Breaking News, October 30

The Centre on Sunday urged the Supreme Court to dismiss pleas challenging the validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), stressing that the law does not encourage “illegal migration” in Assam or any future influx of foreigners in the country.

Police have recovered a consignment of weapons dropped from a drone along the International Border (IB) in RS Pura Sector and arrested two people here, an official said on Sunday. The consignment comprised four pistols, eight magazines and 47 rounds, he said.

A 26-year-old woman allegedly hanged herself in Delhi's Sultanpuri area, with her family members alleging that she was killed over dowry, police said on Sunday. A case was registered against the woman's husband Rajesh and he has been arrested, a senior police officer said.

 Sri Lanka on Sunday received a consignment of medicines from the Government of Puducherry to be used for the Tamil workers in the hill plantation regions of the island nation’s central province, according to the office of President Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will share the dais to pay tributes to tribal freedom fighters at Mangarh Dham in the state's Banswara district on November 1, an official said. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will also be present on the occasion.

A 40-year-old man was charred to death after a fire broke out at his shop in west Delhi's Baba Haridas Nagar area in the early hours of Sunday, police said. Information about the fire was received at around 2.20 am, they said.

 A bank employee was allegedly robbed of Rs 11.75 lakh cash while he was on his way to deposit the money at the bank's branch in Kalyan city in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Sunday.

Delhi's air quality was in the 'very poor' category on Sunday and deteriorated to the 'severe category' in some areas, with forecasters saying that slow wind speed and an increase in stubble burning, especially in Punjab, may make it worse.

The Samajwadi Party on Sunday hit out at the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government of Uttar Pradesh for not fulfilling its poll promise of giving a free gas cylinder to Ujjwala scheme beneficiaries on Holi and Diwali, a charge denied by the ruling party. Hitting back at the opposition SP, BJP leader Manish Shukla accused it of lying, and said, "The Uttar Pradesh government is number one in the country in fulfilling promises made to the public."

A 15-year-old girl was allegedly molested and assaulted by a teacher of a government school here, police said on Sunday. The District Basic Education Officer has suspended the teacher with immediate effect, officials said, adding that the girl studies in the same school.

The Telangana government has withdrawn general consent given to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the state. According to a state government order issued on August 30, prior consent of Telangana is required for the central probe agency on a case-to-case basis to investigate in the state.

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Sunday said the city government has set up 586 teams to ensure strict implementation of the ban on construction and demolition activities in the national capital in view of worsening air quality.

The fledgling Aam Aadmi Party in Karnataka is aiming big in the upcoming state assembly election as it has decided to field candidates in all 224 constituencies with anti-corruption agenda as its main plank, a party leader said.

The Congress will provide fixed jobs for contractual workers, bring back the old pension scheme (OPS) and ensure timely promotions if it comes to power in Gujarat, former party chief Rahul Gandhi said on Sunday.

The BJP in Bihar received a shot in the arm on Sunday with Chirag Paswan, head of Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) announcing that he will support its candidates in by-polls to a couple of assembly seats scheduled next week.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that India is doing wonders in the solar as well as space sectors and the whole world is "surprised" to see its achievements.

A 40-year-old man died in a fire that broke out at his shop in west Delhi's Baba Haridas Nagar area in the early hours of Sunday, police said. Information about the fire was received around 2.20 am, they said.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday condoled the loss of lives in a stampede in South Korea, and said India stands in solidarity with that country during this difficult time. At least 150 people, mostly in their teens and 20s, died after getting trapped and crushed after a huge Halloween party crowd surged into a narrow alley in Seoul.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday questioned the intention of the Bharatiya Janata Party government in poll-bound Gujarat behind its move to constitute a committee to implement the Uniform Civil Code and said if the BJP wants to do so, it should do it across the country.

An MP-MLA court here has issued a contempt notice and ordered the arrest of an investigating officer in a case of violation of the model code of conduct pending against former Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Prasad Prajapati.

A 42-year-old property-dealer was shot dead by unidentified assailants in his sleep in the early hours of Sunday, police said here. Family members of the man have so far refused to hand over the body to the police and have not even filed a complaint yet, they said.

Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan has quashed "rumours" that he is abandoning the long march to hold talks with the government, saying no dialogue will be held until authorities announced a date for snap elections.

Following allegations that his office tried to bribe some journalists by sending Rs 1 lakh cash gifts to them on Deepavali, along with sweet boxes, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Sunday denying his role, called it a "lie" and part of the "Congress' toolkit".

The High Court of Karnataka has quashed the land acquisition process in Byadagi taluk of Haveri district for widening a state highway there.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday described Jammu and Kashmir as the pride of every Indian, and said that it is time to leave behind the old challenges and take full benefit of new possibilities.

Delhi recorded its air quality in the 'very poor' category on Sunday morning and forecasters said slow wind speed and an increase in stubble burning, especially in Punjab, may push it to the 'severe' zone. With pollution levels worsening, the Centre's air quality panel on Saturday directed authorities to impose a ban on construction and demolition activities in Delhi-NCR, except in essential projects, and other curbs under stage III of the Graded Response Action Plan. Delhi's overall air quality index (AQI) stood at 367 at 9 am. The 24-hour average AQI on Saturday was 397, the worst since January. It was 354 on Thursday, 271 on Wednesday, 302 on Tuesday and 312 on Monday (Diwali).

India and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries are expected to start negotiations for a free trade agreement next month with an aim to boost economic ties between the two regions, an official said.

Somalia's president says at least 100 people were killed in Saturday's two car bombings at a busy junction in the capital and the toll could rise. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in a statement at the site of the explosions told journalists early Sunday that nearly 300 other people were wounded.

The forest department caught a male leopard from Aarey Colony in Mumbai early Sunday morning, the second feline to be captured in the last five days, an official said. The leopard walked into a cage trap set up in unit 15 of the Aarey Colony, a green belt in Mumbai's western suburb of Goregaon and located close to the sprawling Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), he said. It was later taken to a rescue centre at the SGNP, the official said. Earlier, a one-and-a-half-year-old girl was attacked and killed by a leopard in a forested area in unit number 15 of the Aarey Colony on Monday morning when the child followed her mother who was on way to a temple nearby.

National Conference leader and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah has said he wishes for the return of peace in Jammu and Kashmir so that all communities could live without fear. Recalling the communal bonhomie that existed in the erstwhile state before the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in the 1990s, he said, "There was a time we were together and then a wave came and we separated". Abdullah was speaking on Saturday after releasing a book, 'When the Heart Speaks - Memoirs of a Cardiologist', written by renowned heart specialist Dr Upendra Kaul, a Kashmiri Pandit. The function was also attended by NC vice president and former chief minister Omar Abdullah.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi has claimed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is raising the issue of Uniform Civil Code to get votes in the forthcoming Gujarat Assembly elections and to push its Hindutva agenda. Addressing an election rally on Saturday at Vadgam in Banaskantha district of Gujarat, where the Assembly polls are due this year-end, the Hyderabad MP also asked if the "exclusion" of Muslims and Christians from income tax benefits for Hindu Undivided Family was not against the principle of equality.

The Election Commission is likely to announce schedule for the Gujarat Assembly polls this week. Citing convention followed in 2017, the poll panel had not announced the Gujarat poll schedule when it came out with Himachal Pradesh election dates earlier this month. While election in HP will be held in a single phase on November 12, the counting will take place on December 8. By keeping the counting date for Himachal Pradesh nearly a month after polling, the Commission had given a clear hint that votes for Gujarat would also be counted on December 8.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a telephonic conversation with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and discussed the ongoing Ukraine war, counterterrorism and other regional and global issues. Jaishankar thanked Blinken for his "strong and clear message" on counter-terrorism as well as his call for holding those responsible for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks accountable. The two leaders spoke on Saturday. “The two discussed regional and global issues, including counterterrorism cooperation and Russia’s continuing aggression against Ukraine,” Ned Price, spokesperson of the State Department said in a readout of the call on Saturday.

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Two car bombs exploded Saturday at a busy junction in Somalia's capital near key government offices, causing “scores of civilian casualties" including children, national police said. One hospital worker counted at least 30 bodies amid fears of possibly many more. The attack in Mogadishu occurred on a day when the president, prime minister and other senior officials were meeting to discuss expanded efforts to combat violent extremism, especially by the al-Qaida-affiliated al-Shabab group that often targets the capital. It also came five years after another massive blast in the exact same location killed over 500 people. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Al-Shabab rarely claims attacks with large numbers of civilians killed, as in the 2017 blast.

A boat off northern Cuba travelling toward the United States sank Saturday after a collision with a Cuban coast guard ship, and at least five people died, Cuban state media reported. The craft reportedly flipped over after the crash near Bahía Honda, about two hours from the capital of Havana. Among the five known dead were a minor and three women, while 23 people were rescued, the Cubadebate report said. Further details were not released, with Cuban officials telling the state channel that an investigation was underway.

A mass of mostly young people celebrating Halloween festivities in Seoul became trapped and crushed as the crowd surged into a narrow alley, killing at least 149 people and injuring 150 others in South Korea's worst disaster in years. Emergency workers and pedestrians desperately performed CPR on people lying in the streets after the crush in the capital's leisure district of Itaewon Saturday night. Choi Seong-beom, chief of Seoul's Yongsan fire department, said the death toll could rise further and that an unspecified number among the injured were in critical condition. An estimated 100,000 people had gathered in Itaewon for the country's biggest outdoor Halloween festivities since the pandemic began.

Four people, including a policeman, were killed and six injured after landslides struck near the under-construction Ratle power project in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district on Saturday, officials said. An operation to find and rescue survivors trapped under the debris has concluded, they said. Labourers were working on the construction of a link road near the Ratle power project site and a JCB machine was digging when a big boulder rolled down, trapping the workers, Kishtwar Deputy Commissioner (DC) Devansh Yadav said. As an operation team comprising six people rushed to the spot to rescue those trapped under the debris, another landslide hit the area, burying more people, the officials said.