Breaking News, July 30

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday evening said the National Education Policy-2020 has been drafted with an objective of providing holistic and multi-disciplinary education to students.

The students of all 1,530 municipal schools in Delhi will take part in the Centre's "Har Ghar Tiranga" campaign from August 13-15 as part of the "Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav", officials said on Saturday.

Five persons died after a speeding truck ran over them post the collision of the two motorcycles they were riding on, police said on Saturday. The accident occurred in the Bindaura village of the district

Mortgage lender HDFC Ltd on Saturday increased its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points, a move that will make loans dearer for both existing and new borrowers.

The BJP on Saturday claimed the Kejriwal government scrapped its new excise policy as it was "scared" by the lieutenant governor's recommendation for a CBI probe into its implementation.

Recoveries continued to outnumber new coronavirus cases in Tamil Nadu, with 1,964 recoveries being reported on Saturday. The new cases were 1,548 and the active cases further dipped, according to a health department bulletin.

Madhya Pradesh on Saturday recorded 228 new cases of coronavirus and two casualties that raised the tally of infections to 10,49,663 and toll to 10,756, an official from the state health department said.

A court in Odisha's Sambalpur district on Saturday sentenced a 27-year-old man to three years imprisonment for attempting to rape a girl seven years ago.

Leader of Opposition V.D.Satheesan on Saturday wrote to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan demanding a CBI probe into the Karuvannur Cooperative bank fraud in Kerala's Thrissur. This cooperative bank is controlled by the CPI-M and reports now allege that those who had good connections in the party were able to get back their deposits, while a majority of the hapless depositors are running from pillar to post to get back their money.

To commemorate the victory of Indian armed forces and pay tribute to the supreme sacrifice of the gunners in 'Operation Vijay', Point 5140 at Drass in Kargil has been christened as ‘Gun Hill’, a defence spokesman said on Saturday.

The BJP on Saturday appointed Mahendra Bhatt as the president of its Uttarakhand unit. Bhatt, a former MLA of Badrinath in Chamoli district, replaces Haridwar MLA Madan Kaushik as the BJP's state unit chief. Bhatt had lost the assembly polls held earlier this year.

Meat shops and slaughterhouses falling in the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram area will remain closed for nine days from August 24 to September 1 on account of the 'Jain festival 'Paryushan Parv', officials said here.

Two youths were killed and another got injured when a truck hit their bike in Rajasthan's Alwar on Saturday, police said.

A Kerala man, who was India's first monkeypox patient and was being treated at the Government Medical College here, has recovered from the disease, state Health Minister Veena George said on Saturday. The 35-year old, hailing from Kollam, would be discharged later in the day, she said. As it was the first case of monkeypox in the country, tests were conducted twice at an interval of 72 hours as per the instructions of the National Institute of Virology (NIV), she said. "All samples were negative twice. The patient is physically and mentally healthy. The skin bumps are completely cured. He will be discharged today," George said.

Independent legislator from Sirohi Sanyam Lodha on Saturday attacked state BJP President Satish Poonia for his remarks against Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at a public forum where he called the CM “star campaigner” for BJP. Poonia, when asked on Friday about any creditworthy work done by Gehlot, had said Gehlot deserves respect but he is the “biggest star campaigner” for the BJP in its campaign to make India "Congress-free." Gehlot will prove to be Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar for Congress and that's why he likes him, Poonia had said. Replying to Poonia, Lodha said that the BJP president has won the election for the first time only after losing twice. He challenged him to contest again from his existing constituency to know the situation of Congress in the country.

A 22-year-old engineering student was found hanging from a tree on the campus of Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology (MANIT) in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal city on Saturday, police said. Uddeshya Ahirwar, a fourth year student of mechanical engineering, was found hanging from a tree near a complex in the MANIT campus, said Anil Vajpayee, in-charge of Kamla Nagar police station. Ahirwar stayed in the hostel of the institute, the official said. The body has been sent for post-mortem, he said, adding that a detailed investigation is underway to ascertain the reason for the extreme step. MANIT is a prominent engineering institute run under the Centre's Ministry of Education. 

The Enforcement Directorate on Saturday said it has attached fresh assets worth over Rs 110 crore in connection with its money laundering probe against Karvy Stock Broking Limited (KSBL), its CMD C Parthasarathy and others. The money-laundering case was filed based on FIRs by the Hyderabad Police on the complaints of lending banks who alleged the Karvy Group had availed large amounts of loans by illegally pledging their clients' shares worth about Rs 2,800 crore and the said loans have become non performing asset (NPA) after the release of the client's securities as per the orders of NSE and SEBI.

The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth more than Rs 3.92 crore of a former BJD MLA and a media company in a money laundering case against the Odisha-based Seashore Group of companies accused of perpetrating an alleged ponzi fraud, officials said on Saturday. The central agency, in a statement, said a provisional order under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) was issued to attach Rs 25 lakh bank deposits of Pravat Biswal, a three-time former MLA from the Cuttack-Choudwar assembly seat in Odisha, held at the SBI Cuttack branch.

Retail inflation for industrial workers eased to 6.16 per cent in June from 6.97 per cent in May this year due to lower prices of certain food items and petrol. "Year-on-year inflation for the month stood at 6.16 per cent compared to 6.97 per cent for the previous month (May 2022) and 5.57 per cent during the corresponding month (June 2021) a year before," a labour ministry statement said. It said the food inflation stood at 6.73 per cent in June against 7.92 per cent in the previous month and 5.61 per cent in June 2021.

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A minor fire broke out in a small godown storing timber in north Kolkata's Nimtala area on Saturday morning, police said. No one has been injured in the incident that took place on Maharshi Debendra Road, a police officer said. At least five fire tenders were pressed into service and the blaze, which erupted around 10 AM, has been brought under control, he said. Adjacent buildings have also been evacuated as a precautionary measure, the officer said. "A short-circuit might have caused the fire. Our officers are trying to recover files and other documents," he added. 

Auctions for 5G spectrum continued for the fifth day on Saturday, after fetching bids worth Rs 1,49,855 crore from players such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel so far. Continued interest for radiowaves has led to stretching of the auction to Saturday, and according to sources, 24th round of bidding is underway. About 71 per cent of the total spectrum put on the block has been provisionally sold so far, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said on Friday, terming it a "good response."

Rail Traffic remained disrupted for about 10 hours after the overhead equipment (OHE) on Delhi-Howrah rail line broke following 15658 Brahmaputra Mail's collision with a bull, a senior Railway official said on Saturday. The train was on its way to Delhi from Dibrugarh, when it collided with the animal near Bharwari railway station in the district, he said. After the incident at 8.50 pm Friday night, all trains upline were stopped, and a railway team repaired the line reaching the spot from Prayagraj, restoring the rail traffic after 10 hours this morning, Bharwari station superintendent D N Yadav said.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia addressed the media on row over liquor policy. 

Naxals have put up banners in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh, giving a call to observe 'Shaheed Saptah' or 'martyrs' week', which prompted the police to step up security in the area, an official said on Saturday. Balaghat, located in the south eastern region of Madhya Pradesh, is one of the three Naxal-affected districts in the state with Mandla and Dindori being the other two. "Naxals put up banners and left pamphlets on Friday in Sonewani area under Roopjhar police station limits, in which they gave a call to observe 'Shaheed Saptah' from July 28 to August 3," Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Aditya Prakash Mishra said.

A Sessions Court in Bengaluru has sentenced a man to life imprisonment for murdering his wife who succumbed to his acid attack. Chennegowda "suspected his wife's fidelity as she was beautiful" and poured acid on her to disfigure her. The couple was married in 1996. Manjula succumbed to her injuries on September 29, 2017, two months after the acid attack. The case was registered in the Kempegowda Nagar police station. The XXXXVI City Civil and Sessions Judge Manjunath found Chennegowda guilty of murder, acid attack and subjecting his wife to cruelty. He was sentenced to life for murder and ten years imprisonment for acid attack and two years for cruelty. 

A wildfire burning in western Montana spread to 2,000 acres on Friday night, forcing evacuations and road closures. The fire broke out Friday near the town of Elmo near Flathead Lake, Montana Right Now reported. CSKT Fire Officer C.T. Camel told the station that three dozen homes near Elmo were being evacuated. A report from the Montana Department of Transportation said there was zero viability in the area and Highway 28 between Hot Springs and Elmo was closed. NBC Montana reported the fire was burning in grass but moving fast toward timber. It said air tankers and helicopters were making drops on the fire. 

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A sessions court in Ahmedabad is likely to pass its order on Saturday on the bail applications of activist Teesta Setalvad and former DGP R B Sreekumar, arrested for allegedly fabricating documents to frame innocent people in 2002 riots cases. Additional principal judge D D Thakkar is likely to pronounce the order on the bail pleas. The court had on Friday deferred the order till Saturday, which it did for the third time this week. The two accused have denied the charges. The government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which has been formed to probe the case.Apart from Setalvad and Sreekumar, former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt is also an accused in the case and has been arrested.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said he will be addressing the inaugural session of the first All India District Legal Services Authorities meeting at 10 a.m.The Prime Minister and DLSAs will deliberate on different aspects relating to the judiciary and ensuring justice for all, he added.

India has used far less than its fair share of the global carbon budget and its emissions can grow as it is a developing country with sustainable development and poverty eradication among its leading priorities, the government has said. The global carbon budget is the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions permitted over a period of time while still having a chance to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial (1850-1900) levels.

North Korea on Saturday reported no new fever cases for the first time since it abruptly admitted to its first domestic COVID-19 outbreak and placed its 26 million people under more draconian restrictions in May. There have been widespread outside doubts about the accuracy of North Korean statistics as its reported fatalities are too low and its daily fever cases have been plummeting too fast recently. Some experts say North Korea has likely manipulated the scale of illness and deaths to help leader Kim Jong Un maintain absolute control amid mounting economic difficulties.

Mali's Supreme Court prosecutor has issued an international arrest warrant for ex-Prime Minister Boubou Cisse and several other ministers of the former government of Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who was overthrown by the military junta in August 2020. The move likely is being made to prevent these political figures from being candidates in presidential elections scheduled for February 2024. The warrant, announced late Thursday, is dated from Monday and includes Cisse, as well as the former finance minister, minister of national defense and others.

Delhi Government has been directed to revert to old regime of Delhi excise policy for a period of 6 months, till a fresh Excise Policy is in place.

In a decision that critics have labelled as dangerous, Brazil's government granted a preliminary environmental permit for paving a dirt highway that cuts through one of the Amazon rainforest's most preserved areas. The road known as BR-319, runs about 900 kilometers (560 miles) and is the only highway connecting Manaus, home to 2.2 million people, with the nation's larger urban centers further south. Half the length of BR-319 is still unpaved, and that stretch usually becomes impassable during the rainy season, which can last up to three months. This difficulty keeps forest clear cutters away.

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An e-rickshaw driver died here after his vehicle collided head on with a Mercedes car being driven by an IT professional, police officials said.  The 29-year-old e-rickshaw driver was killed near Nithari when the incident took place around 9 am on Friday, the officials said.  The 38-year-old IT professional, who was on his way to work at the time of the crash, has been arrested, they said.  "The incident took place in the Sector 20 police station area. A police team reached the spot and the e-rickshaw driver, who had suffered injuries in the collision, was rushed to a hospital but did not survive," a police spokesperson said.

An encounter broke out between militants and security forces in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, police said. The security forces launched a cordon and search operation at Wanigam Bala in the Kreeri area of the district following information about the presence of militants there, a police official said. He said the search operation turned into an encounter after the militants opened firing on the security forces, who retaliated. There are no reports of any casualties so far on either side, the official said. 

Six persons have been detained for allegedly throwing dirty water on kanwar pilgrims in Cantonment area here, police said on Friday. According to the police, dispute erupted in the Cantonment police station area over playing of DJ music by kanwar pilgrims. It is alleged that people of other community threw dirty water on the kanwariyas from their roof, following which the pilgrims staged protests. Superintendent of Police (city) Ravindra Kumar said that on Friday a contingent of kanwars were passing through Pargava village, when there was a dispute over playing of DJ music, and then the kanwar pilgrims alleged that dirty water was thrown on them.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said that keeping in mind the larger public interest, the government has neither increased the VAT and nor has imposed any new tax in the state. Chairing a meeting of the state tax department pertaining to revenue collection at his residence, he said that Value Added Tax (VAT) will not be increased in the near future too. Adityanath said the amount collected from the public will be spent on developmental and public welfare works, according to an official statement released here. He directed that for financial year 2022-23, concrete efforts should be made pertaining to revenue collection with an aim to collect Rs 1.50 lakh crore as Goods and Services Tax (GST) and VAT.

Seven persons were killed due to floods in northern and eastern United Arab Emirates (UAE) triggered by two days of heavy rains. The toll reached to 7 due to the floods on Friday in the Arab nation, Xinhua news agency reported. The UAE Interior Ministry has extended its condolences to the families of the victims who are of various Asian nationalities, Al Salem Al Tunaiji, Director General of the Ministry's federal operations, said in a tweet on Friday. Al Tunaiji added that 80 per cent of those who were evacuated have returned to their homes, noting the rescue operations are still ongoing in the affected three Emirates. Heavy downpours have lashed northern and eastern UAE for two days since Wednesday, causing floods in several regions, including the Emirates of Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah, where 879 people have been rescued, the Ministry said on Thursday evening.

A grenade exploded Friday during a game of cricket in Kabul, wounding at least four spectators at the stadium, the Taliban and a sports official in Afghanistan said. No one claimed responsibility for the explosion at the International Cricket Stadium in Kabul, where several hundred people had gathered to watch the match between Band-e-Amir Dragons and Pamir Zalmi. The afternoon game was part of the domestic T20 Shpageza Cricket league games held every year. Cricket is a hugely popular sport in Afghanistan. The Taliban-appointed Kabul police spokesman, Khalid Zadran, said the game was briefly halted due to the grenade explosion but later continued.

Spain on Friday reported the death of a person from monkeypox, which Spanish media said was a first for the European Union nation. In its latest report on the virus, Spain's Health Ministry said 120 people had been admitted to the hospital so far with monkeypox and one had died. Spain's state news agency Efe and other media outlets said it was the country's first monkeypox death. The ministry gave no further details regarding the death. It said Spain had 4,298 people infected with the virus. Of that, some 3,500 cases were of men who had had sex with other men. Of the total, only 64 were women. Experts suspect that monkeypox outbreaks in Europe and North America were ignited by sex at two raves in Belgium and Spain. The current outbreak is by far the biggest involving the virus, and it's been designated by the World Health Organization as a global health emergency.