Breaking News, August 24 | HIGHLIGHTS

Women leaders of the opposition Congress on Thursday met Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria and demanded strict punishment for those "abetting the suicide" of BJP leader Indrani Tahbildar.

Four persons have been booked in a Rs 4.52 crore fraud case involving selling of residential plots on public utility land, a Nagpur police official said on Thursday. The four are accused of fraudulently selling two plots on a layout bought by a cooperative housing society and approved by the Nagpur Improvement Trust, the Sonegaon police station official said.

Police have seized banned gutka worth Rs 56.9 lakh from eight vehicles in Maharashtra's Palghar district and arrested three persons who were allegedly transporting it illegally in the state, an official said on Thursday. Acting on a tip-off, the police on Tuesday evening intercepted seven tempos and a truck near Sasoon Navghar at Juchandra on Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, Naigaon police station's senior police inspector Ramesh Bhame said.

A group of G20 delegates who have gathered here for the fourth meeting of the Culture Working Group on Thursday lauded Chandrayaan-3's soft-landing on the Moon. The deliberations for the fourth CWG of the G20 began on Thursday in the holy town where prayers were also offered in temples and at ghats earlier for the mission's success. The welcome address was delivered by Union Culture Secretary Govind Mohan.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has asked officials to expedite the construction of 15,000 km of rural roads in the state without compromising the quality of work, a statement said on Thursday. During a meeting of the Road Construction Department on Wednesday, the chief minister was apprised of the fact that detailed project reports for 6,000 km, of the 15,000 km of rural roads to be built in the state, have been prepared, while approval has been given for construction of 3,000 km of roads.

A tractor-trolley fell into a drain near Redhibodki village in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district, leaving four people dead, police said on Thursday. The incident took place on Wednesday evening in Tajpura area when the vehicle carrying around 50 people, including women and children, was on way to Randaul village, Superintendent of Police, City, Abhimanyu Manglik told PTI.

Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday wrote to ISRO Chairman S Somanath over the success of Chandrayaan-3, saying the space agency's outstanding capabilities have been built up over decades and it being anchored on self-reliance since the early sixties has contributed to its great successes. In her letter to Somanath, the Congress parliamentary party chief said she was writing to him to let him know how thrilled she was by the Indian Space Research Organisation's (ISRO) magnificent achievement on Wednesday evening.  "It is a matter of great pride and excitement to all Indians, particularly the younger generation," Gandhi said.

The nephew and niece of ISRO scientist Anuj Nandi remained glued to their television set at their home in Islampur, a small town in West Bengal, to watch Chandrayaan-3 land on the Moon on Wednesday evening, though both have to write their exams at school the next day. Nandi designed the camera of Chandrayaan-3, and on the special day when the lander (Vikram) was supposed to make a soft landing on the moon, the two kids were too excited to study.

Of 26 workers present on the under-construction railway bridge that collapsed in Mizoram’s Aizawl district, 23 people are believed to be dead, though the police have recovered only 18 bodies, officials said on Thursday. Three of those working there are in hospital and “undergoing treatment” while five are missing, they added. All the 26 people working there were from Malda district of West Bengal.

Three children, in the age group of 11 to 13 years, have gone missing from a locality in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Thursday. The children went out of their houses in Baneli locality of Kalyan taluka for playing on Wednesday evening.

Two persons were killed and six others injured when the slab of a 20-year-old residential building collapsed in Nerul area of Navi Mumbai, fire brigade officials said on Thursday. The third floor ceiling slab of the four-storey Tulsi Bhavan building located at Shirsole in Nerul collapsed at around 8.50 pm on Wednesday, they said.

Health services, including treatment, in all government hospitals in Maharashtra falling under the public health department's jurisdiction have been made available free of cost for patients, the state government has said. Medical tests, treatment and all other services provided on public-private partnership, excluding blood supply, are available free of cost to patients from August 15, said a government resolution (GR) issued on Wednesday.

One person was killed and three others injured when the slab of a residential building collapsed on them at Nerul in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday, police said citing preliminary information.

American politicians, newspapers and space research institutions hailed India Wednesday on the successful moon landing of Chandrayaan-3 as the country entered the elite club of three other nations -- United States, Russia and China -- that have a rover on the lunar surface. In the process, India became the first country among the elite group to have its rover on the moon's south pole region, which the Indian Space Research Organisation believes could have traces of water.

The four-day meeting of the G20 Culture Working Group commenced here on Wednesday with the arrival of delegates, prior to its formal inauguration on August 24. In a statement, the Press Information Bureau said 170 delegates of G20 and guest nations will attend the event that will conclude on Saturday with the meeting of culture ministers.

Police have taken into custody a 30-year-old woman who approached MLA Maman Khan, claiming to be his wife, officials said on Wednesday. Ferozepur Jhirka MLA Khan received a call on Tuesday in which the caller, who claimed to be an autorickshaw driver, told him that he had brought his "wife", according to the complaint lodged by the MLA's wife.