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an hour ago
- Health
- NDTV
"So Sad": Israelis Shocked By Iran Strike On Hospital
Tel Aviv: The damage was hard to comprehend for many at Israel's Soroka Hospital as staff took stock of the wreckage after a strike by an Iranian ballistic missile on Thursday left part of the facility in ruins. The strike in the southern city of Beersheba caused extensive damage to the hospital's entrance hall and several departments, including the ophthalmology unit on the third floor of the surgical building. The explosion shattered windows, hurling glass across the hospital, brought ceilings crashing down, destroyed medical equipment and left corridors in disarray. "It's so sad, I never thought something like this could happen. Never. It's only medical professionals here, and patients... and look what happened to us," Wasim Hin, an ophthalmologist at Soroka Medical Centre, told AFP. "Here we have new equipment, everything was destroyed." Yael Tiv, an officer in the Home Front command, said the damage was the result of a "direct hit" by a missile. "You can see the damage inside. Shattered windows, the ceilings that fell. It's a really awful scenario inside," she added. The hospital's director and other workers said that lives had been saved because the structure hit in the attack had been evacuated in recent days. - Building evacuated - "It's a miracle. The building had just been evacuated," maintenance worker Kevin Azoulay told AFP. Even still, 40 people sustained injuries during the attack. "Several wards were completely demolished and there is extensive damage across the entire hospital with damage to buildings, structures, windows, ceilings across the medical centre," director Shlomi Codish told journalists. Israel's multi-layered air defence systems have managed to intercept most of the missiles and drones targeting the country during the last week of fighting between Israel and Iran. But some have managed to slip through, wreaking widespread damage at the point of impact. The Soroka complex is the largest hospital in southern Israel and a primary medical centre for Bedouin communities in the Negev Desert, as well as for wounded Israeli soldiers returning from the war in Gaza. The UN's World Health Organisation leader on Thursday denounced attacks on health facilities in the Iran-Israel war as "appalling". At the WHO annual assembly last month, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had also urged Israel to show "mercy" in its bombardment and siege of Gaza, saying it was "wrong to weaponise" food and medical supplies. - 'Pay a heavy price' - Arriving at the scene of Soroka Hospital to survey the damage Thursday, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed swift revenge for the attack. "We will make the tyrants in Tehran pay a heavy price," Netanyahu said in a post on X. Iranian authorities later said the barrage had targeted a nearby Israeli command post and intelligence base, according to a report published by the state news agency IRNA. Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps also weighed in. "In this operation, the regime's command and intelligence centre near a hospital was targeted with highly accurate and guided missiles," the force said in a statement. Elsewhere in Israel on Thursday, buildings were also damaged in the central towns of Ramat Gan and Holon, close to coastal hub Tel Aviv, which has been repeatedly targeted by Iranian missiles since war broke out between the countries last Friday. "The truth is, God is with us and the government must keep doing what it's doing," said Renana, a resident of a building hit in Ramat Gan. Back at Soroka Hospital, Boris Knaizer, who heads the ophthalmology department, was at a loss. He said the department treated around 50,000 patients a year. "And now, how are we going to receive them?" he asked. "We have no idea, we have no space, we have no rooms, everything has been destroyed."
NDTV
an hour ago
- Business
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India Kick-Starts Process To Build 5th Generation Stealth Fighter Jet
New Delhi: India has kick-started the process to implement an ambitious project to develop a fifth generation stealth fighter jet to boost its air power. The Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), an entity that operates under the defence ministry, has invited Expression of Interest (EOI) for developing prototypes of the aircraft. Under the project, the government plans to build five prototypes of the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA). India has been working on the ambitious AMCA project to develop the medium weight deep penetration fighter jet with advanced stealth features to bolster its air power capability. AMCA along with the Tejas light combat aircraft are planned to be the mainstays of the Indian Air Force. The ADA said the aim of the EOI is to shortlist Indian companies (owned and controlled by resident Indian citizens) who are technically capable of building the AMCA prototypes. In an official note, it said the applicant may be a single company, joint venture or a consortium of companies. It said reputed Indian companies having experience in the aerospace and defence sector with capability to absorb the design of AMCA will be shortlisted for the project. The shortlisted entity must possess the capability of setting up a manufacturing facility for series production of the aircraft, it said. The duration of the contract for development, prototyping, flight test and certification of AMCA shall not exceed eight years from the effective date of contract, the ADA said.
NDTV
2 hours ago
- Science
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In A First, More Girls Passed Class 12 With Science Stream Than Arts In 2024: Report
New Delhi: For the first time, the pass percentage of class 12 girls from the science stream surpassed those from the arts stream in 2024, a Ministry of Education report stated. The report is based on the analysis of 66 school education boards across India including 54 regular and 12 open boards. While the top 33 boards cover 97 per cent of students, the remaining 33 boards cover just 3 per cent of students. In 2022, 28.2 lakh girls passed with the arts stream, compared to 23.3 lakh with the science stream, while in 2023, 29.6 lakh girls passed Class 12 with the arts stream and 25.6 lakh with the science stream. "There has been a consistent rise in the number of students graduating from Class 12 with the science stream over the last 11 years, from 2013 to 2024. In 2013, 36.3 lakh students passed with the science stream and this surged to 61 lakh in 2024. "The number of girls passing with the science stream also increased exponentially during these years, from 13.4 lakh in 2013 to 28.1 lakh in 2014," School Education Secretary Sanjay Kumar said. Kumar further noted that in 2024, science was the most sought-after stream. "For the first time, girls passing out from the science stream was more than girls from the arts stream. This might be due to improvement in the availability of facilities viz., Subject wise labs, teachers, ATLs, Smart class in schools," he said. According to the report, in 2013, 1.7 lakh girls from marginalised sections passed Class 12 with science, which increased to 4.1 lakh in 2024. Similarly, the number of Scheduled Tribe (ST) girls passing with the science stream rose from 60,000 in 2013 to 1.4 lakh in 2024. The report also pointed out a decline in the number of students passing Class 12 with the commerce stream. In 2022, 18 lakh students passed with commerce, which dropped to 16.8 lakh in 2024.
NDTV
2 hours ago
- NDTV
Indian Student Dies In Canada, Cause Of "Sudden Death" Unclear
Ottawa: An Indian student at the University of Calgary in Canada has died, the Consulate General of India in Vancouver said on Thursday. The Consulate said it was "saddened by the sudden demise" of the Indian student, identified as Tanya Tyagi. It was immediately not clear how the Indian student died and under what circumstances. "We are saddened by the sudden demise of Ms. Tanya Tyagi, an Indian student at University of Calgary," it posted on X. "The Consulate is in touch with the authorities and will provide all required assistance to the bereaved family. Our heartfelt condolences & prayers are with his family & friends of the deceased," it added.
NDTV
2 hours ago
- Sport
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"When New Leadership Role Comes...": Ben Stokes On India Test Skipper Shubman Gill
Ahead of the first Test against India, England skipper Ben Stokes said that the visitors have an "exciting time" in the longest format of the game as they have announced young Shubman Gill as the new captain of the national team. After batting wizards Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli bid adieu to Test cricket last month, India was left short on experience. With India bereft of its torchbearers, the management turned to youngsters to mark the beginning of a new era. After their decision, the captaincy baton was passed from Rohit to Gill. Speaking at the pre-match press conference, Ben Stokes told the media, "I think Subhman Gill is a very fine player. He's been around a long time now, considering he's only young. He's played a lot of cricket, a lot of IPL cricket, actually a lot of cricket for India. I think it's an exciting time for Indian cricket to be under the new leadership. It's a lot of pressure to be the captain of any Indian team. But yeah, it's an exciting time. I think it is always for teams when a new leadership role comes into play. So yeah, obviously, he will be my opponent for the next six weeks so that I won't go into it too much, but all the best." At 25, Gill has become one of the youngest players to hold the position in recent years. Though he lacks captaincy experience in the red-ball format, he has led India in a five-match T20I assignment in Zimbabwe in 2024. Gill has also been captaining the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Gill has also served as vice-captain in ODIs and T20Is. He was Rohit Sharma's deputy in India's victorious Champions Trophy campaign in the UAE in February 2025. In Test cricket, Gill has played 32 matches and scored 1,893 runs, including five centuries. India tour of England will take place from June to August 2025, with matches to be played at Headingley (Leeds), Edgbaston (Birmingham), Lord's (London), Old Trafford (Manchester), and The Oval (London). A new era beckons for India in the Test format as the modern-day giants gear up for their first assignment without the prized batting bigwigs Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Shubman Gill, India's youngest Test captain, has taken the baton from Rohit to guide the nation to success and challenge for the World Test Championship mace. India squad for England Test series: Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc, wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudarshan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav. England on Wednesday announced its playing XI for the opening Test of the five-match series against India, which will kick off on June 20 at Headingley. For the opening Test, England has retained the majority of the XI they fielded against Zimbabwe during the one-off Test last month. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett will open for England, followed by Ollie Pope at number three. England Playing XI for the 1st Test: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (C), Jamie Smith (WK), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.
