Air Force hero Abhinandan Varthaman gets Vir Chakra

Agencies
August 14, 2019

New Delhi, Aug 14: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who downed an enemy jet during an aerial combat with Pakistan in February and was held captive for three days, has been conferred the Vir Chakra, India's third-highest war time gallantry medal.

The defence ministry announced the military awards on the eve of Independence Day celebrations.

From the Army, Sapper Prakash Jadhav of the Rashtriya Rifles will be posthumously awarded Kirti Chakra, the second highest peacetime gallantry award.

Squadron Leader Minty Agarwal, who played a key role as flight controller during the aerial combat between India and Pakistan on February 27, has been awarded Yudh Seva medal.

The IAF received a total of 13 awards including five Yudh Seva Medals and seven Vayu Sena Medal.

At least five Mirage fighter pilots, who were part of the operation to strike a Jaish-e-Mohmamed terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistan's Balakot on February 27, were among the awardees.

The Army also got eight Shaurya Chakra awards and 98 Sena medals. The Navy got one Shaurya Chakra award.

"We are very happy that Wing Comm Varthaman has been conferred with Vir Chakra," said an IAF official.

Varthaman, 36, was captured by the Pakistani Army on February 27 after his MiG-21 Bison jet was shot down in a dogfight with Pakistani jets during aerial combat.

Before his jet was hit, he downed an F-16 fighter of Pakistan. Varthaman was released on the night of March 1 by Pakistan.

Varthaman had suffered injuries while ejecting from his MiG-21 Bison during the aerial combat.

A high-level medical board of the Indian Air Force has already cleared Varthaman to return to the fighter cockpit.

Days after he returned from Pakistan, Varthaman conveyed to the IAF brass his wish to resume flying at the earliest.

IAF fighter jets bombed a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp in Balakot on February 26, nearly two weeks after the Pulwama terror attack.

Pakistan retaliated on February 27 by attempting to target Indian military installations.

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News Network
February 1,2020

New Delhi, Feb 1: Activist Sharjeel Imam's mobile phone and laptop along with some anti-CAA posters have been seized from his house in Bihar's Jehanabad and rented flat in Vasant Kunj, police said on Friday.

Imam was arrested by the Delhi Police's Crime Branch from Jehanabad in a sedition case and he is being questioned by police for his alleged inflammatory speeches in Aligarh and at the Jamia Millia Islamia University here.

During investigation, a laptop and a desktop belonging to Imam were recovered from his rented flat at Vasant Kunj, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajesh Deo said.

His mobile phone was recovered from his house at his native place in Jehanabad's Kako area on the instance of his brother, he said.

Imam had prepared anti-CAA and anti-NRC pamphlets with "misleading and intimidating facts" and then distributed them in various mosques, the copy of which have been recovered, police said.

The shop from where he made photocopies of the pamphlets has also been identified, they added.

Imam was arrested on Tuesday. He was brought to Delhi on Wednesday and produced at the residence of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Purushottam Pathak in the evening amid tight security after which police were granted his five-day custody.

The PhD scholar at the Jawaharlal Nehru University's Centre for Historical Studies has been booked for sedition and other charges in several states after videos of his alleged inflammatory speeches, made during protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), were circulated on the social media.

An FIR was registered against Imam by the Delhi Police on January 25 under IPC sections 124A (sedition) and 153A (promoting or attempting to promote disharmony or feelings of enmity on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever) among others.

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News Network
July 12,2020

Hubli, Jul 12: Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Sunday said that the Monsoon session of Parliament will be held with the government ensuring all health precautions for COVID-19 are followed.

"Monsoon session (of Parliament) will certainly be held. The government will do all the formalities and take all precautions," the Parliamentary Affairs Minister told reporters here.

Earlier in March, the Parliament had passed 12 bills during the curtailed budget session with Lok Sabha passing 15 bills and Rajya Sabha 13.
During the session, 19 bills were introduced in the two Houses (18 in Lok Sabha and 1 in Rajya Sabha). The two Houses were adjourned sine die after completion of the budgetary process including passage of the Finance Bill.

The second part of the session was curtailed in view of the threat of the spread of coronavirus.
On June 1, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had held a detailed discussion on holding the ensuing monsoon session of Parliament in view of the coronavirus-induced norm of social distancing, sources said.

They said the leaders have taken note of reports suggesting that the fight against COVID-19 is likely to be a long haul.

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News Network
April 24,2020

Apr 24: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in bringing bodies of Keralites who died in the Gulf countries due to non-COVID-19 reasons to the state without any delay for performing last rites in their home towns.

In a letter, he wanted Modi to direct Indian embassies to issue necessary clearances without seeking individual approvals from the Ministry of Home Affairs and avoid any delay so that the remains reach Kerala early. It has been learnt that a 'clearance certificate' from the Indian embassies concerned was required to process the application for bringing home the bodies.

The embassies are insisting on production of no-objection certificate from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, he said in the letter, a copy of which was released to the media here on Friday. The Centre had already agreed that in case the deaths are not COVID related, such certificates are not necessary.

The bodies are now being brought in the cargo planes as passenger flights are not being operated due to the lockdown. Chief Minister said he had received several grievances from the NRKs in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries on the delay in bringing home the bodies of those who died there. "They are already under tremendous stress and anxiety due to the lockdown imposed in those countries and the consequent stoppage of international flights", Vijayan said.

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