IAF pilots and crew dodged low hanging clouds, mist covered hills, steep valleys and landed on broken landing grounds to rescue civilians in Wayanad. In one mission, they had to descend vertically to get close to the survivors. IAF flew over 80 missions, saving lives and giving hope. This is how they did it.
Voting was underway on Friday in 102 Lok Sabha seats spread across 21 states and Union territories in the first of the seven phases of the world's largest electoral exercise, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging voters to exercise their franchise in record numbers.
At least three people lost their lives during violent protests over granting the PRC to six non-Arunachal Pradesh Scheduled Tribe communities living in Namsai and Changlang districts -- Deoris, Sonowal-Kacharis, Morans, Adivasis and Mishings -- and to the Gorkhas living in Vijaynagar.
The elections to 32 assembly constituencies in Sikkim were held simultaneously with the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 19.
The Indian Army bravely prevented the Chinese PLA's attempts to unilaterally change the status in the Yangtse area of Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang sector on December 9 and confronted it with firmness, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday.
Campaigning ended on Wednesday evening for 102 Lok Sabha seats across 21 states and Union territories which will go to polls in the first phase on April 19 with top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) making a last-gasp effort to woo voters.
'There was a wrong policy of government during the Congress regime. They didn't construct roads up to the border which left a buffer zone of 3-4 km which China occupied. Construction of new villages isn't a new thing, it's all inherited from Congress'
The CPI-M leader was the chief minister of the state from 2000 to 2011.
Along with Union Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju, Pema Khandu undertook a 107-km all-terrain vehicle ride from PTSO Lake to Mago village in Tawang district along the Indo-China border.
Voters include 8.4 crore men, 8.23 crore women and 11,371 from third gender. There are as many as 35.67 lakh first time voters, besides 3.51 crore young voters in the age group of 20-29 years.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal for 'one nation, one Election' as recommended by the Kovind panel, Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United on Wednesday asserted that it was "not scared of ED and CBI" following its break-up with the Bharatiya Janata Party, which rules the Centre and is often accused by the opposition of misusing investigating agencies.
"The voting percentage is likely to go upwards when reports from all polling stations are obtained as polling is scheduled till 6 pm in many constituencies. Final figures will be known on Saturday after the scrutiny of form 17A," the EC said.
Member of Parliament from Arunachal Pradesh Tapir Gao said on Wednesday that a teenager, identified as Miram Taron, was abducted by the People's Liberation Army from Lungta Jor area under Siyungla area on Tuesday.
'If we get 399 seats and you say we have not crossed 400, then it is your wisdom. But the '400 paar' slogan is based on calculation and considered opinion'
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has expressed readiness to join hands with India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to "properly handle" issues related to the situation on the ground in the border areas, amid the protracted border row in eastern Ladakh.
The Congress party just lost power in Arunachal Pradesh once again!
The Congress on Thursday renamed the Rahul Gandhi-led Manipur-Mumbai yatra starting on January 14 as the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which will travel through 100 Lok Sabha segments in 15 states including Arunachal Pradesh, and asserted it will prove to be as 'transformative' as his earlier cross-country march.
In a fast-paced development, the Peoples' Party of Arunachal late Thursday night suspended Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein and five other party legislators from the primary membership of the party temporarily with immediate effect for alleged anti-party activities.
Other prominent candidates among the 904 in the fray are Union minister Anurag Thakur, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's nephew Abhishek Banerjee, RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's daughter Misa Bharti.
Locals, along with many other dignitaries, paid floral tributes to the former chief minister at his official residence.
The Siang is a dramatic river that flows through a beautiful land. Rafting on it is a rare pleasure the state offers tourists, says Ajai Shukla.
Polling is scheduled in all 20 seats of Kerala, 14 of the 28 seats in Karnataka, 13 seats in Rajasthan, eight seats each in Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, six seats in Madhya Pradesh, five seats each in Assam and Bihar, three seats each in Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, and one seat each in Manipur, Tripura and Jammu and Kashmir.
The monsoon spelt mayhem in several parts of the country on Monday, particularly Mumbai where local train services and flight operations were hit and everyday life disrupted as well as Assam that was grappling with floods yet again.
The Delhi BJP, however, rubbished the allegation and challenged AAP to name the MLAs and the people who contacted them with the offer.
'We have a situation where the BJP, with less than 2 per cent vote share, has 10 MLAs.'
The marathon polling process to elect the 18th Lok Sabha ended on Saturday with the seventh phase of elections witnessing an approximate voter turnout of 62.36 per cent, amid clashes between Trinamool Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party supporters in Sandeshkhali and some other parts of West Bengal.
'Elsewhere in the world, you do not get a second chance to be launched. I think he (Gandhi) has now been launched 19 times'
The Centre's decision to extend the enforcement of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, to 12 districts of Arunachal Pradesh bordering Assam and Nagaland, has sparked sharp reactions.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday claimed that the resignation of Delhi minister Raaj Kumar Anand vindicated its stand that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest was aimed at finishing the party.
In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said when the elections are over, people will only remember him as the PM who indulged in 'divisive and communal speeches filled with lies' to avoid an inevitable defeat.
The Congress on Friday said the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is being organised by the party to raise voice against the 'injustice' of the last 10 years, as it released a 'Nyay anthem' with the tagline 'Saho Mat, Daro Mat (do not suffer, do not be scared)'.
Voting for the second phase of Lok Sabha polls will be held on Friday for 88 seats in 13 states with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi seeking a second-straight term from Wayanad in Kerala.
'The Congress, all these decades, worked on a slow Hindi-isation and Indianisation of Arunachal tribes. The RSS wants rapid Hinduisation,' says Shekhar Gupta.
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.
Responses quickly poured in from all quarters of the Opposition hailing the Supreme Court verdict on Arunachal Pradesh.
Ahead of this election, the alliance between the BJP and the SKM had broken down. One reason is the fear that like Article 370, Article 371F might also be changed.
'Rather than criticising the kind of candidates fielded by political parties from our living rooms, NOTA in a sense implores the electorate to say this by turning up in person at a polling booth to ensure their protest is registered.'
If the party's members aren't sure what it stands for, see no path to wealth or power, and endure control by a dynasty, which, almighty as it is within the party, cannot get them the votes, they are likely to explore options, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Facing a rout in other parts of the country, Congress retained power securing three-fourth majority in the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly snapping up 40 of the 60 seats and leading in two.
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