Top news of the day: Five IAF personnel killed in AN-32 aircraft crash in Assam’s Jorhat; Lt. Gen. Dhiraj Seth appointed next Army Chief, 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. The 5 IAF personnel who were killed in the aircraft crash in Assam’s Jorhat: (left to right) Sqn. Ldr. Prashant Singh, Flt. Lt. Shubham Kumar, Sgt. Jitendra Sharma, Agniveervayu Khemaram Kumawat and Agniveervayu Danish Alam. Photo: x/@IAF_MCC An AN-32 aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) met with an accident while landing in Assam’s Jorhat district on Saturday (June 13, 2026), the force said. Five personnel were killed in the crash. “Sqn. Ldr. Prashant Singh, Flt. Lt. Shubham Kumar, Sgt. Jitendra Sharma, Agniveervayu Khemaram Kumawat and Agniveervayu Danish Alam made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty,” the IAF posted on X, extending its condolences to the deceased. A court of inquiry is being constituted to ascertain its cause. The Government has appointed Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth, presently serving as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, as the next Chief of the Army Staff with effect from the afternoon of June 30, 2026. The present Chief of the Army Staff, General Upendra Dwivedi, retires from service the same day. Lt. Gen Seth assumed charge as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff on April 1, 2026, as part of a series of top-level appointments announced by the Indian Army across key operational commands. The National Testing Agency (NTA) has issued clarifications regarding the queries on social media on normalisation being applied to some Common University Entrance Test (PG) 2026 subject exams held on more than one date. In March 2026, as many as 565 candidates across 28 subjects could not appear for the CUET (PG) tests on the scheduled dates due to law-and-order disruptions in Tura, Meghalaya, and also at certain overseas centres. In this light, the NTA had rescheduled the tests for affected candidates on March 29 and 30, 2026. Marking 29 years of the Uphaar cinema hall fire tragedy, the Association of Victims of Uphaar Tragedy (AVUT) on Saturday renewed its demand for stricter accountability in cases of negligence leading to loss of lives, saying that recurring fire incidents in Delhi show that no lessons have been learnt. India and Nepal have held discussions on cross-border railway links, including passenger train services on the Janakpur-Ayodhya section, and bilateral cooperation in the sector, an official statement said. The discussions between the two countries were part of the 10th Project Steering Committee and the 8th Joint Working Group meetings held here on June 11 and 12, the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu said on Friday (June 12, 2026). Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday (June 13, 2026) directed the high-level committee on demographic change to study the shift in population structure in border districts, officials said. Chairing the meeting of the committee, Mr. Shah also asked it to visit border areas, metro cities and industrial towns for an assessment of changes because of illegal migration and other unnatural causes, they said. The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully demonstrated a range of critical defence technologies through three consecutive flight tests conducted on Wednesday (June 10, 2026) and Thursday (June 11, 2026) significantly enhancing India’s capabilities against diverse aerial and maritime threats. Activists Sharjeel Imam and Umar Khalid have moved fresh bail applications before a Delhi court in the larger conspiracy case related to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. The applications argued that there has been no significant progress in the trial despite the Supreme Court dismissing the earlier plea over six months ago. After the successful trial run and subsequent operationalisation of the Cell Broadcast System, a mobile-based disaster warning system introduced by the Union Government, the Centre has suspended Cell Broadcast Services from Friday (June 12, 2026) without citing any specific reasons. An order issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Friday (June 12, 2026) stated that, due to certain issues flagged by the competent authorities, the Cell Broadcast Service is being kept on hold until further instructions. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on

Top news of the day: Five IAF personnel killed in AN-32 aircraft crash in Assam’s Jorhat; Lt. Gen. Dhiraj Seth appointed next Army Chief, and more

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Top news of the day: Five IAF personnel killed in AN-32 aircraft crash in Assam’s Jorhat; Lt. Gen. Dhiraj Seth appointed next Army Chief, and more

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