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[ad_1] NEW DELHI: In what could be a decisive battle against Left-wing extremism ahead of the March 2026 deadline to eliminate the scourge, nearly 5,000 security personnel are closing in on the 'core' area of CPI (Maoist) spanning the tri-junction of Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Maharashtra, having "surrounded" 300 Naxalites, including top leaders belonging to the dreaded People's Liberation Guerrilla Army and Battalion No. 1.Sources in Chhattisgarh govt said the "largest ever" anti-Naxal operation along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border has been on since Wednesday, with five Naxalites killed so far, three bodies recovered, and several Naxal hideouts busted.The "decisive" joint operation is being undertaken by multiple elite units. In a first, IAF choppers deployed to airdrop forces deep into forested areas These include CRPF and its elite CoBRA battalion, Chhattisgarh's District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF), Bastar Fighters, Maharashtra's C-60 […]

[ad_1] While addressing a press briefing, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce shunned a Pakistan journalist who asked for a comment on India–Pakistan border tensions. "I am not going to be remarking on it. I appreciate this, and perhaps, we will come back to you with another subject. I will say nothing more on that situation. The President and the Secretary have said things, as have the deputy secretary; they have made their positions clear. I will not continue with something of that manner."The US government has expressed unwavering support for India following the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam on 22 April, which claimed 26 lives. The attack targeted tourists at Baisaran meadow and has been described as one of the worst since the 2019 Pulwama tragedy. President Donald Trump personally called Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 23 April to […]

[ad_1] KOLKATA/SURAT: Pahalgam tragedy survivors said on Thursday the terrorists recorded the massacre on their bodycams while they went about killing the tourists one after another.Sohini (37), the widow of Florida-based techie Bitan Adhikary (40), is yet to come to terms with her husband's death. "I can't wipe those nightmarish moments from my memory. The gunman who shot my husband down had a video camera strapped to his forehead. It meant they were recording the acts or may have been streaming it for some persons to watch," she said. Bitan was held at gunpoint and after he kept quiet when asked to reveal his religion, he was asked to recite the first kalma. When he said he couldn't, admitting that he was a Hindu, he was shot dead.Recounting the moments at Baisaran Valley before the massacre, Sohini said: "We were […]

[ad_1] JAISALMER: Radha Bheel, a 27-year-old Pakistani national living near Jaisalmer, is faced with the prospect of being separated from her toddler son just days after their emotional reunion. And the cause of her despair is India's decision to revoke Pakistani visas with immediate effect in response to the Pahalgam terror attack, with all Pakistani nationals ordered to return to their country by April 27.Radha's plight is shared by many Pakistani Hindu families in Rajasthan who are on short term visas (STVs). In Jaisalmer alone, a pall of gloom has descended over 1,200 Pakistani citizens on STVs.As for those on long term visas (LTVs), ASP (CID) Narpat Singh, who's also the Foreign Regional Registration Officer (FRRO), said his office is awaiting orders from home ministry and assured that long-term visa holders need not be concerned for now.Radha, her husband Raju […]

[ad_1] KOLKATA: When the coffin of 56-year-old Samir Guha, a senior statistical officer of the central government, reached his Sakherbazar Chanditala residence in Kolkata on Wednesday night, his family laid him on the Durga mandap of his beloved Bijoy Sangha Club, located right opposite his flat. Guha lost his life in the Pahalgam terror attack on Tuesday."For the last six years, Guha made this mandap his home. Whether it be Durga puja or Kali puja, he arranged puja items, getting up early in the morning and starting arrangements that continued late into the night. He was the first to join us during the collection of puja subscriptions. It is only natural that we bid him the final farewell at this beloved spot," said Swapan Das, a senior club functionary.Guha's body reached his home in Behala at 9.10pm. About half an […]

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: The Indian armed forces are maintaining a high-state of operational readiness amid heightened tensions with Pakistan, even as Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi will visit J&K on Friday and the rival navies conducted firing drills in their own waters in the Arabian Sea. General Dwivedi will review the operational situation along the 778-km Line of Control and the counter-terror operations in the hinterland during his visit to the Udhampur-based Northern Command, as well as, Srinagar, and Anantnag, a senior officer told TOI. The validity of the LoC itself came under sharp focus on Thursday after Pakistan announced suspension of the 1972 Simla Agreement, which had transformed the then ceasefire line into the LoC with both sides agreeing not to alter it unilaterally.The ceasefire had first come into effect in Nov 2003 with an understanding between the rival […]

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: India stepped up its diplomatic offensive against Pakistan on Thursday, briefing foreign envoys, including the Chinese ambassador, about the cross-border linkages of the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack. In addition to the spate of measures it announced on Wednesday to block all contacts with Pakistan, the govt also asked all Pakistanis in India to leave the country saying their Indian visas would stand revoked with effect from April 27.Medical visas too will remain valid only till April 29. "All Pakistani nationals currently in India must leave India before the expiry of visas, as now amended,'' the external affairs ministry said. However, the govt clarified later in the evening that the revocation of visas will not apply to long-term visas already issued to Hindu Pakistan nationals, and these will remain valid. The govt also strongly advised Indian nationals […]

[ad_1] NEW DELHI: Hours after Pakistan said any attempt to divert water meant for it under the Indus Waters Treaty will be an "act of war", an unfazed India on Thursday formally communicated to its hostile neighbour that the 1960 treaty will be held in abeyance with immediate effect."The obligation to honour a treaty in good faith is fundamental. However, what we have seen instead is sustained cross-border terrorism by Pakistan targeting the Indian Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir," Jalshakti ministry secretary Debashree Mukherjee said in a letter marked to her Pakistan counterpart Syed Ali Murtaza.Mukherjee said the resulting security uncertainties have directly impeded India's full utilization of its rights under the treaty. "Furthermore, apart from other breaches committed by it, Pakistan has refused to respond to India's request to enter into negotiations as envisaged under the treaty, and […]

[ad_1] President Droupadi Murmu will visit Vatican City on April 25-26 to attend the state funeral of Pope Francis and offer condolences on behalf of the govt and people of India.On April 25, the President will pay homage to Pope Francis by laying a wreath at Basilica of Saint Peter in Vatican City. The following day, Murmu will attend the funeral mass of at Saint Peter's Square in Vatican City, which will be attended by dignitaries from around the world. [ad_2] Source link

[ad_1] Navy officer Lieutenant Vinay Narwal was killed in a terror attack in Kashmir's Baisaran valley while honeymooning with his wife, Himanshi. Irshad Ahmad, a local ATV operator, heroically transported the couple to safety, concealing the officer's death from his bride to spare her immediate grief. NEW DELHI: As the first responder to reach Navy officer Lieutenant Vinay Narwal after terrorists opened fire on tourists in Pahalgam on Tuesday, ATV operator, Irshad Ahmad, made a split-second decision.He ferried Vinay Narwal and his wife Himanshi to an ambulance, knowing the officer had died, but choose to shield the young bride from the truth. “I checked his pulse and realised he was dead. But I told his wife he was alive… I didn’t want her to panic,” Irshad said, recalling the rescue that turned into a moment of unbearable sorrow. The 26-year-old […]