Top news of the day: At least 164 die as twin earthquakes strike Venezuela; India resumes travel visas to Bangladeshis as new envoy Dinesh Trivedi takes charge; and more

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Resident walk among damaged building after an earthquake in La Guaira, Venezuela, on June 25, 2026. | Photo Credit: AP Two powerful earthquakes struck Venezuela within about a minute of each other on Wednesday (June 24, 2026), causing buildings to collapse and damage in Caracas. The rare back-to-back tremors, measuring magnitudes 7.1 and 7.5, rank among the strongest earthquakes to hit the country in more than a century. The earthquakes killed at least 164 people and injured at least 971, the nation’s Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said. India’s new High Commissioner to Dhaka Dinesh Trivedi on Thursday (June 25, 2026) announced the resumption of travel visas for Bangladesh nationals as he assumed office. Earlier, the 76-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party leader presented his credentials to President Mohammed Shahabuddin, marking the start of his diplomatic assignment. He was named as the envoy to Bangladesh on April 27, becoming the first politician to serve in this position. The Indian passport is a “travel document” and not a “citizenship document”, a senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Wednesday (June 24, 2026). The purpose of the Indian passport is to help Indians transit and travel through foreign ports and territories, and it should not be compared to other documents that are used to establish citizenship rights, the official said. The MEA’s response has distinguished between evidence of citizenship and conclusive proof of citizenship. While citizenship is determined under the Citizenship Act and passports are issued under the Passport Act, the existence of a passport doesn’t by itself be called a conclusive or definitive proof of citizenship in a dispute. The BJP on Thursday (June 25, 2026) backed the NCERT’s decision to introduce a section on the Emergency years in a Class 9 social science textbook, saying the “dark chapter” in India’s constitutional history must be remembered to ensure it is never repeated. The ruling party also attacked the Congress over the imposition of Emergency in 1975 and alleged that it is opposing the National Council of Educational Research and Training’s (NCERT) decision to introduce the section. In a major crackdown on the cybercrime infrastructure facilitating Digital Arrest scams, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has raided over 80 locations across the country in connection with more than 200 cases. Two accused have been arrested so far. They have been identified as Naresh from Chennai and Sanjib Saha, a resident of Kolkata. The State will not be burdened with any tariff revision, including the annual revision of 3.57% this year, said Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister R. Nirmalkumar on Thursday (June 25, 2026). Mr. Nirmalkumar, while presenting a White Paper on the status of the Tamil Nadu electricity department, said the Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL), Tamil Nadu Power Generation Corporation Limited (TNPGCL), Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation Limited (TNGECL), and TANTRANSCO have sustained heavy losses, with the total debt of the four corporations standing at ₹2.47 lakh crore. The erstwhile Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB), which was bifurcated into TANGEDCO and TANTRANSCO in 2010, was further restructured into four corporations in 2024. The report highlighted deficiencies in electricity infrastructure, power generation, and manpower, and stressed the need to replace ageing transmission and distribution infrastructure. The Supreme Court on Thursday (June 25, 2026) asked a petitioner to mention before it on June 29 his plea seeking registration of an FIR, and a fair and time-bound probe into the alleged embezzlement of donations received at the Ram temple in Ayodhya. The matter was mentioned for urgent listing before a bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Joymalya Bagchi. India and the U.S. in February 2025 announced that they would work towards a comprehensive Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) that was to be finalised by Fall 2025. Then, in February 2026, they signed a framework agreement for an interim trade deal that was to be implemented by Apr

Top news of the day: At least 164 die as twin earthquakes strike Venezuela; India resumes travel visas to Bangladeshis as new envoy Dinesh Trivedi takes charge; and more

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Top news of the day: At least 164 die as twin earthquakes strike Venezuela; India resumes travel visas to Bangladeshis as new envoy Dinesh Trivedi takes charge; and more

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