LIVE news updates: Rajya Sabha approves resolution to extend President’s rule in J&K for 6 months

Rajya Sabha approves statutory resolution to extend President's rule in Jammu and Kashmir for a further period of 6 months with effect from 3rd July 2019

It also passes J&K Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

The consumer mobile business of Tata Teleservices has now become part of telecom operator Bharti Airtel, the two companies said on Monday. Airtel stocks closed marginally up following the announcement.

The consumer mobile businesses of Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) and Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited (TTML) have been merged into Bharti Airtel Limited and Bharti Hexacom Limited (Airtel) from July 1, Airtel said in a statement.

"Following the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) order directing the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to take on record the merger and the schemes of arrangement by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Delhi and NCLT, Mumbai, we are pleased to announce that the schemes of arrangement have become effective today -- July 1, 2019. Consequently, all customers, assets, spectrum and agreed liabilities of the Consumer Mobile Businesses of TTSL and TTML now stand merged with Airtel," it added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the dispute between Ankara and Washington on the issue of Russian-made S-400 defence systems would be resolved "without any problem", the media reported on Monday.

"Our meeting with President (Donald) Trump was very positive. They support us on the deals of S-400 and F-35s," Erdogan told Turkish journalists on Sunday after his meeting with his US counterpart Donald Trump in Japan where he participated G20 summit.

"I am of the opinion that we will overcome this process without any problem," Erdogan said, adding that the first delivery of the S-400 missile defence system would take place within 10 days.

Although the angel tax has been the most pressing issue among Indian start-ups, there are several other taxation issues that start-ups want the government to address in the upcoming full budget.

According to Local Circles, a social networking platform dedicated to citizen engagement, the government should also take steps for faster and streamlined TDS and ITC refunds.

"Many start-ups and SMEs have reported that the refunds of the TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) take a long time. So much so, that refunds due in September 2018 for many start-ups and SMEs have still not been made. It is requested that the government processes TDS refunds within 45 days for past due refunds and any future refunds," Local Circles said in its letter with budget recommendations to the Finance Minister

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal on Monday hit out at the Delhi Police for not acting against spa centres in the national capital, alleging many of them were being used for prostitution.

"Fourteen spa centres raided in Noida out of which prostitution rackets found in three. When will Delhi Police check the large-scale prostitution rackets running spa centres in Delhi," Maliwal tweeted.

The Noida Police on Sunday busted a sex racket being operated in three spa centres.

DMK President M.K.Stalin on Monday demanded immediate recall of Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi for her demeaning remarks about the people of Tamil Nadu. He also asked Bedi to recall her statement and tender a public apology.

Bedi had on Sunday tweeted: "Question with Possible Answers: India's 6th largest city #Chennai has become the first city in the country to run dry. The same city was in floods due to copious rains just 4 years back. Where lies the problem? Ans: Poor Govenance, Corrupt Politics, Indifferent Bureaucracy."

Taking offence to the tweet, Stalin issued a statement saying that she was crossing her limits in making comments on matters that did not concern her.

In a sudden move, the sanitation staff of the Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation went on strike on Monday and declared that they will continue to stay away from work till their demands are met.

Sanitation staff union leader Subhash Chandra said that they were seeking their salary be improved and it be may be paid on time, but due to the corporation and the district administration "ignoring" them, their condition had reached "a very miserable condition".

"Our staffers are given Rs 7,000 to Rs 7,500 per month and that too, on different dates from the month's 7th to 10th or 11th and so on.

Police in Agra averted a communal flare-up in the heart of the city on Monday after a group of people pelted stones and forced shops to down shutters.

A group of members of the Bhartiya Muslim Action Committee had wanted to present a memorandum to the district magistrate on mob lynchings, at the collectorate, but they were refused permission. However some protesters managed to give the slip and tried to reach the headquarters but were prevented by the police.

Sources said a group of troublemakers in the Mantola police station area had indulged in stone throwing and forced some shops to close. This led to tension but before trouble could snowball, massive police deployment in the area with senior officials helped defuse the tense situation. At one point police had to resort to a mild lathi-charge to disperse the mob, shopkeepers said.

India handed over lists of 256 Pakistan civilian prisoners and 99 fishermen in India's custody to Pakistan. Pakistan has shared lists of 209 prisoners and 52 fishermen in its custody, who are Indians or believed-to-be Indians.

Both the houses of Maharashtra Legislature unanimously passes Maratha reservation (SEBC) Amendment Bill. According to the amended bill, 12% reservation for Marathas in Jobs and 13% reservation in Education.

Indonesian police said Monday they had arrested the leader of Al Qaeda-linked extremist network Jemaah Islamiah, which carried out the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people.

Para Wijayanto was detained by counterterrorism police with his wife on Saturday at a hotel in Bekasi, a city on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta, National Police spokesman Dedi Prasetyo said.

Police said Wijayanto was a long-time leader of Jemaah Islamiah (JI), one of Indonesia's oldest terrorist groups, which was behind a series of deadly attacks in the world's largest Muslim-majority nation.

Prasetyo said Wijayanto was also suspected in sending at least six batches of Indonesians abroad to fight in Syria, and provided support to militants in the terrorism hotspot of Poso on Sulawesi island.

Al-Qaeda-linked JI was founded by a handful of exiled Indonesian militants in Malaysia in the 1980s, and grew to include cells across Southeast Asia.

With the heat still holding its grip, the peak power demand of the national capital crossed all the previous records to reach 7,241 MW on Monday, the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) reported.

Last year, the peak demand was recorded at 7,016 MW -- the highest till now.

"On July 1, the all-time peak power demand reached 7,241 MW at 3.29 p.m., crossing last previous high of 7,016 MW by 225 MW met on July 9, 2018," an SLDC official said.

Before Monday, the highest peak power demand was recorded on June 2, when it reached 6,560MW. That was higher than the peak load of 2017 -- 6,526 MW on June 6, 2017.
With the heat still holding its grip, the peak power demand of the national capital crossed all the previous records to reach 7,241 MW on Monday, the State Load Dispatch Centre (SLDC) reported.

Last year, the peak demand was recorded at 7,016 MW -- the highest till now.

"On July 1, the all-time peak power demand reached 7,241 MW at 3.29 p.m., crossing last previous high of 7,016 MW by 225 MW met on July 9, 2018," an SLDC official said.

Before Monday, the highest peak power demand was recorded on June 2, when it reached 6,560MW. That was higher than the peak load of 2017 -- 6,526 MW on June 6, 2017.

A man, wanted in a three-year-old rape case, has been arrested in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district, police said Monday.

The accused, V P Singh, was Sunday arrested from his village, Bhomag in Reasi, they said.

Singh had been evading arrest since 2016 after an FIR was registered against him, police said.

The others side misled the country in the name of patriotism. Modi ji did politics hiding behind the Army, misled people in the name of religion. He didn't talk about development, economy, and employment, says Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot

Thousands of bus commuters suffered on Monday as employees of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) struck work over not get getting their full salary.

The management had said only about 62 per cent salary will be paid and the balance at the end of the month, said a union leader.

Bus drivers and conductors members of opposition-affiliated unions struck work, putting the people to a great difficulty.

A boat with two persons on board got stuck in mud deep inside a creek near Mahul Gavhan village in eastern Mumbai Sunday, an official said.

Rescue teams comprising personnel of the Coast Guard, police and fire brigade are monitoring the situation, he said.

The officials are waiting for high tide, which they hope would push the boat to a safer place.

President Maithripala Sirisena on Monday accused the European Union of challenging Sri Lanka's sovereignty by threatening with tariffs if capital punishment is re-introduced in the country after 43 years.

Last week, President Sirisena signed the death warrants to hang four drug convicts, ending a four-decade-long moratorium on the capital punishment in the country.

Addressing the National Drug Prevention Day event here, Sirisena underlined the importance of his campaign to combat the drug related crimes in the island nation.

The President said that the 28-member European Union bloc has threatened to withdraw the EU GSP Plus trade concession if Sri Lanka implements the death penalty.

Facing heat over increasing complaints of custodial torture in police stations, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Monday said his government would not protect any erring policeman involved in persecuting people in lockups but would face tough action.

"No one has the right to keep any person in custody illegally or beat them to death. Such people will no longer be there in the state police service," he told the state Assembly.

Vijayan was replying to a notice seeking adjournment motion by the Congress-led UDF opposition, demanding a judicial probe into the recent alleged custodial torture and death of a 49-year-old man at Nedumkandam in Idukki district.

Thirty-five persons, including eight Thai woman, were arrested by Noida police late Sunday night following simultaneous raids on 14 spas, allegedly doubling as flesh trade hubs, said officials.

The persons arrested in simultaneous raids on spa centres in Noida's sector 18 under "Operation Clean" included 10 men and 25 women, police said Monday.

“Eight of the women arrested are from Thailand, while five are from Delhi, four from Uttar Pradesh, three from Manipur and one each from Rajasthan, Nagaland, Mizoram and West Bengal,” said a senior police official.

Unfazed by Pakistan's powerful military, a leading newspaper has army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa for "encroaching on the political realm" by taking sides, after he blamed "fiscal mismanagement" by the previous governments for the country's financial woes.

"We are going through difficult economic situation due to fiscal mismanagement. We have been shying of taking difficult decisions," he said at a seminar held at the National Defence University here on Friday.

This was Gen Bajwa's first comments on the cash-strapped economy of Pakistan after the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan last month nominated the Pakistan Army chief as a member of the National Development Council (NDC).

A pre-test of the Census 2021 will be carried out across the country from August 12 to September 30 this year, Registrar General and Census Commissioner Vivek Joshi has announced.

The reference date for the census is October 1, 2020 for Jammu and Kashmir and snow bound areas of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, while for the rest of country is March 1, 2021.

"In exercise of the powers conferred by section 17A of the Census Act, 1948 (37 of 1948), the central government hereby extends the provisions of the said Act, for conduct of a pre-test of the Census of India, 2021.

Opposition members in Lok Sabha on Monday demanded that a Bill related to reservation in filling vacant position in central universities be referred to the Standing Committee for a comprehensive review.

Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Bill 2019, which seek to replace an Ordinance issued in March, will help filling about 8,000 existing vacancies in 41 central universities.

The Bill proposes to make university as a unit rather than a department for the purpose of providing reservation for filling teachers' position in central education institutions.

Human Resource Development Minister (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' said Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers' Cadre) Bill 2019 also has provision of 10 per cent reservation for Economically Weaker Section (EWS).

A 54-year-old watchman of an estate bungalow was trampled to death by an elephant at Kurangumudi in Valparai in the district Monday, police said.

The man did not return home this morning after night duty. His family and other colleagues, who launched a search, found his body on the road near the bungalow, police said.

Police and forest department officials noticed traces of elephant movement and an investigation revealed that he was trampled to death, they added.

The Delhi High Court Monday asked the Centre and the Delhi government to consider the suggestion of an advocate for providing body cameras to police officials to monitor their conduct as also of the public.

The court was hearing a plea seeking direction to the police to curb excess use of force and maintain cordial relation with the public following an alleged police assault on a tempo driver and his son in Mukherjee Nagar area of the national capital.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar asked the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Delhi government and Delhi Police to consider the representation given by advocate and social activist Amit Sahni and take a decision on it.

Bringing to the fore the failure of production houses in clearing payments in West Bengal's entertainment industry, an association of suppliers on Monday threatened to go on a cease work agitation if their dues were not cleared in the next four days.

"The suppliers are facing huge problems as certain producers haven't cleared payments (in crores) for a very long time... Till Thursday if we don't see any initiation of payment, the suppliers will not take the responsibility to support the industry," Neet Paul, General Secretary, Cine Video and Stage Supplier Welfare Association (CVSSWA), told the media here.

It is a body of members who supply camera, generator, lights, costume, vehicles and other props required for shootings.

There are 60-70 members in the welfare body and more than 600 people who work under them. Many suppliers have become bankrupt and one of them even thought about committing suicide.

At least 34 people were killed and 68 injured after a powerful blast claimed by the Taliban rocked the Afghan capital of Kabul in the morning rush hour on Monday, authorities said.

The attack comes when a Taliban delegation and US representatives are carrying out the seventh round of meetings in Qatar to discuss peace negotiations in Afghanistan.

A witness told Xinhua news agency that militants entered an under-construction building in the morning in the high security Pul-i-Mahmoud Khan area of Kabul and exchanged fire with the security forces who reached the site to control the situation.

A regional film producer, director and actor was shot dead in Jimana village of Baghpat district Monday morning, police said.

Seventy-year-old film personality Sansar Singh was on his way to his village tubewell under Ramala police station area when he was shot dead, said Superintendent of Police Shailesh Kumar Pandey.

The assailant has been identified as Jivana of Sagar, the SP said, adding the nephew of the deceased had killed the assailant's father about 20 years ago and today's incident appears to be a fallout of the rivalry between the two families.

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) which sought framing of a law for making marital rape a ground for divorce.

A bench of Justices S.A. Bobde and B R. Gavai directed the petitioner and lawyer Anuja Kapur to approach a High Court with her plea.

As marital rape is not a ground for divorce in the Hindu Marriage Act, the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act and the Special Marriage Act, it cannot be used as a ground for divorce and cruelty against a husband, the petitioner said.

Fire breaks out at a factory in Noida Special Economy Zone (NSEZ), fire tenders present at the spot. No casualties reported

Supreme Court declined to entertain a petition filed by the Minority Indians Planning and Vigilance Commission Trust, seeking to increase the number of reservation for the Muslim community in public employment in Kerala and to revise the State's backward community list

The UGC has approved a new scheme, ‘Scheme for Trans-disciplinary Research for India’s Developing Economy’ (STRIDE) to boost research culture in India

Tuhin Mishra, manager of Zaira Wasim, on reports that her Twitter account was hacked, said, “We have never said that her account was hacked. We just said that we would definitely like to know what has happened. And the post was done by her.”

The CBI is carrying out searches at 22 locations in West Bengal which are the premises of directors and promoters of New Land Agro Industries, one of the accused companies in a ponzi scam case, officials said.

The company was booked in May 2017 on the orders of the Supreme Court, they said.

The apex court had directed the agency to probe all the companies allegedly involved in the ponzi scam being probed by a Special Investigation Team of West Bengal, the officials said.

Supreme Court judge Justice Indu Malhotra recuses from hearing the Maharashtra beef ban case, as she had represented a party earlier as a lawyer.

Indian all-rounder Vijay Shankar ousted from World Cup due to toe injury, Mayank Agarwal to be his likely replacement.

Karnataka opener Agarwal, 28, who made his Test debut against Australia last year, has not yet played in the ODI format.

"Vijay got hit on the toe by a Jasprit Bumrah delivery once again. His situation is not great and he won't be able to take part in the tournament. He is going back home," a a senior BCCI official told PTI.

I held a meeting at AIIMS Patna in 2015 and various experts had different views as to what is the reason of it. A report was even sent to the US to get expert opinion on it and all had different views.

“What happened is extremely unfortunate, expressing grief is not enough, it is an extremely serious issue. We have held several meetings and discussed the issue at length,” says Nitish Kumar over AES deaths

Most of the encephalitis patients at the hospital I visited were from under-privileged families, says Nitish Kumar

Dozens of people were wounded with fatalities feared as a powerful explosion rocked Kabul on early Monday, targeting an area of the Afghan capital housing military and government buildings, officials said.

The rush-hour explosion sent a plume of smoke into the air above the Puli Mahmood Khan neighbourhood of the city, interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said.

Five members of a family were killed in an accident between a car and a truck in Haryana's Sirsa district, the police said on Monday.

The victims, identified as Vikas Bansal, his wife and daughter, his brother Ghanshyam and his wife Ekta, were travelling in the car while the accident occurred on Sunday night.

At least 33 passengers and 22 injured were killed when a mini bus rolled down a hilly road and fell into deep gorge in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district on Monday, a senior police officer said.

The bus, which way on its way to Kishtwar from Keshwan, skidded off the road at Sirgwari and rolled down into the gorge around 7:30 am.

A powerful explosion has rocked the Afghan capital, rattling windows and sending smoke billowing from Kabul's downtown area near the U.S. Embassy.

The explosion early Monday occurred as the streets in the capital were packed with morning commuters. Officials and police were at the scene of the blast and few details were available, including casualties.

A bus, with most of its passengers as school children, fell into a gorge in Himachal Pradesh's Shimla district, killing at least four people, including three students, and injuring as many on Monday, an official said. The accident took place near Khalini village in the district.

Local trains in Mumbai are running late after waterlogging on railway tracks due to heavy overnight rain in the city. Several short and long-distance trains have also been delayed or cancelled.

At least 100 mm of rainfall was recorded between 4 and 5 am today, with more than 360 mm recorded overnight.

At least 24 passengers were killed when a mini bus rolled down a hilly road and fell into deep gorge in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district on Monday, a senior police officer said.

The bus, which way on its way to Kishtwar from Keshwan, skidded off the road at Sirgwari and rolled down into the gorge around 7:30 am.

“Water crisis in a large part of the country including Maharashtra, Chennai Bundelkhand is a matter of national concern. Water is life and at present increasing lack of water is a matter of utmost concern for us. All of us together will have to find a solution to this problem before it's too late,” says Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi

A SpiceJet plane on Sunday overshot the runway while landing at the Surat Airport, although none of the passengers and crew members on board were hurt in the incident, an airport official said.

The incident, which occurred around 8.15 pm, was a result of heavy rain and wind, the official said.

"A SpiceJet flight from Bhopal to Surat overshot runway at the airport here due to heavy rainfall and wind.

Two vehicles and a machine were set ablaze by Naxals at a road construction site in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Sunday, police said.

The incident occurred near Lendra village under Errabore police station area, where road construction work is underway, Sukma Superintendent of Police Shalabh Kumar Sinha told PTI.

A small twin-engine passenger plane crashed in the US state of Texas on Sunday, killing 10 people, officials said.

"The Dallas County Medical Examiner has confirmed 10 fatalities and no survivors," a spokeswoman for the town of Addison, Texas told AFP.

The National Transportation Safety Board tweeted that it had dispatched a team to Addison to investigate the crash of a King Air 350 -- a twin-engine turboprop passenger plane.