SOURCE: ANI

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in the country, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge lashed out at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led centre saying that there is a lot of anger and strong opposition among the youth of the country regarding the Agniveer scheme. He said that wherever the BJP ministers of the PM Modi government are going, they have to say that they will reconsider this, and make changes and improvements.

“You wake up early in the morning and do rigorous physical and mental preparations so that you can serve Mother India,” he slammed. Kharge called the Agniveer scheme an insult to the youth’s hard work. He said, “Agniveer Yojana has kept the value of your service for only 4 years. This is not only an insult to your hard work, it is also a breach of national security.”

SOURCE: ANI

A taxi driver was injured after terrorists fired at him in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Monday night, police said. According to the District Police Shopian, a taxi driver was fired upon by terrorists in the Heerpora area of Shopian and was admitted to a hospital. The search operation to nab the terrorists is on, the police added.

Further details are awaited. Earlier on February 16, a terrorist associate was arrested along with arms and ammunition in the Lalpora area of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, police said. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Kupwara Shobhit Saxena, while speaking to ANI said that a joint naka was laid by Kupwara Police, Army and CRPF at Gundimacher Bridge. He further said that during checking, a suspicious movement of one person carrying a white-coloured bag, coming from Lalpora towards Gundmacher was observed.

SOURCE: PTI

Twelve Naxalites were arrested from Sukma and Bijapur districts in Chhattisgarh on Monday, police officials said. Nine Naxalites, with a cumulative bounty of Rs 11 lakh on their heads, were nabbed in Sukma, Superintendent of Police Kiran G Chavan said.

“Madvi Ayata alias Sukhram, woman ultra Kalmu Deve, Sodhi Ayata, Madkam Bhima and five others, including one more woman, were held from the forest of Palodi village in Kistaram by a team of the District Reserve Guard, 212nd and 217 battalion of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and its elite unit CoBRA’s 208th battalion,” he said.

SOURCE: PTI

Three men were booked under the stringent Public Safety Act (PSA) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district for their alleged involvement in anti-national activities, police said on Monday.

According to a police spokesperson, Mysir Majeed Malik from Seriwarpora Pattan, Abdul Ahad Dar from Dar Mohalla Palhallan and Khursheed Ahmad Waza from Tantraypora Palhallan were booked after obtaining formal detention orders from competent authority.

SOURCE: AFI

The Indian private sector has emerged as a key player in the country’s defence manufacturing landscape. In fiscal year 2023-24, private companies contributed a significant ?16,411 crore ($1.9 billion) to the total defence production, marking the highest share since 2016-17. While this figure represents a decrease from the previous year, it still accounts for a commendable 22% of the total defence production valued at ?74,739 crore ($8.8 billion).

This development comes amidst a series of government initiatives aimed at transforming India’s defence sector.

SOURCE: ANI

Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun has released a video in which he is purportedly heard saying that his group will challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and the former Research and Analysis Wing chief Samant Goel, “right in their own backyard.” Pannun accuses the Modi regime of “transnational terrorism” and says his outfit, the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) will continue to campaign for the so-called Khalistan referendum.

He termed the general elections, that begins on April 19 a time when people can “embarrass Modi” by “show shoes” and “shame” him. The close to 3-minute-long video shows clips from Rajnath Singh’s recent interview to a TV channel in which the Defence minister says that the government will give a befitting reply to any terrorist who tries to disturb the peace of India.

SOURCE: ANI

The Chief of Greece National Defence General Staff General Dimitrios Choupis received the Guard of Honour at South Block Lawns in Delhi on Monday. Earlier, General Dimitrios Choupis laid a wreath at the National War Memorial in Delhi and paid respects to the fallen soldiers.

He also signed the visitors’ book at the war memorial. Earlier in the day, Greek Ambassador to India Aliki Koutsomitopoulou welcomed General Dimitrios Choupis in Delhi.

SOURCE: PTI

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday asserted that no Indian, irrespective of their faith, will lose citizenship with the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

He charged the opposition Congress and DMK with “creating confusion” over the issue. Rajnath was speaking after taking out a roadshow here in support of the party’s Namakkal candidate for the April 19 Lok Sabha elections, KP Ramalingam.

SOURCE: ANI

The Qutub Minar was lit up with the colours of the Rwandan national flag on Sunday in solidarity with the people of the east-African nation in remembrance of the 100-day massacre that claimed the lives of 800,000 people in 1994.

On the occasion, Secretary (Economic Relations) Dammu Ravi of the Ministry of External Affairs represented India at the 30th commemoration of the genocide in the Rwanda capital, Kigali. Sharing a post on X, the official spokesperson of MEA, Randhir Jaiswal, wrote, “In solidarity with the people of Rwanda, India lit up the Qutub Minar today, marking the UN International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.”

SOURCE: IANS

J&K Police in Baramulla district said on Monday that eight absconders presently in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) have been declared as proclaimed offenders. The eight absconders have been identified as Hilal Ahmad Ganai, Mudasir Shafi Geelani, Mohd Maqbool Pandith, Habibullah Sheikh, Shabir Ahmad Nagar, Mohd Ashraf Dar, Ghulam Nabi Najar and Fayaz Ahmad Mir

A police handout said the Additional Sessions Judge in Baramulla declared them proclaimed offenders in FIR 03/2008 of Pattan police station after an application was moved by the police.

SOURCE: IANS

The Anti-Naxal Force (ANF) and police were on high alert following the tracking of Maoist movements in the villages of coastal Karnataka, sources stated on Monday. Sources said that it was confirmed in the investigation that a team of six Maoists with weapons had visited a local’s house between Thursday and Sunday. Preliminary probe has confirmed that the Maoists were in boots, clad in uniforms and had big bags in which weapons were suspected.

The authorities said that the Maoists barged into the house near Cheru in Bilinele village in Kadaba taluk in Dakshina Kannada district recently. After barging into the house they switched off the light and asked the members to switch off their cell phones as well.

SOURCE: IANS

 Two passengers were arrested by police for giving threat of a ‘nuclear bomb’ to security staff during frisking at Delhi’s IGI airport, an official said on Monday.

The official said that the incident occurred on April 5. The duo was identified as Jignesh Malani and Kashyap Kumar Lalani, both residents of Rajkot in Gujarat. According to FIR, accessed by IANS, Secondary Ladder Point Security (SLPC) for Akasa Air flight QP-1334 (DEL-AMD) was going on when passengers Jignesh Malan and Kashyap Kumar Lalani, who were scheduled to travel in the airline, reported to staff for frisking.

SOURCE: IANS

In 2012, India had just one registered startup in the space sector — Dhruva Space from Hyderabad. The country now has close to 200 space startups. This exponential growth in the space sector is due to the government’s transformative policies under the leadership of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

India’s quantum leap in the space sector became possible after PM Modi took the courageous decision to “unlock” this sector from the “veil of secrecy.” India’s private space sector saw tremendous growth in the last decade and catapulted the country into the league of elite spacefaring nations, with the potential to become a $100 billion market in the years to come.

SOURCE: PTI

Chennai-based space start-up Agnikul Cosmos on Sunday called off the maiden launch of its 3D-printed, semi-cryogenic Agnibaan rocket about 129 seconds before lift-off citing communication in the onboard hardware.

Sunday’s was the third attempt at the test launch of the Agnibaan Sub-Orbital Technology Demonstrator (SOrTeD) since March 22, when the test flight was first scheduled to be held at the Agnikul Launch Pad at ISRO’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.

SOURCE: ANI

Two Indian Navy warships being built in Russia are likely to be commissioned by the end of this year, after getting delayed due to the Russia-Ukraine war. The first warship would be known as INS Tushil, while the other one would be INS Tamal after commissioning. The stealth frigates are being built as part of the Tushil class warships, which are follow-ons of the six warships of the Talwar class and its follow on frigates.

A team of the Indian Navy, including personnel from the Chief of Material Directorate, had recently visited the shipyard in Russia, where the frigates are being built and inspected the project, the defence officials told ANI.