LIVE: TN govt to transfer Tuticorin custodial death case to CBI, says CM

Oil companies did not hike the petrol prices during the day breaking the 21-day-chain of successive hikes in petrol and diesel prices. Stay tuned with Business Standard for the latest news of today

7:38 PM

Fully prepared to deal with any locust attack: Haryana govt

The Haryana government is fully prepared to deal with any locust attack, state Agriculture Minister J P Dalal said on Sunday, as he credited officials for a timely response to tackle an infestation of the short-horned grasshoppers in Rewari district.

He also said the Rewari district administration will conduct a survey to assess the damage caused to crops by locusts. The locust swarms have been coming in waves into Rajasthan from Pakistan over the last one and a half months and devouring crops along their path as they cross from one state to another.

"We have sufficient stocks of insecticides, pesticides, machinery to deal with locust attacks. Our officials swing into action as soon as these insects settle down on vegetation, trees, soil, etc," Dalal said.

He said the administration managed to eliminate 35 per cent of a swarm of locusts which had entered Rewari around 5 pm on Friday and settled in the villages around Jatusana at night.

"We were apprehending that they will move towards Rohtak and Sonipat, but due to a change in the wind direction they moved towards Gurgaon, Delhi and then towards Uttar Pradesh," he said.

Dalal, who visited fields in Bohatwas Bhondu and Parkhotampur villages in Rewari's Jatusana on Saturday, said the farmers have been assured that the administration is assessing the damage caused to their crops due to the locust attack.

7:28 PM

Northeast India likely to receive widespread rainfall in next 4-5 days: IMD

Northeast India is likely to receive widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy rains over the region in next four to five days as the eastern end of monsoon trough continues to run along the foothills of Himalayas with the convergence of strong southerly/south-westerly winds from Bay of Bengal over the northeast and adjoining east India, said India Meteorological Department (IMD).

 

"Eastern end of monsoon trough continues to run along the foothills of Himalayas with convergence of strong southerly/south-westerly winds from Bay of Bengal over the northeast and adjoining east India. It is most likely to cause widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall over northeast India during the next four to five days. Extremely heavy falls also most likely over Assam and Meghalaya during next 24 hours," said IMD

 

Fairly widespread to widespread rainfall activity over East Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim during next five days. Isolated heavy to very heavy falls also very likely over the above areas during the next two days and heavy falls subsequent three days, according to IMD.

 

"Fairly widespread rainfall very likely over central India during the next five days. Isolated heavy falls also very likely over Madhya Pradesh during the next five days, over Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha on 29th and 30th June 2020," said IMD.

 

Fairly widespread to widespread rainfall activity with isolated heavy falls very likely along the west coast during next five days. Subdued rainfall activity over Western Himalayan Region and adjoining northwest India very likely to continue during next three to four days, according to IMD.

 

Meanwhile, IMD senior scientist Naresh Kumar said, "Bihar and northeastern states will receive heavy rainfall activity in the coming two days. There will be no heavy rainfall in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi NCR in the coming five days. Central India is likely to receive moderate rainfall in coming days."

7:14 PM

SC dismisses plea seeking cancellation of remaining two papers of Class 10 examination of Rajasthan board

7:14 PM

DCB Bank plans to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore via equity, debt instruments

DCB Bank is planning to raise up to Rs 1,000 crore through equity and debt instruments, and will seek shareholders' approval in its ensuing annual general meeting (AGM) next month. The private sector lender's AGM will take place on July 11 through video conferencing (VC) and other audio-visual means, DCB Bank said in its annual report 2019-20.

 

The bank plans to raise up to Rs 500 crore by issue of equity shares to qualified institutional buyers through qualified institutional placement, and an equal amount is slated to be raised by issuing bonds, debentures or securities on a private placement basis, DCB Bank said in the annual report 2019-20.

 

On fundraising via equity share issuance, it said the board of directors will seek consent from shareholders "to create, offer, issue and allot in one or more tranches by way of a qualified institutions placement of equity shares to qualified institutional buyers... for an aggregate amount not exceeding Rs 500 crore," DCB Bank said.

7:07 PM

Phrase in UN 75th anniversary draft declaration changed after objection by India, five others

UN General Assembly President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande has changed a phrase in the draft declaration to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations after India along with countries including the UK and the US raised objection to the sentence, understood to be similar to wording used by the Chinese Communist Party.

Muhammad-Bande circulated the draft declaration to UN Member States under silence procedure, under which if no Member State raises any objections to the draft within a specified time period, the text is adopted.

According to United Nations AssociationUK (UNA-UK), a charitable company focusing on UK action at the UN, Britain's acting ambassador Jonathan Allen broke the silence procedure on June 24 "on behalf of the members of the 'five eyes' intelligence community - the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and India.

It said that the six countries objected to one phrase towards the end of the declaration that read - "to realise our shared vision for a common future". The countries wanted this wording to be replaced with "to realise our shared vision for a better future as envisaged in the preamble of the UN Charter."

7:03 PM

Mann Ki Baat: PM Modi stresses on importance of indoor games

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday stressed on the importance of indoor games in India, saying these traditional games should be presented in a new avatar.

 

"We should present the traditional indoor games of India in a new and attractive avatar. Those mobilising their sources pertaining to these games, the suppliers and start-ups associated with these traditional indoor games will become very popular, and, we have to remember that, our Indian sports are also local, and we have already pledged to be vocal for local," the Prime Minister said while Addressing the nation through the 'Mann Ki Baat' radio broadcast.

 

"Our country has a rich heritage of traditional sports. For example, you may have heard the name of a game called 'Pachisi'. This game is played as 'Pallanguli' in Tamil Nadu, is called 'Ali Guli Mane' in Karnataka and is known as 'Vaman Guntlu' in Andhra Pradesh," PM Modi said.

 

"Now that it has come to studying online, in order to strike a balance and also to get rid of online gaming we must do so for the sake of our children. Herein also lies a strong opportunity for our start-ups and even for our younger generation," the Prime Minister said.

 

Modi also shed light on another traditional Indian game, called "Moksha Patam" or "Param Padam" and "Gutta". He also stated that there are some indoor games which doesn't need any equipment and are easy to play at home.

6:50 PM

Real estate companies must pay GST on shortfall in input procurement by June 30: Govt

Real estate companies that opted for lower GST rates of 1 per cent and 5 per cent from April 1, 2019, but could not procure 80 per cent of the total supplies from registered dealers, will have to pay tax on the shortfall in such procurement by June 30.

 

The GST Council had allowed real estate players to shift to 5 per cent GST rate for residential units and 1 per cent for affordable housing without the benefit of input tax credit (ITC) from April 1, 2019. However, they were mandated to procure at least 80 per cent of the inputs from registered dealers.

 

Any shortfall in the procurement would be subject to goods and services tax (GST) to be paid by real estate developers at the rate of 18 per cent on supplies used as inputs or input services and 28 per cent for cement. READ MORE...

6:40 PM

LIVE: Delhi records 2,889 fresh coronavirus cases, taking tally to over 83,000; death toll climbs to 2,623

6:40 PM

China begins reviewing heavily criticised Hong Kong security bill

China's legislature on Sunday began reviewing a controversial national security bill for Hong Kong that critics worldwide say will severely compromise human rights in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

 

The National People's Congress Standing Committee took up the matter at the start of a three-day session, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported. China has said it is determined to enact the law, and its passage is expected by Tuesday.

 

The US says it will respond by ending favorable trading terms granted to the former British colony after it passed to Chinese control in 1997. The Senate on Thursday unanimously approved a bill to impose sanctions on businesses and individuals including the police that undermine Hong Kong's autonomy or restrict freedoms promised to the city's residents.

 

6:25 PM

Delhi government allows restro-bars, clubs to sell beer stock expiring by July 15 to liquor shops

The Delhi government has allowed the city's restro-bars, hotels, and clubs to sell their stock of beer expiring by July 15 to liquor shops in a bid to minimise their financial losses, an official said on Sunday.

 

There are around 950 hotels, clubs and restro-bars in the national capital which have an excise license but have not been allowed to open since March 25, when the nationwide lockdown was announced. Earlier this month, the government had allowed the owners of such establishments to sell to liquor shops their stock of beer expiring in June.

 

"The department has now allowed restro-bars, hotels and clubs to sell their stock of beer expiring by July 15 to liquor shops in the city," the official said.

 

The shelf life of beer in Delhi is around six months, the official said.

 

"Hotel, clubs and restaurants licensee shall prepare an inventory of all beer stock, with barcode, which is to be transferred at licensed vend," the excise department said in an order. "The licensee from hotels, clubs and restaurants shall then submit the barcode list of beer stock and consent letter obtained from licensed vend to excise department with the request for allowing transfer of beer stock," it said.

 

According to the process, the owners of restro-bars, clubs, and hotels will have to reach an agreement with the liquor vend owners.

6:19 PM

Tamil Nadu reports 3,940 new Covid positive cases and 54 deaths today; state tally rises to 82,275

6:17 PM

LIVE: Rain lashes parts of Pune; IMD predicts cloudy sky with moderate rain in the city

6:01 PM

Latest News LIVE update: Drones in Uttar Pradesh to help control locust

Drone-as-a-Service (DAAS) provider Garuda Aerospace will soon start spraying anti-locust pesticide in several parts of Uttar Pradesh, including Noida near Delhi, said a top company official.

 

"We have got the order to deploy five drones for anti-locust operations from Banda University of Agriculture & Technology, Uttar Pradesh. We will be sending 10 pilots for operating the drones. The mandate is to deploy the drones for a total of 50 hours at the locations specified by the University," Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Managing Director of city-based Garuda Aerospace, told IANS.

 

He said the company has already deployed its drones in Rajasthan in locust control operations.

 

"This is the first time drones are being used in locust control measures in India. It is a new case scenario," Jayaprakash said.

 

According to him, there are two methods of spraying the pesticide -- one by flying above the swarm of locust and spraying on them and the other is to spray the pesticide beforehand on the areas where the locusts are expected to land.

 

He said the state government agencies predict the flight path of the locust and give us one/two days notices on the location where the drones are to be used. Sometimes the notice is very short. Jayaprakash said the locust hit percentage is about 70 per cent as per the state government officials.

5:47 PM

India to block Chinese Taipei, Japan's WTO panel request in ICT tariff case

India will block the requests of Japan and Chinese Taipei for setting up of a dispute settlement panel at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against New Delhi's customs duties on imports of certain information and communications technology (ICT) products, an official said. The requests of both the countries are scheduled to come up on Monday in the dispute settlement body meeting in Geneva and "we will block it", the official added.

 

According to the trade dispute norms of the WTO, if these countries would come with their requests for second time, the panel will be set up in the case, PTI reported.

 

In May last year, both the countries filed a case against India in the WTO over the import duties imposed on certain electronic goods, including telephones for cellular networks; machines for reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images or other data; and parts of telephone sets. They have alleged that imposition of import duties on these products by India infringes WTO norms as India has committed zero per cent bound tariffs on these products. India has strongly opposed these allegations.

 

While bound tariffs or duties refer to the ceiling over which a WTO member country cannot impose import duty, the applied tariff is the duty which is currently in place. India has stated that these ICT products are part of WTO's Information Technology Products (ITA-2) agreement, and New Delhi is not part of this pact. India is a part of ITA-1, signed in 1997, in which it did not contain any obligation to eliminate customs duties on these products.

 

According to the minutes of the meeting of the dispute settlement body, which was held in February and March, India had stated that it was fully committed to its ITA-1 commitment and had been abiding by it over the years.

5:40 PM

Tuticorin custodial death case: Tamil Nadu govt for CBI probe into death of father, son after alleged police torture

The Tamil Nadu government has decided to trasfer the probe into the death of a father-son duo, alleged victims of police torture in Tuticorin district, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Chief Minister K Palaniswami said on Sunday. The government's decision will be informed to the Madras High Court, which is seized of the matter, and secure its approval before transferring the case to the central agency, he told reporters here.

 

"The government has decided that the CBI will probe the case," Palaniswami said.

 

P Jayaraj and his son Fennix, arrested for 'violating' lockdown norms over business hours of their cellphone shop, died at a hospital in Kovilpatti on June 23, with their relatives alleging they were severely thrashed at the Sathankulam police station by police personnel earlier.

 

The incident has triggered a national furore, leading to the suspension of four policemen, including two sub- inspectors.