Passport is not a citizenship document: senior MEA officialThe Indian passport is a “travel document” and not a “citizenship document”, a senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said. The purpose of the Indian passport is to help Indians transit and travel through foreign ports and territories and it should not be compared with other documents that are used to establish citizenship rights, the official said. Another MEA official said that the Indian passport is issued “after a lot of due diligence and we make sure that the person who gets it is actually entitled, and we also base ourselves on documents from several government agencies like the Aadhar, PAN Card.”Five dead after under-construction warehouse collapses at Taratala in KolkataFive workers were killed and several others were injured after an under-construction multi-storeyed warehouse in Kolkata’s Taratala area collapsed. The structure was being built by a private operator on land leased out by the Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Authority (SMPA). According to locals present at the site, 50 to 60 labourers were working when the accident happened, and they heard several workers buried under the rubble crying out for help.Iran invites Modi for official burial ceremonies of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali KhameneiIran’s President Massoud Pezeshkian has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to travel to Tehran to attend the burial ceremonies of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei who was assassinated in joint Israel-U.S. attack on February 28, diplomatic sources have told The Hindu. The sources said the invite for Mr. Modi was conveyed to the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday (June 23, 2026) though the MEA officials did not clarify whether Mr. Modi would travel for the funeral which will be held between July 3 and 9 and cover multiple cities such as Tehran, Qom and Mashhad.India, U.S. note ‘substantial progress’ on trade deal talks as U.S. Trade Representative Greer ends two-day visit to DelhiU.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer concluded his two-day visit to New Delhi, having held multiple meetings with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal during which they reviewed the core elements of the interim trade agreement as well as the broader Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), the Ministry of Commerce said. While both sides “noted substantial progress” by the negotiating teams in recent months on the deals, the statement failed to mention any deadlines for either deal. FIFA World Cup 2026: Vinícius Júnior scores 2 goals as Brazil beats Scotland 3-0 to reach knockout stageVinícius Júnior scored two goals, Matheus Cunha also scored and five-time World Cup champion Brazil beat Scotland 3-0 on Wednesday (June 24, 2026) to advance the knockout round. Vinícius, who has a goal in all three of Brazil’s group matches, scored in the seventh minute and again just before halftime, tying Kylian Mbappé with of France with four goals, one behind Lionel Messi’s tournament-leading five.CRPF officer suspended, 20 others transferred after their families protested against CAPF BillTwenty Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officers have been transferred, and a Deputy Inspector General (DIG) rank officer has been suspended, allegedly because they or their families voiced their opinions against the Central Armed Police Force (General Administration) Act, 2026. The legislation was passed by the Parliament on April 2 and came into effect on April 9. Retired and serving officials of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) expressed concern about the suspension of the decorated DIG-rank officer.Oman opens temporary Strait of Hormuz shipping routes, says no tolls will be chargedOman said it would keep the Strait ⁠of Hormuz open to shipping without imposing any tolls and had designated two temporary routes north and south of the existing shipping lane to facilitate the safe passage of vessels departing the region. In ‌coordination with the International Maritime Organization, Oman established temporary maritime corridors to help ships leave the area safely amid heightened security risks. CJP Jantar Mantar sit-in day 5: Dipke appears before MeitY panel over blocking of X accountThe Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) entered the fifth day of its sit-in at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, with founder Abhijeet Dipke alleging that officials refused to show the order behind the blocking of their social media accounts during a review meeting, citing confidentiality. Mr. Dipke, who appeared on Wednesday (June 24, 2026) before a committee of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) regarding the withholding of the group’s X account, said the authorities did not explain the reason for the action.Farmer group protests against proposed India-U.S. deal in PunjabFarmers and farm labourers under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) staged demonstrations in different parts of Punjab against the proposed India-U.S. trade deal, alleging that the agreement could adversely impact not just farmers, but labourers, shopkeepers, and the youth. Demonstrations were held at several places across 21 districts of Punjab. Pune trekker murder: CCTV clue, a hoodie in 33°C lead police to killers“CCTV footage showing a hooded man, later identified as Chetan Chaudhary, trailing Ketan Agarwal and his fiancée Siya Goyal at Lohagad Fort near Pune alerted police probing the businessman’s death,” police said on Wednesday (June 24, 2026). Police found it unusual that the man was wearing a hoodie despite the temperature being around 33 degrees Celsius, and his overall suspicious movements prompted them to probe Ketan’s death further, which initially appeared to be a tragic trekking accident.Nirav Modi must pay up over $11 million to Bank of India, U.K. court rulesFugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi is liable to pay Bank of India over $11.5 million, including accruing interest on a personal loan guarantee, the High Court in London has ruled. The 55-year-old jeweller, who remains in prison fighting extradition to India in a separate $2 billion Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud and money laundering case, had disputed the enforceability of the personal guarantee related to a loan to a Dubai-incorporated firm, Firestar Diamond FZE, associated with him.China stands ready to work with India, says Chinese Foreign Ministry spokespersonChina is ready to work with India side by side to enhance “mutual trust and dispel doubts”, said the spokesperson of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs a day after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed willingness to take the relations forward. “China stands ready to work with India to implement the important common understandings reached by the leaders of the two countries, continuously enhance mutual trust and dispel doubts, properly handle sensitive issues, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, maintain the positive momentum of China-India relations, and jointly advance our respective modernization processes,” said Lin Jian, the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry.Bengaluru court re-issues non-bailable warrant against actor Prakash RajA Bengaluru court has re-issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against multi-lingual actor Prakash Raj in connection with his name allegedly figuring in four different electoral rolls in three states, including Karnataka. The NBW was re-issued on June 12 based on a petition by a city-based advocate K. Dilip Kumar. The case stems from the actor contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Bengaluru Central constituency.BJP govt trying to impose vegetarianism in Bengal: O’BrienTrinamool Congress (TMC) joint secretary Derek O’Brien targeted the BJP over reports that eggs might be excluded from midday meals in West Bengal, alleging that the new government was depriving children of nutrition and trying to “impose vegetarianism” in the State. Presenting the BJP government’s maiden budget on Monday (June 22), West Bengal Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta said ISKCON was expected to assist in food preparation and distribution under the midday meal scheme.31% of sitting Rajya Sabha MPs have declared criminal cases: ADRAround 31% of sitting Rajya Sabha MPs have declared criminal cases against themselves, of whom 16% have declared serious criminal cases, according to an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms and National Election Watch. The analysis covered 226 of the 233 Rajya Sabha MPs. In the current Rajya Sabha, four seats from West Bengal are vacant. Three MPs were not analysed as their affidavits were unavailable.Women’s T20 World Cup 2026: Misfiring India runs into Bangladesh in a must-win gameHarmanpreet Kaur’s women will take the field against Bangladesh at Old Trafford, Manchester, on Thursday, knowing that they have to deliver. Something they failed to do in their last match, against South Africa, despite promising with both bat and ball. This Indian team, of course, looks too strong for Bangladesh, and this match may not pose as much of a challenge as the one after (against Australia). But, given the situation they are in, the Indians have to be at their best, even though they apparently have not yet been able to identify their best eleven.