The construction of a solar panel plant in Kendal, Central Java, has reached 90 per cent completion, and operations are expected to begin by the end of 2024, with a first-phase production capacity of one gigawatt peak.

This solar panel plant is being developed by PT Daya Sukses Makmur Selaras, a subsidiary of Sinar Mas Group, with an investment of more than $100 million, news agency reported.

"This factory development aims to support the government's target of 178 gigawatt of installed solar panels by 2060," said Djoko Siswanto, Secretary of the National Energy Council, on Thursday evening.

Ferry Salman, Managing Director of Sinar Mas, added that the factory's capacity will be increased further over the next two years, with a peak of three gigawatt.

The Indian senior men's football team will face Vietnam in a one-off friendly match on October 12 following the withdrawal of Lebanon from the tri-nation friendly tournament, at the Thien Truong Stadium in Nam Định, Vietnam, with points counting towards the FIFA Rankings.

As per the original schedule, India were supposed to face Vietnam on October 9 and Lebanon on October 12. After Lebanon's withdrawal, the All-India Football Federation requested the Vietnam Football Federation to reschedule the Vietnam-India match to October 12, which was accepted by the VFF.

India will assemble in Kolkata on October 5 and have a training session on October 6. Manolo Márquez and his squad will travel to Vietnam on October 7, where they will continue training.

Indian equity market closed in the deep red on Friday following conflict in the Middle East.

Indian investors have lost over Rs 14 lakh crore in the last two trading sessions as all listed companies' market cap on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) skewed to Rs 461 lakh crore which was earlier Rs 475 lakh crore.

At closing, Sensex was down 808 points or 0.98 per cent at 81,688 and Nifty was down 235 points or 0.93 per cent at 25,014.

M&M, Bajaj Finance, Nestle, Asian Paints, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement, ITC, HUL, Power Grid, HDFC Bank, Reliance, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank and NTPC were the top losers. Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Tata Motors, Axis Bank, TCS and SBI were the top gainers.

Leading the Friday prayers from Tehran's Grand Mosalla Mosque, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed Iran's attack on Israel earlier this week, calling it "completely legal and legitimate work".

Khamenei delivered a part of his sermon in Arabic as a message for the entire Islamic world, "especially Lebanon and Palestine", as thousands gathered at the venue to hear him and also attend the commemoration ceremony of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah who was killed in Israeli Air Force's strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, last week.

"The brilliant work of our armed forces two or three nights ago was completely legal and legitimate work," the Iranian Supreme Leader told the huge gathering which also included the country's President, Masoud Pezeshkian.

A mild earthquake, measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale, was felt in the Manipur-Nagaland border area on Friday, officials said.

A Manipur disaster management official said that the quake was felt in the state's northern Ukhrul district and adjoining Nagaland. The mountainous district also shares a border with Myanmar.

According to the officials, there has been no report of any casualty of life or damage to property due to the quake.

Ukhrul was recently wracked by violence when residents of two Naga villages clashed over a boundary dispute, leaving four people dead and over two dozen injured.

According to the National Centre for Seismology (NCS), the quake struck at a depth of 30 km from the surface. At least one state in the mountainous northeastern region experiences earthquakes every week with most of the tremors varying measuring 3 to 4 on the Richter scale. Successive earthquakes, mostly mild to moderate, in the mountainous northeastern states, especially in Assam, Mizoram and Manipur, have kept the authorities worried, forcing the public and private builders to build quake-proof structures.

Jai Siya Ram Kala Manch, Mandi Gobindgarh organised Ram leela on the eve of first navratra last evening in Dusehra ground here. Dr Zora Singh Chancellor, Dr Tajinder kaur Pro-chancellor Desh Bhagat Univesity was chief guest.The inauguration of a Ram Leela program by a university chancellor and pro-chancellor is a significant event that highlights the cultural and artistic heritage of India.

BMW Group India on Friday said it posted best-ever luxury car sales with 10 per cent growth in the country in the January–September period this year.

In the first nine months, 10,556 cars (BMW and MINI) and 5,638 motorcycles (BMW Motorrad) have been delivered. BMW sold 10,056 units and MINI 500 units.

In the luxury electric vehicle (EV) segment, BMW Group India delivered 725 units of fully-electric BMW and MINI cars in the reported period as BMW i7 was the largest selling BMW EV.

The luxury class vehicles contributed 17 per cent to total sales and BMW X7 was the highest-selling model. Launch of new exclusive editions such as BMW X7 Signature heightened the opulence of the segment, said the company.

Vikram Pawah, President and CEO, BMW Group India, said the highest-ever car deliveries during January to September this year reflects the synergy between a successful strategy and an unparalleled customer experience.

Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned German and Austrian ambassadors over their countries' summoning of Iranian envoys to protest Tehran's missile attack against Israel, reported their official news agency IRNA.

During talks with the envoys, Majid Nili Ahmadabadi, director for Western European nations at Iran's Foreign Ministry, said that Iran was completely determined to defend its security and that Iran's military action against Israel was taken in line with the principle of legitimate defence under Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, news agency reported.

Condemning certain European countries' positions in support of Israel, he said that "we would not have witnessed such disasters (in West Asia)" if the European sides had stopped Israel's "massacre machine and genocide" by taking effective and practical actions, including ceasing their financial and arms supports in a timely manner.

More than 5 million people in 16 countries in Africa have been impacted by floods so far this year.

In Africa, floods have reached catastrophic levels, with Chad, Niger and Nigeria among the hardest hit countries accounting for more than 80 per cent of people affected, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Thursday.

More than 1,000 people have been killed, and at least 740,000 people have been displaced, the office said. In addition, hundreds of thousands of homes, more than 100 schools, and dozens of health facilities have been damaged. Nearly 500,000 acres of farmland have been affected, news agency reported.

OCHA said that without sufficient support, the floods threaten to hinder the reopening of schools, with the new school year set to begin this month. The floods could also aggravate existing food insecurity, particularly in Chad and Niger.

The death toll from Israeli airstrikes on different areas in Lebanon over the past 24 hours reached 37 while injuries stood at 151, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported.

The ministry said that nine people were killed and 24 others injured in Lebanon's capital, Beirut, news agency reported.

It added that two people were killed and 15 others injured in Mount Lebanon, while nine people were injured in the Baalbek Hermel governorate.

The ministry's report noted that two people were killed and 14 others wounded in the Bekaa region, while 19 were killed and 52 injured in the Nabatieh governorate.

It added that five people were killed and 37 injured in the South governorate.