Syria’s Army accused Israeli warplanes of hitting one of its positions, killing two people in an attack that a monitor said targeted a site where the regime allegedly produces chemical weapons.
The strike hit a training camp and a branch of the Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC), an institution that Washington and former Israeli officials accuse of helping develop the sarin gas used in a deadly attack on the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhun in April.
Trump Offers to Mediate in Qatar Crisis
US President Donald Trump offered to mediate in the crisis between Qatar and its Arab neighbours.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt announced in June they had cut diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar, accusing it of having ties with Shiite Iran and fundamentalist Islamist groups.
An environmental organisation revealed that the Hector's dophin population, which lives only in the waters of New Zealand, has reduced by 80 per cent in the last 50 years.
It is estimated that there are currently only some 9,000 Hector's dolphins (Cephalorhynchus hectori) left, after a drastic population decrease from the 50,000 estimated in 1970, which has placed it on the list of endangered species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The government allowed import of 3 lakh tonnes of raw sugar at concessional duty of 25% to augment domestic supplies ahead of the festive season. It had hiked import duty on sugar in July to 50% from 40% to curb dumping of the commodity in India as international prices fell.
SEBI Slaps Fine on PACL
SEBI imposed a fine of Rs. 2,423 crore on PACL Ltd. and its four directors for illegal fund mobilisation through various schemes that were used by the group to garner over Rs. 49,000 crore from the public.
Paytm to Sell Insurance Products
Payment bank Paytm can now sell life insurance, health and general insurance products.
The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India has granted corporate agency license for One97 Communications, the parent of Paytm. The Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba-backed Paytm, has been granted license under the composite category.
Sania Mirza kept Indian hope alive at the ongoing US Open 2017 as the Indo-Chinese pair of Mirza and partner Peng Shuai defeated Hungarian-Czech pair of Tímea Babos and Andrea Hlaváčková in the quarterfinals.
Saina and Shuai will face the winner of the match between second seed Hingis and Hao-Ching Chan, and Yung Han-Chan and Shuai Zhang.
A special Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court awarded death sentence to Tahir Merchant and Feroz Khan in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts. The court awarded life imprisonment to Abu Salem and Karimullah Khan along with a fine of Rs. 2 lakh, while Riyaz Ahmed Siddique received a sentence of 10 years.
Under TADA court rules, life imprisonment means forever. However, under the extradition law, the maximum term that can be awarded is 25 years. Now, the Government of India will decide whether Salem and Khan will get out of jail after 25 years or continue.
Quick Replacement of Old Tracks Ordered
Piyush Goyal, the new Railway Minister, chaired a high-level meeting with Railway Board officials to discuss ways for ensuring safe operation of trains. Unmanned Level Crossings and derailments due to defects in tracks were identified as two major causes leading to accidents.
According to reports, Goyal directed the officials to ensure safety in train operations and eliminate all unmanned level crossings expeditiously on the entire Indian Railway network in a year`s time from now.
Track replacement or renewal should be accorded priority and the procurement of new rails should be expedited on a large scale with a view to completing construction of new lines in time.
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