Midday News

THE HEADLINES:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi says India must move forward by embracing both development and heritage; Urges the nation to shed colonial mindset.
Mahanadi Coalfield Limited to open two new coal mines in Odisha with 35 million tonnes capacity.
US calls off trade talks with Canada; New tariff rates to be announced soon.
International Atomic Energy Agency says radiation level in Gulf region remains normal following 12-day Israel-Iran war.
Indian shuttlers Ayush Shetty and Tanvi Sharma reach Semifinals of Men’s and Women’s Singles in US Open Badminton.
And, in Under 19 Cricket, India beat England by 6 wickets in first Youth ODI at Hove.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the nation must move forward by embracing both development and heritage. Inaugurating the centenary celebrations of Acharya Vidyanand Ji Maharaj in New Delhi, he said with this resolve at the core, the government is also developing the country’s cultural sites and pilgrimage places. The Prime Minister said, the centre has granted classical language status to Prakrit and also running a campaign to digitize India’s ancient manuscripts. He stressed on freeing the nation from colonial mindset.

Mr. Modi said, India is the world’s most ancient living civilization and the source of this timeless philosophy lies in the sages, seers, saints and Acharyas of the country.

The programme marked the formal commencement of a year-long national tribute, being organised by the government, in collaboration with Bhagwan Mahaveer Ahimsa Bharti Trust to honour the 100th birth anniversary of Acharya Vidyanand Ji Maharaj.

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Mahanadi Coalfield Limited (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India, is set to open two new coal mines in Odisha with a combined capacity of 35 million tonnes.Our correspondent reports that the mines – Subhadra Mine and Balbhadra Mine, will be located in the Talcher coalfields of Angul district of the state:

“According to MCL, the Subhadra Mine is scheduled to produce 25 million tonnes of coal per year by the end of the financial year 2025-26. The Balbhadra Mine is expected to begin producing 10 million tonnes annually by the financial year 2029-2030. Mr. Kaole said that these new mines are part of MCL’s long-term plan to increase coal production and ensure a steady supply of coal. Both mines will be located in the Talcher coalfields of Odisha’s Angul district, an important coal-producing region. MCL already operates 18 mines in which 15 are open-cast and 3 are underground mines, including – Bhubaneswari, Jagannath, Hingula, Lingaraj, and Talcher. The opening of these new mines is expected to further strengthen India’s energy sector and meet the growing demand for coal in the country. With Akshit Vaidyant from Sambhalpur, Adarsh for Akashvani News.”

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India has rejected a ruling issued by the so-called Court of Arbitration on the Kishenganga and Ratle hydroelectric projects situated in the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs dismissed the supplemental award given by the illegal Court of Arbitration purportedly constituted under the Indus Waters Treaty 1960.

The Ministry said, India has never recognised the legal validity of this Court of Arbitration terming its constitution a serious breach of the Indus Waters Treaty. It said, any proceedings before this forum and any decision taken by it, is illegal.

The Ministry said, Indus Waters Treaty has been placed in abeyance by the country after the Pahalgam terrorist attack. The decision was taken in view of Pakistan’s support to cross-border terrorism. The Ministry stressed that India is no longer bound to perform any of its obligations under the Treaty. It emphasized that no Court of Arbitration has the authority to question India’s sovereign decision in this matter.

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The Government has denied claims that it is planning to impose a tax on water usage for agricultural purposes. The Jal Shakti Ministry clarified that rumours pertaining to taxation under the new scheme – “Modernization of Command Area Development and Water Management” are baseless and false. According to the Ministry, there is no provision under this pilot project, nor any directive from the Government, to necessarily impose user charges on farmers for water usage. Furthermore, both agriculture and water are State subjects and any decision regarding the collection of user charges, falls under the jurisdiction of State Governments.

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In West Bengal, police today arrested a security guard in the alleged gang rape case at a law college in Kolkata. He will be produced before the court today. Earlier, Kolkata Police arrested three persons including two current students and a former student.

It is reported the accused are related to the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal. The three accused have been remanded to police custody till Tuesday. The opposition parties have organised protest marches today in Kolkata over the incident. Earlier the National Commission for Women has taken suo motu cognizance of this incident reported from South Kolkata, and sought a detailed action-taken report within three days.

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In Bihar, polling is underway peacefully for general election in six Nagar Panchayats and by-poll in 48 other municipal bodies. According to the State Election Commission 30 percent voter turnout was recorded till 12.00 noon. On the other hand out of 50 thousand registered voters for e- Voting 30 percent exercised their right to vote as per the latest report. With today’s poll Bihar became the first state of India to introduce a mobile app based e- Voting system, a revolutionary initiative in local bodies elections.

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US President Donald Trump has said that he has put an end to trade talks with Canada and will soon announce a new tariff rate for that country. The latest move, which he announced on social media Truth Social, came as the neighbouring nations had been working to agree a trade deal by mid-July.

Both countries have imposed tariffs on each other’s goods after Trump sparked a trade war earlier this year and threatened to annex Canada using economic force. Canada’s 3 percent digital services tax has been a sticking point in its relationship with the US since the law was enacted last year. The tax is set to take effect on Monday that will be retroactive to 2022.

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The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi has said that radiation levels in the Gulf region remains normal following the 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran that severely damaged several nuclear facilities in Iran. Mr Grossi cited regional data reported regularly to the IAEA through the International Radiation Monitoring System and said this 48-nation network would have detected an important radioactive release from any damaged nuclear power reactor. He also emphasised the need for IAEA inspectors to continue their verification activities in Iran, as required under its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the Agency.

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In Iran, state funeral ceremony was held today for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders, soldiers, nuclear scientists and civilians, killed during the 12-day war with Israel. Thousands of mourners gathered at the Azadi Street in capital city of Tehran to attend the funeral of 60 Iranians killed during the war. As a result of aggression by Israeli Defence Forces Iran lost IRGC chief Hossein Salami one Aerospace Force commander, a top general and others.

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The chariots of Lord Jagannath and his divine siblings began rolling down the Grand Road towards the Gundicha Temple after the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration resumed proceedings earlier in the morning. A report from our correspondent:

“Since none of the chariots reached Gundicha Temple before sunset, devotees were granted a rare opportunity to continue pulling the chariots today. They were also blessed with divine darshan of the deities seated on their respective chariots throughout the night. The pulling of the chariots yesterday was halted midway for some unknown reasons during the Ratha Jatra. The state government declared this year’s Ratha Jatra incident-free. The deities will now reside at Gundicha Temple for a nine-day sojourn before returning to the Shree Jagannath Temple on the same chariots during the Bahuda Yatra-the return car festival-on 5th of July. SN Pattnaik, Akashvani News .”

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The India Meteorological Department-IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall to continue over parts of Northwest, Central, East and Northeast India during the next 6 days. In South Peninsular India, heavy rainfall conditions have been predicted over Tamil Nadu and Coastal Karnataka and Kerala today. Our Kerala correspondent reports that the Meteorological department has issued Orange alert in six districts of the state today.

“Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services has indicated the possibility of occurrence of the ‘kallakkadal’ phenomenon in some parts of state including the coasts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kannur and Kasaragod districts. Fishermen and coastal residents in these areas are urged to stay alert. The water level in Mullapperiyar Dam in Idukki has reached 135.75 feet. Steps are being taken to release the water once it reaches the rule curve level of 136 feet.Authorities are taking Precautionary measures including relocating people living on both banks of the Periyar river. Meanwhile, heavy rain that battered Wayanad for the past four days has subsided. Mayusha for Akashvani News from Thiruvananthapuram”

The monsoon is active in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh. The Chandigarh centre of Meteorological Department has predicted heavy rain, thunderstorm and lightning at isolated places in Haryana and Chandigarh today and from 1st to 3rd of next month. A report:

“In Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, the sky at most of the places is cloudy today, as the monsoon, is active in the region. At some places, drizzling as well as raining at intervals is being witnessed while there are reports of heavy rain at isolated places, the farmers are happy with timely onset of monsoon. The met department has predicted heavy rain at isolated places in the days to come, Ashwani Kumar Sharma Akashvani News, Chandigarh.“

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At the US Open 2025 Badminton, young Indian shuttlers Ayush Shetty and Tanvi Sharma reached the semifinals with dominant performances at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA this morning. In the Women’s Singles match, Tanvi defeated her Malaysian opponent Letshanaa Karupathevan 21-13, 21-16, while in the Men’s Singles, Ayush outclassed Kuo Kuan-lin of Chinese Taipei 22-20, 21-9. Now in the Semifinals, Tanvi Sharma will take on Ukrainian shuttler Polina Buhrova, while Ayush Shetty will be up against Chou Tien-chen of Chinese Taipei.

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In Under-19 Cricket, India defeated England by six wickets in the first Youth ODI match at the County Ground in Hove yesterday. After opting to bat first, the hosts England got bundled out for just 174 runs. Rocky Flintoff scored highest 56 runs. In response to this, the visitors led by Ayush Mhatre managed to chase the score in 24 overs with 6 wickets in hand. India will next face England in the second Youth ODI at County Ground in Northampton on Monday. The young Indian side is currently on a month-long tour in England where they will play 5 ODIs and 2 Test matches.

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In the FIH Pro League 2024-25, Indian Women’s Team will take on their Asian rivals China in a do-or-die double header starting today in Berlin. The match will begin at 05:30 PM. China is currently placed fourth in the points table while India is placed last.

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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi says India must move forward by embracing both development and heritage; Urges the nation to shed colonial mindset.
Mahanadi Coalfield Limited to open two new coal mines in Odisha with 35 million tonnes capacity.
US calls off trade talks with Canada; New tariff rates to be announced soon.
International Atomic Energy Agency says radiation level in Gulf region remains normal following 12-day Israel-Iran war.
Indian shuttlers Ayush Shetty and Tanvi Sharma reach Semifinals of Men’s and Women’s Singles in US Open Badminton.
And, in Under 19 Cricket, India beat England by 6 wickets in first Youth ODI at Hove.