Pakistani security sources said three of the five Indian fighters it downed were India's elite Rafale fighter jets. Punjab’s Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif wrote on X, “India started it, we’ll finish it.” On the other hand, the Indian army, in a video on X, said “justice is served.” (Today's headlines )

NEW DELHI, May 7: India launched “Operation Sindoor” early on Wednesday, striking “terrorist infrastructure” in Pak-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Punjab province, while Pakistan claimed five Indian Air Force fighter jets and a drone were shot down during the missile attack. India has not confirmed the fighter jet losses.

Pakistan retaliated by shelling Kupwara and Baramulla in Kashmir and Poonch in Jammu, open to Pak on three sides. The cross-border shelling claimed seven lives and injuries to 32 in Poonch, district authorities said. There were casualties in Kupwara also. According to the Indian Army, ten civilians were also killed and 35 wounded in Kashmir region in shelling and firing by Pakistani troops from across the LoC.

Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told Bloomberg that at least five Indian fighter jets have been downed. Pakistani security sources claimed three of the five jets it downed were India's elite Rafales. India has 36 such French Rafale jets. The others downed were one MiG-29 and one SU-30 fighter jets and a Heron drone, they said.

Fragments of a fighter jet were found in Wuyan, 20 km south-west of Srinagar. It had French markings. But Pakistan Air Force also has French Mirage III and V jets. Therefore the origin of the jet could not be ascertained immediately. An eyewitness told CNN that a fighter aircraft had crashed on a school building in Wuyan.

At least 26 civilians were killed and 46 injured in PoK and Punjab province in the Indian missile strike, a Pakistani military spokesperson said. The victims included children. The casualties were in Ahmadpur East and Muridke in the Punjab province as also in Muzaffarabad in PoK. India denied, saying only known terrorist camps were targeted.

Pakistan also claimed it has taken Indian soldiers as prisoners.

The Indian operation lasted 25 minutes, from 1.05 a.m. till 1.30 a.m. local time Wednesday, Indian military officials told a press conference. They did not respond to Pak claim of shooting down IAF fighters.

They showed a map if locations of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) training camps in PoK and Punjab province. Nine of them were shelled, five in PoK and four in Punjab. Indian missiles also targeted the LeT and JeM headquarters.

Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri told the presser no military installation was targeted in the Indian operation.

Pak Punjab’s Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif wrote on X, “India started it, we’ll finish it.”

On the other hand, the Indian army, in a video on X, said “justice is served.”

Reuters has listed the nine terrorist camps hit by Indian missiles:

• Markaz Taiba camp – 25 km from LoC, headquarters LeT, linked to last month’s Pahalgam attack
• Markaz Subhan camp – 100 km from border, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) headquarters. Ten people were killed here.
• Mehmoona Joya camp – 12 km from border, Hijbul Mujahideen training camp
• Gulpur camp – 30 km from border, LeT base
• Sarjal camp – 6 km from border
• Abbas camp – 13 km from border, LeT training camp
• Syedna Belal camp – JeM
• Sawai Nala camp – 30 km from LoC, LeT training camp
• Barnala camp – Weapons handled here

Meanwhile, Jaish-e-Mohammed has issued a statement claiming that ten members of the family of its leader Maulana Masood Azhar and four associates were killed in the strike on Bahawalpur in Punjab.

The conflict threatens to turn into an all-out war between the two nuclear-powered neighbours, it is feared.

The confrontation followed the terrorist attack on tourists in Pahalgam in Kashmir that claimed 26 lives on April 22. India alleged Pakistan was behind the attack and vowed to retaliate. Islamabad denied the charge.

Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir as their territory and have fought three wars over it.

The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.

Many of the victims were charred beyond recognition, making identification difficult. Three hundred nineteen body parts have been sent for DNA matching with relatives to determine the identities.

• The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line provides Kashmir with all-weather connectivity and integrates the Valley with the rest of India.
• The saying 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari' is now a dream come true.
• The Chenab bridge on the line, an engineering marvel, is the world's highest railway bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower. (Video: File)

A comment on social media on Kanimozhi's answer on the question of national language read: "Daughter of Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi. Delivered the Birthday Present to her Father!!" (Karunanidhi was born on June 3, 1924) (Today's headlines )

Trump said, "Elon is not really leaving" and will be "back and forth" to the White House because DOGE is his "baby." "I think he’s going to be doing a lot of things.”

Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.

PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.

Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people. (Today's headlines )

"Coming from a system like in England, empowering," she says she never had an idea of this sort of experience... being asked to “socialise with middle-aged men” who financed the event...humiliating...

Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.

Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.

As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.

The committee headed by justice Kurian Joseph will study Centre-State relations and make proposals to ensure foolproof separation of powers.

"It's a big victory not just for Tamil Nadu but for all Indian States. DMK will continue to struggle for and win State autonomy and Federal polity," Chief Minister MK Stalin said.

Of 2.08 km in length, it features 99 spans and a 72.5-metre vertical lift span that rises up to a height of 17 metres, facilitating smooth movement of ships while ensuring seamless train services to the holy town of Rameswaram on Pamban island.

ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!

What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America! (Today's headlines )

PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).

In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.

THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.

The terminations are part of a large-scale exercise going on all across Fed departments and organisations to reduce wasteful Government expenditure as decided by a Trump in a mess gone berserk, and improve administrative efficiency following the whims of billionaire and his associate Elon MusK and his DOGE. It has not been shared how terminations are going to raise the efficiency bar! It looks like Trump has stolen some of the prescriptions meant for India. But the American problems are quite different.

Suddenly these colonial clerks feel this effortless, little rule will tremendously enhance security and convenience for the railway passengers manifold. More stations will be covered in the next 77 years! (Also See: New Delhi station stampede... What went wrong?)

ANALYSIS: "The standard operating procedure for deportations by aircraft used by ICE that is effective from 2012 provides for the use of restraints," says the Government. That means, it is taken for granted the US will set the standard for deportations. For another, the Government is more interested in comparing with what happened in 2012 under a different Government to justify its own compliance! No surprise, others are trampling upon us. (How we conduct ourselves inside decides, inherently, how we are treated outside) Thirdly, the Government blamed the gangs doing the business of human trafficking for the illegal migration. For all the crimes taking place in the country, let us blame the criminals! Funny! We will never move an inch forward! The mindset defines what we are.

Meanwhile, a UN-returned Congress leader Shashi Tharoor sounded like a layman when he said, "If they are citizens of India we have an obligation to take them back." Who said 'No'?. He should know that is not the issue now. Who will identify an undocumented person, and how?

The function was held indoors from 12 pm (10:30 pm IST) at the rotunda of the US Capitol building because of unusually intense cold and snow. Delivering his inaugural address, Trump remarked, “The golden age of America begins right now," and just hours later signed a slew of executive orders to redeem the election pledges.