Evening News

THE HEADLINES :-

India creates space history as Shubhanshu Shukla becomes first Indian to set foot on International Space Station.
SCO joint statement dropped as India registers strong objections on omission of terrorism concerns.
Election Commission begins process to delist 345 unrecognized political parties for not meeting compliance norms.
In a massive crackdown on cybercrime, CBI raids 42 locations targeting digital fraud operations.
Domestic equity indices touch this year’s fresh peak soaring 1.2 per cent each.
India bags triple gold in Asian Doubles Squash, dominating men’s, women’s, and mixed events at Kuala Lumpur.

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India created history as the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, carrying the Axiom-4 crew, including Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, gently docked with the International Space Station (ISS) at 4 pm Indian time today. With this, the first Indian astronaut has set his feet on International Space Station. Lucknow-born Shubhanshu Shukla has also become the second Indian in space, following Rakesh Sharma’s flight in 1984. This historic mission carried four astronauts from the US, India, Poland, and Hungary, to the ISS for a 14-day scientific expedition in Low Earth Orbit.

Shukla will conduct pioneering experiments related to food and space nutrition. Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh has congratulated Indian Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla and the Axiom-4 mission team for their successful docking at the International Space Station (ISS). Talking to media, Dr Singh highlighted India’s crucial role in the mission, the Minister remarked that it has been trusted to perform the crucial parts of the expedition.

We bring you a special report on India’s rise as a space power and its proud achievements over the years.

“Since independence, India’s space journey has been a remarkable story of vision, innovation, and perseverance. The major milestone came with the launching of Country’s first satellite, Aryabhata in 1975, and laying the foundation for India’s future in satellite technology. Just after 5 years, in 1980, India became one of the few countries having indigenous launch capabilities, when it launched Rohini-1B using its own SLV-3 rocket. The Next landmark came in 1984, when Indian astronaut Rakesh Sharma became the first Indian in space becoming inspiration to generations to come.

India’s space journey picked big momentum in the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2008, ISRO launched Chandrayaan-1, which confirmed the presence of water on the Moon. The 2013 (Mangalyaan) made India the first country to reach Mars on its maiden attempt. India’s first space observatory AstroSat was launched in 2015. ISRO launched Chandrayaan-2 in 2019. Though the Vikram lander crash-landed, the orbiter remains active and continue to send vital data. In 2023, Chandrayaan-3 made India the first country to land near the Moon’s south pole. India also launched the Aditya-L1 solar mission and is preparing for the Gaganyaan human spaceflight this year. The latest in its space achievements is SpaDeX mission, which demonstrated indigenous docking technology. Shagun Chopra, News Desk.”

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Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s joint statement was not adopted due to India’s refusal to sign the document as it failed to mention cross-border terrorist activities. It is believed that Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s refusal to endorse the document resulted in the conclave ending without a joint communique. Briefing media in New Delhi today, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, India wanted concerns and terrorism reflected in the document, which was not acceptable to one particular country.

Mr Jaiswal said, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who was participating in the meeting, called upon member countries to come together to fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

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At the United Nations Security Council, India has condemned in strong terms the “nefarious agenda” of Pakistan, accusing it of attempting to deflect attention from its own human rights violations and state-sponsored cross-border terrorism. India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador P Harish, issued a sharp rebuttal during the UNSC’s open debate on Children and Armed Conflict calling out Pakistan for misusing the platform and violating the Council’s agenda.

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The Election Commission has started the process of delisting of 345 Registered Unrecognized Political Parties for not fulfilling the essential conditions. The exercise has been conducted with the aim of de-listing of such parties which have not contested any election of Lok Sabha, legislative assemblies of states and Union Territories or bye-elections since 2019. Besides, offices of these parties could not be physically located anywhere.

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A nine-member Election Commission team is on a three-day visit to Bihar to review preparations for the upcoming Assembly elections. The team held a high-level meeting with Chief Electoral Officer Vinod Singh Gunjiyal and other officials today regarding the Special Intensive Review of the voters’ list. In a recent decision, the Commission announced a door-to-door review in Bihar to ensure voter list accuracy.

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The CBI has launched nationwide searches at 42 locations in five states in connection with Mule Bank accounts being used in Cyber frauds. The drive was launched across five States – Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh under operation Chakra-5. The enquiry revealed that more than seven hundred branches of various banks across the country have opened around 8.5 lakh mule accounts.

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The Anti-Corruption Branch of Delhi has registered a case against former Health Ministers Saurabh Bhardwaj and Satyendra Jain, in connection with large-scale corruption in health infrastructure projects during the AAP led Delhi Government. In a statement, Anti Corruption Branch said these projects are mired in inexplicable delays and astronomical cost overruns, indicating large-scale financial embezzlement.

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Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said that Hindi is a companion to other Indian languages and must not be considered a rival to them. He said that language is not just a medium of communication but the soul of a nation. Addressing the golden jubilee celebrations of the official language department in New Delhi, Mr. Shah stressed the need to keep languages alive and flourishing. The Home Minister pointed out that government launched the Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat programme, and under this initiative, events like Kashi-Tamil Sangamam, Kashi-Telugu Sangamam and Bhasha Sangam have provided a very effective platform to strengthen the unity of the country.

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Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, along with Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav today flagged off Gwalior- Bengaluru express train. The train will run from Gwalior every Friday and from Bengaluru on Sunday. The regular service will begin from Bengaluru on 29th June and from Gwalior on 4th July.

Addressing the event through video conferencing, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that with the launch of this train, the people of Gwalior, Guna and Bhopal will get a lot of benefits.

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Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal today inaugurated India’s first Non-Banking Financial Company-NBFC in the maritime sector, Sagarmala Finance Corporation Limited-SMFCL. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said, this is a major milestone in India’s maritime journey. He said that SMFCL will bridge crucial financing gaps and offer sector-specific financial solutions, empowering ports, MSMEs, startups, and institutions.

Mr. Sonowal also launched the SAGAR SETU platform and released a standardized Scale of Rates template for Major Port Authorities. Additionally, he unveiled the Gateway to Green report, outlining a roadmap for ports to transition to green hydrogen hubs.

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The Government has authorised the use of Aadhaar authentication for candidate verification in examinations conducted by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection – IBPS. The Finance Ministry highlighted that the initiative will prevent impersonation and other malpractices during examinations.

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The Air India Flight AI-171 black box data has been downloaded to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to the crash in Ahmadabad recently. The Crash Protection Module from the front black box was safely retrieved, and the memory module was successfully accessed and its data downloaded at the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) Lab in Delhi yesterday.

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The benchmark domestic equity indices today ended at their fresh peak of 2025, soaring 1.2 per cent each. Both the indices extended their positive momentum for the third straight session amid buying across most sectors and easing geopolitical concerns. Here is more in this report:-

“The 30-share index at the Bombay Stock Exchange, Sensex, rallied 1000 points to close at 83,756. The National Stock Exchange Nifty-50, surged 304 points to settle at 25,549. In the Forex market, the rupee today strengthened by 12 paise to close at 85 rupees and 71 paise against the US dollar. Brent Crude was trading at 67 dollars and 96 cents per barrel, while WTI Crude was trading at 65 dollars and 20 cents per barrel, when reports last came in. ARJUN CHAUDHURI, For AKASHVANI News.

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India stamped its authority at the 2nd Asian Squash Doubles Championships with a commanding performance, clinching all three titles, men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles in Kuala Lampur today. In the men’s doubles top seeds Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar defeated Pakistan’s Noor Zaman and Nasir Iqbal 2-1 in the final. The women’s doubles title was secured by the second-seeded pair of Joshna Chinappa and Anahat Singh beating Malaysia’s Ainaa Amani and Xin Ying Yee 2-1. Completing the sweep, mixed doubles pair of Abhay and Anahat beat local pair of Rachel Arnold and Ameeshenraj Chandaran 2-0.

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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN :-

India creates space history as Shubhanshu Shukla becomes first Indian to set foot on International Space Station.
SCO joint statement dropped as India registers strong objections on omission of terrorism concerns.
Election Commission begins process to delist 345 unrecognized political parties for not meeting compliance norms.
In a massive crackdown on cybercrime, CBI raids 42 locations targeting digital fraud operations.
Domestic equity indices touch this year’s fresh peak soaring 1.2 per cent each.
India bags triple gold in Asian Doubles Squash, dominating men’s, women’s, and mixed events at Kuala Lumpur.