Midday News -

THE HEADLINES

In Sikkim, flash flood in Teesta River due to glacial outburst causes severe damage in many districts; Several people missing including 23 Army personnel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan tomorrow to launch multiple development projects.
Special CBI court grants bail to Lalu Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav and Rabri Devi in land-for-job scam case.
Heavy rainfall reported in North -West and South East -Bihar.
And, India achieves best ever medal tally by winning 74 medals at Hangzhou Asian Games; Archery mixed team bags Gold; Lovlina wins silver in Boxing.

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In Sikkim, Glacial Lake Outburst Flood in parts of Lhonak Lake in Mangan District resulted in the rise of water levels along the Teesta River Basin in the early hours today causing a flash flood. State Disaster Management Authority has informed this. In Pakyong district, 23 Army personnel have been missing and one person has been rescued at Bardang, where some vehicles are submerged under slush. All emergency services are deployed for the evacuation of people to safer areas.

Severe damages have been reported in Mangan, Gangtok, Pakyong and Namchi Districts. Many bridges have collapsed and houses washed away. Communication network in Mangan district surrounding Chungthang has been affected. Two labourers are reported missing at Sangkhalang. In Gangtok district, 25 people have been rescued by the SDRF.

In Namchi district, LD Kazi bridge and Indreni bridge have been washed away. Around 500 people are sheltered in relief camps, and a permanent relief camp has been set up at Pranami Mandir.

Sikkim's connectivity with West Bengal via Siliguri is blocked at at-least four places on the National Highway 10.

Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang visited the affected areas in Singtam and took stock of the situation. He assured that the Government is making all necessary arrangements for evacuation and safe rehabilitation. He convened an emergency meeting at the Community Centre, Singtam.

All government and private schools in Pakyong, Gangtok, Namchi and Mangan districts shall remain closed till 8th of this month.

National Disaster Response Force NDRF has said that its teams are deployed at Sikkim in view of heavy rain, cloudburst and flood. It said, one team has been deployed in Gangtok and two teams are in the adjoining areas of Sikkim and West Bengal. The teams have rescued seven civilians till now.

IMD has issued red alert for Sikkim for the next 48 hours.

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The Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, HAL handed over the twin seater variant of LCA Tejas fighter aircraft to the Indian AirForce in the presence of Union Minister of state for Tourism and Defence Ajay Bhat in Bengaluru today. LCA Tejas twin seater is a light weight all weather, multi-role 4.5 generation aircraft. The aircraft developed indigenously has static stability, quadruplex fly by wire flight control, carefree maneuvering, advanced glass cockpit, integrated digital avionics systems and advanced composite materials for the airframe. The induction of the aircraft into Indian Airforce, marks an important milestone when India joins the list of a very few elite countries who have created such capability and have them operational in their defence forces.

Speaking on the occasion, MoS Defence Ajay Bhat said that it is an historic occasion today when the motto of Atma Nirbhar Bharat is realised by the development off twin seater Tejas with advanced features. He said it is an important achievement that showcases indigenous capabilities.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan tomorrow to launch multiple development projects worth over 17, 600 crore rupees.

Mr Modi will visit Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh where he will inaugurate, lay the foundation stone and dedicate to nation development projects worth more than 12,600 crore rupees, in sectors like in road, rail, gas pipeline, housing and clean drinking water. His vision to provide housing for all will be strengthened as the Light House Project at Indore will be inaugurated. Built at a cost of about 128 crore rupees under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban, the project will benefit more than one thousand beneficiary families.

In Rajasthan, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Jodhpur to lay the foundation stone and dedicate multiple development projects worth around five thousand crore rupees in sectors like road, rail, aviation, health and higher education. He will lay the foundation stone of important projects for strengthening the Health infrastructure. The projects include 350 bedded Trauma Centre and Critical Care Hospital Block at AIIMS, Jodhpur and seven Critical Care Blocks under Pradhan Mantri – Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission to be developed across Rajasthan.

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The Central Government has declared the National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) and their factions as unlawful associations under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The Home Ministry has banned these organisations for five years. The Ministry said, the government is of the opinion that the activities of NLFT and ATTF are detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India and that they are unlawful associations.

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In Ladakh, polling for the 5th Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, Kargil is taking place smoothly. Voting began at 278 polling stations at 8 in the morning.

Over 40 per cent voting was reported, when last report came in .This is the first election after the Abrogation of Article 370 in Ladakh Union Territory.

The fate of 87 candidates trying their luck for 26 constituencies will be locked in EVMs.

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Bi-Monthly meeting of the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee has begun in Mumbai. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das will issue a Monetary Policy Statement on Friday. He will also address the Press Conference on the same day. After the last meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee kept interest rates unchanged.

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The BJP has said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders' corruption are being exposed one by one. Referring to the ED's reported raid at the residence of AAP MP Sanjay Singh in New Delhi today, the party alleged that it is clear that AAP leaders were involved in the liquor scam and they had looted the people of Delhi. BJP Delhi Unit Chief Virendraa Sachdeva told media that BJP has been saying from the first day that AAP leaders were involved in corruption and Mr. Singh's name was already there in the chargesheet related to the scam.

BJP workers also staged a protest in the national capital against the AAP government and demanded Mr. Kejriwal's resignation over the Delhi excise policy case.

Meanwhile, Delhi Minister and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj described the alleged liquor scam as a fictitious scam. He said the ED and CBI have conducted raids in at least 1000 places but not even one rupee has been recovered from anywhere in this case so far.

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A CBI Court in Delhi has granted bail to Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad, former Bihar CM Rabri Devi, Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav and RJD MP Misa Bharti in the alleged land-for-jobs scam case. On 22nd of this month, the court had summoned them taking cognisance of the charge sheet filed against them. They have to furnish a personal bail bond of 50,000 each. The next date of hearing is October 16. Court has directed CBI to serve chargesheet copy to all accused in the matter.

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Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said that report of the second part of the Bihar Caste Based Survey-2022 which comprises Socio-Economic data will be placed before the Legislative Assembly in forthcoming Winter Session. He said this while chairing the meeting of nine political parties of Legislature including JD(U), RJD, BJP, Congress, Hindustani Awam Morcha, AIMIM and left parties.

Mr. Kumar and officials of the General Administration Department briefed the representatives of political parties about the salient features of the Survey.

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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin has urged the Union Government to keep in abeyance, the new notification of restricting the opening of new medical colleges issued by the Union Ministry of Health and family welfare. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Stalin said that the Government should initiate a consultative process immediately with the State Governments on the steps to address this issue.

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The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund and Japan Bank for International Cooperation, JBIC have tied up to launch a 600 million US dollar India-Japan Fund. This joint initiative will facilitate collaboration and investment between India and Japan in the field of climate and environment.

According to the Finance Ministry, the Government of India will contribute 49 per cent of the corpus and the remaining 51 per cent will be contributed by JBIC.

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In Italy, at least 21 people died and 18 injured after a bus fell from an overpass near Venice yesterday. The bus was running on methane and caught fire after the crash. It was returning from Venice's historic centre to a camping site. The cause of the accident is still unclear and the authorities are still investigating.

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India Meteorological Department has forecast that heavy to very heavy rainfall will continue in Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Sikkim, North Odisha during next two days. It said, North-Eastern part of the country also expected to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall during next three days. The IMD said, Southwest Monsoon has withdrawn from some more parts of Uttarakhand, West Uttar Pradesh and West Madhya Pradesh in remaining parts of Rajasthan, and some parts of Gujarat.

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In Bihar, the South West Monsoon is active over most parts of the state causing heavy rainfall in North West and South East regions. Heavy rainfall has lashed Kaimur, Gaya, Aurangabad, Rohtas, East Champaran, West Champaran and other neighbouring districts. Maximum precipitation was recorded in Adhaura, Chenari and Aurangabad ranging from 80 to 62 millimeter.

In Kaimur district the seasonal rivers like Karmnasha, Durgawati and Suvara are in full spate due to continuous rainfall. We have a report from our correspondent:

The MeT Department has predicted favourable conditions of rainfall in Bihar for the next three days. In view of heavy rainfall in Kishanganj, Purnea, Katihar and adjoining areas in next 48 hours an alert has been issued. The Disaster Management Department has cautioned people not to venture out during rains in view of increased thunderstorm and lightning activities. Today maximum rainfall of 100 millimetres was recorded in Dinara in Rohtas district. Normal life has been thrown out of gear due to continuous rainfall in Kaimur, Rohtas and Aurangabad districts. Dharmendra Kumar Rai, Akashvani News, Patna

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At Hanghzou Asian Games in China, Indian duo Jyoti Surekha Vennam and Ojas Deotale won gold for India in Archery. They defeated Republic of Korea in Compound Mixed Team final. In women's 75 kg boxing event, Lovlina Borgohain settled for the Silver after losing the final to Li Qian of China. Earlier, Parveen Hooda, in the women's 57 kg boxing event, won bronze. In Squash mixed team event Indian pair Abhay Singh and Anahat Singh also had to be content with the bronze after losing to the Malaysian duo. Earlier, Ram Babu and Manju Rani opened country's medal account on eleventh day clinching bronze medal in the 35km mixed relay race walk. With this country's overall medal tally has now reached its best ever 74, comprising 16 gold, 27 silver and 31 bronze. India's previous best was 70 medals in 2018 Jakarta Asian Games.

Later today, India’s Neeraj Chopra will step out to defend his men’s javelin throw crown.

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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN

In Sikkim, flash flood in Teesta River due to glacial outburst causes severe damage in many districts; Several people missing including 23 Army personnel.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan tomorrow to launch multiple development projects.
Special CBI court grants bail to Lalu Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav and Rabri Devi in land-for-job scam case.
Heavy rainfall reported in North -West and South East -Bihar.
And, India achieves best ever medal tally by winning 74 medals at Hangzhou Asian Games; Archery mixed team bags Gold; Lovlina wins silver in Boxing.