Beersheba (Israel), Jun 19 (AP): President Donald Trump will decide within the next two weeks whether to strike Iran, the White House said Thursday, saying Trump still sees a “substantial” chance that negotiations can achieve US and Israeli demands on Iran's nuclear programme.

Trump's announcement, relayed by press secretary Karoline Leavitt, puts an extended timeline on the president's warnings to Iran to immediately shut down its enrichment operations and any other potential for producing nuclear weapons.

“Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future. I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” Leavitt quoted Trump as saying.

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New Delhi (PTI): The Railways has saved Rs 6,000 crore by shifting from diesel to electric energy to run trains, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Responding to a debate on demands for grants of the Railway Ministry, he also said that the national transporter has become the second largest cargo carrier in the world.

Vaishnaw said that during the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, 35,000 km of railway track has been laid while 27,000 km has been electrified.

He said while staff cost is the biggest expenditure of the Railways, energy is the second biggest expenditure.

He noted that in coming times diesel locomotives will fade away making way for electric locomotives.

Vaishnaw said since the Modi government came to power in 2014, politics of performance has taken over from politics of vote.

He said that in a visionary decision, PM Modi had decided to merge the railway budget with the general budget which has led to increase in financial allocation for his ministry.

Now, new trains are inaugurated and new projects are launched throughout the year, which was not the case earlier. Railways' financial health has increased and so has transparency in publishing accounts, he said.

Vaishnaw noted that the Finance Ministry and other agencies keep a tab on monetary health using IT systems.

As many as 210 MPs participated in the debate which lasted two days.