Despite decrease in the intensity of rainfall, the flood situation in western Maharashtra remains grim, with nine persons drowning when a rescue boat capsized in Sangli district on Thursday.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis conducted an aerial survey to review the flood situation in Sangli and Kolhapur, which are the worst hit following heavy rain in the area where the Krishna and Panchganga rivers are in spate.

Nine persons drowned and five were missing after a boat engaged in rescue work overturned in Sangli, said Deepak Mhaisekar, Divisional Commissioner of Pune. “Nine persons died and five are still missing when the private boat they were travelling in overturned at Bramhnal village in Sangli’s Palus taluka. The deceased include seven women, one man and one child,” he added.

The Reserve Bank on Wednesday announced creation of a central payments fraud information registry, which could ensure a quick and systemic responses in cases of financial frauds.

At present, there is a mechanism in place for banks to report all banking frauds to the Central Fraud Monitoring Cell of the Reserve Bank and the proposed dedicated registry will further enable this process.

The central bank said with the digital payment ecosystem making substantial progress in terms of growth of the payment infrastructure as well as volume and value of digital payment transactions, fraud risk monitoring and management by the stakeholders have assumed added importance.

"It has always been the endeavour of the RBI to improve the confidence of customers in the payment systems. To carry forward these efforts and ensure quick and systemic responses, it is proposed to facilitate the creation of a central payment fraud registry that will track these frauds," RBI said.

Harley Race, a professional wrestler who overcame serious injuries from a car accident to become a mainstay of the wrestling circuit, winning numerous individual and tag-team titles in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, died on Thursday. He was 76.

The cause was lung cancer, the wrestling organization WWE said on its website. It did not say where he died.

Race was pitted in high-profile matches again Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair, Andre the Giant, Hulk Hogan and other marquee names. In his heyday he was such a name himself, personifying toughness but serving as a transitional figure who helped bring the sport from an era of brawn to one of character-driven performance.

Legendary Uruguay striker Diego Forlan, who had won the Golden Ball award after being adjudged the best player of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, has announced his retirement from professional football on Wednesday. Forlan was the guiding force of Uruguayan football in the new century, taking them back to the glory days of the past, when they became world champions twice in 1930 and 1950.

“After 21 years I made the decision to end my career as a professional footballer. A beautiful stage closes full of great memories and emotions but another of new challenges will begin. Thanks to all who in one way or another accompanied me on this path!” Forlan tweeted. 

Hundreds of people, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and veteran party leader L K Advani, bid farewell to former external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj as her mortal remains were consigned to flames in Delhi yesterday. 

Swaraj, who also served as the Leader of Opposition and chief minister of Delhi, was given full state honours after which she was cremated at the Lodhi Road crematorium. 

Bhutan's former Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, several leaders from the NDA as well the opposition, were also present. 

The 77th anniversary of the August Kranti Din, which is considered as one of the important milestones in the history of freedom struggle of our country, is being observed today. 

On this date in 1942, Mahatma Gandhi gave a clarion call to end the British rule and launched the Quit India Movement at the session of the All-India Congress Committee in Mumbai. 

After the failure of Cripps Mission, Gandhiji gave the call to Do or Die in his Quit India speech delivered at the Gowalia Tank Maidan in Mumbai. 

The grateful country is today paying homage to the freedom fighters and remembering the supreme sacrifices of the martyrs during the freedom struggle.

SGX, the Singapore bourse, and the NSE have buried the hatchet. Both the exchanges on Tuesday received approval from SEBI to operate jointly in Gujarat International Finance Tec (GIFT) City, the international finance city under the proposed programme ‘connect’. Simply put, Nifty index, which is trading on SGX in Singapore, will be traded on a joint platform between the NSE and the SGX in GIFT City.

“The Connect model, which is subject to further approvals from relevant local authorities, will enable SGX and NSE IFSC members to access Nifty products in GIFT while managing their exposures through their respective clearing corporations,” the NSE said.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has cut repo rate by 35 basis points to 5.40 per cent to give a fillip to the economy. This is the fourth consecutive time that the Monetary Policy Committee has reduced the rates. In the earlier three policies, RBI had reduced repo rate by 25 basis points each. 

Consequently, the reverse repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility stands revised to 5.15 per cent, and the marginal standing facility rate and the Bank Rate to 5.65 per cent. In its third bi-monthly policy announced today, RBI has decided to maintain the accommodative stance of monetary policy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hailed the passing of landmark bills pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir in Parliament, with overwhelming support. 

Saluting the courage and resilience of the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, Mr Modi, in a series of tweets, said, a better tomorrow awaits them. He stated that the Bills pertaining to Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh will ensure integration and empowerment. 

Earlier, Parliament had adopted the resolution revoking the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution, with Lok Sabha approving it last evening. The Rajya Sabha had adopted a similar resolution on Monday. 

Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj passed away in New Delhi last night after suffering a massive cardiac arrest. She was 67. AIIMS sources said, the senior BJP leader was brought to the hospital around 9:30 last evening. They said, a team of doctors attended to her but could not revive her. 

Sushma Swaraj had a kidney transplant in 2016 and had opted out of contesting Lok Sabha polls earlier this year for health reasons. President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP President and Home Minister Amit Shah and several other leaders have expressed condolence over the demise of Sushma Swaraj.