The army’s northern command chief, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, said the September 2016 surgical strike on terrorist launchpads in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) was the first such operation to be carried out. He said this while citing a recent reply of the Directorate General of Military Operations (DGMO) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act .

“A few days ago, DGMO said in a reply to an RTI query that the first surgical strike happened in September 2016. I do not want to go into what political parties say. They will be given an answer to by the government. What I have told you is a statement of fact,” Lt Gen Singh told reporters in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur. He was referring to the DGMO’s reply in which it said on May 8 that the army had no data to suggest that surgical strikes were conducted across the de-facto India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir — the Line of Control (LoC) — before September 2016.

Former president Shri Pranab Mukherjee has lauded the role of the Election Commission saying the 2019 Lok Sabha polls were conducted perfectly.

Speaking at a event in New Delhi, he said that right from the first election commissioner Shri Sukumar Sen to the present election commissioners, the institution is working very well. Shri Mukherjee said all the three commissioners are appointed by the executive and they are doing their job well.

His remarks come a day after Congress president Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Election Commission’s capitulation before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is obvious and the poll watchdog is not feared and respected anymore.

The EC has been criticised by the opposition parties for being allegedly biased towards the BJP.

The navies of India and Singapore conducted their bilateral naval drill in the South China Sea, the Navy said.

The bilateral naval drill will be conducted till May 22.

Indian Navy ships Kolkata and Shakti took part in the bilateral naval exercise with Singapore, along with long range maritime patrol aircraft Poseidon-8I (P8I).

The Singapore side is to be represented by RSN ships Steadfast and Valiant, maritime patrol aircraft Fokker-50 (F-50) and F-16 fighter aircraft.

On successful completion of IMDEX 19, a biennial maritime defence show, INS Kolkata and INS Shakti are continuing their stay at Singapore to participate in the annual SIMBEX-2019 scheduled from May 16 to 22, the Navy said in a statement.

The harbour phase of SIMBEX-19 was conducted from May 16 to 18 that included various planning conferences, simulator based warfare training, war-gaming, courtesy calls to dignitaries of RSN Navy, sporting events and deck reception on board Kolkata.

“The sea phase of SIMBEX 19, scheduled to be conducted in the South China Sea from May 19-22, will include various maritime combat exercises such as firing on aerial, surface targets, advanced aerial tracking, coordinated targeting exercises and tactical exercises on surface, air scenarios,” the Navy said.

After spending over 15 hours meditating at a holy cave near the Kedarnath shrine, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi arrived at Badrinath, another temple in Uttarakhand’s revered ‘Char Dham’.

PM Modi stepped out wearing a garland of Tulsi leaves after offering prayers at the Badrinath Temple.

After offering prayer Prime minister tweeted “The iconic Badrinath Temple remains an important part of our culture and ethos. Had the honour of joining the Puja at the Temple today.”

Prime Minister Shri Modi spared time to meditate in the mountains. After ending his meditation at a holy cave nearby, Shri Modi was seen meeting devotees dressed in a maroon robe. He told reporters that he has been lucky to visit the shrine on multiple occasions, adding that he has a special connection with Kedarnath.

Prime Minister said, “I did not ask for anything from Baba Kedarnath. God has made us self-sufficient beings who are able to give rather than ask.”

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) recently successfully conducted the flight test of ‘Abhyas’, a high-speed expendable aerial target (HEAT), which offers a realistic threat scenario for practice of weapon systems. The flight test was conducted at the Interim Test Range, Chandipur, in Odisha.

It was tracked by various radars and electro-optic systems and proved its performance in fully autonomous waypoint navigation mode, an official release said.

The configuration of ‘Abhyas’ is designed on an in-line small gas turbine engine and it uses indigenously developed micro-electro-mechanical systems-based system for navigation and guidance.

The performance of the system was as per simulations carried out and it demonstrated the capability of ‘Abhyas’ to meet the mission requirement for a cost-effective HEAT.

‘Abhyas’ is designed for autonomous flying with the help of an autopilot.

Union Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari said the government is working on a plan that will enable farmers to grow new crops instead of the conventional ones.

Addressing an election rally at Dhar in Madhya Pradesh, he said that national security is paramount for BJP. He said that India needs a Prime Minister like Shri Narendra Modi who can firmly deal with the issue of terrorism.

Referring to various public welfare schemes of the central government, Shri  Gadkari said that in the last five years, there has been many development works in the country like the cleaning of Ganga and building of waterways in rivers.

Shri Gadkari also addressed a public rally in Alirajpur in the state.

Bharatiya Janata Party National President Shri Amit Shah accused the Trinamool Congress of creating an atmosphere of violence in West Bengal. He was speaking at a press conference at the party headquarters in Delhi. He said that it was the TMC and not the BJP that was behind the violence seen in West Bengal during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Shri Amit Shah said that if BJP was responsible for poll violence, it would be visible in other states of India as well and not just West Bengal. “In the last six phases, only Bengal has witnessed violence. Mamata Banerjee claims that BJP is behind the violence in Bengal. I want to tell her you are fighting on just 42 seats. We are fighting across the country. We are pitted against everyone but there has been no violence elsewhere,” Shri Amit Shah said.

Shri Amit Shah also said he would not have escaped unhurt without CRPF protection when his convoy was allegedly attacked in Kolkata. He also blamed the state police of acting as ‘mute spectators’ during the clashes. “Yesterday, three hours before the [BJP] roadshow, banners and posters removed. The police was a mute spectator. They tried to provoke our party workers but that didn’t work,” he said.

Presenting pictures of from the clashes that took place during the roadshow in Kolkata, Shri Amit Shah said that TMC workers broke Ishwar Chand Vidyasagar’s statue and blamed it on the BJP. He said that the gate of the university was closed and that BJP workers were outside the university hence they could not have broken the statue.

Amit Shah alleged that three attacks took place on the BJP convoy including arson and stone pelting.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi slam actor turned politician Kamal Hasan on his Hindu Terror remark and firmly denied the existence of anything called Hindu terror in an interview recently. He said no Hindu can be a terrorist and if there is such a terrorist, he’s no more a Hindu.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that in his limited knowledge, no person claiming to be a Hindu can be a terrorist and no terrorist can even stake claim to be a Hindu. Because Hinduism believes in the all-embracing philosophy of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam whbich doesn’t allow Hindus to hurt or kill people, he said.

During an election rally held in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa Prime Minister had also blamed the Congress for hatching the Hindu terror conspiracy in a bid to tarnish and defame Hindu heritage. The Congress and its mahamilavat allies will not let go of any opportunity to taint Hinduism’s saffron with terror’s blot, he said.

The BJP and the Sangh Parivar have repeatedly said that Hindus don’t kill people and have resisted any attempts to equate Hindu terror with Islamic terror of the likes of ISIS and Al Qaeda.