bengaluru l saturday l may 10, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 26 l late city EDITION Donald Trump wants quick de-escalation: White House US President Donald Trump wants to see the conflict between India and Pakistan de-escalate as quickly as possible, the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said NSA and Secy of state Marco Rubio involved in it Three injured in Punjab as debris falls on house; bid to attack Srinagar, Jammu airports foiled; air defence systems take out most of the projectiles fired from across the border china DAY 3 FAYA Z W A N I , H A RPR E E T B A J W A , Raje s h A s nan i & M ayan k S i n g h @ Srinagar / Chandigarh/ Jaipur / New Delhi DashING hopes of an immediate de-escalation in tensions, Pakistan on Friday launched another wave of drone attacks targeting key Indian locations in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, and Rajasthan. The drones specifically targeted army bases in Srinagar and Awantipora and the Jammu airport, which also houses the Indian Air Force station. Multiple explosions were heard near Srinagar airport as the air defence systems engaged the drones. “Drones have been sighted at 26 locations ranging from the Baramulla in the North to Bhuj in the South, along both the International Border and the Line of Control with Pakistan. These include suspected armed drones posing potential threats to civilian and military targets,” the Army said in a statement. The locations include Baramulla, Srinagar, Avantipora, Nagrota, Jammu, Ferozpur, Pathankot, Fazilka, Lalgarh Jatta, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Bhuj, Kuarbet and Lakhi Nala, it added. Indian defence systems intercepted and neutralised all drones. However, in Punjab, a drone exploded as it was being neutralised and fell on a house, causing burn injuries to three persons. The condition of one person is said to be serious. “There was heavy drone attack at Khai Pheme Ki village near Ferozepur. One of the drones that was neutralised fell down like a ball of fire on to a house, injuring three. One lady who was cooking suffered extensive burn injuries. A CNG car parked outside the house caused a blast and the house caught fire,” an official told this newspaper. Sources said the village is situated close to the Army cantonment, which may have been the original target. In Jammu and Kashmir, red streaks were seen and several loud explosions heard in Jammu city and its adjoining areas express read Over 1.31 lakh students to write COMEDK UGET Bengaluru: Over 1.31 lakh students will write their COMEDK Undergraduate Entrance Test (UGET) on Saturday. This year, the test will be held across 28 states--covering 179 cities and 248 exam centres. It will be conducted in three sessions throughout the day. Markets tumble: Nifty, Sensex tank over 1% Mumbai: Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled over 1% each on Friday as tensions soared between India and Pakistan, fuelling fears of a wider conflict. Extending its previous day’s decline, the 30-share BSE benchmark gauge tanked 880.34 points or 1.10% to settle at 79,454.47 | P13 Baramulla Srinagar Avantipura Nagrota Jammu Pathankot Ferozpur Fazilka Pakistan Lalgarh Jatta Jaisalmer INDIA Barmer Bhuj Some of the cities targeted on Friday Map not to scale Don’t panic, stay indoors, says Army Citizens, especially those in border areas, must stay indoors, limit unnecessary movement, and follow safety instructions issued by local authorities, the army said in an advisory. While there is no need for panic, heightened vigilance and precaution are essential, it added. as the air defence systems neutralised the kamikaze drones launched from across the border. Sirens were sounded and there was a complete blackout in Jammu in the evening. The authorities also snapped electricity to major parts of the region to enforce the blackout. There were no immediate reports of any casualty or damage in the drone attack in Jammu and Kashmir. In Rajasthan, blackouts were enforced in Jaisalmer, Barmer and Sri Ganganagar districts, and residents were urged to stay indoors.  Report: P8,9, 11,12 BCCI suspends IPL games for a week WITH military operations escalating in the India and Pakistan border, the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been suspended for one week. The BCCI made the decision public after a meeting with all stakeholders including the franchises on Friday morning. View of the blackout enforced in Amritsar city in Punjab on Friday | PTI India abstains from imf vote on loan to Pakistan India abstained from the IMF vote on Pakistan’s loan programmes on Friday, stating its concerns over its funds being misused for state sponsored crossborder terrorism. “Rewarding continued sponsorship of cross-border terrorism sends a dangerous message to the global community, exposes funding agencies and donors to reputational risks, and makes a mockery of global values,” India said. The IMF took note of the abstention PM meets defence brass amid fresh Pak escalation R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R an d M AYA N K SI N G H @ New Delhi Amid fresh escalations from Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a crucial highlevel meeting with the chiefs of all three armed services—Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, Air Chief Marshal A P Singh, and Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan, and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh were also there at the meeting held at the PM’s residence on Friday evening. The meeting came in the backdrop of Pakistan’s attempts to launch drone and missile strikes in Jammu, Punjab and other parts of the country on Thursday night. During the meeting that lasted more than an hour, Modi commended the success of the armed forces in repelling Pakistan’s provocations, it is learnt. “Full details were shared with the PM who in turn asked the service chiefs to do the needful to teach a lesson to the enemies,” a source said. Earlier in the day Rajnath Singh had held , a detailed meeting with the three service chiefs to take stock of the evolving situation and a comprehensive national security assessment. According to sources, NSA Ajit Doval stayed back after the meeting with the service chiefs was over, to have a one-on-one with Modi. Later, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar briefed the PM about the diplomatic measures taken to deal with the India-Pakistan tension. It’s goodbye BBMP, welcome GBA; polls not anytime soon E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru Starting May 15, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be a thing of the past. It will now be Greater Bengaluru Authority as the cabinet , on Friday gave the nod to issue a notification on May 15. The next course, including splitting of the existing area to three or more municipal corporations and delimitation and reservation of wards, will be decided in the coming days. This also means that the elections to the city corporation will not be held anytime soon. Government sources said the recent appointment of senior IAS officer Maheshwar Rao as fingerprint seen in downed On May 7, the day India took out Pak’s terror infra, the neighbour did not close its civil airspace while trying to attack Indian installations with drones and missiles. Else, it knew the strikes would draw a swift Indian response. In effect, it used its civil airliners as a shield. The defence ministry shared screenshots of flight movement on the website flightradar24 to prove its point (see map) Drone of war deafens border again on Day 2 PoK Turkish heartless pakistan military put civilian fliers in harm’s way interim BBMP chief commissioner was part of the plan to split the corporation. The government will now form a committee, which will study and decide on the delimitation of municipal corporations and wards. After that, it will work on reservation of each ward. The Greater Bengaluru Governance Act 2025 specifies that the CM will head GBA, while the Bengaluru development minister will be the vice-chairperson. Managing directors or commissioners of BMTC, BWSSB, Bescom and other agencies associated with Bengaluru will be its members. The Act provides for fixing the term of the mayor and deputy Mayor to 2.5 years.  P4 State Govt postpones 2nd-yr fete Bengaluru: The Congressled state government has postponed the celebration to mark its secondyear term in power in view of the prevailing situation in the country. The government had earlier decided to hold a big event on May 20. drones 400 UAVs incursions in 1 really long night M AYA N K SI N G H @ New Delhi Operational details shared by the government on Friday showed the massive scale of Pakistan’s incursion the previous night, as it deployed 300-400 drones across 36 locations from Leh in the North to the Sir Creek region in Gujarat. While the UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) attempted to target the military infrastructure, Indian forces neutralised many of them using kinetic (blowing them away) and nonkinetic (jamming) means, a defence ministry spokesperson said. An armed drone strike on Bhatinda in Punjab was also thwarted. India retaliated by launching drone strikes on four Pakistani air defence sites, destroying a radar. Pakistan also resorted to heavy artillery fire across the LoC , resulting in Indian Army casualties. India gave a fitting response, the government shared. In an official briefing, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said Pakistan’s shelling using heavy-calibre artillery guns and armed drones caused some losses and injuries to Indian Army personnel. Besides, Pakistan showed scant respect for civilians as it Possibly meant to test defence systems The possible purpose of such large-scale aerial intrusions was to test air defence systems and collect intelligence. Forensic investigation of the wreckage of the drones is being done. Initial reports suggest that they are Turkish Asisguard Songar drones kept its civil airspace open during its counter-assault on May 7, the day India took out the terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, said the spokesperson. Pakistan apparently used the civilian fliers as a shield to ward off India’s fierce response. The officer said, “Pakistan is using civil airliners as a shield, knowing fully well that its attack on India would elicit a swift air defence response. This is not safe for the unsuspecting civil airliners, including the international flights which were flying near the International Border between India and Pakistan.” Sharing a screenshot of flight movement on the website flightradar24, the officer underscored that the IAF demonstrated considerable restraint, ensuring safety of the flights. During the intervening night of May 8 and 9, Pakistan carried out strikes using 300-400 drones against India at 36 locations along the western borders from Leh in the north to Sir Creek in Gujarat Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said preliminary examination of downed drones showed they were Turkey’s Asisguard Songars 1 The Songar has five variants, including a noncombat one. Can be used “effectively in any kind of day/ night military and security operations”. It has a range of about 10 km, with a load carrying capacity of 45 kg, an option for asymmetric threats 2 Developed by Asisguard, an Ankara-based firm, Songar is a low-altitude, quadrotor, UAV that was developed for the Turkish armed forces. Has been in use since 2020 for battlefield operations as well as internal security duties 3 SONGAR has an autonomous take-off and landing capability. It is integrated with a machine gun and grenade launcher. With the capability of real-time image transmission, it can detect target area, neutralise threat and damage detection 4