‘Constructive meetings’ with Union ministers, says top European official

All tourists stuck in Batal, Lahaul-Spiti in Himachal Pradesh have been resuced by the local administration, reports ANI.

“We have rescued all stranded tourists. Local people and Army all played an important role. We worked as a team and overcame all challenges and completed it,” said Mahendra Pratap Singh, Kaza SDM.

Four people were dead and around 12 were injured in an accident near Navle bridge in Pune, reports ANI. The injured have been rushed to a nearby hospital. More details awaited.

Executive VP of the European green deal Frans Timmermans said that the he had constructive meetings with Union ministers Bhupender Yadav, RK Singh, S Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman and Hardeep Singh Puri “on COP26 and opportunities in renewable energy, green hydrogen, clean transport, smart cities, circular economy and sustainable finance,” reports ANI.

Director general of the CRPF said that the situation in Kashmir valley is under control and the forces are “more than equipped” to handle the situation there, reports ANI. 

Delhi reported 38 new Covid-19 cases and one fatality in the last 24 hours, taking the total cases to 1,439,526 and the death toll to 25,091, reports ANI. 

Tamil Nadu logged 1,152 new Covid-19 cases and 19 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the state's tally to 2,692,949 and the death toll to 35,987, reports ANI. 

UK foreign secretary Elizabeth Truss said that the Covid-19 vaccination was a great area of collaboration with India pointing at the AstraZeneca shot being produced at the Serum Institute of India. 

“There's so much more we can do in areas like sharing our expertise on the environment ahead of COP26,” Truss said, reports ANI.

Maharashtra logged 1,632 new Covid-19 cases and 40 deaths as the state's tally reached 6,599,850 and the death toll climbed to 139,965. 

Mumbai contributed 420 new cases and five deaths to the state's tally.  The city has so far seen 753,653 cases and 16,202 fatalities.

Punjab chief minister Charanjit Channi urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to relook and restore the status quo that existed before the Centre's notification of October 11, 2021, so as to enable the BSF and the Punjab Police to work together against anti-national forces, reports ANI citing Channi's office.

With 378 new Covid-19 cases and 11 deaths in the last 24 hours, Karnataka's tally reached 2,985,227 cases and the death toll climbed to 37,995, reports ANI.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) summoned actress Ananya Panday for questioning her again on October 25 in connection with the Aryan Khan drugs case, reports ANI.

The ministry of defence signed a contract with the US Government under the foreign military sale (FMS) for procurement of MK 54 Torpedo and Expendable (Chaff and Flares) for the Indian Navy at a cost of ₹423 Crores, reports ANI.

Ananya Panday, along with her father Chunky Panday left the NCB office after being questioned for nearly four hours.

UK foreign secretary Elizabeth Truss to meet external affairs minister S Jaishankar and environment minister Bhupender Yadav in Delhi shortly, reports ANI.

Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat said “future inductions must aim at introducing new disruptive technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, big data analysis, quantum computing, hypersonic weapons, robotics, nanotechnology, autonomous unmanned system and directed energy weapons to remain ahead of our adversaries,” reports ANI.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration has issued fresh Covid-19 related guidelines to regulate pilgrims at Vaishno Devi shrine, reports ANI. 

Assam police said that four people were arrested for drug trading and a car, ₹1 crore have been recovered, reports ANI. 

The CBI arrested six more accused in an ongoing case related to the derogatory posts on social media against judges and the judiciary, reports ANI.

The CISF apologised to actor Sudhaa Chandran after her complaint of being stopped at airport for prosthetic limb, reports ANI.

"We'll examine why the lady personnel concerned requested Sudhaa Chandran to remove prosthetics and assure that no inconvenience is caused to travelling passengers," CISF said.

The Congress has appointed Harish Chaudhary as the party's in-charge for Punjab and Chandigarh after relieving Harish Rawat.

PM Narendra Modi to interact with beneficiaries and stakeholders of Aatmanirbhar Bharat Swayampurna Goa programme tomorrow (October 23), reports ANI. 

Actress Ananya Panday reached NCB office along with her father Chunky Panday at Ballard Estate in Mumbai.

The Saket court on Friday denied bail to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student Sharjeel Imam in a case related to alleged inflammatory and instigating speeches during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Delhi.

Authorities in China have started offering booster shots against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Beijing and surrounding regions, four months before the capital city hosts the Winter Olympics, local media reports said. Read more

The Congress party has called a meeting of its top office bearers and state unit heads on October 26.