Latest news LIVE updates: WHO airlifting medical supplies to Lebanon

Lebanese Prime Minister declared a national mourning on Wednesday for the victims of the explosions that took place the previous evening. Stay tuned for latest news live updates

8:06 PM

89 killed in lightning strikes in Madhya Pradesh in 6 months of 2020: IMD

The IMD has alerted that due to the environmental changes, the threat of lightning during the current monsoon season has increased in Madhya Pradesh, where 89 people lost their lives due to lightning strikes in the first six months of this year.

 

This figure of lightning strike victims in the state till June this year is more than what it was during the entire year in 2019, an official said.

 

"In the current monsoon season, the threat of lightning strikes has increased as compared to last year due to the environmental changes," India Meteorological Department (IMD) senior scientist, Vedprakash Singh Chandel, told PTI on Wednesday. READ MORE...

7:48 PM

Up to 75 crore beneficiaries got free grains under PMGKAY scheme in April-June period: Govt

Union Food Ministry on Wednesday said free foodgrains under PMGKAY were distributed via ration shops to up to 75 crore beneficiaries during April-June period, according to a PTI report.

 

In March, the government had announced distribution of 5 kg of foodgrains for free under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) to ration card holders for three months as part of the Rs 20 lakh crore economic package in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Besides foodgrains, 1 kg pulses per beneficiary family were also to be distributed. This was over and above the subsidised grains given under the National Food Security Act. The PMGKAY scheme has now been extended till November.

7:46 PM

Ajay Tyagi gets 18-month extension as chairman of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi): Personnel Ministry

7:43 PM

15 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) deployed in Maharashtra in wake of heavy rainfall

7:34 PM

UN chief offers condolences to victims of Beirut port explosion

7:15 PM

Lebanese confront devastation after massive Beirut explosion

Residents of Beirut confronted a scene of utter devastation Wednesday, a day after a massive explosion at the port rippled across the Lebanese capital, killing at least 100 people, wounding thousands and leaving entire city blocks blanketed with glass and rubble. Smoke still rose from the port, where a towering building of silos was half destroyed, spilling out grain. Hangars around it were completely toppled.

 

The blast knocked out a crater some 200 meters (yards) across that filled with seawater it was as if the sea had taken a bite out of the port, swallowing buildings with it. Much of downtown was littered with damaged vehicles and debris that had rained down from the shattered facades of buildings, news agency PTI reported.

6:56 PM

NDRF evacuated over 14,000 people across India during the current monsoon season

6:52 PM

Beirut explosions update: French President to visit Lebanon tomorrow

French President Emmanuel Macron will leave for Lebanon on Thursday in order to affirm Paris' solidarity with the Middle East country following the powerful explosion in the port of Beirut, the Lebanese Council of Ministers confirmed on Wednesday, according to an ANI report.

 

"(President) Macron will travel to Lebanon on Thursday and meet with the country's political officials," the Elysee Palace said earlier in the day, as quoted by the BMF TV broadcaster.

 

The explosion has left over 4,000 people injured and more than 100 killed. A large number of countries, including Lebanon's Middle East neighbours, have already offered their assistance to Beirut and extended their condolences over the tragic incident.

 

According to Beirut's governor, half of the city's buildings have been damaged, and hospitals are overcrowded over a large number of the blast's victims.

6:50 PM

25,000 non-Kashmiri migrant workers return to Jammu and Kashmir

A total of 25,000 non-Kashmiri migrant workers, out of the 40,000, who had left Jammu and Kashmir after the coronavirus outbreak, have returned to the Union Territory for work, a top official said on Wednesday.

 

A total of 3.2 lakh people, including the migrant workers, arrived in Jammu and Kashmir from outside since the nationwide lockdown came into effect on March 25, and all of them were subjected to COVID-19 tests.

 

"A total of 25,000 non-Kashmiri migrant workers, who had gone to their respective states after the coronavirus outbreak, have returned to Jammu and Kashmir," Divisional Commissioner (Kashmir) Pandurang Kondbarao Pole told PTI.

6:32 PM

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray reviewed situation after heavy rainfall in Mumbai

6:26 PM

89 people killed in lightning strikes in Madhya Pradesh in the first six months of 2020: IMD

5:52 PM

Around 300,000 people displaced after deadly blast in Lebanon's Beirut: Governor Marwan Abboud

Around 300,000 people became homeless as a result of the recent powerful explosion in the port of Beirut in Lebanon, the city's Governor Marwan Abboud, said on Wednesday. The explosion rocked the city late on Tuesday. According to the Lebanese authorities, it was caused by improper storage of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, according to an ANI report.

 

"About 300,000 people have been displaced in the Lebanese capital after the port explosion. The cost of the destruction exceeds $3 billion," Abboud said, as quoted by the Al Mayadeen broadcaster.

 

Earlier in the day, the official estimated the amount of damage from the explosion at around $3-5 billion.

5:43 PM

63 villagers evacuated from flood water Sonyachi Wadi village in Raigad

5:23 PM

Heavy waterlogging and traffic congestion reported in Girgaon following heavy rainfall in Mumbai

5:05 PM

Latest News LIVE: Fireworks, ammonium nitrate likely fuelled Beirut explosion

Fireworks and ammonium nitrate appear to have been the fuel that ignited a massive explosion that rocked the Lebanese capital of Beirut, experts and videos of the blast suggest. The scale of the damage from the epicentre of the explosion at the port of Beirut to the windows blown out kilometres (miles) away resembles other blasts involving the chemical compound commonly used as an agricultural fertilizer, according to a PTI report.

 

But the compound itself typically doesn't detonate on its own and requires another ignition source. That likely came from a fire that engulfed what initially appeared to be fireworks that were stored at the port.

 

Online videos of the disaster's initial moments show sparks and lights inside the smoke rising from the blaze, just prior to the massive blast.

 

That likely indicates that fireworks were involved, said Boaz Hayoun, owner of the Tamar Group, an Israeli firm that works closely with the Israeli government on safety and certification issues involving explosives.