Month: June 2025

[ad_1] KALIMPONG/KOLKATA/DARJEELING: Two Army personnel and a porter died when their camp in Sikkim's Mangan was swept away late Sunday in a landslide triggered by heavy rain. Six others - four Army personnel and two family members - are missing.The landslide hit the camp in Chaten, 3km from Lachen in Mangan's Chungthang sub-division, around 7pm. The bodies of Havaldar Lakhwinder Singh, Lance Naik Munish Thakur and porter Abhishek Lakhada were recovered from debris Monday, while four people were rescued with minor injuries.The missing include Lt Col Pritpal Sandhu (GSO-I), his wife Sqn Ldr Arati B Sandhu (retd) and daughter Amaira Sandhu, Subedar Dharamveer, Sep Sainuddin P K and Sep Sunilal Muchahary. Officials said teams were working round the clock in challenging terrain and adverse weather conditions to find the missing.Army mourns lives lost in Sikkim tragedy | page 12 The […]

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat train service this week which will mark the first rail link to Kashmir valley from the rest of the country.The PM was supposed to greenlight the train on April 19 but could not do so because of inclement weather. The opening ceremony had to be deferred because of Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor, two developments which have invested what was supposed to be a major infrastructure project with much greater significance.Coming against the backdrop of Pahalgam terror attack that was conceived to reverse tourism-based economic development, running of the first train to Srinagar will be seen as both Centre's continuing commitment to the border state and a message of defiance, sources said.Last month, railways successfully ran its first "trial special train", carrying soldiers, on Katra-Qazigund section, including […]

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: India's flyer footfall is projected to more than double from the current 24 crore to almost 50 crore annually by 2030, which is more than the population of many countries, PM Narendra Modi said Monday while showcasing the country's aviation success story at the International Air Transport Association's 81st AGM here.Modi also said India's aviation ambitions included commercial space flights and integrating interplanetary journeys into civil aviation. While these will take time, the country is geared to make this a reality through its prowess in transformation and innovation, he said. PM Modi pointed out that India already had the most inclusive workforce in aviation with 15% of pilots being women, three times the global average of 5%. By 2047, the number of airports will expand to 350 - there are 162 currently in operation - while cargo […]

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi is scheduled to hold a meeting of council of ministers Wednesday, the first after Operation Sindoor and days before completion of his first year in his third term in office.TOI has learnt that though ministers have been informed about the meeting, its agenda has not been shared yet. In each of these meetings, different govt departments make detailed presentations about schemes and programmes and their progress.Sources said a discussion on precision strikes on terror bases in Pakistan under Operation Sindoor and the thrust on public outreach to mark the 11th year of Modi govt are likely to feature in the meeting. [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] New Delhi: Russia is committed to delivering the remaining units of S-400 air defence system to India by 2025-2026, said Russian deputy chief of mission Roman Babushkin Monday while highlighting that the system performed "very efficiently" during recent India-Pakistan tensions.Babushkin also said Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is likely to visit India soon. The visit will help prepare the ground for India-Russia summit that will see President Vladimir Putin travelling to India later this year.Babushkin confirmed that the contract for the remaining two S-400 units is on track, with deliveries expected to be completed by 2025-26, in line with publicly announced timelines. India had signed a $5.43 billion deal with Russia in 2018 for five squadrons of S-400 Triumf missile system, a state-ofthe-art air defence platform capable of engaging multiple aerial threats at long ranges. Three squadrons have already […]

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: PM Modi held talks with the visiting Paraguay President, Santiago Pena, underlining new opportunities for bilateral cooperation in areas including digital technology, critical minerals, energy, agriculture, healthcare, and defence. Modi also expressed deep appreciation for the South American country's strong condemnation of Pahalgam terror attack, saying the two countries stood united in the fight against terrorism.The PM said there's immense possibility of cooperation to fight against shared challenges such as cybercrime, organised crime, and drug trafficking. "Both leaders unequivocally condemned terrorism and violent extremism in all forms and manifestations. On behalf of all Paraguayans, Pena expressed his deep solidarity with victims and families of the terror attack," said MEA secretary (east) P Kumaran.On trade and economic ties, Modi said India has a preferential trade agreement with MERCOSUR and the two sides can work together to expand it. […]

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: In a barb apparently directed at his own party, ex-Union minister Salman Khurshid Monday said it is distressing to see those who had joined govt's campaign to sensitise the global community on Pakistan's terror agenda being criticised for their efforts. Congress has slammed Centre's move to send all-party delegations abroad, calling it a sham."When on mission against terrorism, to carry India's message to the world, it's distressing that people at home are calculating political allegiances. Is it so difficult to be patriotic?" he wondered in a post on X that appeared to echo the exasperation of his colleague Shashi Tharoor, who has been at the receiving end of attacks from party spokespersons for agreeing to head one of the all-party delegations.Explaining his post, Khurshid said the need of the hour is to speak in a single voice […]