33 killed...

Two employees who were supposed to join the group opted out at the last moment due to other engagements.

The depth of the gorge made it difficult for rescue workers to reach the wreckage of the bus . Till 7.20 pm, 13 bodies had been recovered and 11 handed over to relatives of the victims. The district administration ensured that each body was accompanied by a driver and attendant and was handed over to the relatives who had gathered at the Poladpur primary health centre.

Five teams were engaged in the rescue operation along with a team of 30 personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Pune. Another rescue team was expected on Sunday morning.

While traffic had been stopped on both sides of the Ambenali Ghat to assist rescue operations, diesel generator sets had been placed at the site with powerful halogen lamps to light up the area for the rescue operations to continue in the dark.

“Administration taking all efforts to provide required assistance. Senior officials and emergency management systems in place,” Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted. “My thoughts are with families who lost loved ones and prayers for speedy recovery of injured.”

The Maharashtra government announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of those who died. The government will also bear the medical expenses of those injured. ment to Pakistan to $150 million. This is a significant reduction from the $700 million that was available through CSF last year.”

Another expert, who has studied US funding for Pakistan for years, agreed with that assessment, and said on condition of anonymity that the NDAA 2019 had cut “total global CSF authorization to $350 million and, within that, Pakistan will be limited to $150 million”, but as reimbursement for border-security operations, not CSF. The remaining $200 million will be “available” to reimburse Pakistan or other nations as CSF, “but is unlikely to be used for that purpose”.

While cutting the fund, Goel said, the “legislation gets rid of the certification requirements for Pakistani action against the Haqqani Network and it also gets rid of the authority to reimburse Pakistan for counterterrorism. Hence, the Pentagon no longer has any tools to apply pressure to the Pakistanis to undertake counterterrorism activities or action against the Haqqani Network.”

Here is what the defence bill for 2018 said about conditions tied to half of the $700 million set aside for Pakistan this year. The secretary of defence had to certify that “Pakistan continues to conduct military operations that are contributing to significantly disrupting the safe havens, fundraising and recruiting efforts, and freedom of movement of the Haqqani Network in Pakistan; Pakistan has taken steps to demonstrate its commitment to prevent the Haqqani Network from using any Pakistan territory as a safe haven and for fundraising and recruiting efforts; the Government of Pakistan is making an attempt to actively coordinate with the Government of Afghanistan to restrict the movement of militants, such as the Haqqani Network, along the Afghanistanpakistan border; and Pakistan has shown progress in arresting and prosecuting senior leaders and mid-level operatives of the Haqqani Network.”

The language, text and words had been similar, though not the same, in all the previous defence spending legislations going back at least to the 2015 NDAA passed the year before in 2014.

And here are the new conditions that will need to be certified by the secretary of defense for clearing reimbursements for border-security operations: “The military and security operations of Pakistan pertaining to border security and ancillary activities for which reimbursement is sought have been coordinated with United States military representatives in advance of the execution of such operations and activities. The goals and desired outcomes of each such operation or activity have been established and agreed upon in advance by the United States and Pakistan. A process exists to verify the achievement of the goals and desired outcomes established in accordance with the “above” paragraph. The Government of Pakistan is making an effort to actively coordinate with the Government of Afghanistan on issues relating to border security on the Afghanistan-pakistan border.”

A former defense department official, who spoke on condition of anonymit,y said these “certs (certifications) are more generic and easier to pass”. which is part of the Doklam plateau, is being rotated with supporting logistics activity.

“As in the past year, the PLA plans to stay put in Doklam area this winter; the other two armies (India and Bhutan) are also stocking up for normal heavy snows in this mountainous region,” said one of the officers. The Chinese PLA has around 700 troopers in the Doklam area with a back-up of heavy vehicles and large prefabricated barracks.

The Torsa Nullah, which meets Amu Chu in Chinese territory, divides the plateau in such a way that 60% is under Chinese control and the remaining with India.

Contrary to the reports, the PLA has no surface-to-air missiles or S-300 systems placed in the area as they would be sitting ducks in times of hostility with the Indian Army sitting on the dominating heights of Doklam plateau, the officers said. The Chinese do have surface-to-air missiles, but these are stationed deep within Chinese territory, in Yadong, the officers added. The Royal Bhutan Army also has a significant number of troopers at Chela Post to monitor Chinese movement despite Beijing putting pressure on Thimpu to resolve the border dispute between the two countries. Although the Chinese PLA had been sending patrols to meet Bhutanese troops after crossing the Torsa Nullah gorge on Doklam since the previous decade, the 2017 stand-off occurred as the PLA tried to carve out a road to reach Jhampheri ridge at the point close to Indian positions in Doklam and where the Torsa Nullah was crossable on all-terrain military vehicles. According to Indian Army officers, if the PLA had been allowed to cross the nullah at that place, the Indian positions would have been rendered vulnerable.

CONTRARY TO THE REPORTS, THE PEOPLE’S LIBERATION ARMY (PLA) HAS NO SURFACETOAIR MISSILES OR S300 SYSTEMS PLACED IN THE AREA AS THEY WOULD BE SITTING DUCKS IN TIMES OF HOSTILITY WITH THE INDIAN ARMY SITTING ON THE DOMINATING HEIGHTS OF DOKLAM PLATEAU, THE OFFICERS SAID