http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/boat-seizure-a-blessing-for-pak-crew/72042.html
Boat seizure a
blessing for Pak crew
Manas Dasgupta
Ahmedabad, April
24
The seizure of the
Pakistani boat with narcotics worth over Rs 600 crores off the Porbandar coast
in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat earlier this week has turned out to be a
blessing in disguise for its eight arrested crew members.
They might have
been drowned in the high seas if not intercepted by the Indian navy and coast
guard in a joint operations as the boat had developed technical snags and was
fast sinking, official sources said here today.
Interrogations of
the eight crew members arrested from the boat revealed that the contraband was
shipped by a Pakistan-based group called Punjabi drug gang and the 232 packages
of narcotics was to be delivered to a vessel coming from Dubai but it failed to
reach the destination at the appointed time.
The crew members
were waiting in the high seas for over two-and-a-half days for the vessel from
Dubai to arrive and it was during that period that the boat developed technical
snags and started sinking. Its water pumping system failed and the crew members
had to manually drain out water but the task was going to be beyond their
capacity.
Sources in the
Gujarat police, which is one of the 20 agencies jointly interrogating the
arrested crew who were brought to Porbandar, said the group looked to be
unprofessional in drugs operation.
“Otherwise they would not have
ventured out with such a rickety boat and untrained crew members,” the sources
said. The contraband carried by it was also of relatively inferior quality.
The boat, Al Yazir, had set
out from Karachi’s Hyderi Port on April 12 with two crewmen and 232 packets of
narcotics. Six others hopped in later at Ketty Bandar some 150 km south of
Karachi.
Soon after starting from Ketty
port, the boat’s radiator and dynamo conked off and the crew had to take
shelter at a small creek a few miles away for two days till the captain managed
to get the boat repaired.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/20-000-combat-troops-test-battle-readiness/72040.html
20,000 combat
troops test battle readiness
Tribune News
service
Chandigarh/New
Delhi, April 24
To hone its combat
skills and validate its strike capabilities, Ambala-based Kharga Corps, the
Army’s premier strike formation, is conducting a major field exercise in the
Suratgarh sector of Rajasthan.
Code-named
“Brahmashira”, the exercise will involve over 20,000 combat troops along with
all affiliated components as well as air support by the Indian Air Force.
The exercise would
test the battle readiness and operational effectiveness of the strike formation
and involve seamless integration of land and air elements as part of the
Integrated Theatre Battle Concept.
Conceptualised by
the Kharga Corps under aegis of the Western Command, Brahmashira aims at rapid
mobilisation and launching speedy multiple offensives deep into the enemy
territory. The manoeuvres being rehearsed will allow the Army formations to
break through multiple obstacles within a restricted time frame. The focus of
the exercise will be on new and efficient ways of fighting a war in a
synergised battlefield.
The exercise
envisages mechanised manoeuvres with an entire spectrum of new generation
equipment, including major weapon platforms. These combat manoeuvres also
co-opt a significant contribution from the fighter/ground attack aircraft of
the IAF, unmanned aerial vehicles, remotely piloted vehicles and attack and
utility helicopters.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/will-women-be-able-to-pass-the-armys-elite-ranger-school/
Will women be able
to pass the Army's elite Ranger School?
WASHINGTON -- Of
the 399 soldiers who started Ranger training this week, 19 of them were women,
marking the first time the notoriously tough course has been opened to females.
They're going
through it together but while watching them you can pick out the women -- their
hair is closely cropped while the men's heads are shaved. The Army wouldn't
allow us to identify or talk to the women.
The women tend to
be smaller than the men -- but that didn't matter when it came to the battle
carry. This is just the first week of a 62-day course designed to replicate the
constant stress, lack of food and sleep deprivation of combat.
The armed services
are under orders to open up all their ground combat unites by the end of the
year - or give the Secretary of Defense a reason why not. For the Army that
meant opening up their grueling Ranger School to women to see if they can make
it through.
Less than half the
men can be expected to make it all the way through. No one knows how the women
will do.
First they have to
pass a fitness test which includes a five mile run in 40 minutes and 49
push-ups in two minutes. The officers in charge of the course say the women
themselves have insisted that standards not be lowered to accommodate them.
A 12-mile foot
march has to be completed in three hours. If you don't make it, you're out.
During the march they carry 35 pound packs -- eventually they will have to haul
up to 115 pounds.
After four days,
184 men and eight women were left. In percentage terms that's pretty close to
equal. In the end, making the grade -- man or woman -- will come down to
wanting it, really wanting it.
Even if the women
pass the course, they won't be allowed to serve in the Ranger Regiment because
it is still off limits to women.
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