Morning News

THE HEADLINES::

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to flag off three Vande Bharat Express trains from Bengaluru in Karnataka today.
Prime Minister to also inaugurate Yellow line of Bangalore Metro and lay foundation stone of Bangalore Metro Phase-3.
Election Commission delists 334 registered unrecognised political parties for their failure to fulfil essential conditions.
India welcomes proposed US-Russia Summit in Alaska on 15th August; Says, it holds promise of peace in Ukraine.
General elections in Bangladesh to be held in February 2026, says poll body chief.
And, German Grand Master Vincent Keymer leads after three rounds of Chennai chess tournament; India’s Arjun Erigaisi at second place.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a day-long visit to Karnataka today. During the visit, he will flag off three Vande Bharat Express trains at KSR Railway Station in Bengaluru. It includes trains from Bengaluru to Belagavi, Amritsar to Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra and Nagpur (Ajni) to Pune.

Thereafter, the Prime Minister will flag off Yellow line of Bangalore metro and undertake a metro ride from RV Road, Ragigudda to Electronic City metro station. He will also inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of urban connectivity projects in Bengaluru and address a public function. Mr Modi will lay the foundation stone of Bangalore Metro Phase-3 project worth over 15 thousand 610 crore rupees. The total route length of the project will be more than 44 kilometres with 31 elevated stations. More from our correspondent:

Vande Bharat service to be dedicated by the Prime Minister today will provide a comfortable travel option to those travelling to Belagavi in North Karnataka. Vande Bharat service to Belagavi was very eagerly awaited by the railway passengers as it will reduce travel time between the two cities. Another important project is related to the Metro Yellow line that connects Electronic city, where top IT BT companies have their headquarters. This line will also ease traffic on Hosur road that takes us to Tamilnadu. The third phase of Namma Metro network once operationalised will improve mobility by taking the total metro network to 220 kms in Bengaluru. Sudhindra Akashvani News Bengaluru.

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The Election Commission says it has delisted 334 registered unrecognised political parties, which have failed to fulfil the essential condition of contesting even a single election for six years since 2019. The offices of these parties could also not be physically located anywhere. These 334 registered unrecognised political parties are from different states and Union Territories across the country.

National Political parties, State Political parties and registered unrecognised political parties in the country are registered with the poll body under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act.

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As part of a tainted land deal in Gurugram, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s husband and businessman Robert Vadra received 58 crore rupees as proceeds of crime, Enforcement Directorate told a Special Court in a money laundering case. While 53 crore rupees were routed through Skylight Hospitality, another 5 crore rupees were routed through Blue Breeze Trading, said the ED in its chargesheet against Vadra and others. The Special PMLA court in Delhi has fixed August 28 to take cognisance of the ED complaint and issued a notice to Robert Vadra.

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The Sikkim government has taken elaborate steps to celebrate Har Ghar Tiranga initiative with full enthusiasm. Senior officials in the Culture Department, which is the nodal agency to implement the program in the state, informed that one lakh national flags are to be distributed among the citizens.

The Culture Department will hand over the tricolour to district administrations so that they can distribute it amongst residents.

On the 12th of August, Tiranga rally will be held from M G Marg at Gangtok in the presence of Governor and Chief Minister. Tiranga rallies and cultural programs are also being held at other districts.

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In the aftermath of the recent disaster in Harsil and Dharali regions of Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, large-scale relief and rescue operations are underway. Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan has directed all agencies involved to work in close coordination and divide the affected areas into sectors to ensure faster and more effective relief efforts.

Since the devastating disaster on August 5, over 1,100 people have been safely rescued. Among them, 480 individuals were evacuated yesterday from Harsil and Nelang.

Meanwhile, power supply in the Harsil valley has been restored. Regular supply of diesel and cooking gas to Harsil and Dharali has been ensured, while food supplies are being transported by mules due to road blockages.

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India has welcomed the understanding reached between the United States and the Russian Federation for a meeting in Alaska on the 15th of this month. In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said, this meeting holds the promise of bringing an end to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and opening up the prospects for peace. It said, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said on several occasions, this is not an era of war. The Ministry said, India, therefore, endorses the upcoming meeting and stands ready to support these efforts.

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Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday for about 40 minutes, the presidential palace in Brasília said. It added that Putin briefed him on talks with the United States and recent peace efforts related to the war in Ukraine. The two leaders also discussed cooperation within the BRICS bloc of emerging economies and reviewed the current international political and economic situation. The conversation with Lula is the latest of a flurry of calls between Putin and foreign leaders in recent days ahead of the Russian President’s expected meeting with US President Donald Trump next week.

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Bangladesh’s Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin has said that the upcoming 13th Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) elections will be held in the first half of February next year. He said that the Election Commission will do everything necessary to hold a free, fair and acceptable election. Our correspondent has the details:

The Chief Election Commissioner of Bangladesh said on Saturday that the next national election is likely to be held in the first half of February, 2026. The Election Commission (EC) has intensified preparations across the country. He said that the schedule may be announced in early December, two months before the national election. Nasir Uddin admitted that public trust in the electoral process has eroded and also acknowledged that an encouraging voter turnout remains a significant challenge in front of the election commission. Navalsang Parmar, Akashwani News, Dhaka.

The Election Commission has issued a press release announcing that the draft voter list will be published today. Following necessary corrections, the final voter list is scheduled for release on the 31st of this month.

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World Lion Day is being celebrated today across the globe. Gujarat is marking a major milestone in the conservation of the majestic Asiatic lion. The Barda Wildlife Sanctuary, near Porbandar, has emerged as a beacon of ecological restoration and community-driven progress. As Gujarat’s Lion Census of 2025 records a historic 891 lions statewide, Barda leads the way in expanding habitats beyond Gir. A report from our correspondent :

Once a secondary habitat, Barda Wildlife Sanctuary now flourishes with 17 lions and 25 leopards, reflecting years of ecological restoration and scientific management. The Forest Department’s use of radio collars and real-time tracking technology has made lion conservation more effective than ever before. Community participation, especially by local Maldhari pastoralists, has made conservation truly inclusive and citizen-centric. With 891 lions now in Gujarat and over half outside Gir, Project Lion’s habitat expansion has set new benchmarks for sustainable wildlife management. Today, the sanctuary is an example of India’s vision of balanced development-“Vikas bhi, Virasat bhi”-blending progress with the preservation of precious natural heritage. Aparna Khunt, Akashvani News, Ahmedabad.

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And now, news from the world of sports:

In Chess, a strong performance from world No. 5 Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi saw him defeat American GM Ray Robson to stay in sole second position behind Germany’s Vincent Keymer after three rounds of the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters tournament yesterday. With six more rounds to go in the round-robin competition in the Masters category, Erigaisi is on 2.5 points, while Keymer continues to lead with a perfect score of three points after scoring another victory, this time against Karthikeyan Murali in the classical chess tournament.

In Football, Mohun Bagan Supergiant has reached the quarter final of 134th Durand Cup Football Tournament. In the last league match of group B in Yuva Bharati Krirangan Saltlake yesterday, Mohun bagan has defeated Diamond Harbour FC by 5-1 to reach the knock out stage as group top.

The three-day tug of war competitions of the World Games 2025 kicked off at Chengdu in China, with Britain’s men’s 640kg team clinching gold after a dominant performance against reigning champion Switzerland. With Bimal Mohapatra Deepmala Kaushik, Akashvani Delhi.

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The four semifinal matches of the Asia Rugby Under-20 Championship in Rajgir, Bihar, have been decided. The Indian women’s team, led by Bhumika Shukla, will face tough competition against China in their semifinal match today, competing for the title.

The second women’s semifinal will be played between Uzbekistan and Hong Kong.

In the women’s category, both China and Hong Kong have won all three of their matches, securing 9 points each and maintaining their positions at the top of the points tally.

In the men’s category, the Indian team’s performance has been disappointing. After winning the opening match, India lost the next two matches, eliminating them from the title contest. Today, the Indian men’s team will play against Kazakhstan for fifth place.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka, which has performed excellently in the men’s category, will play against China in the first semifinal today. The other semifinal will feature Malaysia against Hong Kong.

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India Meteorological Department has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall conditions over Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh during the next 7 days. It predicted similar conditions to continue over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Assam, Sikkim, Bihar, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh during the next 6-7 days. According to the weather agency, heavy rainfall conditions are expected over Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Madhya Pradesh today.

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Heavy rains lashed several parts of Hyderabad last evening in late hours with several areas including Vanasthalipuram and Hayathnagar receiving over 100 mm of rainfall in just 2 hours. Many areas in the old city including Nampally received the highest of 124.8 millimeters rainfall till early morning.

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SpaceX safely brought back four astronauts of the United States, Japan, and Russia back on Earth. NASA astronauts Anne McClain and Nichole Ayers, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov returned to Earth after spending about 148 days on the International Space Station.

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TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS HEADLINE:

All dailies have widely covered Air Chief Marshal AP Singh’s statement regarding taking down Pakistan’s military planes during Operation Sindoor.
‘Downed 6 Pakistan military planes, says IAF chief,’ writes Hindustan Times while The Sunday Tribune headlines, ‘Downed 5 Pakistan jets using S-400s, large spy plane shot 300 kilometres away, says IAF chief.
‘Seven dead as wall collapses in Delhi amid heavy rain,’ writes The Hindu while Hindustan Times carries a picture of an auto driver pushing his autorickshaw through a waterlogged road in Delhi. The paper headlines, ‘8 die as heavy rain again overwhelms Capital’s infra.’
And finally, in a world where divorce rate is rising day by day, adults often forget that their differences affect child the most. Times of India carries a very important interview with a clinical psychologist who says ‘Children often bear the emotional scars of parental conflicts.’

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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi to flag off three Vande Bharat Express trains from Bengaluru in Karnataka today.
Prime Minister to also inaugurate Yellow line of Bangalore Metro and lay foundation stone of Bangalore Metro Phase-3.
Election Commission delists 334 registered unrecognised political parties for their failure to fulfil essential conditions.
India welcomes proposed US-Russia Summit in Alaska on 15th August; Says, it holds promise of peace in Ukraine.
General elections in Bangladesh to be held in February 2026, says poll body chief.
And, German Grand Master Vincent Keymer leads after three rounds of Chennai chess tournament; India’s Arjun Erigaisi at second place.