News18 Afternoon Digest: Court Pulls Up Kamal Haasan Over Tamil-Kannada Remark & Other Top Stories
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More stories on: Assam CM Himanta Tears Into Pakistan Over Brahmaputra Water Threat; Belgian Embassy Staffer Puts Up Netanyahu 'Wanted' Poster In Delhi
In today's News18 Afternoon Digest, we bring you the latest updates on the Karnataka High Court's ruling over Kamal Haasan's 'Kannada was born out of Tamil" remark, the fatal shooting of Pakistani TikToker Sana Yousaf, and other top stories.
'Apology Would've Solved It': Karnataka HC Pulls Up Kamal Haasan Over Tamil-Kannada Remark
Taking a stern view on Kamal Haasan's 'Kannada was born out of Tamil" remark, the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday rapped the actor, asked the actor the basis of his claims, and said that his 'one apology would have solved everything". READ MORE
In a sharp response to Pakistan's latest 'scare narrative", Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday took down the rhetoric that China could choke the flow of the Brahmaputra to India with facts, stating that the river 'grows in India, not shrinks".
A 42-year-old Indian-origin man was left in a critical condition with suspected brain damage after he was pinned down violently by police in the eastern suburbs on Australia's Adelaide, according to multiple reports. READ MORE
Sana Yousaf, a 17-year-old TikTok star in Pakistan, was shot dead at her home in Islamabad, in a suspected case of honour killing. READ MORE
World Champion D Gukesh secured his first classical victory over fellow Indian Arjun Erigaisi in a dramatic seventh-round match at the Norway Chess tournament on Monday. This win came from a position initially deemed almost hopeless. READ MORE
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Hindustan Times
39 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
India's actions in Op Sindoor measured: Rajnath
NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday told Australia that its actions against Pakistan during the recent four-day military confrontation under Operation Sindoor were 'measured, non-escalatory, proportionate and responsible', during talks between defence minister Rajnath Singh and his Australian counterpart Richard Marles, who is also the deputy prime minister of that country and is on a two-day visit to India. Singh underscored India's right to respond in self-defence against cross-border terror, and the two leaders agreed to work together to combat terrorism. The meeting came at a critical moment as India is taking steps to isolate Islamabad globally following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. India sent seven multi-party delegations to 33 countries to explain its new approach to combating Pakistan-sponsored terrorism and the rationale behind Operation Sindoor --- India's strikes on terror and military installations in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the Pahalgam terror strike in which 26 people were shot dead. The delegations have underlined the need to hold Pakistan and its military establishment accountable for supporting terror groups. Both ministers strongly condemned the terror attack in Pahalgam and expressed deepest condolences to the families of the victims, the defence ministry said. 'India thanks Australia for its unequivocal support to India's resolute response against the barbaric act of terror in Pahalgam,' Singh wrote on X, adding that the two leaders reviewed the full range of the India-Australia defence partnership. Pakistan's Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos, which was mounted in response to Operation Sindoor, 'folded in eight hours' on May 10 belying Islamabad's ambitious target of bringing India to its knees in 48 hours, chief of defence staff General Anil Chauhan said on Tuesday. Between the launch of the operation in the early hours of May 7 and the ceasefire on the evening of May 10, Indian forces bombed nine terror camps in Pakistan and PoK and killed at least 100 terrorists, and the Indian Air Force struck targets at 13 Pakistani air bases and military installations. On Tuesday, it emerged that India's targeting of locations within Pakistan during the May 7-10 clash was more extensive than was previously known, with a Pakistani document acknowledging that Indian drones had struck locations ranging from Peshawar in the northwest to Hyderabad in the south. Marles' personal commitment and leadership in strengthening bilateral defence cooperation has emerged as an important pillar of the India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Singh said. 'The two ministers agreed to intensify and diversify defence industry collaboration, and further defence science and technology collaboration projects when they meet in Australia later this year for the third India-Australia 2+2 ministerial meeting. They also reviewed the progress made since the last 2+2 ministerial dialogue in November 2023,' the defence ministry said in a statement. On the fifth anniversary of the signing of India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, both sides noted that the defence sector has emerged as a key pillar of the collaboration. The two leaders expressed satisfaction at the growing strategic convergence between the two countries and agreed to work together to further the shared objectives of peace, prosperity, stability and progress in the Indian Ocean region, and the larger Indo-Pacific. During the second India-Australia 2+2 foreign and defence ministerial dialogue in 2023, leaders from the two countries held talks centred around deepening military cooperation in critical areas including anti-submarine warfare and air-to-air refuelling, security in the Indo-Pacific region amid China's rising influence, hydrography cooperation and strengthening ties in sectors such as critical minerals, science and technology, space and education. India has 2+2 ministerial dialogues with only a handful of countries, including the US, Japan and Russia. Last year, India and Australia signed an agreement to enable their air forces to conduct air-to-air refuelling, a move aimed at boosting inter-operability between the two sides.
Hindustan Times
43 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
In US, Shashi Tharoor responds to Pakistan's victim of terrorism claim, cites Hillary Clinton's warning
Shashi Tharoor of the Congress took aim at Pakistan for supporting terrorism during a diplomatic visit to the United States, invoking Hillary Clinton's famous warning about 'breeding vipers' to highlight the dangers of Pakistan's long-standing links with terror groups. The Congress MP is leading a multi-party Indian delegation to the US at a time when a Pakistani group, headed by former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, is also in Washington. Both teams are lobbying global lawmakers and political leaders to support their respective national narratives, especially following the recent cross-border tensions sparked after the April 22 Pahalgam attack. Shashi Tharoor responded to the Pakistani delegation's claims that Islamabad is also a victim of terrorism. Speaking at the Indian embassy in Washington, he said, 'This (Pakistan) delegation is going around saying we are also victims of terrorism, we have lost more lives to terrorism than India has. We turn around and say—whose fault is that?' The Congress leader added, 'As Hillary Clinton famously said 10 years ago, 'You can't breed vipers in your backyard and expect them to bite only your neighbours.'' Tharoor added that Pakistan is now suffering at the hands of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group that broke away from the Taliban. 'But who created the Taliban from which the Tehrik-i-Taliban broke off?' he asked. 'We all know the answer to that, so let Pakistan look inside it and let it do some serious interior reflection before it goes around pleading innocence and deniability and everything else,' the Thiruvananthapuram MP added. The Pakistani delegation, during its addresses in the US, is promoting Islamabad's stance on what it calls 'Indian aggression", adding that Pakistan is also a victim of terrorism even more than India. Addressing the Pakistan delegation's claims, Tharoor said, 'We are not there with a message about India versus Pakistan. It's about India as a democracy facing terror and as a country that has been focused on its own economic development and growth story. Even Kashmir was a story of prosperity and a booming economy.' He highlighted tourism as a sign of progress in Jammu and Kashmir, saying, 'I told the Americans we had more tourists in Kashmir last year than Aspen, Colorado receives. We had a 100 per cent increase in the first three months of this year compared to the first three months of last year.' Describing the brutal nature of the Pahalgam attack, Tharoor said terrorists are trying to spark religious conflict. 'Why do they go around asking people their religion and shooting them? When one horrified wife screamed, 'kill me too', they said go back and tell them. They wanted a communal backlash.' The Indian delegation's visit comes in the wake of Operation Sindoor, launched by India on May 7 in response to a deadly terror attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26 civilians. He also dismissed claims that India's actions are driven by religious or communal motives. 'When Operation Sindoor was conducted, of the three briefers, two were women and one was a Muslim woman officer. None of our delegations is without at least one Muslim member,' Tharoor stated. 'This is about terrorism. It's not about religion, it's not about communal issues, it's not about bilateral India.' India's Operation Sindoor targeted terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, killing over 100 militants linked to groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba. Hostilities ended on May 10 after both nations agreed to a ceasefire. The Indian delegation includes leaders across party lines, such as the BJP's Bhubaneshwar Kalita, Shiv Sena MP Milind Deora, and former Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu. Their US visit follows meetings in Guyana, Panama, Colombia, and Brazil.
Hans India
an hour ago
- Hans India
India red-flags $800 mn ADB aid package to Pak
New Delhi: India has vehemently opposed the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) financial assistance of $800 million to Pakistan, raising concerns about the potential misuse of ADB resources, sources said. India abstained from voting on the package at a recent Board meeting of the ADB. Indian officials cautioned the ADB on Pakistan's rising defence expenditure, its declining tax-to-GDP ratio, and the lack of demonstrable progress on key macroeconomic reforms. The ADB on Tuesday approved an $800 million programme to strengthen fiscal sustainability and improve public financial management in Pakistan. In Islamabad, Pakistani Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb's advisor Khurram Schehzad confirmed the development. In a statement posted on social media, Schehzad said the ADB's financial aid includes a $500 million programme-based guarantee and a $300 million policy-based loan. Calling out the doublespeak of Pakistan in harbouring the terrorists and safeguarding the terror infrastructure in the country, sources added that New Delhi 'expressed strong reservations about Pakistan's existing governance system, which poses a continuing severe threat to regional peace and security.' 'India also highlighted that the economic fragility of the borrowing country (Pakistan) poses credit risks to the ADB too. Pakistan's continued reliance on external debt raises concerns about the long-term sustainability of future exposures, especially in view of the high debt-to-GDP ratio and poor credit rating of the country. Therefore, India urged ADB to be vigilant to safeguard the bank's financial health and long-term prospects,' sources also said.
