The drill involved insertion of troops and offensive ground actions, highlighting synergy among various combat arms, support arms and services
To validate operational capability in a contemporary, multi-domain battlefield environment, the Army’s South-Western Command conducted a major integrated fire power drill, codenamed Exercise Amogh Fury, at the Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan’s Thar Desert.The high-intensity firepower-cum-exercise showcased the seamless integration of a wide array of firing platforms through coordinated combat manoeuvres.
Demonstrating the Indian Army’s preparedness in a multi-domain operational environment, the drill involved insertion of troops and offensive ground actions, highlighting synergy among various combat arms, support arms and services.“The aim of Amogh Fury was to test the Army’s combat power, coordination and operational readiness in real time battle scenarios,” an Army spokesperson said.
The integrated firing witnessed participation of multiple platforms, including battle tanks, Infantry combat vehicles, attack helicopters, long range vectors of artillery and drones.
Apart from these, modern technologies and equipment, including network centric communication, command and control architecture and real time surveillance and targeting systems were also employed in these exercises for pragmatic training of all ranks.
The exercise placed significant emphasis on the use of contemporary technologies, real-time communication and the creation of a common operating picture, seamlessly shared with all stakeholders. These capabilities were tested and refined to effectively counter emerging threats on the modern battlefield.
Amogh Fury is a testament to the Indian Army’s focus on jointmanship, operational readiness and technological integration in multi-domain warfare scenarios, the spokesperson said.
BSF adds drone warfare to its training syllabus, commissions innovation centre
While the drone commando course is meant for jawans and junior-rank officials, the drone warriors capsule is for the officers, who will plan and supervise such operations during peace and war
he Border Security Force (BSF) has updated its training curriculum and added drone warfare as a mandatory subject for its troops and officers, apart from commissioning an innovation centre to develop indigenous tools for the new-age warfare post-Operation Sindoor.
The premier Officers’ Training Academy of the about 2.70 lakh-strong force based in this Madhya Pradesh town near Gwalior has also created a drone technology lab for the students of Rustamji Institute of Technology (RJIT), the only higher education institute run by a paramilitary force under the Union Home Ministry.
The BSF guards India’s over 6,000-km-long front with Pakistan and Bangladesh, apart from operating the home ministry’s air wing for special missions. During Operation Sindoor, the force countered drone attacks, loitering munitions and launched effective firepower against Pakistani positions along the border.
Eighteen BSF personnel, including two posthumously, were awarded gallantry medals for displaying courage during Operation Sindoor, launched by India in May following the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack that claimed 26 lives.
“We have recently revised the training curriculum for the jawans and officers, and drone technology has now been included as a mandatory subject.
“New standard operating procedures (SOPs) are being formalised and a drone school was recently inaugurated as part of this initiative to make the force self-reliant with indigenously developed technology to combat the changing method of warfare across the globe,” said Director of the BSF Academy Shamsher Singh.
Singh, an Additional Director General (ADG) rank IPS officer, said the force had brought its various arms and engineering workshops, centres, RJIT and allied institutions on one platform. The BSF has also signed MoUs with various IITs and government research organisations to prepare a road map for the tactical employment of drone technology in the border force.
The BSF Academy has also created a ‘police technology innovation centre’ with the participation of its own expert officers, industries, startups, academicians and innovators to find solutions to emerging challenges in the internal security domain, including drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
“This centre is looking at 48 identified problems. Drones, artificial intelligence, machine learning, surveillance and smart mobility are some of the areas that this indigenous platform is working on,” a second officer said.
A special area that the B.Tech students of RJIT are working on in their lab is improving and bringing about improvisations so that drones can be better used by the BSF for surveillance, defence and tactical combat, said the officer, who did not wish to be named.
The drone school has just trained the first batch of about 45 personnel in drone commando and drone warriors courses and they are back at the border.
The second batch is undergoing training. The aim is to train around 500 personnel annually. The number will be gradually increased, an instructor at the centre said.
He said the drone commando course is meant for the jawans and junior-rank officials while the drone warriors capsule is for the officers, who will plan and supervise such operations during peace and war.
BSF troops are being trained in the theory and practicals of drone flying, anti-drone operations and tactical deployment of technology.
Funds worth about Rs 20 crore have been sanctioned to procure gadgets, equipment and simulators for the new school, officials said.
The force has prepared the tutorials after studying the recent usage of unmanned aerial platforms in combat across the world, like the Ukraine-Russia war, apart from the ones used by countries like the US, China, Turkiye and Pakistan.
Coordination with the drone assets of the defence forces and that of the BSF during active war scenarios is also a plan in the works, the second officer quoted above said.
CM praises IAF for display of valour in Op Sindoor
The Indian Air Force’s Suryakiran Aerobatic Team today enthralled the audience with a series of breathtaking stunts, multiple formations, flying at speeds ranging from 150 kmph to 650 kmph, during an air show at the Maharaja Agrasen Airport Complex in Hisar.
Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, who watched the show, said the IAF’s strength had been significantly enhanced with the induction of modern fighter aircraft such as the Rafale. He expressed pride in the valour and strength displayed by the IAF during Operation Sindoor.
The Chief Minister said that the air show conveyed a strong message of discipline, teamwork and unwavering patriotism. “Each feat of the Suryakiran Aerobatic Team reflected the spirit of their motto, “Sadaiv Sarvottam” (Always Excellence),” he said.Highlighting the state government’s welfare initiatives for the families of freedom fighters and martyrs, he said the pension for freedom fighters and their widows had been increased to Rs 40,000 per month, while the ex-gratia amount for families of war martyrs had been enhanced to Rs 1 crore. In addition, the Haryana Government has decided to provide 10 percent reservation to Agniveers in jobs.
Informing that this was the first time such an air show was organized in Haryana, the DC Anish Yadav said the objective was to inspire the youth to dream of joining the Indian Air Force and becoming pilots. The Defence officers also paid tribute to Hisar’s martyr, Wing Commander Sahil Gandhi, who laid down his life in 2019.
A large number of people from Hisar and surrounding districts, along with officers and soldiers from the Army Cantonment, their families, and students from Army Public School and the NCC, witnessed the show.
US President Donald Trump has repeated his claim that he solved the India-Pakistan conflict earlier this year with trade and asserted that he should get the Nobel Peace Prize for “ending seven wars”.
Since May 10, when Trump announced on social media that India and Pakistan had agreed to a “full and immediate” ceasefire after a “long night” of talks mediated by Washington, he has repeated his claim over 40 times that he “helped settle” the tensions between the two countries.
Meanwhile, India has consistently denied any third-party intervention.
“On the world stage, we are once again doing things that we are just respected at a level that we have never been respected before. We are forging peace agreements and stopping wars. So we stopped wars between India and Pakistan, Thailand and Cambodia,” Trump said at the American Cornerstone Institute Founder’s Dinner on Saturday.
He went on to say, “Think of India and Pakistan. And you know how I stopped that — with trade. They want to trade. And I have great respect for both leaders. But when you take a look at all of these wars that we’ve stopped — India-Pakistan; Thailand-Cambodia; Armenia-Azerbaijan; Kosovo-Serbia; Israel-Iran; Egypt-Ethiopia; and Rwanda and the Congo. We stopped all of them. And 60 per cent of them were stopped because of trade,” the US President claimed.
He added “like with India, I said, ‘look, we’re not going to do any trade if you’re going to fight and they have nuclear weapons. They stopped.”
India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians. India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
India has been consistently maintaining that the understanding on cessation of hostilities with Pakistan was reached following direct talks between the Directors General of Military Operations.
Rajnath lands in Morocco to unveil military vehicle plant
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh arrived in Casablanca in Morocco on a two-day visit, marking the first-ever visit by an Indian Defence Minister to the country. He was received at Mohammed V International Airport by the Head Wali of Military Command of Casablanca and Indian Ambassador to Morocco Sanjay Rana.
A key highlight of the visit will be the inauguration of Tata Advanced Systems Maroc’s new manufacturing facility for the Wheeled Armoured Platform (WhAP) 8×8 at Berrechid. This facility will be the first-ever Indian defence manufacturing plant in Africa. The milestone reflects the growing global footprint of India’s defence industry under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
Singh will hold a bilateral meeting with Loudiyi to strengthen defence, strategic and industry cooperation, and will also call on Morocco’s Minister of Industry and Trade Ryad Mezzour to explore avenues for industrial collaboration.
Both sides are also expected to sign an MoU on cooperation in the field of defence. The MoU will provide an institutional framework to expand and deepen bilateral defence engagement, including exchanges, training and industrial linkages. Indian Navy ships have been making regular port calls at Casablanca in recent years, and this agreement will further consolidate such ties.
People walk past a structure damaged in Indian airstrikes in Muridke near Lahore. file
Terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) is reconstructing its headquarters at Muridke town in Pakistan’s Punjab province. The headquarters — ‘Markaz Taiba’ — was destroyed in Indian strikes during Operation Sindoor in May.
The LeT plans to complete the reconstruction before February 5, 2026, which is observed as Kashmir Solidarity Day by Pakistan, and it also coincides with the outfit’s annual Kashmir-focused Jihad convention.
According to intelligence sources, the terror organisation recently fully demolished the damaged structures at the Muridke headquarters.
Among the structures damaged in the airstrikes were three core buildings. While a two-storeyed structure was used for storing weapons, the remaining two buildings were for training facilities and accommodation.The buildings were severely damaged in the strikes, the sources said.
On August 18, the LeT deployed JCB machines to demolish the damaged structures and by the second week of September, the entire complex had been reduced to rubble and debris clearance work was going on when the last intelligence reports came.
The supervision of the demolition work was done by Markaz Taiba’s director, Maulana Abu Zar, and commander of operation (oversight), Yunus Shah Bukhari.
In July, the training and accommodation facilities were shifted to Markaz Yarmouk in Pakistan’s Kasur district.
The intelligence sources said during the May 7-10 conflict with India, Pakistan had publicly announced financing reconstruction of the LeT and JeM’s facilities. Under this, Rs 4 crore was allotted to the LeT for the Markaz Taiba reconstruction.
The projected cost as per the LeT’s internal estimates exceeds Rs 15 crore for full reconstruction of the headquarters.
Interestingly, the official narrative being given by the Pakistan government is that relief is being doled out to flood victims, both through offline and online methods. However, the actual objective was to channelise funds into the reconstruction of LeT’s headquarters, said the sources.
The sources said during the 2005 earthquake, which had caused widespread damages and loss of lives in Pakistan as well as in PoK, the LeT had raised billions of rupees under the pretence of humanitarian aid under its front Jamaat-ud-Dawa.
In fact, around 80 per cent of the funds were reportedly diverted into terror infrastructure at that time, they added.
Chandigarh Launches Rs 999 Annual Fitness Plan for Senior Citizens
Chandigarh: In a major step towards promoting active ageing, the Chandigarh administration has introduced an affordable fitness scheme for senior citizens, offering year-long access to city sports complexes for just Rs 999. The initiative was announced as part of the Seva Pakhwada 2025 celebrations and aligns with the national Fit India Movement.Targeted at residents aged 60 and above, the scheme allows full membership at any of the 21 sports complexes across the city. These facilities offer over 40 sporting and wellness activities, including walking tracks, swimming pools, yoga halls, and indoor games.UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria praised the initiative, saying, “This subsidised membership reflects our commitment to the health and dignity of our senior citizens. Active living is essential for well-being in old age, and we aim to make it accessible.”Officials believe the scheme will not only improve physical health but also foster social interaction and community bonding among elders.To encourage participation, the registration process has been kept simple. Eligible citizens can apply online via the Chandigarh Sports Department’s website by uploading age proof (PAN card, Voter ID, or driving license), a passport-sized photo, and a completed application form.The initiative underscores the administration’s dedication to enhancing quality of life for senior citizens, recognising their contributions to society and ensuring they remain engaged, healthy, and socially connected.
re-trial lapses do not vitiate a court martial if trial complies with law, rules High Court
The petitioner, a hockey coach, was tried by court martial for sexually harassing a 12-year old girl who was staying at a BSF hostel in Punjab to learn the sport
The Delhi High Court has held that pre-trial lapses during disciplinary proceedings do not vitiate the subsequent trial by court martial if it is done in accordance with law and full opportunity of cross-examining witnesses is provided to the accused.
Upholding the conviction and sentence awarded to an Inspector by a General Security Force Court (GSFC) constituted by the Border Security Force (BSF) for allegedly sexually harassing a minor girl, a Division Bench comprising Justice Om Prakash Shukla and Justice C Hari Shankar, held that in the present case denial of cross-examination during the Recording of Evidence (RoE) under provisions of Rule 45B does not, by itself, vitiate the trial where full opportunity of cross-examination was afforded before GSFC.
“A bare perusal of the record shows that the petitioner cross-examined witnesses during the GSFC trial, satisfying the requirement thereof that was omitted in the preliminary stage, and the same does not taint the trial proceedings, as the trial is done in accordance with law,” the Bench said in their order of September 17.
The petitioner, a hockey coach, was tried by court martial for sexually harassing a 12-year old girl who was staying at a BSF hostel in Punjab to learn the sport. She had confided about the incident to another trainee and later told her parents, following which a complaint was made before the BSF authorities.
In his petition, the BSF inspector had contended that there were lapses in pre-trial proceedings, no FIR was lodged in the case, investigations were not done under the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) Act and the punishment of dismissal and imprisonment could not have been imposed together.
The failure to refer the matter to the internal complaints committee under the POSH Act, does not, by itself, constitute a gross procedural lapse. Even if the child victim falls within the definition of an “aggrieved woman” under Section 2(a), the complaint mechanism under the POSH Act, is to be invoked by the choice of the aggrieved woman or her guardians, the Bench observed.
“In the light of the present case, the child victim and her parents made a conscious decision not to refer the matter to the internal sexual harassment committee and instead chose to file a complaint with the BSF authorities, which cannot be faulted with nor it in any manner caused prejudice to the rights of the petitioner,” the Bench ruled.
The Bench also did not agree with the contention of the petitioner that Section 50 of the BSF Act puts a restriction on combining the punishment of dismissal with certain others prescribed under Section 48 of the said Act.
A plain reading of both the sections express that the GSFC can lawfully award imprisonment together with dismissal from service, the Bench held.
Junking the petitioner’s claims that some witnesses were not examined, the Bench opined that the evidence of direct testimony of the victim cannot be displaced by the non-examination of an additional witness or by immaterial discrepancies.
“Further, this Court finds that the heinous act of sexual harassment of a girl student who is also a minor, by a sports teacher would figure quite high in the list of offences of grave nature since it has far-reaching consequences, which impact more than just the parties to the proceeding and the said gravity stands multiplied in the case of a disciplined force like the BSF,” the Bench remarked.
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