Central Funds, Water: Non-BJP Chief Ministers' Demands At Meet Led By PM

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 24, 2025 | top-stories

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Prime Minister Modi urged states to collaborate for a developed India.

Opposition chief ministers raised concerns about resource sharing.

Tamil Nadu’s chief minister called for increased funds and tax revenue share.

The Niti Aayog meeting on Saturday, in which the Prime Minister urged all states to work together towards the goal of a developed India, also saw some opposition chief ministers raise issues affecting their states, with their main grievances boiling down to the sharing of resources.

While Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin pushed for the Centre to share more funds with states, his Punjab counterpart argued that his state had no water to share with Haryana.

Mr Stalin, whose government has been locked in a face-off with the BJP-led Centre over the three-language clause in the National Education Policy and has approached the Supreme Court claiming that over Rs 2,000 crore was being withheld from the state because of that, urged the Union government “extend non-discriminatory cooperation” to all states, including Tamil Nadu.

Speaking at the 10th Governing Council of the Niti Aayog, the DMK chief said, “It is not ideal for states in a federal democracy like India to struggle, argue, or litigate to receive the funds rightfully due to them. It hinders the development of both the state and the country.”

Making a case for the states’ share of divisible tax revenue to be increased to 50%, the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister pointed out that the 15th Finance Commission had recommended that 41% of divisible tax revenue be shared with states. Over the past four years, he claimed, only 33.16% of the Union Government’s gross tax revenue had been shared.

“Meanwhile, the share of expenditure expected from state governments in centrally sponsored schemes continues to rise, which further strains the finances of states like Tamil Nadu. On the one hand, reduced tax devolution from the Union affects state finances. On the other hand, higher contributions required for central schemes impose additional burdens,” he said.

Proposing that the states’ share be increased to 50%, the DMK chief urged the Centre to seriously consider the demand. He also praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to make India a developed country and achieve a $30 trillion economy by 2047.

Yamuna Water

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, whose government is in a dispute with Haryana over the sharing of water from the Bhakra-Nangal Dam, emphasised at the meeting that his state is facing a shortage and has no water to give.

The Aam Aadmi Party leader argued that, given the situation in Punjab, a Yamuna-Sutlej-Link (YSL) canal should be considered for construction instead of the Sutlej-Yamuna-Link (SYL) canal.

According to a statement, the chief minister said the Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej rivers are already in deficit and water should be diverted from surplus to deficit basins. He also asserted that Punjab has repeatedly requested to be included in negotiations for the allocation of Yamuna’s water as a pact under the Yamuna-Sutlej-Link project – signed between the erstwhile Punjab and Uttar Pradesh on March 12, 1954 – which had entitled Punjab to two-thirds of the Yamuna’s water.

The agreement did not specify the area to be irrigated by Yamuna, he said, adding that, before the reorganisation, the Yamuna, like the Ravi and Beas, flowed through Punjab.

He pointed out that while apportioning the river water between Punjab and Haryana, the Yamuna was not considered, whereas the waters of the Ravi and Beas were.

Citing a 1972 report by the centrally-constituted Irrigation Commission, Mr Mann said that it states that Punjab (post-1966, after its reorganisation) falls in the Yamuna River Basin, and therefore, if Haryana has a claim over the waters of Ravi and Beas rivers, Punjab should also have an equal claim on Yamuna’s water.

The Niti Aayog meeting was attended by most chief ministers, barring West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, Karnataka’s Siddaramaiah, Kerala’s Pinarayi Vijayan, Puducherry’s N Rangasamy and Bihar’s Nitish Kumar

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Colonel Assault Case: Punjab Police Inspector's Anticipatory Bail Rejected

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 23, 2025 | top-stories

Chandigarh:

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Punjab Police inspector Ronnie Singh Salh in connection with the assault case of Army Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath in Patiala more than two months ago.

Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath had accused 12 Punjab Police personnel of assaulting him and his son over a parking dispute in Patiala outside a dhaba in March.

Bath had then alleged that the assailants — four inspector-rank officers of Punjab Police and their armed subordinates — attacked him and his son without provocation, snatched his ID card and mobile phone, and threatened him with a “fake encounter” — all in public view and under CCTV camera coverage. The colonel suffered a broken arm, while his son had a cut on his head in the incident.

“This vile, uncivilised, pitiless and brutal way is not the manner in which a police force ought to behave with its people, anywhere, and especially, in a democratic country like ours,” Justice Anoop Chitkara observed in his order.

This horrific, “gut-wrenching incident” showcases the complete misuse of police power by these officers, he said.

“…Even if it is hypothetically assumed that the victims had wrongfully parked their car on the roadside, still the job of a law enforcement officer is to issue a challan (ticket) to that motor vehicle which has violated any such law.

“It is not the job of any trained law enforcer, skilled in the efficient use of force continuum to mete out unmerciful, furious beatings to a common man on the drop of the hat and disrespect civilians, wielding their authority to disregard and disrupt law and order themselves,” Justice Chitkara observed.

It appears that this was an unfortunate case of gross misuse of emergency powers under the Police Act, the order reads.

The judge said in his order that the prime duty of the police is not to instil fear in the minds of public using unwarranted force but to secure observance of law and order and to bring that goal to fruition, a prerequisite is adherence to and respect for legal framework itself.

“It is common knowledge that the majority of the people, especially the poor, downtrodden, and illiterate, have been deeply conditioned to be afraid of the police, harbouring a fear of them in the hearts of hearts. It is behaviour like that as seen in the present case, exhibited by a thin minority of officials, which inspires such fear and terror and is exemplary of incidents fuelling such narratives,” he observed.

On the contrary, the purpose of the police force is to impartially, without fear or favour, and without biases, take care of its people, with sensitivity, affection, empathy and kindness on the one hand; while being firm, honest and astute on the other, using reasonable force when it is inevitable to control hooliganism, he said.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had in April directed Chandigarh Police to probe the case and also issued directions to complete the investigation within four months. Colonel Bath had sought transfer of the probe to the CBI or another independent agency.

Punjab Police lodged a fresh FIR based on Colonel Bath’s statement a week after the alleged incident.

Justice Chitkara, in the order on Friday, observed that the complainant’s case is that, despite informing the police officers of his identity as a colonel in the Indian Army and showing his identity card, the police officers did not stop with their thrashing, which further highlights the high headedness, cruelty, arrogance and lack of any empathy of the police team.

“Such conduct of the police team in brutally beating an individual, even after being made aware that he was a serving member of the armed forces reflects the mindset of some of the police officers in this part of the country.

“We must not forget so early that this region is closer to a hostile border, has a history of militancy, and is still battling cross-border narco terrorism,” he observed.

The court also called for a thorough investigation by a senior-level officer not less than the rank of an SP into the delay in registration of an FIR on the victim’s complaint.

“…If the police officers display such brutality, high handedness and disrespect towards the members who belong to our esteemed defense services, such a reprehensible conduct would certainly be against the whole nation and may even imply that such officers would be happy to serve any ruler, which defies the entire purpose for which a democracy would give them so much power in the first place”.

There is no doubt that the petitioner and his accomplices were the aggressors who started assaulting the complainant and his son on a parking issue, simply because the manner in which they demanded complainant party’s car to be moved was objected to by the latter, the order says.

“A perusal of the bail petition and the documents attached prima facie points towards the petitioner’s involvement and does not make out a case for anticipatory bail. The impact of crime would also not justify anticipatory bail…”, the judge observed, rejecting the anticipatory bail plea

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Andaman Airspace Closed Till Saturday For Inter-Island Missile Test

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 23, 2025 | top-stories

New Delhi:

The airspace over Andaman and Nicobar islands has been closed for today and tomorrow to likely conduct an inter-island missile test. As part of a Notice to Airmen or NOTAM, no aircraft will be allowed above the islands at any altitude.

The possible land attack missile test will come at a time peace prevails at the India-Pakistan border, but the government continues to assert that Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7 with strikes on terror targets in the neighbouring countries, is on.

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“Relations Built On Sensitivities To…”: India On Turkey's Support To Pakistan

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 22, 2025 | top-stories

New Delhi:

In a strong message to Turkey over its support to Pakistan in recent times, the Government of India said on Thursday that New Delhi expects Ankara to encourage Pakistan to address the problem of cross-border terrorism emanating from it.

New Delhi also asked Turkey to dissuade Pakistan from using terrorism as an instrument of state policy and take credible and verifiable actions against the terror ecosystem that Islamabad and Rawalpindi have harboured for decades.

As ties between India and Turkey have taken a hit with Ankara’s tilt towards Pakistan after the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, India made it clear that relations between two countries are built on mutual respect and sensitivities of each other’s concerns.

“We expect Turkey to strongly urge Pakistan to end its support to cross-border terrorism and take credible and verifiable actions against the terror ecosystem it has harbored for decades. Relations are built on the basis of sensitivities to each other’s concerns,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a weekly press briefing today.

Turkey’s role in Pakistan’s escalations against India, which started with the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, came under focus during India’s Operation Sindoor response. Besides ideological and moral support to Islamabad, Turkey provided arms and weapons to Pakistan as well.

300-400 drones used by Pakistan in its military escalation against India were mostly provided by Turkey. These drones targeted both military and civilian areas in India. The drones were used to carry out multiple intrusions and violations of Indian airspace along the entire western border – from Leh in Ladakh to Sir Creek in Gujarat – at 36 locations, the government had said in its Op Sindoor press briefing.

In addition to this, Turkey stood in solidarity with Pakistan when India eliminated more than 100 terrorists taking shelter in terror camps destroyed by India in its precision missile strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. At the same time, Turkey did not condemn the Pahalgam terror attack, which was carried out by Pakistan-linked terrorists associated with The Resistance Front – an offshoot of the UN-banned Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Turkey has, for long, backed Pakistan in its invasion and illegal occupation of Indian territory in Jammu and Kashmir.

Turkey also indulged in military posturing during Operation Sindoor by sending its warship to Karachi Port, which it called a “routine port call”. Ankara also reportedly sent military aircraft containing arms and weapons to aid Pakistan in its misadventure against India – reports that Trukey has denied, saying the aircraft landed for refuelling purposes.

After India eliminated over 100 terrorists, a note of solidarity sent by Turkish President Erdogan to Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif stated that “I pray for Allah’s mercy for our brothers who lost their lives in the attacks, and I extend my condolences to the brotherly people and state of Pakistan.”

Amid growing anti-Turkey sentiments in India, activists and citizens have called for a total boycott of Turkish goods and services in India. People have also urged fellow Indians to avoid Turkey as a holiday destination and appealed to filmmakers to avoid shoots in that country.

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Hacker Steals Data From US Government Through App Used By Trump Aide

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 21, 2025 | top-stories

Quick Read

Summary is AI generated, newsroom reviewed.

A hacker breached TeleMessage, a messaging platform used by U.S. officials, leaking data from over 60 government users, including disaster responders and diplomats. The incident raises cybersecurity concerns, though no sensitive content was confirmed.

Washington:

A hacker who breached the communications service used by former Trump national security adviser Mike Waltz earlier this month intercepted messages from a broader swathe of American officials than has previously been reported, according to a Reuters review, potentially raising the stakes of a breach that has already drawn questions about data security in the Trump administration.

Reuters identified more than 60 unique government users of the messaging platform TeleMessage in a cache of leaked data provided by Distributed Denial of Secrets, a U.S. nonprofit whose stated mission is to archive hacked and leaked documents in the public interest. The trove included material from disaster responders, customs officials, several U.S. diplomatic staffers, at least one White House staffer and members of the Secret Service. The messages reviewed by Reuters covered a roughly day-long period of time ending on May 4, and many of them were fragmentary.

Once little known outside government and finance circles, TeleMessage drew media attention after an April 30 Reuters photograph showed Waltz checking TeleMessage’s version of the privacy-focused app Signal during a cabinet meeting.

While Reuters could not verify the entire contents of the TeleMessage trove, in more than half a dozen cases the news agency was able to establish that the phone numbers in the leaked data were correctly attributed to their owners. One of the intercepted texts’ recipients – an applicant for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency – confirmed to Reuters that the leaked message was authentic; a financial services firm whose messages were similarly intercepted also confirmed their authenticity.

Based on its limited review, Reuters uncovered nothing that seemed clearly sensitive and did not uncover chats by Waltz or other cabinet officials. Some chats did seem to bear on the travel plans of senior government officials. One Signal group, “POTUS | ROME-VATICAN | PRESS GC,” appeared to pertain to the logistics of an event at the Vatican. Another appeared to discuss U.S. officials’ trip to Jordan.

Reuters reached out to all the individuals it could identify seeking comment; some confirmed their identities but most didn’t respond or referred questions to their respective agencies.

Reuters could not ascertain how TeleMessage had been used by each agency. The service – which takes versions of popular apps and allows their messages to be archived in line with government rules – has been suspended since May 5, when it went offline “out of an abundance of caution.” TeleMessage’s owner, the Portland, Oregon-based digital communications firm Smarsh, did not respond to requests for comments about the leaked data.

The White House said in a statement that it was “aware of the cyber security incident at Smarsh” but didn’t offer comment on its use of the platform. The State Department didn’t respond to messages. The Secret Service said TeleMessage products had been used “by a small subset of Secret Service employees” and that it was reviewing the situation. FEMA said in an email that it had “no evidence” that its information had been compromised. It didn’t respond when sent copies of internal FEMA messages. A CBP spokesperson repeated a past statement noting that it had disabled TeleMessage and was investigating the breach.

METADATA RISK

Federal contracting data shows that State and DHS have had contracts with TeleMessage in recent years, as has the Centers for Disease Control. A CDC spokesperson told Reuters in an email Monday that the agency piloted the software in 2024 to assess its potential for records management requirements “but found it did not fit our needs.” The status of the other contracts wasn’t clear. A week after that hack, the U.S. cyber defense agency CISA recommended that users “discontinue use of the product” barring any mitigating instructions about how to use the app from Smarsh.

Jake Williams, a former National Security Agency cyber specialist, said that, even if the intercepted text messages were innocuous, the wealth of metadata – the who and when of the leaked conversations and chat groups – posed a counterintelligence risk.

“Even if you don’t have the content, that is a top-tier intelligence access,” said Williams, now vice president of research and development at cybersecurity firm Hunter Strategy.

Waltz’s prior use of Signal created a public furor when he accidentally added a prominent journalist to a Signal chat where he and other Trump cabinet officials were discussing air raids on Yemen in real time. Soon after, Waltz was ousted from his job, although not from the administration: Trump said he was nominating Waltz to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

The circumstances surrounding Waltz’s use of TeleMessage haven’t been publicly disclosed and neither he nor the White House has responded to questions about the matter.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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'Golden Dome' Missile Shield To Be 1st US Weapon In Space. All About It

by Hansraj Agrawal | May 21, 2025 | top-stories

Washington:

United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday unveiled new details on his plan for a missile defence system known as “Golden Dome”, which is estimated to cost a total of some $175 billion. The “Golden Dome” will be the first weapon the US puts in space, and it should be operational in about three years, by the end of his time in office, the President said.

Trump said his team has officially finalised the architecture of the futuristic defence system that he announced just days after returning to the White House in January. At the time, the Republican said the system would be aimed at countering “next-generation” aerial threats to the US, including ballistic and cruise missiles.

“In the campaign, I promised the American people I would build a cutting-edge missile defence shield…Today, I am pleased to announce we have officially selected architecture for this state-of-the-art system,” Trump said at the White House.

What Is The Golden Dome System?

The Golden Dome will be a ground- and space-based missile shield system that will detect, track and stop missiles at multiple stages of flight, potentially destroying them before takeoff or intercepting them in mid-air. Calling the new system “very important for the success and even survival” of the United States, Trump said that once fully constructed, it will be capable of intercepting missiles even if they are launched from other sides of the world, and even if they are launched from space.

Golden Dome has more expansive goals, with Trump saying it “will deploy next-generation technologies across the land, sea and space, including space-based sensors and interceptors.”

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, speaking alongside Trump, said the design for the Golden Dome will integrate with existing ground-based defence capabilities and is aimed at protecting “the homeland from cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, drones, whether they’re conventional or nuclear.”

How Much Will It Cost?

The system will cost over $500 billion, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office. However, Trump has, so far, announced $25 billion in initial funding for the plan, which he said could eventually cost a total of some $175 billion.

When Will It Be Completed?

Trump said the system will be operational in about three years, by the end of his time in office. However, Forbes reported that the cost of the project will be absorbed over 20 years.

Who Will Lead The Project?

Trump said US Space Force General Michael Guetlein will lead the effort. A four-star general, Guetlein had a 30-year career in the Air Force before he joined the Space Force in 2021. He reportedly specialises in missile defence and space systems.

Countries Covered Under the Golden Globe

The System is meant to protect the United States from all kinds of missile or drone attacks, but Trump said that Canada has expressed interest in being part of it as “they want to have protection also.”

Idea Behind The Golden Globe

The plan’s Golden Dome name stems from Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system that has intercepted thousands of short-range rockets and other projectiles since it went into operation in 2011. The United States faces various missile threats from adversaries, but they differ significantly from the short-range weapons that Israel’s Iron Dome is designed to counter.

The 2022 Missile Defence Review pointed to growing threats from Russia and China.

Who Opposes The Plan?

Russia and China earlier this month slammed the Golden Dome concept as “deeply destabilising,” saying it risked turning space into a “battlefield.”

It “explicitly provides for a significant strengthening of the arsenal for conducting combat operations in space,” said a statement published by the Kremlin after talks between the two sides.

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