. Public sector utilities (PSUs), ministries and officials of Sainik boards have blamed it on the lack of skill among ex-servicemen. They contend that veterans’ inability to qualify in selection exams and non-recognition of qualifications obtained from the military are reasons why their recruitment has remained significantly low, pushing them toward low-skill jobs.

As protests over the Agnipath scheme rage across the country, the government has announced reservations in job vacancies across sectors for around 34,000 “Agniveers” who will retire after four years of service. However, data from Director General Resettlement- the nodal body responsible for rehabilitating retired military personnel, shows that states, central public sector units, including defence PSUs, and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have failed to recruit against the vacancies reserved for veterans.

Three shot inside Lexington mall, 1 killed, says Kentucky police

Three people were shot inside a Kentucky mall, and one of them was later pronounced dead, police said.

Three people were shot inside a Kentucky mall Sunday, and one of them was later pronounced dead, police said. The Lexington Police Department said in a post on social media that the shooting occurred around 4 p.m. outside of a store at the Fayette Mall. Police said later that the shooting did not appear to be random.

It appears from the information that we’ve gathered thus far that the persons involved knew each other, Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers told reporters. We know at least the intended target may have known the suspect. Officers evacuated the mall and checked each store. Three people were taken to a hospital, Weathers said.

Police spokeswoman Brenna Angel said in a statement Sunday night that a male victim died. His name was withheld pending notification of relatives. The conditions of the other two people who were shot were not immediately released. Neither Weathers nor Angel offered further details on the shooter. Police sought tips from the public to help in the investigation. Alicia Spurlock told the Lexington Herald-Leader that she and her daughter had just left a store inside the mall when they heard multiple gunshots. It took me a minute to register what that was, Spurlock said. Everybody just started running…Read More

India China row: P-8I aircraft deployed in Ladakh; MiG-29Ks to be moved

At present, the Navy has a fleet of around 40 MiG-29K jets and at least 18 of them are deployed on board the country’s aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya

The Indian Navy’s Poseidon 8I anti-submarine warfare aircraft have been deployed in eastern Ladakh to carry out surveillance along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and some of its MiG-29K jets are likely to be stationed in key IAF bases in the northern sector amid the border row with China, sources said on Tuesday. The sources said the military brass is considering deploying Indian Navy’s MiG-29K fighter jets in a couple of air bases in the northern sector as part of efforts to bring in tri-services synergy in dealing with national security challenges.

The maritime fighter jets will complement the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) efforts to significantly boost deep strikes and air dominance capabilities, they said At present, the Navy has a fleet of around 40 MiG-29K jets and at least 18 of them are deployed on board the country’s aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.

The IAF has already positioned almost all its frontline fighter jets like Sukhoi 30 MKI, Jaguar and Mirage 2000 aircraft in the key frontier air bases in eastern Ladakh and elsewhere along the LAC, a move that came against the backdrop of the border row with China. Diplomatic and military talks between China and India are continuing for complete disengagement of troops from a number of friction points in eastern Ladakh.

Good news for women in Navy: SC grants permission for permanent commission

The apex court was of the view that men and women should be treated equally

The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for permanent commission of women officers in the Indian Navy. This order follows an earlier one in which the apex court had ruled in favour of permanent commission for women officer in the army. The Court said it believed men and women should be treated equally.

The Supreme Court directed the Centre to “implement today’s order and grant permanent commission to serving SSC women officers within a period of three months”. Women officers had contended in the apex court that the gender-based classification was always justified by governments across the world with inane explanations, and they would do anything to justify their discriminatory behaviour.

Aishwarya Bhati, counsel for women officers seeking permanent commission in navy, said her client’s case was similar to the one propounded by the Babita Puniya judgement, where the apex court directed the Centre to grant permanent commission to all women officers in three months. The petitioner was commissioned in the navy on August 6, 2007 in the JAG branch and is the only SSC JAG branch officer…

Declining budget: Navy likely to field about 175 warships, not 200

The Navy was allocated Rs 56,388 crore in 2019-20, of which Rs 25,656 crore was for capital expenditure

The chief of naval staff (CNS), Admiral Karambir Singh, has admitted that the Navy’s declining budget has forced him to re-evaluate his long-term plan to field 200 warships by 2027. This target is institutionalised in the Navy’s Maritime Capability Perspective Plan (MCPP) for 2012-2027. To media queries about how many ships could realistically be expected to be in service by 2027, the Navy’s vice chief, Vice Admiral G Ashok Kumar, replied “about 175”. The CNS, however, termed that figure “optimistic”.

Singh was addressing the media on Tuesday, on the eve of Navy Day. The Navy currently has about 130 warships, he said, and another 50 are under construction in shipyards in and outside the country. “The Navy’s share of the defence Budget has declined from 18 per cent in 2012 to approximately 13 per cent in the current financial year (2019-20),” stated Singh.

The Navy was allocated Rs 56,388 crore in 2019-20, of which Rs 25,656 crore was for capital expenditure, or the payment for new ships. An estimated 90 per cent of this was already earmarked for paying instalments for warships and equipment purchased in previous years. “We have projected (our additional requirement) and our hope is that we’ll get some more money. Based on that we will prioritise our requirements so that the maritime interests of the country are not compromised”, said the CNS..

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Cochin Shipyard bags Rs 3,000 crore contract for aircraft carrier Vikrant

The country’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-1), Vikrant, is in advanced stage of construction and will be delivered to the Navy in 2021

Cochin Shipyard Limited has signed Phase III contract for Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) for the Indian Navy. The contract is valued at around Rs 3,000 crore. The contract covers the operational and harbour acceptance trials of various equipment and systems installed onboard and also the sea trials of the carrier.

The contract also covers some activities which are to be undertaken post delivery of the vessel including support during weapon & aviation trials. The country’s first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC-1), Vikrant, is in advanced stage of construction and will be delivered to the Navy in 2021 for advanced trials.

Vikrant, weighing 40,000 tonnes, is being built by Cochin Shipyard Limited. It works on Short Take-Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) mechanism similar to the present carrier INS Vikramaditya with an angular ski-jump. The ship is powered by four General Electric (GE) gas turbines. It will operate Russian origin MiG-29K fighters, which also fly from Vikramaditya

Pakistan must review Kulbhushan Jadhav’s death sentence, rules ICJ

The bench also ruled by 15 votes to 1 that Pakistan had violated India’s rights to consular visits after Jadhav’s arrest

In a noteworthy triumph for India, the International Court of Justice on Wednesday decided that Pakistan must audit capital punishment for Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been condemned to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of “reconnaissance and psychological warfare”.

Jadhav, 49, a resigned Indian Navy official, was condemned to death by the Pakistani military court on charges of “secret activities and psychological oppression” after a shut preliminary in April 2017. His condemning evoked a sharp response in India.

A seat driven by President of the Court Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf requested a “compelling audit and reexamination of the conviction and sentence of Mr Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav“. The seat likewise controlled by 15 votes to 1 that Pakistan had abused India’s rights to consular visits after Jadhav’s capture.

Pakistan “denied the Republic of India of the privilege to speak with and approach Mr Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, to visit him in detainment and to mastermind his lawful portrayal”, the judges said. Pakistan was under the commitment to advise India about the capture and confinement of Jadhav under the Vienna Convention, Judge Yusuf ruled.

The seat saw that there was a three-week delay in advising India about Jadhav’s capture on March 3, 2016, prompting a “rupture” of Pakistan’s commitments under the show. Taking note of that India has made various solicitations for the consular access, which was denied by Pakistan, the court said it was “undisputed” certainty that Pakistan did not acquiesce to India’s interests. The court said that Pakistan has not clarified how any of the unjust demonstrations supposedly dedicated by India may have kept it from satisfying its commitment.

The decision in the prominent case comes about five months after a 15-part seat of ICJ driven by Judge Yusuf had saved its choice on February 21 subsequent to hearing oral entries by India and Pakistan. The procedures of the case took two years and two months to finish. India moved the ICJ in May 8, 2017 for the “shocking infringement” of the arrangements of the Vienna Convention by Pakistan by more than once denying New Delhi consular access to Jadhav…

Indian Navy rejects Pak claim of detecting submarine, calls it ‘propaganda’

Indian Navy says it’s ‘deployed as necessary’ after Pakistan says submarine made ‘provocative actions’.

India Pakistan Conflict: With the Indian Air Force (IAF) and army already having exchanged blows with the Pakistani military, Pakistan has now accused the Indian Navy of “provocative actions against Pakistan.”

A Pakistan Navy statement on Tuesday claimed “one of the latest submarines of the Indian Navy” was detected on Monday, operating off Pakistan, and “could have been easily engaged and destroyed had it not been Pakistan’s policy to exercise restraint in the face of Indian aggression and to give peace a chance to prevail.”

Pakistan claims this is the second time an Indian navy submarine has been detected in Pakistani waters, after an incident on November 14, 2016, when the “Pakistan Navy caught Indian Navy submarine operating in Pakistani EEZ (exclusive economic zone).” Soon after the Pakistani statement, a video emerged on social media, purporting to be of the detected Indian submarine. It quickly emerged this was a fake video, produced by a Pakistani television channel in 2015.

International maritime law permits vessels from all countries, including warships, to operate freely in international waters, including in other countries’ EEZs, which extend 200 nautical miles from their coasts. A country’s territorial waters extend only 12 nautical miles from its coast; and, even in those waters, vessels from other countries enjoy the “right to innocent passage”.

Indian navy spurns homemade warplane, latest blow to push for self reliance

It is hunting for a new fighter jet after rejecting an indigenously made aircraft as too heavy

India's navy is in the hunt for a new foreign fighter jet after rejecting an indigenously made aircraft as too heavy, the latest sign of the struggle to get Asian militaries to buy locally to grow their defence industries. | TODAY HOT NEWS

The navy last month invited manufacturers to pitch for 57 planes for its aircraft carriers, a multi-billion dollar order the government had hoped would go to the state-run producers of India's Tejas, a combat aircraft 33 years in the making.

India, South Korea, Taiwan and other Asian buyers are expected to intensify efforts this year to develop indigenous warplanes, military officials said, due to anxieties that the United States may be less engaged in the region under President Donald Trump.

But their hopes of manufacturing state-of-the-art warplanes could still be decades away as countries need more time to master the technology, experts said.

"It's been long on ambition short on success," Richard A. Bitzinger, senior fellow at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said of the drive.

"These things are being done because of techno-nationalism. They are done because these countries perceive of themselves as rising powers."

As part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "Make-in-India" campaign, scientists will showcase the Tejas warplane at an air show opening in Bengaluru on Tuesday. But the jet remains a work in progress, with only three in service with the air force.

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