A mysterious illness has claimed 17 lives in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, with the latest victim being a young girl named Yasmeen Kousar. The deaths have sparked concern and an inter-ministerial team has been sent to investigate the cause. The patients experienced symptoms such as fever, pain, nausea, and loss of consciousness before dying within days of hospitalization. The J&K government has ruled out a communicable disease of bacterial or viral origin.
Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi visited Dehradun on Monday and reviewed operational preparedness, interacted with troops, and received briefings on security initiatives and infrastructure development in the region. He emphasized the importance of maintaining peak operational efficiency and adaptability in a complex security environment. The visit highlights the Army's proactive approach to ensuring mission readiness and boosting troop morale.
Seven accused army personnel, including a major general and two colonels, escaped from any punishment even though a military court initially and a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry found they were involved in the alleged crime.
The body of one of the nine workers trapped inside a coal mine in Assam's Dima Hasao district was recovered by army divers on Wednesday on the third day of the rescue operations, officials said.
The aftermath of the cloudburst triggered by heavy rainfall in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
The Manipur government on Sunday extended the suspension of mobile internet for two days in nine districts of the state till December 3.
Here is a chronology of terror incidents in the region this year.
Twenty-four army personnel were killed and five others were injured today when a bus plunged into a ravine in northern Pakistan, officials said.
The encounter broke out after the terrorists opened fire at the search party personnel, who retaliated, the officials said.
A high-level inter-ministerial team conducted a six-hour investigation in Badhaal village, Rajouri district, Jammu and Kashmir, to ascertain the causes of death of 17 members of three families under mysterious circumstances. The team, led by a director-rank officer in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, collected samples and briefed by senior district, health and police officers. The team's visit follows the deaths of 16 people between December 7 and January 19. The investigation is ongoing, with authorities focusing on potential neurotoxins and a spring that tested positive for pesticides.
Police have filed a case against the army personnel, an official said, adding that records kept at a police station were also damaged.
After making landfall near Puducherry on November 30, Cyclone Fengal weakened on Sunday, but torrential downpour under its influence paralysed the union territory, with the Army stepping in to evacuate stranded persons in inundated streets.
NSG 'Sky Marshals' travel alone or in pairs on-board Indian airlines aircraft like normal passengers but they have a concealed weapon and some specialised gadgets to combat hijackers and rescue passengers in case such an incident takes place.
As per the notification, exemption in VAT would be limited to sale of 3,000 motorcycles, scooters and mopeds and 1,200 four-wheelers every year, they said adding that serving personnel of Indian Army, other security establishments and ex-servicemen will get the benefit of tax exemption.
Security forces on Sunday intensified their operation to flush out terrorists from the forest area of Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on the second day of encounter that has left two soldiers and a civilian dead.
In the first such incident in the past two decades, terrorists exchanged fire with security forces in the dense forests of the Zabarwan range in Kashmir on Sunday, November 10, 2024, forcing residents to flee in panic as additional forces were mobilised to strengthen the cordon.
A Junior Commissioned Officer of the Army's special forces laid down his life on Sunday, while three more soldiers were injured in a gunfight with terrorists in a remote forest area in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district, officials said.
In view of the discharge of water from the Khadakwasla, Mulshi, Pavana and other dams in the Pune region, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde directed authorities to be alert and shift people from dangerous zones to safer places.
Four policemen were injured after they were allegedly beaten up by army personnel in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Wednesday.
Close on the heels of the molestation of a girl in Guwahati that sparked public outrage, a teenager met the same fate, allegedly at the hands of army jawans in Assam's Sibsagar district, police said on Saturday.
Eleven persons, including five army personnel, five policemen and a civilian were accused of conspiring to kill and murdering Showkat Ahmad Kataria, a priest in a mosque at Zadibal in Srinagar, in a fake encounter on October 4, 2006. The accused include Colonel Vikram Singh of 13 Rashtriya Rifles, his second in command V K Sharma, Major Rishi, Junior Commissioned Officer Puran Singh and Naik Satya Lal.
On the first day after the fall of Hasina's government, a tense atmosphere prevailed at the secretariat on Tuesday, the Dhaka Tribune newspaper reported.
The officials said helicopters and drones were pressed into the service to help the forces, who are also using human and technical intelligence inputs to aid the search operation which has been launched to trace and neutralise the terrorists behind the attack.
The funeral of 12 Kuki-Zo youths, including 10 killed in a gunfight with the CRPF in Jiribam district, will take place in Churachandpur on Thursday. The Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF) has called for a complete shutdown in Churachandpur in honour of the deceased men. The funeral will be attended by Mizoram Chief Minister's Adviser H Ginzalala.
Five Army personnel were killed and as many injured on Monday when a group of heavily-armed terrorists ambushed a patrolling party in Badnota area in Kathua.
Father of martyred Army captain Brijesh Thapa on Tuesday said he was proud of his son who was killed in action while fighting terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda.
Operation has been launched and further details being ascertained, the spokesman said without giving details about the assailants who fired on the sentry post.
Five army personnel were killed and six injured on Monday when terrorists ambushed their vehicle in the remote Machedi area of Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district, officials said.
According to intelligence reports, the terrorists entered the Akhnoor region through the Battal area, and a wireless set seized from them confirmed their association with the JeM.
Army personnel deployed in icy heights like Siachen and Kargil now can look forward to munch mutton and chicken biryanis or non-vegetarian sandwiches with all nutrients and taste attached, thanks to the efforts of a leading food laboratory.
The girl, from Jiribam, had complained to her mother that army personnel of the 12th Grenadier Rifles had molested her during frisking.
A robbery case has been filed against a group of unidentified army personnel in Baramulla district of north Kashmir, police sources said on Thursday.
A while later, 'Meira Paibis' -- civilian group of Meitei women -- gathered at the spot, and demanded that the weapons be handed over to them, he said.
Five Indian Army personnel, including a Lt Colonel, all part of a UN peacekeeping mission, were on Tuesday killed and as many injured when their convoy was ambushed by rebels in South Sudan.
The gunfight, lasting more than an hour, took place at Jaddan Bata village in the Kastigarh area around 2 am when the terrorists opened fire on a temporary camp established in a government school for the ongoing search operation, they said.
This is fourth consecutive day of firing and shelling by the Pakistan army.
The Kerala government on Tuesday sought the assistance of the Indian Army for rescue operations in the wake of the devastating landslides in Wayanad district.
The attack took place near Shashidhar in the evening when the vehicles were moving towards Sanai Top in the district's Surankote area.
India's highest peacetime gallantry medal, the Ashok Chakra, would be awarded to three Army personnel who laid down their lives while fighting militants in Kashmir.
Three Army personnel died and several others were injured when their truck skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge in Arunachal Pradesh's Upper Subansiri district, police said on Wednesday.
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