Govt to hire 2,000 ex-Armymen New Delhi, August 11 The Union Government has decided to recruit over 2,000 ex-Armymen, specialised in jungle warfare tactics and counter-IED operations, to impart cutting-edge training to CRPF personnel fighting Naxalites in various states. This is the second time that the country’s largest paramilitary force is recruiting such a big number of ex-servicemen for operational roles after the first exercise was done in 2011. The total vacancies advertised by the Central Reserve Police Force, mainstay for anti-war operations in the country, are for 2,037 personnel who have retired as Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) The perks and salaries, for this task, are also attractive as JCOs can earn unto 55,000 per month while NCOs can draw upto Rs 35,000 per month. These servicemen, according to eligibility norms, will be drawn from Army regiments and Corps like infantry, armoured, artillery, bomb disposal and engineering Corps for the purpose. ***************************************************** —PTI To undo political damage, Antony didn’t limit himself to his ministry Ajay Banerjee/TNS New Delhi, August 11 Defence Minister AK Antony tacitly widened the ambit of his tirade on Pakistan during his statement in Parliament on Thursday in an effort to undo the political damage caused by his ‘weak’ statement on August 6. He not only blamed the Pakistan Army for the Tuesday morning attack on Indian soldiers along the Line of Control (LoC) but also talked about the consequences of the attack on ‘the relationship with Pakistan’. He also brought in the pending issue of seeking punishment for 26/11 Mumbai attackers. This was in sharp contrast to his first statement in the House on August 6 that the Opposition led by the BJP had termed weak and one aimed at ‘giving a clean chit to the Pakistan army’. On Thursday, Antony, who does not qualify among the better orators, changed tack and widened the verbal attack and covered the most important aspect of the relations, or the lack of them, with Pakistan. The LoC attack pertained to the Defence Ministry headed by Antony. The matter of bringing the 26/11 attackers to face trial comes under the Home Ministry, nowadays headed by P Chidambaram in the absence of an ill Sushilkumar Shinde. The not-so-veiled warning that such an attack on the LoC could have consequences on ‘the relationship with Pakistan’ was clearly within the ambit of the External Affairs Ministry headed by Salman Khurshid. “It was as if Antony was speaking for the government and not for his ministry alone,” noted an official while pointing out that Antony normally does not speak on issues which do not concern his ministry. A strong line emerged on Pakistan after Antony arrived at his South Block office at 8 am yesterday to draft his reply. The minister held no consultations with anybody outside the inner circle of officers who brief him daily on security matters. Unlike the August 6 statement which conveyed a ‘diplomatic tone’ and was clearly not the message Antony would have liked to convey, his statement on Thursday matched his public stance on cross-border terrorism and the conduct of the Army in dealing with it along the Line of Control. At public forums, Antony often talks of terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and never shies from stating that we are living in a troubled neighbourhood. In his revised statement on Thursday, he apportioned blame on the Pakistan army for Tuesday’s attack on Indian soldiers. Strong reply His first statement in the House on August 6 had been termed weak by the Opposition and aimed at ‘giving a clean chit to the Pakistan army’ To give a strong reply to Pakistan, his second statement on August 8 also included issues under the ambit of the Home and External Affairs Ministries
Posted on: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 17:39:52 +0000
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