Prayagraj police detain "miscreants" who infiltrated students' protest over PCS, RO, ARO exams
Prayagraj (UP) (PTI): On Thursday, the fourth day of the agitation against the decision of the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) to conduct the Provincial Civil Services (PCS), review officer (RO) and assistant review officer (ARO) preliminary examinations in two days, the police detained the alleged miscreants who infiltrated the students' protest.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (City) Abhishek Bharti told reporters, "Peaceful agitation of the students is going on in front of the Public Service Commission here. Some miscreants with criminal tendencies entered among 50-60 students and tried to stop the students who were communicating with the administration."
He said these "miscreants" were also trying to provoke the agitating students. The police have detained them, he said.
"No other student preparing for the exam has been detained. Women police force is present here and peaceful talks are being held with everyone," Bharti said.
"We are taking legal action as per rules against miscreants who are infiltrating among the students and misleading them. Also, the students who are protesting by blocking the road in front of the commission are being requested to go to the designated protest site and protest peacefully," he said.
On the other hand, agitating student Himanshu Kushwaha said even though the protesters do not know each other personally, there is no political person there and everyone is agitating with the same demand.
Asked if he knows the people who were taken into custody, a student named Rajiv Pandey said, "All of us are competitive students here and the police administration is picking up students to weaken this movement."
The agitating students again started protesting from Thursday morning and raised slogans against Commission chairman Sanjay Srinet. On Wednesday evening, these students had protested by taking out a candle march.
An agitating student, Gyanendra Kumar, said until their demands are not met, they will continue the protest, whether it lasts a week or several weeks.
"We are taking out a candle march against the adamant attitude of the commission," he said.
UPPSC Secretary Ashok Kumar had earlier said, "The commission's guideline is that only government educational institutions should be made examination centres and the centre should be within 10 kilometers of the headquarters. Earlier, when the paper leaked, these students raised the demand that private institutions should not be made examination centres."
"These students are protesting when the government made guidelines after considering the demands of the students. For the PCS exam, 5,76,000 candidates are registered while centres are being found only for 4,35,000 candidates in all 75 districts. In such a situation, conducting the examination for two days is a compulsion," he said.
The students sitting on the dharna in front of the gate of the Public Service Commission had placards with different slogans written in their hands. One of them read "Batenge Nahi, Hatnenge Nahi, Nyay Milne Tak Ek Rahenge", while another one read "Ek Din, Ek Pariksha".
The commission has declared the dates of December 7 and 8 for the PCS preliminary exam, while December 22 and 23 have been declared for the RO and ARO preliminary exam.
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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.
