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2:57 PM

Sharad Pawar-led NCP questions Union minister Smriti Irani's silence over Muzaffarnagar school incident

The Sharad Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Saturday questioned Union minister Smriti Irani's "silence" over the incident in which a teacher in Uttar Pradesh allegedly asked her students to slap a boy from a minority community.

 

Irani heads the Women and Child Development Ministry. The party also demanded a severe punishment against the teacher to ensure that such crimes against children do not take place again. The video shows the teacher of a private school in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar asking Class 2 students to slap their classmate from a minority community. She is also heard passing objectionable remarks against the community. The incident has triggered a nationwide outrage.

2:33 PM

IDFC First Bank gets rights for international matches in India for 3 years

IDFC First Bank has secured the title rights to the home international series of the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) for a duration of three years.The bank acquired these rights at a cost of Rs 4.2 crore per international match. In other words, the BCCI will get Rs 4.2 crore per international fixture.

 

This amount is Rs 40 lakh more than the previous arrangement, in which the board got Rs 3.8 crore per match. BCCI had set the base for securing the rights at Rs 2.4 crore.Speaking on the development, President of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Roger Binny said, “We are pleased to welcome IDFC First as the title sponsor for all our home matches.

 

1:32 PM

Mobile internet, bulk SMS services suspended in Nuh district till Aug 28

The Haryana government on Saturday ordered suspension of mobile internet and the bulk SMS services in the communally charged Nuh till August 28 in view of the call for a 'Shobha Yatra'.

 

The government announced the decision apprehending spread of rumours through social media by anti-social elements ahead or during the rally called to be held on Monday.

 

The suspension order was issued by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) T V S N Prasad on Saturday.

 

The Haryana government had earlier too suspended the mobile internet services in Nuh after the breaking out of communal clashes.

12:25 PM

Will teacher be prosecuted or culture of 'hate' allowed to flourish: Kapil Sibal on UP school viral video

After a video of a teacher in Uttar Pradesh allegedly asked her students to slap a boy from a minority community went viral, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi will condemn this publicly and the teacher be prosecuted or the culture of "hate" be allowed to flourish.

 

The video purportedly showing a school teacher asking her students to slap a boy from what she is heard referring to as "Mohammaden" community and also passing objectionable remarks against the community has gone viral on social media, with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra condemning the incident.

12:08 PM

Nehru's vision of self reliance behind Isro's Chandrayaan success: Congress

The Congress on Saturday said it was Nehru's vision of making India self-reliant in the space domain, and his decision to not align with the great powers despite criticism, which has now yielded such rich dividends in space exploration.

 

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said there has been a lot of commentary in Pakistan's media on the outstanding achievements of ISRO with a lament that the agency made such big strides even though Pakistan's space agency SUPARCO was set up in late 1961, a few months before India's INCOSPAR in February 1962.

12:03 PM

Work of G20 culture ministers holds significance for humanity: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said culture has an inherent potential to unite, while asserting that the work of G20 culture ministers holds immense significance for entire humanity.

In a recorded video message to the delegates attending the G20 Culture Ministers' Meeting here, the prime minister said Varanasi is a treasure chest of spirituality, knowledge and truth.

"Culture has the inherent potential to unite... your work holds immense significance for entire humanity," Modi told the gathering of G20 ministers..

11:50 AM

Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited bags orders worth Rs 3,289 crore

Navratna defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has received new defence and non-defence orders worth Rs 3,289 crore during July and August 2023 (till date).

 

The orders are for supply of Low Level Light Weight Radars, SONARS, IFF Systems, SATCOM Systems, EO/IR Payloads, TRM/DTRMs, Jammers, Encryptors, Data Link Systems, Fire Control Systems, Radars for Directed Energy Systems, Semi Rugged Telephone Exchanges, Software Defined Radios and various others types of radios, Electronic Voting Machines, AMC and Spares, the company said.

11:25 AM

Pakistan terms Chandrayaan-3's success as 'great scientific achievement'

Pakistan, in a belated response, has termed the success of the Chandrayaan-3 mission as a great scientific achievement for which Isro scientists deserved appreciation while the country's leading dailies heaped praises on India for achieving the feat on a lesser budget than rich nations.

 

Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch during her briefing on Friday was asked to comment on the successful soft-landing of the Chandrayaan-3 mission on the Moon.

 

I can only say that it is a great scientific achievement, for which Isro (Indian Space Research Organisation) scientists deserve appreciation, she said in her brief response.

11:15 AM

Delhi airport runs out of parking spots for planes for the G20 summit

Parking constraints at the Delhi airport have led the government to direct airlines to either reschedule or cancel over a thousand commercial flights during the G20 summit scheduled in September. The government has directed airlines to cut a quarter of their flight frequency during the same time. 

 

The decision, set to affect flights from September 8-10, was taken as the Delhi airport does not have sufficient aircraft parking spots to simultaneously cater to the parking demands of commercial flights and the flights of G20 delegates who will fly in and out of the capital on the dates above.

10:26 AM

Madhya Pradesh CM expands cabinet, inducts three new members just months ahead of assembly polls

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday expanded his cabinet by inducting three BJP MLAs as ministers just months ahead of the state assembly polls to be held by the end of the year.

 

With this, there are now 34 members in the Chouhan-led cabinet.

9:55 AM

10 killed in TN fire mishap; authorities blame cylinder 'illegally' taken inside for blaze

9:40 AM

Roads built in Indian villages in last 9 years can cover distance between Earth and Moon: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said roads built in Indian villages in last nine years can cover the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

 

"The Moon is a hot topic these days, so I will give one example by linking it to the Moon. In the last nine years, the roads built in villages in India are of a total distance that can cover the distance between the Earth and the Moon..." PM Modi said while addressing to the Indian diaspora at the Athens Conservatoire in Greece on Friday.

9:24 AM

Kamal Nath slams state govt, says MP has become 'scam', 'corruption' state

With the assembly election getting closer with each passing day in Madhya Pradesh, Former Chief Minister and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) Chief Kamal Nath has been hitting out at the state government over several issues.

 

The Congress leader on Friday claimed that Madhya Pradesh had become a 'scam state' and 'corruption state'. He made the remark while addressing a party-organised 'jan akrosh rally' in Morena district.

9:09 AM

Pakistan Peoples Party demands general elections in 90 days

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has demanded that the general elections be conducted within 90 days, emphasising that the country will suffer from a constitutional crisis if polls exceed the three-month period, Geo News reported.

 

PPP's leaders held a meeting of their Central Executive Committee (CEC) where they discussed the next elections and the deteriorating economy. They also held a press conference on Friday.

 

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on August 17 announced the schedule of new delimitations to be carried out as per the new census approved by the Council of Common Interests (CCI) earlier this month.

9:06 AM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets women scientists of the Isro team involved in Chandrayaan-3 Mission