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Over 2,000 war veterans return medals

November 10, 2015

New Delhi, Nov 10: Over 2,000 ex-servicemen protesting against the government's "diluted" one-pension-one rank scheme today returned their medals in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab, the organizations spearheading the movement claimed today as they hit back at Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar for his "unlike soldiers behaviour" remark aimed at them.medal-returns

Colonel (retd) Anil Kaul, spokesman of the protesters in Delhi, said 2,000 ex-servicemen's medals were deposited at the district collector's office.

"The veterans had threatened to leave the medals on the road if we didn't accept it. Hence, we accepted those," District Collector Sanjay Kumar told reporters.

In Chandigarh, Brigadier Kiran Krishan (retd), Convener for North Haryana of Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM), a constituent of United Front of Ex-Servicemen that had led the nation-wide protest for OROP at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, said that more than 150 war veterans returned over 150 medals which were handed over to the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Panchkula.

Kaul said ex-servicemen from Ambala, Chandigarh, Moga, Jalandhar and Gurdaspur returned their medals today while those from Mumbai, Pune, Vadodara and Bangalore will follow the suit.

"Our people from Mumbai, Pune, Vadodara and Bangalore will return their medals next. By the way, this is just the trailer," he added.

The veterans claimed over 20,000 of them have returned medals since their protest began in 2008 to press for OROP.

Kaul reacted sharply to Parrikar's statement that the war veterans' protest against OROP notification is "unlike that of a soldier" and said the Parrikar's behaviour "too doesn't behove that of a Defence Minister.

Dismissing Parrikar's remarks that the protesters were being "misguided" and that the OROP notification issued on Saturday has been his "achievement", the agitators shot back at the BJP leader asking him to learn English to know meanings of the two words and asked him not to "lie" to his soldiers seeking their due rights.

"He says our behaviour is unlike that of a soldier. But we feel Parrikar's behaviour is unlike that of a Defence Minister. We have been seeking our due to rights for past 149 days. But government has found no time to listen to us.

"Hence, we have been impelled to agitate Mr Parrikar. Your notification is not what we have been talking about. Therefore, we are returning medals," Kaul said.

Kaul said the veterans returning the medals should not be linked to the intelligentsia's "award wapasi" (returning awards).

"Raksha Mantriji, our protest is unlike that of other award-wapasi agitations. We will take back our medals with honour and dignity the day the One Rank One Pension we are talking about is implemented," Major Gen (retd) Satbir Singh, Chairman of Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM) spearheading the movement, said.

Singh also rejected Parrikar's remark that 95 percent of the veterans' community is satisfied with the notification. "Had that been the case, these people would not have turned up on the roads. He is misguiding on this issue," Singh said pointing towards fellow protesters.

Kaul also refuted claims of differences among the veterans over the issue. At many places in Punjab and Haryana including Panchkula, Ambala, Mohali and Patiala, the veterans held protest and said they were dis-satisfied with the notification issued by the central government last week.

The protesting veterans said that they will observe a 'black Diwali' to protest the Centre's "going back" on its assurances.

As a mark of protest, the medals would be returned to the Centre through the Deputy Commissioners (DC) of the concerned district where the veterans had handed them over.

Brig (Retd) Kiran Krishan said those veterans who returned their medals were from various ranks including Major Generals, Subedar Majors, Captains, Sepoys, among other ranks.

"In our memorandum to the Prime Minister, which we submitted to the ADC, Panchkula, we have expressed our dissatisfaction on issue of notification as it doesn't meet our requirements," he said.

On Parrikar saying the behaviour of ex-servicemen protesting the notification on OROP scheme are "misguided", Krishan said "I don't think anybody is being misguided or misled. This is not just here that we are holding this protest, it is happening at 500 places where the medals were to be returned."

He said "the government must resolve the issue. Even when we were in talks with government, they brought new conditions.."

Asked what will be the future course of action now, he said "a general body will meet soon and devise the new strategy."

The government had on Saturday formally notified the OROP scheme for over 24 lakh ex-servicemen and six lakh war widows in the country.

It has dropped the contentious proposal to exclude ex-servicemen who sought premature retirement from the ambit of OROP. But the armed forces personnel who opt to get discharged on their request would henceforth not get OROP benefits, as per the notification.

Ex-servicemen who have been protesting at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi since June, have rejected the notification.

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News Network
April 23,2020

Washington, Apr 23: Air pollution over northern India has plummeted to a 20-year-low for this time of the year, according to satellite data published by US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
The US space agency's satellite sensors observed aerosol levels at a 20-year low post the countrywide lockdown, implemented to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"We knew we would see changes in atmospheric composition in many places during the lockdown," said Pawan Gupta, a Universities Space Research Association (USRA) scientist at NASA''s Marshall Space Flight Center. "But I have never seen aerosol values so low in the Indo-Gangetic Plain at this time of year," added Mr Gupta.

Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice G Wells tweeted, "These images from NASA were taken each spring starting in 2016 and show a 20-year low in airborne particle levels over India. When India and the world are ready to work and travel again, let's not forget that collaborative action can result in cleaner air."

The data published with maps show aerosol optical depth (AOD) in 2020 compared to the average for 2016-2019. Aerosol optical depth is a measure of how light is absorbed or reflected by airborne particles as it travels through the atmosphere.

If aerosols are concentrated near the surface, an optical depth of 1 or above indicates very hazy conditions. An optical depth, or thickness, of less than 0.1 over the entire atmospheric vertical column is considered "clean." The data were retrieved by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite.

In the first few days of the lockdown, it was difficult to observe a change in the pollution signature. "We saw an aerosol decrease in the first week of the shutdown, but that was due to a combination of rain and the lockdown," said Mr Gupta.

Around March 27, heavy rain poured over vast areas of northern India and helped clear the air of aerosols. Aerosol concentrations usually increase again after such heavy precipitation.

"After the rainfall, I was really impressed that aerosol levels did not go up and return to normal. We saw a gradual decrease and things have been staying at the level we might expect without anthropogenic emissions," Mr Gupta said.

On March 25, the Indian government placed its 1.3 billion citizens under a strict lockdown to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The countrywide mandate decreased activity at factories and severely reduced car, bus, truck and airplane traffic. Every year, aerosols from anthropogenic (human-made) sources contribute to unhealthy levels of air pollution in many Indian cities.

Aerosols are tiny solid and liquid particles suspended in the air that reduce visibility and can damage the human lungs and heart.

In southern India though, the story is a little hazier. Satellite data show aerosol levels have not yet decreased to the same extent. In fact, levels seem to be slightly higher than in the past four years. The reasons are unclear but could be related to recent weather patterns, agricultural fires, winds or other factors.

"This a model scientific experiment," Robert Levy, program leader for NASA's MODIS aerosol products, said about the lockdown and its effects on pollution.

"We have a unique opportunity to learn how the atmosphere reacts to sharp and sudden reductions in emissions from certain sectors. This can help us separate how natural and human sources of aerosols affect the atmosphere," Mr Levy added.

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News Network
July 21,2020

New Delhi, Jul 21: With a spike of 37,148 cases and 587 deaths reported in India in the last 24 hours, the total number of COVID-19 cases stands at 11,55,191, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The total number of cases include 4,02,529 active cases, 7,24,578 cured/discharged/migrated and 28,084 deaths, the ministry informed.

Maharashtra remains the worst affected state with 3,18,695 cases and 12,030 deaths.
The second worst-hit state, Tamil Nadu has reported 1,75,678 COVID-19 cases so far while Delhi has reported 1,23,747 cases, according to the Health Ministry.

Meanwhile, as per the information provided by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 1,43,81,303 samples have been tested for COVID-19 up to July 20. Of these 3,33,395 were tested yesterday.

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News Network
February 17,2020

New Delhi, Feb 17: Two alleged criminals were killed in an exchange of fire with the Special Cell of Delhi Police at Pul Pehlad Pur area in New Delhi on Monday morning, officials said.

The encounter took place around 5 am, they said.

Raja Qureshi and Ramesh Bahadur, who were injured during the encounter, were rushed to a nearby hospital, where they were declared brought dead by doctors, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) P S Kushwah said.

According to police, the two men were involved in multiple cases of murder and robbery.

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