Violence continued in strife-torn Manipur for the second day on Saturday after an elderly Meitei community resident was killed and in ‘retaliation’ four Kuki militants were gunned down in the Jiribam district.

The fresh incident of violence took place in Serou, Moljol, Rashidpur and Nungchappi villages in Jiribam district, adjoining southern Assam.

Intermittent firing continued until 10 am on Saturday.

The situation remains extremely tense as the Jiribam district is the new region of armed hostilities further escalating the ethnic conflict between the non-tribal Meitei and tribal Kuki-Zo communities.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay secured a record Rs 700 crore as an annual grant for research and development in 2023-24.

This is the highest funds received in the last three years. In 2022-23, the institute received Rs 576 crore, and Rs 502 crore in 2021-22.

The R&D funds are a combination of those received from government and non-government agencies. While funding from private agencies makes up 35 per cent of the grant, the rest is constituted by government agencies.

“IIT Bombay has made concerted efforts to align its R&D focus with the national goal of achieving technological self-reliance. The Institute has set up several large multidisciplinary research centres to address complex problems in a holistic way involving researchers from different academic units,” the Institute said, in a statement.

The death toll in the road accident in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras has risen to 17 as two more persons died, officials said.

The deceased included 12 people from a family.

Fifteen others were also injured in the accident and are being treated at hospitals in Aligarh and Agra.

The accident took place around 6 p.m. on Friday when a roadways bus collided with a van on the Agra-Aligarh National Highway.

In the early hours of Saturday, two coaches of Indore-Jabalpur Overnight Express derailed near Jabalpur Railway Station in Madhya Pradesh.

The train was en route from Indore and derailed about 150 metres from platform number six of Jabalpur station at around 5 a.m.

No casualties or injuries have been reported, as the train was moving at minimal speed at the time of the derailment.

Railway officials are currently investigating the cause of the incident, though no official explanation has been given yet.

This derailment follows a series of similar incidents in recent past.

Five members of a family in Khandwa district of Madhya Pradesh were attacked by a wolf, officials said.

The incident took place at 2:30 a.m. on Friday in Malgaon village in tribal-dominated Khalwa tehsil, nearly 20 km from the district headquarters, Harsud Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Sandeep Vaskale told the media.

"After the family started screaming, neighbours and others arrived and chased away the wolf. A woman has sustained wounds on her hands while four men have been bitten on the hands. They are being treated in Khandwa Medical College Hospital," the SDOP said.

Congress' Andhra Pradesh Congress President Y. S. Sharmila Reddy on Friday appealed to the Indian Railways to supply bottled water from the Rail Neer plant in Visakhapatnam to the people of Vijayawada, who are deprived of potable water due to unprecedented rains and floods.

She wrote a letter to Railways Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, urging him to help the people of Vijayawada which contributes significantly to the revenues of railways.

Sharmila wrote that Vijayawada experienced an unprecedented rainfall of approximately 40 cm over two days, which has caused extensive damage. The rivulets and drains in and around the city are overflowing, leading to widespread inundation and isolation of numerous colonies, she said.

Kenyan President William Ruto on Friday ordered investigations into a school fire that killed 17 children and left 13 others with serious burn injuries in central Kenya.

Ruto, who is attending the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit in Beijing, said those responsible will be held to account for the fire that erupted at the Hillside Endarasha Academy in Nyeri on Thursday night,news agency reported.

"I instruct the relevant authorities to thoroughly investigate this horrific incident. Those responsible will be held to account," Ruto wrote in a post on social media after a phone call with the school's head.

The president also directed government agencies to mobilize resources to support those affected.

"This is heartbreaking; it is devastating," said Ruto as he prayed for a speedy recovery for the survivors and pledged support to the affected families.

In the wake of the recent floods and the devastation caused by them, Vadodara’s workers’ unions have jointly appealed to the Gujarat government for compensation for the damages suffered.

The floods were caused by heavy rainfall and water release from the Ajwa reservoir into the Vishwamitri River.

The appeal, submitted to the Chief Minister and Labour Minister of Gujarat, highlights the extensive damage workers faced due to waterlogging and calls for immediate financial relief.

According to Narendra Rawat, President of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) Vadodara, the floods submerged numerous homes in the city, and workers were particularly hard hit.

A Data Entry Operator (DEO) attached to R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, who was also working as the Personal Assistant (PA) of the institute's former and controversial principal Sandip Ghosh, was detained by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday afternoon.

On Friday morning, ED officials in connection with the financial irregularities case linked to the institute conducted raid and search operations at multiple locations, which included DEO Prasun Chattopadhyay's residence at Subhasgram in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district.

After four hours of raid and search operations, the ED officials detained Chattopadhyay and took him to the agency's office here.

Civic volunteer Sanjay Roy, the sole arrested accused so far in the case of ghastly rape and murder of a woman doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College & Hospital, will be presented at a special court in Kolkata virtually and not physically on Friday afternoon.

On August 23, the special court had remanded Roy to judicial custody for 14 days. That period is getting over on Friday following which he will be presented at the court.

However, considering the security aspect amid rising and continuing public rage in the rape and murder case, the prison authorities have decided to present him virtually.