Latest news LIVE: Goa Speaker says he has accepted merger of CLP into BJP

From Covid to the political tussle in Goa, catch all the latest news updates here

India added 6,422 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 44,516,479, while the active cases increased to 46,389, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. The death toll climbed to 28,250 with 34 fatalities which includes 20 deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The active cases comprise 2.04 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate increased to 98.71 per cent, the ministry said. An increase of 640 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday said the Congress MLAs have joined the ruling party without any conditions as the state opposition parties alleged that the members sold themselves to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Ever since the eight Congress MLAs joined the BJP, including former CM Digambar Kamat, people are speculating about the induction of two or three MLAs into the state Cabinet. Along with Kamat, Michael Lobo, Delilah Lobo, Kedar Naik, Sankalp Amonkar, Rajesh Faldesai, Aleixo Sequeira and Rudolf Fernandes switched sides on Wednesday.

The Bengaluru civic agency has identified several illegal structures that have come up on stormwater drains, which had recently caused severe flooding in parts of the city, particularly information technology (IT) corridors, and arterial roads. Speaking in the House on the same on Wednesday, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai reiterated that there will not be any discrimination in the drive to free illegal occupants of stormwater drains.

Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez left the office of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police after being grilled by the cops for over eight hours on Wednesday in connection with the Rs 200 crore extortion-cum-cheating case involving multimillionaire conman Sukesh Chandrashekhar, who is presently lodged in jail. Jacqueline had reached the EOW office at around 11 am.

3:01 PM

PM Modi to release cheetahs brought from Namibia in MP's Kuno National Park

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release cheetahs brought from Namibia in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park on Saturday as part of his efforts to revitalise and diversify the country's wildlife and habitat, his office said.

 

Cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952. The cheetahs that would be released are from Namibia and have been brought under an MoU signed earlier this year.

 

On September 17, which is also Modi's birthday, the prime minister will also participate in Self Help Group (SHG) Sammelan later that day with women SHG members/community resource persons at Karahal, Sheopur.

3:00 PM

Foxconn row: Who was responsible for nixing Nanar refinery, Fadnavis asks Oppn

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has accused the opposition of making false claims over the Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor plant going to Gujarat, and also questioned it over the Nanar refinery project.

 

Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress have sought to corner the state government following the announcement two days ago that the Rs 1.54 lakh crore semiconductor plant would be set up in Gujarat and not in Maharashtra as proposed earlier.

2:50 PM

Climate change, sustainable development issues of prime importance: President Droupadi Murmu

President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday said climate change and sustainable development are issues of prime importance today and countries across the board should come together to work out solutions for them.

 

Addressing the faculty and course members of 62nd National Defence College course who had called on her at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here, Murmu said we need to prepare ourselves to face not just the traditional threats but even the unseen ones which also include the vagaries of nature.

2:25 PM

Shell names insider Wael Sawan as new CEO

Shell on Thursday named Wael Sawan, its head of integrated gas and renewables division, as the group's chief executive officer to replace Ben van Beurden, who will be stepping down at the end of this year.

 

Wael's appointment is effective Jan. 1, Shell said, while Ben van Beurden will continue to work as an adviser to the board until June-end after which he will leave the group.

 

Reuters had reported earlier this month that Shell had shortlisted four candidates, including Sawan, to succeed Ben van Beurden who is stepping down after nearly a decade at the helm of the giant energy firm.

2:25 PM

Shehbaz Sharif to meet Putin on SCO sidelines

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday arrived in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, to attend the two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Summit, during which he is scheduled to meet other world leaders in attendance, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On Thursday, Sharif will separately meet Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Tajikistan President Imomali Rehmon, Dawn news reported.

Besides Putin, the Pakistani leader is also scheduled to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov.

1:53 PM

Pope urged to avoid ''supermarket of religions'' in Kazakhstan

Pope Francis warned Kazakhstan's bishops on Thursday against fuelling nostalgia for the past, as one of his traditionalist critics here did just that by suggesting that Francis' participation in an interfaith conference could imply papal endorsement of a supermarket of religions".

The warning from Bishop Athenasius Schneider, auxiliary bishop of Astana, was perhaps to be expected, given he is one of Francis' most vocal critics, regularly calling out what he considers to be Francis' doctrinal ambiguities and overly progressive bent on issues such as homosexuality and interfaith outreach.

Francis began his third and final day in Kazakhstan by meeting with bishops, priests and nuns in the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Cathedral in the capital Nur-Sultan.

1:39 PM

Cabinet reshuffle likely in Goa after 8 Congress MLAs join ruling BJP

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant met Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai on Thursday morning amid talk of a cabinet reshuffle in the wake of eight Congress MLAs joining the ruling BJP.

The chief minister, however, told reporters here that the meeting, which followed Wednesday's dramatic developments, had nothing to do with politics. He met the governor at Raj Bhavan to discuss programs for the celebration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday (September 17), Sawant said. But a senior BJP leader said a reshuffle was likely in the next few days as the party would need to accommodate at least a couple of Congress MLAs who have crossed over, including former chief minister Digambar Kamat. The BJP now has 28 MLAs in the 40-member Assembly after eight Congress MLAs switched sides on Wednesday. In 2019, when 10 out of 15 Congress MLAs had defected to the BJP en-masse, the ruling party had dropped three ministers to accommodate three new entrants, and the same pattern may be followed now, the leader said.

1:22 PM

HC notice to Kejriwal govt on PIL regarding Delhi schools

The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought a response from the Aam Aadmi Party-led city government on a plea seeking full-time education for students, alleging the government schools in the national capital's North-East district were conducting classes only for two hours or on alternate days.

Issuing notice in the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), a division bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma allowed three weeks' time for the city government's response.

In the plea, petitioner Social Jurist, a Civil Rights Group pointed out the schools-- SKV Khajuri, SBV Khajuri, GGSSS Sonia Vihar, GBSSS Sonia Vihar, GGSSS Khajuri, GBSSS Karawal Nagar, and GGSSS Sabhapur, and other schools at Karawal Nagar -- are facing the issue.

1:20 PM

India aims to be among top two global producers in all auto segments: SIAM

The Indian automobile industry aims to be among the top two producers globally in every segment of vehicles over next 25 years, SIAM President Kenichi Ayukawa said on Thursday.

Speaking at the 62nd annual session of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Ayukawa said India also plans to be nearly 100 per cent self-reliant in the entire manufacturing value chain of automobiles during the period as per the Vision 2047.

"Industry has prepared a vision statement for India at 100. According to that, the Indian automobile industry will be one of the two largest producers in every segment of automobiles in the world," he said.
 

1:19 PM

New momentum of auto industry's innovation for greener alternatives need of the hour: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday stressed on the need for automobile industry's innovation for green alternatives to ensure protection and conservation of environment as well as help in making India self-reliant.

 

In a written address to the annual session of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Modi said, "Amrit Kaal is an opportunity to achieve self-sufficiency in every sector and the automobile sector is no exception." The automobile sector has contributed to all-round development and growth of the economy through new avenues for employment generation, the Prime Minister said in his message read out by SIAM President Kenichi Ayukawa.

12:26 PM

Goa Speaker says he has accepted merger of CLP into BJP

Goa Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar on Thursday said he had accepted the merger of the state Congress Legislature Party (CLP) into the ruling BJP.

He went through a letter submitted by Congress MLAs and found that they have required numbers, he told reporters. Eight out of 11 Congress MLAs on Wednesday passed a resolution to merge the legislature party into the BJP.

12:25 PM

Bar bodies favour amendment in Constitution to enhance retirement age of SC, HC judges

Bar bodies led by the Bar Council of India (BCI) have unanimously favoured amending the Constitution to enhance the retirement age of judges of the high court and the Supreme Court to 65 and 67 years respectively.

 

At present trial court judicial officers, HC and SC judges superannuate at the age of 60, 62 and 65 years respectively and especially the bar leaders have been demanding enhancement of retirement age of judges of the higher judiciary.

12:20 PM

Govt working to enhance infrastructure for studying engineering: PM Modi on Engineer's Day

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday greeted people on Engineer's Day and said India is blessed to have a skilled and talented pool of engineers contributing to nation building.

 

Engineer's Day is observed to mark the birth anniversary of engineer statesman M Visvesvaraya, a diwan of erstwhile Mysore kingdom, who is credited with pioneering engineering works.

 

12:19 PM

Darjeeling zoo recognised as best in India

The Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park (PNHZP) in West Bengal's Darjeeling has been adjudged the best zoo in the country, while Kolkata's Alipore Zoological Garden has secured the fourth position.

 

A zoo directors' conference was held in Bhubaneswar on September 10 and the Central Zoo Authority released the ranking list in the Odisha capital.

 

There are around 150 zoos across the country.

11:56 AM

US will be key partner in India's growth journey: PM Modi to Indian-Americans

The US will be a key partner in India's growth journey over the coming 25 years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said, as he expressed hope that the celebration of 75 years of India's Independence at the US Capitol would become an important milestone in friendship between the two nations.

 

"The word India represents many things simultaneously - a modern democratic republic, a diverse nation, an ancient civilisation and a cultural consciousness not limited by geography or time," Modi said in a message to the Indian-American community as they gathered here to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsava.