A look at the headlines right now:

  1. ‘Let contentious matters and extraneous debates not distract us’, says President Ram Nath Kovind: The president addressed the nation on the eve of the 72nd Independence Day.  
  2. Around 30 feared dead as motorway bridge collapses in Italy’s Genoa: Italian Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli said he was following the ‘immense tragedy’ with ‘great apprehension’.  
  3. Rupee breaches 70 per US dollar for the first time, government blames ‘external factors’: ‘The falling rupee and failing economy is Modiji’s Independence Day gift to the nation,’ the Opposition party said.
  4. More than 30,000 people still in relief camps, says Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan: A crisis management team has begun evacuating people living near the Mullaperiyar dam.
  5. ‘It’s not possible to hold simultaneous elections in 2019,’ says Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar: Meanwhile, the Congress dared PM Narendra Modi to dissolve the Lok Sabha early and announce general elections later this year.  
  6. AAP moves court in connection with Delhi chief secretary case, accuses police of ‘leaking chargesheet’ to the media: The court asked the police to reply to the petition by August 25.   
  7. Taliban kills 17 soldiers while taking control of Army base in Afghanistan’s Faryab province: The militant group and the country’s forces have been battling for five consecutive days in the eastern provincial capital of Ghazni.  
  8. Bihar official arrested for allegedly sexually harassing women inmates at a short stay home: The police is on the lookout for four others accused in the case, including two women.  
  9. Jammu and Kashmir Police arrest two people for ‘communally sensitive’ Facebook post, Whatsapp video: Both accused have been lodged in the district jail at Dhangri.  
  10. Delhi court summons Congress leader Naveen Jindal and 14 others in coal allocation scam: They have been accused of money laundering.