India carries out first flight test of agni 5 under 'Mission Divyastra'; PM Modi says proud of DRDO
New Delhi, Mar 11: India on Monday successfully carried out the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile, capable of deploying multiple warheads, under its 'Mission Divyastra', joining a select group of nations having such a capability.
The missile with 'multiple independently targetable re-entry vehicle (MIRV)' tested from APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha accomplished the designed parameters, the Defence Ministry said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated the scientists of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for the successful test.
"Proud of our DRDO scientists for Mission Divyastra, the first flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology," Modi said on 'X'.
The director of 'Mission Divyastra' is a woman scientist.
The MIRV feature ensures that a single missile can deploy multiple warheads at different locations, sources said.
Agni-V missile has a range of up to 5,000 km and it can bring almost the entire Asia including the northernmost part of China as well as some regions in Europe under its striking range.
India has already carried out a number of tests of Agni 5 but it was for the first time that the flight test was carried out with MIRV.
The countries that have missiles with MIRV capabilities are the US, Russia, the UK, China and France.
"The DRDO conducted the first successful flight test of indigenously developed Agni-5 missile with Multiple Independently Targetable Re-Entry Vehicle ( MIRV) technology.
"The flight test named 'Mission Divyastra' was carried out from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha," the defence ministry said in a brief statement.
"Various telemetry and radar stations tracked and monitored multiple re-entry vehicles," it said.
Defence Minister Singh termed the flight test as an "exceptional success".
India "joined the select group of nations who have MIRV (Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry) capability," Singh said on X.
"Congratulations to our @DRDO_India scientists and the entire team for this exceptional success. India is proud of them!" he said.The weapon system is equipped with indigenous avionics systems and high-accuracy sensor packages, which ensured that the re-entry vehicles reached the target points within the desired accuracy, the sources said.
The capability is an enunciator of India's growing technological prowess, they added.
The Agni 1 to 4 missiles have ranges from 700 km to 3,500 km and they have already been deployed.
In April last year, India successfully carried out the maiden flight trial of an endo-atmospheric interceptor missile from a ship off the coast of Odisha in the Bay of Bengal as part of its ambitious ballistic missile defence programme.
The purpose of the trial of the sea-based missile was to engage and neutralize a hostile ballistic missile threat thereby elevating India into an elite club of nations having such a capability.
India has been developing capabilities to intercept hostile ballistic missiles both inside and outside the earth's atmospheric limits.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Kejriwal resorting to 'vendetta politics', says BJP after MP Sandeep Pathak booked
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Saturday accused Aam Aadmi Party's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal of vendetta politics after Punjab Police booked Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak, who recently defected to the BJP.
In an X post, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that Kejriwal is misusing the Punjab Police to settle political scores, and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has become a party to it.
"Two FIRs have been filed against Sandeep Pathak, who until recently was in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a Rajya Sabha MP and general secretary (organisation). What is baffling is the shameless, brazen vendetta politics being pursued by Arvind Kejriwal, with Bhagwant Mann complicit in it," Poonawalla said.
ALSO READ: BJP, TMC hail SC directions on counting of votes for West Bengal polls
"It is clear this has been done out of vendetta politics by Kejriwal, who is extremely vengeful and vindictive, and misuses the Punjab Police to pursue such political vendetta," he alleged.
Questioning the timing of the FIRs, Poonawalla said, "If these cases existed from the beginning, why were FIRs not filed earlier? If he was corrupt, why was he kept in the party for so long, especially when he was the general secretary (organisation)? Has any new material surfaced in the last few days, or has the alleged corruption occurred only now?"
He alleged that Kejriwal has an "old habit" of targeting political opponents and dissenters.
"We have seen how he has used the police against rivals, including Congress leaders. This is his old habit," Poonawalla said, referring to the withdrawal of Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh's security.
Poonawalla claimed that several leaders who had left AAP over the years, including Yogendra Yadav, Mayank Gandhi, Ashish Khetan, Ashutosh and Alka Lamba, were "hounded".
He accused the party of failing to introspect.
"Instead of introspecting on how they have changed -- from Anna to Lalu, from Lokpal to corruption -- they are indulging in vendetta politics, trying to victimise people using the strong arm of the law. This reflects an Emergency-like mindset and a dictatorial, Hitlerian mindset," he said.
According to sources, two FIRs have been lodged against Pathak under non-bailable sections.
No further details about the FIRs have been disclosed yet.
On April 24, the AAP suffered a jolt when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs quit, alleging that Arvind Kejriwal's party has strayed from its principles, values and core morals.
Of the seven MPs -- who were Pathak, Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal -- six were from Punjab.
Later, Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan officially accepted their merger with the BJP, reducing AAP's strength in the Upper House to three.
