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In the last 24 hours, India reported 21,257 fresh COVID-19&nbsp;cases and 271 deaths, the Union Health Ministry said in its latest update on Friday.

 
With the new fatalities, the country's overall death toll has increased to 4,50,127, according to the Ministry.

Also in the same period, a total of 24,963 patients recovered, taking the cumulative tally of recoveries to 3,32,25,2210.

India's recovery rate currently stands at 97.96 per cent, the highest since March 2020.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="wionews.com/world/global-covid-19-caseload-tops-2367-million-419033">Global Covid-19 caseload tops 236.7 million</a>

The active caseload is presently 2,40,221, which is the lowest in 205 days.

Active cases presently constitute 0.71 per cent of the country's total positive cases.

The weekly positivity rate at 1.64 per cent, remains less than 3 per cent for the last 105 days now, while the daily positivity rate is 1.53 per cent, having remained below 3 per cent for the last 39 days and below 5 per cent for 122 consecutive days now.

The last 24 hours saw a total of 13,85,706 tests being conducted, taking the cumulative total to over 58 crore.

With 50,17,753 vaccine doses administered in the same duration, India's COVID-19 inoculation coverage crossed the 93 crore mark as per provisional reports till 7 a.m. on Friday.

Also Read |<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-uk-in-talks-for-early-resolution-on-covid-travel-rules-row-417581">&nbsp;India, UK in talks for early resolution on Covid travel rules row</a>

This has been achieved through 90,68,525 sessions.

Over 94.86 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states/UTs so far through the Centre as well as the direct state procurement category.

However, more than 8.22 cr unutilised vaccine doses are still available with the states/UTs to be administered, the Health Ministry said.

In the last 24 hours, India reported 21,257 fresh COVID-19 cases and 271 deaths, the Union Health Ministry said in its latest update on Friday. With the new fatalities, the country's overall death toll has increased to 4,50,127, according to the Ministry.

In the last 24 hours, India reported 21,257 fresh COVID-19 cases and 271 deaths, the Union Health Ministry said in its latest update on Friday. With the new fatalities, the country's overall death toll has increased to 4,50,127, according to the Ministry. Also in the same period, a total of 24,963 patients recovered, taking the cumulative tally of recoveries to 3,32,25,2210. India's recovery rate currently stands at 97.96 per cent, the highest since March 2020. Also Read | Global Covid-19 caseload tops 236.7 million The active caseload is presently 2,40,221, which is the lowest in 205 days. Active cases presently constitute 0.71 per cent of the country's total positive cases. The weekly positivity rate at 1.64 per cent, remains less than 3 per cent for the last 105 days now, while the daily positivity rate is 1.53 per cent, having remained below 3 per cent for the last 39 days and below 5 per cent for 122 consecutive days now. The last 24 hours saw a total of 13,85,706 tests being conducted, taking the cumulative total to over 58 crore. With 50,17,753 vaccine doses administered in the same duration, India's COVID-19 inoculation coverage crossed the 93 crore mark as per provisional reports till 7 a.m. on Friday. Also Read | India, UK in talks for early resolution on Covid travel rules row This has been achieved through 90,68,525 sessions. Over 94.86 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states/UTs so far through the Centre as well as the direct state procurement category. However, more than 8.22 cr unutilised vaccine doses are still available with the states/UTs to be administered, the Health Ministry said.

India logs 21,257 new Covid cases, 271 deaths

India has for several decades suffered immensely due to cross-border terrorism by terror groups using illicit weapons smuggled across the country's borders, New Delhi's envoy here has said, in a veiled reference to Pakistan, calling on the global community to unequivocally&nbsp;condemn state sponsorship to such militant outfits.

At the UN Security Council briefing on Small Arms and Light Weapons', India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti strongly underlined the need for the Council's focus on the transfer and trafficking of arms and weapons to terrorists and terrorist groups.

Also Read |<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/india-army-vs-pakistan-army-how-two-military-forces-stack-up-against-each-other-417849">&nbsp;India Army vs Pakistan Army: How two military forces stack up against each other</a>

These weapons become more sinister and lethal in the hands of terrorists, who deliberately and indiscriminately use them to target innocent civilians, including women and children, he said.

For several decades, my country has suffered immensely due to cross-border terrorism and violence carried out by terrorist groups using these illicit weapons smuggled across our borders, including now through the use of drones,&nbsp;he said, in a veiled reference to Pakistan.

He said an increase in volume and the quality of the arsenal acquired by these terrorist organisations reminds us time and again that they cannot exist without the sponsorship or support of states. This aspect needs to be unequivocally condemned.

He also strongly urged the Council to have zero tolerance to terror actors, their possession and misuse of small arms and light weapons and their sponsors.

High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu told the Council that the misuse, illicit transfer and destabilising accumulation of small arms and light weapons, and their ammunition, remain a defining factor in undermining peace and security at the national, regional and global levels and have deeply aggravated situations for vulnerable populations already suffering from conflict.

"In contexts where United Nations peace operations have been mandated, illicit flows and easy availability of arms can exacerbate and sustain conflict dynamics; render arms embargoes ineffective; endanger peacekeepers, humanitarian workers and local populations; and complicate the implementation of peace agreements,&nbsp;she said.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/pakistan-talks-about-peace-while-imran-khan-glorifies-osama-bin-laden-as-a-martyr-india-at-un-418290">Pakistan talks about peace while Imran Khan glorifies Osama Bin Laden as a martyr: India at UN</a>

Nakamitsu added that small arms control measures, in particular, the development and implementation of border security and management strategies; efforts to detect and seize parts and components of weapons and ammunition; enhanced stockpile management; and the fight against the illicit manufacture of weapons are effective tools to disrupt the supply of illicit small arms and light weapons to terrorists.

Tirumurti stressed that the threat posed by the illicit transfer of small arms and light weapons is a matter of concern to the entire international community.

Noting that an arms embargo is an important tool at the disposal of the Council to curb the flow of such weapons to situations of armed conflict, he voiced concern that embargoes continue to be blatantly violated, as repeatedly reported by the various Panel of Experts supporting the subsidiary bodies of the Council.

It is important that all member states respect and strictly enforce existing arms embargoes and strengthen measures against the illicit transfer of arms, he said, as he underlined that it is a well-known fact that the flow of illicit arms and weapons to non-state actors and terrorists drives and sustains conflicts.

Tirumurti told the Council that the illicit possession and misuse of small arms and light weapons by non-state groups and terrorists is a violation of state sovereignty.

In post-conflict situations, we often witness that non-state actors continue to possess these weapons illegally, which hinders disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration efforts.

India called on the Security Council to ensure effective and timely action against such non-State actors to ensure that post-conflict peacebuilding efforts are not jeopardised while advancing security sector reforms, capacity building of law enforcement agencies, promotion of rule of law and good governance.

India attaches high importance to preventing, combating and eradicating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. We consider that the primary responsibility for addressing this problem lies with the Member States,&nbsp;he said.

India supports the redoubling of efforts at the national and global level to strengthen the implementation of the UN Program of Action and the International Tracing Instrument, including through national legislative measures and enforcement, export controls, information sharing and capacity building, he added.

Further, India said the safety of UN peacekeepers is directly affected by the steady and illicit supply of small arms and light weapons to the warring parties in armed conflict situations.

The Council is aware of numerous incidents in the past, where killings and attacks on peacekeepers have been perpetrated through the use of these weapons, Tirumurti said emphasising the need for the Council to address the danger posed by such illicit transfers to the safety and security of peacekeepers by giving due attention to this issue in the consideration of peacekeeping mandates.

UN Peacekeeping Missions could support host countries in addressing the issue of illicit transfer of small arms and light weapons through strengthening the capacities of the law enforcement and security agencies in safe handling, upkeep and stockpile management of arms and weapons, including those recovered from non-state actors,&nbsp;he said.

India welcomed Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's recommendation to establish a dedicated component or a unit within peacekeeping Missions to handle such assistance.

Recalling that India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in his address to the Security Council earlier this year, had presented an eight-point action plan to counter-terrorism, Tirumurti said two points are directly relevant to the discussion &nbsp;the need to address the linkages between terrorism and transnational organised crime and combating terrorist financing.

India has for several decades suffered immensely due to cross-border terrorism by terror groups using illicit weapons smuggled across the country's borders, New Delhi's envoy here has said, in a veiled reference to Pakistan, calling on the global community to unequivocally condemn state sponsorship to such militant outfits.

India has for several decades suffered immensely due to cross-border terrorism by terror groups using illicit weapons smuggled across the country's borders, New Delhi's envoy here has said, in a veiled reference to Pakistan, calling on the global community to unequivocally condemn state sponsorship to such militant outfits. At the UN Security Council briefing on Small Arms and Light Weapons', India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador T S Tirumurti strongly underlined the need for the Council's focus on the transfer and trafficking of arms and weapons to terrorists and terrorist groups. Also Read | India Army vs Pakistan Army: How two military forces stack up against each other These weapons become more sinister and lethal in the hands of terrorists, who deliberately and indiscriminately use them to target innocent civilians, including women and children, he said. For several decades, my country has suffered immensely due to cross-border terrorism and violence carried out by terrorist groups using these illicit weapons smuggled across our borders, including now through the use of drones, he said, in a veiled reference to Pakistan. He said an increase in volume and the quality of the arsenal acquired by these terrorist organisations reminds us time and again that they cannot exist without the sponsorship or support of states. This aspect needs to be unequivocally condemned. He also strongly urged the Council to have zero tolerance to terror actors, their possession and misuse of small arms and light weapons and their sponsors. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu told the Council that the misuse, illicit transfer and destabilising accumulation of small arms and light weapons, and their ammunition, remain a defining factor in undermining peace and security at the national, regional and global levels and have deeply aggravated situations for vulnerable populations already suffering from conflict. "In contexts where United Nations peace operations have been mandated, illicit flows and easy availability of arms can exacerbate and sustain conflict dynamics; render arms embargoes ineffective; endanger peacekeepers, humanitarian workers and local populations; and complicate the implementation of peace agreements, she said. Also Read | Pakistan talks about peace while Imran Khan glorifies Osama Bin Laden as a martyr: India at UN Nakamitsu added that small arms control measures, in particular, the development and implementation of border security and management strategies; efforts to detect and seize parts and components of weapons and ammunition; enhanced stockpile management; and the fight against the illicit manufacture of weapons are effective tools to disrupt the supply of illicit small arms and light weapons to terrorists. Tirumurti stressed that the threat posed by the illicit transfer of small arms and light weapons is a matter of concern to the entire international community. Noting that an arms embargo is an important tool at the disposal of the Council to curb the flow of such weapons to situations of armed conflict, he voiced concern that embargoes continue to be blatantly violated, as repeatedly reported by the various Panel of Experts supporting the subsidiary bodies of the Council. It is important that all member states respect and strictly enforce existing arms embargoes and strengthen measures against the illicit transfer of arms, he said, as he underlined that it is a well-known fact that the flow of illicit arms and weapons to non-state actors and terrorists drives and sustains conflicts. Tirumurti told the Council that the illicit possession and misuse of small arms and light weapons by non-state groups and terrorists is a violation of state sovereignty. In post-conflict situations, we often witness that non-state actors continue to possess these weapons illegally, which hinders disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration efforts. India called on the Security Council to ensure effective and timely action against such non-State actors to ensure that post-conflict peacebuilding efforts are not jeopardised while advancing security sector reforms, capacity building of law enforcement agencies, promotion of rule of law and good governance. India attaches high importance to preventing, combating and eradicating the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. We consider that the primary responsibility for addressing this problem lies with the Member States, he said. India supports the redoubling of efforts at the national and global level to strengthen the implementation of the UN Program of Action and the International Tracing Instrument, including through national legislative measures and enforcement, export controls, information sharing and capacity building, he added. Further, India said the safety of UN peacekeepers is directly affected by the steady and illicit supply of small arms and light weapons to the warring parties in armed conflict situations. The Council is aware of numerous incidents in the past, where killings and attacks on peacekeepers have been perpetrated through the use of these weapons, Tirumurti said emphasising the need for the Council to address the danger posed by such illicit transfers to the safety and security of peacekeepers by giving due attention to this issue in the consideration of peacekeeping mandates. UN Peacekeeping Missions could support host countries in addressing the issue of illicit transfer of small arms and light weapons through strengthening the capacities of the law enforcement and security agencies in safe handling, upkeep and stockpile management of arms and weapons, including those recovered from non-state actors, he said. India welcomed Secretary-General Antonio Guterres's recommendation to establish a dedicated component or a unit within peacekeeping Missions to handle such assistance. Recalling that India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in his address to the Security Council earlier this year, had presented an eight-point action plan to counter-terrorism, Tirumurti said two points are directly relevant to the discussion the need to address the linkages between terrorism and transnational organised crime and combating terrorist financing.

India highlights cross-border terror, weapons smuggling at United Nations

The Border Security Force (BSF) on Thursday foiled a major bid by terrorists to smuggle in weapons from Pakistan along the International Border (IB) and seized a big cache of arms and ammunition in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district, officials said.

"The BSF, Jammu today foiled a weapon smuggling attempt from across the International Border in Samba area and seized a big cache of arms and ammunition," BSF DIG S P S Sandhu said.

He further said the seizure by BSF troops included four pistols, eight pistol magazines and 232 rounds of ammunition.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/india-army-vs-pakistan-army-how-two-military-forces-stack-up-against-each-other-417849">India Army vs Pakistan Army: How two military forces stack up against each other</a>

The DIG said further details are expected to follow.

There have been several incidents of weapons and narcotic smuggling attempts done by cross-border terrorists to drop weapons on this side of the border through drones over the past six months.

It may be recalled that an arms consignment including one AK assault rifle, three magazines and 30 rounds believed to have been dropped by a drone from Pakistan had been recovered last Saturday by police near the International Border from Sounjana village of Phalain Mandal, about six km from the IB.

On September 27, BSF recovered four pistols, eight magazines, 100 rounds of ammunition, a packet of narcotics weighing about one kg along with fake Indian currency worth Rs 2,75,000, from the International Border in Akhnoor sector of Jammu district, officials said. 
&nbsp;

The Border Security Force (BSF) on Thursday foiled a major bid by terrorists to smuggle in weapons from Pakistan along the International Border (IB) and seized a big cache of arms and ammunition in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district, officials said.

The Border Security Force (BSF) on Thursday foiled a major bid by terrorists to smuggle in weapons from Pakistan along the International Border (IB) and seized a big cache of arms and ammunition in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district, officials said. "The BSF, Jammu today foiled a weapon smuggling attempt from across the International Border in Samba area and seized a big cache of arms and ammunition," BSF DIG S P S Sandhu said. He further said the seizure by BSF troops included four pistols, eight pistol magazines and 232 rounds of ammunition. Also Read | India Army vs Pakistan Army: How two military forces stack up against each other The DIG said further details are expected to follow. There have been several incidents of weapons and narcotic smuggling attempts done by cross-border terrorists to drop weapons on this side of the border through drones over the past six months. It may be recalled that an arms consignment including one AK assault rifle, three magazines and 30 rounds believed to have been dropped by a drone from Pakistan had been recovered last Saturday by police near the International Border from Sounjana village of Phalain Mandal, about six km from the IB. On September 27, BSF recovered four pistols, eight magazines, 100 rounds of ammunition, a packet of narcotics weighing about one kg along with fake Indian currency worth Rs 2,75,000, from the International Border in Akhnoor sector of Jammu district, officials said.

BSF foils bid to bring in weapons from Pakistan along International Border, big cache of arms seized

The ASEAN region is one of the major hubs for India's global economic engagement and the coronavirus pandemic has triggered a new urgency to re-imagine the cooperation and expand its ambition further, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday.

In an address at a CII event, he also said that the centrality of ASEAN to the Indo-Pacific and the importance of ties between India and the grouping are self-evident.

"But if they have to continue to be salient, then we must strive to go beyond ideas and concepts that have outlived their shelf life," the external affairs minister said without elaborating.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/thousands-of-covid-testing-kits-recalled-that-delivered-false-positives-418697">Thousands of Covid testing kits recalled that delivered false positives</a>

The 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is considered one of the most influential groupings in the region, and India and several other countries including the US, China, Japan and Australia are its dialogue partners.

Jaishankar said the larger region is undergoing "significant" socio-economic changes and that the pandemic has clearly accelerated them.

"It is important that we -- India, the ASEAN and our relationship -- we recognise that a different world awaits us. It is one that puts a greater premium on trust and transparency, resilience and reliability, as also on choices and redundancy," he said.

"Our contemporary conversations will be relevant only if we adequately capture these emerging concerns," he noted.

Jaishankar said India's ties with the ASEAN are rooted in history, geography and culture and what has energised them in recent years is a growing awareness of the potential they hold for mutual interests and development.

He said that as cooperation between the two sides grew in the course of the last 25 years, new facets and domains emerged for collaboration and that connectivity and security were among the more notable ones.

"As a result, our Look East policy matured into an Act East one. Its success is reflected in drawing India more comprehensively into the Indo-Pacific. There is no doubt that the ASEAN is one of the major hubs for India's global economic engagement," Jaishankar said

"As it develops, it is natural that we would like to re-visit the level of ambition that we have set for our partnership. That is also influenced by autonomous changes in the region. But what has given this objective a new urgency is the necessity to re-imagine our cooperation in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic," he said.

The external affairs minister said a crisis can often be the basis of creativity and the endeavour should be to come out of the pandemic stronger.

The 10 member countries of ASEAN are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia.

The ties between India and ASEAN have been on an upswing in the last few years with the focus being on ramping up cooperation in the areas of trade and investment as well as security and defence.

The ASEAN region along with India together comprises a combined population of 1.85 billion people, which is one-fourth of the global population and their combined GDP has been estimated at over USD 3.8 trillion.

Jaishankar said that the pandemic provided the backdrop for how most countries approach both their economic policies and their global outlook now.

"After all, it has disrupted our supply chains, impacted our manufacturing, affected our trade and veritably ruined many services sectors. These developments have not just altered various dimensions of our day to day business; they have even shaped our way of life," he said.

"From the prolonged crisis of the last two years, four areas have come into sharp focus for international business cooperation: resilient and reliable supply chains, health security, digital for development and green and sustainable recovery," he added.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/indias-covid-19-active-caseload-drops-to-246687-lowest-in-203-days-418548">India's COVID-19 active caseload drops to 2,46,687, lowest in 203 days</a>

Jaishankar said these four elements should constitute the core agenda for the ties.

He said uncertainties brought forth by the pandemic cannot just be wished away nor can it be considered as a one-time phenomenon.

"Therefore, we are tasked with responding to the immediate repercussions even as we are compelled to plan for the future. A large part of the answers - both short term and beyond - lies in diversification, expansion and transparency. De-risking our national economies will only be possible if we achieve a strong measure of success quickly in that regard," he said.

Jaishankar said the pandemic has brought out many inadequacies in the global health system and that meaningful partnerships, sharing of advanced technologies, collaboration in vaccine and pharmaceutical production and transparency in health information are all part of the answers.

He also highlighted the achievements of India's pharma sector.

"Apart from vaccines, Indian pharmaceutical manufacturing stepped up to the challenge by ramping up production for medicines that were in great demand. All this was happening even as we simultaneously transformed the public health system in India," he said.

"The fact is that health has emerged as a more serious priority for all societies. Business must recognise the ensuing opportunities," he added.

The ASEAN region is one of the major hubs for India's global economic engagement and the coronavirus pandemic has triggered a new urgency to re-imagine the cooperation and expand its ambition further, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday.

The ASEAN region is one of the major hubs for India's global economic engagement and the coronavirus pandemic has triggered a new urgency to re-imagine the cooperation and expand its ambition further, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday. In an address at a CII event, he also said that the centrality of ASEAN to the Indo-Pacific and the importance of ties between India and the grouping are self-evident. "But if they have to continue to be salient, then we must strive to go beyond ideas and concepts that have outlived their shelf life," the external affairs minister said without elaborating. Also Read | Thousands of Covid testing kits recalled that delivered false positives The 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is considered one of the most influential groupings in the region, and India and several other countries including the US, China, Japan and Australia are its dialogue partners. Jaishankar said the larger region is undergoing "significant" socio-economic changes and that the pandemic has clearly accelerated them. "It is important that we -- India, the ASEAN and our relationship -- we recognise that a different world awaits us. It is one that puts a greater premium on trust and transparency, resilience and reliability, as also on choices and redundancy," he said. "Our contemporary conversations will be relevant only if we adequately capture these emerging concerns," he noted. Jaishankar said India's ties with the ASEAN are rooted in history, geography and culture and what has energised them in recent years is a growing awareness of the potential they hold for mutual interests and development. He said that as cooperation between the two sides grew in the course of the last 25 years, new facets and domains emerged for collaboration and that connectivity and security were among the more notable ones. "As a result, our Look East policy matured into an Act East one. Its success is reflected in drawing India more comprehensively into the Indo-Pacific. There is no doubt that the ASEAN is one of the major hubs for India's global economic engagement," Jaishankar said "As it develops, it is natural that we would like to re-visit the level of ambition that we have set for our partnership. That is also influenced by autonomous changes in the region. But what has given this objective a new urgency is the necessity to re-imagine our cooperation in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic," he said. The external affairs minister said a crisis can often be the basis of creativity and the endeavour should be to come out of the pandemic stronger. The 10 member countries of ASEAN are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia. The ties between India and ASEAN have been on an upswing in the last few years with the focus being on ramping up cooperation in the areas of trade and investment as well as security and defence. The ASEAN region along with India together comprises a combined population of 1.85 billion people, which is one-fourth of the global population and their combined GDP has been estimated at over USD 3.8 trillion. Jaishankar said that the pandemic provided the backdrop for how most countries approach both their economic policies and their global outlook now. "After all, it has disrupted our supply chains, impacted our manufacturing, affected our trade and veritably ruined many services sectors. These developments have not just altered various dimensions of our day to day business; they have even shaped our way of life," he said. "From the prolonged crisis of the last two years, four areas have come into sharp focus for international business cooperation: resilient and reliable supply chains, health security, digital for development and green and sustainable recovery," he added. Also Read | India's COVID-19 active caseload drops to 2,46,687, lowest in 203 days Jaishankar said these four elements should constitute the core agenda for the ties. He said uncertainties brought forth by the pandemic cannot just be wished away nor can it be considered as a one-time phenomenon. "Therefore, we are tasked with responding to the immediate repercussions even as we are compelled to plan for the future. A large part of the answers - both short term and beyond - lies in diversification, expansion and transparency. De-risking our national economies will only be possible if we achieve a strong measure of success quickly in that regard," he said. Jaishankar said the pandemic has brought out many inadequacies in the global health system and that meaningful partnerships, sharing of advanced technologies, collaboration in vaccine and pharmaceutical production and transparency in health information are all part of the answers. He also highlighted the achievements of India's pharma sector. "Apart from vaccines, Indian pharmaceutical manufacturing stepped up to the challenge by ramping up production for medicines that were in great demand. All this was happening even as we simultaneously transformed the public health system in India," he said. "The fact is that health has emerged as a more serious priority for all societies. Business must recognise the ensuing opportunities," he added.

Covid necessitated need for urgency to re-imagine cooperation: Jaishankar on India-ASEAN ties

Indians who have been fully vaccinated with Covishield or any other UK-approved vaccine will not be quarantined when they arrive in the UK starting October 11, the High Commissioner to India announced today, putting an end to a row over what was perceived as unfair application of COVID-19 quarantine rules. 
 
<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/indias-counter-to-uk-british-nationals-to-undergo-10-day-mandatory-quarantine-on-arrival-417417">Also read | India's counter to UK: British nationals to undergo 10-day mandatory quarantine on arrival</a>

"No quarantine for Indian travellers to the United Kingdom fully vaccinated with Covishield or another UK-approved vaccine from 11 October. Thanks to Indian government for close cooperation over the last month, " British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis tweeted."

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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
No quarantine for Indian 🇮🇳 travellers to UK 🇬🇧 fully vaccinated with Covishield or another UK-approved vaccine from 11 October. 
 
Thanks to Indian government for close cooperation over last month. <a href="https://t.co/cbI8Gqp0Qt">pic.twitter.com/cbI8Gqp0Qt</a>
— Alex Ellis (@AlexWEllis) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexWEllis/status/1446154167920128005?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Weeks after the United Kingdom placed quarantine restrictions on Indian travellers, India responded last Friday by stating that UK people travelling here from that country will be subject to a mandatory 10-day quarantine beginning on October 4.

In response to India's decision, the United Kingdom stated that it will continue to work with India to broaden recognition of COVID-19 vaccination certification.&nbsp; 
 
Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/uk-approves-covishield-but-has-problem-with-indian-vaccine-certificates-414869">UK approves Covishield but has problem with Indian vaccine certificates</a>

"The UK is continuing to work on expanding the policy to countries and territories across the globe in a phased approach. We are continuing to engage with the Government of India on technical cooperation to expand UK recognition of vaccine certification to people vaccinated by a relevant public health body in India," the British High Commission spokesperson had said in a statement.

The UK government has been called discriminatory and even "colonialist" for refusing to recognise tourists as vaccinated unless they obtained their vaccinations in a few specified countries.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

Indians who have been fully vaccinated with Covishield or any other UK-approved vaccine will not be quarantined when they arrive in the UK starting October 11, the High Commissioner to India announced today, putting an end to a row over what was perceived as unfair application of COVID-19 quarantine rules.

Indians who have been fully vaccinated with Covishield or any other UK-approved vaccine will not be quarantined when they arrive in the UK starting October 11, the High Commissioner to India announced today, putting an end to a row over what was perceived as unfair application of COVID-19 quarantine rules. Also read | India's counter to UK: British nationals to undergo 10-day mandatory quarantine on arrival "No quarantine for Indian travellers to the United Kingdom fully vaccinated with Covishield or another UK-approved vaccine from 11 October. Thanks to Indian government for close cooperation over the last month, " British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis tweeted." No quarantine for Indian 🇮🇳 travellers to UK 🇬🇧 fully vaccinated with Covishield or another UK-approved vaccine from 11 October. Thanks to Indian government for close cooperation over last month. pic.twitter.com/cbI8Gqp0Qt — Alex Ellis (@AlexWEllis) October 7, 2021 × Weeks after the United Kingdom placed quarantine restrictions on Indian travellers, India responded last Friday by stating that UK people travelling here from that country will be subject to a mandatory 10-day quarantine beginning on October 4. In response to India's decision, the United Kingdom stated that it will continue to work with India to broaden recognition of COVID-19 vaccination certification. Also read | UK approves Covishield but has problem with Indian vaccine certificates "The UK is continuing to work on expanding the policy to countries and territories across the globe in a phased approach. We are continuing to engage with the Government of India on technical cooperation to expand UK recognition of vaccine certification to people vaccinated by a relevant public health body in India," the British High Commission spokesperson had said in a statement. The UK government has been called discriminatory and even "colonialist" for refusing to recognise tourists as vaccinated unless they obtained their vaccinations in a few specified countries. (With inputs from agencies)

No quarantine for fully vaccinated Indians in UK from October 11: British envoy

Senior Nepali Congress leader and former foreign minister of Nepal Prakash Sharan Mahat has batted for dialogue with India during his Delhi visit. On Friday, he held talks with the ruling BJP party and Indian External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar.

Speaking to WION’s diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal exclusively in Delhi,&nbsp;Mahat who is the&nbsp;Joint General Secretary of Nepali congress said, "we need to have very frank and straight discussions, communication and that will only help in having better relations between the two&nbsp;countries".

During&nbsp;his meeting with EAM Jaishankar, he raised the issue of border rows, deliveries of Covishield vaccines and a Nepalese national falling into Mahakali river. He said,"&nbsp;If India comes out with a positive gesture, that will give a very positive message in Nepal".

Nepal congress delegation visit to Delhi comes, even as there is a new government in Nepal under the leadership of PM Sher Bahadur Deuba. Under the previous KP Oli led govt, New Delhi-Kathmandu ties had plummeted in the backdrop of the new Nepal map row.&nbsp;

WION: How were the conversations in Delhi, with the&nbsp;ruling party BJP and EAM Dr S Jaishankar?

Prakash Sharan Mahat: We had a discussion with&nbsp;party leader JP Nadda, a very good meeting. We want to have exchanges between the two parties so that there is more understanding, and we understand each other and we also understand how both parties&nbsp;function. We learn from good practices of both parties, that is the aim.

We aim to further these corporations and exchanges of these visits. The meeting went very well, and we had fruitful discussions.

At the government level, we met EAM Jaishankar and we had very good meetings. I raised issues important for Nepal, from border issues, the Covishield issue that needs to be delivered to Nepal, to fertilizer deliveries, and one case of falling of one person of Nepal who fell into river Mahakali.

There was a question of the role of BSF personnel, and many issues important to Nepal. We suggested giving importance to these&nbsp;issues, as they may look like small issues, but that will have a huge impact on Nepali people's sentiment. If India comes out with a positive gesture, that will give a very positive message in Nepal and help build our relationship at a higher level, and that is what we discussed and I found discussion with him had a very positive mindset and he reiterated that they support whatever government in Nepal, always support democratic practices and we want to see that Nepal move forward.

WION: How do you see India-Nepal relations going forward. The new Nepal map row had irked Delhi a lot...

Prakash Sharan Mahat:&nbsp;On the Nepal map, we have a common position that is based on historical facts. We believe that we have legitimate claims. We have to resolve it through diplomatic dialogue. That is the only way, I suggested that if we start talking about this sooner and later, we will find a resolution. It may not happen over time, but for sure once we start talking...that was my suggestion. He took it very positively.

Similarly, on the Covishield issue, he said they will deliver it soon. There were other issues, he said positively, and he wanted to have a very strong relationship between the two governments, two nations.

We are contributing to India a lot in terms of securing borders, at the same time India is also helping. But we need to have very frank and straight discussions, communication and that will only help in having better relations between two countries. We have so many things in common between the two countries. Open borders, people coming here and there, we have similar cultural aspirations and values. We have pilgrimage centres in Nepal, India, where both people visit each other's places.

I think we are bound to be together so that there is no scope of distancing ourselves. Even when we have some problem, so the only way to resolve is to talk, so we cannot keep away from talking. During the previous government, (due to) zig-zag&nbsp;approach to foreign relations, there is distrust.

They give a different message at different times, that is not the way foreign policy is conducted. So, we have a different approach. We have common yardsticks for each of our neighbours and other friendly nations so that we conduct our foreign policy in a professional way.

WION: And You will be going to Lucknow?&nbsp;

Prakash Sharan Mahat: We are going to Lucknow tomorrow and meeting with CM Yoginath. UP has a long border with Nepal, so we will discuss how the largest state in India and Nepal work together. We have people coming in, going. At the local level, we have good relationships that will facilitate people from both sides.

WION: Increased Chinese influence in Kathmandu has been a worry. Delhi is worried about it. How do you see ties with Delhi and Beijing?

Prakash Sharan Mahat:&nbsp;We should have good relations with both countries. We are located between two big countries; we need to have a good relationship, but the relationship should be based on Nepal's interest.

Each country will focus on their interests, so Nepal should not be an exception.

So, when we deal with China, we will make sure our interests should be protected. Dealing with India also, make sure our interest will be protected. If we follow this principle, nobody can encroach on our interests.

Nepali Congress is very clear about, and will not be influenced by what kind of govt there is. This is a nation-to-nation relationship and has nothing to do with the political system there. We are a democratic country and we run our country in a democratic way. Will make sure our interest is protected and will not let any country encroach on something which is detrimental to the security of another country.

<o:p></o:p>

Senior Nepali Congress leader and former foreign minister of Nepal Prakash Sharan Mahat has batted for dialogue with India during his Delhi visit. On Friday, he held talks with the ruling BJP party and Indian External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar.

Senior Nepali Congress leader and former foreign minister of Nepal Prakash Sharan Mahat has batted for dialogue with India during his Delhi visit. On Friday, he held talks with the ruling BJP party and Indian External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar. Speaking to WION’s diplomatic correspondent Sidhant Sibal exclusively in Delhi, Mahat who is the Joint General Secretary of Nepali congress said, "we need to have very frank and straight discussions, communication and that will only help in having better relations between the two countries". During his meeting with EAM Jaishankar, he raised the issue of border rows, deliveries of Covishield vaccines and a Nepalese national falling into Mahakali river. He said," If India comes out with a positive gesture, that will give a very positive message in Nepal". Nepal congress delegation visit to Delhi comes, even as there is a new government in Nepal under the leadership of PM Sher Bahadur Deuba. Under the previous KP Oli led govt, New Delhi-Kathmandu ties had plummeted in the backdrop of the new Nepal map row. WION: How were the conversations in Delhi, with the ruling party BJP and EAM Dr S Jaishankar? Prakash Sharan Mahat: We had a discussion with party leader JP Nadda, a very good meeting. We want to have exchanges between the two parties so that there is more understanding, and we understand each other and we also understand how both parties function. We learn from good practices of both parties, that is the aim. We aim to further these corporations and exchanges of these visits. The meeting went very well, and we had fruitful discussions. At the government level, we met EAM Jaishankar and we had very good meetings. I raised issues important for Nepal, from border issues, the Covishield issue that needs to be delivered to Nepal, to fertilizer deliveries, and one case of falling of one person of Nepal who fell into river Mahakali. There was a question of the role of BSF personnel, and many issues important to Nepal. We suggested giving importance to these issues, as they may look like small issues, but that will have a huge impact on Nepali people's sentiment. If India comes out with a positive gesture, that will give a very positive message in Nepal and help build our relationship at a higher level, and that is what we discussed and I found discussion with him had a very positive mindset and he reiterated that they support whatever government in Nepal, always support democratic practices and we want to see that Nepal move forward. WION: How do you see India-Nepal relations going forward. The new Nepal map row had irked Delhi a lot... Prakash Sharan Mahat: On the Nepal map, we have a common position that is based on historical facts. We believe that we have legitimate claims. We have to resolve it through diplomatic dialogue. That is the only way, I suggested that if we start talking about this sooner and later, we will find a resolution. It may not happen over time, but for sure once we start talking...that was my suggestion. He took it very positively. Similarly, on the Covishield issue, he said they will deliver it soon. There were other issues, he said positively, and he wanted to have a very strong relationship between the two governments, two nations. We are contributing to India a lot in terms of securing borders, at the same time India is also helping. But we need to have very frank and straight discussions, communication and that will only help in having better relations between two countries. We have so many things in common between the two countries. Open borders, people coming here and there, we have similar cultural aspirations and values. We have pilgrimage centres in Nepal, India, where both people visit each other's places. I think we are bound to be together so that there is no scope of distancing ourselves. Even when we have some problem, so the only way to resolve is to talk, so we cannot keep away from talking. During the previous government, (due to) zig-zag approach to foreign relations, there is distrust. They give a different message at different times, that is not the way foreign policy is conducted. So, we have a different approach. We have common yardsticks for each of our neighbours and other friendly nations so that we conduct our foreign policy in a professional way. WION: And You will be going to Lucknow? Prakash Sharan Mahat: We are going to Lucknow tomorrow and meeting with CM Yoginath. UP has a long border with Nepal, so we will discuss how the largest state in India and Nepal work together. We have people coming in, going. At the local level, we have good relationships that will facilitate people from both sides. WION: Increased Chinese influence in Kathmandu has been a worry. Delhi is worried about it. How do you see ties with Delhi and Beijing? Prakash Sharan Mahat: We should have good relations with both countries. We are located between two big countries; we need to have a good relationship, but the relationship should be based on Nepal's interest. Each country will focus on their interests, so Nepal should not be an exception. So, when we deal with China, we will make sure our interests should be protected. Dealing with India also, make sure our interest will be protected. If we follow this principle, nobody can encroach on our interests. Nepali Congress is very clear about, and will not be influenced by what kind of govt there is. This is a nation-to-nation relationship and has nothing to do with the political system there. We are a democratic country and we run our country in a democratic way. Will make sure our interest is protected and will not let any country encroach on something which is detrimental to the security of another country.

Exclusive | Senior Nepali leader Mahat bats for dialogue with India; Raises Covishield, border issues

India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) files a charge sheet against a Tamil Nadu resident.&nbsp;

According to the NIA, they have filed a charge sheet against Saravana Kumar, alias Abdullah, of Madurai, Tamil Nadu. He is being booked under multiple sections including Sedition, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) etc.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/ex-ltte-man-arrested-for-smuggling-ak-47s-ammo-300kg-heroin-from-pakistan-to-sri-lanka-419244" hreflang="en">Ex-LTTE man arrested for smuggling AK-47s, ammo, 300kg heroin from Pakistan to Sri Lanka</a>

The charges against him have been filed for supporting, furthering ISIS ideology and uploading incendiary posts on Facebook. An NIA special court in Chennai has filed cases under sections 124A and 505(1)(b) of IPC and section 13(1)(b), 38 and 39 of UAPA.&nbsp;

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NIA files chargesheet in ISIS- Madurai Hizb-ut-Tahrir Module case <a href="https://t.co/tGZnFB8Czb">pic.twitter.com/tGZnFB8Czb</a>
— NIA India (@NIA_India) <a href="https://twitter.com/NIA_India/status/1445731666211659786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The case against this Madurai-based individual was registered at the Theppakulam Police Station in Madurai City, on April 10th of this year. Following this, a probe was conducted by the NIA, which revealed the grave nature of the accused's intentions.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/how-indian-forest-officials-attempted-to-reunite-a-baby-elephant-that-was-separated-from-its-herd-419236" hreflang="en">How Indian Forest officials attempted to reunite a baby elephant that was separated from its herd</a>

“Abdullah was uploading posts on his Facebook account to instigate people to establish Khilafah (an institution governing a territory under Islamic rule) and threaten the unity, security and sovereignty of India. He was also seeking cooperation from other countries to set up an Army to establish an Islamic State in Tamil Nadu through Jihad.” the premier investigation agency said.

An investigation by the NIA has revealed that Abdullah, who went by the alias Saravana Kumar is a highly radicalized Hizb Ut Tahir (HuT) member and was espousing the fundamentalist ideology of ISIS.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/isro-icg-device-helps-save-nine-sailors-stranded-at-sea-between-india-and-the-maldives-419225" hreflang="en">ISRO-ICG device helps save nine sailors stranded at sea between India and the Maldives</a>

Notably, the HuT is banned in many countries.&nbsp;

The accused had knowingly and willingly associated himself with ISIS recruiters with an intention to propagate and support ISIS activities, said NIA. The investigation, in this case, is still underway, they added.

India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) files a charge sheet against a Tamil Nadu resident. According to the NIA, they have filed a charge sheet against Saravana Kumar, alias Abdullah, of Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

India's National Investigation Agency (NIA) files a charge sheet against a Tamil Nadu resident. According to the NIA, they have filed a charge sheet against Saravana Kumar, alias Abdullah, of Madurai, Tamil Nadu. He is being booked under multiple sections including Sedition, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) etc. Also read | Ex-LTTE man arrested for smuggling AK-47s, ammo, 300kg heroin from Pakistan to Sri Lanka The charges against him have been filed for supporting, furthering ISIS ideology and uploading incendiary posts on Facebook. An NIA special court in Chennai has filed cases under sections 124A and 505(1)(b) of IPC and section 13(1)(b), 38 and 39 of UAPA. NIA files chargesheet in ISIS- Madurai Hizb-ut-Tahrir Module case pic.twitter.com/tGZnFB8Czb — NIA India (@NIA_India) October 6, 2021 × The case against this Madurai-based individual was registered at the Theppakulam Police Station in Madurai City, on April 10th of this year. Following this, a probe was conducted by the NIA, which revealed the grave nature of the accused's intentions. Also read | How Indian Forest officials attempted to reunite a baby elephant that was separated from its herd “Abdullah was uploading posts on his Facebook account to instigate people to establish Khilafah (an institution governing a territory under Islamic rule) and threaten the unity, security and sovereignty of India. He was also seeking cooperation from other countries to set up an Army to establish an Islamic State in Tamil Nadu through Jihad.” the premier investigation agency said. An investigation by the NIA has revealed that Abdullah, who went by the alias Saravana Kumar is a highly radicalized Hizb Ut Tahir (HuT) member and was espousing the fundamentalist ideology of ISIS. Also read | ISRO-ICG device helps save nine sailors stranded at sea between India and the Maldives Notably, the HuT is banned in many countries. The accused had knowingly and willingly associated himself with ISIS recruiters with an intention to propagate and support ISIS activities, said NIA. The investigation, in this case, is still underway, they added.

NIA files charge sheet against radical who wanted to establish Islamic State in Tamil Nadu

Tata group has won the bid to acquire national carrier Air India. The group placed a winning bid of $2.4 billion to acquire a 100 percent stake in Air India.

Tata group wins Air India bid for $2.4 bn

India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a former LTTE (Liberation Tamil Tigers Eelam) intelligence wing member from a residential locality in Chennai.&nbsp;

According to the NIA, the arrest was made in connection with a case wherein 300kg of high-grade heroin, 5 AK-47 rifles, with 1000 live 9mm rounds, were being ferried by sea to Sri Lanka from Pakistan, when it was intercepted off Kerala Coast by Indian Coast Guard (ICG), earlier this year.&nbsp;

The LTTE is a notorious terror organisation, known for its 1991 suicide bombing, assassinating former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and over a dozen others, near Chennai.

On Tuesday, the premier investigative agency arrested a Sri Lankan national, Satkunam alias Sabesan, aged 47, from Valasaravakkam in Chennai.&nbsp;It is reported that he is involved in trafficking arms and drugs from Pakistan, the proceeds of which he utilizes in reviving the LTTE, a banned terrorist organization.

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NIA arrests a key conspirator in Vizhingam Arms case of Kerala <a href="https://t.co/jb5QC4n6tN">pic.twitter.com/jb5QC4n6tN</a>
— NIA India (@NIA_India) <a href="https://twitter.com/NIA_India/status/1445725339099930626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2021</a></blockquote>
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“The Investigation has revealed that accused Satkunam alias Sabesan had arranged conspiracy meetings of LTTE sympathisers in India. He had played a crucial role in routing the proceeds of drugs trafficking to former LTTE cadres in Sri Lanka for the revival of the LTTE,” said the NIA. They added that further investigation was being conducted.&nbsp;

Based on a complaint from the Indian Narcotics Control Bureau, the NIA began investigating this case on May 1st.

WION had reported on the drugs and arms seizure in March of this year.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/indian-coast-guards-big-haul-over-usd-412-million-worth-drugs-5-ak-47rifles-1000-rounds-seized-373189">Indian Coast Guard’s big haul: Over USD 412 million worth drugs, 5 Ak-47rifles, 1,000 rounds seized</a>

Based on intelligence inputs concerning drug trafficking, Indian Coast Guard air and sea assets intercepted three Sri Lankan boats off the Lakshadweep region on India’s west coast on 18th March.&nbsp;

A vessel named Ravihansi was boarded and searched, and 300kg of high-grade heroin, five Ak-47 rifles and 1000 live rounds of ammunition were seized. This seized contraband is estimated to be worth INR&nbsp;30,000 million (3,000 Crore) or USD 400 million (40 Crore).&nbsp;

Boarding and search of the three vessels led to the seizure of 300kg high-grade heroin, 5 Ak-47 rifles with 1000 live rounds, from one vessel named Ravihansi. The estimated value of the seized contraband is Rs.3000cr or USD 40cr.&nbsp;

The Sri Lankan boat and its 19 crew members were escorted to Vizhinjam in Kerala for a further joint investigation by Indian authorities.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/how-indian-forest-officials-attempted-to-reunite-a-baby-elephant-that-was-separated-from-its-herd-419236" hreflang="en">How Indian Forest officials attempted to reunite a baby elephant that was separated from its herd</a>

Speaking about the operation, K Natarajan, ICG Director-General, said that the ICG received the intelligence on 15th March and five ships were diverted, along with an aircraft that was coordinating the operation.&nbsp;

As the vessels were moving suspiciously south of Minicoy on March 18th, the ICG made contact, he added.&nbsp;

“Certain movement indicated that the vessels had contraband on board. We encountered a vessel named Chetrani 6 towing a fishing boat Ravhansi, which had a technical snag. Boarding and searching was done from 18th and after two days of search the concealed weapons and drugs were seized” he said.&nbsp;

According to India’s Coast Guard, this is the second major anti-drug trafficking operation undertaken by them off the West Coast, in the month of March 2021.&nbsp;

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/isro-icg-device-helps-save-nine-sailors-stranded-at-sea-between-india-and-the-maldives-419225" hreflang="en">ISRO-ICG device helps save nine sailors stranded at sea between India and the Maldives</a>

On March 5th, in a similar operation, the ICG had apprehended the Sri Lankan vessel 'Akarsha Duwa', off Minicoy island. The boat with six crew had admitted to carrying 200kg of Heroin, 60kg hashish, which they jettisoned at sea, on sighting ICG assets.

India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a former LTTE (Liberation Tamil Tigers Eelam) intelligence wing member from a residential locality in Chennai.

India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a former LTTE (Liberation Tamil Tigers Eelam) intelligence wing member from a residential locality in Chennai. According to the NIA, the arrest was made in connection with a case wherein 300kg of high-grade heroin, 5 AK-47 rifles, with 1000 live 9mm rounds, were being ferried by sea to Sri Lanka from Pakistan, when it was intercepted off Kerala Coast by Indian Coast Guard (ICG), earlier this year. The LTTE is a notorious terror organisation, known for its 1991 suicide bombing, assassinating former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and over a dozen others, near Chennai. On Tuesday, the premier investigative agency arrested a Sri Lankan national, Satkunam alias Sabesan, aged 47, from Valasaravakkam in Chennai. It is reported that he is involved in trafficking arms and drugs from Pakistan, the proceeds of which he utilizes in reviving the LTTE, a banned terrorist organization. NIA arrests a key conspirator in Vizhingam Arms case of Kerala pic.twitter.com/jb5QC4n6tN — NIA India (@NIA_India) October 6, 2021 × “The Investigation has revealed that accused Satkunam alias Sabesan had arranged conspiracy meetings of LTTE sympathisers in India. He had played a crucial role in routing the proceeds of drugs trafficking to former LTTE cadres in Sri Lanka for the revival of the LTTE,” said the NIA. They added that further investigation was being conducted. Based on a complaint from the Indian Narcotics Control Bureau, the NIA began investigating this case on May 1st. WION had reported on the drugs and arms seizure in March of this year. Also read | Indian Coast Guard’s big haul: Over USD 412 million worth drugs, 5 Ak-47rifles, 1,000 rounds seized Based on intelligence inputs concerning drug trafficking, Indian Coast Guard air and sea assets intercepted three Sri Lankan boats off the Lakshadweep region on India’s west coast on 18th March. A vessel named Ravihansi was boarded and searched, and 300kg of high-grade heroin, five Ak-47 rifles and 1000 live rounds of ammunition were seized. This seized contraband is estimated to be worth INR 30,000 million (3,000 Crore) or USD 400 million (40 Crore). Boarding and search of the three vessels led to the seizure of 300kg high-grade heroin, 5 Ak-47 rifles with 1000 live rounds, from one vessel named Ravihansi. The estimated value of the seized contraband is Rs.3000cr or USD 40cr. The Sri Lankan boat and its 19 crew members were escorted to Vizhinjam in Kerala for a further joint investigation by Indian authorities. Also read | How Indian Forest officials attempted to reunite a baby elephant that was separated from its herd Speaking about the operation, K Natarajan, ICG Director-General, said that the ICG received the intelligence on 15th March and five ships were diverted, along with an aircraft that was coordinating the operation. As the vessels were moving suspiciously south of Minicoy on March 18th, the ICG made contact, he added. “Certain movement indicated that the vessels had contraband on board. We encountered a vessel named Chetrani 6 towing a fishing boat Ravhansi, which had a technical snag. Boarding and searching was done from 18th and after two days of search the concealed weapons and drugs were seized” he said. According to India’s Coast Guard, this is the second major anti-drug trafficking operation undertaken by them off the West Coast, in the month of March 2021. Also read | ISRO-ICG device helps save nine sailors stranded at sea between India and the Maldives On March 5th, in a similar operation, the ICG had apprehended the Sri Lankan vessel 'Akarsha Duwa', off Minicoy island. The boat with six crew had admitted to carrying 200kg of Heroin, 60kg hashish, which they jettisoned at sea, on sighting ICG assets.

Ex-LTTE man arrested for smuggling AK-47s, ammo, 300kg heroin from Pakistan to Sri Lanka

Air Force Day is celebrated every year on October 8. This day marks the anniversary of the establishment of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the year 1932.&nbsp;The IAF is the air wing of the Indian armed forces and the fourth largest air force in the world.&nbsp;

The year 2021 marks 89 years since the IAF's foundation. Like every year, the celebrations will take place at the Hindon air force station in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad in the presence of the Chief of air staff and senior officials of the three armed forces.

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Greetings to our air warriors and their families on Air Force Day. The Indian Air Force is synonymous with courage, diligence and professionalism. They have distinguished themselves in defending the country and through their humanitarian spirit in times of challenges. <a href="https://t.co/UbMSOK3agP">pic.twitter.com/UbMSOK3agP</a>
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On this occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "The Indian Air Force is synonymous with courage, diligence and professionalism."&nbsp;He further added, "They have distinguished themselves in defending the country and through their humanitarian spirit in times of challenges."&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/indian-aircraft-show-resolve-capability-on-air-force-day-333488">Also read |&nbsp;Indian aircraft show resolve, capability on Air Force Day</a>

The Indian Air Force was established on October 8, 1932, as a supporting force of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force.&nbsp;

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As a part of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SwarnimVijayVarsh?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SwarnimVijayVarsh</a> celebrations, the Indian Air Force <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IAF?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IAF</a> organised a Tri Service all women cycling expedition from War Memorial, Longewala to National War Memorial, New Delhi. The expedition was flagged off on 25 Sep 21. <a href="https://t.co/XegXugox1K">pic.twitter.com/XegXugox1K</a>
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) <a href="https://twitter.com/IAF_MCC/status/1446067401955495942?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2021</a></blockquote>
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This year, the IAF Day parade will pay tribute to the heroes of the 1971 war, which saw India defeat Pakistan."

There will be a Vinaash formation to showcase the victory in the battle of Longewala. A total of six hunter aircraft are expected to carry out this formation. Also, the IAF will honour its only Param Vir Chakra awardee, Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon, with a Sekhon formation.&nbsp;

This would be done with&nbsp;one aircraft each, including, Rafale, Tejas, Jaguar, MiG-29 and Mirage 2000, flying over the marchpast together.&nbsp;Mi-17 and Chinook helicopters will perform the Meghna formation.

Air Force Day is celebrated every year on October 8. This day marks the anniversary of the establishment of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the year 1932. The IAF is the air wing of the Indian armed forces and the fourth largest air force in the world.

Air Force Day is celebrated every year on October 8. This day marks the anniversary of the establishment of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in the year 1932. The IAF is the air wing of the Indian armed forces and the fourth largest air force in the world. The year 2021 marks 89 years since the IAF's foundation. Like every year, the celebrations will take place at the Hindon air force station in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad in the presence of the Chief of air staff and senior officials of the three armed forces. Greetings to our air warriors and their families on Air Force Day. The Indian Air Force is synonymous with courage, diligence and professionalism. They have distinguished themselves in defending the country and through their humanitarian spirit in times of challenges. pic.twitter.com/UbMSOK3agP — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 8, 2021 × On this occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "The Indian Air Force is synonymous with courage, diligence and professionalism." He further added, "They have distinguished themselves in defending the country and through their humanitarian spirit in times of challenges." Also read | Indian aircraft show resolve, capability on Air Force Day The Indian Air Force was established on October 8, 1932, as a supporting force of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force. As a part of #SwarnimVijayVarsh celebrations, the Indian Air Force #IAF organised a Tri Service all women cycling expedition from War Memorial, Longewala to National War Memorial, New Delhi. The expedition was flagged off on 25 Sep 21. pic.twitter.com/XegXugox1K — Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) October 7, 2021 × This year, the IAF Day parade will pay tribute to the heroes of the 1971 war, which saw India defeat Pakistan." There will be a Vinaash formation to showcase the victory in the battle of Longewala. A total of six hunter aircraft are expected to carry out this formation. Also, the IAF will honour its only Param Vir Chakra awardee, Nirmaljit Singh Sekhon, with a Sekhon formation. This would be done with one aircraft each, including, Rafale, Tejas, Jaguar, MiG-29 and Mirage 2000, flying over the marchpast together. Mi-17 and Chinook helicopters will perform the Meghna formation.

Air force day 2021: Parade to commemorate 1971 war victory

Indian soldiers repelled intrusion by Chinese troops in Arunachal Pradesh last week, it has come to light. The face-off took place when Chinese troops crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang. There were reports of Chinese soldiers being briefly detained by Indian forces but sources have told WION that Indian defence ministry has said that no one was detained.

The Indian troops outnumbered the Chinese at the location and the face-off lasted for several hours. The troops disengaged after local commanders resolved the issue.

Watch | Indian ministry of defence says no PLA soldier detained

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&nbsp;

Sources told WION that there was no damage to Indian defences in the area. The sources added that since India-China border was not formally demarcated, there were different perceptions among the troops of both countries as to where one border ends and other starts.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/air-force-day-2021-parade-to-commemorate-1971-war-victory-419021">Air force day 2021: Parade to commemorate 1971 war victory</a>

"Peace and Tranquillity in these areas of differing perceptions has been possible by adherence to existing agreements and protocols between the two countries. Both sides undertake patrolling activities upto their line of perception. Whenever patrols of both sides physically meet, the situation is managed according to established protocols and mechanisms agreed by both sides. Physical engagement can last for a few hours prior to disengaging as per mutual understanding," they said.

China and India have seen heightened tensions since last year when on May 5, a violent clash took place between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh. The incident saw both nations ramping up military presence along the LAC with increased number of troops and heavy military machinery.

(With inputs from Siddhant Sibbal)

Indian soldiers repelled intrusion by Chinese troops in Arunachal Pradesh last week, it has come to light. The face-off took place when Chinese troops crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang.

Indian soldiers repelled intrusion by Chinese troops in Arunachal Pradesh last week, it has come to light. The face-off took place when Chinese troops crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang. There were reports of Chinese soldiers being briefly detained by Indian forces but sources have told WION that Indian defence ministry has said that no one was detained. The Indian troops outnumbered the Chinese at the location and the face-off lasted for several hours. The troops disengaged after local commanders resolved the issue. Watch | Indian ministry of defence says no PLA soldier detained × Sources told WION that there was no damage to Indian defences in the area. The sources added that since India-China border was not formally demarcated, there were different perceptions among the troops of both countries as to where one border ends and other starts. Also Read | Air force day 2021: Parade to commemorate 1971 war victory "Peace and Tranquillity in these areas of differing perceptions has been possible by adherence to existing agreements and protocols between the two countries. Both sides undertake patrolling activities upto their line of perception. Whenever patrols of both sides physically meet, the situation is managed according to established protocols and mechanisms agreed by both sides. Physical engagement can last for a few hours prior to disengaging as per mutual understanding," they said. China and India have seen heightened tensions since last year when on May 5, a violent clash took place between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh. The incident saw both nations ramping up military presence along the LAC with increased number of troops and heavy military machinery. (With inputs from Siddhant Sibbal)

Indian soldiers foil Chinese incursion in Arunachal Pradesh: Sources

According to senior Forest department officials, they have succeeded in an attempt to reunite a baby elephant with its herd, near the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris. Forest staff who were on rounds on Tuesday morning found the baby elephant stuck in the mud, in the Cherambadi forest range, following which they attempted some measures to reunite the elephant with its group.&nbsp;

The major challenge in reuniting baby elephants that are separated from their herd, is that - the herd must be somewhere in the vicinity of the lost baby for an easy reunion, else the baby won’t be accepted by other herds of elephants. In cases where the baby cannot be reunited with the herd, forest officials would have to take the elephant captive and raise it in a captive elephant camp.&nbsp;

In this case, the forest staff left the baby elephant near what was suspected to be its own herd, but the baby came back running to the humans, owing to heavy rain and mist. On the following day, the officials are said to have used a small rope and tied the baby elephant near the spot where it was first found. This was done in the hope that the herd would find the baby based on its trumpeting calls.&nbsp;

When forest officials returned to the same spot, they found just the rope and telltale signs of a herd of elephants having visited the spot - its footprints, slanted vegetation, and thickets etc. Thus, the officials partially confirmed that the elephant was reunited with its herd. However, amid the inclement weather in the region, they are also following the herd from a distance to confirm visually if the baby is back in the pack.&nbsp;

Supriya Sahu, IAS, Principal Secretary, Environment, Climate Change &amp; Forests, Tamil Nadu Govt, had tweeted out videos of the rescue of the baby elephant and the attempts made to reunite it with the herd.&nbsp;

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Incredible outpouring of love on the kutty baby elephant who was reunited with the herd by <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TNForesters?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TNForesters</a>. The kutty blows a big trumpet while approaching the mother.Well done Sachin,Vengatesh Prabhu,Prasad,Vijay,George Praveenson,Thamba Kumar,Aneesh,Kumar, &amp; APW teams Pandalur <a href="https://t.co/0fQaZKnpDg">pic.twitter.com/0fQaZKnpDg</a>
— Supriya Sahu IAS (@supriyasahuias) <a href="https://twitter.com/supriyasahuias/status/1445980850240176128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2021</a></blockquote>
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A kutty baby elephant was reunited with the family after rescue by TN foresters in Mudumalai. Most heartwarming indeed. Kudos 👍👏 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TNForest?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TNForest</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/elephants?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#elephants</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/mudumalai?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#mudumalai</a> <a href="https://t.co/eX9gBd3oK7">pic.twitter.com/eX9gBd3oK7</a>
— Supriya Sahu IAS (@supriyasahuias) <a href="https://twitter.com/supriyasahuias/status/1445786003591942150?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Generally, elephant herds consist of females, babies, and sub-adult (8-10-year old) males. Around the age of 12, the male elephants leave the herd and head out on their own as independent tuskers.

According to senior Forest department officials, they have succeeded in an attempt to reunite a baby elephant with its herd, near the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris.

According to senior Forest department officials, they have succeeded in an attempt to reunite a baby elephant with its herd, near the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris. Forest staff who were on rounds on Tuesday morning found the baby elephant stuck in the mud, in the Cherambadi forest range, following which they attempted some measures to reunite the elephant with its group. The major challenge in reuniting baby elephants that are separated from their herd, is that - the herd must be somewhere in the vicinity of the lost baby for an easy reunion, else the baby won’t be accepted by other herds of elephants. In cases where the baby cannot be reunited with the herd, forest officials would have to take the elephant captive and raise it in a captive elephant camp. In this case, the forest staff left the baby elephant near what was suspected to be its own herd, but the baby came back running to the humans, owing to heavy rain and mist. On the following day, the officials are said to have used a small rope and tied the baby elephant near the spot where it was first found. This was done in the hope that the herd would find the baby based on its trumpeting calls. When forest officials returned to the same spot, they found just the rope and telltale signs of a herd of elephants having visited the spot - its footprints, slanted vegetation, and thickets etc. Thus, the officials partially confirmed that the elephant was reunited with its herd. However, amid the inclement weather in the region, they are also following the herd from a distance to confirm visually if the baby is back in the pack. Supriya Sahu, IAS, Principal Secretary, Environment, Climate Change & Forests, Tamil Nadu Govt, had tweeted out videos of the rescue of the baby elephant and the attempts made to reunite it with the herd. Incredible outpouring of love on the kutty baby elephant who was reunited with the herd by #TNForesters. The kutty blows a big trumpet while approaching the mother.Well done Sachin,Vengatesh Prabhu,Prasad,Vijay,George Praveenson,Thamba Kumar,Aneesh,Kumar, & APW teams Pandalur pic.twitter.com/0fQaZKnpDg — Supriya Sahu IAS (@supriyasahuias) October 7, 2021 × A kutty baby elephant was reunited with the family after rescue by TN foresters in Mudumalai. Most heartwarming indeed. Kudos 👍👏 #TNForest #elephants #mudumalai pic.twitter.com/eX9gBd3oK7 — Supriya Sahu IAS (@supriyasahuias) October 6, 2021 × Generally, elephant herds consist of females, babies, and sub-adult (8-10-year old) males. Around the age of 12, the male elephants leave the herd and head out on their own as independent tuskers.

How Indian Forest officials attempted to reunite a baby elephant that was separated from its herd

The Distress Alert Transponder (DAT), an indigenous device developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in consultation with the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), has saved the lives of nine Indian sailors.

The nine-crewed Mechanised Sailing Vessel (MSV) Annai Vailankanne Arockia Vennila, was stranded at the high seas and faced with on-board flooding amid rough sea conditions when it was sailing between Tuticorin (south Tamil Nadu) and the Maldives, owing to a technical snag.

The Indian Coast Guard’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Chennai received the vessel’s distress message, sent via DAT by 4 pm on Tuesday. At the time of the incident, the vessel was 170 nautical miles from Tuticorin and 230 NM from the Maldives. The MRCC launched the National Search and Rescue Services and activated the International Safety Net (ISN) to coordinate the search and rescue.

Two merchant vessels - MV SKS Mosel and MC MCP Salzburg, in the region, were identified and diverted to the location of the distressed vessel.

The MV MCP Salzburg arrived at the distressed vessel in the early hours of Wednesday (2:30 a.m.) and safely rescued all nine crew members before proceeding to its next port of call (NPC) Maldives, where the rescued crew will disembark.

DATs are carried by Indian fishing boats, Mechanised Sailing Vessels, Coastal Vessels and other small vessels. The distress alert is monitored 24x7x365 by the Coast Guard MRCC at the respective regions.

Jointly developed by the ISRO and ICG, the DAT is a low-cost and effective satellite transmitter built for fishermen. At a press of a button, this device transmits distress alerts to the search and rescue authorities through the INSAT series of satellites. In case of emergency, the user can select a distress message (boat sinking/fire/medical help/other emergencies). The DAT combines the message with the boat’s position (based on GPS) and transmits the same, every few minutes, till it is switched off manually or until the battery lasts.

The Indian Coast Guard has been emphasising that fishermen must carry the DAT device and also register it for effective, timely search and rescue. The DAT unit also helps fishermen receive other information such as potential fishing zones, weather alerts, etc.&nbsp;

The Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system is one of the largest domestic communication satellite systems in the Asia-Pacific region, with multiple operational communication satellites placed in geostationary orbit. Established in 1983 with the commissioning of INSAT-1B, it initiated a major revolution in India’s communications sector and sustained the same later.

According to ISRO, the INSAT system with more than 200 transponders in the C, Extended C and Ku-bands provides services to telecommunications, television broadcasting, satellite news-gathering, societal applications, weather forecasting, disaster warning and Search and Rescue operations.

The Distress Alert Transponder (DAT), an indigenous device developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in consultation with the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), has saved the lives of nine Indian sailors.

The Distress Alert Transponder (DAT), an indigenous device developed by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) in consultation with the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), has saved the lives of nine Indian sailors. The nine-crewed Mechanised Sailing Vessel (MSV) Annai Vailankanne Arockia Vennila, was stranded at the high seas and faced with on-board flooding amid rough sea conditions when it was sailing between Tuticorin (south Tamil Nadu) and the Maldives, owing to a technical snag. The Indian Coast Guard’s Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Chennai received the vessel’s distress message, sent via DAT by 4 pm on Tuesday. At the time of the incident, the vessel was 170 nautical miles from Tuticorin and 230 NM from the Maldives. The MRCC launched the National Search and Rescue Services and activated the International Safety Net (ISN) to coordinate the search and rescue. Two merchant vessels - MV SKS Mosel and MC MCP Salzburg, in the region, were identified and diverted to the location of the distressed vessel. The MV MCP Salzburg arrived at the distressed vessel in the early hours of Wednesday (2:30 a.m.) and safely rescued all nine crew members before proceeding to its next port of call (NPC) Maldives, where the rescued crew will disembark. DATs are carried by Indian fishing boats, Mechanised Sailing Vessels, Coastal Vessels and other small vessels. The distress alert is monitored 24x7x365 by the Coast Guard MRCC at the respective regions. Jointly developed by the ISRO and ICG, the DAT is a low-cost and effective satellite transmitter built for fishermen. At a press of a button, this device transmits distress alerts to the search and rescue authorities through the INSAT series of satellites. In case of emergency, the user can select a distress message (boat sinking/fire/medical help/other emergencies). The DAT combines the message with the boat’s position (based on GPS) and transmits the same, every few minutes, till it is switched off manually or until the battery lasts. The Indian Coast Guard has been emphasising that fishermen must carry the DAT device and also register it for effective, timely search and rescue. The DAT unit also helps fishermen receive other information such as potential fishing zones, weather alerts, etc. The Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system is one of the largest domestic communication satellite systems in the Asia-Pacific region, with multiple operational communication satellites placed in geostationary orbit. Established in 1983 with the commissioning of INSAT-1B, it initiated a major revolution in India’s communications sector and sustained the same later. According to ISRO, the INSAT system with more than 200 transponders in the C, Extended C and Ku-bands provides services to telecommunications, television broadcasting, satellite news-gathering, societal applications, weather forecasting, disaster warning and Search and Rescue operations.

ISRO-ICG device helps save nine sailors stranded at sea between India and the Maldives

The Sri Lankan Consul General in Mumbai, Ambassador Dr&nbsp;Valsan, has called for more communication between provincial politicians of India and Sri Lanka that will "sort lot of misperceptions".

Speaking to WION's Sidhant Sibal, Ambassador Dr. Valsan said, "We have a healthy communication channel between the top leadership and relevant institutions of India and Sri Lanka....I feel that other than traditional areas of connectivity, one important area that needs to be improved is the political connectivity at the provincial level."

India and Sri Lanka have had a lot of high-level engagements, including the recent visit of Indian foreign secretary Harsh Shringla to the country. Sri Lanka is likely to host BIMSTEC summit later this year, and if it happens in person, Indian Prime Minister is expected to go to the country.

The Sri Lankan diplomat also talked about connecting the Ramayana trail between India and Sri Lanka. "If we can link up this Ramayana trail, with India and Sri Lanka trail this will enhance the connectivity between these two&nbsp;nations," he said.

WION: How do you see India Sri Lanka ties?&nbsp;What can be done to increase more interaction in the already substantive relationship? 
Ambassador Dr. Valsan: From Sri Lanka's point of view, we feel it's an excellent relationship;&nbsp;it has to be excellent relationship as it is more than 2400 years old, and over a period of time it has been built on common cultural and historic ties. Infact, Buddhism is the biggest link given to us by India.

More than anything else, in the contemporary period there is a large Indian footprint in the foreign direct investment in Sri Lanka,&nbsp;and our bilateral trade is around 4.5 billion dollars a year, out of which 84 per cent is Indian export to Sri Lanka. In tourism, largest arrival is from India, that is around 450 thousand tourists, that is around 18 per cent of total tourist arrival. Around 10 per cent of our GDP comes from tourism.

Many Sri Lankan students are studying in Indian universities, some with scholarships and&nbsp;some without them. Large number of Sri Lankan defense personnel are getting trained in India. Dream of every Buddhist in Sri Lanka is to pay homage at least once in a lifetime at pilgrimage sites in India.

In emergency situation, like the Tsunami in 2004 and the Covid pandemic, India was at our doorstep with assistance and large Indian origin community has been living in Sri Lanka for many generations and this includes my family too. Other than this, there are 14-15 thousand Indian expats connected with various activities happily living in Sri Lanka. I can go on and on, but this shows we have all the positive elements of a relationship, take it cultural, civilisational, economic or even geo strategic — we have all the elements intact.

So it has to be an excellent relationship and because of this we have India-first policy, when it comes to our foreign policy formulation. However, this doesn't mean our relationship is without any issues. There are issues, there is another dimension to the relationship, and that is transactional relationship. Whenever there is transactional relationship, it will have its own issues in our case — it has been happening ever since Indo Sri Lankan accord of 1987 under peculiar circumstances. Still, we are managing those issues, and moving forward.

Fortunately, we have a healthy communication channel between the top leadership and relevant institutions of India and Sri Lanka. Any bilateral relationship is always evolving and it depends on the various factors, especially geo strategic. Personally, I feel that other than traditional areas of connectivity, one important area that needs to be improved is the political connectivity at the provincial level. As of now,&nbsp;it's mostly confined to political connectivity to Delhi and Colombo because of protocol constraints, especially in India. Because of that, relationship very often becomes vulnerable to local and perceptional issues at the provincial level. As much as possible, relationship should be on broad based connectivity respecting each other's sovereignty, integrity and self-respect rather than formal agreements. Formal agreements are always vulnerable to perceptional issues. Since India is too big and powerful, I get a feeling that India has to be asymmetric in her attitude towards Sri Lanka rather than basing her relationship on reciprocities. So, asymmetry is the name of the game.&nbsp;

WION: How can Mumbai be a launchpad for Sri Lankan investment into India and vice versa? 
Ambassador Dr. Valsan: As of now, there are a&nbsp;lot of Indian investments in Sri Lanka —&nbsp;large footprint. Already, there is economic activity between Sri Lanka and Mumbai. Most of the companies invested in Sri Lanka are Mumbai based, example, Primal glass, CEAT, TATA, ITC, Ultra Tech cement, Mahindra &amp; Mahindra and more. The footprint is very large. Now, Adani group has also come with $700 million investment in Colombo port. However, there are further opportunities, we have opened up three zones, one is 400 acres of land exclusively for pharma around Hambantota harbor and great opportunity for Indian investment, 300 acres of exclusive zone for textiles, and Mumbai being textile and pharma city, these two areas are something Indian investors should explore. Third area is urban development projects because all over Sri Lanka, we are in the process of restoring all heritage buildings and coming up with a lot of infra projects and I am sure Indian investors can have look at those areas.

WION: What about connectivity? 
Ambassador Dr. Valsan: Connectivity, as of now, widespread connectivity at traditional level, people to people level, as I said, it has to enhanced a bit. Connectivity should be at political level a lot, for example, for people like us based in Mumbai and Chennai there are&nbsp;lot of protocol constraints. So, I feel that communication should be at political level; the provincial politicians of India and Sri Lanka have to talk to each other and meet each other. That way, a lot of issues and misperceptions can be sorted out.

WION: When it comes to tourism, how are you planning to increase Indian tourism, especially from Mumbai, Maharashtra and that part of India? 
Ambassador Dr. Valsan: From Sir Lanka's point of view, we have a lot of plans.&nbsp;Other than traditional tourism, from Mumbai we thought we will focus on two aspects. One is the Ramayana trail, if you look at Valmiki Ramayana, more than 50 per cent of Ramayana happened in Sri Lanka and we have identified so many locations, that are connected with Ramayana. I don't say these are historically or&nbsp;archeologically true but these are beliefs of the people. These are based on legends of the local people. So, that is one area we thought of exploring and we thought we will be in touch with Hindu cultural organisations here and some of these institutions. We are going to present our case on Ramayana trail. I spoke to my high commissioner, even in India, central government is having Ramayana corridor. So if we can link up this Ramayana trail, with India and Sri Lanka trail, this will enhance the connectivity between these two nations. That is one area. Second area is Buddhist trail which has a lot of similarities. Even in India, a lot of interest is there in promoting the Buddhist sites, which will be very welcomed by the Sri Lankan Buddhist. As I said, each and every one of Buddhist is eagerly looking forward to come and visit sites in India, areas connected with Buddha's life. From our point of view, I thought, we will try to link up areas in Maharashtra with our heritage sites in Sri Lanka. We will give care.

WION:&nbsp;Since Organic Fertilizer from India has passed lab tests and you plan to facilitate its procurement from India. Anything on that? 
Ambassador Dr. Valsan: Of course yes, we will for sure buy from India and that is one of the reasons we have done the lab test. Our state minister for agriculture has already announced that we have a large plan to procure from India but you know, the nuts and bolts of procurement, too early for me to say on it. Normally, this decision is taken at government level, if government&nbsp;asks us to intervene or facilitate things, the mission will be involved.

The Sri Lankan Consul General in Mumbai, Ambassador Dr Valsan, has called for more communication between provincial politicians of India and Sri Lanka that will "sort lot of misperceptions".

The Sri Lankan Consul General in Mumbai, Ambassador Dr Valsan, has called for more communication between provincial politicians of India and Sri Lanka that will "sort lot of misperceptions". Speaking to WION's Sidhant Sibal, Ambassador Dr. Valsan said, "We have a healthy communication channel between the top leadership and relevant institutions of India and Sri Lanka....I feel that other than traditional areas of connectivity, one important area that needs to be improved is the political connectivity at the provincial level." India and Sri Lanka have had a lot of high-level engagements, including the recent visit of Indian foreign secretary Harsh Shringla to the country. Sri Lanka is likely to host BIMSTEC summit later this year, and if it happens in person, Indian Prime Minister is expected to go to the country. The Sri Lankan diplomat also talked about connecting the Ramayana trail between India and Sri Lanka. "If we can link up this Ramayana trail, with India and Sri Lanka trail this will enhance the connectivity between these two nations," he said. WION: How do you see India Sri Lanka ties? What can be done to increase more interaction in the already substantive relationship? Ambassador Dr. Valsan: From Sri Lanka's point of view, we feel it's an excellent relationship; it has to be excellent relationship as it is more than 2400 years old, and over a period of time it has been built on common cultural and historic ties. Infact, Buddhism is the biggest link given to us by India. More than anything else, in the contemporary period there is a large Indian footprint in the foreign direct investment in Sri Lanka, and our bilateral trade is around 4.5 billion dollars a year, out of which 84 per cent is Indian export to Sri Lanka. In tourism, largest arrival is from India, that is around 450 thousand tourists, that is around 18 per cent of total tourist arrival. Around 10 per cent of our GDP comes from tourism. Many Sri Lankan students are studying in Indian universities, some with scholarships and some without them. Large number of Sri Lankan defense personnel are getting trained in India. Dream of every Buddhist in Sri Lanka is to pay homage at least once in a lifetime at pilgrimage sites in India. In emergency situation, like the Tsunami in 2004 and the Covid pandemic, India was at our doorstep with assistance and large Indian origin community has been living in Sri Lanka for many generations and this includes my family too. Other than this, there are 14-15 thousand Indian expats connected with various activities happily living in Sri Lanka. I can go on and on, but this shows we have all the positive elements of a relationship, take it cultural, civilisational, economic or even geo strategic — we have all the elements intact. So it has to be an excellent relationship and because of this we have India-first policy, when it comes to our foreign policy formulation. However, this doesn't mean our relationship is without any issues. There are issues, there is another dimension to the relationship, and that is transactional relationship. Whenever there is transactional relationship, it will have its own issues in our case — it has been happening ever since Indo Sri Lankan accord of 1987 under peculiar circumstances. Still, we are managing those issues, and moving forward. Fortunately, we have a healthy communication channel between the top leadership and relevant institutions of India and Sri Lanka. Any bilateral relationship is always evolving and it depends on the various factors, especially geo strategic. Personally, I feel that other than traditional areas of connectivity, one important area that needs to be improved is the political connectivity at the provincial level. As of now, it's mostly confined to political connectivity to Delhi and Colombo because of protocol constraints, especially in India. Because of that, relationship very often becomes vulnerable to local and perceptional issues at the provincial level. As much as possible, relationship should be on broad based connectivity respecting each other's sovereignty, integrity and self-respect rather than formal agreements. Formal agreements are always vulnerable to perceptional issues. Since India is too big and powerful, I get a feeling that India has to be asymmetric in her attitude towards Sri Lanka rather than basing her relationship on reciprocities. So, asymmetry is the name of the game. WION: How can Mumbai be a launchpad for Sri Lankan investment into India and vice versa? Ambassador Dr. Valsan: As of now, there are a lot of Indian investments in Sri Lanka — large footprint. Already, there is economic activity between Sri Lanka and Mumbai. Most of the companies invested in Sri Lanka are Mumbai based, example, Primal glass, CEAT, TATA, ITC, Ultra Tech cement, Mahindra & Mahindra and more. The footprint is very large. Now, Adani group has also come with $700 million investment in Colombo port. However, there are further opportunities, we have opened up three zones, one is 400 acres of land exclusively for pharma around Hambantota harbor and great opportunity for Indian investment, 300 acres of exclusive zone for textiles, and Mumbai being textile and pharma city, these two areas are something Indian investors should explore. Third area is urban development projects because all over Sri Lanka, we are in the process of restoring all heritage buildings and coming up with a lot of infra projects and I am sure Indian investors can have look at those areas. WION: What about connectivity? Ambassador Dr. Valsan: Connectivity, as of now, widespread connectivity at traditional level, people to people level, as I said, it has to enhanced a bit. Connectivity should be at political level a lot, for example, for people like us based in Mumbai and Chennai there are lot of protocol constraints. So, I feel that communication should be at political level; the provincial politicians of India and Sri Lanka have to talk to each other and meet each other. That way, a lot of issues and misperceptions can be sorted out. WION: When it comes to tourism, how are you planning to increase Indian tourism, especially from Mumbai, Maharashtra and that part of India? Ambassador Dr. Valsan: From Sir Lanka's point of view, we have a lot of plans. Other than traditional tourism, from Mumbai we thought we will focus on two aspects. One is the Ramayana trail, if you look at Valmiki Ramayana, more than 50 per cent of Ramayana happened in Sri Lanka and we have identified so many locations, that are connected with Ramayana. I don't say these are historically or archeologically true but these are beliefs of the people. These are based on legends of the local people. So, that is one area we thought of exploring and we thought we will be in touch with Hindu cultural organisations here and some of these institutions. We are going to present our case on Ramayana trail. I spoke to my high commissioner, even in India, central government is having Ramayana corridor. So if we can link up this Ramayana trail, with India and Sri Lanka trail, this will enhance the connectivity between these two nations. That is one area. Second area is Buddhist trail which has a lot of similarities. Even in India, a lot of interest is there in promoting the Buddhist sites, which will be very welcomed by the Sri Lankan Buddhist. As I said, each and every one of Buddhist is eagerly looking forward to come and visit sites in India, areas connected with Buddha's life. From our point of view, I thought, we will try to link up areas in Maharashtra with our heritage sites in Sri Lanka. We will give care. WION: Since Organic Fertilizer from India has passed lab tests and you plan to facilitate its procurement from India. Anything on that? Ambassador Dr. Valsan: Of course yes, we will for sure buy from India and that is one of the reasons we have done the lab test. Our state minister for agriculture has already announced that we have a large plan to procure from India but you know, the nuts and bolts of procurement, too early for me to say on it. Normally, this decision is taken at government level, if government asks us to intervene or facilitate things, the mission will be involved.

More talks needed between India-SL provincial leaders: Lankan consul general in Mumbai

Over the last four decades, the state-run Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has fostered an ecosystem and space industry via public-private partnerships, but this needs to be scaled up and more inclusive, say experts. They are of the opinion that ISRO and its private partners from the industry must involve academia and research institutions at a greater level in order to ensure better coordination for the coming times, amid global competition.&nbsp;

Speaking at a virtual event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), veterans of ISRO and Indian space-sector entrepreneurs touched upon how India could evolve its space ecosystem for balanced growth as a manufacturing hub. On the emerging global trends, Arunachalam, an official of the government-run New Space India Limited (NSIL), said that the highly competitive segments would be affordable launches, increased launch choice, increased resolution of commercial space-based imaging, etc.&nbsp;

He said that ISRO had been working with over 500 industry partners for their overall operations and activities so far, but he pointed out how India’s space economy is barely $7bn, which is less than 2% of the global market. He said ISRO and Indian industries must go beyond the vendor-supplier relationship and work on developing space-based services to bolster the Indian Space economy.&nbsp;

Surendra M Vaidya, a senior official from Godrej Aerospace, said that the private industry and ISRO partnership dates back to the 1980s, but he emphasised why it had to be extended to academia, research institutions. Taking the example of Godrej and MTAR- two competing firms, he touched upon how they were working together on fabricating rocket engines for ISRO, while also being competitors in many other streams. He expressed that private industry could simultaneously collaborate and compete in different domains, as necessary.&nbsp;

Highlighting the need for an overall aerospace ecosystem, he said that a manufacturing hub doesn’t mean just a single unit for a single technological system, but it meant offering a wide-range of products for civil and military purposes. "We must encourage the support infrastructure, such as machine tools, facilities, and consumables, most of which are not readily available today. What we require is an ecosystem that is based on industry requirements,"he said.&nbsp;

Srinath Ravichandran, CEO of rocket company Agnikul Cosmos, said that there must be enough demand and enough solutions providers to meet both sides of the economic equation. Referring to the problems faced by small companies in placing orders for components, he said that small firms required only few units of a certain component, whereas ore sector companies required thousands of them. "Small companies can’t place large orders as the needs are infrequent, but when companies across the sector come together and place a large order, it will benefit everyone, provided we use the same component," he said.&nbsp;

Referring to the global semiconductor supply shortage, he said it would be easier for a company to purchase a large volume of 10,000 units, whereas a small company needing 50 units would have to wait longer. He urged Indian industry and industry-bodies to find methods to overcome this, where the small players can also get their small-quantity orders on time via collaboration with larger companies.

Sanjay Nekkanti of Dhruvaspace said that there was a huge market where Indian firms could focus on and offer products and services to cater towards foreign demand. He pointed out statistics which mentioned the possibility of 30,000 satellites being launched over the next decade and how Indian firms could collaborate to meet these requirements of foreign customers.

Over the last four decades, the state-run Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has fostered an ecosystem and space industry via public-private partnerships, but this needs to be scaled up and more inclusive, say experts.

Over the last four decades, the state-run Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has fostered an ecosystem and space industry via public-private partnerships, but this needs to be scaled up and more inclusive, say experts. They are of the opinion that ISRO and its private partners from the industry must involve academia and research institutions at a greater level in order to ensure better coordination for the coming times, amid global competition. Speaking at a virtual event organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), veterans of ISRO and Indian space-sector entrepreneurs touched upon how India could evolve its space ecosystem for balanced growth as a manufacturing hub. On the emerging global trends, Arunachalam, an official of the government-run New Space India Limited (NSIL), said that the highly competitive segments would be affordable launches, increased launch choice, increased resolution of commercial space-based imaging, etc. He said that ISRO had been working with over 500 industry partners for their overall operations and activities so far, but he pointed out how India’s space economy is barely $7bn, which is less than 2% of the global market. He said ISRO and Indian industries must go beyond the vendor-supplier relationship and work on developing space-based services to bolster the Indian Space economy. Surendra M Vaidya, a senior official from Godrej Aerospace, said that the private industry and ISRO partnership dates back to the 1980s, but he emphasised why it had to be extended to academia, research institutions. Taking the example of Godrej and MTAR- two competing firms, he touched upon how they were working together on fabricating rocket engines for ISRO, while also being competitors in many other streams. He expressed that private industry could simultaneously collaborate and compete in different domains, as necessary. Highlighting the need for an overall aerospace ecosystem, he said that a manufacturing hub doesn’t mean just a single unit for a single technological system, but it meant offering a wide-range of products for civil and military purposes. "We must encourage the support infrastructure, such as machine tools, facilities, and consumables, most of which are not readily available today. What we require is an ecosystem that is based on industry requirements,"he said. Srinath Ravichandran, CEO of rocket company Agnikul Cosmos, said that there must be enough demand and enough solutions providers to meet both sides of the economic equation. Referring to the problems faced by small companies in placing orders for components, he said that small firms required only few units of a certain component, whereas ore sector companies required thousands of them. "Small companies can’t place large orders as the needs are infrequent, but when companies across the sector come together and place a large order, it will benefit everyone, provided we use the same component," he said. Referring to the global semiconductor supply shortage, he said it would be easier for a company to purchase a large volume of 10,000 units, whereas a small company needing 50 units would have to wait longer. He urged Indian industry and industry-bodies to find methods to overcome this, where the small players can also get their small-quantity orders on time via collaboration with larger companies. Sanjay Nekkanti of Dhruvaspace said that there was a huge market where Indian firms could focus on and offer products and services to cater towards foreign demand. He pointed out statistics which mentioned the possibility of 30,000 satellites being launched over the next decade and how Indian firms could collaborate to meet these requirements of foreign customers.

Greater collaboration within India’s space industry can lead to balanced growth, say experts

Delhi government employees and teachers not having at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine will not be allowed to attend their offices and workplaces from October 16, according to a Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) order on Friday.

All such unvaccinated Delhi government employees, including teachers and frontline workers, will be treated as "on leave" till they get the jab, the order stated.

The heads of departments concerned will verify vaccinated employees through Aarogya Setu app or vaccination certificate, it stated.

The order, issued by Delhi Chief Secretary and DDMA executive committee chairperson Vijay Dev, stated that the central government "may consider issuing similar directions in respect of its employees working in Delhi."

The DDMA, in its meeting on September 29, had decided to ensure 100 per cent vaccination of all government employees, frontline workers, healthcare workers as well as teachers and other staff members in schools/colleges.

These categories of persons have frequent interaction with the general public and vulnerable section of the society, stated the order.

All government employees working in departments/autonomous bodies/ PSUs/local bodies/educational institutions under Government of NCT of Delhi, including frontline workers, healthcare workers as well as teachers and other staff working in schools/colleges should get vaccinated (at least first dose) by October 15, said the order.

"The aforesaid government employees/ frontline workers/healthcare workers / teachers and other staff working in schools abd colleges, who do not get vaccinated (at least first dose) by October 15 shall not be allowed to attend their respective offices/ health care institutions/ educational institutions with effect from October 16, till they have obtained the first dose vaccination," it said.

Delhi government employees and teachers not having at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine will not be allowed to attend their offices and workplaces from October 16, according to a Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) order on Friday.

Delhi government employees and teachers not having at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine will not be allowed to attend their offices and workplaces from October 16, according to a Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) order on Friday. All such unvaccinated Delhi government employees, including teachers and frontline workers, will be treated as "on leave" till they get the jab, the order stated. The heads of departments concerned will verify vaccinated employees through Aarogya Setu app or vaccination certificate, it stated. The order, issued by Delhi Chief Secretary and DDMA executive committee chairperson Vijay Dev, stated that the central government "may consider issuing similar directions in respect of its employees working in Delhi." The DDMA, in its meeting on September 29, had decided to ensure 100 per cent vaccination of all government employees, frontline workers, healthcare workers as well as teachers and other staff members in schools/colleges. These categories of persons have frequent interaction with the general public and vulnerable section of the society, stated the order. All government employees working in departments/autonomous bodies/ PSUs/local bodies/educational institutions under Government of NCT of Delhi, including frontline workers, healthcare workers as well as teachers and other staff working in schools/colleges should get vaccinated (at least first dose) by October 15, said the order. "The aforesaid government employees/ frontline workers/healthcare workers / teachers and other staff working in schools abd colleges, who do not get vaccinated (at least first dose) by October 15 shall not be allowed to attend their respective offices/ health care institutions/ educational institutions with effect from October 16, till they have obtained the first dose vaccination," it said.

Unvaccinated Delhi govt employees will not be allowed to attend office from October 16: DDMA

Poland's envoy to India Adam Burakowski has warned of a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, and his country is willing to "contribute to humanitarian aid". The Polish embassy in Delhi is accredited to Afghanistan and played a key role in coordination of the evacuation in August when Taliban took over the country.

Speaking to WION's Sidhant Sibal, envoy Burakowski highlighted how Poland&nbsp;"evacuated around 1300 people from Afghanistan, Afghan nationals. These are people who worked with our mission in Afghanistan, our embassy when it was there."

The envoy welcomed the "decision of the government of India to be more open for foreign nationals".

Indian government has announced that foreign tourist will be allowed from November 15&nbsp;for those on chartered flights as Covid situation eases.

Interestingly, the Polish envoy also talked about polish artist Stefan Norblin who has decorated Indian palaces, including the Umaid Bhawan palace in Jodhpur. The artist left Poland after the country was attacked during World War II and has been working &nbsp;for Maharajah Umaid Singh of Jodhpur in India. He designed the art deco murals at the famous Umaid Bhawan palace.

WION: How has Poland helped in evacuation process from Afghanistan? 
Adam Burakowski: Our embassies are very few embassies accredited to Afghanistan from Delhi,&nbsp;that is why we are observing the situation in Afghanistan very closely. The fall of Kabul on August 15 was a big surprise and shock for us,&nbsp;as for other countries and Afghanistan itself. So, from the very beginning, we started to plan the evacuation of people who helped us during our 20 years of involvement in NATO mission in Afghanistan. We sent military planes to Poland&nbsp;to take back people to Poland. We evacuated around 1,300 people from Afghanistan, Afghan nationals. These are people who worked with our mission in Afghanistan, our embassy when it was there. It closed down in 2014 and also Polish military contingent. Also, civilians in Ghanzi province, where we made many development projects in Ghazni. We evacuated these people, and those who worked with our allies, such as NATO, EU delegation, and other countries like Lithuania. It was a big scale operation that lasted for 11 days and we reached this number of 1,300 Afghans. We also cooperated very closely with&nbsp;Mr Tahir Qadiry who was the head of mission of Afghanistan in Delhi and then he moved to Poland as an envoy. Ambassador Tahir was very active and even had press conference with our PM about the whole development. We consider the evacuation as success. We consider our 20 years in Afghanistan as a success because Poland contributed much on development of Afghanistan —&nbsp;education, empowerment of women and also people to people contacts. Afghanistan is very important country for us still and we are observing the situation very closely.

WION: How do you see the situation in Afghanistan under the Taliban government&nbsp;which is seen as non inclusive, with no minorities such as the Hazaras, no women? 
Adam Burakowski: We are in European Union, and we are discussing with our partners on whole situation, and will take call on the situation together and how to deal with current admin of Taliban in Afghanistan. As you mentioned, the government&nbsp;is definitely not inclusive and it is also up to Taliban what they want to do. We will be observing this very closely.&nbsp;We are afraid of potential humanitarian crisis because winter is coming and economy is down because of this sudden takeover by Taliban. Also, we are ready to contribute to humanitarian aid.&nbsp;

WION:&nbsp;How have your talks&nbsp;been with India? 
Adam Burakowski: We have constant discussions with the MEA about the development in Afghanistan. We are to a very large extent very like-minded in many aspects of the current situation in Afghanistan.

WION: How do you see ties with India? 
Adam Burakowski: Our relationship has always been very friendly. It was impacted by Covid, and just yesterday we welcomed the decision of the government&nbsp;of India to be more open for foreign nationals. Just before the Covid, we had a direct flight from Delhi to Warsaw. It was a big success, the demand was very high. We would like to restore it as soon as possible.&nbsp;

WION: About the connect between the two countries, we know Polish artist Stefan Norblin has been the decorator of indian palaces, including the Umaid Bhawan palace in Jodhpur. Can you throw some light about&nbsp;his life and times. 
Adam Burakowski: Stefan Norblin was a polish artist and very active in Poland. He was multi-talented and when the World War II broke out, and Poland was attacked by Nazi Germany and Soviet Union, he escaped and finally reached India and got orders from few maharajas, the biggest one in jodhpur. He designed part of Umaid Bhawan in Jodhpur and it was started by Maharaja of Jodhpur, Umaid Singh. He designed the luxurious suites of the palace, the Maharaja and Maharani suites and made series of painting depicting Indian mythology in art deco style. The polish artist contributed to the final look of Umaid Bhawan, one of the biggest palaces in India. His pictures are in the museum there. Polish team came to restore the painting and they are in good shape. I would like to welcome everyone to Jodhpur and look at the pictures.

Poland's envoy to India Adam Burakowski has warned of a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, and his country is willing to "contribute to humanitarian aid". The Polish embassy in Delhi is accredited to Afghanistan and played a key role in coordination of the evacuation in August when Taliban took over the country.

Poland's envoy to India Adam Burakowski has warned of a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, and his country is willing to "contribute to humanitarian aid". The Polish embassy in Delhi is accredited to Afghanistan and played a key role in coordination of the evacuation in August when Taliban took over the country. Speaking to WION's Sidhant Sibal, envoy Burakowski highlighted how Poland "evacuated around 1300 people from Afghanistan, Afghan nationals. These are people who worked with our mission in Afghanistan, our embassy when it was there." The envoy welcomed the "decision of the government of India to be more open for foreign nationals". Indian government has announced that foreign tourist will be allowed from November 15 for those on chartered flights as Covid situation eases. Interestingly, the Polish envoy also talked about polish artist Stefan Norblin who has decorated Indian palaces, including the Umaid Bhawan palace in Jodhpur. The artist left Poland after the country was attacked during World War II and has been working for Maharajah Umaid Singh of Jodhpur in India. He designed the art deco murals at the famous Umaid Bhawan palace. WION: How has Poland helped in evacuation process from Afghanistan? Adam Burakowski: Our embassies are very few embassies accredited to Afghanistan from Delhi, that is why we are observing the situation in Afghanistan very closely. The fall of Kabul on August 15 was a big surprise and shock for us, as for other countries and Afghanistan itself. So, from the very beginning, we started to plan the evacuation of people who helped us during our 20 years of involvement in NATO mission in Afghanistan. We sent military planes to Poland to take back people to Poland. We evacuated around 1,300 people from Afghanistan, Afghan nationals. These are people who worked with our mission in Afghanistan, our embassy when it was there. It closed down in 2014 and also Polish military contingent. Also, civilians in Ghanzi province, where we made many development projects in Ghazni. We evacuated these people, and those who worked with our allies, such as NATO, EU delegation, and other countries like Lithuania. It was a big scale operation that lasted for 11 days and we reached this number of 1,300 Afghans. We also cooperated very closely with Mr Tahir Qadiry who was the head of mission of Afghanistan in Delhi and then he moved to Poland as an envoy. Ambassador Tahir was very active and even had press conference with our PM about the whole development. We consider the evacuation as success. We consider our 20 years in Afghanistan as a success because Poland contributed much on development of Afghanistan — education, empowerment of women and also people to people contacts. Afghanistan is very important country for us still and we are observing the situation very closely. WION: How do you see the situation in Afghanistan under the Taliban government which is seen as non inclusive, with no minorities such as the Hazaras, no women? Adam Burakowski: We are in European Union, and we are discussing with our partners on whole situation, and will take call on the situation together and how to deal with current admin of Taliban in Afghanistan. As you mentioned, the government is definitely not inclusive and it is also up to Taliban what they want to do. We will be observing this very closely. We are afraid of potential humanitarian crisis because winter is coming and economy is down because of this sudden takeover by Taliban. Also, we are ready to contribute to humanitarian aid. WION: How have your talks been with India? Adam Burakowski: We have constant discussions with the MEA about the development in Afghanistan. We are to a very large extent very like-minded in many aspects of the current situation in Afghanistan. WION: How do you see ties with India? Adam Burakowski: Our relationship has always been very friendly. It was impacted by Covid, and just yesterday we welcomed the decision of the government of India to be more open for foreign nationals. Just before the Covid, we had a direct flight from Delhi to Warsaw. It was a big success, the demand was very high. We would like to restore it as soon as possible. WION: About the connect between the two countries, we know Polish artist Stefan Norblin has been the decorator of indian palaces, including the Umaid Bhawan palace in Jodhpur. Can you throw some light about his life and times. Adam Burakowski: Stefan Norblin was a polish artist and very active in Poland. He was multi-talented and when the World War II broke out, and Poland was attacked by Nazi Germany and Soviet Union, he escaped and finally reached India and got orders from few maharajas, the biggest one in jodhpur. He designed part of Umaid Bhawan in Jodhpur and it was started by Maharaja of Jodhpur, Umaid Singh. He designed the luxurious suites of the palace, the Maharaja and Maharani suites and made series of painting depicting Indian mythology in art deco style. The polish artist contributed to the final look of Umaid Bhawan, one of the biggest palaces in India. His pictures are in the museum there. Polish team came to restore the painting and they are in good shape. I would like to welcome everyone to Jodhpur and look at the pictures.

Polish envoy to India Adam Burakowski warns of humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan

The Indian Air Force's prompt actions in response to developments in eastern Ladakh last year were a testament to the combat readiness of the force, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhary said on Friday.

In an address to the air warriors on the occasion of the 89th Air Force Day, the Chief of Air Staff also said that the IAF must demonstrate to the nation that external forces will not be allowed to violate its territory.

"As our challenges continue to rise, so does our strength and resolve to ensure best possible application of air power. When I look at the security scenario that we face today, I am acutely conscious that I have assumed the command at a crucial time," he said at the event held at the Hindon airbase on the outskirts of Delhi.

"We must demonstrate to the nation that external forces will not be allowed to violate our territory. I pledge to do all I can to provide you with clear direction, good leadership and the best of resources that I can muster," he said.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/air-force-day-2021-parade-to-commemorate-1971-war-victory-419021">Also read |&nbsp;Air force day 2021: Parade to commemorate 1971 war victory</a>

Air Chief Marshal Chaudhary said the year gone by was "quite challenging yet extremely rewarding".

"The prompt actions in response to developments in eastern Ladakh was a testament to the Indian Air Force's combat readiness. Our efforts in completing all Covid-related tasks was also a major achievement in support of the national efforts," he said.

The Chief of Air Staff said the security environment in the region and beyond has been "impacted by a complex interplay of geopolitical forces".

"Moreover, the advent of new domains over and above the traditional domains of land, sea and air has resulted in a paradigm shift in the way military operations will be conducted," he said.

Air Chief Marshal Chaudhary said the ongoing capability enhancement in the Indian Air Force is aimed at providing the optimum means for employing air power and achieving desired results "swiftly and decisively".

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/indian-air-force-to-take-part-in-exercises-in-israel-egypt-418459">Also read |&nbsp;Indian Air Force to take part in exercises in Israel, Egypt</a>

"I will continue to rely on your skills, courage, determination and hard work in the years ahead. Remember that it is our sacred duty to protect the nation's sovereignty and integrity at any cost and you are to do what it takes to ensure that we do not let the nation down," he said.

The Indian Air Force's prompt actions in response to developments in eastern Ladakh last year were a testament to the combat readiness of the force, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhary said on Friday.

The Indian Air Force's prompt actions in response to developments in eastern Ladakh last year were a testament to the combat readiness of the force, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhary said on Friday. In an address to the air warriors on the occasion of the 89th Air Force Day, the Chief of Air Staff also said that the IAF must demonstrate to the nation that external forces will not be allowed to violate its territory. "As our challenges continue to rise, so does our strength and resolve to ensure best possible application of air power. When I look at the security scenario that we face today, I am acutely conscious that I have assumed the command at a crucial time," he said at the event held at the Hindon airbase on the outskirts of Delhi. "We must demonstrate to the nation that external forces will not be allowed to violate our territory. I pledge to do all I can to provide you with clear direction, good leadership and the best of resources that I can muster," he said. Also read | Air force day 2021: Parade to commemorate 1971 war victory Air Chief Marshal Chaudhary said the year gone by was "quite challenging yet extremely rewarding". "The prompt actions in response to developments in eastern Ladakh was a testament to the Indian Air Force's combat readiness. Our efforts in completing all Covid-related tasks was also a major achievement in support of the national efforts," he said. The Chief of Air Staff said the security environment in the region and beyond has been "impacted by a complex interplay of geopolitical forces". "Moreover, the advent of new domains over and above the traditional domains of land, sea and air has resulted in a paradigm shift in the way military operations will be conducted," he said. Air Chief Marshal Chaudhary said the ongoing capability enhancement in the Indian Air Force is aimed at providing the optimum means for employing air power and achieving desired results "swiftly and decisively". Also read | Indian Air Force to take part in exercises in Israel, Egypt "I will continue to rely on your skills, courage, determination and hard work in the years ahead. Remember that it is our sacred duty to protect the nation's sovereignty and integrity at any cost and you are to do what it takes to ensure that we do not let the nation down," he said.

Won't allow external forces to violate our territory, says Air Chief Marshal

According to India's Central Electricity Authority (CEA), 63 of the 135 coal-fired power plants in the country have just two days or less of coal supplies left.

CEA reportedly said 17&nbsp;of the country's 135 coal-fired power plants have&nbsp;"zero coal stocks".&nbsp;

India is the second-largest importer and consumer of coal. India's power ministry had recently issued a directive to increase coal production "in the light of the increasing power demand".&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/electricity-crisis-chinese-switch-to-flashlights-generators-to-meet-emission-targets-ease-coal-shortages-416787">Also Read:&nbsp;China switches to flashlights, generators to meet emission targets &amp; ease coal shortages</a>

The ministry said compared to August last year, the energy consumption in August this year had increased by 15 per cent while the share of thermal &amp; lignite based generation had increased by 21 per cent.

Coal is also responsible for causing global pollution with China being the top coal consumer. China has been hit by a power crisis even as the Chinese government recently ordered railway companies and local authorities to ramp up coal supplies quickly.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/in-run-up-to-cop26-summit-glasgow-records-hottest-summer-410318">Also Read:&nbsp;In run up to Cop26 summit, Glasgow records hottest summer</a>

The Communist nation is under increased pressure to stop its coal-fired power projects. In order to address the criticism, President Xi last month had pledged not to build new coal-fired power projects abroad during his address to the UN General Assembly.

China is the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter and relies heavily on coal to meet its domestic energy needs. It is also under increased pressure from international organisations&nbsp;who have set their focus on China's coal energy needs at the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Glasgow later this month.

President Xi has however not confirmed his participation at COP26 in Glasgow. Reports say&nbsp;China's top economic planning body has been asked to devise a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions amid growing pollution concerns worldwide.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/climate-change-summit-cop26s-president-alok-sharma-flew-to-30-countries-in-7-months-403428">Also Read:&nbsp;Cop26 summit president flew to 30 countries in 7 months</a>

British PM Boris Johnson had sent an invitation to President Xi to attend the meeting. In fact, British cabinet minister and president Alok Sharma of COP26 had said that the "ball is very much in their court" referring to China's participation at the conference.

Alok Sharma had visited Beijing earlier and held talks with Chinese officials while emphasising that the Chinese government wanted to make "COP26 as a success".

The COP26 conference will begin in Glasgow, Scotland from October 31.

(With inputs from Agencies)

According to India's Central Electricity Authority (CEA), 63 of the 135 coal-fired power plants in the country have just two days or less of coal supplies left. CEA reportedly said 17 of the country's 135 coal-fired power plants have "zero coal stocks".

According to India's Central Electricity Authority (CEA), 63 of the 135 coal-fired power plants in the country have just two days or less of coal supplies left. CEA reportedly said 17 of the country's 135 coal-fired power plants have "zero coal stocks". India is the second-largest importer and consumer of coal. India's power ministry had recently issued a directive to increase coal production "in the light of the increasing power demand". Also Read: China switches to flashlights, generators to meet emission targets & ease coal shortages The ministry said compared to August last year, the energy consumption in August this year had increased by 15 per cent while the share of thermal & lignite based generation had increased by 21 per cent. Coal is also responsible for causing global pollution with China being the top coal consumer. China has been hit by a power crisis even as the Chinese government recently ordered railway companies and local authorities to ramp up coal supplies quickly. Also Read: In run up to Cop26 summit, Glasgow records hottest summer The Communist nation is under increased pressure to stop its coal-fired power projects. In order to address the criticism, President Xi last month had pledged not to build new coal-fired power projects abroad during his address to the UN General Assembly. China is the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter and relies heavily on coal to meet its domestic energy needs. It is also under increased pressure from international organisations who have set their focus on China's coal energy needs at the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Glasgow later this month. President Xi has however not confirmed his participation at COP26 in Glasgow. Reports say China's top economic planning body has been asked to devise a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions amid growing pollution concerns worldwide. Also Read: Cop26 summit president flew to 30 countries in 7 months British PM Boris Johnson had sent an invitation to President Xi to attend the meeting. In fact, British cabinet minister and president Alok Sharma of COP26 had said that the "ball is very much in their court" referring to China's participation at the conference. Alok Sharma had visited Beijing earlier and held talks with Chinese officials while emphasising that the Chinese government wanted to make "COP26 as a success". The COP26 conference will begin in Glasgow, Scotland from October 31. (With inputs from Agencies)

India stares at coal crisis as COP26 eyes China's coal-fired power projects

Dr Subhash Chandra, the Chairman of the Zee Group, got emotional while talking about his journey and thanked the viewers and readers for puting their trust in the media house.<o:p></o:p>

"It was destiny. It was just meant to be. And that’s how Zee happened. People gave Zee meaning. Even I could not repeat the feat today, even if I wanted to," Dr Chandra said while talking to Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary today (October 6).

<o:p>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/government-and-indias-laws-wont-let-invesco-illegally-take-over-zeel-dr-subhash-chandra-418719">Government and India's laws won't let Invesco illegally take over ZEEL: Dr Subhash Chandra</a></o:p>

Remembering the days when he started the company and looking at the whole journey, including the low points, he got emotional and assured that him and his company will always welcome constructive criticism. "We have made mistakes along the way. And I have paid for it. I was even shown black badges, offered garlands of shoes. But I have welcomed the criticism positively,"&nbsp;he said.

<o:p></o:p>

He also rubbished the murmurs of Invesco taking over the Zee media group. "This is the first time I have appeared before the public. Zee Board is capable on their own to handle the issue. There is definitely someone in India who is backing Invesco. I do not want to guess who would that be,"&nbsp;he said.

<o:p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/on-whose-behest-is-invesco-acting-dr-chandra-questions-invescos-real-intent-on-zeel-sony-deal-418687">WATCH |</a></o:p>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/on-whose-behest-is-invesco-acting-dr-chandra-questions-invescos-real-intent-on-zeel-sony-deal-418687/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

Putting his trust in the public of India, he added, I know you (the viewers) have got my back. I assure you, if you are with us, we will not let a foreign company take over. This company is not the personal property of anyone. It belongs to the people."<o:p></o:p>

He also slammed Invesco stating that the attempts of the rumoured takeover is illegal and he assured everyone that he will not let this happen in such a manner. "Invesco is trying to take over ZEEL by illegal means. This is very wrong. I don't know if China is trying to do this, but this won't happen at any cost," Dr Chandra said.<o:p></o:p>

Dr Subhash Chandra, the Chairman of the Zee Group, got emotional while talking about his journey and thanked the viewers and readers for puting their trust in the media house.

Dr Subhash Chandra, the Chairman of the Zee Group, got emotional while talking about his journey and thanked the viewers and readers for puting their trust in the media house. "It was destiny. It was just meant to be. And that’s how Zee happened. People gave Zee meaning. Even I could not repeat the feat today, even if I wanted to," Dr Chandra said while talking to Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary today (October 6). Also read | Government and India's laws won't let Invesco illegally take over ZEEL: Dr Subhash Chandra Remembering the days when he started the company and looking at the whole journey, including the low points, he got emotional and assured that him and his company will always welcome constructive criticism. "We have made mistakes along the way. And I have paid for it. I was even shown black badges, offered garlands of shoes. But I have welcomed the criticism positively," he said. He also rubbished the murmurs of Invesco taking over the Zee media group. "This is the first time I have appeared before the public. Zee Board is capable on their own to handle the issue. There is definitely someone in India who is backing Invesco. I do not want to guess who would that be," he said. WATCH | Putting his trust in the public of India, he added, I know you (the viewers) have got my back. I assure you, if you are with us, we will not let a foreign company take over. This company is not the personal property of anyone. It belongs to the people." He also slammed Invesco stating that the attempts of the rumoured takeover is illegal and he assured everyone that he will not let this happen in such a manner. "Invesco is trying to take over ZEEL by illegal means. This is very wrong. I don't know if China is trying to do this, but this won't happen at any cost," Dr Chandra said.

'We have made mistakes and paid for it': Dr Subhash Chandra gets emotional

Dr Subhash Chandra, Chairman of the Zee Group, spoke at length about his position in the ZEEL-Sony merger during an interview with Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary on Wednesday (October 6).

Dr Chandra, in his interview, also posed some difficult questions to Invesco and their intent.

He also said that someone in Invesco might be indulged in insider trading.

In the matter of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), Invesco appears to be trapped in a circle of questions since it doesn't know for whom it's working.

However, there has been indications that China is behind the plot against ZEEL. Invesco is only a pawn used to deceive investors.

Dr Chandra claimed in an interview with Sudhir Chaudhary that someone at Invesco may be engaging in insider trading.&nbsp;

"Someone in Invesco is indulging in wrong practice. This is not the same Invesco that it once was. Maybe there is a Chinese connection to it. Experts are saying what they are doing is illegal. They could be indulging in insider trading, " Dr Chandra said during the interview.

Dr Chandra stressed that Invesco is just an investor and not the owner of the company.

"2.5 lakh shareholders are the real owners of ZEEL, 90 crore Indian viewers are the real owners of the Group. A mammoth organisation like ZEEL cannot be run by Invesco," he said.

"This is a clear-cut case of company takeover in a clandestine manner, which is not legal. Yes, Invesco is 18% shareholder, but not the owner. The law of the land should not allow this to happen, " he added.

Dr Subhash Chandra had previously stated in a video message, in response to some media outlets, that queries should be directed to Invesco rather than ZEEL, because Invesco has not been transparent in this situation.

Simultaneously, it is plotting to sabotage the transaction between ZEEL and Sony Pictures.

Dr Subhash Chandra said that Invesco should tell all the shareholders in this matter why it wants to change the board. Under whose direction is it working?

&nbsp;

Dr Subhash Chandra, Chairman of the Zee Group, spoke at length about his position in the ZEEL-Sony merger during an interview with Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary on Wednesday (October 6).

Dr Subhash Chandra, Chairman of the Zee Group, spoke at length about his position in the ZEEL-Sony merger during an interview with Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary on Wednesday (October 6). Dr Chandra, in his interview, also posed some difficult questions to Invesco and their intent. He also said that someone in Invesco might be indulged in insider trading. In the matter of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), Invesco appears to be trapped in a circle of questions since it doesn't know for whom it's working. However, there has been indications that China is behind the plot against ZEEL. Invesco is only a pawn used to deceive investors. Dr Chandra claimed in an interview with Sudhir Chaudhary that someone at Invesco may be engaging in insider trading. "Someone in Invesco is indulging in wrong practice. This is not the same Invesco that it once was. Maybe there is a Chinese connection to it. Experts are saying what they are doing is illegal. They could be indulging in insider trading, " Dr Chandra said during the interview. Dr Chandra stressed that Invesco is just an investor and not the owner of the company. "2.5 lakh shareholders are the real owners of ZEEL, 90 crore Indian viewers are the real owners of the Group. A mammoth organisation like ZEEL cannot be run by Invesco," he said. "This is a clear-cut case of company takeover in a clandestine manner, which is not legal. Yes, Invesco is 18% shareholder, but not the owner. The law of the land should not allow this to happen, " he added. Dr Subhash Chandra had previously stated in a video message, in response to some media outlets, that queries should be directed to Invesco rather than ZEEL, because Invesco has not been transparent in this situation. Simultaneously, it is plotting to sabotage the transaction between ZEEL and Sony Pictures. Dr Subhash Chandra said that Invesco should tell all the shareholders in this matter why it wants to change the board. Under whose direction is it working?

Someone in Invesco might be indulged in insider trading: Dr Subhash Chandra

A total of 24,602 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative tally of recoveries to 3,32,00,258. India`s recovery rate stands at 97.95 per cent - the highest since March 2020.

The active caseload is presently 2,44,198, which is the lowest in 204 days. Active cases presently constitute 0.72 per cent of the country`s total positive cases.

Meanwhile, the fresh deaths have taken the toll to 4,49,856, as per the Health Ministry data.

Also Read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/thousands-of-covid-testing-kits-recalled-that-delivered-false-positives-418697">Thousands of Covid testing kits recalled that delivered false positives</a>

The weekly positivity rate, at 1.68 per cent, remains less than 3 per cent for the last 104 days now, while the daily positivity rate is 1.57 per cent, having remained below 3 per cent for last 38 days and below 5 per cent for 121 consecutive days now.

The last 24 hours saw a total of 14,31,819 tests being conducted, taking the cumulative total to over 57.86 crore.

With 43,09,525 vaccine doses administered in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed the 92.63 crore mark as per provisional reports till 7 a.m. on Thursday. This has been achieved through 90,14,182 sessions.

Over 93.94 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states/UTs so far through the Centre as well as the direct state procurement category. However, more than 7.64 cr unutilised vaccine doses are still available with the states/UTs to be administered, the Health Ministry data said

A total of 24,602 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative tally of recoveries to 3,32,00,258. India`s recovery rate stands at 97.95 per cent - the highest since March 2020.

A total of 24,602 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative tally of recoveries to 3,32,00,258. India`s recovery rate stands at 97.95 per cent - the highest since March 2020. The active caseload is presently 2,44,198, which is the lowest in 204 days. Active cases presently constitute 0.72 per cent of the country`s total positive cases. Meanwhile, the fresh deaths have taken the toll to 4,49,856, as per the Health Ministry data. Also Read | Thousands of Covid testing kits recalled that delivered false positives The weekly positivity rate, at 1.68 per cent, remains less than 3 per cent for the last 104 days now, while the daily positivity rate is 1.57 per cent, having remained below 3 per cent for last 38 days and below 5 per cent for 121 consecutive days now. The last 24 hours saw a total of 14,31,819 tests being conducted, taking the cumulative total to over 57.86 crore. With 43,09,525 vaccine doses administered in the last 24 hours, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage crossed the 92.63 crore mark as per provisional reports till 7 a.m. on Thursday. This has been achieved through 90,14,182 sessions. Over 93.94 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states/UTs so far through the Centre as well as the direct state procurement category. However, more than 7.64 cr unutilised vaccine doses are still available with the states/UTs to be administered, the Health Ministry data said

India logs 22,431 new COVID-19 cases, 318 deaths

The famous 10-day long Dasara festivitiesCommenced in this palace city on Thursday with religious fervour, amid the shadow of COVID-19 pandemic for the second consecutive year.

Celebrated as 'Nada Habba' (state festival), the festivities began with senior political leader and former Chief Minister S M Krishna and Chief Minister B Basavaraj Bommai along with other dignitaries showering flowers on the idol of goddess Chamundeshwari, the presiding deity of Mysuru royals, atop the Chamundi Hill.

Krishna, who had also served as Union External Affairs Minister and Governor of Maharashtra, was chosen by the government for inaugurating the Dasara festivities.

Mysuru in-charge and Cooperation Minister S T Somashekar, Revenue Minister R Ashoka, Kannada and Culture Minister V Sunil Kumar, Religious Endowments, Wakf and Haj Minister Shashikala Jolle and Mysuru MP Pratap Simha were among others present at the inaugural.

With COVID-19 pandemic casting a shadow, the government had decided to organise the 412th Dasara festivities in a "simple" way, by and large restricting it to keep up with the traditions.

The 10-day event that every year showcases Karnataka's cultural heritage resplendent with folk art forms and attracts large crowds and tourists, has been scaled down for the second consecutive year due to COVID-19.

The Mysuru administration has restricted people at most of the events and has arranged for live telecasts.

The state government has issued guidelines for celebrating the Dasara festival at Mysuru limiting the number of participants to 500 at prominent Dasara events, such as the cultural programmes in front of Amba Vilas Palace, the famous Dasara procession (Jumbo Sawari) and Torch Light Parade.

'Jumbo Sawari' procession of caparisoned elephants carrying the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari placed in a golden Howdah on Vijayadashmi or the 10th day of the festival, which marks the culmination of celebrations on October 15, has been restricted to the Amba Vilas Palace premises.

Also, the cultural events, which otherwise used to be held at more than a dozen venues, have been restricted to the palace premises.

The palace, major streets, turnarounds or circles and buildings of Mysuru will be illuminated with lights in the evening during the 10-day long festivities. At the palace too, the royal family will celebrate the festivities as per traditions.

The Navaratri celebrations at the palace include several rituals, most remarkably Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of Mysuru royal family, dressed in grand attire, conducting Khasagi durbar (private durbar) by ascending the golden throne, amid chanting of vedic hymns.

Dasara was celebrated by the rulers of the Vijayanagar empire and the tradition was inherited by the Wadiyars.

Festivities were first started in Mysuru by the Wadiyar King, Raja Wadiyar I in the year 1610.

It became a private affair of the royal family following the abolition of the privy purse in 1971 and the discontinuation of the privileges of the erstwhile rulers.

However, a low-key Dasara used to be held on the initiative of the local people until the state government stepped in and the then Chief Minister D Devaraja Urs revived the Dasara celebrations in 1975, which is being followed till date.

Terming it as his "good fortune" to be at the service of "Naada Devate" (state deity) Chamundeshwari, Chief Minister Bommai said the world renowned festivities has slightly lost its shine for two years because of COVID and expressed hope about celebrating with grandeur and religious fervour from next year with the blessings of the goddess.

"I have prayed to the goddess to remove the people of the state from all difficulties and COVID pandemic," he said.

S M Krishna, in his speech, termed youth as an asset to the nation, and stressed on the need to give them the right direction by setting the right kind of ambitions.

Recalling his long association with Mysuru, he remembered the contribution of royals for Mysuru, including pledging their jewels to construct Krishnaraja Sagar Dam across the river Cauvery, which helped the progress of the farmers of the region.

He advised the state government to think about the Mysuru Dasara package for tourism by next year, aimed at covering all the major destinations in the state, as he pointed out that Singapore is an example on how a place can progress with cleanliness and proper planning.&nbsp;

The famous 10-day long Dasara festivitiesCommenced in this palace city on Thursday with religious fervour, amid the shadow of COVID-19 pandemic for the second consecutive year.

The famous 10-day long Dasara festivitiesCommenced in this palace city on Thursday with religious fervour, amid the shadow of COVID-19 pandemic for the second consecutive year. Celebrated as 'Nada Habba' (state festival), the festivities began with senior political leader and former Chief Minister S M Krishna and Chief Minister B Basavaraj Bommai along with other dignitaries showering flowers on the idol of goddess Chamundeshwari, the presiding deity of Mysuru royals, atop the Chamundi Hill. Krishna, who had also served as Union External Affairs Minister and Governor of Maharashtra, was chosen by the government for inaugurating the Dasara festivities. Mysuru in-charge and Cooperation Minister S T Somashekar, Revenue Minister R Ashoka, Kannada and Culture Minister V Sunil Kumar, Religious Endowments, Wakf and Haj Minister Shashikala Jolle and Mysuru MP Pratap Simha were among others present at the inaugural. With COVID-19 pandemic casting a shadow, the government had decided to organise the 412th Dasara festivities in a "simple" way, by and large restricting it to keep up with the traditions. The 10-day event that every year showcases Karnataka's cultural heritage resplendent with folk art forms and attracts large crowds and tourists, has been scaled down for the second consecutive year due to COVID-19. The Mysuru administration has restricted people at most of the events and has arranged for live telecasts. The state government has issued guidelines for celebrating the Dasara festival at Mysuru limiting the number of participants to 500 at prominent Dasara events, such as the cultural programmes in front of Amba Vilas Palace, the famous Dasara procession (Jumbo Sawari) and Torch Light Parade. 'Jumbo Sawari' procession of caparisoned elephants carrying the idol of Goddess Chamundeshwari placed in a golden Howdah on Vijayadashmi or the 10th day of the festival, which marks the culmination of celebrations on October 15, has been restricted to the Amba Vilas Palace premises. Also, the cultural events, which otherwise used to be held at more than a dozen venues, have been restricted to the palace premises. The palace, major streets, turnarounds or circles and buildings of Mysuru will be illuminated with lights in the evening during the 10-day long festivities. At the palace too, the royal family will celebrate the festivities as per traditions. The Navaratri celebrations at the palace include several rituals, most remarkably Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of Mysuru royal family, dressed in grand attire, conducting Khasagi durbar (private durbar) by ascending the golden throne, amid chanting of vedic hymns. Dasara was celebrated by the rulers of the Vijayanagar empire and the tradition was inherited by the Wadiyars. Festivities were first started in Mysuru by the Wadiyar King, Raja Wadiyar I in the year 1610. It became a private affair of the royal family following the abolition of the privy purse in 1971 and the discontinuation of the privileges of the erstwhile rulers. However, a low-key Dasara used to be held on the initiative of the local people until the state government stepped in and the then Chief Minister D Devaraja Urs revived the Dasara celebrations in 1975, which is being followed till date. Terming it as his "good fortune" to be at the service of "Naada Devate" (state deity) Chamundeshwari, Chief Minister Bommai said the world renowned festivities has slightly lost its shine for two years because of COVID and expressed hope about celebrating with grandeur and religious fervour from next year with the blessings of the goddess. "I have prayed to the goddess to remove the people of the state from all difficulties and COVID pandemic," he said. S M Krishna, in his speech, termed youth as an asset to the nation, and stressed on the need to give them the right direction by setting the right kind of ambitions. Recalling his long association with Mysuru, he remembered the contribution of royals for Mysuru, including pledging their jewels to construct Krishnaraja Sagar Dam across the river Cauvery, which helped the progress of the farmers of the region. He advised the state government to think about the Mysuru Dasara package for tourism by next year, aimed at covering all the major destinations in the state, as he pointed out that Singapore is an example on how a place can progress with cleanliness and proper planning.

Dasara festivities begin in Mysuru amid COVID-19 restrictions

The situation in Afghanistan and Chinese aggressive actions were among the key focus areas during the conversation between US Deputy Secretary of state Wendy Sherman and foreign secretary Harsh Shringla. This was the first visit by any senior Biden administration official to India after the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to US.&nbsp;

Foreign secretary Harsh Shringla at US-India Business Council or USIBC event, sitting alongside deputy secretary of state said,"There is an organic growth and momentum in the bilateral relations, given the deep stakes and investments in India-US relations by a multitude of stakeholders on both sides" and "this relationship is one of our most important. India considers its relationship with US of paramount importance"

The visit essentially starts the more sectoral meetings between the 2 countries. The meetings of Defense Policy Group, Economic and Financial Partnership dialogue, Trade Policy Forum, dialogues on counter-terrorism and designations and the 2+2 ministerial will take place soon. The Indian finance minister and the defence secretary will soon visit US.

Calling partnership between US and India "indispensable", Wendy Sherman at USIBC event explained, "many of the challenges we face...can't be solved by anyone nation alone. It takes, it will take the 2 largest democracies in the world, India and the US to meet those challenges"

During the meeting, both saw "meetings of mind" on Afghanistan. While legitimacy to Taliban &nbsp;did came up during talks it is unlikely that the US would take any call as the situation was still evolving.

Taliban has gone back on many of its promises. The promises included forming an inclusive government. There is no representation to women and minorities.

Pakistan's support for terrorism remained New Delhi's concern and it had a good understanding with US on this.

Sources pointed out that, "India and US are speaking from the same page" when it comes to Islamabad's continued support to terrorism. Indian side also mentioned how terror groups from Pakistan are moving into Afghan territories. Fear remains that Afghanistan could become a safe haven for terrorists under Taliban rule. Of more than 30 members of Taliban cabinet, 17 are on the United Nations terror list.

Topic of China was also part of the discussion between the two sides. New Delhi gave its assessment, particularly on developments at Line of Actual Control. US mentioned talks in Geneva, and its policy towards Beijing-- the 3C-- Compete, Cooperate and Challenge. The talks also saw some discussion on India-South Africa proposal on patent wavier on Covid vaccines at WTO, for which Washington reiterated its support. Interestingly, there was no mention of the AUKUS deal between US, UK and Australia which riled up France. Under the deal Australia gets nuclear submarines, a development that comes amid increasingly assertive moves from China.

In Delhi, the US deputy secretary of state also met India's External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval. A state dept readout said, "They discussed regional developments, including in Afghanistan, Myanmar, and the People’s Republic of China".

The situation in Afghanistan and Chinese aggressive actions were among the key focus areas during the conversation between US Deputy Secretary of state Wendy Sherman and foreign secretary Harsh Shringla.

The situation in Afghanistan and Chinese aggressive actions were among the key focus areas during the conversation between US Deputy Secretary of state Wendy Sherman and foreign secretary Harsh Shringla. This was the first visit by any senior Biden administration official to India after the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to US. Foreign secretary Harsh Shringla at US-India Business Council or USIBC event, sitting alongside deputy secretary of state said,"There is an organic growth and momentum in the bilateral relations, given the deep stakes and investments in India-US relations by a multitude of stakeholders on both sides" and "this relationship is one of our most important. India considers its relationship with US of paramount importance" The visit essentially starts the more sectoral meetings between the 2 countries. The meetings of Defense Policy Group, Economic and Financial Partnership dialogue, Trade Policy Forum, dialogues on counter-terrorism and designations and the 2+2 ministerial will take place soon. The Indian finance minister and the defence secretary will soon visit US. Calling partnership between US and India "indispensable", Wendy Sherman at USIBC event explained, "many of the challenges we face...can't be solved by anyone nation alone. It takes, it will take the 2 largest democracies in the world, India and the US to meet those challenges" During the meeting, both saw "meetings of mind" on Afghanistan. While legitimacy to Taliban did came up during talks it is unlikely that the US would take any call as the situation was still evolving. Taliban has gone back on many of its promises. The promises included forming an inclusive government. There is no representation to women and minorities. Pakistan's support for terrorism remained New Delhi's concern and it had a good understanding with US on this. Sources pointed out that, "India and US are speaking from the same page" when it comes to Islamabad's continued support to terrorism. Indian side also mentioned how terror groups from Pakistan are moving into Afghan territories. Fear remains that Afghanistan could become a safe haven for terrorists under Taliban rule. Of more than 30 members of Taliban cabinet, 17 are on the United Nations terror list. Topic of China was also part of the discussion between the two sides. New Delhi gave its assessment, particularly on developments at Line of Actual Control. US mentioned talks in Geneva, and its policy towards Beijing-- the 3C-- Compete, Cooperate and Challenge. The talks also saw some discussion on India-South Africa proposal on patent wavier on Covid vaccines at WTO, for which Washington reiterated its support. Interestingly, there was no mention of the AUKUS deal between US, UK and Australia which riled up France. Under the deal Australia gets nuclear submarines, a development that comes amid increasingly assertive moves from China. In Delhi, the US deputy secretary of state also met India's External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval. A state dept readout said, "They discussed regional developments, including in Afghanistan, Myanmar, and the People’s Republic of China".

Afghanistan, China key focus during Sherman-Shringla talks in Delhi

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday instructed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to provide Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) "reasonable and adequate time" to respond to Invesco's petition to call a meeting of the company's shareholders. 
 
NCLAT observed that NCLT did not provide ZEEL with adequate time.&nbsp;

NCLAT further said that not giving sufficient time to ZEEL to file a reply is against the principles of natural justice. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

The appellate tribunal said that ZEEL should have been given ample time to file its reply on the Invesco plea.&nbsp;

Commenting on the NCLAT order and hailing it, ZEEL's spokesperson, said, "The decision of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) today, justifies our complete faith in the Indian judicial system."

The ZEEL spokesperson added, "The due process of the law grants everyone an opportunity to present their case. NCLAT has taken cognizance of our plea and has reinforced the principles of natural justice, granting us a reasonable opportunity to be heard. The Company will continue to take all the necessary steps that are in the best interests of all its shareholders and as per the applicable law."

Earlier, the founder of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), Dr Subhash Chandra, on Wednesday spoke to Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary on the most popular news programme, DNA, on the matter of ZEEL and Invesco.

Slamming Invesco and people hidden behind Invesco and issuing directions to the investor, Dr Subhash Chandra said, "Invesco is trying to take over ZEEL by illegal means. This is very wrong. I don't know if China is trying to do this, but this won't happen at any cost. "

"The government of this country and the laws of this nation will never let the takeover of ZEEL happen by Invesco," Dr Chandra added.

Dr Subhash Chandra broke down while telling how he gave his blood and sweat to build a family channel like Zee TV.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday instructed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to provide Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) "reasonable and adequate time" to respond to Invesco's petition to call a meeting of the company's shareholders.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday instructed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to provide Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) "reasonable and adequate time" to respond to Invesco's petition to call a meeting of the company's shareholders. NCLAT observed that NCLT did not provide ZEEL with adequate time. NCLAT further said that not giving sufficient time to ZEEL to file a reply is against the principles of natural justice. The appellate tribunal said that ZEEL should have been given ample time to file its reply on the Invesco plea. Commenting on the NCLAT order and hailing it, ZEEL's spokesperson, said, "The decision of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) today, justifies our complete faith in the Indian judicial system." The ZEEL spokesperson added, "The due process of the law grants everyone an opportunity to present their case. NCLAT has taken cognizance of our plea and has reinforced the principles of natural justice, granting us a reasonable opportunity to be heard. The Company will continue to take all the necessary steps that are in the best interests of all its shareholders and as per the applicable law." Earlier, the founder of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), Dr Subhash Chandra, on Wednesday spoke to Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary on the most popular news programme, DNA, on the matter of ZEEL and Invesco. Slamming Invesco and people hidden behind Invesco and issuing directions to the investor, Dr Subhash Chandra said, "Invesco is trying to take over ZEEL by illegal means. This is very wrong. I don't know if China is trying to do this, but this won't happen at any cost. " "The government of this country and the laws of this nation will never let the takeover of ZEEL happen by Invesco," Dr Chandra added. Dr Subhash Chandra broke down while telling how he gave his blood and sweat to build a family channel like Zee TV.

ZEEL should get reasonable time to file reply: NCLAT directs NCLT

Seven civilians have been killed in&nbsp;Kashmir valley in the last ten days. The Sikh leaders have decided that people of their community should not go to their workplaces till the situation normalises.&nbsp;

Two teachers were shot dead in a government school in Srinagar’s Eidgah area on Thursday.&nbsp;

Supinder Kaur, a resident of Alochi Bagh, Srinagar, and Deepak Chand, resident of Janipura, Jammu were shot from point-blank range. Both of them were severely injured and immediately taken to a nearby hospital. However, they succumbed to their injuries. &nbsp;

DGP Dilbagh Singh, DG JK police said, “The innocent people who work for the society are being killed and targeted. We are sad about the incidents. We are investigating and have managed to get a lot of clues."

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/kashmir-valley-on-high-alert-after-3-civilians-shot-dead-in-separate-incidents-418491">Also read | Kashmir Valley on high alert after 3 civilians shot dead in separate incidents</a>

"We will soon be able to arrest the guilty," he added.

Earlier, on Tuesday, three civilians were killed in Kashmir Valley. The famous chemist M L Bindroo, the non-local vendor Virender Paswan and taxi driver Mohd Shafi were all shot in different incidents.

These attacks have led to fear among the minority community, including pandits and sikhs.

Sikh Leader Jagmohan Singh Rana said that the community leaders have directed all the government employees of their community to not go to work until the security situation changes.&nbsp;

''A local girl has been killed today in Kashmir. We have been living here for the last 30 years and have been a part and parcel of good and bad. But if this happens with us, we won't tolerate it," the leader said.

He added, "I fear that agencies will misuse this opportunity. However, the main responsibility lies with the majority community. Those responsible should be punished. We have appealed to all the young employees to stop going for&nbsp;work. This will be our way of protesting towards the government so that they punish the culprits.'' said Jagmohan Singh Rana, Sikh Leader.

The investigation is in progress and thr police will continue to work in order to come to a conclusion.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/jk-two-teachers-shot-dead-by-terrorists-two-days-after-three-others-were-gunned-down-418873">Also read |&nbsp;J&amp;K: Two teachers shot dead by terrorists, two days after three others were gunned down</a>

Political leaders have also condemned the incident.&nbsp;

''Jammu and Kashmir has been on the road to progress but some elements from Pakistan do not want peace and they have started targeting the minority communities, BJP leaders, and the policemen," said BJP leader Sofi Yousof.

He added, "They want to repeat the 90's here. There has been no stone-pelting, no civilian killing after the abrogation of article 370. Whoever has done this will be neutralised soon. It is also a security lapse and I have spoken to DG regarding the same.'' 
Police have launched various search operations across the valley to arrest the militants.&nbsp;

Seven civilians have been killed in Kashmir valley in the last ten days. The Sikh leaders have decided that people of their community should not go to their workplaces till the situation normalises.

Seven civilians have been killed in Kashmir valley in the last ten days. The Sikh leaders have decided that people of their community should not go to their workplaces till the situation normalises. Two teachers were shot dead in a government school in Srinagar’s Eidgah area on Thursday. Supinder Kaur, a resident of Alochi Bagh, Srinagar, and Deepak Chand, resident of Janipura, Jammu were shot from point-blank range. Both of them were severely injured and immediately taken to a nearby hospital. However, they succumbed to their injuries. DGP Dilbagh Singh, DG JK police said, “The innocent people who work for the society are being killed and targeted. We are sad about the incidents. We are investigating and have managed to get a lot of clues." Also read | Kashmir Valley on high alert after 3 civilians shot dead in separate incidents "We will soon be able to arrest the guilty," he added. Earlier, on Tuesday, three civilians were killed in Kashmir Valley. The famous chemist M L Bindroo, the non-local vendor Virender Paswan and taxi driver Mohd Shafi were all shot in different incidents. These attacks have led to fear among the minority community, including pandits and sikhs. Sikh Leader Jagmohan Singh Rana said that the community leaders have directed all the government employees of their community to not go to work until the security situation changes. ''A local girl has been killed today in Kashmir. We have been living here for the last 30 years and have been a part and parcel of good and bad. But if this happens with us, we won't tolerate it," the leader said. He added, "I fear that agencies will misuse this opportunity. However, the main responsibility lies with the majority community. Those responsible should be punished. We have appealed to all the young employees to stop going for work. This will be our way of protesting towards the government so that they punish the culprits.'' said Jagmohan Singh Rana, Sikh Leader. The investigation is in progress and thr police will continue to work in order to come to a conclusion. Also read | J&K: Two teachers shot dead by terrorists, two days after three others were gunned down Political leaders have also condemned the incident. ''Jammu and Kashmir has been on the road to progress but some elements from Pakistan do not want peace and they have started targeting the minority communities, BJP leaders, and the policemen," said BJP leader Sofi Yousof. He added, "They want to repeat the 90's here. There has been no stone-pelting, no civilian killing after the abrogation of article 370. Whoever has done this will be neutralised soon. It is also a security lapse and I have spoken to DG regarding the same.'' Police have launched various search operations across the valley to arrest the militants.

J&K: 7 civilians killed in 10 days, sikh leaders urge people to not go to work until situation normalises

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