Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday dropped a fresh hint that he was looking forward to passing the mantle to his deputy Tejashwi Yadav.

The JD(U) leader had last year said that the young RJD leader would "lead" the state's ruling Mahagathbandhan when Bihar would face its next assembly polls in 2025.

This had ruffled some feathers in the JD(U) and led Upendra Kushwaha, the parliamentary board chief, to quit alleging that the chief minister had entered a "deal" with arch-rival Lalu Prasad, the RJD supremo, while allying.

When recent remarks about "personal friendship" with leaders in the BJP led to speculations of yet another volte-face, Kumar vehemently denied the same.

Talking to reporters, with Yadav by his side, Kumar put his arm around the shoulder of his deputy and said, "Now this kid is everything to me."

The gesture became a topic of discussion in the state's political circles.

 

When journalists sought the comments of Akhilesh Prasad Singh, the state Congress chief, he said "I do not think there is anything surprising in what the chief minister has said".

 

He added: "Please remember that the chief minister has made it clear in the past that he would like Tejashwi to lead the charge in the next elections. The young leader has already proved his mettle, having spearheaded a spirited campaign in 2020 when the Mahagathbandhan came within striking distance of a victory".

 

State BJP president Samrat Choudhary, whose party was dumped by Kumar last year, did not seem impressed. -- PTI

A 50-year-old Indian internal medicine specialist has been dismissed from his job in Bahrain over an anti-Palestine tweet, his employer in the Gulf country has said.

   

The Royal Bahrain Hospital in a statement on Friday described Dr. Sunil Rao's tweet, which he had subsequently deleted, as a violation of the hospital's code of conduct.

"It has come to our attention that Dr Sunil Rao, who is working as a Specialist in Internal Medicine, has posted tweets on social media that are offensive to our society," said the hospital statement.

"We would like to confirm that his tweets and ideology are personal and do not reflect the opinion and values of the hospital," it said.

The hospital said it has taken the necessary legal actions and his service has been terminated with immediate effect.

Similar instances of employment termination have been reported in the Gulf region mostly for utterances on social media on statements considered Islamophobic.

Dr Rao's utterances came days after a major conflict erupted in the Middle East following the attack on Israel by Gaza-based Hamas militants. -- PTI 

A Delhi-bound flight of Akasa Air with 185 passengers on board made an emergency landing at the Mumbai international airport on Saturday after a passenger claimed there was a bomb on the plane, which later turned out to be a hoax, officials said, adding he has been arrested. 

 

After taking off from Pune, a passenger, identified as Pallav Ajay Tyagi, started shouting that there was a bomb on the flight, which caused panic among passengers, a police official said. 

The airline spokesperson said, "Akasa Air flight QP 1148, flying from Pune to Delhi at 00:07 hours on Saturday and carrying 185 passengers and six crew members on board, received a security alert shortly after take-off.

"As per the safety and security procedures, the plane was diverted to Mumbai. The Captain followed all required emergency procedures and landed safely at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport at 00:42 hours".

A representative from the airlines later lodged an FIR against Tyagi at the airport police station under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) including 506-II (Punishment for criminal intimidation) and 505-1 (b) for spreading fake messages, the police official said. 

The official said security personnel conducted a thorough check of the plane after it landed but no suspicious object was found. 

Tyagi, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, is prima facie mentally unstable, he added. -- PTI 

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is only against 'Aryan' hegemony and it is not against spiritualism, the ruling party President and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said in Chennai on Saturday.

Be it worshipping in temples or devotion, these are an individual's right and wish, he said. 

In an interaction with volunteers --party supporters-- with a strong social media presence, Stalin said though each one of them had a distinctive style in presentation, the essence of it all was the 'DMK's style.' The party chief said such volunteers were the party's strength as they could convey what, "we cannot say and what we hesitate to say."

He said the BJP people now had only one task, which was posting in social media, pictures of the visit of his wife Durga Stalin to temples. "Durga is visiting all the temples in Tamil Nadu, that is her wish," he said adding he had never prevented her from doing so. 

"We are enemies of only the Aryan hegemony, we are not against spiritualism; (worshipping in) temples and devotion are the right and wish of individuals." The Dravidian movement had secured through struggle temple entry rights to the oppressed people. 

In Tamil Nadu, the word 'Aryan' is used often in political sense to champion social justice and oppose suppression of Backward classes, the SCs and STs. 

Also, the Chief Minister quoted a popular dialogue from Tamil flick Parasakthi, the crux of which is there is no opposition to temples, and the point is, temples should, however, not become a tent of the cruel people.

Late DMK patriarch and Stalin's father M Karunanidhi had scripted dialogues for the 1952 movie. 

 

"The BJP is trying to make temple and devotion as advantageous to its politics," Stalin said adding the Tamil Nadu people are good in reasoning and they know differentiating spiritualism from politics. 

Amid a likely increase in pollution levels, the Centre's air quality panel on Saturday directed authorities in the National Capital Region to increase parking fees to discourage private transport and enhance CNG or electric bus and metro services.

 

The action comes as part of 'Stage II' of the central government's pollution control plan known as the 'Graded Response Action Plan' (GRAP), which is implemented in the Delhi-NCR to combat air pollution during the winter season.

At a meeting to review the air quality situation in the Delhi-NCR, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), a statutory body responsible for proactively implementing GRAP, said forecasts by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) suggest Delhi's overall air quality is likely to dip and enter the 'very poor' category on October 23 and 24, owing to unfavourable meteorological and climatic conditions.

Delhi's 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 248 on Saturday.

The panel therefore decided to invoke the measures under Stage II of GRAP in the entire NCR in addition to steps already taken under Stage I.

"All actions as envisaged under Stage-II be implemented in right earnest by all the agencies concerned in NCR with immediate effect, in addition to all Stage-I actions of GRAP already in force," it said in an order.

GRAP categorises actions into four stages: Stage I 'Poor' (AQI 201-300); Stage II  'Very Poor' (AQI 301-400); Stage III 'Severe' (AQI 401-450); and Stage IV 'Severe Plus' (AQI >450). -- PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target of six months to ensure the full saturation of his government's welfare schemes, official sources said on Saturday.

 

The government, they said, will launch a mega drive, Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, across all 2.7 lakh panchayats in the country to reach out to beneficiaries and enrol them.

The sources added that the exercise will begin after Diwali next month and continue for several weeks.

Specially fitted 'raths' will reach the beneficiaries across the country, they said.

In a recent Cabinet meeting, Modi exhorted his colleagues to work harder and ensure that deserving beneficiaries who have still not got the benefits of welfare schemes are reached out to faster, they said.

During a meeting with top officials, he underlined the need to expedite the

saturation of welfare schemes.

"He said he wants all his schemes to reach full saturation in the next six months," a source said.

Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday led a protest by her party against Israel's military campaign in Gaza and said its consequences can be very grave for the world in the coming times.

Mufti and PDP activists gathered at the party headquarters near Sher-e-Kashmir Park here and tried to march towards the Lal Chowk city centre but were stopped by a posse of policemen near the General Post Office (GPO).

The protesters raised slogans against Israel while Mufti was seen carrying the Palestinian flag.

Speaking to reporters, Mufti said about 1,500 children and thousands of other innocents have been killed in Palestine so far but the whole world is watching as a mute spectator.

"When 500 children were killed in two years in Ukraine, the whole world cried, but today no one is speaking up," the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said.

Mufti said the conflict could increase terrorism around the world.

"There is oppression in Palestine, supply of food, water and medicines has been stopped, and people are being bombarded. Israel is doing to Palestine what was done to the Jews in the holocaust and its consequences can be very grave in the coming times.

"There is already too much terrorism in the world but due to this and injustice, more people will take up arms, which can worsen the situation in the world. So we say the oppressors of Israel should vacate Palestine," she said.

The latest Israel-Palestine conflict has been triggered by the unprecedented and multi-pronged attacks against Israel by Hamas militants on October 7. Israel has launched a massive counter-offensive in Gaza to avenge the attacks. -- PTI

Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar on Saturday met Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar on the sidelines of an event in Mumbai but replied in the negative when asked if it could result in his outfit joining the opposition bloc INDIA.

   

Both Pawar and Ambedkar were speakers at an event titled 'Unleashing India's Economic Potential: Dr Ambedkar's Legacy Lives On' at YB Chavan Centre in south Mumbai.

"There were 15 more people (when the two met). We had coffee in Pawar's office after the inaugural session of the event," Ambedkar, who is the great grandson of social  icon and legendary jurist Babasaheb Ambedkar, told PTI.

To a query on whether the meeting with Pawar could result in him joining the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, which also includes Maha Vikas Aghadi constituents Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT), Ambedkar replied in the negative.

NCP working president and Baramati MP Supriya Sule was also present at the meeting.  

Spurred by the huge response and public appreciation for the Shakti scheme that provides free travel for women across the state, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has directed officials to purchase 5,600 buses for the state road transport corporation. 

  According to a statement issued by the CM's office, the Chief Minister said Rs 500 crore has been provided in the state budget for acquiring new buses, and therefore ordered that the purchase process be completed soon.

There has been a 15 per cent increase in the number of passengers travelling by State Road Transport Corporation buses since the launch of the Shakti Scheme. 

The CM also said that additional schedules and buses should be announced to provide passengers with better services.

A discussion was held in the meeting about the revenue target collection of the transport department and the financial management of the road transport corporations, it said, adding that CM was informed that Rs 83 crore fine has been collected from vehicle inspections.

Under the Karnataka government's 'Shakti' scheme, women residents of the state can avail free travel in state-run buses, but 50 per cent seats are reserved for men. Along with women, transgender persons can also travel for free. -- PTI

As many as 188 policemen laid down their lives in the line of duty while maintaining law and order in the past one year, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday.

 

He asserted that the country will never forget the sacrifice of the martyrs' families.

"In the last one year, from September 1, 2022 to August 31, 2023, 188 policemen have made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty to ensure security and maintenance of law and order in the country," he said after paying homage to the personnel on Police Commemoration Day at the National Police Memorial in New Delhi.

The home minister said of all the personnel serving the country, policemen have the toughest job - be it day or night, winter or summer, festival or regular day, policemen do not get a chance to celebrate festivals with their families.

He said the country's police forces spend the golden years of their lives away from their families and many of them guarding the country's long land border and protecting the country through their bravery and sacrifices.

Paying tributes to 36,250 police personnel, who laid down their lives while serving the nation since independence, Shah said the police memorial is not merely symbolic but it is a recognition of the sacrifice and dedication of the police personnel towards nation building.

He said the government is fully committed towards the welfare of police personnel and their family members.

The government is dedicated to the welfare of all personnel and is concerned for their safety, he said.

On October 21, 1959, 10 policemen died in the line of duty during an ambush laid by heavily armed Chinese troops at the Hot Springs in Ladakh.

Since then, every year October 21 is observed to honour these martyrs and all other police personnel who died in the line of duty. -- PTI 

The Delhi high court has sought the  Enforcement Directorate's stand on a petition by Hyderabad businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai challenging his arrest and remand in a money laundering case related to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam wherein he has claimed "third degree" methods were applied to obtain information.

"Third degree" refers to brutality by police officers interrogating an accused. 

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma on Friday asked the probe agency to file a response with respect to the maintainability of the plea. 

Advocate Nitesh Rana, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the March 6 arrest order of the ED and the subsequent remand orders passed by the trial court sending him to the agency's custody and then to judicial custody were in violation of the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). 

In his plea, the petitioner submitted that no grounds for arrest, either oral or written, were ever provided to him, as required under Section 19(1) of the PMLA, and that this also violates his constitutional rights. 

It is further contended that the remand orders did not record any satisfaction of whether the ED had materials on record to form "reasons to believe" that the petitioner is guilty of an offence under the PMLA. 

"The Directorate of Enforcement, in a vindictive manner and solely as a witch-hunting exercise, has employed coercive tactics to obtain information and used third degree measures on the petitioner/applicant herein as well as the other accused," the petition said. 

The ED "was enabled to act in such illegal manner by the Impugned Arrest Order as well as the Impugned Remand Orders, which in itself is a ground to quash the said Impugned Arrest Order and the Impugned Remand Orders", it stated.  -- PTI

Maryam Nawaz on Saturday said the return of her father Nawaz Sharif to Pakistan after four years was the "biggest day" of her life and predicted that the country will see the former prime minister staging another comeback in politics.

 

Sharif, 73, returned home on Saturday on a special flight after a four-year self-imposed exile in the UK to head his party in the general elections expected to be held in January.

The 73-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo flew in from Dubai to Islamabad on the 'Umeed-e-Pakistan' chartered plane.

Soon before Nawaz Sharif's plane landed in Islamabad, Maryam said that it was the "biggest day" of her life.

"The pain and suffering that Nawaz Sharif endured in the last 24 years are hardly comparable, and there are some wounds that will never heal, but the amount of times Nawaz Sharif has risen is probably not the same for anyone else," Maryam said in a post on X.

The PML-N Vice President said that Pakistan is going to see another comeback of Nawaz Sharif on Saturday.

"Welcome Nawaz Sharif," said his 49-year-old daughter, seen as his political heir.

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange on Saturday promised a fresh agitation from October 25 if demands of the community are not met.

Talking to reporters in Akhluj in Solapur district, he said his ultimatum to the Maharashtra government to provide reservations in jobs and educational institutions to the Maratha community is till October 24.

"I don't know what the government is doing. Tomorrow we will hold a meeting in Antarwali village in Jalna to chart out our next course of action. The government will not be able to withstand a peaceful agitation by the Maratha community," he asserted.

Jarange brought the Maratha quota stir on to the centre stage of the state's politics after he started an indefinite hunger strike in Antarwali Sarati in Jalna on August 29.

Police action at the hunger strike venue on September 1, which led to injuries to several persons, ensured the stir made national headlines.

Jarange ended his hunger strike on September 14 after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde met him at the venue and assured that the government would take a positive stand on his demands.

Speaking at the time, Jarange had said agitators have given the state "one month's time" to ensure reservation for Marathas. He had then set October 24 as the deadline for the government to announce quota for the community.  -- PTI

For their next movie venture, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri and his actor-wife Pallavi Joshi have zeroed in on the critically-acclaimed Kannada novel, Parva, by S L Bhyrappa.

 

The 1979 Kannada book is a retelling of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata. Considered among Bhyrappa's most widely debated and popular works, Parva weaves its tale through the personal reflections of the principal characters.

"I was looking for a historical recounting of Mahabharat and then I learnt Bhyrappa spent decades researching and that he even visited the places that the epic was set in," Agnihotri said at the launch of the first-look poster of the film here on Friday evening.

Joshi said there have been debates in the society whether Mahabharata is actually "our history or if it is just mythology".

"This book breaks the barriers and explains to us what the truth is. I was a little worried whether people are ready for the truth. But as we researched more into it, I realised that this is a film that has to be made," she added.

Agnihotri said he will be adapting the book into a three-part film along with Prakash Belawadi, the Bengaluru-based theatre exponent who has also acted in films across many languages.

Belawadi said Parva is an interesting material for dramatic exploration.

His eight-hour English stage adaptation of Parva is being showcased at Chowdiah Memorial Hall here. The last show will be held on October 22.

"Eight-hour concept is fairly a new experience for an English theatre enthusiast, but quite normal for someone tuned into traditional Indian theatre like Yakshagana. Tala Maddale or Doddata, which have always been all-night affairs," said Belawadi.

Author Bhyrappa, who released the poster, recalled watching Peter Brook's The Mahabharata in 1989, which lasted for nine hours and ran to a full house at the same venue, Chowdiah Memorial Hall.

"So, 34 years ago, I was thinking to myself that if an outsider can bring his interpretation of Mahabharata to stage, I should also be able to do it. Now, I am happy that we are even going to have a celluloid interpretation of Parva," he added.

Agnihotri said he is yet to develop the project in detail, including the budget. -- PTI

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday named 83 more candidates for the Rajasthan assembly polls, fielding former chief minister Vasundhara Raje from her traditional Jhalrapatan seat.

 

The party also decided to field Narpat Singh Rajvi from Chittorgarh after its earlier decision to deny the five-term MLA, who is the son-in-law of its stalwart leader Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, renomination from his Vidhyadhar Nagar seat. This triggered a backlash from a section of party workers.

The BJP leadership's about-turn on his candidature is being seen as a damage-control exercise after Rajvi reacted angrily and cited his family legacy to hit out at the party.

The names also include Vishwaraj Singh Mewar, a descendent of Maharana Pratap Singh, who joined the party recently. He has been fielded from Nathdwara, which was won by veteran Congress leader C P Joshi in 2018.

Former state BJP president Satish Poonia has been fielded from Amber, the seat he currently represents in the Rajasthan assembly.-- PTI

Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif returned home on Saturday on a special flight from Dubai after a four-year self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom to head his party and try to secure a record fourth term in the general elections expected to be held in January.

 

The 73-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo flew in from Dubai to Islamabad on the chartered flight "Umeed-e-Pakistan" along with some family members, senior party leaders and friends.  

The process of filing of nominations for the next month's Madhya Pradesh assembly elections began on Saturday with the issuance of notification for the polls, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer said in Bhopal.

  

The notification was issued this morning, it said.

Assembly elections in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled state will be held in a single phase on November 17, and the counting of votes will take place on December 3.

Nominations for the elections to the 230-member state assembly can be filed from October 21 to October 30, while the scrutiny will be held on October 31, officials said.

The candidates can withdraw their nominations till November 2, they said. 

Over 5.60 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the state this time. 

Poll officials said that of the total 5,60,60,925 voters, 2,88,25,607 are male and 2,72,33,945 female, and 1,373 others belong to the third gender.

The total number of service voters in the centrally-located state stood at 75,303, of whom 73,020 are men and 2,284 are women, taking the total number of voters to 5,61,36,229, they said. 

The number of senior citizen voters stood at 6,53,640. The number of 'divyang' voters is 5,05,146, while 99 are NRI voters. 

Though the total count of voters, including service voters, is 5,61,36,229, the focus of political parties remains on those currently living in the state and that figure stands at 5,60,60,925, according to the poll officials. 

After addition and deletion of names, a total of 16,83,790 voters were added to the electoral rolls, they said.

The age-wise break-up of voters is; 18-19 years (22,36,564), 20-29 (1,41,76,780), 30-39 (1,45,03,508), 40-49 (1,06,97,673), 50-59 (74,85,436), 60-69 (43,45,064), 70-79 (19,72,260), 80+ (6,53,640), thus taking the total number of voters to 5,60,60,925, the officials said.

At 42, the lowest number of voters are registered at booth number 111 in Balaghat district's Sonevani forest village.

In the 2018 assembly polls, a maximum turnout of 89.13 per cent was recorded in Ratlam district's Sailana constituency, while the Jobat segment in Alirajpur district witnessed the lowest turnout at 52.84 per cent, the officials said.

At 407, the Lakhnadoun assembly seat in Seoni district has the maximum number of polling booths, while the Indore-3 assembly constituency has the lowest number of polling booths at 193, the officials added.

The border crossing between Egypt and Gaza opened on Saturday to let desperately needed aid flow to Palestinians running short of food, medicine and water in the territory that is under an Israeli siege.

Israel sealed off the Gaza Strip, stopping all entry of food, water, medicine, and fuel to its 2.3 million people following the Hamas attack on October 7.

More than 200 trucks carrying roughly 3,000 tonnes of aid had been positioned near the crossing for days before heading into Gaza.

Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a barrage of air strikes in Southern Israel on last week.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in response launched multiple attacks targeting Hamas' key infrastructure. So far, thousands of people have been killed in Israel and the Gaza Strip in the biggest escalation in decades between the two sides.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that ISRO's successful launch of a test vehicle as part of its Gaganyaan mission takes India a step closer to realising its first human space flight programme.

 

In a post on X, he said, "This launch takes us one step closer to realising India's first human space flight program, Gaganyaan. My best wishes to our scientists at ISRO."

Overcoming initial hiccups, including a monitoring anomaly, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Saturday successfully launched a test vehicle with payloads related to the country's ambitious human space flight programme, Gaganyaan.

Scientists simulated an abort situation for the Crew Escape System (CES) to carry the Crew Module out of the test vehicle, TV-D1, as they made a splash into the Bay of Bengal with planned precision, setting off jubilation among ISRO scientists at the Mission Control Center. -- PTI 

As hundreds of tanks and armed soldiers gather near the Gaza border, waiting for a nod from the political regime and the military top brass to begin a 'ground offensive', the United States and Europe are quietly pushing Israel to hold off the mission, The Times of Israel reported on Saturday.

 

 According to The Times of Israel, the request came fearing that the move would all but scuttle efforts to secure additional hostage releases for the foreseeable future.

 

The Times of Israel, reported quoting senior diplomatic officials, that both governments recognise that a ground invasion is very likely and not telling Israel not to launch one at all, but rather hold off to try and see if additional diplomatic efforts can succeed. 

 

 Meanwhile, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have confirmed the release of two US citizens who were being held hostage by Hamas, and that the duo is now in Israeli troops' hands.

 

The two Americans who were released have been identified as Judith Tai Raanan and her 17-year-old daughter, Natali Raanan, both from Chicago.

 

The United States deployed two carrier strike groups, each consisting of an aircraft carrier, its planes, and several escort warships, which appeared to have deterred Hezbollah from attacking Israel in a major war.

 

According to the New York Times report, quoting American officials, the US and Israeli Intelligence agencies are working to determine whether Israel's expected ground offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip could prompt Hezbollah to launch a large-scale military campaign against Israel from Lebanon.

 

The US-based daily reported that the officials have assessed that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah does not want an all-out war with Israel, for fear of the damage it would do to his group and Lebanon. U.S. officials said that assessment could change as more intelligence is gathered and events unfold. 

Three-time former Pakistan Prime Minister and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif Nawaz Sharif will return home on Saturday after four years of self-imposed exile.

Ahead of his return to Pakistan after four years, Nawaz Sharif on Saturday deplored the "very chaotic" situation back home and expressed confidence that his PML-N party was "competent" to take the cash-strapped country out of the present crisis.

The 73-year-old Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo will fly in from Dubai to Islamabad on a chartered plane, former finance minister and PML-N stalwart Ishaq Dar said.

"After staying an hour or so in Islamabad, he will leave for Lahore to address a rally at Minar-i-Pakistan," Dar told journalists on Friday.

Talking to reporters at the Dubai airport, he deplored the existing situation of the country which in his words was far worse than in 2017 when he was disqualified by the Supreme Court and later convicted by an accountability court in two cases of corruption. 

"The situation is not better than 2017...and it pains me to see all this that our country has gone back instead of going forward," he said, adding that it was time to think about why the country came to the situation.

"The situation in Pakistan is very chaotic and that is very worrying," Nawaz was quoted as saying by Geo News. 

"We are competent enough to solve the problems of the country, he said before his departure from Dubai airport. 

"People are suffering in Pakistan and it is painful but there is hope that we can improve the situation. We created the mess and only we can fix the situation."

When asked about the elections, he said that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was empowered to decide the date of the elections.

Talking about his fate after his conviction in 2017, he said that he left everything to God and that he was successfully returning to Pakistan.

Nawaz left for London in November 2019 on medical grounds after a higher court granted him bail for four weeks. By that time, he had served half of his seven-year jail term in the Al-Azizia corruption case.

During the four years since then, Nawaz was declared a proclaimed offender in Al-Azizia and Avenfield corruption cases for his continuous absence from the proceedings on appeals against the sentences.

The Islamabad high court on Thursday granted him protective bail until October 24 in both cases after NAB did not oppose the petitions filed by him.

The United States has imposed sanctions on three China-based companies for supplying missile-applicable items for Pakistan's ballistic missile programme, the State Department said.

In the designation, the US State Department said on Friday that the sanctions were being imposed as part of the global nonproliferation regime.

"Today, we are designating three entities pursuant to Executive Order 13382, which targets proliferators of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery. These three entities, based in the People's Republic of China (PRC), have worked to supply missile- applicable items to Pakistan's ballistic missile programme," the State Department said in a statement.

China, an all-weather ally of Pakistan, has been the main supplier of arms and defence equipment to Islamabad's military modernisation programme. 

The three companies include General Technology Limited, Beijing Luo Luo Technology Development Co Ltd., and Changzhou Utek Composite Company Ltd. They were sanctioned for having engaged or attempted to engage, in activities or transactions that have materially contributed to, or pose a risk of materially contributing to, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or their means of delivery (including missiles capable of delivering such weapons), including any efforts to manufacture, acquire, possess, develop, transport, transfer or use such items, by Pakistan.

General Technology Limited has worked to supply brazing materials, which are used to join components in ballistic missile rocket engines, and in the production of combustion chambers.

Beijing Luo Luo Technology Development Co Ltd. has worked to supply mandrels and other machinery, which can be used in the production of solid propellant rocket motors and can be controlled by the Missile Technology Control Regime.

Changzhou Utek Composite Company Ltd. has worked since 2019 to supply D-glass glass fibre, quartz fabric, and high silica cloth, all of which have applications in missile systems.

Today's actions demonstrate that the United States will continue to act against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, their means of delivery, and associated procurement activities of concern, wherever they occur, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

The United States is committed to strengthening the global nonproliferation regime by taking action to disrupt procurement networks supporting proliferation activities of concern, the US said.

The sanctions come days after Pakistan conducted the launch of the Ababeel ballistic missile system.   -- PTI

Akhilesh Yadav's anger towards the Congress party hasn't seemed to ebb. 

The Samajwadi Party chief who has been severely critical of the Congress after the grand old party and the SP failed to stitch an alliance for the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls.

On Friday while speaking to the media in Hardoi the SP Chief took on the Congress over its recent support to the Caste based census.

"It is the same Congress party that did not give the numbers of the caste census earlier. Now everyone knows that until and unless you don't have the support of the backward castes and tribes, you won't succeed," said Akhilesh Yadav.

"It's a miracle that now the Congress party wants a caste census. Congress party is now aware that the vote they were searching for is not with them anymore," he added.

Earlier on Friday, Akhilesh Yadav continued his attack on the Congress for what he alleged was a betrayal said if this confusion prevails, the INDIA bloc would never be able to defeat the BJP.

"If Congress didn't want to give seats (in MP), then they should have said it before. Today, SP is fighting only on seats where it has its own organisation. Now after Madhya Pradesh, I know that the INDIA alliance is for the (parliamentary) elections at the national level. If Congress continues to behave like this, then who will stand with them? If we will fight against the BJP with confusion in our minds, then we won't succeed," said Akhilesh Yadav.   -- ANI

Minutes after an anomaly forced a hold of its launch, the Test Vehicle carrying payloads related to the Gaganyaan human space flight programme would be fired again on Saturday at 10 am, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) announced.

'Reason for the launch hold is identified and corrected. The launch is planned at 10:00 Hrs. today,' ISRO said in an update on X.

Earlier, ISRO chief S Somanath said that the engine ignition of the TV-D1 rocket did not happen in the course of time.

There was a very smooth air lift and automatic launch sequence leading up to the command to lift off, 'but the engine ignition has not happened in the nominal course due to anomaly', Somanath said soon after the mission was put on hold.

"And we have to find out what went wrong with that. The vehicle is safe, the entire vehicle is very safe. We will have to reach the vehicle and then look at what has happened now," he said, adding ISRO will come back soon after analysing what triggered the automatic launch sequence holding the vehicle.

"So what has happened is that the ground support computer doing this function has withheld the launch in view of the anomaly observed. We will come back after understanding the anomaly, correct it and schedule the launch very soon," the space agency's Chairman said from the Mission Control Center.   -- PTI

Gaganyaan's First Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1) launch has been put on hold.

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chief S Somnath said, "The lift-off attempt could not happen today...engine ignition has not happened in the nominal course, we need to find out what went wrong. The vehicle is safe, we need to look at what happened...we will come back soon...the computer which is doing function has withheld the launch...we will correct it and schedule launch soon."

More details awaited.  -- ANI

The United States on Friday expressed concern over the departure of Canadian diplomats from India and said that it expects New Delhi to uphold its obligations under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. 

Canada has withdrawn 41 diplomats from India after it threatened to strip them of their diplomatic immunity by Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly has said, amid a diplomatic row over the killing of a Sikh separatist.

We are concerned by the departure of Canadian diplomats from India, in response to the Indian government's demand of Canada to significantly reduce its diplomatic presence in India, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

"Resolving differences requires diplomats on the ground," Miller added.

"We have urged the Indian government not to insist upon a reduction in Canada's diplomatic presence and to cooperate in the ongoing Canadian investigation," the State Department official said.

"We expect India to uphold its obligations under the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, including with respect to privileges and immunities enjoyed by accredited members of Canada's diplomatic mission," Miller said. 

In New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday rejected Canada's attempt to 'portray' the withdrawal of 41 Canadian diplomats from the country as a violation of international norms.

India asserted that ensuring two-way diplomatic parity is fully consistent with the provisions of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations.

Hours after New Delhi rejected Ottawa's attempt to portray the implementation of parity as a violation of international norms, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that India's decision to revoke the diplomatic immunity of 41 Canadian diplomats is a violation of the Vienna Convention and it should worry all countries.   -- PTI

Israel's military has said that a majority of the hostages in Gaza are alive, CNN reported.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it has been able to reduce the number of missing, initially thought to be around 3,000 on the first day of the war, to between 100 and 200 on Friday as they have confirmed people's locations.

More than 20 of the hostages are under the age of 18 and between ten and 20 of those held are over the age of 60, according to the latest update from IDF, as per CNN.

Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs Eli Cohen and 22 ambassadors and diplomats from countries whose citizens have been abducted have called for the immediate release of the abductees and to permit visits by the International Red Cross.

Cohen said the release of the abductees is Israel's 'foremost priority'.   -- ANI