A look at the headlines right now:

  1. Mamata Banerjee refuses to attend PM’s meeting: She called her party defectors ‘greedy and corrupt’, and said the BJP is ‘collecting TMC’s garbage’.
  2. Eight civilians injured in grenade blast in Pulwama, say reports: Two of them are said to be in a critical condition.
  3. Centre forces 15 tax officials facing corruption charges to retire: They will be paid three months’ salary and allowances, said the Union Ministry of Finance.
  4. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam apologises for extradition bill, signals end of legislation: Even after protestors called for her resignation, Lam has refused to step down saying that she has to complete important work.  
  5. CBI files case against Indira Jaising’s NGO Lawyers Collective for alleged FCRA violations: The senior Supreme Court advocate’s husband Anand Grover, who is a director and trustee of the NGO, has been named as an accused.
  6. Four accused in 2005 Ayodhya terror attack given life sentence and one acquitted by Allahabad court: Two residents and five gunmen were killed during the attack on July 5, 2005.  
  7. Facebook planning to launch its own cryptocurrency Libra next year: The company has set up a digital wallet service called Calibra, which will allow users to save, send and spend Libras.  
  8. Maharashtra announces Rs 4,461 crore for 67 lakh farmers as drought relief: The state’s finance minister made the announcement while presenting the additional budget for 2019-’20 in the Legislative Assembly.  
  9. Woman alleges man masturbated on her in Gurugram metro station and hurled abuses: The 29-year-old interior designer accused the police of inaction, and questioned the lax security for women using public transport.  
  10. Groundwater depleted but media shouldn’t create an ‘illusion’ of water scarcity, says Tamil Nadu CM: Meanwhile, the Madras High Court said that the water scarcity in the state did not happen in a day and the government made zero water management efforts.