FRIDAY 09 MAY 2025 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 SINCE 1818 Pages 12 |` 5.00 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR TOP COURT CASTIGATES NISHIKANT DUBEY OVER REMARKS ON JUDICIARY USA & UK ANNOUNCE A TRADE DEAL P5 P9 SENSEX 80,334.81 q411.97 NIFTY 24,273.80 q140.60 ` vs $ 85.38 ISHIBA’S FUTURE LINKED TO AMERICAN TARIFFS P7 RAINFALL: 00.0 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Pak strikes on multiple locations foiled, air defence unit disabled in Lahore Max. 90% PARWINDER SANDHU Partly cloudy sky. Possibility of thundery development in some areas. Min. 46% NEW DELHI, 8 MAY TEMPERATURE Max: 37.4˚C (+1.7) Min: 27.0˚C (+0.2) SUN RISES 05:00 hrs MOON RISES 14:35 hrs SUN SETS 18:06 hrs MOON SETS 02:17 hrs Full Moon on 12 May THUMBNAILS People from border belt been offered food after shifting to safer zones following crossborder shelling by Pakistan in the wake of 'Operation Sindoor', at Mishriwala in Jammu on Thursday. nANI 5 women devotees killed in helicopter crash in Uttarkashi: Five women devotees and the pilot of the helicopter carrying them crashed in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi hills on Thursday morning. The victims were visiting the Chardham and the lone surviving pilgrim has been airlifted to AIIMS Rishikesh. I ndian armed forces targeted Pakistan’s air defence radars and systems at a number of locations on Thursday after Islamabad attempted to engage a number of military targets in northern and western India overnight using drones and missiles. BREAKING: In a major escalation, Pakistan tonight targeted Jammu city with drones and missiles and Indian air defence guns were firing back. Loud explosions were heard in the city shortly before 9 p.m. followed by the wailing of sirens and a complete blackout. Stating that the Indian response has been in the same domain with the same intensity as Pakistan’s, the Ministry of Defence said that it has been reliably learnt that a Pakistani air defence system at Lahore has been neutralised. In the wake of the Indian strikes against terrorist camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kash- mir conducted under Operation Sindoor, Pakistan launched a counter offensive on multiple defence bases located in the northern and western parts of the country during the night. However, the attempts were neutralised by the Indian armed forces who engaged the Integrated PM reviews nat’l preparation with secretaries of various ministries STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 8 MAY Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday reviewed national preparedness and inter-ministerial coordination with secretaries of various Ministries and departments of the government, the PM’s office said Cash at judge’s residence: CJI forwards ‘in-house’ panel probe report to President, PM AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 8 MAY Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, who is due to retire next week, has forwarded to the President and the Prime Minister the report of the top court-appointed "in-house" enquiry panel formed against the backdrop of the cash discovery allegations against the then Delhi High Court judge, Justice Yashwant Verma. “Chief Justice of India, in terms of the In-House Procedure, has written to Hon’ble the President of India and Hon’ble the Prime Minister of India enclosing therewith copy of the 3-Member Committee report dated 03.05.2025 along with the letter/response dated 06.05.2025 received from Mr Justice Yashwant Varma,” said a press statement released by the apex court on Thursday. Justice Varma is embroiled in a controversy surrounding the alleged discovery of a huge pile of burnt cash in the storeroom attached to his bungalow in the national capital after the fire brigade had gone there to douse a blaze on 14 March. Within two weeks, Justice Varma’s transfer from the Delhi High Court to the Allahabad High Court, amid an in-house probe, was cleared by the Union government. in an official release. The meeting was held in the light of recent developments concerning national security and comes in the aftermath of India's ‘Operation Sindoor’ which targeted nine terror camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. Earlier today National Security Advisor Ajit Doval also briefed the Prime Minister about the prevailing security situation. “PM Modi stressed the need for seamless coordination among ministries and agencies to uphold operational continuity and institutional resilience,” the PMO release said. The Prime Minister further directed the secretaries to undertake a comprehensive review of their respective ministry’s operations and ensure fool-proof functioning of essential systems, with special focus on readiness, emergency response, and internal communication protocols. Counter UAS Grid and air defence systems. The government had earlier said that during Operation Sindoor, launched on the intervening night of 6-7 May, neither were any Pakistani military establishments were targeted nor were there any civilian casualties. According to the defence ministry, on the night of 7-8 May, Pakistan attempted to engage a number of military targets in Northern and Western India including Awantipura, Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Adampur, Bhatinda, Chandigarh, Nal, Phalodi, Uttarlai, and Bhuj, using drones and missiles. It was learnt that IAF’s S-400 also dubbed as ‘Sudarshan Chakra’, the air defence missile systems, were made operational to neutralise the Pakistani drones and missiles. Agency reports quoted the Pakistani military as saying that India fired several drones at Pakistan overnight in which a military site was damaged. P12 SILVER `99,000 GOLD `1,00,050 India hits back after overnight Pak attack WEATHER LSG FACE TOUGH TASK AGAINST IN-FORM RCB ‘Choice to de-escalate is with Pakistan’ AGENCIES NEW DELHI, 8 MAY India on Thursday warned Pakistan that any attempt at further escalation of the situation will be responded to in an appropriate manner. “Now if there is an attempt at further escalation by Pakistan, it will be responded to in an appropriate domain and therefore the choice is entirely that of Pakistan to make,” Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said during a media briefing in New Delhi on Operation Sindoor. The foreign secretary also slammed the disinformation directed at India from across the border since the events that started with the barbaric terror attack in Pahalgam, mentioning that the "original escalation" has been from Pakistan on 22 April and the Indian armed forces are only responding to it. India also again highlighted Pakistan's pressure to remove references to The Resistance Front (TRF) - the Pakistan-based group responsible for the Pahalgam terror attack in the 25 April United Nations Security Council (UNSC) press statement. (See Page 5) BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 62.03 100 terrorists killed: Rajnath Singh tells all-party meeting “ We do not wish to escalate the situation. But if Pakistan acts, we will not back down either,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had reportedly said while briefing political leaders at the all-party meeting. STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 8 MAY Political leaders cutting across party lines hailed the armed forces on Thursday for carrying out 'Operation Sindoor' against terror hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to avenge the 22 April Pahalgam terror attacks, during an all-party meeting called by the government. “All parties supported the military action… The meeting was positive. All parties hailed the armed forces," Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told newsmen after the meeting. The Centre had called the all-party meeting to brief political leaders on the military strikes carried out by the Indian armed forces targeting the terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who chaired the meeting, informed party leaders that at least 100 terrorists were killed in Indian strikes under Operation Sindoor. “In Operation Sindoor, precise strikes were carried out on 9 terrorist hideouts. Around 100 terrorists were killed,” a leader who attended the meeting said, quoting Rajnath Singh. “We do not wish to escalate the situation. But if Pakistan acts, we will not back down either,” the Defence Minister had reportedly said while briefing the political leaders. Coming out from the meeting, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said: “At this hour of crisis we are with the government. We don’t want to create any controversy at this hour.” The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, said: “We are proud of our armed forces.” All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi complimented the government and the armed forces for carrying out Operation Sindoor.