India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has refused to sign the joint statement at the SCO Defence Ministers' meeting in China. According to reports, Singh declined to sign the statement as it didn’t explicitly address India’s concerns over Pakistan-backed cross-border terrorism.
SCO statement: India’s concerns
The document reportedly failed to mention the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. However, it did refer to militant activities in Balochistan. Remember, Pakistan has repeatedly accused India of supporting the Baloch freedom movement, although India has consistently denied the allegation.
“Learning like a baby”
Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla has shared a new message from the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, hours after its successful liftoff. Shukla said he was learning to live in microgravity conditions “like a baby.” He called it a small step, but a steady and solid one towards India’s human space programme. He also described it as an amazing experience to float in vacuum as the Dragon spacecraft orbited the Earth on its journey to dock at the International Space Station.
Air India plane crash probe
The Indian government has confirmed that a team headed by the chief of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is probing the Ahmedabad plane crash. It also stated that data is being extracted from the black boxes of Air India’s Boeing 787 aircraft. The plane, headed to London, crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad on June 12, killing over 270 people.
Airtel’s fraud detection system
Telecom operator Airtel has announced that its advanced fraud detection system has protected over 3.5 million users in just the Delhi-NCR region within 43 days of its launch. The system detects and blocks malicious websites across emails, SMSes, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, and Instagram in real time. When a customer attempts to access a flagged website, the page load is blocked, and they are redirected to a page explaining the reason.
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Market rallies on geopolitical calm
Indian equities continued to rally as investors responded to easing tensions in the Middle East. The Sensex gained one percent, surging past 83,500. The Nifty also rose one percent, closing at 25,500. Some market experts believe Indian equities could reach unprecedented highs if geopolitical calm persists.
