News updates: AAP MLAs to meet CBI chief, seek probe into 'Operation Lotus'

From India's GDP data for the April-June quarter to Covid-19 updates, catch all the latest news here

2:07 PM

Cabinet approves disposal of 150,000 tons of chana from buffer stock

The Union Cabinet approves disposal of 150,000 tons of chana from buffer stock to states at discounted rates

2:04 PM

Cabinet approves raising procurement ceiling for tur, urad and masur

The Union Cabinet approves raising procurement ceiling for tur, urad and masur under two schemes

1:37 PM

NCPCR to visit Jharkhand's Dumka were girl died after being set on fire

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights chairperson Priyank Kanoongo will visit Dumka district in Jharkhand on September 4 and 5 to take stock of the status of the matter where a girl died days after being set ablaze by a man for allegedly turning down his proposal. reports ANI

 

1:27 PM

'One Nation, One Election' need of hour, says Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

Former Union minister and BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi says 'One Nation, One Election' is need of hour and political parties should not have 'prejudiced mindset' on this issue

12:52 PM

Kejriwal launches virtual school for students across the country

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday launched a virtual school and said students from across the country will be eligible for admission.

The application process for the Delhi Model Virtual School (DMVS) began on Wednesday. The school is for classes 9-12.

"The admission to the schooling platform will be open for students across India and they will also be prepared by experts for entrance exams like NEET, CUET and JEE along with skill-based training," Kejriwal said at an online media briefing.

12:44 PM

AAP MLAs to meet CBI director, seek probe into alleged 'Operation Lotus'

AAP MLAs in Delhi will meet the CBI director on Wednesday to demand a probe into the alleged 'Operation Lotus' of the BJP to topple opposition ruled state governments, party leader Atishi said.

A delegation of 10 AAP MLAs will meet the CBI director at 3 PM, Atishi said at a press conference.

The AAP leaders including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal have claimed that the BJP targeted 40 MLAs of the ruling party in Delhi offering them Rs 20 crore each to switch sides.

12:17 PM

G20 host Indonesia urges cooperation to tackle global climate issues

Senior officials from the Group of 20 major (G20) economies met for climate talks on the resort island of Bali on Wednesday, with host Indonesia warning that failure to work together to cut emissions would push the planet toward "unchartered territory".

 

Indonesia's Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said countries must jointly arrest global warming or see the planet pushed to a point "where no future will be sustainable".

 

"It is our responsibility to the be part of the solution. We build bridges, not walls," she said.

 

12:08 PM

France has been ready for Gazprom's 'pretext' to switch off gas: Minister

Gazprom is using a mere excuse to switch off natural gas deliveries to its French contractor, the energy minister in Paris said on Wednesday, but added that the country had anticipated the loss of supply.

 

"As we anticipated, Russia is using gas as a weapon of war and is using Engie's way of applying the contracts as a pretext to further reduce French supplies," Agnes Pannier-Runacher said in an overnight statement.

 

The comments came hours after Russia's Gazprom announced that from Thursday it would fully suspend gas deliveries to Engie, a French utility, citing a dispute over payments. The move will deepen concerns about Europe's winter energy supply.

12:07 PM

Crisis-hit Sri Lanka strikes staff-level pact with IMF on loan: Reports

Sri Lanka and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached a preliminary, staff-level agreement on an emergency loan to the crisis-hit country and a formal announcement is likely on Thursday, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

 

The island nation, struggling with its worst economic crisis in more than seven decades, had sought up to $3 billion from the IMF.

 

Spokespersons for the IMF and the Sri Lankan government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

11:55 AM

Delhi pvt liquor shops to close from Thursday, 300 govt vends to take over retail sale

Private liquor shops will be a thing of the past for the national capital as they will be replaced by over 300 Delhi government vends from Thursday due to the switch over from the Excise Policy 2021-22 to the old regime, officials said on Wednesday.

 

Nearly 250 private liquor vends, licensed under now-withdrawn Excise Policy 2021-22, are running currently in the city.

 

The Excise officials said the liquor supply will improve from first week of September due to opening of more shops.

11:37 AM

CBI raids at multiple places in Bengal in cattle smuggling case

CBI is conducting searches at four places in West Bengal (in Bolpur and Kolkata) in connection with a cattle smuggling case, reports ANI

11:33 AM

Long way to go before India reverses pre-Covid 'Modi slowdown': Congress

Ahead of the release of GDP numbers for the April-June quarter, the Congress on Wednesday said the figure could show a jump and turn out to be a headline grabber but the real growth is lower than in 2018.

Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said there is still a long way to go before India reverses the pre-Covid "Modi slowdown".

"Jumla Alert: Apr-Jun 2022 quarterly GDP figure later today could show a jump from a year ago. This headline-grabbing number will be due to low-base effect," the Congress general secretary said on Twitter.

11:32 AM

Japan plans to develop longer-range missiles to counter China, Russia

Japan will develop and mass produce a cruise missile and a high-velocity ballistic missile, it said on Wednesday, as it seeks the ability to strike more distant targets as part of a military expansion aimed at meeting threats from China and Russia.

 

The procurement plan unveiled in the Ministry of Defence's annual budget request represents a clear departure from a decades-long range limit imposed on Japan's constitutionally constrained Self Defence Forces, that meant they could only field missiles with ranges of a few hundred kilometres.

11:14 AM

Ganesha festival celebrated at Hubballi Idgah ground amid tight security

Ganesh Chathurthi was celebrated at the Idgah grounds here on Wednesday amid tight security arrangements, hours after the Karnataka High Court gave the go-ahead for it.

 

Amid chants of vedic hymns, Sriram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik along with his supporters installed the idol of Lord Ganesha and offered prayers on the occasion.

 

“We performed the prayers within the legal framework. Some miscreants had attempted to stop us but we performed our Pooja, which is not only a matter of joy for the people of Hubballi but also across the north Karnataka,” Muthalik told reporters at the Pooja Pandal.

11:07 AM

India, France holds consultations on UNSC and other multilateral issues: MEA

India and France held consultations on the UN Security Council and other multilateral issues on August 30 in Paris. ​​In keeping with India-France Strategic Partnership, both sides had an in-depth exchange of views on various thematic and country-specific issues on the agenda of the UN Security Council, says the Ministry of External Affairs.

10:52 AM

BJP MPs request inquiry into purported 'attempts by BJP to buy AAP MLAs'

BJP MPs from Delhi write to Lt Governor VK Saxena, requesting for inquiry into the allegations of purported "attempts by BJP to buy AAP MLAs" made by Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and other AAP leaders

10:44 AM

'Poorly-directed freebies may have adverse consequences on economy'

Poorly-directed freebies may wreak havoc with state finances and have adverse consequences on the economy as in the case of Sri Lanka, experts say while noting it is important to define a freebie and how it is different from welfare expenditure.

 

Recently, the Supreme Court said freebies at the cost of taxpayers' money may push the country towards imminent bankruptcy.

 

Economic think tank ICRIER Chairman Pramod Bhasin said,"Most freebies (unless at a time of huge urgency such as COVID) which are often poorly directed are a fiscal mistake with significant adverse consequences. And these exist in most states and under most forms of governments." Bhasin noted that "political compulsions" cause most politicians to announce freebies as their way of capturing votes.

 

10:30 AM

Death toll in catastrophic Pakistan flooding reaches 1,162

The death toll in Pakistan's catastrophic flooding has increased to 1,162 as the cash-strapped country struggles to rescue and care for millions of people displaced by the surging waters.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said the victims included 384 children and 231 women, and the death toll is expected to further increase in the coming days, dpa news agency reported on Wednesday.

More than 33 million people in some 116 of Pakistan's 160 administrative districts have been affected by the floods triggered by incessant monsoon rain since mid-Jine, with at least 72 districts being declared disaster areas.

10:05 AM

Delhi: Dry end to August; not much rain predicted in 1st week of September

With a spell of rain unlikely on Wednesday, August is set to end with the lowest rainfall recorded in Delhi in at least 14 years.

The Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, recorded a minimum temperature of 25.9 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 35 degrees Celsius.

Though Delhi will see cloudy skies over the next five to six days, a good spell of rain is unlikely.

10:05 AM

Feds cite efforts to ''obstruct'' probe of docs at Trump home

The US Justice Department has said it had uncovered efforts to obstruct its investigation into the discovery of classified records at former President Donald Trump's Florida estate.

The assertion was made in a court filing on Tuesday night that lays out the most detailed chronology to date of interactions between Justice Department officials and Trump representatives over the presence of the documents at Mar-a-Lago.

In the filing, the Justice Department said FBI agents had uncovered multiple sources of evidence indicating that Trump and his representatives had failed to fully comply with a subpoena to turn over classified records and that additional classified documents remained at Mar-a-Lago.

9:39 AM

Thane district records 268 COVID-19 cases

As many as 268 new cases of coronavirus infection have been reported in Maharashtra's Thane district, a health official said on Wednesday.

With one death reported on Tuesday, the death toll of the pandemic in the district stood at 11,941 while caseload rose to 741,655.

There are currently 2,468 active coronavirus patients in the district.

9:33 AM

Mikhail Gorbachev's death mourned as passing of rare leader

The passing of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union and for many the man who restored democracy to then-communist-ruled European nations, was mourned Wednesday as the loss of as a rare leader who changed the world and for a time gave hope for peace among the superpowers.

But the man who died at age 91 on Tuesday was also reviled by many countrymen who blamed him for the 1991 implosion of the Soviet Union and its diminution as a superpower. The Russian nation that emerged from its Soviet past shrank in size as 15 new nations were created.

The loss of pride and power also eventually led to the rise of Vladimir Putin, who has tried for the past quarter-century to restore Russia to its former glory and beyond.

After decades of brutal political repression, he embraced democratic reforms. He believed in glasnost and perestroika openness and restructuring not as mere slogans, but as the path forward for the people of the Soviet Union after so many years of isolation and deprivation" President Joe Biden said.

9:17 AM

US monkeypox cases cross 18,000

The number of people infected with monkeypox in the US has crossed 18,000, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A total of 18,101 positive cases have been confirmed so far, dpa news agency quoted the CDC as saying in its latest update on Tuesday.

A total of 2,916 new confirmed cases were reported in the country in the last seven days.

9:15 AM

India records 9,808 new Covid cases, 45 deaths in 24 hrs

India records 9,808 new Covid cases, taking the nation's tally to 44,428,393. With 45 new deaths, including 10 reconciled by Kerala, the nation's toll from the pandemic has reached 527,874. India's tally of cured Covid cases reached 43,835,852 after 10,828 people recovered from the diseases in the last 24 hours.

9:11 AM

Suspended BJP leader Seema Patra arrested in Jharkhand

Suspended BJP leader Seema Patra arrested in Jharkhand for allegedly torturing tribal help, reports PTI

8:37 AM

President Murmu wishes nation on Ganesh Chaturthi

President Droupadi Murmu wishes nation on Ganesh Chaturthi. She tweeted in Hindi, "Hearty greetings to all the countrymen on Ganesh Chaturthi. Vighnaharta and Mangalmurti Lord Ganesha are symbols of knowledge, accomplishment and good fortune. I wish that with the blessings of Shri Ganesh, there should be communication of happiness, peace and prosperity in everyone's life."

8:35 AM

PM Modi extends greetings for Ganesh Chaturthi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi extends greetings for Ganesh Chaturthi. He tweets, "यतो बुद्धिरज्ञाननाशो मुमुक्षोः, यतः सम्पदो भक्तसन्तोषिकाः स्युः। यतो विघ्ननाशो यतः कार्यसिद्धिः, सदा तं गणेशं नमामो भजामः।। गणेश चतुर्थी की ढेरों शुभकामनाएं। गणपति बाप्पा मोरया! Best wishes on Ganesh Chaturthi. May the blessings of Bhagwan Shri Ganesh always remain upon us."

8:01 AM

Share markets closed today for Ganesh Chaturthi

The share markets, including the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), are closed on Wednesday, August 31, on the ocassion of Ganesh Chaturthi. 

 

7:31 AM

Preparations underway for Ganesh chaturthi at Eidgah after Karnataka HC order

7:14 AM

Mikhail Gorbachev, the Soviet leader who ended cold war, dies at 91

Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union whose attempts to shake up his country’s political and economic system led to the collapse of the Communist superpower and the end of the Cold War, has died. He was 91.

The Interfax and state-run Tass news services cited the Moscow hospital where Gorbachev died. The Central Clinical Hospital said his death followed “a severe and prolonged illness,” according to Tass.