Breaking News, October 16

Three women drowned in the backwaters of the Gandhi Sagar Dam in Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur district on Sunday evening, while two are missing and two minors have been rescued as an attempt to cross the waterbody using a submerged road went awry, officials said.

Three teenagers died after a portion of a land caved-in when they were extracting soil in Jharkhand's Chatra district on Sunday for painting their hut walls for Deepawali, police said.

At least two women were killed after coming under the wheels of a speeding a truck Odisha's Jajpur district on Sunday, police said. The two were on their way to Jajpur town in an SUV for offering puja at the Biraja temple. The driver stopped the car to have breakfast near a roadside eatery Bhatia Chhak on National Highway 16.

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Sunday asked agencies to strictly implement measures under Stage I of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) as the air quality in Delhi and neighbouring areas slipped to the poor levels.

More than four quintals of banned firecrackers were seized in a raid at a warehouse in the Farrukhnagar area here, police said on Sunday. The warehouse bearing the title 'Vashishth and Company', built over six acres of land near Daboda village, was raided Saturday night by a team of Farrukhnagar Police Station, led by Inspector Jitender Kumar, they said.

Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan and Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Sunday launched the National Education Policy - 2020 in higher education in Uttarakhand for the academic session 2022-23. Uttarakhand was the first state in the country to launch the new education policy in primary education with Bal Vatikas.

A BJP leader from Meerut lost his life and four persons were injured when a car they were travelling in collided with a pick-up vehicle on Sunday in Deoband area of Saharanpur district, police said.

A 78-year-old man, who went missing was found dead near Masinagudi in the Nilgiris district on Sunday, according to forest officials. They suspect he was killed by an elephant. Perumal had gone out for grazing his goats on Saturday and did not return since then, said the officials.

 A 33-year-old man was stabbed to death while his brother sustained grievous injuries after they were attacked allegedly by two drunk men, police said on Sunday. The dead brother has been identified as Lohit and the injured as Anil, 32, who is undergoing treatment at a hospital here. Both are residents of Bindapur, they said.

The Congress on Sunday said four persons suffered a "minor electric shock" near Moka here, while tying flags to a pole, for the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi.

A four-day national executive board meeting of the RSS, which will discuss the expansion work of the Sangh as well as the prevalent current issues, began in Gauhania here on Sunday.

The Aam Aadmi Party will declare all its candidates for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections in the next two-three days, party state in-charge Harjot Singh Bains said on Sunday.  The voting for the 68 assembly seats in the hill state is scheduled to take place on November 12 while the counting will take place on December 8. The AAP has already declared its candidates on four seats, Bains, who is also Punjab minister, told reporters. 

The Delhi High Court has refused to interfere with an order directing two sons to vacate their 90-year-old father's house here for peaceful existence of the senior citizen who fears for his life. The high court said going into the nature or right or interest of the parties in the property in question, at this juncture, would be counterproductive for the objectives of the Senior Citizens Act. A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad dismissed an appeal filed by the two men against the order of a single judge which had upheld the order passed by the Divisional Commissioner who had ordered their eviction from their father's house. “… this court in not inclined to interfere with the findings of the single judge that for peaceful existence of the respondent no.2 (father), who is fearing for his life, it is necessary for the appellants (two sons) herein, who have not been able to prove any right superior to the right of the respondent no. 2 on the property in question, to evict the premises. The findings arrived at by the single judge are in consonance with the Senior Citizens Act which has been brought for the welfare of the senior citizens,” the division bench said.

Union Minister Anurag Thakur has said there is a "huge BJP wave" in Gujarat and this time the party will break all previous records and will once again form the government in the state. He also said the BJP government at the Centre led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will "come back to power in 2024" by winning more than 400 parliamentary seats. Addressing BJP's 'Gaurav Yatra' in Malvan village in Gujarat's Valsad district, Thakur said it was under the leadership of Modi that Hindu symbols were honoured and Ram temple in Ayodhya became a reality. "There is a huge BJP wave in Gujarat and this time the party will break all records," Thakur said on Saturday addressing a meeting during the yatra. Attacking the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, he alleged that earlier an "Italian woman" used to "insult" the prime minister now "an Italia is insulting his mother".

With the CBI issuing summons to his deputy, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday termed his government's fight with the Centre as the "second freedom struggle"', and compared AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain to martyr Bhagat Singh. Kejriwal also said that prayers of crores of poor people are with them. His remarks came after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) summoned Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Sisodia for questioning on Monday in connection with alleged corruption in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped excise policy. The federal probe agency has asked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader to appear before it at its headquarters here at 11 am on Monday.

Seven people died in an incident of boat capsize that took place at the confluence of the Ganges and one of its tributaries in Bihar, an official said on Sunday. According to Ujjain Mishra, District Magistrate (DM) of Katihar, the boat carrying 10 people, all agricultural labourers returning from work, had capsized late on Saturday at the confluence of Ganges and Barandi. Three persons swam to safety but the remaining seven went missing, said the DM.

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Vehicular traffic on Janpath, Ashoka Road and Barakhamba Road, among other roads in central Delhi, will remain affected from October 18 to 21 as the city will host the 90th Annual General Assembly of the Interpol at Pragati Maidan, police said on Sunday. Delegations from 195 countries will attend the event, they said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate it on October 18 and Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address the valedictory function on October 21. The traffic police said the commuters travelling in the vicinity of New Delhi district could encounter delays and may wish to consider alternative routes during the period specified.

Chhattisgarh Assembly's Deputy Speaker and ruling Congress MLA Manoj Singh Mandavi died on Sunday following a heart attack, party leaders said. Mandavi, 58, was taken to a hospital in neighbouring Dhamtari town after he suffered a heart attack where he died in the morning, state Congress communication wing head Sushil Anand Shukla said. As a mark of respect to the departed leader, the Chhattisgarh government has announced one-day state mourning on Sunday in his home district Kanker and capital city Raipur, a public relations department officer said. The national flag will be flown at half mast at these two places during the period. Besides, there will be no government entertainment and cultural programmes during this period there, he added.

The Congress will release on Sunday the first list of 57 candidates for the Himachal Pradesh Assembly polls slated for November 12. The remaining 11 candidates will be announced soon, AICC Himachal media in-charge Alka Lama in a statement.  The voting for the 68 assembly seats in the hill state is scheduled to take place on November 12 while the counting will take place on December 8. In the Assembly, the BJP currently has 43 members followed by 22 of the Congress. There are two Independents and one CPM MLA in the Assembly. A direct contest between the BJP and the Congress is likely in the state, where the Aam Aadmi Party will also be trying its luck. A notification for the state elections will be issued on October 17 and the last date for the filing of nominations is October 25. Scrutiny of papers will be held on October 27 and the last date for the withdrawal of papers will be October 29. As many as 55,74,793 people are eligible to vote in the polls. 

The Mumbai Police have arrested two persons here who were allegedly involved in the case of murder of a former councillor's husband in Aurangabad district of Bihar, an official said on Sunday. Based on a specific information, the Mumbai Police's Crime Intelligence Unit team laid a trap in suburban Juhu on Saturday and apprehended the two persons - Sanatkumar Jaikumar Singh alias Shubham Singh (22) and Sonukumar Vinay Bharti alias Shubham Giri (20), he said. During their interrogation, it came to light that they were involved in the case of murder of Sujit Mehta, the husband of a former councillor, which took place in August this year under Amba police station's jurisdiction in Aurangabad district of Bihar, the official said.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has asked the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) to deploy high-end technology to prevent elephant deaths due to collision with trains. He gave the directions during a meeting with officials to discuss various infrastructure expansion plans on Saturday. NFR general manager Ansul Gupta was also present at the meeting. "Issues like elephant corridor and elephant deaths caused by train hits were also discussed. Asked the GM to deploy high-end tech solutions for saving our tuskers," Sarma wrote on Twitter after the meeting. Jumbos are routinely injured or killed by speeding trains as railway tracks pass through elephant corridors at various places in Assam. Three pachyderms were killed in such an incident in Jorhat district last week.

Delhiites woke up to clear skies on Sunday with the minimum temperature settling at 19.1 degrees Celsius, the weather office said. The relative humidity recorded at 8:30 am was 91 per cent, they said. According to the MeT department, the maximum temperature will hover around 32 degrees  Celsius. The Central Pollution Control Board's 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) data showed that at 8.05 am, Delhi's air quality was in the poor category at 218. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe. On Saturday, the minimum temperature in the national capital settled at 18.8 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season's average while the maximum settled at 31.6, a notch below the season's average. 

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Eleven people have been arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police for allegedly using unfair means in the Preliminary Eligibility Test (PET) 2022 conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Service Commission (UPSSSC). While nine people have been arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh Police, two other have been arrested by the local police in Bijnor, according to a statement from the STF headquarters on Saturday.

Former minister Sunder Sham Arora was arrested by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau for allegedly offering a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to one of its officers to help him settle cases against him, officials said on Sunday. Arora has been facing inquiries in a disproportionate assets case and alleged irregularities during his tenure as industries minister in the previous Congress government. Varinder Kumar, chief director of Punjab Vigilance Bureau, told reporters that Arora was arrested for allegedly offering Rs 50 lakh as a bribe to a vigilance officer to "help" him in these cases.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann will be on a two-day visit to poll-bound Gujarat from Sunday. Aam Aadmi Party's national convener Kejriwal along with Mann will address public rallies in Bhavnagar, Mehsana and Banaskantha districts during the two days, AAP's state general secretary Manoj Sorathiya said. "They will reach Bhavnagar on Sunday afternoon and address a public rally there," Sorathiya told reporters. On Monday, the two leaders will address public meetings in Unjha town of Mehsana district and Deesa town in Banaskantha district, he said.

China on Sunday opened a twice-a-decade Communist Party conference at which leader Xi Jinping is expected to receive a third five-year term that breaks with recent precedent and establishes him as arguably the most powerful Chinese politician since Mao Zedong. Xi is expected to issue a lengthy address at the opening session, but little change is foreseen in China’s strict one-party rule, intolerance of criticism and hard-line approach toward COVID-19 including quarantines and travel bans. As with most Chinese political events, little information has been released beforehand and the congress’ outcome will only be announced after days of closed-door sessions. How much has been decided in advance and how much is still to be hashed out in face-to-face meetings remains unknown.

Nine people, including four children, were killed and 10 injured in a pile-up involving three vehicles here, police sources said. The accident involving a milk tanker, a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus, and a tempo traveller took place in Arsikere taluk here around 11 pm on Saturday, they said. All those killed were travelling in the tempo traveller, which was crushed between the bus and the milk tanker. While six of them died on the spot, three succumbed on the way to the hospital, the sources said. The injured are undergoing treatment at a hospital here, they said. Superintendent of Police, Hassan, Hariram Shankar and senior officials visited the accident site and all necessary procedures are being followed, they said. 

Senior JD (U) leader Upendra Kushwaha on Saturday alleged that the BJP was against reservation for backward classes and the people of Bihar are aware of the saffron party’s stance. He also claimed that fresh guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) for creating a new teaching position are opposed to quotas. “The UGC guidelines under which higher education institutes can create a new teaching position called ‘Professor of Practice’ to hire experts from various sectors, are against reservations for backward classes. They (BJP) have already recruited 40 people under this new category… but not even a single person has been appointed as ‘Professor of Practice’ from the backward classes,” Kushwaha told reporters here.

The Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police held nine people involved in using unfair means in the Preliminary Eligibility Test (PET) 2022 conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Service Commission (UPSSSC) on Saturday. On the other hand, two other accused have been arrested by the police in Bijnor, according to a statement from STF headquarters on Saturday. According to the police, the STF team has arrested three accused from Unnao, one from Amethi, two from Jaunpur, one from Meerut and two from Kanpur. An FIR has been registered against the accused under relevant sections in the respective police stations.

A security guard at a residential society here was allegedly assaulted by a visitor, who also threatened to kill him, according to a complaint lodged with police on Saturday. A purported video of the incident surfaced on social media. Satyavir Sharma, a security guard at Paradise II Society of Raj Nagar Extension, told police that he was beaten up by the man when he asked him about the flat number and the owner’s number to whom he wanted to meet. Upon his query, the visitor who had shifted to a flat in D Tower thrashed him, according to the security guard. In the video, the man is seen slapping Sharma and when the security guard retaliated, he gets angry and slaps him several times. Sharma claimed in his complaint that he sustained severe injuries in his eyes and ears. Police have registered a case under Sections 323, 504 and 506 of the IPC, area SHO Ramesh Singh Sidhu said. 

Two volunteer soldiers fired at other troops at a Russian military firing range near Ukraine, killing 11 and wounding 15 others, before getting killed, the Russian Defence Ministry said. The ministry said in a statement that the shooting took place on Saturday in the Belgorod region in southwestern Russia that borders Ukraine. It said that the two volunteers from an unnamed ex-Soviet nation fired on other soldiers during target practice and were killed by return fire. The ministry called the incident a terrorist attack. The shooting comes amid a hasty mobilisation ordered by President Vladimir Putin to beef up Russian forces in Ukraine — a move that triggered protests and caused hundreds of thousands to flee Russia.

President Joe Biden called embattled British Prime Minister Liz Truss' abandoned tax cut plan a "mistake," and said he is worried that other nations' fiscal policies may hurt the US amid "worldwide inflation." Biden said it was "predictable" that the new prime minister on Friday was forced to walk back plans to aggressively cut taxes without identifying cost savings, after Truss' proposal caused turmoil in global financial markets. It marked an unusual criticism by a US president of the domestic policy decisions of one of its closest allies.