New Delhi, May 27: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday showered praise on AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi for exposing and unmasking Pakistan over its brazen attempts to spread false propaganda in the wake of Operation Sindoor.

Owaisi, one of the members of the all-party delegation in Kuwait, took a sharp swipe at the Pakistani establishment, saying, ‘it takes brains to copy things properly’.

Reacting to Owaisi’s tirade against Pakistan, Kiren Rijiju shared his video and wrote in Hindi, “Pakistan ki toh poll hi khol di (You exposed Pakistan to the core).”

Rijiju’s praise for Owaisi comes after the latter called Pakistan’s bluff by fact-checking the photograph unveiled by Pakistan Army chief as the one ‘signifying its victory’ over India.

The picture was of China’s 2019 military drill and has been wrongly presented as the Pakistan Army’s recent action.

Owaisi called Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pak Army chief Asim Munir ‘stupid jokers’, highlighting how the top leadership of Pakistan was ‘hiding’ behind a fake memento as a face-saving measure.

The memento that Owaisi referred to was presented to Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif at a high-profile event, attended by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Deputy PM Ishaq Dar.

“Yesterday Pakistan Army chief gave the photo to Pak PM in the presence of the President and the National Assembly Speaker. These stupid jokers want to compete with India. They had given a 2019 photograph of a Chinese Army drill, claiming it was a victory over India. This is what Pakistan indulges in, they can’t even give a proper photograph,” Owaisi told the gathering.

The AIMIM MP, currently in Kuwait as part of India’s diplomatic outreach on the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, further taunted Pakistan’s top leadership for their copycat moves. He said that the Pakistani PM and his Army chief need no brains to copy.

“We used to hear in childhood that ‘nakal karne ke liye akal chahiye’ (copying also requires brains). In nalayakon ke pass toh akal bhi nahi hai (These worthless people don’t even have brains),” he said.

Interestingly, this is not the first instance of Pakistan resorting to misinformation for gaining an ‘upper hand’ in the propaganda war.

Another incident pertaining to Pakistan Deputy PM Ishaq Dar earned him the blushes as he used a fake picture of an article published in a UK daily to praise the Pakistani Air Force. His bluster, when caught by its own media, made the Pakistani establishment a laughing stock before the world.

Srinagar, May 27: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday held a special cabinet meeting in Pahalgam tourist resort to convey a powerful message against terrorism and violence in the aftermath of the cowardly terror attack that claimed 26 lives on April 22.

The choice of the station is to express solidarity with the residents of the tourist town, which has experienced a sharp decline in footfall since the terror attack on April 22.

More important than the agenda on the table of the cabinet meeting is the significance of the meeting’s symbolic communication to anti-national and anti-social elements that violence has no place in Jammu and Kashmir.

This is the first cabinet meeting being held outside the capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu since the Omar Abdullah-headed government took office in October 2024.

During his first stint as the chief minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir from 2009-14, Omar Abdullah had held cabinet meetings in remote areas like Gurez, Machil, Tangdhar of north Kashmir and Rajouri and Poonch areas of Jammu region.

The decision to hold a special cabinet meeting comes two days after CM Omar Abdullah on Saturday proposed a dual approach to resuscitate the Jammu and Kashmir tourism sector, severely impacted by the Pahalgam terror attack, urging the Centre to mandate PSUs to hold meetings in Kashmir and to convene parliamentary committee meetings there.

He made this appeal at the governing council meeting of the NITI Aayog under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sources indicate that the chief minister and his cabinet colleagues will also meet with tourism stakeholders in Pahalgam to gather suggestions on how to revive tourism in the Valley in the aftermath of the April 22 attack.

Holding the cabinet meeting in Pahalgam is seen as a deliberate effort to send the message that there is no cause for concern and that Kashmir remains a safe destination for tourists.

Mumbai, May 27: Even before the official onset of the monsoon, Mumbai has been battered by intense rainfall, leading to widespread disruption across the city.

The heavy downpour triggered 79 incidents, including tree falls, house wall collapses, and electrical short circuits, which severely impacted traffic movement and caused major inconvenience to commuters navigating through waterlogged streets.

According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), 25 incidents of fire caused by short circuits were reported in different parts of the city.

In 45 separate locations, trees were uprooted, blocking roads and damaging nearby vehicles and structures. Additionally, nine cases of partial building collapses or wall collapses were recorded.

One of the most serious incidents occurred near St. Xavier’s College in the Fort area of South Mumbai, where a 24-year-old man, identified as Sairaj Pawar, was injured after a tree collapsed on him.

He was immediately rushed to St. George Hospital, where doctors confirmed that his condition is now stable.

In another incident, part of a ground-plus-two-storey residential building collapsed on Cadell Road in Mahim West, trapping two residents under the debris. Fortunately, both individuals were rescued safely without any major injuries.

The BMC has issued advisories urging citizens to stay indoors during heavy rain and avoid areas prone to flooding or structural vulnerabilities.

According to the BMC’s weather forecast issued at 8.00 a.m. on Tuesday, Mumbai is expected to witness a generally cloudy sky with moderate to heavy rain across the city and suburbs, along with the possibility of thunder, lightning, and gusty winds at isolated places.

In the last 24 hours, the city recorded an average rainfall of 106 mm in the city region, 63 mm in the eastern suburbs, and 72 mm in the western suburbs.

High tides of 4.88 metres and 4.18 metres are expected at 12.13 p.m. and 11.56 p.m., respectively, while low tides are forecast at 6.13 p.m. and 6.05 a.m. the following day.

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a Red Alert for extremely heavy rainfall in the districts of Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, and Satara for the day.

An Orange Alert has been issued for Raigad, Pune, Beed, Hingoli, Nanded, and Parbhani, indicating the likelihood of heavy to very heavy rainfall.

Mumbai falls under the Yellow Alert category, along with Thane, Jalgaon, Nashik, Ahilyanagar, Sangli, Jalna, and other districts, which indicates the possibility of moderate to heavy rain.

Authorities are closely monitoring the situation, with disaster response teams on standby.

Citizens have been advised to follow weather updates and take necessary precautions as the city braces for more intense showers in the coming days.