Breaking news on September 26

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the honey-trap case in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday has created an e-mail ID to receive complaints about such incidents from anywhere in the state.

Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Daljit Singh Cheema on Thursday said the party will contest elections in Haryana on its own.

Breaking his silence for the first time over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman has said that he bears responsibility for the killing because it "happened under his watch".

"It happened under my watch. I get all the responsibility, because it happened under my watch," the Crown Prince, also known as MBS, told American public broadcaster PBS, according to a preview of a documentary to be aired on October 1, ahead of the first anniversary of the journalist's death.

The Crown Prince, however, reiterated that the incident happened without his knowledge, Anadolu news agency reported citing the broadcaster.

The documentary, "The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia", examines the Saudi leader's rise, his rule and ties to the events surrounding Khashoggi's murder.

Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat to be the new chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee (CCS) tomorrow.

Axis Bank on Thursday said it has raised Rs 12,500 crore through qualified institutional placement (QIP) to fund business growth.

The private sector lender is the second after Yes Bank to raise funds through QIP this year. Yes Bank mopped up Rs 1,930 crore through the route.

"We understand that the transaction is the largest ever QIP by a private sector issuer in India. Despite a challenging macro-economic and market environment, the placement has witnessed strong reception from the global and domestic investor community," Axis Bank said in a statement.

Shahjanhanpur court on September 30 will hear the bail plea of law student arrested for allegedly trying to extort Rs 5 crore from Chinmayanand.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to commission the second Kalvari class Submarine INS Khanderi on September 28 in Mumbai. The Defence Minister will proceed to Goa from there to spend a day on the INS Vikramaditya.

As the CBI raided the office and residence of former Bengaluru Police Commissioner Alok Kumar on Thursday in connection with a phone tapping case,
former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy said he is not worried as he has no connection with the matter.

"Let them raid whoever they want to. Why are you asking me? How am I connected to it?" Kumaraswamy told reporters in reaction to the raids on Kumar.

When it was pointed out that the searches pertained to phone tapping during his tenure as chief minister, Kumaraswamy said, "Everybody does it during their tenure. If they investigate how the phone tapping happened in the past, then why should I be worried about it?"

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to commission the second Kalvari class Submarine INS Khanderi on September 28 in Mumbai. The Defence Minister will proceed to Goa from there to spend a day on the INS Vikramaditya.

Olympic Medallist Yogeshwar Dutt joins BJP in presence of Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Subhash Barala.

Former Indian Hockey captain Sandeep Singh joins BJP today in Delhi, in presence of Haryana Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Subhash Barala.

The Reserve Bank of India lifted its curb on Mumbai-based PMC Bank today. The RBI increased withdrawal limit to Rs 10,000 per account, television channel reported. 

CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) surveillance & intelligence unit at IGI Airport yesterday recovered peacock feathers weighing about 49 kg from bags of a passenger Naseer Ansari (Indian), bound for Hong Kong, during checking at Terminal-3. 

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Thursday laid the foundation stone of the Bhopal metro rail project to be set up at a cost of Rs 6,941.4 crore. Nath performed the 'bhumi pujan' (ground-breaking ceremony) for the project near Gayatri Mandir on Hoshangabad Road.

Two metro rail corridors will be built in the city, one 14.94-km-long, connecting Karond Circle to AIIMS, and the other 12.88-km-long, from Bhadbhada Chouraha to Ratnagiri Square. 

A bodybuilder in Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh) has gone on the rampage, assaulting people in the market. Police had to be called in and a net was later used to nab him and bring the situation under control. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday (local time) met his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern on the sidelines of 74th United Nations General Assembly session here and discussed a variety of matters including international terrorism.

Intelligence agencies have warned about plans of international terror outfits including Al-Qaeda and cells affiliated to the Islamic States (IS) of attacking Jewish and Israeli communities in India during their holiday season in September and October.

Election Commission of India announces by polls for two Rajya Sabha seats, one each from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, on October 16. The seats have been vacated after the deaths of former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and senior Supreme Court Advocate and former Union Minister, Ram Jethmalani.

President Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) Prafulla P Chhajed briefed media on candidates protest against alleged error in evaluation of papers. 

ICAI President said, "Under coding system, nobody can identify which answer paper belongs to whom. It is absolutely a human untouched system."

"10 per cent of papers are reviewed to ensure quality check. Students can also apply for re-evaluation. Indian Chartered Accountant qualification is a benchmark against those of various advanced countries." he further said.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has sought the intervention of both the Centre and Odisha Government for accelerating Rourkela Smart City project
saying only Rs 22.23 crore of the Rs 376 crore sanctioned for the work has so far been spent.

Amid campaign against single-use plastic in the country, President Ram Nath Kovind will be welcomed with flowers wrapped in paper, when he will arrive at the city airport on September 28, an official statement said on Thursday.

Assam Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has found a doctor of an urban health centre guilty of medical negligence leading to the death of a woman and ordered him to provide Rs 5 lakh compensation to the patient's husband.

The Jharkhand government on Thursday named Jamtara districts Karmatand block as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar block as a mark of respect to the great social reformer on his birth anniversary.

Employees of Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative (PMC) Bank sit outside the residence of the owner of Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) group, in protest. The group is a loan defaulter at the bank.

The contingent received appreciation and medals from the Defence Minister and Central Army commander of Russia. They also received medals and certificates from China and Tajikistan for their performance during the exercise.

The contingent of Grenadiers reached Adampur airbase, Jalandhar earlier today after participating in multilateral Exercise TSENTR 2019, which concluded in Russia on Sept 23. It was conducted by Central Military Commission of Russia where 9 nations participated.

Account holders of Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank (PMC) today gathered outside Sion branch after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) restricted its activities for 6 months.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath on Thursday announced that the Bhopal metro will be named after Raja Bhoj and known as 'Bhoj metro'.

An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.8 on the Richter Scale hit Pakistan and India (Jammu and Kashmir) Border Region today at 12:31 pm.

ISRO chief K Sivan on Thursday said that the Chandrayaan2 orbiter is doing very well and all payload operations have commenced. The Indian space agency hasn't yet got any signal from Vikram lander but orbiter is working very well. A national-level committee is now analysing what really went wrong with the lander.

After the committees' report, ISRO will work on the future plan. Necessary approvals and other processes are required. We are working on that.

Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar has moved Delhi High Court for bail in a money laundering case. Yesterday his bail plea was dismissed by the trial Court.

Total 11 deaths have been reported in Pune district due to heavy rain till now. Eight bodies recovered in city area while 3 bodies are recovered in Khed Shivapur.

Delhi HC to hear detailed arguments in Enforcement Directorate's plea challenging Robert Vadra's bail, on 5 November. The court is hearing plea of ED challenging trial court order which granted anticipatory bail to Vadra and his close aide Manoj Arora in a money laundering case.

Complaint filed against Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and AAP MLA Saurabh Bhardwaj by BJP leaders Neelkant Bakshi and Kapil Mishra for 'spreading false rumours on NRC, lying on guidelines set by Supreme Court, comparing citizens of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Rajasthan with infiltrators'.

The Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Thursday said that the hearing of Ayodhya disputed land case will not be exceeding beyond October 18. 

A team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is conducting searches at the residence and office of Bengaluru's former police commissioner Alok Kumar, in connection with Karnataka phone tapping case.

The State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Rajnish Kumar launched digital banking app Yono for its customers of SBI (UK) Limited. 

Fadnavis said, "Pained to know about the loss of lives in and around Pune due to heavy rains. My deepest condolences to the families. We are providing all possible assistance needed."

He further said, "State disaster management officials and control room are in continuous touch with Pune collector and Municipal Corporation. Two NDRF teams are deployed in Pune and two in Baramati. One more NDRF team is on way to Baramati. State Govt is also closely monitoring the dam discharge."

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday announced to start an English language channel in collaboration with Turkey and Malaysia. The channel will be dedicated to confronting the challenges posed by Islamophobia and setting the record straight on our great religion - Islam.

Equity benchmark BSE Sensex rallied over 400 points in early session on Thursday, led by gains in banking stocks, tracking positive cues from global markets.

After hitting a high of 39,008.83, the 30-share index was trading 384.54 points, or 1 per cent, higher at 38,978.06 at 0945 hours, while the broader Nifty rose 120.75 points, or 1.06 per cent, to 11,560.95.

In the previous session on Wednesday, the BSE barometer ended 503.62 points, or 1.29 per cent, lower at 38,593.52. The broader NSE Nifty plunged 148 points, or 1.28 per cent, to 11,440.20.

Union Home Minister and BJP president Amit Shah, national working president JP Nadda, CM Devendra Fadnavis and other top leaders of BJP to hold a meeting today over the upcoming Maharashtra assembly elections at the party headquarter in Delhi.

Pune Rural Police said on Thursday that five people have been washed away near Khed Shivapur in Pune district last night due to heavy rain and increased level of water of Nullah. Police have recovered 3 bodies till now while search for 2 more is still going on.

"Due to very heavy rainfall at Saswad, 85000 cusecs of water was discharged from Nazare Dam. This will cause very severe floods in Baramati city. District Administration has been alerted," IMD Mumbai said on Thursday. 

Pakistan has approached the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) with a request to release monthly expenses for 2008 Mumbai attack mastermind and globally designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed. The council has 'approved' the letter after no objections were raised to it within the set deadline.

Niti Aayog came out with the School Education Quality Index 2019, in which Kerala ranked first. Rajasthan and Karnataka stood second and third, respectively, in the list. The Ministry of Human Resource and Development will soon release the Niti Aayog's report on the quality of education provided in the schools of different states of India. 

Online cab aggregator company Uber announced free accident insurance up to a maximum of Rs 5 lakh, covering riders hailing cars, autos and motorcycle.

The death toll due to floods in Pune rises to 7 as fire brigade officials recover few more bodies near Sahakar Nagar area. 

All schools and colleges in Purandar, Baramati, Bhor and Haveli tehsil of Pune district to remain closed today in view of heavy rainfall in the city. 

Opened in 1910, Beijing's Nanyuan Airport, the first airport in Chinese history, has officially ceased public operation after saying goodbye its final commercial flight on Wednesday night

Three teams of NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) have been deployed for flood rescue operations in Pune - one team each at Katraj, Baramati and near Corporation office. A wall collapsed in Katraj last night following heavy rainfall.

US imposed new sanctions against Chinese companies that transported Iranian oil contrary to the US sanctions, denying Iran regime revenues for destabilizing conduct at the expense of Iranian people. We'll take action on any sanctionable Iranian oil transaction, says US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. 

Maharashtra: Five dead after wall collapses due to heavy rains in Sahakar Nagar, Pune

Three injured in a low-intensity bomb blast in Quetta, Balochistan. 

Water-logging in parts of Pune due to heavy rainfall. A team of NDRF has been moved towards Katraj for rescue operations.

• You have terrorism in different parts of world but there is no part of world where a country uses it consciously & deliberately as a large scale industry against its neighbour.
• The issue is not whether to talk or not, everybody wants to talk to their neighbour. Issue is how do I talk to a country that is conducting terrorism & follows a policy of implausible deniability.
• Level of intimidation had reached a height where senior police officers were lynched on streets of Srinagar, journalists who wrote against separatism were assassinated, military personnel returning home for Eid were kidnapped and killed.
• Pre August 5 (Abrogation of Article 370) Kashmir was in a mess, difficulties in Kashmir did not start on August 5, it is supposed to be a way of dealing with those difficulties.
• We had experience of 2016 when a self-advertised terrorist cult figure was killed, a gentleman called Burhan Wani, after that there was spike in violence. Our intention was to manage the situation (post Article 370) without loss of life, restrictions were intended to do that

A strong earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale hit Seram, Indonesia at 5:16 am on Thursday.