Press Trust of India

India needs to focus on skill, scale and speed to compete with China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Sunday, drawing a link between the colours in the national flag to the revolutions the country needed for its future growth.

Releasing a book, “Getting India Back on track – an action agenda for reform”, at a function at his 7 Race Course Road residence here, the prime minister said “input of intellectual think tanks” should be substantially enhanced for better policy framework.

Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants were killed in a gun battle with security forces in Kashmir’s Pulwama district Sunday, police said.

Troops of counter-insurgency Rashtriya Rifles and Central Reserve Police Force surrounded a house in the district’s Reshipora village Sunday afternoon following information about presence of guerrillas, a police officer told IANS.

“When security forces closed in, the militants fired at them, triggering a gun battle. Two militants belonging to LeT have been killed in the gunfight,” the officer said. “Searches are still going on at the site.”

Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha Sunday stressed the need for synergy among stakeholders on defence projects.

“As the Indian Air Force (IAF), defence production department and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) are working on important projects, synergy is imperative to execute them on time for defence preparedness,” he said during a visit to the state-run defence behemoth’s production facilities here.

Raha also reviewed the projects HAL is executing for the IAF with its chairman R.K. Tyagi and senior officials.

India has taken up with Sri Lanka the arrest of around 80 of its fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, an official said Sunday.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has directed the Indian High Commission in Colombo to take up the issue with the Sri Lankan government, according to ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

“She has asked the high commission in Colombo to take up the matter with Sri Lanka,” he said at a briefing here.

The arrest of the Indian fishermen comes within days after 33 Indian fishermen were freed on the instructions of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Many places in Punjab and Haryana continued to sizzle Sunday, with temperatures over 45 degrees Celsius in many towns, officials said.

Haryana’s Hisar town recorded the season’s high of 46.6 degrees Celsius as heat wave conditions intensified over most parts of the two states, Met officials said here.

Ambala city recorded a high of 45.2 degrees Celsius.

In neighbouring Punjab, Ludhiana and Patiala recorded highs of 46.3 and 46.1 degrees Celsius, respectively.

The Sikh holy city of Amritsar had a high of 45.8 degrees Celsius.

Violence broke out Saturday in Greater Noida near the national capital after a BJP leader was shot dead by motorcycle-riding assailants, police said.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Vijay Pandit was shot dead in Dadri area.

After news of his death spread, around hundred of his supporters and BJP workers ransacked the area and torched many vehicles.

They pelted stones at the police, who resorted to cane charge and fired blanks.

Pandit was the husband of a local civic body chairperson.

Police said tension prevails in the area and additional forces have been deployed.
(IANS)

The Election Commission Saturday assured all possible help to Bhutan in managing its polls.

Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath assured his Bhutanese counterpart Dasho Kunzang Wangdi all possible support in election management in that country, said a statement.

Bhutan conducted its general election in 2013 which was won by the People’s Democratic Party.

A three-member delegation, led by Wangdi, visited the Election Commission and met Sampath “to enhance bilateral cooperation”.

Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Saturday said there was immense scope and potential of the IT sector in India and the government was committed to create “broadband highways” in the country.

“There is immense scope and potential of the IT sector in the country, particularly in Bihar. The Narendra Modi government will work to tap it soon,” Prasad, who hails from Bihar, told media persons here.

He said that if the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government was known for national highways, the Modi government would be known for “broadband highways”.

The Indian Air Force (IAF) chief, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha Saturday visited the state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) here that manufactures the frontline Sukhoi SU-30 MKI combat jet under license from Russia.

“The Indian Air Force, HAL and the defence production department are working together as an entity to meet the country’s defence preparedness,” Raha said after inaugurating an IAF warehouse at the aero-complex in Nashik, about 170 km from Mumbai.

The modern warehouse will store all types and aggregates and spares of Sukhoi, a frontline fleet of the Indian Air Force.

In a major shake-up of the police department, the Uttar Pradesh government Saturday transferred 42 Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, including inspectors general and deputy inspectors general and 28 district police chiefs, officials said.

Ashish Gupta was made inspector general (Railways) while Sunil Gupta was transferred as Kanpur IG and posted as Allahabad IG.

Agra IG Ashutosh Pandey was posted as Kanpur IG and Mutha Ashok Jain became the new Agra IG.

Vijay Singh Meena was removed as Agra DIG and given charge of Basti, while Vijay Prakash was transferred from Gonda.

The CBI Saturday asked a court here to award the death penalty to seven Uttarakhand policemen convicted of killing a 22-year-old MBA student in a staged shootout in Dehradun in 2009. The court fixed June 9 for pronouncing the sentence.

Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) counsel and senior public prosecutor Brajesh Kumar asked special judge J.P.S. Malik to award death penalty to seven policemen, saying they behaved in a “predatory manner”, which falls under the act of “rarest of rare”.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav Saturday asked the Allahabad High Court for its consent to set up fast-track courts in all the state’s districts.

Yadav, in a letter to Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, said the state government mooted this idea due to the necessity of promptly punishing people behind crimes against women, and requested the high court to give its consent for the same.