Mock Drill Highlights: Blackouts take place in Delhi, Patna, UP and other cities

Security has been stepped up along the Gujarat coast, and authorities have cancelled the leaves of police personnel “due to unforeseen situation”, asking them to return to duty immediately, officials said on Thursday.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) member Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali on Wednesday said that according to the alert issued by the Union Home Ministry, mock drill was conducted in which students and civilians participated.

He added that they were trained to deal with emergency situations and defend themselves.

"As per the alert issued by the Home Ministry for mock drill...students have participated in this mock drill. They were trained to deal with emergency situations and defend themselves", he told ANI.

Congress leader Tikaram Jully on Wednesday, stated that the nation is adequately prepared for any eventuality, highlighting that mock drills are currently being conducted.

He further said that the people of the nation are united in any case and stand as a force.

"Mock drills are being carried out... Any kind of situation can develop. People are united in any case and stand with the country and the forces... The way terrorists killed our people on our land, and widowed several women, every Indian felt an indescribable pain. Our leader, Rahul Gandhi, has clearly said that we will support the government," he said.

As part of a nationwide civil defence drill, the Amritsar district administration has resumed blackout measures to ensure public safety and preparedness, the District Public Relations Officer (DPRO) said on Wednesday.

"Taking utmost caution, the Amritsar district administration has again started the blackout process. Please stay at home, do not panic and do not gather outside your houses; keep the outside lights switched off," the Amritsar DPRO said in a statement.

The blackout in Amritsar was part of a nationwide civil defence mock drill ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to check emergency preparedness in case of future threats. The exercise involved scheduled blackouts at key locations across the country.

Mock Drill LIVE:  The exact moment of blackout at Amritsar's Golden Temple was caught on camera. Here's a glimpse

India Mock Drill LIVE: Lights of Patna airport terminal were turned off to observe blackout as part of MHA directed mock drill.

Mock Drill LIVE: Lights are gradually being turned on in Delhi's Vijay Chowk, after the mock drill blackout from 8pm to 8:15pm.

India Mock Drill LIVE: Delhi's Khan Market and other NDMC areas were plunged into darkness after the power supply was cut off for the mock drill blackout

Mock Drill LIVE: Blackout rehearsals were also conducted in Jharkhand's capital city Ranchi.

India Mock Drill LIVE: As part of the mock drill, power blackouts will begin in multiple areas of Mumbai, Delhi, other regions, lasting for 10-15 minutes. Read here

India Mock Drill LIVE: Blackout and air range mock drill was conducted at Canton Board High School in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj.

India Mock Drill LIVE: Raj Bhawan and the CM's house in Bihar's Patna witnessed a blackout as part of the mock drill. 

Mock Drill LIVE:  The blackout drill in Delhi's NDMC will not involve hospitals, dispensaries, Rashtrapati Bhawan, PMO, metro stations and other important establishments, reported PTI.

India Mock Drill LIVE: Authorities carried out civil defence mock drills in four districts of Manipur under ‘Operation Abhyas’ (Operation Exercise) on Wednesday

Mock Drill LIVE:  As part of the nationwide mock drill, there will be a blackout from 8:00 pm to 8:15 pm in the NDMC ( New Delhi Municipal Council) area of Delhi tonight, said the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA)

Mock Drill LIVE: The NDRF, SDRF, police, and other departments participated in the mock drill in Vizag. In simulated conditions, SDRF personnel were seen carrying a person on a stretcher from a building 'attacked by bombs'.

Mock Drill LIVE: A civil defence mock drill was carried 18 places across 14 'civil defence districts' of Assam on Wednesday. A geographical area having a cantonment or a refinery or a nuclear plant may be designated as a 'civil defence district' depending on the requirement and exigency.

Mock Drill LIVE:  Civil defence mock drills were conducted in 12 districts of Odisha. Bhubaneswar, Sambalpur and Rourkela, were among the cities where mock drills were held

Mock drill in Kolkata LIVE: Mock drills were conducted at DPS-Ruby Park, La Martiniere for Boys, La Martiniere for Girls and Future Foundation School in Kolkata, reported HT.

Mock drill in India LIVE: Noida police and the CISF jointly conducted a mock drill at the city's Botanical Garden Metro Station.

Mock drill in India LIVE: PCR vans, fire engines, and security forces were deployed across Delhi as part of the mock drills. At Khan Market, alarm sirens triggered an evacuation run, while in Chandni Chowk, the mock drills involved civic defence volunteers and NCC cadets.

Mock drill in India LIVE: Blaring sirens, people scrambling for safety, and 'mock' casualties being stretchered away — these were some of the scenes unfolding across 55 locations in the national capital as Delhi witnessed mock drills today.

Mock drill in India LIVE: Mock drills were conducted in Bengaluru's Ulsoor Lake.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: Mock drills are being conducted at Hyderabad's Kacheguda Railway station.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: Mock drill in Punjab's Amritsar will be conducted in two ways – a siren will be sounded at 4pm, and the second drill will be carried out at 10:30pm, Amritsar DC told PTI.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: Till date, mock drills have been conducted at Mumbai's CSMT terminus, Lok Manya Tilak terminus, and the Cross Maidan.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: In line with the MHA's orders, a mock drill was carried out at Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT).

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: In Haryana, civil defence mock drill will be conducted across all 22 districts at 4 pm. The public has been requested to switch off all lights in their homes from 7.50 pm to 8 pm as a part of the drill.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: Till date, mock drills have been conducted at Vidya Bal Bhawan school in Mayur Vihar and NK Bagrodia school in Rohini.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: An alert was sounded at Kashi Vishwanath Temple during mock drill in Varanasi. 

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: Civil Defence mock drills have begun  at Vidya Bal Bhawan School, Mayur Vihar Phase-3.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: Bihar is set to carry out civil defence mock drills today.Speaking to ANI, Bihar’s Director General of Police, Vinay Kumar, said the state is fully prepared for the exercise and confirmed that all necessary arrangements have been completed.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: A civil defence mock drill was carried out at a school in West Bengal's Siliguri. Here's a glimpse

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: According to the Indian Army, Abbas Terrorist Camp at Kotli was the nerve centre for training suicide bombers of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and its key training infrastructure for over 50 terrorists.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: Union Home Minister Amit Shah holds a meeting with Chief Ministers, DGPs and Chief Secretaries of border states. 

CMs of 

• J&K
• Punjab
• Rajasthan
• Gujarat
• Uttarakhand
• Uttar Pradesh
• Bihar
• Sikkim
• West Bengal 
  
  LGs of 
• Ladakh 
• Jammu and Kashmir 

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has postponed his upcoming visit to three countries - Norway, Croatia, and the Netherlands, ANI reported citing sources. 

He was scheduled to be there from May 13-17.

PM Modi's decision comes amid the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: Centre calls all party meeting

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah will hold a meeting through video conferencing with Chief Ministers, DGPs and Chief Secretaries of bordering states of following states bordering with Pakistan and Nepal:

• J&K
• Punjab
• Rajasthan
• Gujarat
• Uttarakhand
• Uttar Pradesh
• Bihar
• Sikkim
• West Bengal
• Ladakh

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: Among the nine terror camps targeted by the Indian forces under ‘Operation Sindoor’ included Lashkar-e-Taiba training camps linked to the 26/11 Mumbai attacks (including Ajmal Kasab's training) and the group's Muridke (Pakistan's Punjab) headquarters, visited by David Headley and Tahawwur Rana. Read more

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: World leaders, including UN chief Antonio Guterres and US President Donald Trump, on Wednesday called on India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and hoped that the hostilities would end “very quickly”.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar acknowledged on Wednesday that 10 members of his family and four close associates were killed in India's missile attack on the outfit's headquarters in Bahawalpur.

A statement attributed to Azhar said those killed in the attack on Jamia Masjid Subhan Allah in Bahawalpur included the JeM chief's elder sister and her husband, a nephew and his wife, another niece, and five children from his extended family.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: Pakistan ready to 'wrap' tensions if India de-escalates: Defence Minister Asif

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: The United States (US) and the United Kingdoms (UK) have advised its citizens not to travel to parts of India and Pakistan following India's Operation Sindoor targeting terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the Pahalgam terror attack. Read more

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: After a security meeting with the officials on Wednesday, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that no one wants war, but Pakistan will need to put down its guns for that.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: Former Defence Minister AK Antony voiced strong support for the Indian Armed Forces' counter-terror operation, 'Operation Sindoor', expressing confidence that the armed forces will take all necessary steps to eliminate terror camps operating across the border.

Calling the operation "just the beginning," Antony said he was certain that the Indian military would move decisively to target terror camps located behind positions held by the Pakistan Army along the border.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said that the attack on Pahalgam was driven by an objective of undermining the return of normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir.

Addressing the media alongside Col Sophia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, the Foreign Secretary said, "The attack in Pahalgam was marked with extreme barbarity, with the victims mostly killed with head shots at close range and in front of their family."

"The family members were deliberately traumatised through the manner of killing, accompanied by the exhortation that they should take back the message. The attack was clearly driven by the objective of undermining normalcy returning to Kashmir," he added.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: In wake of Operation Sindoor, Air India cancelled flights to and from nine airports, including Srinagar and Amritsar, till early morning of May 10.

"Air India flights to and from the following stations, Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Chandigarh, and Rajkot, are being cancelled till 0529 hrs IST on 10 May following a notification from aviation authorities on the closure of these airports," the airline said.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: A Red Alert has been declared in Uttar Pradesh following Operation Sindoor.

"Red Alert has been declared in Uttar Pradesh following #OperationSindoor -- the Indian Army's targeted strike on terror hideouts," Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP), Prashant Kumar, said on his official X handle.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: All schools in four border districts of Rajasthan have been closed following ‘Operation Sindoor’.

All government and private schools have been closed in Ganganagar, Bikaner, Jaisalmer and Barmer districts as a precautionary measure.

However, the mock drills scheduled to take place on Wednesday will be done.

Mock drill in India on 7 May LIVE: Authorities in Delhi will carry out mock security drills at 55 locations on Wednesday, including Connaught Place, Khan Market, and Chandni Chowk, to check the preparedness of security agencies.

The drills come in the aftermath of 'Operation Sindoor' carried out by the Indian armed forces early Wednesday.