Top news of the day: Modi tells Trump India will never accept mediation on Pakistan; Khamenei warns U.S. against intervening amid Israeli strikes, and more
India never has, never will accept mediation: PM Modi to U.S. President Trump on India-Pakistan issue
Prime Minister Narendra Modi told President Donald Trump on Tuesday (June 17, 2025) that India has never accepted mediation, does not accept it, and will never do it in future. There is complete political consensus on this issue in India, PM Modi said, according to a media briefing by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
Iran's Khamenei says 'never surrender'; warns U.S. of 'irreparable damage' if it intervenes
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday (June 18, 2025) the nation would never surrender as demanded by U.S. President Donald Trump and warned the United States it would face 'irreparable damage' if it intervenes. Israeli warplanes pounded Iran's capital, Tehran, overnight and into Wednesday (June 18, 2025) as Iran launched a small barrage of missiles at Israel with no reports of casualties.
Ahmedabad plane crash survivor discharged from hospital, attends brother's cremation in Diu
Vishwas Kumar Ramesh, the sole survivor of the Air India plane crash, has been discharged from the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital following his recovery, and he later attended the cremation of his deceased brother, who was flying with him on the same aircraft, officials said on Wednesday (June 18, 2025).
FASTag annual pass for private vehicles to be launched on August 15: Nitin Gadkari
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday (June 18, 2025) said the government will introduce a FASTag-based annual pass for private vehicles, priced at ₹3,000, effective from August 15, in a step towards hassle-free highway travel. In a post on X, Mr. Gadkari said the pass is valid for one year from the date of activation or up to 200 trips, whichever comes first. The pass is designed exclusively for non-commercial private vehicles such as cars, jeeps, and vans.
Air India plane crash: Insurers in a fix as both policyholders and nominees among dead
Insurance companies are facing challenges in settling claims of the Ahmedabad Air India plane crash victims last week, as in many cases the policyholders and nominees both have died in the tragedy. There are instances of an entire family perishing or one of the spouses dying in the horrific June 12 crash of the London-bound plane, which claimed the lives of 241 persons on board and 29 on the ground.
UPSC extends NDA and CDS II 2025 application deadline to June 20
The last date to apply for NDA and NA-II, 2025, and CDS-II, 2025 has been extended up to 11.59 p.m. on June 20, 2025. The earlier deadline to complete the UPSC CDS II 2025 application form was June 17. This year, the UPSC had also extended the last date to apply for the civil services preliminary examination 2025 by a week. The UPSC did not mention the reasons behind extending the date of application deadline for both these exams.
Calcutta HC directs Centre to implement MGNREGA scheme in West Bengal from August 1
The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday (June 18, 2025) directed the Centre to implement the MGNREGA scheme prospectively in West Bengal from August 1. The HC said the Centre is empowered to impose special conditions, restrictions and regulations, which have not been imposed in other States of the country, so as to ensure that no illegality or irregularity occurs when the scheme is being implemented in the State.
Delhi spent only one-third of funds received under NCAP to fight air pollution: Govt data
Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in India, has used less than one-third of the funds it received under the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), according to government records. Launched in 2019, the NCAP is India's first national plan to set clean air targets. It aims to reduce PM10 pollution by 40% in 130 highly polluted cities by 2026, using 2019-20 as the base year.
Iran will respond firmly if U.S. becomes directly involved in Israeli strikes, says U.N. Ambassador
Iran said it had conveyed to Washington that it will respond firmly to the United States if it becomes directly involved in Israel's military campaign, the Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva said on Wednesday (June 18, 2025). Ali Bahreini, the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations in Geneva, told reporters that he saw the U.S. as 'complicit in what Israel is doing'.
No 'compulsion' to learn Hindi as third language: Devendra Fadnavis on row over Maharashtra Government Order
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday (June 18, 2025) said the 'compulsion' for students in the State to learn Hindi has been removed in a new Order, and now any Indian language can be chosen as the third language. While English is widely promoted, Indian languages are often neglected, Mr. Fadnavis told reporters in Dehu and maintained that disputes over languages are unnecessary.
Allahabad HC stays passing final judgment in eviction case against Azam Khan
The Allahabad High Court has stayed the passing of any final judgment or order in the consolidated trial of the 2016 forcible eviction case, involving twelve previously separate FIRs against ex-MP Mohammad Azam Khan and several others. Justice Dinesh Pathak issued the order to put up this case as fresh on July 3 but clarified that the trial in the case would go on. However no final order would be passed till July 3, 2025.
England want to have a good surface to hit through the line against India: Leeds curator
The unusually dry weather here, combined with England's aggressive style of play, has increased expectations of a 'good surface' for the opening Test against India beginning on Friday (June 20, 2025), Leeds head of grounds Richard Robinson has said. Leeds usually hosts a Test in the middle of a series but staging of the opening game has attracted a lot more attention.
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Indian Express
35 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Netanyahu says Israel close to meeting its goals in Iran
Israel is very close to completing its goal of removing the dual threats of Iran's ballistic missiles and nuclear programme, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. He promised not to let Israel be dragged into a war of attrition but also said he would not end the Iran campaign prematurely. 'We won't pursue our actions beyond what is needed to achieve them, but we also won't finish too soon. When the objectives are achieved, then the operation is complete and the fighting will stop,' he told Israeli reporters. 'I have no doubt that this is a regime that wants to wipe us out, and that's why we embarked on this operation to eliminate the two concrete threats to our existence: the nuclear threat, the ballistic missile threat. We are moving step by step towards achieving these goals. We are very, very close to completing them,' he said. He said Iran's Fordow nuclear site had been very badly damaged by US bunker-buster bombs overnight but the extent of damage remained to be seen. Tehran has vowed to defend itself at all costs. Asked about the whereabouts of Iran's 60% enriched uranium, Netanyahu said: 'We've been following that very closely. I can tell you that it's an important component of a nuclear programme. 'It's not the sole component. It's not a sufficient component. But it is an important component and we have interesting intel on that, which you will excuse me if I don't share with you,' he said. At least until Israel's first strikes against its enrichment installations on June 13, Iran was refining uranium to up to 60% purity, a short step from the roughly 90% that is bomb-grade and far higher than the 3.67% cap imposed by a 2015 nuclear deal, which Iran respected until the year after US President Donald Trump pulled out in 2018.
Economic Times
37 minutes ago
- Economic Times
DGCA to kickstart inspection of Air India's main hub
India's civil aviation regulator, DGCA, will commence a comprehensive review of Air India's Gurugram base, focusing on aircraft airworthiness and crew training records. This inspection, part of the annual surveillance program, is not directly triggered by the recent Ahmedabad plane crash. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads New Delhi: The civil aviation regulator will conduct a comprehensive review of Air India 's main base in Gurugram from Monday. The exercise, which was planned before the airline's plane crash in Ahmedabad on June 12, entails checking the carrier's records of aircraft and whether they are airworthy, along with training and duty period records of the flight crew, according to a document seen by inspection is part of the annual surveillance programme of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA ) and not triggered by the crash, said a senior DGCA official, who did not wish to be comes at a time when regulatory scrutiny of Air India's operations has increased following the crash. The DGCA has asked its inspectors to provide details of all inspections and audits conducted on Air India since DGCA has also revamped its audit procedure to make it more comprehensive. The revamp comes in the wake of the crash of Air India's Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft in Ahmedabad which killed 241 people on board and more than 30 on the ground."Traditionally, regulatory and safety oversight functions within Indian aviation have been conducted in silos, performing inspections and audits specific to their respective activities include planned or unplanned surveillance inspections, random spot checks and ramp inspections, which primarily assess compliance and safety within individual aviation segments," the DGCA said in a notice, a copy of which was seen by new framework marks a paradigm shift, aiming to evaluate the aviation ecosystem holistically, moving away from fragmented oversight models, it audits will examine three broad areas - the effectiveness of an organisation's Safety Management System, the robustness of its operational practices and its compliance with regulatory provisions.A senior official of the DGCA said these special audits will be conducted by officials with expertise in different areas such as air safety, airworthiness of aircraft, training standards of crew and air exercise will be conducted periodically for all airlines, airports, aircraft maintenance organisations and pilot training schools. "A serious incident or a crash or continuous non-compliance may trigger this audit but it will also be done periodically, giving prior notice to the company," the official Sunday, Air India said that it will temporarily reduce 118 weekly flights operated with narrow-body aircraft across 19 routes and suspend operations on three routes.
Economic Times
37 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Ripples spread across the world after US strikes Iran's nuclear facilities at Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan
Trump Calls It a 'Spectacular Success' Live Events Iran Threatens Retaliation, Closes Strait of Hormuz Gulf States on Alert, Europe Calls for Restraint Russia and China Condemn Strikes, Israel Praises Action Global Watch: IAEA, DHS React (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel In the Iran-Israel conflict, the United States launched airstrikes on Iran's key nuclear sites at Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan in the early hours of Sunday. Using bunker-busting bombs, the US strikes mark a dangerous escalation, raising fears of a wider war in the Middle the airstrikes, US President Donald Trump said: 'Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace' or face more devastating Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth added: 'The president authorised a precision operation to neutralise the threats to our national interests posed by the Iranian nuclear programme.'Despite the aggressive move, the Pentagon said the US was not seeking full-scale war with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded strongly: 'There would be no return to diplomacy until it had retaliated.'Iran's Parliament has approved a closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which 20% of the world's oil passes. The final decision rests with Iran's Supreme National Security Council.'The US showed they have no respect for international law. They only understand the language of threat and force,' Araghchi said in Istanbul, calling for the UN Security Council to condemn the across the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain, raised their security levels. Bahrain warned drivers to avoid main roads, while Kuwait opened emergency shelters. Nuclear safety agencies in the UAE and Saudi Arabia reported no signs of Europe, Britain, France, and Germany jointly said: 'We have consistently been clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon and can no longer pose a threat to regional security.'They urged Iran to return to talks, offering to help find a solution.'We stand ready to contribute to that goal in coordination with all parties.'Russia and China issued strong condemnations of the US Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said: 'Trump's decision to target Iran's nuclear facilities with the awesome and righteous might of the US will change history.'Shortly after the US airstrikes, Iran fired more missiles at Israel, injuring many in Tel Aviv and destroying buildings. However, Iran has not yet attacked US military bases or tried to block oil exports completely, signs it may be trying to avoid total International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said no rise in radiation had been detected. Its head, Rafael Mariano Grossi, called an emergency meeting of the board.A US Department of Homeland Security alert warned of a 'heightened threat environment' within the country following the satellite images showed damage above Fordo and nearby entrances, it is unclear how much of the underground site was hit. Iran reportedly moved some enriched uranium out before the from agencies
