QBullet: Pak Detains JeM Chief’s Son; Kartarpur Talks on Schedule
Read all the top headlines of the day here.
1. Pakistan Puts JeM Chief’s Son, 44 Others Under ‘Preventive Detention’, Bans Saeed’s JuD
Sending signals of a rethink, Islamabad Tuesday moved to assuage Delhi’s concerns on Pakistan-based terrorists by placing 44 “under-observation members of proscribed organisations” in “preventive detention” for investigation. The list included Mufti Abdul Raoof and Hamad Azhar who, Pakistan’s leading newspaper Dawn reported, are the brother and son of Jaish-e-Mohammad leader Masood Azhar.
Mumbai 26/11 attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) — these were initially “under watch list” and Islamabad was criticised for going soft on UN-proscribed terrorist groups — too were
formally placed in the list of banned organisations Tuesday.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. India to Go Ahead with Pakistan on Kartarpur Corridor Plans
India is going ahead with work on the Kartarpur corridor in line with plans finalised before the Pulwama terror attack last month triggered a stand-off with Pakistan, according to officials familiar with the matter.
The External Affairs ministry is also ready for a meeting of officials of the two countries in India on 14 March to finalise modalities and decide the coordinates for the crossing point of the corridor on the international border . The two sides are also expected to discuss a draft agreement that will allow Indian pilgrims to travel without visas.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Congress Ends Speculation: ‘No Tie-Up with AAP’
On a day that began with strong speculation of a “gathbandhan” finally taking shape in the capital, Congress scotched all such talk and said on Tuesday, 5 March, evening that it was not going to have an alliance with Aam Aadmi Party for the LS polls.
Former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit said the party was in a “better position” in Delhi now and was capable of contesting the elections alone. “We have unanimously decided that we will not have an alliance with AAP,” Dikshit told TOI. “We will contest the elections on our own and there will certainly be no cooperation with AAP.”
The reaction from AAP was swift and scathing. “At a time when the whole country wants to defeat the Modi-Shah duo, Congress is helping BJP by splitting the anti-BJP vote. Rumours are that Congress has some secret understanding with BJP,” CM Arvind Kejriwal tweeted. Kejriwal accused Congress of forming an “unholy alliance” with BJP. “Delhi is ready to fight against the Cong-BJP alliance. People will defeat this unholy alliance,” he tweeted.
(Source: The Times of India)
4. India vs Australia: Vijay Shankar, Virat Kohli Script Thrilling Win Against Australia in Nagpur
Indian bowlers delivered a heart-stopping climax to fashion a narrow eight-run victory against Australia in the second ODI, after skipper Virat Kohli conjured up a resolute hundred in testing conditions on Tuesday.
Pacer Vijay Shankar scalped the last two Australian batsmen in the final over in which Australia needed to score 11 runs for a series-levelling win.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Women Officers in Indian Army to Get Permanent Career Option in 10 Branches
Women will be eligible for permanent careers in all 10 branches of the army where they have been inducted as short-service commissioned (SSC) officers, the defence ministry said on Tuesday. Until now, women officers were allowed permanent commission (PC) only in two branches: Judge Advocate General (JAG) and Army Education Corps.
A Defence ministry spokesperson said the eight new branches opened to SSC women officers for permanent commission are Corps of Signals, Engineers, Army Aviation, Army Air Defence, Electronics and Mechanical Engineers, Army Service Corps, Army Ordinance Corps and the Intelligence Corps.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Six Awarded Death by SC in 2009, Acquitted in 2019
In a first ever instance, the Supreme Court on Tuesday, 5 March, acquitted six persons whom it had awarded death sentence 10 years ago in a 2003 case involving dacoity, gang rape of a woman and murder of five persons of a family in Nashik.
Apart from acquitting the accused, who were from a nomadic tribe and falsely implicated in the case by police, a bench of Justices A K Sikri, S Abdul Nazeer and M R Shah ordered the Maharashtra government to pay compensation of Rs 5 lakh to each person within four weeks and identify officials who let the real culprits get away.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. Terrorists Being Trained to Carry out Attacks via Sea: Navy Chief
Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Tuesday, 5 March, warned that the security establishment had fresh reports that terrorists were being trained to carry out operations against India through the sea, raising memories of the attacks on Mumbai.
Admiral Lanba told a gathering of international participants at the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue that the Pulwama terror attack, in which over 40 CRPF troopers were killed on February 14, was carried out by terrorists who were “aided and abetted by a country that seeks to destabilise India”. “We also have reports of terrorists being trained to carry out operations in various modus operandi, including through the medium of the sea,” he said.
(Source: The Times of India)
8. IAF Junks Pakistan’s Claim of Shooting down Sukhoi-30 Fighter Jets
The Indian Air Force on Tuesday said all the Sukhoi-30 fighter jets that were engaged in air combat with the Pakistan Air Force jets on February 27 had returned to base safely, amid claims by the neighbour that it had shot down a Su-30 jet.
“False claim by Pakistan of shooting down a Su-30, appears to be a cover up for the loss of its own aircraft.,” the IAF said in a statement.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. No Bank Guarantees Meant a More Expensive New Rafale Deal
In its final report submitted to the Defence Ministry on 21 July 2016, the seven-member Indian Negotiating Team (INT) estimated the cost of loading bank guarantees, which the French commercial suppliers with backing from the French government refused to do, as €574 million. This made the €7.87 billion inter-governmental agreement signed on 23 September 2016 by the National Democratic Alliance government for the aircraft and weapons packages for the 36 fly-away Rafale fighter jets more expensive by €246.11 million than the estimated aligned cost of the Rafale aircraft deal initiated by the United Progressive Alliance government.
(Source: The Hindu)
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