India successfully test-fires quick reaction missile system
Balasore (Odisha): India on Monday successfully test-fired its Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile (QRSAM) system, likely to be inducted into the armed forces by 2021, from a base off Odisha coast. The missile, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), was flight-tested from the Integrated Test Range (ITR) at Chandipur near here at 1145 hrs, a defence statement said. The QRSAM was flight-tested with full configuration in deployment mode intercepting the target mid-air, meeting the mission objectives, it said. “The entire event was monitored by ground telemetry systems, range radar systems and electro optical tracking system,” the statement said. The QRSAM weapon system, which operates on the move, comprises fully automated command and control, active array battery surveillance radar, active array battery multifunction radar and launcher. Both the radars are four-walled having 360-degree coverage with search on move and track on move capability, it said. Director General (Missiles and Strategic Systems), MSR Prasad was present during the trial. (PTI)
Burglar who drew ideas from crime serial and videos held: Cops
Nagpur: A 32-year-old man has been arrested for a spate of burglaries which the Nagpur Police said he committed by watching a television serial on crime and videos posted on a popular platform. Police recovered over Rs 5 lakh in cash, a motorcycle and a sharp-edged weapon from the accused Amol Raut, a crime branch official said on Monday. “Raut was influenced by watching a crime serial on television and videos on an online platform regarding burglaries. He got ideas like pulling out door latches through such videos,” he said, adding that Raut also roped in one of his friends in the crime. Police suspect that the duo committed seven burglaries in the last 60 days in areas under Rana Pratap Nagar, Bajaj Nagar and Sonegaon police stations in Nagpur. Raut was living lavishly on stolen money and also spent on gambling, he said. Raut and his accomplice used to remove digital video recorders (DVRs) from CCTV cameras installed at the premises they used to target, to protect their identities, the official said. He was arrested on Sunday following a tip-off. (PTI)
Man mauled to death by lion
Amreli: A 55-year-old man was mauled to death by a lion at a forest in Gujarat’s Amreli district on Monday morning, an official said. The feline, in the age group of 3 to 5 years, attacked Kadubhai Bhilad when he went to attend nature’s call near his house in Jira village under Dalkhaniya range of Gir forest division, he said. “The man died after he was attacked by a male lion around 6 am,” Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Junagadh, Dushyant Vasavada said. The body was sent to Dhari civil hospital for postmortem, he said. The Dalkhaniya range of Gir forest in October last year witnessed a massive outbreak of canine distemper virus that killed several lions in the region. Gir forest is the only abode of Asiatic lions. As per the last census in 2015, there were around 523 lions in the state, mainly in the forest areas of Junagadh, Gir-Somnath, Amreli and Bhavnagar districts. (PTI)
Six-month-old boy kidnapped
Thane: A six-month-old boy has been allegedly kidnapped by his neighbours in Maharashtra’s Thane district, a police official said on Monday. The incident took place on Sunday when the accused, identified as Farida and her son Taufique, took the child out for sometime but did not return, he said. Efforts were underway to trace the child, he said. The boy used to live with his parents, both speech and hearing impaired, and a three-year-old sibling in Shanti Nagar area of Bhiwandi town. On Sunday, the accused, who resided in their neighbourhood, took the child out for sometime but did not return, the official said. When the parents could not find their child and the neighbours till late night, they approached the police and lodged a case against the duo under Indian Penal Code Sections 363 (kidnapping) and 34 (common intention), he said. As per the police complaint, the two accused used to often take the child out with them. On Saturday also, they took the child out and brought him back and later allegedly took signatures of the baby’s mother on a blank paper, the official said. They again took the child with them on Sunday but did not return, he said. Efforts were on to trace the child and nab the accused, he added. (PTI)
GoAir cancels 18 domestic flights
Mumbai: GoAir has cancelled 18 domestic flights from cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Patna due to non-availability of aircraft and adequate cockpit crew, a source said. The budget carrier has reported a series of incidents involving engine glitches, mainly in its A320 Neo planes, which has resulted in non-availability of some of such planes for operations, the source said. “GoAir has cancelled flights 18 flights from Mumbai, Goa, Bengaluru, Delhi, Srinagar, Jammu, Patna, Indore and Kolkata on Monday. The cancellations have come as the airline is facing both aircraft and crew problem,” the source said. GoAir, however, in a statement said that the disruption in services was on account of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) coupled with the duty norms of the operating crew. But the airline did not specify the number of cancelled flights on Monday. “A combination of factors such as inclement weather, low visibility and anti-CAA protests in certain parts of the country have disrupted multiple flights across GoAir’s network. This was further aggravated with flight duty time limitations of the crew,” a GoAir spokesperson said. (PTI)