An Indian Air Force-IAF contingent participated in the Exercise Red Flag 2024 conducted at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska of the United States Air Force. This was the second edition of Ex Red Flag 2024, which is an advanced aerial combat training exercise, held four times in a year by the US Air Force. The exercise witnessed participation of the Indian Air Force along with Republic of Singapore Air Force, Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom, Royal Netherlands Air Force, German Luftwaffe, and the US Air Force. The IAF contingent participated with the Rafale aircraft and personnel comprising of aircrew, technicians, engineers, controllers and subject matter experts. This was the first time the IAF Rafale aircraft participated in Ex Red Flag. The Exercise Red Flag 2024 was conducted from 4th to 14th of this month.

Red Flag is an air combat exercise conducted with multiple scenarios designed to provide realistic combat settings. A demarcation of forces is done for simulating the desired environment, with the Red Force simulating Air Defence elements, and the Blue Force simulating the Offensive Composite elements.

The 18th edition of the Mumbai International Film Festival was inaugurated in Mumbai in a grand opening ceremony on Saturday evening. Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan, and film celebrities Randeep Hooda, Madhur Bhandarkar, Sonali Kulkarni and Divya Dutta were present at the inauguration. As part of the opening ceremony, the FTII student short Film “Sunflowers were the first ones to know” was screened. The film won the La Cinef Award at the 77th Cannes Film Festival this year. The V. Shantaram, Lifetime Achievement Award for 2024 was presented to Subbiah Nallamuthu, a renowned, award-winning Wildlife filmmaker. Speaking to Akashvani Correspondent, Mr. Murugan said that a documentary Film Bazaar is being organized for the first time this year.

Indian Railways has entered its name into Limca Book of Records for most people at a public service event at multiple venues. Ministry of Railways had organized an event on 26 February this year which was attended by over 40.19 lakh people at over 2,000 venues. The event was organized for the inauguration of road over railway bridges and for laying the foundation stones of railway stations by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

It was a working Sunday for actor Alia Bhatt as she stepped out in the day to launch her book 'Ed Finds A Home'.

Donning the hat of a storyteller, Alia launched her first children's picture book in the presence of her mom Soni Razdan and sister Shaheen Bhatt.

She also took to Instagram and expressed her happiness over the launch of the book.

"A new adventure begins 'Ed finds a Home' is just the beginning of a new series of books from the universe of Ed-a-mamma.. My chidhood was full of storytelling and storytellers .. and one day I had a dream to bring out that child in me and put it into books for children.. I am so grateful to my fellow storytellers, Vivek Kamath, @shabnamminwalla and @tanvibhat.draws, who with their wonderful ideas, inputs and imagination helped bring our first book to life..Fingers crossed for this journey ahead ," she wrote.

India Sunday opted out of the joint communiqué arising from the Global Peace Summit on the war in Ukraine hosted by Switzerland. It is among 13 countries that attended the two-day summit but did not sign the final document.

“In our view, only those options acceptable to both parties can lead to an abiding peace. In line with this approach, we have decided to avoid association with a joint communiqué or any other document emerging from the summit,” said Pavan Kapoor, secretary (west) and a former ambassador to Russia who served as India’s representative at the summit.

Speaking at the summit, Kapoor added: “India shares the global concern over the situation in Ukraine and supports any collective desire to facilitate a peaceful resolution of the conflict…We continue to believe that such a peace requires bringing together all stakeholders and a sincere and practical engagement between the two parties to the conflict.”

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has unveiled a significant digital tool ahead of the enforcement of new criminal laws set to take effect from July 1st. The newly launched mobile application, titled “NCRB Sankalan of Criminal Laws,” aims to serve as a comprehensive guide consolidating essential information about the upcoming legal reforms in one accessible platform.

Designed to cater to a wide audience ranging from the general public to legal professionals, the app includes detailed compilations of three major legislations: Bharatiya Nayaya Sanhita (Indian Penal Code), Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (Code of Criminal Procedure), and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (Indian Evidence Act). It provides users with an indexed structure linking all chapters and sections of these new laws, facilitating ease of navigation and reference.

One of the key features of the app is its section-wise comparison between the old and new laws, enabling users to quickly grasp the changes brought about by the updated legislations. This comparison chart is supplemented by a robust search function, ensuring efficient retrieval of specific information even in offline mode, making it practical for use in areas with limited internet connectivity.

In chess, India’s Divya Deshmukh won the World Junior Girls’ Chess Championship after beating Bulgaria’s Beloslava Krasteva in the final round at the Gift City Club in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Top-seeded Divya beat Krasteva in the 10th round with just 26 moves to claim her maiden U-20 title. She finished unbeaten in the championship by winning nine of her games while drawing the other two.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1.45 crore on Central Bank of India for non-compliance with certain directions issued by RBI, the central bank said on June 14.

According to an RBI press release, the bank sanctioned a working capital demand loan to a Corporation against amounts receivable from Government by way of subsidies.

Also, it failed to credit the amount involved in a few instances of unauthorised electronic transaction to the customer’s account within 10 working days from the date of notification by the customer, the central bank added.

The UNESCO has shortlisted seven most beautiful museums for the prestigious Prix Versailles Award, including the Smritivan Earthquake Memorial Museum of Bhuj, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel informed on Friday.

“A moment of pride for Gujarat and India! The Smritivan Earthquake Memorial Museum in Bhuj has been listed among the 7 most beautiful museums in the world under the prestigious Prix Versailles Award, which is announced annually at UNESCO for architecture and design,” Patel said on X.

R Lakshmanan has been appointed as Government Nominee Director on the Board of Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), a PSU under the Ministry of Port, Shipping and Waterways (MoPSW) on Friday. The MoPSW has conveyed the approval of Lakshmanan's appointment through an order issued on June 13.

Presently, Lakshmanan is serving as Joint Secretary in MoPSW.

This information has been shared by the Shipping PSU in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges on Friday.