Up to Pakistan to prove that terrorists weren't killed in Balakot airstrikes: Nirmala Sitharaman

Agencies
April 17, 2019

New Delhi, Apr 17: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that onus to prove whether a terrorist camp was hit or not during the Balakot air strikes was on Pakistan.

In an exclusive interview to ANI, Sitharaman said that Islamabad was making a mockery of itself by taking defence attaches and selected journalists to a Madarsa which was not even touched by the Indian Air Force on February 26, instead of the terror training centre which was attacked.

"It is for Pakistan to show they have not been hit and that a number of people were not killed. They took 40 days to take a small group of journalists and defence attaches and limited that picnic that they had of these people only to the madrasa. I am telling you the madrasa was at the lower end of the foothill and behind the madrasa, into the dense forest was the training camp. So, Pakistan is making a mockery of itself," she said.

When questioned about the Indian government maintaining silence over the outcome of Balakot airstrike, the Defence Minister said, "Before the attack took place, many Pakistani websites claimed that the targeted terror camp was recruiting youngsters. The world-renowned notorious terrorist who handled many attacks like the 2008 Mumbai terror attack was calling out to young men to join him. Not only this, recruiters of the terrorist outfit were even hiring retired trainers to train future jihadis. If you look into the websites you would know how many people were being trained in the camp. So from there, one can calculate an approximate number," Sitharaman said.

Talking about her experience of handling the Balakot air strike, she said, "You are not concerned that much about the success or failure of the operation. It is your men and their lives which is the major concern. You just hope that everything goes fine. I got a call at 4 `o` clock in the morning saying that everyone was safe and it was only then that I felt relieved."

In the wee hours of February 26, 12 Indian Air Force Mirage-2000 fighter jets entered Pakistani airspace and dropped 1,000-kg laser-guided bombs on Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) camps across the Line of Control (LoC).In the airstrikes carried out at a massive JeM camp in Balakot in Pakistan`s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, India said a "large number" of terrorists, including top commanders, were eliminated.

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News Network
May 24,2020

New Delhi, May 24: Overwhelmed by the donations that poured in from the society for his help, Phool Mia, the fruit seller in north Delhi's Jagatpuri area whose mangoes were looted by the ordinary people, said that those who helped him have made his "Eid" and have shown that "humanity is still alive".

Video footage that went viral on social media, shows that scores of passers-by looted the unattended crates of mangoes of a fruit seller after a fight broke out in the neighbourhood. The incident took place on Wednesday.

"My stock of mangoes worth Rs 30,000 was kept there. Some persons were fighting with each other fearing which I left the place to avoid any sort of altercation. When I returned, I saw that they were looting the mangoes kept there. There were 50-100 people who were involved in this act," Phool Mia, narrated the ordeal.

"A video got viral about the incident after which people donated to me on a portal. They empathised with me when I was ruined. I thank the media and all those people who have donated from the bottom of my heart as they made my Eid. Now, I would be able to celebrate Eid with my children. This shows humanity is still alive," he added.

However, four people have been arrested on the basis of video footage, Delhi Police said.

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News Network
April 4,2020

Srinagar, Apr 4: Two militants were reportedly killed in an encounter with security forces in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, police said.

The security forces launched a cordon and search operation based on intelligence inputs about the presence of militants in Hardmand Guri village in Kulgam, a police spokesperson said.

"This operation based on a credible police input was launched this morning. Two terrorists have been reportedly killed so far," the spokesperson said, adding that the exchange of fire was going on.

Earlier, the police tweeted on its official handle that three militants had been trapped in the cordon. "Same group of #terrorists trapped who killed 3 civilians recently," the police said.

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News Network
January 31,2020

New Delhi, Jan 31: Chief Economic Adviser K V Subramanian on Friday said India's GDP is expected to grow at 6-6.5 per cent next fiscal as the economic slowdown has bottomed out.

As per the first advance estimates released by the National Statistical Organisation (NSO), the country's economic growth is likely to hit an 11-year low of 5 per cent in the current fiscal ending March 2020.

The Economic Survey 2019-20, prepared by a team lead by Subramanian, has projected the GDP to expand in the range of 6-6.5 per cent during 2020-21.

The Indian economy has hit the bottom and it will see an uptick from here, he said in a media briefing post the Economic Survey.

Amidst a weak environment for global manufacturing, trade and demand, the Indian economy slowed down with GDP growth moderating to 4.8 per cent in the first half of 2019-20, lower than 6.2 per cent in H2 of 2018-19.

Based on NSO's first advance estimates of GDP growth for 2019-20 at 5 per cent, an uptick in GDP growth is expected in the second half of the fiscal, it said.

According to it, the uptick in second half of 2019-20 would be mainly due to ten positive factors like picking up of Nifty India Consumption Index for the first time this year, an upbeat secondary market, higher FDI flows, build-up of demand pressure, positive outlook for rural consumption, rebound of industrial activity, steady improvement in manufacturing, growth in merchandise exports, higher build-up of foreign exchange reserves and positive growth rate of GST revenue collection.

The survey also emphasised that merger of public sector banks may increase the financial strength of the merged entities, lower the risk aversion and result in lowering of lending rates.

Further, as the implementation of GST further settles down, the increased unification of the domestic market may reduce business costs and facilitate fresh investment.

Reforms in land and labour market may further reduce business costs, said the survey, presented a day before Sitharaman's Union Budget 2020-21.

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