A soldier and a civilian were killed, and two others injured in a bomb explosion in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the Iraqi military said on Tuesday.

A statement by the media office of the Baghdad Operations Command said that the incident occurred at 11:30 p.m. local time on Monday when an explosive device hidden inside a delivery box sent as a gift to a civilian detonated near a military checkpoint in the al-Shuala neighbourhood in northwestern Baghdad.

The blast killed a soldier and the delivery man, destroyed the delivery tuk-tuk and wounded a civilian who was waiting for the gift and a paramilitary fighter who was manning the checkpoint with the soldier, news agency, citing the statement.

Sporadic attacks still haunt Iraq despite an improvement in the security situation after the defeat of the extremist militants of the Islamic State group across the country in 2017.

Maruti Suzuki India on Tuesday said the automaker is geared up to launch its first electric vehicle (EV) with a range of 500 km per charge in January next year.

The leading automaker announced this on the sidelines of the annual session of industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in the national capital.

Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki India, said that the company will will have a high-specification EV with a high-range of the order of 500 km and powered by a 60 Kilowatt-hour battery.

Maruti Suzuki India will also export EVs to markets like Europe and Japan.

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald said the conversations are underway on Steve Smith's Test batting position ahead of the five-match Test series against India starting on November 22.

Smith, who was promoted to open the innings with Usman Khawaja after David Warner's retirement earlier this year, has had mixed outings. Smith has averaged 28.50 in four Tests, contrary to his overall average of 56.97. The right-handed batter has been the backbone of Australia's batting line-up for more than a decade but the dismal run at the top of the order is a worrying sign for the team.

“That's the question on everyone's lips, isn't it? Whilst we've got an eye to it, we haven't made any firm decisions around that one. There’s plenty of speculation around that. But in the background, I'd be lying if I said the conversation wasn't happening,”

Indian equity indices closed in the green on Tuesday due to a rally in the IT stocks.

At closing, Sensex was up 361 points or 0.44 per cent at 81,921 and Nifty was up 104 points or 0.42 per cent at 25,041.

Buying was also seen in the midcap and large-cap stocks. Nifty midcap 100 index was up 691 points or 1.19 per cent at 59,039 and Nifty smallcap 100 index was up 220 points or 1.15 per cent at 19,317.

Super typhoon Yagi and its subsequent floods and landslides in Vietnam's northern region have claimed at least 82 lives as of Tuesday early afternoon while 64 others remain missing, said the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The mountainous province of Cao Bang has suffered the most with 19 deaths and 36 missing,news agency reported.

Fatalities also include 19 from Lao Cai province, 22 from Yen Bai province, and nine from Quang Ninh province.

The first ever Drugs and Social Issues Taskforce meeting, targeting drugs and other related social problems in Fijian schools, has been held in Suva.

While addressing stakeholders, the Permanent Secretary for Education Selina Kuruleca said children are the future leaders, who must be protected and educated well to make good decisions, news agency reported.

Kuruleca said children took drugs for several reasons that included peer pressure, while some out of curiosity, and others just experiment using drugs,

She said these reasons can be a platform to analyse and diagnose the root cause and discuss possible strategies to address the drug use problem.

The permanent secretary also emphasised the need to protect Fijian children from this drug scourge and related health and social issues.

The number of registered micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) increased from 1.65 crore to 5 crore in the last one year, the government informed on Tuesday, thus bridging a large gap in formalisation of MSMEs.

According to Dr Rajneesh, additional secretary and development commissioner, Ministry of MSME, several MSMEs needed to register with the government, and it was estimated that there were around 6.5-7 crore MSMEs in the economy and only 1.65 crore MSMEs were registered till last year with the government.

“The government started concerted drive jointly with state governments and industry associations. As on date, the total number of registered MSMEs with the ministry in more than 1 year has increased from 1.65 crore to 5 crore bridging the large formalisation gap,” he said during the ‘FICCI CMSME National Conference 2024’ here.

Debris and stones fell from the hill on the pilgrims who were returning after visiting Baba Kedarnath in Uttarakhand, due to which 5 pilgrims died painfully, while 3 pilgrims were injured.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, in collaboration with the Observer Research Foundation (ORF), is hosting the Yerevan Dialogue from September 9-11, 2024 in the capital of Armenia.

This event will bring together a diverse group of stakeholders, including heads of state, academics, and students, to address pressing global issues ranging from climate change and conflict to technology and health.

The Dialogue will be inaugurated by Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, on September 10. Ararat Mirzoyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Armenia, will also participate in the inaugural session.

This gathering will feature representatives from over 60 countries, including ministers, former heads of state and government, journalists, and experts.

Heavy rain battered several districts of Odisha, disrupting the lives of thousands and prompting the evacuation of 1,700 people.

State Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari on Tuesday said flood situation is under control in the state and no casualties have been reported due to the deep depression-induced rain or landslide.

He said only one person had sustained injuries in the landslide.