News18 Daybreak | Debate over Kerala Flood Aid, Arun Jaitley Back as Finance Minister and Other Stories You May Have Missed

In Case You Missed it

At the peak of the Kerala flood crisis, a battalion of Rapid Action Force (RAF) stationed in Coimbatore got an emergency call at 10.30pm. Rising floodwaters had been destroying the state and, as the Pallakad district commissioner informed the RAF commandant over the phone line, lives of nearly 200 elderly, intellectually disabled women were at risk. This is how 60 RAF personnel went beyond the call of duty to rescue 185 women.

As the Centre continuous to assert that they won’t accept any aid from other nations for Kerala flood relief, Union minister KJ Alphons seems to have taken a contrarian position by saying that the flood-ravaged state needs UAE’s aid offer of Rs 700 crore.

Meanwhile, facing flak for refusing UAE’s offer for Kerala flood relief and issuing an aid of Rs 600 as against the flood-ravaged state’s demand of Rs 2,600 crore, the Centre on Thursday issued a statement that it will release more funds and Rs 600 crore was only for immediate relief.

Kerala has placed the blame of the massive floods that have claimed the lives of 373 people on the shoulders of the Tamil Nadu government and its refusal to lower the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam.

Almost a week after Atal Bihari Vajpayee's death, his niece, Karuna Shukla, raked up a controversy by alleging that the BJP is politicising the former prime minister's death for electoral gains in 2019 polls.

Union minister Arun Jaitley was reassigned the portfolios of Finance and Corporate Affairs on Thursday, three months after undergoing a kidney transplant.Indian captain Ajay Thakur sat shell-shocked at the bench with a bandaged forehead, as he watched his team getting trounced by Iran. For the first time since 1990, which is when kabaddi was introduced at the Asian Games, the Indian team is going to return without the gold medal. Here’s how the unthinkable happened.

Imran Khan has promised to bring about a “Naya Pakistan” and mend ties with India. How will he fare in his first 50 days? News18.com is tracking #50DaysOfImran here.Agree or Disagree?

Mamata Banerjee has taken a strong position against the National Register of Citizens of Assam accusing the BJP of trying to push out 12 lakhs Bengalis from Assam. Earlier this month, BJP president Amit Shah also held a rally in Kolkata. For 15 minutes out of 28-minute that he spoke, Shah attempted to make party's position clear on the issue which may be an election issue not only in Assam but also in other northeastern states and Bengal. Shah clarified that the BJP is not anti-Bengali but it is anti-infiltration and anti-Mamata. So what are the implications of this verbal duel between the BJP and the TMC on NRC? Senior journalist Sankhadip Das writes on it.On Reel

The shocking story of 8 men raping a pregnant goat in Nuh sparked off our reportage on Bestiality. What we found was, that this was not the only case of humans raping animals & the goat was not the only animal to be raped.​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSFS81jXPhQ

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