LIVE: Congress only party that wants everyone included, says Tharoor

LIVE news updates: Doesn't matter if Kharge Sahab wins or I win - Congress should win as it's a party of inclusive India, said Shashi Tharoor

11:57 PM

Mulayam Singh's ashes to be immersed in Ganga in Haridwar on Monday

Samajwadi Party (SP) founder and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav's ashes will be immersed in the Ganga river in Haridwar on Monday.

Acharya Radha Mohan Mishra, from Mathura-Vrindavan, who is reciting the Garuda Purana, said the former chief minister's family will go to Haridwar on Sunday and immerse the ashes in the holy river as per Vedic rituals the next day.

11:02 PM

India stands for rules-based maritime borders in Indo-Pacific: Rajnath

India stands for rules-based maritime boundaries in the Indo-Pacific in which no nation, howsoever big, may be allowed to exclude others from its fair use, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Saturday, amid China's increasing assertiveness in the region.

In his address to the heads of Asian Coast Guard agencies, the defence minister also called for effective collaboration among maritime nations to deal with challenges to maritime safety.

10:41 PM

Insurgency brought down in NE, law and order improved significantly: Rajnath

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the law and order situation in the Northeast improved significantly after the insurgency in the region was brought under control by the Modi government.

Singh said this after inaugurating 'The Conclave 2022', a two-day interactive session jointly organised by the 'Asomiya Pratidin', a popular Assamese daily, and 'Pratidin Time', an Assamese channel based in Guwahati.

10:03 PM

50 BJP women cadres arrested for trying to show black flags to DMK MP Raja

Over 50 BJP cadres, mostly women, were arrested on Saturday for attempting to show black flags to DMK MP A Raja for his alleged remarks against Hindu religion and women, police said.

Raja was scheduled to arrive at the airport here this evening and the BJP Women's wing members and a few others assembled at Kalapatti near the airport to show black flags to him.

9:25 PM

Govt notifies 12% wage hike for employees of PSU general insurers; links next with performance

The Finance Ministry has notified an average 12 per cent wage hike for employees of four public sector general insurance companies effective from August 2017.

"This Scheme may be called the General Insurance (Rationalisation of Pay Scales and other Conditions of Service of Officers) Amendment Scheme, 2022," a gazette notification dated October 14, 2022 said.

8:46 PM

Pak with N-weapons without cohesion is 'one of the most dangerous nations in the world': President Biden

US President Joe Biden has said Pakistan is one of the most dangerous nations in the world as it has nuclear weapons without cohesion.

He made the remarks while addressing a Democratic Party congressional campaign committee reception on Thursday.

And what I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion," Biden said.

7:56 PM

Doesn't matter if Kharge Sahab wins or I win - Congress should win: Tharoor

Doesn't matter if Kharge Sahab wins or I win - Congress should win as it's a party of inclusive India. We are the only party that wants everyone to be with us, irrespective of religion, gender, language, region or state, said Congress presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor, in Guwahati on Saturday.

 

If you are an Indian citizen, you are ours and we are for you. Unlike a different party that says that this is a Hindu nation or this is a party of one section, we will work for everyone, in the interest of India, he added.

7:33 PM

Jaishankar discusses Ukraine conflict, Indo-Pacific with his Egyptian counterpart

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry here on Saturday and the two leaders discussed regional developments and exchanged views on the Ukraine conflict and the Indo-Pacific.

Jaishankar is in Egypt on a two-day visit at the invitation of his Egyptian counterpart Shoukry.

4:57 PM

Key RSS meeting in Prayagraj from Sunday

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and its top functionaries will attend the four-day national executive board meeting in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh beginning Sunday.

Briefing reporters about the meeting here, RSS publicity in-charge Sunil Ambekar said the meeting will discuss various issues raised by Bhagwat in his speech on the occasion of Vijaya Dashami.

4:34 PM

SIT to investigate gang-rape charge against senior officials in Andaman and Nicobar

A Special Investigating Team has been constituted to probe allegations of a 21-year-old woman in Andaman and Nicobar Islands that she was gang-raped by officials there including a former chief secretary.

The police registered a case earlier this month on the complaint filed by the woman alleging that she was sexually abused by Narain, a 1990 batch IAS officer, and Labour commissioner R L Rishi at the latter's official residence on two occasions.

4:04 PM

Akasa Air QP-1103 suffered a bird hit on its way to Bangalore today

Akasa Air flight QP 1103 flying from Mumbai to Bengaluru on Oct 14 diverted back to Mumbai due to odour in the cabin resulting from a bird hit. The aircraft landed safely in Mumbai & all passengers were deboarded. Aircraft was positioned for a detailed inspection: Akasa Air spox

4:02 PM

Delhi: CAQM advises strict implementation of air pollution norms, warns of legal action

Intensifying its actions in the battle against air pollution in Delhi-NCR in the coming days, the Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) urged all concerned including Industries and Project Proponents of Construction and Demolition (C & D) sites to strictly follow the statutory directions issued by the Commission, said the officials on Saturday.

The general masses have also been advised to strictly follow the steps highlighted in the Citizen Charter in each stage of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in the coming days.

3:06 PM

IMF chief warns of risk of geopolitical fragmentation

There is a risk of geopolitical fragmentation, as geopolitics turn into geo-economics with negative impacts, warns International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.

"Emerging markets and developing countries have stressed that for them, it is paramount that they have the opportunity to drive growth and employment on the basis of a more integrated global economy," Georgieva said at a press conference during the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in response to a question from Xinhua news agency.

That was also a message coming from small advanced economies, Georgieva noted, referring to the meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), the policy advisory committee of the IMF Board of Governors.

3:03 PM

Udayanidhi Stalin leads DMK protest across TN against imposition of Hindi

The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu on Saturday organised a state-wide protest, led by party's youth wing secretary and MLA, Udhayanidhi Stalin, against imposion of Hindi. Udayanidhi Stalin is the son of Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin, and wields considerable influence in the DMK.

Across the state, the party conducted protest marches against a recommendation of the Union Government's Parliamentary panel headed by Home Minister Amit Shah to make Hindi a medium of instruction in Central educational institutions in Tamil Nadu.

During the anti-Hindi agitation in Coimbatore, DMK leader and Urban District Secretary of the party, N. Karthik said that in 2024 Lok sabha elections, BJP would be wiped out from Tamil Nadu.

3:00 PM

U'khand: Pension of those jailed during Emergency increased

The BJP government in Uttarakhand has increased from Rs 16,000 to Rs 20,000 the monthly pension given to people who were jailed under two Acts used to quell political dissent during the Emergency.

People who were imprisoned under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act and the Defence of India Act during the Emergency from June 25, 1975, to March 21, 1977, were being paid Rs 16,000 since January 17, 2018.

However, the amount given as Loktantra Sainani Samman pension was increased to Rs 20,000 a month by an order, dated October 14, issued by Additional Chief Secretary Radha Raturi.