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Express Tribune
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Fake news galore in Indian media
Listen to article Indian media's reports about shooting down of a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) F-16 fighter jet were "a blatant lie and fake news", security sources said on Thursday, terming such reports a manifestation of Indian decision-makers' confusion and mental paralysis after the loss of dozens of drones in Pakistan. According to the sources, India had become increasingly disoriented following the failure of its recent Harop drone incursions. The Pakistan Armed Forces, they asserted, were fully prepared to counter any hostile designs and remained vigilant against India's nefarious intentions. "In a state of panic," a security source said, "India is now attempting to justify potential future aggression against Pakistan by fabricating stories of attacks in Rajasthan, Pathankot, and Indian illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir [IIOJK]." Observers note a striking resemblance between the current disinformation campaign and India's fake narrative following the 2019 aerial skirmish during Operation Swift Retort. At that time, Pakistan shot down two Indian fighter jets in response to Indian airstrikes in Balakot. India, however, claimed that one of its pilots, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman - who was captured after ejecting from his downed MiG-21 — had managed to shoot down a Pakistani F-16 before his own aircraft was brought down. Pakistan denied the F-16 claim. Later that year, Foreign Policy magazine cited US defence officials, who had accounted for all Pakistani F-16s and found none missing — contradicting India's assertion. Following the report, the then military spokesperson stated: "India's claims about the attack and its consequences are false. It's time India told the truth about the loss of its second jet shot down by Pakistan." Despite the lack of independent verification, India's then president Ram Nath Kovind awarded Wing Commander Abhinandan the Vir Chakra — India's third-highest wartime military honour — for 'downing' a Pakistani F-16. Pakistan maintains its stance that two Indian jets were shot down in 2019, and that no PAF F-16 was lost in the exchange. Meanwhile, the Foreign Office categorically rejected the "baseless and irresponsible allegations propagated by the Indian media" of Pakistan launching attacks on Pathankot, Jaisalmer, and Srinagar, saying that these claims were entirely unfounded, politically motivated, and reckless propaganda. The repeated pattern of levelling accusations against Pakistan without any credible investigation reflects a deliberate strategy to manufacture a pretext for aggression and to further destabilise the region," the Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement late on Thursday. "Such actions not only further endanger regional peace but also reveal a disturbing willingness to exploit misinformation for political and military ends. We urge the international community to take serious note of this dangerous behaviour and to counsel India toward restraint and responsibility," he continued. "Any escalation based on false pretences will be met with full resolve and determination to safeguard Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity. Pakistan remains vigilant and firmly committed to peace, but it will not be deterred by attempts to provoke, intimidate, or mislead and reserves the right to respond to acts of aggression. These allegations are rejected in the strongest possible terms."
Express Tribune
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Security sources dismiss Indian media's F-16 claim as 'fake news'
Security sources have categorically rejected Indian media reports claiming that a Pakistan Air Force F-16 fighter jet was shot down, calling the story 'a blatant lie and fake news.' According to the sources, India has become increasingly disoriented following the failure of its recent Harop drone incursions. They claim that repeated setbacks have left Indian decision-makers 'paralysed and confused.' 'In a state of panic,' the sources allege, 'India is now attempting to justify potential future aggression against Pakistan by fabricating stories of attacks in Rajasthan, Pathankot, and Indian-Occupied Kashmir.' The Pakistan Armed Forces, they assert, are fully prepared to counter any hostile designs and remain vigilant against 'India's nefarious intentions.' Observers note a striking resemblance between the current disinformation campaign and India's disputed narrative following the 2019 aerial skirmish during Operation Swift Retort. At the time, Pakistan shot down two Indian fighter jets in response to Indian airstrikes in Balakot. India, however, claimed that one of its pilots, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman — who was captured after ejecting from his downed MiG-21 — had managed to shoot down a Pakistani F-16 before his own aircraft was brought down. Pakistan denied the F-16 claim. Later that year, Foreign Policy magazine cited US defence officials who had accounted for all Pakistani F-16s and found none missing — contradicting India's assertion. Following the report, the then military spokesperson stated: 'India's claims about the attack and its consequences are false. It's time India told the truth about the loss of its second jet shot down by Pakistan.' Despite the lack of independent verification, India's President Ram Nath Kovind awarded Wing Commander Abhinandan the Vir Chakra — India's third-highest wartime military honour — for 'downing' a Pakistani F-16. Pakistan maintains its stance that two Indian jets were shot down in 2019, and that no PAF F-16 was lost in the exchange.
New Indian Express
05-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
'Yen peyar Gopalkrishna Gandhi': The inside story behind a surprise bid to become India's Vice President
In the wake of the election, on 25 July 2017, of Ram Nath Kovind, a little-known former member of the Rajya Sabha and the then governor of Bihar, as the fourteenth president of India, the election also fell due for the office of the vice president of India, just vacated by Hamid Ansari who had done that office proud over two five-year terms. I was driving up to my class at Ashoka University in Sonepat, where, thanks to the generous invitation of its first vice chancellor and now chancellor, the historian Professor Rudrangshu Mukherjee, I had been teaching a course on the civilizations of India, when Sonia Gandhi rang on my mobile phone to ask if I would agree to be the combined opposition's candidate for that office. I asked her for a little time to consult my wife, my sister, and brother. 'Of course,' she said and indicated that the time left for me to decide was something like an hour. The entire opposition was in conclave at that very time and was waiting for my response, she said. An hour! Tara asked if I had any chance of winning, and I said none, none at all, zero, and that the ruling party had the numbers and its candidate will sail in. In that case, why? she asked. Why, indeed, I said rhetorically but then added there is something to be said for 'a good, strong, symbolic contest'. After speaking to my sister and brother—all within the same hour—I decided I would wait to see what 'the combined opposition' was about. Sure enough, during the course of the class, my phone, which I had put on 'silent', vibrated. I took my students' permission to step out of the class to take the call, saying it was something urgent. Every major opposition party, then in conclave, 'spoke' to me in that one call—Ghulam Nabi Azad from the Congress, Derek O'Brien from the Trinamool, and Sitaram Yechury from the CPI(M), among others. A more galactic formation could not have been imagined. I conveyed my acceptance to their collective happiness. The call over, I spent about five minutes staring into the open lawn in front of me, reflecting on what I had led myself into before returning to my class. I had barely repositioned myself at the lectern when a student sitting in the middle of the rows said, 'Congratulations, professor. You are going to be the opposition's candidate for vice president.' I could have been in good Wodehouse-style, 'knocked down by a feather'. The young man then explained that social media had been speculating for much of that morning about the candidate and that around the time I got my call, instead of attending to my lecture, he had been surfing the net and lo, even as I was ruminating for those five minutes, the meeting had announced my acceptance and he had heard it before I had fully absorbed it. Ashoka University's vice-chancellor at the time, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, most graciously said I could take it that the university had no objection to my contesting and that while he would like me to succeed, the university would be ready and happy to see me return to the faculty after the contest! The next few days were tumultuous for me, various persons and parties swamping my phone with felicitatory calls and 'we know you are up against the NDA's bigger numbers…. But it is important to take a stand…you may not win, but you would have made a point….' and so on. There were also those who said I was being made a sacrificial goat. But most interestingly, missiles were suddenly manufactured and hurled at me for having joined, several weeks earlier, many public figures and legal luminaries in urging President Mukherjee to commute the death sentence on the 1993 Mumbai serial blast convict, Yakub Memon. Predictably, the word 'traitor' was flung at me, reminding me at once and vividly, of JP's letter to me of 28 October 1964 in which he had said, 'When abuses were being hurled from every side and the word 'traitor' was being thrown into the face, your letter, the letter of a fine…' At a press conference held outside Parliament House immediately after I filed my nomination papers, I was again asked about this, and I said I was, on a point of principle, against capital punishment and had written, in the same vein, to the president of Pakistan to not execute Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian held captive there. The NDA took more time than I would have expected to announce its candidate—the seasoned BJP veteran Venkaiah Naidu. Some Congressmen promptly got some data to accuse him of corrupt practice—something which was totally unacceptable to me, and I rang Rahul Gandhi to ask him to have the thing stopped. To my relief, he agreed at once, and no one heard anything more on the subject. Nitish Kumar's JDU, which had joined the opposition's identification of me for the candidature, did a somersault midway into the election season, switching from UPA to NDA, but the Bihar chief minister told me in no uncertain terms himself over the phone that the alliance switch would make no difference to his and his party's support of my candidature. And he remained true to his word, except for three of his MPs marking the ballot paper wrong so that they had to be deemed invalid. Naveen Patnaik, chief minister of Odisha, announced his and his party's support to me as well. Election day, 5 August 2017, was an experience. As a candidate, I was allowed access, up to a point, to the election venue in Parliament House and saw a good number of the MPs from both camps filing in to vote. Home Minister Rajnath Singh was particularly cordial as he was brought up to where I stood by Ananth Kumar, a BJP MP I had long known. Two MPs nominated to the Rajya Sabha in UPA times and hence, presumably, voting for me I saw but could not meet: Sachin Tendulkar came in, walking briskly, and I looked forward to a handshake with the great cricketer, but he turned into one of the circular corridors before I could do that. Another was the glamour diva of the Hindi screen, Rekha. She wafted in like a cool breeze in summer, wearing sunglasses though indoors, so none could see her eyes or see what her eyes were seeing; unsmiling, expressionless, she slid into and out of the voting chamber after voting, as I hoped, for me. But I will never know. Two other MPs from the world of cinema who spoke long and warmly with me were Jaya Bachchan, who not only voted for me but was vocal in support from the Samajwadi Party and Hema Malini of the BJP, who, of course, voted for Venkaiah Naidu, was amazingly cordial. I spoke to the popular actress in the language our mothers were born into—Tamil. GG: Namaskaram. Yen peyar Gopalkrishna Gandhi (Namaskaram, I am Gopalkrishna Gandhi) HM: Tamil pesarangala…. Eppadi? (Oh…You speak Tamil…how come?) GG: Aamaam, adhu yen thaiyin mozhi (That is so, it is my mother's language…) HM: Adhu eppadi? (How is that?) GG: Ninga Rajajiyin peyar kettirpinga.... (You might have heard the name Rajaji) HM: Aamaam…. (Yes….) GG: Avar yen Ammaavin Appa aavaar (He was my mother's father….) Hema Malini was altogether disarming. I will always remember that pleasant banter. A rock-solid friend, Sitaram Yechury, stood by my side throughout as MPs moved in and out, all very pleasant to each other, whatever be their politics. This was democracy, India's democracy, at work. As the votes were counted, I could see the tray holding my opponent's ballot papers climb from base to slope to summit, while mine laboured up to a very modest base camp, with the tray for invalid votes getting not a few ballots—surprising for each voter was an MP expected to know how to mark the ballot. Venkaiah Naidu won the election with 516 votes against my tally of 244. I rang him to offer felicitations. 'Sir,' he said, 'I have long been an admirer of your grandfather, Rajaji… I will call on you in Chennai.' (Excerpted from Gopalkrishna Gandhi's The Undying Light: A Personal History of Independent India with permission from Aleph Books)
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Business Standard
04-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
ICAI to assess financial aspects of 'One Nation One Election' proposal
Chartered accountants' apex body ICAI will assess the financial aspects of the proposed 'One Nation One Election' reform that will help the Parliamentary panel, which is currently examining the relevant bills, to have a better understanding about the financial implications. A high level committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind came out with its report, in March 2024, recommending holding the Lok Sabha, Assembly and local bodies' polls together. Subsequently, the government, in December last year, introduced two bills in the Lok Sabha to provide a legal framework to simultaneously hold Parliamentary and Assembly polls. A 39-member Joint Parliamentary Committee, headed by BJP member P P Chaudhary, is now examining the draft bills, which are based on the Kovind panel recommendations. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) President Charanjot Singh Nanda told PTI that the institute will be assessing the various financial aspects of ONOE reform. A report of the assessment will be submitted to the Parliamentary panel. The institute, which has more than 4.50 lakh members, is a key body that helps provide inputs on various financial legislations and the government's tax collection efforts. According to the Kovind panel, simultaneous elections will bring fundamental transformation in the electoral process and overall governance as well as result in optimising scarce resources and also encourage voters to participate in the electoral process in large numbers. The panel, in its report, also mentioned about research paper on macroeconomic impact of harmonising electoral cycles. "The findings in the paper suggest relatively higher economic growth, lower inflation, higher investments and improved quality of expenditure following periods of synchronised elections, as compared to those that were not synchronised," the report said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Time of India
04-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
ICAI to assess financial aspects of 'One Nation One Election'
Chartered accountants ' apex body ICAI will assess the financial aspects of the proposed ' One Nation One Election ' reform that will help the Parliamentary panel , which is currently examining the relevant bills, to have a better understanding about the financial implications . A high level committee chaired by former President Ram Nath Kovind came out with its report, in March 2024, recommending holding the Lok Sabha, Assembly and local bodies' polls together. #Pahalgam Terrorist Attack India much better equipped to target cross-border terror since Balakot India conducts maiden flight-trials of stratospheric airship platform Pakistan shuts ports for Indian ships after New Delhi bans imports from Islamabad Subsequently, the government, in December last year, introduced two bills in the Lok Sabha to provide a legal framework to simultaneously hold Parliamentary and Assembly polls. A 39-member Joint Parliamentary Committee , headed by BJP member P P Chaudhary, is now examining the draft bills, which are based on the Kovind panel recommendations. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) President Charanjot Singh Nanda told PTI that the institute will be assessing the various financial aspects of ONOE reform. A report of the assessment will be submitted to the Parliamentary panel. Live Events The institute, which has more than 4.50 lakh members, is a key body that helps provide inputs on various financial legislations and the government's tax collection efforts. According to the Kovind panel, simultaneous elections will bring fundamental transformation in the electoral process and overall governance as well as result in optimising scarce resources and also encourage voters to participate in the electoral process in large numbers. The panel, in its report, also mentioned about research paper on macroeconomic impact of harmonising electoral cycles. "The findings in the paper suggest relatively higher economic growth, lower inflation, higher investments and improved quality of expenditure following periods of synchronised elections, as compared to those that were not synchronised," the report said.
