Live news updates: Lanka prez may expand Cabinet to include all parties

Live news updates: Wickremesinghe on Friday appointed an 18-member Cabinet that included Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena

2:09 PM

WBSSC scam: Trinamool Congress distances itself from Partha Chatterjee

Crisis seems to be deepening for state minister and Trinamool Congress secretary general Partha Chatterjee as the party leadership seems to be distancing itself from the issue of his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials on Saturday in connection with West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment scam.

 

For the first two hours of the commerce & industries minister's arrest from his residence in South Kolkata's Naktala, there was no statement from the party. Finally at around 12.15 p.m, Trinamool Congress's state general secretary and the party spokesman Kunal Ghosh came out with an extremely loaded statement denying any association of the party or the state government with the development especially with the issue of recovery of huge amount of cash from the residence of Chatterjee's confidante and close aide Arpita Mukherjee.

2:09 PM

"Will Sisodia too lose memory?" Anurag Thakur attacks Kejriwal for setting "new records of corruption"

Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday attacked Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and accused him of shielding the "corrupt" after Delhi's lieutenant governor VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe into the Delhi Excise Policy over alleged violations of procedural lapses.

 

Union Minister further said that "AAP government has set new records of corruption."

 

"You've sheltered the corrupt and the way in which you lied on TV yesterday and couldn't respond to any of BJP's allegations shows that LG's recommendation to MHA holds ground. Corrupt ministers should resign. A corrupt man like you has no right to be in power," Union Minister Anurag Thakur told ANI.

1:52 PM

NEET-PG 2022 counselling to begin on Sept 1

The National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Postgraduate)counselling will begin on September 1, official sources said on Saturday.

 

Students who have qualified in the NEET-PG 2022 exam will be able to fill their choices with respect to courses and colleges during the counselling process for admission to All India Quota seats, state medical and dental colleges, and central and deemed universities.

 

The PG counselling will commence for all central universities, deemed Universities and 50 per cent All India quota seats and 50 per cent state quota seats of medical and dental colleges simultaneously, the officials said.

1:42 PM

Gyanvapi case: Locals insist 'ganga-jamuni' culture must not erode

With Gyanvapi Shringar Gauri case in the Supreme Court, leaders from both religions voice different opinions, yet want the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb of Kashi to stay intact.

Hearing the matter on Thursday, the Supreme Court said it would wait for the Varanasi district judge's decision on the objections of the Gyanvapi Mosque Committee regarding the admissibility of a civil suit filed by Hindu devotees.

The top court had on May 20 transferred the civil suit filed by Hindu devotees regarding the Gyanvapi Mosque from a senior civil judge to the Varanasi district judge.

1:36 PM

Kangaroo courts by media affecting health of democracy: CJI Ramana

Agenda-driven debates and kangaroo courts being run by the media are detrimental to the health of the democracy, Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana said on Saturday.

Delivering the inaugural lecture instituted in the memory of Justice Satya Brata Sinha here, CJI Ramana said media trials affect the fair functioning and independence of the judiciary.

"Media trials cannot be a guiding factor in deciding cases. Of late, we see the media running kangaroo courts at times on issues even experienced judges find difficult to decide. Ill-informed and agenda-driven debates on issues involving justice delivery are proving to be detrimental to the health of democracy," he said.

1:15 PM

Lanka Prez Wickremesinghe may expand Cabinet to include all parties

Sri Lanka's newly-elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe is likely to expand his Cabinet to accommodate all opposition parties in the government, according to a senior minister.

 

Wickremesinghe on Friday appointed an 18-member Cabinet that included Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena.

 

The President is likely to expand the Cabinet to make it representative of all parties in Parliament, Tourism Minister Harin Fernando said, echoing Wickremesinghe's thoughts to local media after taking the oath on Friday.

 

However, he did not give any timeframe.

 

The government sources said the new stopgap President would be taking action to accommodate all opposition parties in government.

 

12:55 PM

CBSE board exams being split in two terms reason behind improved results: Schools

The rise in pass percentage in board exams as against the pre-pandemic scores can in part be attributed to the 2021-22 academic session being split into two terms, according to school principals.

 

In a first such instance, the academic session was divided into two terms last session.

 

While the first term exams were conducted during November-December, the second term exams were held in May-June.

12:48 PM

Sri Lanka Cabinet discusses ways to normalise situation within one week

Sri Lanka's Cabinet has met for the first time under newly-elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe and discussed ways to normalise the situation in the economic-crisis hit country within a week by regularising functions of the government institutions such as the Prime Minister's Office and the Presidential Secretariat, according to a media report on Saturday.

 

After the appointment of the new Cabinet on Friday, the President called for the meeting, the Daily Mirror newspaper reported.

12:37 PM

India, six others vote against resolution to grant UN accreditation to 6 rights groups

India along with six others has voted against a draft resolution presented by the US that recommended six human rights groups, which have been blocked for years in the United Nations' NGO Committee, be granted special consultative status at the UN Economic and Social Council.

 

At the meeting of the 54-member Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Committee on Non-Governmental Organisations recommended 203 groups for special consultative status.

 

12:36 PM

Jammu-Srinagar national highway remains closed for traffic amid landslides

After opening briefly on Friday for stranded vehicles and Amarnath yatra convoy, the Jammu-Srinagar national highway has been closed for vehicular traffic again due to landslides and shooting stones, officials said on Saturday.

"Jammu-Srinagar highway (NH-44) is still blocked. People are advised to not travel on NH-44 without confirmation from TCU Jammu/Srinagar/Ramban," Jammu and Kashmir Traffic police said.

It has been raining incessantly at many places across Jammu and Kashmir since Saturday morning.

12:21 PM

Scindia, Pradhan to be in Kolkata for 'Pravas' campaign

Union ministers Jyotiraditya Scindia and Dharmendra Pradhan will be in Kolkata on Saturday to participate in organisational meetings as part of BJP's 'Pravas' campaign across the country.

 

The saffron party has launched the campaign to strengthen its organisation in 144 Lok Sabha constituencies ahead of the 2024 elections.

 

12:02 PM

PM Modi pays tribute to freedom fighters Tilak and Azad on their birth anniversary

Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on Saturday paid tributes to freedom fighters, Lokmanya Tilak and Chandra Shekhar Azad on their birth anniversary.

He also shared an excerpt of Mann Ki Baat in which he had spoken about Lokmanya Tilak and Chandra Shekhar Azad a few years ago.

In a series of tweets, the Prime Minister said, "I bow to two greats sons of Maa Bharti, Lokmanya Tilak and Chandra Shekhar Azad on their birth anniversary. These two stalwarts epitomise courage and patriotism. Sharing what I had spoken about them during #MannKiBaat a few years ago."

11:53 AM

Dramatic escalation of Chinese espionage on US soil

A frenzy of counter-intelligence activity by the FBI and US other federal agencies has focused on what career security officials say has been a dramatic escalation of Chinese espionage on American soil over the past decade.

Since at least 2017, federal officials have investigated Chinese land purchases near critical infrastructure, shut down a high-profile regional consulate believed by the US government to be a hotbed of Chinese spies and stone-walled what they saw as clear efforts to plant listening devices near sensitive military and government facilities, CNN reported.

Among the most alarming things the FBI uncovered pertains to Chinese-made Huawei equipment atop cell towers near US military bases in the rural Midwest.

11:53 AM

EC takes note of fight over Shiv Sena symbol, seeks submissions by Aug 8

The Election Commission has asked the rival factions of the Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackeray and Eknath Shinde, to submit documents by August 8 in support of their claims on the election symbol of the political outfit.

Election Commission sources said the two sides have been asked to submit documents, including letters of support from the legislative and organisational wings of the party and the written statements of the rival factions.

They said the requirement were made in line with the Paragraph 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968.

11:52 AM

Flood situation in Assam improves; 10,000 remain affected

The flood situation in Assam has improved although over 10,000 people remained affected in three districts, an official bulletin said.

More than 10,000 people are suffering from the deluge in Cachar, Morigaon and Tamulpur districts, the bulletin issued by Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) said.

Cachar district was the worst hit with over 6,600 people suffering, followed by Morigaon (2,600) and Tamulpur (900).

Around 17,200 people were affected by the deluge in four districts till Thursday.