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Arya Rajendran is trending after NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani mentioned her in a now-viral old post.

When Zohran Mamdani, the son of filmmaker Mira Nair, won the Democratic primary in the race to become New York City’s next mayor, one of his old posts resurfaced online. In a 2020 post on X (then Twitter), Mamdani referred to Arya Rajendran, a young Indian politician from Kerala, as the kind of leader New York might need.

But who is Arya Rajendran? And why did Mamdani choose to spotlight her?

Back in December 2020, Zohran Mamdani shared a post originally published by CPI(M) Puducherry, highlighting Arya Rajendran’s historic election as Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram at just 21.

The post read, “Comrade Arya Rajendran, age 21 new Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram , Kerala. She will be the youngest mayor of a major city in the world.”

Mamdani amplified the message, writing, “So what kind of mayor does NYC need right now?” – suggesting a bold, youthful and ideologically committed leader like Rajendran could be the answer.

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Who is Arya Rajendran?

Born in 1999, Arya Rajendran made headlines in 2020 when she became the mayor of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala. In doing so, set a national record as India’s youngest mayor. She overtook the previous record held by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who headed Nagpur’s civic body at the age of 27.

Representing the Communist Party of India (Marxist), Rajendran was elected from the Mudavanmugal ward in the 2020 Kerala local body elections. She is a graduate in mathematics.

Her early entry into politics was marked by joining Balasangham, the children’s wing of the CPI(M), when she was in fifth standard. She would go on to lead the organisation as its state president. She also served in the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and became a CPI(M) area committee member in Chala, Thiruvananthapuram.

In 2023, Rajendran captured national attention when a photograph of her working in her office with her one-month-old baby went viral.

She is married to Sachin Dev, also a CPI(M) leader, and the youngest member of Kerala’s current Legislative Assembly. In 2024, she was inducted into the CPI(M)’s Thiruvananthapuram District Committee.

As mayor, Rajendran prioritised waste management and healthcare. She also launched scientific disposal drives and pushed for 24/7 health centres for the marginalised.

A US Air Force pilot’s account  of the Iran strike offers a glimpse into Operation Midnight Hammer, a mission to destroy Iran’s underground nuclear sites.

A US Air Force pilot has described the detonation of a 14,000-kg bomb over Iran’s underground nuclear facility at Fordow as “the brightest explosion I’ve ever seen – it looked like daylight”. The pilot’s account offered a glimpse into the top-secret mission known as Operation Midnight Hammer.

The Pentagon released new information about the June 21 strike carried out by B-2 stealth bombers. The mission was shrouded in secrecy and backed by years of meticulous preparation, advanced weapon development and intelligence gathering.

According to General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the elite aircrew launched from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri not knowing whether they would return. Caine said, “A commander told me, ‘This is a moment in the lives of our families they will never forget.’” One crew member likened the experience to the Super Bowl.

The operation, launched under US President Donald Trump’s directive, targeted three nuclear facilities in Iran – Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Of the three, Fordow was considered the most challenging, built deep within a mountain and fortified against nearly every conventional attack.

According to Caine, the facility had two major ventilation routes, each featuring a pitchfork-shaped design with a main shaft flanked by two smaller ones.

Just days before the operation, Iran had attempted to seal these vents with concrete slabs – a final layer of defence against a known threat. But the US had anticipated such moves. The Pentagon had been developing the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) – a 14,000 kg, steel-encased bomb – specifically for this type of hardened underground target.

Caine said that all six bombs struck their intended targets. The main destructive force came from a combination of overpressure and blast waves that tore through the tunnels and wiped out equipment.

Operation Midnight Hammer was executed over a weekend, with bomber crews from both the active-duty Air Force and the Missouri Air National Guard taking part. They departed on Friday, June 20, and returned on Sunday, June 22.

Late on June 21, the families of the aircrew became aware of what was unfolding. By the next day, when the aircraft returned, the families were at Whiteman Air Force Base to welcome them home.

With the damage at Fordow aligning closely with years of modelling and simulation, the strike has been hailed as a demonstration of US military precision, planning, and technological prowess – and a stark warning to adversaries operating in the shadows.

Doppl is an expansion of Google Shopping’s virtual try-on feature in AI Mode, which was first announced in May.

Google launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) app on Thursday that allows users to virtually try on different outfits. Dubbed Doppl, it is an experimental app by Google Labs which was originally conceptualised to be a feature within AI Mode in Search. However, it appears that the Mountain View-based tech giant is now considering creating a standalone experience for it. With this app, users can just upload a full-length image of themselves, and the underlying AI model will process the body shape and accurately superimpose different clothing items on them.

Doppl Is Currently Only Available in the US

In a blog post, the tech giant announced the launch of the new app. At Google I/O 2025, the company announced several new AI features for its Shopping product while integrating it deeper into the Search experience. One such feature was virtual try-on, which used an AI to let people see themselves in different outfits.

The idea behind the app is to let people see themselves in the apparel they’re planning to buy, so that they can make an informed decision on whether they want to purchase it or not. This solves the age-old dilemma of not knowing whether a shirt would look as good on you as it does on the model.

This is also not the first foray of Google in this direction. In 2023, the company introduced an AI feature which showed clothes on a wide range of real models to help users see how the item looks on someone with a similar body shape.

Doppl now makes that endeavour more personalised as users can just upload a full-length image of themselves and the outfit, and see how it would look on them. At I/O, Google said the feature is powered by a custom fashion-based image generation model that understands the human body and how clothes fold, stretch, and drape on different bodies.

One cool aspect of the app is its usability. Users are not limited to the options available on online shopping websites, and can also upload an image of an outfit of their friend, something they found at a local store, or even a social media image.

When the officials reached the spot, they found many elderly people tied up in their clothes and locked in rooms.

Elderly people locked in rooms, no staff to take care of them, some of them wearing urine and faeces-stained clothes, while others left alone with no clothes. Such a pitiable condition of the elderly people was found at an old-age home, Anand Niketan Vridha Ashram, in Noida’s Sector 55.

A video of the poor state of the old-age home, which went viral, was also recently sent to the Social Welfare Department of Lucknow. The short clip showed an elderly woman kept in a room with her hands tied. Soon after, the State Women’s Commission and the Noida police raided the home on Thursday and rescued 39 senior citizens.

When the officials reached the spot, they found many elderly people tied up in their clothes and locked in rooms. According to State Women Commission member Meenakshi Bharala, some old men were locked up in basement-like rooms. While most of the elderly men were not wearing clothes, the women were given partial clothing. Many of them were found with urine-stained or feces-stained clothes.

Additionally, officials found there was no proper staff to take care of the senior citizens.

One employee of the old-age home, who called herself a nurse, said that she had just passed the 12th standard.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the Ashram had taken a donation of Rs 2.5 lakh from the families of the elderly people. Additionally, they also took Rs 6,000 per month for their food and accommodation.

A case has been filed against the old-age home and the elderly are being shifted to a government old-age home in a couple of days.

The raths or chariots of Lord Jagganath, his brother Balbhadra and sister Subhadra were pulled out of the Jagannath temple in Jamalpur area

The 148th Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath began in Ahmedabad on Friday morning, with thousands of devotees joining in for a glimpse of the deity.

The raths or chariots of Lord Jagganath, his brother Balbhadra and sister Subhadra were pulled out of the Jagannath temple in Jamalpur area of the city by the Khalasi community as per the age-old tradition.

The grand procession of the three chariots rolled on from the 400-year-old temple, and it is expected to return by 8 pm after making its way through the old city, including a few communally sensitive areas.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah and his family members participated in the morning prayers at the Jagannath temple, while Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel performed ‘pahind vidhi’, a traditional ceremony of symbolic cleaning of roads by a golden broom.

The procession, usually comprising 18 elephants, 100 trucks, ‘bhahan-mandlis’ (devotional groups) and 30 akhadas (local gymnasiums), will cover a distance of 16 km during the day. Several trucks have been decorated as tableaux on different themes.

Throughout the day, lakhs of devotees are expected to gather on both sides of the route to pay obeisance to Lord Jagannath and his siblings.

Police officials said they have made elaborate security arrangements for the procession.

Nearly 23,800 security personnel have been deployed in the city to guard the annual Rath Yatra, which is expected to draw 14-15 lakh people.

According to a government release, an Artificial Intelligence-based surveillance system will be used for the first time to prevent stampede-like situations.

The AI-based system would notify the police and fire department in case of a fire along the route, besides alerting the police control room when too many people are gathered in a particular area, it said.

About 4,500 security personnel will walk with the procession on the entire 16-km route, while 1,931 personnel will be deployed for traffic management, said officials. Several roads will remain closed to normal traffic.

Senior police officials will keep a watch on the Rath Yatra procession using 2,872 body-worn cameras linked with the control room, 41 drones and 96 cameras installed at different locations and 25 watch towers.

Ahead of the 148th Rath Yatra, police had organised 177 meetings of peace committees, 235 meetings of mohalla committees, 57 meetings of women’s committees as well as 21 meetings with various religious leaders with the aim of maintaining communal unity and harmony, the release had said.

News of the exit has circulated internally among some employees in recent days. Afshar’s name no longer appeared to show up in an internal directory.

News of the exit has circulated internally among some employees in recent days, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal information. Afshar’s name no longer appeared to show up in an internal directory, two of the people said. The reason for the change and his future plans weren’t immediately clear.

Some of the directors who reported to Afshar now report to Tom Zhu, Tesla’s senior vice president of automotive, according to some of the people. The Chinese-born executive oversees Tesla’s factory in Shanghai and is one of the company’s three named executive officers.

Afshar, who has worked in the office of the CEO, was promoted last year to oversee sales and manufacturing operations in North America and Europe. Those markets have become particular pain points for the automaker recently, with sales plunging due to rising competition and a consumer backlash to Musk’s role in US President Donald Trump’s administration.

This marks the latest departure of a prominent Tesla leader in recent weeks. Milan Kovac, the head of engineering for the company’s Optimus humanoid robot program, stepped down citing a desire to spend more time with his family.

Jenna Ferrua, who is listed on LinkedIn as a human resources director for North America, has also left Tesla and no longer appears to be in the company directory, according to people familiar.

The personnel changes punctuate a tumultuous year for Tesla, whose shares have tumbled about 19% while demand has waned for its EV models and Musk has spent time in Washington. The chief executive officer is trying to reorient the company around artificial intelligence, robots and driverless cars, recently rolling out a small number of Tesla’s long-promised robotaxis in Austin.

Tesla is expected to report global delivery results for the second quarter next week.

Its shares briefly turned negative after Bloomberg reported Afshar’s departure, and were little changed as of 1:57 p.m. in New York.

Tesla Tenure

Afshar joined Tesla in 2017, according to his LinkedIn profile, as the carmaker was beginning to ramp up production of the Model 3 sedan.

“I was with Elon nearly every single day during Model 3 hell,” he said in a 2024 post on X, the social media platform that Musk owns. “This included Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, his birthday and nearly missing his brother’s wedding.”

Afshar was posting regularly on social media in recent days, including several messages this week praising the robotaxi launch.

The executive oversaw the construction of Tesla’s plant in Austin. A member of the office of the CEO since 2017, his most recent job title was listed on his LinkedIn page as a cowboy hat emoji. 

He came under internal scrutiny in 2022 for his role in purchasing hard-to-get construction materials, including a special kind of glass, Bloomberg reported.

It’s not unusual for executives to shuffle from one part of Musk’s empire to another, and Afshar worked at SpaceX for a time.

Tesla has just three named executive officers: Musk, Chief Financial Officer Vaibhav Taneja and Zhu.

Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) will now lead a joint march in Mumbai to oppose the state government’s three-language formula.

In a rare convergence, estranged cousins Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray have agreed to join forces against what they describe as the “imposition” of Hindi in Maharashtra’s school curriculum, said Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut. After days of parallel announcements, Shiv Sena (UBT) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) will now lead a joint march in Mumbai to oppose the state government’s three-language formula, which includes Hindi as a mandatory third language for primary school students.

Mr Raut confirmed the development today in a post on X , writing,”A united march will take place against the imposition of Hindi in schools in Maharashtra. Jai Maharashtra!”

His post was accompanied by an old image of both Uddhav and Raj Thackeray standing in front of a portrait of Bal Thackeray. 

With the BMC elections approaching, this move is being seen as more than just the estranged cousins coming together for a cultural protest, but also a strategic move ahead of the polls.

Thackeray Statements

Raj Thackeray, founder of the MNS, had originally announced a protest for July 6. The date clashed with Ashadhi Ekadashi, a day of religious significance in Maharashtra. Raj Thackeray revised the date to July 5. 

“With warm regards, Jai Maharashtra. This morning, for our Marathi language, for Maharashtra, and for the Marathi people, a morcha was announced on July 6. There is a slight change in that plan; the morcha will now take place on Saturday, July 5, at 10 AM from Girgaum to Azad Maidan. The location and all other details remain unchanged. Therefore, the media and the people of Maharashtra should take note of this change,” Raj Thackeray stated in a social media post. 

Separately, Uddhav Thackeray had backed a July 7 march initiated by the Tribhasha Sutra (Three language formula) Anti-Mumbai Coordination Committee.”We will not allow the imposition of Hindi as a third language in Marathi and English schools for Classes 1 to 5 in Maharashtra. This is not just an educational issue; it is cultural encroachment.”

Uddhav Thackeray also questioned the constitutional basis and political motivation behind the policy, invoking comments made by BJP national president JP Nadda and calling for scrutiny of the state’s education system.

Speaking on behalf of the next generation of the Thackeray legacy, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said: “No language should be forced. What we have been learning should continue. Education should be enhanced, but not burdened. Why only Hindi? Why not improve what’s already in place rather than adding to the load?”

Veteran political leader and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar echoed similar views recently.

“My view is that Hindi should not be made compulsory in primary education. There is no issue with children learning Hindi after Class 5. But we must analyse how many languages a child of a certain age can realistically learn and what linguistic burden that places on them,” Mr Pawar said.

Ajitabh Sharma, a 1996-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, raised concerns over what he described as an overwhelming focus on routine and procedural tasks.

Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officers spend over 80 per cent of their work doing “non-core work”, Rajasthan Principal Secretary (Energy) Ajitabh Sharma has said. In a critique of the existing administrative work culture, Mr Sharma, a 1996-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, raised concerns over what he described as an overwhelming focus on routine and procedural tasks that detract from the core responsibilities of governance.

“More than 80 per cent of our work is related to attending generic meetings where all other departments are present, handling human resource issues, attending litigation matters, dealing with transparency and right to information laws, sending replies to news clippings, responding to mundane correspondence, and compiling all sorts of reports,” Mr Sharma wrote in a lengthy LinkedIn post.

Mr Sharma, who recently took charge as Principal Secretary of the Energy Department in the Rajasthan government, used his new role as a moment to reflect and challenge the status quo within the bureaucracy.

In his post, Mr Sharma also questioned a long-standing belief in administrative circles, that all assignments within the IAS are equally challenging.

“I have never been able to convince myself of the thought that all assignments are of the same difficulty level,” he wrote. “This narrative perhaps arises from the conceived generic nature of the administrative services we are part of.”

He argued that this mindset has led to a loss of focus on department-specific goals, with officers often caught in an endless loop of administrative formalities that offer little sectoral insight or impact.

Mr Sharma drew a clear line between what he considers non-core and core responsibilities. While non-core tasks include meetings, litigation, and routine correspondence, core work, according to him, involves hands-on engagement with the mission and vision of specific departments such as water, energy, education, health and infrastructure.

“These common-to-all-department tasks are important though. But they leave you with little time for the Core Work,” he added. “Handling the Core Work of the department successfully is a real challenge and a true contribution to the organisation and society.”

He warned that a persistent neglect of core departmental functions can not only stall innovation but also create a “false sense of being an expert administrator,” ultimately harming service delivery in the long term.

As he steps into his role in the Energy Department, his resolution is to reverse the current pattern and dedicate 80 per cent of his time to core work.

“The Energy Department is one of those places that essentially needs a greater emphasis on the Core Work,” he noted. “So, the resolution this time is to reverse the scenario.”

Despite modern technology, radio remains a critical survival tool in emergencies and wartime, providing essential information when other systems fail.

In earlier days, radio was a crucial source of information and entertainment in India, connecting remote villages with news, music, and cultural programmes. During wartime in Western countries, it spread government messages, boosted morale, and delivered frontline updates. Even today, in the digital age, radio remains a vital survival tool during wars, disasters, and blackouts, proving its enduring role in communication, resilience, and public unity across generations and geographies.

According to The Metro, when internet and mobile networks fail, as seen in Spain and Portugal’s 2024 blackout or during the Russia-Ukraine war, radio remains functional. In Ukraine, when TV towers were destroyed and signals jammed, citizens turned to crank radios to access life-saving updates and coded escape routes. Similarly, Palestinians in Gaza have relied on radio for news amid telecommunications blackouts.

Experts say radio’s dependability lies in its simplicity. It doesn’t rely on expensive devices, data plans, or fragile digital infrastructure. Emergency radios powered by cranks or solar energy can continue broadcasting even when electricity is down.

During crises, radio becomes more than just a tool; it’s a symbol of hope and survival. In Syria, Radio Fresh won global acclaim for its role in challenging propaganda and spreading truth. Governments, including the EU, now urge citizens to include battery-powered or wind-up radios in emergency kits alongside food, water, and medicine, as per the news article.

TikTok Sparks Radio Buying Frenzy Amid WW3 Fears

Fears of World War 3 have triggered a surge in radio purchases, fuelled by TikTok influencers in Europe and US urging users to include radios in survival kits. They warn that if the power grid fails, people may miss vital government alerts without access to traditional radio broadcasts.

How Does Radio Work?

Radio waves, a type of light, are created by accelerating electrons in an electric circuit. By altering their amplitude (AM) or frequency (FM), these waves carry information. A radio receiver decodes the waves into sound. Shortwave radio, useful for long distances, remains vital for aircraft and rescue operations. Its evolution owes much to physicist Edward Appleton, who proved the ionosphere’s role in bouncing signals.

Debate Rekindled: ‘Secular’ and ‘Socialist’ Added During Emergency, Says RSS Functionary

Dattatreya Hosabale, the general secretary of the BJP’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, today said the fate of two words in the preamble of the constitution – “Socialist” and “Secular” — should be decided through debate.

“During Emergency, two words Secular and Socialist were added to the Constitution, which were not part of the original Preamble,” Mr Hosabale said at an event organised on 50 years of the Emergency.

“Later, these words were not removed. Should they remain or not, debate must happen on this. These two words were not in Dr Ambedkar’s Constitution. During Emergency, the country had no functioning Parliament, no rights, no judiciary and yet these two words were added.” 

“The people who did this (imposed Emergency) are roaming around with copies of the Constitution today. They have, to date, not apologised to the people of India for this,” he said.

“You put more than 1 lakh people in jail, kept more than 250 journalists in jail, violated fundamental rights, and forced 60 lakh Indians to undergo sterilisation… You ended the independence of judiciary. Have all the people who did this apologised to the country? If it was not you but your ancestors, then you have to apologise in their name,” he added. 

The BJP’s move to name the 50th anniversary of Emergency —  – imposed by the government of the Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975  — as the “Samvidhan Hatya Divas (Murder of Constitution Day)”, has opened a new front with the Congress.

The two parties have been again at loggerheads since yesterday, with leaders from JP Nadda to Union home minister Amit Shah ripping into the Congress.  

The Congress has responded sharply in face of the concerted BJP attack .

“Those who never contributed to the freedom struggle or constitution-making are now claiming to defend it,” said party chief Mallikarjun Kharge. 

“PM Modi is repeatedly invoking a period that the country has moved past. He is making an issue out of something that people have already forgotten,” he had added.

Apart from BJP-backed  programmes  in various states, the Union Cabinet adopted a resolution to honour the sacrifices of those who resisted Emergency. The ministers also observed two-minute silence against the excesses committed back then.