
Fearing air strikes by India, Pakistan moves radar systems along border
Pakistan seems to be losing sleep over a possible retaliation by India following the Pahalgam terror attack and has taken several steps along the Line of Control (LoC) to detect possible manoeuvres by the Army.As per exclusive information received by India Today, the Pakistani army is moving its radar systems to forward locations in the Sialkot sector to detect possible Indian airstrikes. Electronic warfare detachments of the Pakistani army are also being deployed to forward locations to detect Indian movements opposite the Ferozepur sector. advertisementRecently, Pakistan set up a TPS-77 radar site at Chor Cantonment, just 58 km from the international border. The TPS-77 Multi-Role Radar (MRR) is a highly capable radar system and is used worldwide for situational awareness and air traffic monitoring.
Meanwhile, for the fifth consecutive day, Pakistan violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control. The Pakistani army started firing without any provocation in the Kupwara, Baramulla and Akhnoor sectors, with the Indian Army giving a befitting reply.'MILITARY STRIKE IMMINENT'The April 22 carnage in the scenic Baisaran meadow, popular as 'mini Switzerland', by Pakistan-based terrorists left 26 dead and several injured. The attack was claimed by The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy terror group of the Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).With Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowing to "identify, track and punish" every terrorist and their backers, Pakistan is wary of a counteroffensive.advertisementLast week, India's frontline fighter jets, including its Rafales, and its top pilots took part in a large-scale military exercise, named Aakraman (attack), and the Navy demonstrated its operational readiness.Amid heightened tensions, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) aircraft were seen departing from Karachi for bases near Lahore and Rawalpindi in the north, screenshots posted on X from flight tracking website Flightradar24 showed.On Monday, a rattled Pakistani Defence Minister, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, said an Indian military strike was imminent. "We have reinforced our forces because it is something which is imminent now... Pakistan is on high alert, and it would only use its arsenal of nuclear weapons if there is a direct threat to our existence," Asif told Reuters.Moreover, intelligence sources told India Today that the Pakistani army had begun vacating several terror launch pads across Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and were shifting terrorists to army shelters and bunkers.Tune InMust Watch
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Hindustan Times
31 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Excise duty on liquor goes up by over 50%, retail prices to rise from 14% to 60%
MUMBAI: The cash-strapped Maharashtra government on Tuesday increased the state excise duty on Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL) by over 50%, which will lead to a significant increase in retail prices by over 60%. It has also increased the duty on country liquor and imported premium liquor, which will hike their retail prices by 14% and over 25% respectively. The excise duty on beer and wine has not been increased. The government expects the whopping hike to increase its revenue to ₹57,000 crore, up ₹14,000 crore from the ₹43,620 crore collected in FY 2024-25. It expects 10% of the estimated revenue receipts of ₹5.60 lakh crore for the financial year 2025-26 to come from this. While tapping sources of revenue that would enable the drained exchequer to bear the burden of populist schemes like Ladki Bahin and sops for farmers and other communities, the Mahayuti government in January constituted a committee headed by then additional chief secretary Valsa Nair to recommend steps to increase revenue from liquor sales. The committee submitted its report in April this year, and the state cabinet gave its assent to this on Tuesday. Based on the recommendations of the committee, IMFL will now attract four and a half times excise duty on the manufacturing cost instead of the existing three times. 'This will vary based on the manufacturing price but could lead to a huge hike of over 60% in retail prices,' said an excise department official. The cost of IMFL currently ranges between ₹120 and ₹150 for 180 ml, which will now go up to a minimum of ₹205. Premium brands will cost a minimum of ₹360 for 180 ml as against their current rate ranging between ₹210 and ₹330. The price of 180-ml bottles of country liquor has gone up to ₹80 from the current price of ₹70. Beer and wine have been exempted from the excise duty hike. Officials said the retail price of beer, which has a lesser percentage of alcohol compared to hard liquor, is among the highest in the country and was thus exempted. In the case of wine, it is the policy of the state to promote wine since a significant chunk of the country's wineries are in Maharashtra and a significant number of farmers who supply grapes for these wineries are also based here. The government has also introduced a new category called Maharashtra-made liquor (MML), which will also be exempted from the hike. MML brands, made from grains, will cost a minimum of ₹148 for 180 ml, a price that has been strategically kept in the existing price range of IMFL to help MML capture the IMFL market. An official from the excise department said that the new category had been introduced to revive the 70 manufacturing units that manufacture IMFL from molasses and grains. 'Currently 22 of the 70 licenced units are entirely defunct while 16 do no manufacturing and renew their licence only for permission to sell liquor through their shops,' he said. 'The remaining 32 are actually manufacturing the liquor, and 10 of these produce 70% of the IMFL manufactured in the state.' The official added that distilleries using molasses would have to shift to making grain-based liquor in order to get the benefit of the exemption. The reason for this, he alleged, was that most of the grain-based manufacturing units are owned by politicians and the decision was taken to benefit them. The duty hike on IMFL brands has come after 14 years. According to officials, the excise duty levied is still lower than other neighbouring states like Madhya Pradesh and Telangana. 'The committee's recommendations were based on the study of the rates in other states,' said an officer. Another officer said that the hike in duty on country liquor brands was minimal since a greater increase and higher price would lead to the consumption of illicit liquor. 'It is also because the last hike was done in 2022,' he said. The cabinet has also allowed owners of bars to rent out permit room licences for alcohol by paying 10% of the licence fee.


India Today
38 minutes ago
- India Today
9 Baloch men forcibly disappeared by Pakistani forces: Report
Pakistani security personnel have reportedly forcibly disappeared nine Baloch men from two separate regions of Balochistan, according to local media outlet The Balochistan Post (TBP). The alleged abductions have intensified concerns over the ongoing human rights crisis in the volatile to TBP, two residents of Pasni -- Yar Jan and Sher Jan, both from Babbar Shor Ward No. 1 -- were detained and taken to an unknown location. Their families have received no information about their a separate incident on Monday morning, Pakistani forces reportedly raided homes in the Dasht Balnigor district of Kech, where locals described aggressive searches and harassment of women and children. Seven young men -- identified as Naveed, Salman, Haneef, Naseer, Afraz, Kamal, and Phullain -- were also detained and similarly disappeared. The TBP report pointed that "enforced disappearances have long been a contentious problem in Balochistan," with families routinely facing "daylight abductions that occur without warrants or formal charges, leaving them with no legal recourse." Human rights organisations have repeatedly condemned the Pakistani government's handling of dissent in Balochistan. Amnesty International, in a recent statement, asserted that enforced disappearances "run contrary to Pakistan's international human rights obligations" and called for prompt investigations and the immediate release of claim that laws like the Anti-Terrorism Act and special security ordinances are often misused to arrest civilians, particularly Baloch students, political activists, and journalists. "Military courts and special tribunals frequently try Baloch activists without fair trial standards, further denying them justice," the report inputs from ANIMust Watch


Time of India
39 minutes ago
- Time of India
Union minister highlights decrease in poverty rates
1 2 3 4 Vijayawada: Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office in 2014, the country witnessed equitable development across all sectors, leading to enhanced international standing and justice for all sections of society, said G Kishan Reddy, Union minister for coal and mines and Telangana BJP president. He was speaking at a press conference in Vijayawada on Tuesday. Reddy stated that India's economy became the world's fourth-largest, surpassing Japan, growing from a 2.1 trillion dollar economy in 2014 (10th position) to four trillion dollar, as confirmed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Govt aims to achieve a five trillion dollar economy soon. Furthermore, approximately 25 crore people were lifted out of poverty in the last nine years, with poverty rates decreasing from 29.2% in 2013-14 to 11.3% in 2022-23. Per capita income also saw a substantial 67% increase, rising from 68,572 in 2013-14 to 1,14,710 in 2024-25. The minister highlighted the successful implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) with the consensus of all states and the increase in states' share of tax revenue from 32% to 41-42%. He also detailed govt's war on black money, which included demonetisation and banking reforms, leading to a significant increase in the number of taxpayers from 6.9 crore in 2014 to 15.7 crore in 2024-25. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 2025 Top Trending Local Enterprise Accounting Software [Click Here] Accounting ERP Click Here Undo Direct tax collection also surged by 220% during this period. In terms of social welfare, Reddy announced that the NDA govt provided free ration to 81 crore people and constructed four crore pukka houses for the poor. The Union minister for coal and mines also mentioned that the expansion of the Ayushman Bharat scheme that was to cover over 50 crore poor and middle-class citizens, was now extended to include all individuals above 75 years of age for free medical services. The number of AIIMS institutions grew from seven to 26.