INTERIM ANTICIPATORYBAIL TO FORMER VICE CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF

Ex-army vice chief gets interim anticipatory bail

Asseem Shaikh.

The court of special judge D R Mahajan on Wednesday granted an ad interim anticipatory bail to former vice chief of army staff Lt Gen Noble Thamburaj, till March 28, in the case pertaining to his alleged involvement in a defence land lease case. The bail order states that Thamburaj, in the event of his arrest, shall be released on a personal bond and surety bond of Rs 30,000 with one or two sureties of the like amount. The court has directed Thamburaj not to leave Pune and cooperate with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) whenever he is called for questioning. The CBI, Pune unit, is being served a court notice seeking its written submission on Thamburaj’s bail plea, which is to be heard next on March 28. On January 30, the Army Headquarters, New Delhi, had registered a complaint with the CBI alleging that Thamburaj, who was then General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Command in Pune, and former defence estates officer S R Nayyar extended undue favour to a construction firm, Kalpataru Builders, in the matter of leasing a bungalow on a prime defence land in the Pune cantonment.

The matter relates to a 0.96 acre piece of land at bungalow no 8-A, survey no. 241-A, Lothian road, in the Pune cantonment. The land was leased to the construction firm. The CBI complaint stated that in doing so, Thamburaj and Nayyar ignored the existing rules and policies and violated the terms of lease. The Army Headquarters sought registration of offences of criminal conspiracy, cheating and criminal misconduct in the matter. On January 31, CBI teams had carried out searches at the residences of Thamburaj and Nayyar and the office of Kalpataru Builders in Koregaon Park. Thamburaj moved the court on Wednesday for an anticipatory bail in the matter through his counsel, Sudhir Shah. The court passed the ad interim anticipatory bail order in an ex-parte hearing process.

Army jawan’s widow wins battle

Army jawan’s widow wins battle that he couldn’t

About 49 years after her husband was discharged from the Army and nine years after he passed away, the widow of an Army jawan has been sanctioned familypension even though her husband never got his post-retirement benefits.

It was only after the death of Sep Gurdayal, an Army Ordnance Corps reservist from Gurdaspur, in 2003, that his widow Piaro, took up the case afresh with the Army authorities and the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions) for the grant of reservist and family pension. Gurdayal had taken up the case for his pension earlier, but to no avail.

The sanction of pension came without the family members having to seek judicial intervention. It was largely through the efforts of a serving colonel posted in the Western Sector, who assisted the family with paperwork and procedural matters, that the widow got her benefits.

Besides getting a pension of Rs 6,000 per month in accordance with current Pay Commission rates, she has also got arrears of pension since 1963, when her husband was discharged. The reservist pension at that time was just Rs 10 per month.

According to a letter written by the Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) Record to the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts, Gurdayal was enrolled in the AOC in June 1947, when he was only 15 years old.

His service with the Regular AOC was extended till July 1958, following which he was transferred to the reservist establishment.

In 1963, he was invalided out of service on medical grounds.

His total service, including boy service when he did not complete 16 years of age, worked out to be 15 years and 213 days. According to Defence Ministry regulations issued in 2002, boy service is to be counted towards fixing pensionary benefits.

THE FIGHT AFTER SERVICE

* Sep Gurdayal, Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) reservist from Gurdaspur, was enrolled in the AOC Record in June 1947 at the age of 15 years.
* His service with the Regular AOC was extended till July 1958.
* He was later transferred to the reservist establishment
* In 1963, he was rendered invalid on medical grounds
* He applied for pension, but to no avail
* After his death in 2003, his widow took up the case afresh
* She has been sanctioned a pension of Rs 6,000 pm, besides arrears since 1963

-via Tribune India

NEW BUDGET 2012 FOR DEFENCE

Defence budget shoots up 17%

MOST OF TODAY’S PAY AND ALLOWANCES CONSTITUTE TOMORROW’S DEFENCE PENSIONS

Military spending has gone up by 17 per cent, or Rs 28,992 crore, to Rs 1,93,407 crore in the Budget. Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said this allocation was based on the needs projected by the defence ministry.

For 2011-12, the spend was pegged at Rs 1,64,415 crore, an increase of 11 per cent over the previous year. However the three services together returned around Rs 3,000 crore of unspent money. The difference between the Budget Estimate for 2011-12 and the Revised Estimate for the same year was around Rs 3,000 crore.

The capital expenditure of the armed forces — which goes into the purchase of equipment — was set at Rs 79,579 crore, a 15.7 per cent increase from last year’s capital allocation of Rs 69,199 crore. As much as 70 per cent of this amount will go into servicing contracts already signed.

The revenue component of the defence budget amounts to Rs 108,369 crore. This part of the Budget, that goes into paying salaries, was Rs 90,767 crore in the Budget Estimate, but was Rs 99,762 in the Revised Estimate.

Commenting on the ballooning revenue under the defence budget, Laxman Behera, research fellow at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, said, “Pay and allowances are obligatory in nature and the government has little control over their growth, given the mandatory annual increases. Moreover, MOST OF TODAY’S PAY AND ALLOWANCES CONSTITUTE TOMORROW’S DEFENCE PENSIONS — again something over which the government has little control. The growth in these two components has implications for other aspects of the defence budget.”

On the capital side, India is on the verge of signing a $20-billion contract for 126 Rafale medium multirole combat aircraft, apart from a $600-million deal for 75 Pilatus PC-7 basic trainer for Air Force. However, the outlays indicate that the final go-ahead for this expenditure might be rolled over to the next financial year.

The Air Force, which is buying the Rafale, was allotted Rs 22,000 crore in 2011-12; the revised estimates shows it has spent just about Rs 18,000 crore. The outlay for 2012-13 is Rs 23,000 crore.

Several artillery purchases for the army are also due; for instance, the proposal to buy 145 ultra-light Howitzers from the US under a government-to-government sale.

-via Business Standard

one rank, one pension to ex-servicemen, Amarinder promises

promises one rank, one pension to ex-servicemen

PTI Jan 15, 2012, 07.18PM IST

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Amarinder promises one rank, one pension to ex-

servicemen

MEHALKALAN: With Punjab going to polls on January 30, state Congress President Amarinder Singh on Sunday promised to ex-servicemen that he will ensure that the one rank one pension scheme was introduced.

He said, he had already taken up the matter with the Central Government and hoped it will be implemented soon.

Addressing a function organised by the Punjab Chapter of the Indian Ex-Service League here, Amarinder, himself an ex-army man, regretted that "some bureaucrats sitting in Delhi who had no idea as what it meant to be a soldier were trying to put hurdles in the implementation."

He appealed to the ex-servicemen to help and support the Congress in the forthcoming assembly elections in Punjab.

He said, ex-servicemen are pride of Punjab but unfortunately they have not received their due after retirement or leaving the services of the armed forces.

"An important step in this direction has already been taken with the Rajya Sabha Committee on Petitions having recommended one rank one pension scheme," he said, while adding, Congress was committed that the rights of ex-servicemen are protected.

He said, the party will pursue with the Central Government for 100 per cent implementation of One Rank One Pension scheme which will benefit 8 lakh ex-servicemen of Punjab.

Among other things he promised included that ex-servicemen would be exempted from paying toll-tax on the state highways to be constructed on Public Private Partnerships basis, every effort shall be made to remove anomalies of the 6th Pay Commission for Defence Personnel and VAT on all CSD items will be exempted.

NEWLY ELECTED MEMBERS

LATEST NEWS ONE RANK ONE PENSION FOR EX-SERVICEMEN

Ex-servicemen seek 'one rank-one pension'

LUDHIANA: A meeting of 16 ex-servicemen organizations was held at Circuit House in the city on Sunday. 

Appealing to central government, the organizations raised the demand of 'One rank-One pension'. Ex-servicemen from the district participated in the meet that was chaired by president of Shiromani Akali Dal and ex-servicemen wing engineer Gurjinder Singh Sidhu.

Some days ago a meeting of presidents of all ex-servicemen organizations was held in Chandigarh and resolved to come together on a common platform and raise their demands. 

While addressing the ex-servicemen, president of All India Brotherhood Organization Brigadier Kuldeep Singh Kahlon said the central government should regard the contribution of ex-servicemen for the welfare and development of the nation and pay attention to their demands. 

He said like other organizations they could also block roads, stop trains and they also go on hunger strikes but they don't want to adopt any such means to fulfil their demands. ''If our demands are not fulfilled, we will have to intensify the protest and the government will be responsible for it,'' Brigadier Kahlon said. 

He also urged the ex-servicemen to join the rally of ex-servicemen movement under General R Kadian which would be held on March 6 at New Delhi. 

EXPECTED DEARNESS ALLOWANCE 7% FROM JANUARY 2012

EXPECTED DEARNESS ALLOWANCE 7% FROM JANUARY 2012 Expected DA from Jan 2011

Perhaps it is very early to calculate the status of  additional Dearness allowance from January, 2012 for Central Government employees and Pensioners, before releasing the AICPIN for the balance of three months i.e.October, November and December. Enquiries are being poured as comments and received emails to our inbox about the expected DA from Jan, 2012. We can assume that the AICPIN will certainly go up, because of the essential commodities prices are going high with non stop. Anyway we can assume the additional Dearness allowance from January 2012 will be minimum 7%. The existing Dearness allowance is 58%, it will become as 58% + 7% = 65%.

Republic Day – 2012 Awards

Republic Day – 2012 Awards

Three panels of judges were appointed for assessing the performance of Marching Contingent from three Services, Marching Contingent from Para­Military Forces and Tableaux from various States/ Ministries/Departments and School Children items from schools of Delhi as well as outside Delhi. On the basis of the assessment of the panels of judges, the results of the competitive presentation of Services contingents, Para-military forces contingents, tableaux and school children items, participated in the Republic Day Parade, 2012 are as under:- I. BEST MARCHING CONTINGENT AMONG THE THREE SERVICES INDIAN AIR FORCE II. BEST MARCHING CONTINGENT AMONG PARA-MILITARY FORCES AND  OTHER AUXILARY MARCHING CONTINGENTS BORDER SECURITY FORCE (BSF) III. BEST THREE TABLEAUX FIRST                                     Ministry of Human Resources Development                                                 (Deptt. of School Education & Literacy) SECOND                    Goa THIRD                        Karnataka IV. BEST SCHOOL CHILDREN ITEMS. (i)            GOVT. SARVODAYA KANYA VIDYALAYA, HASTSAL, DELHI (KodiyanchaKarvan) (ii)           NORTH CENTRAL ZONE CULTURAL CENTRE, ALLAHABAD (Gudum Baja of Madhya Pradesh) V. CONSOLATION PRIZE KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA SCHOOL, R.K. PURAM, NEW DELHI (ShikshaSarvatraPujayate) 3. In addition to the above, tableau presented by the C.P.W.D. has been selected for a Special Prize.

ONE RANK ONE PENSION LATEST NEWS

Rajya Sabha panel for ‘one rank, one pension

The Rajya Sabha petitions committee has recommended that the Centre implement the ‘one rank, one pension’ (OROP) for ex-servicemen and also constitute a separate commission to determine the pay, allowance and pension of the defence personnel, said Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar.

The report notes: “The financial liability of Rs1,300 crore is not very big amount to deny the parity in pension.” The committee rejected the Union finance ministry’s apprehension that acceptance of the demand will trigger similar request from other government employees. It pointed out that the terms and conditions of defence personnel and civil servants are vastly different and said the armed forces’ demand remained unresolved due to bureaucratic apathy.

The petitions committee was constituted following a petition co-filed by Chandrasekhar and it had tabled its report in the Rajya Sabha on December 19.

OROP implies that the pension entitled to the military personnel should be uniform for those in the same rank, same length of service, irrespective of the date of retirement. It currently depends on the length of service and rank of personnel on the day of their retirement and creates a feeling of injustice among earlier retirees. The OROP will bridge the gap between the rate of pension of current and past pensioners.

Ex-servicemen organisations have been raising this demand for a long time and taken to the streets, returned their medals and even signed memorandums in blood.

HAPPY NEW YEAR