LIVE news: Sisodia says 2024 Lok Sabha polls will be Modi vs Kejriwal fight

Live news updates: Sisodia termed the Excise Policy 2021-22 as the "best policy", and said there was "no wrongdoing" in its implementation

11:48 PM

Rahul appeals to HP govt to provide all possible help to those affected by flash floods

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday appealed to the government of Himachal Pradesh to provide all possible help to those affected by flash floods and landslides in the state.

"There has been heavy destruction in Himachal Pradesh due to landslides, cloudbursts and floods. News of mishaps coming from different parts of the state is very saddening," Gandhi said in a Facebook post in Hindi.

11:17 PM

CBI now 'uncaged', its plumes saffron and wings ED: Kapil Sibal

A day after the CBI raided Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia's residence, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday said the probe agency, once a "caged parrot", is now "uncaged", but its plumes are saffron and wings Enforcement Directorate.

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday raided the home of Sisodia and 30 other locations in connection with alleged corruption in the implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy.

 

10:36 PM

Delhi reports 1,109 new Covid cases, 9 deaths in the past 24 hours

9:36 PM

Jammu & Kashmir records 344 new Covid-19 cases

Jammu and Kashmir registered 344 fresh coronavirus cases on Saturday, taking the infection tally to 4,75,768, officials said here.

While 49 cases were reported from Jammu division, 295 cases were reported from Kashmir, they said.

9:25 PM

Akhilesh slams Yogi govt over death of 2 devotees at Mathura temple; alleges corruption

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav Saturday attacked the state government over the death of two devotees in a stampede-like situation at Mathura's Bankey Bihari temple during Janmashtami celebrations, blaming it on an "administrative failure" and a "Rs 27-crore loot" in the name of beautification.

The two devotees were killed and seven others injured in the early hours of Saturday, with District Magistrate Navneet Singh Chahal saying "prima facie, the cause of death is suffocation due to a heavy rush during the 'mangala aarti'."
 

8:24 PM

EPFO adds 1.83 mn net subscribers in June

Retirement fund body EPFO added 18.36 lakh new subscribers in June 2022, registering 43 per cent rise as compared to the year-ago period, according to an official data.

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had added 12.83 lakh net new subscribers in June 2021, the data showed.

The provisional payroll data of EPFO released on Saturday highlights that the organisation added 18.36 lakh net members in June 2022, a labour ministry statement said.

7:32 PM

BJP leader caught on tape admitting 'lynching', Cong says party's true face exposed

Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra on Saturday shared on Twitter a purported video clip of BJP's former MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja, who is allegedly seen admitting his supporters have so far "lynched five people".

The BJP leader is seen making the comment while interrupting a speaker, who was urging a group of people to launch an agitation against the lynching of 45-year-old Chiranjilal Saini. Saini was allegedly lynched by members of the Mev Muslim community on Sunday morning in Govindgarh town on suspicion of tractor theft.

 

6:57 PM

Maha sees 1,855 COVID-19 cases, 2 deaths; active tally now 11,866

Maharashtra on Saturday reported 1,855 COVID-19 cases and two deaths, which took the tally to 80,82,551 and the toll to 1,48,193, a health department official said.

A day earlier, the state saw 2,285 cases and five fatalities.

Of the new cases, Mumbai Circle led with 1,229, followed by Pune Circle (263), Nashik Circle (117), Nagpur Circle (112), Kolhapur Circle (48), Latur Circle (33), Akola Circle (27) and Aurangabad Circle (26).

6:14 PM

Bilkis case: Three Muslim MLAs request President to revoke Gujarat decision to release 11 convicts

Three Gujarat Congress MLAs have written to President Droupadi Murmu seeking her direction to the state government to withdraw its "shameful decision" to release the 11 convicts serving a life sentence in the 2002 Bilkis Bano case.

The three MLAs- Gyasuddin Shaikh, Imran Khedawala and Javed Pirzada- have written a letter to the President, Shaikh said on Saturday.

"Gujarat Congress MLAs @Gyasuddin_INC, @Imran_khedawala and Javed Pirzada wrote a letter to the President of India Draupadi Murmu regarding Bilkis Bano case," stated a post on Shaikh's Twitter handle with a copy of the letter.

4:15 PM

Modi govt surpassed previous govts in increasing agri budget: Nadda

BJP president Jagat Prakash Nadda said on Saturday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government has done a lot for farmers with a fourfold increase in the agricultural budget in eight years.

Addressing a public meeting at the municipal council ground in Paonta Sahib in Himachal Pradesh's Sirmour district, Nadda claimed that no other government worked so much for the farmers as the current dispensation.

3:42 PM

Terror threat received by Mumbai cops should be taken seriously, central agencies should probe: Ajit Pawar

Senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar on Saturday said the messages received by the Mumbai police threatening a "26/11-like attack" should be taken seriously, and added that central agencies need to look into the matter.

Speaking to reporters at the airport here, the Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly said in the state police department is a very able force in such situations.

The Mumbai police's traffic wing received several text messages on its helpline number, which threatened that a "26/11-like" attack will be carried out in the city by six persons and "preparations are on to blow up" the metropolis.

3:11 PM

Reside in Mumbai, no visitors at home, don't contact co-accused: Court's bail conditions for Varavara Rao

A special court here has directed poet-activist P Varavara Rao, an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case who was recently granted bail on medical ground by the Supreme Court, to reside in Mumbai and not to leave the city without its permission.

It also restricted Rao from having a "gathering of visitors" at his residence in Mumbai, and asked him not to indulge in any "criminal activities, similar to the case against him or otherwise" and not to contact any co-accused in the case or any other person involved in similar activities.

The apex court had granted bail to Rao on August 10.

3:06 PM

Cong demands white paper on privatisation of public sector banks from govt

The Congress on Saturday accused the Centre of having pressured the RBI to "disown" its research report which argued against a "big bang approach" to privatisation of banks, and demanded that the government come out with a white paper on public sector banks' privatisation.

 

The Opposition party hit out at the BJP over the privatisation of public sector banks (PSBs), calling it "Beche Jao Party", and alleged that the central government had changed the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to "Reverse Bank of India" by forcing it to make a "U-turn" over its own report.

 

The RBI on Friday said a research paper favouring gradual privatisation of public sector banks (PSBs) is not its view but that of the authors of the report.

3:03 PM

Wockhardt ties up with various partners to roll out products in US mkt

Drug firm Wockhardt on Saturday said it has tied up with various partners to roll out products in the US market with its Illinois-based manufacturing plant all set to relieve all workers in a phased manner as part of business restructuring in the US market.

The Mumbai-based company said it has engaged multiple US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) approved manufacturing partners in the US market, after thorough due diligence and inspection of their facilities, to manufacture various products for sale in the US/ North America.

"The company is relieving all its staff who were directly engaged by our US subsidiary in its plant in connection with the manufacturing process in a phased manner and in full compliance with the applicable local laws," Wockhardt Ltd said in a regulatory filing.

3:00 PM

SpiceJet Durgapur flight incident: DGCA suspends licence of pilot for 6 months

Aviation regulator DGCA has suspended the licence of a SpiceJet pilot for six months following an incident where the airline's flight from Mumbai to Durgapur had faced severe turbulence and resulted in injuries to many passengers in May.

In the incident that happened on May 1, as many as 14 passengers and 3 cabin crew members were injured.

A senior DGCA official on Saturday said the licence of the pilot-in-command of the flight has been suspended for six months due to various violations.

2:58 PM

NDPP, BJP dismiss merger speculation

Ruling alliance partners in Nagaland, NDPP and BJP, have dismissed Congress's speculation that the two parties will merge after the assembly elections due next year.

Addressing a joint press conference on Friday, National Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) leader Neiba Kronu and BJP national spokesperson Mmhonlumo Kikon said that the speculation put forward by Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) president K Therie and AICC Nagaland in-charge Ajoy Kumar on various occasions are a "figment of imagination".

"The BJP is a national party and has its own principles while NDPP is a regional entity with its own principles. There is neither any agenda nor have we held any discussion over merger with BJP," Kronu, a cabinet minister, said.

2:57 PM

Assam logs 91 new COVID cases

Assam reported 91 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, 28 less than the previous day, pushing the tally to 743,432, a National Health Mission (NHM) bulletin said.

The positivity rate recorded an increase to 2.52 per cent against the previous day's 1.92 per cent, it said on Friday.

The new cases were detected from 3,611 samples tested for the virus.

2:52 PM

Messages that warned of 26/11-like attack came from number that has Pak code: Mumbai police chief

The messages received by the police threatening a 26/11-like attack in Mumbai came from a phone number which has Pakistan code, city Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar said on Saturday.

He was addressing a press conference here in the wake of city police's traffic wing receiving several text messages on its helpline number, which threatened that an attack would be carried out and the city would be blown up.

"Prima facie, the threat messages to blow up Mumbai like 26/11 came from a number that has Pakistan code," Phansalkar said.

2:52 PM

Pak's top probe agency may arrest ex-PM Imran Khan in prohibited funding case: Report

Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan could be arrested by the country's top investigating agency for failing to appear before it and snubbing its notices in the prohibited funding case, according to a media report on Saturday.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) issued a second notice to Khan on Friday, according to The News.

Khan, the cricketer-turned-politician, received the first notice last Wednesday, but he refused to appear before the FIA investigation team, the newspaper said.

2:48 PM

KCR leads massive rally to Munugode to launch TRS campaign

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday left for Munugode Assembly constituency in a massive rally from here to launch TRS campaign for the upcoming by-election.

Accompanied by some ministers and leaders of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) in a bus, chief minister KCR left from his official residence Pragati Bhavan. His convoy of vehicles was en route joined by a large number of cars.

The rally led to a huge traffic jam from Uppal to L. B. Nagar on the city periphery.

2:47 PM

Kejriwal 'kingpin' in Delhi's 'liquor scam': BJP

BJP on Saturday sharpened its attack on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, with Union Minister Anurag Thakur describing him as the "kingpin" of the "liquor scam" in the capital.

Addressing a press conference here, Thakur said the AAP should not try to divert attention from the excise scam by raising other issues as its "real face has been unmasked".

Taking a dig at Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Thakur referred to him as "Money Shh", alleging that alleges he makes money and maintains silence.

2:47 PM

Netflix not to stream ads during movies, TV series for kids

Streaming giant Netflix is likely planning not to show ads during kids' movies and TV series, and will keep kids' programming ad-free like its rival Disney+ announced in May this year.

Netflix has told its partners that kids' programming would stay commercial-free, reports TechCrunch.

However, original series such as 'Stranger Things', 'Bridgerton', and 'Squid Game' are expected to still see ads.

2:46 PM

Writing off loans of the rich, corporate tax cuts: Cong questions 'muft ki gajak'

Principal opposition party, the Congress asserts that welfare schemes like the Food Security Act, MGNREGA and others which are designed to uplift people from poverty are not freebies and alleges that writing off loans is the real freebie.

The party said that based on the Food Security Act 2013, the BJP government distributed free rations to 80 crore citizens during the corona epidemic. Indirectly, the National Food Security Act also obliges the government to buy foodgrains from farmers at the Minimum Support Price (MSP).

The party says that small amounts or assistance given to the poor are categorised as freebies, while the freebies that the rich friends of the government are getting through low tax rates, write offs and exemptions are categorized as necessary incentives, that is our question to the government. The results are also out on all this assistance which the UPA government had provided -- because of the mid-day meal scheme, the gross enrolment ratio in government schools had doubled.

2:31 PM

Free rations were BJP's biggest vote getter in UP Assembly polls

They may be each others bitter opponents in politics but the BJP and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh are in complete agreement when it comes to doling out freebies to voters for electoral gains.

For the Yogi Adityanath government, the distribution of free ration to poor families has been the biggest factor that ensured the victory of the BJP in the 2022 assembly elections.

Five kilograms of ration, packed in plastic bags with photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath printed on them, proved to be a major vote earner for the party.

2:23 PM

Will be arrested in 2-4 days says Manish Sisodia on CBI raids

A day after CBI conducted searches at the residence of Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, the AAP leader said that he might be arrested soon stating that the liquor issue or the excise policy was just an excuse to target him since he was a minister under the Delhi Chief Minister Arwind Kejriwal.

Sisodia alleged that the raids against him was all political and had nothing to do with the alleged violations in Delhi' Excise Policy.

"Maybe within the next 3-4 days, CBI-ED will arrest me... we won't be scared, you won't be able to break us... Elections of 2024 will be AAP vs BJP," said Sisodia while addressing a press conference in the national capital today.

"Their issue is not liquor/excise scam. Their problem is Arvind Kejriwal... whole proceedings against me, raids at my residence and office, are to stop Arvind Kejriwal... I haven't done any corruption. I'm just Arvind Kejriwal's Education Minister," he said.

2:17 PM

Want 'permanent peace' with India; war never an option to resolve Kashmir issue: Pak PM Sharif

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that Pakistan wants to have "permanent peace" with India through dialogue as war is not an option for either of the countries to resolve the Kashmir issue, according to a media report on Saturday.

Speaking to a delegation of students from Harvard University, Sharif also said that sustainable peace in the region was linked to the resolution of the Kashmir issue as per the UN resolutions, The News International newspaper reported.

Pakistan resolves to maintain peace in the region, and that sustainable peace in the region was linked to the resolution of the Kashmir issue as per the UN resolutions, he said.

2:10 PM

US aid to Ukraine nears $11 billion

The latest tranche of military aid to Ukraine, announced Friday, sees total US commitments reach $10.9 billion. The new offer includes additional HIMARS rocket systems, which have been credited with helping Kyiv slow Moscow’s advance over the summer. 

 

2:01 PM

Hindu outfit lodges complaint against Amazon for selling obscene Radha-Krishna pics

The Hindu Janajagruthi Samithi has lodged a complaint against Amazon with for selling obscene pictures of Lord Krishna and Radha, police said on Saturday.

In the complaint, the Hindu outfit said that the pictures being sold in the e-commerce platform under the title 'INKOLOGIE Hindu Gods Fine Arts painting' were hurting the religious sentiments of crores of Hindus.

At a time when crores of Hindus celebrated Krishna Janmashtami, Amazon's plans to sell the obscene pictures could only be considered as with ulterior motives and it is against the law under IPC sections 295, 295 A and 298.

1:55 PM

Rajnath calls for timely justice delivery by armed forces tribunals

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday pitched for ensuring timely delivery of justice to armed forces personnel under the framework of military tribunals, but at the same time cautioned against the challenge of "justice hurried is justice buried'.

"We often talk of 'justice delayed is justice denied'. We should try to ensure timely justice delivery to our charter by developing a systematic procedure," Singh said at a seminar on the armed forces tribunals.

"However, we also need to be very careful while doing this. Otherwise, there is also a danger of 'justice hurried is justice buried. In such a situation, keeping a balance between time and procedure is an important demand of today's time," he added.

1:54 PM

At least 10 killed as Islamic militants storm hotel in Somali capital

At least 10 people were killed in an attack by Islamic militants who stormed a hotel in Somalia's capital late Friday, police and eyewitnesses said.

Several other people were injured and security forces rescued many others, including children, from the scene of the attack at Mogadishu's Hayat Hotel, they said.

The attack started with explosions outside the hotel before gunmen entered the building.