This is the Catch Up on 3 things by The Indian Express and I am Ichha Sharma
Today is the 8th of May and here are today's headlines
A day after India struck Pakistan terror camps, during a special briefing on Operation Sindoor the government said today that the “Pahalgam attack was the first escalation,”. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh addressed the media again on a day India neutralised an air defence system in Lahore. This comes on a day of fast-paced developments after India asked OTT platforms, media streaming platforms and intermediaries operating in India to discontinue the web-series, films, songs, podcasts and other streaming media content originating from Pakistan. Earlier in the day, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh warned that those trying to test India’s patience should be ready to face ‘quality action’ like yesterday’s in a reference to Operation Sindoor. The day started with India’s reveal that Indian Armed Forces neutralised an air defence system in Lahore after Pakistan attempted overnight strikes on multiple Indian cities.
India said today that an “Air Defence system at Lahore” is “reliably learnt” to have been “neutralised” after Pakistan “attempted to engage a number of military targets in Northern and Western India”. “Today morning Indian Armed Forces targeted Air Defence Radars and systems at a number of locations in Pakistan. Indian response has been in the same domain with same intensity as Pakistan. It has been reliably learnt that an Air Defence system at Lahore has been neutralised,” a Press Information Bureau statement read. Earlier in the day, sources had told The Indian Express that any military target in Lahore or other parts of Pakistan will only be hit in response to any offensive action from their side.
The Border Security Force (BSF) troops in Punjab’s Ferozepur sector shot dead an unidentified Pakistani intruder when he tried to enter the Indian territory on the intervening night last night and today, said officials. The body has been handed to the police, and investigations are going on to ascertain his identity. According to officials, the incident occurred near Gate No. 207 at the Lakha Singhwala Hithar BSF checkpost in the Mamdot sector of the Ferozepur district, one of the six border districts in Punjab.
Built as a joint venture between the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya, the BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles form a crucial part of India’s arsenal, with Uttar Pradesh set to be the centre of its production. On May 11, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate a BrahMos missile manufacturing unit in Lucknow whose target is to produce 80 to 100 missiles annually. The unit, whose foundation stone was laid in 2021, is part of a Defence Industrial Corridor that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced in 2018 during the global investors’ summit.
Ukraine’s parliament voted today in favour of ratifying a minerals deal signed with the United States, an agreement Kyiv hopes will secure future military assistance from Washington in its fight to repel Russian troops. Despite misgivings by some Ukrainian lawmakers over whether the government had provided them with all the information on the deal and over some of its compromises, 338 voted in favour of ratifying the agreement, with none against. Some lawmakers had raised concerns over the lack of detail of some of the deal’s provisions, such as how an envisaged investment fund for Ukraine’s reconstruction would be governed or how any contributions would be made.
