NEWS

New Delhi: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday said Delhi recorded 139 mm rainfall, the highest one-day rain for August in at least 13 years, and issued 'orange alert' for the city. Officials said heavy rains lashed parts of the national capital that brought the mercury down and provided relief to Delhiites.

The Safdarjung Observatory, considered the official marker for Delhi, recorded 139 mm rainfall, while the Ridge Station registered 149.2 mm rainfall from 8.30 am on Friday to 8.30 am on Saturday, they said. This is the highest one-day rain for the month of the August in at least 13 years, they said.

Terrorist organisation Hizbul Mujahideen's chief, Syed Salahuddin, has released an audio message threatening India.

In this audio message, he requested the Taliban militants for assistance in spreading terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. 

In the celebratory statement posted online, Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin said, "I pray to Allah that he strengthens the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan so that they may support Kashmiris against India." 

Meanwhile, days after taking over Kabul in a dramatic power transfer in Afghanistan, the Taliban termed Kashmir a "bilateral and an internal problem," according to a news agency, which cited people familiar with the move on Twitter. 

New Delhi: India does not have enough data on the need for a third COVID-19 vaccine shot, also known as a booster shot, to increase protection against the coronavirus, said AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria on Saturday. More information is expected to be available by early next year, he said.

Many countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and Israel are administering a third ‘booster’ dose of vaccines for higher levels of protective antibodies in people. The shots are given about 6 months after the second dose of the vaccine. However, global bodies such as the WHO have slammed the move, pointing to the vaccine inequity in many developing nations, who are still reliant on other nations for the protective jab.

The Taliban face a frontal challenge in cementing control of Afghanistan - Money. Despite their dominant military blitz over the past week, the Taliban lack access to billions of dollars from their central bank and the International Monetary Fund that would keep the country running during a turbulent shakeup.

Those funds are largely controlled by the US and international institutions, a possible leverage point as tense evacuations proceed from the airport in the capital of Kabul. Tens of thousands of people remain to be evacuated ahead of the United States August 31 deadline to withdraw its troops from the country.

But the Taliban also do not currently have institutional structures to receive the money — a sign of the challenges it might confront as it tries to govern an economy that has urbanised and tripled in size since they were last in power two decades ago.