Latest LIVE: ED summons Gehlot's elder brother for questioning today

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said at a CLP meeting that he had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the current political situation in the state. Stay tuned for latest news live updates

3:09 PM

179 professional colleges shut down this year, highest in last 9 years

Nearly 180 professional colleges, including engineering institutes and business schools, have shut down during the academic year 2020-21, the highest number of closure of technical institutions in the last nine years, according to All India Council of Technical Eduction (AICTE) data.

 

Besides the closure of 179 institutes, at least 134 institutes did not seek approval this year in view of large number of seats lying vacant over the last 5 years thus making it unviable for continuing the institution, according to a PTI report. Also, at least 44 institutes could not get approval or their approvals were withdrawn due to punitive action by the technical education regulator.

 

While 92 technical institutes had to close down in the 2019-20 academic session, the figures were 89 (2018-19), 134 (2017-18), 163 (2016-17), 126 (2015-16) and 77 (2014-15).

2:57 PM

BSP to file plea in Rajasthan HC tomorrow against merger of six BSP MLAs in the state with Congress

2:48 PM

Vikas Dubey encounter: SC dismisses pleas seeking removal of members of inquiry commission

The Supreme Court Tuesday dismissed the pleas seeking removal of former high court judge, Justice (retd) Shashi Kant Agarwal and retired Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) K L Gupta, from the three-member inquiry commission set up to probe into the encounter killing of gangster Vikas Dubey.

 

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said it would not allow the petitioners to cast aspersion on the members of the inquiry commission, which would probe into the killing of eight policemen and the subsequent encounters of Dubey and five of his alleged associates.

 

The bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian, perused the media reports pertaining to interviews by Gupta and said the inquiry would not be vitiated as there are former judges of the apex court and the high court as part of the commission.

 

The top court was hearing two applications filed by petitioners Ghanshyam Upadhyay and Anoop Prakash Awasthi seeking removal of members of the commission.

2:12 PM

Rajasthan Cabinet sticks to its demand for holding state assembly session

The Rajasthan Cabinet on Tuesday discussed the points raised by Governor Kalraj Mishra for calling a state assembly session and said it is sticking to its demand for holding the session from July 31. Transport Minister Pratap Singh said that a discussion was held for the reply to be sent regarding the three points raised by the governor.

 

"The Cabinet wants the assembly session from July 31. The proposal is being sent to the governor," he told reporters.

2:02 PM

BSP MLAs' merger with Congress: Rajasthan MLA files second plea in HC

A day after the Rajasthan High Court dismissed BJP MLA Madanlal Dilawar's plea over merger of Rajasthan BSP with the Congress, he filed a second petition in the High Court on Tuesday. Dilawar has challenged the Rajasthan Assembly Speaker's decision taken on July 24 to dismiss his plea demanding disqualification of BSP MLAs under anti-defection law, according to an IANS report.

 

Dilawar, in his first petition, alleged that despite his complaint being submitted to the Speaker C.P. Joshi in March regarding the BSP MLAs' defection, no action was taken by him in the last many months.

 

Six BSP MLAs had merged with the Congress in September 2019 and also supported it during the recent Rajya Sabha polls. Dilawar, in March this year, submitted a complaint to the Speaker in this context which was unattended till July 24.

1:43 PM

Rajasthan Cabinet discusses Governor's note, seeks assembly session from July 31

1:16 PM

Plea in Delhi High Court challenges ordinance amending insolvency code; court seeks Centre's response

12:54 PM

Rajasthan political crisis: Will teach Ashok Gehlot a lesson for MLA theft, warns Mayawati

BSP leader Mayawati said she would go all the way to the Supreme Court to fight six MLAs of her party joining the Congress last year.

12:33 PM

India ready to take leadership, work with 13 tiger range countries for management of tiger reserves: Union minister Prakash Javadekar

11:42 AM

UP MLA fears threat to life by mining mafia lord

Uttar Pradesh BJP MLA Yogesh Dhama has written to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the Director-General of state Police claiming he has been facing a threat to his life from notorious gangster Sunil Rathi, who is lodged in Delhi's Tihar jail in connection with the murder of another gangster Munna Bajrangi.

 

Dhama said the gangster openly threatened him when he came for a hearing of the Munna Bajrangi case at a Baghpat court.

 

"He holds me responsible for stopping his illegal mining activities in the region. Two of my acquaintances have been killed by his men in the last month which proves that there is a real threat to my life," he said.

11:42 AM

UP: Mayawati claims Dalits prevented from cremating body, demands probe

BSP president Mayawati on Tuesday claimed that a Dalit woman's body was removed from the funeral pyre near Agra as the cremation ground on which the last rites were being performed belonged to upper castes and demanded an inquiry into it.

 

In a tweet, she said, "In UP near Agra, the body of a Dalit woman was removed from the funeral pyre by people of upper classes having casteist mentality because the cremation ghat belonged to upper castes which is most shameful and most condemnable.'

11:41 AM

Suspended IAS official quizzed by NIA for third time in gold smuggling case

Suspended senior IAS officer M Sivasankar on Tuesday appeared before the National Investigation Agency (NIA) team probing the sensational gold smuggling case using diplomatic channel in Kerala.

 

This is the third time in the past one week that NIA is grilling the officer, removed as Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the state IT Secretary after allegations of his link with a key woman accused in the case surfaced.

 

Sivasankar, who was questioned for nearly nine hours on Monday, was directed by the NIA to appear before the team again this morning.

11:40 AM

Telecom sector yet to emerge from woods; Govt support must to ensure viability: Sunil Mittal

The government must look at rationalising levies on the telecom sector and close long standing legal disputes that are a big drag on the performance of operators, in order to ensure industry viability with 3+1 player structure, Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Mittal has said.

 

Mittal in his message to shareholders in the company's latest annual report said, while it is clear that the "worst may be behind for India's telecom industry", it is yet to emerge from the woods.

 

"India still has some of the lowest data tariffs globally and the industry is barely able to cover the cost of capital. It requires much more support to repair the deep damage to its finances and make it viable for telecom operators to invest in future technologies," Mittal said in the company's FY20 annual report.

11:30 AM

Today, law & order situation is worsening in UP, Yogi Adityanath must learn from BSP, says Mayawati

Today, law & order situation is worsening in the state, criminals are ruling Uttar Pradesh. If govt wants to improve the situation, then UP CM, without any hesitation, should learn from BSP. I governed UP for 4 terms, during which law & order situation was stable: Mayawati, BSP

11:17 AM

Cabinet meeting begins in Jaipur to discuss points raised by governor for calling Rajasthan Assembly session