5 killed during protests against Citizenship Act; 3 among them shot dead by cops

Agencies
December 15, 2019

Guwahati, Dec 15: Five people died, including three after being shot by police, following violent protests in northeast India over  Citizenship Act, with authorities maintaining internet bans and curfews in some regions.

Tension remained high at the epicentre of the unrest in Assam state's biggest city, Guwahati, with a fresh demonstration expected Sunday over the legislation even as some shops opened amid an easing of the curfew during the day.

The legislation, passed by the national parliament on Wednesday, allows New Delhi to grant citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants who entered India from three neighbouring countries on or before December 31, 2014 -- but not if they are Muslim.

In Assam, three people died in hospital after being shot, while another died when a shop he was sleeping in was set on fire and a fifth after he was beaten up during a protest, officials said.

Train services were also suspended in some parts of the east on Sunday after violence in eastern West Bengal state, with demonstrators torching trains and buses.

Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday called again for calm, saying local cultures in northeastern states were not under threat, amid fears the new law will grant citizenship to large numbers of immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

"Culture, language, social identity and political rights of our brothers and sisters from the northeast will remain intact," Shah told a rally in eastern Jharkhand state, News18 television network reported him as saying.

For Islamic groups, the opposition, rights activists and others in India, the new law is seen as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist agenda to marginalise India's 200 million Muslims. He denies the allegation.

Rights groups and a Muslim political party are challenging the law in the Supreme Court, arguing that it is against the constitution and India's secular traditions.

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love boy
 - 
Sunday, 15 Dec 2019

India army must protect the people of indian not BJP and outsider....i hope they will do it

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News Network
February 14,2020

New Delhi, Feb 14: AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his swearing-in ceremony scheduled to take place at the Ramlila Maidan on February 16, senior party leader Gopal Rai said on Friday.

Rai, the convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party's Delhi unit, said a letter was sent to the prime minister on Friday morning.

All seven Delhi MPs and eight newly-elected BJP MLAs have also been invited for the oath-taking ceremony, Rai told news agency.

No chief minister or political leaders from other states will be part of the event as it will be a "Delhi-specific" ceremony, Rai had said on Thursday.

Kejriwal, through front-page advertisements in newspapers, has urged Delhiites to attend his oath-taking ceremony as he is set to become the chief minister of Delhi for the third consecutive term.

Kejriwal will take oath as Delhi Chief minister along with his cabinet at Ramlila Maidan at 10 am on Sunday.

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News Network
March 19,2020

New Delhi, Mar 19: Hit hard by coronavirus, budget carrier IndiGo today announced that it will cut salaries of senior employees. IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta, who will himself take a 25% cut in salary, said senior vice presidents and above are taking a 20% pay cut while vice presidents and cockpit crew are taking a 15% pay cut.

With precipitous drop in revenues, the very survival of airline industry is now at stake, Dutta said while announcing the pay cut. "We have to pay careful attention to our cash flow so that we do not run out of cash," Dutta said adding that he knew how hard it was for families to take a cut in "take-home pay".

"With a great deal of reluctance and a deep sense of regret, we are therefore instituting pay cuts for all employees, excluding Bands A and B, starting April 1, 2020," the chief executive officer said. Band A and B are the lowest brackets in salary class, where most of the employees are.

IndiGo's flight operations chief Ashim Mitra had written an email to pilots this morning saying that the economic environment has deteriorated significantly and no airline is insulated from this severe downturn.

"It has become a necessity to initiate some tough calls and we are working on a string of measures that will be shared and implemented over the next few days and weeks," Mitra said.

With countries sealing their borders partially or fully across the world due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, aviation sector has been hit extremely hard as most airlines globally have drastically curtailed their flight operations.

Another budget airline GoAir has already terminated contracts of expat pilots amid curtailed operations due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Citing "unprecedented" decline in air travel, the budget carrier announced it was suspending international operations and offering leave without pay programme to its staff on a rotational basis.

Government-owned Air India may also cut salary of employees by 5% amid its growing financial woes particularly in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which has nearly grounded its entire international operations. The reduction will be across the board, according to a PTI report.

The loss-making airline, which is in the process of a second attempt of privatization after failing to get a single buyer nearly two years ago, has already taken some steps such as reduced flying allowances to cabin crew besides withdrawing entertainment allowance to executive pilots, among others.

“Air India is considering a 5 per cent pay cut to its employees as it faces huge financial crisis due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, which has brought almost its entire international operations save the US, Canada and a few other markets, to the ground," a source told news agency.

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Agencies
July 29,2020

Ambala, Jul 29: The five French Rafale fighter jets touched down at Haryana's Ambala after covering a distance of nearly 7,000 km to join the Indian Air Force.

The jets were given a customary water salute upon their arrival at the airbase, some 220-km from the India-Pakistan border.

The formal induction ceremony of the aircraft would be held later. The aircraft would move out soon to another operational base for operational sorties.

After taking off from France on Monday, the aircraft made their first stopover at a French base in the United Arab Emirates on their way to India and were refuelled by the French Air Force tanker aircraft somewhere around Greece or Israel over the sea before landing there.

The five were flown by pilots of the 17 Golden Arrows led by Commanding Officer Group Captain Harkirat Singh along with other pilots, Wing Commanders MK Singh, R Kataria, Sidhu and Arun.

The five Rafale fighter aircraft took off on Monday for India from an airbase in France. The weather in Ambala was cloudy with one or two spells of rain or thundershowers being forecasted.

India had signed a Rs 59,000-crore deal on September 23, 2016 for 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation.

In view of Rafale fighter jets landing in the city on Wednesday, Section 144 is being imposed in four villages close to Ambala airbase. Munish Sehgal, DSP Traffic, Ambala, said the administration is on a high alert and the gathering of people on roofs and photography during landing has been strictly prohibited.

The five Rafale fighter jets had entered the Indian Airspace earlier in the day. "The Birds have entered the Indian airspace..Happy Landing in Ambala!" tweeted the Defence Minister's Office earlier on Wednesday.

The Defence Minister's Office further informed that the five Rafales were escorted by 02 SU30 MKIs as they enter the Indian airspace.

Here are the key Highlights of Rafale:

It's an Omni role aircraft.
4th Generation Fighter Jet.
It's a two-engine aircraft.
It's top speed is 2,222 Km/Hr.
It can go up to 50,000 Ft.
It's Rate of Climb is 60,000 Ft/Min.
It's Operational Range is 3,700 Km.
Ground Support.
In-depth Strike.
Anti-Ship Strike.

Reach and combat radius is 1600-1700 Kms.
Capable for Long Range standoff Mission.
Equipped with Air-to-Ground Missile System.

Specifically designed to take off from an extremely cold high altitude region.

It will also be fitted with the air-to-air beyond visual range interception combat and self-defence missile.

It can also carry the best long range air-to-land missile.

It has multi-directional radar system which can detect 40 targets at the same time in a range of over 100 Kms.

It has advance radar warning receiver to identify hostile tracking system a towed decoy system to thwart incoming missile attacks.

Rafale will ensure that our pilots will not have to cross the border to strike the target, that is about 600 Km in enemy territory.

It will get French industrial support for 50 years. 

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