7 bodies of workers recovered from fire-hit chemical unit in Surat
Surat (PTI): A day after a major fire engulfed a chemical manufacturing facility in Gujarat's Surat city, bodies of seven missing workers were recovered from the premises in the early hours of Thursday, officials said.
Out of the seven persons found dead at the chemical manufacturing unit of Aether Industries Ltd in Sachin industrial area of the city, one was an employee of the company while six others were working on contract, Surat Collector Ayush Oak said.
"During a search operation in the factory premises, officials found bodies of seven workers who went missing after the fire which engulfed the plant on Wednesday," he said.
The deceased have been identified as Divyesh Patel (company employee), Santosh Vishwakarma, Sanat Kumar Mishra, Dharmendra Kumar, Ganesh Prasad, Sunil Kumar and Abhishek Singh.
The collector said 24 people who were injured in the incident are currently receiving treatment in different hospitals.
The fire broke out at the chemical plant at around 2 am on Wednesday following an explosion in a large tank after leakage of inflammable chemicals stored in it, Surat in-charge chief fire officer Basant Pareek earlier said.
As many as 15 fire tenders were engaged in the fire-fighting operation which went on for nine hours to bring the blaze under control.
In a statement dated November 29 and submitted to stock exchanges, the company said, "...we hereby inform that an incident of fire was reported at manufacturing site of the company at Plot No. 8203, GIDC Sachin, Surat, today early morning around 01:50 Hrs."
Injuries to approximately 25 people have been reported, it had said.
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Rajnath to top commanders: Outmaneuver adversaries with strategic surprise
Jaipur/New Delhi (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday directed the top military commanders of the three services to integrate an "element of surprise" into modern warfare to outmaneuver India's adversaries and bolster strategic posture.
In his address at the joint commanders conference in Jaipur, Singh also described the Operation Sindoor as a testament to the "swift, precise, and joint response" of the Indian armed forces to safeguard national interests and called upon the military to remain ready to deal with any security challenges.
In their two-day deliberations, the commanders carried out a comprehensive review of the combat preparedness of the military in the wake of the evolving regional security situation.
Operation Sindoor was a demonstration of India's growing capabilities and a symbol of the nation's collective resolve and new military ethos, Singh said, a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
He also unveiled a 'Joint Doctrine for Integrated Communication Architecture' that is aimed at strengthening doctrinal clarity, interoperability and integrated communications across the armed forces in future multidomain operations.
The joint commanders' conference, themed 'Military Capability in New Domains', brought together the top leadership of the defence ministry and the three services to deliberate on emerging security challenges and future readiness.
Comprehensive deliberations were held on future warfare, multidomain operations, technological transformation and joint capability development.
The conference witnessed extensive discussions on cognitive warfare, cyber resilience against evolving quantum and AI-enabled threats, military capability development in emerging domains, indigenous innovation and AI-enabled warfighting concepts.
It was attended by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh among others.
In his remarks, Singh asked the commanders to remain "future-ready" by learning from the operation as well as the current global security landscape.
He underscored the need to strengthen capabilities in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, data analytics and secure communication networks to stay prepared in the rapidly evolving geopolitical security scenario. He emphasised that future conflicts will increasingly be shaped by hybrid threats, information dominance and operations conducted simultaneously across cyber, space, electromagnetic and cognitive domains, according to an official readout.
Highlighting the transformative impact of emerging technologies, Singh stressed on the importance of ensuring integrated national preparedness across all spectrums of conflict, it said.
Singh's remarks at the conference came a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
The defence minister appreciated the progress achieved in enhancing jointness, integration and technological adoption across the three services, the readout noted.
Singh said that jointness constitutes a pivotal dimension within the transformative changes sweeping across the global defence sector.
"Future wars will not be won solely through weaponry, but through innovative thinking and enhanced synergy," he said.
The defence minister exhorted the commanders to cultivate the "element of surprise" to remain unpredictable to the nation's adversaries and secure a strategic edge in any given situation.
He, however, urged them to remain vigilant of the element of surprise of the enemy and always stay two steps ahead.
Singh also reiterated the Narendra Modi government's commitment to enhancing the capabilities of the defence forces through state-of-the-art weapons and platforms. He added that special focus is being laid on research in niche domains.
During the conference, he released a documentary film on Operation Sindoor.
The film reaffirms the nation's and defence forces' commitment to operational preparedness and decisive national response capabilities.
Demonstrations of advanced systems and platforms developed for intelligence fusion, operational planning and information management were also showcased during the conference reflecting growing integration of cutting-edge technologies into joint operational structures, according to the defence ministry.
The discussions will contribute significantly towards shaping India's future military transformation and integrated operational preparedness, it said.
