TODAY NEWS ON September 26, 2024

News Headlines for CAT, CLAT and IPM aspirants

Source: The Hindu

National News

• Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections: Voting concludes, voter turnout at 56%
• MUDA case: Special Court orders probe by Mysuru Lokayukta against CM Siddaramaiah, sets the stage for FIR against him
• Badlapur encounter: Bombay High Court says probe into death of sexual assault case accused should be fair, impartial
• India sharing info between Russia and Ukraine; hoping to usher in peace: Jaishankar
• India-China relationship key to Asia’s future, their parallel rises present unique problem: Jaishankar
• Centre estimates record foodgrains production; dip likely in pulses, oilseeds
• Rains lash Mumbai after long break; Vehicles and trains crawl, flights diverted
• Input on infiltration by 900 Kuki militants could not be substantiated on the ground, says Manipur security advisor
• AICF announces ₹3.2 crore rewards for Olympiad-winning teams
• Stop making ‘casual’ remarks in court that reveal communal or gender biases, Supreme Court tells judges
• Kangana withdraws remark calling for bringing back farm laws, expresses regret

International News

• Zelenskyy warns of nuclear risk, urges countries to accept his peace plan
• Israel tells its troops to prepare for a possible ground operation in Lebanon
• Lebanon’s Hezbollah says it launched rocket targeting Mossad base near Tel Aviv
• Joe Biden, Bill Clinton rally behind Bangladesh interim leader Yunus
• China test-fires intercontinental ballistic missile into Pacific Ocean amid Taiwan tension
• Harry Brook hits century as England keeps ODI series alive by ending Australia’s 14-match winning run

Headlines in Detail:

Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections: Voting concludes, voter turnout at 56%

The second phase of polling in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election on Wednesday (September 25, 2024) saw a voter turnout of 56%. The voting began at 7 a.m. amid tight security arrangements. The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi seat in the Jammu region recorded the overall highest turnout at 75.29%, followed closely by Poonch-Haveli (72.71%), Gulbgarh (ST) at 72.19% and Surankote (72.18%), according to official data at 5 p.m.

MUDA case: Special Court orders probe by Mysuru Lokayukta against CM Siddaramaiah, sets the stage for FIR against him

A Special Court here on Wednesday (September 25, 2024) ordered a Lokayukta police probe against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) site allotment case, setting the stage for filing of an FIR against him. The order of the Special Court Judge, Santhosh Gajanan Bhat, came a day after the High Court upheld the sanction granted by the Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot to conduct an investigation against Siddaramaiah on the allegations of illegalities in the allotment of 14 sites to his wife B M Parvathi by MUDA.

Badlapur encounter: Bombay High Court says probe into death of sexual assault case accused should be fair, impartial

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday (September 25, 2024) said the probe into the killing of Badlapur sexual assault case accused Akshay Shinde in a shootout should be carried out in a fair and impartial manner. The shootout could have been avoided if the police had tried to overpower Shinde first, the HC said, adding it was very hard to believe that he managed to seize a pistol from a police officer and open fire. Why the accused was shot in the head, and not on hand or legs first? the court asked.

India sharing info between Russia and Ukraine; hoping to usher in peace: Jaishankar

The Russia-Ukraine war is not going to be resolved on the battlefield, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Tuesday (September 24, 2024), adding that the government was speaking to both sides to see if it could do anything to hasten the end of the war and initiate serious negotiations between the two countries. “This is a kind of exploration that we have been doing. I mean, it’s not that we have a peace plan,” Mr. Jaishankar said during a discussion at the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York.

India-China relationship key to Asia’s future, their parallel rises present unique problem: Jaishankar

The India-China relationship is key to the future of Asia and it will influence not just the continent but the entire world, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said, noting that the “parallel rises” of the two countries present a “very unique problem” in today’s global politics. “I think the India-China relationship is key to the future of Asia. In a way, you can say that if the world is to be multi-polar, Asia has to be multi-polar. And therefore this relationship will influence not just the future of Asia, but in that way, perhaps the future of the world as well,” Mr. Jaishankar said in his address at an event titled ‘India, Asia and the World’ hosted by Asia Society and the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York on Tuesday (Sept. 24).

Centre estimates record foodgrains production; dip likely in pulses, oilseeds

The Union Agriculture Ministry has estimated a record production of foodgrains for the financial year 2023–24. The production of pulses, oil seeds, and sugarcane is likely to be lower than in the last fiscal, according to the fourth and final estimates of production of major agricultural crops for 2023-24 released in Delhi.

Rains lash Mumbai after long break; Vehicles and trains crawl, flights diverted

After a long gap, heavy rains battered Mumbai inundating low-lying areas, halting local trains in their tracks and forcing the diversion of at least 14 incoming flights. Some roads virtually turned into rivers of fast-moving water as several areas received more than 100 mm of rain in five hours of evening.

Input on infiltration by 900 Kuki militants could not be substantiated on the ground, says Manipur security advisor

Manipur security advisor Kuldiep Singh and Director-General of Police (DGP) Rajiv Singh said in a joint statemen that the input regarding the infiltration of 900 trained Kuki militants from Myanmar to carry out attacks on Meitei people on September 28 “could not be substantiated on ground.”

Zelenskyy warns of nuclear risk, urges countries to accept his peace plan

Addressing the 79th session of the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA), Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of the risk of a nuclear accident with Russia’s continued occupation of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant. Mr. Zelenskyy also suggested his plan for peace was the way forward as resolving the war at the U.N. was “impossible” because of Russia’s veto power at the Security Council.

Israel tells its troops to prepare for a possible ground operation in Lebanon

Israel is preparing for a possible ground operation in Lebanon, its army chief said as Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets across the border and a missile aimed at Tel Aviv that was the militant group's deepest strike yet.A ddressing troops on the northern border, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Israel's punishing airstrikes this week were designed to ”prepare the ground for your possible entry and to continue degrading Hezbollah.”

AICF announces ₹3.2 crore rewards for Olympiad-winning teams

The All India Chess Federation announced a whopping ₹3.2 crore in rewards for the historic 45th Olympiad-winning Indian teams during a felicitation ceremony. AICF president Nitin Narang made the announcement during the event. Each player from the winning teams will receive ₹25 lakh, while the captains of the men’s and women’s teams, Abhijeet Kunte and Srinath Narayanan, will be rewarded with ₹15 lakh each.

Stop making ‘casual’ remarks in court that reveal communal or gender biases, Supreme Court tells judges

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said a Karnataka High Court judge’s reference to a Muslim-dominated part of Bengaluru as ‘Pakistan’ was “fundamentally wrong under the Constitution”, while warning judges against making “casual observations” revealing communal bias or misogynism during judicial proceedings live-streamed across the country. A five-judge Special Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud was hearing a suo motu case on video clips featuring Justice V. Srishananda’s ‘Pakistan’ remark, and sexist banter addressed to a woman lawyer, during two separate judicial proceedings on June 6 and August 28, respectively.

Kangana withdraws remark calling for bringing back farm laws, expresses regret

BJP MP Kangana Ranaut on Wednesday (September 25, 2024) withdrew her remarks calling for bringing back the three farm laws that were repealed in 2021, and said those were her personal opinions and did not represent the party’s stand.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah says it launched rocket targeting Mossad base near Tel Aviv

Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Wednesday (September 25, 2024) it launched a rocket targeting Mossad headquarters near Tel Aviv, which it says was responsible for assassinating its leaders and blowing up pagers and walkie-talkies used by the group, in a new escalation. Warning sirens sounded in Israel’s economic capital Tel Aviv as a single surface-to-surface missile was intercepted by air defence systems after it was detected crossing from Lebanon, the Israeli military said.

Joe Biden, Bill Clinton rally behind Bangladesh interim leader Yunus

U.S. President Joe Biden met Tuesday (September 25, 2024) with Bangladesh’s interim leader Muhammad Yunus on the margins of the U.N.’s annual summit, in a show of support after an uprising toppled the country’s autocratic government. Mr. Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, later received high praise from former president Bill Clinton, who hailed their 40-year-long friendship and the global impact of the Bangladeshi’s pioneering microfinance loans. The 84-year-old economist was appointed as the country’s “Chief Advisor” in August following the bloody, student-led movement that ousted premier Sheikh Hasina, who has since fled the country.

China test-fires intercontinental ballistic missile into Pacific Ocean amid Taiwan tension

China test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday (September 25, 2024), stirring security concerns in the region already tense over Beijing’s territorial claims and rivalry with the U.S. The ICBM carried a dummy warhead and fell into a designated area of the sea, the Defence Ministry said in a statement posted to social media. The launch by the People’s Liberation Army’s Rocket Force was part of routine annual training, complied with international law and was not directed against any country or target, according to the statement.

Harry Brook hits century as England keeps ODI series alive by ending Australia’s 14-match winning run

England captain Harry Brook struck his first one-day international century before his team clinched a 46-run win by the DLS method to keep alive the series against Australia on Tuesday. Chasing 305 to win the third ODI, England was 254-4 — with Brook unbeaten on 110 — when heavy rain arrived in the day-nighter at Chester-le-Street. The teams didn’t get back on the field and England was well ahead of the run-rate.