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LIVE news updates: India refuses to sign SCO statement over lack of mention of cross-border terror
Today's top news updates: Two people have died and six others remain missing following heavy rainfall and rising water levels near the Manuni stream in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district, officials reported.
According to authorities, the SDRF, volunteers, and project personnel evacuated individuals from camping areas to a safer location near the Ambedkar building in Kaniara, where food and water were provided.
Officials further stated that a sudden surge of water, triggered by heavy rain, inundated a residential colony within 15 minutes, leading to the tragic incident.
In other developments, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has recruited three researchers from OpenAI to advance his company's superintelligence initiative, according to the Wall Street Journal. The hires — Lucas Beyer, Alexander Kolesnikov, and Xiaohua Zhai — were previously based at OpenAI's Zurich office.
Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has begun procuring two additional Mobile BSL-3 (MBSL-3) laboratories to enhance outbreak response capabilities and improve healthcare access in remote and hard-to-reach areas.
Known as RAMBAAN, these mobile labs are the first-of-their-kind, fully indigenous Rapid Action Mobile BSL-3 units, designed for field deployment and equipped to handle diagnostic demands during outbreaks involving both known and novel high-risk pathogens.
Developed under the Pradhan Mantri-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission by ICMR in collaboration with Klenzaids Contamination Controls Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, the RAMBAAN labs are currently stationed at the National Institute of Virology in Pune and the RMRC in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.
These units were first deployed during the Nipah virus outbreak in Kozhikode, Kerala, in September 2023, and again in Malappuram district in July 2024.
12:21 PM
2 killed, 50 injured as double-decker bus overturns on Lucknow-Agra Expressway
Two passengers were killed and about 50 were injured when a double-decker bus travelling from Bihar to Delhi overturned and plunged into a ditch on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway in the Saifai area early Thursday, police said. The accident occurred near the Mandi village when the speeding bus lost control while attempting to overtake a truck.
10:05 AM
Encounter breaks out between security forces, Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur
An exchange of fire took place between security forces and Naxalites in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district on Thursday, according to a police official. The gunfight erupted in the Abhujmaad forest during an anti-Naxalite operation, which was launched by a joint team of security personnel following intelligence reports about the presence of Maoist operatives.
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