India Today Magazine: Top News Magazine online, Edition, July 28, 2025
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
15 minutes ago
- Mint
PCB issues ban on ‘Pakistan' name in private cricket after WCL 2025 fiasco: Report
Following the embarrassment faced by the Pakistan Legends side in the World Championship of Legends, the Pakistan Cricket Board has reportedly decided to ban all private cricket leagues from using the country's name, according to a recent report. The decision by the PCB comes shortly after India Champions refused to play with their Pakistani counterparts in the semi-final of the tournament in Birmingham. Prior to the semi-final clash, Indian players like Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Shikhar Dhawan and Harbhajan Singh had also opted out of the league stage match against the arch-rivals. The cricketers attributed the decision to the rising geopolitical tensions between the two countries, especially in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack and the ensuing Operation Sindoor launched by the Indian armed forces. With India boycotting the semi-final clash against Pakistan, the neighbours had qualified for the final match. If a report by Telecom Asia Sport is to be believed, the Pakistan Legends side has been allowed to play the final match against South Africa on Saturday, but the PCB has made it clear that no future teams or leagues will be permitted to use the 'Pakistan' name without formal clearance by the cricket board. The decision was reportedly taken by the PCB after an emergency meeting of the Board of Directors after India Champions refused to take the field twice against Pakistan. 'The decision was taken after a detailed discussion in the Board of Directors meeting on Thursday. The high-level authorities felt Indian players refusing to play Pakistan in the WCL's second edition twice was hurtful to the name of the country," quoted a source as saying. 'Going forward, no private organisation will be allowed to use the country's name in any capacity unless the PCB verifies the league's legitimacy and reputation. All violators will face legal action,' it added. Mint could not independently verify the report. After the cancellation of the semi-final match, WCL had issued a statement writing, 'At WCL, we have always believed in the power of sport to inspire and bring about positive change in the world. However, public sentiment must always be respected — after all, everything we do is for our audience,' the WCL statement read. 'We respect the India Champions' decision to withdraw from the semi-finals, and we equally respect the Pakistan Champions' readiness to compete. Taking all factors into consideration, the match between the India Champions and the Pakistan Champions has been called off,' it added.
Hindustan Times
15 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
'Tamasha kehne ki himmat...': PM Modi blasts Opposition over Operation Sindoor
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched a scathing attack on the Opposition and the Congress for allegedly belittling the success of Operation Sindoor. Prime Minister Narendra Modi(HT_PRINT)
Indian Express
15 minutes ago
- Indian Express
No consensus is the new normal: Op Sindoor debate reveals Govt-Opposition divide runs deep
The rare political consensus in the country in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and the subsequent military conflict with Pakistan was short-lived, fracturing with the surprise announcement of the ceasefire on May 10. And the special discussion in Parliament this week has only deepened the bitterness between the Treasury and the Opposition benches, with the political class deeply divided on the key issue of national security after the marathon three-day debate. The discussion in both Houses presented an opportunity to the government and the Opposition to show a semblance of unity and reflect a common resolve against terrorism emanating from Pakistan. While almost every second speaker spoke about the need for talking in one voice, a look at the speeches from both sides of the aisle shows that consensus is a rare commodity in 'New India', and that is perhaps the new normal. The only common element in all the speeches was the praise of the valour of the security forces, now a political prerequisite. Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not reply to the debate in Rajya Sabha and fielded Union Home Minister Amit Shah, prompting an Opposition walkout. The needle moved a lot from the government's point of view. It believes that the Home Minister's announcement of the gunning down of the Pahalgam terrorists, the PM's emphatic assertion that 'no leader in the world asked India to stop its military operation (Sindoor)', and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankhar's candid statement about the government's differences with the US on Pakistan and that New Delhi had taken up every issue it has with Washington DC — including the deportation of Indians, visas and the cause of students — have put an end to all questions and speculation surrounding Operation Sindoor and the US role. The Opposition, however, is not satisfied. While Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi's dare to the PM to show 'courage' and declare US President Donald Trump a liar if he was not speaking the truth was plain political rhetoric, the Opposition believes Modi and the government ducked vital questions: on security and intelligence failure that resulted in the Pahalgam attack, fixing of accountability in that context, the losses suffered by the Indian Air Force, and Trump's role. While the PM skipped any mention of Trump and his repeated assertions of having brokered the ceasefire, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh danced around the issue of the fighter jets lost on the first day of the conflict, saying, 'In any exam, the result matters. We should see whether a student is getting good marks in an exam and not focus on whether his pencil was broken or the pen was lost.' To keep the pressure on the government, the Congress raised its nationalist pitch. Right from Gandhi to other leaders, the refrain was that the government should not have agreed to halt the military action, given its claim that Pakistan was asking for a ceasefire. Uncharacteristic of the Congress, but the party believes it can score a political point or two over the government by taking this stance. But as is its wont, former Union Home Minister P Chidambaram's remarks that those behind the Pahalgam attack could be homegrown terrorists and 'there is no evidence' they came from Pakistan gave the government ample political opportunity to once again box the party into a corner. Gandhi's speech was spirited and so was that of Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, his sister, who reminded the government of the resignations of Vilasrao Deshmukh as Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shivraj Patil as Union Home Minister after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Gandhi was scathing in his attack on the PM. He not just dared him to call out Trump, but said, 'It is dangerous in this time for the Prime Minister to use the forces to protect his image. It is dangerous for the country. The forces should only be used in the national interest, the forces should be used with freedom. If you want them to be used … then go all the way, fight properly and defeat them once and for all,' he said. The debate often dipped into the past. The Congress speakers mentioned the creation of Bangladesh by the Indira Gandhi government despite US pressure to back off and contrasted it with the ceasefire announcement by Trump. And the Treasury benches, right from the PM to Shah, delved into the record of Congress governments (bringing in Jawaharlal Nehru to Sonia Gandhi) both vis-a-vis Pakistan and handling of terrorism, pointing out repeatedly that the Congress showed weakness in moments including Partition, the India-Pakistan wars of 1947–1948 and 1965, the Indus Waters Treaty, and the 1962 war with China. The Congress, expectedly, carries a lot of baggage. And not surprisingly, its leaders, apart from the mention of Indira Gandhi, were focused on trying to pin down the government on the issues at hand. The government, apart from chest thumping over Operation Sindoor, singled out the Congress, reeling out incidents from history. While other INDIA bloc parties were on the same page as the Congress in targeting the government, none came to the Congress's rescue while it faced the brunt of the BJP attack.
