An Army major,who died fighting a terrorist to save 12 of his colleagues during an attack on Indians in Kabul,has been conferred the Ashok Chakra,the countrys highest peacetime gallantry award. Major Laishram Jyotin Singh,an Army doctor posted in Kabul,fought a heavily-armed terrorist during an attack on Indians at a Kabul hotel on February 26.He gave up his life for the sake of five of his colleagues,one of whom,despite his efforts,was charred to death,and another succumbed to his injuries five days later.His sacrifice,in addition,also saved the lives of two officers,four paramedics and two Afghan civilians still alive within the compound, the defence ministry said on Saturday,while announcing the gallantry awards on the eve of Independence Day. The 37-year-old doctor from Manipur showed exemplary courage when a heavily-armed terrorist,after killing three guards,entered the hotel building to kill the survivors.Singh charged with bare hands at the armed terrorist and pinned him down, the statement said. The Major grappled with the terrorist until the latter detonated his suicide vest.The officer and the terrorists were instantly killed.Kirti Chakra,has been given to Captain Davinder Singh Jass and Chhattisgarh Superintendent of Police Vinod Kumar Choubey (both posthumously ).Jass was given the award for counter-terrorist operations in Jammu.On February 23 this year,when Jass was leading an operation in Chinkipur,his squad came under heavy indiscriminate terrorist fire. He successfully evacuated one of his men to safety.Thereafter he crawled forward to evacuate the second man but was injured, the MoD said.He killed one of the terrorists.He later succumbed to his injuries.
Vinod Kumar Chaubey will receive Kirti Chakra posthumously for anti-Naxal operations in Chattis-garh. Besides the Ashok Chakra and 2 Kirti Chakras, 112 gallantry awards, including 2 Bar to Shaurya Chakras,19 Shaurya Chakras, 2 Bar to Sena Medal (Gallantry ),80 Sena Medals (Gallantry ), 3 Nao Sena Medals (Gallantry) and five Vayu Sena Medal (Gallantry) have also been given away.
=================================
(source-toi)
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
CAG pulls up Services for selling liquor in open market
New Delhi: The armed forces simply love their booze.So do civilians,always on the lookout to tap Army contacts for a bottle or two,if not a case or two,of the much cheaper liquor available in Fauji canteens. But large-scale diversion of liquor meant for soldiers to the civil market has become a cottage industry in itself,with some unscrupulous civilian and military officials raking in large amounts of moolah.In fact,there have been several cases of officers,including a couple of brigadiers and even a major-general,being court-martialled for allegedly selling huge quantities of military quota liquor in the open market.
CSD (canteen stores department ) and the Services should ensure that liquor demanded and issued to unit-run canteens (URCs) is strictly as per their authorisation to prevent its leakage into civil market, says the latest CAG report,tabled in Parliament on Friday.This comes after the CAG conducted a performance audit of CSD,which has annual sales worth around Rs 6,900 crore,of which liquor forms a major chunk. In just five of the 34 area depots of CSD under examination,CAG found several units were drawing liquor far in excess of what was authorised based on the number of soldiers and ex-servicemen connected with those units.The units responsible for this overdrawing were mainly the Rajputana Rifles Regimental Centre at Delhi,the Station HQ at Dehu Road in Pune district,and Station HQ at Jabalpur.Of the Rs 5.26 crore worth of liquor overdrawn in Delhi,the RajRif Centre alone was responsible for 57,076 cases valued at Rs 4.79 crore. That is certainly quite a bit,considering the Army has been progressively slashing the liquor quota of officers and jawans.All officers up to Colonels and their equivalents in Navy and IAF,for instance,are now permitted to draw only 10 liquor bottles per month from CSD canteens.The earlier limit was 16 bottles,which was reduced to 12 a couple of years ago.
Field Marshals and equivalents,serving and retired Service chiefs,can draw all the liquor they want since they have no limit.Serving and retired Lt-Generals,Vice-Admirals and Air Marshals have a limit of 14 bottles,while Major-Generals and Brigadiers can take 12 bottles home every month.Serving JCOs like Subedar Majors,Subedars and Naib Subedars are entitled to seven bottles.All other ranks have to make do with five bottles.
=====================================
(source-toi)
CSD (canteen stores department ) and the Services should ensure that liquor demanded and issued to unit-run canteens (URCs) is strictly as per their authorisation to prevent its leakage into civil market, says the latest CAG report,tabled in Parliament on Friday.This comes after the CAG conducted a performance audit of CSD,which has annual sales worth around Rs 6,900 crore,of which liquor forms a major chunk. In just five of the 34 area depots of CSD under examination,CAG found several units were drawing liquor far in excess of what was authorised based on the number of soldiers and ex-servicemen connected with those units.The units responsible for this overdrawing were mainly the Rajputana Rifles Regimental Centre at Delhi,the Station HQ at Dehu Road in Pune district,and Station HQ at Jabalpur.Of the Rs 5.26 crore worth of liquor overdrawn in Delhi,the RajRif Centre alone was responsible for 57,076 cases valued at Rs 4.79 crore. That is certainly quite a bit,considering the Army has been progressively slashing the liquor quota of officers and jawans.All officers up to Colonels and their equivalents in Navy and IAF,for instance,are now permitted to draw only 10 liquor bottles per month from CSD canteens.The earlier limit was 16 bottles,which was reduced to 12 a couple of years ago.
Field Marshals and equivalents,serving and retired Service chiefs,can draw all the liquor they want since they have no limit.Serving and retired Lt-Generals,Vice-Admirals and Air Marshals have a limit of 14 bottles,while Major-Generals and Brigadiers can take 12 bottles home every month.Serving JCOs like Subedar Majors,Subedars and Naib Subedars are entitled to seven bottles.All other ranks have to make do with five bottles.
=====================================
(source-toi)
Friday, August 13, 2010
IAF may deploy more copters for anti-Naxal operations
New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) is contemplating deployment of additional helicopters in the ongoing anti-Naxal operations,with its two Mi-17 s and two Dhruvs already operating in Chhattisgarh armed with sideward mounted machine guns to fire back in self-defence if they come under attack from Maoists. IAF feels it will be in a better position to deploy additional helicopters for logistical support in the coming months since its 19 choppers currently deployed in UN peace-keeping duties in Congo are slated to return to India soon. Moreover,the first lot of the 80 advanced Mi-17 helicopters ordered from Russia,for around $1.2 billion,should begin arriving by October-November, said a source.
While IAF does not need permission to act in self-defence if its helicopters come under attack,which defence minister A K Antony had made clear in Parliament last November itself,very stringent rules of engagement have been put in place. For one,IAFs Garud commandos on board the helicopters can open fire only if they come under attack while undertaking their logistical,reconnaissance and casualty evacuation duties in the anti-Naxal operations. For another,the Indian Air Force helicopters can only use their sideward mounted machine guns in retaliation,not heavier firepower like rockets,bombs or missiles. This is in keeping with the government and IAFs abhorrence for offensive air operations against the Naxals,as reported by TOI earlier.
Fortunately,there has been no occasion when we had to use the sideward-mounted guns in all these months since the helicopters have not come under fire, said a source. IAF,of course,has already taken some steps to bolster the security of its aircrew by using helicopters with armoured protection like Mi-17 s,deploying armed Garud commandos on them and issuing bullet-proof jackets to the pilots.
=================================
(source-toi)
While IAF does not need permission to act in self-defence if its helicopters come under attack,which defence minister A K Antony had made clear in Parliament last November itself,very stringent rules of engagement have been put in place. For one,IAFs Garud commandos on board the helicopters can open fire only if they come under attack while undertaking their logistical,reconnaissance and casualty evacuation duties in the anti-Naxal operations. For another,the Indian Air Force helicopters can only use their sideward mounted machine guns in retaliation,not heavier firepower like rockets,bombs or missiles. This is in keeping with the government and IAFs abhorrence for offensive air operations against the Naxals,as reported by TOI earlier.
Fortunately,there has been no occasion when we had to use the sideward-mounted guns in all these months since the helicopters have not come under fire, said a source. IAF,of course,has already taken some steps to bolster the security of its aircrew by using helicopters with armoured protection like Mi-17 s,deploying armed Garud commandos on them and issuing bullet-proof jackets to the pilots.
=================================
(source-toi)
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Disbursement of salary/ wages on 20 AUG 2010, to the Central Govt. Employees in the State of Kerala for the month of August,2010 on account of Onam Festival.
Disbursement of salary/ wages on 20 Aug 2010, to the Central Govt. Employees in the State of Kerala for the month of August,2010 on account of Onam Festival.
(source-Confederation of CG Employees)
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Leaderless State - Omar Abdullah must crack down on violence and give fresh lease to talks
As violence in the Kashmir valley continues to escalate with eight more deaths on Monday taking toll in current spate of violence to 37 it is fast becoming clear that Srinagar is in the grip of a serious leadership crisis.The state government has been shown up by administrative as well as communication failures,worsening the law and order situation manifold.Chief minister Omar Abdullah,far from delivering on the promises of hope and a fresh approach,has displayed an unfortunate lack of leadership skills.His inability to effectively strike a chord not just with the people of his state but also members of his own ruling coalition has meant a damaging loss of credibility. It was expected of Abdullah to personally intervene by way of showing solidarity with those affected by the violence and adopting a hands-on approach to restoring normalcy.This would have restored the peoples faith in the state government.But failure to do so has resulted in a massive trust deficit.J&K police,for example,are pathetically under-equipped and undertrained,despite promises made long ago of implementing non-lethal crowd-control measures.At present they appear to have practically ceased to function.Substituting them with CRPF personnel is not a good solution as the latter,trained in counter-insurgency and lacking local knowledge,cannot be expected to control crowds or maintain law and order.
The current cycle of protests-deaths-protests needs to be broken at all costs,while the state government must simultaneously step up communication with people in Valley. Abdullah has spoken of a political package to calm the situation,but this is nebulous as long as the contents of such a package arent fleshed out and agreed upon by stakeholders in the Valley.For that dialogue is necessary and the Centre must come forward,but it is incumbent upon opposition and separatist groups to participate as well. The Peoples Democratic Party may have cynically calculated that letting the state burn will burnish their opposition credentials and help them in the next election cycle,while moderate Hurriyat leaders may fear elimination by militants.Conducting dialogue in the media spotlight is conducive to posturing,which wont lead to any lasting solution. Therefore,quiet diplomacy,nas suggested by home minister P Chida-mbaram, is the best way forward. To create the conditions for that, however, the present drift must be arrested.The anarchic situation in the Valley,which is causing suffering all round,must speedily be brought to an end.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(source-toi editorial)
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SECONDOPINION - GAMES THEORY - CWG delays and cost overruns will boost the economy
(BY Jug Suraiya)
A hue and cry has been raised that our national honour will suffer irreparable damage as a result of corrupt and inefficient officials whove been getting kickbacks and cutting corners at the expense of the countrys reputation as it prepares to host the Commonwealth Games.With less than two months to go before zero hour,horror stories abound,raising fears that the CWG tiger mascot,Shera,may well have joined his real-life jungle counterparts as an endangered species. Not one of the 16 Games projects inspected by the Central Vigilance Commission to date has passed quality control tests.Stadiums have roofs that leak or,worse,come crashing down.Already,in a swimming rehearsal,an athlete was injured because of defective equipment.It has been revealed that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had,in a report submitted to the government a year ago,warned that bureaucratic bottlenecks would inevitably lead to inordinate delays and that there was little or no hope of the time-bound targets being met.Instead of tabling this report in Parliament,as is customary,the government decided to keep this information to itself.
The result of all this bungling and wheeling-dealing The cost of the Games,according to sports minister M S Gill,has gone up 17.5 times: from Rs 655 crore in 2003 when Delhi bid for the Games to Rs 11,494 crore at present,and still counting.With panic buttons being hit as the deadline looms dangerously near,whatever little financial prudence there has been is likely to be thrown to the winds and costs are bound to further escalate as money is poured into desperate last-minute efforts to complete hopelessly delayed projects.
So are the Games going to be a totally ruinous exercise for India Should those responsible,starting with the Organising Committee,be denounced as traitors and made to face the consequences of their many sins of omission and commission Of course not.In India,as always,every dark cloud has a silver lining,which generally has to do with someones pocket.Whether its the Games or any other sarkari project from the newlyopened and dysfunctional-from-day-one T3 addition to Delhis airport to the NH8 Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway enormous escalation in costs is the order of the day.
Conventional wisdom might view such throwing away of money as a shameless waste of scarce national resources.However,according to what might come to be called Games theory,such unrestrained sarkari expenditure could well be the secret of Indias growth story.Think of it this way: which private sector component of India Inc can boast of a 17.5-fold growth in value in seven years as the Games can Very few,if any.Yet look at almost any project sponsored by the present government or indeed any of its predecessors and youre likely to discover that its value,in terms of money spent on it,far exceeded all projections.
If India is to achieve double-digit economic growth as the prime minister and the finance minister keep reassuring us that it will it will be in no small part thanks to such value additions made by the sarkar in open-handed pursuit of its own projects.Or,at least,so says Games theory,which believes in the dictum that what goes around,comes around.In other words,the more money you spend,the more money is circulated through the system,boosting the economy.And not just the domestic economy,but the recession-strapped global economy as well.Because a lot of the Games-related loot will fund the purchase of luxury penthouses in London,or villas in the south of France.
Far from being punished,the organisers of the Games should be given the next Nobel prize for economics.Indeed,Games theory is going from strength to strength.India is reportedly planning to bid for the 2019 Asian Games.China is said to have overtaken Japan as the worlds No.2 economy.Thanks to its Gamesmanship,the Indian elephant might well leapfrog over the Chinese dragon.
Games,set and match.
---------------------------------------------------------------
(SOURCE-TOI)
The current cycle of protests-deaths-protests needs to be broken at all costs,while the state government must simultaneously step up communication with people in Valley. Abdullah has spoken of a political package to calm the situation,but this is nebulous as long as the contents of such a package arent fleshed out and agreed upon by stakeholders in the Valley.For that dialogue is necessary and the Centre must come forward,but it is incumbent upon opposition and separatist groups to participate as well. The Peoples Democratic Party may have cynically calculated that letting the state burn will burnish their opposition credentials and help them in the next election cycle,while moderate Hurriyat leaders may fear elimination by militants.Conducting dialogue in the media spotlight is conducive to posturing,which wont lead to any lasting solution. Therefore,quiet diplomacy,nas suggested by home minister P Chida-mbaram, is the best way forward. To create the conditions for that, however, the present drift must be arrested.The anarchic situation in the Valley,which is causing suffering all round,must speedily be brought to an end.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(source-toi editorial)
--------------------------------------------------------------
SECONDOPINION - GAMES THEORY - CWG delays and cost overruns will boost the economy
(BY Jug Suraiya)
A hue and cry has been raised that our national honour will suffer irreparable damage as a result of corrupt and inefficient officials whove been getting kickbacks and cutting corners at the expense of the countrys reputation as it prepares to host the Commonwealth Games.With less than two months to go before zero hour,horror stories abound,raising fears that the CWG tiger mascot,Shera,may well have joined his real-life jungle counterparts as an endangered species. Not one of the 16 Games projects inspected by the Central Vigilance Commission to date has passed quality control tests.Stadiums have roofs that leak or,worse,come crashing down.Already,in a swimming rehearsal,an athlete was injured because of defective equipment.It has been revealed that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) had,in a report submitted to the government a year ago,warned that bureaucratic bottlenecks would inevitably lead to inordinate delays and that there was little or no hope of the time-bound targets being met.Instead of tabling this report in Parliament,as is customary,the government decided to keep this information to itself.
The result of all this bungling and wheeling-dealing The cost of the Games,according to sports minister M S Gill,has gone up 17.5 times: from Rs 655 crore in 2003 when Delhi bid for the Games to Rs 11,494 crore at present,and still counting.With panic buttons being hit as the deadline looms dangerously near,whatever little financial prudence there has been is likely to be thrown to the winds and costs are bound to further escalate as money is poured into desperate last-minute efforts to complete hopelessly delayed projects.
So are the Games going to be a totally ruinous exercise for India Should those responsible,starting with the Organising Committee,be denounced as traitors and made to face the consequences of their many sins of omission and commission Of course not.In India,as always,every dark cloud has a silver lining,which generally has to do with someones pocket.Whether its the Games or any other sarkari project from the newlyopened and dysfunctional-from-day-one T3 addition to Delhis airport to the NH8 Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway enormous escalation in costs is the order of the day.
Conventional wisdom might view such throwing away of money as a shameless waste of scarce national resources.However,according to what might come to be called Games theory,such unrestrained sarkari expenditure could well be the secret of Indias growth story.Think of it this way: which private sector component of India Inc can boast of a 17.5-fold growth in value in seven years as the Games can Very few,if any.Yet look at almost any project sponsored by the present government or indeed any of its predecessors and youre likely to discover that its value,in terms of money spent on it,far exceeded all projections.
If India is to achieve double-digit economic growth as the prime minister and the finance minister keep reassuring us that it will it will be in no small part thanks to such value additions made by the sarkar in open-handed pursuit of its own projects.Or,at least,so says Games theory,which believes in the dictum that what goes around,comes around.In other words,the more money you spend,the more money is circulated through the system,boosting the economy.And not just the domestic economy,but the recession-strapped global economy as well.Because a lot of the Games-related loot will fund the purchase of luxury penthouses in London,or villas in the south of France.
Far from being punished,the organisers of the Games should be given the next Nobel prize for economics.Indeed,Games theory is going from strength to strength.India is reportedly planning to bid for the 2019 Asian Games.China is said to have overtaken Japan as the worlds No.2 economy.Thanks to its Gamesmanship,the Indian elephant might well leapfrog over the Chinese dragon.
Games,set and match.
---------------------------------------------------------------
(SOURCE-TOI)
Stale ration: CAG blasts Army - Report Hints At Widespread Corruption, Existence Of Cartels
New Delhi: An Army marches on its stomach,said Napolean Bonaparte.But the 1.13-million strong Indian Army,the third-largest in the world,marches largely on sub-standard foodstuff and rations,well past their consume-by dates. The Army is already reeling under a series of meat,egg,atta,dal and other ration scams in recent years,with even Lt-General rank officers being indicted in the scandals. And now,the CAG has punched several gaping holes in Army's entire "supply chain management of rations'',hinting at widespread corruption and existence of cartels.
Tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, latest CAG report paints a dismal picture of the way procurement and supply of dry (rice,wheat,dal,sugar,tea,oil,tinned stuff) and fresh (vegetables,fruit,meat,milk) rations is being undertaken at an annual cost of Rs 1,440 crore. Noting that the satisfaction levels of troops about quantity,quality and taste of rations was "very low'',CAG has called for a complete overhaul of the existing system,ranging from computerisation and better procurement procedures to expansion in the vendor base and blacklisting of defaulting parties.
As per CAG,the main villains of the piece are Army Service Corps (ASC) and Army Purchase Organisation,all under the benign gaze of Army HQ as well as defence ministry. Around three lakh soldiers under the Northern Command in J&K,for instance,were issued rations by Army supply depots even after the expiry of their original estimated storage life (ESL) based on "repeated extensions'' given by Central Food Laboratory at Jammu. "While instructions prohibit any extensions beyond three months of the ESL,atta,sugar,rice,tea,dal,edible oil etc were consumed (by soldiers) even six months to 28 months after the expiry of the original ESL,''said CAG,adding that MoD and Army HQ need to get their act together "to ensure supply of good quality rations to troops''.
The existence of cartels,a "risk too serious to be ignored'',is also affecting the quantity and quality of rations. "Serious absence of competition was noticed in procurement of fresh rations, 82% of procurement was based on less than three quotations,36% based on single quotations,'' it said.For instance,from 2005 to 2008,only one vendor purchased the tender documents for supply of meat and chicken in Delhi and the Rs 5 crore annual contract was awarded to him.Take another example.In blatant violation of norms,several transport and tour companies were registered as vendors to supply meat,eggs,vegetables and milk,in addition to transportation.Conversely,a poultry firm was found registered for the supply of transport and vegetables. "Abnormal variations in rates of vegetables,fruits and meat must be investigated.MoD may provide an assurance these variations do not arise from any fraud or corrupt practices in procurements of fresh rations,''said CAG.
------------------------------------------------------------
Defective, outdated choppers for Army
Even as it expressed serious concern at the alarming shortfalls in aging helicopter and aircraft fleets of Navy and IAF,the CAG has blasted the defence ministry for procuring six defective and phased-out UH-3 H helicopters from the US for Rs 182.14 crore.
The six helicopters were manufactured in January 1961-July 1965 and were decommissioned by the US Navy in 2005 itself."Audit examination revealed the helicopters procured were lifeexpired and had many defects which would ultimately compromise operational effectiveness,'' said CAG. The heli-copters were bought from the US government under the "foreign military sales''programme,which is a direct government-togovernment deal without any multi-vendor competition. The helicopters were acquired to operate from the second-hand amphibious transport warship USS Trenton,rechristened INS Jalashwa by the Navy,also purchased from the US in 2006. An earlier CAG report has already slammed the defence ministry for procuring the "ageing''INS Jalashwa,which is now around 40 years old,for $50.63 million in a "hasty manner'' without "proper physical assessment'' and technical evaluation of its sea-worthiness.Incidentally,an officer and five sailors were killed on board the warship due to a toxic gas leak a couple of years ago.
The latest CAG report,tabled in Parliament on Tuesday,said,"Considering the vintage of the helicopters and the obsolescence of spares,maintenance of the six refurbished helicopters by Indian Navy would be a challenging task.In fact,one helicopter has already been cannibalised to ensure serviceability of the other five helicopters.'' The CAG report said the helicopters were bought in "as is where is'' condition with "no guarantee of supportability and replacement of defective rotables due to obsolescence''.
Moreover,the helicopters are devoid of any type of weather/surface surveillance radar,which is the most important sensor of a utility helicopter during its "search-and-rescue''operations.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(source-toi)
Tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, latest CAG report paints a dismal picture of the way procurement and supply of dry (rice,wheat,dal,sugar,tea,oil,tinned stuff) and fresh (vegetables,fruit,meat,milk) rations is being undertaken at an annual cost of Rs 1,440 crore. Noting that the satisfaction levels of troops about quantity,quality and taste of rations was "very low'',CAG has called for a complete overhaul of the existing system,ranging from computerisation and better procurement procedures to expansion in the vendor base and blacklisting of defaulting parties.
As per CAG,the main villains of the piece are Army Service Corps (ASC) and Army Purchase Organisation,all under the benign gaze of Army HQ as well as defence ministry. Around three lakh soldiers under the Northern Command in J&K,for instance,were issued rations by Army supply depots even after the expiry of their original estimated storage life (ESL) based on "repeated extensions'' given by Central Food Laboratory at Jammu. "While instructions prohibit any extensions beyond three months of the ESL,atta,sugar,rice,tea,dal,edible oil etc were consumed (by soldiers) even six months to 28 months after the expiry of the original ESL,''said CAG,adding that MoD and Army HQ need to get their act together "to ensure supply of good quality rations to troops''.
The existence of cartels,a "risk too serious to be ignored'',is also affecting the quantity and quality of rations. "Serious absence of competition was noticed in procurement of fresh rations, 82% of procurement was based on less than three quotations,36% based on single quotations,'' it said.For instance,from 2005 to 2008,only one vendor purchased the tender documents for supply of meat and chicken in Delhi and the Rs 5 crore annual contract was awarded to him.Take another example.In blatant violation of norms,several transport and tour companies were registered as vendors to supply meat,eggs,vegetables and milk,in addition to transportation.Conversely,a poultry firm was found registered for the supply of transport and vegetables. "Abnormal variations in rates of vegetables,fruits and meat must be investigated.MoD may provide an assurance these variations do not arise from any fraud or corrupt practices in procurements of fresh rations,''said CAG.
------------------------------------------------------------
Defective, outdated choppers for Army
Even as it expressed serious concern at the alarming shortfalls in aging helicopter and aircraft fleets of Navy and IAF,the CAG has blasted the defence ministry for procuring six defective and phased-out UH-3 H helicopters from the US for Rs 182.14 crore.
The six helicopters were manufactured in January 1961-July 1965 and were decommissioned by the US Navy in 2005 itself."Audit examination revealed the helicopters procured were lifeexpired and had many defects which would ultimately compromise operational effectiveness,'' said CAG. The heli-copters were bought from the US government under the "foreign military sales''programme,which is a direct government-togovernment deal without any multi-vendor competition. The helicopters were acquired to operate from the second-hand amphibious transport warship USS Trenton,rechristened INS Jalashwa by the Navy,also purchased from the US in 2006. An earlier CAG report has already slammed the defence ministry for procuring the "ageing''INS Jalashwa,which is now around 40 years old,for $50.63 million in a "hasty manner'' without "proper physical assessment'' and technical evaluation of its sea-worthiness.Incidentally,an officer and five sailors were killed on board the warship due to a toxic gas leak a couple of years ago.
The latest CAG report,tabled in Parliament on Tuesday,said,"Considering the vintage of the helicopters and the obsolescence of spares,maintenance of the six refurbished helicopters by Indian Navy would be a challenging task.In fact,one helicopter has already been cannibalised to ensure serviceability of the other five helicopters.'' The CAG report said the helicopters were bought in "as is where is'' condition with "no guarantee of supportability and replacement of defective rotables due to obsolescence''.
Moreover,the helicopters are devoid of any type of weather/surface surveillance radar,which is the most important sensor of a utility helicopter during its "search-and-rescue''operations.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(source-toi)
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