Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday claimed victory over Israel and said his country had “delivered a hand slap to America’s face”, in his first public comments since a ceasefire was declared in the war between the two countries.

Khamenei spoke in a video broadcast on Iranian state television, his first appearance since June 19.

He told viewers that the US had only intervened in the war because “it felt that if it did not intervene, the Zionist regime would be utterly destroyed”.

He said, however, the US “achieved no gains from this war”.

“The Islamic Republic was victorious and, in retaliation, delivered a hand slap to America’s face,” he said, in apparent reference to an Iranian missile attack on an American base in Qatar on Monday, which caused no casualties.

The Indian Navy hosted the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium on maritime security. The event brought together representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, France, India, Kenya, Mozambique, Oman, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Thailand. Delegates engaged in deliberations aimed at strengthening security.

A Navy staffer posted at the naval headquarters in Delhi was arrested in Jaipur for allegedly leaking defence-related sensitive information to a Pakistani handler in exchange for money, a police official said on Thursday. Vishal Yadav, an upper division clerk in the Directorate of Dockyard at the Navy building, allegedly also shared details on Op Sindoor — strikes carried out by the Indian armed forces in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in response to the Pahalgam terror attack.

Heavily armed group equipped with M4 carbines

Arjun Sharma

A week ahead of start of the Amarnath pilgrimage, a highly trained terrorist, believed to be Pakistani, was shot dead during an encounter with the security forces in the Basantgarh area of Udhampur district on Thursday.

Intelligence agencies received information about the presence of at least four terrorists in the dense forest of Bihali in Basantgarh. They were confronted by a joint search party of the J&K Police and the Special Forces of the Army on Thursday morning.

Basantgarh is located on the traditional route of Pakistani terrorists who infiltrate from the International Border in Kathua and travel to higher reaches of the Jammu region or to the Valley.

Sources said the group belongs to the Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror outfit and is heavily armed. They are also equipped with M4 carbines. The sources said from the tactics being used by the terrorists during the encounter, it appeared they were likely trained in jungle warfare.

“Based on a tip-off, a joint operation was launched by the Army and the police in the Bihali area of Basantgarh. A contact has been established with terrorists. The operation is currently in progress,” the Nagrota-based White Knight Corps posted on X.

Later, it said, “In the ongoing joint operation, one terrorist has been neutralised till now.”

Inspector General of Police, Jammu, Bhim Sen Tuti, said a search operation was continuing in the area. “There is a thick fog cover in the area and weather conditions are not favourable. Things will be clear once the weather improves” said Tuti.

The terrorists are carrying arms, ammunition and food in their backpacks.

The sources said the group had infiltrated into India at least a year ago and was being tracked by the security forces. They were moving from one area to another and overground workers (OGWs) were likely providing them food and other logistics. The terrorists were using forest and natural caves for hiding.

A tight cordon by the Special Operations Group of the police and Army was being maintained as the remaining terrorists might try to take cover of fog and poor weather conditions and try to flee. Additional forces have already been rushed to the area.

The RSS on Thursday called for reviewing the words ‘socialist’ and ‘secular’ in the preamble of the Constitution, saying these were included during Emergency and were never part of the Constitution drafted by BR Ambedkar.

Addressing an event on 50 years of Emergency here, RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabole said, “Babasaheb Ambedkar never used these words in the preamble. The words were added during Emergency, when fundamental rights were suspended, Parliament did not function and the judiciary became lame.” He said discussions were held on this issue later but no effort was made to remove the two words from the preamble.

“So whether these words should remain must be considered. The preamble is eternal. Are the thoughts of socialism as an ideology eternal for India,” he asked.

The suggestion from the RSS’ second most senior functionary to consider removing the terms secular and socialist came as he hit out at the Congress for the excesses during Emergency, demanding an apology from the party.

Recalling the days of Emergency, which was announced on June 25, 1975, Hosabale said while thousands were put in jail and tortured during that period, the freedom of the judiciary and media was also curtailed. The days of Emergency also witnessed large-scale forced sterlisation, the RSS leader said.

“Those who did such things are today moving around with Constitution’s copy. Your ancestors did it…. You must apologise,” he said. Union Minister Nitin Gadkari also attended the event.

Chenab diversion to Punjab, Haryana feasible, say officials

Aditi Tandon Tribune News Service

India is not afraid of Pakistan’s empty threats on the abeyance of the Indus Waters Treaty and the pact will not be restored, the government said on Thursday.

Reacting to the former Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto’s threats of war if India refused to renegotiate IWT abeyance, Jal Shakti Minister CR Paatil said, “Water will not go anywhere. The treaty will not be renegotiated. What Bhutto says is up to him.”

He added India would benefit hugely from plans underway to utilise excess waters from the western rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — which was previously allocated to Pakistan under the treaty.

He acknowledged that the Indian government had received several requests from Pakistan (at least four) to re-consider the suspension of the treaty. “Writing letters is natural, but letters will not determine outcomes. Home Minister Amit Shah has already clarified that the treaty will never be restored,” said Paatil.

He said India was working to utilise the waters of the western tributaries of the Indus but it was not in the national interest to divulge specific details of the project right now.

The Tribune has learnt that the Centre was moving ahead with five projects on the western rivers, which were previously stalled due to the IWT.

These include the Tulbul Navigation Project, which was designed to navigate the Jhelum river during the lean winter months. J&K CM Omar Abdullah has called for the revival of this project.

The National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) is working on a detailed project report for the Tulbul plan. Official sources said the DPR would take a year, after which the Centre will decide whether to go ahead with the revival of the project. The Kishanganga hydroelectric power project diverts water from the Kishanganga river to a power plant in the Jhelum river basin, is complete, said sources.

The government is speeding up the construction of the Ratle hydroelectric power project on Chenab. This project is designed as a run-of-river scheme with an installed capacity of 850 MW.

When asked if the western rivers could be diverted to Punjab and Haryana, top sources said it was technically feasible with at least one river. Plans are afoot to look at the feasibility of a canal to link the Chenab with the Ravi-Beas-Sutlej system, said sources, adding that the Power Ministry had bid for four of the projects on the western rivers.

A source said, “Abeyance of the IWT means the processes of the treaty have been held in abeyance. So we can manage our dams flushing better. Recently, waters to Pakistan stopped because we had stopped the water flow for flushing operations but overall we have limited water holding capacity for 24, 36 or 48 hours, beyond which the water has to flow to Pakistan, lest we want flooding in our own territory,” said a senior official.

“After the abeyance of the IWT, projects on the western rivers can be executed faster. We can now seek a greater share of the Indus waters from these and will try to find technical feasibility to do so,” said a top official source.

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The disturbing reality behind the Patiala incident

In March 2025, Colonel Pushpinder Singh Bath and his son were brutally assaulted by Punjab Police personnel in Patiala — over a parking dispute. The response?

➡ No arrests.
➡ Weak inquiry.
➡ And shockingly… SSP Nanak Singh, under whose watch the cover-up happened, was promoted to DIG.

This isn’t new. It’s exactly how the Central Govt used Delhi Police to suppress the AAP Govt in Delhi. Same pattern, different uniforms.

And it all follows a dangerous script — starting from the Gujarat riots in 2002, where police forces were misused under the RSS-BJP framework.

Now, the same tactics are playing out in Punjab under AAP.

🛡 When police become political thugs,
🇮🇳 Democracy suffers.

Army troops opened fire after noticing suspicious movement in a forward area near the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district, while security forces conducted searches at more than a dozen places in Poonch, Samba and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, officials said.

The suspicious movement of three to four people under the cover of thick foliage was detected by alert soldiers in the Chingus area of Kiri sector in Rajouri in the morning, they said.

The troops fired over two dozen rounds and simultaneously launched a search operation, and also deployed drones. However, there was no trace of the suspected people, officials said.