This is time of war, says Haryana Minister Anil Vij
Chandigarh: Haryana Energy and Transport Minister Anil Vij on Tuesday responded to Congress' remarks regarding the recent terrorist attack in Pahalgam, calling for national unity during this critical time.
'This is a time of war,' said Vij, 'and every citizen of India should stand up and declare: 'Narendra Modi, we are with you, you fight -- we are by your side. And we are fully prepared, anyone trying to deceive us in any disguise will be unmasked'.
Vij advised the Congress to have patience during a sensitive time. 'They may have questions, but this is not the time to raise them,' he told the media.
Reacting to reports that Pakistan has relocated terrorists from launch pads to camps in fear of Indian retaliation, Vij said, 'They can run anywhere in Pakistan -- we won't spare them. They repeatedly disturb our peace. Seeing Kashmir flourish while they themselves suffer, they feel envious. Nearly 1.75 crore tourists visited Kashmir, giving a strong boost to its economy. These terrorists are now targeting people based on religion. If Hindus decide not to visit Vaishno Devi or Amarnath, or not to travel to Kashmir as tourists, what would happen to the local economy?'
The Minister reiterated Prime Minister Modi's stance, 'PM Modi has said time and again that those who shed innocent blood will be brought to justice, and he always delivers on his promises.'
The mastermind behind the Pahalgam attack is reported to be Hashim Musa, a former commando of Pakistan's Special Forces. Pakistan, however, denies any involvement. Vij questioned, 'Then why are they fleeing the country and sending their children abroad? No thief ever admits guilt -- but the world sees the truth. India has decided, we will not tolerate terrorism under any circumstances.'
Recalling past conflicts, Vij said, 'We saw bombs drop in Ambala during the 1965 and 1971 wars. People stood on rooftops watching planes fly overhead, full of courage.
During the 1999 Kargil War, soldiers marched forward with determination, and the people supported them with food and refreshments.
Today, we remain equally prepared, and any infiltrator, no matter their disguise, will be identified and defeated,' he added.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Increase in anti-dumping duty by U.S. on Indian shrimp a cause for concern
Andhra Pradesh has requested the Government of India (GoI) to solve the problem caused by an increase in anti-dumping duty imposed by the U.S. on Indian shrimps from 1.35% to 3.96% with retrospective effect from 2023-24, which entails a burden of ₹600 crore on seafood exporters from the State. Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, AP Legislative Assembly Deputy Speaker and State Aquaculture Advisory Committee (SAAC) member K. Raghu Ramakrishna Raju and AP State Aquaculture Development Authority (APSADA) Co-Vice-Chairman Anam Venkata Ramana Reddy said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu requested the Union Ministers of Finance, and Industry & Commerce to resolve the issues faced by seafood exporters in India by diplomatically engaging with the shrimp importing countries, particularly the U.S. He insisted on inclusion of harmonised system codes of Indian shrimp under the exemption list in order to protect the livelihood of lakhs of farmers and workers, and prevent the collapse of the sector that significantly contributed to the Gross State Domestic Product. SAAC recommendations They said the SAAC studied the issues that cropped up after the U.S. imposed the reciprocal tariffs on seafood exports from India, and came up with short, medium and long-term strategies for sustainability of the sector. The short-term measures included a reduction in the input costs such as lowering the power tariffs, waiver of import duties on brood-stock and feed to ease production pressure, waiver of 5% GST on packaged shrimp to unlock local consumption, stabilising farm gate prices, securing access to the European Union (EU) and small markets, enhancing export compliance by ensuring strict implementation of traceability for the sake of reducing export rejections, and leveraging re-export potential by activating fish re-export hubs and streamlining the port clearances. Mr. Ramakrishna Raju said the medium-term strategies recommended were to enforce 100% registration of farms, tackle trade barriers, promote cluster farm management, and expand product lines by incentivising ready-to-eat / cook shrimp for premium global markets. The long-term strategies included achieving brood-stock sufficiency, species and market diversification, and strengthening bio-security institutional reforms quality compliance. Mr. Venkata Ramana Reddy said the department had completed geo-tagging of all the existing 2.07 lakh aquaculture ponds and 3,800 aquaculture business units in the State and assigned 11-digit unique codes. A traceability app intended to create a digital platform with a central dashboard, real-time monitoring and analytics was in the process of development. APIIC Chairman M. Rama Raju was among others present.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Free sand to beneficiaries to build Indiramma houses: Ponguleti
Hyderabad: The Congress govt will supply sand free of cost for construction of Indiramma houses to the scheme beneficiaries, revenue and housing minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy announced at a programme in Mulugu district where he distributed approval letters of Indiramma houses. Ponguleti directed all the collectors to ensure that sand stockpiles are kept ready and supplied free of cost to beneficiaries. Sources said the govt was also in talks with steel and cement companies for supplying them at a subsidised rate. He said that if beneficiaries begin construction within the next 10–15 days, funds will be released to them every Monday. Forest officials will be instructed to allow people living in makeshift homes within forest areas to construct Indiramma houses at the same locations, he said. Over 9,800 Chenchus were sanctioned Indiramma houses, which, he said, was a historic decision of the Congress govt. "In addition to 3,500 Indiramma houses for Mulugu constituency at the rate of 3,500 for each of the 119 assembly constituencies in the state, an additional 1,500 units were sanctioned in the Integrated Tribal Development Agency limits," he said. Responding to minister D Anasuya Seethakka's request, Ponguleti sanctioned another 1,000 Indiramma houses to the Mulugu and ITDA areas in the constituency. Stating that the incumbent 'Indiramma govt' was synonymous with Indiramma housing, Ponguleti said 25.5 lakh such houses were sanctioned to the poor by the previous Congress govt of the combined AP state in the Telangana region alone. "After the formation of Telangana state, the previous BRS govt, which held power for two terms, sanctioned only 92,000 houses and completed 60,000 of them. Nearly 30,000 houses were left incomplete with only walls standing. The contractors were not paid for their work by the previous regime," he alleged. The minister said there were at least 60 eligible beneficiaries in every village, but currently only about 30 houses per village can be sanctioned. However, he assured that all eligible families will be provided houses in a phased manner in future. "The target of the Congress govt is to construct 20 lakh Indiramma houses with a budget of Rs 22,500 crore over the next four years," Ponguleti said and appealed to the people to observe the welfare schemes being implemented by the Congress govt and support it in the upcoming local body elections. On the issue of Bhu Bharathi (land records), Ponguleti pointed out that during the previous govt farmers had to run from pillar to post for resolution of land issues. Now, revenue officials were proactively reaching out to the people to resolve their problems, he said.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
Indian govt report in 2022 foresaw China rare earth export crisis
As Indian manufacturers are scrambling to deal with supply-chain disruptions caused by China's restrictive policies on the export of rare earth metals, in many of which it has a near monopoly, experts are pointing to an early warning of this — in a 2012 strategy paper prepared by a steering committee headed by the then mines secretary Vishwapati Trivedi after a similar crisis caused after Beijing restricted supplies of the critical materials that are needed in the auto, space and clean energy industries. Also Read: 'China deal done': US to lower tariffs to 55%, allow Chinese students for higher ed Back then, they added, India felt the heat of Chinese squeeze and on August 9, 2011, the government set up an 11-member steering committee to develop a strategy paper on status and availability of rare earth elements (REE) and energy critical elements (ECE). The committee was chaired by the mines secretary and co-chaired by chairman of the Centre for Study of Science Technology (C-STEP). Members included senior officials and experts from the Department of Science & Technology (DST), the Geological Survey of India, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), the Department of Atomic Energy, the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) and the chairman of India Rare Earth Ltd. Also Read: China can't afford double standards in fight against terror: S Jaishankar The forward of the committee's report titled ''Rare Earths and Energy Critical Elements: a Roadmap and Strategy for India', published in July 2012, said: 'In view of the increased demand of REE and near monopoly of supply from China, there is a need to develop national policies and implementation strategies for ensuring indigenous supply of REE… A Steering Committee was constituted by the ministry of mines with the ultimate intention of preparing a strategy paper for the government, providing short, medium and long term options along with proposals for specific policy & legislative interventions.' Also Read: 'Gratitude to Indian Navy': China on rescue of crew aboard cargo ship which caught fire off Kerala coast The report was blunt about Beijing's approach. 'China has been the major supplier of rare earths all over the world. Even though it has only 37% of global RE resources, it has captured the worldwide market to the extent of 97%. The low cost and efficient production process enabled China to monopolize the rare-earth market, forcing rare earth operations around the world to close down. Indian Rare Earths Ltd (IREL), which was once a leader in export of rare earth compounds had to shut down its operation in 2008,' the report added. 'Over the last couple of years China has imposed restrictions and curtailed its export by over 30% citing domestic demands as the reason. This unexpected decline has restarted rare earth operations once again throughout the world,' the report said. The same thing is happening again. Indian industries are suffering due to shortage of the critical minerals. According to a Reuters report published in Hindustan Times on Wednesday, automobile majors such as Maruti Suzuki have cut near-term production targets because of rare earth shortages. 'Government departments, particularly the ministry of commerce and industry, are holding hectic meetings with industry and other stakeholders to resolve the supply crisis. Government is using diplomatic channels asking Beijing to relax supply curbs for the Indian industries,' one of the people mentioned in the first instance said. The ministries of mines, commerce and external affairs did not respond to an email query on this matter. China's curbs on exports of rare earth materials have been officially raised through diplomatic channels by India, especially in view of the impact on manufacturers of electric vehicles, people familiar with the matter said. The issue reportedly figured in a meeting between Indian ambassador Pradeep Rawat and China's vice foreign minister Sun Weidong in Beijing on June 5. 'China's move was primarily aimed at the US and the impact on India was collateral damage. We are hopeful that the matter will be resolved soon,' one of the people said. It is not clear how China's deal with the US —the two countries reached a framework agreement that will now have to be approved by their respective Presidents —will affect this. The matter is expected to figure in discussions during a visit to India by Sun Weidong, a former Chinese ambassador to New Delhi, beginning on Thursday, the people said. Sun is visiting India to continue discussions with foreign secretary Vikram Misri aimed at normalising bilateral ties following the end of the military face-off in the Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) last October. Auto manufacturers affected by the curbs on rare earth exports too have sought to reach out to Chinese authorities but without much success so far, the people said. Two days after India and China reached an understanding on withdrawing forces from the two remaining 'friction points' on the LAC last October, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met in the Russian city of Kazan and agreed to revive several mechanisms to restore normalcy in ties and to address the long-standing border dispute.
