Delhi is likely to receive heavy rainfall for the next three days as the weather office issued an 'orange' alert in the national capital on Saturday, the weather office said.

Parts of Delhi, including Rohini and Burari, received rains on Saturday morning. According to the Met department, 8.9 mm of rainfall was recorded at Safdarjung, the city's primary weather station, and 12.6 mm at Lodhi Road between 2.30 pm and 5.30 pm on Saturday.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted moderate to heavy rainfall on Saturday, with an even heavier spell anticipated on Sunday and Monday, the weather department said.

For the next seven days, the capital will experience moderate to heavy rain, and an 'orange alert' has been issued for the next three days, the IMD said in its seven-day forecast.

According to the IMD, moderate rain is defined as rainfall amounting to between 7.6 and 35.5 mm in a day, and heavy rain is defined as rainfall amounting to between 64.5 and 124.4 mm in a day.

The IMD issues four colour-coded warnings -- "green" (no action needed), "yellow" (watch and stay updated), "orange" (be prepared) and "red" (take action).

The maximum temperature recorded on Saturday was 35.6 degrees Celsius, which is 1.6 notches below normal, according to the IMD. The city recorded a minimum temperature of 28 degrees Celsius.

The relative humidity oscillated between 80 per cent and 97 per cent, according to an IMD bulletin.

The national capital recorded 228.1 mm of rainfall on Friday, the highest since 1936 for the month of June. -- PTI

Hours after Bharatiya Janata Party ally Janata Dal-United passed a resolution reiterating its demand for special category status for Bihar, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh asked if Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would actually walk the talk on the issue. 

 

He also questioned NDA partner Telugu Desam Party for not pressing for the special category status for Andhra Pradesh. 

"The JD-U has just passed a resolution reiterating demand for special category status and central assistance to Bihar. Will the CM summon the courage to have the state cabinet also pass such a resolution. Will the CM of Bihar walk the talk?" Ramesh said in a post on X in Hindi.

"And what about TDP in its new innings? Why has it not yet passed such a resolution for Andhra Pradesh, a promise emphasised by the non-biological PM in the holy city of Tirupati on April 30, 2014," he said.

The JD-U Saturday appointed Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kumar Jha as its working president and urged the Centre to consider either special category status or special package for Bihar, underlining the party's important role in the formation of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.

The JD-U's decision to include a special package as an alternative to its historical push for special category status for Bihar marked a pragmatic climbdown as the Modi government had cited the 14th Finance Commission's report to rule out special category status for any more states. -- PTI

The Pragati Maidan tunnel remained closed on Saturday after heavy rains in the national capital caused waterlogging in many parts of the city that led to major traffic snarls, officials said.

   

The draining of water from the tunnel was still underway and it is likely to be opened by late Saturday night, according to PWD officials.

Water was drained out of the Minto bridge underpass and many other parts of the city after hours of effort by authorities. The Delhi Public Works Department (PWD) said they received more than 200 calls from waterlogged areas on Friday.

Monsoon fury caused havoc on Friday as the city received its highest single-day rainfall for June in 88 years, flooding streets with water and leaving commuters stranded on roads.

Water was drained out of the Minto Bridge underpass after a 12-hour effort and it was later opened for vehicular movement, the PWD said.

PWD officials said it took 4-5 hours to drain out water from areas like Moolchand underpass, Zakhira, Dhaula Kuan and Adchini, while waterlogging complaints were resolved in Seelampur, Krishna Nagar and Badli after 2-3 hours.

The PWD also received two to three complaints of falling of trees.

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data, 228.1 mm of rainfall was recorded at Safdarjung, the city's primary weather station, 192.8 mm at Lodhi Road, Mausam Bhavan, 150.4 mm at Ridge, 106.6 mm at Palam, and 66.3 mm at Ayanagar in the last 20 to 30 hours.

The 228.1 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Friday is more than three times the June rainfall average of 74.1 mm and the highest for the month since 1936. -- PTI 

More than 20 flights of IndiGo that were to operate from Terminal 1 of the Delhi airport were cancelled on Saturday, a day after the terminal was shut down following the roof collapse incident.

   

A source in the know said 23 flights of IndiGo and 2 flights of SpiceJet that were scheduled to operate from T1 were cancelled on Saturday.

There was no immediate comment from IndiGo.

However, a SpiceJet source said it has shifted all T1 operations to T3 and all flights were operated on Saturday.

Following the roof collapse incident, the operations at T1 were suspended on Friday. The flights that were to be operated from the terminal have been shifted to Terminal 2 (T2) and Terminal 3 (T3).

On Friday, Delhi airport operator DIAL said it has set up a technical committee to probe the roof collapse at the airport's Terminal 1 and the primary cause of the incident seems to be continued heavy rainfall. -- PTI 

Amid raging debate over the possibility of change in Chief Minister and demand for three more Deputy Chief Ministers in Karnataka, state Congress President D K Shivakumar on Saturday asked partymen and leaders to refrain from issuing public statements on the issue and warned of disciplinary action.

Shivakumar, who is also the Deputy Chief Minister urged partymen to "shut their mouth" in the interest of the party, as he also requested seers not to interfere in political matters.

Minister K N Rajanna, who is at the forefront of the issue of three Deputy Chief Ministers, wondered what was wrong in asking for it, and said he won't heed the warnings.

There is growing demand within the state cabinet to have three more Deputy Chief Ministers -- from Veerashaiva-Lingayat, SC/ST and minority communities. Currently, Shivakumar from the dominant Vokkaliga community is only the Deputy Chief Minister in the Siddaramaiah cabinet.

A Vokkaliga seer Kumara Chandrashekaranatha Swamiji of Vishwa Vokkaliga Mahasamastana Math on Thursday had publicly urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to step down and make way for his deputy Shivakumar.

Following this a Veearashaiva-Lingayat seer -- Srisaila Jagadguru Channa Siddharama Panditaradhya Swamiji on Friday said ministers from his community should be considered for the CM's post in case there is a leadership change, while also pitching for them to be given priority in the event of creation of additional Deputy CM posts.

"There is no discussion on any Deputy Chief Minister nor there is any question about the Chief Minister. Swamiji (Vokkaliga seer) out of affection towards me might have spoken about me. That's all. I request -- I don't need anyone's recommendation. For the work we have done our party high command will decide," Shivakumar said in response to a question whether he had taken up with the party high command the demand for more Deputy CMs during the Delhi visit.

Addressing reporters in Bengaluru, he said, "Kharge (AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge), Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and I, in the interest of the party, have decided how to function. So there is no need for any MLA or Minister or Swamiji to speak. If they (seers) bless us it's enough..."

There is no need for any minister to comment on the CM or Deputy CM issue in public or before the media, Shivakumar said and warned that "if any MLA or anyone from the party raises it, the AICC or I will be forced to issue notice and take disciplinary action. Discipline is important in the party. There is nothing without discipline."

Responding to a query, the Deputy CM said, "in the interest of the party I'm telling everyone -- if you shut your mouth it will be good for the party."

Asked about seers interfering in politics, he said, "no swamiji had spoken other than now... I request all of them with folded hands not to interfere in political matters."

Two boys drowned in the waterlogged section at an underpass in outer north Delhi's SP Badali area on Saturday afternoon, a day after the city was lashed with heavy rains.  

   

The incident occurred near the Siraspur underpass near the metro, which was flooded with 2.5-3 feet of water, a senior police officer said. 

The police received a call about the boys drowning around 2.25 pm, and a team was immediately rushed to the spot. They conducted a search operation, and with the help of a fire brigade, they recovered the bodies, the officer said. 

One of the boys is a resident of Siraspur, while the identity of the other one is yet to be ascertained, he said. 

Prima facie, it appeared to be a case of suspected drowning while the boys were taking a bath, another officer said.

The bodies have been shifted to Babu Jagjeevan Ram Hospital. An inquest proceeding under 174 Code of Criminal Procedure is underway, he said. -- PTI 

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said the Lok Sabha poll verdict has signalled a "personal, political and moral defeat" for Prime Minister Narendra Modi but "he is continuing as if nothing has changed".

 

In a newspaper article, she claimed there is "not the slightest evidence that he (Modi) has come to terms with the electoral outcome or understand the verdict".

She said that when the prime minister's "emissaries sought unanimity for the post of Speaker", the opposition INDIA bloc agreed to support the government. 

"But in keeping with convention and tradition, it was only fair and to be expected that the post of deputy speaker would be given to a member from the ranks of the opposition," Gandhi said.

But this "perfectly reasonable request" was found unacceptable by the government, she said, adding the opposition alliance is committed to restoring balance and productivity in Parliament.

"On June 4, 2024, the verdict of our country's electorate was delivered clearly and resoundingly. It signalled a personal, political, and moral defeat for a prime minister who had awarded himself a divine status during the campaign," the Congress leader said.

"Yet, the prime minister continues as if nothing has changed. He preaches the value of consensus but continues to value confrontation," she said.

She also described the mention of Emergency by the prime minister, the Lok Sabha Speaker and BJP leaders as an attempt to divert attention from the "assault on the Constitution".

"It is a fact of history that in March 1977 the people of our country gave a categorical verdict on the Emergency, which was accepted unhesitatingly and unequivocally," Gandhi said. -- PTI

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday announced 'Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana', a pilgrimage scheme for senior citizens from all religions.

The scheme will help elderly people who are unable to visit the pilgrimage sites on their own, he said.

Shinde made the announcement in the state legislative assembly while replying to a calling attention notice by Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik.

"The scheme titled 'Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojana' will be for the senior citizens of all religions," the chief minister said. 

Rules will be framed for the scheme and the government will facilitate the pilgrimage of senior citizens from all religions who are unable to do it on their own, he said. 

In his demand, Sarnaik said senior citizens cannot fulfil their dream of going on a pilgrimage because of financial problems or they have nobody to accompany them and also they do not have any information about how they can go for the pilgrimage.

He said the state government should start a scheme for senior citizens and include pilgrimage sites of all religions in it. -- PTI 

Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday slammed the Congress, saying it wants to run away from a discussion in Parliament over the NEET exam issue.

 

His remark came a day after Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold a "respectful" and good discussion in Parliament on the issue of alleged irregularities in the conduct of the NEET exam.

Replying to a question on the opposition targeting the BJP-led Centre over the NEET exam issue, Pradhan said, "The Congress does not want a discussion. It wants to run away from the discussion. It's only intention is to create chaos, confusion and create obstacles in smooth functioning of the entire institutional mechanism." 

He said the president had also talked about the NEET exam issue, being raised by the Congress, in her address in Parliament.

He further said the opposition had a chance to raise this issue during the motion of thanks to the President's address and asserted the government was ready for any type of discussion.

"But the Congress wants to play politics over the matter. It is not the time to play politics," Pradhan told reporters after the first session of the Haryana BJP's extended state executive meeting got over in Panchkula.

Without naming anyone, he further said such irregularities took place before 2014, apparently pointing towards the previous UPA regime at the Centre.

"I could not justify it," he said.

On steps being taken for zero-error examinations, the minister said a high-level committee of experts under the chairmanship of former ISRO chairman K Radhakrishnan has been formed for the reform of the National Testing Agency (NTA).

"A strong law has been formed against public examination and disruption," he added.

Pradhan further said the matter pertaining to alleged irregularities in the medical entrance exam NEET-UG has been handed over to the CBI.

"We are meeting students and parents," he said.

To another question, he said the date of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, Post Graduate will be announced by the NBE (National Board of Examinations) in one or two days. -- PTI

Espousing the importance of implementing Constitutional Morality' in Indian jurisprudence, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Saturday insisted on the commitment of courts to ensure diversity, inclusion and tolerance.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the two-day East Zone II Regional Conference of the National Judicial Academy, the CJI also focused on the importance of technological advancements in the justice delivery system.

CJI Chandrachud elaborated on the notion of 'Constitutional Morality' as a restraining factor on the state that should derive from the Preambluar values of the Constitution.

Underlining the country's federal structure that's "marked by a great deal of diversity", the CJI focused on the role of judges in "preserving the diversity of India".

"I am reticent when people call courts a temple of justice. Because that would mean the judges are deities which they are not. They are instead servers of the people, who deliver justice with compassion and empathy," CJI Chandrachud said at the conference titled 'Contemporary Judicial Developments and Strengthening Justice Through Law and Technology'.

Calling judges "servants and not masters of the Constitution", the CJI warned the judiciary of the pitfalls of personal values and belief systems of judges interfering with judgments that are opposed to values enshrined in the Constitution.

"We could be masters of Constitutional interpretation, but a just society is established with the court's vision of Constitutional Morality," he said.

While speaking on the need for technological assistance in ensuring the effective delivery of justice to citizens, the CJI said, "The idea is to not modernise for the sake of modernisation. It is a step to aid something else we want to achieve."

CJI Chandrachud spoke of AI-assisted software aiding the work-in-progress to translate the 37,000-odd Supreme Court judgments delivered since Independence from English into all Constitution-recognised regional languages. -- PTI

The ruling DMK on Saturday amended the Tamil Nadu Prohibition Act, 1937, to substantially enhance the punishment term and quantum of fine for offences like manufacture, possession and selling of illicit liquor that endangers lives.   

The Tamil Nadu Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 2024, which shall come into force on such date as notified by the government, aims to completely eradicate the menace of illicit liquor from the state.

The amendment, coming in the wake of Kallakurichi hooch tragedy, substantially enhances the term of imprisonment and quantum of fine for various offences under sections 4,5,6,7 and 11 of the Act.

Accordingly, a maximum punishment of 10 years Rigorous Imprisonment and a penalty of upto Rs 5 lakhs has been proposed in the amendment.

In case of death due to consumption of illicit liquor, then the punishment for bootleggers will be RI for life with a fine not less than Rs 10 lakh, it said.

Congress Legislature party leader K Selvaperunthagai, supporting the bill, suggested having a check and balance in the system, especially constituting a select committee instead of vesting all powers with the police.

PMK's G K Mani sought the government to fix the onus on the police or particular official for hooch tragedy and take steps to introduce complete prohibition in the state.

The Bill introduced by Prohibition Minister S Muthusamy was later passed by the House. -- PTI 

The Janata Dal-United appointed its Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Jha as working president on Saturday.

 

The decision was taken at a meeting of its national executive where the party reiterated its demand for special category status for Bihar, while adding that the Centre could also consider an alternative in a special package, its senior leader Neeraj Kumar said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party ally also demanded stringent action against culprits in exam paper leak cases and called for a strong law to rule out such incidents in the future.

The decision to appoint Jha as working president is significant since he is known to have a good equation with the BJP leadership.

He is also the party's leader in the Rajya Sabha.

Party sources said Jha was well-suited to draw a good deal from the BJP and maintain a friendly relationship between the two parties, which have a history of bumpy ties.

Bihar Chief Minister and JD-U president Nitish Kumar, Union ministers Lalan Singh and Ram Nath Thakur, and other senior leaders from around the country were present at the meeting held in Delhi. -- PTI 

A canopy outside Gujarat's Rajkot airport collapsed after heavy rainfall today.

The development comes a day after the collapse of the roof of Delhi airport's Terminal-1 that killed one person and injured six others

More details are awaited. 

Rashtriya Janata Dal Chief and former Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav on Saturday recalled what they went through during the dark days of Emergency and said that the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi put many of the leaders behind bars, but she never abused them.

 

 In a post shared on X, the RJD chief shared an article "The Sangh Silence in 1975" written by him and journalist Nalin Verma. 

In the article, they attacked the BJP-led central government and said that although 1975 is a stain on the country's democracy, let's not forget who doesn't respect the Opposition in 2024.

 

"I was the convener of the steering committee that Jayaprakash Narayan had constituted to carry forward the movement against the excesses of Emergency imposed by the then PM Indira Gandhi. I was in jail under the Maintenance of Security Act (MISA) for over 15 months. My colleagues and I did not know many of the BJP ministers speaking about the Emergency today. We hadn't heard of Modi, J P Nadda, and some of the PM's other ministerial colleagues who today lecture us on the value of freedom," he posted on X.

 

 "Indira Gandhi put many of us behind bars, but she never abused us. Neither she nor her ministers called us "anti-national" or "unpatriotic". She never enabled vandals to defile the memory of Babasaheb Ambedkar--the architect of our Constitution. 1975 is a stain on our democracy but let's not forget who doesn't respect the Opposition in 2024," the RJD leader added.

 

 On June 25, 1975, Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, imposed a 21-month state of emergency. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, which is considered one of the most controversial periods in India's political history. -- ANI

Nationalist COngress Party-SP president Sharad Pawar on Saturday said the reference to Emergency made by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in his speech was not apt and did not suit the stature of his post.

Addressing reporters in Kolhapur, Pawar also said the sops announced in the budget presented by his estranged nephew and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday, was just an effort ahead of the state assembly polls to project that they are doing something massive.

Soon after his election as Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla on Wednesday set off a firestorm by reading out a resolution condemning the imposition of Emergency as an attack on the Constitution by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi. 

Referring to it, Pawar said, "The speaker's reference to the Emergency in his address did not suit the stature of the post. It has been 50 years since the Emergency, Indira Gandhi is no longer alive. So why is the speaker bringing up this issue now?"

"Is it the role of the speaker to make a political statement? We think his statement was not apt. The President's speech also had a brief mention of this issue. That was also not necessary," he said. 

On Rahul Gandhi taking the Leader of Opposition's post, Pawar said the party with the most number of MPs in the Opposition gets to decide the Leader of Opposition. 

"The MPs of the Congress decided to make Rahul Gandhi their leader. In one way, this is a representation from the new generation with a background in politics, and a willingness to put in tremendous effort. I am sure he will shine," he said.

Pawar hit out at the BJP, saying that before making statements on Congress-mukt Bharat, the BJP should take note of how many seats it had before the Lok Sabha polls and how many it has after this election. 

"The BJP does not have a majority in Parliament. Without Nitish kumar and Chandrababu Naidu, they would not have formed a government. Regardless of how much they try to hide it, the truth is clear - they do not have a clear mandate from the people of India," the veteran leader claimed. 

On the state budget, he said, "What kind of a budget was this? Free education to girls, Rs 20,000 rupees for each 'dindi' (group) of the Pandharpur wari (pilgrimage) - everything was out in the public before it was presented in the Vidhan Bhavan. It has two meanings - the tradition of keeping the budget under wraps has not been maintained and none of the provisions presented in the budget will see the light of day.

This budget has been presented keeping in mind the assembly elections due in 3 months. There is no budgetary provision for the promises made in the budget. How can I spend Rs 100 when I have Rs 70 in my pocket? This budget is only meant to show that we are doing something massive, but I am sure that people will not believe this, he asked. 

"The questions the government has to answer is - what revenues have you gathered; how much do you want to spend, and how are you going to cover the gap between the two? How can the government promise to implement the assurance without making provisions for covering this gap? This budget does not have much meaning. I have doubts as to what extent they will be able to implement this budget," he said. -- PTI

The Central Bureau of Investigation was conducting searches at seven location in Gujarat in the NEET-UG paper leak case, officials said on Saturday.

 

They said the operation began in the morning at the premises of suspects spread across four districts -- Anand, Kheda, Ahmedabad and Godhra.

The CBI on Friday arrested the principal and the vice-principal of a school in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh and a journalist of a Hindi newspaper in connection with the National-Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test - Undergraduate (NEET-UG) paper leak, officials had said.

Ehsanul Haque, the principal of Oasis School, was made the city coordinator of Hazaribagh for the medical entrance exam conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on May 5, they said.

Vice-principal Imtiaz Alam was designated as the NTA's observer and the centre coordinator for Oasis School, the officials said, adding that the CBI was also questioning five more people from the district in connection with the leak.

Jamaluddin Ansari, the journalist, was arrested for allegedly trying to help the principal and the vice-principal, the officials said on Saturday.

The CBI has registered six FIRs in the NEET-UG paper leak case, which include its own FIR on a reference from the Union education ministry and five from the states where it took over the investigation. 

The probe agency has taken over one case each in Bihar and Gujarat and three in Rajasthan. -- PTI

Five soldiers of the Army are feared drowned after they were swept away while crossing a river in a T-72 tank near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Nyoma-Chushul area in Ladakh early Saturday, officials said.

 

They said the incident occurred near Mandir Morh, 148 kilometres from Leh, during an exercise around 1 am.

The T-72 tank with five soldiers on board sank due to flash floods while they were crossing the river, the officials said.

A rescue operation has been launched. 

Further details are awaited. 

Seven persons were killed and three others seriously injured after two cars collided on the Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway, also known as Samruddhi Expressway, in Jalna district of Maharashtra, police said on Saturday.

The incident occurred around 11 pm on Friday near Kadvanchi village, they said. The victims were residents of Malad (East) in Mumbai and Buldhana district, the police said.

"A multi-utility vehicle (MUV) going from Nagpur to Mumbai and a car heading in the opposite direction collided head-on, resulting in the death of six persons on the spot. One more person succumbed to injuries at a hospital later," a police official said.

The impact of the collision was so severe that the MUV broke through the crash barrier and fell off on the left side of the road. Local villagers and police rushed to the scene to rescue the persons trapped in mangled remains of the vehicles, he said.

Dr Umesh Jadhav, a medical officer at the Government District Hospital in Jalna, said six bodies were brought to the hospital for post-mortem.

Three injured persons are being treated in Jalna, while one critically injured person who was shifted to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district died later.

Three of the deceased are from Mumbai, while as many others are from Buldhana district. One person who was shifted to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar is yet to be identified, he said.

The three injured persons are from Mumbai, he added.

The Samruddhi Highway is a 701-kilometer six-lane expressway connecting Mumbai and Nagpur.

The first phase of the highway connecting Nagpur to Shirdi was inaugurated in December 2022.   -- PTI

Former Andhra Pradesh (undivided) Congress president D Srinivas died in Hyderabad on Saturday, his son and Nizamabad MP D Arvind said. He was 76. 

Srinivas had been unwell for the past few days, family sources said.

He was the PCC president during the 2004 and 2009 assembly and general elections. He was also a minister in former chief minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy's cabinet.

He left Congress and became a Bharat Rashrta Samiti Rajya Sabha member from 2016 to 2022 and later rejoined the grand old party.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, Telangana ministers, and senior leaders of the Congress party expressed condolences over his demise.  -- PTI

The annual Amarnath Yatra began on Saturday as the first batch of pilgrims left the twin base camps in Baltal and Nunwan to start their journey to the 3880-metre-high cave shrine in the south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said.

The yatra started early morning from the twin tracks -- the traditional 48-km Nunwan-Pahalgam route and the 14-km Baltal route.

The officials said the batches of pilgrims on the twin routes were flagged off by the respective deputy commissioners along with senior police and civil administration officials.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha had flagged off the first batch of 4,603 pilgrims from the Yatri Niwas base camp in Bhagwati Nagar in Jammu on Friday morning.

The pilgrims reached the Kashmir Valley in the afternoon and received a rousing welcome from the administration and locals.

The pilgrims will pay obeisance at the cave shrine which houses the naturally formed ice-lingam.

Stringent security arrangements have been put in place for the smooth conduct of the yatra.

Thousands of security personnel from the police, Central Reserve Police Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and other paramilitary forces have been deployed to ensure foolproof security. Aerial surveillance will also be carried out.

The 52-day pilgrimage will conclude on August 19.  -- PTI

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he is drawing up a 'comprehensive plan', that will be supported by the majority of the world, to end the war with Russia, reported Al Jazeera.

"It is very important for us to show a plan to end the war that will be supported by the majority of the world," the Ukrainian president, along with Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar, said at a news conference in Kyiv on Friday.

"This is the diplomatic route we are working on," he added.

Zelenskyy further said that there are no current negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.

There are no current negotiations between Ukraine and Russia and, based on public statements by Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the two sides appear as far apart as ever when it comes to the terms of a potential peace settlement, reported Al Jazeera.

Ukraine has repeatedly said Russia must pull its troops out of its internationally recognised territory, including the peninsula of Crimea that Moscow annexed in 2014, before peace talks can start.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, is demanding Ukraine effectively capitulate by evacuating even more territory across its east and south that Russia now occupies.

Earlier this month, the Ukrainian President hosted a major international summit in Switzerland, where Russia was not invited, to rally support for Ukraine's position.

Over 90 countries sent leaders and senior officials to the two-day summit in Switzerland and a vast majority agreed to a final communique that stressed the need for Ukraine's 'territorial integrity' to be respected in any settlement, Al Jazeera reported.

Moreover, Russia's troops are slowly advancing on Ukraine's territory, and have claimed to have seized another small front-line village on Friday.

Moscow currently occupies about 25 percent of Ukraine and, in 2022, claimed to have annexed four more regions, none of which they fully control.

Earlier on Thursday, at an EU Council Summit in Brussels, Zelenskyy said he would put forward a 'detailed plan' in a matter of months to end the war, reported Al Jazeera.

"We don't have too much time," he said, pointing to the high casualty rate among soldiers and civilians.   -- ANI

Assuring proactive measures are taken regarding the Delhi Airport canopy collapse incident, Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu on Saturday said that a war room has been constituted to ensure refunds or alternate flights for affected passengers in the incident.

The Minister assured to take necessary proactive measures to ensure such incidents won't occur in the future.

He also expressed his condolences on the loss of life in the canopy collapse incident at Delhi Airport Terminal 1.

Naidu said, "The incident that happened at the Delhi airport is very tragic and I offer my condolences to the one individual who lost his life. Some people were injured also in the incident, they have been taken to the hospital and their treatment is underway."

He further said that the situation has been taken under control.

"We have taken control of the situation and as soon as the incident was reported, all the emergency response teams including teams of NDRF and CISF immediately went to the spot and engaged in the relief operations to prevent any further damage."

The minister guaranteed a refund within seven days or alternate flights for those whose flights were cancelled.

Citing the proactive measures taken by the Civil Aviation Ministry, Naidu stated, "For now, Terminal-1 is completely closed and evacuated. All the flight movements have been shifted to Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. For those people whose flights have been canceled, they are being given either a refund or an alternate flight. The Civil Aviation Ministry has decided to pass a circular to provide refunds to the people within seven days."

He further stated that a war room has been constituted in this regard and an officer from the Ministry has been placed in the war room to ensure the facilitation.

"To ensure this happens, we have set up war rooms at Terminal 2 and Terminal 3. The Ministry has released a statement regarding this which has all the numbers. We are taking care of it and have placed one of the officers in the war rooms," he said.

The ministry has also issued a circular to airlines, citing not to increase the fares.

"When such incidents occur, there is an increase in air fares, so we have issued another circular to airlines on not increasing the fare of the tickets and maintaining the prices," said Naidu.

Ensuring such incidents don't occur in the future, the minister said, "We don't want a similar incident to happen again so we have brought in a special team from IIT Delhi's structural engineering department. They will give an initial inspection report. Based on this the necessary action will be taken to stop such incidents."

"Since we don't want such incidents to be repeated, we will ensure getting a structural preliminary inspection done at all airports. We have sought a report from all the airports across the country within 2-5 days, upon which we will see what necessary measures are needed to be taken to prevent such incidents in the future," he further added.   -- ANI

Amid evolving security environment in Lebanon, the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said the Embassy of India in Beirut is in 'constant touch' with the Indian nationals there and added an advisory has been issued for them as a matter of 'abundant precaution'.

MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, in response to a query during a weekly media briefing in New Delhi, said the advisory is not a 'not a travel advisory' restricting the Indians to travel to Beirut.

Some reports had claimed that India has issued a travel advisory for its nationals.

"Our embassy in Beirut has issued an advisory. A lot of Indian nationals stay there, work there... there are professionals. As per the information that I have, about 2,000-3,000 people are there. Our embassy is in constant touch with them. We have not issued any travel advisory. We have just said that they should keep in touch with the embassy, so that if there is any incident, we can take action as soon as possible," he said.

Lebanon shares border with Israel in south. The MEA said there is an 'evolving situation' in Lebanon.

The Indian Embassy had on Thursday shared an advisory in a post on X, saying it is an 'advisory for Indian nationals in Lebanon'.

'In view of the current situation in Lebanon, all Indian nationals in Lebanon are advised to exercise caution and remain in contact with Embassy of India in Beirut through our email address: cons.beirut@mea.gov.in or through emergency helpline number +961-76860128,' the embassy wrote in its advisory.

Jaiswal during his briefing was asked multiple queries related to the Indians in Lebanon amid the evolving situation in that country.

'Our embassy in Beirut issued an advisory, and that advisory is not a travel advisory restricting Indians to travel to Beirut. That advisory is for Indian nationals who are based in Lebanon, so that they stay in touch with the Embassy, if things... there is an evolving situation there. As a matter of abundant precaution, this advisory has been issued,' he said in response to another query.

So that the embassy is 'enabled if there is a requirement' to get in touch with the Indian nationals and 'it can do so at the shortest possible time', he added.

He was also asked if 'Israeli action violates Lebanese sovereignty'.

'All nations are sovereign nations, correct. So that is where it is. You are talking about a situation that is yet to develop. As and when the situation develops, we will have a look at it. But, the question right now is... all nations in the world are sovereign nations. They are well within their right to do whatever they want, as a sovereign entity,' the MEA spokesperson said.

Israel's latest conflict with Hamas in Gaza began after the October 7 attack on the Jewish state by Hamas militants.

Jaiswal was also asked about the Indian nationals in Kenya in the wake of the widespread protests in Nairobi against a contentious finance bill.

'In Kenya, there also we have issued an advisory. There was a protest linked to a local legislation. No Indian has been caught in the violence... no body has been impacted. That advisory still holds good. We have told our national to be cautious, take care of their movements or how they go about in the city. My understanding is that the situation is coming back to normal, it is improving and things are in order as of now,' he said.

Kenyan Police had on Thursday clashed with the protesters in Nairobi before planned protests against the bill despite its president's decision not to sign it after the plans triggered deadly chaos in the capital city.  -- PTI