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Latest News LIVE: Sonia Gandhi will continue as interim president of Congress and the election of new party chief will take place as soon as possible, party leader KH Muniyappa said after a crucial meeting of Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Monday. The CWC also decided to convene the AICC (All India Congress Committee) session at the earliest possible time to start the process for selecting the new party president.

The Supreme Court on Monday declined a plea for directions to the Centre and the National Testing Agency (NTA) for setting up NEET exam centres abroad for the benefit of students in foreign countries in the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic.

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Monday withdrew his tweet hitting out at Rahul Gandhi and said the former party chief had informed him personally that he had never made the "colluding with the BJP" remark.

In another news, Lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Monday refused apologise to the Supreme Court for his two tweets about the judiciary saying what he expressed represented his "bonafide belief".

Stay tuned for the latest news of the day

1:37 AM

Zoom says most service restored after US users hit by partial outage

The San Jose, California-based company has experienced a surge in usage during the coronavirus pandemic, as millions of people turn to it for work meetings, school, social events including weddings and to otherwise stay connected while isolating themselves. Many schools that turned to remote instruction have used Zoom for classes.

 

Outage tracking website Downdetector.com showed nearly 17,000 incidents of people reporting issues with Zoom earlier in the day.

1:29 AM

Will cancel spectrum allocation if telcos don't pay AGR dues: SC

After several rounds of hearings and a year later, the Supreme Court has reserved its judgment on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) case. On the last day of hearing on Monday, the court observed that if telecom companies are unwilling to pay their dues, it would direct the Union government to cancel their spectrum allocation and licence.

 

While the court’s verdict on the tenure of paying AGR dues is expected to decide the future of Vodafone Idea, its ruling on spectrum held by telcos under insolvency will be critical for the telecom industry, analysts said.

1:28 AM

GST reduced tax rates, doubled taxpayer base to 12.4 million: FinMin

The finance ministry on Monday said the goods and services tax (GST) had reduced the rate at which people have to pay tax, helped increase compliance, and doubled taxpayer base to 12.4 million. In a series of tweets, on the first death anniversary of former finance minister Arun Jaitley, the ministry said before GST, the combination of va­lue-added tax, excise, sales tax, and their cascading effect resulted in high standard rate of tax up to 31 per cent. “It is widely acknowledged that GST is both consumer- and taxpayer-friendly,” it said.

 

The number of assessees covered by the GST at the time of its inception were about 6.5 million. Now the assessee base exceeds 12.4 million. GST, which subsumed about 17 local levies, was rolled out on July 1, 2017. Jaitley held the finance portfolio in the first term of the Modi government since 2014.

1:28 AM

Covid-19 impact: States stare at Rs 6-trillion fiscal hole, says SBI report

States might lose Rs 3 trillion in their own revenues this year thanks to the pandemic and the slow recovery of economic activity, State Bank of India said in a report.

 

Add to that the share of the Centre’s tax revenues and additional expenditure lost, and states could be staring at a loss of Rs 6.2 trillion in financial year 2020-21 (FY21), the report said.

 

“Combining the loss in value-added tax, stamps duty and other sources with the loss in state goods and services tax (SGST), major states are going to lose Rs 1.2 trillion in the June quarter, and the annualised loss in own revenue could be close to Rs 3 trillion,” said Soumya Kanti Ghosh, chief economist at the bank.

11:27 PM

Bypolls to be 'bada-chota bhai' vs 'trimurti' battle: Scindia

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday said the upcoming assembly bypolls in Madhya Pradesh are crucial as their outcome will decide the future of the state, and sought to portray them as a "bada-chota bhai" versus "trimurti" battle for leadership.
 

He said the bypolls will decide whether people want the leadership of "bada-chota bhai" (an apparent reference to Congress veterans Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh) or that of trimurti (triumvirate, a reference to chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, BJP leader Narendra Singh Tomar and Scindia).
 

Bypolls are due on more than two dozen seats in Madhya Pradesh but their schedule is yet to be announced.
 

The former Union minister, who quit the Congress in March and later joined the BJP, was speaking on the last day of BJP membership drive in his bastion Gwalior.

Referring to development of the region, Scindia said Chouhan sanctioned schemes worth Rs 110 crore for development of Gohad (a constituency in Bhind district), but Kamal Nath, during his tenure as chief minister, always complained about shortage of funds."
 

From where money has come now? Scindia asked.
 

"After 15 years, when the Congress government was formed in the state (in 2018), out of the 34 seats in the Gwalior-Chambal region, 26 were won by the Congress. The contribution of this region (in Congress victory) was immense, he said.

11:16 PM

Nobody alleged that anyone was colluding with BJP, says Chidambaram

11:13 PM

Donald Trump and Mike Pence renominated

11:10 PM

Chandigarh: Teenage boy accused of rape found hanging

A 14-year-old boy, who was apprehended in a rape case, was on Monday found hanging inside the bathroom of the juvenile correctional home at Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh's Bastar district, police said.
 

As per preliminary information, when the boy did not come out of the bathroom for a long time, staff members broke open the door and found him hanging, he said.

A case has been registered.
 

The teenager, a native of Vishrampuri police station area in neighbouring Kondagaon district, was detained on August 21 for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl from his village, he said.
 

11:08 PM

Vaishno Devi online yatra registration to be available from 26th August to 5th September

Vaishno Devi online yatra registration & helicopter booking is available from 26th August to 5th September 2020, said Ramesh Kumar Jangid, CEO of Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, J&K, according to ANI

11:06 PM

Letter not dissent, but good suggestions given in Cong's interests: Ex-Punjab CM Bhattal

Former Punjab Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, whose name figured in the list of 23 leaders, who demanded an "active, full-time and visible" party president, said on Monday that their communication should not be seen as dissent, but good suggestions were given in party's interest.
 

Another signatory to the letter, former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, however, declined to comment on the party's "internal matters".
 

Bhattal said that Sonia Gandhi had been made interim president of the Congress last year.
 

That was less than two years after she voluntarily relinquished the top post in favour of her son Rahul Gandhi who refused to continue as Congress chief (after the 2019 general election defeat), the former Haryana CM said.
 

After her tenure (as interim chief) came to an end on August 10, Congress had said that Sonia Gandhi will continue in the post till such time a "proper procedure" is implemented in the "not too distant future" to elect a party chief.
 

"She (Sonia Gandhi) had said that she will continue for one year and her tenure was to come to an end on August 10. Rahul ji had earlier said that he does not want to continue as party chief.
 

"In light of these things, we had given our suggestions (inthe letter). Those who have read the full contents of the letter know that we have praised Sonia Gandhi and her leadership," Bhattal told PTI.
 

11:05 PM

AIUDF says yes to Congress-led 'Grand Alliance' in Assam

The Congress on Monday said that the opposition parties in the state have given a positive response to its proposed 'Grand Alliance' for taking on the BJP-led Assam government in the Assembly polls early next year.
 

The All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) has already given consent to become a part of the 'Grand Alliance', while the Left parties have agreed in principle to join the coalition, Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Ripun Bora said.
 

"We have got a very positive response to our concept of Grand Alliance. So far, the AIUDF has given consent. The Left parties have agreed to be part and said the final decision will be announced after their internal discussion," Bora told PTI.
 

The other smaller and newly-formed anti-BJP parties have informed the Congress about their willingness to join the alliance, but they will formally announce it after taking official decisions, he added.
 

10:10 PM

Congress: 5 presidents from Nehru-Gandhi family, 13 from outside since independence

As a leadership crisis grips the Congress, experts having chronicled the country's oldest political party said on Monday that it may be theoretically possible for the party to have a president outside the Nehru-Gandhi family, but not practically.
 

The party's history shows that it has had at least 13 presidents from outside the Nehru-Gandhi clan since independence as against five from its first family.

However, the family members have been at the helm for a much longer period of time as against the others.
 

Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have headed the party at various points of time for a cumulative period of around 40 years since independence.

10:10 PM

Did he say it or he didn't: Rahul's remarks on letter writers create flutter

Did Rahul Gandhi say it or he didn't? This was the question on everyone's mind after his purported remarks on a letter written by over 20 party leaders seeking urgent organisational reforms created a flutter.
 

High drama played out at the nearly seven-hour Congress Working Committee meeting with sources saying that Rahul Gandhi lashed out at the letter writers and some leaders found it to be insinuating that it was written in cahoots with the BJP. However, the Congress promptly denied this and said "not a word of this nature" was said by the former party chief.
 

9:56 PM

Donald Trump formally re-nominated as party's presidential candidate

The Republican National Convention on Monday formally re-nominated US President Donald Trump as the party's presidential candidate for the November 3 elections.
 

Trump, 74, who faces formidable challenge from former Democratic vice president Joe Biden, 77, is scheduled to deliver his acceptance speech from the South Lawns of the White House on August 27.
 

The once in four-year GOP (Grand Old Party) convention is being held in virtual mode due to the coronavirus pandemic. A small part of the official business of the convention is being held at Charlotte in North Carolina.
 

9:50 PM

India, Uzbekistan review implementation of initiatives to boost ties

India and Uzbekistan on Monday reviewed the implementation of various key projects as well as initiatives including the status of negotiations for a bilateral investment treaty to boost economic ties.
 

The review was carried out at the first meeting of the national coordination committees for monitoring implementation of mutually agreed projects between India and Uzbekistan, the Ministry of External Affairs said.
 

The new framework to monitor the implementation of important projects and initiatives was constituted under the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev.