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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch 'Rozgar Mela', a drive to recruit 10 lakh people, on October 22 via video-conference and appointment letters will be given to 75,000 candidates during the ceremony, the PMO said on Thursday. The PMO said this will be a significant step forward towards fulfilling the continuous commitment of the prime minister to providing job opportunities for the youth and ensuring welfare of citizens. According to Modi's directions, all ministries and departments are working towards filling up existing vacancies against sanctioned posts in a "mission mode", the statement from the Prime Minister's Office said.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday offered prayers at the ancient hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala near here. Sitharaman arrived here on Wednesday with her family on a three-day visit and before reaching the sacred hills on Wednesday night, worshipped at the shrines of Goddess Sri Padmavathi here and Lord Sri Varasiddhi Vinayaka Swamy at Kanipakam 70 km from. After a night halt on the hills, the Union Minister visited the temple and worshipped Lord Venkateswara this morning, a temple official told PTI. On arrival at the shrine, TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy and TTD Additional Executive Officer AV Dharma Reddy accorded her a warm welcome, the official said. On Friday, Sitaraman would worship at the ancient shrine of Lord Shiva called Sri Vaayulingeswara Swamy, one of the famous 'Panchbhutha shrines' in the country, at Sri Kalahasthi 40 km from here, the official said. 

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday said overconsumption has resulted in a three-fold planetary emergency of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, and called for the need to treat the earth's resources judiciously and respectfully. Guterres, who jointly launched Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) with Prime Minister Narendra Modi here, lamented that in the current times, greed was prevailing over need, and urged people to adopt a sustainable way of living. "In this perilous time, we need all hands on deck. There is no greater challenge than climate change. Overconsumption has resulted in a three-fold planetary emergency of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution," he said.

The Sourav Ganguly-BCCI episode has brought Bengali sub-nationalism, which has gained strength in West Bengal politics since the growth of BJP in the state, back to the fore with the ruling TMC being the biggest beneficiary of the current issue and the saffron party walking a tightrope. Roger Binny, a member of the 1983 World Cup winning squad, has been elected as the 36th president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), taking over from Ganguly. However, the sports body's AGM on Tuesday concluded without any discussion on the ICC election.

The third round of inter-state boundary talks between Mizoram and Assam would be held on November 4 in Guwahati, a Home department official said here on Thursday. The Assam government on Thursday intimated to the Mizoram Home department to hold a minister-level meeting in Guwahati on November 4 to find an amicable solution to the vexed border dispute, the official said. While the Mizoram delegation would be headed by Home minister Lalchamliana, Assam Border Protection and Development minister Atul Bora is expected to lead the Assam team, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday launched Mission LiFE, a global plan of action aimed at saving the planet from the disastrous consequences of climate change. The launch comes ahead of next month’s mega UN climate meet in Egypt. The action plan - a list of ideas on lifestyle changes that can be taken up as climate-friendly behaviour - along with the logo and tagline for Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) were jointly launched by Modi and Guterres.

Steel prices fell about 40 per cent to Rs 57,000 a tonne in the domestic market over the last six months on subdued export orders in the wake of the 15 per cent export levy, according to SteelMint. In early 2022, the prices of hot rolled coil (HRC) started showing an upward trend. It had become a matter of concern for the user industries as movements in steel prices have a direct impact on industries like real estate and housing, infrastructure and construction, automobile and consumer goods. The steel prices in the domestic market peaked at Rs 78,800 per tonne in April. After 18 per cent GST levy, the price was about Rs 93,000 per tonne, the research firm said.

Normal life was thrown out of gear after heavy rains lashed Bengaluru on Wednesday night, which resulted in flooding in parts of the city, waterlogging, incidents of tree fall, damage to certain infrastructure and power outage in several parts. The 70 mm rainfall, as recorded by the Meteorology department, brought parts of the city to its knees. Over a month after the flooding on September 7, the city once again received heavy downpour affecting most the areas. The worst effect of the rain was seen at Seshasdripuram where the retaining wall of the Metro Rail collapsed damaging seven cars and a few bikes. No one was present when the wall came down crashing.

Equity benchmark indices began the trade on a bearish note on Thursday halting their four-day rally following weak global market trends and continuous foreign fund outflow. The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 315.91 points to 58,791.28 in early trade. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty fell 90.2 points to 17,422.05. From the Sensex pack, IndusInd Bank, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra, NTPC, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC and Maruti were the biggest laggards in early trade. Nestle, Reliance Industries, ITC and Hindustan Unilever were among the winners. Among other Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lower. Wall Street ended in the negative territory on Wednesday.

Heavy snowfall in the high-altitude areas of Jammu on Thursday forced the closure of Mughal Road which connects the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri with south Kashmir's Shopian, officials said. Several areas of Doda, Kishtwar, Rajouri, Reasi, Poonch, Ramban and Kathua districts witnessed heavy snowfall since Wednesday night. "Mughal Road has been closed for vehicular traffic due to heavy snowfall," Deputy Superintendent of Police, Traffic (Rajouri-Poonch Range), Aftab Bukhari told PTI. The road surface has become slippery due to the sharp drop in temperatures, the officials said. On October 18 as well, the road remained closed for a day due to snowfall and nearly 100 passengers stranded due to the suspension of traffic were rescued on Wednesday. The weather office has forecast light to moderate rains and snowfall in the Union territory. 

The Delhi Police's Special Cell has nabbed gangster Deepak Tinu, who is an accused in singer Sidhu Moosewala's murder and escaped from Punjab police custody on October 1, from Rajasthan’s Alwar, officials said. Special Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) HGS Dhaliwal said Tinu kept changing his hideout after fleeing from Mansa in Punjab. 

The Assam government will distribute scooters among nearly 36,000 meritorious students, mostly girls, who have passed this year's higher secondary examinations. A proposal for implementing the programme at a cost of Rs 258.9 crore was passed by the state cabinet on Wednesday, Education Minister Ranoj Pegu told reporters after its meeting chaired by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

Dozens of vehicles, including semitrailers, were involved in a deadly crash in heavy fog on Interstate 5 in Oregon. One person was killed in the multi-vehicle crash that happened in the southbound lanes of the interstate north of Eugene on Wednesday, Oregon State Police told KOIN-TV. About 60 vehicles, including up to 20 semitrailers, were involved in the crash on Wednesday morning that spanned more than a m

Ahead of the crucial mid-term polls, US President Joe Biden has announced a slew of measures to lower gas prices, which have been hurting the middle class. Biden, in a major policy speech, reiterated that Russian President Vladimir Putin was responsible for the hike in energy prices in the US.
“When the price of gas goes up, other expenses get cut. That's why I have been doing everything in my power to reduce gas prices since Putin's invasion of Ukraine caused these prices to spike and rattled international oil markets,” he said in a speech. Biden said the Department of Energy will release another 15 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, extending the previously announced release, through the month of December. He said independent analysts have confirmed that drawdowns from the reserves so far have played a big role in bringing down oil prices. So, we're going to continue to responsibly use that national asset, he said.

Mexican activists filed a criminal complaint at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, arguing authorities cooperated with or allowed drug cartels to abduct people who were never seen again. The case involves hundreds of people who disappeared in Mexico's Gulf coast state of Veracruz between 2010 and 2016. While many are believed to have been kidnapped and killed by drug gangs, corrupt police are believed to have abducted many, as well.
The International Federation for Human Rights filed the complaint on behalf of activist groups that have helped locate hundreds of clandestine graves in Veracruz.

The Biden administration has announced a round of criminal charges and sanctions related to a complicated scheme to procure military technologies from US manufacturers and illegally supply them to Russia for its war in Ukraine. Some of the equipment was recovered on battlefields in Ukraine, the Justice Department said, and other nuclear proliferation technology was intercepted in Latvia before it could be shipped to Russia. The Justice Department charged nine people in separate cases in New York and Connecticut, as well as two oil brokers for Venezuela.

Stocks are broadly lower on Wall Street in afternoon trading Wednesday, giving back some of the market's recent gains, as investors weigh another batch of company earnings reports. Several companies including Netflix and United Airlines rose sharply after releasing their quarterly reports, while others, including Abbott Laboratories and M&T Bank, sank. The S&P 500 fell 1.1% as of 2 p.m. Eastern. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 228 points, or 0.8%, to 30,297 and the Nasdaq fell 1.3%. Smaller companies fell more than the rest of the market.

The Uttarakhand High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition seeking a CBI probe into the State Subordinate Services Selection Board question paper leak case. The petition was filed by Deputy Leader of Opposition in the state assembly and Congress MLA Bhuvan Kapri. Earlier, the court had asked the petitioner why he had doubts about the investigation being conducted by the Special Task Force (STF) in the matter. A single bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Mishra asked the state government to prepare a complete chart on the matter, explaining how irregularities happened and how people got appointments. The court also asked the petitioner to explain his locus standi to file a PIL.