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 KOCHI 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 Officers among 5 IAF personnel killed in transport aircraft crash Ja v ar i a ra n a & P rasa n ta ma z u mdar @ New Delhi/ Guwahati Trump claims accord will be signed on Sunday, Iran says agreement date yet to be finalised; Israel hits Lebanon A g e n c i e s @ Dubai/Islamabad ‘No criminal angle’: Police close 23 child death cases P R A M D A S @ 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 the 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 agerelated vulnerabilities. Police stated that no evidence emerged warranting charges of abetment of suicide or any other cognisable offence. The remaining seven deaths were conclusively determined to be accidental, based on inquest proceedings, postmortem examination and corroborative forensic evidence. “In none of these cases were any element of criminal culpability detected so as to attract penal provisions under the Indian Penal Code,” the re● More on P5 port said. WITH THIS ISSUE What is the Price of a Life in India? Zero PLUS 12 P AGES THE United States and Iran could put to bed an agreement to end the Middle East war within as little as 24 hours, with US President Donald Trump saying on Saturday the deal with Iran would be signed on Sunday and that the strategic Strait of Hormuz would be “open to all” immediately afterwards. The 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 . “The Deal is scheduled to get signed tomorrow, and immediately after it is signed, the Hormuz Strait is OPEN TO ALL,” he said in a post on Truth Social, signalling what could be a major diplomatic breakthrough after months of conflict and negotiations. Trump’s comments came hours after Pakistan indicated that the United States and Iran were in the final stage of nego- Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan PM 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 | P9 tiations and that an electronic signing ceremony for the agreement was scheduled for Sunday However, there is no imme. diate comment from Iran on the reported timeline. 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. Earlier Saturday the , US said it downed multiple Iranian drones over the Strait of Hormuz. 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”. 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 Jaya n t h j ac 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 technol- Rubio sticks to his guns India raised with US killing of its mariners, saying “lethal actions against commercial shipping are not justified.” but Secretary of State Marco Rubio said “violations of US blockade won’t be tolerated.” ogy 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, supply chain resilience, illegal immigration, and Artificial Intelligence.” 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, although the White House did not provide further details on the agenda of the talks. 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 Live on Unite8 Sports & Zee5 Balogun leads US to their biggest WC win Folarin Balogun scored twice in the US’s three-goal barrage before halftime, and the US opened their first home World Cup in 32 years with the biggest win in the event, a 4-1 win over Paraguay. In another match, co-hosts Canada salvaged a draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina EXPRESS READ Govt’s WhatsApp group for vice chancellors sparks row T’Puram: Amid university affairs slowly emerging as a potential flashpoint between Governor Rajendra Arlekar and the newly elected UDF government, the creation of a WhatsApp group by Higher Education Secretary B Ashok, with vice-chancellors and registrars of universities as members, has triggered a controversy.P5 Nipah: ICMR team arrives; 13 more added to contact list Kozhikode: The administrative response to the Nipah crisis in Kozhikode has shifted to top gear with a crucial ministerial review meeting and an assessment by a specialist team from ICMR. Meanwhile, health officials added 13 new individuals to the contact list and moved four more into institutional isolation for rigorous observation. P4 (Top, from left) Sqn Ldr Prashant Singh, Flt Lt Shubham Kumar, Sgt Jitendra Sharma, Agniveervayu Khemaram Kumawat and Agniveervayu Danish Alam; (above) the damaged remains of the aircraft | 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 copilot 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- 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 Soviet-era 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.