A look at the headlines right now:

  1. Consumer expenditure survey withheld because of data quality problems, claims Centre: Reports had said earlier in the day that consumer spending fell for first time since 1970s in 2017-’18. Meanwhile, Union minister Suresh Angadi claimed the economy was doing fine as people were getting married and airports were full.
  2. Sena closer to forming government with NCP-Congress in Maharashtra, to meet governor tomorrow: Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar claimed the alliance would last the entire five years.
  3. SC raps northern states, says odd-even scheme not a long-term solution to solve air pollution: The bench said the governments of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana had failed to take effective steps to curb pollution. A parliamentary panel’s meeting on pollution was cancelled as key officials as well as 25 of the 29 MPs, including Gautam Gambhir, were not present.
  4. SC verdict on Rafale paved way for CBI inquiry, say petitioners Yashwant Sinha, Bhushan, Arun Shourie: Lawyer Prashant Bhushan said the CBI had to seek the Centre’s permission to look into the case and had three months to do so.
  5. CBI searches Amnesty office in Bengaluru over alleged FCRA violations: In a statement, Amnesty India said that in the past year, a ‘pattern of harassment’ had emerged every time the organisation flagged human rights violations.
  6. Sabarimala is no place for women activists, says Kerala Devaswom minister: Meanwhile, SC Justice RF Nariman told the Centre to read the dissenting view in Sabarimala verdict and added: “our orders not to be played with”.
  7. ‘Bitter truths must remain in memory’, says CJI Ranjan Gogoi as he refuses interview requests on last day: The outgoing chief justice said judges speak only due to ‘functional necessity and no more’.
  8. India’s requests for Facebook user data shoots up, now second only to US, says transparency report: According to the social media company, the government made 1,615 ‘emergency requests’ in the first half of 2019, up from 861 in the second half of last year.
  9. Supreme Court holds former Ranbaxy promoters, Fortis Healthcare guilty of contempt: The court said the brothers can get away from contempt proceedings by depositing Rs 1,175 crore each.
  10. ‘Pakistan is a nearly failed state, has deep-rooted DNA of terrorism,’ says India at UNESCO: Indian diplomat Ananya Agarwal said Islamabad’s ‘neurotic behaviour’ has resulted in its decline.