The big news: Two rockets hit Baghdad’s Green Zone day after Iran attack, and nine other top stories
Other headlines: Jharkhand government dropped sedition charges against CAA protestors, and BJP MP Swapan Dasgupta claimed he was held hostage at Visva Bharati.
A look at the headlines right now:
- Two rockets fall inside Baghdad’s Green Zone of official buildings, foreign missions: Eye-witnesses claimed that two loud blasts that were followed by sirens were heard in Iraq’s capital.
- Sedition charges against CAA protestors in Dhanbad dropped, says Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren: Soren said the laws were not made to ‘frighten and silence’ people but instill a feeling of security among them.
- BJP MP Swapan Dasgupta claims he was held hostage by a ‘mob’ at Visva Bharati: The Rajya Sabha MP tweeted that the protestors disrupted a peaceful meeting on the citizenship law, and locked him in a room.
- BJP loses five Maharashtra zilla parishads, including RSS bastion Nagpur: The saffron party also lost the seat in Union minister Nitin Gadkari’s native village Dhapewada.
- Minors from Muzaffarpur shelter home case who were believed to be dead are alive, CBI tells Supreme Court: The agency said it had been completed its inquiry into the shelter home case.
- JNU vice chancellor briefs HRD ministry officials about steps taken to restore normalcy on campus: Congress leader P Chidambaram demanded M Jagadesh Kumar’s resignation. Meanwhile, Amartya Sen said he was appalled by the violence, and West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh claimed the violence was staged. Union minister Prakash Javadekar said actor Deepika Padukone should not be criticised for visiting JNU amid calls to boycott her latest film.
- Iran will welcome any Indian peace initiative to defuse tension with US, says envoy: Earlier in the day, India had advised its citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to Iraq.
- Violence reported from across West Bengal during Bharat bandh, Mamata Banerjee accuses Left of hooliganism: At least 55 people were arrested in the state till afternoon.
- CIC orders Centre to reveal names of electoral bond scheme donors who want to remain anonymous: Information Commissioner Suresh Chandra issued notices to the Department of Economic Affairs, the Department of Financial Services and the poll panel.
- The last decade was India’s hottest on record, 2019 was seventh warmest year, says IMD: Extreme weather events, such as avalanches, floods, heat wave and thunderstorms, killed about 1,630 persons in 2019.