tadepalligudem l sunday l june 14, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l city EDITION Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth appointed as next army Chief Lt Gen Dhiraj Seth will succeed Gen Upendra Dwivedi as the Chief of the Army Staff, the defence ministry announced on Saturday Played key role in force modernisation Historic permanent comm for 14 women “The government has appointed Lt Gen Dhiraj Seth, presently serving as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, as the next Chief of the Army Staff with effect from June 30,” the ministry said. Lt Gen Seth is widely recognised for his contributions to force modernisation. Senior officials said he has commanded at every level in diverse operational environments ■ ■ In a first, a batch of women joined the armed forces with permanent commission from Day 1 through the National Defence Academy route Nine joined the Army and five joined the Air Force. Until now, women have entered the forces through Short Service Commission and became eligible for permanent commission years later | p7 2021 When the supreme Court opened the NDA route to women CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Deal today: Pak Not Sunday: Iran Officers among 5 IAF personnel killed in transport aircraft crash J a v a r i a r a n a & P r a s a n ta m a z u m d a r @ New Delhi/ Guwahati No immediate confirmation from White House or Iran regarding Sharif’s assertion on timing of the agreement Age n c i e s @ Dubai/Islamabad THE United States and Iran could put to bed an agreement to end the Middle East war within as little as 24 hours, mediator Pakistan said Saturday, after both sides expressed optimism about concluding a deal. The apparent momentum came in spite of new skirmishes in the Strait of Hormuz Saturday, which has been at the centre of the war that has roiled the global economy . Weeks of negotiations on a long-term peace agreement following an April 8 truce have so far been fruitless, with US President Donald Trump repeatedly insisting a deal was near only for the wrangling to drag on. “We are closer to a peace deal than ever before,” said Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on X. “With finalisation likely expected in the next 24 hours, Pakistan is preparing for the electronic signing of the peace deal immediately after, followed by Naidu to visit Singapore on June 15 & 16 E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will visit Singapore from June 15 to 16 to attract investments and explore collaborations for the development of Amaravati and other key infrastructure projects. As per schedule, Naidu will depart from Bengaluru at 11:35 am on June 14. On June 15, he will meet Shilpak Ambule, High Commissioner of India to Singapore, at 10:30 am Singapore Time. He will subsequently participate in a roundtable conference with startup venture capitalists, and attend a luncheon meeting with Anacláudia Rossbach, Executive Director of UN-Habitat. The Chief Minister will also hold discussions with Singapore Senior Minister of State Low Yen Ling. Later, he will meet Karan Bajwa, President, Google Cloud Asia-Pacific; Lim Siang Guan, Advisor to the Executive Committee of GIC; Robert Yap, Executive Chair man of YCH Group; and Prof Tan Eng Chye, President of the Nat i o n a l U n ive r s i t y o f Singapore. During the visit, Naidu is scheduled to meet Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and discuss areas of cooperation. He will also meet Singapore Foreign M i n i s t e r D r Viv i a n Balakrishnan and interact with members of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Andhra Pradesh delegation. Meetings are also scheduled with Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Minister for Manpower Dr Tan See Leng. On June 16, the Chief Minister will inaugurate the CBN@361 programme organised by the Kakatiya CulP4 tural Association.  Khamenei funeral Funeral rituals for Khamenei will will take place between July 4 and 9 at the holy Imam Reza Shrine, Iran state TV said. Iran had very early into the war said funeral of Ayatollah will be held only after the war ends. technical talks next week.” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, however, said the deal was yet to be determined, “although it will not be on Sunday .” The warring parties have released conflicting information about the contents of the deal. Tehran has insisted on its right to enrich uranium and maintain control over the Strait of Hormuz. The US has responded with its own blockade of Iranian ports in an attempt to choke off the country’s energy exports. Earlier Saturday, the US said it downed multiple Iranian drones over the strait. The US military’s Central Command posted on X that Iran had “launched multiple one-way attack drones in an attempt to strike commercial ships transiting the Strait”. It added that “US forces have downed all of them in recent hours”. Meanwhile, Lebanon reported Israeli strikes in its south on Saturday as the Israel , issued evacuation warnings. Modi-Trump bilateral on G7 Summit’s sidelines on June 17 J aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump are set to hold a bilateral meeting on June 17 on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in France, with discussions expected to focus on economic growth, supply-chain resilience, artificial intelligence, investment partnerships and global security challenges. “This is the 8th consecutive G7 Summit to which India has been invited. At the G7, India will not only speak for itself, but it will also give voice to the aspirations of the Global South,” Modi said in a statement ahead of his visit. The meeting with Trump, confirmed by the White House, will take place ahead of a working lunch involving G7 leaders, outreach partners and technology executives. A senior US administration official said: “President Trump will meet with G7 leaders to address key issues of shared importance, including economic growth and development, illegal immigration, and AI.” The engagement comes during Trump’s visit to France for the summit, where he is also expected to hold bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron, the Emir of Qatar, the UAE President and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Rubio sticks to his guns India raised with US killing of its mariners. But Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “violations of US blockade won’t be tolerated.” (Above, from left to right) Sqn. Ldr. Prashant Singh, Flt. Lt. Shubham Kumar, Sgt. Jitendra Sharma, Agniveervayu Khemaram Kumawat and Agniveervayu Danish Alamy; (below) the damaged remains of the aircraft | IAF, PTI Five Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel were killed and one was injured when an An-32 transport aircraft crashed after landing at the Air Force Station in Jorhat, Assam on Saturday. The incident took place around 10 am at Rowriah airbase in Jorhat. The aircraft had taken off from the same base for a routine sortie. The deceased personnel are Squadron Leader Prashant Singh, Flight Lieutenant Shubham Kumar, Sergeant Jitendra Sharma, Agniveervayu Khemaram Kumawat and Agniveervayu Danish Alam. A co-pilot survived with injuries. A court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident. “IAF extends its deepest condolences to the bereaved fami- E x p r e s s Re a d Police raid Abhishek’s house Major reforms in Civil Supplies New Delhi: There was high drama at the residence of Abhishek Banerjee, national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress, as a large police team raided it in the wee hours of Saturday to nab his longtime trusted secretary Sumit Roy Vijayawada: During a candid conversation with TNIE’s ‘AP Dialogues’, Civil Supplies Minister Nadendla Manohar asserted that the NDA government has undertaken major reforms, focusing on transparency and quality to strengthen the PDS | P4 lies and stands firmly with them in this hour of grief,” the IAF posted on X. Footage from the crash site showed the aircraft split into two parts. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sar ma mourned the loss of lives. “Deeply anguished by the loss of five Air Warriors in the An-32 accident,” Singh posted on social media. The crash has once again drawn attention to the Sovietera An-32 fleet, which remains one of IAF’s most important transport assets despite being in service since the 1980s. With airframes now exceeding 40 years of service, maintaining the fleet has become increasingly challenging, sources said. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has further disrupted the supply of key spares, forcing IAF to pursue indigenous alternatives. WITH THIS ISSUE What is the Price of a Life in India? Zero PLUS 12 P AGES