FP The publishers permit sharing of the e-paper's pdf on WhatsApp and other social media platforms FREE PRESS Vol. XLII No. 7 | INDORE | SUNDAY | JUNE 15, 2025 | Pages 16 ` 4 | Regd. No. Indore MP/ICD 216/2024-2026 | RNI No. 38281/83 www.freepressjournal.in FP News Service Invitation denied MUMBAI 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. See Sports INDORE 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 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 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. NASHIK plan for cyberattacks combined with precision strikes without any direct US involvement “impressed” the administration.  But Trump’s behaviour in re- Tehran, Tel Aviv reel from tit-for-tat strikes ‘NUKE TALKS WITH US MEANINGLESS’ AP DUBAI 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.” 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. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 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 statement referred to India's stance articulated on Friday in which New Delhi had expressed deep concern at the recent developments between Iran and Israel. "The SCO has issued a statement on recent developments between Israel and Iran. India's own position on the matter had been articulated by us on June 13, 2025, and remains the same. We urge that channels of dialogue and diplomacy be utilised to work towards de-escalation and it is essential that the international community undertake endeavours in that direction," MEA's statement said. 4Continued on | P8 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. and the ISRO has confirmed a new launch date for the mission - June 19. The backand-forth between the ISRO and Axiom Space continued for several days. The mission was postponed five times before getting a new launch date. Experts said that had the crack not been detected, the rocket could have suffered a major failure at lift off since liquid oxygen is highly inflammable. A day before the lift off on cent months gave observers, and potentially the Iranians, the impression that he would continue to resist Netanyahu’s very public lobbying to go along PTI Our Staff Reporter BHOPAL Utkarsh Avadhiya from Indore has topped NEET UG 2025 in Madhya Pradesh with an All India Rank (AIR) 2 and 99.9 percentile. Aagam Jain from Bhopal is the city topper with AIR 45; his parents are doctors. Anubhav Pandey from Rewa and Mohit Bharti from Ujjain secured AIR 79 and AIR 82 respectively. These four students from the state are among the top 100 nationally. Students from 15 states feature in the top 100. Delhi has the highest number (17), folVishishtha Yadav (AIR 1709), lowed by Rajasthan (14) and Astha Choudhary (AIR 2519), Maharashtra (11). Madhya PraAnushtha Singh (AIR 2629), desh ranks 10th in and Manmeet Kaur this list. Monga (AIR 2900). The National Madhya Pradesh Testing Agency has 4,938 medical (NTA) announced seats across 30 colNEET results on leges 2,488 seats in Saturday. Stuti Pan17 government and dey from Chhind2,450 in 13 private wara scored AIR colleges. Mean18,302, while Anuwhile, on orders rag Tomar from Utkarsh Avadhiya from the Indore Morena secured bench of the Mad529 out of 720 marks. hya Pradesh High Court, reOther top performers sults of 75 students have been from Bhopal include Thakur withheld. NEET was conAryaman Singh (AIR 568), ducted on May 4 this year. PM Modi to visit Canada, Cyprus, Croatia Our Staff Reporter NEW DELHI PTI BALAGHAT GUNFIGHT BHOPAL In a major breakthrough in ongoing anti-Naxal operations, security forces in Balaghat gunned down four Left Wing Extremists (LWE) — including three women and one man — during a fierce encounter in the dense forests of Pachama Dadar range under Rupjhar police station area on Saturday. Director General (Anti-Naxal Operations) Pankaj Shrivastava confirmed the development and said, “Three female and one male Maoist were neutralised in the encounter.” The joint operation was carried out by the Hawk Force and the local police based on specific intelli- gence inputs about the presence of Maoists in the area. 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 PM to Croatia, marking an important milestone in the bilateral relationship," the MEA announced. Modi will first visit Cyprus on June 15-16 at the invitation of the country's president, Nikos Christodoulides. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 Bloody battle l Three women and one man neutralised in Pachama Dadar forest area. l Hawk Force and local police launched coordinated assault. l INSAS, SLR, .303 rifle, and combat gear seized. l Intelligence suggests 15+ Maoists still in the region. Panel lens on Boeing crash Dhairya Gajara MUMBAI 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 Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that within three years, water from Sindhu (Indus) river would flow to Ganga Nagar, ensuring irrigation across a vast area. Addressing the inaugural session of BJP’s three-day training camp in Pachmarhi, Shah said that Pakistan will struggle for every drop of water, linking it to recent geopolitical developments. “After the Pahalgam attack, we stopped Sindhu water agreement, which was signed during Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru’s time. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 Lift-off on June 19 CM backs PM Modi’s record hief Minister Mohan Yadav, also present at the event, praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 11 years in power. He said India’s military had effectively dismantled terror camps supported by Pakistan. He credited Modi with bold decisions like building Ram temple and abrogating Article 370. C ShubIndian astronautand hanshu Shukla three others are expected to travel to the International Space Station on June 19 the last mission and discovered that we had not fully repaired the booster during refurbishment, or we didn't find the leak and didn't get not correct it. We have now gone out to the launch pad. We're continuing to troubleshoot that.” "We should complete it today, and we will have that back in configuration. We are installing a purge that will essentially mitigate the leak if it continues...So we will be fully ready to go fly,” Gerstenmaier added. Despite admitting to a fuel leak, the SpaceX team decided to launch the rocket on June 11. 4Continued on | P8 4Continued on | P8 4 Maoists including three women killed BHOPAL/NARMADAPURAM June 10, William Gerstenmaier, vice president for Build and Flight Reliability, SpaceX said, “We found a LOX (liquid oxygen) leak that was previously seen on the booster during its (Falcon-9) entry on with strikes. Axios reported on Friday, citing two Israeli officials, that the Trump administration was only “pretending” to resist Is- rael’s attack plans, but privately did not 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.  NEET UG: INDORE BOY TOPS STATE WITH AIR 2 NEW DELHI ISRO intervention prevents space disaster Online Report E-paper India can help Sindhu water will reach Ganga Nagar de-escalate: in 3 yrs, Pak will beg for drops: Shah Israeli envoy Our Staff Reporter offgrid The timely detection of a ‘crack in an oxidizer line’ in the first stage of the Falcon-9 rocket—which will take four astronauts, including India’s Shubhanshu Shukla, to the International Space Station— averted a major disaster. The fault was observed following a demand for due diligence from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman Dr V Narayanan. The ‘leak’ has been fixed MUMBAI The United States covertly shipped about 300 AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles on Tuesday used for precision hitting targets in Iran. ESCALATION | War poised to spread after Israel damages Iranian air defence systems, clearing the skies for more action Delhi soft-pedals SCO statement Agencies BHOPAL Cinema Parenting with KJo P.14 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 Lalu lands in controversy NEW DELHI PUNE Readers’ Corner CRASH OF ERRORS P.6 Tehran will burn, promises Israel PATNA 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. Nation UJJAIN AP LONDON EDITIONS: US helped Israel down over 150 Iranian missiles WASHINGTON 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. iii QUALITY @ VALUE WORLD Sports Avani second, Diksha, Tvesa make cut P.15 Briefs ESTD-1983 US lawmaker shot dead, another hurt BLAINE: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz says former state House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were shot and killed in a politically motivated assassination, and a second lawmaker and his wife were shot and wounded. Authorities were actively searching for a suspect hours after the targeted killings. "We must all, in Minnesota and across the country, stand against all forms of political violence," Walz said at a press conference Saturday. See World 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 evening on Friday, will ascertain the root cause and contributing factors leading to the crash as well as the exist- ing standard operating procedures and guidelines issued to prevent and handle such occurrences. The committee will be 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, Civil Aviation and Indian Air Force’s inspection and safety wing, special director of the Intelligence Bureau and the director of Forensic Science and Services. The committee will also include representatives from Gujarat including the state disaster response force and the Ahmedabad police commissioner. The panel has been allowed to add any other member, including aviation experts, accident investigators and legal advisors. 4Continued on | P8 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