http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/world/angry-russia-calls-off-talks-with-turkey/162464.html
Angry Russia calls
off talks with Turkey
Moscow warns of
serious consequences I UN calls for de-escalating tension
Moscow, November 24
President Vladimir
Putin called Turkey's downing of a Russian fighter jet a stab in the back
administered by "the accomplices of terrorists," saying the incident
would have serious consequences for Moscow's relations with Ankara.
UN Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon expressed alarm at the incident and hoped that all countries
involved in air campaigns in Syria would take steps to avoid such incidents in
the future.
The fallout of the
downing of the jet came immediately as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
cancelled a visit to Turkey for talks with his counterpart. "The decision has been taken to cancel
the meeting that was planned for tomorrow in Istanbul between the foreign
ministers of Russia and Turkey,” Lavrov said in televised comments.
Besides, Russia's
state tourism agency Rostourism recommended
suspending sales of tour packages to Turkey, RIA news agency reported.
Speaking in the
Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on Tuesday before a meeting with Jordan's
King Abdullah, Putin said the downed plane had been attacked inside Syria when
it was 1 km (0.62 miles) from the Turkish border and had come down 4 km (2.49
miles) inside Syria.
That contradicted
Turkey's assertion that the aircraft had been warned multiple times that it was
straying into Turkish airspace before it was shot down. "Today's loss is
linked to a stab in the back delivered to us by accomplices of terrorists. I
cannot qualify what happened today as anything else," said a visibly
furious Putin.
"Our plane was
shot down on Syrian territory by an air-to-air missile from an F-16. It fell on
Syrian territory 4 km from the Turkish border. It was flying at 6,000 metres 1
kilometre from Turkish territory when it was attacked." Putin said Russian
pilots and planes had in no way threatened Turkey, but had merely been carrying
out their duty to fight Islamic State militants inside Syria.
"We established
a long time ago that large quantities of oil and oil products from territory
captured by Islamic State have been arriving on Turkish territory," he
said, saying that was how militants had been funding themselves.
"And now we get
stabbed in our back and our planes, which are fighting terrorism, are struck.
This despite the fact that we signed an agreement with our American partners to
warn each other about air-to-air incidents and Turkey ... announced it was
allegedly fighting against terrorism as part of the US coalition." If
Islamic State militants earned hundreds of millions of dollars from trading oil
and enjoyed the protection of the armed forces "of entire
governments" no wonder, said Putin, they behaved so boldly. "We will
of course analyse everything that happened and today's tragic events will have
serious consequences for Russo-Turkish relations," he said.
Turkey is one of the
most popular holiday destinations for Russians, and the two countries enjoy
active diplomatic relations.
Putin expressed
anger at Turkey's decision to convene a meeting of NATO to discuss the
incident, suggesting Ankara should instead have swiftly tried to contact Moscow.
— Agencies
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/defence-panel-suggests-75-changes-for-better-service-conditions/162733.html
Defence panel
suggests 75 changes for better service conditions
Vijay Mohan
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, November
24
Several suggestions
have been made by the Committee of Experts convened by the Defence Minister to
recommend ways and means to reduce litigation in the Ministry of Defence and
strengthen the mechanisms for redressal of grievances of defence personnel.
The five-member
committee submitted its report to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today. The
509-page report contains 75 recommendations that touch upon various aspects of
pension and service matters, discipline, vigilance and promotion issues,
military justice reform, issues concerning civil employees and areas of
potential disputes. Scores of senior functionaries in the services and MoD were
examined and relevant documents and orders scrutinsed.
The committee has
recommended greater personal interaction and opportunity of hearing in the
system of formal complaints and petitions so as to give a better role to human
interaction rather than the one-way noting sheet method and to assist in
providing outlet and catharsis to individuals related to their grievances.
Greater constructive
usage of social media, including initiation of blogs by senior commanders, to
promote an interactive process with the rank and file, has been propagated. A
face-to-face “collegiate” system of decision-making in various aspects rather
than the file circulation method has been suggested along with more
transparency in matters related to promotions and confidential reports.
Recommendations on
military justice reform include steps that can be taken without any legislative
change such as introduction of permanent infrastructure for Court Martial at
specified stations to reduce ad hocism and reduction of command influence. A
high level study group to ensure that reforms in these very important areas are
not ignored and are configured with the times and the best national and global
practices, has been recommended.
The committee has
also recognised other areas of potential disputes, including those of disabled
cadets, women officers and Short Service Commissioned Officers and several
recommendations for more amiable service conditions have been put forth.
Service and pension-related policies, including those affecting disabled
soldiers and widows, form an important part of the report.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/india-accuses-unsc-of-creating-refugee-crisis/162728.html
India accuses UNSC
of creating refugee crisis
United Nations,
November 24
India has accused
the UN Security Council of creating a refugee crisis by failing in its
responsibility as it (India) asked the international community not to close the
borders for refugees and cautioned them against propagating racism and
xenophobia.
“Saving lives, providing
protection and upholding human dignity cannot but be the first priority. The
need is to maintain open borders and not close them,” India’s Deputy Permanent
Representative to the UN Ambassador Bhagwant Bishnoi told the UN General
Assembly here yesterday.
Asserting that nations need to
refrain from the temptation of reducing benefits available to asylum-seekers,
he said erecting “razor wire fences” to keep out refugees undermines the notion
of common humanity and “strikes a blow at the very concept of the United
Nations”.
“It is also important that we do
not speak the language of racism and xenophobia,” he added.
Blaming the powerful Security
Council for creating the refugee crisis, he said the failure of the UN organ to
deal with the situation highlights the crucial need for its reform. “It is
ironical that the crisis is actually created by the council, through its acts
of omission. By failing to fulfil a responsibility reposed on it by the larger
membership, to find a political solution to the conflict. The need for reform
speaks for itself,” Bishnoi said.
Criticising the UNSC, he said
some resolutions by the council lead nations to believe that boats used by
refugees to escape persecution “constitute a threat to international peace and
security and that they need to be seized and destroyed”. “To us, it would seem
that the council has decreed that people cannot flee for their lives unless
they use vessels whose sea worthiness comes up to the standards set by the
International Maritime Organisation. Is this what is meant by the R2P or Right
to Protection? By securitising refugee movement, the council has legitimised a
response that is morally challenging in extraordinary proportions,” he said.
The High Commissioner for
Refugees has noted that about 60 million people have been displaced as a result
of war and persecution, unprecedented since the Second World II.
Over 4,000 lives were lost
crossing the Mediterranean last year and more than 3,511 this year alone.
“The Mediterranean is truly the
most dangerous border-crossing in the world. It is also a fact that refugee
crisis may be here to stay with us for a while. It is truly a humanitarian
crisis of exceptional proportions. The moral implications of the manner in
which we handle it will be equally significant,” he said.
Bishnoi said the tragic deaths
at sea are only because of the lack of safe passage and if land routes were
available, asylum seekers would not have to take to the sea. — PTI
http://www.janes.com/article/56193/indian-army-looks-to-indigenise-production-of-cold-weather-gear
Indian Army looks to
indigenise production of cold-weather gear
The Indian Army
plans to replace specialised imported winter clothing with indigenous gear for
its personnel deployed at altitudes over 5,000 m in the Himalayas, where
temperatures vary between -10°C and -60°C.
It aims to locally
source items like boots, jackets, gloves, thermal innerwear, and rucksacks,
which have been acquired mainly from Finland, Norway, and Switzerland for more
than three decades.
Alongside equipment
such as tents, ice picks, shovels, and crampons, all of which have also been
imported, production of winter clothing will eventually be indigenised, army
officials said.
Under the
government's 'Make in India' initiative, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has
identified local vendors to develop a range of 'extremely cold-climate-weather
suits' (ECCWS) and related apparatus, prototypes of which will soon undergo
trials.
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