Latest live: Kejriwal biggest 'U-turn leader' in India, says BJP's Tejaswi

Live news updates: Earlier, bulk of the JDU MLAs joined the BJP in Arunachal Pradesh giving nightmare to Nitish Kumar's party.

11:34 AM

'National role for Nitish?': Crucial JD(U) meetings to begin on Saturday

"Desh ka neta kaisa ho Nitish Kumar jaisa ho" was the slogan that rent the air, and summed up the sentiment, at the JD(U)'s Bihar headquarters here ahead of the party's national executive meeting scheduled on Saturday.

 

The chief minister visited the Birchand Patel Marg office on Friday to take stock of the preparations for the meeting, which would be attended by JD(U) office bearers from across the country and would be followed, a day later, by a meeting of the national council, the apex body of the party.

 

The septuagenarian was modesty personified when he responded to the chants with folded hands and requested journalists not to embarrass him with questions about his being in the race for prime ministership.

 

 

China’s Covid Spread Persists After Mega-City Lockdown

11:34 AM

Unsealed filing details items recovered from Mar-a-Lago raid

A filing unsealed by a US federal judge listed items that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents seized on August 8 from former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

The inventory included government documents with secret classification markings; documents and photographs without a classification marking; documents with confidential, secret, and top secret markings; empty folders with classified banners, among other items, reports Xinhua news agency.

The records were unsealed by a court order amid a review of Trump's request to appoint a third-party "special master" to go through the seized materials.

11:24 AM

Odisha registers Rs 1,019 crore OGST collection during August 2022

Odisha has registered OGST collection of Rs 1,019.81 crore during August 2022 against Rs 956.47 crore in the same period previous year, with a growth of 6.62 per cent, an official said.

The progressive collection of OGST till August 2022 is Rs 6,267.93 crore against Rs 4,836.75 crore in the same period last year, with a growth rate of 29.59 per cent.

The gross collection of GST during August, 2022 is Rs 3,883.90 crore as against Rs 3,316.55 crore during August, 2021 with a growth of 17.11 per cent. The progressive collection of Gross GST till August, 2022 is Rs 20,366.77 crore against Rs 16,977.92 crore with a growth rate of 19.96 per cent, he said.

11:24 AM

Delhi CM Kejriwal to attend conclave of sarpanches in Gujarat on last day of visit today

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener Arvind Kejriwal will attend a conclave of sarpanches or village heads at Surendranagar on Saturday on the final day of his two-day visit to poll-bound Gujarat.

Kejriwal will attend a 'townhall' meeting of sarpanches and 'village computer entrepreneurs' who work in e-Gram centres to deliver services to rural citizens, the AAP said in a statement.

Before wrapping up his Gujarat tour, Kejriwal will visit Surat in the evening to take part in 'aarti' at a Ganesh pandal, which has been set up outside the party's office in the Seemada Naka area and named 'AAP Ka Raja'.

11:01 AM

Tripura-related issues likely to be raised in Modi-Hasina meeting next week

Bangladesh's objections to set up an Integrated Check Post (ICP) and other issues concering Tripura are likely to be discussed when the neighbouring country's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will meet her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi next week in Delhi, an official said.

Hasina will be on a four-day visit to India starting September 5 with a focus on strengthening the "multifaceted" bilateral ties. Her meeting with Modi is scheduled for the next day.

"Due to objections from the Bangladesh side, construction of ICP in South Tripura's Muhurighat could not be made. The prime minister (Modi) has agreed to take up the issue with his Bangladesh counterpart during her visit," Special Secretary of Industries and Commerce, Abhishek Chandra, told a press conference here.

10:53 AM

Celebrities, tennis stars pay tribute to Serena and her illustrious career spanning 27 years

Celebrities from various spectrums of life paid tributes to Serena Williams as she brought the curtains down on her illustrious career spanning 27 years, which saw the 40-year-old lift 23 major singles trophies and made her a household name across the world.

The American lost to Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-1 in a third-round match in front of a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium, at the US Open on Saturday (IST), signalling the end of her professional tennis career.

Michelle Obama, the wife for former US president Barack Obama tweeted, "Congrats on an amazing career, @SerenaWilliams! How lucky were we to be able to watch a young girl from Compton grow up to become one of the greatest athletes of all time. I'm proud of you, my friend-and I can't wait to see the lives you continue to transform with your talents."

10:53 AM

Long-term outlook cloudy for world food prices: FAO

World food prices declined slightly in August, despite rising energy and transportation costs and disruptions to supply chains, the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.

Meanwhile, long-term prospects for the global food situation remain negative due to a combination of cost, logistical, and environmental factors, Xinhua news agency quoted the UN body as saying on Friday.

The overall FAO monthly index of food commodity prices fell 1.9 per cent in August compared with July, which is a more modest decline than a month earlier when it dropped 8.6 per cent.

10:46 AM

Massive eviction drive underway in Assam's Sonitpur amid heavy security

A massive eviction drive to clear 330 acres of land in Assam's Sonitpur district began on Saturday morning amid heavy security, police said.

About 50 excavators, heavy machinery and a large number of workers were deployed for the drive to demolish houses in No 3 Chitalmari area in Barchalla on the northern bank of Brahmaputra river, they said.

The process has been peaceful so far with almost all the illegal residents having already left the place with their belongings after receiving the eviction notice, a police officer said.

10:45 AM

Coastal security among key issues to be discussed in 30th Southern Zonal Council meet in Kerala

The Southern Zonal Council meeting will be held at around 11 am in Kovalam, 16 km south of Thiruvananthapuram.

The Home Minister is the chairman of the council, which comprises Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and the Union territory of Puducherry.

Besides Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Chief Ministers are likely to attend the meeting while Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana CMs are learnt to depute their representatives for the meeting.

10:31 AM

Microsoft to keep CoD game on Sony PlayStation for many years

Microsoft has said it will keep the popular Call of Duty (CoD) game on its rival Sony PlayStation gaming consoles for "several more years."

Activision Blizzard, acquired by Microsoft for $68.7 billion, has some of the world's best-selling and most recognisable gaming franchises, such as Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer told The Verge that CoD will stay on Sony PlayStation consoles for many years.

"In January, we provided a signed agreement to Sony to guarantee Call of Duty on PlayStation, with feature and content parity, for at least several more years beyond the current Sony contract, an offer that goes well beyond typical gaming industry agreements," Spencer was quoted as saying in the report late on Friday.

10:21 AM

TRS slams Sitharaman for 'unruly conduct' with District Collector

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman expressing her anger at a District Collector in Telangana on not finding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photos at a fair price shop has sparked a row with the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) slamming her for "unruly conduct".

During a visit to Birkur village in Kamareddy district on Friday, the Union minister publicly expressed anger at District Collector Jitesh V. Patil as the Prime Minister's flexis was not displayed at the shop.

She said that Centre is supplying free rice to the poor under the Garib Kalyan Yojana and yet Prime Minister Modi's flexis did not find a place in the fair price shops of Telangana.

9:59 AM

India logs more than 7,000 new COVID infections, 25 deaths

With 7,219 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases rose to 44,449,726, while the active cases declined to 56,745, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.

The overall COVID death toll rose to 527,965 with 33 fatalities in the last 24 hours, which includes eight deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The active cases comprise 0.13 per cent of the total infections.

The national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.68 per cent, the health ministry said.

A decline of 2,465 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 1.98 per cent and the weekly at 2.42 per cent, according to the health ministry.

9:49 AM

FIFA, UEFA denounce shooting attack at Turkish soccer office

FIFA and UEFA condemned a shooting incident at the headquarters of the Turkish soccer association during a board meeting.

Turkish media reported at least seven bullets were fired at the building in Istanbul on Thursday before the shooters escaped in a waiting vehicle. No injuries were reported.

The international soccer bodies denounced a horrific act of gun violence against the people and property of the Turkish Football Association.

9:48 AM

Security Council approves new head of UN mission in Libya

The Security Council has approved former Senegalese minister and UN diplomat Abdoulaye Bathily as the new UN envoy to Libya, ending a nine-month search amid increasing chaos in the oil-rich north African nation.

The vote came a day after Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had nominated Bathily.

Libya's transitional government, which opposed Bathily's nomination, reportedly sent a protest letter to Guterres, which raises questions about how effective the new envoy can be in trying to resolve the country's political and economic crisis.

8:42 AM

Another earthquake of 4.4 magnitude jolts Andaman and Nicobar islands

Another earthquake of 4.4 magnitudes on the Richter scale was recorded by the National Center for Seismology on Saturday early morning in Andaman and Nicobar islands.

"Earthquake of Magnitude:4.4, Occurred on 03-09-2022, 06:59:58 IST, Lat: 12.02 & Long: 93.62, Depth: 70 Km, Location: 106km ENE of Portblair, Andaman and Nicobar island, India".

As per the initial information, the epicentre of the earthquake was around 106 kilometres in the East-North-East (ENE) of Diglipur in Andaman and Nicobar island and the depth of about 70 kilometres.