Highlights: Govt demands explanation from edible oil companies on rising prices

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Forex reserves hit a fresh high of $ 689.46 billion; up by $ 223 million.

A huge controversy erupted today after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu  alleged that during Jaganmohan Reddy government regime, the ladoos at the Hindu temple were made using substandard quality of ghee, which contained animal fat.

In a major security breach, the Supreme Court's official YouTube channel was hacked on Friday. The channel displayed videos promoting a cryptocurrency developed by US-based company Ripple Labs, instead of live court proceedings.

The Supreme Court on Friday rapped the CBI over its plea seeking transfer of cases relating to the 2021 post-post violence cases outside West Bengal. A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal said the agency cannot cast aspersions on the entire judiciary in West Bengal."How can you cast aspersions on entire judiciary.You are showing as if there is a hostile environment in whole West Bengal," the bench said.

Following Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's recent decision to remove high-ranking police and health officials, protesting junior doctors in West Bengal  announced a partial suspension of of their “cease-work”, saying they would resume essential and emergency services in hospitals from Saturday, but would not work in the Out Patient Department (OPD).  The protesters stated that they would end their sit-in demonstration outside the state health department headquarters, Swasthya Bhawan, after conducting a march to the CBI office on Friday. However, they added that their campaign for justice would persist. The doctors' protest began on August 9,  following the rape-and-murder of a junior doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital.

Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh on Thursday refuted claims by the private hospitals that the state government owed over Rs 600 crore for various treatments availed under the Ayushman Bharat Mukh Mantri Sehat Bima Yojna. He said the total pending amount for both public and private hospitals is Rs 364 crore. Singh said the breakup of pending payments shows that Rs 166.67 crore are owed to the public hospitals and Rs 197 crore to the private hospitals.

On Thursday, Hezbollah's leader pledged to continue daily attacks on Israel, undeterred by the recent lethal sabotage of their members' communication equipment. He asserted that Israeli citizens evacuated from their homes near the Lebanese border due to the conflict would be unable to return until the Gaza war concludes. Hezbollah and Israel launched fresh attacks across the border as Hassan Nasrallah spoke for the first time since the mass bombing of devices in Lebanon and Syria that he described as a severe blow and for which he promised to retaliate.