Pahalgam attackers entered India from Pakistan three years ago: officials

The three Pakistani terrorists involved in the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack used “ultra high frequency wireless sets” to communicate with other operatives and also their aides across the border, a senior government official told The Hindu. They were killed in Dachigam in the Kashmir Valley. The three Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, identified as Suleman, alias Faizal Jatt; Hamza Afghani; and Zibran,entered India from Pakistan around three years ago. 

Ruling dispensation lacked political will to carry out Operation Sindoor: Rahul Gandhi

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi alleged that the ruling NDA lacked political will to carry out Operation Sindoor, and the entire exercise was carried out only to protect the image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Participating in the special discussion on “India’s strong, successful and decisive Operation Sindoor in response to the terror attack in Pahalgam” in the Lok Sabha, Mr. Gandhi said he wanted to tell the PM that the nation was above his image, his politics and his Public Relations exercise and Mr. Modi must have “the humility and the dignity” to understand that.

Meghnad Desai, eminent Indian-born economist and author, dies at 85

Lord Meghnad Desai, a “multifaceted personality”, eminent economist, holder of India’s third-highest civilian honour, and a member of the United Kingdom’s House of Lords has passed away, at the age of 85. Born Meghnad Jagdishchandra Desai, Lord Desai, as he came to be known following his membership to the House of Lords in the U.K., was born in Vadodara in 1940. 

U.N. conference backs two-state solution, calls on Israel to commit to a Palestinian state

High-level representatives at a U.N. conference urged Israel to commit to a Palestinian state and gave “unwavering support” to a two-state solution, signaling widespread international determination to end one of the world’s longest conflicts. The “New York Declaration” sets out a phased plan to end the nearly eight-decade conflict and the ongoing war in Gaza. The plan would culminate with an independent, demilitarized Palestine living side by side peacefully with Israel, and the nation’s eventual integration into the wider Mideast region.

Starmer says U.K. will recognize Palestinian state unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K. will recognize a Palestinian state in September – unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire in Gaza and takes steps toward long-term peace. Mr. Starmer called ministers together for a rare summertime Cabinet meeting to discuss the situation in Gaza. He told them that Britain will recognize a state of Palestine before the United Nations General Assembly, “unless the Israeli government takes substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza, reaches a ceasefire, makes clear there will be no annexation in the West Bank, and commits to a long-term peace process that delivers a two state solution.”

Not a single world leader asked India to stop Operation Sindoor, PM tells Lok Sabha

Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that India had put Pakistan on notice of retaliation through Operation Sindoor over the Pahalgam terror attack, adding that “not a single world leader asked us to stop the operation. Our actions were precise and non-escalatory, just as we had committed”. This is a clear refutation of U.S. claims that the country mediated a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. Mr. Modi said this in his intervention during a debate in the Lok Sabha on Operation Sindoor, India’s military action against terrorist targets in Pakistan that followed the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir that left 26 people dead.

DGCA audit flags 51 safety lapses in Air India operations

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) found 51 safety lapses at Air India in its July audit, including lack of adequate training for some pilots, use of unapproved simulators and a poor rostering system, according to a government report seen by Reuters. The Tata Group-owned airline is already facing warning notices for running planes without checking emergency equipment, not changing engine parts in time and forging records, along with other lapses related to crew fatigue management.

IMF upgrades India’s FY26 & FY27 growth forecast to 6.4% in line with global growth uptick

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has upgraded India’s growth expectations to 6.4% in both 2025-26 and 2026-27 as compared to what it had predicted in April. The growth upgrade, of 0.2 percentage points and 0.1 percentage points, respectively, is in line with the upgrades for global growth. The IMF’s World Economic Outlook (WEO) July update released on July 29 upgraded its global growth forecast to 3% for 2025 and 3.1% in 2026, 0.2 percentage and 0.1 percentage points higher than what had been predicted in the April 2025 edition of the WEO.

Deleted, not denied: The truth behind Kanthapuram’s claim on Nimisha Priya’s reprieve

A curious development unfolded about the reported commutation of Malayali nurse Nimisha Priya’s death sentence in Yemen. An ANI tweet about the reprieve, shared by Sunni leader Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar on X, disappeared from his social media handle. On Monday night, Mr. Aboobacker Musliar had announced that Yemeni authorities had waived the death sentence following a series of discussions involving scholars appointed by senior Yemeni Sufi scholar Sheikh Habib Omer bin Hafiz, Northern Yemen representatives and international diplomats.

Torrential rain disrupts life across Bengal; Teesta overflows, landslides in north, house collapses in Kolkata

Normal life was severely affected across north and south Bengal as torrential rain lashed the State over the past two days. The Teesta River overflowed onto National Highway 10 in north Bengal, while dilapidated houses collapsed in parts of Kolkata, injuring three persons. Between July 28 and 29, the water level of the Teesta River rose steadily and crossed the danger mark, according to daily flood reports issued by the Irrigation and Waterways Department of West Bengal. In several areas, National Highway 10 had to be closed due to water submerging key stretches, disrupting road connectivity between north Bengal and Sikkim.

SC assures intervention if draft electoral roll reveals ‘mass exclusion’ of voters

The Supreme Court promised to step in without fail, and immediately, if persons omitted as dead from the draft electoral roll, scheduled to be published on August 1 as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) conducted by the Election Commission of India (EC) in Bihar, are found “very much alive”. A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi made it clear to the EC that the court would not hesitate to act if the list was riddled with “mass exclusions”. The petitioners had criticised the SIR as “citizenship screening”.

In India’s first outreach to post-Assad regime, MEA Joint Secretary meets Syrian Foreign Minister Al-Shaibani

Marking a fresh beginning in ties with Damascus in the post-Assad era, India reached out to the Syrian provisional government under the leadership of President Ahmed Hussein Al-Sharaa this week. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Joint Secretary Suresh Kumar, of the West Asia and North Africa division, met with the Syrian provisional government’s Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan Al-Shaibani in Damascus, according to officials here. Sources said he was accompanied by several other Indian officials, including the Indian Ambassador to Syria, Irshad Ahmed.

Dharmasthala: No skeletal remains recovered at first spot

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged “murders and burials” at Dharmasthala began the process of exhuming remains at the spots identified by the whistleblower/complainant on Tuesday, a long-standing demand of the complainant, his lawyers, and several activists. However, the day ended in an anti-climax, as digging through the day at the first spot the complainant had shown the SIT sleuths on Monday did not lead to any recovery of skeletal remains. The SIT will go ahead and dig up the second of the 13 sites on Wednesday, sources said. The second site is also in the forest area.

National Herald case: Court defers order on cognisance of ED charge sheet

A Delhi court deferred its order on taking cognisance of the charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the National Herald case. Court sources said the matter is now listed for August 7 and 8 for certain clarifications. The ED has accused Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, late party leaders Motilal Vora and Oscar Fernandes, as well as Suman Dubey, Sam Pitroda and a private company, Young Indian, of conspiracy and money laundering over the alleged fraudulent takeover of ₹2,000 crore worth properties belonging to Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which published the National Herald newspaper.

PM’s ‘shameful silence’ on Israel’s assault on people of Gaza height of ‘moral cowardice’, says Sonia Gandhi

Asserting that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza amounts to “genocide”, Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi slammed the Modi government for being a “mute spectator to this affront to humanity”, and said this was a “cowardly betrayal of our constitutional values”. She also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “shameful silence” in the face of Israel’s relentless and devastating assault on the people of Gaza is “deeply disappointing”, as well as the height of “moral cowardice”.

Countdown begins for NISAR satellite launch

The countdown for the NISAR satellite mission started at 2.10 p.m. on Tuesday (July 29, 2025). The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) with the 2,392-kg satellite is scheduled to lift off from the second launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 5.40 p.m. on Wednesday (July 30, 2025). It is the first joint satellite of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Published – July 30, 2025 06:18 am IST