Kochi (Kerala) , September 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning commissioned the first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant in a ceremony at Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi.
Ahead of the commissioning, PM Modi received the Guard of Honour at the Shipyard recieved a Guard of Honour as he arrived for the Commissioning ceremony.
Designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house Warship Design Bureau (WDB) and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited, a Public Sector Shipyard under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Vikrant has been built with state-of-the-art automation features and is the largest ship ever built in the maritime history of India.
The Indigenous Aircraft Carrier is named after her illustrious predecessor, India’s first aircraft carrier, which had played a vital role in the 1971 war.
It has a large amount of indigenous equipment and machinery, involving major industrial houses in the country as well as over 100 MSMEs. With the commissioning of Vikrant, India will have two operational aircraft carriers, which will bolster the maritime security of the nation.
As per the Indian Navy, the 262-meter-long carrier has a full displacement of close to 45,000 tonnes which is much larger and more advanced than her predecessor.
Speaking about the specifications of IAC Vikrant, Vice Admiral Hampiholi had said: “Vikrant carries a mix of about 30 aircraft. It could fly the MiG 29k fighter aircraft in anti-air, anti-surface and land attack roles. It will be able to operate the Kamov 31 which is an early air warning helicopter, the recently inducted but yet-to-be commissioned MH-60R which is a multi-role helicopter as also our very indigenous ALH. It displaces about 45,000 tonnes which is definitely the largest warship in the Indian naval inventory.”
With Vikrant, India has joined a select group of nations having the niche capability to indigenously design and build an aircraft carrier.IAC Vikrant consist of 14 decks with 2,300 compartments which can carry around 1,500 sea warriors and to cater to the food requirements, around 10,000 chapatis or rotis are made in the ship’s kitchen, which is called the ship’s galley.
The ship is powered by four Gas Turbines totalling 88 MW power and has a maximum speed of 28 Knots. Built at an overall cost of close to Rs 20,000 crores, the project has been progressed in three Phases of the contract between MoD and CSL, concluded in May 2007, December 2014 and October 2019 respectively.
The ship’s keel was laid in Feb 2009, followed by launching in August 2013.
With an overall indigenous content of 76 per cent, IAC is a perfect example of the nation’s quest for “Aatma Nirbhar Bharat” and provides a thrust to Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.
Vikrant has been built with a high degree of automation for machinery operation, ship navigation and survivability, and has been designed to accommodate an assortment of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft.
The ship would be capable of operating an air wing consisting of 30 aircraft comprising of MIG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31, MH-60R multi-role helicopters, in addition to indigenously manufactured Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) and Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) (Navy). Using a novel aircraft-operation mode known as STOBAR (Short Take-Off but Arrested Landing), the IAC is equipped with a ski- jump for launching aircraft, and a set of ‘arrester wires’ for their recovery onboard.
The ship has a large number of indigenous equipment and machinery, involving major industrial houses in the country viz. BEL, BHEL, GRSE, Keltron, Kirloskar, Larsen & Toubro, Wartsila India etc. as well as over 100 MSMEs.The indigenisation efforts have also led to the development of ancillary industries, besides the generation of employment opportunities and bolstering plough back effect on the economy, both locally as well as pan-India.
A major spin-off of this is the development and production of indigenous warship-grade steel for the ship through a partnership between the Navy, DRDO and Steel Authority of India (SAIL), which has enabled the country to become self-sufficient with respect to warship steel. Today all the warships being built in the country are being manufactured using indigenous steel, added the Navy.
Several design iterations, including the use of 3D Virtual Reality models and advanced engineering software, were used by the Directorate of Naval Design in shaping the design of the carrier. CSL had also upgraded their shipbuilding infrastructure as well as enhanced productivity skills during the building of the ship. (Agencies)
PM Modi commissions India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant
Militants open fire at non-local labourer in J&K’s Pulwama; Victim hails from West Bengal
Srinagar, September 2: Militants on Friday opened fire at a non-local labourer in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, a police official said.
Victim Muneerul Islam hails from West Bengal. He has been shifted to a hospital, the official said.
The incident took place in Ugergund area in the morning. An inquiry is being carried out, he added. (Agencies)
Mainly dry weather to continue in Jammu and Kashmir: MeT
JAMMU, Sep 2: Dry weather is likely to continue in Jammu and Kashmir during the next 24 hours, the Meteorological (MeT) department said on Friday.
“Weather is likely to remain dry in J&K during the next 24 hours”, an official of the MeT office said.
Jammu had 26.3 degrees, Katra 23, Batote 17.5, Banihal 17.2 and Bhaderwah 16.7 as the minimum temperature.
Srinagar recorded 17.2 degrees Celsius, Pahalgam 11.8 and Gulmarg 10.5 degrees Celsius as the minimum temperature this morning.
Drass town in Ladakh clocked 6.7 degrees, while Leh registered 10.8 degrees. (Agencies)
India sees over 6,000 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours; active caseload declines
New Delhi, Sep2: With 6,168 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India’s tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 4,44,42,507, while the active cases declined to 59,210, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.
The death toll has climbed to 5,27,932 with 21 new fatalities that include two deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 a.m. stated.
The active cases comprise 0.13% of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.68%, the Health Ministry said.
There has been a decline of 3,538 cases in the active COVID-19 caseload in 24 hours.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.94% while the weekly positivity rate was 2.51%, the Health Ministry said.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,38,55,365 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19%.
According to the Ministry, 212.75 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.
India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.
India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4, three crore on June 23 last year and four crore on January 25 this year.(Agencies)
Three days Historic Mela Patt begins with religious fervor in Bhadarwah
By King RJ
Bhadarwah, Sept 01:- Three-day annual holy Mela Patt, devoted to Lord Vasuki Nag, the presiding deity of Bhadarwah valley, began on Thursday evening with full religious fervor and gaiety after two years of pandemic restrictions.
To commemorate the historic meet between Mughal emperor Akbar and King Nag Pal of Bhadarwah, three day historic Mela Pat started at ancient Mohalla Khakhal of Bhadarwah.
Mela Pat- a symbol of Nag culture, is celebrated every year on Nagpanchmi and hundreds of people converge at Khakhal Mohallah to pay obeisance to the bravery and spiritual power of Raja Nag Pal.
After two years of pandemic restrictions in which only necessary rituals were performed, this year hundreds of people from different parts of the UT of J&K irrespective of cast and religion are participating in the festival.
The festival was first celebrated in 16th century by King Nag Pal, the ruler of small principality then called Bhadarkashi presently known as Bhadarwah.
The historic festival is being organized after 7 days of conclusion of the Kailash Yatra in which thousands of people drawn from different parts of the state and elsewhere participated to take blessings of Vasuki Nag. 
DDC Chairman Doda Dhananter Singh Kotwal, Vice-Chairperson Sangeeta Bhagat, Chairman Organizing Committee Advocate Naresh Gupta, President Sanatan Dharam Sabha Bhadarwah Virendar Razdan, DDC Councillor Yudhvir Thakur, Mast Nath Yogi, Advocate Chanderkant Gupta and Neeraj Manhas were also present on the occasion.
The traditional Dikko Dance, a unique folk dance, was also performed, which is a regular feature of the festival and people irrespective of religion, cast and gender participate in it, which makes this festival a symbol of Peace, Pride and communal harmony.
Main organiser of the festival, Advocate Naresh Gupta said that this festival is not only the symbol of religion but also depicts our proud historical background and mutual brotherhood. Perhaps this is the only festival of India which is being celebrated since last more than 600 years without any untoward or ugly incident, which clearly shows communal harmony of this area and respect for Raja Nag Pal irrespective of religion.While expressing his resentment over the attitude of Tourism department especially Bhadarwah Development Authority (BDA) for their failure to promote this annual event, Naresh Gupta said that we were expecting from BDA that they will promote this festival to attract tourists but they are in deep slumber and there is dire need to wake up them.
He applead LG Administration to announce this festival as heritage festival and get this featured in tourism’s annual calendar.
On the occasion, display of 'Patt' was performed with complete the rituals. The royal robbing that was presented by King Akbar to Raja Nagpal of Bhadarwah in his honour was also displayed during the ‘Mela Patt’.On the occasion, people also installed many stalls of eatables, toys, religious books and others at the venue.
Vice Chairperson DDC Doda Sangeeta Bhagat said that I was mesmerized and had goosebumps after participated in the unique rituals of this ancient culture, this fair which is a symbol of Nag Culture has got all the ingredients to be showcased to the outer world and surely attract national and international visitors.
Sangeeta Bhagat said that this is an indication of post modernism that's why young generation is returning to its roots. I enjoyed our tradition and this is one of the most enjoyable experience of my life and I simply loved it. We hope all people get blessings of Lord Vasuki Nag during this auspicious festival. “We will try to bring it on the pilgrimage tourism, so that outer world can also experience this unique culture and tradition, ” Sangeeta added.
Meanwhile elaborate security arrangements were made in and around the venue of festival to thwart any untoward incident.
SHO Bhadarwah Jatinder Singh Rakwal was present along with his team at the venue to supervise the security arrangements.
SHO Bhadarwah Jatinder Singh Rakwal said that the elaborate security arrangements has been made in and around the venue of festival.LG Sinha launches ‘drug-free J&K’ campaign, says efforts on to check drug smuggling
JAMMU, Sept 1: Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha kick-started a month-long drug de-addiction campaign here on Thursday and said efforts were underway to put an end to the smuggling of narcotic substances from across the border.
He sought cooperation of all sections of society for the success of the ‘Nasha Mukt’ campaign and lauded security forces personnel for their alertness and the seizure of huge quantity of smuggled drugs in the Union Territory.
”In my Independence Day speech, I have talked about making J&K fear free, corruption free, drug free and employable. These are my four pledges and given the rising graph of drug menace, it was taken up on priority,” Sinha told reporters.
He said the social welfare and health departments are already working to ensure a ”Nasha Mukt J&K” (drug-free Jammu and Kashmir) along with the local police who are also running a good number of de-addiction centres.
Seeking support of all sections of society for the success of the month-long campaign, he said, ”Every one has to make his contribution and support the efforts of the administration to achieve the goal of a drug-free J&K.” Asked about continuous attempts by Pakistan to push narcotics into Jammu and Kashmir, he said there has been a large seizure of drugs compared to previous years and “we will continue our efforts to ensure that such type of activities do not take place.” “The security forces are fully alert to the challenge and more arrangements will be made to stop smuggling (of narcotics from Pakistan),” Sinha said.
He said it is the responsibility of the government to ensure rehabilitation and treatment of those who have fallen victim to the menace of drugs.
Addressing the gathering, the lieutenant governor said the administration has adopted a zero tolerance policy against drug dealers and drug traffickers.
”It is the collective responsibility of the society to join this fight against drug menace,” he said.
He said it is not difficult for police to identify drug peddlers and nab them before they hand over the contraband to buyers.
Sinha also called for strict punishment to those involved in the drug smuggling and trafficking. (Agencies)
Over 36 Congress leaders, J-K NSUI leaders resign in solidarity with Ghulam Nabi Azad
JAMMU, September 1: Over 36 Congress leaders including leaders of the National Students’ Union of India, the youth wing of the Congress party, from various universities in Jammu have submitted their resignations in solidarity with Ghulam Nabi Azad’s who recently announced his exit from the grand old party.
Among those who resigned include State Vice President Anirudh Raina and State General Secretary Manik Sharma who stepped down from the basic membership of the NSUI.
The development comes just in the wake of mass resignations from the Jammu and Kashmir unit of the Congress party in support of Ghulam Nabi Azad.
On Tuesday 64 senior Congress leaders, including former Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, resigned from the party in support of veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad.
According to sources, the leaders submitted their resignations to Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi.
The General Secretary of NSUI-J&K unit, Manik Sharma in his resignation letter said, “I support resignation of Ghulam Nabi Azad from Congress party. I am fed up with the favouritism in the party. The work of ground-level workers doesn’t matter in the party. This is the reason why we failed in 90 per cent of the elections.”
Piyush Sharma-President NSUI GDC Bilawer, along with 19 other NSUI members, resigned and said, “I along with my team members resign in solidarity with our leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad and Manohar Sharma Ji.”
Azad resigned from all posts on Friday, directly blaming Rahul Gandhi for his ‘Immaturity’ and for destroying the consultative mechanism of the party.
In a hard-hitting, 5-page note to the interim party president, Sonia Gandhi, Azad claimed that a coterie runs a party and she was just a nominal head. all major decisions are taken by Rahul Gandhi or rather worse his security guards. (Agencies)
NIA announces cash reward of Rs 25 Lakh on Dawood Ibrahim, Rs 20 Lakh on Chhota Shakeel
New Delhi, September 1: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday declared a cash reward of Rs 25,00,000/- against the fugitive ‘Global Terrorist’ Dawood Ibrahim and his close associates.
A press note that was released by NIA on August 18, 2022, said Dawood Ibrahim who has been
designated as a “Global Terrorist” by the United Nation under United Nations Security Resolution 1267 and also listed under the Fourth Schedule of the UAPA Act, 1967 runs an international terrorist network, namely D-Company.
The press note further stated, “Ibrahim and other associates of him are involved in various terrorism, and criminal activities such as arms smuggling, Narco terrorism, underworld criminal syndicate, money laundering, circulation of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN), unauthorized possession and acquisition of key assets for raising terror funds and is working in active collaboration with the international terrorist organization including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Al Qaeda (AQ).”
Meanwhile, NIA also named a total of five terrorists on whom cash rewards have been declared by the agency for passing on any kind of information pertaining to the absconding accused leading to their arrest. Which can be shared on the E-mail address; do.nia@gov. in and info.mum.nia@gov. in.
However, for security reasons agency will keep the identity of the informant hidden.
The amount of cash reward assigned to the close associates of Dawood Ibrahim who are also running an international terrorist network — D-Company are; Rs 20,00,000/- for Shakeel Shaikh alias Chhota Shakeel, Rs 15,00,000/- for Javed Patel alias Javed Chikhna, Rs 15,00,000/- for Ibrahim Mushtaq Abdul Razzaq Memon alias Tiger Memon and Rs 15,00,000/- for Haji Anees alias Anees Ibrahim Shaikh.
Earlier on August 5, The National Investigation Agency arrested one Mohd Salim Mohd Iqbal Qureshi alias Salim Fruit, brother-in-law of gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s close aide Chhota Shakeel, said the officials on Thursday.
The arrest was made in a case relating to the activities of D Company. The case was filed suo moto on February 3 pertaining to terrorist or criminal activities.
“Salim Fruit, a close aide of D Company, played an active role in extorting huge amounts of money in the name of Chhota Shakeel via property dealings and dispute settlements for raising terror funds in furtherance of terrorist activities of D company,” said NIA. (Agencies)
Another Fatal road accident reported in Jammu
Jammu, 1 September, 2022: Another road accident has been reported from Purmandal area of Jammu in which a car fell from a cliff near the Purmandal bridge.
According to the report, the mishap occurred when a speeding car accidently fell from the Purmandal bridge at around 11pm in the night in Samba area of Jammu.
The local police has informed the media that a car carrying two passengers skidded off the bridge’s cliff when it lost its control and then after some time when the locals came to know about the incident they rescued the injured persons and shifted them to the GMC Jammu for the treatment.
BJP targets Nitish Kumar as Bihar law minister resigns
The BJP in Bihar targetted Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after Law minister Kartikeya Singh, who was shifted out of the law ministry, resigned on Wednesday.
Taking a dig at the chief minister BJP Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi said that the Nitish Kumar government lost its first wicket and is set to lose more soon.
“The first wicket of Nitish Kumar government fell and more will tumble in future. Nitish Kumar was clean bowled in the first over,” Modi said.
Coming under fire for allowing a kidnap accused to continue as the law minister, Nitish Kumar on Wednesday swapped Kartikeya Singh’s portfolio with the sugarcane minister Shamim Ahmed. Soon after, Singh tendered his resignation which was accepted by the chief minister’s office and forwarded to Governor Phagu Chouhan.
Another MLA Niraj Kumar Bablu said: “There is an Ali Baba Chalis Chor government running in Bihar. Nitish Kumar changed the portfolio of his cabinet minister but everyone is tainted. It is a kind of Ali Baba Chalis Chor government.”
Alok Ranjan, the former minister and a BJP MLA said: “Nitish Kumar is politically so compulsive that he is offering minister posts to leaders having criminal backgrounds. Nitish Kumar left the NDA by saying that he disrespected saffron leaders. Now, I want to say that he would realise the disrespect while staying among tainted leaders within Mahagathbandhan in Bihar.”