NDA leaders hail PM Modi for success of Op Sindoor
It also attests to the courage and bravery of our armed forces during Operation Sindoor and Operation Mahadev.…
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India.com
17 minutes ago
- India.com
Why Is Asim Munir Visiting U.S. Again? Inside Pakistan's Top General's Washington Diplomacy
New Delhi: Pakistan Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir is heading to the United States once again this week. His visit comes barely two months after his last trip to Washington. He is expected to attend the U.S. Central Command's change-of-command ceremony. But the real story may not be the ceremony itself. It is the timing and the conversations already in motion. In June, Munir had lunch with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House. The meeting lasted two hours. No civilian leader from Pakistan was present. It was a first. Never before had a Pakistani military chief been hosted in the Oval Office on his own. According to insiders, their discussion touched on trade, economic ties and the future of cryptocurrency. In his signature style, Trump did not hold back praise. He said, 'The reason I had him here was I wanted to thank him for not going into the war and ending it…' The remark referred to the May conflict between India and Pakistan, four days of cross-border drone and missile exchanges that stopped just short of full-scale war. India later said it acted alone. But Trump claimed credit for helping stop it. Munir seemed to agree. In his own words, he said Trump deserved a Nobel Prize for 'averting nuclear war' between the two nations. The backdrop to that crisis was Operation Sindoor. India launched the operation in retaliation for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians. According to Indian officials, nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were targeted and more than 100 militants were killed in the offensive. Trump's role in managing tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad has stirred debate. India has insisted that the eventual ceasefire came after direct talks between the two countries' Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMO). No foreign mediation, New Delhi said, was involved. Still, Trump has not stepped back from the narrative. In fact, he has doubled down. Alongside security talks, he also unveiled a trade agreement with Islamabad. The deal opens access for U.S. companies to Pakistan's oil reserves. But the fine print carries a twist. Trump signed an executive order imposing a 19% tariff on Pakistani exports, lower than the previous 29% rate, but still steep. The trade talks have been branded as a package of both relief and pressure. Munir's return to Washington now comes in that context. A second visit in two months signals something crucial: sustained military diplomacy, with political overtones. Whether the visit brings new deals, more pressure or another round of handshakes remains to be seen. But for now, Pakistan's most powerful man is going back to the United States, and the conversations are far from over.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Shinde meets PM, Shah, says will back NDA V-P nominee
New Delhi/Mumbai: leader and Dy CM on Wednesday announced his party's "unconditional support" to the NDA candidate for vice-president, potentially setting the line for other alliance partners to follow and increase chances of BJP getting one of its own appointed to the constitutional position after the Sept 9 election to the post. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now On a visit to Delhi – his third in less than a month - Shinde made the announcement after meeting home minister at his Parliament office. The election for the vice-presidential post has been necessitated following the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar last month. Shinde also met and congratulated him on the success of Operation Sindoor and Operation Mahadev. The twin interactions were seen as significant. Sources said the meeting attested to his equations with the BJP leadership with which it engineered downfall of the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA govt in 2022. Shinde said the Mahayuti will fight the local body elections in Maharashtra together. The deputy CM was accompanied by his wife Lata, son Shrikant and daughter-in-law Vrushali as the family gifted a photograph of Lord Shiva to the PM. Shinde said Modi praised his son who got the opportunity to lead a multi-party delegation that visited world capitals to convey India's message of zero tolerance to terrorism. Shinde also rejected suggestions that his frequent visits to Delhi are linked to his 'differences' with CM Devendra Fadnavis, saying they are working together for the state's development. Stating that PM Modi noted at a meeting of NDA MPs on Tuesday that Shah has become the longest-serving home minister, Shinde said he and his party MPs congratulated Shah on the milestone. He also hailed Shah for his "decisive" leadership, saying he fulfilled the dream of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray by abrogating Article 370.
The Hindu
2 hours ago
- The Hindu
Rewriting the rules of school in Andhra Pradesh
The Telugu Desam Party-led NDA government in Andhra Pradesh is revisiting the education sector reforms introduced by its predecessor and is making changes wherever deemed necessary. Minister for Human Resources Development Nara Lokesh has stated that policies yielding positive outcomes will be retained, while those that failed to deliver tangible results will be rolled back. The task being both critical and challenging, the Minister is taking an objective and balanced view of the educational landscape, recognising that the well-being and future of students must remain at the heart of the new initiatives. Officials in the education department are assessing what has worked, what needs improvement, and how best to move forward without causing inconvenience to stakeholders. The task at hand is to cater to the needs of 58,535 schools, 68,15,925 students, and 3,13,112 teachers across the State. Of these, 44,285 are government schools with 33,37,762 students and 1,84,898 teachers; 789 are aided schools with 87,612 students and 3,259 teachers; 13,461 private schools with 33,90,551 students and 1,24,955 teachers. According to Mr. Lokesh, the TDP government inherited an education system in a state of paralysis, lacking essential frameworks and operational efficiency — a charge refuted by the YSR Congress Party, which has accused him of 'systematically weakening the education sector in the State.' The data show that the State has 12,512 single-teacher schools, 5,312 government schools with single-digit enrolment, and 14,052 State-run schools with 20 or fewer students. The overall enrolment in government schools declined by 10,49,596 students between 2022 and 2024. With declining learning outcomes, the government faces the formidable challenge of reversing the trend to secure children's futures. A recent survey suggested that 84.3% of Class III students could not read a Class-II level text, 62.5 % of Class V students struggled with basic reading, 47% of Class VIII students still could not read Class II level text, 59.1 % of Class III students could not perform basic subtraction, 54.8 % of Class VIII students could not perform division and only 12.9% and of Class III students could solve basic division problems. Citing the dismal result of the survey, Mr. Lokesh has rolled back his predecessor's initiatives such as transition of the government schools to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in 2022-23 without sufficient preparation, implementation of TOEFL in State-run schools at a cost of ₹58.84 crore, and the move to adopt International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum in government schools. A sum of Rs. 4.86 crore was paid for just the interim report for the proposed IB implementation. One of the most controversial decisions of the previous YSRCP government was GO 117, which reorganised schools and reapportioned teaching staff. The order divided schools into six categories and mandated the merger and de-merger of classes. The fragmentation of schools led to the number of schools having fewer than 10 students rising from 1,215 in 2021-22 to 5,312 in 2024-25, and schools with fewer than or equal to 20 students increasing from 5,520 to 14,052 during the same period, indicating a severe decline in student enrolment. To curb the ill effects of GO 117, the NDA government introduced GO 21, which revises the restructuring model by creating nine categories of schools. However, this faced trouble, with teacher unions raising serious concerns over its 'negative impact on the public education system'. GO 21 is part of the transformative journey called Learning Excellence in Andhra Pradesh, which aims to improve access, learning outcomes, and future-ready skills. The recently concluded 'Mega' DSC (District Selection Committee) exam, conducted to recruit 16,347 teachers in government schools after a gap of seven years, enhanced the government's image. Other welcomed steps include the introduction of academic star ratings to assess both student and teacher performance, targeted efforts to boost school enrolment in rural and tribal areas, and the consolidation of multiple teacher apps into a single platform. In intermediate education, curriculum and textbook revisions for first-year students are being implemented from the current academic year, aligning with the syllabus with national competitive standards. The revisions would be introduced for second-year students from the academic year 2026-27. The reach of the changes being made is very vast, and resistance to change is natural in large systems, especially when previous reforms are still being digested. The government should remain watchful of implementation gaps that often emerge. Due diligence is key to ensuring that the quality of learning improves without sacrificing stability.
