Bangladesh's Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on Friday urged the international community to engage with the "new Bangladesh anew", emphasising the country's commitment to forging friendly relationships with all nations, built on mutual respect, dignity, pride, and shared interests.

Delivering his maiden address at the General Debate of the 79th UN General Assembly session, Yunus said he stands in “this Parliament of nations, thanks to an epochal transformation that Bangladesh witnessed this July and August”.

“We believe this evolution that the world witnessed in Bangladesh in the span of a few weeks may inspire many across communities and countries to stand for freedom and justice. I would call upon the international community to engage with the new Bangladesh anew that aims to realise freedom and democracy beyond letters for everyone,” the Chief Adviser said in his over 35-minute address.

Yunus asserted that his government shall adhere to all international, regional and bilateral instruments that Bangladesh is party to. The country, he said, will continue to remain an active proponent of multilateralism with the UN at the core.

"Bangladesh is open to nurturing friendly relations with all countries based on mutual respect, upholding our dignity and pride and shared interests,” Yunus said.

9:40 PM

Israel says it struck Hezbollah's headquarters as huge explosions rocked Beirut

The Israeli military said Friday it carried out an airstrike on the central headquarters of Hezbollah in Beirut, where a massive explosion levelled buildings in a southern district, sending clouds of orange and black smoke billowing in the skies.

The strike in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh came shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the UN, vowing that Israel's campaign against Hezbollah would continue. Not long before the explosion, thousands were massed in the suburb for the funeral of three Hezbollah members, including a senior commander, killed in earlier strikes.

There was no immediate word on casualties in the strike. The Israeli army spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said it targeted the main Hezbollah headquarters, located beneath residential buildings. Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV said four buildings were reduced to rubble in the blast, so powerful it rattled windows and shook houses some 30 kilometers north of Beirut. Ambulances were seen headed to the scene of the explosions, sirens wailing.

9:03 PM

SCOPE gets SEBI nod to launch USD 50 mn Venture Capital Fund

Start-up networking platform SCOPE has received market regulator SEBI nod to launch a USD 50 million venture capital fund which will invest in high-potential startups in the fintech and gaming sectors with a focus on India and the US, the company said on Friday.

SCOPE's venture capital fund will offer investments ranging from USD 500,000 to USD 2 million per startup in the early stage of the business.

"SCOPE has taken another major step in the entrepreneurial ecosystem with the launch of its new USD 50 million venture capital fund under its investment banking arm, SCOPE VC. This fund is specifically designed to invest in high-potential startups in the fintech and gaming sectors, with a focus on India and the US," the company said in a statement.

The company had received a nod for a USD 45 million fund with a green shoe option of USD 15 million. It has received fresh approval to raise the basic fund size from USD 45 million to USD 50 million, SCOPE, Founder and CEO, Appalla Saikiran said.

8:19 PM

Delhi politics live: BJP working for deletion of party votes, alleges Kejriwal

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Friday alleged that the BJP has been trying to delete the votes of his party supporters on a massive scale after realizing that it was going to lose the upcoming Delhi Assembly polls due in February.

The former Delhi chief minister speaking in the assembly session also alleged that the BJP has stationed "paid employees" in the city localities to identify the AAP voters and get their names deleted from the voters' lists.

"They know they are going to lose the Delhi Assembly polls very badly. What I have learnt from the BJP leaders is that work has been started by them on a massive scale for deleting the AAP votes and ensuring bogus voting in the elections,” said Kejriwal.

“In each colony they have stationed some ‘paid employees' who are going door to door asking the people whom do they vote. If someone says that they vote for the Aam Aadmi Party then their votes are deleted," he claimed.

Kejriwal said the people of Delhi should be wary of those who visit their houses asking for the party they vote.

7:39 PM

CPI(M) severs ties with MLA Anvar, accuses him of 'alignment with right wing'

A day after he launched a direct attack on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala on Friday severed ties with MLA P V Anvar, who had twice won the Congress stronghold of Nilambur in Malappuram district with Left support, accusing him of wielding a "political axe of the right-wing." CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan, at a press conference in Delhi, announced that the party was cutting all ties with Anvar, stating that the MLA had himself decided to distance from the ruling Left coalition in the state.

The party's move came just hours after Vijayan denied Anvar's accusations against the CPI(M), LDF, and himself, terming them an "attempt to malign and defame" the ruling dispensation in the state.

It also came after Anvar clarified in the morning that he had never intentionally said he was leaving the LDF or the CPI(M) parliamentary party, and that any such statements by him were a "slip of the tongue." Earlier in the day, Vijayan said Anvar had made his intentions clear through his statements.

"He clearly announced he was distancing himself from the LDF and would not attend its parliamentary party meeting in the state assembly," he told reporters.

The CPI(M) veteran, however, clarified that Anvar's remarks would not affect the ongoing probes and inquiries into the various complaints and allegations he had made.

He was responding to the scathing allegations by Anvar against the CPI(M) and the CM, accusing them of inaction regarding his complaints about ADGP (Law and Order) M R Ajithkumar and the CM's political secretary, P Sasi.

6:31 PM

Politics live: Only 2 of 24 parliamentary panels headed by women, says Derek O'Brien

Trinamool Congress leader Derek O'Brien on Friday said only two of the newly-constituted parliamentary panels are headed by women -- the Commerce Committee headed by the TMC's Dola Sen and the Consumer Affairs Committee headed by the DMK's Kanimozhi.

In a post on X, O'Brien said only two parties, the TMC and the DMK, have "walked the talk".

"At long last. Chairpersons for 24 Parliamentary Standing Committees announced," the Parliamentary Party leader of the TMC in the Rajya Sabha said.

"Just two of these are headed by women. TMC and DMK walk the talk. The others? Only talk!" he said.

"Bravo TMC Dola Sen heading Commerce and DMK Kanimozhi heading Consumer Affairs," O'Brien added.

The parliamentary standing committees were constituted on Thursday. The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Bhartruhari Mahtab will head the key panel on finance and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor will head the panel on external affairs.

6:08 PM

M V Shreyams Kumar of Mathrubhumi elected president of Indian Newspaper Society

M V Shreyams Kumar of Mathrubhumi was on Friday elected president of the Indian Newspaper Society, an apex body of publishers of newspapers, magazines and periodicals.

Kumar succeeds Rakesh Sharma of Aaj Samaj.

Vivek Gupta of Sanmarg was elected deputy president, Karan Rajendra Darda of Lokmat vice president and Tanmay Maheshwari of Amar Ujala honorary treasurer of the society.

The 85th Annual General Meeting of the society was held through video-conferencing.

The 41-member Executive Committee includes S Balasubramanian Adityan of Daily Thanthi, Samahit Bal of Pragativadi, K N Tilak Kumar of Deccan Herald & Prajavani, Viveck Goenka of The Indian Express, Mahendra Mohan Gupta of Dainik Jagran, Kundan Vyas of Vyapar-Janmabhoomi, Atideb Sarkar of the Telegraph, K R P Reddy of Sakshi and Pratap G Pawar of Sakal.

5:32 PM

Forex reserves advance for 6th week to hit record, inch closer to $692.3 bn

India's foreign exchange reserves continued to rise for a sixth straight week to a record high of $692.3 billion as of Sept. 20, data from the central bank showed on Friday, Reuters reported.

The reserves rose by $2.84 billion in the reporting week, after having risen by a total of $19.3 billion in the prior five weeks.

Changes in foreign currency assets are caused by the Reserve Bank of India's intervention in the foreign exchange market as well as the appreciation or depreciation of foreign assets held in the reserves.

The RBI intervenes on both sides of the forex market to prevent undue volatility in the rupee.

In the period for which the forex reserves data pertains, the rupee had logged its best week of 2024, aided by a larger-than-usual 50-basis-point rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve as well as inflows into local stocks and bonds.

The rupee had jumped to a more-than-two-month-high of 83.4850 last week and gained nearly 0.4% week-on-week.

Forex reserves also include India's reserve tranche position in the International Monetary Fund.

5:25 PM

Fiscal profligacy by poll-bound states needs to be closely watched: Report

Fiscal profligacy by poll-bound states needs to be watched closely, as higher spending on welfare measures will impact capital expenditure over the coming years, a Swiss brokerage said on Friday.

A total of 11 states have gone to polls or are likely to have elections soon, the report by UBS Securities said, adding that four of them -- Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha -- have increased their fiscal deficit targets.

"The recent fiscal profligacy seen in poll-bound states should be watched closely," the report said.

In the last few years, states managed to control their fiscal deficit under the 3 per cent level proposed by the Fifteenth Finance Commission, the report said, acknowledging that the Centre has also been bringing down the fiscal deficit.

The poll-bound states are increasing their welfare spending and stimulus, which has led to a widening in their aggregate FY25 fiscal deficit estimates by 0.20 per cent in the budgets presented in June or July, it said.

4:58 PM

PM Modi to virtually inaugurate Pune Swargate-Katraj metro line on Sept 29

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually inaugurate the Metro line between Shivajinagar District Court and Swargate in Pune on September 29, as announced by local MP and Union Minister Murlidhar Mohol. During this event, the Prime Minister will also lay the foundation for the Swargate-Katraj Metro stretch. Read here for more details.

4:44 PM

Congress-led UDF to hold 'final protest' demanding Kerala CM's resignation

Citing various issues, including the disruption of the Pooram festival in Thrissur by the police, allegedly to help the BJP in winning that central Kerala Lok Sabha seat, the Congress-led UDF today announced a "final protest" demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. UDF convener M M Hassan stated that the alliance would organise evening protest gatherings in front of the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram and at district headquarters across 13 districts on October 8.

4:41 PM

News update: Lokayukta police register FIR against Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah and others in Muda case

3:44 PM

Two held at Prayagraj railway station for smuggling turtles

Two people were arrested at Prayagraj Junction railway station for allegedly smuggling 10 turtles, officials said Friday. Superintendent of Police (GRP) Abhishek Yadav said railway police personnel were patrolling platform number four on Thursday when they noticed two suspicious individuals. Upon inspection, the officers found the turtles in their two bags, he said.

3:24 PM

News update: Supreme Court asks air quality committee to file better compliance report on stubble burning

2:57 PM

UP leaders pay tribute to Ashok Singhal on his birth anniversary

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and several other leaders paid tributes to Ashok Singhal, former international president of the Vishva Hindu Parishad on the occasion of his birth anniversary. In a post on social media platform X, Adityanath said, "On the birth anniversary of revered Ashok Singhal, a supreme devotee of Lord Ram and a key figure in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, I offer my humble homage." "Your life, dedicated to the protection of Sanatan Hindu Dharma and Indian culture, serves as an inspiration for us all," he wrote.

The BJP's Sundar Singh Tanwar secured the final seat of the Delhi Municipal Corporation's Standing Committee today afternoon, following an election that featured only his party's councillors.

Slamming the Commission for Air Quality Management over its failure to curb air pollution due to crop residue burning, the Supreme Court stated that the air quality panel needs to be more active in its approach. A bench of Justice Abha S Oka and Justice Augustine George Masih asked the panel to file a better compliance report.

The Andhra Pradesh government has appointed a nine-member special investigation team (SIT) to probe the alleged issue of adulterating Tirupati laddus (consecrated sweet) with animal fats. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu alleged during a recent NDA legislative party meeting that the erstwhile YSRCP government did not even spare Sri Venkateswara temple and used substandard ingredients and animal fats for making laddus.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday expressed support for the Thane Police over the shooting of a sexual assault suspect in Badlapur, stating that the suspect was shot as an act of self-defense by the police. Akshay Shinde, who was taken in custody for allegedly sexually abusing two four-year-old girls at a school toilet in Badlapur, was shot in an alleged encounter with police earlier this week. This happened while the accused was being brought from Taloja Central Jail to the Thane Crime branch office under transit remand in another case when he opened fire on the police with their revolver near the Mumbra bypass.

National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Friday launched searches at multiple places in Rajouri and Reasi districts as part of its investigation into the deadly terror attack in June on a bus carrying pilgrims who were returning from Shiv Khori temple, officials said. Nine persons, including seven pilgrims from outside Jammu and Kashmir, were killed and 41 injured when terrorists opened fire at the bus on June 9. The bus, on its way from the Shiv Khori temple to Katra, veered off the road following a barrage of gunfire and fell into a deep gorge near Teryath village of Pouni area in Reasi. On June 17, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) handed over the terror attack case to the NIA.

The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committees for 2024-2025 were constituted on Thursday with the Congress members chairing four committees, including the External Affairs. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi is a member of the standing committee on Defence.

Connect with us on WhatsApp

Topics :Narendra Modi Rahul Gandhi BJP Congress Lebanon Israel-Palestine Maharashtra Assembly Elections Haryana Donald Trump

First Published: Sep 27 2024 | 9:13 AM IST

Highlights: BJP wrongly overpowered MCD, stole mandate, says Arvind Kejriwal

Latest news updates: Catch all the latest news developments from across the world here

Key Events

Yunus calls upon global community to engage with 'new Bangladesh anew'