Wednesday, June 25, 2025 | 30 Pages | `5 & for State (+4 pages) `6 Reg.No MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 1541/1957 M.p.c.s office Mu umbai. PIN 400001 THE FREE PR JOURNAL F RESS RNA Vol. 68 No. 225 | Leader in E-paper ci irculation l www.freepressjournal.in ● EDITIONS: ● MUMBAI ● INDORE ● PUNE ● BHOPAL ● NASHIK ● KON fr sj n NKAN ● E-paper ● Member: Audit Bureau of Circulation (July to December 2024) au o GAMES NATION T Tejashwi promise w make Bihar num if his party forms th government Duckett pours water over Indian hopes Haridev Pushparaj e Indian cricket fraternity pays it tributes after the ts t passin of former Test ng f player Dilip Doshi r Trump blasts both Israel and Iran ra ra Agencies WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV In a dramatic turn of events after nearly two weeks of inf tense warfare, former U.S. fa fo President Donald Trump announced a “Complete and Total Ceasefire” between Isfi rael and Iran. The ceasefire fi came into effect Tuesday fe morning, following a surprise fo intervention by Trump, who took to his social media platform Truth Social with bold claims and public instructions addressed directly to the Is- raeli leadership. “All planes will turn aroun nd and head home while doing a friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran Wa n. Nobody will be hurt, th he Ceasefire is in effect!” Trum f fe mp al declared in one of severa ot posts, adding, “Israel. Do no drop those bombs. If you do it ng is a major violation. Brin aj your pilots home, now!” an According to Trump, Ira would begin the ceasefire, folfi fo el, lowed 12 hours later by Israe marking an official end to fi t what he dubbed “THE 12 DAY A WAR.” “Congratulations to t DGCA FIND CA Lapses galore in major aj r airlines, airports Dhairya Gajara ya aj MUMBAI In a sweeping audit of India’s busiest airports, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation Av ( ) gg (DGCA) has flagged serious safety lapses and repeated defe d fects, pointing to poor ma aintenance and lax oversight by aviation stakeholders. The surveillance, conducted by two DGCA Joint Director Gener rallevel teams, covered major airaj a ports including Delhi and a Mumbai during night a and early morning hours. The Free Press Journal h had earlier reported on the DGCA’s CA’ directive to launch a sect tor- wide special audit to bolster r aviation safety. The surveilfe y. lance covered key operationa al s, areas such as flight operations airworthiness, ramp safety, air fe y, r traffic control (ATC), comfi AT g d munication, navigation and surveillance (CNS) systems, and pre-flight medical checks. The regulator identified a disfi turbing trend: several defects in ve fe aircraft systems had reoccurred, ft re suggesting ineffective monitorug fe ve ring and inadequate rectification fi by the operators. Ground handro ling equipment like baggage trolleys and belt loaders were we found unserviceable. 4Contd on | nation everyone!” he wrote. “This is a war that could have gone on for years and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will!” The truce was off to a shaky start. Explosions were re- `20,000 crore sanctioned amid fierce backlash from farmers fa Kalpesh Mhamunkar ka MUMBAI Agencies WASHINGTON Vice President JD Vance on Va mMonday dodged a question ay on what had happened to Iran's 400 kilogrammes of g enriched uranium stockpile e. Vance said he believed it is i buried beneath the three nu uclear reactors that were bombed by America and Is srael. Other officials and ex fi xperts think there is a possibility that the stockpile e might have been spirited av d away before the attack. ay fo “Our goal was to bury the e uranium, and I do think the e Nanded, Beed, Latur, Solapur, Sangli, Kolhapur, and other key districts. Once completed, travel time between Nagpur and Goa will be slashed from 18 to 8 hours. Billed as a spiritual tourism p lifeline, the corridor aims to f link sacred sites such as Tuljapur, Mahur, Ambajogai, Kolhaaj pur, Pandharpur, Aundha Nagnath, and Parli Vaijnath, Vaij alongside numerous Datta temples and saints’ abodes. After a post-poll pause in Sepf tember 2024, the Mahayuti has ay reignited its ambitious Shaktipeeth Expressway project. On ay Tuesday, the Maharashtra cabiay net sanctioned 20,000 crore for the 802.5-km corrid dor, which will connect 12 distri icts and major pilgrimage centres aj across the state. The expressway, spearheaay tate ded by the Maharashtra St INDIA IN TOP 100 GLOBAL SDG INDEX Orange G elevated Gate d flyover to be shelved AIIB examining AI171 black box Shefali Parab-Pandit Pa P PUNE FPJ News Service P MUMBAI MUMBAI 4Contd on | nation nt The BMC has decided to shelve lv its Rs. 1,329-crore plan to build a 5.6-km elevated road corridor from the Eastern Freeway at Orange Gate to Grant Road in South Mumbai. The project aimed to ease traffic fi and reduce travel time beav tween South Mumbai and the eastern suburbs. However, its alignment overlaps with a 6.52km underground twin tunnel currently being constructed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) between Orange D Gate and Marine Drive, resulting in the cancellation. The 17-km Eastern Freeway, ay connecting the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) in the eastern hway suburbs to P D Mello Road in South Mumbai, experiences Road Development Corpor ration (MSRDC), will run from m Pavnar in Wardha district to av Wa n Patradevi on the Goa border in ss Sindhudurg. It will pas through Yavatmal, Hingoli, Ya After discussions with the MMRDA and traffic police, it was decided to cancel the flyover project, as having two projects with similar alignments . would be redundant. 4Contd on | nation PTI congestion at its western end d due to the absence of an elevvv ated road. This bottleneck results in long travel times, with av h journeys to South Mumbai’s 0 western areas taking up to 50 minutes. To ease traffic and cu To fi ut travel time to 5-7 minutes, the av e BMC had proposed a flyover ve linking South Mumbai’s west to we o the Freeway. eway The black box of the Air India plane that crashed in Ahmedabad earlier this month is currently in India and is being examined by the Aircraft Accident Invesft tigation Bureau (AAIB), Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu confirmed on fi Tuesday. Speaking at the Helicopters & Small Aircraft Summit 2025 in Pune, organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Civil Aviation Naidu dismissed iation, media reports that suggested the black box would be sent abroad for analysis. fo 4Contd on | nation 4Contd on | nation nt Kerala drops plan to ban sor rcery law a FPJ News Service P MUMBAI In a move that has sparked controversy, the Left-led Kerala ve y, ft government has informed the fo Kerala High Court that it will not proceed with legislation to ban black magic, sorcery, and y, other inhuman practices. The state’s affidavit, filed before a fi av fi fo division bench headed by Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar, cited a cabinet-level policy decision not to enact the proposed law. aw The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Kerala Yukthivadi Yu Sangham, which urged the state to adopt a law akin to those in Maharashtra and Karnataka that prohibit exploitative rituals in the name of supernatural powers. 4Contd on | nation nt Pathanamthitta Pathanamthitta case n October 2022, Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district was shaken by the gruesome revelation that two middleaged women—Roslin (Roselie) and Padma, both vendors of lottery tickets—had been abducted, brutally murdered, and buried as part of black magic “human sacrifice” rituals. The killings occurred four months apart in Elanthoor village. A trio —self styled voodoo practitioner Mohammad Shafi (alias Rasheed), traditional healer Bhagaval Singh, and his wife Laila—lured the victims with promises of jobs or money, claiming the ritual would bring financial prosperity. Continued on Nation I ported in Tehran shortly after ft the ceasefire was declared. f Two eyewitnesses in the Iranian capital told Reuters they heard loud blasts, while Israeli Army Radio confirmed a fi strike on an Iranian radar site near Tehran. Despite these reports, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated that fi there were no further attacks after Netanyahu spoke directly with Trump. “Israel has agreed to the president’s prop posal for a bilateral ceasefire… fo fi in full coordination with President Trump,” said an offficial statement quoted by CNBC News. The ceasefire announcef ment was first made by Trump fi around 1:00 a.m. ET, via Truth Social. 4Contd on | nation nt Mystery swirls over Teh an’s i l ve hr n’s enriched uranium stockpile Shaktipeeth Expressway plan back on track th re s ck India has made a modest yet notable leap in the latest global Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Index, climbing to 99th position out of 193 countries in the 2025 UN Sustainable Development Report, with a score of 67. This marks a steady improvement from dy previous years—India ranked 109th in 2024 and 112th in 2023. Yet, while the upward Ye trajectory is encouraging, it aj also underscores how much ground remains to be covered before the 2030 deadline. f The report, compiled by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, warns of a larger crisis: Ed t As assembly polls reveal, di th BJP is no longer invincible he nv SHAKY START TO CEASE TA AR EFIRE MUMBAI Ben Duckett smashed a sensational hundred and England put on a determined batting effort to defy Indian fo fy bowlers including the Jasprit Bumrah threat as the home side ‘Bazballed’ India to win by five wickets in the first fi Test in Leeds. Going into the final day, y, India would have fancied fa their chances as they looked to defend 371 but Duckett fe and Zak Crawley had other plans as they stitched together a 188-run opening partnership that laid the foundation for the English fo victory. Duckett was severe on the Indian bowling attack as he slammed 21 fours and a six in fo his 149 that came off 170 balls at a strike rate of 87.64. India’s chances were brightened on day three and four after impressive batting o ft p f performances from Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul with both scoring second innings hundreds to help the team reach a lead of 370. The batters may ponder about the middle and lower order collapse in the second innings where they lost six wickets for 77 runs but all fo bowlers except for Bumrah fo will have a lot of soul-searching to do for the humbling fo defeat. fe SEE GAMES Ci inema Kiara Advani approached for Meena Kumari biopic r uranium is buried, but our goal was to eliminate the enrichment and eliminate their ability to convert that enriched fuel into a nuclear fu weapon,” Vance told Fox Va News “Special Report” host Bret Baier when asked if the US knew the location of Iran’s ew roughly 400kg — or about 900 pounds — of uranium enriched to 60% purity. y. Vance said that despite the US strikes on Iran's nuclear sites, the U.S. is not at war with Iran. "No, we're not at war with Iran, Jon. We're at war with We Iran's nuclear program," Vance told ABC News' "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl. "And I think the president took decisive action to destroy that program last night." 4Contd on | nation nt HC direction on Tata’s shares a’ FPJ News Service P ew MUMBAI The Bombay High Court has ay ruled that the listed and unlisted shares owned by late industrialist Ratan Tata — not specifically allocated in his Will f — will be equally distributed between the Ratan Tata Endowment Foundation and the Fo Ratan Tata Endowment Trust. Justice Manish Pitale, presiding over the probate proceedve ings, delivered the order on ve June 16. The ruling clarified the fi interpretation of Tata’s original will dated February 23, 2022, Fe and its four Codicils — the last fo Unallocated shares will benefit two of Ratan Tata’s charitable trusts of which was executed on December 22, 2023. A Codicil is a legal instrument used to amend a previously executed Will. ex The executors of Tata’s estate had sought the court's guidance on how to distribute certain listed and unlisted shares that were not directly bequeathed to any individual. 4Contd on | nation nt