New updates: IMA announces nationwide withdrawal of services by doctors on August 17 | India News

Renowned DRDO missile scientist Ram Narain Agarwal— also known as the Father of Agni Missiles, passed away today in Hyderabad at the age of 84. He played a crucial role in the long-range ballistic missile programme in the country and was the first Programme Director of the Agni missiles and was also known as Agni Man: DRDO officials

On Thursday, the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) resumed its strike in response to the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata. The decision to restart the protest came just hours after vandalism was reported at RG Kar Hospital, where the body of the trainee doctor was discovered.

FORDA had previously suspended its protests on August 13 following a meeting with Union Health Minister JP Nadda in New Delhi.

The Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association has called for a day-long cease-work on Friday to protest the vandalism at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

In a statement, the association denounced any attempts to conceal evidence related to the rape-murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor and demanded justice for the victim’s family.

“We also demand a high-level impartial probe into alleged attacks on nursing students and medics by miscreants on the intervening night of August 14-15,” JUTA general secretary Partha Pratim Roy told PTI on Thursday.

To emphasise these demands, JUTA will observe a full day cease-work on August 16, alongside a sit-in from 1 pm to 3 pm at the administrative building, Aurobindo Bhavan.

Coincidentally, SUCI (Communists) has also called for a 12-hour general strike in the state on the same day, addressing the same issue.

A new round of peace talks aimed at ending the Gaza war started on Thursday, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt met with an Israeli delegation in Qatar as the Palestinian death toll from the 10-month-old war climbed past 40,000, according to Gaza health authorities.

International mediators were set to hold a new round of talks Thursday aimed at halting the Israel-Hamas war and securing the release of scores of hostages, with a potential deal seen as the best hope of heading off an even larger regional conflict.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt were to meet with an Israeli delegation in Qatar as the Palestinian death toll from the 10-month-old war climbed past 40,000, according to local health authorities. Hamas, which is not expected to participate directly, accuses Israel of adding new demands to a previous proposal that had US and international support and to which Hamas had agreed in principle.

A cease-fire in Gaza would likely calm tensions across the region. Diplomats hope it would persuade Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah to hold off on retaliating for the killing of a top Hezbollah commander in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut and of Hamas’ top political leader in an explosion in Tehran.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address members of the Indian-American community at a mega diaspora event here next month when he visits the US for the high-level UN General Assembly session.

The community event will be held on September 22 at the 16,000-seater Nassau Coliseum in Long Island.

Modi is scheduled to address the high-level UN General Assembly session here on September 26, according to a provisional list of speakers issued by the UN.

Sources told PTI that preparations are in full swing for the community event in Long Island, coming 10 years after Modi had addressed a massive community gathering at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York in September 2014. This happened just months after he had first taken charge as Prime Minister and had visited the city to attend the high-level annual General Assembly session.

In 2019, Modi addressed the mega community event Howdy Modi’ at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, where he was joined by then-US president Donald Trump.

Odisha’s Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) on Thursday advised fishermen to avoid venturing into the sea on August 16 and 17 due to a potential low-pressure formation in the Bay of Bengal, officials said.

In a letter to the principal secretary and director of fisheries and animal resources development department, as well as to district collectors in Ganjam, Puri, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Bhadrak, and Balasore, the SRC noted the persistence of a cyclonic circulation over South Bangladesh and adjacent Gangetic West Bengal, extending up to 4.5 km above sea level and tilting southwestwards.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has indicated that this system could lead to the formation of a low-pressure area over Gangetic West Bengal in the next 24 hours.

Under its influence, along with strong monsoon currents, squally weather with gusty winds reaching speeds of 40 to 50 kmph is expected over the North West Bay of Bengal on Friday and Saturday, it added.

“In this connection, fishermen may be advised not to venture into north west Bay of Bengal on August 16 and 17,” the SRC said, adding that fishermen out at sea are advised to return to the coast.

Rain-induced landslides and flash floods in several parts of the Himachal Pradesh since the past week have thrown life out of gear, blocking over 120 roads, uprooting trees and inundating low-lying areas, according to officials.

A total of 126 roads, including two national highways, in the state are closed for vehicular movement, officials said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the local meteorological office issued an ‘orange’ alert for heavy to very heavy rains on Thursday and a ‘yellow’ alert for heavy rain in isolated parts of the state till August 21.

Kangra, Sirmaur and Bilaspur districts received heavy rains overnight, with some streams overflowing, trees uprooting and roads being waterlogged in Kangra.

According to rainfall data recorded from Wednesday 5 pm to Thursday 9 am, Kangra was the wettest in the state recording 156 mm rains, followed by 150.8 mm in Dharamshala, 143 mm in Palampur, 120 mm in Nahan , 78.2 mm in Naina Devi , 69 mm in Jot, 67.4 mm in Dehra Gopipur, 48 mm in Poanta Sahib and 37.6 mm in Slapper.

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh expressed sorrow over the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at a medical college in West Bengal’s Kolkata. “After 78 years of independence and in the 75th year of the implementation of the Constitution, such an incident has happened in this country, especially in the land where people worship Maa Durga. This land has a long and rich history of equality between men and women, which is why Prime Minister Modi expressed pain from the Red Fort,” he said.

The CPI, an ally of the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala, on Thursday said that in view of the landslides that hit Wayanad district, any projects that may impact the environment requires a second thought. The statement was made by CPI State Secretary Binoy Viswam who said that the Western Ghats running through Kerala are very fragile and, therefore, scientific studies need to be carried out before going ahead with any proposed tunnel projects there.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate claimed that Prime Minister Modi is a person with a “petty mindset” and he keeps giving proof of that himself. “It is futile to expect big things from small-minded people. Narendra Modi certainly showed his frustration by making Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi sit in the fifth row during the Independence Day celebrations, but this does not make any difference to Rahul Gandhi and he will keep raising issues of the people as he has been doing,” she said in a video statement on X.

Thailand’s populist Pheu Thai party on Thursday said it will nominate its party leader, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, in a Parliament vote for the country’s new leader after former Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin was removed by a court order over an ethical violation. Paetongtarn is the youngest daughter of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who is seen as force behind Pheu Thai.