For the ninth consecutive night, Indian and Pakistani troops engaged in small arms fire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, continuing a pattern of heightened border tensions. The skirmishes, initiated by Pakistani troops in violation of the ceasefire agreement, have led to a tense situation along the LoC and International Border (IB). The incidents come in the wake of the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, which claimed the lives of 26 people, mostly tourists. Civilians residing near the border have begun preparing their bunkers, anticipating potential escalation. Despite a recent hotline conversation between the Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan, where India cautioned Pakistan, the ceasefire violations persist.
A villager was killed and three others were injured in shelling by Pakistan in forward areas of Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Rajouri districts early Friday morning, prompting Army troops to retaliate. The shelling also caused significant damage to property, with many houses and hundreds of vehicles affected. The firing and shelling were directed at areas in Rajouri, Poonch, and Jammu districts, apart from Kashmir's Kupwara and Baramulla districts, overnight.
From the Sensex firms, Eternal, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finserv, Asian Paints, Power Grid and State Bank of India were among the laggards. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, Titan, HCL Tech, Tata Motors, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services were the gainers.
'The lesson Beijing would have learned is that there is, cost-benefit wise, no better option than to keep the Pakistan military supplied with its most advanced armaments, certain that in hostilities with India these would be used for maximum effect.'
The batch of five experts will also play a role as interpreters between India and China sides during border personnel meetings, sources said.
The foremost lesson for India today is to beef up its air defence to cater for multiple drone attacks. As seen in Operation Sindoor, we have come a long way, but there's room for getting better. We must develop a robust and almost impregnable air cover over ourselves, asserts IAF veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
'A man with a gun commanded respect. I thought if I also got a gun, I could save my family. With this thought, I went to Pakistan and got training there'
Meanwhile, a precautionary blackout has been enforfced in the multiple areas amid the esclating tensions between India and Pakistan.
Colonel Sofiya Qureshi revealed that 300 to 400 drones were deployed across 36 locations, with several being shot down by Indian forces using both kinetic and non-kinetic methods.
Around 300 athletes were expected to compete in four snow sports -- ski mountaineering, alpine skiing, snowboard, and Nordic skiing -- in the games, which had been due to be held from February 22 to 25.
The Indian military also acknowledged suffering some losses but declined to provide the details as the operations are going on.
The ministry also made certain clarifications in the statement, and said, "the assertion that Indian territory is up to Finger 4 is categorically false. The territory of India is as depicted by the map of India and includes more than 43,000 sq km currently under illegal occupation of China since 1962."
The Israeli Parliament enacted a law prohibiting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the primary UN organisation assisting Palestinians, from operating within the country, CNN reported.
'Had Haji Pir and/or Skardu been taken, the message would have gone out not just to General Asim Munir and his cohort in the Pakistan army but to the Pakistani people that every terrorist incident in India would lead to substantial loss of territory in PoK.'
After the 1962 War with China, there was a demand to forge greater defence cooperation between India and the West. One such voice was that of Sudhir Ghosh, a distinguished MP, to tie up strategic cooperation with the USA immediately after the Chinese attack on India, recalls Rup Narayan Das.
'Even one accident can cause problems for the entire coastal system.'
'Peninsular Indians could ask 'Why should we contribute half of India's tax revenues if we account for only a quarter of the seats in the Lok Sabha?'.' 'The rest of the country seems likely to counter that 'democracy means one vote per person irrespective of where that person resides in India'.' 'With no easy answers to this thorny debate, the south's economic ascendancy could end up creating a Hobson's choice.' A revealing excerpt from Nandita Rajhansa and Saurabh Mukherjea's book, Behold the Leviathan: The Unusual Rise of Modern India.
China is scouring its territory in Tibet and Xinjiang for the Malaysian jetliner missing for 11 days, a senior diplomat said as international efforts to locate the plane failed to achieve any breakthrough.
The city is better known for being bombed by the Japanese during the Second World War and flattened by a cyclone on Christmas Eve 1974.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a tri-services ceremonial welcome in Colombo, Sri Lanka, marking the first time such an honor has been bestowed upon a foreign leader. The welcome took place at the historic Independence Square, the venue for national day celebrations. Modi's visit comes as Sri Lanka shows signs of recovery from a recent economic crisis, with India playing a significant role in providing assistance. During the visit, both leaders are expected to discuss a range of issues, including defense cooperation, energy, and digital initiatives.
Select games will also be streamed live on the MyCricket Facebook page to a global audience, including one of the semi-finals and the grand final on Monday, June 8.
Among urban users, 57 per cent mentioned a preference for accessing Internet content in vernacular languages.
A 'man-eater' tiger that killed a woman two days ago was found dead in Kerala's high-range district of Wayanad on Monday and an autopsy on the dead cat revealed the presence of the victim's hair, dress, and a pair of earrings in its stomach, forest officials said.
But the Aus media found a real cricketing reason for the match garnering attention - 15-year-old Adi Dave.
The government needs to answer the critical question of whether it has accepted any restrictions on its infrastructure creation activities, asserts Ajai Shukla.
... and there is no stopping its pan-Islamic agenda, cautions Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The much-delayed decadal census exercise and the work to update the National Population Register (NPR) are likely to begin early 2025 and the data will be declared by 2026, thus changing future census cycles completely, official sources said.
According to a report by Fairfax newspapers, MacDonnell Shire Council has planned to use an Indian call centre to deal with local administration for territory communities.
An Indian woman and her family living in Gaza have left her home and are waiting for safe passage near the coastal strip's southern border with Egypt after Israel ordered some 1.1 million Palestinians on Friday to evacuate northern Gaza and head to the southern part of the besieged territory.
EPS has had its way on most things, alliance-wise. A week earlier, he reiterated that he would not re-admit OPS and Sasikala Natarajan back in the party. It was a message not just to detractors in the AIADMK. It was even more so for the BJP leadership in Delhi. Even more important for the AIADMK was their demand for accepting EPS as the chief ministerial candidate of any alliance that the party would form, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Israel Defence Forces have announced that another nine soldiers have been killed fighting in Northern Gaza on Wednesday morning amid the ongoing ground offensive against Hamas terrorists.
The US is currently Earth's most powerful country and a certain latitude of understanding -- a world view -- is popularly expected from its leadership. From a country identified with freedom, constitution, debate, democracy and the likes of Abraham Lincoln even as it had the most powerful military around, the US, following Trump's actions, seemed repositioned as militarily powerful with other qualities secondary, observes Shyam G Menon.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday praised the Indian Army as one of the most trusted and inspiring organisations in the country, highlighting its significant role in safeguarding borders, combating terrorism and assisting civil administration in times of need.
China on Wednesday said no trace of the missing Malaysian plane entering its territory or airspace has been found after scouring the most difficult terrain in Tibet and Xinjiang.
The United Nations special rapporteur on indigenous rights has said there is "entrenched" racism in Australia. James Anaya didn't pull any punches after his two-week visit of the country, saying the Rudd government should reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act in the Northern Territory "right away" because the intervention into remote Aboriginal communities is clearly discriminatory.
Staff Sergeant Geri Gideon Hanghal was a resident of Nof HaGalil and a soldier in the Kfir Brigade's Nahshon Battalion, the Israeli Army said.
Saudi Arabia has thrown a lifeline to thousands of wild camels, facing cull after their population overshot, leaving the country's ecological balance on the edge. A report in Times Online says the move of camel lovers in Saudi Arabia where the camels are revered comes after Australia decided to kill 6,000 camels in the Northern Territory town of Dockwer River next week using marksmen firing from helicopters.
Almost five years later, the three services have still not fully understood that joint/theatre commands are not a discussion point; they are the prime minister's diktat on a military reform measure that is in line with what armed forces around the world have implemented, points out Ajai Shukla.
The term 'love jihad' is used by right-wing groups to allege a ploy by Muslim men to lure Hindu women into religious conversion through marriage.
Once people throw out the Congress, they do not let it come back. They put 'no entry' boards for the Congress, he said. It always thought power was its birthright but it has now been exposed, the prime minister said
