Rich tributes paid to martyrs on Kargil Vijay Diwas at 39 GTC
Kargil Vijay Diwas
on Saturday with full military honours, paying rich tributes to the soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice during the 1999 Kargil conflict.
The day-long commemoration began with a solemn wreath-laying ceremony at the War Memorial located on the 39 GTC campus. Brigadier Anirban Datta, station commander, led the officers, junior commissioned officers (JCOs), and other ranks in laying wreaths to honour the fallen heroes of 'Operation Vijay'. Following the ceremony, war veterans and Veer Naris (war widows) associated with the Kargil conflict were felicitated by Brigadier Datta and his wife, Jyoti Datta, who also serves as the Senior Director of the Family Welfare Organisation.
Their contributions and sacrifices were acknowledged in a heartfelt tribute.
A large number of serving soldiers, retired personnel, prominent citizens, and school children attended the event, reflecting the deep respect and gratitude the nation holds for its armed forces. Kargil Vijay Diwas is observed on July 26 every year to mark India's military victory over Pakistan in the Kargil-Drass-Mushkoh sectors. It commemorates the bravery of Indian soldiers, who reclaimed occupied territory at great personal cost during 1999 conflict.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NDTV
an hour ago
- NDTV
NEET UG Counselling 2025: MCC Approves NRI Category Conversion For 188 Candidates
MCC Allows NRI Conversion 2025: The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has accepted the requests of 188 candidates for conversion to the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) category. These candidates must submit their details, along with the required documents and a filled declaration form, via email to Candidates are required to submit the following documents for conversion from Indian category to NRI category. • NEET UG 2025 scorecard issued by NTA • Self-attested declaration confirming NRI/OCI/PIO status or that of a parent • OCI/PIO card, if applicable • NRI Embassy certificate for either the candidate or the parent Candidates should note that seat allotment under the NRI category is provisional. It can be cancelled if any document is found to be 'fake' during verification by the college authorities. The scanned documents must be emailed by 5 pm today, after which candidates will be able to select their preferred seats through the MCC portal. In addition, the MCC has extended the registration deadline to August 3 for Persons with Benchmark Disability (PwBD) candidates. The Round 1 seat allotment result is expected on August 6, 2025.
Hindustan Times
3 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Singapore President honours Indian workers for rescue efforts
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam on Sunday met with migrant workers, including Indians, involved in two separate rescue operations in Singapore, as a mark of appreciation, local media reported. Shanmugaratnam and First Lady Jane Ittogi Shanmugaratnam welcomed the workers at the National Day open house at Istana,(AFP) Shanmugaratnam and First Lady Jane Ittogi Shanmugaratnam welcomed the workers at the National Day open house at Istana, the presidential palace, to celebrate SG60, sixty years of Singapore's independence, The Straits Times reported. In one incident, a 46-year-old Indian foreman and seven workers in his team rescued a woman from her car after it fell into a sinkhole in Tanjong Katong Road South on July 26. In another incident, 11 workers helped during a fire at a shophouse in River Valley in April this year. The workers were quick to set up a scaffolding to bring down children from the burning third floor of the shophouse where coaching classes were held. 'You saved her life, thank you,' The Straits Times quoted President Tharman as saying during chats with the workers who had saved a lady driver. The President and First Lady also thanked 11 others who helped out during a fire incident. Each of the workers received a memento After the interaction, each of the workers received a memento of their visit to the Istana. Speaking to the media at the Istana, construction site foreman Pitchai Udaiyappan Subbiah said that the successful rescue of a life was the most rewarding thing from the incident. 'Because of us, a family is safe and happy (which) makes us very glad,' Subbiah, 46, said in Tamil. 'The recognition we have received is more than enough.' The other workers involved in the sinkhole driver rescue are: Excavator operator Sathapillai Rajendran, 56; and co-workers Anbazhagan Velmurugan, 26; Poomalai Saravanan, 28; Ganesan Veerasekar, 32; Bose Ajithkumar, 26; and Arumugam Chandirasekaran, 47. The workers have also been commended by the Ministry of Manpower's (MOM) Assurance, Care and Engagement (ACE) Group, a division that aims to support migrant workers' well-being. Also Read: Who are the 7 Indian workers Singapore President invited after sinkhole rescue? ACE Coin, given to each of the workers The ACE Coin, given to each of the workers, is a "token of appreciation" presented to migrant worker volunteers and partners who have made meaningful contributions towards supporting and caring for the migrant worker community, said MOM. Following the sinkhole incident, a non-profit organisation supporting migrant workers, 'ItsRainingRaincoats' has received more than SGD72,000 in public donations as a show of appreciation by Singaporeans. The organisation said it will hold a small gathering on August 10 to honour the workers and to announce the disbursement of the funds raised to their bank accounts.
Mint
4 hours ago
- Mint
India's urban climate crisis is the result of our own policy failures
Next Story Deepanshu Mohan The poor are hardest hit by what climate change is doing to city life in India, even as urban development seems bent on devouring its own future. To spell hope, top-down policy needs alignment with ground engagement. The effects of an urban model that builds by displacing ecology are most evident in rising urban heat. Gift this article A recent World Bank study warns that 70% of India's 2050 urban infrastructure is yet to be built. As cities expand, India's urbanization is becoming metabolically unsustainable: a system that produces climate effects as much as it endures them. A recent World Bank study warns that 70% of India's 2050 urban infrastructure is yet to be built. As cities expand, India's urbanization is becoming metabolically unsustainable: a system that produces climate effects as much as it endures them. Cities function like living organisms, consuming energy, water and materials while emitting heat, waste and pollutants. This 'urban metabolism' has breached ecological limits, creating a 'metabolic rift,' or a disconnect between relentless construction and nature's capacity to regenerate. In Bengaluru, over 1,000 storm- water drains were encroached in 2024 alone, while Kolkata has lost over 44% of its water bodies in the last two decades. These are reflections of an urban model that builds by displacing ecology. The effects are most evident in rising urban heat. Urban heat island (UHI) effects, intensified by glass, asphalt and shrinking green cover, trap dangerous levels of heat. In May 2024, the temperature in New Delhi hit 47.3°C. The city's climate severity index has risen 1.5% over 15 years to 57. These are outcomes of flawed heat-amplifying design. Also Read: India's growth and urban planning: On different planets It's similar with urban flooding. It is no longer just a 'drainage issue,' but a systemic hydrological failure. Sealed landscapes can't absorb rainfall. As a result, pluvial floods are expected to intensify from 3.6 to 7 times by 2070. As Anthropocene constructs, Indian cities now have climate risk hardwired into infrastructure, governance and growth patterns. With urban waste projected to reach 435 million tonnes by 2050, urban development is devouring its own future. Urban resilience in India is far more than a technical term. It's a social and political coinage. Our capacity to adapt to climate change is inseparable from structural inequalities embedded in our urban fabric. Climate effects magnify disparities, placing the heaviest burden on the vulnerable. Nowhere is this more evident than in the nexus of heat stress and income inequality. In Chennai, extreme heat is already estimated to drain $1.9 billion annually, 2.3% of the city's GDP. This could rise to 3.2% by 2050. But this cost is unequally shared. Low-income zones, often built with heat-retaining materials and lacking shade, consistently register higher temperatures, worsening health risks and eroding productivity. Also Read: Urban renewal: Indian cities need a governance overhaul A similar story unfolds in relation to urban flooding and informal settlements. In 2020, nearly half of India's urban population was living in informal settlements, many in flood-prone areas. India has lost over 1,500 lives annually to floods over the past decade. Add the heat-related deaths, estimated at 0.2 to 0.4 per 1,000 people annually in cities like Chennai, Surat and Lucknow, with 20% higher mortality among seniors, and the picture is clear: urban climate effects are deeply unequal. To address these risks, we need more than infrastructure. It demands adaptive governance and a build-up of local capacity. Yet, only 10 of 126 cities under the Climate Smart Cities Assessment Framework have conducted flood-risk assessments. Gaps in policy implementation are glaring. Community-led innovation offers hope, though. In Ahmedabad, the Mahila Housing Trust has enabled informal settlers to access microfinance and install cool roofs, a low-cost and effective heat mitigation strategy. Similarly, the city's heat action plan has helped prevent over 1,100 deaths annually since 2013. These are proof that a top-down policy aligned well with ground engagement can save lives. Also Read: Plot twist: Can the monsoon become urban India's hero again? This brings us to the ethics and justice of urban resilience. Establishing a 'Right to a resilient city' demands a significant financial step-up. India needs nearly $2.4 trillion by 2050 for resilient urban infrastructure. Current spending lags at $120.5 billion. This massive gap hits the poorest the hardest, denying them access to essential protections. Market-based models rarely deliver resilience as a public good and with private financing at just 5% and green bonds yet to prove transformative, we must ask: do these tools democratize resilience or merely repackage risk? India's emerging circular economy is projected to create $2 trillion in value and 10 million jobs by 2050. But resilience isn't just about engineering. A socially resilient India must prioritize community knowledge, participatory planning and equitable finance. India's urban resilience is hampered by institutional inertia. Fragmented governance, rooted in colonial legacies and outdated planning, creates a significant 'policy-implementation gap,' where ambitious goals falter locally due to limited capacity and underspending. Examples like Mumbai's pioneering climate budget and Ahmedabad's resilient investment planning offer pathways, but these isolated successes struggle to scale against systemic resistance. True urban resilience needs a basic shift to regenerative urbanism and a holistic as well as socially just development model. This future will depend not just on technology, but on re-wilding urban spaces, fostering circular economies and using participatory processes. We should ensure that India's next urban chapter is one of profound regeneration rather than an inevitable reckoning. Ankur Singh, research analyst at CNES, contributed to this article. The author is professor and dean, O.P. Jindal Global University, visiting professor, London School of Economics, and a visiting research fellow at the University of Oxford. Topics You May Be Interested In Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
