Algeria's President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has won a second term with 84.3 percent of the vote in last week's election, final results announced Saturday showed, down from an initial count contested by rivals.

The preliminary results issued by the North African country's electoral authority ANIE on Sunday gave Tebboune nearly 95 percent support, prompting other candidates to challenge the results in appeals to the Constitutional Court.

The court's president, Omar Belhadj, announced on Saturday the official count, with Tebboune far ahead of his only two challengers.

French European Union (EU) Commissioner Thierry Breton on Monday (September 16, 2024) resigned from the Bloc's executive body with immediate effect, publishing a picture of his resignation letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on social network X.

Mr. Breton in the letter said Ms. Von der Leyen "a few days ago" had asked France to withdraw his name as the country's pick for the Commission "for personal reasons" in return for an "allegedly more influential portfolio".

"In light of these latest developments — further testimony to questionable governance — I have to conclude that I can no longer exercise my duties in the College", Mr. Breton said in the letter.

The second edition of the Naval Commanders’ Conference will begin in New Delhi tomorrow. The Conference is the apex-level biannual event facilitating deliberations on significant strategic, operational and administrative issues between the Naval Commanders. The Defence Ministry said the four-day conference will commence with the inaugural address by the Chief of Naval Staff. He will review major operational, Logistic, Training and Administrative activities pursued by the Indian Navy over the last six months and deliberate upon key milestones to be crossed to safeguard maritime interests. The conference, which will be held against the backdrop of evolving geo-political and geo-strategic dynamics, regional challenges and complexity in maritime security situations in West Asia, will play a crucial role in shaping the future course of the Indian Navy.

During the Conference, Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh is likely to address the Naval Commanders on Thursday on matters of national security and national expectations. The Chief of Defence Staff along with the Chiefs of the Indian Army and Indian Air Force will engage with Naval Commanders to foster collaborations amongst the three Services.

HSBC India on Monday launched global education payments to enable Indian students and the bank's customers to pay fees directly to more than 600 international universities and colleges.

Aiming to simplify the process of foreign currency payment, it provides students and their families a completely digital experience when making tuition payments for their overseas education, the bank said in a statement.

With this new feature on the HSBC India mobile banking app, customers can select the country or territory and the university and get pre-loaded, pre-verified account details of the university, it said.

The Taliban have suspended polio vaccination campaigns in Afghanistan, the UN said on Monday.

Afghanistan is one of two countries in which the spread of the potentially fatal, paralysing disease has never been stopped. The other is Pakistan.

News of the suspension was relayed to UN agencies right before the September immunisation campaign was due to start. No reason was given for the suspension, and no one from the Taliban-controlled government was immediately available for comment.

Anti-polio campaigns in neighbouring Pakistan are regularly marred by violence. Militants target vaccination teams and police assigned to protect them, falsely claiming that the campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilise children.

Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Amrit Mohan Prasad has been appointed as Director General of Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB). The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Home Affairs for appointment of Prasad as DG SSB on Friday. Presently, he is serving as Special DG of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

According to an order issued from the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), he has been appointed to the post with effect from the date of assumption of charge of the post, for a tenure up to the date of his superannuation on August 31, 2025 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

NMDC Limited has been conferred the prestigious ‘Rajbhasha Kirti Award’ for 2023-2024, in the category of Undertakings situated in 'C' region.

The award was presented at the Hindi Diwas Function 2024 and Fourth Akhil Bhartiya Rajbhasha Sammelan organised by the Official Language Department, Ministry of Home Affairs in New Delhi. NMDC was recognized with the second prize for the effective implementation of the official language policy.

NMDC's Chief General Manager (Personnel & Administration) G Priyadarshini received the award on behalf of NMDC from State Minister of Home Affairs Nityanand Rai in presence of Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh Narayan Singh and Member of Rajya Sabha Sudhanshu Trivedi.

Adani Green Energy on Saturday said its board has approved the appointment of Saurabh Shah as the company’s Chief Financial Officer.

Phuntsok Wangyal, the current Chief Financial Officer, will relinquish his position in view of his resignation, effective on September 30, 2024, the company said in a stock exchange filing.

According to the filing, the board in its meeting held on Saturday approved that Shah, presently serving as Deputy Chief Financial Officer at Adani Enterprises Limited, will assume the role of Chief Financial Officer of AGEL with effect from October 1, 2024.

The Tamil Nadu government on Friday said it has signed an MoU with US-headquartered Rapid Global Business Solutions, Inc, a supplier of business solutions across various industries, and the firm would set up a new unit in the state by investing Rs 100 crore.

The MoU was signed in the presence of Chief Minister M K Stalin in Chicago on September 12 between officials of the state and the company, represented by its Chairman and CEO Nanua Singh and others, an official release here said, adding the new electronic and telematics firm would come up at Hosur. Industries Minister TRB Rajaa and top state officials were present.

In total, the state government has inked pacts totally worth Rs 7,616 crore with 18 companies during the Chief Minister’s official US tour to attract investments.

Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) has been ranked among the top 25 “megahub” airports globally by international aviation data and analytics firm OAG. IGIA has improved its position to the 24th spot from last year’s 25th in OAG’s latest list of megahub airports—those with the highest ratio of possible scheduled international connections to the number of destinations served.

The only other Indian airport among the top 50 megahub airports—Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA)—however dropped 10 spots from last year to the 44th position.

However, both Delhi and Mumbai airports are ranked much higher in the OAG’s list of the top megahub airports for low-cost carrier (LCC) operations, thanks to India’s largest airline IndiGo—also counted among the top LCCs globally—using the two airports as its major hubs. In this category, the Delhi airport has been ranked fifth, a spot higher from last year, while the Mumbai airport has retained its 11th rank.