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A five-member TMC delegation that visited the cross-border shelling-hit Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday slammed the government for neglecting the families living in border areas. The delegation members said they were returning with "broken hearts" after witnessing the human tragedy caused by Pakistani shelling and expressed solidarity with the people. The region witnessed heightened artillery shelling about two weeks ago following the rise in tensions with Pakistan after India carried out precision strikes on nine terror hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on May 7 in response to the Pahalgam attack. A wave of artillery shelling, and missiles and drone strikes by Pakistan in the Jammu region killed 27 people and injured more than 70 between May 8 and 10 after India launched Operation Sindoor to target terror infrastructure in the neighbouring country and PoK in response to the April 22 Pahalgam attack. The TMC delegation -- comprising MPs Derek ...
Schools in five Punjab districts bordering Pakistan, as well as in Sangrur, will remain closed on Monday, officials said. However, academic institutions in the rest of the state will reopen, they said. The authorities in Pathankot, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Gurdaspur and Tarn Taran districts that lie on the border with Pakistan have ordered schools to remain shut. Punjab shares a 553-kilometre border with Pakistan, spanning these five districts as well Fazilka. Education Minister Harjot Bains said if any university already revised its examination schedule, those exams would follow the revised schedule. Deputy commissioners of border districts have also been authorised to take a call on opening or closing schools, based on local circumstances. Bains also directed the academic institutions to strictly adhere to the government's safety protocols and guidelines. Meanwhile, the authorities in Ferozepur, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Moga issued advisories, urging people to voluntarily switch o
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said India will soon create a comprehensive anti-drone unit to secure its borders as the "menace" of unmanned aerial vehicles is going to get serious in the coming days. Addressing BSF troops at the 60th Raising Day event of the force here at its training camp, about 300 km from the India-Pakistan border, Shah said the initial results of a "laser equipped anti-drone gun-mounted" mechanism have been encouraging. This has led to an increase in drone neutralisation and detection cases, up from 3 per cent to 55 per cent, along the India-Pakistan border in Punjab, he said. "The drone menace is going to get more serious in the coming days... We are tackling this issue with a 'whole of government' approach with the defence and research organisations and the DRDO joining hands. "We are going to create a comprehensive anti-drone unit for the country in the coming time," Shah said. According to official data, more than 260 drones have been downed or .
An anti-terrorist search operation along the Line of Control (LoC) in Mendhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district entered the second day on Saturday, officials said. The operation was launched in nearly a dozen forward villages in the forest area of Mankote and Mendhar on Friday following reports of suspicious movement, they said. Intermittent gunfire was reported from Uchhad forest but it was later clarified that security forces had opened fire while clearing a natural cave, the officials said. The search operation was underway when the last reports were received, they said.