source: x SAMBALPUR l wednesday l march 13, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l CITY EDITION HUge drug haul from Pakistani boat off the Porbandar coast In a joint operation, narcotics worth `480 crore was seized from a Pakistani boat with six crew on the Arabian Sea, 350 km off Porbandar coast It was a sea-air coordinated operation 60 packets of methamphetamine seized Following specific intelligence inputs, the Indian Coast Guard, Narcotics Control Bureau and the anti-terrorist squad coordinated their efforts on March 11-12 night. With the Coast Guard’s ships strategically positioned in the Arabian Sea, its Dornier was deployed to spot the Pakistani boat. The boat tried to scoot, but was chased, forced to stop and boarded ■ ■ The boat, crew and drug seized are being taken to Porbandar coast for further investigation. Gujarat ATS Superintendent of Police Sunil Joshi said nearly 60 packets of methamphetamine were seized This is the second major anti-narcotics operation carried out at the Arabian Sea, off the Porbandar coast in the last one month 80 kg of narcotics seized in the drug bust at Arabian sea CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Khattar makes way for Saini as new Haryana CM Pilot ejects before crash Air Force authorities said the Tejas fighter jet was manned by a lone pilot, who successfully ejected moments before the crash. He was promptly evacuated to the Army Hospital Fire, explosion trigger panic After the crash, the jet caught fire and there was an explosion, which triggered panic in the vicinity. Local residents immediately alerted the fire brigade and the blaze was brought under control Alliance with JJP collapses; new chief minister to face trust vote today Videograb of Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya (R) administering the oath of office to BJP leader Nayab Singh Saini as chief minister of Haryana, on Tuesday | PTI Ha r p r e e t B a j w a @ Chandigarh Nayab Singh Saini was on Tuesday sworn in as the new chief minister of Haryana, hours after the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) walked out of the ruling coalition led by BJP’s Manohar Lal Khattar. It gave the BJP a shot at spring cleaning ahead of the general elections, as the uncharismatic Khattar, 69, made way for his loyalist Saini, 54, who is an OBC leader. Despite the coalition’s collapse, Saini claims he has the support of seven Independents. “We have asked the Speaker to conduct the floor test tomorrow as we have support of 48 MLAs,’’ Party positions Haryana Lokhit Party: 1 INLD: 1 Independents: 7 Total seats: 90 Cong: 30 BJP: 41 JJP: 10 he said. Saini represents Kurukshetra in Parliament and was named the Haryana BJP president in October last year. His appointment as CM is meant to deflect anti-incumbency against Khattar, who ruled Haryana for nine- and-a-half years. Sainis constitute around 8% of the total population in Haryana. The community is influential in Haryana’s north, including districts like Ambala, Kurukshetra and Hisar. The coalition collapsed as the JJP chief and outgoing deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala demanded that his party be alloted two of Haryana’s 10 Lok Sabha seats. The constituencies his party was intent on contesting from were Hisar and Bhiwani-Mahendragarh. Dushyant had won the Hisar Lok Sabha in 2014. Just two days ago, BJP’s Hisar MP Brijendra Singh resigned from the party as he anticipated that his seat would go to the JJP. The JJP is a breakaway faction of the Indian National Lok Dal. It appears to be in trouble as five JJP MLAs stayed away from a legislative party meeting in Delhi. These lawmakers are likely to form a breakaway group and could support BJP. As for Khattar, he could get a Lok Sabha ticket from Karnal. And sitting Karnal MP Sanjay Bhatia could be appointed the new Haryana BJP president, sources said. A Tejas aircraft in flames after it crashed near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan on Tuesday. (Inset: The pilot who ejected safely before the crash) | pti R A JESH A SN A NI & M AYA N K SIN G H @ Jaipur / New Delhi IN the first such incident since its maiden test flight in 2001, a Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) of the Indian Air Force crashed near a residential colony in Jaisalmer around 2 pm on Tuesday during an operational training sortie. The pilot successfully ejected from the aircraft before the crash. There were no casualties. A court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident, the IAF said. The accident happened when the indigenously built fighter jet was returning to the Jaisalmer air base after taking part in the Bharat Shakti military 1,551 Hindu Bangladeshis served Quit India notice celebrate CAA implementation A s h i s S e n a pat i @ Kendrapara Ashalata Ray of Kharinashi, a seaside village in Kendrapara district, has finally found closure to the decades of fear and uncertainty after the Central government on Monday notified the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules, 2024. She will finally be called an Indian citizen and will not be deported. Now 52-year-old, Ashalata’s parents and family had fled Bangladesh, then East Pakistan, in the aftermath of partition. They were among the hundreds of families who had sailed to the coastal district of Kendrapara through the years and taken refuge in the seaside villages. But they had been considered illegal immigrants and leading their lives in fear and Manufacturing drags IIP growth to 3.8% in January M O NI K A YA D A V @ New Delhi INDIA’s industrial output growth, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), slowed to 3.8% in January this year from 4.2% in December 2023 owing to poor show by the manufacturing sector. According to government data released on Tuesday, the manufacturing sector grew at 3.2% in January compared with 4.5% in December 2023. The data also shows that the December IIP was revised upwards to 4.2% following a revision of core sector growth to 4.9% from 3.8%. The eight core industries are coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement, and electricity. These sectors constitute 40% of the IIP and serve as a key indicator to industrial growth trends. In January 2023, industrial output had grown 5.8%. In January this year, mining and electricity production rose 5.9% and 5.6%, respectively, compared with 5.2% and 1.2% in DecemContinued on P9 ber 2023. Ashalata Ray stands near her house | Express apprehension all these time. Like her, the spectre of deportation was haunting as many as 1,551 suspected illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. They were also served “Quit India” notice by the district administration under the Foreigners Act 1948 in 2005. Authorities had deleted their names from the voters’ list. “The state government served ‘Quit India’ notices in 2005 on 1551 Hindu people including me. The Narendra Modi government has done the right thing by notifying the CAA to grant Indian nationality to people like us. Nobody will call us foreigner now,” said a visibly re l i eve d a n d e x u b e r a n t Ashalata. There has been a celebratory atmosphere in several coastal villages inhabited by the Bangladeshi refugees since the announcement. “Our grandfather came to the seaside village Hariabanka in 1948 from East Pakistan after the partition as a registered refugee,” said Ajit Haldar (64) of Kharinashi village under Mahakalapada block. Continued on P9 exercise in Pokhran, which was witnessed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top military brass. Jaisalmer is roughly 100 km away from the exercise venue in Pokhran. Sources said the aircraft crashed into a five-room hostel for the Bhil community in Jawahar Nagar near Jaisalmer. There were three students in the hostel compound at the time of the crash but they were unhurt as the fighter jet damaged one of the rooms. LCA Tejas, which took to the air on January 4, 2001 holds significance for the IAF as it is set to replace the ageing squadrons of MiG fighter jets and become the mainstay of the force in the coming years. The IAF has a First-ever crash of Tejas fighter jet in Jaisalmer, pilot safe sanctioned strength of 42 combat squadrons but it has come down to around 30. A squadron comprises 16-18 aircraft. Currently, the IAF has two operational Tejas squadrons. The first IAF Squadron to induct the Tejas was No 45 Squadron, the Flying Daggers, in July 2016. Flying Bullets, raised in 2020, is the second Squadron. Manufactured by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics, the aircraft is a potent platform for air combat and air support missions. Reconnaissance and anti-ship operations are its secondary roles. In February 2021, the Cabinet Committee on Security approved procurement of 73 LCA Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircraft and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-1 Trainer aircraft at a cost of `45,696 crore. In November 2023, the Defence Acquisition Council cleared the purchase of an additional 97 LCA-Mk 1As at a cost of `65,000 crore. The LCA Mk-1A will have updated avionics — Active Electronically Steered Radar, updated Electronic Warfare suite, and a Beyond Visual Range missile capability The new var. iant will be capable of firing a number of weapons from increased stand-off ranges. Once this order is completed in the stipulated 15 years, IAF will have 40 LCA in initial configuration, over 180 LCA Mark-1A and at least 120 LCA Mark-2 planes.
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