India News Live Updates: 'Congress's weakness strengthened the terrorists,' says PM Modi

"Now Mumbai has a new airport (NMIA), which will be Asia’s largest connectivity hub. Today, the city also has a fully underground metro to facilitate easy travel across Mumbai. Launching an underground metro with such careful construction in a city like Mumbai is a big achievement,' said PM Modi.

"The next-generation reforms in GST have made many items more affordable, boosting people’s purchasing power. This Navratri, spending has increased, reflecting growing confidence. The government will continue to take steps to ease the lives of the people. I also urge everyone to use Swadeshi products, as this will strengthen our economy by keeping Indian money within the country," said PM Modi.

India News Live Updates: 'Congress's weakness strengthened the terrorists,' says PM Modi

India News Live Updates: 'UDAN scheme has made air travel easier in the country,' says PM Modi.

India News Live: 'Today, the entire nation is working towards 'Viksit Bharat,' says PM Modi.

India News Live: Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates Phase 1 of the Navi Mumbai International Airport

Union Minister and Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi today drew on poetic inspiration to make a political point, saying he would have liked his four-MLA-strong party to contest “half” of Bihar’s 243 assembly constituencies but was willing to “settle for 15” seats to avoid clashing with NDA allies.

Taking to X, the former Bihar chief minister paraphrased a verse from Ramdhari Singh Dinkar’s epic poem Rashmirathi, where Lord Krishna seeks peace with Duryodhana before the Mahabharata war.

“Ho nyay agar to aadha do (give us half of the pie if you wish to do justice),” Manjhi wrote, seemingly addressing the BJP, days after Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Vinod Tawde met him to discuss seat-sharing arrangements.

Addressing business leaders during his maiden visit to India, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer described his trip as the “return leg” of efforts to strengthen bilateral trade ties following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UK earlier this year.

“This is the biggest trade mission that the United Kingdom has ever sent to India,” Starmer said, highlighting the significance of the delegation accompanying him.

“Obviously, this is a two-parter. We had Prime Minister Modi over to the United Kingdom earlier this year to sign the FTA that we agreed, and today is the return leg of that,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today extended a warm welcome to his British counterpart Keir Starmer, who arrived in India for his first official visit, accompanied by the largest-ever UK trade delegation.

“Welcome Prime Minister Keir Starmer on your historic first visit to India with the largest ever trade delegation from the UK. Looking forward to our meeting tomorrow for advancing our shared vision of a stronger, mutually prosperous future,” PM Modi wrote on X.

Starmer landed at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, where he was received by Maharashtra Governor Acharya Devvrat, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, and Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar.

Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand is set to visit India next week, marking a significant diplomatic engagement between the two countries amid efforts to stabilise strained bilateral ties.

Assam Police SIT/CID have arrested Assam Police Service (APS) officer Sandipan Garg in connection with the death of singer Zubeen Garg, SIT chief and Special DGP (CID) Munna Prasad Gupta told ANI.

So far, five individuals have been arrested in the case, including the main event organizer Shyamkanu Mahanta, Zubeen Garg's manager Siddharth Sharma, Zubeen's bandmate Shekhar Jyoti Goswami, and co-singer Amritprava Mahanta.

Israeli authorities intercepted a convoy of ships attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip in international waters on Wednesday, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said, marking the second such interception in a week.

The FFC, a global network of pro-Palestinian activist groups, organises civilian maritime missions to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza and deliver aid to civilians in the enclave.

According to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, all vessels and passengers were safe, transferred to an Israeli port, and were expected to be deported promptly. “Another futile attempt to breach the legal naval blockade and enter a combat zone ended in nothing,” the ministry said on X.

Security forces intensified operations on Wednesday to track terrorists reportedly hiding in remote forested areas of Rajouri and Udhampur districts in Jammu and Kashmir.

A brief exchange of fire occurred on Tuesday evening in the Beeranthub area of Kandi in Rajouri between police and suspected terrorists.

Meanwhile, three other suspected militants were spotted moving in the Dharni Top area of Basantgarh in Udhampur.

Police, with support from the army and CRPF, strengthened cordons around the suspected hideouts and launched a large-scale search operation early Wednesday morning.

The operation was later extended to adjoining areas, though authorities reported no fresh encounters so far.

A delegation of Indian parliamentarians has arrived in New York City to participate in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session, highlighting India’s commitment to parliamentary diplomacy on the global stage.

The first batch of the Non-Official Delegation is being led by BJP MP PP Chaudhary, Chairperson of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on One Nation One Election.

The group, comprising 15 MPs from various political parties, will remain in New York from October 8 to 14. A second group of 15 MPs is scheduled to attend the UNGA later in October.

Search and rescue operations continued on Wednesday in Himachal Pradesh’s Bilaspur district following a landslide that struck a moving bus on Tuesday evening, killing at least 15 people and leaving several others, including a child, feared trapped under debris.

The accident occurred around 6.40 pm in the Bhalughat area near Berthin, when a large portion of a mountain collapsed onto a bus carrying about 25 passengers. Eyewitnesses described the entire mountainside coming down on the vehicle.

BJP MLA Sankar Ghosh has accused West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee of staging a “cynical and disgusting photo-op” during her brief hospital visit following a mob attack that left him and BJP MP Khagen Murmu injured in Jalpaiguri.

Speaking from his hospital bed on Tuesday, Ghosh said he only learned through the media of Banerjee’s visit to the private hospital in Siliguri where he and Murmu are admitted.

“In the morning, the hospital administration had informed me about her proposed visit at short notice. I didn’t give consent, and MP saheb, who is in the ICU, cannot speak, so the question of his consent does not arise,” Ghosh said in a video posted on Facebook.

Ghosh alleged that Banerjee “spent less than a minute-and-a-half” at Murmu’s bedside while her media team “clicked pictures and shot videos for publicity.”

The US Senate has confirmed Sergio Gor as the next Ambassador of the United States to India, despite the ongoing government shutdown.

Gor, 38, was among 107 nominees confirmed in a single en bloc vote on Tuesday, with 51 senators in favor and 47 against. Other key confirmations included Paul Kapur of California as Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, and Anjani Sinha of Florida as Ambassador to Singapore.

India’s Ambassador to the US, Vinay Mohan Kwatra, welcomed Gor’s nomination, calling him one of Trump’s most trusted aides and noting that the appointment reflects the priority the US places on its bilateral ties with India.