The big news: Gorkha Janmukti Morcha ends strike in Darjeeling, and nine other top stories
Other headlines: The National Human Rights Commission has sought reports on the violence at BHU, and Honeypreet Insan’s anticipatory bail plea was rejected.
A look at the headlines right now:
- After 104 days, Gorkha Janmukti Morcha calls off strike in Darjeeling: Hours earlier, Rajnath Singh had urged the group to end the indefinite shutdown and let normalcy return in the hills.
- Human rights commission calls police action inhuman, seeks reports on BHU campus violence: In his initial report, the Varanasi divisional commissioner blamed the university administration for the unrest on campus.
- Delhi High Court rejects Honeypreet Insan’s anticipatory bail petition: The bench held that Ram Rahim’s adopted daughter was not entitled to any discretionary relief as she has evaded arrest.
- GST revenue collection for August drops to Rs 90,669 crore: Rs 14,402 crore was collected under the Central GST, and Rs 21,067 crore under the State GST.
- ‘Matter of hours’ before Bali volcano erupts, says Indonesian government: The area is experiencing unprecedented levels of seismic activity, the country’s volcanology centre said.
- India will not deploy troops in Afghanistan, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tells US: During delegation-level talks with her US counterpart James Mattis, the two countries agreed there would be no tolerance for terror havens.
- Human Rights Watch asks UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Myanmar Army, accusing it of committing crimes against humanity: BJP MP Varun Gandhi said India should give asylum to Rohingya Muslim refugees.
- Century’s largest uncut diamond, the size of a tennis ball, sold for $53 million: The 1,109-carat stone named Lesedi La Rona – meaning ‘Our Light’ in Botswana’s Tswana language – was bought by British diamond magnate Laurence Graff.
- Sonia Gandhi removes Ashok Choudhary as Bihar Congress president: This comes amid speculation that a few party members, including Choudhary, were planning to switch to Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United).
- Japan kills 177 whales to ‘study’ whether commercially hunting them is sustainable: Japan is a signatory to an international moratorium on hunting whales, but it exploits a loophole that allows whales to be killed for scientific purposes.