Photo: AFP/Money Sharma

A day after police cracked down on the protests by ex-servicemen at Jantar Mantar demanding the implementation of One Rank One Pension, it was expected that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will make an announcement on Independence speech.

However, he limited himself to giving assurance that talks are going on and the issue would be addressed by NDA government soon. During his speech at the Red Fort he said: "We are committed to implementing OROP, an issue that has been lingering on for 25 years. Talks are going and I assure you there will be good news soon."

Photo: Ravi Choudhary/Hindustan Times via Getty Images

Delhi Police has decided to file an appeal in the High Court against a city court order discharging all the 36 accused in the sensational IPL-6 spot fixing case including test discard S Sreesanth and two other cricketers Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan.

A city court in July had discharged all accused in the 2013 case, saying the police had failed to gather "all necessary ingredients to establish a prima facie case" under stringent MCOCA.

Delhi Police's Special Cell SN Srivastava said that there is sufficient ground to file a fresh appeal and that that it has already got approval of the Law Department of Delhi Government and Commissioner of Police.

Photo: AFP PHOTO/Adek Berry

Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal on 15 August became the first Indian to reach the finals of the World Badminton Championships, assuring herself of at least a silver medal.

The World No.2 Indian notched up a 21-17 21-17 win over Indonesia's Lindaweni Fanetri, who was struggling with her right knee, in the semifinals of the women's singles.

In a repeat to this year's All England Championship final, second seed Saina will fight it out with defending champion and World No. 1 Carolina Marin of Spain in the summit clash on 16 August.

Photo: AFP

The death toll in twin blasts that struck an industrial area in the northeastern Chinese port of Tianjin has risen to 104. Rescue headquarters said 721 people were admitted to hospitals.

Nuclear and biological detections teams found traces of sodium cyanide -- a deadly chemical that emits highly toxic gases if it is burnt or comes in contact with water along with other chemicals-- at the blast site.

President Xi Jinping has asked officials to learn from the "extremely profound" lessons paid for with blood. Xi said in written instructions that the Tianjin blasts and a string of serious accidents recently exposed severe problems in the work safety sector, and authorities must always keep "safe growth" and "people's interest first" in mind to avoid such accidents.

Photo: Getty Images

In a new flare-up in border tensions, Pakistani troops on 15 August resorted to heavy firing and mortar shelling at Indian posts and civilian areas killing five civilians including a sarpanch in multiple ceasefire violations along the LoC in Poonch district.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah reacted sharply to the attacks and tweeted: "So sorry to see that my PM, who remembers to tweet for every obscure birthday & National Day can't tweet a condolence for the 5 dead today."

The offensive on Indian positions in Jammu region came as the country celebrated the 69th Independence Day and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sent his greetings to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying promoting friendly ties between the two neighbours was in mutual interest. The National Security Advisors (NSA) of the two countries are also due to meet in New Delhi on August 23.