Live news: ED raids places linked to BSP's Mukhtar Ansari, his brother

From coronavirus cases to Russia-Ukraine crisis, catch all the live updates from across the globe here

2:57 PM

Ukraine return students in panic as varsities plan to resume offline classes, exams

Six months after they had to abandon their courses and return home when Russian forces attacked Ukraine, Indian students enrolled in the medical colleges there have a new challenge - resumption of offline classes and exams.

Some universities in Kiev, capital of war-hit Ukraine, have informed students about resumption of offline classes from September and mandatory examination "Krok" to be conducted in October in offline mode.

According to norms in Ukraine, in third year of their studies, students from medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy have to appear for KROK-1. After completion if final year, the students have to sit for the state's licensing exam, KROK-2, for certification to be a doctor or pharmacist.

2:46 PM

Lupin gets USFDA nod for generic drug to treat seizures

Pharmaceuticals firm Lupin Ltd on Thursday said it has received approval from the US health regulator to market its generic rufinamide tablets used in the treatment seizures.

The approval granted by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) is for the abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) of rufinamide tablets of strengths 100 mg, 200 mg, and 400 mg, Lupin said in a statement.

These are the generic equivalent of banzel tablets of same strengths of Eisai Inc, it added.

The product will be manufactured at Lupin's facility in Goa, the company said. Rufinamide tablets had estimated annual sales of USD 164 million in the US, Lupin said citing IQVIA MAT June 2022 data.

2:46 PM

Salman Rushdie's attacker says he acted alone

The 24-year-old man charged with the attempted murder of Salman Rushdie has denied being in contact with Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and said that he acted alone when he stabbed the Mumbai-born author, whom he disliked for being "disingenuous".

 

Hadi Matar, of Fairview in New Jersey, was arrested last week and charged with second-degree attempted murder and assault after he stabbed Rushdie, 75, onstage at an event at the Chautauqua Institution in New York state.

2:29 PM

Did Gujarat govt consult Centre on Bilkis Bano case: Chidambaram

Former Home Minister P. Chidambaram has questioned the remission of sentence in the Bilkis Bano case and said that when the CBI was the prosecuting agency did the Gujarat government consult the Union government.

Chidambaram in a tweet said on Thursday, "The settled position of law is that in a case where the prosecuting agency was the CBI, the state government is obliged to consult the central government before granting remission of sentence."

He said the obvious questions that arose were that "did the Government of Gujarat consult the Central government? and Next, what was the view of the central government?"

2:17 PM

Kolhapur Airport to get new terminal building with enhanced capacity

Considering the tremendous passenger traffic growth at the Kolhapur airport, Airports Authority of India has undertaken the work for developing the airport for enhanced capacity. The development project includes construction of a new terminal building, strengthening of existing runway, extension of runway, construction of new apron and isolation bay.

Kolhapur Airport has been identified for regional connectivity operations under UDAN scheme and is presently connected to Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai and Tirupati. Recently, the Airport Aerodrome license has been upgraded to 24X7 flight operations.

The new world-class terminal building of the airport will enhance the connectivity to this industrial city, boosting tourism industry of the region. The increased connectivity will not only create new employment opportunities for the local community but will also provide access to better educational and medical facilities.

2:01 PM

Agnipath recruitment rally from Nov 22 to Dec 11 in Maharashtra

The Ministry of Defence has announced the Agnipath recruitment scheme from November 22 to December 11 in Maharashtra.

Recruitment will be conducted for Agniveer General Duty (All Arms), Agniveer Technical, Agniveer Clerk/Store Keeper Technical/InventoryManagement (All Arms), Agniveer Tradesman (10th Pass) (All Arms) and Agniveer Tradesman (All Arms) (8th Pass) (For Housekeeper and Mess Keeper) categories.

"This rally is applicable to candidates who are domiciles of five districts of Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli, Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri of Maharashtra State and North Goa and South Goa of Goa State," said the communique.

1:56 PM

Developments in Bihar positive sign for national politics: Akhilesh Yadav

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said on Thursday that the political shift in Bihar is a "positive sign" and hoped a strong alternative to the BJP is formed in the 2024 Parliamentary polls.

He also claimed that the BJP's allies in Uttar Pradesh are not happy with it and will also break free from the saffron party in the future.

JD(U)'s Nitish Kumar recently dumped the BJP and joined hands with Lalu Prasad's Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Congress and other parties to form a new government in Bihar.

1:46 PM

China's drought could last until Sept as it races to protect harvests

China warned that severe drought conditions along the Yangtze river could last well into September as local governments race to maintain power and find fresh water to irrigate crops ahead of the autumn harvest.

 

Beijing has warned of the increasing risk of extreme weather in China as a result of climate change, and heavy rainfall continues to take its toll in other parts of the country.

 

Flooding in the western Chinese province of Qinghai killed 16 people, state media reported on Thursday, with an additional 36 missing.

1:46 PM

Defamation case: Sanjay Raut appears before Mumbai court via video conference, pleads not guilty

Jailed Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Thursday appeared before a magistrate in Mumbai through video conference in a defamation case filed by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya's wife Medha Somaiya and pleaded not guilty.

Raut is lodged at the Arthur Road jail here following arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case.

Earlier in the day, the Sewri metropolitan magistrate, hearing the defamation case filed by the BJP leader's wife, asked the jail authorities to produce the Sena leader before the court through video conference at 12 noon.

1:21 PM

K'taka govt makes singing of national anthem compulsory in all schools and PU colleges

The Karnataka government has issued an order mandating all schools and pre-university colleges in the state to make students sing the national anthem every morning, during the mass prayer.

The order dated August 17 is applicable to all government, aided and private schools and pre-university colleges.

According to the order, despite the government order being in force in this regard, some primary and secondary schools in Bengaluru have not been practising the mass singing of the national anthem during morning prayers, and the government has received complaints about this.

1:13 PM

205 people died in this year's monsoon season in HP; loss of Rs 1,014 cr

At least 205 people lost their lives and seven went missing in the state in the last over one-and-a-half-month of the monsoon season, the state disaster management director Sudesh Kumar Mokhta said here on Thursday.

Since June 29, the state has suffered a total loss of Rs 1,014.08 crore due to damaged roads, water lines, and power transmission, he also said.

At least 103 people lost their lives in 35 accidents from June 29 to August 16 during the ongoing monsoon season, and 33 people were killed in as many incidents of tree and rock fall.

1:00 PM

ED raids places linked to BSP MP Mukhtar Ansari, his brother in Delhi, UP

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday conducted multiple raids at the premises of Bahujan Samaj Party's MP Mukhtar Ansari in Lucknow and Ghazipur in connection with an alleged Prevention of money laundering case.

Ansari is currently lodged in Uttar Pradesh's Banda jail.

The ED has covered a total of 11 locations during the searches.

The central agency is also raiding the residence of his Mukhtar Ansari's brother Afzal Ansari.

12:36 PM

Zelenskyy to host Lviv talks with UN chief, Turkish leader

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is due to host the UN chief and Turkey's leader Thursday for talks on the recent deal to resume Ukraine's grain exports, the volatile situation at a Russian-occupied nuclear power plant and efforts to help end the nearly six-month-old war.

UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres arrived Wednesday in Lviv, near Ukraine's border with Poland, where he will meet Zelenskyy and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said that among other issues, Guterres will discuss "his overall efforts to do what he can to essentially lower the temperature as much as possible with the various authorities.

12:30 PM

Monkeypox infections rise 20% to over 35K cases, 12 deaths: WHO

Monkeypox cases have seen an exponential jump of 20 per cent in the last week with more than 35,000 infections and 12 deaths reported from 92 countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

"Almost 7,500 cases were reported last week, a 20 per cent increase over the previous week, which was also 20 per cent more than the week before," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a media briefing.

Almost all cases are being reported from Europe and the Americas, and nearly all cases continue to be reported among men who have sex with men.

12:30 PM

Monkeypox infections rise 20% to over 35K cases, 12 deaths: WHO

Monkeypox cases have seen an exponential jump of 20 per cent in the last week with more than 35,000 infections and 12 deaths reported from 92 countries, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

"Almost 7,500 cases were reported last week, a 20 per cent increase over the previous week, which was also 20 per cent more than the week before," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a media briefing.

Almost all cases are being reported from Europe and the Americas, and nearly all cases continue to be reported among men who have sex with men.