Breaking News, November 19 | HIGHLIGHTS

A total of 67 candidates withdrew their nominations on Saturday, leaving 1,349 in fray for the December 4 Municipal Corporation of Delhi polls here, according to official data.

A sessions court here on Saturday fixed November 23 for hearing the matter related to the killing of a seven-year-old boy at a private school here in September 2017 after the CBI sought time to file its reply.

A massive fire broke out in the Bagracote area of Jalpaiguri today. Six fire tenders were at the spot to douse the fire. Fire brought under control, say police.

The Delhi BJP on Saturday alleged that its candidate from the Mayur Vihar ward and his son were assaulted by AAP nominee and his supporters during a TV debate on the municipal elections.

In a major crackdown on terror nexus, the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday conducted massive searches at 12 locations in connection with The Resistance Front, an LeT shadow organisation, issuing threats to journalists.

As many as 43 people including a boy suffered injuries after a bus carrying Sabarimala pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh met with an accident and overturned near Laha in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district on Saturday.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will campaign for the party in the Gujarat assembly elections on November 21 when he is scheduled to address a rally each in Rajkot and Surat, the party said on Saturday.

Senior bureaucrat Vibhu Nayar has been appointed as Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor in the Ministry of External Affairs as part of a senior-level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the Centre on Saturday.

The opinion poll shows, BJP may get 47 pc scheduled caste votes, 49 pc scheduled tribe votes, 59 pc Kadwa Patel votes, 53 pc Leuva Patel votes, 52 pc OBC votes, 49 pc upper caste Hindu votes and 12 pc Muslim votes. 

Voting percentage wise, the opinion poll says, BJP may get 49.5 per cent, Congress 39.1 pc, AAP may get 8.4 pc and 'Others' may get 3 pc votes. 

This survey has been conducted after collecting samples of around 45,500 people. It includes 27,300 males and 18,200 females. 

Of the total 182 Assembly seats in the state, voting for 89 seats will be held on December 1 and the balance 93 seats on December 5.. Counting on December 8

In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP had pulled off its sixth consecutive victory by winning 99 seats, while the Congress had put up a spirited fight by bagging 77 seats.

India TV-Matrize opinion poll on Gujarat Election 2022 

Having already announced his decision to step down as president of National Conference, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said he will be contesting the next assembly elections. Abdullah, who on Friday had announced he will be relinquishing the presidency of NC next month, said he is not escaping the responsibility and will continue to work to strengthen the party.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday welcomed the Centre’s decision to abolish export duty on low grade iron ore, citing that the move will give a boost to the mining sector and fetch higher revenue for the state government.

The coronavirus situation in China has become grim again with the number of COVID-19 cases rising to over 25,000, including more than 500 in Beijing, prompting the city officials to advise millions of residents to stay home this weekend and undergo daily testing.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill will also hold the government liable in case of a data breach, a government source said on Saturday. The source said that the bill will only cover aspects around digital data as the Ministry of Electronics and IT's mandate is to deal around digital and cyber space.

In a reshuffle, the Chhattisgarh government has assigned fresh postings to seven senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, an official said on Saturday. As per an order issued by the state home department on Friday, D M Awasthi, the director general (DG) of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose State Police Academy in Chandrakhuri, has been appointed as the DG of the state's Economic Offences Wing/Anti-Corruption Bureau (EOW/ACB).

Mumbai's Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan, popularly known as Byculla Zoo, has christened three Humboldt penguins born at the facility in the last seven months, an official said on Saturday.

A man allegedly hired contract killers to murder his father to claim his accidental insurance money in Madhya Pradesh's Barwani district, police said on Saturday. The death came to light when the accused approached Sendhwa police station on November 10 claiming that his 52-year-old father had died after being hit by an unidentified vehicle, superintendent of police (SP) Deepak Kumar Shukla said.

A Pakistani intruder was killed as the Army foiled an infiltration attempt by suspected terrorists along the Line of Control in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, an official said on Saturday. 

Thane district of Maharashtra has reported 11 new coronavirus positive cases, taking its overall infection tally to 7,47,218 a health official said on Saturday. These cases were reported on Friday and there are now 138 active cases in the district, he said.

The nomination papers of two Independent candidates for December 5 Padampur by-election in Odisha were cancelled during the scrutiny while 11 others including BJD, BJP and Congress candidates were found valid, official sources said.

Leaders from around the Asia-Pacific were wrapping up a summit in Bangkok, Thailand, with talks on Saturday on how to steer the region's economies through the turmoil of war, pandemics, and other threats to peace and stability. The 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation(APEC) forum's long-term mission is promoting closer economic ties, but its summits often are sidetracked by other more urgent issues.

Six months after imposition of the levy, the government has cut the export duty on steel products and iron ore with effect from Saturday.
As per a finance ministry notification issued late night on Friday, exports of specified pig iron and steel products as well as iron ore pellets will attract 'nil' export duty.

One labourer died and another was injured after a portion of an under-construction bridge collapsed in Bihar's Nalanda district, police said. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed grief over the loss of life in the incident that occurred in Bhagan Bigha area under the Wena Police Station limits on Friday, a senior officer said.

The UN climate talks have been extended by a day in an effort to break the deadlock over key issues, including mitigation work programme, loss and damage and climate finance. Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said COP27 was supposed to wrap up on Friday but has been "extended by a day to attempt to take the ongoing negotiations to a logical end".

Indian-American Punit Renjen on Friday announced that he would retire as Deloitte Global CEO on December 31 and would be replaced by Joe Ucuzoglu. "It has truly been an honour and privilege to lead Deloitte over the past several years," said Renjen.
As Deloitte Global CEO since 2015, Renjen developed and executed a global strategy that resulted in Deloitte revenue growing from USD35 billion to more than USD59 billion in just seven years.

Federal law enforcement authorities in the US arrested an Indian American, Rathanakishore Giri, in Ohio on Friday on criminal charges related to his alleged involvement in a cryptocurrency investment fraud scheme that raised at least USD 10 million from investors.

A 50-year-old Indian-origin man was charged on Friday for the murder of a Chinese lady, his co-director in a renovation firm. Caleb Joshua Chai Shanmugam is accused of killing Ang Qi Ying, 27, in a ground-floor unit at Block 2 Beach Road around 7 pm on November 9. She was reportedly missing for days before being found in the shop on Sunday. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.