Bhuj, May 29: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that the government was considering expansion of the BSF’s operational mandate by assigning it new sectors, and announced that a new paradigm of “territorial security” will be added to complement conventional border security.

Addressing BSF personnel on a visit to Gujarat’s Kutch district to review border security, he also said the ongoing work to secure the vulnerable sections of the Harami Nala and Sir Creek areas along the border with Pakistan was almost 70 per cent complete.

The Union government has decided to transform the BSF’s concept of border security, he said. The BSF currently guards India’s borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh.

“When I assumed office as the country’s Home Minister, during my first review of the BSF’s operations, the Harami Nala and Sir Creek areas appeared somewhat lacking in terms of security preparedness,” Shah said.

The government formulated an action plan aimed at establishing a “leak proof” security grid in every respect, with the measures ranging from construction of watchtowers and connecting roads to the provision of drinking water, medical services, residential facilities, and new fencing, he said.

“I can state that approximately 70 per cent of this work has now been completed. It gives me and the Ministry of Home Affairs immense satisfaction to know that within the next two years, this vulnerable sector will be permanently secured against the malevolent gaze of the enemy,” Shah said.

The government has decided to mark the 60th year of the BSF by completely transforming its concept of border security, the Union home minister said.

“In the coming days, we will establish a security grid based on a four-pronged concept, and we will also launch a new paradigm of ‘territorial security’ to complement traditional border security. This will involve the participation of the general public, civil administration, local police, and the military; naturally, BSF personnel will continue to play a pivotal role in this endeavor,” Shah said.

Through this collaborative effort undertaken as part of the ‘Smart Border Security’ project, the government is working to fortify the security grid across India’s entire border, encompassing both the Bangladesh and Pakistan fronts, he said.

“This project entails an investment running into thousands of crores of rupees. The planning phase for this initiative is currently underway. While some presentations have already been delivered, others are still pending,” he said.

By integrating various robust components including drones, radars, watchtowers, state-of-the-art technology and the brave BSF personnel, an impregnable security grid will be established, the Union minister said.

“We are also contemplating expansion of your operational mandate to include additional areas of responsibility. We are actively considering assigning new sectors and operational domains to the BSF in the near future,” he said.

Talking about the Bangladesh border with West Bengal, Shah said the most significant vulnerability in India’s border security grid lies in the area.

“A BJP government has now been established in Bengal, and the Chief Minister has, within just one week, taken a principled decision to allocate all the necessary land for fencing purposes, and the process of handing over some of this land has already commenced,” Shah said.

Once the fencing is completed, the government will succeed in curbing infiltration on a massive scale. The only routes left for infiltrators will be through forests, mountains, and riverine channels, and work is underway to implement technical fencing solutions in these areas, Shah said.

The union minister is on an extended tour to the country’s border areas for security review and interactions with local officials and senior BSF officers.

In the morning, he inaugurated the border outpost G-7, inspected a control room at OP tower 1170 and visited the Harami Nalla creek where he planted a sapling.

The government has never hesitated to allocate necessary funds and utilise the latest technological advancement for alleviating hardships faces by BSF personnel in harsh weather conditions, the Union minister said.

“I am well aware of the technical challenges involved in the installation of the watchtower that has been erected here. But our personnel devised technical solutions and successfully constructed this tower,” he said.

Shah was slated to chair a meeting to review security arrangements and interact with BSF personnel later in the day.

He started his tour from Bikaner in Rajasthan where he visited the BSF outpost at Sanchu, attended the ‘Prahari Sammelan’ and virtually inaugurated barracks for women personnel before reviewing the border security with senior BSF officers.

He is also likely to visit the border with Bangladesh, starting with a visit to Tripura on June 5, followed by a visit to West Bengal, officials said.

New Delhi, May 29: We should not disappoint our youngsters, the Supreme Court on Friday said while stressing that the real problem relating to medical entrance examination NEET-UG would not stop till “actual accountability arises”.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the apex court that the government is seriously concerned about the concerns of the youths and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally supervising the situation so that “there is no lacunae”.

Mehta told a bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe that some new mechanisms have been put in place for the NEET-UG retest scheduled for June 21.

“The real problem won’t stop till actual accountability arises,” the bench observed.

The top court was hearing pleas, including the one seeking a direction to replace or restructure the National Testing Agency (NTA), which is responsible for conducting the NEET-UG, with a robust and autonomous body to conduct the medical entrance examination.

The bench said it is “actually very traumatic” if something like this happens, not just for the students, but also for their families.

“Accountability will be effective only when you know on whose shoulders, which individual shoulders, the responsibility lies,” it said.

The top law officer said, “The buck must stop somewhere”.

Mehta said the issue relates to youths and the government is seriously concerned about their concerns.

“Some new mechanisms are also put in place for the June 21 examination. It may not be appropriate to divulge what is there, otherwise the very purpose will be frustrated. It is being monitored at the highest possible executive level,” he said.

“The prime minister personally is supervising this so that there is no lacunae,” Mehta said.

The bench cited the example of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and said there was never a situation like paper leak in the examinations conducted by the commission and the NTA needs to learn from other institutions.

“It is actually very traumatic if something like this happens, not just for the students, but also their families and everybody,” the bench said, adding, “They invest so much of emotion”.

The bench also highlighted the problem that most of the institutions were ad-hoc.

“So much so, that you will have the best of the officers working and everybody will depend on that. It is the phenomenon everywhere in our country,” it said.

“It is not the individual who has the capability, it is the institution which has the capability. That is what you need to prepare,” the bench said.

It noted that pursuant to its May 25 order, Director (Legal) of the NTA has filed an affidavit.

“We will go through your affidavit and we will keep monitoring it for sometime,” the bench said.

It also noted that Dr K Radhakrishnan, who is a former chairman of the ISRO and presently working in honorary capacity as the chairman of the high-powered steering committee on NTA Reforms, has also filed an affidavit indicating the implementation of the recommendations of the committee and the future course of action.

The bench asked the Centre to file an affidavit indicating how and in which manner the process of conduct and conclusion of the examination, year after year, will be done.

It said the Centre would also indicate the method by which an “institutional memory through continuity of human resource, institutional expertise through deployment of specialised personnel and institutional plurality by composition of experts is put in place”.

“The endeavour is to ensure that NTA would have the wherewithal, physical as well as intellectual, to ensure that no incidents such as the 2024 or 2026 examinations occur,” the bench said.

It said the affidavit be filed by the Centre within six weeks and posted the matter for hearing in the second week of July.

During the hearing, the bench asked Radhakrishnan, who was present in the court, how much monitoring of the implementation has happened.

“Also tell us how did this failure occur,” the bench asked, adding, “Despite the monitoring on the basis of the high-powered committee’s recommendation, if this incident has happened, then there is something wrong with the original recommendation because it did not conceive of a situation which would have arisen”.

Radhakrishnan said many of the recommendations were initiated already.

He said in 2025, NEET-UG was conducted “almost satisfactorily” and there were a couple of incidents of power failure in some of the examination centres.

On May 12, the NTA cancelled the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate), or NEET, held on May 3 amid allegations of paper leak. A re-examination has been scheduled for June 21.

The paper leak allegations are under investigation by the CBI.

After the questions of NEET-UG were allegedly leaked in 2024, the top court had refused to cancel the test but passed various directions aimed at tackling paper leaks and also a criterion for cancelling public exams.

While hearing the pleas on May 25, the top court observed it’s sad that the NTA has not learnt lessons from the earlier NEET paper leak.

It had sought the response of the Centre, NTA and CBI on pleas for the replacement of the testing agency with a robust and autonomous body to conduct the medical entrance exam.

The top court had issued notice on the pleas, including the one filed by the Federation of All India Medical Association through lawyer Tanvi Dubey.

New Delhi, May 29: Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar, who drove high-level naval combat readiness during Operation Sindoor, assumed charge as the 48th Vice Chief of the Indian Navy on Friday, bringing a wealth of frontline experience to the naval headquarters.

Before taking the helm as the Navy’s second-in-command, the officer served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), India’s first and only integrated tri-services theatre command guarding strategic waters.

Earlier, as the Chief of Staff of the Western Naval Command, he was instrumental in executing the Navy’s aggressive forward deployment of critical assets as part of Operation Sindoor.

Vice Admiral Kochhar succeeds Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan, who has been appointed as the next chief of the Western Naval Command.

An alumnus of the prestigious National Defence Academy, Pune, Vice Admiral Kochhar was commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 1, 1988.

A specialist in gunnery and missile systems, he has held a wide range of command, operational, and staff assignments over his distinguished career spanning more than 37 years.

He has commanded warships Nashak, Vibhuti, and Kirpan, and was the commissioning commanding officer of the frigate Trikand. The Flag Officer has also commanded the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.

During his tenure, the aircraft carrier successfully completed the integration and operationalisation of its air wing.

A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, the Naval War College, Goa, and the Royal College of Defence Studies, UK Vice Admiral excelled in key strategic and policy-oriented staff roles at the Naval headquarters, according to the Indian Navy.

On promotion to Flag rank in 2018, he served as the assistant controller of Carrier Projects and assistant controller of Warship Production and Acquisition.

He subsequently commanded the Western Fleet in 2021 and thereafter served as Commandant, National Defence Academy, where he focused on enhancing training standards and infrastructure.

The Flag Officer assumed charge as Chief of Staff, Western Naval Command on May 25, 2024, amidst a challenging security situation in the Western maritime theatre.

He spearheaded the command’s response to conventional and non-traditional threats along the Western Seaboard, including high-tempo naval operations during Operation Sindoor, the Navy said.

For his leadership and meritorious service, he was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2022 and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2026.

In his role as the Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, he played a key role in operational coordination and in enhancing integration and jointness among the three services, the Navy said in a statement