New Delhi, Dec 9 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached the Palam airport here on Thursday and paid his homage to Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 other armed forces personnel who lost their lives in the military chopper crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.
At 7:46 pm, the mortal remains of the crash victims were brought to the Palam airport from the Sulur air base near Coimbatore. Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal V.R. Chaudhari brought the mortal remains of all the deceased.
The force said that positive identification of only three mortal remains -- Gen Rawat, Madhulika Rawat and Brig L.S. Lidder -- has been possible as of now, and their mortal remains will be released to the next of kin for final rites as desired by the respective families.
All possible measures are being taken for positive identification of the mortal remains. The remaining mortal remains will be kept at the mortuary of Army Base Hospital till completion of positive identification formalities, the force said.
Close family members of all the deceased personnel have arrived at Delhi. All necessary assistance and support are being provided by Indian Army.
Appropriate military funerals of all the deceased are being planned and coordinated in close consultation with the close family members.
The Prime minister further said that the visit would be an occasion to consolidate relations with our strategic partners - Japan and Australia - and to take forward our collaboration on important global issues. In a departure statement, the Prime Minister said he will be visiting the US from September 22-25 at the invitation of President Joe Biden.
The Director-General of WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that it is an important development in support of reaching the 40 per cent vaccination target in all countries by the end of this year.
The charge made by the BJP functionary comes a day after Kejriwal during his visit to poll-bound Goa on Tuesday, announced 80 per cent reservation in private sector jobs, Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000 doles for the unemployed youth and families who have lost employment due to Covid respectively as well as setting up of a Skill university in the state.
Even as he reiterated his intention to counter any move to make Sidhu the state's Chief Minister face, Amarinder Singh said he will pit a strong candidate against him in the 2022 Assembly polls to ensure his defeat.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Goa have been engaged in a war of words and pre-poll announcements over the last few months ahead of the state Assembly polls, which are due in the coastal state in early 2022.
The stolen bicycles recovered were of nearly Rs 4 lakh. Deputy Superintendent of Police Charanjit Singh Virk said accused Neemkanta, who lives in suburban Kansal with his wife and son, used to visit parks in the early morning to steal the cycles.
