Pak troops kill 2 women in border shelling

October 8, 2014

Jammu, Oct 8: Two women of a family were today killed and 15 others injured in heavy mortar shelling and firing by Pakistani troops along the international border in Jammu and Kashmir, taking the death toll to eight in the continued ceasefire violations by Pakistan for over a week.

Pak troops kill
Pakistani Rangers targeted 50 border out posts (BoPs) and 35 hamlets overnight along the 192-km boundary. The escalation has triggered an exodus, with 16,000 people moving to safer areas from border villages.

Over 70 people have been injured in the ceasefire violations by Pakistan, including 15 today.

Pakistani Rangers target Chillary village along IB in Samba district around 0730 hours today. In the mortar shelling, Shukuntla Devi and her daughter-in-law Poli Devi were killed while their husbands along with two children of Poli were injured, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Samba, Anil Mangotra said.

All the inhabitants of village with a population 1,700 have fled from border hamlet to safety.

Along the Line of Control (LoC), the firing stopped last night in Mendhar & Poonch sectors after Indian forces gave a befitting reply, defence officials said.

Among the 15 injured today, three were BSF jawans. All of them have been shifted to Government Medical College (GMC) hospital, the SSP said.

Jorda Farm border hamlet was hit by shelling at 0900 hrs, police officials said. Six persons were injured when they were returning after night stay in shelter camp in R S Pura. They were shifted to GMC hospital for treatment, they said.

Earlier, a BSF spokesman today said that "Pakistani Rangers again resorted to unprovoked mortar shelling and heavy firing on BSF posts all along IB since 2000 hours last night."

As many as 50 BSF BoPs were affected by the fire from Pakistan side, he said, adding areas along IB in Arnia, R S Pura, Kanachak and Pargwal sub-sectors in Jammu and Samba districts were targeted.

Eight people have been killed and 71 others including BSF jawans injured in Pakistani shelling and firing along LoC and IB in Jammu and Poonch districts in over two dozen ceasefire violations since October 1 this year.

On Monday, Pakistani troops violated ceasefire by resorting to heavy firing and shelling in Arnia belt along IB in Jammu in which 5 people were killed and 34 injured.

On October 3, Pakistani troops violated ceasefire in Gulamarg sector of Kashmir Valley and in Poonch and Jammu sectors in which a girl was killed and six persons were injured.

There have been nine ceasefire violations along the LoC and eight along the IB in Jammu. These include seven in Poonch along LoC, eight along International Border in Jammu and two in Gulmarg sector of Kashmir.

Six persons have been killed and 50 others including BSF jawan injured in Pakistani shelling and firing along LoC and IB in Jammu and Poonch districts in the ceasefire violations this month.

On October 6, Pakistan had violated the ceasefire thrice in Bhimber Gali, Kerni and Balakote-Mankote in Poonch district.

On October 5, there were two ceasefire violations. Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by resorting to heavy firing and shelling in Arnia belt along IB in Jammu in which five persons were killed and 34 others were injured.

There was another ceasefire violation during the day when Pakistani troops targeted forward India posts along LoC in Balnoie sub-sector of Poonch district.

On October 4, Pakistani troops resorted to heavy firing and mortar shelling along LoC in in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, drawing equal retaliation from the Army.

Pakistani Rangers violated the ceasefire four times on October 3 by shelling forward areas and villages along LoC and International Border in Gulamarg sector of Kashmir Valley and Poonch and Jammu sector in which a girl was killed and six persons were injured.

On October 1 and 2, Pakistani troops had violated the ceasefire twice along the LoC in Poonch district resulting in injuries to six persons.

Pakistani troops had targeted civilian hamlets on October two, leaving six persons injured.

Protest demonstrations, meanwhile, continued in Jammu for the second consecutive day today against the ceasefire violations by Pakistan.

The Youth wing of the Nationalist Congress Party held a protest demonstration against the violation.

BJP workers also held protest demonstrations against the firing at Manyari border belt of Samba district.

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News Network
June 20,2024

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Amid the massive row surrounding the cancellation of the UGC-NET exam, the Education Ministry has said that the test was scrapped because its integrity may have been compromised and has emphasised that it won't hesitate to take action against anyone.

Govind Jaiswal, joint secretary in the Education Ministry, told the media that the exam, for which over 11 lakh students had registered, was cancelled on the basis of inputs received from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre. The exam, which was held on Tuesday, was cancelled yesterday.

"The matter has been handed over to the CBI for a thorough investigation. A fresh examination shall be conducted, for which information will be shared soon," he said.

The ministry, he said, will not hesitate in taking action against those involved in wrongdoing. "At this level, when the investigation is underway, we can't disclose more details. NTA has its own mechanism and a lot of other stakeholders are involved. This all is under investigation," he said.

The exam was conducted by the National Testing Agency, which is under fire for alleged irregularities in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for admission to medical colleges. A total of 24 lakh aspirants took the exam. Reports of irregularities have now prompted nationwide protests and triggered demands for a re-test.

The government, he said, has taken proactive steps.

The ministry official also responded to questions on why the exam was conducted in OMR (pen and paper) mode this time -- a shift from the earlier practice. "Based on NTA's experience of four years, inputs were received from different stakeholders and this decision was taken."

UGC-NET is a test to determine a candidate's eligibility for the post of assistant professor in universities and colleges, and also for the award of research fellowships. The Education Ministry yesterday ordered that the exam -- held Tuesday -- be scrapped after inputs that its integrity may have been compromised.

The cancellation of the UGC-NET examination amid the ongoing protests against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) has provided fresh ammunition to the Opposition parties to target the Narendra Modi government ahead of the Parliament session.

The Congress described the Narendra Modi-led NDA government as "paper leak government". Other members of the INDIA bloc, including Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress and Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) have also slammed the government over the two exams.

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News Network
June 28,2024

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New Delhi, June 28: At least one person was killed and six others injured after a portion of the roof of the Delhi airport's Terminal-1 (T1) collapsed on cars amid heavy rain this morning. All departures from Terminal 1, which has only domestic flight operations, have been temporarily suspended, the civil aviation ministry said.

"Heavy rain in early morning today has resulted in the collapse of the canopy of Delhi airport Terminal 1. As a result of which, flights to and from Terminal 1 have been closed till further notice. Alternate arrangements are being made for smooth operation of the flights," the ministry said in a post on X.

Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu visited the airport and inspected Terminal 1. He said that the airport will temporarily shift operations to Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. 

Calling it a "very serious" incident, the newly-elected minister announced that a thorough inspection of the structure at the airport would be carried out. The technical reasons and other aspects of the incident would be known after the investigation, he said.

He also announced a compensation of ₹ 20 lakh for the family of the victim and ₹ 3 lakh each for those injured.

T1 has only domestic flight operations by IndiGo and SpiceJet. The airport has three terminals, T1, T2 and T3, and handles around 1,400 flight movements daily.

The officials said the roof sheet and the support beams collapsed, damaging four cars parked in the pick-up and drop area of the terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, one of the busiest airports in the world. The incident was reported to the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) around 5.30 am.

During the rescue operations, a man was seen being taken out from a car on which an iron beam had fallen.

Indigo, Spicejet Cancel Flights 

IndiGo said that its flight operations were impacted due to structural damage to Terminal 1 at Delhi Airport. In a statement, the low-cost carrier said that the incident has led to flight cancellations in Delhi as "passengers are not able to enter the terminal".

"Passengers already inside the terminal will be able to board their planned flights, but those with flights later in the day will be offered alternatives," an IndiGo spokesperson said.

"This unplanned situation has also led to operations across the network being impacted. Customers are advised to keep track of and confirm their flight status before leaving for the airport," the statement added.

Spicejet also cancelled its flights until further notice.

"Please keep a watch on our Social Media channels for further updates," the airline told its passengers.

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Agencies
June 16,2024

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Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday said that some irregularities have come to light regarding the NEET examinations while speaking to news agency ANI.

Pradhan told the publication, "On the recommendations of Supreme Court, the order has been given for re-test of 1,563 candidates," further adding, "Some irregularities have come to light in two places. I assure students and parents that the government has taken this seriously."

Pradhan admitted in the interview that a lot of improvement is required in the National Testing Agency (NTA), the autonomous body tasked with conducting nationwide competitive examinations.

"Even if the big officials of the NTA are found guilty, they will not be spared," Pradhan said while adding, "The government is concerned about this, no culprit will be spared, they will get the harshest punishment."

The National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (UG), or NEET, was held on May 5 across 4,750 centres with around 24 lakh candidates appearing for it. The results were expected to be declared on June 14 but were announced on June 4 -- the day the general election results were announced -- apparently because the evaluation of the answer sheets was completed earlier.

There have been allegations of question paper leaks in states like Bihar and other irregularities in the pan-India exam.

The Centre and the National Testing Agency on Thursday told the Supreme Court they had cancelled the grace marks given to 1,563 candidates who took the examination for admission to MBBS and other such courses.

They will have the option to either take a re-test or forgo the compensatory marks awarded to them for loss of time, the Centre said.

The Congress had on Friday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "silence" on the matter and asserted that only a Supreme Court-monitored forensic probe could safeguard the future of lakhs of young students.

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