Tournament co-hosts India will be out to defend their Twenty20 World Cup title in familiar home conditions next month.
'The elimination of terrorists does not imply the neutralisation of terrorism. That terrorist ecosystem continues to thrive in Kashmir.'
Political parties, cutting across affiliations and ideologies, Friday welcomed the Kashmir rail link inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, hoping for a boost in trade and tourism in the valley.
Gen Sharma served as the Army chief from 1988-1990 and was a colonel when he took part in the 1971 war.
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Friday said no progress has been made since Thursday in drilling through the debris at the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand to rescue 41 trapped workers but assured that the drilling by auger machine will start soon.
We need to have patience as it is a dangerous operation,NDMA member Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain said.
Besides his strategic and tactical acumen, it was his amazing personality, quick wit and ability to remain unflustered under any circumstances that stood him apart from almost any leader one has read about or known, recalls Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Manual horizontal digging will start soon in addition to the ongoing top-down drilling to rescue the 41 trapped workers in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi, the NDMA said on Monday.
The 41 workers trapped in Uttarakhand's Silkyara tunnel for the last 11 days are likely to be rescued in the next few hours or by tomorrow, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) member Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain said on Thursday evening.
Apart from that, as part of efforts to provide assurance to 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel and relieve their stress, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited has stepped in to provide them with a landline through which they can talk to their families.
The NDMA member further stated that the health conditions of the rescued workers will be monitored for the next 48 to 72 hours.
He further said that the "focus is on horizontal drilling" as rock formation has created challenges for vertical drilling.
Rat-hole mining may be illegal but the talent and experience of rat-hole miners were used in the rescue operation to save the 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel, a National Disaster Management Authority member said on Tuesday.
A total of 86 metres have to be drilled vertically to prepare an escape passage. Pipes of 1.2 metres in diameter have to be laid vertically through the top of the tunnel on which work began on Sunday as a second option to reach the stranded labourers.
The auger machine was facing repeated obstructions in the rubble in the past few days.
Germany on Tuesday conferred its Cross of the Order of Merit on three Indians in recognition of their contribution to Indo-German relations.
Jaymal Singh Negi mentioned that his brother informed him about the trapped men engaging in yoga and exercises inside the tunnel.
"The new food supply pipeline has also made it easier to supply better food in larger quantities to them, which is a good thing. Otherwise the situation remains the same," said Negi, who spoke to his brother.
The vertical approach was one of the at least five options on which preparatory work had begun some days back, as anxiety mounted over the fate of the men trapped in the under-construction tunnel on Uttarakhand's Char Dham route.
'This bitterness will be more in Jammu area than in Kashmir.'
Boring through the rubble of the collapsed Silkyara tunnel was put on hold again on Thursday apparently after cracks appeared in the platform on which the drilling machine rests, in a fresh hurdle to the rescue of 41 workers trapped inside for 11 days.
'These are people whom very few give importance and they were doing a mammoth job for the nation.'
For someone like me who studied Sam so intently, if a lump could form in the throat during the emotive scenes, I think the cast did a superb job, notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Speaking at an event in Mumbai organised by Pune-based Global Strategic Policy Foundation, he said 'sane' Muslim leaders should stand firmly against fundamentalists and added the minority community does not have to fear anything in India as Hindus don't hold enmity towards anyone.
'Entry and qualification must not be through concession and must be reserved for only those who meet the stringent standards of the institution'.
General T N Raina was an iconic Indian military leader whose contributions to the nation should be more widely known, notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
There is danger of some militants entering Kashmir from Afghanistan after withdrawal of American troops from the war-torn nation, a senior army officer said on Wednesday.
The Indian Army on Monday said there may be desperate attempts by militants to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir and the situation in Pakistan and Afghanistan in 2012 will have an impact on the security situation in the state.
Pakistan perceives that if it had declared Gilgit-Baltistan, PoK or both, which are only a part of the territories of J&K, as legitimate provinces of Pakistan it would weaken its case for the entire J&K and lead to legal complications, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
The Army on Monday rubbished allegations levelled by hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani that the force was trying to hush up the alleged rape of a woman by two men in uniform in south Kashmir last week.
With the situation in Ladakh tense and no resolution in sight the trigger to take the India-US relationship to a transformational one is already there, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
A general battling an insurgency among an often hostile populace while labouring hard and openly to win hearts and minds is not usual, but that is what Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain, commander of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, has been at since taking charge four months earlier.
'Captain Vikram Batra, PVC and his unit 13 Jak Rif did stand out because of the sheer magnitude of the task allotted to them but also the exceptional professionalism with which it was executed and completed,' recalls Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
The entire gamut of China's activities is aimed at keeping India on tenterhooks, cause fatigue to its troops and keeping its security system unstable, so that it cannot play a meaningful role in international geopolitics as an effective partner of the US and Japan, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
General Naravane's UAE and Saudi Arabia visits communicate India's long awaited arrival in the domain of integrated foreign policy where the diplomatic and the military domains both complement each other much more substantially, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Gilgit Baltistan's large frontage with Kashmir and Ladakh across Kargil and the Siachen Glacier gives Pakistan and China the perceived scope for conduct of collusive operations against India and wrest control of the major course of the Indus and Shyok, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
In April, Bhat was detained under the Public Safety Act for allegedly hoisting Pakistani flags and chanting anti-national slogans at a rally in uptown Hyderpora area.
Why does the army remain embroiled in counter-insurgency, denying itself a peace dividend even after expending blood and treasure in imposing calm?
'He could relate to strategic and security issues almost instantly.' 'He had the ability to grasp, absorb and come out with actual rectification.'
Senior army officials and veterans were "upset" over the force being dragged into "politics" over films after the MNS demanded that producers of movies employing Pakistani actors pay Rs 5 crore to an army welfare fund.
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