Morning Brief: Mirpur SP Confirms Surgical Strikes; India Slams UN Security Council; GSAT-18 Launch Success

Mirpur SP Confirms Surgical Strikes

Mirpur SP Ghulam Akbar, in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, has admitted that surgical strikes took place in the early hours of 29 September.

In a telephonic conversation with CNN News18, thinking that he was speaking to his superior IG Mushtaq, Akbar informed about the death of 12 people in the attacks. He went on to confirm the names and ranks of five uniformed personnel, who were also killed during the attack.

ISRO's GSAT-18 Launch Success

India’s latest communication satellite, GSAT-18, was successfully launched by an Arianespace rocket from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guiana. GSAT-18 has been designed to provide telecommunications services for the country by strengthening ISRO’s current fleet of 14 operational telecommunication satellites.

The launch was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but deferred by 24 hours owing to unfavourable weather conditions at Kourou, a French territory located on the northeastern coast of South America.

India Slams UN Security Council

India's permanent ambassador to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin, criticised the Security Council on Wednesday for being indecisive on sanctioning leaders of terrorist outfits.

Without naming China, Akbaruddin referred to its technical hold on India's bid against Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar and stated that the Security Council "ponders for six months on whether to sanction leaders of organisations it has itself designated as terrorist entities".

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Nothing Fair, All Foul, In The Winter: The spike in air pollution levels in India during the winter season is a regular annual feature and is caused due to the culmination of several major polluting activities taking place between October and December.

SWARAJYA SPECIAL

Why The Opposition Demand For Proof Of ‘Surgical Strikes’ Is Nonsensical: It is perfectly all right for opposition politicians to ask the BJP to not make political capital out of the surgical strikes (the BJP should rein in its own cadre on this before it does damage), but it is completely unacceptable for them to demand proof that the strikes happened.

We hope you enjoyed reading our morning brief. Have a great day ahead!

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