Kasaragod (PTI): A man, allegedly angered by the disconnection of electricity to his house for non-payment of bills, removed the fuses of seven transformers, causing a power outage in parts of Kasaragod town, Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) officials said on Saturday.

The disruption occurred around 6.45 pm on Friday, affecting Kasaragod town and nearby areas.

“Within minutes, we received numerous calls reporting the outage. But when we checked the lines, there were no issues,” a KSEB official told PTI.

Later, during an inspection of the transformers, officials found that the fuses had been removed.

“When we searched the area, the fuses were found abandoned near the transformers. Some were damaged, so we had to use spare fuses to restore the electricity by 8 pm,” the official added.

Residents told KSEB staff that they had seen a man removing the fuses.

The suspect is a resident under the Nellikuzi section, the KSEB official said.

“The same man had come to the section office earlier and created a scene after his power supply was disconnected for non-payment of bills,” the official said.

Based on the information, the police took him into custody for questioning.

According to police officials, the man claimed to have mental health issues and was living with his aged father.

Police said they would decide on registering a case once KSEB files an official complaint.

KSEB officials said they would submit the complaint on Saturday, as several fuses were damaged and the incident caused an outage lasting over an hour.

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New Delhi (PTI): Russia agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of military hardware and spare parts for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defence equipment.

Ways to bolster overall bilateral defence cooperation figured prominently during summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.

It has been a long-standing grievance of armed forces that the supply of critical spares and equipment from Russia takes a long time, affecting the maintenance of military systems procured from that country.

"Both sides agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment under Make-in-India programme through transfer of technology," a joint statement said.

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It said both sides also agreed to set up joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian armed forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries.

The joint statement said the India-Russia defence partnership is being reoriented to take up joint co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems.

In their meeting on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov resolved to expand bilateral defence cooperation.

In the meeting, the Indian side showed keen interest in procurement of additional batches of S-400 missile systems from Moscow to bolster its combat prowess.

In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).

Three squadrons have already been delivered.

The S-400 systems played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor. India may also look at procuring the S-500 missile systems from Russia.

In the Modi-Putin talks, the two sides also agreed to continue jointly developing systems of bilateral trade settlements through the use of national currencies.

Additionally, the two sides agreed to continue their consultations on enabling the interoperability of the national payment systems, financial messaging systems, as well as central bank digital currency platforms.

Modi and Putin appreciated the ongoing intensification of the joint work on a free trade agreement on goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, covering sectors of mutual interest, the joint statement said.

They also directed both sides to intensify efforts in negotiations on a mutually beneficial agreement on the promotion and protection of investment, it said.

India and Russia also welcomed steps to ensure long-term supply of fertilisers to India and discussed the potential establishment of joint ventures in this area.