India ready to extend all possible support: PM on Bangladesh plane crash
India stands in solidarity with Bangladesh and is ready to extend all possible support and assistance, he added.
"Deeply shocked and saddened at the loss of lives, many of them young students, in a tragic air crash in Dhaka. Our hearts go out to the bereaved families," Mr. Modi said on X.
He added, "We pray for the swift recovery of those injured. India stands in solidarity with Bangladesh and is ready to extend all possible support and assistance." A Bangladesh Air Force training aircraft crashed into a school building in Dhaka shortly after takeoff on Monday, killing at least 19 people, mostly children, and injuring dozens, officials and witnesses said.
The Chinese-made F-7 BGI training aircraft crashed into the Milestone School and College campus in Dhaka's Uttara area.
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The Hindu
36 minutes ago
- The Hindu
Top news of the day on July 23, 2025
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Ahmedabad plane crash: 'Established protocols' followed for identifying victims, says India after U.K. media report on families receiving wrong bodies The Indian government is working closely with U.K. authorities to 'address concerns' raised by an aviation lawyer about families bereaved after the June 12 Ahmedabad Air India crash, receiving wrongly identified last remains, including in one case where remains of more than one person were placed in the same casket .British newspaper Daily Mail reported that relatives of one victim had to abandon funeral plans after being informed that their coffin contained the body of an unknown passenger. Parliament Monsoon Session: Deadlock continues in Parliament as both Houses see no business for third straight day Parliament remained in deadlock, as Opposition protests, demanding a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar, continued to stall proceedings in both Houses. Repeated adjournments rocked both Houses and no business was conducted on the day. Both Houses were adjourned immediately after commencing, only to reconvene and be immediately adjourned two more times in the day. Opposition members protested in Lok Sabha with placards Parliament failed to transact any business on Tuesday (July 22, 2025) too. PM Modi embarks on four-day visit to U.K., Maldives Prime Minister Narendra Modi left on a four-day visit to the U.K. and the Maldives, expressing confidence that this will boost India's ties with the two countries. In his departure statement, Mr. Modi said India and the United Kingdom share a comprehensive strategic partnership that has witnessed significant progress in recent years. He noted that the collaboration between the two countries spans a wide range of sectors, including trade, investment, technology, innovation, defence, education, research, sustainability, health and people-to-people ties. India extends airspace closure for Pakistan planes till August 24 India has extended the closure of its airspace for Pakistan planes by another month till August 24. In the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people on April 22, India closed its airspace for planes operated, owned or leased by Pakistan airlines and operators, including military flights, with effect from April 30. The ban is part of various measures taken by the government against Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack. Polls being 'stolen'; will bring out 'vote theft' in black and white with Karnataka example: Rahul Amid the raging row over revision of electoral rolls in Bihar, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that elections are being "stolen" in India and claimed that his party has figured out the modus operandi of the "vote theft" by studying a Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka. 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NDTV
36 minutes ago
- NDTV
For Second Straight Day, Row Over Bihar Electoral Rolls In Parliament
New Delhi: The row over Bihar's voter list revision snowballed in parliament today as the government refused to answer the Opposition's queries, arguing that it is not competent to do so since the Election Commission is conducting the exercise, sources said. The government said it cannot answer on behalf of the poll body and questioned how, in such a situation, can the issue of revision of voter list be discussed. The Opposition, not ready to accept the argument, demanded an answer. For the second day in a row, the leaders continued their protest at Parliament's Makar Dwar, demanding that the revision exercise be halted. The controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar and Operation Sindoor have been among the key issues on which the Opposition aimed to get a response from Prime Minister Narendra Modi during this session. But while the government has agreed to a 16-hour debate on Operation Sindoor, it flatly refused to discuss the electoral roll revision today. The poll body has claimed the voters are satisfied with the exercise and assured that there will be time to tweak the lists and include anyone who need to be included. The poll body has also claimed that the Special Intensive Revision or SIR is its constitutional duty. In court, where the matter is pending, it has argued that the entire process is being conducted in a consistent and jurisdictional manner. The Opposition parties have contended that the revision is merely a ploy to pick and choose voters. And they have become more vocal after the Election Commission, with days to go before the draft Electoral Rolls, declared that 52 lakh names did not make it to list. The Commission has said these names include those who have died, migrated or had names in two constituencies, the Opposition has refused to relent. Today, Congress's Manoj Tiwari said, "never before have so many names been removed before an election. This is an attempt by the BJP to murder democracy, like in Haryana and Maharashtra, we will knock on every door against it". The party's senior leader Gaurav Gogoi said the Election Commission is "doing the work of (vote-bandi) banning votes in Bihar". "It can only be done with the consent of PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. We want PM Modi to participate in the discussions of SIR, and he should inform us when the discussions on Operation Sindoor and SIR will take place," he said.
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First Post
36 minutes ago
- First Post
Critical minerals: India should bide its time and build strategic capacity
India currently produces only 1 per cent of global output in critical rare earth minerals even though it has 6 per cent of the reserves—but concrete steps are now underway to boost production and diversify supply sources read more A worry about what to do with EV lithium batteries once their life is over, in about eight years, based on current technology, is being addressed. Instead of heaping them up without use, the batteries can be recycled to extract critical rare earth minerals. This process is faster and is at least 25 per cent cheaper than setting up greenfield mines and refining facilities, and it deals with some part of the waste material at the same time. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD India could even import expired EV batteries to recycle their rare earth minerals and magnets. It already runs some of the largest ship scrappage facilities in the world and attracts many large ships at the end of their useful life from all over the world. China's trade war with America is based on the restricted sale and export of critical minerals/metals/magnets. But it also restricts such sales in general so that the requirements cannot be sourced from third countries not on the embargoed list. This has prompted most of the world to seek alternatives. India and its fast-developing aatmanirbharta manufacturing programme has been hit hard as stockpiles of the rare earth magnets run out. Besides recycling, several countries, including major consumers in the US and Europe, plan to increase the mining of their own resources and set up refining plants for end products. So far, most countries that have been hit with Chinese embargoes were content to source them from China for its cost advantages and the fact that mining and refining rare earth minerals is a highly polluting business. Despite being a near monopoly on the part of China, the price of rare earth minerals, metals, and magnets has been falling, according to Australia. This may be another engineered tactic on the part of the Chinese to keep competition out. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD However, even as countries resolve to reduce this dependence on China, alternative facilities cannot sprout overnight. The sudden shortage is crippling the Electrical Vehicle (EV) production market. In addition, the renewable energy resources area, in which India has been making rapid strides, is also hampered. Likewise, the crucial defence manufacturing ventures that use sophisticated electronics as well. For the moment the leverage advantage is definitely with China. India is not only planning to mine its own reserves of rare earth minerals but has also been active in setting up trade agreements with other countries in Africa and South America that have these resources. America has large reserves in-country as well and could well become a newly developed source. So while China, because of its dominance and economies of scale in the field, can hamper and disrupt various activities for now, it is probably not for too protracted a period. Other supply chains are under development, with cooperation between nations without involving China. Explorations are ongoing in new countries like Oman, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. Thereafter, as this effort is up and running over the next few years, China may find itself in trouble trying to export these very monopolistic resources that it has spent so much time and money developing. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Meanwhile, India is already taking some concrete steps. It proposes to incentivise domestic production of rare earth minerals and magnets by Indian companies with an amount of Rs 1,345 crores. The key target sectors are electric vehicles, electronics, and defence. One item, for example, neodymium magnets, is crucial in EVs, wind energy systems, mobile phones, and defence equipment. The early Indian initiative is designed to support the production of 1,500 tonnes of rare earth magnets. India currently produces only 1 per cent of global output in critical rare earth minerals even though it has 6 per cent of the global reserves. India is also exploring a partnership with Australia, which has at least 5 per cent and is selling it to Japan, which has managed to reduce its dependence on China to 60 per cent. However, Australia is highly dependent on China for its trade and investments and cannot go against Chinese wishes. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Therefore, India is also looking elsewhere for supplies. Presently, China controls 69 per cent of the rare earth minerals, metals, and magnets production and market. America contributes 12 per cent, Myanmar holds 11 per cent. Myanmar is under strong influence of China, which takes the joint tally to about 80 per cent. The manufacturing process combines light rare earth elements such as neodymium and praseodymium with traces of heavy rare earths such as dysprosium and terbium. Procuring all these elements is not easy. India currently produces the light rare earth items, some 2,900 tonnes worth, and none of the heavy earth minerals. Most of the product is found in coastal beach sands with low mineral content. Samarium-cobalt magnets are being developed in a pilot plant for the defence industry. Explorations are going on in different coastal and sand-rich interior states like Rajasthan. It's lithium that has been discovered in Jammu and Kashmir, but that is another part of the EV jigsaw. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Efforts are also ongoing to develop sodium-ion batteries in countries like Japan and ever more efficient internal combustion engines with almost nil pollution in various developed economies. This will prolong and preserve their automotive fuel-based industries. Then, there is propulsion using hydrogen. India has made both buses and trains at the trial stage that can run on hydrogen and have nil pollutants. It also has hydrogen-producing factories. Other technological applications such as nuclear energy are also being explored to take a leaf out of nuclear-powered submarines, aircraft carriers, and some specialised ships. For the moment, however, there is very little option but to persuade China to sell us rare earth minerals and magnets to keep various industries going. This will take negotiation and give and take. America, for example, which had put restrictions on high-end electronic chips from being sold to China, has been forced to lift them in exchange for the rare earth products. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The writer is a Delhi-based political commentator. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
