Top news: India criticises Pakistan for stopping mail service, says it violates international norms
The biggest stories of the day.
Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad criticised Pakistan’s unilateral decision to stop accepting mails from India. The minister said that Islamabad stopped the mail service between the two nations two months ago without any prior notice or information.
The Supreme Court said that it had not passed a stay order on the construction of a metro car shed at Aarey Colony in Mumbai. On October 7, the court had imposed a stay on the cutting of trees in the area till October 21.
Heavy rain lashed many parts of Kerala and Maharashtra on Monday morning, disrupting the election process in both states. Voting is currently underway in 288 Assembly constituencies and one parliamentary constituency in Maharashtra. In Kerala, bye-elections to five Assembly seats are under way.
No stay order on Aarey metro depot project, interim order against tree felling to continue, says SC
The Supreme Court on Monday clarified that it had not imposed a stay order on the construction of a metro car shed at Aarey Milk Colony in Mumbai. The car shed is being constructed for Mumbai Metro’s third line.
J&K: Siachen is now open to tourists, says Defence Minister Rajnath Singh
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday announced that the Siachen area in Ladakh was open to tourists. The announcement came more than two months after the Centre’s August 5 order revoking Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status. The government also split the state into the two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Pakistan’s decision to stop accepting mails from India violates global norms: Ravi Shankar Prasad
India on Monday lashed out at Pakistan for unilaterally stopping postal service between the two countries, with Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad saying that Islamabad’s decision violated Universal Postal Union norms.
‘RSS has been targeted for the last 90 years’: Mohan Bhagwat responds to Savarkar Bharat Ratna row
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Monday claimed his organisation had been targeted for the last 90 years. He was responding to a question about the row sparked by the Bharatiya Janata Party’s poll promise in Maharashtra to confer Bharat Ratna on Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. “There is no need to worry as the society is one and will always be one,” the RSS chief said after casting his vote in Nagpur’s Mahal area. “It is politics, all this is part of it.”
Assam: Cattle rearer killed, one injured after allegedly refusing to donate money to tribal group
The police in Assam’s Dibrugarh district have launched a search operation to arrest those responsible for killing a cattle rearer last week. The accused allegedly belong to the students’ body of a tribal community. District police officials said the cattle-rearing community in a remote sandbar in Dibrugarh was attacked for refusing to pay donation for the foundation day celebrations of the Takam Mising Porin Kebang, the students’ body of the Mising tribe.
Ravidas temple demolition: SC accepts Centre’s offer to hand over 400 sqm of land to rebuild shrine
The Supreme Court on Monday accepted the Centre’s revised offer to hand over to a committee of Ravidas devotees 400 square metres of the same site in Tughlakabad where a Guru Ravidas temple stood before being razed two months ago. The 15th-century temple was demolished on August 10 on the orders of the top court after a petitioner accused the temple authorities of encroachment.
Kamlesh Tiwari murder: UP Police announce cash reward of Rs 5 lakh for information on killers
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday announced a cash reward of Rs 2.5 lakh each for information that could lead to the capture of two accused involved in the murder of Hindu Samaj Party leader Kamlesh Tiwari in the state last week. Tiwari, purportedly also a member of the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, was attacked inside his office in Khurshed Bagh in Lucknow on Friday.
Jammu and Kashmir: 125 projects cleared on forest land since August, only 97 approved last year
The Forest Advisory Committee of the Jammu and Kashmir administration has granted clearances to 125 projects involving diversion of forest land for other purposes between August and October.
Haryana: Rahul Gandhi tweets video of BJP MLA claiming EVMs are manipulated, calls him ‘most honest’
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday tweeted a video clip of a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA declaring that the votes will be cast in favour of the ruling party irrespective of which button is pressed on the Electronic Voting Machine.
Kerala: Heavy rain lashes state, disrupts voting in bye-elections
Heavy rain lashed many parts of Kerala and Maharashtra on Monday morning, disrupting the election process in both states. Voting is currently underway in 288 Assembly constituencies and one parliamentary constituency in Maharashtra. In Kerala, bye-elections to five Assembly seats are under way.
Chhattisgarh sex CD case: Supreme Court stays trial against CM Bhupesh Baghel
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the ongoing criminal trial against Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in the alleged sex CD case.
Gross tax revenue for 2019-’20 may fall short by Rs 2 lakh crore: Report
An internal assessment by the Centre has revealed that gross tax revenue for the 2019-’20 financial year may fall short by around Rs 2 lakh crore. The Union Budget for the year had estimated the revenue to be around Rs 24.6 lakh crore.
In Kashmir, bonds prohibit detainees from holding meetings or speaking about Article 370 revocation
The state administration in Jammu and Kashmir is forcing detainees to sign a bond that forbids them from speaking against “the recent events” in the state to secure their release. The recent events refer to the Centre’s decision to scrap the state’s special status under Article 370 of the Constitution in August and split it into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Winter session of Parliament to be held from November 18 to December 13: Reports
The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs on Monday announced that the winter session of Parliament will be held from November 18 to December 13. The ministry has communicated the decision to the secretariats of both Houses of Parliament.
Delhi: St Stephen’s professor found dead on rail tracks, police recover mother’s body from apartment
The Delhi Police on Sunday said that a 27-year-old professor of Delhi University’s St Stephen’s College and his 55-year-old mother were found dead at two separate locations in the national Capital.
Kartarpur inauguration: India, and not Pakistan, must invite Manmohan Singh, says Congress
The Congress on Sunday said former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would never go to Pakistan on Islamabad’s invitation. The statement came hours after Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Singh will attend the Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara inauguration in Narowal in Pakistan’s Punjab province on November 9 as an “ordinary man” and not as a “chief guest”.
Ayodhya judgement will impact future generations, Muslim parties tell Supreme Court
The Muslim parties in the Ayodhya land dispute case have urged the Supreme Court to remember that its judgement will “impact future generations” and to ensure its orders reflect India’s constitutional values. “Since the judgment of this court will have far-reaching implications, it is for the court to consider the consequences of its historic judgment by moulding the relief in a fashion that will reflect the constitutional values that this great nation espouses,” their statement said.
J&K: ‘For peace and development, can even jail 200-300 people,’ says BJP leader Ram Madhav
Bharatiya Janata Party General Secretary Ram Madhav on Sunday said the government would ensure peace and development in Jammu and Kashmir even “if 200-300 people are to be kept inside jails” for the purpose.
Kamlesh Tiwari murder: Police recover blood-stained knife, clothes of suspects from Lucknow hotel
The Lucknow Police on Sunday recovered a blood-stained knife from a hotel room in the Lalbagh area of the city where two people allegedly involved in the murder of Hindutva leader Kamlesh Tiwari were staying. The police also claimed to have recovered blood-stained kurtas worn by the suspects, and the pistol used for the crime.
Assembly elections: Voters queue up as polling in Maharashtra, Haryana begins
After a high-pitched electoral campaign by political parties, voting to 288 Assembly seats in Maharashtra, 90 Assembly seats in Haryana, and bye-polls to two Lok Sabha constituencies and 51 Assembly seats spread across 17 states began at 7 am on Monday. Counting of votes will take place on Thursday. Tight security arrangements are in place, with deployment of more than three lakh personnel from state police and central forces in Maharashtra. Over 75,000 security personnel have been mobilised for polls in Haryana.
IMF is ‘a little less optimistic’ about India’s growth than it was a few months ago: Gita Gopinath
International Monetary Fund’s Chief Economist Gita Gopinath on Sunday told NDTV that the international organisation was “a little less optimistic” about the Indian economy “than we were a few months ago”.
‘Buy swords, not gold, on Dhanteras’: BJP leader advises Hindus to prepare for Ayodhya verdict
A Bharatiya Janata Party leader in Uttar Pradesh has advised Hindus to buy “iron swords instead of gold jewellery and silver vessels” on Dhanteras to prepare for the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya land dispute case. Dhanteras is the first day of the festival of Diwali.
‘Three terror camps in PoK destroyed, six to 10 Pakistani soldiers killed,’ says Bipin Rawat
Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Sunday said three terrorist camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were destroyed in retaliation after two soldiers and a civilian were killed in ceasefire violation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district earlier in the day, ANI reported. Three civilians were injured in the firing in Ghundhishat village of Tangdhar district.