Revanth only says 'Jai Congress', never 'Jai Telangana': Kavitha targets CM on state formation day
Hello readers. After a high voltage speech by Amit Shah in West Bengal on Monday, Tuesday thus far has been quiet. Today, Telangana celebrates its formation day, and leaders from both the ruling party and the opposition in the state are taking part in programmes to mark the occasion. With bypolls also coming up in some states, parties have started naming candidates. As the day develops, follow this space for the latest political updates from India.
10:1502 Jun 2025
India Politics LIVE | Revanth only says 'Jai Congress', never 'Jai Telangana': BRS' Kavitha targets CM on state formation day
#WATCH | Hyderabad | BRS MLC K Kavitha says "... Telangana State Formation Day is one of the major movements in independent Indian history that has successfully been met, and we got our state... Under the leadership of KCR, Telangana managed to be no.1 in many indices in the past… pic.twitter.com/gRGMoLzsn4
— ANI (@ANI) June 2, 2025
10:0802 Jun 2025
India Politics LIVE | Assembly Speaker unfurls national flag on Telangana formation day
#WATCH | Hyderabad | Telangana Legislative Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar paid respects to Mahatma Gandhi and Dr BR Ambedkar and also unfurled the national flag on the occasion of Telangana Formation Day pic.twitter.com/6H6ZQnQd62
— ANI (@ANI) June 2, 2025
10:0802 Jun 2025
India Politics LIVE | People of Bengal suffocated: BJP leader from Telangana backs Shah's statement on Mamata
#WATCH | Hyderabad, Telangana | On Union Home Minister Amit Shah's statement on WB CM Mamata Banerjee, BJP leader NV Subhash says, "... The people have seen the failures of Mamata Banerjee's regime over the past two terms. After Operation Sindoor, people in West Bengal feel that… pic.twitter.com/2U20xtI85k
— ANI (@ANI) June 2, 2025
10:0802 Jun 2025
India Politics LIVE | PM Modi greets people of Telangana on state formation day
Greetings to the wonderful people of Telangana on their Statehood Day. The state is known for making innumerable contributions to national progress. Over the last decade, the NDA Government has undertaken many measures to boost 'Ease of Living' for the people of the state. May…
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 2, 2025
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The Hindu
38 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Sulphur-cleaning device in coal plants not necessary: Central scientific committee
A high-powered committee of experts, chaired by Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) Ajay Sood, has recommended that India do away with a decade-long policy of mandating equipment, called Flu Gas Desulphurisation (FGD) units, in all coal-fired thermal power plants (TPPs), according to documents perused by The Hindu. These FGD units are required to be retro-fitted in TPPs to cut harmful sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions. While 92% of India's 600 TPPs have not yet installed FGD units, the recommendation would exempt about 80% of them from needing to install such equipment. The limited number of vendors capable of installing such equipment in India, the high installation costs, the potential rise in electricity bills, and disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have been some of the reasons historically cited by the Power Ministry, the overseer of India's TPPs, for plants' inability to adhere to previous deadlines. In theory, the costs of non-compliance could run to crores of rupees in fines, though these have not materialised thanks to deadline extensions. 'FGD not necessary' However, this was the first time that multiple arms of the government congregated to deliberate on whether FGDs were required in the first place. Their verdict draws on three reports by the CSIR-NEERI, the National Institute of Advanced Studies, and the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. The lead scientists of these three institutions – each 'supported' by different arms of the government – were at the meeting on April 23, along with representatives from the Office of the PSA, the Union Power Ministry, and the NITI Ayog. They were all largely unanimous that FGD 'was not necessary.' The guiding principles informing the committee's recommendation are that: SO2 levels in ambient air across the country are around 10-20 micrograms/cubic metre, well below India's air quality norms of 80; Indian coal is low in sulphur; SO2 levels in cities near plants with operational FGD units do not differ significantly from those without these units, and all of these were anyway well below permissible levels. The committee opined that concerns about sulphates – a potential by-product when SO2 emissions reach certain atmospheric levels, thus forming particulate matter (PM) – are unfounded. They cited an analysis of 5,792 PM samples across the country, which found 'low elemental sulphur' content (max 8 micrograms/m3 after outlier removal) which was deemed 'insignificant — for considering PM removal as a benefit of FGD.' FGDs may worsen carbon emissions One argument mentioned in the report was that using FGDs might result in additional carbon dioxide emissions and accentuate global warming. 'Installing FGDs in all TPPs by 2030 will increase the Auxiliary Power Consumption (APC) of the TPPs, thereby adding approximately 69 million tons of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere (2025-30) while reducing SO2 emissions by —17 million tons. Adding more long-lived CO2 emissions while removing short-lived SO2 emissions by installing FGDs indiscriminately in all TPPs in India despite the low Sulphur content of Indian coal will enhance global warming.' On the other hand, given that burning coal is India's primary source of electricity, India's annual SO2 emissions has risen from 4,000 kilotonnes in 2010 to 6,000 kilotonnes in 2022. By comparison, Indonesia, a source of imported coal to India has averaged about 2,000 kt in the same period, according to data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), a Helsinki-based think tank. This is when India's emission standards, at 100 micrograms/m3 (thus requiring FGD), is lower than Indonesia's 800. Environment Ministry 'studying' order Those who attended the meeting included the Secretary, Minister of Power and three other senior officials; Secretary, Environment and Forests and two other officials; four officials of the Office of the PSA; representatives of the NITI Ayog, Central Electricity Authority (the power regulator), Central Pollution Control Board, and academicians. A detailed questionnaire to the Power Ministry was unanswered until press time. Tanmay Kumar, Secretary, Environment Ministry, told The Hindu that his Ministry was 'studying' the order. India has 180 coal-fired thermal power plants, each of them with multiple units. The 600 TPPs, depending on their size, age, proximity to densely populous cities, and background pollution levels, were given different timelines by the Environment Ministry to comply with the FGD installation requirements. Deadlines have been shifted three times, with the most recent extension coming on Dec 31, 2024. Major population centres The committee, according to the minutes of the meeting seen by The Hindu, will 'recommend' to the Power and Environment Ministers that only power plants located within a 10-km radius of the National Capital Region and other cities with a million-plus population be required to install FGDs. These are called Category A plants. There are 66 such plants, and only 14 of them have installed FGDs. Currently, all these plants are required to comply by 2027. Plants within a 10-km radius of 'Critically Polluted Cities' or 'Non Attainment Cities', called Category B plants, would be eligible for exemption on a 'case by case' basis, on a joint review by the Central Electricity Authority or Central Pollution Control Board. There are 72 such plants, with only four having installed FGD. These plants currently have a deadline of 2028. The remaining 462 plants all come under Category C, of which 32 have installed FGDs. These plants have been given a 2029 deadline, but the committee has now recommended that Category C plants be exempted completely, along with some units in Categories A and B which were set up at least 20 years ago. 'Will not affect public health' 'The key common point in these studies is that fitment of FGDs in all TPPs in India is not necessary to comply with the NAAQ (National Ambient Air Quality) standards whose compliance is essential to safeguard public health. While all TPPs must comply with the December 2015 stack emission standards for PM pollution and freshwater consumption, the SO2 stack emission standards can be relaxed to ensure that they are in conformance with the NAAQ standards which are notified by CPCB, keeping in mind the human health and other aspects. This way, TPPs may be able to comply with these standards without fitting FGDs. Since the existing NAAQ standards (for ambient SO2) must be complied with, this change will not affect human health in India,' the committee concludes. Currently, State governments or affiliated companies run a majority of the Category A TPPs, whereas private authorities hold the highest share in Categories B and C.
Time of India
39 minutes ago
- Time of India
Pak aimed to bring India to its knees, but folded in 8 hours, says Chief of Defence Staff Gen Chauhan
1 2 Pune: Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan on Tuesday said "on May 10 around 1am, Pakistan aimed to bring India to its knees in 48 hours" but "their operation, which they thought would continue for 48 hours, folded up in about eight hours". "Then they picked up the telephone and said they wanted to talk," Gen Chauhan said. He said Op Sindoor was the first time India had engaged in non-contact warfare. "We didn't see each other. We saw it either through radar or at different ranges, except for what was happening on the LoC. It was a mixture of kinetic and non-kinetic war. When I say non-kinetic, that happened in the information domain and cyber domain. And, of course, there were kinetic operations where destruction was being caused to each other. It was also nonlinear in nature. So there's something happening on the LoC and something happening as far back as Sargodha." Gen Chauhan spoke about how India networked all its air defence architecture and was using AI for predictive analysis to give a comprehensive picture and negate the threat. "So better and faster information was available to our side. We also tried to kind of network our counter UAS system, which was countering drones. And in the 7-15 days, we were able to do that," Gen Chauhan said. The CDS, delivering a special lecture organised by Savitribai Phule Pune University's Department of Defence and Strategic Studies on the "Future of War and Warfare", also touched upon data-centric warfare, which will be based on data analysis deciding cognitive or decision superiority. "Similar green shoots of that were visible in Op Sindoor," he said. He also explained how, through Operation Sindoor , India raised the bar and redrew new lines for military operations in response to terror. Referring to his previous media statements about India suffering losses, Chauhan said, "You should be able to understand what went wrong, rectify your mistakes, and go out again despite the initial setbacks. That is a hallmark of a professional force. And that's the kind of thing we displayed. What I said in a couple of my interviews — that losses are not important, it's the outcome which is important." Chauhan likened it to Test cricket, where, when one side wins by an innings, there are no questions about how many balls or players played. Gen Chauhan said they would share data on the result of Indian strikes based on technical parameters like electronic intelligence and signal intelligence at some point. Stating that it was Pakistan's strategy to bleed India by a thousand cuts, Chauhan said Gen Asim Munir (now field marshal) had spewed similar venom against India and Hindus a few weeks before Pahalgam. "But these decisions can be retracted as Pakistan is faced with a different kind of prospect, that it faces military action in case we find terror happening against us. So we have kind of raised the bar. We have connected terror to water and we have drawn out new lines for military operations against terror." When Pakistan did ask for talks and de-escalation, Gen Chauhan said India accepted, but not immediately. According to the CDS, Pakistan's decision to talk stemmed from two facts: "They must have assumed that if they continued in this mode, they were likely to lose much more. And the second, since they struck us on multiple fronts, they still did not have the benefit of understanding what they struck and they wanted to talk. It is only after one or two days that they realised that all their attacks against us had failed." Revealing details of the night of the first airstrikes on May 7, the CDS said, "We did it from 11.05pm to around 1.30am, and five minutes later we rang the director-general of military operations to say that we've done this, we hit only terror targets, that military establishments are out of the purview of the strikes, and we ensured that there was no collateral damage to civilians. We need to talk to each other." The CDS said war has expanded into space, cyberspace, the electromagnetic domain, etc. "A lot of activities took place between both of us for four days in the electromagnetic domain. Interactivity also took place in the cyber domain. We also had a lot of activity in the domain of perception management, information, or maybe you can call it cognitive warfare, in which shaping the mind of the people is more important than the landscape. "
India Gazette
43 minutes ago
- India Gazette
Ministry of Defence issues advisory on respecting privacy of senior armed forces personnel, families
New Delhi [India], June 3 (ANI): The Ministry of Defence (MoD) issued an advisory to media organisations and journalists on Tuesday, urging them to respect the 'privacy of senior armed forces personnel and their families.' 'The Ministry of Defence appreciates the continued interest and support of the media in covering the activities, achievements, and sacrifices of the Indian Armed Forces- the Army, Navy and Air Force. Media engagement plays a critical role in informing the public and fostering a greater understanding of national security matters,' the Ministry said in its advisory. 'In the context of ongoing operations such as Operation Sindoor, senior officers across the Armed forces have rightfully come into the public eye owing to their leadership roles,' the Ministry said. 'It has come to the attention of the ministry that this increased focus has extended beyond professional coverage into the personal lives of the officers and their families. Media personnel have reportedly approached their residence, attempted to contact family members, and pursued personal coverage unrelated to their official duties,' it added. The Ministry said, 'Such actions are deeply inappropriate and potentially compromising to the dignity, privacy, and safety of the officers and their families. While senior officers may serve in prominent public roles, their families remain private citizens and must be treated with due respect and sensitivity.' The four points of advisory include -- - Refrain from visiting or attempting to contact the private residences or families of serving or retired Armed Forces personnel for personal stories or interviews, unless expressly invited or cleared through official channels. - Avoid publication or broadcast of personal details, including residential addresses, photographs of family members, or other non-operational information that is not in the public interest. - Focus media coverage on professional and operations aspects of Armed Forces activities and leadership, and avoid speculative or intrusive reporting on private lives. - Respect the boundaries of privacy and operational confidentiality, particularly during periods of active operations or heightened national security. 'The Ministry of Defence further reiterates its commitment to transparent and constructive engagement with the media. At the same time, it appeals to all media stakeholders to maintain responsible journalistic standards, respecting the personal space and dignity of those who serve the nation and their families,' it added. (ANI)
