TODAY NEWS ON October 23, 2024

News Headlines for CAT, CLAT and IPM aspirants

Source: The Hindu

National News

• PM Modi to hold bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping today
• India, Pakistan renew Kartarpur Corridor agreement until 2029
• India ready to provide all possible assistance for peace in Ukraine: PM Modi in Kazan
• IMF maintains India’s growth projection at 7% for FY25
• India scraps export tax on parboiled rice to boost exports
• One killed, five trapped in building collapse in Bengaluru
• India ready to provide all possible cooperation, says PM Modi on ending Ukraine conflict
• East coast braces for cyclone as low pressure strengthens into depression over Bay of Bengal
• Nearly 50 flights receive bomb threats on October 22
• Supreme Court reserves verdict on pleas against Allahabad HC judgment quashing Uttar Pradesh madrasa law
• 6Muslim men can register more than one marriage as their personal laws permit multiple wedlocks: Bombay High Court
• Delhi High Court closes plea to permit climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, others to protest

International News

• Xi Jinping calls to prepare for war as China launches live-fire exercise in Taiwan Strait
• Hezbollah hides millions in cash, gold under Beirut hospital, says Israel
• South Korea pledges countermeasures over North Korea-Russia military cooperation
• Suffered $100 million loss due to workers’ strike, Samsung tells Madras High Court
• CWG 2026: Hockey, shooting, cricket, badminton among major sports axed

Headlines in detail

PM Modi to hold bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping today

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold bilateral talks on Wednesday (October 23, 2024) on the margins of the BRICS summit in Russia, in their first structured meeting since the eastern Ladakh border row erupted in May 2020. Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri made the announcement, a day after India and Chinafirmed up an agreement on patrolling by their militaries along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, in a major breakthrough to end the over four-year standoff.

India, Pakistan renew Kartarpur Corridor agreement until 2029

India and Pakistan agreed to renew their agreement to operate the Kartarpur Corridor to facilitate pilgrims from India to visit the Kartarpur Sahib Gurudwara for another five years on Tuesday. The renewal of the project, originally proposed during the tenure of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan as a Confidence Building Measure, has weathered the sharp downturn in relations between India and Pakistan.

India ready to provide all possible assistance for peace in Ukraine: PM Modi in Kazan

India supports restoration of peace between Ukraine and Russia and is committed to providing “all possible assistance” to end the crisis, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday during a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

IMF maintains India’s growth projection at 7% for FY25

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) maintained its June growth rate projects for India in its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) released on Tuesday, to kick off the World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings in Washington. The multilateral lender expected India to grow at 7% in the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2025 and 6.5% in the next fiscal year (FY2025-26). World output was expected to grow at 3.2% in 2024 as well as 2025.

India scraps export tax on parboiled rice to boost exports

The Union Government has scrapped the export tax on parboiled rice, it said in an official order on Tuesday (October 22, 2024), as inventories across India — the world’s biggest exporter of the grain — surged and the country is set to produce a bumper crop after copious monsoon rains. The decision to remove the tax follows last month’s move to reduce the duty to 10% from 20% to boost exports.

One killed, five trapped in building collapse in Bengaluru

One worker died, and many were injured after an under-construction building collapsed in Babusapalya near Hennur in Bengaluru on Tuesday amidst incessant rains. Initial probe revealed that poor quality of construction led to the incident and the rains made the building more vulnerable.

India ready to provide all possible cooperation, says PM Modi on ending Ukraine conflict

Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Russian President Vladimir Putin on the eve of the BRICS summit that he wanted peace in Ukraine and that New Delhi was ready to help achieve a truce to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War Two. Mr. Putin, who ordered tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022, wants the BRICS summit to showcase the rising clout of the non-Western world after the United States and its European and Asian allies tried to isolate Russia over the war.

East coast braces for cyclone as low pressure strengthens into depression over Bay of Bengal

A well-marked low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a depression on Tuesday (October 22, 2024) morning as it rolled towards the eastern coast with the likelihood of turning into a severe cyclonic storm, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. In its bulletin, the IMD said the well-marked low-pressure area over the east-central Bay of Bengal moved west-northwestwards, concentrated into a depression and lay centred at 730 km southeast of Paradip in Odisha and 770 km south-southeast of Sagar island in West Bengal around 5.30 a.m.

Nearly 50 flights receive bomb threats on October 22

Nearly 50 domestic and international flights of Indian carriers received bomb threats on Tuesday (October 22, 2024), taking the total number of flights that have received the threats since Monday (October 21, 2024) night to around 80, according to sources. The sources in the know said 13 flights each of Air India and IndiGo, over 12 flights of Akasa Air and 11 flights of Vistara received the threats on Tuesday (October 22, 2024). On Monday night, 10 flights each of Air India, IndiGo and Vistara had received the threats, with three Jeddah-bound IndiGo flights getting diverted to airports in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Supreme Court reserves verdict on pleas against Allahabad HC judgment quashing Uttar Pradesh madrasa law

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (October 22, 2024) reserved its verdict on pleas challenging the Allahabad High Court judgment, which declared the 2004 Uttar Pradesh law on madrasas as unconstitutional on the ground of it being violative of the principle of secularism. A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) D. Y. Chandrachud and Justices J. B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra heard a battery of lawyers on behalf of eight petitioners besides Additional Solicitor General K.M. Natraj for the Uttar Pradesh government for almost two days before reserving the verdict.

6Muslim men can register more than one marriage as their personal laws permit multiple wedlocks: Bombay High Court

A Muslim man can register more than one marriage as their personal laws permit multiple marriages, the Bombay High Court held in a case of a man seeking to register his union with his third wife. A Division Bench of Justices B.P. Colabawalla and Somasekhar Sundaresan on October 15 directed the deputy marriage registration office of the Thane Municipal Corporation to decide the application filed by a Muslim man in February last year seeking to register his third marriage with a woman from Algeria.

Delhi High Court closes plea to permit climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, others to protest

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday (October 22, 2024) closed the proceedings on a plea seeking permission for climate activist Sonam Wangchuk and others to hold a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar. Petitioner Apex Body Leh’s counsel said they no longer wished to press the plea as the protest stood withdrawn following a discussion with the authorities.

Xi Jinping calls to prepare for war as China launches live-fire exercise in Taiwan Strait

China’s military began a live-fire exercise near Taiwan on Tuesday (October 22, 2024), maintaining pressure on the self-ruled island after staging large-scale drills and President Xi Jinping called for troops to prepare for war. China’s Communist Party has never ruled the island, but it claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has said it will not renounce the use of force to bring it under its control.

Hezbollah hides millions in cash, gold under Beirut hospital, says Israel

Hezbollah has stashed hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and gold in a bunker built under a hospital in Beirut, Israel’s military said on Monday (October 21, 2024), adding it will not strike the facility as it keeps up attacks against the group’s financial assets. Fadi Alameh, a Lebanese lawmaker with the Shi’ite Amal Movement party and the director of the hospital in question, Al-Sahel, told Reuters that Israel was making false and slanderous claims and called on the Lebanese Army to visit and show it only had operating rooms, patients and a morgue.

South Korea pledges countermeasures over North Korea-Russia military cooperation

South Korea will gradually take countermeasures in line with the level of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea, Deputy National Security Advisor Kim Tae-hyo told a briefing on Tuesday, October 22, 2024. The comments as quoted by Reuters came as South Korea’s Presidential office urged Pyongyang to immediately withdraw North Korean troops that Seoul says have been dispatched to Russia for the war with Ukraine.

Suffered $100 million loss due to workers’ strike, Samsung tells Madras High Court

Samsung India Electronics Private Limited (SIEPL) on Tuesday (October 22, 2024) claimed it had suffered a loss to the tune of around $100 million due to the recent strike by a section of employees, who wanted their trade union — Samsung India Thozhilalar Sangam, affiliated with the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) — to be registered. Appearing before Justice R.N. Manjula, who was seized of a writ petition filed by P. Ellan, general secretary of the new trade union, senior counsel G. Rajagopalan, representing SIEPL, contended that trade unions could not be allowed to use the word ‘Samsung’ in their name since their activities would affect the company’s reputation.

CWG 2026: Hockey, shooting, cricket, badminton among major sports axed

In a body blow to India’s medal prospects in the Commonwealth Games, key sports such as hockey, badminton, wrestling, cricket and shooting have been dropped from the 2026 edition by host city Glasgow, which unveiled a pruned roster of 10 disciplines to keep the event budget-friendly. Table tennis, squash, cricket, netball, and road racing have also been axed in a bid to limit the cost and streamline logistics given that only four venues will host the entire showpiece. The total number of events at the Games will be nine fewer compared to the 2022 Birmingham edition.