Top news of the day: May 15, 2025
Kancha Gachibowli tree-felling: Restore forest or face jail, SC warns Telangana
The Supreme Court gave the State of Telangana a choice between restoring the ruined acres of Kancha Gachibowli forest where trees were felled for an IT infrastructure project during an extended weekend or face the prospect of its Chief Secretary and 'half a dozen officials' being sent to a 'temporary prison' near the bulldozed green cover.
Rajnath Singh calls for global supervision of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, warns against 'blackmail'
On his first visit to Jammu and Kashmir following the launch of Operation Sindoor, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday (May 15, 2025) questioned the security of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal and called for its supervision by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), citing concerns over what he described as 'irresponsible' conduct by the neighbouring country.
Overnight dust storm leaves Delhi with poor AQI, low visibility
Air quality of Delhi and other parts of the National Capital Region (NCR) are in the upper end of the 'poor' category on Thursday (May 15, 2025), as per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. A layer of dust blanketed Delhi-NCR on Thursday (May 15, 2025) morning following overnight dust storms, which reduced visibility and caused a drop in the air quality.
Ex-Union Minister John Barla joins TMC, claims BJP did not allow him to work for tribals
BJP leader and former Union Minister John Barla joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Thursday, and claimed that the saffron party did not allow him to work for tribal people. Mr. Barla, who was elected on a BJP ticket from Alipurduars in 2019 and served as Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs, had expressed unhappiness after being denied a party ticket for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Badlapur encounter: Maharashtra DGP forms new SIT to probe custodial death of accused
'The Director General of Police (DGP) Maharashtra has formed a new Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the custodial death of Akshay Shinde, the accused in the Badlapur school sexual assault case,' an official said on Thursday (May 15, 2025). 'DGP Rashmi Shukla formed the SIT as per the Supreme Court's orders,' he said.
Trump urges Apple CEO Tim Cook to limit production in India
U.S. President Donald Trump said Apple CEO Tim Cook to raise production in the U.S. rather than expanding manufacturing in India on Thursday (May 15, 2025). Mr. Trump made the comments during a business roundtable in Doha, Qatar, on his Mideast tour, first discussing Apple's plans to build manufacturing plants for its iPhone there.
CJI Gavai-led Bench to devote whole of May 20 to hear arguments on interim stay of 2025 waqf amendments
A Supreme Court Bench of Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih on Thursday (May 15, 2025) decided to devote an entire day on May 20 to hear arguments for and against an interim order to stay the provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
Despite police ban, Rahul Gandhi reaches Ambedkar Hostel in Darbhanga
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was stopped enroute to Ambedkar hostel where he is scheduled to interact with the students of Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Other Backward Class (OBC) and Extremely Backward Class (EBC) under Siksha Nyay Samvad., by Darbhanga police on Thursday (May 15, 2025). However, Mr. Gandhi got down from the car and walked to the venue.
Rumblings in Congress over KPCC rejig get louder with former president K. Sudhakaran expressing public displeasure
Distant rumblings of dissatisfaction with the recent reconstitution of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) appeared to draw closer on Thursday (May 15 2024), with party veteran K. Sudhakaran, MP, publicly expressing unhappiness at the All India Congress Committee's (AICC) decision to remove him from the top post.
Supreme Court agrees to hear on May 16 M.P. Minister Vijay Shah's plea against High Court order
The Supreme Court on Thursday (May 15, 2025) questioned the sense of responsibility of Madhya Pradesh Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah, who reportedly made derogatory remarks about Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, an Army officer who briefed the media during the Operation Sindhoor.
Remsons Industries bags ₹300 crore order from Jeep parent Stellantis North America
Remsons Industries Ltd, an automotive components manufacturer said it had secured an order of approximately ₹300 crore (USD 35 Million) from Stellantis North America. 'This represents the single largest business win to date for the company,' the company said in a statement.
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Mint
20 minutes ago
- Mint
China plus one: Apple and India might need to woo not just Trump but Xi too
Apple and its main manufacturing contractor, Hon Hai Precision Company, are still betting on India. When Hon Hai—better known as Foxconn—revealed through an exchange filing last week that it was putting another $1.5 billion into its operations there, it will have calmed a few nerves in New Delhi. Worries about the future of Apple in the country had been set off by US President Donald Trump, who said last month that he had told the company's CEO Tim Cook, 'I don't want you building in India." This seemed to contradict hopes, shared by both Cupertino and New Delhi, that most iPhones for the US market would come from India by the end of 2026. Also Read: Apple's Hotel California trap: It can check out but not leave China But on the ground, Apple Inc's turn to the South Asian country seems well-entrenched. Reports have emerged of a new Foxconn campus meant to house 30,000 employees. This would be the largest such effort in India's recent history. And another contract manufacturer, Tata Electronics, is now assembling the iPhone 16 at its South Indian plant. Yet, CEOs and politicians may have begun to realize that the difficulties involved in shifting—or duplicating—an entire manufacturing ecosystem extend beyond placating Trump. This is a complex environment and there are severe obstacles to moving it out of China. US politics is only one, though perhaps the loudest. Admittedly, Apple has had a lot of success in India already. That's why even Trump has been talking about it. In just the last year, the value of Apple products manufactured there has jumped 60% to $22 billion. Over $17 billion is exported; thanks to Apple, India's $38 billion of electronics exports now earn more than even its world-famous pharmaceutical sector. No other investment has produced anything near this scale of return. In fact, it may be the only success of the Narendra Modi government's pivot to industrial policy in the middle of his decade-plus in power. This rare win happened because Apple Inc and its suppliers were committed to moving production into India, and because both federal and state governments rewrote regulations and permissions to help them make the move. Also Read: Trump's policies assure China an edge in the race for AI dominance Politicians kept up this support, even when there might be a price to pay. After a border clash between China and India in 2020 that left 20 of its soldiers dead, Indian officials restricted investment from Beijing. Those restrictions have slowly softened since then, primarily to ensure that Apple's contractors didn't get caught up in red tape. That experience should have served as a reminder to New Delhi that attracting an entire ecosystem needs three sets of players to cooperate: companies, the destination market for their products and the source geography. Apple and Foxconn might be on board, Trump and his tariffs might be managed, but what of China? A recent book by the former Financial Times journalist Patrick McGee argues that Apple in China, and Foxconn in particular, grew because American investors and engineers helped. That's no surprise. Any industrial power trains its competitors and successors. That's what Great Britain did for America centuries ago. The financiers, engineers and suppliers that make up an existing manufacturing ecosystem need to be willing and able to cooperate in creating a new one. They are generally well rewarded for it. Also Read: Rahul Jacob: Manufacturing is crying out for a reality check Apple's contract manufacturers and component suppliers, large and small, in China might be willing to set up shop in India—after all, profits are profits wherever they are earned. Some of their engineers might be happy to move to supervise new shop floors. But, as it turns out, Beijing might not permit that to happen. Many experienced employees with crucial knowledge and skill-sets have found themselves forbidden to travel to India and Southeast Asia. Apple and New Delhi have both tried to woo Trump and make him accept the possibility that iPhones destined for the US will be made in India. But it appears that they may need to woo China's President Xi Jinping as well. Objectively, India's Apple-led mobile phone ecosystem is nowhere near challenging China's manufacturing dominance. China is, after all, an indispensable country not just for Apple, but for multiple companies struggling to shift production to India, Vietnam and elsewhere. But Beijing now appears to view Apple's India project as a risk—dangerous enough that a few barriers should be erected in its path. Trump, Apple, New Delhi and Beijing appear agreed on Indian manufacturing's potential over the next few years, whatever the rest of us might think. ©Bloomberg The author is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist.
Time of India
23 minutes ago
- Time of India
Ahmedabad air crash: Flashback to India's famous personalities who lost their lives to air tragedies
An Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad. Amit Shah assured support to Gujarat. The incident brings back memories of past air tragedies. General Bipin Rawat, Homi Bhabha, and actress Soundarya lost their lives in air crashes. Former Chief Ministers YS Rajasekhara Reddy and Dorjee Khandu also died in similar incidents. Take a look at famous Indians who lost their lives to air crash. (Image used for representative purpose only). Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads CDS General Bipin Rawat (2021) Homi Bhabha (1966) KS Sowmya aka Soundarya (2004) Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads YS Rajasekhara Reddy (2009) Dorjee Khandu (2011) OP Jindal and Surender Singh (2005) Madhavrao Scindia (2001) Sanjay Gandhi (1980) GMC Balayogi (2002) Surendra Mohan Kumaramangalam (1973) Lt Gen Daulat Singh, Lt Gen Bikram Singh, AVM EW Pinto (1963) An Air India plane bound for London crashed during takeoff at Ahmedabad airport, leaving the nation shocked. As authorities probe the cause and manage the aftermath, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has spoken with Gujarat's Chief Minister, Home Minister, and the Police Commissioner following the plane crash incident. He has assured full support and assistance from the Central government in managing the this, it's hard not to recall similar air tragedies that have claimed the lives of some of India's most prominent figures — from political heavyweights and war heroes to cultural icons. Here's a look at those heartbreaking first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, tragically died in a helicopter crash on December 8, 2021. The incident occurred near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu while he was en route from Sulur to Wellington with his wife and 11 pioneering nuclear physicist Homi Jehangir Bhabha died in a tragic crash aboard Air India Flight 101 on January 24, 1966. The plane crashed into Mont Blanc in the Swiss Alps due to miscommunication with Geneva air traffic South Indian actress Soundarya, whose real name was KS Sowmya, lost her life in an air crash on April 17, 2004. The Sooryavansham actress was flying from Bengaluru to Karimnagar with her brother. The crash devastated fans across the Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, and Malayalam film known as YSR, the then Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh died on September 2, 2009, when his Bell 430 helicopter crashed in the dense Nallamala forest due to bad Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu was flying in a Pawan Hans helicopter on April 30, 2011, when it lost contact with ground control. After a five-day search, the wreckage was found in and Haryana Power Minister OP Jindal, along with Agriculture Minister Surender Singh, died in a helicopter crash in March 2005. Their King Cobra chopper was en route from Delhi to Chandigarh when it crashed in Uttar Pradesh's Railways Minister Madhavrao Scindia died on September 30, 2001, in a plane crash en route to a political rally in Kanpur. The 10-seater private aircraft crashed due to poor weather conditions near Manipuri, Uttar Pradesh.A key figure in the Congress party and son of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi died in a tragic crash on June 23, 1980. Attempting aerial stunts in a Delhi Flying Club aircraft near Safdarjung Airport, the aircraft lost control and the 12th Speaker of the Lok Sabha, GMC Balayogi was one of the most respected leaders in Parliament. His life was cut short on March 3, 2002, when the Bell 206 helicopter carrying him crashed in Andhra Pradesh's Krishna May 31, 1973, former Lok Sabha MP Surendra Mohan Kumaramangalam died in the crash of Indian Airlines Flight 440 in Delhi. He was identified only by a Parker pen and a hearing Poonch air crash on November 23, 1963, took the lives of six senior Indian armed forces officers, including Lieutenant General Daulat Singh, Lt Gen Bikram Singh, and Air Vice Marshal EW Pinto. The helicopter crash occurred during an inspection flight.
India Today
28 minutes ago
- India Today
Congress's Nana Patole likens Op Sindoor to children's computer game, BJP responds
Former Maharashtra Congress chief and MLA Nana Patole has likened Operation Sindoor to "computer games played by children," citing US President Donald Trump's repeated claims of stopping the war."US President Trump said multiple times that he threatened both nations (India and Pakistan) that they (US) would stop trade with them, so they should call a ceasefire. Operation Sindoor was stopped with his signal. It means that this was a game that was played just like computer games played by children," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. advertisementHighlighting that Pakistan-backed terrorists behind the Pahalgam attack are still at large, Patole asked, "Why did the PM not speak about the terrorists who wiped off the 'sindoor' of our sisters? That is a question for the people of the country." "Why did the PM not speak about the terrorists who wiped off the 'sindoor' of our sisters? That is a question for the people of the country," he added.'HAVE SOME SHAME': BJP REACTSPatole's remarks stirred a huge row, with the BJP claiming that they highlighted that the "Congress is hand in glove with Pakistan".Calling it an insult to the Operation, Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule took to X and wrote, 'Congress leader Nana Patole has once again proved that Congress is hand in glove with Pakistan by making an objectionable statement that 'Operation Sindoor is a computer game'."advertisementMaharashtra BJP MLA Chitra Wagh lashed out at the senior Congress leader, pointing out that his real agenda was to spread hatred "in the name of love." "Have some shame, Nana... While mocking Operation Sindoor by calling it a children's computer game, did you not remember the sindoor (vermilion) wiped off the foreheads of our mothers and sisters killed in the Pahalgam attack?," she asked."Defaming Prime Minister Modi and spreading hate in the name of love -- that's your real agenda. Time and again, you prove the saying true: "The hand of Congress is with terrorism," she further said.'Nana, Operation Sindoor is not a computer game, but it is a brave and courageous action against the terrorist bases of Pakistan. It is a burning tale of valour that will instil fear in the hearts of traitors!," he Reel
