SOURCE: PTI

The 27 maoists, including 12 women, killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Narayanpur district were dreaded cadres carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs 3.33 crore in the state, an official has said.

In one of the biggest strikes on maoists, security forces gunned down Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju, the general secretary of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist), and 26 other cadres during an encounter in the forested Abhujmad along Bijapur-Narayanpur inter-district border on Wednesday.

SOURCE: PTI

Anil Ambani’s Reliance Defence has signed an agreement with German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall AG for the supply of ammunitions like artillery shells and explosives from a new facility to be set up in Maharashtra. “Reliance Infrastructure Ltd-promoted Reliance Defence Ltd (Reliance Defence) and Dusseldorf-based Rheinmetall AG have agreed on a strategic partnership in the field of ammunition. An Agreement to this effect has now been signed by the representatives of both companies,” the Indian firm said in a statement.

This is the third defence tie-up by the group after joint ventures with Dassault Aviation and Thales of France. “The collaboration between the companies will include the supply of explosives and propellants for medium and large calibre ammunition to Rheinmetall by Reliance,” it said.

SOURCE: PTI

An IndiGo pilot operating the Delhi-Srinagar flight, which encountered a sudden hailstorm on Wednesday, initially sought Lahore air traffic control’s permission to briefly use the Pakistan airspace to avoid the turbulence, but the request was rejected, sources said on Thursday.

The incident of flight 6E 2142 encountering severe turbulence is being probed by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the sources said. The flight, carrying more than 220 people, including Trinamool Congress MPs, encountered a sudden hailstorm, and the pilot reported the “emergency” to air traffic control at Srinagar airport. The flight had landed safely on Wednesday.

SOURCE: PTI

India on Thursday welcomed the UK’s decision to hand over the sovereignty of Chagos Islands including tropical atoll of Diego Garcia to Mauritius under a historic deal. The UK is giving up the rights of the islands after more than 50 years. Under the agreement, the UK will have full responsibility for security of strategically-located Diego Garcia.

In its reaction, India said it has consistently supported Mauritius’s “legitimate claim” over the Chagos Archipelago in keeping with its principled position on “decolonisation, respect for sovereignty, and the territorial integrity of nations”.

SOURCE: PTI

China drove global oil demand growth over the last decade, but now India is poised to take the lead in demand growth over the next decade, according to a latest report by Moody’s Ratings.

China and India are No. 2 and No.3 oil consumers in the world. But there are notable differences in demand growth in the two countries. “Demand growth and import reliance will be higher in India,” Moody’s said. “Demand will grow faster in India than in China over the next decade, as China’s economic growth slows and penetration of new energy vehicles accelerates.” Consumption of crude oil – the raw material for making fuels like petrol and diesel – in China will peak in the next 3-5 years, while in India Moody’s expect annual growth of 3-5 per cent in the same period.

SOURCE: PTI

President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday conferred six Kirti Chakras, including four posthumously, to personnel of the Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police for displaying indomitable courage and extraordinary valour in the line of duty.

Kirti Chakra is India’s second-highest peacetime gallantry award.

SOURCE: IANS

Two terrorists were killed and a soldier injured in an ongoing gunfight between joint security forces and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district on Thursday, officials confirmed. The operation, involving personnel from Para Two, 11 Rashtriya Rifles, 7 Assam Rifles, and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of J&K Police, was launched in the Singhpora Chatroo area after receiving intelligence about the presence of three to four Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists.

Named “Operation Trashi” by the Indian Army’s White Knight Corps, the joint forces engaged the terrorists on early Thursday morning. In a social media update, the Corps said, “Contact has been established with terrorists during a joint operation with Jammu and Kashmir Police at Chhatru, Kishtwar. Additional troops have been inducted, and operations are ongoing to neutralize the terrorists.”

SOURCE: PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday asserted that the country’s enemies have learnt what happens when ‘sindoor’ becomes gunpowder and lauded India’s armed forces for creating such a trap that Pakistan was forced to go down on its knees.

In his first public address in Rajasthan after Operation Sindoor that was launched in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack, the prime minister slammed Pakistan, and said in response to the attack on April 22, “we destroyed nine biggest terror hideouts in 22 minutes”.

SOURCE: IANS

IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers has said that IndiGo is fully compliant with all regulatory frameworks governing its operations with aircraft leased from Turkish Airlines, adding that the decision to renew these leases lies with the Indian government.

“It is important to recognise that the operation to Istanbul is taking place in the context of the Air Service Agreement (ASA) between India and Turkey. IndiGo is fully compliant with all regulatory frameworks and regulations which are there. We have thousands of Indian customers booked mostly beyond Istanbul,” Elbers said on Wednesday during a media interaction on the airline’s fourth-quarter and full-year financial results for 2024-25.

SOURCE: PTI

India on Thursday launched its global outreach against terrorism emanating from Pakistan as multi-party delegations reached Japan and United Arab Emirates to assert the right to self-defence following Operation Sindoor.

The delegation to Japan is led by JD(U) MP Sanjay Jha, while Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde is leading the delegation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

SOURCE: PTI

Pakistan government on Thursday announced expulsion of a staffer of the Indian High Commission. India on Wednesday expelled a Pakistani official working at the Pakistan high commission on charges of involvement in espionage, in the second such expulsion in a week, people familiar with the matter said.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the staffer at the Pakistan mission has been declared “persona non grata” for indulging in activities not in keeping with his official status and that he has been given 24 hours to leave India.

SOURCE: PIB

India rejects the baseless allegations made by Pakistan regarding Indian involvement with the incident in Khuzdar earlier today. India condoles the loss of lives in all such incidents. However, in order to divert attention from its reputation as the global epicenter of terrorism and to hide its own gross failings, it has become second nature for Pakistan to blame India for all its internal issues.

This attempt to hoodwink the world is doomed to fail.

SOURCE: PTI

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday repeated his claim that he “settled” the recent conflict between India and Pakistan through “trade”. “If you take a look at what we just did with Pakistan and India. We settled that whole, and I think I settled it through trade,” Trump said in remarks in the Oval Office during a meeting with visiting South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

He said the US is doing a “big deal” with both India and Pakistan.

SOURCE: REUTERS

India’s Russian crude oil imports will hit close to 1.8 million barrels per day in May, the highest in 10 months, ship tracking data from Kpler showed, after refiners snapped up more light grades such as ESPO Blend.

The robust demand for the lighter Russian grades in the world’s third biggest oil importer and consumer is expected to last into July as Indian refiners ordered more than 10 cargoes of June-loading ESPO crude last week, traders said.

SOURCE: PTI

The Indian Navy on Wednesday inducted a traditionally built stitched ship as INSV Kaundinya, at a ceremony held at the strategically located Karwar naval base in Karnataka.

It is a recreation of a fifth-century vessel and is named after Kaundinya, a legendary Indian mariner who sailed across the Indian Ocean to Southeast Asia, officials said. The ship serves as a tangible symbol of India’s long-standing traditions of maritime exploration, trade, and cultural exchange, and its induction and naming marks a culmination of an “extraordinary project” that celebrates India’s rich shipbuilding heritage, they said.