India will conduct nationwide civil defense mock drills on Wednesday, including air-raid warning sirens and training civilians to protect themselves in the event of a "hostile attack." The drills come amid rising tensions with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack. The Ministry of Home Affairs has instructed all states and union territories to participate in the exercise, which will be conducted up to the village level.
The Union Home Ministry has asked several states to conduct mock drills on May 7 amid rising tensions with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack. The drills will include operationalising air raid warning sirens, training civilians on civil defence, and rehearsing evacuation plans. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been holding high-level meetings as India considers countermeasures against the April 22 attack that killed 26 civilians.
How to conduct the mock exercise with active public participation of people was discussed threadbare at a high-level meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan. Top civil and police officers of the country participated in the meeting, official sources said.
Meanwhile, a precautionary blackout has been enforfced in the multiple areas amid the esclating tensions between India and Pakistan.
Colonel Sofiya Qureshi revealed that 300 to 400 drones were deployed across 36 locations, with several being shot down by Indian forces using both kinetic and non-kinetic methods.
More than 4.5 lakh pilgrims paid their obeisance at the natural ice Shiva Lingam formation inside the cave shrine last year.
An official order said that Rao, a 1986-batch Indian Police Service officer from Odisha cadre, has been appointed Director General of Fire Services, Civil Defence and Home Guard by 'temporarily downgrading the post' to the level of additional director general.
The move came after a high powered selection committee comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Justice A K Sikri and leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, in a split verdict, decided to transfer him 21 days ahead of the completion of his tenure.
In a letter sent to Verma Wednesday, the MHA said, "You are directed to join the post of DG, Fire Services, Civil Defence & Home Guards immediately" which was seen as rejection of his letter
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel headed state government has written to the Union home ministry and the ministry of rersonnel asking them to direct the CBI not to register fresh cases in the state, the officials said citing an official statement.
The last meeting of the panel took place on January 24 but it remained "inconclusive".
The tenures of three more officers -- Joint Director Arun Kumar Sharma, Deputy Inspector General Manish Kumar Sinha and Superintendent of Police Jayant J Naiknavare -- have also been curtailed, it said.
Shukla, a 1983-batch Indian Police Service officer, is at present chairman of Madhya Pradesh Police Housing Corporation in Bhopal.
The meeting was being attended by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, they said.
A two-storeyed building housing a garment factory had collapsed in Kalher village near the powerloom town in the wee hours killing one worker on the spot and injuring 24 others, they said.
Senior IPS officers Javeed Ahmed, Rajni Kant Misra, S S Deswal and Shivanand Jha are said to be among the front-runners for the coveted post.
The judge said that permission for prior sanction to prosecute Asthana was not required considering the facts of the case.
Breaking his silence, the ousted CBI chief said that he was transferred on the basis of allegations made by only one person, who was inimical to him.
This whirlwind of activity only confirms that rushing around creating an impression of pompous busy-ness is not the same thing as solving problems, argues Mitali Saran.
He has been removed from the high-profile post on the charges of corruption and dereliction of duty making him the first chief in the history of the agency to face such action.
'The selection process of the CBI chief has not been appropriate.' 'Three successive CBI directors have been found in corrupt moral practices.' 'A thorough investigation needs to be done before appointing anyone to such a post.'
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