Breaking News, August 19 | HIGHLIGHTS

Eighteen Bangladeshi nationals and five Indian facilitators were arrested from three locations in Tripura, police said on Monday. Acting on specific information about the presence of a group of Bangladeshi citizens at Lamprapara in Gumati district, police conducted a raid and arrested eight of them on Sunday, Assistant Inspector General (Law and Order) Ananta Das said in a statement.

Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Monday celebrated the festival of Raksha Bandhan with the children from different schools of the national capital.

Arunachal Pradesh Governor Lt Gen (retd) K T Parnaik and Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Monday celebrated the Raksha Bandhan with the members of the Brahma Kumari organization and students and teachers of Vivekananda Kendra Vidyalaya (VKV)

An FIR has been registered against unknown persons for alleged sabotage leading to the derailment of 20 coaches of the Sabarmati Express near Govindpuri station in Kanpur, police said on Monday. The incident occurred early on Saturday after the train's engine hit an "object placed on the track", rail officials said. There was no report of any loss of life or injury in the incident.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Monday countered allegations of Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange and said he would quit politics if Chief Minister Eknath Shinde asserts that he was hindering the process to the give the community reservations.

Former Chief of Army Staff General Sundararajan Padmanabhan, affectionately known as “Paddy” in army circles, passed away due to old age at his residence here, a source close to him said on Monday. He was 83. He served as the Chief of Army Staff from September 30, 2000 to 31 December 31, 2002.

Junior doctors in Uttar Pradesh medical colleges and hospitals observed "Kala Raksha Bandhan" while elective services remained disrupted for the eighth consecutive day on Monday amid a protest over the alleged rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee in Kolkata.

Defending its 2019 law criminalising triple talaq, the Centre has told the Supreme Court that the practice is "fatal" for the social institution of marriage. In an affidavit filed in response to petitions challenging the law, the Union of India said despite the top court setting aside the practice in 2017, it has "not worked as a sufficient deterrent in bringing down the number of divorces by this practice" among the members of the community.

A man and two of his family members have been arrested for killing his wife over dowry demands, police said on Monday. The victim's father Pramod Rai from Zamania town in Ghazipur district lodged a complaint in the matter at the Narhi police station here on Saturday, Superintendent of Police Vikrant Veer said.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the meeting to review the performance of Public Sector Banks and Regional Rural Banks on various parameters, in Delhi, today.

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day address in which the latter pitched for 'one nation, one election'. Addressing the nation on the 78th Independence Day, PM Modi had said frequent elections were creating hurdles in the progress of the nation and asserted "the country has to come forward for one nation, one election". Speaking to reporters in Pune, Pawar said, "PM Modi was insisting on holding all elections simultaneously but the very next day, there is announcement of three different poll dates for three different states. The PM talks about one thing while the system takes another decision.

CBI officers for the fourth consecutive day on Monday questioned the former principal of RG Kar Medical College, Sandip Ghosh in connection with their probe into the rape and murder of a woman doctor. Ghosh reached the CBI’s city office at CGO Complex on Monday morning, an official said. Ghosh was asked to specify his role after getting the news of the death of the doctor, who he had contacted and why he made the parents wait for nearly three hours, he said.

The chiefs of 32 police stations in Dhaka have been transferred, days after the transfer of the 18 other officers-in-charge, in a major reshuffle after the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina-led government in Bangladesh, a media report said on Monday. The order for the transfer came at midnight on Sunday, the bdnews24. com news portal reported. With the latest transfer, the heads of all 50 police stations under the Dhaka Metropolitan Police have been transferred now.

Abhishek Manu Singhvi filed his nomination as Congress Rajya Sabha candidate in the presence of Telangana CM Revanth Reddy.

 School students tied 'Rakhi' to PM Narendra Modi, on the festival of 'Raksha Bandhan'.

A new murder case has been filed against Bangladesh's deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 62 others, including ex-ministers of her cabinet, over the death of a fish trader during the quota reform protests in the country, a media report said on Monday. The case, filed late on Sunday, was the latest in the slew of cases filed against the 76-year-old leader after her resignation and fleeing to India on August 5 following a massive protest by students against a quota system in government jobs.

A 25-year-old autorickshaw driver was stabbed and injured by a man after he refused to give him money to procure ganja in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Monday. The incident occurred in a slum in the Kalwa area on Saturday night, an official said.

Upping the ante over the lateral entry issue, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday called it an attack on Dalits, OBCs and adivasis, and accused the BJP of seeking to snatch reservations from 'bahujans'.

Girls tied 'Rakhi' to Tripura CM Manik Saha in Agartala on the occassion of 'Raksha Bandhan'.

Healthcare services remained affected at state-run hospitals in West Bengal on Monday as junior doctors continued their cease-work protest again the rape and murder of a colleague at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Heavy rush was seen at the out-patient departments on the first day of the week with senior doctors substituting for their juniors to handle the situation.

A 13-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by a boy in Bihar's Bihar's Bhojpur district, police said on Monday. Following the incident that happened on Sunday night, a large contingent of police was deployed in the village located in the Kishangarh police station area to prevent any disorder as the survivor and the accused belonged to different communities, they said. In a statement, police said they received a call regarding the incident around 9 pm.

The Indian rupee appreciated 11 paise to 83. 84 against the US dollar in early trade on Monday, mirroring a positive momentum in domestic equities and fresh foreign fund inflows. Forex traders said the weakening of the American currency in the overseas market and retreating crude oil prices also supported investor sentiments.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the daring military incursion into Russia's Kursk region aims to create a buffer zone to prevent further attacks by Moscow across the border. It was the first time Zelenskyy clearly stated the aim of the operation, which was launched on August 6. Previously, he had said the operation aimed to protect communities in the bordering Sumy region from constant shelling.

China's coast guard accused the Philippines of deliberately crashing one of its ships into a Chinese vessel early Monday near Sabina Shoal, a new flashpoint in the increasingly alarming territorial disputes between the countries in the South China Sea. Two Philippine coast guard ships entered waters near the shoal, ignored the Chinese coast guard's warning and “deliberately collided” with one of China's boats at 3:24 a. m. , a spokesperson said in a statement on the Chinese coast guard's website.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday lauded West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose for his role in upholding the principles of the Constitution in "very adversarial circumstances". Doctors of Assam also met the governor and demanded justice for the medic's murder in a state-run Kolkata hospital and security for medical professionals.

Two policemen, including an SHO, were killed after militants attacked a police station in northwest Pakistan, police said. The militants attacked the Bargai police station in the militancy affected southern Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province with heavy weaponry on Sunday. In the attack, one personnel died on the spot and the injured Station House Officer (SHO) succumbed to injuries in the hospital. The SHO had sustained multiple bullet wounds during the exchange of fire.

 Delhi: The forensic team started an investigation at the spot where a 7-year-old boy's body was recovered from a drain in the Ashok Vihar police station area.

In a rerun of the 'Reclaim the Night' campaign, hundreds of women took to the streets in Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal on Sunday night, demanding justice for the alleged rape and murder of a doctor in the state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital. Braving intermittent rains, women of all ages and backgrounds assembled in several areas such as Jadavpur, Garia, Behala Parnashree, Khanna, Lake Town, and other city locations, and raised slogans - "We want justice".

A milk tanker fell into a 200-foot-deep valley in the Kasara ghat hill section in Thane district of Maharashtra on Sunday. Five persons were killed and four others injured in the accident.

The resident doctors of AIIMS and other Delhi-based hospitals have announced to provide the OPD (Out Patient Department) services for free in front of the Health Ministry on the road from August 19. The Resident Doctors  Association of the AIIMS, in its statement, said to continue free services at Nirman Sadan (Health Ministry) till they are assured of adequate security in hospitals through a Central Protection Act.