Latest LIVE: Amit Shah to attend AGM of major Gujarat cooperatives tomorrow

Live news updates: Shah is slated to participate in the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of major cooperative institutions of Gujarat on Sunday

11:50 AM

JD(U) flays Bihar BJP chief over population growth rate figures

The JD(U) lashed out at Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal for coming up with "misleading" data on population growth rate in two districts of the state, alleging that he was trying to incite communal hatred among people.

 

Jaiswal had on Wednesday claimed that population growth rate in Kishanganj and Araria districts was the "highest in the world", partly due to the alleged high rate of influx of "Bangladeshi infiltrators".

 

"All BJP leaders, including Jaiswal, are engaged in inciting communal hatred among people in the state to derive political mileage... They (BJP) are doing this as Union Home Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Bihar on September 24," JD(U) leaders Neeraj Kumar and Arvind Nishad said in a statement on Friday.

 

11:13 AM

Delhi Minister Gopal Rai calls meeting on lumpy skin disease

Delhi Minister Gopal Rai has called a meeting of the concerned departments on Saturday in wake of the lumpy skin disease virus.

Preparations to protect the animals in the national capital from the disease will be discussed in the meeting

The virus has been found only in cows and buffaloes. There is no danger to humans in eating meat or using milk of animals that do not have the symptoms of Lumpy. Animals can be cured from Lumpy, however, the milk of such animals may get affected due to the virus.

10:50 AM

Top media school in China sealed after student Covid infection

China’s capital sealed off a top-tier media school after one suspected Covid case was found among students, raising public concerns of on-campus transmission. 

 

The Communication University of China, a media school famous for tutoring celebrity TV anchors, imposed a closed-loop management system from 5 p.m. on Friday, according to a university statement released Saturday.

 

The 14,000-student institution, located in the eastern suburbs of Beijing, is the latest educational establishment to fall victim to the highly transmissive virus. Two other schools in the capital city reported 14 new cases on the same day, all from quarantine, the Beijing Health Commission said.  

10:44 AM

Taiwan gains global support amid Chinese aggression

Taiwan has been gaining global support after China increased its military activities around the Island nation since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei last month.

With the close partnership between Russia and China, the world fears the serious repercussions Taiwan will have to face if China goes ahead with military action against it. This has led many countries to support Pelosi's visit, Policy Research Group said.

Several countries are expressing their support to Taiwan as they loathe the idea of another military action in the aftermath of the Ukraine invasion.

10:32 AM

BJP's 'Janaspandana' rally marking 3 yrs of BJP rule in K'taka today

With an eye on the 2023 Assembly elections, the ruling BJP in Karnataka will on Saturday organise 'Janaspandana', a public rally to mark Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai government's one year and the party's three years rule in the state.

The mega rally is being organised in Doddaballapur, a neighbouring town of Bengaluru. With the rally, the BJP hopes to set aside all recent drawbacks faced in the state.

First it was the backlash by the BJP workers and Hindu activists over the murders of Hindu and BJP activists in the state, then it was the alleged royal treatment rolled out to killers of Bajrang Dal activist Harsha in the prison.

10:07 AM

Charles to be proclaimed King

Charles III will be formally proclaimed King of the United Kingdom at a historic ceremony at St James's Palace on Saturday.

The proclamation is a public announcement of the accession of the new monarch.

Charles,73, Queen Elizabeth II's eldest son, automatically became King after his mother's death, and traditionally an Accession Council is convened within 24 hours of a sovereign's death. But the late announcement of the Queen's death meant there was insufficient time to organise it for Friday.

There will be a multi-stage process publicly announcing his new title of King Charles III.

10:06 AM

Thane records 170 new COVID-19 cases; active tally at 1,537

Thane district of Maharashtra has recorded 170 new coronavirus positive cases, taking the tally of infections to 743,591, a health official said on Saturday.

With the addition of these cases on Friday, there are now 1,537 active cases in the district, he said.

As nobody succumbed to the infection during the day, the death toll remained unchanged at 11,953 and the count of recoveries stood at 730,684, the official added.

9:58 AM

India records 5,554 new Covid cases, 18 deaths

India logged 5,554 new coronavirus infections, raising the tally to 44,490,283, while the active cases further declined to 48,850, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday.

The death toll climbed to 528,139 with 18 fresh fatalities, which included two deaths reconciled by Kerala, data updated by the ministry at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprises 0.11 per cent of the total infections.

The national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.70 per cent, the health ministry said.

A decline of 786 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 case count in a span of 24 hours, it said.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.47 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 1.80 per cent, the ministry said.

9:57 AM

EU Ministers back 5-bn-euro loan to Ukraine

Finance and economy ministers of the European Union (EU) member states have agreed to support the swift adoption of additional financial assistance to Ukraine to the tune of 5 billion euros.

"The new loan of 5 billion euros will be used for the day-to-day running of the state and to ensure the operation of the country's critical infrastructure, such as offices, schools and hospitals," Czech Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura said in a statement on Friday after the first day of an informal meeting of the member states' ministers and central bank governors.

Stanjura added that he would also push for "a swift agreement on the provision of the remaining 3 billion euros".

9:38 AM

Biden to consult leaders on reforming Security Council: US official

Giving a new impetus to the movement for UN Security Council reforms, US President Joe Biden will consult with other leaders during the General Assembly's upcoming high-level session to "forge a consensus" on expanding the Council, according to Washington's Permanent Representative Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

"We should forge consensus around sensible and credible proposals to expand the Security Council's membership," she said while addressing the Future of the UN in San Francisco on Thursday.

"During this month's General Assembly, President Biden, Secretary (of State Antony) Blinken, and I plan to consult broadly on our individual and collective responsibilities under the UN Charter, including critical questions around reform of the Security Council and other UN organs," she said.

9:24 AM

Judge dismisses Trump's lawsuit against Hillary Clinton

A US judge has dismissed former President Donald Trump's lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, his rival during the 2016 presidential election.

On Thursday night, the judge said the suit was not an effort to seek "redress for any legal harm", but was instead an attempt to use the court to air political grievances, reports Xinhua news agency.

Judge Donald Middlebrooks, at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, said Trump "is seeking to flaunt a two-hundred-page political manifesto outlining his grievances against those that have opposed him".

"And this Court is not the appropriate forum," Middlebrooks wrote in his opinion.

9:23 AM

Amit Shah to address BJP OBC Morcha meet on Gehlot's home turf Jodhpur

Union Home Minister Amit Shah is on Saturday going to address the valedictory session of a national-level meeting of the BJP's OBC Morcha in Jodhpur, the home turf of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

Later, Shah will also deliver the inaugural address at a meeting of the BJP's booth-level workers in Jodhpur.

Prior to his arrival in Jodhpur, the Union home minister is scheduled to visit the Tanot Mata temple around 10.30 am.

He will also lay the foundation stone of border tourism development work at the Tanot premises around 11 am.

9:10 AM

Australia captain Aaron Finch to retire from ODI cricket

Australia captain Aaron Finch says he's retiring from one-day international cricket effective Sunday after the team plays New Zealand in the third and final ODI.

A recent run of poor form has seen the 35-year-old Finch average just 3.7 runs, including three ducks, since scoring 62 runs against Sri Lanka in an ODI in June.

Cricket Australia said in a statement on Saturday that Finch will continue to captain Australia's Twenty20 side and will lead it in defence of its world title when the T20 World Cup is played in October and November in Australia.

9:00 AM

Strong earthquakes shake part of Indonesia's West Papua

A series of strong inland earthquakes shook Indonesia's easternmost province Saturday, but there were no immediate reports of serious damage or casualties.

 

The Indonesian Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency said at least four land-based earthquakes between 6.2 and 5.5 magnitude were centred about 37 km (23 miles) northwest of Central Mamberamo district of West Papua province at a depth up to 16 km (10 miles).

 

Those earthquakes posed no danger of triggering a tsunami, said Daryono, who heads the Earthquake and Tsunami Mitigation Division. He said the earthquakes were triggered by a thrust in the Memberamo Anjak fault.

8:49 AM

Asia Cup 2022: Our bowlers can challenge any kind of batting line-up, says Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka

Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka heaped praise on their bowling line-up and said that the Sri Lanka bowlers can challenge any batting line-up going around.

Wanindu Hasaranga's 3-wicket haul followed by Pathum Nissanka's brilliant unbeaten 55-run knock guided Sri Lanka to an easy five-wicket victory over Pakistan in their Super Four clash at Asia Cup 2022 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday.

Sri Lanka ended the Super 4 stage campaign with three victories in as many matches, defeating Afghanistan, India and Pakistan.

"Always acceptable these kinds of results. The combination we have with the left-arm fast bowlers, the leg spinners - the variation we have is amazing," said Dasun Shanaka in a post-match presentation.