LIVE: Canada stopped talks on free trade agreement, says Piyush Goyal

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The talks between India and Canada for a free trade agreement are on a pause as the latter stopped discussions due to some misconceptions, India’s trade minister Piyush Goyal said, according to a Bloomberg report. “There are some misconceptions among some Canadian politicians, which are baseless,” Goyal said at the the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Saturday. Goyal said the move would hurt Canada more as India’s market is big and offers more opportunities. He added talks with the UK around the agreement are progressing steadily. Canada-India ties have deteriorated since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of orchestrating the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia.Trade between the two nations stood at $8.16 billion in 2022-23, dwarfing in comparison to $128.7 billion in India’s bilateral trade with the US. However, India depends almost entirely on imports for its potash needs, and buys a large amount of the crop nutrient from Canada, the world’s biggest exporter.

The air quality in several areas of Delhi was recorded in the 'severe' category on Saturday as a thick toxic haze lingered over the city for the fifth consecutive day. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the city's maximum temperature stood at 29.5 degree Celsius, a notch below the season's average. The city recorded a minimum temperature of 16.6 degree Celsius, one notch above the normal. The humidity oscillated between 88 per cent and 72 per cent, the IMD said. The air quality index (AQI) at many places in the National Capital Region (NCR) crossed the 450 mark. The national capital recorded an AQI of 433 at 7 pm, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The AQI at Anand Vihar was 488. It was 487 at Shadipur, 474 at Wazirpur, 465 at Punjabi Bag, 454 at Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, 463 at Bawana, 448 at Okhla and 459 at Rohini, the CPCB data showed. In Delhi-NCR, the AQI in Greater Noida stood at 498 at 7 pm. It was 408 at Ghaziabad, 441 at Faridabad and 423 at Gurugram, the CPCB said. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'. The IMD has forecast shallow fog for Sunday. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 30 and 17 degrees Celsius respectively, it said.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said Saturday at least 9,488 people were killed in the Palestinian territory since war with Israel erupted last month.

Chhattisgarh BJP leader murdered by Maoists 3 days before election, reports NDTV.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday announced that his government's free ration scheme Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for 80 crore poor will be extended for next five years. Modi was addressing a public meeting in Durg city of poll-bound Chhattisgarh.

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani received fresh threat emails, warning him of serious consequences for ignoring previous messages of Rs 400 crore as extortion demand, Mumbai police said on Saturday. As per police, two threatening emails were received between October 31 and November and the sender introduced himself as Shadab Khan.

Three militants stormed a Pakistani Airforce training base in Mianwali, inflicting casualties. Three militants killed in response to attack, three others active in air base attack. Air Force Base attacked by militants in Central Pakistan. Three aircraft, fuelling tanker damaged in attack, reported Reuters cites Pakistan military

Following a suggestion by the Supreme Court to tender an unconditional apology to Rajya Sabha chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Member of Parliament Raghav Chadha has sought an appointment from the Chairman for an early meeting. Taking to X, Chadha said that he has sought the meeting appointment in pursuant to order of the Supreme Court which said that it hopes the Chairman would take a sympathetic view of the matter.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday pushed back against growing US pressure for a humanitarian pause in the nearly month-old war to protect civilians and allow more aid into Gaza, insisting there would be no temporary cease-fire until the roughly 240 hostages held by Hamas are released. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made his third trip to Israel since the war began, reiterating American support for Israel's campaign to crush Hamas after its brutal Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel. He also echoed President Joe Biden's calls for a brief halt in the fighting to address a worsening humanitarian crisis.

10:41 PM

544 candidates, including former CM Raje, file nomination papers for elections

A total of 544 candidates, including Rajasthan Assembly Speaker Dr CP Joshi and former chief minister Vasundhara Raje, on Saturday filed nomination papers for the Assembly elections.

 

9:36 PM

Air pollution linked to Parkinson's disease, finds study

Researchers discovered that those who live in places with median levels of air pollution are 56 per cent more likely to get Parkinson's disease than those who live in areas with the lowest levels of air pollution.The study, which will be published in Neurology - the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology - sought to discover national and geographic patterns of Parkinson's disease, as well as to test for nationally and region-specific connections with fine particulate matter.

9:16 PM

Canada stopped talks on free trade agreement, says Piyush Goyal

The talks between India and Canada for a free trade agreement are on a pause as the latter stopped discussions due to some misconceptions, India’s trade minister Piyush Goyal said, according to a Bloomberg report. “There are some misconceptions among some Canadian politicians, which are baseless,” Goyal said at the the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit on Saturday. Goyal said the move would hurt Canada more as India’s market is big and offers more opportunities. He added talks with the UK around the agreement are progressing steadily. Canada-India ties have deteriorated since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of orchestrating the assassination of a Sikh separatist leader in British Columbia.Trade between the two nations stood at $8.16 billion in 2022-23, dwarfing in comparison to $128.7 billion in India’s bilateral trade with the US. However, India depends almost entirely on imports for its potash needs, and buys a large amount of the crop nutrient from Canada, the world’s biggest exporter.

8:24 PM

Delhi records 'severe' air quality in several areas

The air quality in several areas of Delhi was recorded in the 'severe' category on Saturday as a thick toxic haze lingered over the city for the fifth consecutive day. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the city's maximum temperature stood at 29.5 degree Celsius, a notch below the season's average. The city recorded a minimum temperature of 16.6 degree Celsius, one notch above the normal. The humidity oscillated between 88 per cent and 72 per cent, the IMD said. The air quality index (AQI) at many places in the National Capital Region (NCR) crossed the 450 mark. The national capital recorded an AQI of 433 at 7 pm, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The AQI at Anand Vihar was 488. It was 487 at Shadipur, 474 at Wazirpur, 465 at Punjabi Bag, 454 at Dr Karni Singh Shooting Range, 463 at Bawana, 448 at Okhla and 459 at Rohini, the CPCB data showed. In Delhi-NCR, the AQI in Greater Noida stood at 498 at 7 pm. It was 408 at Ghaziabad, 441 at Faridabad and 423 at Gurugram, the CPCB said. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'. The IMD has forecast shallow fog for Sunday. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 30 and 17 degrees Celsius respectively, it said.

7:56 PM

Nepal quake: Injured shifted to hospital at the foothills, some may be sent to India

Even as search and rescue operations continued in the mountainous Jajarkot district in western Nepal hit by a powerful 6.4 magnitude earthquake on Friday night, authorities shifted scores of injured persons to multiple hospitals in the foothills and some of them may be airlifted to India.

 

At least 143 people were killed and over 150 others injured when the Friday night earthquake, the worst since 2015, struck western Nepal's remote areas destroying hundreds of houses in the Himalayan country.

 

The epicentre was in Jajarkot district, about 500 km northwest of Kathmandu. Nepalgunj, which is at the Himalayan foothills, close to the India-Nepal border, is nearer to the quake-affected region as compared to Kathmandu.

 

Around 30 injured persons, including children, were brought to Bheri Hospital here from the quake-affected areas. This is the nearest big hospital to Jajarkot. Scores of near and dear ones of the injured made a beeline outside the emergency department of the Bheri hospital.

 

A round of the emergency and general wards of the hospital by PTI showed that several injured had fractured hands or legs.

7:40 PM

IDF eliminates 15 Hamas terrorists in northern Gaza Strip

Amid the relentless onslaught on Hamas following the October 7 terror attacks, Israeli ground forces eliminated 15 terrorists and destroyed the outfit's infrastructure in Gaza, The Jerusalem Post reported on Saturday.

 

In the latest engagement between the IDF personnel and Hamas terrorists amid the fierce fighting in Gaza, soldiers from the Armored Corps and Intelligence on Friday confronted 15 terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip, according to the report.

 

The soldiers successfully neutralised several terrorists and destroyed three Hamas observation posts, The Jerusalem Post stated.

7:29 PM

EAM Jaishankar speaks to Israeli counterpart, reaffirms commitment to counter terror, pursue 2-state solution

Amid the offensive against the terror group Hamas in Gaza, external affairs minister S Jaishankar on Saturday had a telephone conversation with his Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, reaffirming India's commitment to "countering terrorism, observance of international humanitarian law and for a two-state solution".

7:21 PM

Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll hits 9,488

The health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip said Saturday at least 9,488 people were killed in the Palestinian territory since war with Israel erupted last month.

6:43 PM

Chhattisgarh BJP leader murdered by Maoists 3 days before elections, reports NDTV

6:43 PM

Chhattisgarh BJP leader murdered by Maoists 3 days before elections

5:26 PM

Delhi: Bus rams into over a dozen vehicles, one killed

A Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) low-floor electric bus rammed into more than a dozen vehicles in Rohini South here on Saturday, killing a man, police said. The accident occurred around 2.45 pm near Vishram Chowk in Awantika. The bus hit a car, then an e-rickshaw and two-wheelers parked on the side of a road, they said. Police have the CCTV footage of the crash. A man died on the spot while another was injured, police said, adding that it seems the bus driver lost control of the vehicle.

4:59 PM

Employees of pharma company in Haryana get cars as Diwali gift

A pharmaceutical company in Haryana's Panchkula said it has gifted 12 cars to its employees and plans to give similar rewards to 38 others for their "hard work and loyalty" during this Diwali. In a statement, Mits Healthcare Private Limited said it has given cars to its employees as a Diwali gift.The company's director M K Bhatia, who referred to his employees as "celebrities", presented the cars to 12 "star performers".

4:45 PM

Now the discussion will not be on who will win: PM Modi

4:33 PM

Govt approves 29th tranche of electoral bonds; sale from Nov 6

Ahead of assembly elections in five states, the government on Saturday approved the issuance of 29th tranche of electoral bonds that will open for sale on November 6. The decision comes amid campaigning for assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram. Elections in these states span from November 7-30. Counting of votes will be done on December 3. Electoral bonds have been pitched as an alternative to cash donations made to political parties as part of efforts to bring transparency to political funding.

4:19 PM

Nepal earthquake: India releases helpline number for urgent assistance

After a massive 6.4-magnitude earthquake jolted Nepal, claimed 132 lives and several injured, India has released an emergency contact number for Indians who require urgent assistance. "Alert Emergency Contact Number for Indians requiring assistance due to the recent earthquake in Nepal: +977-9851316807 MEA India," India in Nepal posted on X (formerly Twitter).