Uttarakhand: Tiger mauls forest watcher to death in Corbett reserve

A 23-year-old forest watcher died on Monday after he was attacked by a tiger in Kalagarh area of Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand. The man was identified as Sohan Singh, a daily wage labourer who also worked as a forest watcher. He was a resident of Sendhikhal region in Pauri district of the state.

Narendra Modi asks BJP leadership to provide names of ministers who skip Parliament duty

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday warned Union ministers against skipping their roster duties in Parliament, and asked the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership to provide him names of those who were absent by the end of the day. During Parliament roster duty, the MPs are meant to be present in one of the Houses as government representatives.

Punjab CM Amarinder Singh says he will decide on Navjot Singh Sidhu’s resignation on Wednesday

Sidhu had sent his resignation as Punjab Cabinet minister to the chief minister’s residence on Monday. Singh on Monday said he could not do anything if Sidhu did not want to do his job. Singh asked how “a soldier could refuse a job assigned by the general?”

IMA Jewels scam: SIT releases suspended Congress legislator Roshan Baig after questioning

Baig was detained on Monday when he was about to board a flight from Bengaluru airport. Mohammed Mansoor Khan, the main accused, has claimed that Baig was involved in the scam and had taken Rs 400 crore from him but not returned it.

Teachers’ recruitment scam: Delhi High Court grants parole to OP Chautala for one week

Chautala had returned to Tihar jail in June after a 21-day furlough. Chautala and his elder son Ajay Chautala were convicted in 2013 in the teachers’ recruitment scam and are currently serving 10 years in prison. They were found guilty of illegally recruiting 3,206 junior basic teachers in 2000.

Ranchi court grants bail to student for alleged communal post, asks her to distribute Quran

Judicial Magistrate Manish Kumar Singh asked Bharti to donate four copies of the religious text to government-owned educational institutions and one to complainant Mansur Khalifa, who is also a member of Sadar Anjuman Committee.

BJP appoints Swatantra Dev Singh its UP chief, Chandrakant Patil to lead Maharashtra unit

Singh is Uttar Pradesh’s transport minister. His appointment came a day after Chief Minister Adityanath met BJP President Amit Shah and Working President JP Nadda in Delhi. He replaced Mahendra Nath Pandey, who was inducted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet in May.

After Pakistan reopens airspace, Air India says operational costs of flights to US will reduce

Pakistan closed its airspace to Indian aircraft on February 26 after the Indian Air Force’s airstrikes on a Jaish-e-Mohammad terror camp in Balakot. India had also imposed similar restrictions in its airspace but removed them on May 31, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath for the second time.

Centre cancels postal exams, agrees to hold them in local languages after protests in Rajya Sabha

Union Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday announced the cancellation of recently held postal examinations and said they would be held again in all local languages after the Rajya Sabha was adjourned thrice by parties who protested because candidates were not allowed to write the examinations in Tamil, The Hindu reported.

Mumbai: Dalit Panthers’ founding member Raja Dhale dies at 78

Raja Dhale, a founding member of radical anti-caste organisation Dalit Panthers, died at his residence in Mumbai on Tuesday. He was 78, PTI reported. The organisation was active in Maharashtra in the 1970s. Dhale reportedly fell on the floor at his home after waking up. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Tripura: Two Rohingya men arrested near Bangladesh border

The Tripura Police on Tuesday claimed to have arrested two Rohingya men near the India-Bangladesh border after local people tipped them off. Mohammad Salim, a 21-year-old, and 20-year-old Jahangir Alam were arrested from Rajnagar village in West Tripura district the day before. “It was found during preliminary investigation that they had entered Indian territory from Bangladesh in search of jobs,” said Officer-in-charge of Battala police station Sahadeb Bhowmik.

Bombay High Court quashes CRZ clearance for coastal road project, says environmental nod is required

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday set aside the Coastal Regulation Zone clearance granted to the Mumbai civic body’s coastal road project, PTI reported. “We are quashing the CRZ clearances granted to the project,” a division bench of Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice NM Jamdar said. “We have held that the environment clearance is required for the project.” The High Court ruling means the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation cannot continue work on the project.

Assam floods: No central funds released since 2014, Congress leader tells CM, cites Scroll.in report

Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia on Monday urged Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to approach the Centre for the release of disaster relief funds pending since 2014-’15. Last year, Scroll.in was the first to report that Assam had received no central aid for flood management since 2014 apart from its share in the State Disaster Response Fund. Assam is facing floods this year again, and at least 15 people have been killed so far.

IndiGo pilot allegedly held hostage, robbed of over Rs 1 lakh in cab on way to Delhi airport

An IndiGo pilot was allegedly robbed of over Rs 1 lakh by at least three men in a taxi he had boarded near the Delhi cantonment area, police said on Monday. The incident took place in the intervening night of July 12 and July 13 when 60-year-old Mohammad Mehdu Ghanzanfani was waiting for his company’s vehicle

Mumbai: At least three dead, 15 families feared trapped after building collapses in Dongri

At least three people were killed after a four-storey building in Dongri locality of Mumbai collapsed on Tuesday, trapping at least 40 people under the rubble, reported The Hindu. Five people have been rescued so far.

Assam floods: No central funds released since 2014, Congress leader tells CM, cites Scroll.in report

Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia on Monday urged Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to approach the Centre for the release of disaster relief funds pending since 2014-’15. Last year, Scroll.in was the first to report that Assam had received no central aid for flood management since 2014 apart from its share in the State Disaster Response Fund.

IndiGo pilot allegedly held hostage, robbed of over Rs 1 lakh in cab on way to Delhi airport

An IndiGo pilot was allegedly robbed of over Rs 1 lakh by at least three men in a taxi he had boarded near the Delhi cantonment area, police said on Monday. The incident took place in the intervening night of July 12 and July 13 when 60-year-old Mohammad Mehdu Ghanzanfani was waiting for his company’s vehicle.

Mumbai: At least 40 people feared trapped after four-storey building collapses in Dongri area

A four-storey building in Dongri locality of Mumbai collapsed on Tuesday, trapping at least 40 people under the rubble, the civic body’s disaster management cell said.

Japanese Encephalitis kills six more in Assam, toll rises to 82; Arunachal Pradesh reports 11 cases

A National Health Mission bulletin said that six people died of Japanese Encephalitis in Assam on Monday, taking the total number of deaths in the state to 82. The number of positive cases rose to 374.

Karnataka crisis: It is irrelevant to question motive for resigning, rebel MLAs tell Supreme Court

Lawyer Mukul Rohatgi on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that the ruling coalition in Karnataka was planning to get 15 rebel MLAs disqualified by issuing them a new whip during Thursday’s trust vote in the state Assembly. The legislators have moved the top court against Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar’s delay in accepting their resignations. “The fallacy of their argument is that it is based on my [the MLAs’] motive to resign, which is completely irrelevant,” he said.

Hunger report: Food security worsens in South Asia, UN flags India’s unemployment as possible causeHigher unemployment in India and an economic slowdown in Pakistan possibly led to an increase in “severe food insecurity” in Southern Asia between 2017 and 2018, the United Nations said in a report on Monday. The report defined severe food insecurity as the situation in which people had likely run out of food or even gone for days without eating.

Supreme Court asks for status on all child rape cases, expresses concern on delay in investigations

The Supreme Court on Monday sought data on the status of child rape cases from various states after expressing concern on their increasing numbers and the delay in investigations. The top court had itself initiated a public interest litigation after statistics showed that 24,000 cases had been reported in the first half of 2019.

Andhra Pradesh: Woman killed in clash at a public tap amid water shortage

A woman was killed in a clash at a public tap amid water scarcity in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh on Monday. Tatipudi Padma, 38, was in a queue at the tap for long to fill her pot when another woman, Podugu Gunnamma, allegedly tried to get in the queue out of turn, sub-inspector K Venkatesh said. Padma got into an argument with Gunnamma, as a third woman, Teppala Sundaramma, also joined in. The women soon began attacking each other with their pots, the police officer said.

Over 40 killed in floods in Bihar and North East, relief operations under way

Heavy rainfall and floods in Bihar and North East India have claimed over 40 lives in the last few days. Nearly 69.3 lakh residents have been affected due to the deluge and thousands of villages have been marooned.

IMA Jewels scam: Suspended Congress leader Roshan Baig detained at Bengaluru airport

Suspended Congress MLA Roshan Baig was on Monday detained in connection with the IMA Jewels scam when he was about to board a flight from the Bengaluru airport, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said. Baig was detained by the special investigation team looking into the ponzi scam.

Bar Association of India condemns CBI action on Indira Jaising, Anand Grover, calls it unjustified

The Bar Association of India on Monday condemned the searches by the Central Bureau of Investigation at the homes and offices of senior advocates Indira Jaising and Anand Grover. The association said the CBI’s action was “excessive, disproportionate and unjustified”. The investigating agency had on July 11 conducted the searches in a case related to the alleged violation of rules under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act.

Karnataka crisis: Supreme Court to continue hearing plea of rebel MLAs today

The Supreme Court will on Tuesday hear the plea of 15 rebel legislators of Karnataka’s ruling coalition against the delay by Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar in accepting their resignations. Sixteen MLAs of the Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) have submitted their resignations since July 1.

Pakistan opens airspace to Indian aircraft for the first time since Balakot strikes: Reports

Pakistan opened its airspace for all civilian traffic early on Tuesday after months of closure for Indian flights. In a notice to airmen issued around 12.41 am Indian time, the Civil Aviation Authority said: “With immediate effect Pakistan airspace is open for all type of civil traffic on published ATS (air traffic service) routes”.

Kathua case: Juvenile Justice Board rejects J&K Police Crime branch plea to adjourn trial

The Jammu and Kashmir Police Crime Branch on Monday moved a plea before the Juvenile Justice Board seeking that the trial of one of the accused in the gangrape and murder case of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua last year be adjourned. The police said that the Jammu and Kashmir High Court was yet to decide if the accused was a minor.

Bihar Public Service Commission blacklists teacher for question on the role of governor

The Bihar Public Service Commission on Monday said it has blacklisted a person who set a question for the mains exam asking if the governor was merely a puppet. The bilingual paper used the Hindi word ‘kathputili’, which means puppet. The question in Sunday’s paper on General Knowledge was: “Critically examine the role of the Governor in state politics of India, especially in the context of Bihar. Is he a mere puppet?” Lalji Tandon is the present governor of Bihar.

Delhi: Arvind Kejriwal promises free safety kits to sanitation workers

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said his government will provide free safety kits to all workers engaged in the cleaning of sewers. “We are concerned about the lives of sanitation workers and will give free safety kit to those working in Delhi so that no mishaps happen,” Kejriwal said. According to government data, 88 workers have died while cleaning sewers in 2019 alone. Of these, Delhi recorded the highest number of deaths – 18.