FRIDAY 20 JUNE 2025 www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 SINCE 1818 Pages 12 |` 5.00 KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR PM MODI RETURNS AFTER LANDMARK 3-NATION TOUR ‘RUSSIA COULD HELP BROKER A DEAL BETWEEN IRAN & ISRAEL’ P5 SENSEX 81,361.87 q82.79 WEATHER Generally Cloudy sky with one or two spells of light rain/ thundershower very likely to occur. RAINFALL: 03.6 mm RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 98% Min. 90% P9 NIFTY 24,793.25 q18.80 ` vs $ 86.75 Max: 28.4˚C (-5.4) Min: 23.0˚C (-4.0) SUN RISES 04:52 hrs MOON RISES 10:48 hrs SUN SETS 18:18 hrs MOON SETS 23:48 hrs New Moon on 25 June THUMBNAILS A cane and bamboo boat with a swan figurine gifted by PM Narendra Modi to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil, during his Canada visit to attend the G7 Summit. nANI Centre issues new draft rules to demolish obstructions near airports: The Centre has released new draft rules to tighten control over structures posing a risk to aircraft safety in a proactive step to prevent potential accidents caused by obstructions in flight paths. The new draft rules aimed at giving authorities the power to take prompt action against buildings and trees that exceed height limits in designated aerodrome zones. INDIA, ENGLAND GEAR UP FOR TEST SERIES P8 P12 SILVER `1,07,026 GOLD `1,02,350 110 Indians evacuated from Iran land in Delhi BRENT CRUDE (IN $) 77.67 Justice Varma probe: SC panel flags ‘unnatural conduct’ NEW DELHI, 19 JUNE New Delhi is also moving to evacuate Indian nationals from Israel STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 19 JUNE TEMPERATURE ‘SC GUIDELINES ON BULLDOZER JUSTICE UPHOLD CITIZEN DIGNITY’ A mid the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel, a flight carrying the first batch of 110 Indian nationals, including 90 students from the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, evacuated from Iran arrived in New Delhi under Operation Sindhu on Thursday. The government is also moving to evacuate Indian nationals who wish to leave Israel. The evacuation of Indian nationals from Iran was conducted via Armenia, with the students travelling by road to the Armenian capital, Yerevan, under the supervision of the Indian missions in Iran and Armenia. India on Wednesday launched Operation Sindhu, aimed at ensuring the safety and evacuation of Indian nationals from Iran. The first batch of 110 Indian citizens arrived in New Delhi in the early hours of Thursday. A special IndiGo flight (6E Minister of State for External Affairs, Kirti Vardhan Singh greets the evacuated students at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. n ANI 9487) carrying the evacuees, many of them students from Urmia Medical University in Iran, landed at Terminal 3 of Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. Minister of State for External Affairs, Kirti Vardhan Singh, welcomed the evacuated students at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said the evacuation of Indian nationals from Iran under Operation Sindhu is ongoing. Kirti Vardhan Singh assured that the Indian government is actively working to ensure the safe return of every Indian stranded in the region. “We, on our part, are making every effort to ensure the safe return of all Indian nationals from Iran. It is a major responsibility, and we are committed to fulfilling it. We have more planes on standby," Mr Singh told reporters. The minister said over 350 evacuation requests have already been received, and the MEA, in coordination with Indian embassies abroad, has set up 24-hour helplines to handle the ongoing crisis. “Today, another plane will be going to evacuate people from Turkmenistan. Our missions have opened 24-hour helplines to receive evacuation requests. As the situation evolves, we will be sending more planes or charter flights to evacuate all our Indian nationals from Iran,” he said. Meanwhile, the MEA, in an official statement, said Indian nationals who wish to leave Israel will be evacuated through land borders, following which arrangements will be made for their travel back to India by air. The Indian mission in Tel Aviv will oversee the logistics and coordination of this operation. Those who wish to leave Israel have been requested to register themselves with the Embassy of India in Tel Aviv. The MEA reiterated that the evacuation operation will continue as long as necessary. The Judicial Inquiry Committee, set up by the then Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna after the discovery of burnt currency notes at the Delhi home of Justice Yashwant Varma, then of Delhi High Court, has concluded there is credible and serious evidence of misconduct. The report, prepared by a panel of Chief Justices Sheel Nagu, GS Sandhawalia, and Justice Anu Sivaraman, suggested that Justice Varma failed to uphold “Universally Accepted Values of Judicial Life.” Referring to the recovery of partially incinerated cash on 15 March from a store room at Justice Varma’s official residence, the panel concluded that “the burnt currency was removed covertly with active awareness or complicity,” prompting questions about why no formal complaint or disclosure was made by the judge. Referring to Justice Varma's transfer to Allahabad High Court, the report said that despite having time to seek clarification or raise objections, he promptly accepted the 20 March repatriation order “without demur”, raising eyebrows within the judicial fraternity. AGENCIES Trump shifts away from claims of having ‘stopped’ war between India, Pakistan AGENCIES WASHINGTON, 19 JUNE In a matter of hours, US President Donald Trump shifted from his claims of having “stopped” the war between India and Pakistan, and gave credit to “two very smart people, (who) decided not to keep going with that war that could have been a nuclear” one without claiming a mediatory role for himself. After a lunch with visiting Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir on Wednesday, Mr Trump said he wanted to thank him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ending last month's conflict. “I’m so happy there was a deal that two smart people, plus people on their staff too" worked out an end to the war, Mr Trump said. India has maintained that there was no US mediation, and Mr Modi had made this clear to Mr Trump during their phone conversation on Tuesday night.