A defective helicopter being airlifted from Uttarakhand's Kedarnath to Gauchar by an MI-17 chopper accidentally fell from mid-air as the towing rope snapped this morning.

The helicopter, which was operated by a private company, crashed near the Mandakini River in Lincholi. An official said no one was injured in the accident, which was caught on camera.

"Today, the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) rescue team received information through police in Lincholi that a faulty helicopter of a private company, which was being towed by another helicopter from Shri Kedarnath helipad to Gochar helipad, fell into the river at Lincholi near Tharu Camp. The SDRF team has reached the spot and relief work is going on. There has been no loss of life in this incident," the news agency quoted.

The chopper was earlier involved in ferrying passengers to Kedarnath temple.

Allrounder Samit Dravid, son of former India head coach and captain Rahul Dravid, has been named in India's Under-19 squad for the first time, for the multi-format home series against Australia Under-19 in September and October.

India U19 will face Australia U19 in three 50-over matches in Puducherry on September 21, 23, and 26, followed by two four-day games in Chennai beginning on September 30 and October 7.

Uttar Pradesh middle-order Mohamed Amaan has been named captain of the 50-over squad, while Madhya Pradesh's Soham Patwardhan will lead the team for the four-day matches.

Dravid recently participated in his first senior men's T20 competition, the Maharaja T20 Trophy in Karnataka, as a member of the Mysuru Warriors squad. Batting in the middle order, Dravid scored 82 runs at a strike rate of 114 across seven innings, though he wasn't called upon to bowl his medium pace. Mysuru Warriors are set to face Hubli Tigers in the tournament's semi-final on Saturday.

The record all-time high level of India’s forex reserves will create external sector resilience and boost economy across sectors, industry experts said on Saturday, as the country’s forex reserves surged $7.023 billion to touch a new high of $681.68 billion in the week ended August 23.

Sanjeev Agrawal, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that with the support of strategic policy initiatives and a diligent monetary policy stance, the forex has reached a record all-time high, amid global economic headwinds and deepening geopolitical uncertainties.

“This will boost India's economy on a faster development trajectory, strengthening its position internationally, drawing in foreign investments, and promoting domestic trade and industry,” Agrawal noted.

The overall forex reserves had jumped $4.546 billion to $674.664 billion in the previous reporting week. The previous all-time high for the overall reserves was recorded at $674.919 billion as of August 2.

Gold reserves increased by $893 million to $60.997 billion during the week.

As per Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), cyclone Asna posed no direct threat to coastal areas, however, strong winds and torrential rains in several cities of Sindh and Balochistan are expected on Saturday.

Close to two dozen people were killed on Friday as heavy monsoon rains caused widespread devastation across Pakistan. The coastal regions are now bracing for the impact of the cyclone.

Loss of life and property has happened due to the collapse of the roof of a home, landslide due to torrential rain, ruptured sewers, breached dykes and countless mud houses getting swept away. People were also swept away while crossing seasonal streams in certain parts of the country.

According to the PMD advisory, the cyclone has moved westward during the last six hours and was about 120km south of Karachi, 180km southwest of Thatta, 250km southeast of Ormara and 440km east-southeast of Gwadar.

Hezbollah military structures and launchers in the Tayr Harfa area in south Lebanon were attacked after the forces detected several militants entering the region, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The Israel Air Forces attacked the military structures and launchers, allegedly, belonging to Hezbollah, late on Friday, media reported.

It may be recalled that the air forces have also launched attacks on Hezbollah rockets, launching strikes at Maryamine and Yaroun in southern Lebanon during Friday daytime.

Arab media has also reported that IDF soldiers attacked the Tayr Harfa area after several Hezbollah militants were identified at the compound which was the military compound of the Iran-backed militant organisation.

Local media reports suggest that the IDF have struck Hezbollah targets in the Chebba town of southern Lebanon. There are also reports that Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel and landed in the Upper Galilee. Around 40 rockets were launched in the area.

Surpassing world’s leading digital payments platforms, India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) processed nearly Rs 81 lakh crore transactions in the April-July period this year, which is a staggering 37 per cent increase (year-on-year).

According to latest data by global payments hub Paysecure, UPI processed 3,729.1 transactions per second — a 58 per cent surge over the 2,348 transactions every second registered in 2022— surpassing China’s Alipay, Paypal and Brazil’s PIX in the number of transactions, the data showed.

In July, UPI transactions crossed Rs 20.6 lakh crore — the highest-ever during a month. The value of UPI transactions processed remained above Rs 20 lakh crore for three consecutive months.

Paysecure examined 40 of the top alternative payment methods from around the world to reveal this data.

The findings showed that India leads the world in digital transactions, with over 40 per cent of payments being made digitally, and UPI being used for a majority of them.

At least six people were killed and 59 others injured in a Russian strike on Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials have said.

Russia launched an attack with guided bombs from the Belgorod region, striking five locations, including a 12-story apartment building, Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Synegubov wrote on Telegram on Friday.

Among the victims was a 14-year-old girl, he noted.

The governor added that 20 of those injured are in either serious or critical condition.

"Occupiers killed a child right on the playground," Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov said in a statement on Telegram.

Rescuers and emergency personnel are working at the scenes of the attacks, said the State Service for Emergencies.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin visited the corporate offices of tech giants Apple, Google, and Microsoft in an effort to foster investment and collaboration opportunities.

During his USA visit aimed at attracting investments to Tamil Nadu, the Chief Minister termed his visits as 'awe-inspiring.' He engaged in discussions covering a range of partnership possibilities.

Stalin expressed his determination to strengthen these partnerships, aiming to elevate Tamil Nadu to a significant growth engine in Asia.

"An awe-inspiring visit to the offices of Apple, Google and Microsoft. Discussed various opportunities and exciting partnerships. Determined to strengthen these partnerships and make Tamil Nadu one of the foremost growth engines of Asia!," CM Stalin posted on X on Saturday.

After making history by becoming the first Indian female sprinter to win a medal in the Paralympic Games, Preethi Pal said she is still unable to believe that she won a medal and thanked her coach and family for the support which eventually helped her claim bronze in Women's 100 - T35 on Friday.

The 23-year-old Preethi finished third in the final with a time of 14.21 seconds, which is also her personal best. China's World Record-holder Zhou Xia won gold in 13.58 seconds while her compatriot Guo Qianqian took silver in 13.74 seconds.

A bronze medallist in the World Para Athletics Championship 2024, Preethi has won gold medals in both the Indian Open Para Athletics International Championship (2024) and the National Para Athletics Championship (2024. She had narrowly missed a place on the podium in the 2022 Asian Para Games at Hangzhou last year finishing fourth.

However, on Friday the 23-year-old who hails from Muzaffarnagar, U.P, could not be denied her place in the spotlight and fulfilled her dream, coming up with a superb performance as she achieved her best timing ever to win the bronze medal.

"It has not sunk in till now that I have won the medal as this was my first Paralympic Games. I had never expected to win a medal in my first Paralympic Games," said Preethi after finishing third in her event.

With a significant improvement in the overall flood situation in Tripura, around 86 per cent of the worst affected people who took shelter in 558 relief camps across the state, have returned to their homes since the last one week, an official said here on Friday.

Disaster management department officials said that around 17,940 flood-affected people were sheltered in 329 relief camps on Friday compared to 1.28 lakh people including women and children who were in 558 camps on August 23.

According to officials, the terrible floods since August 19 in Tripura claimed at least 32 lives and injured many, besides affecting over 17 lakh people in all the eight districts of the state.

Out of the 32 deaths, 20 were killed in landslides and house collapses in different places, while 12 died due to drowning.

Due to the heavy rains and floods, the state government closed all the educational institutions from August 21 and these were reopened from Tuesday (August 27).