LIVE: Sachin Pilot may not attend Legislative Party meeting today

The India Meteorology Department has said that heavy-to-very heavy rainfall is expected in sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim, and East Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, on Sunday

3:05 AM

Rajasthan crisis: Three Congress MLAs say they will follow party line

Three Congress MLAs, who had left for Delhi and were being counted among those in Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot's camp in the power tussle in Rajasthan, on Sunday said they will follow the party line.

 

Addressing a press conference at Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's home here, Rohit Bohra, Danish Abrar and Chetan Dudi called themselves "soldiers" of the party and said they will do whatever the top leadership tells them.

3:05 AM

We're clear on not allowing internet voting amid Covid-19: Ashok Lavasa

The Bihar Assembly elections due by November will be the first test case of how polls work during the Covid-19 pandemic in India. Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa talks to Subhomoy Bhattacharjee about the challenges envisaged. Edited excerpts:

3:04 AM

West Bengal's Covid-19 tally crosses 30K-mark with record 1,560 new cases

West Bengal's Covid-19 tally crossed the 30,000-mark on Sunday with record 1,560 new cases reported from different parts of the state, according to a bulletin issued by the health department. With the fresh infections, the total number of cases in the state has risen to 30,013, it said.

 

At present, there are 10,500 active cases in the state.

3:04 AM

UP govt to impose stricter lockdown on weekends to curb Covid-19 spread

The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to impose a stricter lockdown across the state on weekends to stop Covid-19 spread, a senior official said on Sunday.

 

The decision has come amid a spike in the number of infections, which had crossed 35,000 on Saturday.

3:04 AM

Nepal urges India to take steps against broadcast of anti-Nepal materials

Nepal has sent a 'diplomatic note' to India, urging New Delhi to take steps against the broadcast of materials what it called "fake, baseless and insensitive as well as abusive" to the country and its leadership by a section of the Indian media, a source said on Sunday.

 

The move came days after Nepal on Thursday stopped the transmission of all Indian private news channels except Doordarshan, accusing them of airing reports hurting the country's national sentiment.

3:04 AM

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, daughter Aaradhya test positive for Covid-19

In the first major Covid-19 outbreak in Bollywood, Amitabh Bachchan and three members of his family, son Abhishek, daughter-in-law Aishwarya and grand daughter Aaradhya have tested positive, civic officials said on Sunday, adding there was no cause for concern over their health.

 

However, Amitabh’s wife Jaya Bachchan has tested negative.

3:03 AM

Bank, post offices can now find out TDS on large cash withdrawals

Bank and post offices can now ascertain the tax deducted at source (TDS) of those withdrawing large cash just by entering permanent account number of these assesses on the facility provided by the income tax department.

 

The department has facilitated a new functionality for banks and post offices through which they can ascertain the TDS applicability rates.

1:20 AM

US, Chinese ambassadors spar on Twitter in Brazil

The US and Chinese ambassadors have gotten into a Twitter spat in Brazil, echoing the tense relations between the nations as a whole.

 

It started Friday when US Ambassador Todd Chapman retweeted a State Department account accusing the Chinese Communist Party of conducting a mass sterilisation campaign for women as part of its crackdown on Uighurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang province.

 

Silence is not an option, Chapman added.

12:16 AM

It's Trump's call on what the GOP convention will look like

After months of insisting that the Republican National Convention go off as scheduled despite the pandemic, President Donald Trump is slowly coming to accept that the late August event will not be the four-night infomercial for his reelection that he had anticipated.

 

After a venue change, spiking coronavirus cases and a sharp recession, Trump aides and allies are increasingly questioning whether it's worth the trouble, and some are advocating that the convention be scrapped altogether.

 

Conventions are meant to lay out a candidate's vision for the coming four years, not spark months of intrigue over the health and safety of attendees, they have argued.

 

Ultimately, the decision on whether to move forward will be Trump's alone.

11:46 PM

BJP in 'wait and watch' mode on Pilot's rebellion in Rajasthan

The BJP is in a "wait and watch" mode over the unfolding crisis in the Congress in Rajasthan and will wait for the outcome of the show of strength between Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot before deciding on its next course of action, party sources said on Sunday.

 

Gehlot has called a meeting of Congress MLAs on Monday, which is likely to give a clear indication of how much support he and Pilot enjoy in the legislative group.

 

Pilot, who is also the Rajasthan Congress president, is said to be in touch with some BJP leaders but saffron party sources declined to comment on whether it has held any discussion with him.

11:03 PM

5 killed in lightning strikes in Jharkhand's Dumka and Giridih districts: Officials

11:02 PM

TRAI asks Airtel, Vodafone Idea to hold priority plans promising faster speeds

The telecom regulator has asked Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea to put on hold specific plans that promised faster speeds to certain priority users, as it questioned whether the network preference came at the cost of deterioration of services for other subscribers.

 

A source said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has asked the two operators to withhold the specific plan for the interim period.

 

The TRAI has written to the two operators -- Airtel and Vodafone Idea -- and questioned them about their individual plans that promised faster speeds to certain priority users.

10:59 PM

F1 star Hamilton raises right fist in fight against racism

Standing on the podium to celebrate his latest win, Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton raised a clenched right fist and then delivered a message to his fellow drivers not to slow down in the fight against racism.

 

It's 52 years since American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos introduced that powerfully defiant gesture to a worldwide TV audience when standing on the podium during their medal ceremony at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.

 

On Sunday Hamilton and the other 19 F1 drivers wore black T-shirts with End Racism on them, as they had done at last weekend's season-opening Austrian GP. Most again took the knee on the grid before Sunday's Styrian Grand Prix in Austria.

 

Others still did not and even questioned in the pre-race drivers' briefing whether it should still be done.

10:48 PM

Legislative assembly for Jammu and Kashmir would be formed 'very soon': Ram Madhav

10:45 PM

Around 70 to 75 MLAs attended meeting at Gehlot's residence