12:49 PMPlaces of Worship Act: SC asks six petitioners to file intervention application
The Supreme Court on Friday asked six petitioners challenging the validity of certain provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 to file an intervention in a pending matter.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and J B Pardiwala said the petitioners will be able to supplement the grounds of challenge in the pending petitions.
“We grant liberty to intervene in the two pending petitions,” the bench said.
12:37 PMLok Sabha adjourned for the day
Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Friday amid protests by opposition and BJP members over Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's remark on President Droupadi Murmu.
The House proceedings were first adjourned till 12 noon soon after the House had assembled for the day. Similar scenes were witnessed when the House re-assembled at 12 noon.
Congress members were in the Well of the House raising slogans against the government, while BJP members and union ministers, including Sarbananda Sonowal were on their feet demanding an apology from Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
12:37 PMLok Sabha adjourned for the day
Lok Sabha proceedings were adjourned for the day on Friday amid protests by opposition and BJP members over Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's remark on President Droupadi Murmu.
The House proceedings were first adjourned till 12 noon soon after the House had assembled for the day. Similar scenes were witnessed when the House re-assembled at 12 noon.
Congress members were in the Well of the House raising slogans against the government, while BJP members and union ministers, including Sarbananda Sonowal were on their feet demanding an apology from Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
12:35 PMSuspended MPs continue 50-hour day-night sit-in protest in Parliament
Opposition MPs continued their 50-hour day-night sit-in protest on Friday morning in front of the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside Parliament premises to mark their strong protest against their suspension and the central government which they claimed was not ready to hold discussion over key issues like price rise and increased GST rates.
A total of 27 MPs including 23 Rajya Sabha MPs and 4 Lok Sabha MPs have been suspended for "unruly behaviour" during the ongoing Monsoon session of Parliament. This is learnt to be the highest number of single-batch suspensions in the Upper House.
The 50-hour long sit-in is likely to end around 5 pm on Friday. MPs, who were suspended for the week for their "unruly behaviour and disrupting proceedings" in the Parliament, had started the sit-in protest Wednesday afternoon.
12:21 PMCovid-19 pandemic 'unprecedented', once in a century crisis, which India faced confidently: PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday termed the COVID-19 pandemic as 'unprecedented' and once in a century crisis and said the country faced it confidently due to its scientists and common people.
There was a "temperament" for reforms in the government, which is not restrictive but responsive, he said about the ruling NDA at the Centre and listed out various reforms, including in the drones and geospatial and infrastructure sectors.
In his address at the 42nd Convocation of Anna University here, the PM described the COVID-19-19 pandemic as "unprecedented" and "once in a century crisis" for which nobody had a user manual.
12:18 PM5G spectrum auction: Bidding enters day 4; bids worth Rs 1.49 trn received so far
The auction of 5G spectrum for ultra-high-speed internet services entered day four on Friday after garnering bids worth Rs 1,49,623 crore in 16 rounds of bidding conducted so far.
The high interest for spectrum in the 1800 MHz band in Uttar Pradesh East circle saw Jio and Airtel locked in intense bidding on Wednesday and Thursday, sustaining the tempo and stretching the auction timelines beyond initial expectations.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio, Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and a unit of billionaire Gautam Adani's flagship Adani Enterprises are in the race to bid for a 5G spectrum that offers speeds about 10 times faster than 4G, lag-free connectivity and can enable billions of connected devices to share data in real-time.
12:09 PMTMC's Derek O'Brien, AAP's Sanjay Singh spent night at Parliament protest site
Suspended Rajya Sabha members TMC's Derek O'Brien and AAP's Sanjay Singh spent the night at the protest site near the entrance of Parliament.
TMC's Dola Sen and Mausam Noor were there at the site till midnight.
The opposition parties sat on a relay protest in Parliament premises protesting against the suspension of 24 MPs in both Houses of Parliament.
12:08 PMUP govt transfers 13 IAS officers, appoints 3 new commissioners
Uttar Pradesh government on Friday transferred 13 IAS officers, posted new commissioners in three divisions, and new district magistrates in five districts.
The new commissioners have been posted in Chitrakoot, Jhansi, and Prayagraj divisions and new district magistrates have been posted in Varanasi, Kushinagar, Unnao, Fatehpur, and Balrampur, the government said in a statement.
12:08 PMChhattisgarh: 4.6 magnitude earthquake hits Korea dist; two suffer minor injuries, no major damage reported
A moderate earthquake of 4.6 magnitude hit some parts of Korea district in north Chhattisgarh in the wee hours of Friday, officials said.
Two employees of South Eastern Coalfields Limited (SECL) suffered minor injuries when they fell while trying to move to safety on sensing the tremor inside an underground coal mine in the district.
This is for the second time this month that the district has reported earthquake of above-4 magnitude. On July 11, a 4.3 magnitude earthquake had hit the same area in the district.
10:56 AMAustrian Chancellor says EU embargo on Russian gas "impossible"
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer has said that an embargo on Russian gas in the European Union (EU) is "impossible" due to EU countries' heavy dependence on Russian energy.
His comments came after a meeting with visiting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Vienna on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to Austrian news agency APA, Nehammer added at a press conference that Germany and Austria's dependence on Russian gas makes an EU embargo "impossible," as the decline of the German economy would also impact Austria and lead to mass unemployment.
10:48 AMOver 23,000 higher education courses to be made available for free on new portal: UGC
Over 23,000 higher education courses, including programmes on artificial intelligence (AI), cyber security and early childhood care, will now be available free of cost on a new web portal from Friday, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has said.
The portal is aimed at bridging the digital divide and enhancing the accessibility of higher education in remote parts of the country.
10:37 AMIndia logs 20,409 new coronavirus cases, 32 deaths in 24 hours
India logged 20,409 new coronavirus infections pushing the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,39,79,730, while the active cases declined to 1,43,988, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.
The death toll climbed to 5,26,258 with 32 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The active cases comprise 0.33 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.48 per cent, the ministry said.
A decrease of 2,335 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 5.12 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 4.82 per cent, according to the ministry.
10:36 AMIndia logs 20,409 new coronavirus cases, 32 deaths in 24 hours
India logged 20,409 new coronavirus infections pushing the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 43,979,730, while the active cases declined to 143,988, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.
The death toll climbed to 526,258 with 32 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.
The active cases comprise 0.33 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.48 per cent, the ministry said.
A decrease of 2,335 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.
The daily positivity rate was recorded at 5.12 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 4.82 per cent, according to the ministry.
10:34 AM357 dead, over 400 injured as monsoon rain continue to batter Pak
At least 357 people have died and over 400 others injured as heavy monsoon rain have continued to batter Pakistan for more than five weeks, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said.
Besides human loss, infrastructure, road networks and houses have also been damaged due to the heavy monsoon rains and flash flooding across Pakistan since June 14, official sources from the NDMA told Xinhua news agency on Thursday.
A total of 23,792 homes have been fully or partially damaged, making thousands of people displaced, according to the NDMA statistics, adding that the heavy downpour have also damaged dozens of bridges and shops.
9:35 AMndia backs UN resolution to recognise human right to clean, healthy environment; raises concern over text
India has voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution that recognises the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right, but dissociated itself from an operative paragraph of the text and voiced its concerns over the procedure and substance of the resolution.
The 193-member General Assembly adopted the resolution on Thursday with 161 votes in favour and abstentions by Belarus, Cambodia, China, Ethiopia, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Syria.
While India voted in favour of the resolution, it voiced its concerns over the procedure and substance of the resolution.
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