USA NOW A SPECTATOR IN THE MIDDLE EAST 15 JUNE 2025 CONG SLAMS GOVT FOR ABSTAINING ON UN GAZA RESOLUTION RIFLE SHOOTERS CLINCH SECOND GOLD FOR INDIA AT MUNICH WORLD CUP www.thestatesman.com X.com/thestatesmanltd. Fb/thestatesman1875 PAGE 7 PAGE 5 PAGE 12 SINCE 1818 PAGES 12|` 5.00 SILIGURI | NEW DELHI | KOLKATA | BHUBANESWAR WEATHER Partly cloudy sky. Thundery development towards evening. Maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be around 34 °C and 28 °C respectively. RAINFALL: Nil RELATIVE HUMIDITY Max. 90 % The committee will go into the circumstances and reasons of the air crash and submit a report within three months, said Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu Min. 59 % TEMPERATURE Max: 35.2˚C (+0.7) SUN RISES 04:51 hrs MOON RISES 00:00 Govt sets up committee to probe Air India AI171 crash Min: 28.7˚C (+1.5) SUN SETS 18:22 hrs MOON SETS 09:09 hrs New Moon on 25 June THUMBNAILS Smoke billows from Singaporean vessel MV Wan Hai 503 during a salvage operation being carried out by Indian Coast Guard (ICG), along with the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force. The Indian Navy successfully carried out an aerial insertion of a salvage team on the vessel, in Kochi on Friday. . n INDIACOASTGUARD X/ANI VIDEO GRAB Mahesh Kumar tops NEET-UG exam with 686 marks: The National Testing Agency (NTA) has officially declared the results of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) UG 2025 for undergraduate medical courses. Mahesh Kumar, a resident of Hanumangarh, Rajasthan, has emerged as the All India Topper, scoring 686 out of 720 marks. Among the top ten NEET rank holders, nine were boys, but girls secured more seats overall. Nearly 60 per cent of the qualified candidates were women. According to the official list, Mahesh Kumar from Rajasthan secured All India Rank (AIR) 1 with a percentile of 99.9999547, followed by Utkarsh Awadhiya from Madhya Pradesh and Krishang Joshi from Maharashtra. RAHUL GAHLAWAT NEW DELHI, 14 JUNE T he government on Saturday set up a high-level committee, headed by Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, to probe the crash of Air India AI171 in Ahmedabad on 12 June, in which 241 people on board were killed, along with several killed and injured on the ground. The committee, which includes experts from multiple disciplines, will go into the circumstances and reasons of the air crash and submit a report within three months, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said at a press conference. The committee will also give recommendations to strengthen aviation safety to prevent such incidents in the future, Mr Naidu added. The high-powered panel includes the Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, one representative of the Gujarat state disaster response force, the Police Commissioner of Ahmedabad, DG (inspection and safety Indian Air Force), DG (DGCA), Special Director (IB) and Director (FSL). The minister clarified that the committee is dif- ferent from the one set up by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) committee. The AAIB committee, headed by the DG, AAIB, will carry out the technical investigation, which is a standard procedure after a crash. Addressing the press briefing, the Minister said: “One important update from the technical investigation which is happening through the AAIB is the recovery of the black box yesterday around 5 p.m. from the site, the AAIB team believes that this decoding of the black box is going to give an in depth insight into what actually happened during the process of the crash or moments before the crash itself. We are also Axiom-4 mission launch now targeted for 19 June, says ISRO STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 14 JUNE The Axiom-4 mission, a muchanticipated commercial spaceflight carrying Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla and three other crew members, is now expected to be launched on 19 June. The new launch date was announced by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday, following a delay caused by pressure signatures noticed in the International Space Station (ISS) and a liquid oxygen (LOX) leak in the launch vehicle. Earlier, after previous delays, the mission had been slated for lift-off on 11 June, only to be put off again. In an official statement, ISRO said the liquid oxygen issue had been resolved: “During a follow-on coordi- nation meeting between ISRO, Axiom Space, and SpaceX, it was confirmed that the liquid oxygen leak observed in the Falcon 9 launch vehicle has been successfully resolved.” The agency also noted that, separately, Axiom Space is working closely with NASA to evaluate a pressure anomaly detected in the Zvezda Service Module aboard the ISS.On Thursday, 12 June, NASA announced a further delay to the Axiom-4 launch, citing ongoing investigations into the pressure variations in the Russian-built ISS Zvezda eagerly waiting for what the results or the report are going to be once the AAIB goes through its full investigation.” Before the press conference, a one-minute silence was observed to pay homage to the victims of the plane crash. Mr Naidu said: “We have very strict safety standards in the country. When the incident happened, we also felt that there is a need to do an extended surveillance of the Boeing 787 Series. DGCA has also given an order to do the extended surveillance for the 787 planes.” He said there are 34 Dreamliners in the Indian aircraft fleet, and 8 have already been inspected, and all of them are going to be inspected with immediate urgency. He said that the last two days have been very difficult, adding that the accident shook the entire nation. He said on hearing the accident news, he rushed to the site to oversee what needs to be done and what support needed to be provided, and that was the attitude of the government of Gujarat also. “Once we rushed to the site, we already saw the response teams from all the concerned departments were working on the ground, actively trying to rescue whatever is possible, trying to cut down the fire and to move the debris so that the bodies can be sent to the hospital at the earliest.” Recounting the last moments before the crash, Civil Aviation Ministry Secretary Samir Kumar Sinha said that the plane, after taking off at 1:39 pm and attaining650 feet of elevation suddenly started losing altitude. The Air Traffic Control (ATC) at Ahmedabad received a Mayday call and when the ATC sent a message to the pilots at 1:39 p.m, the same went unanswered and the plane crashed in Medhaninagar, situated two km away from the airport. Iran-Israel conflict: Jaishankar speaks to Iranian Foreign Minister STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 14 JUNE Amid the escalating conflict between Iran and Israel, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a telephonic conversation with Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs Seyed Abbas Araghchi and called for the avoidance of escalatory steps and an early return to diplomacy. Mr Jaishankar, during his talks with Mr Araghchi, expressed concern over the turn of events. In a post on X, the Indian Embassy in Iran on Friday said: “External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had a phone conversation with FM Seyed Abbas Araghchi this evening. EAM conveyed the deep concern of the international community at the turn of events. He urged avoidance of any escalatory steps and an early return to diplomacy.” Meanwhile, New Delhi has distanced itself from a statement issued by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) condemning recent Israeli strikes on Iran, clarifying that it did not participate in the discussions that led to the statement from the grouping. See Page 9 Historic! South Africa break the ICC trophy jinx with WTC crown TRIDIB BAPARNASH NEW DELHI, 14 JUNE Ending a 27-year wait for an ICC title, South Africa scripted history at Lord’s on Saturday as Aiden Markram’s brilliant century powered them to an emphatic five-wicket victory over former champions Australia, securing their maiden ICC World Test Championship mace. The Proteas comfortably chased down the remaining 69 runs on the fourth morning at Lord’s, with wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne striking the winning runs to seal South Africa’s first men’s senior ICC title since 1998. Opener Aiden Markram spearheaded the chase with a commanding 136 off 207 balls, anchoring South Africa's pursuit alongside captain Temba Bavuma, whose gritty 66, despite battling a hamstring niggle, proved vital. The duo’s 144-run partnership PM Modi to embark on 5-day, 3-nation tour to Cyprus, Canada, and Croatia Sunday steadied the innings as South Africa resumed the fourth day on 213/2. Australia managed to delay the inevitable with a couple of quick wickets of Bavuma and then Tristan Stubbs (8), before Markram and David Bedingham (21 not out) almost took them near the finish line. Bavuma (66) was removed by his Australian counterpart Pat Cummins in the third over of the day as the Aussies sniffed a potential lifeline and then Mitchell Starc pierced the defences of Tristan Stubbs (8) when 41 runs were still required. Just as he had on the pivotal third day, Markram remained composed, patiently waiting for loose deliveries to punish and made batting look effortless as South Africa edged closer to their target. His calm approach didn’t waver even after the dismissals of Bavuma and Stubbs, and when he eventually fell to Josh Hazlewood with the win in sight, it only gave him the chance to soak in the moment and earn a well-deserved standing ovation from the appreciative Lord’s crowd. While Markram rightfully earned the plaudits for his matchwinning knock, South Africa's triumph was built on all-round contributions from across the XI. Pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada played an equally vital role, finishing with nine wickets across both innings to keep Australia in check and drive the team towards a historic victory. Both Markram and Rabada played together when South Africa won the ICC Men’s Under 19 Cricket World Cup in 2014 and this victory is just rewards for the pair and a South African team that have had so many close misses in the knockout stages of ICC events in recent times. Just last year, South Africa fell agonisingly short with victory in sight in the final of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup against India and there were some nervy moments at Lord's as the Aussies made a pair of breakthroughs on Saturday as the target of 282 was slowly diminished. Nine Boeing 787s inspected; Air India on track to meet deadline NEW DELHI, 14 JUNE Air India on Saturday informed that nine aircraft have completed the onetime safety check directed by the DGCA while the process for the remaining 24aircraftwillbecompleted within the timeline provided by the regulator. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday directed enhanced safety inspections of Air India’s Boeing 787 models in the wake of the fatal plane crash near Ahmedabad airport. In a press statement, the airline said: “Air India is in the process of completing the one-time safety checks directed by the Indian aviation regulator, DGCA. These checks are being carried out on the Boeing 787 fleet as they return to India, before being cleared for their next operations.” It has completed such checks on nine of the Boeing 787 aircraft and is on track to complete this process for the remaining 24 aircraft within the timeline. SNS STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI, 14 JUNE Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a significant 5-day, 3-nation diplomatic tour to Cyprus, Canada, and Croatia on Sunday, a foreign ministry release said. As per the statement, the Prime Minister will pay an official visit to Cyprus on 15-16 June, when he will meet President Nikos Christodoulides and will also address business leaders. “The visit will reaffirm the shared commitment of the two countries to deepen bilateral ties and strengthen India’s engagement with the Mediterranean region and the European Union,” the release said. On the second leg of his trip, the Prime Minister will participate in the G-7 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada, on 16-17 June, discussing crucial global issues like energy security, technology, and innovation. Mr Modi had received an invite from his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney on 6 June to attend the 51st G7 Summit at Kananaskis in Alberta from 15-17 June. On Thursday, while con- firming the invite, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Prime Minister Modi and his Canadian counterpart Mark Carney will be meeting on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Kananaskis in Canada and the meeting will be an important opportunity for the two leaders to explore pathways to reset IndiaCanada ties. Mr Jaiswal also said that “the meeting between the two leaders on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Kananaskis in Canada will offer an important opportunity for them to exchange views on bilateral and global issues and explore pathways to set or reset the relationship based on mutual respect, shared interests, and sensitivity to each other’s concerns.” On the third leg of his tour, Prime Minister Modi will make history with the first-ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Croatia, during which he will be meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic and President Zoran Milanovic to enhance bilateral relations and cooperation with the EU.