148 IAF aircraft to demonstrate capabilities at exercise Vayu Shakti, Rafale to participate 1st time
New Delhi, Mar 2: A total of 148 aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will demonstrate their capabilities at Exercise Vayu Shakti that will take place at Pokharan range in Jaisalmer on March 7, a senior official said on Wednesday.
The Rafale aircraft will participate in this exercise for the first time and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the chief guest, the IAF official noted.
The Indian Air Force (IAF) conducts Exercise Vayu Shakti at Pokharan range every three years to demonstrate its readiness to conduct full spectrum operations. The last one took place in 2019.
Out of the 148 aircraft participating in the exercise this year, 109 will be fighter jets, the IAF official said.
The official added that 24 helicopters, seven transport aircraft and four remotely-piloted aircraft will also take part in the exercise on March 7.
IAF's fighter jets such as Jaguar, Sukhoi-30, MiG-29, Tejas, Rafale and Mirage-2000 will participate in this exercise, the official noted.
The event will begin with 17 Jaguar aircraft flying in a "75 formation", the official said.
It will end with three jets -- Rafale, Tejas and Sukhoi-30 -- conducting "transformer aerobatic display", the official noted.
IAF's helicopters such as Apache, Chinook, Mi17V5, Mi35, ALH MkIV and LCH will also take part in the March 7 exercise, the official said, adding that the event will begin at 10.30 AM and end at 12.30 PM.
The capabilities of Aakash missile system and Spyder missile system will also be shown at the exercise, the official said.
Transport aircraft C17 and C130J will also participate in the event, the official added.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
