Srinagar, July 1: In 2025, National Doctors’ Day will be observed on July 1. This day provides an opportunity for everyone to acknowledge and appreciate the hard work and commitment of doctors.

The tradition of National Doctors’ Day in India began on July 1, 1991, in honor of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy, a distinguished physician and the second Chief Minister of West Bengal. Dr. Roy’s remarkable contributions to medical education and public health have left a lasting impact on the healthcare system in India. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) played a crucial role in establishing this observance to recognize the invaluable contributions of medical professionals nationwide.

This year’s theme, “Behind the Mask: Who Heals the Healers?” prompts a deeper reflection on the lives of doctors—urging to see beyond their strength and devotion to the unseen toll of caregiving. While physicians consistently prioritize the health of others, their own well-being is often overlooked. It urges society to look beyond their roles as caregivers and acknowledge their need for empathy, support, and well-being.

According to some studies doctors/ physicians are at high risk for extreme exhaustion, suicidal tendencies and mental health issues; history of physical, psychological; sleep deprivation; relationship problems; academic distress; and major life changes, physicians are also subject to job-specific stressors

Doctors are faced with death, illness, and injury every day. This can make them desensitized to such experiences and less opposed to their own injury or death. According to research they may also become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of death, illness, and injury and feel powerless against it.

Such experiences can take a significant mental and emotional toll on doctors. The prevailing culture of “zero tolerance for mistakes” adds immense pressure, demanding constant vigilance that can be mentally exhausting. Studies have shown that medical errors, coupled with overwhelming workloads, are closely linked to suicidal thoughts among physicians.

It is important to acknowledgment that doctors, too, need care—emotional, psychological, and institutional. Creating safe, supportive environments where they feel seen, heard, and valued can make a profound difference. Additionally, limiting access to lethal means can help prevent impulsive breakdowns driven by the overwhelming pressures physicians face.

Hyderabad, July 1: The death toll in the explosion in a pharmaceutical unit at Pashamylaram near Hyderabad mounted to 36 on Tuesday.

With some of the injured succumbing at hospitals and rescue workers recovering more bodies from debris, the death toll rose sharply since Monday.

The toll in the worst industrial disaster in Telangana may go up further as the rescue workers continued searches for the bodies in the debris of a three-storey building which collapsed under the impact of the blast.

A massive explosion had rocked Sigachi Industries Limited’s pharmaceutical factory at Pashamylaram industrial area in Sangareddy district, about 50 km from Hyderabad, on Monday morning.

The explosion in the Microcrystalline Cellulose (MCC) drying unit also left more than 30 workers injured. The condition of some of them is stated to be critical.

Personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), Revenue and police continued clearing debris.

The majority of the victims were migrant workers from states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha. As many as 108 workers were at the factory at the time of the blast, which could be heard about five km away. The explosion triggered a huge fire, and 15 fire engines were used to douse the flames.

According to eye-witnesses, such was the impact of the explosion that workers were tossed in the air and fell several metres away. So far, four deceased have been identified as Jaganmohan, Ram Singh, Shashibhushan Kumar and Laganjeet.

As the bodies of some victims were blown to pieces or charred beyond recognition, the authorities were conducting DNA tests to establish their identity.

Health Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha and Labour Minister G. Vivek visited the accident site again on Tuesday morning. Director General of Police Jitender and senior officials also visited the spot and supervised the rescue and relief operation.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy will be visiting the accident site later in the day. He will also call on the injured at a government hospital. The state government appointed a high-powered committee to probe the disaster and its underlying causes.

The committee comprises the Chief Secretary, Special Chief Secretary (Disaster Management), Principal Secretary (Labour), Principal Secretary (Health) and Additional DGP (Fire Services). According to the Chief Minister’s Office, the panel would also make recommendations to prevent the recurrence of such accidents.

New York, July 01: The Pahalgam terror attack was an act of economic warfare meant to destroy tourism in Kashmir, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, asserting that India has made it clear that it will not allow nuclear blackmail to prevent it from responding to terror emanating from Pakistan.

India has had a string of terrorist attacks over the years emanating from Pakistan and in the wake of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, there was a sentiment in the country that “enough is enough,” Jaishankar said on Monday.

His remarks came during a conversation with Newsweek CEO Dev Pragad hosted at the publication’s headquarters at One World Trade Centre near the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan.

Jaishankar said that the Pahalgam attack “was an act of economic warfare. It was meant to destroy tourism in Kashmir, which was the mainstay of the economy. It was also meant to provoke religious violence because people were asked to identify their faith before they were killed.”

“So we decided that we cannot let terrorists function with impunity. The idea that they are on that side of the border, and that, therefore, sort of prevents retribution, I think, that’s a proposition that needs to be challenged and that is what we did,” he said.

Jaishankar is on an official visit to the US and will travel to Washington DC to participate in the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on Tuesday.

He commenced his visit by inaugurating an exhibition in the UN Headquarters titled ‘The Human Cost of Terrorism’, organised by the Permanent Mission of India to the UN.

He said that the terrorists based in Pakistan carrying out attacks against India do not operate in secret and these are terrorist organisations who have the “equivalent of their corporate headquarters in the populated towns of Pakistan.”

“Everybody knows what is the headquarters of organisation A and organisation B and those are the buildings, the headquarters that India destroyed” in Operation Sindoor, he said.

Operation Sindoor was launched to target terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in retaliation for the Pahalgam attack that killed 26 civilians and for which The Resistance Front (TRF), a front for Pakistan-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) had claimed responsibility.

“We are very clear there will be no impunity for terrorists, that we will not deal with them any longer as proxies and spare the government which supports and finances and in many ways, motivates them. We will not allow nuclear blackmail to prevent us from responding,” he said.

Jaishankar added that “we’ve also heard this for too long” that both India and Pakistan are nuclear countries and “therefore the other guy will come and do horrible things, but you mustn’t do anything because it gets the world worried.

“Now we are not going to fall for that. If he is going to come and do things, we are going to go there and also hit the people who did this. So no yielding to nuclear blackmail, no impunity to terrorists, no more free pass that they are proxies. And we will do what we have to do to defend our people,” Jaishankar said amid applause from the audience.

Referring to the exhibition at the UN highlighting the devastating toll of terrorist attacks across the globe, including those perpetrated by Pakistan-based terror entities, Jaishankar said India believes that “terrorism is actually a threat to everyone, that no country should use it as an instrument to further its policies because, at the end of the day, it comes back to bite everyone.”

He stressed that the message to the world has to be that there should be zero tolerance for terrorism, that there should be no circumstances, no excuse, no justification under which a country would allow, support, finance or sponsor terrorist acts.

He said India has been dealing with terrorism emanating from Pakistan for several decades but it actually started from the time of the country’s independence in 1947 when within a few months, terrorists were sent into Kashmir and were described as proxies and tribal invaders.

“And then soon enough, the Pakistani Army followed. So we have battled terrorism, really intensive, for the last four decades and we’ve had some horrific cases,” he said, as he referred to the 2001 Parliament and 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.

During a Q&A session that followed the conversation, Jaishankar was asked about President Donald Trump’s claim that he used trade to stop the recent conflict between India and Pakistan and whether that has affected trade negotiations between Delhi and Washington.

“No, I don’t think so. I think the trade people are doing what the trade people should be doing, which is negotiate with numbers and lines and products and do their trade-offs. I think they are very professional and very, very focused about it,” Jaishankar said.

He said that there is a national consensus in India that “our dealings with Pakistan are bilateral.

“And in this particular case, I can tell you that I was in the room when Vice President (JD) Vance spoke to Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi on the night of May 9, saying that the Pakistanis would launch a very massive assault on India if we did not accept certain things.

“And the Prime Minister was impervious to what the Pakistanis were threatening to do. On the contrary, he indicated that there would be a response from us. This was the night before and the Pakistanis did attack us massively that night, we responded very quickly thereafter,” Jaishankar said.

“And the next morning, Mr (Secretary of State Marco) Rubio called me up and said the Pakistanis were ready to talk. So I can only tell you from my personal experience what happened. The rest I leave to you,” he said.

New Delhi, July 01: In a major step toward combating vehicular pollution, the Delhi government has begun enforcing strict new rules on End-of-Life (EOL) vehicles starting Tuesday.

As per the directives issued by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), all petrol pumps across the National Capital Territory (NCT) will deny fuel to old vehicles identified through AI-powered Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras.

From Tuesday onwards, EOL vehicles, those that have exceeded their legal age limit of 10 years for diesel and 15 years for petrol vehicles, will not be allowed to refuel at petrol or diesel stations. These vehicles will also be liable for hefty fines if found in public places.

Four-wheeler owners found violating the rule will be fined Rs 10,000, while two-wheeler owners will face a penalty of Rs 5,000.

AI-enabled cameras installed at petrol stations will automatically identify outdated vehicles using number plate data. Once recognised, these vehicles will be flagged in the system, preventing fuel issuance.

Petrol pump operators have expressed cautious optimism about the implementation. Sanjay Dedha, manager of a petrol pump in Vivek Vihar, said, “The Delhi government has installed the system. Let’s see from today, if vehicles within that category come. We are waiting to see if the system works fine. If there are any server-related hiccups, we will physically identify old vehicles and not provide petrol or diesel to them.”

Bharat Petroleum, Lal Kuan, Supervisor Ram Lagan Shukla said, “It has come into effect from today, the 1st of the month, that vehicles running on petrol which are over 15 years old will not be given petrol here. We will check the condition of the vehicle and its documents as well.”

The new enforcement policy is part of a broader plan to reduce emissions and improve air quality in the capital, which frequently ranks among the world’s most polluted cities.

Authorities have also announced that EOL vehicles found parked in public places or near fuel stations will be seized starting Tuesday.

Vehicle owners in Delhi are advised to verify the registration status of their vehicles and avoid using outdated vehicles to prevent penalties and seizure.