First Up

With the G20 Summit all set to be held in Delhi, US President Joe Biden will land in India tomorrow, at around 7 pm. During his visit to the national capital, Biden will travel in 'The Beast', the US Presidential Cadillac, that will be flown to India from the US. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said India's diversity and its extraordinary successes means it is the "right country" at the "right time" to hold the G20 presidency, as he hailed Narendra Modi's leadership over the last year. He also noted that India's presidency of the bloc came when the world is facing innumerable challenges.

President of the United States Joe Biden will be attending the G20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9-10 as he has tested negative for Covid-19 again, the White House confirmed. The US President will travel to India on Thursday for the summit and will have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, top US officials said.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said early on Tuesday that Aditya L1, the country's first solar mission, successfully performed the second Earth-bound manoeuvre. The space agency's Telemetry, Tracking and Command Network (ISTRAC) carried out the operation. "The second Earth-bound manoeuvre (EBN#2) is performed successfully from ISTRAC, Bengaluru. ISTRAC/Isro's ground stations at Mauritius, Bengaluru and Port Blair tracked the satellite during this operation. The new orbit attained is 282 kilometres x 40,225 km," Isro shared the update on X.

The central government on Friday established a committee under the leadership of former President Ram Nath Kovind, to evaluate the feasibility of implementing a 'One Nation One Election' system, which seeks to synchronize the scheduling of general and state elections. This initiative follows closely on the heels of reports indicating the government's intention to introduce legislation pertaining to 'One Nation, One Election' during the upcoming special session of Parliament, slated for September 18 to 22. Detailed information about the members of the committee will be released later, officials said.  On today's episode of First Up, we discuss what the decision entails, and bring to you statements from leaders from various political parties, including Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chaudhary, RJD spokesperson Ejaz Ahmed, and JDU spokesperson Dr Sunil Singh among others.

In a significant breakthrough, the Pragyan rover of the Chandrayaan-3 mission has "unambiguously" confirmed the presence of sulphur in the Moon's surface near the south pole, the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro) said on Tuesday.

Praises and wishes are pouring in for Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra after he won a historic gold medal in the men's javelin throw event at the World Athletics Championships on Sunday. Chopra's victory is celebrated as a ‘historic moment’ as it was the first time that an Indian athlete has won a gold medal at the World Championships in any sport.

Here are the top developments of the hour. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is in Johannesburg to attend the BRICS summit, celebrated the success of Chandrayaan-3 with the Indian Diaspora in South Africa. Russia's most powerful mercenary Yevgeny Prigozhin was on board a plane which crashed on Wednesday evening north of Moscow with no survivors, the Russian authorities said, two months to the day after he led an abortive mutiny against the army top brass. There was no official comment from the Kremlin or the Defence Ministry on the fate of Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group and a self-declared enemy of the army's leadership over what he argued was its incompetent prosecution of Russia's war in Ukraine.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before leaving for the BRICS Summit visit, issued a statement in which he said that he is looking forward to holding bilateral meetings with some of the leaders present in Johannesburg.

Security forces successfully neutralized two terrorists in a confrontation on Sunday in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir. One of the eliminated militants is believed to be a high-ranking commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba. Acting on intelligence regarding militant presence in Parigam village, an operation was launched in the Larrow - Parigam area. The Kashmir Zone Police announced, "Encounter has commenced in Larrow - Parigam area of Pulwama, with further updates to follow."

The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) has officially been renamed as the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library Society, Nripendra Misra, chairperson of the executive council of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) told India Today. The name has been formalised on India’s 77th Independence Day. The vice-chairman of the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library's executive council also posted the update on 'X', formerly Twitter.

India and China are preparing for their 19th round of military commander-level discussions on Monday. The dialogue is slated to commence at 9.30 am at the Chushul-Moldo border on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). This meeting, taking place approximately four months after the previous round, signals ongoing efforts to address border issues between the two nations.

Here are the top developments of the hour. The apex court is set to monitor the probe into the Manipur violence. It has appointed a Maharashtra top police official to oversee the investigation. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury was suspended from the Lok-Sabha on Thursday for his alleged 'unruly behavior' during the debate on the no-confidence motion. The Congress leader's suspension was in response to a resolution moved by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pralhad Joshi, which was accepted in Parliament on Thursday. He will remain suspended until the Privileges Committee submits its report on the matter.