A look at the headlines right now:

  1. Iran will welcome any Indian peace initiative to defuse tension with US, says envoy: Earlier in the day, India had advised its citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to Iraq.
  2. Minors from Muzaffarpur shelter home case who were believed to be dead are alive, CBI tells Supreme Court: The agency said it had been completed its inquiry into the shelter home case.
  3. Violence reported from across West Bengal during Bharat bandh, Mamata Banerjee accuses Left of hooliganism: At least 55 people were arrested in the state till afternoon.
  4. JNU vice chancellor briefs HRD ministry officials about steps taken to restore normalcy on campus: Congress leader P Chidambaram demanded M Jagadesh Kumar’s resignation. Meanwhile, Amartya Sen said he was appalled by the violence, and West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh claimed the violence was staged. Union minister Prakash Javadekar said actor Deepika Padukone should not be criticised for visiting JNU amid calls to boycott her latest film.
  5. CIC orders Centre to reveal names of electoral bond scheme donors who want to remain anonymous: Information Commissioner Suresh Chandra issued notices to the Department of Economic Affairs, the Department of Financial Services and the poll panel.
  6. Sedition charges filed against more than 3,000 Citizenship Act protestors in Dhanbad: Seven Muslim men were named in the FIR. The demonstrators are now thinking about courting arrest instead of applying for bail, said a lawyer.
  7. 176 on board Ukrainian plane killed in crash after take-off near Tehran airport: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned against speculation about the crash.
  8. Give Bhim Army chief immediate medical treatment, Delhi court directs Tihar Jail authorities: The court issued the interim order after hearing Chandrashekhar Azad’s petition for treatment at AIIMS.
  9. The last decade was India’s hottest on record, 2019 was seventh warmest year, says IMD: Extreme weather events, such as avalanches, floods, heat wave and thunderstorms, killed about 1,630 persons in 2019.
  10. ‘ISI men’ seize Urdu copies of 2008 satire ‘A Case of Exploding Mangoes’, claims Pakistani author: The book, translated into Urdu recently, satirises the military, the government and ex-President Zia-ul-Haq.