Breaking news on October 21

An IED blast this evening in Parwan has killed a child and wounded 11. According to Afghanistan Interior Ministry’s spokesman Nusrat Rahimi, the IED was placed by the Taliban. The Taliban have not commented on this. 

ISRO chief K Sivan said: "The 2nd unmanned human space plane, we are targeting for July 2021. By December 2021 the first Indian will be carried out, by our own rocket, to space. This is our target, everybody at ISRO is working on that." 

Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) security officials today intercepted a passenger's bag. 2 kg of suspected crystal-like narcotic material detected from a concealed chamber of his bag. The Accused was deplaned and handed over to the Narcotics Bureau.

HD Deve Gowda said: "HD Kumaraswamy, who was the Chief Minister heading the coalition government has already declared that we want to contest all 15 constituencies. The suffering he faced at the hands of Congress, he does not want it anymore." 

Indian Coast Guard team led by its Andaman and Nicobar in-charge, Inspector General Maneesh Pathak with packets of Ketamine drug, weighing 1,160 kilograms, worth around Rs 300 crores and the six alleged smugglers.

A Delhi Court to pronounce order on Congress leader DK Shivakumar's bail plea in a money laundering case, on 25th September.

Heavy police deployment and barricading on the border near Ghazipur prevented thousands of farmers from marching into Delhi on Saturday demanding loan waiver, settlement of dues for sugarcane crop and pension.

The farmers march had started from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh on September 11 and was expected to converge at the Kisan Ghat in Delhi on Saturday. However, the protesters were stopped at the border, reports IANS.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and Congress to contest one seat each in Tamil Nadu by-elections, and Congress to contest one seat in Puducherry by-elections.

By-elections to 64 constituencies across Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Puducherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh, to be held on Oct 21; counting on Oct 24

Maharashtra and Haryana to vote in single-phase, says CEC Sunil Arora. 

Haryana & Maharashtra Assembly elections to be held on 21st October, counting on 24th October.

• The 5-year term of the Legislative Assemblies of Haryana and Maharashtra expires on 2nd November and 9th November, says Chief Election Commissioner, Sunil Arora
• Ninety seats of Haryana and 288 of Maharashtra will go to polls
• Haryana has 1.82 crore registered voters, while Maharashtra has 8.94 crore voters
• Two special expenditure observers for Maharashtra polls
• Reassure all stakeholders about the quality of EVMs, says Chief Election Commissioner Sunil Arora
• EC had earlier asked the political parties in February to reject plastic and use environmental-friendly material in the election campaigns. Again we are renewing the appeal, says CEC Sunil Arora
• 28 lakh cap on poll expenses per candidate
• "We had an in-depth discussion with nodal officers, DSPs, Commissioners of Police as well as central and state enforcement agencies. After all the meetings, we are here to provide the media with the details of the meeting," Arora said.
• The Election Commission appeals to party candidates in both Haryana and Maharashtra to use environmental-friendly material while campaigning for polls.
• Special security arrangements will be made for Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas in Gadchiroli and Gondia in Maharashtra
• Poll-Bound Maharashtra has added nearly 8 lakh voters since the April-May 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The overall increase in the number of voters in Maharashtra compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls is 7,69,165. The voter tally has gone from 8,86,77,046 at the time of the Lok Sabha elections in April-May to 8,94,46,211 now.
• Model Code of Conduct real tribute to democracy, says CEC Sunil Arora
• Two officers who were instrumental in exposing malpractices in Vellore are being sent to Maharashtra as expenditure observers for the state Assembly elections

The Election Commission is now addressing a press conference, wherein the poll schedule for Haryana and Maharashtra will be announced. 

A Pakistani cleric has been arrested on the charge of sexually molesting a minor madrasa student in Rawalpindi, police said.

The arrest was made on Friday on the basis of a medical examination of the 12-year-old student, reports Dawn news.

Although the cleric has been arrested, the police has decided to conduct a DNA test.

"All measures will be taken to investigate the case on merit, including conducting a DNA test and other legal formalities," a police official said.

A Doha bound flight of a private carrier carrying 240 passengers and a crew of five, on Saturday returned to the airport here, about 40 minutes after its departure due to technical issues, officials said.

As soon as the glitches were noticed when it was airborne, the pilot got the nod of authorities to return and safely landed the aircraft at the airport here, they said. 

The passengers of the early morning aircraft were provided accommodation at a nearby hotel and the flight resumed its journey hours later.

Following a similar episode, involving the same carrier days ago, the civil aviation authorities have asked the airline to look into such matters and submit a report. 

ISRO Chief K Sivan: Chandrayaan-2 orbiter is doing very well. There are 8 instruments in the orbiter & each instrument is doing exactly what it meant to do.Regarding the lander, we have not been able to establish communication with it. Our next priority is Gaganyaan mission.

India is a very important actor and "fundamental partner" in international efforts on climate action and is making a "fantastic effort" to grow its renewable energy basket, UN chief Antonio Guterres has said.

UN Secretary General Guterres, who has met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on several occasions, recalled his leadership of the International Solar Alliance and described India's gift of 193 solar panels to the world organisation as "very useful."

"There has been a huge investment in India in relation to solar power. India still has a meaningful amount of coal and we have also discussed that. And he (Modi) has a number of other initiatives of different sorts related to the Clean India (campaign) and many other aspects that will have, we believe and we hope, a strong impact from the point of view of India's progressive performance in relation to climate action," Guterres said in response to a question by PTI here on India's climate action efforts.

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Saturday attacked the government over its move to cut corporate tax, alleging that the rich will benefit while the poor left to fend for themselves.

The government on Friday slashed corporate tax rates for companies by almost 10 percentage points to 25.17 per cent and offered a lower rate to 17.01 per cent for new manufacturing firms to boost economic growth rate from a six-year low by incentivising investments to help create jobs.

India's Permanent Representative to United Nations, Syed Akbaruddin: Terrorism has & will be a major factor in India‘s foreign policy orientation, that is because it affects our people in ways which very few external influences do. The focus of the event that the PM will participate in at the UN is on ‘Countering terrorist narratives & violent extremists through internet and cyberspace’, you will appreciate this is an emerging threat. We will pursue against terrorism on every forum.

Exemption of Goods and Services Tax on specified defence goods not manufactured in India will greatly benefit defence preparedness, says Defence Secretary, Ajay Kumar

Justice Vineet Kothari has been appointed as the Acting Chief Justice of Madras High Court after the President accepted the resignation of Chief Justice VK Tahilramani.

Dehradun SSP suspends inspector Shishupal Singh Negi and head of Dhara police post, in connection with the incident where 6 people died allegedly after consuming spurious liquor in Dehradun yesterday.

Congress appoints Supriya Shrinate as spokesperson of All India Congress Committee

The Election Commission is set to announce dates of assembly polls in Maharashtra and Haryana on Saturday.

The poll panel has convened a press conference this noon.

While the term of 288-member Maharashtra assembly ends on November 9, that of the 90-member Haryana assembly expires on November 2.

The Union Home Ministry has announced the Sardar Patel National Unity Award, a new honour on the pattern of Padma awards for individuals or institutions for notable contributions towards the cause of national unity and integrity.

In a notification, the ministry said the decoration shall be conferred by the President by a 'Sanad' (certificate) "under his hand and seal".

The decoration shall be in the form of a lotus leaf -- six centimetres in length, six and two centimetres at its breadth and four millimetres in thickness. It will be made of fine silver and gold. 

UP farmers begin march from Noida Sector-69 to Delhi's Kisan Ghat, over their demands of payment of sugarcane crop dues, full loan waiver and making electricity used in farming free among others.

Ahead of the Assembly elections, NCP chief Sharad Pawar has stoked a possible controversy by saying that only a Pulwama attack-like incident can change the mood of the people of Maharashtra as they have resentment for the incumbent Devendra Fadnavis-led government in the state.

"Before Lok Sabha elections, there was an environment of anger and distress against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, Pulwama attack on CRPF jawans had changed the entire scenario," Pawar said during a press conference in Aurangabad. 

US President Donald Trump has said he does not need to strike a trade agreement with China before the next year's presidential elections, emphasizing that he is looking for a complete and not a "partial deal" with Beijing.

The world's two largest economies have been locked in a bruising trade war since Trump in March last year imposed tariff hikes of up to 25 per cent on USD 250 billion of Chinese goods.

In response, China, the world's second-largest economy after the US, imposed tit-for-tat tariffs on USD 110 billion of American goods.

"No, I don't think I need it before the election," Trump told reporters on Friday at a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison when asked if he feels the need for a trade deal with China before the 2020 presidential elections.

Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Girish Chodankar has hit out at Nirmala Sitharaman stating that the "faulty policies and mismanagement" of the economy by "clueless" Union Finance Minister has resulted in roller coaster ride for various sectors and resulted in sharp decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The Pentagon on Friday announced it will deploy additional U.S. troops and missile defence equipment to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as President Donald Trump has at least for now put off any immediate military strike on Iran in response to the attack on the Saudi oil industry.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper told Pentagon reporters this is the first step to beef up security and he would not rule out additional moves down the road.

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said more details about the deployment will be determined in the coming days, but it would not involve thousands of U.S. troops.