Breaking News, July 17 | Updates

Floodwaters in river Godavari started receding, falling below the 25 lakh cusecs mark on Sunday night, but 626 villages in five districts of Andhra Pradesh still remain marooned.

The tricolor will be hoisted atop more than 20 crore houses across the country for three days next month under the central government's 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign, according to an official statement. Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the preparations of the campaign, to be carried out under the 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', with chief ministers of states and lieutenant governors and administrators of Union Territories on Sunday, it said.

Four people were killed when gunfire erupted during an argument at an apartment complex in Houston, officials said.

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led BJD has decided to support the NDA's Vice Presidential nominee Jagdeep Dhankar, a party leader said on Sunday.

Chhattisgarh on Sunday reported 203 coronavirus positive cases, taking the tally to 11,58,861, while the death toll increased by one to reach 14,046, an official said. The recovery count stood at 11,42,073 after 116 people recovered during the day, leaving the state with 2,742 active cases, he said.

Two drug smugglers were arrested here and opium worth Rs 1 crore was recovered from them, police said on Sunday.

About 95 per cent attendance was on Sunday recorded in the medical entrance exam NEET, which had received the highest number of applications ever, according to the National Testing Agency (NTA). Breaching the 18-lakh mark, a total of 18,72,329 candidates had registered for the largest entrance exam in the county of which 10.64 lakh were female, NTA officials said.

Two persons stranded on a rock in the middle of river Nagabali in Odisha's Rayagada district due to a sudden rise in water level, were on Sunday rescued by the Fire Services personnel, official sources said. Chief Minister’s Office praised the efforts of the fire personnel.

A storm in the north Arabian Sea, 160-km west off Naliya coast in Gujarat, is moving towards Oman but is expected to weaken by Monday, the weather office said. The weather system - categorised as 'depression' - packing wind speeds of upto 50 kmph, had its genesis 100-km west off the Porbandar coast on Saturday morning and lay 170-km south-southeast of Karachi on Sunday evening, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said late on Sunday.

Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday reported 203 fresh COVID-19 cases which pushed its infection tally to 4,57,032. Of the new cases, 111 were reported from the Jammu division and 92 from the Kashmir valley, officials said.

A total of 18 students from West Bengal were among the 110 who figure in the top three rank holders list of the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) exams, the results of which were announced on Sunday.

Two contractual workers were buried alive after a landslip occurred while they were working inside an underground for laying drainage pipelines. The incident occurred in the wee hours of Sunday at Suttur in Virduhunagar district of Tamil Nadu. The two were engaged in laying under ground drainage pipelines.

Sri Lanka's state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) on Sunday reduced the diesel and petrol retail prices, the first decrease after five hikes since February as the severe foreign exchange shortage hampered the import of fuel and other essentials in the country reeling under worst economic crisis in decades. The new prices will be effective from 10.00 pm on Sunday.

BJP president J P Nadda on Sunday urged opposition parties to support the ruling National Democratic Alliance's vice presidential candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar as he cited the West Bengal governor's humble background to seek backing from all parties.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on July 20 a batch of pleas pertaining to the recent political crisis in Maharashtra that led to the fall of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state. The turmoil began with a rebellion in the Shiv Sena following which Uddhav Thackeray resigned as chief minister on June 29. A day later, rebel Sena leader Eknath Shinde took oath as chief minister with the BJP as his partner.

A 20-year-old youth died of electrocution on Sunday morning in Gauriganj area of the district, police said. The deceased, identified as Arjun, a resident of Nagarwa locality, was going towards a field when he came in contact with an electric cable and died on the spot, they said.

A CRPF officer was killed in a militant attack in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, an official said. "At about 2:20 pm, terrorists fired upon the joint naka party of police and the CRPF in Gangoo area of south Kashmir," the official said.

Russian missiles hit industrial facilities at a strategic city in southern Ukraine Sunday as Moscow continued efforts to expand its gains in the country's east.

Three Aircraft of International airlines made emergency landings at various airports in the country in the last 48 hours, making it a day of technical emergencies for various airlines. A senior official in the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) informed that these landings were made in Calicut, Chennai and Kolkata on Friday and Saturday.

Senior lawmaker and advocate Kapil Sibal feels that the judiciary must be more sensitive to people's concerns over "violation of fundamental rights" and ensure that central agencies are not misused for political reasons. Sibal, who had quit the Congress a few months back and is presently an Independent Rajya Sabha MP, said the courts must proactively protect people's fundamental rights and the institutions from being misused.

The All India United Democratic Front on Sunday announced that it will vote for Yashwant Sinha, the joint opposition nominee, in the presidential election. AIUDF legislator Aminul Islam, however, said his party will support the opposition candidate in the July 18 presidential poll even though they were "sidelined" during Sinha's recent visit to Assam.

India achieved a major milestone in its vaccination programme against COVID-19 as the cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 200-crore mark on Sunday. According to the health ministry data, 98 per cent of the adult population has received at least one dose while 90 per cent have been fully vaccinated.

An all-party meeting called by the government ahead of the start of the Monsoon session of Parliament got underway here on Sunday with leaders from across the political spectrum attending it. The government is represented by senior Union Minister Rajnath Singh, deputy leader of the Lok Sabha, his cabinet colleague and BJP's leader in Rajya Sabha Piyush Goyal and Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi.

Violence broke out on Sunday near here as protesters demanding justice over the death of a girl student went on a rampage setting fire to vehicles and indulged in stone pelting, in which police personnel also became the target.

Aiming to provide fuel to the public in an orderly manner amidst its worst energy crisis, the Sri Lankan government has introduced fuel passes that will guarantee a weekly quota to every vehicle owner. Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis since independence in 1948. The country is unable to pay for its essential imports, fuel, food and medicine due to an acute forex crisis.

A storm is brewing in the Arabian Sea, 70 km off the Gujarat coast in Okha, packing wind speeds of over 50 km per hour, and moving towards Oman, the weather office said on Sunday. The weather system -- categorised as a depression -- has been put under watch of cyclone watchers at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) since its birth 100 km west off the Porbandar coast on Saturday morning.

Two persons died and one other was injured in a crude bomb blast in West Bengal's Malda district in the early hours of Sunday, police said. The deceased, identified as Farjan SK (45) and Safikul Islam (30), were making bombs at a field in Jesarathtala Balutola in Manikchak police station area when the accidental blast happened, they said.

Flood flow remained rather steady at 25.93 lakh cusecs in river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday morning. The gush seemed to have slowed down going by the discharge at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage in Dowaleswaram near Rajamahendravaram, which increased by just over 33,000 cusecs in the last 11 hours, according to the AP Water Resources Information and Management System data.

Adam Harry, India's first transgender pilot, is still worried about realising his flying dreams despite a clarification from the country's aviation regulator on trans persons becoming pilots, saying the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has made it clear that flying duties cannot be assigned to those on hormonal therapy.

Daily figures of new coronavirus infections declined in Maharashtra in the first fortnight of July, but the number of fatalities showed an upward trend, data shows.

A 15-year-old girl was allegedly raped by the manager of a factory here where she worked and forced to drink acid by her tormentor, police said on Saturday. The factory manager Jai Parkash (31) has been apprehended in the case, they said. According to police, Parkash called the victim to his house on July 2 on the pretext of meeting his ailing wife. He then raped the girl in connivance with his wife.

The uniform property tax policy for areas under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi came into effect on Saturday, the civic body said in a statement. It said it has also decided to extend the last date for availing 10 per cent rebate on lump-sum payment of property tax to July 31 for 2022-23.

The Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSPV) has sealed Gurugram's key tourist attraction 'Kingdom of Dreams' over non-payment of pending dues of around Rs 100 crore, an official said on Saturday. "India's first live entertainment, theatre and leisure centre was set up on 6 acres of HSVP land.

Authorities say an Antonov plane has crashed near the city of Kavala in northern Greece. The plane was headed from Serbia to Jordan, but Civil Aviation authorities have not been able to confirm whether it was a passenger or cargo flight, or how many people were on the plane.