Iran retaliates for killing of security chief Larijani: hits Tel Aviv with cluster missiles
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The Israeli attack also claimed the lives of his son, Morteza, and his top deputy, Alireza Bayat. General Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij paramilitary force, was killed in a separate strike. |
TEHRAN, Mar 18 (INS): The Iranian Government has officially confirmed the death
of Ali Larijani, the Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and
a pivotal figure in the nation’s wartime leadership, next only to the late Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was taken down on day one of the war.
Larijani, 67, was killed in an Israeli airstrike overnight Monday in Tehran,
an attack that also claimed the lives of his son Morteza, and his top deputy,
Alireza Bayat. General Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij paramilitary
force, was killed in a separate strike.
Iranian State media reported that Ali Larijani was killed at his daughter's
house in the Pardis area in Tehran. Footage from Pardis shows a residential
area destroyed in the Israeli strike. It is feared several civilians were also
killed.
Larijani was Iran's de facto leader: Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, "This morning, we eliminated
Ali Larijani. Ali Larijani is the boss of the Revolutionary Guards, that group
of gangsters that effectively runs Iran." Israel had called him Iran's de facto
leader.
The Supreme National Security Council issued a statement late Tuesday, praising
Larijani as a "righteous servant" who achieved the "sweet grace of martyrdom"
after decades of service to the Islamic Revolution. Widely considered the de
facto leader of Iran since the killing of Khamenei on the war's opening day,
Larijani’s assassination marks the most significant blow to the Iranian leadership
structure in weeks.
State media reported that a massive funeral procession was scheduled for Wednesday
morning in central Tehran. Despite the ongoing aerial bombardment, thousands
were expected to gather to pay their respects to Larijani and General Gholamreza
Soleimani, the head of the Basij paramilitary force, who was killed in a separate
strike. The funeral is taking place during a period of intense national tension,
coinciding with the approach of the Persian New Year, Nowruz.
Cluster munitions for retaliation
In immediate response to the killing, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
(IRGC) launched a wave of retaliatory strikes. Iranian State television confirmed
the use of Khorramshahr-4 and Qadr missiles equipped with cluster munitions
targeting Tel Aviv and central Israel.
(These missiles operate as cluster munitions, opening in the air to release
multiple "bomblets" or submunitions. While the container is a missile, the payload
consists of cluster bombs/submunitions.)
The IRGC described the barrage as "revenge for the blood of the martyrs," emphasizing
that the use of cluster warheads was intended to saturate and evade Israeli
air defence systems.
Reports from Israel indicate at least two fatalities and several injuries as
shrapnel from the dispersed submunitions rained down over residential areas
in the Sharon region and Tel Aviv.
Premeditated murder: Russia
The assassination has drawn sharp condemnation from the Kremlin. In a stern
statement, Russia labeled the targeted strike on a high-ranking diplomat and
security official as "premeditated murder" and a flagrant violation of international
law. Moscow warned that such "decapitation strikes" only serve to extinguish
any remaining hope for a diplomatic off-ramp, pushing the Middle East toward
a point of no return.
Conversely, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the operation,
describing Larijani as a "mastermind of repression," while US officials noted
that Larijani had been under heavy sanctions for his role in domestic crackdowns.
The US had sanctioned Larijani in January accusing him of violent crackdown
on protesters during the anti-government uprising that began in December. Over
six thousand people were killed.
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SELECTIONS FROM OUR ARCHIVES |
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Top Govt officer thrashed, kicked inside Bhubaneswar office: Incident sparks a debate
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The incident has triggered a debate on social media whether the officer refused to take orders from a party leader or he was accused of any corruption, some netizens justifying the handling in either case, that Ratnakar was blocking public welfare work! It is true the Govt machinery has been the enemy Number One of the people of this country, existing for itself and for these politicians, for well over seven decades. India will never make an inch of progress - real progress, not make-believe-progress - unless and until this machinery is eliminated.
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UK's House of Commons votes to legalise assisted dying: What it means | |
ANALYSIS: There have been cases of Britons going to Switzerland to get rid of a miserable life. Now once the House of Lords also passes the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, terminally ill Britons can call it quits with the help of a medical practitioner here itself. But the measure when comes into practice, will have very serious social consequences, it is feared. There won't be comparisons, even as tropes in Latin American folklores. The worst case scenario is of those who are not terminally ill also trying to misuse the provision to leave this world early when life with dignity is not available. But that is, in fact, a political question and not a moral imbroglio!
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What caused Air India Boeing 787 crash? Some questions, some answers | |
The CCTV footage and the video circulating on social media do not indicate any serious abnormalities in takeoff or descent, it has been confirmed. The disaster is becoming curiouser and curiouser. The flight path was not curvy. And the aircraft maintained a steady, gliding descent with its nose straight and the wings perfectly level. The pilot's distress call does not specify what prevented lift and climb-out. Here are some expert opinions. The sole purpose is to raise travellers' awareness about air travel.
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Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line brings Kashmir Valley on India's rail map |
- The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla line provides Kashmir with all-weather connectivity and integrates the Valley with the rest of India.
- The saying 'Kashmir to Kanyakumari' is now a dream come true.
- The Chenab bridge on the line, an engineering marvel, is the world's highest
railway bridge, taller than the Eiffel Tower. (Video: File)
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Work done, Elon Musk steps down from DOGE, leaves White House | |
Musk wrote: "My scheduled time as a Special Government Employee comes to an end... The @DOGE mission will only strengthen over time as it becomes a way of life throughout the government." Now on it will be on auto-pilot.
PROGNOSIS: DOGE was prematurely born to protect the country by aborting an impending socio-economic disaster which very few people could see coming.
Although its immediate job was to save American taxpayers billions by slashing waste, eliminating fraud, cutting Government bloat and ensuring utmost efficiency in administration for the good of the people.
(Today's headlines )
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Ailing Asiatic lion Pataudi too dies of bird flu at Kanpur zoo
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Originally from Junagadh, Gujarat, Pataudi was relocated to Etawah Lion Safari in September 2019 before being transferred to Gorakhpur Zoo in 2021. Recently it was receiving treatment for pancreatic and liver infections. After tigress Shakti died in the zoo on May 7 due to bird flu, Pataudi was shifted to Kanpur. Some birds are also reported to have died mysteriously around Gorakhpur. All zoos in UP are closed for fear of a bird flu outbreak.
Three other animals too had died - a tiger, a leopardess and a female wolf. Wolf Bhairavi died last Saturday, leopardess Mona died the Thursday before that and tiger Kesari died on March 30. Some of them had Shakti's symptoms but the cause of death has not been confirmed yet.
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48 tourist destinations closed in Kashmir following Pahalgam terror attack
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As tourist inflow is an indicator of normalcy returning to an erstwhile terrorist infested Valley, the Government has been trying hard to make everything travel-friendly, launching lot many projects and bringing Kashmir on the national rail map that physically completes the process of Kashmir's integration with the rest of India. And that defeats the designs of Pakistan eyeing Kashmir and simply explains a recrudescence of terrorism in J&K.
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Trump slaps ‘kind’, ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on trading partners; a 'lenient' 26% on India!
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ANALYSIS: There is a lot of hue and cry around the world over Trump's tariffs. But tariff, simply put, is a tax. But unlike tax, it affects the exporting country too. Domestic prices will go up for some time. Nothing more will happen, good or bad!
What motivated Trump's newfound policy, apart from being a stunt to justify his existence in the White House, is a false realisation that increased tariff will make foreign goods prohibitive, thereby boosting local production, and create more jobs, and more prosperity will ring in! If that is true, India would have been shining by now: Producing own Rolls-Royce La Rose Noire Droptail and Scotch Whiskies! And what about coconut and palm oil by America!
(Today's headlines )
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Trump signs order to shut Education Dept - And the contrast with India
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PROGNOSIS: It looks a Real New Trump is emerging - courageous, balanced, powerful and disinterested. Determined to save his country from the cliff, he has done quite a few draconian things that will reduce the burden of debts of the Federal entity, like the golden handshake, stopping senseless funding, pulling out of a worthless WHO. Shutting the Education Department is another. On the other hand, running it is also not the Centre's job either (We will convincingly elaborate it in the next chapter).
In India the scene is just the opposite. Centralisation is the core agenda and identity of the ruling dispensation without which it has no existence, or in other words, it exists for that set of schemes only. A realisation of this never dawned upon any Opposition party in 2014 or any time thereafter, what to talk of being able to see it coming 70 years ago! The consequence of all this violation of basic natural law of the universe we cannot predict.
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Sunita, Wilmore's Dragon splashes down in Gulf: What delayed their return? |
THE AMERICAN CONUNDRUM: Political venom has migrated to top echelons in the US. It was reported last year NASA has become politicised, vitiated. But NASA refuted the charge. How Boeing developed a glitch but its unmanned return was smooth. When Suni-Wilmore were stranded last June, why the return was set for February? Because that comes only after January 20! SpaceX called the shots, for itself and for Trump. Then the mission was manipulated for March for a better bargain! In between, what made Elon Musk 'predict' during campaign if Kamala Harris wins he would be in jail. In politics, it is said, "the only rule is there are no rules." Difficult times for Americans too.
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All 80k health workers in US offered $25,000 voluntary buyout: Administering wrong prescriptions!
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The terminations are part of a large-scale exercise going on all across Fed departments and organisations to reduce wasteful Government expenditure as decided by a Trump in a mess gone berserk, and improve administrative efficiency following the whims of billionaire and his associate Elon MusK and his DOGE. It has not been shared how terminations are going to raise the efficiency bar! It looks like Trump has stolen some of the prescriptions meant for India. But the American problems are quite different.
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