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5:37 PM

More than 200 teams deployed in Gir forest, Kutch for wildlife emergencies due to Cyclone Biparjoy

The Gujarat government had deployed more than 200 teams in Gir forest and Kutch district to respond to emergencies related to Asiatic lions and other wildlife during the landfall of cyclone Biparjoy, an official said on Friday. One of the teams rescued two lion cubs that had fallen into an open well in Jasadhar Range of Gir East division during the cyclone's landfall on Thursday evening, the official said. Of the 210 teams formed by the state forest fepartment, 184 were deployed in the Gir Forest and surrounding regions, comprising nine divisions of Junagadh wildlife and territorial circle, a government release stated.

5:13 PM

VHP protests against Karnataka govt's decision to scrap anti-conversion law

4:44 PM

No lives lost after cyclone Biparjoy's landfall, says NDRF

4:07 PM

NCERT fully justified in carrying out rationalisation of its textbooks' contents: UGC chief

UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar on Friday slammed academicians objecting to the rationalisation of NCERT textbooks, saying there is no merit in their "hue and cry", and asserted that carrying out revisions in content is justified. His remarks come a day after a group of academicians, who were part of the textbook development committees of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), wrote to the council demanding their names be dropped from books as their "collective effort is in jeopardy".

3:38 PM

Delhi HC takes suo motu cognisance of Mukherjee Nagar fire incident

The Delhi High Court on Friday issued a notice to the Fire Service, Police and Municipal Corporation of Delhi in the Mukherjee Nagar fire incident, which took place after a fire broke out at the Sanskriti Coaching Centre.

A vacation bench of Justices Jasmeet Singh and Vikas Mahajan directed the Delhi Fire Service to conduct a fire safety audit and to check whether fire safety certificates were issued or not and sought a response within two weeks, in the suo motu case.

The incident at the coaching centre on Thursday has left 61 students injured.

3:34 PM

Delhi witnesses a sudden change in weather as rain lashes parts of city

3:23 PM

Law Commission seeks information from government on age of consent: Sources

The 22nd Law Commission, which is looking into the issue of age of consent, held a meeting with officials of the Women and Child Development Ministry recently and sought details on the subject, sources said on Friday. Over the years, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which defines a child as a person aged below 18, has often come in conflict with the role of consent in determining the nature of relationships between adolescents.

Sources said the Law Commission held a meeting with the government and sought some information on the matter of age of consent.

2:34 PM

Joe Biden returning to his union roots as his 2024 campaign gears up

Joe Biden opened his 2020 presidential run at a Pittsburgh union hall, declaring, I'm a union man. Period." As he gears up for reelection, the president's first political rally is being held at a union gathering on the other side of Pennsylvania, punctuating just how much Biden is counting on labor support to carry him to a second term especially in a critical battleground state.

The symmetry is no accident. Rallying labour activists on Saturday at Philadelphia's convention center can help Biden's campaign spark enthusiasm and tap early organizing muscle.

2:05 PM

Giani Raghbir Singh replaces Giani Harpreet Singh as Akal Takht Jathedar

The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) on Friday appointed Giani Raghbir Singh as the new Jathedar of the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs.

Giani Raghbir Singh replaces Giani Harpreet Singh. The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the SGPC executive body that took place here.

1:35 PM

WhatsApp working on feature that will allow access to multiple accounts

Meta-owned WhatsApp is reportedly working on a multi-account feature on Android which will allow users to access multiple accounts from the same device.

According to WABetaInfo, the company is working on the feature by implementing a menu that will let users select which account they want to log into.

12:42 PM

Help people affected by Cyclone Biparjoy: Kejriwal to AAP workers

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday urged AAP workers to help people affected by Cyclone Biparjoy.

Cyclone Biparjoy, which ripped through Kutch and parts of Saurashtra region of Gujarat, left a trail of destruction as gusty winds and rains wreaked havoc, officials said.

12:15 PM

Foreign powers want Pak to default like Sri Lanka, claims FM Ishaq Dar

Pakistan Finance Minis­ter Ishaq Dar continued with his "contradictory" approach with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), alleging that geopolitics was behind a stalled loan programme as global institutions wanted Islamabad to default like Sri Lanka and then enter negotiations.

Testifying before the Senate's standing committee on finance, he once again stressed that the country would meet its obligations with or without the Fund's bailout package, Dawn news reported

11:56 AM

Turkey to continue monetary disciplines, market rules to tackle inflation

Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz said that the government would maintain existing monetary disciplines and follow free market rules while raising overall economic competitiveness and productivity to curb inflation.

"We will take effective and determined steps in the fight against inflation, which we see as the main problem," Yilmaz said after presiding over the first meeting of the Economic Coordination Board after assuming office.

11:25 AM

J-K encounter: 5 foreign terrorists killed in Kupwara, search operation on

Five foreign terrorists have been killed in the encounter that broke out between terrorists and security personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district on Friday.

 

Meanwhile, a search operation is still underway in the area. "Five foreign terrorists killed in the encounter, search operation underway," said Additional Director General of Police Kashmir, Vijay Kumar.

10:58 AM

NCERT textbook row: Name withdrawal spectacle disrupts curriculum updation

Amid the row over removal of certain portions of syllabi by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), as part of its exercise to reduce the content load among students, over 71 academicians have released a statement on "false propaganda" being spread against the top educational research institution.

"Through misinformation, rumours, and false allegations, they want to derail the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) and disrupt the updation of NCERT textbooks," the statement signed by Prof. Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, Vice Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Prof Dhananjay Singh, Member Secretary, the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) among others read.