Breaking News, July 24

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday released three books showcasing some of the rarest photographs of outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind and his predecessors.

Tamil Nadu on Sunday reported 1,945 new COVID-19 cases including a returnee from Andhra Pradesh. The overall tally now stands at 35,32,343, the health department said, adding new infections dropped below 2,000 mark after few weeks.

A man was arrested for allegedly indulging in unnatural sex with a 10-year-old boy in New Kamptee area of Nagpur, a police official said on Sunday.

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday criticised the government over the increase in GST rate on scientific equipment, saying it perhaps believes that the scientific knowledge can be gathered by gazing at the sky and "re-imagining our past".

Gujarat on Sunday reported 842 fresh COVID-19 cases, including 250 in Ahmedabad district, taking the overall tally of infections to 12,48,487, the state health department said.

In a first of its kind move, the Delhi Police hired 100 private photographers to cover all happenings, including Congress protests, around the headquarters of the Enforcement Directorate when the Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi were summoned there for questioning.

A labourer died after falling from the 10th floor of an under-construction building in Malad East in Mumbai, a police official said on Sunday. The incident took place on Friday and the deceased was identified as Manish Bhaliya (46), the Kurar police station official said.

The city government will host the fourth Delhi Electric Vehicles (EV) Forum on August 10 to celebrate two years of "successful implementation" of the capital's EV policy, officials said on Sunday. 

Outgoing President Kovind said that he was inspired by the citizens whom he met during his various visits across the country. 

 A case has been registered against five persons under the Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act in Colonelganj police station area of ​​Gonda district, a police officer said on Sunday.

Two farmers were killed after a pump set they were repairing exploded here on Sunday, police said.

Two persons were killed and six others were injured, when the vehicle they were travelling in skidded off the road and rolled down into a gorge in Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district on Sunday, officials said.

The Centre on Sunday held a high-level review meeting after a 34-year-old man from the national capital with no history of foreign travel tested positive for the monkeypox virus, making it the fourth case of the disease reported in India.

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convenor Arvind Kejriwal will visit Somnath temple and hold a townhall meeting with traders in Gujarat's Rajkot city on July 26, a party official said on Sunday. This will be Kejriwal's second visit to the poll-bound state in less than a week and third this month. The AAP leader will arrive in Gujarat for a two-day visit on Monday, during which he will hold a townhall meeting with traders in Rajkot after offering prayers at Somnath temple. "Arvindji will land at Rajkot airport on Monday evening and will leave for Somnath town in Gir Somnath district, where he will stay the night. He will offer prayers at the Somnath temple the next morning and will arrive at Rajkot, where he will hold a townhall with traders in the afternoon," Rajguru said.

Youth Congress workers on Sunday protested outside a Goa restaurant which the Congress claims is owned by Union minister Smriti Irani's daughter. The Congress on Saturday demanded Irani's sacking, alleging her daughter was running an illegal bar in Goa, but the minister had claimed the "malicious" charge was made at the Gandhi family's behest due to her vocal stand in the National Herald case and vowed to fight back. On Sunday, Goa Youth Congress president Varad Mardolkar and state unit spokesman Amarnath Panjikar led the protest outside the Sully Souls Goa restaurant in Assagao village and demanded that the establishment be shut down.

In a bid to generate more employment, Delhi Chief Minister Arind Kejriwal on Sunday (July 24) announced that his government will develop food hubs in the national capital. "Delhi is already known as the food capital of India but we have decided to take this concept further. We will develop all the food of the city," the Chief Minister said in a media briefing. According to the Chief Minister, the government has a target of giving 20 lakh jobs in the next five years and the setting up of food hubs will be a step in that direction. He said that initially his government will revamp two food hubs at Majnu Ka Tila and Chandni Chowk as a pilot project. "We did intense research on which places to choose first and then finally we came to the conclusion that we will begin this project from Majnu Ka Tila and Chandni Chowk," Kejriwal said.

The Mumbai police have started serving notices under the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to people gathering to stage demonstrations against the construction of the metro car shed at Aarey colony here, an official said on Sunday. The city police have started issuing notices under section 149 of the CrPC, prohibiting unlawful gathering at the protest venue in the western suburb of Goregaon, he said. Notices have been served to two protestors, Tabrez Sayyed and Jayesh Bhise, in the last two days warning them not to assemble unlawfully and violate the law, the official said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is in Cairo for talks Sunday with Egyptian officials as his country seeks to break diplomatic isolation and sanctions by the West over its invasion of Ukraine. Lavrov landed in Cairo late Saturday, the first leg of his Africa trip that will also include stops in Ethiopia, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Russia's state-run RT. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry was holding talks with Lavrov Sunday morning. The Russian chief diplomat was scheduled to meet later Sunday with the Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit. He will also address the permanent representatives of the pan-Arab organisation, RT reported.

The Congress on Sunday demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief J P Nadda over BJP spokesperson Prem Shukla's usage of "indecent language" for Sonia Gandhi, and warned of filing a defamation suit in case this is repeated. In a letter to BJP chief Nadda, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Congress registers its strong objection to the "abusive and indecent" language used for Gandhi by Shukla during a discussion on a national news channel on July 23. Top leaders and spokespersons of BJP, who talk about culture, have repeatedly used objectionable language against respected women of the country, especially the 75-year-old president of a national party, Ramesh said.

Portraits of Prime minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were found in garbage collected at the Kosi Kalan power plant, officials said on Sunday. The portraits of the two leaders were disposed off in 'kabad' by some employees of the power plant while the office was being cleaned, they said. A few days ago, a sanitation worker was terminated after photos of Modi and Adityanath were found in his garbage cart. He was reinstated after much hue and cry on social media.

Electronics firm Sahasra Semiconductors has said it expects to become the first company to set up a memory chip assembly, test and packaging unit in the country and start selling locally-made chips by December. Sahasra Semiconductors chairman and managing director Amrit Manwani told PTI that the company plans to invest a total of Rs 750 crore in setting up the unit at Bhiwadi in Rajasthan. "We will invest Rs 150 crore in this financial year for setting up the ATMP facility in Elcina manufacturing cluster in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan. We expect it to be operational by the end of this year. Once the market is established and we touch revenue in the range of Rs 250-300 crore then we will again invest Rs 600 crore. In total, we plan to invest Rs 750 crore initially," Manwani said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Monday address an event marking the 10th death anniversary of former Rajya Sabha MP Harmohan Singh Yadav via video conferencing, officials said. The prime minister's participation is in recognition of the great contribution of the late leader for farmers, backward classes and other sections of the society, the officials said. Harmohan Singh Yadav was a towering figure and leader of the Yadav community. He remained active in politics for a long time. His son Sukhram Singh Yadav was also a Rajya Sabha MP. He entered into politics when he was 31 and became village 'pradhan' in 1952. He served in various capacities including as MLC and MLA in Uttar Pradesh from 1970 to 1990. 

The Madras High Court has brought back a misappropriation and breach of trust case involving crores of rupees and gold idols, back to the Sivakanchi police over four years after an Idol Wing SIT had taken it up for probe. Following a complaint from one Annamalai, the Sivakanchi police registered a case against Sthapathi (sculptor) Muthiah and Masilamani, an official of the Tamil Nadu government's Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department, Ekambareswarar temple Sthanikars and the Executive Officer in December 2017.

In yet another flashpoint, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday skipped a tree planation programme at Asola Bhati Mines where Lieutenant Governor Saxena was present. "After absenting from the scheduled weekly meeting with the LG on Friday citing ill health, CM Arvind Kejriwal today skipped a pre decided combined programme of tree plantation at Bhatti mines in the, again due to ill health," said LG office sources. Earlier, Kejriwal did not attend scheduled weekly meeting with Saxena on Friday, in the backdrop of a CBI probe recommended by the LG in alleged lapses and irregularities in implementation of Excise policy of Delhi government.

The Ministry of Power has asked states to formulate time-bound plans to ensure the utilisation of biomass for co-firing in thermal power plants ahead of the Kharif harvest season to reduce stubble burning and air pollution. To address the issue of air pollution and to reduce the carbon footprint of thermal power generation, the Ministry of Power issued a revised policy in October last year for the use of agro residue-based biomass and mandated the use of five to seven per cent of biomass co-fired along with the coal for all thermal power plants. Farm stubble burning plays a major role in air pollution across the country.

The Italian government is likely to acquire at least 20 per cent stake in Titagarh Wagons's wholly-owned subsidiary Firema SPA, sources said on Sunday. Invitalia, the Italian government's investment promotion agency, will be acquiring 20-30 per cent stake in Firema, they said. Titagarh Group was in dialogue with the Italian government for capital support after the company faced financial headwinds during the pandemic. Firema, which is executing railway projects in Europe, is also instrumental in building India's first aluminum coach, for Pune Metro.

First Monkeypox case reported in Delhi, admitted to Maulana Azad Medical College, confirms Health Ministry. The patient is a 31-year-old man with no travel history who was admitted to the hospital with fever and skin lesions.

The world's first 'test tube baby' was born 43 years ago. The 25th of July is designated as World IVF Day to commemorate the birth. NOVA IVF Fertility, one of India's leading chain of fertility centres, has released a report on the factors leading to infertility in the Delhi NCR region.

A 20-year-old man died while six members of his family were rescued as a three-storey building collapsed in northeast Delhi's Mustafabad area on Sunday, police said. The incident was reported at around 5 am and three fire tenders were rushed to the spot, said Atul Garg, Director, Delhi Fire Service. Police pulled out Suleman (45), his wife Shabnam (40), daughters Shabnur (22) and Labiya (20) and his sons Sufhiyan (20), Faizan (17) and  Arshiyal (15) from the debris. Sufhiyan was pulled out with great difficulty and rushed to a hospital where he was declared as brought dead, a senior police officer said. "The family was living in the now collapsed portion of the building as tenants for the last four years," he said. The building was constructed about 17-18 years back and is owned by one Shamim Ahmad, police said. 

The Chief Ministers and Deputy Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states will hold a meeting with senior party leaders today at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi to present their report on the development and welfare schemes as the party gears up for the upcoming assembly polls and the 2024 Lok Sabha election.Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also likely to attend this meeting, as per sources.

The Delhi University is planning to start a certificate course on patent laws to help students to make their research a "tangible" product and give them basic knowledge about filing for patents. This would be the first time that such a course would be offered at the varsity. Patent laws are taught as a part of the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) paper at the Delhi University's Law Faculty, and some science courses in the varsity also include a chapter on the topic. The varsity has constituted a committee for framing the syllabus and other modalities for a course on patent laws.

It was a warm Sunday morning in the city with the minimum temperature settling at 27.1 degrees Celsius, the weather office said. The relative humidity at 8:30 am was 79 per cent, they said. According to the India Meteorological Department, the city will witness a generally cloudy sky with the possibility of light rain and thundershowers. The maximum temperature is likely to settle at 35 degrees Celsius.

The Maharashtra Department of Water Supply and Sanitation will embark on a minute mapping plan that will cover 25 lakh groundwater resources and water conservation works amid fall in water levels and scarcity, an official said. The mapping will be carried out at a ratio of 1:10000, which means every centimetre on the map will represent 10,000 centimetres on the ground, giving a detailed assessment of such resources, he said. "It will be done under the Jal Jeevan Mission. Maharashtra will be the first state to take up such an initiative," he said. Emphasizing the importance of the plan, Groundwater Survey and Development Agency (GSDA) Commissioner Chintaman Joshi said around 80 per cent of irrigation and 85 per cent of supply for drinking purposes in Maharashtra was based on groundwater resources.

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Three police personnel were killed and four injured in a road accident near Chittoor in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh in the early hours of Sunday, Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said. The police personnel were posted at the Shivajinagar Police Station in Bengaluru, he added. According to sources close to the minister, the police personnel were on their way to nab a drug peddler in Chittoor when their car rammed into a road divider. A police team from Karnataka has rushed to the scene of the accident, they said. Arrangements have been made to bring the bodies and injured to Bengaluru, they said. 

Google has fired an engineer over breaching its confidentiality agreement after he made a claim that the tech giant's conversation Artificial Intelligence (AI) is "sentient" because it has feelings, emotions and subjective experiences. Google sacked Blake Lemoine who said Google's Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA) conversation technology can behave like a human. Lemoine shared the news of his firing during a 'Big Technology' podcast on Friday, just hours after Google dismissed him. Google confirmed his dismissal, saying that the company takes the development of AI "very seriously and remains committed to responsible innovation". "LaMDA has been through 11 distinct reviews, and we published a research paper earlier this year detailing the work that goes into its responsible development. If an employee shares concerns about our work, as Blake did, we review them extensively," the company said in a statement.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the state tourism department to develop the historic forts of Bundelkhand as tourism hotspots to promote tourism in the region. The state government has already identified the forts which will be renovated as tourist centres. According to a government spokesman, the historic Kalinjar fort in Banda district, spread into 542 hectares, will be developed as a major tourist attraction. With the help of private partners, various activities will be launched in this fort to attract tourists. A light and sound show, camping, trekking, rock climbing and other such events will be introduced to attract tourists.

Hitting out at West Bengal Chief Minister, BJP leader and union minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday said that Mamata Banerjee is breaking all records of corruption and the TMC stands for "The Mountain of Corruption". Thakur was referring to the arrest of West Bengal Commerce and Industries Minister Partha Chatterjee by ED in connection with the recruitment irregularities in West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) when he was the state Education Minister. "Under Mamata Banerjee's rule, chit fund scam and coal scam took place. Now teachers scam has happened, if Rs 21 crore is found at her colleague's house, then imagine how big a scam will be," Thakur said, adding that the "TMC" stands for "The Mountain of Corruption".

Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre, the technology business incubator at IIT Kanpur, is launching the NIRMAN Accelerator Programme, supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. According to a release, the programme will focus on manufacturing startups engaged in healthcare and agriculture domains and help them overcome the challenges from their prototype to market journey. A total of 15 start-ups will be selected under the programme, where they will be granted the opportunity to accelerate their product journey from lab to market. The best performing start-ups among the cohort of 15 start-ups will receive a cash award of up to Rs 10 lakhs. Prof Amitabha Bandyopadhyay, professor-in-charge, innovation and incubation, IIT Kanpur, said, "Our country has been facing tremendous challenges in the domain of manufacturing. We are in urgent need of innovators and start-ups working in the healthcare and agriculture domain to cater to some of the pertinent developmental challenges to uplift the status of manufacturing in India."

The scheduled programme to shower flower petals on Kanwad pilgrims from helicopter was cancelled here on Saturday owing to bad weather, a district administration official said. Saharanpur District Magistrate Akhilesh Singh told PTI, "The helicopter, which was to come from Gurugram to shower petals on kanwad pilgrims in Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar, could not come due to bad weather." He added that according to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's directives, flower petals were to be showered over kanwariyas returning with water of the river Ganga from Rishikesh, for which the administration had made arrangements. However, the programme was cancelled on Saturday due to bad weather, Singh said. 

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday announced a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the family members of seer Vijay Das who died after setting himself on fire in a protest demanding ban on mining in Deeg town of Rajasthan's Bharatpur district. He also ordered to get the matter investigated by a senior administrative officer. "The demise of Sant Shri Vijay Baba is very sad. We made every effort to save him and provided him with better medical facilities...," Gehlot said in a tweet. He further said, "I am sad that when the government had given its in-principle consent to the demands of the seers, under what circumstances did he take this unfortunate step."

A drive-by shooter wounded three men who were taking a picture outside of a Chicago church as they gathered for a funeral service Saturday afternoon, police said. All three victims were transported to local hospitals in good condition, according to Chicago police. At approximately 2:30 pm, someone inside a gray sedan drove by and opened fire at a group of funeral attendees who were taking a picture outside of Universal Community Missionary Baptist Church in the Roseland neighbourhood on Chicago's South Side, The Sun-Times reported.

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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday directed officials that ancient forts located in Bundelkhand region of the state should be repaired, and developed as new centres of tourism. Adityanath was chairing a meeting regarding repairing of forts located in Bundelkhand region of the state, the Uttar Pradesh government said in a statement. The chief minister directed the officials that light and sound show, camping, trekking, rock-climbing and facade lighting of Kalinjar fort should be done with private partnership.

Hundreds of children and adults sheltered at a high school in Haiti's capital Saturday after fleeing shooting in a neighbourhood where fighting between two rival gangs in recent weeks has caused dozens of deaths and destroyed homes. Francisco Seriphin, general coordinator for the religious community group Kizito, said 315 people had taken refuge in the Saint-Louis de Gonzague school, which is in the Delmas district neighbouring the violence-wracked Cite Soleil neighbourhood. Classes are out for summer vacation, and classrooms at the high school have been converted into dormitories, where some of the teenagers, children and toddlers sleep on small mattresses provided by the nonprofit group. Others must sleep on the floor without mattresses.

Delhi reports 738 fresh COVID-19 cases, 575 recoveries and one death, in the last 24 hours. Active cases 2,489 Positivity rate 5.04%.

West Bengal on Saturday registered 1,844 new Covid-19 cases, 393 less than the previous day’s count, taking the tally to 20,83,572, the health department said in a bulletin. It said that seven fresh fatalities due to the disease pushed the tally to 21,314. The state reported 2,237 new coronavirus cases and seven more deaths on Friday.

A fast-moving brush fire near Yosemite National Park exploded in size Saturday into one of California's largest wildfires of the year, prompting evacuations and shutting off power to more than 2,000 homes and businesses. The Oak Fire, which began Friday afternoon southwest of the park near Midpines in Mariposa County, grew to 10.2 square miles (26.5 square kilometers) by Saturday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.