Page 16 - War Conflict
Coimbatore: FIR against arrested members of ISIS module reveals plan to attack religious places
The three members of an ISIS module in Tamil Nadu, arrested by the state police, were planning to attack churches, temples, mosques and other key religious places in Coimbatore with the intent to kill civilians and intelligence department officials, the FIR has said.Accused Mohammad Hussain, Shahjahan and Sheik Safiullah were on Sunday sent to judicial custody by a Coimbatore sessions court till June 28.On June 13, the police had conducted searches at the houses of Hussain, Shahjahan and Safiullah and seized "incriminating" documents and digital devices.The searches followed information that they were "staunch supporters" of ISIS and have been propagating the terrorist organisation's ideology on social media. The seized items included cellphones, SIM cards, computer hard disks, bank account documents, pen drives and memory cards, according to it.A dagger, one electric baton, 300 air-gun pellets and a large number of incriminating documents and some pamphlets of Popular Front of India .
Maha govt to use Miyawaki system for urban forestation
The Maharashtra government is planning to use the "Miyawaki" system of dense tree plantation, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said Tuesday. Presenting the state's budget for 2019-20 in the Assembly, Mungantiwar announced 'Atal Anandvan Scheme', which will employ the Miyawaki system, he said. The system, named after a Japanese botanist, allows plantation of 30,000 plants in one hectare of land, and is thus useful for forestation in urban areas where land is scarce, he said. The finance minister also announced outlay of Rs 30 crore for protection of ocean biodiversity.
Sarpanch honorarium hiked in Maha budget
The Maharashtra government Tuesday announced an increase in the honorarium given to sarpanch to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Presenting the state's additional budget, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar proposed an outlay of Rs 200 crore for it and said the sarpanch is the pillar of the Panchayati Raj system. He also set aside Rs 100 crore to pay a grant to the Khadi and Village Industries Board. Stating that Gandhiji wanted villages to be self- sufficient, Mungantiwar said, "On his 150th birth anniversary, we resolve to make his appeal a reality. The government desires to strengthen rural economy. We plan to incentivise small and cottage industries through Maharashtra Khadi and Village Industries Board.
Oppn slams Maha govt for budget 'leak' on FM's Twitter handle
Opposition Tuesday staged walk- out in both Houses of Maharashtra legislature, alleging that the state's budget for 2019-20 was "leaked" on the Twitter handle of Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar before he presented it in the Assembly. This was an "insult" of legislators, the opposition members said and demanded an apology from Mungantiwar and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over it. "We were in power for 15 years, but the budget never got leaked. Now the budget provisions were being put out on the finance minister's Twitter account along with advertisement even before he read out those to us," NCP MLA Ajit Pawar told reporters. "That means the team handling the minister's Twitter account had the details. This means the budget got leaked to them first. This is an insult of the members. Both Mungantiwar and Fadnavis should apologise," the former state finance minister said. Congress MLA and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan seconded Pawar. "In other countries, ..
4 awarded life term in 2005 Ayodhya terror attack case, 1 acquitted
A special court here sentenced four persons to life imprisonment while acquitted one accused in the 2005 Ayodhya terror attack case in which two locals were killed and seven CRPF personnel were injured. Special judge Dinesh Chandra also imposed a fine of Rs 2.4 lakh on each of the convicts, public prosecutor Gulab Chandra Agrahari told reporters here. The terror attack on July 5, 2005 had left two locals dead and injured seven paramilitary personnel. Five suspected JeM terrorists were eliminated by security forces in retaliatory action.
4 get life term in 2005 Ayodhya terror attack
A special court in Prayagraj on Tuesday convicted four accused in the conspiracy behind the 2005 Ayodhya terror attack case that had caused death of two civilians, and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
Lankan prez resumes Cabinet meeting after threatening to boycott over separate Lanka bombings probe
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Tuesday presided over a Cabinet meeting, days after he threatened to boycott it over Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's faction initiating a separate parliamentary probe into the April 21 Easter Sunday bombings. He convened the meeting amidst an infighting between the two factions of the ruling coalition over the abdication of responsibility to prevent the deadly attack despite the availability of prior intelligence. The President, who is the head of the Cabinet in his troubled coalition government with Wickremesinghe, did not call last week's meeting over a stand-off with his coalition partner. Sirisena wanted the halt to proceedings of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) appointed by Assembly Speaker Karu Jayasuriya to probe the events leading to the attacks that killed 258 people, including 11 Indians, and injured nearly 500. He had threatened not to reconvene the Cabinet until the government abandoned the select committee ...
Indo-Tibetan Border Police perform yoga
A few days after ITBP released a video on Twitter showing its personnel doing Suryanamaskar and breathing exercises in freezing Ladakh, personnel of the central armed force personnel on Monday performed yoga in the scorching heat here in Chhattisgarh.Personnel of 44th battalion of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) chanted 'Astho maa sad gamya' while demonstrating the Padma asana (Lotus position).Under the fierce heat of the sun, the personnel practised different kinds of asanas.ITBP is one of the seven Central Armed Police Forces of India and is deployed along India's border of Tibet.International Yoga Day is celebrated worldwide on June 21. Every year it is celebrated with a theme, and the theme for this year's fifth International Yoga Day is 'Yoga for Heart'.After Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014 the International Yoga Day has gained popularity on a global scale. Modi has been regularly tweeting videos of different asanas since June 5.
Rajnath pays tribute to Army officer
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Tuesday paid tributes to Major Ketan Sharma, who died fighting militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district a day earlier.
Budget leaked on Twitter before presentation in House: Munde
Leader of the Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde on Tuesday claimed that details of the state budget were leaked on the Twitter handle of finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar before presentation in the Assembly. Munde and some other opposition members raised the issue in the Council and disrupted the budget presentation by Minister of State for Finance Deepak Kesarkar in the House. Since Maharashtra Legislature comprises the Assembly and the Council, the state budget is presented simultaneously by a cabinet minister and a junior minister in the Lower and Upper House, respectively. When Kesarkar tried to present the budget in the Upper House, Munde waved his mobile phone and then read out from it some budget details, which he claimed were posted on the official Twitter account of Mungantiwar. Munde said even before Mungantiwar read out the first part of the budget in the Assembly, his twitter account already put out the information. Following ...
2 JeM terrorists killed, including owner of vehicle used in Pulwama attack
Two Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists, including one whose vehicle was used to carry out the blast in the deadly Pulwama terror attack, were killed in an encounter between terrorists and security forces in Anantnag district in south Kashmir on Tuesday, police said."Two terrorists were killed and the bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter... As per the records available with police, both the killed terrorists were affiliated with proscribed terror outfit JeM and were wanted by law for their complicity in a series of terror crimes including attacking of security establishments and civilian atrocities" police said in a statement here.The gunfight took place in Anantnag's Marhama village.Jammu and Kashmir DGP, Dilbag Singh said: "We neutralised two militants. They've been identified as Sajad Ahmad Bhat and Tawseef Ahmad Bhat, both are residents of Marhama and have links with Jaish-e-Mohammed. Sajad was involved in turning his car into an IED in February 14 blast."According to ...
2 Jaish militants, Army jawan killed in Anantnag encounter
Two Jaish-e-Mohammed militants, including one wanted in connection with the Pulwama attack, and an Army soldier were killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on Tuesday, police said. The security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in Bijbehara area of the south Kashmir district in the morning following inputs about the presence of militants. The operation turned into an encounter after the militants opened fire on the forces, an officer said. An Army jawan was injured in the gun battle and he succumbed to injuries at a hospital, the official said. "Two terrorists were killed in the operation in Bijbehara. They have been identified as Sajad Bhat and Tauseef Bhat, and were affiliated with the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group," the official said. Besides several terror crimes, the official said, Sajad Bhat was also wanted in connection with the suicide car blast in Lethpora area of Pulwama on February 14 that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) ...
HK chief issues 'most sincere' apology over extradition bill
Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday offered her "most sincere" apology over the handling of the now-suspended extradition bill, after thousands of people voiced their dissatisfaction over her and her administration's handling of the controversial legislation.
Sawant laments delayed liberation of Goa from Portugal
Goa, which was liberated from Portuguese colonial yoke in 1961, would have progressed more, if it had been liberated 15 years earlier along with the Indian mainland in 1947, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Tuesday.
Rajnath, Army chief to pay tribute to Army officer
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Army chief General Bipin Rawat will on Tuesday pay their tributes to Major Ketan Sharma, who died fighting militants in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district a day earlier.
2 soldiers injured in IED blast in J-K's Pulwama succumb
Two soldiers, who were injured in the IED blast in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, have succumbed to injuries, a defence spokesman said Tuesday. Nine soldiers and two civilians were injured as militants targeted an Army patrol with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at Arihal in Pulwama district on Monday. "Two soldiers, brought to hospital with severe contusions and concussions, have succumbed to their injuries at 92 Base Hospital," the spokesman said. On Monday, he had sought to play down the attack saying it was a "failed attempt" and except for a "few minor injuries, all troops were safe". "A failed attempt was made to attack a mobile vehicle patrol of 44 RR with a Vehicle Based IED while the Army patrol was moving in the general area Arihal in district Pulwama today evening," the spokesman said in a statement here. He said the reports of attack on an Army convoy are "unfounded and baseless". "Troops all safe. Few minor injuries," the defence spokesman said, adding that ..
2 terrorists, 1 jawan killed in Anantnag encounter
Two terrorists were killed in a gunbattle in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday in which a jawan has also lost his life, a police official said. The terrorists were being identified, he said. Acting on a credible input about the presence of terrorists in Bijbehara area of the south Kashmir district, security forces launched a cordon and search operation this morning. The search turned into an encounter after the terrorists opened fire on the security forces, who retaliated. A jawan was injured in the gunbattle, the official said, adding he succumbed at a hospital. The exchange of fire was going on when last reports came in. On Monday, an Army major was killed and another officer and two troopers were injured in an encounter with terrorists in the district's Achabal area. A terrorist was also neutralised. The same day, terrorists also targeted an Army patrol unit with a vehicle fitted with an improvised explosive device in Pulwama district. Nine jawans and two civilians ...
Under US pressure, Afghan army starts closing checkpoints
Only a tangle of razor wire marks the entrance of a remote Afghan army checkpoint that may soon be shuttered as the government closes vulnerable outposts after years of losses to Taliban fighters and desertions. The post in Wardak province west of Kabul has been hit before, and its sagging blast walls and teetering sandbags make clear the vulnerability of the 13 troops living there for weeks on end. Now, after years of brutal attacks and mass desertions from similar checkpoints, the Afghan government is acting on long-standing American requests to close them. The aim is to shutter outposts where troops are often left like sitting ducks for Taliban attackers and consolidate them onto larger bases -- several of which are under construction. The plan is for troops to lead offensive missions, taking the fight to the Taliban instead of trying to survive day-to-day in often deplorable living conditions with little outside support. The "checkpoint is a failed tactic," Dadan Lawang, an Afghan
4 soldiers lost in one day, as key Pulwama attack man killed (2nd Lead)
The Indian Army on Tuesday killed yet another militant linked to the Pulwama attack that took away the lives of 40 CRPF troopers earlier this year. Despite losing four soldiers in past 24 hours in Jammu and Kashmir, the Army was successful in killing the Jaish man whose car was used in the February 14 attack.
JeM militant whose car was used in Pulwama attack, killed
The Jaish-e-Muhammad (LeT) militant whose car was used in the February 14 Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF troopers, was killed in a gunfight on Tuesday in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district, police said.