India as a sovereign democratic republic completed 75 years of its eventful journey on Sunday, with the stage set at the Kartavya Path in New Delhi for the ceremonial parade during which the country will showcase its military prowess and rich cultural heritage.
Ahead of Republic Day, the Indian Army announced on Thursday the addition of two new features to this year's parade: battlefield surveillance systems and a Defebce Research and Development Organisation tableau showcasing Pralay, short-range ballistic missiles.
A probe into the biggest drug haul of 6,000 kg methamphetamine in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands has shown that the Myanmarese smugglers were using the Starlink satellite internet services for navigation through the mid-sea, a top police officer said on Thursday. Authorities suspect that the drug consignments may be linked to notorious international cartels, such as Tse Chi Lop's (the Chinese El Chapo) or Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes' (El Mencho) operations.
The fire on a merchant vessel off the Karwar coast has been brought under control after more than 24 hours but one of the ship's 21 crew members was missing, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) said on Saturday.
Three crew members went missing after an Indian Coast Guard (ICG) helicopter on a rescue mission crashed into the Arabian Sea off Porbandar coast in Gujarat, officials said on Tuesday.
The two missing persons have been identified as 43-year-old Hansraj Bhati and seven-year-old Johan Mohammad Nisar Ahmed Pathan, the police said.
More than 150 express/passenger trains running through South Eastern Railway jurisdiction have been cancelled in view of the severe cyclonic storm, an SER official said.
Two passengers died and 75 others were rescued after a speed boat crashed into a ferry off the Mumbai coast. The ferry, carrying 80 passengers and five crew members, was on its way to Elephanta Islands when the speed boat circled it before crashing into it. The Navy and Coast Guard launched a massive rescue operation, with 11 Navy boats, three Marine Police boats, and a Coast Guard boat deployed. Four helicopters were also involved in the search and rescue operation. Police, Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority personnel, and local fishermen are assisting in the rescue efforts. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that seven to eight passengers remain missing.
As Odisha and West Bengal are bracing for a severe cyclonic storm, governments of both states started evacuating people and while deciding to close educational institutions in vulnerable areas.
A joint operation by anti-narcotics agencies led to the seizure of about 700 kg of drugs and the arrest of eight Iranian nationals from Indian territorial waters off the Gujarat coast around Porbandar on Friday.
The fishing boats Allar-dan had 15 fishermen and Farhad 16 fishermen in them.
Of the three crew members who went missing after an Indian Coast Guard (ICG) helicopter crashed into the Arabian Sea off Gujarat coast, the bodies of its pilot and a diver have been recovered while search for the third one is still on, officials said on Wednesday.
The cyclonic storm is likely to make landfall between Bhitarkanika National Park and Dhamra Port in Odisha early Friday with wind speeds of up to 120 kilometres per hour (kmph), it said.
The overnight operation in the Arabian Sea was carried out in coordination with the Gujarat Anti-terrorism Squad and the Narcotics Control Bureau, it said.
Despite facing inclement weather, rising water levels and the challenges of working through the night, the Madras Engineers Group team completed the bridge at landslide-hit Choorlamala in Wayanad.
The ICG and Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad apprehended the fishing boat in a joint operation in the high seas on Sunday afternoon, the coast guard said in a release in Ahmedabad.
Indian Coast Guard has arrested 25 Sri Lankan fishermen on charges of trespassing and illegal fishing in Indian waters, official sources said on Monday. The fishermen were illegally fishing in five boats in Indian waters 48 nautical miles east of Velankanni when they were arrested on Sunday night, they said.
In a sea-air coordinated operation, narcotics worth Rs 480 crore were seized from a Pakistani boat with six crew in the Arabian Sea near Porbandar by a multi-agency team led by the Indian Coast Guard, the defence ministry said on Tuesday.
As Cyclone Dana barrels toward the coasts of Odisha, threatening to impact nearly half of the state's population, the government is racing against time to execute a massive evacuation plan aimed at relocating about 10 lakh people in several coastal districts to safety. In West Bengal, the cyclone is set to bring heavy rainfall in several southern West Bengal districts, including Kolkata, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said.
Declaring that women cannot be left out, the Supreme Court on Monday told the Centre to ensure that women are granted permanent commission in the Indian Coast Guard and said the court will do it if the government doesn't.
Col Singh was a combat veteran and was awarded Sena Medal during his tenure as second-in-command of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles.
'We condemn recent illicit missile launches in the region that violate UN Security Council resolutions. We express serious concern over recent dangerous and aggressive actions in the maritime domain. We seek a region where no country dominates and no country is dominated one where all countries are free from coercion, and can exercise their agency to determine their futures,' the declaration said.
The Indian Coast Guard has filed an affidavit in response to a plea moved by a woman officer seeking permanent commission.
The Indian Navy continues to monitor the situation very closely with all stakeholders and remains committed to ensuring the safety of merchant shipping in the region, it said in a statement.
The veteran actor proved that age is just a number for an artiste.
The project would be carried out indigenously and the majority of the technology and equipment to be used would be made in India.
In another feat, Lt Jamyang Tsewang, the first commissioned naval officer from Ladakh, also successfully graduated as a qualified helicopter pilot, according to the Indian Navy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Thursday embark on a near two-day meditation exercise at the famed Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari, and the district has come under a thick security blanket following the high profile event.
The total allocation to the defence sector is 12.9 per cent of the total budget of the government of India for the financial year 2024-25.
A merchant vessel, with around 20 Indian crew, was hit by a suspected drone about 217 nautical miles off the Porbandar coast in the Arabian Sea on Saturday but there was no report of any casualties in the incident, Indian military sources and a maritime security agency said.
The Coast Guard intercepted a Pakistani fishing trawler with 13 crew members onboard on Wednesday, November 22, 2023.
The proposals cleared by the DAC include new-generation anti-tank mines, air defence tactical control radar, heavy-weight torpedoes, medium-range maritime reconnaissance and multi-mission maritime aircraft, flight refueller aircraft and software-defined radios.
The bench asked whether the Union was still adopting "a patriarchal approach" despite the judgements of the top court on grant of permanent commission to women officers in the three armed forces- Army, Air force and the Navy.
All arrangements, including heavy security, are in place for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 45-hour stay at the famed Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari on Thursday, as he would sit on meditation at the place named after the revered Hindu saint.
This is the first cyclone in the Bay of Bengal this pre-monsoon season.
In a significant move, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has accorded approval for the procurement of more than 200 BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and associated equipment for the Indian Navy at a cost of around Rs 19,000 crore, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
A deep depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclonic storm, named Remal, on Saturday evening and is likely to turn severe before making landfall between the coasts of West Bengal and Bangladesh on Sunday midnight, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The Indian Coast Guard has evacuated a Chinese national from a Panama-flagged research vessel on the Arabian Sea after he suffered a heart attack, the maritime security agency said in a statement on Thursday.
As severe cyclonic storm 'Remal' initiated its landfall process between the coasts of Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal on Sunday evening, authorities took swift action, evacuating over 1 lakh people from vulnerable areas of the state to safety.
The court also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on the six persons sentenced to 20-year imprisonment, out of the eight crew members who were on board the merchant vessel 'Henry'.
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