Breaking News, August 24 | Highlights

President Joe Biden has decided not to extend his August 31 deadline for completing the US-led evacuation of Americans and Afghan allies from Afghanistan, an administration official said Tuesday.

The Jharkhand Cabinet on Tuesday gave its nod to increase house rent allowance for government employees as per the revised rates recommended by the 7th Pay Commission, a move that will cost Rs 116 crore to the state exchequer annually, a state government spokesperson said.

The cumulative COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 59.47 crore so far, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticized the United States and its allies for leaving Afghanistan in the chaos that raises potential security threats for Russia and its allies in Central Asia.

Addressing Tuesday’s meeting of the main Kremlin party, United Russia, Putin noted that militants could use the turmoil to destabilize the ex-Soviet Central Asian nations bordering Afghanistan.

“There is a danger that terrorists and different groups that found a refuge in Afghanistan will use the chaos left by our Western colleagues and try to launch an expansion into neighboring countries,” Putin said. “That will pose a direct threat to our country and its allies.”

At least 10 evacuees from Afghanistan tested COVID-19 positive after their arrival at the Indira Gandhi International airport in New Delhi on Tuesday, according to people coordinating evacuation efforts with the Indian government.

Prohibitory orders restricting movement and gathering of people in Nepal's Kathmandu Valley have been extended till September 1 with some relaxations as the country on Tuesday recorded 2,525 new coronavirus cases, taking the national tally to 8,31,968.

A meeting of the chief district officers of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur - the three districts in the Valley - on Tuesday decided to continue with restrictive measures till September 1 owing to still rampant COVID-19 infections in these districts.

A two-day mega COVID-19 vaccination campaign with special focus on covering those whose second dose is due will be launched in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, an official said.

On the first day of the campaign, first and second doses will be administered, while on Thursday, only those whose second jab is due will be covered, he informed.

State medical education minister Vishwas Sarang inspected the Jain Temple premises in Jawahar Chowk area from where Chouhan will officially launch the campaign.

The Tripura government has decided to reopen schools for students of classes 6 to 12, along with other higher educational institutions, from Wednesday, officials said.

• We are not against privatization but our privatization plan had a logic. We didn't privatize strategic industries & we consider Railways as strategic industry because it transports lakhs & crores of people and also employs lots of people: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi
• We privatized chronically loss-making industries. We privatized the companies that had minimal market share. We didn't privatize government enterprises with the potential of checking private sector monopoly in a particular sector: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi
• What this country has built over the last 70 years, is being given away. There is an excuse they have come up with that "we are leasing these"...The government clearly mishandled the economy & doesn't know what to do: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi
• They (Government) have basically destroyed what the UPA built & now as a last resort, they are selling everything that we had helped create. To me, this is a huge tragedy: Rahul Gandhi

India's crude oil production continued its declining trend, falling by over 3 per cent in July as state-owned ONGC produced less than the target.

The country's crude oil production declined by 3.2 per cent in July to 2.5 million tonnes when compared with the previous year, and by 3.37 per cent in April-July to 9.9 million tonnes, according to data released by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on Tuesday.

Pakistan's foreign minister said on Tuesday that an inclusive political settlement is the best way forward for peace and stability in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover. Pakistan fully supports efforts in that direction, he added.

According to a foreign ministry statement, Shah Mahmood Qureshi made the remarks in a phone call with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, about the situation in Afghanistan.

Over 1,500 representatives of farm unions from across the country will come together to discuss future strategies for the ongoing farmers' protest during the national convention on August 26 and 27, farmer leaders said. The two-day convention at the Singhu border is being held to mark the completion of nine months of the farmers’ agitation against the three contentious farm laws.

"Unlike our other events, the national convention is not going to be a mass gathering or a rally. Instead, 1,500 representatives of farmer unions from across the country will come together for two days at the Singhu border to discuss strategies to sharpen and intensify our protests," farmer leader Abhimanyu Kohar said.

President Ram Nath Kovind to travel by train from Lucknow to Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh on August 29

PM Narendra Modi spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin for about 45 minutes on the phone. They had a detailed conversation on the Afghanistan situation

An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1 on the Richter Scale, hit Bay of Bengal at 12:35 pm today: National Center for Seismology

A memorial for the late CM Karunanidhi will be set up on 2.23 acres at Marina Beach, Kamaraj Road at a cost of Rs 39 cr. The memorial is to be built with modern light films on Karunanidhi's life: Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, in the Legislative Assembly today

Two unidentified terrorists have been killed during an ongoing encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore

Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Raut writes to PM Narendra Modi, requesting him to remove minister Narayan Rane from Union Cabinet over a comment against Shiv Sena chief and Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray

Union Minister Narayan Rane had given a statement against CM Uddhav Thackeray yesterday

The Assam government has begun verification of rhino horns stored in different treasuries in order to reconcile and destroy those, barring the ones linked to court cases or required for scientific purposes, officials said. The process started from the Morigaon treasury on August 18 and 261 rhino horns have been verified so far, they said. The exercise is being conducted by seven zonal committees and a technical panel constituted by the state’s chief wildlife warden.

Gujarat: Supreme Court stays the demolition of around 5,000 jhuggis

Chhattisgarh CM arrives at residence of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi

FIR registered against Narayan Rane for objectionable language against Maha CM

Man who had allegedly attempted to rape 4-year-old girl in Ajmer district, detained

SDRF rescues over 200 people after they get trapped in Tamas area of Chamoli

Kathmandu: People celebrate the Gai Jatra (Cow) festival 

AI 1956 enroute to Delhi from Dushanbe carrying 78 passengers

US has 'no illusion about Taliban', says NSA Sullivan
 

DIET trainees on Monday staged a protest in Agartala to conduct online exams

Piyush Goyal on Monday met representatives from Industry Associations