Breaking News, October 1

China is struggling to find enough trained pilots to operate fighter jets from aircraft carriers, prompting its navy with two aircraft carriers commissioned and another launched in June, to speed up the pilot training programme, a media report here said.

A court at Bhiwandi in Maharashtra's Thane district on Saturday adjourned till December 3 this year hearing in the defamation case filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by an activist of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

A 45-year-old woman was stabbed to death in Bhiwandi in Maharashtra's Thane district on Saturday afternoon, a police official said.

Seven people of a family have been booked for allegedly torturing a woman in Bhiwandi in Thane district, a police official said on Saturday. The accused, who hails from Latur, Kolhapur and Bidar, are relatives of the woman and were harassing her for not conceiving, the Bhiwandi Town police station official said.

An alleged drug peddler was detained in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Saturday. Ghat Doda resident Vijay Kumar alias "Pandit", a habitual drug peddler, was booked under provisions of illicit trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (PIT NDPS) Act, a police spokesperson said.

A strong and shallow earthquake shook Indonesia's Sumatra island on Saturday, killing a resident, injuring 11 and damaging more than a a dozen houses and buildings, police said.

The Punjab government has sought financial assistance from the Centre for the solarisation of agriculture pump sets with up to 15 horsepower on the pattern of northeast and hilly states. In a letter written to RK Singh, Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy, Punjab Minister Aman Arora said the ministry has made a provision for providing central financial assistance (CFA) to farmers of northeast and hilly states for their pumps up to 15 HP capacity last month. But, this facility is available only for up to 7.5 HP agri-pumps in Punjab, he pointed out.

State-run power giant NTPC said it has logged 15.1 per growth in power generation at 203.5 billion units (BU) during April-September 2022. The high generation growth indicates improved performance and an increase in demand for power in the current year, it added. "NTPC group companies recorded a generation of 203.5 BU from April to September 2022, registering an increase of 15.1% from 176.8 BU generated in April to September 2021," the company said in a statement. NTPC Rihand (3,000 MW) in Uttar Pradesh was the top performing thermal power plant with 90.22 per cent Plant Load Factor (PLF or capacity utilisation) between April to September 2022.

Police in Nahtaur here have served a notice to 60 people seeking Rs 57 lakh in damages caused during the anti-CAA/NRC protests, officials said on Saturday. Nahtaur police station SHO Pankaj Tomar said the mob allegedly damaged government property and set a police jeep on fire during the protests on December 20, 2019. He added that the mob also allegedly attacked the police, who had to fire in self-defence in which two youths- Anas and Salman- were killed. "The police have served notices to 60 accused persons to pay Rs 57 lakh in damages," he said. 

Uttarakhand has received a special mention for the most film friendly state award. The honour was given to the hill state by President Droupadi Murmu at the 68th national film awards function, held in New Delhi on Friday. Director General Information and CEO of Uttarakhand Film Vikas Parishad Bansidhar Tiwari received the award during the ceremony, an official release here said. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami congratulated the people of the state for the honour saying it was a proud moment for them. The award will further promote Uttarakhand as a film shooting destination, Tiwari said. It is a result of efforts made over the past few years by the Chief Minister to promote Uttarakhand as a film shooting destination, he added.

Bharti Airtel's 5G service will be available in eight cities from Saturday, its chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said at India Mobile Congress.  With this, Bharti Airtel has become the first company to launch 5G services in the country. "When you (Prime Minister) will launch 5G today. 5G from Airtel will be available in 8 cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi, Bangalore and other cities," Mittal said. He also said that Airtel will roll out 5G services in several cities across the country by March 2023 and across India by March 2024. According to a senior company official, Airtel 5G services will be available at existing 4G rates and a new tariff for 5G will be announced after some time.  The officer said the 5G services are also being launched in Chennai, Hyderabad and Siliguri. Bharti Airtel Chief Technology Officer Randeep Singh Sekhon said that the company's backend infrastructure is ready. 

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said the Congress government will complete its five years and that the next budget will be dedicated to students and the youth. He also said the Congress will not let the BJP succeed in its plan to topple the government. "We will complete five years and I have said the next budget will be presented for students and the youth," Gehlot told reporters while replying to a question whether he will present the fifth budget of the incumbent government in the state. Gehlot is on a tour of Bikaner division to attend various events related to rural youth olympics. Attacking the BJP, he said, "They keep making efforts to ensure that our government does not complete five years. Earlier, too, the BJP tried horse trading but our MLAs were united and they did not budge. You can see the government was saved last time and it is still going strong."

Ukraine's nuclear power provider accused Russia on Saturday of “kidnapping” the head of Europe's largest nuclear power plant, a facility now occupied by Russian troops. Russian forces seized the director-general of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, Ihor Murashov, around 4 pm on Friday, Ukrainian state nuclear company Energoatom said. Energoatom said Russian troops stopped Murashov's car, blindfolded him and then took him to an undisclosed location. “His detention by (Russia) jeopardizes the safety of Ukraine and Europe's largest nuclear power plant,” said Energoatom President Petro Kotin said. Kotin demanded Russia immediately release Murashov.

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Saturday announced that his telecom firm Reliance Jio will launch 5G services across the country by December 2023. Jio is rapidly progressing to roll out 5G services within this month. Speaking at the IMC 2022 event, Ambani said Jio will launch affordable 5G services and cover every nook and corner of the country by December 2023. 

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi led 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' on Saturday was delayed due to rains in Karnataka. The march on its second day in the state was affected by the torrential rains in Gundlupet. According to the Congress party sources, the Yatra was supposed to start at 6.30 am on Thondavadi in Chamarajanagar district today.

Fire broke out at a mall in Haryana's Gurugram early on Friday. The incident was reported at the Global Foyer mall. Several fire tenders had reached the site and fire personnel are battling to put out the blaze. More details are awaited. 

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Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav has asserted that he was not in a hurry to occupy the highest seat of power in the state and advised leaders of his Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) to refrain from speaking on the issue. Yadav was reacting to RJD state president Jagadanand Singh's recent statement in Delhi that the young leader will become the chief minister by next year, which appears to have consternated some leaders in the JD(U), the party of the incumbent Nitish Kumar.

North Korea has fired suspected ballistic missiles, the Japanese Defense Ministry said Saturday. Further details are still being analysed, ministry officials said. Japan's NHK national television said multiple missiles fired from the North are believed to have landed in the Sea of Japan and outside of Japan's exclusive economic zone. North Korea's escalating missile launches included a firing after U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris' visit in South Korea and the first anti-submarine training in five years among the United States, South Korea and Japan.

In a first, Mahatma Gandhi made a special appearance at the United Nations, sharing his message on education at the world organisation as it commemorated the International Day of Non-Violence on the occasion of the Indian leader’s birth anniversary. The International Day of Non-Violence is observed on October 2, the birthday of Gandhi. According to the General Assembly resolution of June 2007, which established the commemoration, the day is an occasion to "disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness".

Two local Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists planning to target Army's Agniveer recruitment rally were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district on Friday, police said. Speaking to reporters, Senior Superintendent of Police, Baramulla, Rayees Bhat said security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Yedipora area of Pattan early Friday after information was received from intelligence agencies about the presence of terrorists there. "During the search, the terrorists opened fire and an encounter ensued. The operation went on for a long time and in the morning hours, two terrorists were killed," he said.

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and SpaceX are targeting no earlier than October 5 for the launch of the agency's Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) due to Hurricane Ian, the agency said. Mission teams continue to monitor the impacts of Hurricane Ian on the Space Coast and NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida and could adjust the launch date again, NASA was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

Congress leader and former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday said that his party is the only one in the country which has a system for electing its President. Talking to media persons on the sidelines of Bharat Jodo Yatra, he said that the Congress' greatest contribution to Indian politics has been consensus, and "when that is not made possible, we have an election". "Only our party has the tradition of electing party President. The other parties do not have elections to this effect. Our party has a system. It does not matter whether Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge or former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor win the elections," he said. On the candidates, he said: "I don't want to speak personally.. I know Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge as well. We don't have Dalit and other things. One should not see things with the dimension of being a Dalit. All dimensions should be looked at.

Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday said that India can become a "super economic power" given its economic potential. He was speaking on the topic "India's Growth" at an award ceremony organised by Pune Mirror, an English daily. As much as 52 to 54 per cent growth in the country comes from the service industry, 20 to 24 per cent from the manufacturing industry and agriculture and allied sectors contribute 12 to 14 per cent growth, he said.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has issued a circular advising its officials to be "prompt" in giving prior intimation and obtaining prior sanction of the authorities in respect of transaction of any immovable or movable property. As per the circular issued by the central establishment department of the MCD, any failure to abide by the provisions will be "viewed seriously and appropriate action shall be taken" in this regard. Attention is drawn to Rule 18 (2) of of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 which provides for the requirement of giving prior intimation and seeking prior sanction in respect of immovable/movable property transactions, reads the circular dated September 26.