Amid tension with Pakistan, China spreads RedNote in India due to..., using this secret weapon for...
Amid tension with Pakistan, China spreads RedNote in India due to…, using this secret weapon for…
Chinese RedNote App: RedNote is a Chinese social media platform which looks similar to user-generated content app. In recent years this app has become very popular and influential in Northeast India, specially in Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland and Assam. The 'Made in China' app is used by alleged Chinese and Pakistani agents to start a new type of 'Psychological Warfare' against India. These kind of new-age wars are fought with information, emotion and identity rather than conventional weapons, damaging the country internally.
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The Hindu
26 minutes ago
- The Hindu
The view from India newsletter: How Ukraine hit airfields deep inside Russia
Ukraine carried out its largest drone attack inside Russia on Sunday, targeting at least four military airports in four different regions (across four time zones) in the world's largest country. Unnamed officials of the Security Services of Ukraine (SBU), the country's spy agency, have claimed that the attacks 'destroyed' more than 40 Russian warplanes, including strategic bombers that can carry nuclear missiles, causing damages amounting to $7 billion. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed in a social media post the attack, which followed a Russian strike at a military training base in Ukraine, killing at least 12 soldiers, produced 'an absolutely brilliant result'. While the Ukrainian claims of destroying Russian strategic bombers are not independently confirmed, Russia's Ministry of Defence stated that five regions came under drone attacks and that several aircraft in two bases, one close to the border with Norway and the other in Siberia, caught fire. It said the fire was extinguished, other attacks were repelled and that there were no casualties. Russia also saw two bridges collapse in Kursk and Bryansk regions, both close to the Ukraine border, killing at least seven people and wounding 76 others. Russian officials say explosives were used to destroy the bridges. All this happened when Russian and Ukrainian officials were preparing to sit together for direct peace talks in Istanbul on Monday. It is not clear how Ukraine pulled off such an audacious drone attack thousands of kilometres away from the frontline. According to Ukrainian claims, the four regions that were attacked are: Ryazan, Ivanov, Murmansk and Irkutsk. The Olenya air base in Murmansk, close to the Norwegian border, is around 1,900 km from the frontline. Belaya airbase in the Siberian region of Irkutsk is 4,300 km away from Ukraine. Russian officials said Amur, close to the Chinese border, also came under attack, which was repelled. The attacks on these bases demonstrate Ukraine's growing capability to hit anywhere in Russia as well as its sprawling undercover operations in Russian soil. Per the Ukrainian version, the attack was in the plans for about one and a half years. SBU officials say Ukraine had secretly transported 'first person view' drones (FPVs transmit a live video feed from its front camera to a pilot's screen) into Russian territory on trucks. Drones were kept in wooden containers on trucks which were moved closer to the targets undetected. On Sunday, the wooden containers were opened remotely and the FPV drones, attached with explosives, were launched to the airfields. The Russian Defence Ministry has confirmed that the drones that hit Olenya and Belaya were launched 'from the immediate vicinity' of the airfields. Mr. Zelenskyy wrote in his social media post that 'our people involved in preparing the Operation were withdrawn from Russian territory in time'. Among the planes that were 'destroyed' are Russian Tu-95, Tu-22M3 and A-50 aircraft, according to the SBU. The Tu-95 bombers, which carry guided cruise missiles, can hit targets from thousands of kilometres afar (Tu-160 is Russia's most advanced strategic bomber). The A-50a are early warning jets that detect enemy aircraft and fire and feed intel on Russian fighter planes. 'Russian strategic bombers are all burning delightfully,' claimed Vasily Malyuk, the SBU chief, after the attack. According to The Economist, Russia's fleet of strategic bombers is relatively small — it operates less than 90 Tu-22s, Tu-95s and Tu-160s. If Ukraine's claims of destroying Russian bombers are true, it's a heavy blow to President Vladimir Putin and his forces. Even if Ukraine is exaggerating Russia's losses, the fact that it carried out such a massive attack deep inside Russian territory can be seen as a tactical gain, at a time when Moscow's forces have launched a new summer offensive and are making incremental territorial advances in the Sumy region. If Ukraine were planning such an elaborate attack for months, there would be questions on why the Russian intelligence failed to detect and deter them. Russia's military bloggers were quick to term June 1 a 'dark day' in the history of Russian aviation. Some others, especially the nationalist sections, called it 'Russia's Pearl Harbour' and demanded a similar response from the Kremlin to that of the U.S. during the Second World War. Mr. Putin, who has faced criticism at home from the nationalist sections for 'not doing enough' in the war, might come under greater pressure to retaliate heavily. The attack is also a heavy blow to U.S. President Donald Trump's public push to end the Ukraine war. When Russia carried out drone attacks in Ukraine late last month, Mr. Trump had said 'Putin had gone absolutely crazy' and that 'Putin is playing with fire'. Now, with the Ukrainian attack, the war has been pushed to a new level. And Mr. Trump's room for peace manoeuvre is shrinking fast. The Top Five 1. Israel is used to condemnation, international community must impose sanctions to end war' In this interview, Israeli author and columnist Gideon Levy tells Suhasini Haidar that India, with good relations with both sides, can influence outcome, warns IMEEC may be permanent casualty of war. 2. Will there be a lasting ceasefire in Gaza? | Explained What has the U.S. mediated through special envoy Steve Witkoff to ease the situation? What are the terms of the proposed ceasefire? Why did the last ceasefire fail? What happened after its collapse? What have international agencies warned regarding starvation in Gaza? writes Stanly Johny. 3. Alan Garber | The man who stood up to Trump The Harvard president, who pushed back against the Trump administration's meddling with the university's affairs, is trying to do a delicate balancing act — shielding the institution from political assault while undertaking reforms that may ensure its survival, writes Aaratrika Bhaumik. 4. Foreign students face uncertainty as Trump steps up attack on universities In April, the federal government froze more than $2 billion in grants and contracts with Harvard, citing non-compliance with requests to modify hiring and admissions policies, dismantle diversity-equity-inclusion programmes, and conduct ideological vetting of international students, writes Anisha Dutta. 5. Pakistan's India war Pakistan, dominated by a military mindset, is contriving to find ways and means of undermining India's progress, writes M.K. Narayanan.
Mint
32 minutes ago
- Mint
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson says Pakistan airspace ban adding to flying costs
The continuing ban for Indian airlines in using Pakistani airspace is adding flying hours for non-stop flights and will weigh down Air India Ltd.'s path to profitability, its top executive said in an interview. 'The impact is significant but we have been able to sustain non-stop operations' to most destinations in North America and Europe, Air India Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson said in a Bloomberg TV interview Monday. 'It'll certainly hit our bottomline.' The airspace curbs have increased flying time for west-bound flights from India by an hour or so, according to Wilson, who declined to give details on the discussions the Tata Group-owned carrier was having with stakeholders on this front. The armed conflict between India and Pakistan that erupted May 7 was the worst between the nuclear-armed neighbors in decades, with both sides trading drone and missile strikes besides artillery and small arms fire along their shared border. It was triggered by a gruesome attack on civilians in Indian-controlled Kashmir on April 22. While a ceasefire was announced on May 10, Pakistan has extended the airspace ban for Indian airlines until June 24. Geopolitical strife has been complicating flying routes and business models for airlines globally in the past few years as they skirt conflict zones. Tariffs are also now a closely watched development for the sector. 'We want certainty. Uncertainty is difficult when you are making investment decisions,' Wilson said, adding that this was a common theme at the ongoing aviation industry event in New Delhi. So far, Air India sees no impact of tariffs on travel flows for its geography and markets. The recent showdown between the US President Donald Trump and Harvard University has added another layer of complication for international fliers especially those looking to study in American institutions. Pointing to anecdotal stories, Wilson said that there seems to be some shift in the large student population from India that usually vies to be on US campuses. 'You hear people thinking of alternatives,' he said. 'Obviously, it's a relatively new development, so people are still digesting it but it does seem that people are more willing to look at alternative locations than perhaps they were before.' Wilson, who steered the massive merger of Tata-owned carriers Air India and Vistara last year, declined to comment on media stories on the airline's discussions with plane makers to buy more narrowbody jets. Air India, the unprofitable carrier which the Tata conglomerate acquired from the Indian government in 2021, will start receiving new planes it had ordered toward the end of this year, according to Wilson. The deliveries are 'later than we hoped, slower than we hoped,' he said. 'It is constraining our ambitions a little bit in the short term but the long term opportunity for this market is massive, so we are very, very confident.' More stories like this are available on Disclaimer: This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
Economic Times
33 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Mphasis, Persistent, and other IT stocks fall up to 6% amid renewed US-China trade tensions
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel Shares of Indian IT companies fell sharply on Monday, with some stocks losing up to 6.5%, as renewed trade tensions between the US and China spooked investors. The Nifty IT index slipped over 1% to 36,948 in morning trade, extending losses for the second straight selloff follows a social media post by US President Donald Trump last week, accusing China of violating a recent trade agreement. Trump claimed that China had "totally violated" the deal, which he said was made to prevent further economic instability in China caused by earlier tariffs.'China has totally violated its agreement with us. So much for being Mr. NICE GUY!' Trump posted on his platform, Truth IT companies earn a significant portion of their revenue from the US market. Past tariff battles between the US and China have triggered fears of a US recession and rising inflation, which tend to weigh heavily on IT trade tensions had eased briefly, the latest escalation has reignited concerns, dragging IT stocks Mphasis led the fall, tumbling 6.5% to Rs 2,392, after reports that FedEx Corp. had chosen Accenture Plc to handle much of its IT work, ending a long-standing relationship with Mphasis. The client accounted for 8% of the company's revenue. Persistent Systems dropped nearly 3% to Rs 5,471. Shares of Tech Mahindra and Wipro slipped over 1%, while HCL Tech Infosys , LTI Mindtree, and Coforge traded with marginal response, China accused the US of violating the trade deal and warned of strong retaliatory measures. In a statement on June 2, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said, 'If the US insists on its own way and continues to damage China's interests, China will continue to take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.': Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
