Breaking News LIVE: Kashmir's Apni Party Leader Killed By Gunmen In Kulgam, Mehbooba Mufti Reacts
Breaking News LIVE, 19 August, 2021: This blog brings to you the latest breaking news from across India and the world. Refresh the page to find the latest updates.
An Apni Party leader Ghulam Hassan Lone was killed by terrorists near his residence at Devsar in Kulgam district. Lone was critically injured in the firing, officials told UNI adding that the wounded leader was rushed to hospital where he was declared brought dead.
Reacting to the incident, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti said that unfortunately there seems to be no end to the spree of political killings in Kashmir.
"Unreservedly condemn the killing of Apni party leader Ghulam Hassan Lone. My deepest condolences to the bereaved family," Mufti tweeted.
Assam government has changed the nomenclature of the state's six detention centres for foreigners to transit camps, which at present house 181 inmates, 61 of whom are declared foreign nationals and 120 are convicted foreign nationals awaiting deportation, officials said.
An official of the state's Home and Political Department said that the 12-year-old notification was modified to rename the six detention centres as transit camps for detention purposes. (IANS)
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recommended a preliminary enquiry by the CBI into procurement of 1,000 low-floor buses by the Delhi government, officials said on Thursday.
The matter of "corruption" in annual maintenance contract (AMC) of the bus procurement by the Delhi Transport Corporation was raised by the BJP in Delhi Assembly in March this year. A three-member committee formed by Lt Governor Anil Baijal in June had found procedural "flaws" in the AMC and recommended scrapping it.
A powerful roadside bomb exploded among a procession of Shia Muslims in central Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least three and wounding over 50 people, local police said.
Videos circulating on social media showed police and ambulances rushing toward the site of the explosion. Several wounded people were seen waiting for help along a road in the deeply conservative city of Bahawalnagar in the eastern Punjab province, where the attack took place, reports AP.
President Ram Nath Kovind underwent cataract surgery at Army Hospital (Referral & Research), New Delhi today morning. The surgery was successful and he has been discharged from the hospital: Ajay Kumar Singh, Press Secretary to the President
Calcutta High Court says that the West Bengal Govt's argument that EC was responsible for the violence as police were under it due to enforcement of election code till May 3, 2021 "deserves to be rejected outrightly", ANI reported.
Constitutional obligations of the State do not get vested in the Election Commission during the process of elections: Calcutta High Court said in its order on the alleged post-poll violence in West Bengal.
46% women leaders got elected in Panchayat elections and 56% women in Block President elections. Some people (opposition) are shamelessly supporting the Taliban. And then they talk about women welfare, these people should be exposed: CM Yogi Adityanath in State Assembly
Chief Election Commissioner of India Shri Sushil Chandra interacted with the trainee officers of the Indian Telecommunications Service of 2018 and 2019 batch today in Nirvachan Sadan, New Delhi.
The interaction was part of a two-day training program of Indian Telecommunications Service (ITS) officers at India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (IIIDEM)
"I had sought an appointment with the PM to meet him along with a delegation from Bihar to conduct the caste-based census. We have been given time on August 23", says Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, reported by ANI.
Calcutta High Court orders a court-monitored CBI probe into the incidents of post-poll violence in West Bengal, reports ANI. The High Court also ordered to set up SIT for investigation and instructed that senior officers from West Bengal cadre should be a part of the team
Australia is suffering its worst day since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic with the surge in Delta variant cases.
New South Wales recorded 681 new cases, Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters on Thursday in Sydney, where stay-at-home orders have been enforced for almost two months. Meanwhile, Victoria state recorded 57 new infections -- more than double from the previous day, and its highest tally since September -- as Melbourne endures its sixth lockdown since the pandemic began.
New South Wales, Victoria and Australian Capital Territory recorded a combined 754 cases in their communities on Thursday, surpassing the nation's previous high of 725 recorded in early August 2020, when Melbourne was in the midst of a lockdown that lasted for three months.
With average daily testing of more than 17 lakhs in August, India has tested 50 crore samples across the country. India has achieved the milestone of the last ten crore tests in only 55 days, says ICMR as reported by ANI.
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, accepted credentials from envoys of the Holy See, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Republic of Austria and Republic of Korea in a virtual ceremony on Wednesday.
Speaking on the occasion, the President congratulated the envoys on their appointment and conveyed his good wishes to them for a successful tenure in India. He noted that India enjoyed close ties with all four countries and shared a common vision of peace and prosperity.
A joint patrolling party of the Indian Army and J&K Police arrested two bike-borne persons & recovered a pistol, two magazines, and 12 rounds following a chase after one of them brandished the pistol when security forces asked them to stop in Kulgam yesterday. FIR registered, informed J&K Police as reported by ANI
"I will be visiting Jharkhand third Sunday of every month to ensure the party's work. Jharkhand has been a fertile pinnacle for Rashtriya Janata Dal. We lost few seats last time with less margin. We had a detailed discussion over the issues," said RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, reports ANI.
An earthquake of magnitude 3.6 on the Richter scale hit Katra, Jammu, and Kashmir at 5.08 am today, said National Centre for Seismology, reports ANI
Kerala records 21,427 fresh COVID-19 cases, pushing the infection count to 37,25,005. The death toll also mounted to 19,049 with 179 new fatalities, according to the state government bulletin.
Just seven districts, including Pune, account for the bulk of the COVID-19 cases in Maharashtra, while half a dozen other districts have less than ten active cases currently. This information was revealed in a presentation made before Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his cabinet colleagues on Wednesday. Maharashtra, the worst coronavirus-affected state in the country, has 36 districts.
There is no active COVID-19 case in Nandurbar district as of now, while Dhule, Washim, Yavatmal, Bhandara, Wardha and Gondia districts have less than ten coronavirus patients under treatment, said an official. Districts such as Parbhani, Hingoli, Nanded, Amravati, Akola, Buldana, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli have less than 100 active cases of the infection.
The Uttar Pradesh government will allow the reopening of school for physical classes for the students of grades 6 to 8 from August 23 and for grades 1 to 5 from September 1, PTI reported. The state has already allowed physical classes in schools for students of grades 9 to 12 with strict Covid-19 protocol from August 16.
Background
Breaking News LIVE, 19 August, 2021: With the Taliban now in control in Kabul, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said New Delhi is "very carefully" following the developments in Afghanistan and India's focus is on ensuring the security and safe return of Indian nationals still in the war-torn country.
Jaishankar, addressing reporters at the UN Security Council stakeout after chairing an open-debate on peacekeeping under India's current UNSC Presidency, said "that (situation in Afghanistan) is really what has been very much the focus of my own engagements here, talking to the UN Secretary General and other colleagues who are here as well as the US Secretary of State."
The summer surge in coronavirus cases in the United States, led by the domination of the more contagious delta variant, is well into its second month, and the number of those hospitalized with Covid-19 has reached heights last seen during the overwhelming winter wave.
The number of those patients who are critically ill, requiring treatment in an intensive care unit, has risen, too. Data from the Department of Health and Human Services shows that the number of hospitals with very full ICUs doubled in recent weeks. Now, 1 in 5 ICUs have reached or exceeded 95% of beds occupied, a level experts say makes it difficult or impossible for health professionals to maintain standards of care for the very sick.
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