New Delhi: The Armed Forces Tribunal has held that a former Army commander showed bias towards a brigadier under whose command some of the major victories were achieved in the 1999 Kargil conflict and directed that the affected officer be considered for a notional promotion.
In its order, the Tribunal, headed by Justice A K Mathur, held that "the annual confidential reports (ACRs) were not written in an objective and unbiased manner" by Lt. Gen. Pal.
Noting that the report of a person who writes the ACRs in a biased manner could not be allowed to sustain, it observed that the then GOC was not favourably motivated towards Brigadier Singh and had attempted to tailor the report belittling his achievements.
"As per the Tribunal order, I will also be considered for promotion to the notional rank of a major general and the records about the operations by my brigade in the war will be set straight," Brig (retd) Singh said here.
In his plea, which was transferred from the Delhi High Court to the Principal Bench of the Tribunal, Brig Singh said he had contended that in the post-Kargil operations report, Lt Gen Pal had falsely shown four of his most successful battalions under a fictitious headquarters commanded by the then Deputy General Officer of 3 Infantry Division, Brig Ashok Duggal.
"For reasons best known to Lt Gen Kishan Pal, he was favouring and giving credit to Brig Duggal and my command tenure was shown in bad light. Though it could not help him and he could not take his next rank, I had to suffer a lot because of this act,” Brig Singh said here.
The Tribunal has also asked the Army to expunge all the ACRs of Brig Singh written by Lt Gen Pal.
It, Singh said, has also observed that because of the operational differences between him and Lt Gen Pal, the GOC was not favourably motivated towards him and had attempted to tailor reports belittling his achievements.
During the Kargil operations, the Srinagar-based 15 Corps under its Lt Gen Pal had the responsibility of evicting Pakistan Army regulars and intruders from Indian posts in the mountains along the National Highway 1A in the Ladakh region.
Maintaining that it was a long struggle since the Kargil conflict 11 years back, Brig Singh said, "Certainly one feels vindicated.
"One has gone through a number of stages of non-statutory complaints, statutory complaints, legal notices and several writ petitions...Finally the order has seen the light of the day."
AI union threatens another strike from June 12
NEW DELHI: The Air Corporation Employees Union (ACEU), which spearheaded the two-day strike in Air India, on Thursday threatened another such action from June 12 charging the management with conspiring to instigate trouble and later declare a lockout in the national carrier.
"Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav is carrying out dictatorship. He is bent on destroying the airline. He is trying to instigate the workers to go for action and then declare a lockout on that pretext," ACEU general secretary J B Kadiyan told reporters in New Delhi.
"This is a conspiracy," he said, adding that the union has served another strike notice from June 12.
In an unprecedented action, Air India sacked a total of 58 employees including union leaders, suspended another 24 and de-recognised two unions which led the stir - ACEU and All India Aircraft Engineers' Association.
Claiming that the management initiated disciplinary proceedings "immediately after we signed the conciliation proceedings last evening", Kadiyan said "the employees who did not join the strike were also served termination notices".
"We withdrew our strike on a personal appeal by Chief Labour Commissioner S K Mukhopadhyay and in the interest of the company," the ACEU leader said, adding that all offices of ACEU and All India Aircraft Engineers Association across the country were sealed through the night.
"Our offices have not only been sealed but management representatives have tampered with our records and even taken away some of them. How shall we fight the court battle when we don't have any record? How can we function," he said.
"Our records have been sealed and we cannot take any legal remedy. We can't reply to the notices issued by the court," Kadiyan said.
The unions had gone on a flash strike protesting against a 'gag order' on members for talking to the media after Saturday's air crash in Mangalore and 'delay' in payment of salaries. The management, however, clarified there is only one general circular and that there was no 'gag order".
The strike was called off on Wednesday after the Delhi High Court restrained the agitating employees from continuing the stir and the government talked tough giving a free hand to the management to deal with them.
India proud of armed forces, address visa issue: Krishna to Canada
BANGALORE: With anger rising over the denial of visas to several serving and retired officials of Indian security agencies, external affairs minister S.M. Krishna on Thursday said India expects the Canadian authorities to address this issue appropriately and underlined that the country was proud of its armed forces.
"We expect the Canadian authorities to address this issue appropriately. We have made our position crystal clear to the Canadian authorities," Krishna said.
The high commissioner of Canada, Joseph Caron, has been called by the secretary (west) in the external affairs ministry, Krishna said.
"We are proud of our armed forces. This has to be understood by the Canadian authorities," he said.
Over the past two years, Canada has denied visas to some serving and retired Indian security forces personnel on account of their association with India's armed forces and spy agencies, sparking public outrage in India.
Indian Navy employee held for spying for Pakistan
NEW DELHI: An employee of the Indian Navy has been arrested on charges of spying for Pakistan and police claimed to have recovered from him some "secret and sensitive" documents like photograph of the Hindan Air Base and map of Meerut Cantonment.
24-year-old Chand Kumar Prasad, posted in the Navy's Aircraft Maintenance Unit in Mumbai, was arrested by Delhi Police's Special Cell from New Delhi Railway Station yesterday, police sources said.
He was allegedly passing on classified information to a Pakistan High Commission official through another person, they said.
Police sources said certain "secret and sensitive" documents like photograph of Hindan Air Base and map of Meerut Cantonment were recovered from Prasad.
He was produced before a magistrate today and was remanded to five-day police custody.
Air India’s two unions de-recognised, offices sealed
MUMBAI: Hours after crushing the two-day old strike by Air India employees, the state-owned airline de-recognised two major trade unions and sealed their offices across the country.
The airline gradually restored normalcy since morning though 25 flights were cancelled for the day.
Erstwhile Indian Airlines' union Air Corporation Employees' Union (ACEU) and All India Aircraft Engineers' Association (AIAEA) have been de-recognised by the management of National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) and their offices have also been sealed, NACIL sources said today. NACIL is the holding company of Air India.
Besides terminating the services of 17 office-bearers of the two Unions last night, the airline suspended 15 engineers. More dismissals and suspensions are likely to follow with highly-placed sources indicating that a total of upto 100 employees would face action.
"The de-recognition order came in last night and their offices have also been sealed," the sources said, as the airline cracked down on the Union leaders.
Dinkar Shetty, a leader of the ACEU, said they were waiting for a formal communication from the management regarding termination and suspension before deciding on the future course of action.
ACEU and AIAEA had gone on a flash-strike on Tuesday to protest a 'gag order' directing the office-bearers of NACIL trade union to refrain from making public statements and harming the image of the company.
The Unions were demanding immediate withdrawal of the 'gag order'. But the Management claimed there was only a general circular which has been upheld by the Mumbai High Court and that there was no such 'gag order.'
The strike led to cancellation of 130 flights affecting 13,000 passengers. Besides, NACIL also incurred losses to the tune of Rs 10 crore due to the strike.
Shortly after the strike was called off, civil aviation minister Praful Patel said the kind of behaviour shown by the striking employees cannot be tolerated repeatedly. "Whoever did it are absolutely irresponsible," he said.
The strike was called off following a Delhi High Court order yesterday. The Government had also turned the heat on the striking employees giving a free hand to Air India management to take stern action against them. About 20,000 employees belonging to ACEU and AIAEA had gone on strike, according to the Unions. The striking employees accounted for roughly 60 per cent of the airline's staff.
Indigo, Jet avoid collision at Mumbai airport
Mumbai:A major mishap was averted at the city airport after an Indigo aircraft entered the runway instead of turning into the taxiway.
The IndiGo aircraft, as per ATC instructions, was supposed to turn into the taxiway. However, it entered the runway, a Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) statement said on Thursday.
"At 9.04 pm yesterday, a Jet Airways flight 9W 616 (Kolkata-Mumbai) while on approach to landing was asked to go around to allow IndiGo Mumbai-Bangalore flight (6E-415) to cross the runway at the intersection point," MIAL said.
The IndiGo aircraft, however, had entered the runway instead of turning into the taxiway and as per the designated taxiway instruction from ATC, the statement said.
Jet Airways officials were not available for comments despite repeated attempts to contact them while IndiGo said it would not comment off-hand.
Business News
Gold hits record Rs 18,810 per 10 gms
New Delhi: Gold prices maintained their record level of Rs 18,810 per ten grams in the national capital on Thursday on restricted buying activity.
The price of silver, on the other hand, rose further by Rs 150 to Rs 29,700 per kg on sustained buying by industrial units and jewellery fabricators.
Marketmen said restricted buying activity at the existing rates kept gold prices stable at yesterday's record level.
Standard gold and ornaments were being traded at the record price of Rs 18,810 and Rs 18,660 per ten grams respectively.
However, sovereigns lost Rs 50 to 14,550 per piece of eight grams on lack of buying support.
Silver ready remained in demand and advanced further by Rs 150 to Rs 29,700 per kg, while weekly-based delivery rose by Rs 80 to Rs 29,280 per kg.
Meanwhile, silver coins continued to be traded at around the previous level of Rs 34,500 for buying and Rs 34,600 for selling of 100 pieces.
Sensex up 278 pts; Tata Motors jumps 5 pct
Seattle: Stock markets rallied for the second day in a row today with the BSE benchmark Sensex surging by 278 points on aggressive buying at lower levels, amid positive global cues.
The 30-share index of the Bombay Stock Exchange shut the shop at 16,666.40 points, up 1.70 per cent, or 278.56 points.
The broader-based Nifty-50 of the National Stock Exchange climbed 1.74 per cent to close at 5,003.10.
The Sensex had gained 644 points in this two-day rally, after Eurozone debt crisis triggered an onslaught of selling in bourses across the world, which saw the Sensex falling below 17,000-level.
"The pull-back was mainly driven by buying at lower-level. Stocks have been beaten heavily in past sessions and a bounce-back was due," Delhi-based Unicon Financial CEO Gajendra Nagpal said.
Today being the derivative settlement day the session was quite volatile, he added.
Analysts also said positive signs from Asia and Europe also buoyed sentiment."Sentiment across the world got a fillip after the Chinese government dismissed reports that it was considering paring down its holdings of euro-zone bonds,"
brokerage firm IIFL's Amar Ambani said.
Buying was particularly hectic in banking, auto, oil & gas and realty counters of BSE.
Tata Motors stole the show among Sensex stocks with 4.74 per cent gain. Brokers said the stock attracted good buying support in anticipation of the company posting annual results.
After market hours, Tata Motors announced Rs 2,571 crore profit for 2009-10.
Another blue-chip auto stock, Maruti Suzuki advanced 2.7 per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra, which yesterday announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Reva Electric Car, moved up 1.78 per cent.
Among financial stocks HDFC Bank climbed 3.78 per cent, HDFC 2.37 per cent, SBI 2.01 per cent and ICICI Bank 1.06 per cent.
Index heavyweight, Reliance Industries was 1.44 per cent higher at Rs 1,021.85.
Among the losers, ACC dropped 1.6 per cent, Bharti Airtel 1.29 per cent and Cipla 0.64 per cent.
Apple overtakes Microsoft as biggest IT firm
Apple Inc shot past Microsoft Corp as the world's biggest tech company based on market value on Wednesday, the latest milestone in the resurgence of the maker of the iPhone, which nearly went out of business in the 1990s.
Apple's shares rose as much 2.8 per cent on Nasdaq on Wednesday, as Microsoft shares floundered, briefly pushing its market value above $229 billion, ahead of its longtime rival.
Both stocks ended down after a late-day sell-off, but Apple emerged ahead with a market value of about $222 billion, compared with Microsoft's $219 billion, according to Reuters data.
Apple shares closed down 0.4 per cent at $244.11 on Nasdaq, while Microsoft fell 4 per cent to a seven-month low of $25.01.
Shares of Apple are worth more than 10 times what they were 10 years ago, as it has profited from revolutionizing consumer electronics with its stylish, easy to use products such as the iPod, iPhone and MacBook laptops.
The last time Apple had a higher market value than Microsoft was Dec. 19, 1989.
Microsoft, whose operating system runs on more than 90 per cent of the world's personal computers, has not been able to match growth rates from its hey-day 1990s. Its stock is down 20 per cent from 10 years ago.
Apple, which struggled for many years to get its products into the mainstream, resorted to a $150 million investment from the much larger Microsoft in 1997 in order to keep it afloat. At that time, Microsoft's market value was more than five times that of Apple.
Microsoft still leads Apple in sales. In the latest quarter, Microsoft reported $14.5 billion in revenue compared with Apple's $13.5 billion.
Cupertino, California-based Apple is now the second-largest company on the Standard & Poor's 500 index by market value, behind energy behemoth Exxon Mobil Corp.
Sports News
Tendulkar tweets and India responds overwhelmingly for charity
A simple message from Sachin Tendulkar on his twitter page is enough to raise Rs 1.25 crore in two weeks and the beneficiaries would be the children of the veteran batsman's project "Sachin's Crusade against Cancer in Children".
"Sachin just tweeted once two weeks ago and overnight lakhs came in donations. Over Rs 125 lakhs have been collected," Dr P Jagannath of the "Crusade against Cancer Foundation" said at a press conference here on Thursday.
"This is an astounding figure and is probably the highest that has been collected by a single celebrity in India for a single fund raising event," Dr Jagannath said, adding he had approached Tendulkar through his wife Anjali for the cause.
"I approached Dr Anjali Tendulkar who is a paediatrician and known to me through some friends. She convinced Sachin for this cause," he said.
"In the last one week itself over Rs 30-40 lakhs have been collected for the project which reaches those in the low income group in India. An expert panel will access the medical and financial needs and offer better treatment as well as the dosages," he said.
The project is close to the champion batsman's heart and Tendulkar issued a statement terming it "as the most satisfying contribution" in his life.
"Every child is precious and bringing the smile back to the child and lighting a new life is the most satisfying thing one can dream of," Tendulkar said about his project.
"I'm grateful to all the donors in every part of the country who rallied behind me in my effort to save the lives of children afflicted with cancer. This is the most satisfying contribution in my life," the batting great said.
Dr Jagannath said that what was most interesting among the contributions were those who donated Rs 100 and 200.
"Corporate India has responded well (to Tendulkar's appeal). What is heartening is we have received donations for as little as Rs 100 and 200. This shows there are people who feel for the cause and have contributed whatever they could," he said.
"I'm surprised why other celebrities have not used this medium (Twitter) to raise funds (for charity)," he added.
Dr Jagannath said Tendulkar and his wife Anjali were also scheduled to take part in a fund raising dinner on Thursday night.
Sans stars, India to test SL, Zim
Bulawayo: Every match is important when the national team plays. Is the BCCI battling that holy cow by sending an under-strength team for the Zimbabwe tri-series?
Or is the BCCI trying to achieve the twin tasks of providing a leg-up to the budding Indian talent to prepare them for the future as well as give the 'tired' frontline players time to recover from the rigours of IPL as well as Twenty20 World Cup - as so famously articulated by none other than Team India skipper M S Dhoni?
The Twenty20 World Cup debacle still fresh in mind, a new-look Indian team would look to test its bench strength when it faces Zimbabwe in the opening match of a triangular ODI series, also involving Sri Lanka, here tomorrow.
With big names rested for the series, the tournament comes as an opportunity for the youngsters to prove their worth at the international level, especially with the 50-over World Cup just over nine months away.
It will also be a test of character for the young Suresh Raina, who will make his captaincy debut after as many as eight senior players including regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, were rested for the tournament.
But what might work in Raina's favour is that he will lead a bunch of young, fresh and fit players who are eager to perform at the international arena and be in the reckoning for a place in the Indian team.
Raina has an aggressive deputy in Virat Kohli, who would be keen to prove his worth to the selectors after being ignored for the Twenty20 World Cup.
Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha and leg-spinner Amit Mishra also have a point to prove after the Twenty20 World Cup snub while Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik along with Raina will form the core of the Indian line-up during the series.
Other rookies who will be looking to make a mark are off-spinner R Ashwin and aggressive wicket-keeper batsman Naman Ojha.
However, an area which will be a matter of concern for Raina is the pace department. With the likes of Ashok Dinda, R Vinay Kumar, Pankaj Singh and Umesh Yadav, the Indian seam attack lacks experience and it remains to be seen how the quartet fairs in pressure situations.
Incidentally, the Raina-led side has a fair idea about Zimbabwean conditions as players like Pankaj Singh, Pragyan and Rohit were part of the A team that toured the African country in 2007. India last sent a full side to Zimbabwe way back in 2005-06.
On the other hand, the absence of so many international stars have irked the cash-strapped Zimbabwe Cricket which was banking on this series to revive the game here.
With very little international cricket scheduled here, the tri-series is also seen as Zimbabwe's last chance to test their abilities before the next year's World Cup.
After hosting Sri Lanka in 2008, Zimbabwe have played minnows like Kenya, Bangladesh and Afghanistan at home and the successful hosting of this series will portray a positive image of cricket there.
From the tournament point of view, Sri Lanka have also fielded a young team and have rested key players, prominent among them were regular skipper Kumar Sangakkara and the in-form Mahela Jayawardene.
Like India, the series also provides Sri Lanka the opportunity to test their resources and allow a few youngsters the to gain some international experience.
Teams (From):
India: Suresh Raina (capt), Virat Kohli, R Ashwin, Ashok
Dinda, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik, Amit Mishra, Naman
Ojha, Pragyan Ojha, Pankaj Singh, Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma,
Murali Vijay, R Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav.
Zimbabwe: Elton Chigumbura (capt), Andy Blignaut, Chamu
Chibhabha, Charles Coventry, Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine, Greg
Lamb, Hamilton Masakadza, Chris Mpofu, Ray Price, Ed
Rainsford, Vusi Sibanda, Tatenda Taibu, Brendan Taylor,
Prosper Utseya.
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