Breaking News I August 17 I HIGHLIGHTS

A Canadian woman was sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison in Washington Thursday in the mailing of a threatening letter containing the poison ricin to then-President Donald Trump at the White House.

The decomposed carcass of an electrocuted tiger was recovered from a forest in Maharashtra's Bhandara district, an official said on Thursday. The adult tiger's body was found in Khandal village near Chandpur Dam in Tumsar range on Wednesday, he said.

Maharashtra Congress President Nana Patole says, "INDIA alliance meeting will be held in Mumbai on August 31 and September 1. We held a meeting today at Matoshree to organise it successfully and decided the agenda for it. The aim of the (INDIA) meeting is to oust the Modi govt from the centre..."

Five BJP MLAs were marshalled out of the Delhi Assembly on Thursday for protesting against holding a discussion over the Manipur issue in the House, following which the party's other members staged a walkout.

The Gurugram Police on Thursday said it has busted a fake call center and arrested 10 people, including a woman, for allegedly duping foreign nationals on the pretext of providing them with technical assistance.

 Five firemen were injured following a blast at a plastic factory in north west Delhi's Bawana, officials said on Thursday. According to fire officials, the incident took place on Wednesday at 10.56 pm, and 30 fire tenders were rushed to the spot.

Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Thursday forecast that the digital economy will contribute more than 20 per cent of the country's GDP in 2026.
Addressing the 'G20 Digital Innovation Alliance Summit' here, he said India is a preeminent nation that adopted technology very fast and has started offering solutions to the world.

Ruling JMM's Bebi Devi and AJSU Party's Yashoda Devi on Thursday filed their nomination papers as INDIA bloc and NDA candidates respectively for the September 5 by-election to Dumri assembly seat in Jharkhand.

Two persons from Tripura were arrested in Aizawl on Thursday with 2.3 kg of methamphetamine tablets, police said. Acting on a tip-off, a team of the District Special Branch (DSB) arrested the duo from Dawrpui new market in the heart of the city, they said. The two accused were identified as Sourabh Nath (34) and Md Nur Ahmed (39), both natives of North Tripura, they added.

"Gadar 2", starring Sunny Deol and Ameesha Patel, earned Rs 32.37 crore on the sixth day of its release taking its total domestic box office earnings to Rs 261.35 crore, according to the makers.
Directed by Anil Sharma, the film is a sequel to the 2001 blockbuster "Gadar: Ek Prem Katha". The movie, a Zee Studios production, released in theatres on August 11.

Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu clarified on his "Bihari architects" comment, he said, "I did not say anything as such. The people of Bihar were also stuck here. I got them evacuated by helicopters. Around 200 people from Bihar are still stuck here. They are like our brothers. It is the fault of our structural engineering, they are just labourers".

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) on Thursday said a total of 13 bodies, among 21 people who went missing after a massive landslide struck the Summer Hill area of Shimla earlier this week, have been recovered. Speaking to ANI, NDRF Inspector Naseef Khan said, "The rescue and search operation has been underway for 4 days. The Army, SDRF and the police are engaged in the ongoing rescue operations here. Of the 21 people missing, 13 bodies have been recovered so far."

In a major blow to the Chinese video streaming platform, TikTok, New York has ordered its government employees to unistall the application citing a "threat to national security". In a statement, New York Mayor Eric Adams' has confirmed that his administration has banned the platform from all government mobile phones, computers and tablets. 

 Retired Major General Alok Raj has been appointed as the new chairman of the Rajasthan Staff Selection Board. The department of personnel issued an order in this regard Wednesday night. The post fell vacant after Hariprasad Sharma tendered his resignation last month.

Several school students were injured after their vehicle overturned in south Kolkata's Thakurpukur area on Wednesday morning, police said. The accident happened near Daspara on James Long Sarani around 6.30 am after the pool car hit a 'stone' that was lying on the road, they said.

Former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad stirred a hornet's nest with his controversial comment on the origin of Muslims and saying that Hinduism is older than Islam.

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India's ambitious Chandrayaan-3 mission entered its last round as ISRO's spacecraft successfully underwent a fifth and final lunar-bound orbit manoeuvre, which brings it even closer to the surface of the Moon. Now, the separation of the Lander Module from the Propulsion Module will take place today (August 17).

An earthquake of 3.6 magnitude struck Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on Thursday, but there was no report of any damage, officials said. The epicentre of the tremor, which occurred at 3.49 am, was the mountainous areas of Rajouri, according to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS). The depth of the earthquake was 10 kilometers below the surface, at a latitude of 33.33 degrees north and a longitude of 74.20 degrees, it said.

 President Droupadi Murmu will visit in Kolkata on Thursday, during which she will launch an advanced stealth frigate for the Indian Navy and a de-addiction campaign.
Murmu will launch the 'Vindhyagiri' at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd’s (GRSE) facility on the banks of Hooghly river, further propelling India's maritime prowess, a defence official said.

 The ongoing visit to India of a US Congressional delegation led by Indian American lawmaker Ro Khanna has further solidified deep ties and underscores a unique vision that can serve as a blueprint to advance the bilateral relationship, according to Indian Americans.

 The Allahabad High Court has dismissed the bail plea of a Lashkar-e-Toiba associate, who was accused of waging war against the country and promoting acquisition of arms through various WhatsApp groups.
Justice Pankaj Bhatia dismissed the bail application filed by Inamul Haq against whom an FIR was registered at Deoband police station of Saharanpur under section 121-A (waging war against government of India) and 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, etc) of the IPC.

 Asian stocks followed Wall Street lower Thursday after notes from a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting dented hopes interest rate hikes are finished.
Hong Kong and Tokyo lost more than 1 per cent. Shanghai, Seoul and Sydney also retreated. Oil prices declined.

The first phase of Odisha’s proposed metro rail project will cover a distance of around 26 km and have 20 stations, according to the DPR submitted by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had sanctioned the project on April 1, 2023. The first phase will connect Bhubaneswar airport to Trishulia in Cuttack.

The death toll from this week's powerful explosion in the Dominican Republic rose to 27 on Wednesday as firefighters continued efforts to extinguish the persistent fire set off by the blast, the national emergency director said.
Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the Centre of Emergency Operations, also said there were no longer any people believed missing. Earlier, authorities cited 10 missing but said that would change as forensic officials identified bodies found by search teams.

An Indian-origin man was sentenced to more than 21 months in jail and fined SGD 5,000 for breaching the stringent COVID-19 measures by drinking alcohol with his friends and driving a lorry, dragging one of the friends along the road. K Pradeep Ram, 41, had also charged towards a police officer while uttering threatening and abusive words at another officer, reported The Straits Times.
The incident took place in 2020.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman along with Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan visted Shree Jagannatha Temple in Puri, Odisha to offer prayers.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is likely to embark on a two-day visit to Ladakh starting from Thursday, according to the party sources. The sources said that Rahul Gandhi will be on a two-day visit to Ladakh on Thursday and Friday.

An Indian-origin man was sentenced to more than 21 months in jail and fined SGD 5,000 for breaching the stringent COVID-19 measures by drinking alcohol with his friends and driving a lorry, dragging one of the friends along the road.

A 42-year-old farmer called to a police outpost here for questioning in an SC/ST Act case died on Wednesday while returning home, officials said. His family, however, alleged that his death was caused by police's "third degree" methods. Police have denied the charge, saying the farmer appeared to have died of cardiac arrest after leaving the outpost.

 Saudi Arabia on Wednesday executed an American citizen who had been convicted of killing his father.
The Interior Ministry identified the executed man as Bishoy Sharif Naji Naseef and said he beat and then strangled his Egyptian father to death. It also said Naseef used narcotics, mutilated his father's body after his slaying and attempted to kill another person before his arrest.