A look at the headlines right now:

  1. We have been besieged by false personal attacks, says Vishal Sikka in resignation letter: Infosys Chief Operating Officer UB Pravin Rao has been appointed the interim chief of the tech giant.  
  2. Japanese ambassador to India says no one should try to change status quo by force in the Sikkim standoff matter: Kenji Hiramatsu said Tokyo had been watching the impasse closely as the ongoing border crisis could affect the stability of the entire region.  
  3. Islamic State claims responsibility for Barcelona van attack that killed 13, injured 100: The police said they had shot dead five suspected militants south of the city and thwarted another ‘possible terrorist attack’.  
  4. Election Commission calls ‘winning at all costs’ without ethics the ‘new normal’ in politics: OP Rawat said that today, poaching legislators is considered a ‘smart political management’ and is commended instead of condemned.
  5. Amit Shah asks BJP to aim for 350-plus seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections: At a strategy meet in Delhi, the party also decided to target the 115 constituencies it has never won in previous polls.
  6. Government extends deadline to file GST returns for businesses till August 28: The additional time was given because the form to claim tax credit was unavailable on the GST Network website.  
  7. IMA report says children died at Gorakhpur hospital after oxygen supply was disrupted on August 10: A three-member team of the Indian Medical Association blamed the facility for not paying the supplier its dues.
  8. North Korea tells UN it will not negotiate its nuclear programme till the US withdraws its threats: Pyongyang’s deputy ambassador also called the latest UN sanctions a ‘flagrant infringement upon sovereignty’.
  9. Sensex, Nifty nosedive after Vishal Sikka resigns from Infosys, attack in Spain: Stocks of IT companies, banks, realty firms, healthcare, metal and automobile companies all tumbled on the BSE index in morning trade.  
  10. Over 140 animals found dead at Kaziranga National Park in flood-ravaged Assam: This includes seven rhinos, 122 swamp deer, two elephants, three wild boars, two hog deer, three sambhar deer, one buffalo and one porcupine.