Breaking News, September 23

A Kremlin-orchestrated referendum got underway Friday in occupied regions of Ukraine that sought to make them part of Russia, with some officials carrying ballots to apartment blocks accompanied by gun-toting police. Kyiv and the West condemned it as a rigged election whose result was preordained by Moscow.

Three people, including a child, were killed and two others injured after they were struck by lightning in separate incidents here on Friday, officials said.

Sebi on Friday levied fines totalling Rs 23 lakh on three entities for violating open offer and disclosure lapses in the matter of Rammaica India Ltd. The regulator imposed a fine of Rs 17 lakh on Tien Trading Pvt Ltd, Rs 4 lakh on Artlink Vintrade Ltd and Rs 2 lakh on Kyner Trading Pvt Ltd, according to a Sebi order.

A woman from here was allegedly kidnapped when she had gone to a field to collect fodder and held captive in a Rajasthan village for 36 days, during which she was gang-raped multiple times, police said.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Friday criticised the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal for its alleged “neck deep” involvement in the school teachers recruitment scam and wondered when will it wake up from its "slumber" and give justice to aspirants of school jobs.

A 35-year-old man's body was found on Gudana road here, police said on Friday. The body of the deceased was spotted by villagers who informed the police.

The body of a man, appearing to be around 40 years old, was found in an underground water tank near Delhi's Connaught Place on Friday, police said.

The country's forex kitty continued its southward journey, with the overall reserves declining by USD 5.219 billion to USD 545.652 billion for the week ended September 16, the RBI said on Friday. The reserves, which have been dipping as the central bank deploys the kitty to defend the rupee amid pressure caused majorly by global developments, had declined by USD 2.23 billion to USD 550.87 billion in the previous week.

Sarpanch of Jaitusar Gram Panchayat of Sikar was arrested on Friday by the anti-corruption bureau for allegedly accepting a bribe from a complainant.

The Congress will take out a day-long yatra in Gujarat's Saurashtra region on September 28 during the festival of Navratri, a senior leader said on Friday. The yatra called 'Chalo Congress Ke Saath Ma Ke Dwar' (Let's go with the Congress to the goddess' door) will begin from Rajkot city, MLA Lalit Kagathara said.

A Principal District and Sessions court here on Friday allowed an Enforcement Directorate (ED) application seeking transfer of the money laundering case against Delhi minister Satyendar Jain to another judge, saying the overall circumstances could raise apprehension of a probable bias.

Economists are unanimous in forecasting that the central bank has no other option but to deliver a 50 bps rate hike next week and take the terminal rate to 6.25 per cent by December. Economists from SBI, UBS, Goldman Sachs, Barclays and Bank of Baroda in a rare unanimous call see the RBI-led monetary policy committee delivering a 50 bps hike on September 30, taking the overall repo rate increase 290 bps to 5.90 per cent since May this year.

More than 35 members of the Popular Front of India were detained on Friday while protesting outside the Pune district collectorate against nationwide raids on the outfit by the National Investigation Agency a day earlier. Senior Inspector Pratap Mankar of Bundgarden police station said 35-40 PFI activists were detained as they did not have permission from authorities to hold a protest.

Hilary Mantel, the British author of the best-selling Wolf Hall trilogy and the first woman to win the prestigious Booker Prize twice, has died. She was 70, her publisher and agent said on Friday.

In a bid to become prime minister, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar backstabbed the BJP to join hands with RJD and Congress, Union Home Minister Amit Shah claimed on Friday. Asserting that the BJP will form a government with full majority in the state, Shah alleged that Kumar does not have any ideology, so he gave up socialism in faovour of the caste-based politics. "Nitish-ji, you did the same thing in 2014. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the people of Bihar will rout this Mahagathbandhan in Bihar. BJP will form a government with full majority after the 2025 assembly polls," Shah claimed at his party's rally in Purnea.

Only 19 per cent of those aged between 18 to 59 have taken the precautionary doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in Delhi, according to official data. As of now, the overall percentage of precautionary dose vaccination stands at 24 per cent. In the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) meeting held on Thursday, there was a consensus that this percentage needs to be brought up to at least 40-50 per cent. Out of a total of 1.33 crore beneficiaries eligible for the precaution doses, only 31.49 lakh (24 per cent) had taken them till September 20. According to official data, as of September 20, a total of 1.14 crore beneficiaries were due for precaution doses in the age group of 18 to 59 with only 21.21 lakh taking it.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Friday wondered if there will a change in the "negative attitude" of the BJP and its governments towards Muslims after the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat visited a mosque and a madrassa in Delhi. Taking forward his outreach to the Muslim community, the RSS chief had on Thursday visited a mosque and a madrassa in Delhi and held discussions with chief of All India Imam Organisation Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, who had termed him as 'rashtra pita'. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) sarsanghchalak' went to a mosque in central Delhi's Kasturba Gandhi Marg and followed it up with a visit to the Madarsa Tajweedul Quran in Azadpur in north Delhi.

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed proceedings against former Karnataka chief minister and senior BJP leader B S Yediyurappa in an alleged corruption case. A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Hima Kohli issued notice to the private complainant on a plea challenging the Karnataka High Court order restoring the complaint against Yediyurappa and others. "There shall be a stay of proceedings so far as the petitioner is concerned," the bench said. The Karnataka High Court on September 7 had restored a private complaint against Yediyurappa and his family members. The complainant had accused him of taking bribe for awarding government contracts.

The new telecom bill is expected to be in place in 6-10 months but the government is not in a hurry, communications minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday. "Basis consultation process, we will create final draft. That draft will then go through committee processes of Parliament. Then it has to go (to) Parliament. I see a timeline of 6-10 months but we are not in a hurry," Vaishnaw said when asked about a timeline for implementation of the final bill. The Department of Telecommunications has set the deadline of October 20 on the draft bill. The bill seeks to replace three laws: the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933 and the Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1950. However, with a view to ensuring smooth transition to the new framework and avoid any possible disruption, the bill provides for continuity of actions taken under the repealed laws. It also provides that rules under the repealed laws would continue till such time that new rules are formulated. 

The overall death toll in Pakistan from the devastating floods has increased to 1,596, with 12,863 others injured, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said. In the last 24 hours, 20 new fatalities were reported, reports Xinhua news agency citing the NDMA as saying. The victims included 17 children and most of the deaths were reported in the worst-hit Sindh province.

China and Russia reiterated the importance they attach to the status and role of Brazil, India and South Africa in international affairs and supported their "aspiration to play a greater role” in the UN, according to a statement issued after the meeting of the BRICS foreign ministers. Brazilian Foreign Minister Carlos Alberto Franco Franca, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa Naledi Pandor met here Thursday for the annual BRICS Ministers of Foreign Affairs and International Relations meeting on the margins of the high-level UN General Assembly session. The five BRICS countries- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa- represent over 3.6 billion people or half of the world population.

The rupee depreciated 44 paise and slipped below the 81-mark against the US dollar for the first time in early trade on Friday, weighed down by the strong american currency and risk-off sentiment among investors. Forex traders said escalation of geopolitical risk in Ukraine and rate hikes by the US Fed and Bank of England in a bid to contain inflation sapped risk appetite. Further, the strength of the American currency in the overseas market, a negative trend in domestic equities, and risk-off moods amid escalation of geopolitical risk in Ukraine weighed on the local unit. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 81.08 against the greenback, then fell further to 81.23, registering a fall of 44 paise over its previous closing.

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Sporadic incidents of violence were reported in various parts of Kerala as the dawn-to-dusk hartal called by radical Islamic outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) was underway in the southern state on Friday. The hartal was called by the PFI to protest against the raids in the offices and residences of its leaders and their subsequent arrests on Thursday by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and other agencies for allegedly supporting terror activities in the country. Stones were pelted at Kerala State Road Transport Corporation buses (KSRTC) in various districts including Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kozhikode, Wayanad, and Alappuzha.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has signed off on Canada dropping the vaccine requirement for people entering the country at the end of September, an official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday. Canada, like the United States, requires foreign nationals to be vaccinated when entering the country. No change in the mandate is expected in the US in the near term. Unvaccinated foreign travellers who are allowed to enter Canada are currently subject to mandatory arrival tests and a 14-day quarantine. The official said that Trudeau has agreed to let a cabinet order enforcing mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements at the border expire September 30.

Rains continued to lash parts of Delhi, leading to waterlogging and affecting traffic movement in several areas of the city. The national capital has been witnessing an incessant spell of light to moderate rain for the past two days. The weather department has predicted more rains on Friday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a 'yellow alert', cautioning people about moderate rain at most places in the city. "Light intensity rain/drizzle would occur over and adjoining areas of many places of South-Delhi, South-East Delhi, NCR ( Hindon AF Station, Ghaziabad, Indirapuram, Chhapraula, Noida, Dadri, Greater Noida, Gurugram, Faridabad, Manesar, Ballabhgarh) Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra... Kotputli, Alwar (Rajasthan) during next 2 hours," IMD's RWFC tweeted at around 8 am.

The Madras High Court has rejected a plea from the parents of S Swathi (24), a techie, who was murdered at a platform in the Nungambakkam railway station here in 2016, seeking Rs 3 crore as compensation from the Southern Railway due to the "sheer negligence" on the part of the railway authorities. Justice R Subramanian rejected the plea from K Santhanakrishnan and his wife A Ranganayagi, made in November 2016, on Thursday. The writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution before the Court is not the right forum to order compensation, the judge said and advised the couple to approach the appropriate one having civil jurisdiction.

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Kerala police have beefed up security in the state and issued directions to the district police chiefs to ensure law and order after the radical Islamic outfit Popular Front of India (PFI) called for a state-wide hartal on Friday. The dawn-to-dusk hartal was called by the PFI to protest against the raids in the offices and residences of its leaders and their subsequent arrests on Thursday by the NIA and other agencies for allegedly supporting terror activities in the country. A statement issued by the police said stern action will be taken against those who violate the law. "All the policemen in the state will be deployed for the maintenance of law and order, " the statement said. Meanwhile, the state-run KSRTC has informed that it will operate as usual.

Stark repudiation by federal judges he appointed. Far-reaching fraud allegations by New York's attorney general. It's been a week of widening legal troubles for Donald Trump, laying bare the challenges piling up as the former president operates without the protections afforded by the White House. The bravado that served him well in the political arena is less handy in a legal realm dominated by verifiable evidence, where judges this week have looked askance at his claims and where a fraud investigation that took root when Trump was still president burst into public view in an allegation-filled 222-page state lawsuit.

The Odisha cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to bring lime stone under the purview of Long-Term Linkage (LTL) policy, in a bid to streamline its supply to the industries of the state. These industries will henceforth be getting their lime stone supply through Odisha Mining Corporation Limited (OMC), said Chief Secretary SC Mohapatra. The proposal to bring lime stone under the LTL policy was put forth by Industrial Development Corporation Of Odisha Limited, which has been merged with OMC, Mohapatra explained. Maintaining that the move will enhance limestone production and ensure its optimum utilisation, Mohapatra said the state exchequer, in turn, will be benefited.