Rush Hour: Centre denies that India lost Rafale ‘jets', Trump warns BRICS of tariff hikes and more
It is incorrect to say that multiple Rafale jets of the Indian Air Force were shot down by Pakistan during Operation Sindoor, Defence Secretary RK Singh has said. During an interview to CNBC-TV18, Singhrefused to answer a question regarding the losses the Air Force suffered during the initial phase of the four-day conflict.
'You have used the term Rafales in the plural, I can assure you that is absolutely not correct,' Singh told CNBC-TV18. 'Pakistan suffered losses many times over India in both human and material terms and more than 100 terrorists,' said the defence secretary. He reiterated that the government had given the Indian military operational freedom during the conflict.
This came following a remark by Captain Shiv Kumar, India's defence attaché to Indonesia, on June 10 that the Indian Air Force had lost fighter jets to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor on May 7 because of the 'constraint given by the political leadership'. Read on.
The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has issued provisional scholarship letters to 40 out of 106 selected candidates for the 2025-'26 National Overseas Scholarship, saying that the remaining 66 will receive theirs 'subject to availability of funds'.
In previous years, all selected candidates were issued letters at the same time.
Although the Union government has funds, they cannot be released without clearance from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, which is chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said an unidentified official from the ministry. Read on.
United States President Donald Trump on Sunday said that Washington will impose an additional 10% tariffs on countries aligning with the 'anti-American policies' of the BRICS grouping. He did not elaborate on which policies he believed were against the interests of his country.
BRICS comprises India, Brazil, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Leaders of the BRICS nations met in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
In January, Trump had warned members of the BRICS against attempts to replace the US dollar as a reserve currency by repeating a 100%-tariff threat that he had made after winning the presidential election in November. Read on.
The Preamble to the Constitution cannot be altered just like a person cannot change their parents, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar has said. He also claimed that no country had changed its Preamble, apart from India during the Emergency.
The remarks came nearly 10 days after the vice president said that the addition of the words 'secular' and 'socialist' to the Preamble was a 'sacrilege to the spirit of sanatana'.
In June, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh called for a review of the inclusion of the words 'secular' and 'socialist' in the Preamble. The RSS is the parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Read on.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
36 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Netanyahu nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize after meeting at White House, Gaza ceasefire discussed
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that he has nominated US President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, an honour the American leader has long coveted after one of his predecessor's, Barack Obama, received it in 2009. Netanyahu handed a copy of the letter to Trump which he had sent to the Norwegian Nobel Committee with his name in the nomination form. Netanyahu described Trump's 'leadership of a just cause' as he allowed US planes to enter the Iranian airspace and target its nuclear facilities last month, which also brought a 12-day Israel-Iran conflict to an end. Netanyahu termed Trump in the 'pursuit of peace and security' in 'many lands' as the Israeli prime minister praised the US president's 'extraordinary team'. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presents President Trump with a letter nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize — Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 7, 2025 'I want to express the appreciation and admiration, not only of all Israelis, but of the Jewish people and many, many admirers around the world for your leadership,' Netanyahu said, reported The Independent. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met today at Blair House in Washington, with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They first held an expanded meeting and then met privately. — Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) July 7, 2025 Netanyahu is in the United States for his third visit after Trump returned to the White House in January and his first meeting with the US president after the Iran conflict ended. Before leaving for Washington, the Israeli leader had said that his discussions with the Trump administration could help advance negotiations under way in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Netanyahu, during a brief press interaction ahead of a 'private dinner' with Trump said, 'I think our teams together make an extraordinary combination to meet challenges and seize opportunities. But the President has already realized great opportunities. He forged the Abraham accords. He's forging peace, as we speak, in one country, in one region after the other.' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt detailed the meeting between Netanyahu and Trump and said that there were 'many important matters' that were 'obviously ongoing' in the Middle East region for the leaders to discuss.
Mint
42 minutes ago
- Mint
Trump pushes global trade war back to the top of his agenda
President Trump reignited his global trade war Monday, renewing his threat to hit partners with punishing tariffs even as he announced a three-week extension to negotiate deals. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump would sign an executive order extending the date when his so-called reciprocal tariffs would take effect, previously scheduled to expire at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. Additionally, Trump sent letters to a handful of nations outlining tariff rates they would pay if they didn't strike trade deals with the U.S. by Aug. 1. 'The administration—the president and his trade team—want to cut the best deals for the American people and the American worker," Leavitt said, adding that the delay in the deadline is in the 'best interest" of the country. Trump, on his Truth Social platform, posted letters to the leaders of Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and others by Monday afternoon, informing them of the Aug. 1 date. Leavitt suggested that just more than a dozen nations would get letters but didn't specify how the countries were chosen. More than 80 countries were subject to the 'Liberation Day" tariffs that were first announced April 2. 'Please understand that these Tariffs are necessary to correct the many years of Japan's Tariff, and Non Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers, causing these unsustainable Trade Deficits against the United States," Trump wrote in his letter addressed to Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. 'This Deficit is a major threat to our Economy and, indeed, our National Security!" Letters to other nations were nearly identical, though the rate varied from 25% to 40%, depending on the country. The rates were generally closely tied to the original reciprocal rates set in April, though some were slightly different (Japan's new 25% rate is 1 percentage point higher than the 24% rate set in April). The emphasis on trade follows big wins for Trump in the past two weeks, including signing his tax and domestic policy megabill and helping broker a cease-fire between Israel and Iran. U.S. job growth in June was steadier than economists had expected, signaling strength in the economy. 'We are going to have several announcements in the next 48 hours," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday morning on CNBC. Wilbur Ross, Trump's first-term Secretary of Commerce, said the president was moving the goal posts for imposing tariffs while also trying to up the ante by issuing statements reminding world leaders of his pending levies. 'Effectively what he has done has said this is what the tariffs will be if [other countries] don't do something different," Ross said, adding that the original July 9 date was 'very, very hard to achieve." Interests that represent U.S. trade-reliant businesses have welcomed the Trump team's stated desire to lower other nations' trade barriers, but decried his continued use of high tariffs as leverage. 'The President's strategic uncertainty is producing some short term results, but continuing to threaten exorbitant tariff rates is just paralyzing for business decision-making and erodes trust with our allies and major trading partners," said Jake Colvin, the president of the National Foreign Trade Council, which represents large U.S. firms. Myanmar's rate would be 40% on Aug. 1, down from 44%, while Laos's would fall to 40% from 48%. Kazakhstan's rate would fall from 27% to 25%. Malaysia's new rate would rise to 25% from the 24% announced on Liberation Day, just like Japan's, while South Africa's rate would stay constant at 30%, as would South Korea's at 25%. The administration didn't explain why some rates changed. The reciprocal tariffs wouldn't be applied to products that are covered under Trump's separate national-security tariffs, a White House official said. So far, the president has applied 50% national-security tariffs on steel and aluminum, and 25% on automobiles. Similar tariffs for semiconductors, lumber, critical minerals and copper are being studied by the Commerce Department. U.S. officials have promised that they would strike pacts with other nations to lower tariffs in exchange for more market access and fewer regulations on U.S. firms abroad. So far, the administration has struck a narrow pact with the U.K., arrived at a tenuous tariff truce with China, and announced a deal with Vietnam (though neither nation has provided any evidence that an agreement has been officially signed). Trump in recent days has said he thought a deal was close with India, among other nations, but Leavitt gave no indication of which—if any—will be unveiled in the coming days. Write to Gavin Bade at and Brian Schwartz at
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
Brics leaders reject Trump's ‘anti-American' claim, Lula says 'world doesn't need an emperor'
Brics leaders rejected Trump's claims that the bloc is 'anti-American,' whereas taking a sharp jibe at him Brazilian President Lula da Silva said the world 'doesn't need an emperor' read more From left, Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto, South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China's Premier Li Qiang pose for a group photo at the 17th annual BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Sunday, July 6, 2025. (AP Photo) Brics leaders on Monday rejected Donald Trump's claim that the bloc is 'anti-American.' Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said the world 'doesn't need an emperor' after the US President threatened new tariffs on BRICS countries. Trump issued his threat on Sunday night as the US prepared to finalize multiple trade deals before his July 9 deadline for imposing 'retaliatory tariffs.' Speaking at the end of the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Lula responded firmly to Trump's warning, saying, 'The world has changed. We don't want an emperor.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD He described Brics as a group of countries looking for new ways to organize the global economy and said, 'I think that's why BRICS makes some people uncomfortable.' Back in February, Trump warned Brics nations they could face '100 per cent tariffs' if they tried to weaken the US dollar's role in global trade. By that time, Brazil's BRICS presidency had already scaled back efforts to create a common currency for the bloc, an idea some members proposed last year. On Monday, Lula repeated his view that global trade shouldn't rely only on the US dollar. 'The world needs to find a way for our trade relations not to depend on the dollar,' Lula told journalists. He added, 'Of course, we have to do this carefully and responsibly. Our central banks need to talk with central banks in other countries.' Other BRICS leaders also responded to Trump's threats, though in calmer terms. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the group does not aim to compete with other world powers and expressed hope for reaching a trade deal with the United States. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'Tariffs should not be used as a tool for coercion and pressure,' said Mao Ning, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry in Beijing. She added that BRICS supports 'win-win cooperation' and 'does not target any country.'
