Karnataka: Three arrested in Mangaluru for assaulting man who said India is a Hindu rashtra

Three people were arrested in Karnataka’s Mangaluru city on Wednesday for allegedly assaulting a man who said India was a “Hindu rashtra” and Muslims should not come here. One of those arrested is a juvenile.

Madhya Pradesh: Top bureaucrats and politicians being investigated in connection with sex scandal

The police in Madhya Pradesh are investigating about 12 top bureaucrats in the state and eight former ministers after they unearthed an extortion racket and found more than 1,000 clips of sex chats, explicit videos and audios of power brokers in the state. Politicians from both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress were allegedly caught on camera by those running the honeytrap ring.

Olympic wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, former hockey captain Sandeep Singh join BJP ahead of Haryana polls

Olympic medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt and former Indian hockey captain Sandeep Singh on Thursday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party along with Akali Dal MLA Balkaur Singh. They joined the party in the presence of Haryana President Subhash Barala.

Kerala Police break open sixth-century church’s gate to evacuate Jacobite priests and protestors

The premises of a sixth-century church in Kerala’s Ernakulam district was the centre of protests on Thursday after the police arrested senior priests and parish members belonging to the Jacobite faction of Malankara Syrian Christian Church in order to force them to evacuate the area following a 2017 Supreme Court order.

NRC: Bengal BJP chief claims people being bribed to link recent deaths to citizens’ register

Bharatiya Janata Party’s West Bengal unit chief Dilip Ghosh on Wednesday claimed that people were being bribed to allege that some deaths in the state were related to the National Register of Citizens. Eight people have died so far amid growing panic over gathering relevant documents to prove citizenship in the state.

Narada scam: CBI takes IPS officer SMH Mirza into custody in Kolkata in first arrest in the case

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday arrested senior Indian Police Service officer SMH Mirza in connection with the Narada sting case.

Election Commission agrees to defer Karnataka bye-polls until SC decides on disqualified MLAs’ pleas

The Election Commission on Thursday deferred the bye-elections to 15 Assembly constituencies in Karnataka until the Supreme Court decides on petitions filed against the disqualification of the previous legislators from those seats.

RBI increases withdrawal limit of PMC Bank customers from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000

The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday increased the withdrawal limit for customers of Mumbai-based Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank from Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000.

Agartala: Six men arrested for allegedly raping 32-year-old woman, three still on the run

The police in Tripura’s capital Agartala on Thursday arrested six of nine men accused of abducting and raping a 32-year-old woman.

Venkaiah Naidu pitches for simultaneous elections, says it will help avoid dilution of public work

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday pitched for simultaneous elections, and said it would help avoid diversion from more important matters such as public work, PTI reported.

Congress leader DK Shivakumar moves Delhi High Court challenging bail dismissal

Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar on Thursday moved the Delhi High Court seeking bail in connection with a money laundering case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate, PTI reported. This came a day after a special court in Delhi dismissed the Congress leader’s bail plea.

Agartala: Six men arrested for allegedly raping 32-year-old woman, three still on the run

The police in Tripura’s capital Agartala on Thursday arrested six of nine men accused of abducting and raping a 32-year-old woman, The Indian Express reported.

Money laundering case: Enforcement Directorate seeks custodial interrogation of Robert Vadra

The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday said that it needed to investigate businessman Robert Vadra in custody in connection with a money laundering case, PTI reported. The agency’s investigation is related to allegations that Vadra, who is Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s brother-in-law, used laundered money to buy real estate in the United Kingdom. The agency alleged that the “money chain” was linked to him directly.

Ayodhya case: Conclude arguments by October 18, SC tells parties, says they won’t get an extra day

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the parties involved in the Ayodhya land dispute case to complete their arguments by October 18, and said they would not get an extra day. Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi is set to retire on November 17. “Even if we complete the arguments by October 18, we will have only four weeks to write and deliver the judgment,” News18 quoted him as saying. “It will be miraculous if we deliver the judgement in four weeks.”

BJP’s Purvanchali Morcha workers protest outside Kejriwal’s house for his NRC jibe at Manoj Tiwari

Bharatiya Janata Party workers protested outside Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence on Thursday against his remarks about Manoj Tiwari. Kejriwal had on Wednesday said that if the National Register of Citizens was implemented in Delhi, the saffron party’s Delhi unit chief would be the first person to leave.

UNSC allows Hafiz Saeed to withdraw money from bank account after Pakistan’s request

The United Nations Security Council 1267 Committee – one of the three security council panels dealing with counter-terrorism – has approved Pakistan government’s request to allow Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed to withdraw money for “necessary basic living expenses”. Saeed is the suspected mastermind of the terror attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008.

Kerala: Kochi authorities sever power connections to all four Maradu apartments, residents protest

Municipal authorities in Kochi on Thursday severed power connections to all four Maradu apartments as part of the process to demolish the buildings. Policemen arrived at the apartments in large numbers around 4.30 am, with the intention of allowing authorities to snap the power lines before daytime in order to prevent protests and avoid use of force.

Onion likely to stay expensive as shortage and ineffective government measures keep prices high

Onion prices are likely to stay high in the coming days as a shortage in the market and ineffective government measures fail to check rising prices. Prices of the vegetable have increased rapidly over the past few weeks across the country with retail prices going up to Rs 56 per kg in Mumbai and Delhi, Rs 48 per kg in Kolkata, and Rs 34 per kg in Chennai, according to data from the Consumer Affairs Ministry.

Pune: At least 12 killed in flooding, wall collapse incidents amid heavy rain

At least 12 people were killed in flooding and wall collapse incidents in Pune district of Maharashtra on Wednesday amid heavy rain. Schools and colleges in various tehsils have declared a holiday on Thursday.

Economic Advisory Council reconstituted; members who raised concerns about economy dropped

The Centre on Wednesday announced that it has reconstituted the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister with effect from Thursday, for a period of two years. The government dropped National Institute of Public Finance and Policy member Rathin Roy and Brookings Institution member Shamika Ravi from the council.

Jammu and Kashmir was a mess before its special status was scrapped, says S Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday said that before August 5, Jammu and Kashmir was “a mess”. He added that restrictions were imposed in the state to avoid a repeat of 2016, when the Valley erupted in protests following the killing of militant Burhan Wani.

CBI officer investigating corruption case against Rakesh Asthana applies for retirement

National Commission for Minorities Vice Chairman George Kurian has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, claiming that Christian girls are “soft targets” for Islamic terror recruiters in Kerala. “Love jihad” is a term frequently used by Hindutva organisations to allege a conspiracy by Muslim men to marry women from other religions solely to convert them to Islam.

Mehul Choksi is a crook who will be extradited to India, says Antigua and Barbuda PM

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne on Wednesday said that fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi “will be extradited back to India” once he exhausts all his appeals. Choksi is accused of defrauding the Punjab National Bank of more than Rs 13,000 crore along with his nephew Nirav Modi. He had fled to Antigua and Barbuda in January 2018, a few weeks before the scam came to light.

RBI denies rumours of closure of several public sector banks, calls them false

The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday denied rumours of the closure of certain banks after the central bank had placed some curbs on the Punjab and Maharashtra Cooperative Bank. “Reports appearing in some sections of social media about RBI closing down certain commercial banks are false,” the RBI said on Twitter.

India condemns UK Labour Party’s resolution calling for international intervention in Kashmir

India on Wednesday condemned the United Kingdom’s Opposition Labour Party for passing a resolution demanding international intervention in the Kashmir matter. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar described the Labour Party’s move as “pandering to vote-bank interests”.

Rajnath Singh says PoK will go the way of East Pakistan in 1971 if Islamabad does not mend its ways

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday reminded Islamabad of the 1971 war, when East Pakistan broke away from its western wing to form Bangladesh. Singh said something similar could happen to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir if Islamabad did not mend its ways.

Modi cannot be called father of nation, Trump is illiterate, says AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi

All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday criticised United States President Donald Trump for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi the “father of India” on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session. Owaisi called Trump “jahil”, or illiterate, and said that he was ignorant of India’s history and about Mahatma Gandhi.

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