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2:46 PM

Intervene to ensure Yamuna levels don't rise further: Kejriwal to Centre

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday urged the Centre to intervene to ensure that levels of the Yamuna, flowing at an all-time high of 207.55 metres, don't rise further. The Yamuna has breached its all-time record of 207.49 metres set in 1978, government agencies said on Wednesday. Sharing an update on Yamunal water levels, Kejriwal said on Twitter, "Central Water Commission predicts 207.72 meter water level in Yamuna tonite. Not good news for Delhi.

 

2:34 PM

TMC poised to sweep Bengal rural polls, bags over half of 63,000 gram panchayat seats

The ruling Trinamool Congress on Wednesday looked poised to sweep the rural polls in Bengal as the overnight count of ballots gave it an unassailable lead in results declared till now by the State Election Commission. The TMC has won in 34,694 gram panchayat seats, besides leading in 677 seats, according to the SEC as of 1pm on Wednesday. Its nearest rival BJP has won 9,656 seats and is leading in 166 seats. In all elections are being held for 63,229 gram panchayat seats.

 

2:21 PM

School bus overturns in Jaisalmer, 30 children injured, staffer dead

A person died and around 30 schoolchildren were injured when their bus overturned in Rajasthan's Jaisalmer district on Wednesday, police said. The bus was ferrying the students to their school when the accident occurred near Pokhran town, they said.

 

2:19 PM

Countries agree to extend digital services tax freeze through 2024: OECD

With the exception of Canada, countries with digital services taxes have agreed to hold off applying them for at least another year as a global multinationals tax deal to replace them was pushed back, the OECD said on Wednesday. More than 140 countries were supposed to start implementing next year a 2021 deal overhauling decades-old rules on how governments tax multinationals that are widely considered to be outdated as digital giants like Apple or Amazon can book profits in low-tax countries.

 

1:45 PM

CM Kejriwal calls emergency meeting as Yamuna breaches danger mark

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday called an emergency meeting as the Yamuna reached its highest level so far at 207.55 metres, posing a threat of floods in the city. The meeting will be held at the Delhi Secretariat where senior officers of all departments concerned will be present, said a Delhi government official. Thousands of people have been evacuated and shifted to safer places due to rising level of the Yamuna river in the national capital.

1:31 PM

Bihar assembly adjourned for Wednesday as BJP members create ruckus

Members of the opposition BJP in Bihar on Wednesday smashed a chair inside the assembly and tossed shreds of paper in the air while standing in the well, prompting the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings till the next day. Proceedings began at 11 AM, on a stormy note, with Leader of the Opposition Vijay Kumar Sinha asserting that "the opposition has the right to raise issues concerning the people, which include corruption". The allusion was to a CBI charge sheet against Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, the demand of whose resignation had rocked the House the day before.

 

1:13 PM

WB rural polls: Will visit violence-hit areas, says BJP fact-finding team

A BJP fact-finding team, which arrived in West Bengal on Wednesday, said it will visit areas hit by poll violence and speak to victims to assess the ground situation. The four-member team led by former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said it plans to visit north and south Bengal districts. Violence and killings during rural polls are unacceptable. So many people have been killed; why have so many people had to die in this election? We will visit the violence-hit areas of north and south Bengal. Later, we will submit our report to our national president JP Nadda, Prasad told reporters at the airport.

 

12:58 PM

Concerns over food security grow as Russia warns to pull out of grain deal

Concerns are growing that Russia will not extend a United Nations-brokered deal that allows grain to flow from Ukraine to parts of the world struggling with hunger, with ships no longer heading to the war-torn country's Black Sea ports and food exports dwindling.

Turkey and the UN negotiated the breakthrough accord last summer to ease a global food crisis, along with a separate agreement with Russia to facilitate shipments of its food and fertiliser. Moscow insists it's still facing hurdles, though data shows it has been exporting record amounts of wheat.

12:34 PM

Rain havoc: Relief measures going on war footing in Punjab and Haryana

Relief measures are going on a war footing in Punjab and Haryana on Wednesday as several parts of the states remained flooded following incessant rains in the past three days.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will visit the worst-hit Ambala district on Wednesday to take stock of the situation, officials said.

12:16 PM

SC refuses urgent mentioning of plea in summoning of Adipurush makers

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear the urgent mentioning of a plea against an order of the Allahabad High Court, which had directed the makers of the controversial movie "Adipurush" to appear before it on July 27.

 

"Adipurush", a retelling of the epic Ramayana, has come under attack for its dialogues and use of colloquial language.

11:43 AM

Five injured as car carrying pilgrims hits road divider in J-K's Udhampur

A car carrying Amarnath pilgrims hit a road divider in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, leaving five people injured, a police official said.

The pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh were on their way to the Baltal base camp in Ganderbal district when the driver of their vehicle lost control and hit the road divider at Samroli along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway around 6.15 am, the official said.

11:17 AM

SC adjourns hearing of Umar Khalid bail plea to July 24 in Delhi riots case

Supreme Court adjourns the hearing for July 24 into the bail plea filed by former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student and activist Umar Khalid in a UAPA case related to the alleged conspiracy behind the North East Delhi riots in February 2020.

 

Supreme Court adjourns the hearing after counsel appearing for Delhi police seeks time to file a response on Khalid’s bail plea.

 

 

11:15 AM

China sends large group of warplanes, navy ships towards Taiwan in forceful display

China sent navy ships and a large group of warplanes, including fighter jets and bombers, toward Taiwan over two days, the island's defense ministry said on Wednesday, before its annual military exercises aimed at defending itself against a possible invasion.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army sent 38 warplanes and 9 navy vessels around Taiwan, between 6 a.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. Wednesday. From Wednesday morning until noon time, the military flew another 30 planes, among which included J-10 and J-16 fighters.

 

10:57 AM

Raging Yamuna nears all-time record level in Delhi, touches 207.49 mt mark

The Yamuna river in Delhi swelled to 207.25 metres and was flowing precariously close to the all-time record level of 207.49 metres reached in 1978, government agencies said on Wednesday.

According to the Central Water Commission's (CWC) flood-monitoring portal, the water level at the Old Railway Bridge crossed the 207-metre mark at 4 am, the first time since 2013, and rose to 207.25 metres by 8 am on Wednesday.

10:19 AM

22 passengers injured as private luxury bus rams into trailer truck on Samruddhi Expressway

At least 22 passengers were injured, including four seriously, after the private luxury bus they were travelling in hit a trailer truck on the Samruddhi Expressway in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district in the early hours of Wednesday, the police said.

The incident on the Mumbai-Nagpur high-speed carriageway took place near Phulambri in the district around 2.30 am, an official said.