INDIA

An Indian youtuber, who goes by the alias Malik Swashbuckler, has reportedly been detained by Turkish authorities after a series of disturbing videos surfaced showing him making sexist and sexually explicit comments about Turkish women while walking through public markets. The videos, recorded in Hindi, initially went unnoticed by locals. But after Turkish social media users flagged the content, it quickly drew outrage online. In one widely circulated clip, the man is seen roaming with a woman in a busy marketplace, making crude remarks and hurling abuse at shopkeepers after asking whether they sell an Indian tricolour. In another, more disturbing video, he makes a lewd comment about a Turkish woman and allegedly asks his followers if he should rape her that night. As per local...

Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan on Saturday acknowledged the loss of aircraft in recent hostilities with Pakistan but dismissed as "absolutely incorrect" Islamabad’s claim of downing six Indian jets. In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Gen Chauhan emphasized that it is more important to analyze the reasons behind the losses than to focus on the number of jets lost. "I think what is important is not the jet being downed but why they were being downed," he said. When asked whether India lost combat aircraft during the four-day military confrontation with Pakistan earlier this month, Chauhan said, "The good part is that we were able to understand the tactical mistakes which we made; remedied, rectified and then implemented it again after two days. We flew all our jets again, targ...

A 60-year-old woman who tested positive for COVID-19 has died in Delhi, officials said on Saturday. This is the first fatality in the capital amid the current surge in cases. According to official data, Delhi has 294 active COVID-19 cases. “The woman was suffering from acute intestinal obstruction post-laparotomy. The COVID-19 finding was incidental,” an official said. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said on Thursday that 19 Covid patients are hospitalised in Delhi, but there is no need to worry. The Delhi government is alert and hospitals are prepared to deal with any eventuality, she said. (AGENCIES)

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for targeting the opposition during a time when it has stood united with the government on crucial national security matters. Speaking in response to Modi’s recent rally in Bengal, Banerjee said, “I am truly shocked and saddened that at a time when the entire opposition is standing with the government, when opposition leaders have gone on overseas delegations to defend India, the Prime Minister comes to Bengal and the BJP announces an ‘Operation Bengal’ akin to Operation Sindoor. This is shameful politics. Stop dividing the country, stop weakening India.” Banerjee’s remarks came after Modi’s speech in Alipurduar, where he lauded the Indian armed forces for their recent cross-border action ...

A senior officer of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Deputy Director Chintan Raghuvanshi, has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on charges of demanding and accepting a bribe of ₹20 lakh from a businessman in Odisha. Raghuvanshi, a 2013-batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer, was arrested following a complaint filed by Bhubaneswar-based hospital owner Ratikanta Rout. According to the complaint, the ED officer initially demanded ₹5 crore to settle a money laundering case, later reducing the demand to ₹2 crore. The bribe was allegedly meant to prevent the attachment of Rout’s hospital and avoid further legal action, including arrest. The CBI laid a trap and reportedly caught Raghuvanshi red-handed while accepting ₹20 lakh, the first installment of the...

The Centre has ordered deployment of 580 companies, comprising about 42,000 on-ground personnel, of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) for the annual Amarnath Yatra in Jammu Kashmir, official sources said on Thursday. While 424 companies are being sent to the Union Territory (UT), the rest, including about 80 companies that moved to the UT during Operation Sindoor, will be "relocated" to secure the yatra route, the pilgrims and other areas, including Srinagar, they said. The Union home ministry, officials told PTI, has directed that these forces move "immediately" and take position in Jammu Kashmir by the second week of June. The Amarnath Yatra will begin on July 3 and end on August 9. The security deployment plan for the pilgrimage is being prepared keeping in mind the chall...

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Assistant Sub Inspector, Moti Ram Jat, on charges of espionage. According to the NIA, Jat had been sharing classified information related to national security with Pakistani intelligence operatives since 2023. The accused, a resident of Rajasthan, was posted with the CRPF’s 116 Battalion in Kashmir’s Pahalgam region—a site of a recent terror attack that claimed 26 civilian lives in April. He was taken into custody in Delhi and remanded to NIA custody until June 6 by a special court at Patiala House. Investigators revealed that Jat was approached on social media by Pakistani agents posing as a woman. Over time, he allegedly disclosed sensitive operational details, including convoy movements. Off...

In a chilling turn of events, Maharashtra Police have registered an FIR against a senior government doctor in Latur after an audio clip surfaced allegedly capturing him instructing a colleague to "kill" a COVID-19 patient during the 2021 pandemic peak. The incident, though over three years old, has resurfaced after the audio went viral on social media earlier this month, as per a report by Press Trust of India. The accused, Dr Shashikant Deshpande—then additional district surgeon at Udgir Government Hospital—is purportedly heard telling another doctor, Shashikant Dange, “Don’t allow anyone to go inside, just kill that Dayami woman,” referring to 41-year-old COVID-19 patient Kausar Fatima. At the time, Dr Dange was posted at a COVID-19 care centre in Udgir. Ironically, the Indian gove...

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said the people of Kashmir under Pakistan control are part of India’s family and will one day return to the Indian mainstream of their own will. "I believe that the people of PoK are our own, part of our family," Singh said at the CII Business Summit. "The day is not far when they will say, ‘I am India, I have returned.’" He asserted that most people in PoK feel a deep connection with India and added, “Only a few have been misled.” On relations with Pakistan, Singh said, “Our strategy on terrorism has been redefined. If there is ever a dialogue with Pakistan, it will be only on terrorism and PoK.” Singh also highlighted India’s growing defence capabilities, stating that exports have risen from under ₹1,000 crore a decade ago to ₹23,500...

Firdous Qadri Scientists at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST-K) have successfully produced India’s first gene-edited sheep using CRISPR-Cas9 technology—without introducing any foreign DNA. This breakthrough places SKUAST-K at the forefront of reproductive biotechnology in India. Led by Dr. Riaz Ahmad Shah, the same team that cloned the world’s first Pashmina goat "Noori" in 2012, the project edited the myostatin gene to enhance muscle growth. The lamb, now over three months old, shows 30% more muscle mass than its non-edited sibling. “This is not a GMO,” Dr. Shah clarified. “We’ve made precise edits within the animal’s own DNA, making it safer and potentially easier to regulate.” Vice-Chancellor Dr. Nazir Ahmad Ganai called it the daw...