The Good Word

THE GOOD WORD

Jul 26, 2021 - Week 32

Volume 7S-11| Pages 2

Bombay High Court upholds CBI FIR

against ex-home minister Deshmukh

Jul 22, in a setback to

the ex-Maharashtra

home minister Anil

Deshmukh, the Bombay

High Court (HC)

rejected his plea

seeking to quash the

CBI FIR investigating

corruption charges

against him. In a related

case, the HC also

upheld the CBI’s

authority to investigate

both, the reinstatement

of the Sachin Waze into

the police 15 years

after he was suspended

and allegations of

corruption in police

transfers, dismissing

the state’s opposition

to these two

paragraphs in the FIR.

For quashing the FIR,

Deshumkh’s advocate

claimed that the HC

order for a preliminary

enquiry raised

questions of law which

required time to study.

He contended that the

documents the court

had relied on, ie the

police commissioner’s

letter and petitioner

Jaishree Patil’s

complaint were not

based on first hand

Information. He added

that CBI’s FIR was

based on ‘vague

allegations’ and the CBI

had failed to secure

the state’s sanction

under section 17 of the

Prevention of Money

Laundering Act (PMLA)

to prosecute a public

servant. He claimed the

CBI should also have

secured the state’s nod

under section 6 of the

Delhi Special Police

Establishment Act

before it filed an FIR.

Dismissing these

contentions solicitor

general Tushar Mehta,

and additional solicitor

general Aman Lekhi

appearing for the CBI

countered that the HC

order did not raise any

important question of

law and had been

upheld in the Supreme

Court. The court had

before it the first hand

testimony of the now

imprisoned, former

Bharat First

jerk. World Champion

China's Hoi Zhuihui won

gold with a total lift of

210 kgs (94 + 116) and

set a new Olympic

record.

With the lift, Chanu,

became only the 16

Indian athlete to win

and individual Olympic

medal. She also

became the 2

Indian

to do so in weightlifting

after Karnam

Malleswari’s bronze 21

years ago and the first

from the North East.

Earlier Chanu had

shattered the world

record in clean and jerk

with a 119 kg lift at the

Jul 21, in a boost to the

air-force’s strike

capability, the seventh

batch of 3 Rafael fighters

arrived in India. To date

24 Rafael jets have been

received against the

2016, ₹58,000 crore,

inter governmental

agreement with France.

Of these 18 are stationed

at Ambala, Haryana and

form its first squadron.

The latest arrivals will be

part of the second

squadron of 18 jets

which is being created at

Hasimara airbase, West

Bengal. Hasimara is of

geostrategic importance

due to its proximity to

India’s Chicken’s Neck

(map on right). The full

contract with the French

aerospace major,

Dassault Aviation is for

36 Rafael jets and the

remaining 12 will be

delivered by next year.

This is first major aircraft

purchase, 23 years after

the Sukhoi’s were

imported from Russia.

The Rafael, comparable

to the US F-35, can carry

out potent air combat

missions at speeds of up

to 1.8 Mach.

HinduBusinessLine, EconomicTimes

Image – Twitter, IndiaAirPort

Jul 23, With troop

withdrawal 95%

complete, the US still

remains committed to

backing the Afghan

government against the

Taliban and conducted

half a dozen air strikes

in the last month.

Strikes were aimed to

destroy equipment

wrested by the Taliban

(picture above). With

over 2.5 lac personnel

to about 75,000, the

Afghan army is a larger

force than the Taliban

and is also better

equipped. This week its

air force struck to the

east and north of Kabul

killing 26 Taliban

militants. Though it

controls about 50% of

the country, the Taliban

has still not been able to

capture the 34 thickly

populated provincial

capital cities.

FirstIndia, ZemTV, image-Tweet247

Visit IndiaWiki.org

Seventh batch of 3 Rafael fighters arrive in India

Jul 22, continuing its

anti-encroachment

drive, the UP

government cleared

illegal settlements on a

5 acre plot in Delhi’s

Madanpur Khadar area.

The land belonged to

UP’s irrigation

department and is

valued at about ₹150

crores. Rohingyas and

other encroachers had

built structures on it

over a last few years

which were razed by

multiple earth-movers.

It is alleged that local

AAP leader Amanatullah

Khan had helped settle

over 300 Rohingyas in

the region.

In Mar 2021, the UP

government’s anti

encroachment drive

against illegal

settlements on

government land, had

cleared six acres of land

in the same area.

The Delhi LG ad police

provided support. More

land in the area is still

encroached and those

will be razed shortly too.

At: Hindujagruti, Times of India

This increases the strike

range to 30 km and

speeds to Mach 2.5.

Enemy fighters can be

detected at 80 km out,

trajectory and impact

point computed, the

launch is triggered

when the enemy is at

50 km and the strike

detonates at 30 km

away.

The DRDO also test

fired an indigenous,

light weight, third

generation, fire and

forget MP-ATGM. A

man portable launcher

target a tank-like vessel

at minimal range. The

missile uses a new mini-

infrared image seeker,

thermal sight and

advanced avionics.

Earlier it was

successfully tested at

full range.

More at: pib.gov.in 1-2, Republic

Jul 24, Meerabai Chanu

created history by

becoming the first

Indian athlete to win a

silver medal in

weightlifting at the

Olympic games. On the

opening day of the

Tokyo Olympics

participating in the 49

kg category, the athlete

from Imphal, Manipur

lifted a total of 202 kgs

to finish on the podium.

Competition lifts

comprise a snatch, or a

single-move lift and

then a clean and jerk,

which is a two-move lift.

Chanu hauled 87 kgs in

the snatch and lifted

115 kgs in clean and

Jul 20, Texas, USA,

Amazon founder Jeff

Bezos’s Blue Origin

space venture took 4

civilians, aged 82 to 18,

the eldest, a lady, for a

10 minute space ride

about 70 km above the

earth’s surface.

Reaching apogee the

shuttle, with the largest

windows ever built on a

spacecraft, coasted

upwards unpowered in

zero gravity for about 3

minutes. It then

returned to surface

using a parachuted

shuttle. Man began air

travel about a 100 years

ago . Bezos’s space flight

comes on the 52

anniversary of man’s

first landing on the

Moon and hot on the

heels of Richard

Branson’s similar Virgin

Galactic flight on Jul 12.

These developments

bring civilian space

travel enticingly close.

CBSNews, WashingtonInformer,

Image: BayiPerjuangan

Jeff Bezos’ flight

moves civilian

space travel closer

Jul 19, the Enforcement

Directorate (ED) is

investigating a suspicious

infusion of ₹38 crores into

the media portal

NewsClick which then was

distributed to

controversial journalists

and activists. Evidence

shows that the editor-in-

chief Prabir Purkayastha’s

close associate Nivelle

Singham, a front-man of

Communist Party of

China, is the real owner of

the fund of ₹38 crore

infused between 2018

and 2021. ED believes

that ₹10 crore out of this,

was an FDI received from

a non-existent front

organization and ₹28

crore was an export

remittance for which no

reasonable export of

service is shown. Further,

ED believes Purkayastha

siphoned off ₹1.5 crore

shown in the books as

maintenance expense and

paid to a friend Joseph

Raj, an electrician.

NewsClick denies the

allegations calling them a

smear campaign against

it.

More at: Republic

head of criminal

intelligence unit, Waze.

Any need for a prior

state sanction was

dispensed with from

the moment a court

ordered CBI to conduct

an investigation and

such a state nod was

not intended to act as a

shield for a wrong-doer.

The HC also dismissed

the state’s contention

that the CBI was

assuming ‘unfettered

authority’ in probing

police transfers and

reinstatement of Waze,

or that CBI was acting

at the behest of central

authorities to

destabilize the state

government. The

bench of justices Shinde

and Jamadar said that

the CBI was a premier

investigating agency

that must investigate all

matters and people

with a nexus to the

corruption charges

against Deshmukh or

his associates, in

accordance with law.

More at DailyPioneer, TheHindu

Jul 21, the Jammu &

Kashmir (J&K)

administration amended

its Domicile Rules 2020,

to allow a woman of the

state who marries outside

J&K, to entitle her

husband to apply for a

domicile certificate in the

state. Earlier only a man

from the state who

married a woman outside

J&K could enable their

wife to become a

resident. The change,

brought in the wake of

the abrogation of article

370 of the Indian

Constitution, is one of

many, that have ushered

in greater equality for

women, Dalits and other

groups in J&K. Until 2002

when a full bench of the

J&K HC overturned it, a

woman would even lose

her resident status if she

married outside the state.

The present change by

the BJP administration

will give a woman greater

parity on raising a family

and on property

ownership in J&K.

More at OpIndia

Asian Championship. At

4’ 11’’, the 26 year old is

exceptionally

persevering and has

consistently bettered

her overall haul in

successive competitions

since 2017.

Prime minister

Narendra Modi,

president Ram Nath

Kovind and a host of

prominent people have

congratulated Chanu.

PM Modi wrote that he

could not have asked

for a happier start to

the Olympics and that

the whole nation was

'elated' at Chanu's

stupendous feat.

More at: Republic,-image

Sportskeeda, Wikipedia

Jul 21, the Defence

Research and

Development

Organization (DRDO)

successfully test fired

two new generation

missiles, the Akash-NG

surface-to-air missile

(picture above) and a

man-portable anti-tank

guided missile (MP-

ATGM).

The Akash-NG test from

an integrated test range

in Orissa, in inclement

weather, target a fast

moving unmanned

aerial object

successfully. It will be

a force multiplier for

India’s the air defence.

Key improvements

include a 50% lighter

body than its

predecessor, at 350 kgs,

a 2-pulse solid motor

and a new continuous

guidance seeker.

Kargil Vijay Diwas image courtesy ForceIndia.Net

Afghan

government still

has upper hand

Meerabai Chanu lifts an Olympic silver

UP government

frees Delhi land,

evicts Rohingyas

J&K domicile rules

amended to give

parity to women

Dabur.com

‘Lighter, deadlier’ - DRDO fires new

generation weapons successfully

ED: NewsClick

received ₹38

crores from China

Jul 26, 2021 | Week 32 | Volume 7S-11

Bharat First

Visit IndiaWiki.org

PAGE 2 THE GOOD WORD

My brother Vikram

It was 6 December

1997. Vikram Batra’s

dream came true. He

took the oath as an

Officer of the Indian

Army:

The Safety, Honour and

Welfare of your

country comes first,

always and

every time / The

Honour, Welfare and

Comfort of the men

you command comes

next / Your own Ease,

Comfort and Safety

comes last, always and

every time. /

Mom and Dad pinned

up the stars on his

shoulder. He stood

there smiling from ear

to ear in his crew cut

and several kilos

thinner after the

rigorous training. It was

a grand moment. But it

wasn’t going to be an

easy life and Vikram

knew that.

When he’d come home

on annual leave, we

would talk for hours

about the challenges he

faced in Sopore—the

strife-torn town in

Jammu & Kashmir’s

Baramulla district—

which was his first

posting. He had been

commissioned into 13

JAK Rif.

We would dream of the

day he would command

his regiment and I

would get a chance to

attend some of the

regimental functions

with his family and

children. That dream

is lost now.

Never could I have

imagined, even in my

wildest dreams, that

the stories we saw in

the famous TV serial,

Param Vir Chakra,

which we watched at

a neighbour’s house in

1985 (we didn’t have a

TV at home back then)

would one day become

so real for me. And

Vikram would be the

hero. Vikram was

awarded the country’s

highest gallantry

award, posthumously.

He was only 24. His

famous words from the

height of 18,000 feet:

“Yeh Dil Maange

More,” after victory

over the enemy, still

ring in my ears.

It’s been ten years (this

article first featured in

2009). A lot has

changed. And a lot has

remained the same. I

have many more grey

strands in my hair.

Vikram is as youthful

as ever. Time cannot

touch him. In these last

ten years, I have

longed to visit those

mountains that he

conquered. And then

suddenly, out of the

blue, I got a call to

travel to Kargil and

Drass. It was as if

Vikram was calling me

to have a chat with

him. I didn’t look back,

packed my bags and

set out to meet him.

I landed in Leh at 10:30

in the morning on 2

July, five days before

Vikram’s tenth death

anniversary. The valley

was more beautiful

than it is made out to

be in books. From the

snow-capped hills

surrounding it, I could

almost sense Vikram

looking at me. I then

began the road trip to

Drass to meet him. The

mountain wind blew

faster than the speed

of the car and in my

mind there was just

one picture—of the

bearded young man

who had become a

legend for pushing the

enemy back at

insurmountable heights

where even life does

not exist.

A little outside Leh, we

reached Gurdwara

Pathar Sahib. I said a

prayer for Vikram and

for all those great

soldiers guarding those

mountains and our

motherland. I recalled

what Vikram had

written in one of his

last letters before the

attack: ‘Life is at total

risk. Anything can

happen here. Take care

of yourself and Mom

and Dad… My picture

has appeared in The

Times Of India. Keep a

copy for me. I want to

see it once

I’m back.’ The picture

had appeared on the

front page of The Times

of India on 2 July 1999.

It showed him standing

with an anti-aircraft

gun and weapons he

had captured from

Pakistani soldiers. This

was after the first

ferocious attack

on Peak 5140 launched

after they performed

pooja at the Ghumri

Base Camp with the

call of “Durga Mata Ki

Jai”.

Vikram and his men

captured point 5140

on 20 June 1999, and

two weeks later, when

his company launched

the attack on point

4875 on 5 July, Vikram

was fatally wounded—

hit by sniper fire. The

company captured the

peak, but after 11

casualties. Vikram was

one of them.

It was months later, at

the Western Command

headquarters, when I

met the junior

commissioned officer

(JCO) who was with

Vikram the day he was

fatally wounded. He

was the last man to

speak with Vikram. Sub

To contribute content to The Good Word email IndiaWiki2020@gmail.com

When I talk about Luv, I

don’t know where to

begin. Capt. Vikram

Batra PVC

(posthumous) is Luv,

and I, his younger twin,

Kush. His identical twin.

Ours was a childhood

spent in the hills of

Palampur making the

most of our identical

looks—playing pranks,

filling in for each other

and at times even

getting punished for

one another’s mistakes.

The similarity ran

deeper than looks. We

also had the same

interests. Both of us

started playing table

tennis at the age of ten.

It’s another story that

Vikram went on to

become the school

champion for five

consecutive years. But

I’d like to believe that I

had a big hand in that.

After all, I chose to lose

to him in the semi-finals

in the fifth year so that

he could make the

school record. But deep

in my heart, I know that

my brother—Shershah

of Kargil—was a winner

right from the start.

Shershah of Kargil.

That’s what the enemy

too called Vikram.

That’s the mark he

made That’s the mark

he made on them on

those unforgiving

mountains of Kargil. I

don’t know at what

stage Vikram marched

on way ahead of all of

us. We’d grown up as

regular kids, making our

choices as we went

along. The first different

choice that I remember

is when our father

started giving us Rs 50 a

month for the school

bus fare. I chose to

travel to school by bus.

Vikram opted to walk it

and instead spend those

rupees in the canteen.

As we grew up, Vikram

opted for the Army, and

I, rejected thrice by the

Services Selection

Board, settled for

business administration.

How thrilled he was

when he made it to the

Indian Military Academy

(IMA), Dehradun.

There are certain

works which are, as

it were, the

aggregate, the sum

total, of a large

number of smaller

works. If we stand

near the seashore

and hear the waves

dashing against the

shingle, we think it is

such a great noise,

and yet we know

that one wave is

really composed of

millions and millions

of minute waves.

Each one of these is

making a noise, and

yet we do not catch

it; it is only when

they become the big

aggregate that we

hear. Similarly, every

pulsation of the

heart is work.

Certain kinds of work

we feel and they

become tangible to

us; they are, at the

same time, the

aggregate of a

number of small

works. If you really

want to judge of the

character of a man,

look not at his great

performances. Every

fool may become a

hero at one time or

another. Watch a

man do his most

common actions;

those are indeed the

things which will tell

you the real

character of a great

man. Great occasions

rouse even the

lowest of human

beings to some kind

of greatness, but he

alone is the really

great man whose

character is great

always, the same

wherever he be.

Karma in its effect on

character is the most

tremendous power

that man has to deal

with. Man is, as it

were, a centre, and is

attracting all the

powers of the

universe towards

himself, and in this

centre is fusing them

all and again sending

them off in a big

current.

Swami Vivekananda

Karma Yoga

a series of extracts

Tiger Day image courtesy Newzii.com. Swami Vivekananda Image courtesy Newsgram.com

Major Raghunath

Singh started wailing

when he saw me. He

solved the mystery of

my twin’s death for

me: a young officer,

Vikram’s junior, was

hit and crying for

help. The JCO wanted

to go out to help but

Vikram stopped him.

“The enemy was firing

heavily. ‘You have a

family and children

back home, I will do

this,’ saahab said. He

stopped me with

these words and went

out,” Raghunath Singh

told me as he wept

like a baby,

inconsolably. But

Vikram was hit by

sniper fire. Having

realised that, the

charged company

went berserk, mad

with rage at their

leader being hit, and

killed the enemy

soldiers. The tricolour

was planted atop

point 4875—they call

it Batra Top now.

Vikram reached

Palampur before the

sun rose on 11 July

1999. He was

wrapped in the

tricolour, lying calm

almost as if he was

trying to catch up on

sleep he had lost

during these arduous

assaults on those

treacherous peaks.

Was I really so close

to those peaks that I

could almost see him

fighting there? I

wanted to reach up

there as fast as

possible, but the track

was treacherous—the

rocky mountain on one

side and the sheer fall

on the other. In some

time, we had left the

Indus River behind.

It was a breathtaking

journey. A place so

beautiful and yet

caught in the crossfire

of war a decade ago.

Midway, at one of the

military posts, we had

lunch with the

commanding officer of

4 JAK Rif. I also met an

officer six months

senior to Vikram—now

a major—and a JCO,

both of whom had

fought the war

together with Vikram.

“You look so much like

Vikram Sir,” the JCO

said and hugged me.

I’ve been told that a

billion times in the last

ten years. There are

people now who know

me as Captain Vikram

Batra’s brother. Many

of them even walk into

my office at ICICI Bank

in Delhi and stare at

me as if they know me.

Some of them even

say, “We’ve seen you

somewhere.” When I

tell them I’m Captain

Batra’s twin, they say,

“Oh, ‘Yeh Dil Mange

More,’” and shake my

hand.

My dream of visiting

Vikram as a

commanding officer of

a regiment couldn’t

come true. But Vikram

still commands. He’s

there in the hearts of

the soldiers posted in

Kargil and Drass. In

that mountain named

after him (the Batra

Top). And in the transit

camp in Drass, called

Capt Batra Transit

Camp, where weary

soldiers break their

journey in the call of

duty.

‘Call of duty’, the

mention of these

words takes me back to

the days he was to be

commissioned as an

officer. When he was in

the IMA, the footnote

of Vikram’s letter pad

read, ‘If Death comes

to me before I prove

my blood, I promise I’ll

kill Death.’ You kept

your word, Vikram. My

Brother, My Twin, I

salute you.

------------------------------------ -------------- ------------------- ------------------- ----

By: Vishal Batra (top left),

captain Vikram Batra’s

(top) brother, from 2009

Sourced: TheOpenMagazine.com

Vikram’s mage: dnpIndia.in

‘Call of duty’, the

mention of these

words takes me

back to the days he

was to be

commissioned as

an officer. When

he was in the IMA,

the footnote of

Vikram’s letter pad

read, ‘If Death

comes to me

before I prove my

blood, I promise I’ll

kill Death.’