Civil defence exercise postponed in Haryana, Rajasthan, Chandigarh; Punjab schedules it for June 3
'According to the instructions of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, the Haryana Home Department announced the postponement of the comprehensive civil defence exercise, Operation Shield, which was scheduled to be conducted on Thursday,' an official statement said.
The Haryana government on Wednesday evening said the civil defence exercise – Operation Shield – scheduled for Thursday stood postponed following the Union Home Ministry's directions.
New Delhi, May 28 (PTI) After the government decided to carry out a civil defence exercise on Thursday in states and Union Territories adjoining the western border, Haryana, Rajasthan and Punjab on Wednesday postponed the scheduled mock drill.
All the deputy commissioners and other stakeholders have been informed about this, the statement said.
The Chandigarh administration also announced postponement of the civil defence exercise.
A statement issued by the UT administration on Wednesday evening said, 'As per the directions received from the Government of India, it is hereby informed that the civil defence exercise Operation Shield, which was planned for May 29, is hereby postponed due to administrative reasons. There will be no blackout or mock drill tomorrow.' Earlier in the day, the Haryana government issued a statement, which said a mock drill was scheduled to take place across all the 22 districts of the state between 5 pm and 9 pm on Thursday to strengthen emergency preparedness.
The mock drill has also been postponed in Rajasthan, where it was scheduled to be held across all the districts on Thursday, officials said.
According to an official statement, the civil defence exercise has been postponed due to administrative reasons and a new date will be announced soon.
Earlier, the civil defence department issued guidelines for conducting a blackout and mock drill in all the 41 districts of the state on Thursday evening.
The Punjab government, meanwhile, wrote to the Centre on Wednesday, proposing June 3 as the date for carrying out the mock drill, citing that their civil defence staff were undergoing training being conducted by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
A senior Punjab Police officer said the Centre accepted the state government's request for holding the drill on June 3.
The deputy commissioners in Punjab have been told that the civil defence exercise will take place in all districts on June 3.
Earlier, the Directorate General of Fire Service and Home Guards conveyed that the civil defence exercise – Operation Shield – will be carried out in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana and Chandigarh. Responding to the April 22 terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalagam in which 26 people were killed, Operation Sindoor was carried out by India on May 7 through which the defence forces targeted terror camps at nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Later, some Pakistani military bases were also targeted by India in retaliatory action during four days of skirmishes with the neighbouring country between May 7 and 10.
Pakistani forces resorted to heavy shelling along the border and LoC in Jammu and Kashmir and also tried to attack some other places along the International Border in the western sector with drones and missiles.
The Directorate, which comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs, said during the first civil defence exercise held on May 7, critical gaps in the civil defence preparedness of the vulnerable areas of the country were observed.
Instructions to take necessary actions to suitably address the issues were issued on May 9.
Accordingly, emergency powers were invoked and funding arrangements through the State Disaster Response Force were also made.
To augment the civil defence preparedness against any hostile attack, Operation Shield has been planned in all the districts of states and UTs adjoining the western border.
During the exercise, there will be activation of centrally controlled and operated air raid sirens, and complete blackout measures adjoining civilian areas among others, sources said.
According to the plan, during the mock drills, evacuation of the families of one of the military stations will be practised in case of drone attacks. The deployment of medical teams and the transportation of blood units, among others, will also be done, according to the plan. PTI CHS SUN AG ACB ARI
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Print
23 minutes ago
- The Print
Tharoor disappointed over Columbia's condolences to Pak after Op Sindoor
At a media briefing in this Colombian capital city on Thursday, Tharoor elaborated India's position on terrorism, spoke about Operation Sindoor and expressed disappointment over Colombia's response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Tharoor is leading the delegation to Colombia as part of India's global outreach to expose Pakistan's support for cross-border terrorist activities and India's policy of zero-tolerance for terrorism. Bogota, May 30 (PTI) Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, leading an all-party delegation, has voiced his deep disappointment over Colombia offering condolences for the loss of lives in Pakistan following Indian strikes in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Tharoor 'reaffirmed India's stance on terrorism and expressed disappointment over Colombia's response which has offered condolences for the loss of lives in Pakistan, rather than sympathizing with the victims of terrorism in India,' said BJP parliamentarian Tejasvi Surya. 'There can be no equivalence between those who attack and those who defend,' he said in a social media post. Surya said India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will continue to deliver strong responses to terrorism. The BJP Lok Sabha MP is part of the nine-member delegation that already travelled to Guyana and Panama before arriving in Colombia on Thursday. Other members of the delegation include Bhubaneswar Kalita (BJP), Milind Deora (Shiv Sena), Shambhavi (LJP), GM Harish Balayogi (TDP) and former ambassador of India to US Taranjit Singh Sandhu. During their stay in Bogota, the delegation will interact with Members of Congress, ministers and other key interlocutors in think tanks. From Columbia, the delegation would travel to Brazil. It will be in the United States in the last leg of its five-nation trip. India carried out precision strikes on nine terror infrastructures early on May 7 in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Following the Indian action, Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9 and 10. The Pakistani attempts were strongly responded to by the Indian side by inflicting heavy damages to a number of key Pakistani military installations including air bases, air defence systems, command and control centres and radar sites. PTI NPK ZH MPB ZH ZH This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
Indian Express
28 minutes ago
- Indian Express
BJP leans in as cracks within Congress on Operation Sindoor show
AS THE Congress's internal contradictions over Operation Sindoor and the events after it play out in public, the BJP is framing its response at multiple levels. If Prime Minister Narendra Modi is leading from the front in driving home a message of the success of the operation against Pakistan, BJP spokespersons and leaders are using statements by the Congress to question the party on its 'nationalism'. The third line of BJP response is playing up the intra-Congress differences, particularly over all-party delegations that are part of the government's global outreach on terrorism, of which some Congress leaders too are a crucial part. 'It seemed in the early stages that the Congress was being careful this time, unlike in 2019 (after the Pulwama terror attack). But its leadership has slipped, leaving it open to political attacks. In these moments of national crisis, the Opposition should stand with the national mood, and wait for a better time and issue to attack the government – something the Congress again failed to do,' a BJP leader said on the condition of anonymity. In his speeches since the ceasefire, PM Modi has largely confined himself to how Pakistan had been defeated. His only mention of the Congress was at a speech in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, on May 27, when he claimed that had Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel not been thwarted in 1947-48 when there was an invasion into Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir would have been with India. In the same speech, Modi said in a swipe at the Opposition that every bit of the operation was captured on camera this time, 'taaki hamare ghar mein koi saboot na maange (so that no one at home demands proof)'. In other speeches, Modi has used expressions such as 'hot sindoor running through my veins' and warned Pakistan that his 'bullet was ready' in case of any mischief. The reference to 1947-48 marks a gradual increase of stridency since May 12, when in his first address to the nation following the ceasefire, Modi struck a conciliatory note, saying, 'After this terrorist attack, the entire nation, every citizen, every community, every class, every political party, unitedly stood up for strong action against terrorism.' The targeting of the Opposition has largely been left to other BJP leaders, who have pulled no punches against the Congress since it raised questions over the ceasefire, given US President Donald Trump's claims regarding it. The war of words has only intensified since Rahul Gandhi, who had till then largely kept quiet on Operation Sindoor, decided to go after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, claiming that his statement suggested India had informed Pakistan 'before' it struck its terror bases. Gandhi wanted to know how many Indian aircraft were 'lost' because Pakistan was expecting an attack. Congress spokespersons took their cues from this, repeating the claims, with Jaishankar even being dubbed a 'mukhbir (informer)'. The MEA said Jaishankar's remarks were being 'misinterpreted' by the Congress. The BJP asked whether the Congress was 'with the government' on terrorism, as it said it was, or helping Pakistan by talking of planes being downed. 'When it is clear that Operation Sindoor is still on, no specific iteration of the word 'ceasefire' has been used… during the course of the operation, if you raise questions, this creates a doubt on your intentions,' BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said. Sambit Patra accused Gandhi of 'giving oxygen' to Pakistan, and claimed that Hafiz Saeed, the Lashkar-e-Taiba founder, had once praised the Congress leader. 'Now we all know why.' The best opening to the BJP has been provided by the Congress's Shashi Tharoor problem. Having made it known that the government picked the names of the delegations against its consent, the Congress has been barely able to conceal its exasperation over Tharoor's articulate exposition of the Modi government's anti-terror stand. Its own spokespersons have gone so far as to suggest that Tharoor, the Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram, is fit to be the BJP's 'super spokesperson'. Turning the knife in, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said: 'What does the Congress party want & how much do they really care for the country? Should the Indian MPs go to foreign nations and speak against India and its Prime Minister? There's a limit to political desperation!'
Time of India
29 minutes ago
- Time of India
'No politician should use such language': BJP chides Mamata Banerjee for personal remarks against PM Modi
N EW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday took strong exception to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee's personal remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP MP Sambit Patra, addressing a press conference called out Banerjee saying that "no politician or elected representative should use such language." Banerjee, hours after PM Modi's rally in Bengal's Alipurduar, had claimed that the central government named India's retaliation against Pakistan after the Pahalgam terror attack, 'Operation Sindoor' for "political gains". Further ramping up her attack, Mamata cried foul over PM Modi's "language" claiming that "you (PM Modi) are not the husband of everybody." She further went on to add, "why are you not giving sindoor to your Mrs first?" During his rally in West Bengal, the Prime Minister had declared from the "sacred land of Sindoor Khela" the rousing success of India's Operation Sindoor. He went on to explain the powerful symbolism behind the naming of the operation. The Prime Minister said that the Army had given an emphatic response to the terrorist who had dared to "wipe away the sindoor of our sisters." — BJP4India (@BJP4India) BJP's Patra during the press briefing also discredited reports that the BJP was planning to distribute vermilion (sindoor) to women to mark the Modi government's anniversary. He accused opposition parties of using it to discredit the Centre's anti-terror operation. 'They are belittling India's military action for political gains,' he said. Amit Malviya, head of the BJP's IT cell, also called the report fabricated and accused Banerjee of behaving 'like a troll'. Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate responded by saying the BJP had only disowned the sindoor campaign after facing backlash. The West Bengal CM's remarks had followed PM Modi's rally in Alipurduar where he launched a fierce attack on the TMC government, alleging that it had failed on multiple fronts including women's safety, youth employment, and corruption. He cited recent communal violence in Murshidabad and Malda as evidence of lawlessness under the TMC. Banerjee hit back, alleging that the BJP had orchestrated the Murshidabad and Malda unrest and that Modi was trying to divide the country. 'In Bengal, we have a humanitarian government. But the BJP insults tribals, SCs, minorities—even Hindus. The dignity with which women live in Bengal, do we see the same in UP, Bihar, Assam, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh?'
