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Live news updates: As per the schedule, the polling to the 60 Assembly constituencies will be held on February 16 and counting will take place on March 2
 "LIVE: Election Commission issues notification for Tripura Assembly election")
2 min read Last Updated : Jan 21 2023 | 3:03 PM IST
3:03 PM
In a letter, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Saturday lashed out at Lt. Governor (L-G) V.K. Saxena accusing him of making "false allegations" against the national capital's Education Department.
"A letter was written by you to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday. The figures given by you while criticising the functioning of the Education Department of Delhi are false. Delhi's 60,000 teachers, 18 lakh children and their 36 lakh parents, who have improved the education system with their hard work, are hurt and humiliated", Sisodia said in his letter to Saxena.
On Friday, Saxena wrote to Kejriwal in which he raised several issues related to the city's education sector.
3:02 PM
Cracks of one to two metre long have devloped on the Badrinath National Highway in Joshimath, which is the only road that leads to Badrinath, a place of faith for millions of Hindus.
Disaster Management Secretary Ranjit Sinha said that the administration has been keeping a close watch on the land subsidence of the highway.
Sinha stated that the concerned agencies have been instructed to repair the road. He said it would be completely repaired before the Char Dham yatra.
Repairing the road before the yatra would pose as a big challenge for the government.
2:59 PM
The Supreme Court has junked a plea seeking to enforce the "one car one person" norm, besides demanding the imposition of environmental tax on the second vehicle of an owner.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha said the issues raised in the plea pertain to the policy domain.
"The issues which are raised in the petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India in the present case pertain to the policy domain. Hence, we are not inclined to entertain the petition.
"The petitioners are at liberty to pursue their grievances before the authorities in accordance with law," the bench said.
2:58 PM
India will be happy to be a partner with the UAE in its efforts to make the Emirates a global educational hub besides being a financial hub, an Indian diplomat here has said.
Tadu Mamu, Consul (Press Information, Culture and Labour) of the Indian Embassy, who was the chief guest at a global education conclave here, said that the pandemic had unleashed the potential of online learning in a big way that was attracting students.
She said there was a need to bring a balance between the physical mode of learning with edu-tech.
She said the UAE leadership is striving to make the Emirates a global educational hub besides being a financial hub.
2:42 PM
American cinema veteran James Cameron is mighty impressed by SS Rajamouli's work on "RRR" and has offered to support the Telugu director if he ever plans to make a film in Hollywood.
Rajamouli and "RRR" composer MM Keeravani recently met Cameron at the Critics' Choice Awards (CCA) where the movie won the Best Foreign Language Film and Best Song for Telugu track "Naatu Naatu".
In a new clip of their brief meeting, shared by the Telugu blockbuster's official Twitter handle, Cameron told Rajamouli to approach him if he decides to pursue Hollywood.
"If you ever want to make a movie over here, let's talk," Cameron said.
"RRR" (Rise Roar Revolt) is a pre-Independence fictional story focusing on two real-life Indian revolutionaries in the 1920s -- Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) and Komaram Bheem (Jr NTR). The movie also features Alia Bhatt and Ajay Devgn in special appearance.
During their conversation, the "Avatar" director praised the film's structure and Rajamouli's filmmaking style.
2:40 PM
Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah, who has decided to contest the upcoming assembly election in Karnataka from Kolar segment, asserted on Saturday that he will surely win even if Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were to campaign against him.
The former Chief Minister has decided to shift his constituency from Badami in Bagalkote district in North Karnataka to Kolar citing age factor and the distance. Let (BJP national general secretary) B L Santhosh come, BJP national president J P Nadda, Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah and campaign against me. I will surely win from Kolar, he told reporters. Siddaramaiah was reacting to a query that a negative campaign has begun ever since he expressed his desire to contest from Kolar in the assembly poll, which is just four months away. There were reports that handbills are being distributed in the district against Siddaramaiah. The Congress veteran added that the same was tried in Badami from where he contested in the 2018 assembly election and he won despite the campaign by Amit Shah and other senior BJP leaders.
2:13 PM
Tons of waste dumped in poorly regulated riverside landfills or directly into the waterways that flow across three countries end up accumulating behind a trash barrier in the Drina River in eastern Bosnia during the wet weather of winter and early spring.
This week, the barrier once again became the outer edge of a massive floating waste dump crammed with plastic bottles, rusty barrels, used tires, household appliances, driftwood and other garbage picked up by the river from its tributaries.
The river fencing installed by a Bosnian hydroelectric plant, a few kilometres upstream from its dam near Visegrad, has turned the city into an unwilling regional waste site, local environmental activists complain.
Heavy rain and unseasonably warm weather over the past week have caused many rivers and streams in Bosnia, Serbia and Montenegro to overflow, flooding the surrounding areas and forcing scores of people from their homes. Temperatures dropped in many areas on Friday as rain turned into snow.
2:00 PM
Turkey on Saturday cancelled a planned visit by Sweden's defense minister in response to the Nordic country's permits for anti-Turkish protests.
It is the latest backlash from Turkey, a NATO member which has been holding off on approving Sweden's application to join the military alliance until the Swedish government cracks down on groups that Ankara regards as security threats.
Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said the scheduled Jan. 27 visit by his Swedish counterpart Pl Jonson would not take place. He said the visit no longer held any importance or point because Sweden continued to allow disgusting demonstrations against Turkey.
1:50 PM
As land sinks in Joshimath, buildings are razed and hundreds of families forced out of their homes, there is another tragedy playing out in this Himalayan town many dogs, cattle and other domestic animals left untended as their owners navigate the life-changing crisis.
Some animals have been left behind in houses, desolate and deserted as the cracks on their walls deepen, and some smaller pets have been crammed into shelter homes along with families forced into one room. The snow and the dipping temperatures have exacerbated the many woes.
The displacement is at many levels, say animal rights activists who have rushed to the once bustling town of Joshimath to keep the voiceless safe.
1:50 PM
The three-day celebrations marking the 'Uttar Pradesh Day' will include public participation this time with a focus on investment and employment, officials said on Saturday.
The statewide event will be held from January 24- 26, they said.
The foundation day of Uttar Pradesh on January 24 is being celebrated for three days since 2018 with the participation of all government departments. However, this time, in 2023, it has been decided to ensure public participation in the celebrations, an official statement quoted Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Durga Shankar Mishra as saying.
Detailed guidelines in this regard have been issued to all district magistrates, the statement said.
The state-level event on 'Uttar Pradesh Day' will be organised in 'Awadh Shilp Gram', Lucknow and 'Noida Shilp Gram', Noida while the district-level events will be held at all district headquarters of the state, it said.
1:37 PM
The average number of flu patients per medical institution in Japan in the week through January 15 came to 7.37, signaling the beginning of an epidemic, a health ministry survey said.
About 5,000 medical institutions in all of Japan's 47 prefectures reported 36,388 cases of seasonal flu during the seven-day period, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases said.
The nationwide per-institution figure was more than 1.5 times that of the previous week, while the tally of influenza patients across the country is estimated to stand at about 257,000, reports Xinhua news agency.
1:28 PM
The ship agents have forewarned the cash-strapped Pakistani government that all export cargoes could come to a halt as foreign shipping lines are considering stopping their services for the country after banks stopped remitting freight charges to them due to a lack of dollar availability, according to a media report on Saturday.
Apart from bordering countries, almost all the international logistics from Pakistan are catered by sea and any disruption could create serious issues for the country's international trade, Pakistan Ship's Agents Association (PSAA) chairman Abdul Rauf warned Finance Minister Ishaq Dar through a letter.
If the international trade is stopped the economic situation will worsen, the association warned, adding that the foreign shipping lines are already considering winding up their services in Pakistan due to reduced cargo volumes.
12:59 PM
Tech giant Google is preparing to introduce at least 20 artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools and a search chatbot during its annual developer conference in May this year, amid pressure from OpenAI's ChatGPT, the media reported.
The chatbot powered by AI, ChatGPT, has overtaken the tech world over the past several months because it can give people the information they need in an understandable way, reports Engadget.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has declared a "code red" and boosted AI development, as the tech giant sees ChatGPT as a threat to its search business.
According to a slide deck, the tech giant's AI projects include an image generation tool, an upgraded version of AI Test Kitchen, a TikTok-style green screen mode for YouTube and a tool that can create videos to summarise other clips.
12:51 PM
Union minister V K Singh has said that sometimes the allegations levelled by some people are serious, but in some instances the intention behind the charges is "something else", which needs to be checked.
The former Army chief was responding to a query on the allegations of sexual harassment made by top wrestlers against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. V K Singh was in Jabalpur on Friday to attend the 'Sansad Khel Mahotsav' (Member of Parliament Sports Festival) organised by Jabalpur MP Rakesh Singh. When media persons asked him about the sit-in protest by the wrestlers in Delhi, the Union Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways said, "Sometimes the allegations are serious. Sometimes serious allegations are made. Sometimes the intention is something else. That is why I said go and see what is behind it." The tussle between the wrestlers and the WFI ended on Friday for the time being after the grapplers called off their protest following assurances from the government that their grievances would be addressed.
12:50 PM
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday said there was prompt response from Scoot with regard to many passengers missing its Amritsar-Singapore flight due to rescheduling of the departure timing on January 18.
The timing of the flight was changed on account of the prevailing foggy conditions at the Amritsar airport, according to the regulator.
In a statement, DGCA said it had sought a report from Scoot regarding the January 18 flight -- which departed from Amritsar to Singapore in which 17 passengers were affected as they were not informed by their travel agent about the change in time.
12:28 PM
Some areas in Kashmir received intermittent light snowfall amid a decrease in minimum temperatures in most parts of the Valley, officials said on Saturday.
The bad weather also forced closure of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.
Some areas in the Kashmir Valley, especially the upper reaches, received fresh light snowfall early on Saturday, the officials said.
Pahalgam, the tourist resort town in south Kashmir's Anantnag district, recorded 13 inches of snow in the last 24 hours, followed by eight inches in Kokernag, six inches in Qazigund and four inches in Shopian, they said.
There was very light snowfall in Srinagar, Ganderbal and some other areas in the plains.
12:07 PM
Hinting towards a new political equation in the hills of Darjeeling, BJP Lok Sabha member Raju Bista on Saturday sent a message of solidarity towards the newly-founded understanding involving Hamro Party's Ajay Edwards, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM)'s Bimal Gurung and erstwhile Trinamool Congress leader Binoy Tamang, who recently severed all his associations with the West Bengal ruling party.
Bista launched a scathing attack against the Anit Thapa-led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) and Trinamool Congress alliance in the hills, for "unethically" taking control of the Darjeeling Municipality by roping in six elected councillors from Hamro Party.
"Just 11 months ago, Hamro Party, a regional force, took control of Darjeeling Municipality after getting democratically elected by the people. The Hamro Party-controlled board started demolishing the illegal constructions in the hills and they had to pay the price for that. The state government misused its power in removing the Hamro Party from the board. The state government will be responsible if Darjeeling faces the same fate as Joshimath," Bista said.
11:44 AM
Cold conditions continued to affect Punjab and Haryana on Saturday with Hisar the coldest place in the region.
Hisar in Haryana recorded a minimum temperature of 3.5 degrees Celsius, nearly three degrees below normal, according to Met office report.
The minimum temperature in Ambala was at 7 degrees Celsius while that in Karnal was 4.8 degrees.
Narnaul, Rohtak, Bhiwani and Sirsa experienced cold conditions at 4.5 degrees Celsius, 6.6 degrees, 5.6 degrees and 6.6 degrees, respectively.
11:39 AM
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Saturday issued the notification for the 13th Assembly election to 60 constituencies in Tripura, an official said.
Candidates will now be allowed to submit their nomination papers till January 30. The scrutiny will be done on January 31 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is February 2.
As per the schedule, the polling to the 60 Assembly constituencies will be held on February 16 and counting will take place on March 2, Additional Chief Electoral Officer (ACEO) Subhasish Bandopadhyay told PTI.
11:20 AM
Elon Musk has admitted in a US court that he ignored his advisors and investors while tweeting about Tesla securing funding in 2018.
Musk, who briefly took the stand on Friday during his ongoing trial in a class-action lawsuit by Tesla investors in a court here, said that "I suppose I continued to tweet, yes", when asked if he ignored the pleas from his well-wishers.
The billionaire was also asked to describe the relationship between his tweets and Tesla's retail investors, reports The Verge.
"I care a great deal about retail investors. There are our most loyal and steadfast investors," he told the court.
11:03 AM
As Google's parent company Alphabet laid off 12,000 employees, its in-house research and development (R&D) division called Area 120 has also been significantly hit.
Area 120 has launched several products, like gaming platform GameSnacks, an AirTable rival called Tables, an AI-powered conversational ads platform AdLingo, video platforms Tangi and Shoploop, and more.
Majority of the Area 120 team has been "winded down", reports TechCrunch.
10:57 AM
The UN has apologised for "a significant lapse in judgement" after photographs surfaced of some of its personnel in front of a Taliban flag in Afghanistan during a visit by deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed this week to the war-torn country when she met the de facto authorities and expressed alarm over women's rights violations.
Mohammed, the highest-ranking woman in the United Nations, along with Executive Director of UN Women Sima Bahous and Assistant Secretary-General of the Department of Political, Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations Khaled Khiari completed a four-day visit to Afghanistan on Friday.
During the visit, the delegation met Taliban leaders in Kabul and Kandahar and conveyed their alarm over the recent restrictions on education and work of women and girls across the country.
10:56 AM
As many as 10 Ph.Ds and 930 M Tech graduates are among those who applied for the post of police constable in Andhra Pradesh, for which the written test will be held on Sunday.
According to an official note from the State Level Police Recruitment Board, the qualification for constable post is Intermediate.
There are 5,284 MBAs, 4,365-M Sc and 94 LLB degree holders in the candidates list.
Overall 13,961 post graduates and 1, 55,537 under graduates are also among the 5,03,486 candidates competing for 6,400 constable posts.
10:36 AM
10:17 AM
Negotiations between Britain and India for an ambitious Free Trade Agreement (FTA) are well advanced, with the next round of talks set to commence very soon, a UK Foreign Office minister told peers in a debate in Parliament here, asserting that a strong deal could boost the country's economy.
Lord Tariq Ahmad, the UK Foreign Office Minister for South Asia, also said Britain's relationship with India is central to its foreign policy and as one of the world's biggest economies it is a key partner.
Ahmad was responding to the debate entitled The Importance of the Relationship Between the United Kingdom and India in the House of Lords on Thursday, tabled by British Indian peer Baroness Sandy Verma.
He confirmed that negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA) are well advanced, with the next round of negotiations set to commence very soon.
10:01 AM
AIADMK leader and former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, involved in an acrimonious leadership tussle with another former CM K Palaniswami, on Saturday announced to field his party candidate for the February 27 by-poll in Erode East Assembly constituency.
However, his faction was willing to support the BJP candidate in the by-election if the national party wanted to contest. Asked if his decision, especially with Palaniswami already making it clear that his dominant faction is keen on seeking electoral fortunes from Erode East segment, could cause confusion among the party members and electorate, as well, Panneerselvam replied it is he (Palaniswami) who is creating confusion. Ask him. He claimed that the party's Two Leaves symbol was with him as the Election Commission of India still recognised him as coordinator of AIADMK.
9:44 AM
The Indian Air Force will carry out Exercise Pralay involving all its major air bases in the northeast including the recently moved drone squadrons in the northeast amid the ongoing standoff with China, informed officials.
The exercise planned to be held in the next few days also comes at a time when the Indian Air Force has deployed and activated the S-400 air defence squadron in the area which can take on any enemy aircraft or missile from a distance of up to 400 km.
According to officials, the exercise would see major combat assets of the Air Force including the Rafale and Su-30 fighter jets activated along with the transport and other aircraft.
9:43 AM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday greeted people of three northeast states -- Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya -- on their statehood day.
Both Tripura and Manipur have seen progress and growth in the last few years, he said, adding that people from Meghalaya have excelled in diverse fields.
Manipur has been progressing on several counts during the last few years, Modi said, wishing that its people's aspirations are fulfilled and the state keeps strengthening India's growth trajectory.
9:17 AM
The Gujarat Congress has said that it has suspended 38 of its functionaries and workers for six years for indulging in "anti-party activities" during the Assembly polls held last month, where the grand old party could win only 17 seats in the 182-member House.
The disciplinary committee of the Gujarat Congress met two times this month and has so far received 71 complaints against 95 persons, its convener Balubhai Patel told reporters on Friday.
"We have suspended 38 functionaries and workers for anti-party activities. Action will be taken against others as well. Eight workers have received warnings," Patel said.
9:13 AM
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed that the US will designate Russia's Wagner Group, a private military company believed to have about 50,000 mercenaries in Ukraine, as a 'Transnational Criminal Organization'.
Kirby, while making the announcement on Friday at a White House press briefing, said the group is "committing atrocities and human rights abuses in Ukraine and elsewhere".
"In coordination with this designation, we will also impose additional sanctions next week against Wagner and its support network across multiple continents.
Topics :Bajrang PuniaRishi SunakSakshi MalikVinesh PhogatGurmeet Ram Rahim SinghDera Sacha SaudaNikki Haley
First Published: Jan 21 2023 | 8:23 AM IST
