BSF fires at suspected Pakistani drone along IB in Jammu
The Hindu
They said a massive search operation has been launched to trace any weapon or explosive that it might have dropped
The Border Security Force (BSF) opened fire at a suspected Pakistani drone along the International Border (IB) in Jammu district in the early hours of Thursday, forcing it to return, officials said.
They said a massive search operation has been launched to trace any weapon or explosive that it might have dropped.
"A blinking light suspected to be from a drone was observed in Arnia area (along the International Border) about 04:15 hours today," a BSF spokesperson said.
Alert BSF troops fired at the flying object which was at a height of about 300 metres, causing it to withdraw, he said.
The security forces have been alerted to attempts being made by Pakistan and terror outfits across the border to smuggle weapons, ammunition and explosives through drones via the International Border in Jammu region to arm terrorists.
Forces have shot down several drones in the recent past in Jammu, Kathua and Samba sectors and seized their payloads including rifles, improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and sticky bombs besides narcotics. On Monday, the police had recovered three magnetic IEDs dropped by a drone in the Akhnoor border area of Jammu after BSF shot it down with its payload.
On May 29, seven sticky bombs and as many under-barrel grenades (UBG) were found with a drone that was brought down by police in Rajbagh area of Kathua district.
“Writing, in general, is a very solitary process,” says Yauvanika Chopra, Associate Director at The New India Foundation (NIF), which, earlier this year, announced the 12th edition of its NIF Book Fellowships for research and scholarship about Indian history after Independence. While authors, in general, are built for it, it can still get very lonely, says Chopra, pointing out that the fellowship’s community support is as valuable as the monetary benefits it offers. “There is a solid community of NIF fellows, trustees, language experts, jury members, all of whom are incredibly competent,” she says. “They really help make authors feel supported from manuscript to publication, so you never feel like you’re struggling through isolation.”
Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.