Highlights: PM Modi welcomes US joining International Solar Alliance

Ministers of Brazil, South Africa, India & China representing the BASIC Group met at COP26 in Glasgow, UK today. The meeting was chaired by India's Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav. In a joint statement, ministers of the countries said they and other developing countries have made the first move on climate change and "expect developed countries to show leadership and respond with a matching progression of effort".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday welcomed the US joining the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and said this will further strengthen the alliance in its shared quest of harnessing solar energy for a sustainable planet.

The death toll due to alleged consumption of spurious liquor in Bihar's Muzaffarpur has risen to 6 after one more person died on Wednesday, reported news agency ANI.

At least three fresh cases of Zika virus have been reported in Kanpur, pushing the total tally to 91, according to news agency ANI. 

The United States of America has become the 101st member country to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA). "In a big boost to accelerate global adoption of solar energy, John Kerry, US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, announced at the UNFCCC COP26 today (Wednesday) that the United States of America (USA) has joined the International Solar Alliance (ISA) as a member country," news agency PTI quoted ISA as saying in a statement.

The wrestler who was shot dead in Sonepat is a namesake of national wrestler Nisha Dahiya.

“Wrestler shot dead in Sonepat is newcomer Nisha Dahiya, not U-23 world championship bronze-medallist,” news agency PTI reported the coach, who travelled with Indian team, as saying.

“This Nisha Dahiya (shot dead) & medalist wrestler Nisha Dahiya are 2 different people. The medalist wrestler belongs to Panipat & is at an event now,” news agency ANI quoted Sonipat SP, Rahul Sharma, as saying. 

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Minutes after reports of the killing of Nisha Dahiya emerged, the national wrestler in a video message rebutted the news and said she was in Gonda to play senior nationals.

At least two people were injured in a grenade attack in Jammu & Kashmir's Eidgah area, people familiar with the development confirmed on Wednesday.

West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Mujamdar expels Surajit Saha from the party with immediate effect, for “breaching organisational discipline”, reported news agency ANI.

BJP MP Manoj Tiwari reached Yamuna ghat to perform the rituals of Chhath Puja on Wednesday. "We will not follow the DDMA order. No one can stop us from performing our rituals. DDMA's work is to clean the Yamuna and not to ban people from going there," he told ANI.

Union minister of health Mansukh Mandaviya has convened a meeting on Thursday morning with health ministers of all the states and Union Territories on campaign 'Har Ghar Dastak', reports ANI. 

The government is targeting to complete maximum single and second dose vaccination coverage.

Dean of Gandhi Medical College Dr Jitendra Shukla, Hamidia Hospital superintendent Dr Lokendra Dave and Kamla Nehru Hospital director Dr KK Dubey have been removed from their posts after fire tragedy at Bhopal's Kamla Nehru Hospital, reported news agency ANI.

Sub engineer of CPA (Electricity wing) Awdhesh Bhadauria has been suspended.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes has issued refunds of over ₹1,15,917 crore to more than 98.90 lakh taxpayers from April 1, 2021 to November 8, 2021, news agency ANI quoted the Income Tax department as saying on Wednesday. 

“Income tax refunds of ₹36,000 crore have been issued in 97,12,911 cases & corporate tax refunds of ₹79,917 crore have been issued in 1,77,184 cases,” the department further said.

The Congress' Maharashtra unit has announced a statewide agitation over inflation, petrol-diesel price hikes and policies that are weakening the common man financially, news agency ANI quoted party leader Nana Patole as saying on Wednesday. 

Various agitations will be held from November 14 to 19, he was further quoted as saying. 

India on Wednesday issued consensus statement on Afghanistan. In the statement, India expressed deep concern over the suffering of the people of Afghanistan arising from the security situation in the country. It also condemned the terrorist attacks in Kunduz, Kandahar and Kabul. 

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday announced an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh each from PMNRF for the next of kin of those who lost their lives in an accident in Rajasthan. Injured would be given ₹50,000 each

Earlier in the day, a truck collided head-on with a bus in Rajasthan's Barmer district, leaving five people dead and 22 others injured, news agency PTI reported police as saying.

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has strengthened facilities for its soldiers along the disputed border with India ahead of winter in anticipation of “small frictions”, a state media report said on Wednesday. Read More

Nykaa founder Falguni Nayar on Wednesday became India's seventh woman billionaire and the wealthiest self-made billionaire in an ongoing initial public offering (IPO) boom which saw the e-commerce giant making a blockbuster debut on Dalal Street, its parent company FSN floating on the Mumbai stock exchange. Moments after the markets opened on Wednesday, Nykaa shares were being listed at ₹2,018 with around 80 per cent premium. Read More

Hridaya Banerjee, also known as Harshada Dinanath Redkar, sister-in-law of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal director Sameer Wankhede, submitted a letter at Mumbai’s Goregaon police station on Tuesday demanding that an FIR should be filed against political analyst Nishant Verma and Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik for criminal intimidation.

The Congress-led Chhattisgarh government has allowed cinema halls and multiplexes to operate with full capacity in the capital city of Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur and Kawardha districts amid an improvement in the overall coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic situation. Read more

National Security Adviser Ajit Doval chairs the regional security dialogue on Afghanistan in New Delhi.  The meeting is being attended by NSA's counterparts from five Central Asian countries, along with Russia and Iran. 

US journalist held in Myanmar charged with sedition, terrorism, news agency AFP reported qouting lawyer. 

India and 96 countries have agreed to mutually recognise Covid-19 vaccination certificates, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, according to a statement on Tuesday. Read More

Nasa is extending its target date for sending astronauts back to the moon to 2025 at the earliest, the US space agency's chief said on Tuesday, stretching out by at least a year the timeline pronounced under former President Donald Trump. Read More