New Delhi [India], February 26 (ANI): On the second anniversary of Balakot air strikes, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday saluted the exceptional courage and diligence of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and said “the success of strikes has shown India’s strong will to act against terrorism”.
“On the anniversary of Balakot Air Strikes, I salute the exceptional courage and diligence of the Indian Air Force. The success of Balakot strikes has shown India’s strong will to act against terrorism. We are proud of our Armed Forces who keep India safe and secure,” the Defence Minister tweeted.
On February 14, Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) targeted a CRPF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway near Pulwama in South Kashmir killing 40 CPRF personnel.
Days later IAF launched an air-strike on a JeM camp in Balakot in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
The air-strike was launched in the early hours of February 26 and Pakistan’s efforts to launch an offensive the next day to target Indian military installations in Jammu and Kashmir was thwarted by an alert IAF.
In the dogfight, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, flying a MiG-21 Bison fighter plane and chasing Pakistani jets, crossed over to PoK where his aircraft was shot down. He was taken into custody by Pakistan. India also shot down a Pakistani fighter jet. (ANI)

Jodhpur (Rajasthan) [India], February 26 (ANI): Rajasthan Police arrested 10 people for immoral trafficking in the Ghas Mandi Area of Jodhpur on Thursday.
Police arrested the accused after a raid was conducted in the area.
“We conducted a raid in Ghas Mandi area. We had information that some women, in an organised way, were conducting immoral trafficking. We have booked 10 people in the case,” said Manglesh Chundawat, Superintendent of Police (SP), Jodhpur.
The SP said that further probe in the case is underway. (ANI)

Malappuram (Kerala) [India], February 26 (ANI): ‘Metro Man’ E Sreedharan formally joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Malappuram on Thursday in presence of Union Minister RK Singh.
Sreedharan joined the party during BJP’s ongoing Vijaya Yatra led by Kerala BJP Chief K Surendran.
“Metro man Sri E Sreedharan joins BJP at Mallapuram in the presence of Union Minister RK Singh during Kerala Vijaya Yatra led by K Surendran,” tweeted BJP National General Secretary BL Santhosh.
Ahead of Assembly elections in Kerala, former Delhi Metro chief E Sreedharan on February 18 announced that he will join the BJP.
“If BJP comes to power in Kerala, I am ready to become the chief minister. The party has not asked me till now as it is too premature. But if BJP asks me, I am willing to take up the post and show how a state can be run efficiently like we are running DMRC,” Sreedharan had told ANI earlier.
The Assembly elections in Kerala are likely between April-May this year. (ANI)

New Delhi [India], February 26 (ANI): Former Haryana Congress leader Ashok Tanwar launched a new political party ‘Apna Bharat Morcha’ in the national capital on Thursday.
Former Tripura Congress leader Kirit Pradyut Deb Barman was among the scores of leaders who attended the launched event.
Speaking at the event Tanwar said that people who left Congress made a tough decision but they did so because they wanted to work for the nation.
He quoted cartoonist RK Laxman and said, “The real Congress will be reduced in size through constant splits.” Tanwar said Laxman’s words are a reality of today’s Congress.
“Apna Bharat Morcha will work with a three-pillared approach of dialogue, debate, and discussion,” he said.
Stating that the Congress has drifted away from its basic principle and ideology, Tanwar had resignation from the primary membership of the party in October 2019, days before the Haryana Assembly polls.
He later extended his support to Dushyant Chautala’s Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) and campaigned against Congress in the 2019 Haryana Assembly elections. (ANI)

Chandigarh [India] February 26 (ANI): The Youth Akali Dal (YAD) will gherao Delhi Police personnel for singling out Punjabi youth for arrests by registering false cases against them in connection with the January 26 incidents in the national capital.
Taking to Twitter, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) said, “Youth Akali Dal (YAD) president Parambans Singh Romana today announced that YAD will gherao Delhi Police personnel singling out Punjabi youth for arrests by registering false cases against them in connection with the January 26 incidents.”
“We stand by our youth. I request all affected families to seek the support of the YAD in this connection. We will not allow any discrimination against our youth at any cost, Romana said,” SAD tweeted.
During the farmers’ tractor rally organised to protest against the Centre’s three new farm laws, some people broke barricades to enter Delhi and indulged in vandalism across several parts of the national capital on Republic Day.
Several numbers of FIRs (First Information Reports) have been filed by the Delhi Police with one of them mentioning the incident at ITO (Income Tax Office) where a farmer died after his tractor overturned.
Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws – Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. (ANI)

Chandigarh [India], February 26 (ANI): After Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh another Bharatiya Janata Part governed state, Haryana is set to present an anti-conversion bill against religious conversions. The draft of the “love jihad” bill has been prepared and will be present in the upcoming budget session of the Assembly, Home Minister Anil Vij said here on Thursday.
“We have prepared the draft of the love jihad (anti-conversion) bill. We will be presenting it in the upcoming budget session in Vidhan Sabha,” Vij told ANI.
Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij on November 26 had announced that a three-member drafting committee has been formed to frame law on “love jihad” in the state.
Vij had earlier said that the committee comprising T L Satyaprakash (IAS) Secretary Home, ADGP Navdeep Sing Virk (IPS) and Additional Advocate General Deepak Manchanda will also study the love jihad law of other states.
The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council on February 25 had passed the ‘Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Bill, 2021’, which aims to curb religious conversions by fraudulent or any other undue means, including through marriage.
Last year on December 29, the Madhya Pradesh Cabinet had approved the Dharma Swatantrata (Religious Freedom) Ordinance, 2020 to deal with “love jihad” cases in the state.
The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Madhya Pradesh took the ordinance route much like the Uttar Pradesh to enact the law to check forced religious conversion. (ANI)