Good morning, Most of us in southern India woke up to thundering skies and rainfall. There was a much-needed respite for our northern compatriots as temperatures dipped this morning. For the uninitiated, the monsoon arrived in Kerala on Saturday, marking the earliest onset since 2009. In Maharashtra, where the rain gods have taken permanent residence since yesterday, May 25 has become the earliest date of monsoon onset in 35 years! According to the weather department, conditions are favourable for the monsoon to progress into more parts of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu over the next two days. Get your umbrellas out and stay safe! Big Story India’s diplomatic cogs are turning, with multiple delegations fanning out to carry its anti-terror message worldwide. On Sunday, a team led by senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor reached the United States, a crucial ally. In an interaction with the Indian-American community and members of the media and think tanks, he underlined the need for a “new normal” in the face of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. Tharoor put it emphatically: “No one sitting in Pakistan is going to be allowed to believe that they can just walk across the border and kill our citizens with impunity. There will be a price to pay…” He added that India hopes the world would see the “restraint” and “precision” with which it carried out Operation Sindoor, exercising its “right to self-defence.” This morning, Tharoor’s delegation met with the President of Guyana. Another team, led by BJP MP Baijayant Panda, arrived in Kuwait. Meanwhile, the delegation led by Sanjay Jha engaged with the Indian diaspora in South Korea yesterday. Battle of optics: India’s foreign policy post-Operation Sindoor is crucial for shaping the global narrative regarding the recent hostilities and countering attempts to equate the aggressor and the victim. As Professor Vamsee Juluri puts it, the “world’s biggest battleground today is attention.” With the West’s idea of India frozen in time, New Delhi is compelled to play the Pied Piper. New voices: In a more incisive view of our foreign policy, former diplomat Jawed Ashraf says it’s no longer limited to just analysis behind closed doors. “It now plays out on your phone screen…shaped on a real-time basis by people's voices and views.” Read on. New sheriff: India is also eager to restore its ties with Canada, which have been strained for over a year and a half. With the new leadership of Mark Carney and his foreign minister of Indian origin, Anita Anand, there is hope that bilateral relations could improve significantly. Anand and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar took the first step towards this in their initial call on Sunday. From the Front Page On alert: A Liberian-flagged ship, carrying "hazardous cargo," capsized off the coast of Kerala on Sunday. The government has warned that the oil slick could reach anywhere along the Kerala coast, as oil has spilled from the containers and the ship's fuel has leaked. Follow the money: The Enforcement Directorate arrested former UCO Bank CMD Subodh Kumar Goel on May 16 on corruption charges. Outlining the alleged crime, the ED told a special PMLA court that Goel had set up a web of nine companies to receive kickbacks. These funds were then used to finance his multi-crore house in South Delhi, office spaces, and family travels. Under watch: With the central government deploying inspection teams to assess the Jal Jeevan mission on the ground amid rising costs, states are hurriedly verifying the work under the flagship water tap scheme. These reviews are expected to enhance transparency and accountability within the scheme. Must Read Sunny side up: In a major scientific breakthrough, researchers at IIT Bombay have developed a new solar cell technology that boosts efficiency and significantly reduces solar power costs. Know about it. Big and not-so-beautiful: Donald Trump returned to power on several key promises. Some of these he can implement through executive actions, such as his volley of tariffs to close the trade gap with various countries. For many others, he would require legislative changes. The Republicans have encapsulated the entirety of Trump's policy agenda into what he calls the "one big, beautiful Bill." Broadly, the Bill aims to introduce certain tax cuts and raise the limit on how much the US government can borrow. Udit Misra breaks down the positives and negatives of the Bill. And Finally. The soaring tensions between India and Pakistan have found an unlikely victim: the beloved 'Mysore Pak'. Shopkeepers in Jaipur have renamed the humble concoction of roasted ghee, gram flour, and sugar to 'Mysore Shree'. But "Pak" never alluded to our roguish neighbour. The 20th-century sweet, instead, takes its name from the Kannada word “paaka,” which refers to the process of cooking food by heating, baking, or frying. My colleague Kiran Parashar has more on the Mysuru delicacy. Before you go, listen to the latest episode of our '3 Things' podcast. Today's lineup: The killing of Basavaraju, the rollout of Amrit Bharat trains, and the capsizing of a cargo ship off Kerala's coast. That’s all for today, folks! Until tomorrow, Sonal Gupta
