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

11:30 PM

Maha govt to launch 100-day drive to resolve issues of people after formation of state cabinet: CM

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Saturday said a 100-day special programme will be launched once the cabinet is expanded to resolve issues of people in a time-bound manner.

The chief minister was speaking virtually at a function organised by the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) for hawkers to distribute funds in the Thane district.

11:18 PM

Ruckus in Odisha assembly over ED notice to Sonia Gandhi

The Odisha Assembly on Saturday witnessed a noisy scene after Congress and BJP legislators got involved in a war of words over the Enforcement Directorate's fresh summon to Sonia Gandhi for questioning in connection with its probe into a money laundering case.

During the Zero Hour, BJP's deputy leader in the House B C Sethi pointed out the central agency's raid on a West Bengal minister's residence in connection with an alleged school jobs scam.

11:07 PM

Centre released over Rs 7K cr to states for poll expenditure from 2014-22

Nearly Rs 7,000 crore has been released by the Centre to the states since 2014 for expenditure incurred towards conducting various elections.

The matter of simultaneous polls is with the Law Commission for further examination to work out a practicable roadmap and framework for simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state Assemblies.

10:49 PM

C'garh CM Bhupesh Baghel in Delhi; likely to raise with Cong leaders his differences with T S Singh Deo

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel reached the national capital on Saturday and is likely to raise with the Congress leadership the issue of his differences with state minister T S Singh Deo.

They said Singh Deo is also likely to be in the national capital as he is the observer for Gujarat assembly polls along with chief observer Ashok Gehlot.

10:32 PM

Smriti Irani to flag off BJP's Tiranga rally at Srinagar's Lal Chowk on Monday

Union minister Smriti Irani will on Monday flag off BJP's Tiranga motorcyclists rally from the historic Clock Tower at Lal Chowk here to the Kargil War Memorial, the party said on Saturday.

A BJP spokesman said the party's J-K unit has constituted six committees to finalise the arrangements for the event.

9:03 PM

Will take steps against arrested minister if proven guilty of school jobs scam: TMC

The Trinamool Congress on Saturday said that the party and the government will take action against arrested senior minister Partha Chatterjee if he is proven guilty of the school jobs scam.

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh also made it clear that presently the party would not remove Chatterjee as a cabinet minister or the secretary general of the Trinamool Congress.

8:35 PM

TMC stands for The Mountain of Corruption: Anurag Thakur

Information & Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday hit out at Trinamool Congress, saying the party is "the mountain of corruption" as West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee was arrested in connection with the school jobs scam in the state.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also detained Chatterjee's close aide Arpita Mukherjee, from whose premises cash amounting to Rs 21 crore was seized.

8:13 PM

Kovind's journey to Prez post inspiring achievement of India's democracy: Om Birla

Outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind's journey from a small Uttar Pradesh village to India's top constitutional post is a wonderful and inspiring achievement of the country's democracy, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said on Saturday.

Addressing a farewell function organised on behalf of Members of Parliament for the outgoing president, Birla said Kovind's commitment to political fairness and making Rashtrapati Bhavan accessible to citizens will inspire generations to come.

8:10 PM

Outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind to address nation on Sunday

Outgoing President Ram Nath Kovind will address the nation on Sunday, a Rashtrapati Bhavan statement issued on Saturday said.

The address will be broadcast from 7 pm on the entire network of All India Radio and telecast on all channels of Doordarshan in Hindi followed by the English version, it said.

7:23 PM

Maharashtra reports 2,336 Covid-19 cases, five deaths

Maharashtra on Saturday reported 2,336 new Covid-19 cases and five pandemic-related deaths, taking the state's caseload to 80,32,246 and death toll to 1,48,056, an official said.

The addition to the tally was a drop from the 2,515 cases detected a day earlier. On Friday too, five patients had succumbed to the viral infection.

6:54 PM

India's efforts were praised all across the world during difficult times: Kovind during farewell speech

World is struggling because of Covid-19 pandemic. I hope we learn lessons from the pandemic, we forgot that we are all part of nature. In difficult times, India's efforts were praised all across the world, said President Ram Nath Kovind during his farewell address 

6:35 PM

Delhi Excise Policy: LG takes note of 'lapses', seeks report from Chief Secy

LG VK Saxena has directed the chief secretary to submit a report on the role of officers and civil servants in alleged "illegal" formulation, amendments and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, official sources said on Saturday.

Saxena has already recommended a CBI probe into the alleged violations of rules and procedural lapses related to the Excise Policy 2021-22 of the Kejriwal government.

The recommendation of CBI probe by the LG was based on a report of the Chief Secretary.

5:56 PM

Sedition case: Delhi court dismisses interim bail plea of Sharjeel Imam

Delhi court on Saturday has dismissed the interim bail plea of Sharjeel Imam in the Sedition case connected with seditious speech, ANI reported.

5:50 PM

Fresh supply of office space rises 96% in Jan-Jun across 6 cities

New supply of office space nearly doubled in January-June to 23.7 million square feet across six cities on lower base effect and rise in demand, according to Colliers.

The supply stood at 12.1 million square feet in the January-June 2021 across these six cities - Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai and Delhi-NCR.

5:24 PM

Smriti Irani denies the allegations of her 18 year old daughter running an illegal bar in Goa