Trump, who has repeatedly said that he stopped the conflict between India and Pakistan through trade, last Friday said for the first time that "five jets were shot down" during the fighting.
Indian army chief General Upendra Dwivedi on Saturday said that the surgical strikes carried out during Operation Sindoor were a clear message to Pakistan that supporters of terrorism will not be spared.
Trump's one-on-one meetings with Putin during his first term were clouded with mystery. With only a translator inside the room, it was often unclear what exactly was discussed. Aides had a difficult time ascertaining if the two reached any agreements. After one such meeting, in Germany, Trump asked his interpreter to discard his notes.
'Visualise those 15 to 18 seconds: Fully loaded aircraft, pilot manually controlling with both hands (no autopilot immediately after takeoff), looking forward while switches are behind.'
They were supposed to fly by the Jet Airways whose services have been hit by the ongoing strike by its pilots, an Air India spokesman said.
China and Pakistan are in a tight strategic alliance. India must deal with them one at a time, but be prepared in case they decide to collude, points out Shekhar Gupta.
India has to fill in all the critical gaps in missiles, ammunition, sensors and stockpile in the fastest possible manner, focusing on the critical instruments that worked this time, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Pakistani military targets at Rafiqui, Murid, Chaklala, Rahim Yar Khan, Sukkur and Chunian were engaged using air-launched precision weapons from Indian fighter jets and the retaliation largely focused on command and control centres, radar sites and weapon storage areas, Qureshi said.
'They are in a very bad state. They have to be forced into eating.'
In what was perhaps the most critical meeting before full-scale war broke out, Shastri defined India's immediate war objectives to his defence minister, army, and air force chiefs: 'To defend against Pakistan's attempts to grab Kashmir by force and to make it abundantly clear that Pakistan would never be allowed to wrest Kashmir from India; To destroy the offensive power of Pakistan's armed forces...' A fascinating excerpt from Shiv Kunal Verma's must-read 1965: A Western Sunrise India's War With Pakistan.
'Shubman Gill did not look as technically tight or calm as usual when he came out to bat on the fourth evening, but his team fought so hard on Monday in a fabulous Test.'
'Since the government will not hold any significant stake in the airline this time, such restrictions are not required anymore.'
In the second phase, the single-use plastic will be banned in all Air India flights.
'The switch can't be shut off by an accidental brush of the hand, but needs effort, conscious physical action to operate it.' 'Was it the software of the aeroplane that caused the switch to turn off?' 'Was it the hardware of the aeroplane?' 'Was it both software and hardware put together?'
Post handing over of Air India to the Tatas, government officials will be free to book their travel with any airline that offers them the best price. And, the Centre will not have a tie up with any carrier, department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM) secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said. "The government is not mandating travel by any particular airline, going forward, after handing over Air India because there won't be any state-owned airline," he said. The department of expenditure (DoE) will soon issue instructions to government departments for official travel as this needs to be done before handing over Air India to the new buyer, he said.
'Will this near-war, India's strongest military response so far, buy India another seven years of deterrence?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
Two aborted missions, three different ministers, multiple rule changes and two decades later, Indian taxpayers will no longer have to pay Rs 20 crore per day to keep the loss-making Air India flying. While opposition Congress expectedly attacked the decision as selling the family silver, DIPAM secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said what Tata is getting is not a cash cow but an airline which is bleeding where money needs to be pumped in to refurbish obsolete aircraft and dust up strangled ones while being unable to touch any employee for one year and only be able to resize staff after paying a VRS. "It won't be a very easy task there. Only advantage is they (new Air India owner) are paying the price which they think they can manage. "They are not taking the excessive debt accumulated to fund years of losses. We are continuing it as an ongoing concern.... This process has also saved huge amount of taxpayers money going forward," Pandey told PTI.
The GST Council on Wednesday approved a two-tier rate structure of 5 and 18 per cent, which will be implemented from September 22.
Airline told to transfer non-core assets, subsidiaries to special purpose vehicle
'With tears in his eyes, he told me in Gujarati, "What have they done to this country? It has so much potential." That feeling for the country -- it was striking.'
For Harpreet, a 28-year-old IT professional working in Bengaluru, the journey to London was meant to be a joyous reunion as her husband, Robbie Hora, also an IT professional, awaited her arrival there.
'Loss of thrust in both engines would have left the crew with minimal options for recovery.'
Over 120 passengers and crew of an Air India plane from Abu Dhabi that made an emergency landing in Pakistan's southern Sindh province early on Monday arrived in New Delhi on Monday evening on a special flight.
In the last 11 years, India and the world witnessed what he stood for, what he promised and did not deliver, and what he actually stood for and practised without fearing how history would judge him. Modi's tenure has been punctuated with headline-grabbing decisions, symbolic gestures, and stage-managed moments that continue to define his leadership and India's politics, points out Ramesh Menon.
'People ask me about my biggest action sequence; this is it, because it involved two giants of Indian cinema.'
Varun Dhawan gets a new heroine in his upcoming film, Border 2, as Medha Rana makes her big screen debut.
What was the aim of Operation Sindoor? Why was the operation halted so soon? asks Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
After its unsuccessful bid to sell Air India in 2018, the government this time has decided to offload its entire stake.
Probable reasons that led to failure of the sale process include 24 per cent government stake and corresponding rights, high debt, volatile crude oil prices, fluctuations in exchange rate, changes in macro environment, profitability track record of bidders and restriction on bidding by individuals.
Most pitch curators are possessive about the main square on a cricket field but Lee Fortis, the chief curator at The Oval, takes that obsession to a sacrosanct level.
Glimpses from India and around the world that will make you smile and cry.
The Israeli-made Harop drone is a powerful weapon that can operate silently in enemy territory and carry a significant payload.
The government is also planning to replace the current ageing Air India One or Boeing 747 with Boeing 777s. Arup Roychoudhury and Archis Mohan report.
Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw Field Marshal K M Cariappa Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh The three highest-ranking military heroes of the Indian Armed Forces. They were the rarest of the rare. The bravest of the brave.
The reality is that far from being friendless, India is better positioned in the world than at any point post-Cold War, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Tata Group-owned Air India has informed the Centre that aircraft lessors wish to set up their special purpose vehicles (SPVs) outside India since they aren't enthused about the Indian 'legal structure' and are loath to take risks. Indian airlines have a combined fleet of about 700 planes; over 85 per cent are on lease. A majority of lessors are based in Ireland due to its attractive tax policy, light-touch regulations, and swift legal system.
Even a rump Air India could not hope to get away with the shoddy service and scrappy fare for which I paid nearly two lakh, complains Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'New Delhi is not naive about its foreign policy choices.'
Air India owns 32 aircraft, and has 37 aircraft on finance lease; Air India Express owns 17 aircraft on finance lease. The aircraft-related debt of Air India is Rs 16,000 crore; it's Rs 1,100 crore for Air India Express.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has called for a 'composite dialogue' with India to address the contentious issues between the two sides.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances