India end Asian Games campaign with best-ever haul of 107 medals including 28 golds

Cairo, June 19: Israeli army’s direct gunfire and strikes killed at least 140 starving people including child and women across Gaza in the past 24 hours, local health officials said, as some Palestinians in the Strip said their plight was being forgotten as attention has shifted to the air war between Israel and Iran.

At least 40 of those killed over the past day died as a result of Israeli gunfire and airstrikes on Wednesday, Gaza’s health ministry said. The deaths included the latest in near daily killings of Palestinians seeking aid in the three weeks since Israel partially lifted a total blockade on the territory.

Medics said separate airstrikes on homes in the Maghazi refugee camp, the Zeitoun neighborhood and Gaza City killed at least 21 people, while five others were killed in an airstrike on an encampment in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Fourteen more people were killed in Israeli fire at crowds of Palestinians awaiting aid trucks brought in by the United Nations along the Salahuddin road in central Gaza, medics said.

Asked about the Salahuddin road incident, the Israel Defense Forces said that despite repeated warnings that the area was an active combat zone, individuals approached troops operating in the Nuseirat area in the central Gaza Strip in a manner that posed a threat to forces.

Troops fired warning shots, it said, adding that it was unaware of injuries. Regarding other strikes, the IDF said it was “operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities” while taking “feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm.”

On Tuesday, Gaza’s health ministry said 397 Palestinians among those trying to get food aid had been killed and more than 3,000 wounded since aid deliveries restarted in late May.

Some in Gaza expressed concern that the latest escalations in the war between Israel and Hamas that began in October 2023 would be overlooked due to the new Israel-Iran conflict.

“People are being slaughtered in Gaza, day and night, but attention has shifted to the Iran-Israel war. There is little news about Gaza these days,” said Adel, a resident of Gaza City.

“Whoever doesn’t die from Israeli bombs dies from hunger. People risk their lives every day to get food, and they also get killed and their blood smears the sacks of flour they thought they had won,” he said. 

New Delhi, June 21: More than 800 Indian nationals have so far returned home from Iran under Operation Sindhu, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Saturday.

The MEA shared the update on the status of the evacuation operation in a series of posts on X.

More Indian nationals, including students, arrived in Delhi late on Friday evening and in the early hours of Saturday after being evacuated from Iran as its military confrontation with Israel intensified.

India announced the launch of Operation Sindhu on Wednesday to evacuate its nationals from Iran.

#OperationSindhu flight brings citizens home. India evacuated 290 Indian nationals from Iran, including students and religious pilgrims by a charter flight. The flight arrived in New Delhi at 2330 hrs on 20 June and was received by Secretary (CPV& OIA) Arun Chatterjee," MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on X.

"Government of India is grateful to the Government of Iran for the facilitation of the evacuation process," he added.

In another post, Jaiswal shared the details of an evacuation flight that arrived from Turkmenistan.

"#OperationSindhu continues. A special evacuation flight from Ashgabat, Turkmenistan landed in New Delhi at 0300 hrs on 21st June, bringing Indians from Iran home. With this, so far 517 Indian nationals from Iran have returned home under Operation Sindhu," he said.

The first batch of 110 Indian nationals evacuated from Iran arrived in India on Thursday, with many evacuees sharing first-hand accounts of the frightening situation they witnessed before being moved to safer locations.

Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh welcomed them on their arrival at the Delhi airport after their arduous journey.

In another post in the evening, Jaiswal informed about the arrival of a separate evacuation flight.

"#OperationSindhu Another evacuation flight from Mashhad landed in New Delhi at 1630 hrs on 21 June with 310 Indian nationals from Iran. With this, a total of 827 Indians have been evacuated," he said.

Also, the Indian embassy in Iran, in a post on X, said, "On request of the Governments of Nepal and Sri Lanka, the Indian Embassy's evacuation efforts in Iran will also cover citizens of Nepal and Sri Lanka."

Bengaluru: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) moved the Karnataka High Court on Monday seeking to quash criminal case against it in M Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede incident that claimed 11 lives.

DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt Ltd, the event organiser, has also filed a separate petition challenging the FIR against it.

Royal Challengers Sports Limited (RCSL), owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), has contended that it has been falsely implicated in the case.

According to the petition, RCSL claimed that it had clearly communicated on social media that only limited passes were available. It also said that even for free passes, pre-registration was mandatory for entry.

It alleged that stadium gates, which were supposed to open at 1.45pm, were actually opened only at 3pm, causing a crowd surge.

According to the event mangement firm, the incident occurred due to failure of crowd management by the police. The High Court is expected to hear the matter on Monday afternoon.