Will continue with the mission till job is done, Air Force chief says

June 26, 2013

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Air_ForceGauchar, Jun 26: The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder of the ill-fated Mi-17 helicopter were recovered on Wednesday near Gaurikund in Uttarakhand, a day after it crashed during rescue mission, even as IAF chief NAK Browne ruled out possibility of any of the 20 men on board surviving.

"Fortunately, we have recovered the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder. And, I think, in a few days' time, we will get to know absolutely as to what exactly happened," he told reporters after interacting with IAF officers and men here.

He said that at this juncture, it would be premature for him to comment as to the reason behind the crash — if it was the weather or a technical problem.

Browne said he had been told there were no survivors among the 20 people on board — five from IAF, six from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and nine from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).

Asked if the envelope of safety had been pushed, he said, "I won't say that anything was pushed... In the mountains, especially during the monsoon, weather is always an issue. But, at this point of time, we are not quite sure if it was the weather or a technical problem (that led to the crash)."

He said during rescue missions the risk factor is always considered very closely and it is reviewed almost on a daily basis.

The IAF pilots, he said, were highly qualified and absolute competent in carrying out such missions and the morale of the force is extremely high. The performance of the personnel of the IAF and other agencies involved has been "absolutely marvellous".

Browne said if the IAF got three to four days of good weather, it will be able to complete its mission.

"If the weather starts improving by Friday or so, then by Monday, Tuesday we should have all this (task) finished," he said.

Four more bodies were recovered by IAF's Garud commandos near Gaurikund after night-long search operations, Air Force sources said, adding that till this morning 12 bodies have been found from the site of Tuesday's crash of the large MI-17 V5 chopper.

The dead include five IAF officials while the identity of others is being ascertained, they said. The five IAF personnel were a Wing Commander, two Flight Lieutenants, a Junior Warrant Officer and a Sergeant.

The chopper was on a rescue mission from Gauchar to Guptkashi and Kedarnath and crashed on Tuesday afternoon north of Gaurikund, according to an IAF spokesperson.

Browne, who rushed here on Wednesday morning to boost the morale of pilots operating in difficult weather conditions, said after the rescue mission is completed, the Air Force will go into the work of repair of the damaged infrastructure in Uttarakhand for which it would have to bring heavy equipment.

"This kind of work will continue. But, the immediate requirement is to focus ourselves till Tuesday (to bring out the stranded people)," he said.

Browne lauded the local administration for helping the Air Force in carrying out its job.

"We will continue with the job till the mission is done. Our pilots are fully trained for this kind of task. But, the weather is always an issue," he added.

The crash occurred in "difficult" weather conditions created by rains and fog, a senior IAF official said here. The chopper belonged to a unit from Barrackpore Air Force Station in West Bengal under the Eastern Air Command.

Browne expressed profound sorrow over the loss of "warriors" from the IAF, NDRF and ITBP in the chopper crash and said, "Our rotors will not stop churning. That means, we will continue with the job till get the people out."

"...The operations are going to continue. In fact, most of the work has already been done. It is now a question of getting the people out from Badrinath and the Harsil sector," he added.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed shock over the loss of lives in the helicopter crash.

"This accident during relief operations has come as a huge shock to me. My heart goes out to the families of those who have lost their lives. The nation mourns with me the loss of our heroes whose selfless work has saved thousands of lives," the Prime Minister said.

"Our forces are conducting a heroic task in rescue and relief work in Uttarakhand...Continuing their work would be the best homage to them," he added.

A court of inquiry has been order to investigate the crash, the IAF spokesperson said.

IAF said its operations in the area will continue. IAF had started inducting Mi-17 V5 choppers only last year after 80 of them were ordered from Russia.

This is the second incident of a helicopter crash this week in the hill state. A private chopper had crashed in Gaurikund area on Sunday leaving the pilot injured.

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News Network
January 18,2020

New Delhi, Jan 18: Asha Devi, the mother of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape victim, on Saturday slammed senior lawyer Indira Jaising for her suggestion that she should forgive her daughter's rapists.

"Who is Indira Jaising to give me such a suggestion? The whole country wants the convicts to be executed. Just because of people like her, justice is not done with rape victims," Asha Devi said here.

"Cannot believe how Indira Jaising even dared to suggest this. I met her many times over the years in Supreme Court, not even once has she asked for my well being and today she is speaking for the convicts. Such people earn their livelihoods by supporting rapists, hence rape incidents do not stop," she added.

Asha Devi further accused Jaising of using "the garb of human rights" to make a living.

'People like her keep earning money under the garb of human rights. I do not need her suggestions... Just because of people who think like her incidents like rape keep happening, she is a disgrace to women," she said.

Earlier yesterday, Indira Jaising, through a tweet, had urged Asha Devi to forgive the perpetrators and had used the example of Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi, who had forgiven Nalini, one of the convicts who was given the death penalty by the courts.

"While I fully identify with the pain of Asha Devi I urge her to follow the example of Sonia Gandhi who forgave Nalini and said she did not want the death penalty for her. We are with you but against the death penalty," Jaising's tweet read.

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News Network
May 9,2020

New Delhi, May 9: Three promoters of Ram Dev International, recently booked by the CBI for allegedly cheating a consortium of six banks to the tune of Rs 411 crore, have already fled the country before the State Bank of India reached the agency with the complaint, officials said on Saturday.

The CBI had recently booked the company engaged in export of Basmati rice to the West Asian and European countries and its directors Naresh Kumar, Suresh Kumar and Sangita on the basis of complaint from the State Bank of India (SBI), which suffered the loss of more than Rs 173 crore, they said.

The company had three rice milling plants, besides eight sorting and grading units in Karnal district with offices in Saudi Arabia and Dubai for trading purposes, the SBI complaint said.

Besides SBI, other members of consortium are Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, IDBI, Central Bank of India and Corporation Bank, they said.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) did not carry out any searches in the matter because of the coronavirus-induced lockdown, the officials said.

The agency will start the process of summoning the accused, incase they do not join the investigation, appropriate legal action will be initiated, they said.

According to the complaint filed by SBI, the account had become non-performing asset (NPA) on January 27, 2016.

The banks conducted a joint inspection of properties in August and October, nearly 7-9 months later only to find Haryana Police security guards deployed there, they said.

"On inquiry, it has been come to notice that borrowers are absconding and have left the country," the complaint filed on February 25, 2020, after over a year of account becoming NPA, the officials said.

The complaint alleged that borrowers had removed entire machinery from old plant and fudged the balance sheets in order to unlawfully gain at the cost of banks'' funds, it said.

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News Network
February 9,2020

Panaji, Feb 9: Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Rev Filipe Neri Ferrao, has urged the central government to "immediately and unconditionally revoke the Citizenship Amendment Act" and stop quashing the "right to dissent".

He also appealed to the government not to implement the proposed countrywide National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).

Diocesan Centre for Social Communications Media, a wing of the Goa Church, in a statement on Saturday said, "The Archbishop and the Catholic community of Goa would like to appeal to the government to listen to the voice of millions in India, to stop quashing the right to dissent and, above all, to immediately and unconditionally revoke the CAA and desist from implementing the NRC and the NPR."

The CAA, NRC and NPR are "divisive and discriminatory" and will certainly have a "negative and damaging effect" on a multi-cultural democracy like ours, the church said.

There is serious concern that NRC and NPR will result in "direct victimisation of the underprivileged classes, particularly Dalits, adivasis, migrant labourers, nomadic communities and the countless undocumented people who, after having been recognised as worthy citizens and voters for more than 70 years, will suddenly run the risk of becoming stateless and candidates for detention camps," it said.

There has been widespread discontent and open protests throughout the country and even abroad against the CAA, NRC and NPR, which are "forecasting a systematic erosion of values, principles and rights" that have been guaranteed to all citizens in the Constitution, the release said.

Eminent citizens, including top intellectuals and legal luminaries, have taken a studied and unequivocal stand against the CAA, NRC and NPR, it noted.

Goa also witnessed several protests, which transcended the confines of religious and caste affiliation and brought people from all walks of life together on one united platform, said the statement.

It said Christians in India have always been a peace-loving community and deeply committed to the ideals of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, enshrined in the Constitution.

"We have always taken great pride that our beloved country is a secular, sovereign, socialist, pluralistic and democratic republic," the church said.

The very fact that CAA uses religion goes against the secular fabric of the country, it said. "It goes against the spirit and heritage of our land which, since times immemorial, has been a welcoming home to

all, founded on the belief that the whole world is one big family," the church said.

"We pray for our beloved country, that good sense, justice and peace prevail in the hearts and minds of all," it added.

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