
J&K: Raids on terrorists' homes in Kishtwar
Saturday's searches covered 26 houses, including that of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Mohammad Amin Bhat alias 'Jehangir Saroori', with officials describing the action as part of a larger clampdown on the terror ecosystem in Kishtwar.
The terrorists whose homes were targeted have been operating from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and smuggle arms and ammunition from across the border, the officials said.
As part of the clampdown on Friday, raids had rolled in Doda district's Chenab region, directed at the houses of Pakistan-based terrorists across 15 locations.
'The searches in Bhaderwah, Gandoh, Thathri and Kastigarh areas of Doda were aimed at intensifying the crackdown following terror activities in the district from across the border. Many based in Pakistan are helping foreign terrorists by providing them logistics and other support through their contacts here,' an official said.
Separately, police have initiated the process of attaching properties of 36 terrorists, who hail from Kishtwar and are based in Pakistan or PoK. They were declared 'proclaimed offenders' in Jan last year, the officials said.

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

Mint
20 minutes ago
- Mint
Attention Air Canada flyers! Flights to get affected as work stoppage by flight attendants may impact 130,000 passengers
Air Canada has confirmed it remains open to negotiations with its flight attendants, even as the airline prepares for potential work stoppages that could disrupt operations across the country. The Montreal-based carrier has reached a deadlock with the union representing more than 10,500 flight attendants over pay and working conditions, despite eight months of bargaining. Both the airline and the union have filed notices indicating a labour disruption could begin on Saturday. 'Abrupt work stoppages at airlines create chaos for travellers,' said Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, Air Canada's head of human resources and public affairs, during a press briefing in Toronto on Thursday. 'We remain ready to continue discussions.' The conference was briefly interrupted by flight attendants protesting with placards reading 'Unpaid work won't fly,' claiming their compensation constitutes 'poverty wages.' Air Canada expects approximately 500 mainline and Air Canada Rouge flights to be cancelled by Friday evening. From 1 AM on Saturday, all flights under the airline's direct operation will be paused, affecting more than 130,000 passengers. Cargo operations will also see delays. However, regional flights operated by third-party contractors under Air Canada Express will continue as normal. The airline has stated that affected passengers will be offered full refunds and, where possible, alternative travel arrangements via competitor airlines. Seeking a resolution, Air Canada has requested the Canadian government to mandate binding arbitration, which could compel flight attendants back to work and deliver a final settlement. Meanwhile, the union, affiliated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), appealed to Prime Minister Mark Carney to respect workers' rights to freely negotiate their collective agreement. Canada's Labour Minister, Patty Hajdu, urged both sides to reach a compromise. 'Deals made at the bargaining table are the best ones,' she said in a social media statement. 'I encouraged both parties to put aside differences and return to negotiations for the sake of travellers.' Air Canada has proposed increasing total compensation, including benefits and bonuses, by 25 per cent in the first year and 38 per cent over four years, along with pay for certain duties performed on the ground. Currently, flight attendants are only remunerated while the aircraft is in motion, a practice common in the airline industry. Meloul-Wechsler noted that negotiations began with CUPE demanding pay increases exceeding 100 per cent. The union, however, contends that the airline's 38 per cent offer translates to just a 17.2 per cent rise over four years and falls short of inflation and industry standards, leaving flight attendants unpaid for significant hours of work. (With inputs from Bloomberg)
&w=3840&q=100)

Business Standard
20 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Best of BS Opinion: India at 79: A test of resilience, reform, reckoning
India's 79th Independence Day arrives as both a celebration and a stocktake. The unity that has defined the Republic has been tested repeatedly, most recently during Operation Sindoor, when India retaliated to a terror strike in Pahalgam by targeting Pakistan-based terror and military infrastructure. The response showcased a sharper counterterrorism posture, but the moment also underlines wider challenges, notes our first editorial. India's economic strength, the fastest-growing among large economies, has lifted millions out of poverty, yet the goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047 demands sustained growth in a tougher global climate. Meanwhile, corporate governance is confronting its own reckoning. At the 2025 Annual Directors Conclave, Sebi chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey reminded independent directors they are not 'honorary appointees or friendly critics.' His warning follows the Gensol Engineering case. Similar failures at Satyam, IL&FS, Yes Bank, and Paytm Payments Bank have exposed a culture where promoter influence often overrides oversight, highlights our second editorial. With 549 voluntary resignations in FY25, including 154 this year, the environment for corporate oversight is shifting fast. K P Krishnan writes on India's leading financial regulators, RBI, Sebi, and Irdai, which continue to be led by former IAS officers, reflecting a comfort with administrative experience but also an institutional shortfall. In mature economies, leadership is drawn from academia, industry, and public administration, bringing varied perspectives. India's absence of transparent, rule-based processes has made it harder for outsiders to thrive. Implementing reforms like those in the draft Indian Financial Code could open the field and create more resilient regulatory institutions. Domestic institutional investors have overtaken foreign institutional investors in equity holdings for the first time in 25 years, with Rs 14 trillion in equities versus FIIs' Rs 10 trillion. Since 2014-15, DIIs have grown at an average 42 per cent annually, fuelled by retail participation and steady inflows. FIIs, once the dominant market movers, have seen their correlation with the Sensex fade, while DIIs now set the tone, argues Janak Raj. High valuations may keep foreign flows muted, leaving domestic money as the primary force in the market. Finally, in To Lose a War: The Fall and Rise of the Taliban, reviewed by Elliot Ackerman, veteran correspondent Jon Lee Anderson follows Afghanistan's story from the Taliban's ouster in 2001 to their return in 2021. Drawing on two decades of frontline reporting, Anderson captures early optimism, mounting insurgency, and the missteps that shaped the war's outcome. The book closes with the lesson that withdrawing from reconstruction, as in the 1980s, can invite renewed instability, a warning with resonance far beyond Afghanistan. Stay tuned!


Time of India
28 minutes ago
- Time of India
Three convicted for Mumbai fake currency racket after pleading guilty
Mumbai: After three accused in a fake currency case pleaded guilty, a special NIA court on Thursday convicted and sentenced them to the time they served as undertrials. The three accused—Danish Petiwala, Sarasvati Dattaram alias Muskan, and J Kaleel Rahman—were found guilty on charges related to criminal conspiracy, possession and use of counterfeit currency, and terrorism. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now They spent a little over five years in jail since their arrests in 2020. When an accused pleads guilty, they forfeit their right to a trial. The NIA alleged that Amir Mirza alias Rafi Shaikh, a wanted accused based in Malaysia, and the trio entered into a criminal conspiracy to smuggle Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) from Malaysia by using banking channels as well as postal services to damage the monetary stability of India. In Thursday's case, in Feb 2020, the special investigation and intelligence branch of Customs arrested Petiwala and Dattaram for receiving fake currency notes with a face value of Rs 68,000 in the post and circulating them. Dattaram received a parcel from Malaysia that was declared as cosmetics but contained 34 fake Rs 2,000 notes. Mahim resident Petiwala was arrested for aiding and abetting the crime. Petiwala said that a man named Amir Mirza (absconding accused) sent the parcel from Malaysia. He said he paid Rs 50,000 for Rs 1 lakh in fake notes, but received fake notes with a face value of only Rs 68,000. Further investigations revealed that the two used a few thousand in fake notes at Domino's Pizza in Mahim, Cinema Hall at HUB Mall in Goregaon, for a three-day stay at a hotel in Marol, and also purchased cocaine and other drugs with it. Chennai-based Rahman was accused of being a co-conspirator. It was alleged that on January 20, 2020, Petiwala and Dattaram deposited genuine currency notes of Rs 45,000 in Rahman's bank account on Mirza's instructions towards the cost of FICN of the face value of Rs one lakh. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now On the day of the deposit, Rahman was alleged to be in Malaysia. He returned to India the following day. On January 22, 2020, he withdrew the money in three tranches from the account. The parcel containing the FICN allegedly reached Mumbai on Feb 7, 2020. The investigations in the case were subsequently taken over by the NIA. Last month, another accused pleaded guilty, forfeiting his right to a trial in a fake currency case. The same court convicted and sentenced Mumbra-based accused, Jasim alias Wasim Shaikh, to five years and seven months of rigorous imprisonment for his involvement in a fake currency racket. Although Jasim initially pleaded not guilty, he later filed a plea to plead guilty, stating he was doing so voluntarily and without pressure. He cited being behind bars for over five years and seven months and requested mercy and a minimum sentence.