As the country is celebrating the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to mark 75 years of India's independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged people to put the 'tiranga' (tricolour) as the profile picture of their social media accounts between August 2 and 15. The RSS, the political fountainhead of the ruling BJP, has been criticised by the Congress and other Opposition over its stand on the national flag. In an obvious reference to the RSS, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh asked earlier this month if the organisation that did not hoist the national flag at its headquarters in Nagpur for 52 years would comply with the prime minister's message to make the 'tiranga' the profile picture of social media accounts. On Friday, RSS publicity department co-incharge Narender Thakur said the Sangh has been celebrating Independence Day at all its offices by hoisting the national flag. The Sangh changed its profile picture on the social media to the national flag from its organisational flag. He further said RSS workers were actively participating in the 'Har Ghar Tiranga' campaign. The central government has urged people to hoist or display the national flag from their homes during August 13-15 as part of its 'Har Ghar Tiranga' programme. Earlier, RSS publicity department head Sunil Ambekar had said that such things should not be politicised.

The exercise commenced on August 1 with its closing ceremony scheduled for Saturday. 

The joint exercise was conducted in systematic three phases. 

The first phase was orientation and familiarisation with weapon equipment and tactical drills of each other wherein both contingents learned the best practices from each other. 

The second phase was combat conditioning, formulation of joint drills and putting them into practice. 

"The last phase of 48 hours validation exercise is currently on which both the armies are operating as joint integrated platoons and have establish mobile vehicle check post, carried out cordon and search operation and live manoeuvre fire by infantry combat vehicle (BMP-II)," Col Aditya Kumar, Commanding Officer of the unit of Indian Army participating in the joint exercise, said during the validation phase in the firing ranges on Friday. 

During the cordon and search operation, an operation was conducted which included aerial insertion of joint teams in areas to neutralise rebels in a target house. 

In the validation phase, it was shown how the capabilities of Ambulance Armoured Track can be exploited to assist casualty evacuation and how Bomb Disposal Team undertakes a search of the target house and neutralises improvised explosive devices. 

It was also shown how infantry combat vehicle BMP-II are employed in peacekeeping operations for the task of extraction of high-value personnel and threatened aid workers. -- PTI

Rushdie, the 75-year-old Mumbai-born controversial author who faced Islamist death threats after writing The Satanic Verses, was attacked and suffered an apparent stab wound to the neck when a man stormed the stage while he was being introduced during the event of the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York. 

He fell through a barrier to the stage and was seen with blood on his hands. 

The audience tackled the attacker and Rushdie was then treated onstage following the assault. 

"It is heartbreaking to learn that within the last hour, a prominent individual, Salman Rushdie, was attacked on a stage in western New York just before he was about to give a speech. He is alive, he has been transported, airlifted to safety," Hochul said in remarks at an event on Preventing Gun Violence, Protecting New Yorkers. 

She said Rushdie has spent decades "speaking truth to power, someone who's been out there unafraid, despite the threats that have followed him his entire adult life it seems." 

She commended the New York state police and the state police officer who stood up and saved Rushdie's life and protected him as well as the moderator who was attacked as well. 

"We're monitoring the situation. Rushdie is getting the care he needs at a local hospital. I'll be giving more information on the identity of the perpetrator and the case that'll be brought in that part of the state," she said. -- PTI

The body of Singh (42), vice-president of the Lundra Janpad Panchayat in Surguja district, was found near tracks between Salka and Belgahna railway stations under the Kota police station area in the morning, the police said. 

Singh alias Sachin Baba, a relative of state's health minister TS Singh Deo, belonged to the Dhaulpur unit of the erstwhile Surguja royal family. 

The body was spotted by railway personnel who then informed the police, said Parul Mathur, Bilaspur senior superintendent of police. 

After identifying the body, his family members were informed and a forensic team was sent to the spot for investigation, she said. 

He was travelling to Ambikapur from Raipur by Durg-Ambikapur Express on Thursday night and prima facie it seems he fell accidentally from the moving train and died of injuries, Mathur said, adding further investigation was underway. 

The body was handed over to his relatives after postmortem, she added. -- PTI

With these additions, the overall tally of Covid-19 surged to 11,30,839, while the death toll increased to 19,663, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a bulletin. 

On August 10, Mumbai had witnessed 852 coronavirus cases besides one fatality before the infection count dipped to 683 on August 11. The count of 871 in the last 24 hours was the highest since July 1, when the city had logged 978 Covid-19 cases and two fatalities, before the daily numbers started dropping steadily. 

The financial capital is witnessing a gradual rise in new Covid-19 patients since the past few days as a result of which the active case count has crossed the 4,000 mark. 

As per the bulletin, the new Covid-19 cases were detected after 9,213 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, pushing up their cumulative tally to 1,79,31,269. 

The Booker Prize-winning author was attacked as he about to give a lecture in western New York state. 

Media reports added that the author was tended to after he was stabbed during Friday's event. 

Rushdie has suffered years of death threats over his book The Satanic Verses, which was severely criticised by Islamic clerics. 

Earlier, a bounty of $3 million was placed on Rushdie's head, with the Ayatollah of Iran himself calling for his death.

Former mayor Kishori Pednekar said Thackeray had called a meeting at Sena Bhavan in Dadar in central Mumbai which was attended by former party corporators of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation whose term ended earlier this year. 

In the 2017 BMC polls, the Shiv Sena had won 84 seats in the 227-member House. 

Pednekar said 12 former corporators did not turn up for the meeting. Of these, nine had informed they were out of Mumbai, while two cited medical reasons for their absence. 

One corporator did not turn up after assuring that he would attend the meeting. 

Thackeray also spoke about the "uprising in Bihar' by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and slammed the BJP for vitiating the political environment in the country as well in Maharashtra. -- PTI

Accused Mohammad Nadeem (25) is a native of Kunda Kala village under Gangoh police station area in Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh additional director general of police (law and order) Prashant Kumar said in a statement. 

The ADGP claimed that the police recovered chats and voice messages from Nadeem's phone and these messages were traced to Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

Two SIM cards and literature on preparing various kinds bombs were also recovered from him. 

He has been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act at ATS police station in Lucknow, the statement said. 

During interrogation, Nadeem admitted that he was in direct contact with JeM since 2018 and that the outfit had invited him over to Pakistan and Syria for special training, the statement said, adding he had been waiting for a visa. -- PTI

The BJP will get an absolute majority in the 227-member civic body, he said at a press conference in Mumbai hours after his appointment was announced. 

The "real" Shiv Sena is the one led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Shelar said. 

The rival faction of the Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray, will be held accountable for the "corruption" in the Mumbai civic body for the last 25 years, the BJP leader said. 

Elections to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation are expected to be held soon. 

In 2017 elections, when Shelar was city BJP chief, the party had narrowly lost to the Shiv Sena in the battle for the country's richest civic body. -- PTI

The actor will be called to the police station on August 22 to "join the investigation," he said. 

Personnel of the Chembur police station in the city on Friday visited Singh's residence to serve him a notice to join the probe, but were informed that he was not in Mumbai, the official said. 

Singh later told police that he would return on August 16. 

The notice will be served to him that day and he will be called to record a statement on August 22, the official added. 

A First Information Report was registered against Ranveer Singh at Chembur police station last month on the basis of a complaint filed by an office-bearer of a non-profit organisation. -- PTI 

The boy is one of the 22 students of the Class 12 science stream who faced disciplinary action, including a ban from appearing in the exam for a year, on various grounds, such as copying or writing something using red pen on the answer sheet, the official said. 

The results of the Class 12 board exams were declared in May. 

"In a bid to clear the examination, a student of the science stream, who appeared by the board exam in April, stuck a Rs 500 note inside the answer sheet of the Chemistry paper with glue. Someone must have told him that such tricks might work to pass the exam," the board official said. 

When the examiner found the note while correcting the paper, he reported it to the board for further action, he said. 

After recording the student's statement, the exam committee of the board withheld his results and banned him from appearing for the exam for the next one year, the official said. 

"As a punishment, he has to now appear for the board exam in March next year. Although students who fail two papers are allowed to appear in a supplementary exam in July, this student was not allowed to sit for that exam as a punishment," he said. -- PTI

If passed, The Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Bill 2022 will be a more stringent version of The Himachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 2019. 

The 2019 bill was, however, notified only on December 21, 2020 - 15 months after it was passed in the assembly. 

The 2019 bill itself had replaced a 2006 law, which prescribed lesser punishments. 

The amendment bill introduced by Jai Ram Thakur's BJP government now increases the punishment for forced conversions from up to seven years in prison to a maximum of 10. 

It stipulates that the complaints made under the Act will be investigated by a police officer not below the rank of a sub inspector. 

The offences will now be tried by a sessions court. -- PTI

In the previous week ended July 29, the reserves had risen $2.315 billion to $573.875 billion. 

In the week ended August 5, the fall in the foreign exchange reserves was due to a dip in the Foreign Currency Assets, a major component of the overall reserves, as per the Weekly Statistical Supplement released by RBI on Friday. 

FCA declined $1.611 billion to $509.646 billion, the data showed. 

Expressed in dollar terms, FCA includes the effect of appreciation or depreciation of non-US units like the euro, pound and yen held in the foreign exchange reserves. 

Gold reserves increased $671 million to $40.313 billion in the week ended August 5. 

The Special Drawing Rights with the International Monetary Fund rose $46 million to $18.031 billion. 

The country's reserve position with the IMF declined $3 million to $4.987 billion in the reporting week, the data showed. -- PTI

In June, retail inflation was at 7.01 per cent and it stood at 5.59 per cent in July 2021. 

According to the data, food inflation in July 2022 moderated to 6.75 per cent as against 7.75 per cent in June. 

The Consumer Price Index-based retail inflation, however, remained above the Reserve Bank of India's upper tolerance level of 6 per cent. 

It has remained above the 6 per cent mark for the past seven months. 

In the first three months of the current fiscal, retail inflation remained above 7 per cent. -- PTI

Sarma asked the Laal Singh Chaddha star to push back his visit so that the "focus' does not get diverted from Independence Day gala. 

"Aamir Khan wanted to come here and had spoken to me about it. But to ensure that the focus of Independence Day doesn't get diverted, I urged him to come after August 15," Sarma told reporters in Guwahati on the sidelines of a programme. 

"We don't want the focus to shift from the Tiranga on Independence Day," he added. 

Sarma said that he is regularly is touch with Khan over phone and the actor will visit the state "whenever I (Sarma) ask him'. 

"We will fix the date later,' the chief minister added. -- PTI

The docking of the Pakistani warship at the Sri Lankan port came days after Colombo urged Beijing to defer the visit of 'Yuan Wang 5', a Chinese research vessel, at the strategic Hambantota port after India expressed security concerns over the presence of the ballistic missile and satellite tracking ship. 

Sri Lanka allowed PNS Taimur to make a port call in Colombo while on its way to join the Pakistan Navy in Colombo on August 15 after the Bangladesh government denied it permission to dock at Chattogram Port. 

The Pakistani naval ship is expected to remain in Colombo until August 15 and the crew of the ship will take part in several programmes organised by the Sri Lanka Navy to promote cooperation and goodwill between the two navies, News First, an online news portal, reported. 

Further, PNS Taimur is expected to conduct a naval exercise with the Sri Lanka Navy in western seas before its departure on August 15. 

PNS Taimur is the second of four powerful Type 054A/P frigates built by China. 

It was delivered to the Pakistan Navy in Shanghai on June 23. 

The first ship in the Type 054A/P-class, the PNS Tughril, joined the Pakistan Navy Fleet in January. 

Two more frigates of the same class are currently under construction in China. -- PTI

The injured policeman was immediately evacuated to a hospital for treatment. 

Following this, the area was cordoned off and a search is in progress. 

"Terrorists fired upon joint naka party of police/CRPF in #Bijbehara area of #Anantnag. In this terror incident, one police personnel got injured who was immediately evacuated to hospital for treatment. Area cordoned off. Search in progress," tweeted the Jammu and Kashmir police. 

Earlier, four Army personnel on Thursday succumbed to injuries received while neutralising two terrorists carrying out a suicide bomb attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri. -- ANI

The Congress on Friday promised that if the party is voted to power in Gujarat, where Assembly elections are due by the year end, it would waive farm loans of up to Rs 3 lakh and provide free electricity for 10 hours daily to farmers in the state.

          

Gujarat Congress president Jagdish Thakor also said that his party would  bring a law to prohibit the purchase of farm produce below the minimum support price (MSP).

        

Notably, the opposition party in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state made these announcements days after the new entrant Aam Aadmi Party made a host of promises, including free electricity of up to 300 units every month and allowance for unemployed youths as well as women above the age of 18 years of age. 

        

"Though the ruling BJP claims that Gujarat is a power surplus state, farmers are not getting adequate electricity for agriculture. If Congress comes to power, it will provide free electricity to farmers for 10 hours, that too during the day. We will also withdraw penalties and cases of electricity theft lodged against farmers,"  Thakor said in a press conference here.

        

Other senior Congress leaders, such as Arjun Modhwadia and Tushar Chaudhary, held press conferences in Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara on Friday to make announce these promises.

        

"Farmers in Gujarat are reeling under huge debt. But instead of providing a relief, the BJP had waived loans of industrialists. In the first cabinet meeting after coming to power, the Congress will make a decision to abolish all the farm loans below Rs 3 lakh," Thakor said.

        

Apart from bringing a law which would ban the purchase of farm produce below MSP, Thakor promised that the Congress government will also pay an additional Rs 20 bonus on the purchase of 20 kg farm produce from farmers.

        

Other promises made by the Congress include 33 per cent reservation for women in cooperative bodies in the state, change in laws to "free cooperative sector from the clutches of BJP" and a bonus of Rs 5 per litre to cattle-rearers in addition to the milk procurement price.

A 'faulty' smoke alarm aboard a Bengaluru-Male private flight forced its diversion in Coimbatore on Friday and landed safely, top official sources said.

        

The carrier with 92 passengers on board was diverted after a smoke warning was detected, the sources said.

        

The alarm went off after the twin engines allegedly overheated and the flight landed safely at the airport  in Coimbatore. The engineers checked the engines and declared that there was some 'fault' in the alarm and declared that the aircraft was fit to travel. 

        

Subsequently, it proceeded towards its destination, the sources added. 

The BJP on Friday appointed Chandrashekhar Bawankule as its Maharashtra unit president and Ashish Shelar as its Mumbai unit chief.

 

Bawankule, an OBC by caste replaced Chandrakant Patil, a Maratha, as he became the minister in the newly sworn cabinet of the Shinde-Fadnavis government.

Similarly Shelar, who is also a Maratha by caste replaced Mangal Prabhat Lodha as the Mumbai unit president.

Lodha also became minister in the recently sworn cabinet of the BJP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra.

Bawankule's appointment highlights the BJP's bid to consolidate backward community votes in the state as it gears up for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. -- PTI

The Bihar government has decided to provide 'Z-plus' security to Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, an official said on Friday. 

 

A circular to this effect was issued on Thursday, and commandos of the Bihar Special Armed Police (BSAP) would be involved in the security of the RJD leader, he said. 

        

The circular, which was sent to Bihar's Director General of Police (DGP), said, "Decision to provide Z- plus security cover for Tejashwi Yadav was taken by the state security committee."

        

Yadav has also been provided with a bulletproof car.

         

"The 'Z-plus' security comprises a pilot, an escort, close protection team, house guard, spotters, search and frisking staff, among others in the form of several plain-clothes security personnel and BSAP armed commandos," a senior police official said.

        

Governor Phagu Chauhan and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar have also been provided with 'Z-plus' security. 

        

Reacting to the state government's decision to provide 'Z-plus' security' cover for Yadav, senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Modi tweeted, "I was never given a bulletproof car, not Z-plus security either. With minimum security, I served the public for a long time from the government residence at Polo Road."

"Why do they need so much security? People are now scared that they have come to power," he said.

Talking to reporters on Friday, the chief minister defended the 'Z -plus' security cover for  Yadav and said, "Why should they object to it? He is the deputy CM. They speak nonsense." -- PTI

The National Investigation Agency has arrested Muslim Khan, an alleged conspirator in the brutal killing of a tailor in Rajasthan's Udaipur, making it the ninth arrest by the central agency in the case, officials said. 

 

The agency said 41-year old Khan alias Muslim Raza, a resident of Pratapgarh in Rajasthan, played an "active role" in the conspiracy.   

The National Investigation Agency has made nine arrests in the case since taking over the probe on June 29, with the last arrest made on July 21 when Mohammad Javed, a resident of Sindhi Sarkar Ki Haweli, Kheradiwala, was taken into custody.

The tailor Kanhaiya Lal was killed with a cleaver inside his tailoring shop in Rajasthan's Udaipur on June 28. The gruesome attack by Riaz Akhtari on the tailor was recorded on a mobile phone by Ghouse Mohammad and the video was posted online.

In another video, the duo said they hacked Lal to death to avenge an alleged insult to Islam. Both were arrested within hours of the killing. 

The NIA said the two wanted to "strike terror among the masses across the country" through the gruesome act. The duo had posted videos online claiming responsibility for the attack and also issued a threat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. it said.

Officials said the agency is looking into the role of "local self-radicalised gangs" and their possible international linkages, even as a preliminary probe suggests that more people could be involved in the conspiracy to murder Lal.   

NIA officials said the two became members of Pakistan-based Sunni Islamic organisation Dawat-e-Islami via a mobile application and one of them was in touch with some people in Pakistan. They, however, said it was too early to draw any conclusions.

The Karachi-based Dawat-e-Islami website, however, says it is a "global non-political Islamic organisation working for the propagation of the Quran and Sunnah throughout the globe" and that it was established in 1981. -- PTI

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea challenging the constitutional validity of a provision of the Representation of the People Act, which had led to the introduction of electronic voting machines instead of ballot papers for polls in the country.

 

A bench of Justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh refused to entertain the plea challenging section 61A of the 1951 Act, which pertains to voting machines at elections.

 

Advocate M L Sharma, who filed the petition, referred to Article 100 of the Constitution, and said it is a mandatory provision.

Article 100 deals with voting in Houses, power of Houses to act notwithstanding vacancies and quorum.

"I have challenged section 61A of the Representation of the People Act, that it is not passed by way of voting in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha," he said.

The bench asked, "You are challenging what is in the House? You are challenging general voting? What are you challenging."

Sharma said he is challenging section 61A of the Act, which permitted the use of EVMs, as it was not passed in the House by way of voting.

"We find no meritDismissed," the bench orally said.

 The plea, which had made the Union Law ministry a party, sought declaration of the provision as "void, illegal and unconstitutional". -- PTI 

Senior Trinamool Congress leader Pavan Varma on Friday tendered his resignation to party president Mamata Banerjee.

   

His resignation came days after Nitish Kumar returned to the Mahagathbandhan, breaking Janata Dal-United's alliance with the BJP-led NDA in Bihar.

 

Varma took to Twitter and wrote, "Please accept my resignation from the @AITCofficial. I want to thank you for the warm welcome accorded to me, and for your affection and courtesies. I look forward to remaining in touch. Wishing you all the best, and with warm regards."

 

Varma, a former Janaat Dal-United MP, had joined the TMC last year, saying it was the need of the hour to work towards strengthening the Opposition.

 

Varma and poll strategist Prashant Kishor were expelled from the JDU in 2020 when they vehemently opposed the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act. -- PTI

Directed by Advait Chandan of Secret Superstar fame and adapted by noted actor Atul Kulkarni, Laal Singh Chaddha is the official remake of the Tom Hanks-starrer Hollywood classic Forrest Gump (1994). 

The Hindi adaptation revolves around the life of slow-witted but kind hearted man Laal (Khan) as he narrates the important events of his life, which coincides with the many iconic events from Indian history. 

According to producers Viacom18 Motion Pictures, Laal Singh Chaddha  has raised Rs 12 crore net (India). 

Bollywood star Akshay Kumar-led film Raksha Bandhan has earned at Rs 8.20 crore at the domestic box office. Helmed by Aanand L Rai, the family drama is a story about Lala Kedarnath (Kumar) and his relationship with his four sisters. 

It focuses on his efforts to get his sisters married and tackles issues such as dowry and body shaming.   

As per Zee Studios, Raksha Bandhan has collected Rs 8.20 crore at India box office on day one. 

The movie is presented and distributed by Zee Studios in association with Kumar's sister, Alka Hiranandani, and Rai. It is backed by Rai's Colour Yellow Production in association with Kumar's Cape of Good Films.

Uttarakhand Bharatiya Janata Party chief Mahendra Bhatt has said the country will not trust those who do not hoist the tricolour on their houses on Independence Day.

 

"It is only natural. After all, why should any Indian have problems in hoisting the tricolour on their houses to celebrate the occasion?" Bhatt told PTI on Friday reiterating what he had recently said in Haldwani.

 

However, he played down his reported remark that pictures of houses where no tricolour is hoisted should be sent to him saying it was meant only for the party workers and not for the general public.

 

"My statement was meant for party workers only as I want each one of them to respond to the prime minister's call," he clarified.

 

Under attack from opposition parties for making such a demand, Bhatt said anyone who has true feelings for the country will hoist the national flag to celebrate 75 years of the country's Independence.

 

"It is my firm belief that whoever feels for this country will not hesitate in hoisting the tricolour on their houses," Bhatt told PTI.

 

"Our freedom fighters went to the gallows holding the tricolour high. I want every home across the country to hoist the tricolour in response to the Prime Minister's call to celebrate 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'," he added.

 

He accused the Congress of politicising the issue unnecessarily.

 

The principal opposition party in the state had said several people may not be in a position to hoist the tricolour at their homes as they may not afford to buy one.

 

In response to this, Bhatt said, The national flag is being distributed by the government among people through different ways. The party is also helping in the exercise.

 

"The Congress' argument that people don't have the money to buy the flag has no meaning," he added.

 

Meanwhile, welcoming the Congress' 'Tiranga Yatra', the BJP leader said anything that celebrates India's great struggle for freedom deserves to be appreciated. -- PTI 

Amit Burman, who took charge as the chairman of Dabur India Ltd in 2019, will continue to serve as non-executive director of the company. 

Mohit Burman has been elevated to the position of non-executive chairman of the board of directors of Dabur India Limited with effect from August 11 for a period of five years. 

Before elevation to the new position, Mohit Burman was non-executive vice chairman of the company. 

The board of directors of Dabur India Limited at a meeting held on August 11, 2022, approved the changes in the company's top positions. 

"Pursuant to provisions of Regulation 30 of SEBI (Listing Obligations & Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, we wish to inform you that the Board of Directors has on 11th August 2022, approved the following changes in the position of chairman and vice chairman of the company," Dabur India Limited said in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges. 

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who broke ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party and joined hands with Rashtriya Janata Dal, said on Friday that he had no prime ministerial aspirations but was only working to bring the entire opposition together.

"I say this with folded hands, I have no such thoughts...My work is to work for everyone. I will make an effort to see that all the Opposition parties walk and work together. If they do, it will be good," Kumar told reporters in Patna when asked whether he was a possible prime ministerial candidate of the opposition.

Nitish Kumar was sworn chief minister for a record eighth time on Wednesday after he resigned from the post a day earlier and quit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav took an oath as deputy chief minister.

The Nitish Kumar-led Mahagathbandhan government in Bihar will go for a floor test on August 24 to prove its majority in the state assembly.

Sources said that expansion of the cabinet is likely to take place on August 16 and RJD will have more ministers than the Janata Dal-United.

Anne Heche remains in coma in critical condition and is "not expected to survive", her family has said, a week after the actor was hospitalised with severe burn injuries following a car crash.

 

The Emmy-nominated actor has suffered a severe brain injury from the car crash, which happened on August 5, Heche's family said in a statement to entertainment outlet Variety on Thursday.

"We want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers for Anne's recovery and thank the dedicated staff and wonderful nurses that cared for Anne at the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills hospital.

"Unfortunately, due to her accident, Anne Heche suffered a severe anoxic brain injury and remains in a coma, in critical condition. She is not expected to survive," the spokesperson said. 

The 53-year-old actor has been in the hospital since last Friday when a car she was driving crashed into a residential building and caught fire in the Mar Vista area of Los Angeles.

Heche remains on life support as it has long been her choice to donate her organs and doctors are determining if any are viable.

"Anne had a huge heart and touched everyone she met with her generous spirit. More than her extraordinary talent, she saw spreading kindness and joy as her life's work especially moving the needle for acceptance of who you love.

"She will be remembered for her courageous honesty and dearly missed for her light," the statement read.

There has been a lot of chatter about Heche's condition preceding the crash as she was filmed driving erratically and speeding in the minutes prior to the accident, including getting into another, minor car accident, blocks away from the crash site. 

Sources close to the Los Angeles Police Department told entertainment website TMZ that the actor may have been driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.

In Hollywood, Heche rose to fame after playing Vicky Hudson and Marley Love in the soap opera Another World. 

She also featured in hit movies such as Donnie Brasco, Volcano, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Six Days, Seven Nights and Return to Paradise. -- PTI 

As many as 151 police personnel, including 28 women officers, from across the country were selected for the 'Union Home Minister's Medal for Excellence in Investigation' which was announced on Friday.

   

The CBI's top 15 personnel have been selected for the award, followed by 11 from Maharashtra Police, 10 each from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, and eight each from Kerala, Rajasthan and West Bengal Police.

 

Seven personnel from Bihar Police, six each from Gujarat, Karnataka and Delhi, and five each from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Narcotics Control Bureau were selected for the award.

 

Four personnel each from Assam, Haryana and Odisha were also chosen.

The 'Union Home Minister's Medal for Excellence in Investigation' was constituted in 2018 with the objective to promote high professional standards of investigation of crime and to recognise such excellence in probe.

 

It is announced on August 12 every year, the home ministry said. -- PTI 

Ahead of Independence Day, the Delhi Police has recovered around 2,000 live cartridges, officials said on Friday.

   

The recovery was done by the east district of the Delhi Police, they said.

 

Further details are awaited.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday reiterated India's commitment to protecting elephants on the occasion of the World Elephant Day.

 

He also noted that India is home to about 60 per cent of all Asian elephants.

Successes in the animal's conservation must be viewed in the context of the larger efforts underway in India to minimise human-animal conflict, and integrating local communities and their traditional wisdom in furthering environmental consciousness, he said.

He tweeted, "On World Elephant Day, reiterating our commitment to protect the elephant. You would be happy to know that India houses about 60% of all Asian elephants. The number of elephant reserves has risen in the last 8 years. I also laud all those involved in protecting elephants." -- PTI 

As the country continues to record an average of over 15,000 coronavirus cases daily, the Centre has asked States to ensure there are no large gatherings for Independence Day celebrations and that everyone follows Covid protocols.

 

The Union Home Ministry has also conveyed to all States and Union Territories to carry out a 'Swachh Bharat' campaign at a prominent location of each district in the state and UT and carry out a fortnight and month-long campaign to keep it 'Swachh' through voluntary civil action.

In a communication, the ministry said, "As a precaution, against COVID-19, large congregations in the ceremony be avoided. It is imperative that Covid guidelines are followed".

India added 16,561 new coronavirus cases taking the total tally of Covid cases to 4,42,23,557, while the active cases dipped to 1,23,535, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.

The death toll climbed to 5,26,928 with 49 fatalities which include 10 deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. 

The home ministry also asked government departments and educational institutions to carry out tree plantation programmes to spread awareness for conservation of environment. -- PTI 

The incident occurred on the Up (Mumbai-bound) line between Nagnath and Palasdhari stretch in the ghat section around 12.50 am and the services were restored at 8.15 am, they said. 

After the boulders fell on a track in Bhor ghat, several outstation trains were detained for 30 minutes to around one hour, which affected the services between Mumbai and Pune, the Central Railway (CR) said on Friday. 

"The incident occurred on the Mumbai-bound line," Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer of CR, said. 

The Lonavala-Karjat ghat section has three railway lines -- Down, Mid and Up, he said. 

"The traffic on the affected Up line was restored at around 8.15 am, after around eight hours of efforts. During the restoration work, mail express trains were diverted on the Mid line. So, the Up and Down lines traffic was running on Down and Mid lines," he said. 

He further said that due to the availability of only two lines as against the usual three, trains moving towards Mumbai from Pune, and also due to the movement of ghat banking locomotives, few Down trains suffered a detention of up to one hour during the restoration work. 

Sutar said that an on-duty patrolman, Motiram Lobhi, found that the boulders had fallen on the track, and took necessary steps to avoid any untoward incident. 

"He took quick action and stopped one banker (locomotive), which was in a section, by showing a red signal. After that, he called his higher officials and informed them about the incident," the official said. 

The boulders that had fallen were up to two metres in size. A boulder train was roped in for the restoration work, Sutar added.

Police have registered a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the son-in-law of a Congress MLA in Gujarat after his sports utility vehicle rammed into an autorickshaw and a motorcycle, killing six persons, officials said on Friday. 

          

The accident had occurred on Thursday evening near Sojitra village on a state highway connecting Anand town with Tarapur, they said, adding that the six victims included three women.

        

"The accused has been identified as Ketan Padhiyar, the son-in-law of Congress MLA from Sojitra Assembly seat, Punambhai Parmar. Padhiyar is currently under treatment at a private hospital in Anand as he also sustained injuries in the incident," Sojitra police station sub inspector A P Parmar said.

        

"Padhiyar is under our observation and will be arrested once he gets discharge from the hospital. In the meantime, we have sent his blood samples for an analysis to check if he was under the influence of alcohol while driving his vehicle," he added.

        

The six deceased were residents of Sojitra and Boriyavi villages in the district, local police officials said.

        

Padhiyar, who was allegedly driving the SUV, fled after abandoning the vehicle at the spot. But he was later traced and caught, district Superintendent of Police Ajit Rajian said.

        

"The driver of the SUV (Padhiyar) has been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 304 of the Indian Penal Code," he said. -- PTI 

Popular comedian-actor Raju Srivastava continues to be "critical and on ventilator" in the intensive care unit of the AIIMS in Delhi, sources said on Friday.

 

The 58-year-old stand-up comic was admitted to the hospital after suffering a heart attack on Wednesday and later underwent angioplasty.

"Srivastava continues to be critical and on ventilator in the ICU," the source told PTI.

The comedian is being treated by Dr Nitish Naik, professor at the department of cardiology at the AIIMS.

Srivastava's cousin Ashok Srivastava had on Wednesday evening said the comic suffered a heart attack while exercising.

"He was doing his routine exercise and while he was on the treadmill, he suddenly fell down. He suffered a heart attack and was immediately taken to the AIIMS hospital," he had told PTI, adding that the actor-comedian's wife Shikha Srivastava had reached Delhi.

Srivastava, who has been active in the entertainment industry since late 1980s, received recognition after participating in the first season of stand-up comedy show The Great Indian Laughter Challenge in 2005.

A war of words has broken out on Twitter between newly sworn-in Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and Union Minister Giriraj Singh.

Singh taunted Tejashwi Yadav for being unable to fulfil the promise of providing one million jobs, that the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader had made as a chief ministerial candidate during the 2020 assembly election. 

The RJD leader in turn hit back at the "shameless" act of sharing "edited videos".

The Union Panchyati Raj minister had tweeted a video of a television interview in which the deputy Bihar CM is heard saying "The promise that I had made of providing 10 lakh jobs, I would fulfil that once I become the Chief Minister, for now, I am the Deputy Chief Minister."

Tejashwi Yadav hit back at Giriraj Singh's tweet that it was silly on part of the union minister to share an edited video to try to "create a narrative".

He also taunted the union minister and wrote on Twitter that having a one-foot-long 'chhoti' (braid) does not make one knowledgeable. Yadav shared the video of his full reply and said "These poor guys have no face in Bihar. Listen to this full video."

"Sir, don't be so shameless. One does not become knowledgeable by having a one-foot-long Chhoti, as you do. This is the plight of the BJP, only because of these idiotic antics, edited videos and road raid statements of you people, these poor people have no face in Bihar," Tejashwi tweeted in Hindi.

Things have now taken a different turn after Giriraj Singh said that the anti-Hindu sentiment of the "secular Bihar government" was evident.

"Top leaders of the secular government of Bihar have started attacking the Hindu symbol Tika-Shikha," Singh tweeted.

The exchange of allegations began ever since Nitish Kumar walked out of the NDA with the BJP alleging that the JD-U leader quit the alliance because he was not made the Vice Presidential candidate, an allegation which Kumar rejected calling it "totally bogus".

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Pankaja Munde on Thursday said she may not have been "qualified enough" to get a berth in the newly expanded Maharashtra cabinet.

  

Nine ministers each from Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena faction and his ally BJP took oath during the first expansion of the ministry earlier this week. 

But Shinde also received flak as there was not a single woman among them.

Asked about it by reporters, Pankaja, the daughter of late BJP stalwart Gopinath Munde, said, "I may not be qualified enough to be inducted."

"Whoever is eligible according to them will be inducted into the cabinet. I have no stand about it. I try to do my politics by maintaining my pride," she added. 

Munde was a cabinet minister in an earlier BJP-Sena government headed by Devendra Fadnavis. -- PTI 

At least four Congress leaders, including MLA Sudip Roy Barman and the party's state unit working president, Sushanta Chakraborty, have suffered "serious injuries" in an attack on them by a group of "unknown miscreants" in West Tripura district, a senior police officer said.

The incident occurred in Ranir Bazar area on Thursday, he said. 

Roy Barman and Chakraborty, along with another leader Sumana Saha, were taken to GBP hospital here, he said.

No FIR has been lodged in the case till Thursday, the officer said. 

The Congress leaders had organised a rally in Ranir Bazar without police permission, and the attack happened as they were being escorted out of the venue, he said. 

Members of the grand old party, however, claimed the attack was "engineered by BJP-sponsored goons".

At least 12 party leaders and workers were injured and eight vehicles torched during the attack, they said. 

"We had organised a peaceful rally. Our leaders and workers came under attack when CRPF jawans were escorting us to a safe place," Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee media in-charge Asish Saha told PTI.

He added that the party's legal cell would lodge a complaint with the police on Friday. 

Ohio Police officers killed an armed man who tried to breach the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Cincinnati field office on Thursday.

The armed man was eliminated after a long standoff and the investigation is on to find out the motive behind the breach of the highly guarded area. 

The investigator are probing whether the armed man had ties to extremist groups, including the one that participated in the January 6 attack on the Capitol, according to The New York Times citing two law enforcement officials familiar with the matter.

 In what appeared to be one of his social media accounts, the suspect posted a message earlier this week, just days after federal agents searched the Florida home of former President Donald J Trump, threatening to kill employees of the FBI.

The attack in Cincinnati came a day after the FBI director told the reporters that there were online threats against federal law enforcement which were "deplorable and dangerous."

The man wearing body armour tried to enter the visitor screening facility around 9 am, said Todd Lindgren, an agency spokesman. 

After fleeing, the man headed northbound onto Interstate 71, leading officers on a car chase near Wilmington, Ohio, state Highway Patrol Lt. Nathan Dennis said as quoted by the Washington Times.

Police officials first tried to negotiate with the man and then tried to take him into custody with "less-than-lethal tactics." Those efforts failed, as the officers fatally shot him after he raised a gun toward the police.

The confrontation comes days after the FBI executed a search warrant at former president Donald Trump's Florida estate. 

Since the search, threats of violence against the FBI from Trump supporters online have increased, and Republicans have intensified criticism of the agency.

A migrant worker from Bihar was shot dead by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district, police said on Friday.

 

The attack took place around midnight, they said.

"During intervening night, #terrorists fired upon & injured one outside #labourer Mohd Amrez S/O Mohd Jalil R/O Madhepura Besarh #Bihar at Soadnara Sumbal, #Bandipora," the Kashmir Zone Police said on Twitter.

The police said Amrez was shifted to a hospital for treatment where he succumbed to injuries. -- PTI 

While the hotel was completely destroyed, no one was seriously injured in the incident, said Jamnagar district superintendent of police Premsukh Delu. 

"The fire started at about 7:30 pm and spread quickly. Twenty-seven guests were staying in 18 of the total 36 rooms. They were all rescued by police. Hotel staff too is safe," he said. 

Fire tenders from Jamnagar fire brigade and Reliance (which has a refinery in the area) were pressed into service, the SP added. 

The flames were brought under control around 10:30 pm. 

"Preliminary investigation showed that short circuit caused the fire and it spread quickly due to the decorative material used outside the hotel," the SP said. -- PTI

According to the advisory, traffic for general public around Red Fort, from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the nation on I-Day, will remain closed from 4 am to 10 am. 

It will be open to only authorised vehicles, it said. 

Eight roads -- Netaji Subhash Marg, Lothian Road, SP Mukherjee Marg, Chandni Chowk Road, Nishad Raj Marg, Esplanade Road and its link road to Netaji Subhash Marg, Ring Road from Rajghat to ISBT and Outer Ring Road from ISBT to IP Flyover -- will remain closed for general traffic, the advisory stated. 

Noida, Loni, Singhu, Ghazipur, Badarpur, Safia, Maharajpur, Aya Nagar, Auchandi, Surya Nagar, Rajokri, Dhansa, Apsara, Kalandi Kunj, Jharoda, Bhopura, Lal Kuan Pul Prahlad Pur and Tikri borders will be closed for the movement of commercial and transport vehicles on Friday from 10 pm to 11 am on Saturday, and similarly on Sunday and Monday, it said. 

Buses bound for Kauria Pul/Red Fort/Old Delhi Railway Station will operate via ISBT bridge (Yudhistir Setu) and terminate at Boulevard Road near Mori Gate U-Turn, it said. -- PTI