J-K: Army pays tribute to JCO Rakesh Kumar killed in Kishtwar encounter
Jammu (PTI): Army on Monday laid wreaths on the mortal remains of a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) who laid down his life in a gunfight with the terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district.
Naib Subedar Rakesh Kumar of the Army's 2 Para, was killed and three more soldiers were injured in the gunfight on Sunday.
The encounter broke out when joint search parties of the Army and police intercepted the terrorists around 11 am in the Keshwan forest area. The exchange of fire went on for more than four hours.
Naib Subedar Rakesh Kumar laid down his life on Sunday, while three other soldiers were injured in the gunfight with terrorists in a remote forest area in Keshwan.
The operation comes amid an intensified hunt that has been underway since the recent killing of two Village Defence Guards (VDGs).
The General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the White Knight Corps, Lieutenant General Navin Sachdeva, led the wreath-laying ceremony at the IAF station in Jammu, where the Naib Subedar’s mortal remains were brought from Kishtwar.
The bugle sounded at the last post and an Army contingent presented a salute to honour the fallen soldier.
"In a solemn wreath-laying ceremony, GoC White Knight Corps laid a wreath in Jammu to pay homage to the braveheart Naib Subedar Rakesh Kumar, who made the supreme sacrifice while undertaking a counter-terrorist operation in Kishtwar," the White Knight Corps posted on X.
The mortal remains of Naib Subedar Kumar have been airlifted by a chopper to his native place in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi.
Following deadly attacks in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch over the past three years, terror activities have expanded to six other districts in the Jammu region this year, leading to the deaths of 44 people, including 18 security personnel and 13 terrorists, security officials said.
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.
Nitish Kumar's son Nishant among 32 to take oath as Bihar ministers
Patna (PTI): In a major expansion of the Cabinet of Bihar's first BJP-led government, JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar's son Nishant Kumar and 31 others took oath as ministers on Thursday in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
Altogether 32 leaders, drawn from all constituents of the five-party NDA in the state, were administered the oath of office by Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain at a grand ceremony that was also attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Health Minister J P Nadda and BJP president Nitin Nabin.
Prominent inductees included Nishant Kumar, the son of JD(U) president Nitish Kumar, who stepped down as chief minister last month to enter the Rajya Sabha.
The BJP, which is the single largest party in the 243-member assembly with 89 MLAs, has 15 ministers, who took oath on Thursday.
Most of the inductees were those who were part of the Nitish Kumar cabinet formed in November last year after the NDA stormed back to power in the assembly polls.
The JD(U) is represented by a total of 15 ministers, 13 of whom took the oath at the Gandhi Maidan on Thursday. Vijay Kumar Chaudhary and Bijendra Prasad Yadav had taken oath in April along with Samrat Choudhary and were designated as deputy chief ministers.
Sanjay Kumar Singh and Sanjay Kumar Paswan, both from the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) headed by Union minister Chirag Paswan, are back as ministers, and so are Santosh Kumar Suman and Deepak Prakash, sons of Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi of the Hindustani Awam Morcha and Upendra Kushwaha of the Rashtriya Lok Morcha, respectively.
