NEWS

A special task force constituted by the DMK government in Tamil Nadu has found nearly ₹2,000 crore in unused funds with various departments and agencies.

Informing this at a press briefing in Chennai on Monday, the state Finance Minister Palanivel Thiagarajan said efforts were on to remit this back to the treasury.

In his budget speech for 2021-22, he had announced the setting up of a Special Task Force to reconcile, identify and access the funds of the government departments, government-run societies, statutory institutions, local bodies kept outside the Treasury.

On October 27, India tested the 5,000-km range Agni V intermediate range ballistic missile. This was the first 'user trial' of the missile by the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) that deploys India's nuclear arsenal. The Agni V can carry a 1.5 tonne payload, possibly a boosted-fission device tested in 1998.

Until now, the 3,500 km Agni III, first tested in 2006, served as the backbone of the Indian nuclear deterrent against China. It could target all of Pakistan but only parts of mainland China. Even so, the rail-mobile Agni III would need for the SFC's train-based ballistic missiles to travel for a launch to northeast India—closest to eastern and southern China. Ground-based invasions like the one China launched in 1962 can be halted by over 200,000 soldiers currently deployed by the army's Kolkata-based Eastern Command—two Army Corps with two divisions each and a Mountain Strike Corps--for limited cross-border offensives. Indian military planners have continued to worry about the vulnerability of the 22-km-wide Siliguri corridor to a Chinese offensive from the Chumbi Valley.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has warned that today Pakistan and Afghanistan are "feeling disturbed" by the rise of Taliban, but if the insurgent group dares to move towards India, "an airstrike is ready".

The Chief Minister said this while addressing the Samajik Pratinidhi Sammelan here on Sunday during which he also launched an attack on his political opponents in the state.

"Today, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country is powerful, and no country can dare to raise its eyes towards India. Today, Pakistan and Afghanistan are feeling disturbed because of the Taliban. But, the Taliban know if it moves towards India, an airstrike is ready," CM Yogi said.

Speaking at a rally in Tripura's Agartala on Sunday, TMC's Abhishek Banerjee said that the end of the "BJP's misrule" in the state is "certain". He also referred to Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb as 'Big Flop Deb'.

Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) and nephew of Mamata Banerjee, said, "Biplab Deb is now Big Flop Deb! He has toyed with the sentiments of the people of Tripura and has proven himself to be a complete failure when it comes to governance."

He added, "What is Biplab Deb so afraid of? Why is he so rattled by our [TMC's] presence? He has thus far done nothing for the people of Tripura. He has left them in despair and now that they have a credible alternative, he is trying to stop us?"