Breaking News, April 30 | LIVE UPDATES

A massive fire was reported in a scrap godown in Padmashali Colony, Hyderabad. No casualties reported. Fire tenders rushed to the spot. Cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained and further investigation has been taken up.

At about 9.10PM, a minor derailment of Parcel Cargo Express Train occurred at Yesvantpur Yard. However, Main Line is not affected and trains are running through, but with minor delay. Our team is at the spot to ensure speedy restoration, said the South Western Railway. 

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Saturday that Haryana and Punjab have demanded the setting up of a separate high court for both the states and both would duly send their proposals to the Union Home Ministry.

With the arrest of a shopping mall's security personnel, the Noida Police on Saturday claimed to have nabbed the eighth accused allegedly involved in the killing of a customer at a restro-bar on April 25.

After bringing down Rahul Gandhi at Amethi, Smriti Irani is all set to land in Wayanad next week, the constituency that the Congress leader had won in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

First dose of SputnikV can be taken as a precaution dose only by those who have taken SputnikV, NTAGI recommends in meeting on Friday, 29th April said official sources on Saturday. 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit West Bengal for three days and is expected to boost the BJP functionaries in the state in the backdrop of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Amid power supply crisis in several states due to coal shortage, the Odisha government on Saturday said there is no shortage of coal at any power plant in the state.

Amid Twitter's $44 billion deal saga, tech billionaire Elon Musk has gained approximately 6 million followers on the platform.

A soldier was killed and two others were injured on Saturday in a road accident in Kashmir's Ganderbal district, police sources said.

Two 17-year-old girls allegedly committed suicide in separate incidents after failing to clear Class 12 board examination in Balaghat and Tikamgarh districts of Madhya Pradesh, police said on Saturday.

Highlighting the reduced power crunch issue in the state, Mahendra Kumar, Managing Director of South Bihar Power Distribution Corporation Ltd (SBPDCL), told IANS: "We have 5.5 to 6,000 megawatt power demand during rush hours in Bihar every day and we are almost meeting the demand.

ED attaches Jaqueline Fernandez Gifts And Properties worth Rs 7 Crores 

The Covid-19 cluster at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) has increased to 196, after 13 new cases were registered on Saturday.

Delhi recorded 1,607 new Covid-19 cases and two deaths amid an ongoing spike in the number of single-day infections, according to a health authorities on Saturday.

The 11-member Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, led by MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, visited Goa's Naval Area from April 24 to April 27, as part of a study visit to the state, an official said on Saturday. The delegates, including officials from the Lok Sabha Secretariat and Ministry of Defence, were received by Commodore Ashish Goyal, Naval Officer-in-Charge, Goa, a Navy spokesperson said. The committee visited Naval Air Station INS Hansa on Tuesday and were welcomed by Rear Admiral Philipose G Pynumootil, Flag Officer Commanding Goa Area, he said.

Kick-starting efforts of the country towards green shipping, the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) here will develop and build the first indigenous hydrogen-fuelled electric vessels, Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal said on Saturday. Inaugurating a workshop on Green Shipping, Sonowal said the project will be carried out by the CSL in collaboration with Indian partners and unveiled the government's plan for building hydrogen-fuelled electric vessels keeping pace with the Global Maritime Green Transitions.

Two brothers were arrested with 107 kg ganja in Odisha's Ganjam district, police said on Saturday. The Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Police arrested the duo from Raghunathsahi village in Buguda police station area, they said. Ganja weighing 107 kg, 517 gm opium, 607 gm gold, 196 gm silver, an SUV and 29 parcels of land were seized from their possession, police said. A case was filed and further investigation is underway, they said.

Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday criticised the state government for "telling reasons" instead of solving the power crisis. He posted a tweet attaching an excerpt of information given by Energy Minister A K Sharma which spoke about the closure of a few power generation units due to technical reasons. Sharing the news, Yadav said, "Government's job is not to tell the cause of a problem but to solve it". A day ago, Sharma had tweeted, "Some power generation units in UP are closed for several weeks due to technical reasons in which Harduaganj-660 MW, Meja-660 MW, Bara-660 MW are included. Harduaganj-605 MW was also damaged by the seasonal storm. Efforts are being made to fix them and start the power supply on a war footing".  On Friday too, Yadav had targeted the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, alleging that people of the state are getting scorched by heat and the unannounced power cuts.

A day after the Karnataka government announced its decision to annul the alleged scam-tainted examination held to recruit 545 police sub-inspectors in the state and hold re-exams, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Siddaramaiah on Saturday said the BJP-led dispensation has acknowledged the scam and demanded the resignation of Home Minister Araga Jnanendra. Seeking an impartial probe, in a series of tweets, he said the investigation should be monitored by a sitting High Court judge.

Amid concerns in certain quarters that the insolvency law has led to more liquidations than resolutions of stressed assets, Corporate Affairs Secretary Rajesh Verma on Saturday pitched for having a framework to study the impact of the legislation. Emphasising that the government and regulator IBBI have been constantly making course corrections to address any gaps in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), he also said the law has brought in a cultural shift in the dynamics between lenders and borrowers as well as promoters and creditors. The IBC, which came into force in 2016 and has undergone six amendments so far, provides for a time-bound and market-linked resolution of stressed assets.

Gen Manoj Pande took charge as the 29th Chief of the Army Staff on Saturday after incumbent Gen MM Naravane retired from service. Gen Pande, who was serving as the vice chief, became the first officer from the Corps of Engineers to helm the force. Before taking charge as vice chief of the Army on February 1, Gen Pande was heading the Eastern Army Command, tasked with guarding the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh sectors.

A 16-year-old girl has accused her stepmother of forcibly confining her and pushing her into prostitution in Shahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, police said on Saturday. Based on a complaint filed by the girl on Friday, a case has been registered at the Puvaya police station against her stepmother and two others, they said. Superintendent of Police (Rural) Sanjeev Bajpai said the accused are on the run and a team has been formed to nab them. The police officer said the teenager has alleged that her stepmother and two others had pushed her into prostitution and she was being held captive and closely monitored.

Three children drowned after getting dragged away into Tapi river water in Surat city of Gujarat, police said on Saturday. The three minors from Iqbal Nagar slum area in the city were playing on the bank of Tapi river near a causeway in Rander locality of the city on Friday evening when the mishap occurred, a police official said. "The trio drowned due to a sudden rise in water level of the river near the causeway as a result of a high tide in the Arabian sea," the Rander police station official said. Bodies of two of the deceased - Mohammad Fakir (7) and Shahadat Fakir (8) were fished out late in the evening, while that of Sania Sheikh (14) was found Saturday morning by a team of divers of the city fire department, the official said. 

The parents of a girl who was declared brain dead at AIIMS Trauma Centre after receiving gunshot injury just two months shy of her sixth birthday have donated her heart, liver, kidneys and corneas. After doctors confirmed that she was brain-dead on Friday, the details were shared by Organ Retrieval and Banking Organization (ORBO-AIIMS) with NOTTO which subsequently allotted the organs to the recipients going by a waiting list.

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The global coronavirus caseload has topped 513 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.23 million and vaccinations to over 11.35 billion, according to the Johns Hopkins University. In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 513,045,386 and 6,233,848, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered increased to 11,353,172,747. The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 81,320,794 and 993,571, respectively, according to the CSSE. India accounts for the second highest caseload at 43,072,176.

President Joe Biden and Mexico's Andres Manuel López Obrador have agreed in a phone call to do more to promote “just, humane and effective efforts to reduce irregular migration" at the southern border, the White House reported after their nearly hourlong conversation. López Obrador tweeted that the conversation was “cordial” and that they “spoke of issues of interest to the bilateral relationship.” The agenda also included the upcoming Summit of the Americas in June in Los Angeles, and the end of coronavirus restrictions on asylum seekers trying to come to the US.

Russia has staved off a default on its debt by making a last-minute payment using its precious dollar reserves sitting outside the country, US Treasury officials said. The amount of the payment was not disclosed, but earlier this month Russia's finance ministry said it tried to make a USD 649 million payment due April 6 toward two bonds to an unnamed US bank — previously reported as JPMorgan Chase. At that time, tightened sanctions imposed for Russia's invasion of Ukraine prevented the payment from being accepted, so Moscow attempted to make the debt payment in rubles.

Banda in Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest maximum temperature of 47.4 degrees Celsius and at least half a dozen places across India recorded maximum temperatures above 46 degrees Celsius as a massive heat wave swept across 14 states and UTs on Friday (April 29).

Six suspected drug peddlers were arrested in Jammu city on Friday and 30 kg ganja was seized from them, police said. The seizure and the arrests were made at checkpoints set up at the Bahu Fort and the Satwari areas of the city, Senior Superintendent of Police, Jammu, Chandan Kohli said. Two separate cases were registered at the Satwari police station and the suspects placed under arrest, he added. They were identified by the police as Ganga Ram Basant, Rahim Chand Sahu, Jai Prakash Sahu, Sunjay Kumar, Rajesh Kumar and Jai Shankar. 

Despite the geographical conditions, there would be no shortage of water and electricity in Rajasthan due to efficient management by the state government, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said on Friday. The government's top priority is to provide water to the villages. It will be ensured that people don't face any problem in getting drinking water, he said after reviewing the works of energy, PHED, disaster management and Relief, MGNREGA and Gopalan departments.

The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to extend the UN political mission in Libya for three months, with the United States and Britain accusing Russia of blocking a longer and more substantive mandate that would include promoting reconciliation of the country's rival governments now claiming power. Russia's UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow insisted on a three-month extension to pressure UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to urgently appoint a new special representative to head the mission, known as UNSMIL.

The National Commission for Minorities on Friday has urged the Ministry of External Affairs to raise with the US the issue of attack on Sikh persons there and ensure that appropriate steps are taken to prevent and combat hate in America. In a statement, the Commission said it has taken cognizance of representation from Sikh organisations from Punjab regarding the attack on a Sikh person at Richmond Hill, New York, US on April 3. A Sikh person was attacked while walking in Richmond Hill, a neighbourhood also known as Little Punjab for its sizable population of Sikhs and Indian immigrants, the statement said.