THE SUNDAY Vol. 36 No. 38 | Sunday, June 15, 2025 26 Pages | `5 & for State `6 | Reg. No. MCS/048/2021-23; RNI No. 46955/1988 M.p.c.s. office Mumbai-400001 FREE PRESS JOURNAL Leader in E-paper circulation l www.freepressjournal.in ● EDITIONS: ● MUMBAI ● INDORE ● PUNE ● BHOPAL ● NASHIK ● KONKAN ● E-paper Weekend Single dads, new heroes in Indian advertisements Topper score in NEET Mahesh Kumar from Hanumangarh, Rajasthan, a topper in his first NEET attempt, scored 686 out of 720 marks. The son of government teachers, he prepared in Sikar for three years. Initially aiming for UPSC, his sister convinced him to pursue NEET. Despite calling the paper tough, Mahesh's consistent 5-6 hours of daily study, reduced to 4 hours before the exam, secured his success. Three other Rajasthan students also made it to the top 15. See Mumbai & Nation Invitation denied The White House has categorically denied reports that any foreign military leader, including Pakistan’s Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, has been invited to the upcoming U.S. Army parade in Washington, marking the 250th anniversary of the American armed forces. “This is false. No foreign military leaders were invited,” a White House official said, refuting multiple media reports from South Asia. The reports claimed that Mr. Munir would be a guest of honour at the June 14 celebration, which is also U.S. President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday. South Africa wrests WTC South Africa ripped the World Test Championship mace from Australia inside four days of a riveting final at Lord's by claiming its first major cricket trophy in 27 years when it wrapped up a five-wicket win. The last 69 runs required on day four were confidently knocked off by the Proteas in just over two hours only three boundaries with Australia typically fighting all the way to the inevitable end. South Africa moved from a portentous 213-2 overnight to a winning 285-5, the second highest successful run chase in the 141-year test history at the home of cricket. See Games Govandi mishap: 4 dead A speeding dumper mowed down four members of a family, including three children, on Saturday afternoon in Govandi. The fatal incident led to massive protests as the locals resorted to road blockade, causing major traffic congestion. Police had to use lathi-charge to disperse the crowd and bring the situation under control. See Mumbai Live Smart Yoga through generations Tiger Shroff gets candid about his father and celebrity lineage Play & Pause BombayMami on her music journey US helped Israel down over 150 Iranian missiles FPJ News Service MUMBAI The United States covertly shipped about 300 AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles on Tuesday two US officials told Middle East Eye, confirming that Washington had advance knowledge of Jerusalem’s plan to strike Iranian nuclear and military targets early Friday. The same officials said US ground-based air-defence assets later helped Israel intercept more than 150 Iranian ballistic missiles fired in response, Jerusalem Post reported. Hellfires, laser-guided munitions best suited for pinpoint attacks on personnel and command posts, “were useful to Israel,” a senior US defence official was quoted as saying, noting that the IAF used more than 100 aircraft to hit senior Revolutionary Guard officers, nuclear scientists and control centres around Isfahan and Tehran. Because the missiles were part of a US $7.4 billion arms package approved by Congress in February, the transfer required no new notification. Israel killed scores of senior Iranian officials and at least nine nuclear scientists on Friday. The Trump administration knew about Israel’s attack plans for months.  MEE reported earlier this month that the CIA was briefed in April and May on Israeli plans to unilaterally attack Iran’s nuclear sites. Israel’s Target Systems Analysis and battle plan for cyberattacks combined The United States covertly shipped about 300 AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles on Tuesday used for precision hitting targets in Iran. with precision strikes without any direct US involvement “impressed” the administration.  But Trump’s behaviour in recent months gave observers, ESCALATION | War poised to spread after Israel damages Iranian air defence systems, clearing the skies for more action Tehran, Tel Aviv reel from tit-for-tat strikes AP Briefs SUNDAY READ Happy s Father’ Day ‘NUKE TALKS WITH US MEANINGLESS’ AP DUBAI An explosion is seen during a missile attack in Tel Aviv Agencies TEL AVIV Israel and Iran carried out waves of deadly attacks on Saturday, with neither side showing any signs of backing down and de-escalating hostilities. In sweeping attacks that started early Friday, Israel has struck at the regime in Tehran, targeting Iranian nuclear and military assets. On Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that “Tehran will burn” if Iran continued to fire missiles at Israel. Most of the surface-to-surface missiles launched by Iran were intercepted, Israel’s military said. Israel said it had carried out more strikes overnight targeting Iran’s air defenses. The Israeli Defence Force noted that while the Air Force alone cannot neutralise all components of Iran's dispersed nuclear infrastructure, it is targeting missile production, key national infrastructure, regime leadership, and nuclear facilities. "This combination will delay the nuclear programme by years," it asserted. Reuters reported that Iran's strikes against Israel will continue, with targets set to expand to include U.S. bases in the region in the coming days, Iran's Fars news agency reported on Saturday, citing senior Iranian military officials. "This confrontation will not end with last night's limited actions and Iran's strikes will continue, and this action will be very painful and regrettable for the aggressors," Fars reported, citing senior military officials. Delhi soft-pedals SCO statement ANI NEW DELHI India said on Saturday that it did not participate in the discussions on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) statement on recent developments between Israel and Iran and that channels of dialogue and diplomacy be utilised to work towards They were quoted saying that the war would "spread in the coming days to all areas occupied by this (Israeli) regime and American bases in the region". Israel Defence Forces spokesperson Brig Gen Effie Defrin on Saturday claimed that the Israeli Air Force has achieved aerial freedom of action over Tehran, which is "no longer immune.”’ 4Contd on | Nation Israel's strikes put further talks between the United States and Iran over a nuclear accord into doubt. The US and Iran were scheduled to meet in Oman, on Sunday. Iran's top diplomat said on Saturday that talks with the United States were "unjustifiable" after Israeli strikes on his country, likely signalling no negotiations this weekend with Washington. However he stopped short of saying the talks were cancelled. The comments by Abbas Araghchi, Iran's minister of foreign affairs, came when he spoke by phone with Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat. The Israeli airstrikes were the "result of the direct support by Washington", Araghchi said in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. 4Contd on | Nation and potentially the Iranians, the impression that he would continue to resist Netanyahu’s very public lobbying to go along with strikes. Axios reported on Friday, citing two Israeli officials, that the Trump administration was only “pretending” to resist Israel’s attack plans, but privately did not Dhairya Gajara MUMBAI The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has constituted a high level multi-disciplinary committee to investigate the Air India plane crash, which will work in tandem with the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). The committee with high ranking bureaucrats will present its report in three months with suggestions for dealing with similar instances in the future. While AAIB is decoding the flight data recorder and investigating the cause of the crash of flight AI171, MoCA constituted a high level committee to run a parallel investigation into the accident. The committee, announced late even- We have put a time limit of three months for them to sit down, talk to various stakeholders, and involve and discuss with any other important expert that is necessary as part of their investigation. – K Rammohan Naidu, Civil Aviation Minister ing on Friday, will ascertain the root cause and contributing factors leading to the crash as well as the existing standard operating procedures and guidelines issued to prevent and handle such occurrences. The committee will be AI interim relief of `25 lakh for kin PTI MUMBAI Air India on Saturday announced that it will provide an interim payment of Rs 25 lakh to the families of the deceased and survivors of the Ahmedabad plane crash. This interim payment is in addition to the Rs 1 crore compensation already announced by the parent company, Tata Sons, Air India said in a statement. Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner carrying 242 passengers, including 12 crew members, crashed in the Meghaninangar area shortly after takeoff from the Ahmedabad International Airport on Thursday afternoon, killing 270 persons, including 241 passengers on board. "To provide immediate financial support, Air India will be making an interim payment of Rs 25 lakh or approximately 21,000 British pounds to each of the families of the deceased and also to the survivors," Air India CEO and managing Director Campbell Wilson said in a video message. The Axiom-4 commercial mission to the International Space Station, carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three others, is now targeting a launch on June 19, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced on Saturday. 4Contd on | Nation 4Contd on | Nation Lalu lands in controversy 4Contd on | Nation PTI NEW DELHI "This will be the first visit of an Indian prime minister to Cyprus in over two decades," the MEA said in a statement. 4Contd on | Nation 4Contd on | Nation 4Contd on | Nation prime ministerial visit to Croatia, and the first in two decades to Cyprus. lateral relationship," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Saturday. Modi will first visit Cyprus on June 15-16 at the invitation of the country's president, Nikos Christodoulides. India can help de-escalate: Israeli envoy Israel's Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, on Saturday expressed optimism about India's potential to mediate in the escalating tensions between Israel and Iran following a telephonic conversation between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "India has avenues for dialogue with both sides. It can indeed play a role. We are happy to have this sincere dialogue with India, which is a very good friend... We listen carefully to your concerns. I think they are legitimate," Azar said in an interview with PTI Videos. The remarks came amid heightened tensions in West Asia, with both Israel and Iran launching strikes against each other. Netanyahu called Prime Minister Modi on Friday to brief him on Israel's actions, which the ambassador described as defensive measures to counter an "existential threat" posed by Iran's nuclear ambitions and ballistic missile programme. NEW DELHI de-escalation. In its statement, Ministry of External Affairs said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had discussed this matter with his Iranian counterpart yesterday and conveyed the deep concern of the international community at the turn of events. chaired by the secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) with members including MoCA secretary, MHA additional secretary, director generals of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, DREAMLINER CRASH PTI Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake a threenation tour starting Sunday, during which he will take part in the G7 Summit in Canada, and visit Cyprus and Croatia to shore up India's bilateral cooperation with these two countries. "This will be the first ever visit by an Indian prime minister to Croatia, marking an important milestone in the bi- 4Contd on | Nation Panel lens on Boeing crash Axiom set for PM to visit Canada, Cyprus, Croatia June 19 lift-off PTI It will be a first ever NEW DELHI resist them.  Trump has since framed his approach as saying that he gave Iran a 60-day window to agree to a new nuclear agreement with his administration before launching strikes. Israeli media reported the 60-day deadline in March 2025.  The Trump administration began talks with Iran on 12 April 2025, and the Israeli attack took place exactly 61 days later.  shooting star The boy who shot the Dreamliner from the terrace Dhairya Gajara MUMBAI A viral video allegedly showing RJD chief Lalu Prasad with a portrait of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar at his feet sparked controversy on Saturday. In the video, Lalu is seen seated on a couch with his feet placed on a sofa nearby as a supporter enters the room carrying the portrait of Ambedkar. The portrait is then seen placed near his feet. See Nation During his first visit to Ahmedabad, Aryan Asari, 17, a resident of Gujarat’s Aravalli district, couldn’t control his excitement as he watched airplanes flying from a very low height and recorded them through his mobile phone to show them to his friends back at home. However, he had no idea that he would accidentally capture the tragic aircraft accident which killed 241 people travelling on-board. Aryan was visiting his relatives in Ahmedabad who lived in the Omkar Nagar area of Meghani Nagar, where Air India’s Londonbound flight AI-171 crashed on Thursday and spread a wave of shock across the nation. The Class-12 student, out of sheer excitement, recorded videos of the airplanes, from the terrace and one of them captured the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft which started descending soon after take-off and crashed into the BJ Medical College’s hostel, a few hundred metres away from Aryan. The video recorded by Aryan soon became the first and only live video of the plane crash before another CCTV footage from Ahmedabad Airport also surfaced. However, multiple conspiracy theories erupted after the video went viral on social media with some users ques- tioning whether the accident, that was about to happen, was already known to the person behind the camera. Bringing an end to the conspiracy theories, Aryan spoke to the media on Saturday wherein he confessed that he was just recording the video to show it to his friends in his native village and it was pure coincidence that he recorded the plane crashing. “The way the plane was lowering towards the ground, I thought it was landing at the airport but the explosion cleared my misunderstanding,” he said. The incident scared the teenager who was seeing the airplanes from a close distance for the first time. “I always wished to fly in an airplane once in my life but after what I saw I don’t think I will be able to sit in one,” he had said to the media. Recounting the terrifying moments, Aryan said that within 24 seconds of his recording, the plane crashed. 4Contd on | Nation Aryan