LIVE: PM Modi to inaugurate 36th National Games in Ahmedabad

PM will declare open the 36th National Games at a gala ceremony in the Narendra Modi stadium in Motera area

Supreme Court on Thursday in a landmark judgement held that all women are entitled to safe and legal abortion. A bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud said that the meaning of the rape must include marital rape for the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act. The SC said that the distinction between married and unmarried women for the purposes of the MTP Act is "artificial and constitutionally unsustainable" and perpetuates the stereotype that only married women indulge in sexual activities.

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Wednesday night left Kerala for Delhi and is likely to file his nomination for the election to the party president's post on Thursday, sources said. AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal was also in the same flight from Kerala to Delhi. Singh and Venugopal were participating in the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra which was currently in Kerala. Singh will hold a meeting of his supporters at night and is likely to file his nomination papers on Thursday, the sources added.

The BJP on Wednesday slammed the Punjab government for bringing a confidence motion in the state Assembly and said its MLAs won't be attending the House Thursday as the ruling outfit "betrayed" the Governor and running away from discussion on burning issues. Addressing the media here, Punjab BJP chief Ashwani Sharma said he along with another party MLA will not attend the session on Thursday. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had moved the confidence motion on Tuesday, the opening day of the state Assembly session, which will continue till October 3.

7:32 PM

Gujarat became a policy-driven state under the leadership of PM Modi: CM

7:13 PM

PM Modi to inaugurate 36th National Games in Ahmedabad

6:15 PM

Q3 interest rate hiked by up to 30 bps for some small savings schemes

5:46 PM

Govt to issue maiden Sovereign Green Bonds of Rs 16,000 cr

5:42 PM

Current account deficit rises to 2.8% of GDP in Q1

2:49 PM

Fatigue among pilots in growing civil aviation space

Amid the country's growing air traffic and expanding aircraft fleet, fatigue among pilots seems to be a dark cloud with senior captains and pilots' groupings stressing on the need for more serious efforts to address the concerns.

 

While regulations on flight duty time limitations and specific rest periods are in place, a more scientific approach as well as a better fatigue reporting system will help in tackling the "silent danger of fatigue", according to the senior captains.

2:42 PM

Govt approves 22nd tranche of electoral bonds; sale from Oct 1-10

Ahead of assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the government on Thursday approved issuance of 22nd tranche of electoral bonds that will open for sale on October 1.

 

Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding.

 

State Bank of India (SBI), in the 22nd phase of sale, has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds through its 29 authorised branches from October 1-10, the finance ministry said in a statement.

2:37 PM

Govt approves 22nd tranche of electoral bonds; sale from Oct 1-10

Ahead of assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the government on Thursday approved issuance of 22nd tranche of electoral bonds that will open for sale on October 1.

Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency in political funding.

State Bank of India (SBI), in the 22nd phase of sale, has been authorised to issue and encash electoral bonds through its 29 authorised branches from October 1-10, the finance ministry said in a statement.

The authorised SBI branches include those in Lucknow, Shimla, Dehradun, Kolkata, Guwahati, Chennai, Patna, New Delhi, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Gandhinagar, Bhopal, Raipur, and Mumbai.

 

2:32 PM

Cong prez poll: MLAs from MP to reach Delhi to back Digvijaya

Ever since the poll schedule for the post of Congress president was announced, there has been an unending buzz that two leaders from Madhya Pradesh may file nominations -- Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh and state Congress chief Kamal Nath.

Kamal Nath said that he was not in the race of the Congress' top post as he wants to focus on the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, which is just 14 months away.

Digvijaya Singh on Thursday reached the party headquarters in New Delhi from Kerala where he was participating in Bharat Jodi Yatra with Rahul Gandhi and other party leaders, and collected the nomination form. With this fresh twist in the race of the Congress chief, he made it clear that he wants to be a contestant.

2:23 PM

Gadkari announces implementation of minimum of 6 Airbags in passenger cars

Union Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari announces the implementation of "the proposal mandating a minimum of 6 Airbags in Passenger Cars (M-1 Category) w.e.f 1st October 2023."

 

2:21 PM

ICCR signs MoU with Google to ease search in Sanskrit

ICCR on Thursday signed an MoU with Google to ease searching the Internet in Sanskrit and provided the search engine giant one lakh commonly used sentences in the language with their English and Hindi translations.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed here in presence of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) president Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and senior officials of Google.

ICCR and Google are collaborating to improve the Sanskrit translation experience. This will help Google improve artificial intelligence or machine learning technology for translating Sanskrit text to various other languages and vice versa, Sahasrabuddhe said.

 

 

2:01 PM

Chinese loan apps: ED freezes fresh Rs 9.82 cr worth funds kept in payment gateway accounts

The ED has frozen Rs 9.82 crore worth funds kept in merchant IDs with certain online payment gateways as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation against a "Chinese-controlled" investment token app.

 

This is the second time that the ED has frozen funds kept in merchant IDs with certain online payment gateways.

 

1:53 PM

People trapped, hospital damaged after hurricane Ian swamps SW Florida

Hurricane Ian left a path of destruction in southwest Florida, trapping people in flooded homes, damaging the roof of a hospital intensive care unit and knocking out power to 2 million people before aiming for the Atlantic Coast.

One of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the United States barreled across the Florida peninsula overnight Wednesday, threatening catastrophic flooding inland, the National Hurricane Center warned.

The center's 2 a.m. advisory said Ian was expected to emerge over Atlantic waters later on Thursday, with flooding rains continuing across central and northern Florida.

1:49 PM

Nadda in Odisha to address workers, visit Jagannath temple

BJP national President J.P. Nadda arrived in Bhubaneswar on a two-day visit to the state.

On his arrival at the Bhubaneswar airport, a grand welcome was given to Nadda, who is in Odisha for the first time after being elected as the national president of the BJP.

Union education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP's state president Samir Mohanty, Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi and other senior party leaders welcomed him at the airport. Nadda visited the party office here after a bike rally.

1:48 PM

MP: Six tiger reserves to re-open on Oct 1 after monsoon shutdown

Six tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh will open from October 1 after remaining shut for three months due to the monsoon, an official said on Thursday.

The state is home to six of the 52 tiger reserves in India, namely Kanha, Banghavgarh, Satpura, Pench, Panna and Sanjay-Dubri.

Confirming the development, Satpura Tiger Reserve field director L Krishnamurthy told PTI core areas were closed during this three-month period while buffer zones were operational for tourists.