Breaking News August 21: China says it will sanction firms linked to US warplane sales to Taiwan

Congress leader P Chidambaram has moved to Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court order, rejecting both his pleas in connection with INX Media case. Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, representing him has sought an urgent listing of his matter. The much-awaited cabinet reshuffle of the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh will take place to fill the slots that have fallen vacant in the last few months, especially after some ministers entered the portals of Lok Sabha Adityanath took over the reins of the state in March 2017 , and this will be the first expansion of his ministry. 

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7.19 pm: Singer Mika Singh on his performance in Pakistan: "It wasn't that I was adamant on performing there, it was a coincidence that I went there and Article 370 happened. If I made a mistake, I apologise to the federation and the nation."

Singer Mika Singh on his performance in Pakistan: It wasn't that I was adamant on performing there, it was a coincidence that I went there and #Article370 happened. If I made a mistake, I apologise to the federation and the nation. pic.twitter.com/3rU2p5nG36

— ANI (@ANI) August 21, 2019

6.46 pm: SS Asgar, Director of Info & Public Relations J&K: In valley districts,attendance in schools ranges from 2-3% in some areas in south & upto 50% in certain areas in north.Some pvt schools in Srinagar have started their primary classes, all schools in Jammu are functioning normally.

6.45 pm: Former Jammu and Kashmir MLA, Rashid Engineer has been sent to further 14-day judicial custody by National Investigation Agency (NIA) Court. 

6.00 pm: Jammu And Kasmir: Central Kashmir DIG VK Birdi: No major law & order incident observed today. All those areas where relaxation was extended, they also behaved normally. In some pockets, there were stray incidents of stone pelting.

5.30 pm: Bihar: An advocate, Chitranjan Singh shot dead by unknown assailants in Model town, Buxar.

5.21 pm: Kathmandu: 5th India-Nepal Joint Commission Meeting held between External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Nepal Foreign Affairs Minister, Pradeep Kumar Gyawali.

5.00 pm: WATCH: A driver hits her car against a parked car repeatedly, in Pune's Ramnagar area. Additional CP, Pimpri-Chinchawad says, "A woman driver damaged three cars with her car in Ramnagar area; Case registered, further investigation underway." 

#WATCH A driver hits her car against a parked car repeatedly, in Pune's Ramnagar area. Additional CP, Pimpri-Chinchawad says, "A woman driver damaged three cars with her car in Ramnagar area; Case registered, further investigation underway." (20th August) pic.twitter.com/QE1kLrWsJF

— ANI (@ANI) August 21, 2019

4.45 pm: Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat: Beyond the Indus Water Treaty a large part of India's share of water goes to Pakistan. We're working on priority to work out how our share of water that flows to Pak, can be diverted, for use by our farmers, industries, & people.

4.30 pm: China says it will sanction firms linked to US warplane sales to Taiwan: AFP news agency

4.15 pm: Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court dismisses businessman Ratul Puri's plea seeking stay/cancellation on Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) issued against him in connection with Agusta Westland money laundering case.

3.35 pm: Pakistan violated ceasefire in SUNDERBANI sector of Jamm And Kashmir's RAJOURI district at about 3:45 pm on Wednesday. Indian Army retaliating. 

3 pm: Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal: Water-level in Yamuna river is at 206.6 meters. Till now, there has been no loss of life. Temporary tents have been arranged for stay. Once water recedes sufficiently people can go back to their houses.

2.45 pm: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused urgent listing of Congress leader P Chidambaram’s petition seeking protection from arrest in the INX Media scam cases. The top court said the defects in the petition were removed just now and it “cannot be listed for hearing today itself”. “Without listing of the petition, we cannot hear the matter,” said a bench comprising Justices N V Ramana, M Shantanagoudar and Ajay Rastogi.

2.30 pm: Three people were killed after a helicopter carrying relief material to flood-affected areas crashed in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi on Wednesday. The chopper was going from Mori to Moldi. 

2 pm: External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar called on Prime Minister of Nepal, KP Sharma Oli, today.

1.45 pm: Pakistan Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen M. Mazari has written to UNICEF Chief stating that UN Goodwill Ambassador for Peace, Priyanka Chopra has "publicly endorsed Indian government's position (on Jammu & Kashmir)."

1.30 pm: Parle Products, India’s largest biscuit makers with major brands such as Parle-G, Marie and Monaco, is likely to sack up to 10,000 employees, latest media reports said on Wednesday.

1.20 pm: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday came out in support of senior party leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram and accused CBI of misusing its power. Taking to micro blogging website Twitter, Rahul wrote: “Modi's Govt is using the ED, CBI & sections of a spineless media to character assassinate Mr Chidambaram. I strongly condemn this disgraceful misuse of power (sic).”

1 pm: BJP Working President JP Nadda holds a meeting with party workers at BJP headquarters.

12.45 pm: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday expanded his council of ministers with 23 ministers taking oath at the Raj Bhavan. This is the first rejig of Adityanath’s council of ministers since he came to power in 2017. 

12.30 pm: A helicopter carrying relief material to flood-affected areas crashed in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi on Wednesday. The chopper was going from Mori to Moldi. The PTI reported that there were three people were onboard the helicopter. 

12.15 pm: More trouble for P Chidambaram after ED issues lookout notice against former Union Minister.

12:10 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets President of Zambia, Edgar Chagwa Lungu at Hyderabad House. The Zambian President is on a three-day visit to India.

11:45 am:  President of Zambia, Edgar Chagwa Lungu meets Minister of State for External Affairs & Parliamentary Affairs, V Muraleedharan. The Zambian President is on a three-day visit to India.

11:30 am: President of Zambia, Edgar Chagwa Lungu, pays tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Raj Ghat.

11:10 am: Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed in Supreme Court by lawyers of Chidambaram seeking interim relief against yesterday's order of the Delhi High Court canceling Chidambaram's anticipatory bail plea

11:00 am: Madhya Pradesh government declares three-day mourning in the state following the demise of former Chief Minister and BJP leader, Babulal Gaur, today. His last rites will be performed with state honours.

10:50 am: Water level at Old Yamuna Bridge (Loha Pul) in Delhi has reached 206.60 meter. As per Upper Yamuna Division, Central Water Commission the water level is expected to reach the peak value of 207.08 meter between 1 to 5 pm today.

10:40 am: French Ministry for Europe & Foreign Affairs Spokesperson: French Minister for Europe & Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, y'day held discussions over phone with his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mehmood Qureshi. The ministers raised the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

10.30 am: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, during a telephone call with PM Modi on Tuesday made it clear that Kashmir remains a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan as far as the UK’s view is concerned. “The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Modi discussed the current situation in Kashmir, a Downing Street spokesperson said in an official readout of the phone call on Tuesday. The telephone conversation came ahead of the G7 meeting in France over the weekend, where the two leaders are scheduled to meet for the first time since Johnson became the UK Prime Minister.

10.15 am: Water level at Old Yamuna Bridge (Loha Pul) has reached 206.60 meter. As per Upper Yamuna Division, Central Water Commission the water level is expected to reach the peak value of 207.08 meter between 1 to 5 pm today.

10.10 am: French Ministry for Europe & Foreign Affairs Spokesperson: French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, yesterday held discussions over phone with his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Mehmood Qureshi. The ministers raised the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.

10 am: President of Zambia, Edgar Chagwa Lungu accorded Guard of Honour at Rashtrapati Bhawan. He is on a three-day visit to India.

9.45 am: Senior lawyer and Congress leader Salman Khurshid, on being asked 'how do you see the CBI action?': Extremely unfair.

9.30 am: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra came out in support of senior party leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram. Priyanka took to Twitter to slam the ruling government’s vendetta politics and said that the party backs him in his fight. “An extremely qualified and respected member of the Rajya Sabha, Chidambaram ji has served our nation with loyalty for decades including as Finance Minister & Home Minister. He unhesitatingly speaks truth to power and exposes the failures of this government,” Priyanka said on micro-blogging site. “…but the truth is inconvenient to cowards so he is being shamefully hunted down. We stand by him and will continue to fight for the truth no matter what the consequences are,” she further said.

9.15 am: A terrorist was killed in an encounter that broke out on Tuesday in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district. A Special Police Officer (SPO) also lost his life in the encounter. The gunfight broke out after security forces received specific information about the presence of terrorists, according to reports. Security forces also launched a cordon and search operation in the area.

9 am: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he will hold discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over tense situation in Kashmir at the G7 summit in France. “I will be with Prime Minister Modi. I’ll be with him over the weekend in France. I think, we are helping (resolve the tense) situation (between India and Pakistan), Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House.

8.45 am: Former Madhya Pradesh chief minister and BJP leader Babulal Gaur passed away at the age of 89. He breathed his last on Wednesday morning at Narmada Hospital, Madhya Pradesh. 

8.30 am: A group of miscreants fired on police personnel from a car on Tuesday, killing two of them and leaving another injured, and decamped with the weapons belonging to the slain policemen in Saran district.