NEWS

ITBP commandos, who evacuated Indian embassy staff and civilians from Afghanistan, have said the situation in the nation captured by the Taliban was very dangerous and there were threats of attack on the convoys, the Embassy premises or Indian diplomats. However, the ITBP managed to bring them to the airport safely.

“We got inputs from intelligence that the situation is gripping every minute. We were waiting at the Indian embassy in Kabul for official documentation to conclude. We were responsible to guard the staff, even a minute mistake would have caused a huge loss. But we ensured all of our staff fly back home safely,” said a commando who came back to India from war-hit Afghanistan.

Amid the ongoing evacuation from Afghanistan, Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Sunday that the problems faced by the Sikh and Hindu communities point to why the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act was necessary.

"Recent developments in our volatile neighbourhood & the way Sikhs & Hindus are going through a harrowing time are precisely why it was necessary to enact the Citizenship Amendment Act," Puri tweeted. On Sunday, 168 people including 28 Afghan nationals and two senators landed in India in a special Air Indian Air Force flight. The government has promised help to Hindus and Sikhs from Afghanistan, as well as its friends in the country who need help.

A day before the Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar-led all-party delegation from the state meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking a caste-based census, BJP strongly endorsed the move for a caste-wise head count .

Senior BJP leader from Bihar and Rajya Sabha MP Sushil Kumar Modi said the party has always supported the caste-based census and will be part of the all-party delegation meeting the PM on Monday. "BJP has never been against caste census, that's why we have been a part of the resolution passed in the legislative assembly and legislative council on this issue", Sushil Modi tweeted in what was seen as a move to highlight the ruling party's "in principle" agreement with the growing clamour for estimating the numerical strength of hundreds of castes

India saw its sharpest percentage fall in weekly Covid-19 cases in nearly two months with infections declining by 13.6% in the week ended Sunday, although testing was hit during this period due to festivals.

The country reported just over 2.2 lakh fresh cases in the week (August 16-22), down from 2,55,819 in the previous seven days. This was the first double-digit fall in weekly cases since the June 28-July 4 week, when the number had dipped by 11.4%.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, fresh cases dipped to a 166-day low of just around 22,500. A day after Onam, Kerala posted 10,402 new cases - its lowest daily tally in more than a month since 9,931 infections were detected on July 19.