SOURCE: PTI

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Tuesday that India under Narendra Modi focused on national interest and has successfully resisted attempts to put pressure on it on issues like Russia-Ukraine war, scrapping of Article 370 and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.

At a meeting with intellectuals and a press conference earlier in Bikaner in Rajasthan, the minister talked about an India that faced the world with confidence. Answering a question, he also recalled the controversy over then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s apparent reluctance to grab an opportunity to claim a permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that went to China.

SOURCE: PTI

The Odisha Police have asked its special security battalion personnel to remove tattoos on their body within 15 days as these skin markings are easily noticeable with uniform and considered “obscene and derogatory”.

The deputy commissioner of police (security), Bhubaneswar issued an order to this effect on Tuesday and asked all officials concerned to prepare a list of SSB men having “easily noticeable tattoos” on their bodies.

SOURCE: PTI

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday slammed the BJP government at the Centre over the Agnipath scheme, saying an Agniveer recruit who has undergone training for just six months will become a martyr in combat against a Chinese soldier, who is trained for five years. Addressing an election rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol, Gandhi claimed the “Agniveer Yojana” was conceptualised by the prime minister but the Army doesn’t want this scheme.

After coming to power, the Congress will abolish this short-term recruitment scheme for inducting soldiers, he said.

SOURCE: APP

President Asif Ali Zardari felicitated the Pakistani nation and the Muslim Ummah on the auspicious occasion of Eidul Fitr and urged them to show compassion and generosity and share their happiness with the poor and needy.

In a message, he said, “On this auspicious occasion of Eidul Fitr I felicitate and express my sincere wishes to the Pakistani nation and Muslim Ummah.” “I pray to Allah Almighty to bring immense blessings, happiness, peace and security to everyone on this blessed day.”

SOURCE: PTI

India has been elected to several key bodies at the UN, including a significant victory by its nominee Jagjit Pavadia who was re-elected for a third term to the International Narcotics Control Board after garnering the highest number of votes.

Pavadia was re-elected to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) by secret ballot for the third term for five years from March 2025-2030, getting the highest number of votes in the highly competitive election.

SOURCE: PTI

Authorities in Leh on Tuesday ordered withdrawal of prohibitory orders banning rallies imposed earlier in an apparent move to counter a march to the China border announced by Leh Apex Body (LAB). The restrictions were being lifted as “now there is no imminent apprehension of breach of peace and public order”, according to an official order.

The order, issued by Leh District Magistrate Santosh Sukhadeve, directed for withdrawal of the restrictions under prohibitory orders with immediate effect.

SOURCE: ANI

The Indian Ambassador to Israel, Sanjeev Singla, met the country’s Minister for Labour, Yoav Ben-Tzur, on Wednesday (local time) held talks on bilateral relations, with the former also bringing up the safety and well-being of Indian workers in the country.

During the meeting, the envoy was briefed on the enforcement activities of the Ministry for welfare of Indian workers there. In a post on X, the Embassy of India in Israel wrote, “Ambassador met the Minister of Labor of Israel to discuss relations, including safety and well-being of Indian workers in Israel.”

SOURCE: PTI

Five Naxalites, one of them carrying a bounty of ? 1 lakh, were arrested on Tuesday in the Bastar division of Chhattisgarh, police officials said. Two of them, Pottam Bhima, 35, and Hemla Bhima aged 32, were apprehended by the District Reserve Guard and local police from the forests in the Chintalnar area in Sukma district during an area domination exercise, Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran G Chavan said.

Pottam, who carried a bounty of ? 1 lakh, was the Dandakaranya Adivasi Kisan Majdoor Sangh president under the Surpanguda Revolutionary People’s Council of the outlawed Maoist organization, he added. Hemla was a Surpanguda militia member, the police official said.

SOURCE: PTI

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday rejected China’s attempts’ to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh and wondered if provinces in that country would become part of India if it changes their names. In an address at a public rally, Singh also asserted that if someone tries to hurt India’s honour and self-respect, then the country now has the capability to respond to it, remarks that came amid the lingering eastern Ladakh border row.

Late last month, Beijing announced Chinese names for 30 more places in Arunachal Pradesh which the neighbouring country claims as southern part Tibet. India has already trashed China’s action as “senseless”.

SOURCE: PTI

Indian Space Research Organisation Chairman S Somanath on Tuesday said the Chandrayaan-4 mission is in the “process of developing”. He said space research is a continuous process and the country is on the trajectory of “great progress”. He was interacting with the media after attending the twentieth anniversary of the Sat Paul Mittal School here.

Dr Somanath said that Isro is committed to its mission for the moon.

SOURCE: PTI

The partnership between India and the United States has reached a new height with collaboration on technology and other fields, the US National Security Advisor has said. “The partnership between the US and India, a country in BRICs, has gone to new heights with an engagement across technology and security and so many other dimensions,” NSA Jake Sullivan told reporters at a White House news conference.

Sullivan was responding to questions on the decline in American leadership in the world, in light of Iran, Egypt, UAE, and Ethiopia joining BRICS, and Saudi Arabia mulling over becoming part of it. “I think if you look at the US role and standing in its relationships across the key regions of the world, we feel very good about where we are,” Sullivan said.

SOURCE: PIB

Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff inaugurated one major Pier and Residential Accommodations at Naval Base Karwar on 09 April 24 in the presence of Vice Admiral SJ Singh, C-in-C, Western Naval Command, Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti, Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff, Rear Admiral KM Ramakrishnan, Flag Officer Commanding Karnataka Naval Area, Rear Admiral Cyril Thomas, Additional Director General Seabird and other senior officers.

The Pier 3 Offshore Patrol Vessel Pier is 350m long, capable of berthing OPVs, large survey vessels and Mine Counter Measure Vessels. The pier would also provide various shore based services, such as electrical power, potable water, chilled water for air conditioning, 30 ton mobile crane and other domestic services to the ships. 

SOURCE: PTI

Commander of the Army’s strategic Srinagar-based Chinar Corps Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai Tuesday reviewed the counter-infiltration grid along the Line of Control and the operational preparedness of the force in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

The Army said the Chinar Corps commander interacted with troops and motivated them to maintain operational readiness and morale despite extreme weather conditions and terrain.

SOURCE: ANI

India and Kazakhstan, during a joint working group meeting, assessed counter-terrorism challenges, and also exchanged views on cross-border terrorism in South Asia, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a release.

During the meeting that took place in Astana, both sides exchanged views on the terrorist threats in their respective regions, including State-sponsored, cross-border terrorism in South Asia, besides terror activities in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

SOURCE: IANS

Calling the Indian civilisation one of the oldest and continuous civilisations having “a vast expanse”, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday stated that there were a few questions about Indian history that nobody questioned, not even the country’s detractors.

“One is its antiquity, that it is one of the oldest civilisations and probably that human life had evolved and society had perfected itself to a very high level. Now, who did it? Whether they were the original people or they came from outside, they may be biased about that, but they all concede that this is a civilisation of antiquity,” Doval said at the release of an 11-volume series ‘History of Ancient India’ by the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) in New Delhi.