Israel, Jun 19: Iran’s foreign minister will meet with European counterparts in Geneva as an Israeli airstrike campaign continues to target his country, state media reported on Thursday.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will travel to Geneva for the meetings Friday, the state-run IRNA news agency report.
Srinagar, June 19: PDP leader Waheed Para said on Thursday that the Jammu and Kashmir government’s handling of the reservation issue has disillusioned students and shattered their trust in the system.
“Six months ago, the J&K government promised to resolve the reservation issue through a subcommittee report. That deadline has passed, leaving thousands of students heartbroken and disillusioned, their trust in the system shattered and their futures put on hold,” Para said in a longish post on X.
The opposition MLA from Pulwama said the National Conference (NC) government in the Union Territory has the power to strike down the BJP-imposed policy with a single administrative order, but the ruling party that had promised to reverse the BJP’s damage is now complicit in continuing it.
“This is a deliberate denial of justice. These students have already endured violence, lockdowns, and lost opportunities. Now, as they seek fair representation and rationalised reservation, the government is pushing them further to the margins.
“If this is their response to a pressing youth issue well within their control to solve, then what should we expect on Article 370, statehood, or the Wakf Amendment Bill which requires them to speak truth to power?” he asked.
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader said ignoring merit is not just a political issue but a national-security concern.
“Erasing merit in Kashmir is not just a political issue but also a national security concern, given that J&K is a border state where the youth are vulnerable to militancy, radicalism, and cross-border influences. If the Kashmiri youth are not offered hope, it will only empower subversive elements, further destabilising a generation and future. The government’s inaction risks pushing these young people into a corner, forcing them to choose between studying and preparing to face the world or fighting against a system that has failed them,” he added.
Para said the government must act now with the urgency that this issue demands.
“It cannot continue to hide behind excuses while the students’ futures hang in the balance. Rationalisation of reservation and proportional representation represent the only fair path forward, and it must be implemented without further delay,” he said.
The PDP leader said he stood with the students without affiliations and unions, “feeling their pain, sharing their concern. Their struggle is genuine, and we will fight alongside them until justice is served”.
In an earlier post, Para said the cabinet sub-committee exists to stall the government’s stand on merit.
The sub-committee, formed in December last year following student protests, was scheduled to submit its report to the government at a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday.
However, the government has maintained a stoic silence on whether the report was submitted or not.
The head of the sub-committee, Minister for Social Welfare Sakina Ittoo, announced last week that the report was completed within the time-frame of six months and that it would be placed before the cabinet at its next meeting.
Para said it was unfortunate that how some student sold out merit for petty favours.
“Unfortunate how some students who indulged in this false process sold out merit for petty favours,” he added.
The existing reservation policy, which as enacted after the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, provides only 30 per cent vacancies for general category candidates, who account for nearly 70 per cent of the population.
Srinagar, June 19: The first batch of nine Kashmiri students, who were stranded in Iran amid the ongoing regional conflict, returned home on Thursday, marking the beginning of the much-awaited evacuation effort.
Among the returnees is a student named Saba, a resident of Safa Kadal in Downtown Srinagar, who was received by her relieved family members. she said, “I’m feeling happy that I’ve finally reached home. I came along with eight other students from Iran.”
However, she also voiced her disappointment over the lack of air travel arrangements from Delhi to Srinagar. “After a long and exhausting journey, we expected better support from the government, but we were asked to travel in SRTC buses,” she said, criticising the Omar Abdullah-led government for not providing direct flights for the returning students.
Earlier, the Office of the J&K Chief Minister had stated in a post that CM Omar Abdullah had taken note of the transportation issues and directed the Resident Commissioner to coordinate with JKRTC for arranging deluxe sleeper buses for the evacuated students. “The government is making arrangements for their smooth journey home,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir Students Association (JKSA) also acknowledged the intervention, stating, “While our primary demand remains connecting flights, we appreciate the prompt response and intervention by the CM’s advisor Nasir Aslam Wani Sahab, who ensured that sleeper buses were arranged.”
Families of other stranded students in Iran continue to wait for further updates, urging the administration to expedite the evacuation process. (JKNS)
Russia, Jun 19: Russian President Vladimir Putin offered on Wednesday to help mediate an end to the conflict between Israel and Iran, suggesting Moscow could help negotiate a settlement that could allow Tehran to pursue a peaceful atomic programme while assuaging Israeli security concerns.
Speaking to senior news leaders of international news agencies, Putin noted that “it’s a delicate issue,” but added that “in my view, a solution could be found”.
Asked how Russia would react if Israel kills Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Putin refused to answer, saying that “I don’t even want to discuss such a possibility.”
Khamenei has rejected US calls for surrender in the face of more Israeli strikes and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them”.
Putin said he shared Moscow’s proposals with Iran, Israel and the United States.
“We are not imposing anything on anyone; we are simply talking about how we see a possible way out of the situation. But the decision, of course, is up to the political leadership of all these countries, primarily Iran and Israel,” he said.
Russia has maintained a delicate balancing act in the Middle East for decades, trying to navigate its warm relations with Israel even as it developed strong economic and military ties with Iran, a policy that could allow Moscow to play power broker.
Putin’s comments follow a mediation offer that he made in a call with US President Donald Trump last weekend.
Trump said Wednesday that he told Putin to stay focused on finding an endgame to his own conflict with Ukraine.
“I said, Do me a favour, mediate your own,’” Trump said he told Putin. “I said, Vladimir, let’s mediate Russia first. You can worry about this later.’”
The comments represented a shift for Trump, who earlier this week said he was “open” to Putin’s offer to mediate in the Middle East..
Over 200 Russians remain at Iran’s nuclear power plant
Putin, meeting with senior news leaders of international news agencies including The Associated Press on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, emphasised that Russia has a trusting relationship with Iran and helped built its first nuclear power plant in Bushehr on the Persian Gulf south of Tehran.
He said that over 200 Russian workers are involved in building two more reactors in Bushehr, adding that “we agreed with the Israeli leadership that their security will be ensured”.
Putin emphasised that Tehran hasn’t asked Moscow for military assistance, noting the “strategic partnership” treaty between the countries that was signed in January doesn’t envision such aid.
In addition to a few air defence systems that Russia supplied to Iran in the past, it also offered previously to help create comprehensive air defences, but Tehran didn’t want it, he said.
“Our proposal was to create a system, not isolated deliveries, but a system,” Putin said. “We used to discuss it in the past, but the Iranian side showed little interest.”
Israel said that it knocked out Iran’s Russia-supplied S-300 air defence missile systems during last year’s strikes. Praise for Trump’s push for peace in Ukraine
Putin on Wednesday praised Trump’s push for peace in Ukraine, seconding the American leader’s repeated claims that the 3-year-old conflict wouldn’t have started if he had been in the White House in 2022.
“If Trump had been the president, the conflict indeed might not have erupted,” Putin said.
Russia has intensified its aerial campaign in Ukraine recently and stepped up ground attacks along the more than 1,000-kilometre front line. Putin has effectively rejected Trump’s offer of an immediate 30-day ceasefire, making it conditional on a halt on Ukraine’s mobilization effort and a freeze on Western arms supplies.
He said he is open for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but repeated his claim that he lost his legitimacy after his term expired last year — allegations rejected by Kyiv and its allies.
“We are ready for substantive talks on the principles of a settlement,” Putin said, noting the previous round of talks had led to an exchange of prisoners and the bodies of fallen soldiers.
Asked by AP about Russia condemning Israel’s strikes on Iran even as Ukrainian civilians are killed in attacks by Moscow, Putin responded that Russia was targeting the country’s arms factories.
“The strikes were carried out against military industries, not residential quarters,” Putin said.
AP reporters have documented damage to residential buildings in Ukraine, most recently this week. On Wednesday, emergency workers pulled more bodies from the rubble of a nine-story Kyiv apartment building demolished by a Russian attack earlier this week, raising the death toll from the strike on the capital to 28.
Putin vowed that Moscow will achieve its goal to “demilitarise” Ukraine.
“We will not allow Ukraine to have armed forces that would threaten the Russian Federation and its people,” he said. “And if we fail to reach a settlement, we will achieve our goals by military means.”
He strongly warned Germany against delivering long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine, saying that it could draw it into a direct military conflict with Russia but won’t help stem Russian advances.
“Our troops are advancing along the entire line of contact,” he said, warning Ukraine to accept Russia’s terms for a peace deal or face tougher conditions in the future. “If they fail to agree, the situation could change for the worse.”
He also dismissed Western warnings of Russia’s purported plans to attack NATO countries as “ravings”, noting the alliance’s military spending far exceed Moscow’s defence budget.
Putin has used the annual forum to highlight Russia’s economic achievements and seek foreign investment. Western executives, who attended the event in the past, have avoided it after Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, leaving it to business leaders from Asia, Africa and Latin America.
He met earlier with former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who now heads the New Development Bank created by the BRICS alliance of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
He is also set to have meetings with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto and He’s also expected to confer with top officials from China, South Africa and Bahrain and the head of the OPEC group of oil-producing countries.
Budgam, June 19: Two siblings from Harwani, Khansahab area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district reportedly fell into a deep water tubewell on Wednesday, resulting in the death of a six-year-old boy, while his younger sister remains critical.
Official sources said that the victims have been identified as Basit Ahmad Khan (6) and his sister Zainab (5), children of Mohammad Afrooz Khan, residents of Harwani.
After falling in the tubewell both children were found unconscious and were rushed to the nearby Sub-District Hospital by their family, they said.
Doctors at the hospital declared Basit dead on arrival, while Zainab was referred to SMHS Hospital in Srinagar for advanced treatment. Her condition remains critical, official sources said.
Cognizance of the incident has been taken and further investigation started. (JKNS)
Hyderabad, June 19: A SpiceJet flight from Hyderabad to Tirupati returned 10 minutes after taking off from Hyderabad airport due to a technical problem on Thursday.
The flight SG 2696 with 80 passengers on board had taken off for Tirupati from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, Shamshabad at 6.10 a.m.
However, minutes later, the pilot detected a technical problem. He immediately contacted Air Traffic Control and sought permission to return to the airport.
The flight safely landed back at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. The airline was making alternate arrangements for the passengers to reach their destination.
Following the Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad, which claimed 274 lives, many flights across various airlines and routes were cancelled or diverted due to technical snags and security threats.
On June 15, a Hyderabad-bound Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt returned to the German airport after a bomb threat was received at the Hyderabad airport.
Authorities at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport received a bomb threat email at 6.01 p.m. on June 15. According to officials, a bomb threat assessment committee was formed, and all procedures were followed as per SOP. In the interest of safety, the airline was advised to divert back to the origin or the nearest suitable airport.
Later, the Air Traffic Control (ATC) at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad received a message that the flight was returning to Frankfurt.
The flight took off from Frankfurt Airport around 2.15 p.m. It had not entered the Indian airspace when it returned. After two hours into its journey, Flight LH752 returned and safely landed at Frankfurt Airport.
Dubai, Jun 19: Israel has attacked Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor, Iranian state television said Thursday.
The report said there was “no radiation danger whatsoever” and that the facility had already been evacuated before the attack.
Israel warned earlier Thursday morning it would attack the facility and urged the public to flee the area.
New Delhi, June 19: Arriving in New Delhi from the conflict zone in Iran under India’s Operation Sindhu, Indian students expressed their gratitude to the Central government for evacuating them directly from their doorstep. They described the situation in Iran as “bad”, noting that people there are extremely “scared”.
An Indian student, Sheikh Afsa, on board the flight carrying 110 nationals under Operation Sindhu, praised the government’s efforts to ensure a safe evacuation upon returning to Delhi, saying that the government evacuated them ‘from their doors’.
“We are happy to return here, but we are also worried about our studies. The situation there (Iran) is bad, and people are scared. We even received calls from people in Iran, who said the situation in Iran is very critical. The (Indian) government literally evacuated us from our dormitory, from our doors; we didn’t even expect this much. They helped us at every step; no one faced any problem, and we are grateful to the central government for the role they played in evacuating us,” she told ANI.
The Indian government has launched Operation Sindhu to evacuate Indian nationals from Iran in view of the deteriorating situation as a result of the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel.
Another evacuated student expressed his gratitude to the Indian government, saying that he was safely back home because of their efforts.
“I am happy that I am back in our country. We didn’t see any such thing in Urmia, but in other places across Iran, the situation was bad… The Government of India helped a lot; that is why we are back home,” he stated.
Describing the situation as “critical”, another Indian student urged the Indian Embassy in Iran to rescue fellow Indians still stranded in Tehran and Isfahan: “…We thank the Indian Embassy for evacuating us at the right time, but we have one more appeal: that all of our brothers and sisters who are stranded in Isfahan and Tehran be evacuated as soon as possible, as the situation is so critical there.”
A girl from Jammu and Kashmir, currently in her fourth year of studies in Iran, expressed hope that the war would end soon so she could return and complete her education.
She described the entire evacuation process as “smooth”, noting that they did not face any challenges. She also urged the Jammu and Kashmir government to facilitate their early return home.
“We are sad as we have to leave our studies… We are happy, as we didn’t expect that we would be back; such is the condition there (in Iran)… I hope the war will end soon, as our studies will also be completed, and Iran won’t have to suffer too much. I am very thankful to the Indian government for the way they evacuated us; it was smooth. We faced no issues till now. But we have come to know that buses are being arranged for the students of Kashmir from here. I think after travelling to 3 countries, we are not ready to travel by bus. I request our CM (of J&K) to facilitate us so that we can meet our parents as soon as possible,” she said.
Earlier, in a post on X, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal wrote, “India launched Operation Sindhu to evacuate Indian nationals from Iran. India evacuated 110 students from northern Iran, who crossed into Armenia under the supervision of our Missions in Iran and Armenia on 17th June. They departed from Yerevan on a special flight and will arrive in New Delhi in the early hours of 19th June 2025. India accords the highest priority to the safety and security of her nationals abroad.”
United Nations, June 19: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for the immediate de-escalation of the Israeli-Iranian conflict and for an ensuing ceasefire.
“I remain profoundly alarmed by the ongoing military escalation in the Middle East between Israel and Iran. I reiterate my call for immediate de-escalation leading to a ceasefire,” said Guterres in a statement on Wednesday.
He warned against the expansion of the conflict, involving other countries, reports Xinhua news agency.
“I strongly appeal to all to avoid any further internationalisation of the conflict. Any additional military interventions could have enormous consequences, not only for those involved but for the whole region and for international peace and security at large.”
Guterres condemned the strikes that have caused the tragic and unnecessary loss of lives and injuries to civilians and damage to homes and critical civilian infrastructure.
He said diplomacy remains the best and only way to address concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program and regional security issues.
“The UN Charter remains our shared framework to save people from the scourge of war,” he said. “I urge all (UN) member states to comply fully with the charter and international law, including international humanitarian law.”
Meanwhile, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesman Effie Defrin on Wednesday said that the Israeli Air Force has launched new attacks in western Iran.
He said that Israeli jets flew over launch and storage sites for surface-to-surface missiles on Wednesday evening, targeting operatives attempting to access and remove munitions from locations previously struck.
According to the spokesperson, this marked the third major wave of Israeli airstrikes over Iran in the past 24 hours. The initial overnight operation involved more than 50 fighter jets hitting approximately 40 targets around Tehran.
“Among the targets struck was a centrifuge production site, a key component in the Iranian regime’s efforts to enrich uranium,” he said, adding that another target struck overnight was a site near Tehran used to manufacture anti-tank missiles, some of which were intended for the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
The second wave of strikes began Wednesday afternoon, with over 20 additional targets in the Tehran area hit.
Srinagar, June 19: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Thursday announced that students evacuated from Iran will be ferried from Delhi to the Union Territory in deluxe buses.
As many as 90 students from Jammu and Kashmir were among the 110 people evacuated from war-affected Iran on Wednesday. They were taken to Armenia before being flown to Doha. The students arrived in Delhi from the Qatari capital early Thursday.
In a post on X, the chief minister’s office said the resident commissioner has been directed to arrange deluxe buses of the Jammu & Kashmir Road Transport Corporation to transport the students.
“The Chief Minister has taken note of the request of the students evacuated from Iran regarding the quality of buses arranged to transport them from Delhi to J&K,” the Office of the Chief Minister said.
“The Resident Commissioner has been tasked with coordinating with the JKRTC to ensure proper deluxe buses are arranged,” it said.
Abdullah shared the post from his official X handle.
