All about bunker buster bombs ‘Bunker buster’ is a broad term to describe bombs that penetrate deep below the surface before exploding B-2 Spirit stealth bomber: It can carry a payload of 18,000 kg but the US Air Force has tested a total weight of 27,200 kilograms The roughly 13,600 kilogram precision-guided bomb can attack deeply buried and hardened bunkers and tunnels KALABURAGI l Monday l June 23, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION Iran can have reactors, but can’t enrich uranium: Rubio No reports of radiation from Iran, says IAEA chief 80 injured in Israel as Iran fires volley of missiles Iran will be allowed to operate nuclear power plants but not enrich its own fuel, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday IAEA Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said the Iranian regulatory authorities have reported no increase in off-site radiation levels Iran fired a barrage of missiles against Israel, targeting Ben Gurion Airport, and other key targets. According to Israeli media, over 80 were injured TRUMPFIRE ON IRAN Nuclear SITES key sites in iran hit by the U.S. Natanz Israeli attacks had already damaged the country’s largest uranium enrichment center In this case, it refers to the GBU-57 A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb that US used to bomb Iran’s three key nuclear sites Iran Fordo Bunkerbuster bombs were dropped on Iran's most critical nuclear site A merican strikes I sraeli strikes since June 13 Isfahan Near-bomb-grade nuclear fuel is reportedly stored here U.S. bombs Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan ‘obliterated’ them, claims Trump Iran says ‘a very big red line’ crossed, warns of ‘dangerous consequences’ world leaders call for calm A g e n c i e s @ Dubai/Washington/Jerusalem AFter waiting on the sidelines for days, the US on Sunday joined Israel’s war against Iran, bombing three of the country’s major nuclear sites using the rarely deployed GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs and the powerful Tomahawk cruise missiles. “Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace,” US President Donald Trump said after the strikes. He said Tehran must now make peace or brace for more attacks. The Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran confirmed that attacks took place on the Fordo and Natanz enrichment facilities as well as the Isfahan nuclear site. Both Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said there were no immediate signs of radioactive contamination around the sites. Iran reacted sharply to the attack, saying the US crossed ‘a very big red line’ and warned that there will be ‘dangerous consequences’ and ‘far- reaching implications’. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian hit out at the US, saying the attack revealed it was the “main factor behind” Israel’s military campaign in the Islamic republic. Vowing to defend itself at all costs, Iran fired another volley of missiles at Israel, injuring scores of people and damaging buildings. “There is no red line that they have not crossed. And the last one, and the most dangerous one, happened only last night. They crossed a very big red line by attacking nuclear facilities,” said Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi. The foreign minister said he would soon fly to Moscow to hold discussions with Russia. “We enjoy a strategic partnership and we always consult with each other and coordinate our positions,” he said, referring to Russia. If US claims that the nuclear sites have been damaged beyond repair are confirmed, it could mark the end of for Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s ambitious plan to transform the Islamic Republic into a greater regional power that IISc lab teaches machines to hear in noisy settings R i s h i ta K h a n n a @Bengaluru At a lab at the Indian Institute of Science’s (IISc) Electrical Engineering department, Dr Sriram Ganapathy is trying to teach machines what most humans do easily — understand speech amid real-world noise. With his Learning and Extraction of Acoustic Patterns (LEAP) lab, he is focusing on decoding how humans speak, listen and interpret each other, specifically in noisy environments — where current artificial intelligence (AI) models fail. His research has much potential to develop smarter hearing aids in future. By combining machine learning with neuroscience, the lab is not only training systems to identify speech and emotion, but also uncovering how the brain processes sound. Over the past nine years, the LEAP lab has worked on everything from developing speech recognition systems that function in noisy settings, to studying how the brain distinguishes between ‘two speakers’ in a conversation. Their research has attracted collaborations with companies like Samsung, Sony and Google. More recently the team at , LEAP lab has been trying to use large language models (LLMs) — the same kind used in ChatGPT — to detect emotions in speech, a task that even the best AI tools still find it difficult. The lab ran experiments to study how humans can tell when a P5 new person starts talking.  Upa Lokayukta catches babus receiving bribes through apps Yat h i r a j u @Bengaluru Upa Lokayukta Justice B Veerappa has kept pace with technology and come up with the idea of checking digital payments received as bribes by government officials during his surprise visits to districts. He has come across officials who have received bribes in lakhs of rupees through digital payments. Whenever officials sense an impending raid by the Upa Lokayukta, they quickly uninstall digital payment apps, like Google Pay PhonePe, Paytm etc, from their phones. , But Justice Veerappa knows them and their modus operandi too well. He has now been taking with him a team of technical staff to check the mobile phones of officials. He will get the tech staff to re-install the apps within minutes and check if there are any suspicious financial transactions. He is assisted by his Secretary Aravind N V Deputy Registrar-1. CONTINUED ON P5 , holds enriched nuclear material a step away from weapons-grade. The developments have caused fears of the conflict intensifying and spreading wider. While the Trump administration said it still wanted to resume diplomatic talks with Iran, Tehran said the time for diplomacy had passed and that it would now do the needful to defend itself. Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the Trump administration does not seek a regime change in Iran. He said the strikes ordered by Trump overnight had “devastated” Iran’s nuclear programme and urged Iranian leaders to seek peace to avoid further attacks. He also sought to clarify that the strikes did not target Iranian troops or civilians. Global leaders responded to the developments with shock and calls for restraint. The United Nations Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting on Sunday. Egypt warned of ‘grave repercussions’ for the region. Bahrain, home to the US Navy’s Middle East-based Fifth Fleet, called on Iran and the US to ‘quickly resume talks.’ EC thinks of door-to-door verification of voters in Bihar m u k e s h r a n j a n @ New Delhi WITH an eye on ensuring greater accuracy in electoral rolls in Bihar where assembly polls are due later this year, the Election Commission on Sunday announced that it was contemplating an intensive house-tohouse verification during the revision of the voter list in the state. Official sources said the move is aimed at freeing the electoral rolls of errors, if any .Officials pointed out that concerns have been raised by various civil society organisations, political parties and others persistently over the inclusion or deletion of names in the electoral rolls. Several parties, including the Congress, have accused the poll authority of fudging data to help the BJP . A source said, “The ECI has repeatedly emphasized that it is committed to ensuring that only genuine and eligible citizens are enrolled in the electoral rolls.” Regular exercise of revision of electoral rolls is undertaken annually throughout the country by ECI and also before an election or bypoll, he said. The provisions regarding eligibility to be registered as a voter and disqualification are clearly laid down in Article 326 of the Constitution and Section 16 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the source said. With sanctuary tag, laterite mining may stop Subhash Chandra NS @ Mugali (Uttara Kannada) The state government’s decision to declare Apsarakonda-Mugali as the state’s first marine sanctuary will help conserve nearly 1,000 acres of laterite plateau, which is part of the sanctuary and spread across Karianakubri, Manki, Mugali, Kelaginooru and Aprasakonda villages. Popularly known as bricks with pores, this is the same laterite stone that is used extensively for the construction of houses and other buildings in the coastal region. The sanc- The laterite plateau of Mugali tuary status will, however, put an end to indiscriminate mining of laterite stones in the region. It was in 2012 that the Centre for Ecological Sciences at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) recommended conservation of the laterite plateau. This is the first-of-its kind protection accorded to lateritic conservation in the world, said Prof TV Ramachandra, Senior Scientist, Energy and Wetland Research Centre, IISc, who led the team that recommended the sanctuary status. Because of its pores, the laterite stone plays a crucial role in allowing water to percolate into the ground. Indiscriminate laterite mining was one of the contributing factors for landslides and sea erosion in Uttara Kannada in recent times, several studies have revealed. P5 It’s believed to be able to penetrate about 61 metres below the surface before exploding, and the bombs can be dropped one after another, effectively drilling deeper and deeper with each successive blast. GRAPHIC: Sourav roy Iran’s key nuclear enrichment facilities have been completely and totally obliterated. Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace Donald Trump, US prez Weight 13,608 kg Length 20 feet Masoud Pezeshkian, Iranian president Fordo is Iran’s second nuclear enrichment facility after Natanz. In addition to being 80 metres underneath, it is protected by Iranian and Russian missiles ■ Iran dials India, Modi calls for de-escalation j aya n t h j a c o b @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday, voicing concern over the escalating Iran-Israel conflict, particularly as New Delhi is wary about rising tensions threatening regional stability . The 45-minute call, initiated by President Pezeshkian following US strikes on three key Iranian nuclear sites, included a detailed briefing on the evolving situation. “India reiterates its call for immediate de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward and for early restoration of regional peace, security and stability,” Modi said after the call. Pezeshkian described India as a friend and partner. He expressed appreciation for India’s consistent stance advocating dialo gue and diplomacy. “India’s voice and role is important in restoring regional peace,” Pezeshkian told Modi. Buzz on closure of Strait of Hormuz Agencies This aggression showed that is the main factor behind the Zionist regime’s hostile actions against Iran How tough a target is Fordo nuke site 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 ■ Amid the escalating tensions with Israel and the additional conflict of US strikes on Iran, foreign minister Abbas Araghchi was asked about the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. He responded, saying that “a variety of options are available to Iran”. The Strait, located between Iran and Oman, and links the Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south, is the passage for one-fifth of the world’s oil consumption. Iran’s parliament has approved the plan to close the Strait of Hormuz - the only sea passage from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean and is one of the world’s most strategically important choke points -- and the country’s Supreme Nation- al Security Council will take the final call, Iranian media reported on Sunday . If Iran decides to close the strait, it will impact global oil and gas shipments. According to estimates, around 20% of the world’s oil and gas moves through the Strait of Hormuz. The reported move follows US strikes on three Iranian military sites early on Sunday .