china PoK Awantipura afghanistan Rawalpindi Chakwal Gujranwala tirupati l friday l may 09, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION Interception Long-range surveillance radar 40N6E missile[3] 240 km 150 km 48N6DM(E3) missile 48N6M(E2) missile 48N6(E) missile Command vehicle 120 km 9M96M(E2) Engagement radar 9M96 missile Launch vehicle Engagement radar helps guide missiles towards target INDIA Jaisalmer Bikaner Jodhpur Barmer INDIA REPELS F aya z W a n i , H a r p r ee t B a j w a , M aya nk S i n g h @ Srinagar/ Chandigarh/New Delhi Tensions between India and Pakistan escalated on Thursday evening after Pakistani drone attacks were reported across parts of Jammu, Punjab and Rajasthan. The Indian air defence system responded swiftly, intercepting multiple drones, triggering air raid sirens and enforcing blackouts in border towns. As the tension ratcheted up in the evening, US secretary of state Marco Rubio spoke to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and called for “immediate de-escalation”. He offered “support for direct dialogue between India and Pakistan and encouraged continued efforts to improve communications,” US state department said. Jaishankar said India “will firmly counter any attempts at escalation”. The chain of events began with Pakistan launching missiles and kamikaze drones targeting the Jammu airport and the civilian areas around, which also houses the Indian Air Force station. All missiles and drones were neutralised. Soon after, explosions were reported in Punjab, followed by Pakistani shelling near Pathankot and Kupwara. Moments later, Pakistani drones were seen being intercepted over Rajasthan’s Jaisalmer, with visible explosions and flashes lighting up the sky . The situation quickly escalated as civil administrations across northern India moved into action. Hoshiarpur in Punjab declared an immediate blackout after loud explosions were heard. “The blackout will continue till further orders,” said Deputy Commissioner Aashika Jain, confirming that it was enforced following instructions from Air Force au- express read Govt cautions fake social media narrative used by Pak handles New Delhi: The Government on Thursday cautioned citizens against a spate of false narratives and claims being circulated over social media by Pakistan. A day after Operation Sindoor, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B), urged individuals to stay vigilant and report suspicious and misleading content, specifically those related to the Indian Armed Forces. | P7 ‘Intended objectives obtained, India has no interest in escalation’ New Delhi: Hours before India launched an attack on air defence systems in Lahore, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh told an allparty meeting on Thursday that the ‘intended objectives have been obtained by Operation Sindoor’ and India has no interest in further escalation. However, he asserted that in the event of any misadventure by Pakistan, India will give a befitting reply. | P7 thorities. Amritsar, Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula, and parts of Barmer in Rajasthan soon followed with similar blackout orders. Debris believed to be from missiles was recovered from Kumahi Devi village near Hoshiarpur’s Talwara, officials said. “Military stations of Jammu, Pathankot and Udhampur in proximity to the International Boundary in J&K were targeted by Pakistan using missiles and drones. No losses. Threat neutralised by #IndianArmedForces as per SoP with kinetic & non-kinetic means,” the Army said. As many as eight missiles from Pakistan directed at Satwari, Samba, RS Pura and Arnia across the bord e r w e r e neutralised. “More hostile drones were sighted at multiple places along western front and were being engaged by the air defence systems,” Army sources said. Earlier in the day, India had targeted Pakistani air defence systems, including one in Lahore, in response to overnight drone and missile attacks launched by Pakistan. These strikes came just a day after India carried out Operation Sindoor, targeting terror infrastructures in Pakistan, following the April 22 Pahalgam terrorist attack that killed 26 civilians. Meanwhile, in Gujarat’s Kachchh district, border villages plunged into darkness following blackouts. Blackouts were enforced across the Bhuj region amid anticipation of cross-border attacks. Security agencies remain on high alert, and civil defence protocols are being rolled out across multiple states bordering Pakistan as the military standoff continues to intensify . There were no immediate reports of any casualty or damage from the Pakistani attack. ABHRA Medium Range Surface-to-Air Missile LeT commander Hafiz Abdul Rauf leads funeral prayers in Muridke | PTI ‘IC-814 hijacking mastermind Rauf Azhar killed’ Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting secretaries of various ministries | PTI PM meets top officials, calls for emergency preparedness RAJ E SH K U M AR THA K U R @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting with top officials from various ministries to review national preparedness and inter-ministerial coordination in light of the escalating conflict with Pakistan. According to sources, several key issues were discussed in the meeting, including strengthening of civil defence, combating misinformation and fake news, and securing critical infrastructure. Gates of two dams opened Himachal IPL match called off The gates of two dams in J&K – Salal hydro project in Reasi and Baglihar hydro project in Ramban – were opened on Thursday allowing flow of Chenab water to Pak. Chenab was among the rivers Pak got as part of the Indus Waters Treaty | P8 The IPL match between Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals at Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday was called off midway following a blackout as Pakistani shelling escalated. The stadium was soon evacuated The Cabinet secretary senior , officials from the prime minister’s office, and secretaries from key ministries including defence, home affairs, external affairs, information & broadcasting, power, health, and telecommunications attended the meeting, sources said. The secretaries were directed to conduct a comprehensive review the operations of their respective ministries and to ensure the fool-proof functioning of essential systems, with particular emphasis on readiness, emergency response, and internal communication protocols. M U K E SH RA N JA N @ New Delhi Abdul Rauf Azhar, Jaish-eMohammed founder Maulana Masood Azhar’s brother and the terror outfit’s operational head, was killed in India’s airstrikes under Operation Sindoor, officials said on Thursday . The slain terrorist was considered the mastermind of the IC-814 hijacking in 1999 and involved in the 2001 Parliament attack. Terming it major victory, officials said he was killed in the Indian strikes on the Bahawalpur terror hideout early on Wednesday . Masood Azhar acknowledged that 10 members of his family and four of his close associates were killed The State Cabinet meeting, held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, approved Amaravati as the capital city of Andhra Pradesh. A resolution naming Amaravati as the capital of the residual state of Andhra Pradesh will be sent to the Centre to amend the AP State Reorganisation Act. Sections 2 and 5 of the AP State Reorganisation Act mention that Hyderabad would serve as the joint capital for ten years following the State bifurcation. After this period, Hyderabad would become the capital of Telangana, and the newly constructed capital by Andhra Pradesh would become its own. However, the Act did not specify the name of Andhra Pradesh’s new capital. Therefore, the Cabinet has decided to send a resolution to the Centre to officially include Amaravati as the capital city of Andhra Pradesh. Similar to the Greater Hy- j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said that India will respond with a “very, very firm” hand to any military aggression from Pakistan, even as he emphasised New Delhi’s intent to avoid escalation. His remarks came amid a flurry of diplomatic engagements with Iranian and Saudi ministers as tensions mount between the neighbours following the terror attack in Pahalgam. In his opening remarks during a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi ‘Amend AP Reorganisation Act’ The State Reorganisation Act. did not specify the name of Andhra Pradesh’s new capital after the state’s bifurcation. Therefore, the Cabinet has decided to send a resolution to the Centre to amend the Act to officially include Amaravati as the capital city of the Andhra Pradesh State derabad Municipal Corporation, the area governed by the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) will form part of Amaravati. Disclosing details of the Cabinet meeting to mediapersons, Minister for Information and P u bl i c Re l at i o n s Ko l u s u Parthasarathy stated that the people of Andhra Pradesh had no clarity regarding their capital for the past five years due to the ‘three capitals’ theory proposed by the previous government. The current coalition government has now decided in India’s precision air strikes on JeM’s headquarters in Bahawalpur. Those killed included Masood Azhar’s sister and brother-in-law. “Now we have confirmation from our sources in Pakistan that Rauf was killed along with 10 of Masood’s family members and four close associates,” a senior intelligence official said. “Rauf Azhar’s role in orchestrating the IC-814 hijacking directly facilitated the release of Omar Saeed Sheikh, a key Al-Qaeda operative who went on to kidnap and murder Daniel Pearl, an American-Jewish journalist working with the Wall Street Journal,” the official added. ABHRA is a joint development between India’s DRDO and Israel Aerospace Industries. It’s a state-of-the-art air defence weapon system, range 70 km, designed to neutralise aerial threats and drones. It is powered by a dual-pulse solid propulsion system AKASH: Mobile surface-to-air missile The Akash missile system can engage targets up to a range of 25 km. It is a short-range surface-to-air missile (SAM) designed to protect from air attacks. The Akash system has been showcased for its ability to engage multiple targets simultaneously at this range SPYDER air defence system: A workhorse This air defence system includes the Elta EL/M-2106 ATAR radar, which can control missile firing units up to 10 km. It also includes Python-5 infrared missiles of range up to 12 km and Derby radar-guided missiles up to 50 km IGLA-S: Russian portable air defence A Man-Portable Air Defence System that can hit low-flying aircraft, helicopters, drones, cruise missiles, and UAVs within a 6 km range Pak to get firm response, Iran, Saudi told in New Delhi, Jaishankar said the Pahalgam attack had forced India to retaliate. “You are visiting India at a time when we are responding to a particularly barbaric terrorist attack on April 22 in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. This attack compelled us to respond on May 7 by striking at the cross-border terrorist infrastructure...However, if there are military attacks on us, there should be no doubt that it will be met with a very, very firm response,” he said. The Cabinet nod for Amaravati as State capital S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada THREAT NEUTRALISED Military Stations of Jammu, Pathankot and Udhampur in proximity to the International Boundary, in Jammu & Kashmir targeted by Pakistan using missiles and drones. No losses. Threat neutralised by #IndianArmedForces as per SoP with kinetic & non-kinetic means. India’s Air Defence SYSTEM PAKistan DRONE BLITZ Missile, drone attacks on Jammu airport neutralised; unmanned aerial vehicles trying to bomb parts of Rajasthan, Punjab and elsewhere shot; US urges immediate de-escalation Indian sites hit by Pakistan Pakistan sites hit by India Uttarlai Bhuj ■ Jalandhar Phalodi Umerkot’s Chhor 40 km Ludhiana Kapurthala Karachi 200 km Lahore Bhatinda Sindh Operational range 400 km Pathankot Amritsar PA K I S T A N How S-400s neutralised Pak attacks The Air Force used the Russian-made S-400 missile defence system to obliterate Pakistan’s escalation bid Srinagar Jammu Attock CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ to seek statutory approval for Amaravati as the capital city of Andhra Pradesh. The Cabinet expressed solidarity with Operation Sindoor, led by PM Narendra Modi against Pakistan, and commended the strength and valour demonstrated by the Army during the operation. The Cabinet approved a proposal authorizing the Commissioner of the AP Capital Region D e v e l o p m e n t Au t h o r i t y (APCRDA) to approve short tenders for four works worth `1,732.306 crores, award con- tracts to L1 bidders, and implement decisions approved by the APCRDA Authority through Re s o l u t i o n s 5 2 9 / 2 0 2 5 t o 532/2025. The Cabinet also authorized the Chairperson and Managing Director of the Amaravati Development Corporation Limited, Vijayawada, to approve L1 bids for two packages: (a) Package XXXXI - E15 Road extension up to Old National Highway Mangalagiri (` 72.79 crores), (b) Package XXXXII E13 Road extension up to National Highway-16 (` 400.56 crores). The approval includes issuing work orders to L1 bidders and implementing proposal through APCRDA Authority Resolution No.536/2025. The Cabinet approved an administrative sanction proposal for ` 560.57 crore for Package XXXXIII under the Amaravati Capital Development Program funded by the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. The work includes Design, Build and Operate (DBO) method with additional supplementary works and maintenance.  P4 Jaishankar speaks to US secretary of state External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday night spoke to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and conveyed to him India will firmly counter any attempts by Pakistan to escalate the situation. “Spoke with US @ SecRubio this evening. Underlined India’s measured response. Will firmly counter any attempts at further escalation,” he said two ministers co-chaired the 20th India-Iran Joint Commission Meeting. Araghchi had visited Pakistan on Monday. With Araghchi and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel Al-Jubeir who arrived here on an unannounced visit, Jaishankar spoke about cross-border linkages of the attack and India’s “calibrated and measured response,” sources said. “A good meeting with Adel Al-Jubeir, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia this morning. Shared India’s perspective on countering terrorism,” said Jaishankar. AP MP’s sister among 6 killed in chopper crash E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada TDP Lok Sabha member from Anantapur, G Lakshminarayana, confirmed that his sister, M Vedavati, was among the six killed in a helicopter crash in Uttarakhand on Thursday Her . husband, M Bhaskar, survived but sustained serious injuries. The private helicopter, carrying seven passengers en route to Gangotri temple, crashed near Gangnani in Uttarkashi district at approximately 8:45 am, killing six, including the pilot, according to officials. Vedavati, from Guntakal, was travelling with her husband as part of the Char Dham Yatra, having begun their pilgrimage to Uttarakhand’s sacred sites on Sunday Bhaskar . suffered fractures to his legs and ribs in the crash and is receiving treatment at AIIMS, Rishikesh, where his condition is reported as stable. Following the incident, Anantapur MP Ambika Lakshminarayana and his brother Badri travelled to Dehradun, but their flight was diverted to Delhi due to adverse weather conditions. Minister for Tourism Kandula Durgesh expressed profound sorrow over Vedavati’s death.