Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan on Wednesday said that he is deeply pained that a controversy has been raked up over his visit to slain National Security Guard commando Sandeep Unnikrishnan's house in Bangalore.Speaking in the state assembly, he said certain remarks were attributed to him and people have been misled by this.Achuthanandan made the statement in the Assembly during the Zero Hour, after the opposition United Democratic Front members raised the issue.
Two National Security Guards personnel, including an officer, were on Friday were killed and six other commandos injured during operations against terrorists in Mumbai, the first casualties suffered by the elite force during the siege.
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the death sentence of the three accused in connection with the Akshardham temple attack case of September 24, 2002 in which 34 persons, including two National Security Guard commandos were killed.
Dr V Maitreyan, leader of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's parliamentary party, on Monday arrived in Delhi with ten Members of Parliament to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram. The group of MPs will seek extra protection by personnel of the elite National Security Guards for AIADMK chief Jayalalithaa, as she has received two threats to her life last week.
The Indian Navy has deployed task groups comprising frontline destroyers and frigates in the central and north Arabian Sea and augmented its force levels in the region to undertake maritime security operations in view of recent attacks on commercial vessels in key shipping lanes.
The elite Indian counter-terror force National Security Guard celebrated its 25th anniversary at a function in Haryana on Friday. On Friday, the commandos presented a spectacular display of their firepower and skill as they recreated the scene of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
The NSG will work along with the Special Investigation Team and the City Crime Branch.
The attack occurred near the Gwadar police station in Balochistan when the convoy carrying 23 Chinese engineers was passing the police station and an IED blast took place.
The three Army men who were part of NSG's Operation Black Tornado, as the Mumbai anti-terrorist operation was codenamed, are Captain Ryan Chakravarty of Army Ladakh Scouts Regiment serving with 52 Special Action Group of the NSG, Capt Karamjeet Singh Yadav from Army's Regiment of Artillery ARTY/51 SAG, and Subedar S Anthony Samy of Corps of Engineers/Special Warfare School NSG.
United States-based Los Angeles Emergency Operation Centre will train officers of Force One, an elite force formed on the lines of National Security Guard, and Maharashtra disaster management staff.
Islamabad also summoned the Iranian charge d'affaires here and issued a strongly worded condemnation of Iran's "violation of its airspace", the Foreign Office said.
A National Security Guard commando died of exhaustion during a rigorous exercise at the elite force's garrison in Manesar. AJunior Commissioned Officer, 34-year-old Ratan Lal had recently joined the NSG on deputation from the 6 PARA (Special Forces) of the Army, and was undertaking a battle induction exercise when he collapsed on the training ground.
In terms of casualties, Friday's fire at the commercial building was the largest since the blaze at a factory in the Anaj Mandi area and the second largest since the Uphaar Cinema tragedy in 1997.
A major general, who returned to the army from the elite National Security Guards before his term was over, is believed to have been asked by the defence ministry to seek voluntary retirement following charges of abuse of official position during his stint in the commando force.
The Delhi Police said it has conducted a thorough check of all schools that received the bomb threat but found nothing.
Glimpses from the preparations and rehearsal for Independence Day.
With about 1,000 acres of land already identified on the outskirts of the city, work on setting up the regional centre of National Security Guards in Mumbai will start in two to three months, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has said."The work on setting up the regional centre of NSG would begin in two to three months as about 1,000 acres of land on the outskirts of the city has already been identified," Chavan said. The State Security Guards would also be set up in three months.
Along with Modi, senior BJP leaders including Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar, all ministers in Modi 2.0 Cabinet, took oath as cabinet ministers at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In all, 71 ministers were sworn-in along with Modi, taking the strength of the Union council to 72.
Russia, a longstanding defense partner of India, is reportedly in talks with New Delhi for sale of small arms like sniper rifles, submachine guns and grenade launchers.
One-year-old Maharashtra's elite terror combat unit formed on the lines of National Security Guard is yet to get possession of the land allotted by the government for setting up a base as the dispute with tribals over the property remains unresolved.
The raids in the twin capitals of Srinagar and Jammu along with Budgam in central and Kulgam and Anantnag in south Kashmir led to the seizure of incriminating documents and digital devices connected with the activities of JeI and its related Trusts and more than Rs 20 lakh, a spokesperson of the federal agency said.
Al-Ittihad's Asian Champions League match with Iran's Sepahan was called off on Monday after the Saudi team refused to leave their dressing-room due to a statue of an assassinated Iranian general being placed at the entrance to the pitch.
After getting the power to requisition any aircraft during emergencies, the National Security Guard has got the approval of the Indian Air Force to use its planes to transport commandos for anti-terror duties.
The Assam government has submitted written requests to the prime minister and the Union home minister for setting up of a hub of National Security Guard in Guwahati dedicated to the entire north eastern region affected by insurgency. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has submitted separate requests to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram in view of the state's and the region's vulnerability against terror, an official source said.
Former Punjab police chief KPS Gill said on Monday that the Mumbai police should have led the counter-offensive during the 26/11 terror attacks.
The United States military forces on Thursday (US local time) conducted self-defence strikes on two facilities in eastern Syria used by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated groups.
Delegates of all G20 countries, barring China, arrived in Srinagar on Monday for the third working group meeting on tourism -- a much-anticipated event for which authorities have made extensive security arrangements and spruced up the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Home Minister said the country would never forget the supreme sacrifice made by the NSG commandos during the Mumbai terror attacks.
Singh, accompanied by Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande, also carried out a comprehensive review of India's military preparedness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh and lauded the troops for guarding the border with "unwavering commitment and unparalleled courage."
"There are plans to provide helicopters for the mega city policing. So when mega city policing project is complete, mega cities will have helicopters," Chidambaram told reporters after inaugurating the first of the four hubs of elite National Security Guard commandoes in Mumbai.
The couple, along with a Chinese, a South African and an Australian national, was rescued from the hotel by the elite National Security Guards late Thursday night.
The Army chief is likely to visit Jammu and discuss the recent and ongoing counter-terrorist operations and the casualties that have been suffered in the recent terror attacks there, defence sources said.
A National Security Guard commando, who claimed to have been part of the strike team during the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, was arrested in New Delhi along with an accomplice for allegedly indulging in drug trade and 26 kilograms of a banned hypnotic drug with street value of Rs 1 crore seized, police said on Friday.
The Mumbai CP said that shifting of IPL semi-finals due to the spate of bomb blasts in Bengaluru recently to Navi Mumbai is a compliment to capability of the Mumbai and Maharashtra police.
While the rest of India remembers the 26/11 victims and martyrs today, for Major Unnikrishnan's parents, life would never be the same again."Not a single day passes when we don't think about him," says K Unnikrishnan, father of Major Unnikrishnan.
Six months after their successful commando operation in Mumbai, the National Security Guard is training its personnel on new modules to hone their urban warfare and specialised operational skills to thwart terror attacks in future.
'Even if the national security framework is to be threat-based, then the division of security threats between Pakistan and China is absurd. The two threats are one.'
NDRF director general Atul Karwal told PTI that the teams are undertaking continuous familiarisation exercises and conducting simulation drills in the temple town to respond to any contingency.