THE INDIAN Air Force on Thursday said it was in a “high state of preparedness” to pro-actively engage any perceived threat from Pakistan, in an indication that tension remained between the two countries.

Citing a document of Pakistan’s civil aviation authority, the IAF said the neighbouring country has opened its airspace with Oman, Iran, Afghanistan and China only and the 11 entry and exit points located along the India-Pakistan airspace were still closed.

“The Indian Air Force is in a high state of preparedness, to pro-actively engage any perceived threat in the present security scenario,” the IAF said in a statement. It said a strict vigil in the skies is being maintained to detect and thwart any act of aggression by the Pakistan Air Force .

Officials said all the frontline IAF bases along India’s western border have been kept on maximum alert.

Dr. Ausaf Sayeed, presently High Commissioner of India to the Republic of Seychelles, has been appointed as the next ambassador of India to Saudi Arabia. 

An External Affairs Ministry release said, the Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1989 batch, Sayeed will succeed Ahmad Javed, who had been serving as envoy to Saudi Arabia since December 2015. 

Mr Sayeed has handled different areas including political, economic, consular and cultural work, besides Haj management and served as Ambassador to Yemen and Consul General of India in Chicago and Jeddah. 

International Women's Day is being observed today. Governments, NGOs and other organisations across the world observe the day on 8th of March every year to highlight the achievements of women.

The theme for this year's women's day is 'Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change'. The purpose of the theme is to achieve gender equality by putting innovation by women and girls, for women and girls, at the heart of efforts. 

President Ram Nath Kovind has extended greetings to all fellow citizens and particularly to the daughters of India who, through their success, have brought glory to the nation. 

President Ram Nath Kovind will present the highest civilian honour for women in India, Nari Shakti Puraskar 2018 in New Delhi today.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch several development projects in Varanasi, Kanpur and Ghaziabad districts of Uttar Pradesh today. 

In Varanasi, the Prime Minister will first visit the Kashi Vishwanath Temple at Varanasi and lay the foundation stone for the approach road beautification and strengthening project to Kashi Vishwanath Temple. 

He will also attend National Women Livelihood Meet, 2019 at Deendayal Hastkala Sankul at his Parliamentary constituency.

In Kanpur, the Prime Minister will unveil the Panki Power Plant, establishment of new 660 megawatt electricity generation and distribution unit. He will also inaugurate Lucknow Metro Rail Project. Later, he will also address a gathering on this occasion.

In Ghaziabad, Mr Modi will inaugurate Dilshad Garden - Shaheed Sthal Section of Metro. This elevated metro corridor section has eight stations and provide convenient mode of transport for people in Ghaziabad and New Delhi. Mr Modi will also inaugurate the Hindon Airport Civil Terminal at Hindon Airport Civil Terminal, Ghaziabad.

After a slide in cleanliness ranking for two consecutive years, Rajkot staged a comeback as the city broke back into top 10 after four years on Wednesday. In the latest Swachh Survekshan list, Rajkot was ranked the ninth cleanest city in the country, an improvement of 26 places as compared to last year. Ahmedabad, which also broke into the top 10, and Gandhinagar also improved their rankings but others dropped in the chart.

In the survey conducted by the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs in New Delhi, Rajkot secured 4000 marks out of 5000 and was ranked ninth out of 100 cities in the country. Madhya Pradesh’s Indore was declared the cleanest city of India for the third consecutive year. Ambikapur of Chhatisgarh came second in the ranking, followed by Mysuru, Ujjain and New Delhi. Ahmedabad was ranked sixth cleanest city. Navi Mumbai, Tirupati, Rajkot and Devas completed the list of top 10 cleanest cities of the country in the category of cities having population of more than one lakh.

Incidentally, Rajkot was ranked the seventh cleanest city in the inaugural Swachh Survekshan, 2016. However, it slipped to eighteenth position in 2017 and further down to 35 in 2018 as the city suffered due to not having proper solid waste processing facilities in place.

In a first, the government is all set to introduce Rs 20 coins that will soon be in circulation in the country. The Ministry of Finance Wednesday issued a gazette notification regarding the new Rs 20 coin which will be shaped like a “dodecagon” – a 12-edged polygon. This means that the new coin will not be circular in shape like the other coins in circulation.

The US has revised its visa policy for the Pakistani citizens by slashing the visa validity from five years to 1 year, according to a media report.

In an official notification issued by the American embassy on March 5, the US said that an additional fee will also be charged for H (Temporary Work Visa), I (Journalist and Media Visa), L (Intercompany Transfer Visa), and R (Religious Worker Visa) visas, the Express Tribune reported.

"The US has reduced visa validity for Pakistani citizens from five years to 1 year whereas journalists and media persons will not be allowed to stay in the country for over three months without renewing the travel permit," the paper said quoting the notification.

Despite the escalation in cross border shelling and the continuing frost in bilateral relations, the government on Wednesday announced that the first India Pakistan meeting to discuss and finalize the modalities for Kartarpur Corridor would be held on the Indian side of the Attari-Wagah border checkpost on March 14.

According to a MEA release, this is in “keeping with Government's decision to operationalise the Kartarpur Corridor on the occasion of the 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev ji and meet the long-pending public demand to have easy and smooth access to the holy Gurudwara Kartarpur Sahib.” India has also proposed that a technical level discussion on the alignment of the corridor be held on the same day on the sidelines of this meeting, the release said.

Over 500 stranded passengers have been airlifted in separate sorties by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Jammu and Kashmir. State Coordinator, Kargil Courier Service, Aamir Ali said,  as many as 105 passengers were airlifted in two sorties from Srinagar to Kargil, 41 passengers from Kargil to Srinagar, 62 passengers from Jammu to Kargil and eight from Kargil to Jammu. 

He said, around 300 passengers, including children and infants, were airlifted from Udhampur to Leh. The official said, due to the closure of the Srinagar-Kargil-Leh road, the stranded passengers of Kargil at Jammu and Srinagar were provided the facility of AN-32 aircraft, which had not operated for the last few days due to bad weather

Home Minister Rajnath Singh has said, Government is committed to improve the working conditions and quality of life of jawans of the Central Armed Police forces. 

He was speaking at an event in New Delhi after inaugurating 28 projects covering 5,283 housing units, 71 non-residential buildings and 34 barracks. 

The Home Minister said the government has implemented several measures to improve various facilities and amenities to the Central Armed Police Forces during the last five years. 

He listed several recent decisions made by the government to boost the morale of the CAPF jawans. These include free air travel from Jammu to Srinagar and back on duty or leave and also on duty from Delhi to Srinagar and back.