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 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l sunday l june 14, 2026 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l LATE city EDITION 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 Historic permanent comm for 14 women ■ 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 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 It’s time for the Gulf peace deal Modi, Trump to meet on G7 Summit sidelines on June 17 Trump claims accord will be signed on Sunday, Iran says agreement date yet to be finalised 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, Rubio sticks but it will also give to his guns voice to the aspirations of the Global India raised with South,” Modi said in a US killing of its statement ahead of mariners, saying “lethal actions his visit. The meeting with against Trump, confirmed by commercial the White House, will shipping are not take place ahead of a justified”, but working lunch involv- Secretary of ing G7 leaders, out- State Marco reach partners and Rubio said technolog y execu- “violations of US tives. A senior US ad- blockade won’t ministration official be tolerated.” Age n c i e s @ Dubai/Islamabad WITH THIS ISSUE What is the Price of a Life in India? Zero PLUS 12 P AGES Khamenei funeral THE United States and Iran Funeral rituals for Khamenei could put to bed an agreement will will take place between to end the West Asia war withJuly 4 and 9 at the holy in as little as 24 hours, with US Imam Reza Shrine, Iran state President Donald Trump sayTV said. Iran had very early ing on Saturday the deal with into the war said funeral of Iran would be signed on SunAyatollah will be held only day and that the strategic Strait after the war ends | P9 of Hormuz would be “open to all” immediately afterwards. The momentum came Iranian foreign minin spite of new skiristry spokesman Esmishes in the Strait of maeil Baqaei, however, H o r m u z S a t u r d ay, said the deal was yet to which has been at the be determined, “alcentre of the war that though it will not be has roiled the global on Sunday .” economy . The warring parties “The Deal is schedhave released conflictuled to get signed toing information about morrow, and immedithe contents of the ately after it is signed, deal. Tehran has inthe Hormuz Strait is sisted on its right to Shehbaz Sharif OPEN TO ALL,” he enrich uranium and said in a post on Truth maintain control over Social, signalling what could be the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier a major diplomatic break- Saturday the US said it downed , through after months of con- multiple Iranian drones over flict and negotiations. the Strait of Hormuz. Trump’s comments came The US military’s Central hours after Pakistan indicated Command posted on X that Iran that the United States and Iran had “launched multiple onewere in the final stage of nego- way attack drones in an attiations and that an electronic tempt to strike commercial signing ceremony for the agree- ships transiting the Strait”. ment was scheduled for Sun- Meanwhile, Lebanon reported day However, there is no imme- Israeli strikes in its south on . diate comment from Iran on Saturday, as the Israel issued the reported timeline. evacuation warnings. J aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi said: “President Trump will meet with G7 leaders to address key issues of shared importance, including economic growth and development, supply chain resilience, 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. The Modi-Trump meeting will be their first in person meeting since India’s military operation “Operation Sindoor” against Pakistan last year. 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 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 families 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 As- (Top, from left) Sqn. Ldr. Prashant Singh, Flt. Lt. Shubham Kumar, Sgt. Jitendra Sharma, Agniveervayu Khemaram Kumawat and Agniveervayu Danish Alam; (below) the damaged remains of the aircraft | IAF, PTI sam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma mourned the loss of lives. “Deeply anguished by the loss of five Air Warriors in the An-32 accident,” Singh posted on social media. ‘No criminal angle’: Police close 23 child death cases P RAMDAS @ Kochi After the deaths of 23 minor children in Palakkad district between 2003 and 2023 sparked alarm and prompted the Kerala High Court to seek a CBI probe, Kerala police have now concluded that none of the cases involved foul play According to the force, 16 of . those deaths were by suicide while seven were accidental. Some involved boys, while the remaining were of girls aged 13 and below. According to a report filed with HC, investigations revealed the suicides were the result of psychological distress, including emotional disturbance, frustration arising from unmet desires, fear of parental reprimand and other age-related vulnerabilities. Police said no evidence emerged warranting charges of abetment of suicide or any other cognisable offence.  ● More on P5 EXPRESS READ Govt’s WhatsApp group for VCs sparks row T’Puram: Amid university affairs slowly emerging as a potential flashpoint between governor and UDF government, the creation of a WhatsApp group by higher education secretary for VCs and registrars has sparked row. P5 Today's matches (IST) Group E: Germany vs Curacao (10:30 PM); Ivory Coast vs Ecuador (4:30 AM*) Group F: Netherlands vs Japan (1:30 AM*); Sweden vs Tunisia (7:30* AM) *IST Monday morning