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LIVE news updates: The study showed that two vaccine doses provide only limited and short-lived protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection with the variant

12:36 PM

Congress president should be from Gandhi family, says Hanumantha Rao

Ahead of party president elections, Senior Congress leader and former Rajya Sabha member V Hanumantha Rao on Thursday stressed that the party chief should be from the Gandhi family.

 

"I request all the delegates across the country that people are familiar with the Gandhi family, it might be Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi. If Rahul Gandhi doesn't want to stand, then Priyanka Gandhi should be elected and she should come forward," said Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao.

 

He further slammed the veteran leader Ghulam Nabi Azad for resigning from the grand old party.

12:36 PM

Ex-President Gotabaya Rajapaksa set to return to Sri Lanka today

Sri Lanka’s former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa is set to return to the island nation as early as Friday after he fled a surge in anti-government protests in July, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

 

His return signals new President Ranil Wickremesinghe is confident of maintaining order after cracking down on the protest movement that has blamed Rajapaksa for policy missteps that set off Sri Lanka’s worst economic crisis since independence. 

 

The former leader is expected to stay in a house provided by the government in Colombo, the people said, asking not to be named because the information isn’t public yet. Local media, including the Sinhalese-language newspaper Mawbima, first reported on his expected return on Friday.

12:36 PM

Putin won't attend Mikhail Gorbachev's funeral: Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend the funeral of Mikhail Gorbachev, according to Kremlin on Friday.

 

"Putin's work schedule will not allow him to take part in the farewell ceremony for Gorbachev on September 3," said the spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, CNN reported.

 

He added that the Russian President visited the Central Clinical Hospital today to pay his respects to Gorbachev.

 

A farewell ceremony for Gorbachev, which will be open to the public, is due to take place on Saturday, followed by the funeral later on the same day at Moscow's Novodevichy Cemetery.

12:14 PM

Myanmar court convicts Suu Kyi of vote fraud, adds jail time

A court in Myanmar on Friday sentenced ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi to three years' imprisonment with labour after finding her guilty of election fraud, adding more jail time to the 17 years she is already serving for other offenses prosecuted by the military government.

The latest verdict also carries potentially significant political consequences for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party by lending support to the government's explicit threats to dissolve it before a new election the military has promised for 2023.

Suu Kyi's party won the the 2020 general election in a landslide victory, but the army seized power the following February and kept her from a second five-year term in office.

12:01 PM

INS Vikrant, a collective effort of all govts since 1999: Cong

The Congress on Friday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to acknowledge the efforts of previous governments in building INS Vikrant -- India's first Indigenous aircraft.

"India's 1st indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant commissioned today is a collective effort of all govts since 1999. Will PM acknowledge? Let's also recall original INS Vikrant that served us well in 1971 war. Much reviled Krishna Menon played a key role in getting it from UK," veteran Congress leader Jairam Ramesh tweeted.

The aircraft carrier keel was laid in 2009 during UPA government and was launched during that period, he Congress said.

11:41 AM

World "more multipolar" with key positions for powers like UAE: Jaishankar

The UAE has a key role in a world that has become more multipolar with global politics, economics and demographics, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on his visit to Abu Dhabi.

Jaishankar also noted that India has immensely benefited from its close ties with the UAE.

"I think the economics of the world, the politics of the world, and the demographic of the world is making the world more multipolar. And I would argue that it is actually the natural diversity of the world, which got distorted in history, which is now kind of coming back into play," Jaishankar said.

10:57 AM

Examining states' inputs, no decision yet on IAS cadre rules change: Centre

The Centre has said it is examining inputs received from various stakeholders on the proposed changes to the IAS service rules that seek to empower it to overrule states on matters related to the central deputation of bureaucrats, and that a decision is yet to be taken.

 

The existing rules allow mutual consultation over the central deputation of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers.

10:53 AM

INS Vikrant example of India's thrust to making defence sector self reliant: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said INS Vikrant is an example of Indian government's thrust to making its defence sector self-reliant and has made the country part of the select group of nations who can indigenously make aircraft carriers.

 

Modi also unveiled the Indian Navy's new ensign which drops the St George's Cross and incorporates the royal seal of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

 

Addressing a large gathering at the commissioning ceremony of INS Vikrant, Modi said with the new ensign, the country has shed its colonial past.

 

10:21 AM

PM unveils new Naval Ensign 'Nishaan' in Kochi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday unveiled the new Naval Ensign 'Nishaan' at Cochin Shipyard Limited here in Kochi, doing away with the colonial past and befitting the rich Indian maritime heritage.

The Prime Minister unveiled the new Naval Ensign 'Nishaan' during the commissioning of the indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.

Naval Ensigns are flags that naval ships or formations bear to denote nationality. The current Indian Naval Ensign consists of a St. George's Cross -- a red cross with white background.

10:20 AM

In an election year, West Bengal topped in fake news cases on social media

West Bengal recorded the highest number of recorded cases against fake news on social media in 2021, accounting for about one-fourth of the total such cases across the country, according to NCRB data.

West Bengal reported 43 cases of fake news on social media with Kolkata alone recording 28 of these cases, according to data published by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

Bengal witnessed a high decibel electoral battle in 2021 between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP with the two sides leaving no stones unturned in reaching out to the people.

9:49 AM

Kejriwal to announce another pre-poll `guarantee' in Gujarat today

Continuing the Aam Aadmi Party's aggressive campaign for the Gujarat Assembly polls, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be announcing another “guarantee” for voters on Friday in Devbhumi Dwarka district.

 

The AAP leader has so far announced several pre-poll “guarantees” including free electricity up to 300 units, unemployment allowance of Rs 3,000, ten lakh government jobs, free and quality healthcare, free education in state-run schools and Rs 1,000 allowance for women.

 

During his two-day Gujarat visit from Friday, Kejriwal will declare a “major pre-poll guarantee” in Dwarka town, an AAP statement said.

9:44 AM

India logs 6,168 new coronavirus cases, 21 deaths in the last 24 hours

With 6,168 new coronavirus infections reported in a day, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 44,442,507, even as the active cases declined to 59,210, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

 

Till date 527,932 people have perished to the infection, including 21 fatalities recorded in the last 24 hours, which took into account two deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.

 

The active cases comprise 0.13 per cent of the total infections, with 98.68 per cent of the once infected people able to fight off the infection, the health ministry said.

 

A decline of 3,538 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

 

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.94 per cent, and weekly at 2.51 per cent, according to the health ministry.

9:34 AM

No one takes him seriously: Nitish on Sushil Modi's 'comedy show' comment

A day after BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi dubbed the meeting of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his Telangana counterpart K Chandrashekar Rao as the "latest comedy show of opposition unity", the JD(U) chief claimed that no one takes the saffron party leader seriously and what he said did not matter.

 

Kumar, talking to reporters, also said that Sushil Modi's constant criticism of the new Bihar government might find him favour with the BJP top brass.

 

"Who takes him (Modi) seriously... even his party does not. Let him say whatever he wants to say."

 

9:18 AM

PM in Mangaluru today to inaugurate, lay foundation for projects worth Rs 3,800 crore

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in this coastal city on Friday afternoon to inaugurate and lay the foundation for mechanisation and industrialisation projects worth around Rs 3,800 crore, and later address a mega event.

This visit by Modi for about a couple of hours to the port city, after attending events in neighbouring Kerala, is likely to give a boost to the Karnataka BJP, which is preparing for Assembly polls next year, aiming to regain power in the state with a target of winning at least 150 of the total 224 seats.

According to party and official sources, the Prime Minister is scheduled to arrive at the Mangaluru International Airport around 1.30 pm, from where he will fly to New Mangaluru Port Authority (NMPA) premises at Panambur by a chopper.

9:18 AM

Dhami urges Speaker to institute inquiry into 'backdoor recruitment' in state assembly

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has written to Speaker Ritu Khanduri asking her to institute an inquiry into allegations of backdoor recruitments in the state assembly.

 

"You will agree that the state assembly is an autonomous constitutional institution. Maintaining its sanctity has been our topmost priority," Dhami said in his letter on Thursday.