New Delhi
The central government and the Indian Air Force on Tuesday sacked three officers for accidentally firing a missile in March.
Military experts have in the past warned of the risk of accidents or miscalculations.
It was a major incident of the calendar year 2022 as India and Pakistan are rival neighbours and have fought three wars and engaged in numerous smaller armed clashes.
"A Court of Inquiry, set up to establish the facts of the case, including fixing responsibility for the incident, found that deviation from the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) by three officers led to the accidental firing of the missile," the Air Force said in a statement.
The BrahMos missile — a nuclear-capable, land-attack cruise missile jointly developed by Russia and India — was mistakenly fired on March 9.
The government has dismissed the three officers with immediate effect on Tuesday.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on March 15 stated that a high-level probe was ordered into the incident
that involved the accidental launch of a missile into Pakistani territory.
The BrahMos missile 'got accidentally fired' from an airbase and landed inside Pakistan at a place called Mian Channu.
The officers terminated included a Group Captain and two Wing Commanders.
According to the US-based Arms Control Association, the BrahMos missile's range is between 300 km (186 miles) and 500 km (310 miles), making it quite a capable tool.
Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had said, “Thankfully, no damage was reported due to the accidental launch of the missile".
He also had stated that the incident occurred during a routine inspection.
"We later came to know that it had landed in Pakistan. I would like to inform the House that the government has taken serious note of the incident. A formal high-level inquiry has been ordered. The inquiry would determine the exact cause of the said accident,” he had said.
It may be mentioned here that days after the March 9 'incident', the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had successfully test fired the surface to surface BrahMos supersonic cruise missile in the Andaman and Nicobar islands.
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FM Sitharaman inaugurates Axis Bank branch, launch several schemes in Nagaland
New Delhi
On a three-day visit to Nagaland, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
launched various schemes to ensure real benefits and access to financial services for the people the state.
She inaugurated the Axis Bank branch at Mon town on Tuesday, Aug 23.
The branch will cater the 26,000 strong population directly and is expected to have an extended catchment area of 2.5 lakh population, an official statement said.
The branch will provide the people of Mon with state-of-the-art services like online banking services, digital products,
retail loans and improved business opportunities.
This is perhaps the first Union Finance Minister who is spending about 72 hours in Nagaland on
official duty.
The Finance Minister also inaugurated three other Axis Bank branches in Demow (Assam), Gohpur (Assam) and
Madanrting (Meghalaya) virtually from Mon district of Nagaland.
In a tweet, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju lauded the initiatives of the centre for northeastern states.
"PM @narendramodi is fully ensuring faster growth of NORTH-EAST India," he tweeted.
Ms Sitharaman and Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio jointly launched Chief Minister’s Micro Finance Initiative
at the state capital Kohima on Tuesday.
The scheme had been approved by the State government to ensure availability of affordable credit for carrying out
economic activities and aims to enhance farmers’ income by increasing investment in agri and allied sector,
improve agri-marketing network and infrastructure, promote credit discipline and boost private enterprise.
The eligible beneficiaries for the scheme are farmers, entrepreneurs, self-help groups (SHGs), Farmer Producer
Organisations (FPOs)/companies and cooperative societies, sources said.
Speaking at Mon while launch of Axis Bank branches, the Finance minister stressed on the importance of financial inclusion, which the Prime Minister very strongly takes up to ensure inclusion for all strata of the society through various schemes.
She stated that such inclusion provides people access to credit without much security, which is very crucial for
most people in the bottom layer of the economy, who often fall prey to middlemen who charge exorbitant
interest rates.
Ms Sitharaman also stressed on the importance of connectivity, both physical and digital connectivity, to ensure access to facility and security.
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