TODAY NEWS ON September 23, 2024

News Headlines for CAT, CLAT and IPM aspirants

Source: The Hindu

• Left leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake is Sri Lanka’s President
• Modi celebrates his return to power at U.S. diaspora event
• PM Modi attends tech CEOs roundtable in New York
• NSA Ajit Doval stayed back from PM Modi’s U.S. visit for J&K election, say officials
• Parliament panel on Waqf Bill receives over 1.2 crore responses
• Nitish Kumar wants Vande Bharat between Ayodhya and Sitamarhi, writes to PM Modi
• Joe Biden hails PM Modi’s Ukraine trip, lauds India’s global role
• India reaches out to Bangladesh opposition BNP, envoy meets party leader
• India probing Netflix for visa violations, racial discrimination, email shows
• Israeli Army says Al Jazeera TV office in West Bank ‘used to incite terror’
• Chess Olympiad 2024: Indian teams make history, bag gold in both categories

Headlines in Detail

Left leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake is Sri Lanka’s President

Leftist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake emerged winner in Sri Lanka’s presidential race, obtaining a mandate that signals a clean break from the island nation’s political establishment and ushers in unprecedented change. Mr. Dissanayake was officially declared President-elect by the Election Commission of Sri Lanka after it completed a second count of votes to add preference votes, an exercise undertaken for the first time in the country’s election history.

Modi celebrates his return to power at U.S. diaspora event

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that he has set very ambitious goals in his third term to make the country a developed nation and asserted that India today is a land of opportunities. “After going through this tough election process, this long election system, something unprecedented happened in India (this year). What happened… “Abkibaar Modi Sarkaar,” Mr. Modi said in his address to thousands of Indian Americans in New York.

PM Modi attends tech CEOs roundtable in New York

Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in a roundtable with the CEOs of leading American companies, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, to enhance cooperation between India and the US in cutting-edge technologies such as AI, quantum computing and semiconductors.

NSA Ajit Doval stayed back from PM Modi’s U.S. visit for J&K election, say officials

National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval stayed back in India to deal with the security situation arising from the ongoing Jammu and Kashmir election and other “domestic issues”, officials said. The officials dismissed speculation that Mr. Doval dropped out of the visit due to a summons issued by a New York court, even as the Khalistan issue and allegations from Sikh groups against the government appeared to loom over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three-day U.S. visit.

Parliament panel on Waqf Bill receives over 1.2 crore responses

A parliamentary panel examining the Waqf (Amendment) Bill has received a staggering 1.2 crore email responses amid campaigns launched by rival groups to ratchet up support for their respective viewpoints regarding the draft law.

Nitish Kumar wants Vande Bharat between Ayodhya and Sitamarhi, writes to PM Modi

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to start a Vande Bharat between Ayodhya and Sitamarhi for the benefit of pilgrims. Mr. Kumar urged the Prime Minister to direct the Ministry concerned to complete the Ram-Janaki Marg from Ayodhya to Sitamarhi district soon so that devotees can travel from Ayodhya to Punaura Dham, believed to be the birthplace of Sita. He also requested the Prime Minister to direct the Ministry of Railways to operate a Vande Bharat train between Ayodhya and Sitamarhi.

Joe Biden hails PM Modi’s Ukraine trip, lauds India’s global role

U.S. President Joe Biden has conveyed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the U.S. supports initiatives to reform global institutions to reflect India’s important voice, including permanent membership in the U.N. Security Council, said a joint factsheet on the wide-ranging talks the two leaders had

India reaches out to Bangladesh opposition BNP, envoy meets party leader

In a significant act of political outreach, the High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh, Pranay Verma, and his colleagues met Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, general secretary of the principal Opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in Dhaka. This is the first meeting between the BNP leadership and the Indian diplomats stationed in Bangladesh after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5, 2024.

India probing Netflix for visa violations, racial discrimination, email shows

India is investigating the business practices of U.S. streaming giant Netflix’s local operations, including allegations of visa violations and racial discrimination, according to a government email sent to a former executive. The details of India’s investigation were included in a July 20 email, reviewed by Reuters, which was written by a Union Home Ministry official to Netflix’s former director of business and legal affairs for India, Nandini Mehta, who left the company in 2020.

Israeli Army says Al Jazeera TV office in West Bank ‘used to incite terror’

Armed and masked Israeli forces raided the office of global news channel Al Jazeera in the occupied West Bank on and issued a 45-day closure order. It was the latest salvo in a long-running feud between the Arab broadcaster and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which has worsened during the war in Gaza. Since the war began on October 7, 2023, when Hamas Palestinian militants attacked Israel, Al Jazeera has aired continuous on-the-ground reporting on the effects of Israel’s military campaign.

Chess Olympiad 2024: Indian teams make history, bag gold in both categories

India recorded one of the greatest moments in its sporting history in Budapest, winning the gold medals both in the Open and women’s sections of the 45th Chess Olympiad. The Indian men had been so dominant in the competition that they were almost assured of the gold with a round to spare.

Army seeks info from Manipur Security Adviser on entry of 900 Kuki militants

The Army has sought information from Manipur security advisor Kuldiep Singh to provide details on intelligence regarding the alleged entry of 900 Kuki militants from Myanmar on September 28. Mr. Singh, while addressing a press conference in Imphal on September 20, had said that the government is aware of intelligence inputs regarding the entry of “900 Kuki militants” on September 28 and “unless it is proven wrong it is 100% correct.” The inputs were first shared by Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s office with the Director General of Police and the security adviser last week, a copy of the leaked letter showed.

Congress appoints Uday Bhanu Chib as new Indian Youth Congress president

The Congress on Sunday appointed Uday Bhanu Chib as the president of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), replacing Srinivas B V. Mr. Chib was currently serving as the general secretary of IYC and is a former president of the Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Youth Congress. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has appointed Uday Bhanu Chib as the president of the Indian Youth Congress with immediate effect, a party statement said.

297 Indian antiquities to return to India from the U.S.

The illicit trafficking of cultural property is a longstanding issue that has affected many cultures and countries throughout history. India has been particularly affected by this issue and a large number of antiquities have been smuggled out of the country. During this visit of PM Modi to U.S., 297 antiquities were handed over to India. This takes the total number of antiquities recovered by India since 2014 to 640. The total number of antiquities returned from the U.S. alone will be 578. Further, in July 2024, on the sidelines of the 46th World Heritage Committee, in New Delhi, India and the United States signed the first ever ‘Cultural Property Agreement’ to prevent and curb the illicit trafficking of antiquities from India to the U.S.

Coldplay announces third Mumbai show due to ‘phenomenal demand’

British rock band Coldplay on Sunday added a third show to the Mumbai leg of its “Music Of The Spheres World Tour 2025“ citing “phenomenal demand”, hours after fans expressed disappointment over long virtual queues on the online ticket platform BookMyShow. The tickets for the new show, set to be held on January 21 at Mumbai’s DY Patil Sports Stadium, will go live at 2 p.m. on BookMyShow. According to reports, the server of BookMyShow website and app on Sunday crashed as it opened the sale for the British band’s concerts scheduled for next year.

IND vs BAN first Test: Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja annihilate Bangladesh by 280 runs

India dismantled Bangladesh in the first Test in Chennai at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium. On the fourth day, the lone point of interest was centred around how long the visitor would resist a seemingly inevitable defeat. That question was answered well before the crockery was set for lunch as India needed a mere 24.5 overs to pocket the remaining six wickets. The target of 515 remained unsurmountable and Najmul Hossain Shanto’s men were bowled out for 234 in the second innings while the host won by 280 runs. India leads the two-match series at 1-0 with the second and final Test commencing at Kanpur on September 27.