LIVE news updates: SC seeks EC response on EVM malfunction complaint

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Election Commission to respond on a plea seeking to remove the provision which criminalizes the reporting of malfunctioning of the electronic voting machines, if proven false.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gagoi asked the poll panel to file its reply within two weeks.

The court was hearing a plea filed by advocate Sunil Ahya which has sought liberty to register complaint related with EVM malfunctioning.

Ahya said that on August 14 2013, the Conduct of Elections Rules, was amended to insert a new rule 49MA to prescribe a procedure to be followed in case of a complaint realted to the EVM.

With several automobile majors switching over to 'waterless' and recycling techniques to tide over Chennai's acute water shortage, small-time vehicle wash service stations with fewer options are shutting shop.

The operators say the number of requests (car washes) have plummeted ever since the crisis broke out in the city.

Running a small service station in central Chennai for three years now, Suresh Kumar said he had to request one of his two employees to quit as part of a cost-cutting measure.

Civil aviation watchdog DGCA will issue safety directions to airlines in the wake of multiple incidents of planes overshooting runways after landing, a senior official said on Tuesday.

In the last two days, there have been at least two incidents of commercial planes overshooting the runway at various airports after landing, amid bad weather conditions.

A senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) told PTI that it is probing incidents of planes overshooting runway after landing.

In the wake of such incidents, the regulator would be issuing some directions to airlines, the official added.

BJP and Trinamool Congress lawmakers had a verbal clash in Lok Sabha on Tuesday after Dilip Ghosh, a saffron party MP, alleged a conspiracy by the West Bengal government in violent attack and criminal cases against his party members.

Ghosh said BJP MPs, including Union minister Babul Supriyo, Arjun Singh and himself, were attacked during the recent Lok Sabha polls.

Over 150 BJP workers have been injured and many others have been framed in narcotics cases, he alleged, accusing the state police of conspiracy at the government's behest.

MPs of TMC, which is in power in the state, were on their feet, shouting at Ghosh as he carried on with his speech targeting the TMC dispensation. BJP MPs were seen raising their voices in support of Ghosh.

A Delhi court Tuesday said it will pronounce on July 5 order on framing of charges against Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and four other AAP leaders, accused of violating prohibitory orders in the national capital and obstructing public servants during an agitation.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Samar Vishal reserved the order after the concluding arguments in the case.

"Arguments heard on the point of framing of charge against the accused persons. Put up for orders on the point of framing of charge on July 5," the judge said.

During the hearing, the court also allowed exemption application filed by Kejriwal and Sisodia from personal appearance for today.

Three accused doctors Hema Ahuja, Bhakti Mehare and Ankita Khandelwal arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of Dr. Payal Tadvi, their junior at BYL Nair Hospital, today moved Bombay High Court seeking bail.

Four suspected cattle smugglers have been arrested in separate incidents and as many as 46 cattle were rescued from their vehicles in Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

In Rajouri, three vehicles were intercepted at the Darhali bridge on Monday night and 30 cattle rescued. One of the drivers, Rahit Iqbal, was arrested while two others are absconding, the police said.

In another incident in Thanamandi area of Rajouri on Tuesday, a driver was arrested after eight cattle were rescued from his truck, an officer said.

Eight cattle were rescued from two vehicles in Behramgala and Dakki areas of Poonch district on Tuesday and the drivers arrested, the officer said.

Actor Aditya Pancholi has been granted interim relief till 19th of July by Dindoshi Sessions court in a rape case filed against him.

Some 261 priests of the Syro Malabar Catholic Church in Ernakulam and Angamaly archdioceses on Tuesday started a protest seeking withdrawl of the suspension of two bishops and threatened to intensify their stir if the demand was not heeded.

On Friday, 150 priests took part in a similar protest after the two bishops were suspended by the Vatican, which also decided to return the administrative powers of Cardinal George Alencherry, the supreme head of the Church.

Cardinal Alencherry's powers were taken away last year after a criminal case was registered against him in a three-acre land deal in Kochi in 2016.

A court here Tuesday sentenced a man to 10 years' imprisonment for smuggling charas in Bihar's West Champaran district.

District and Sessions Judge Abhimanyu Lal Srivastava also slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Ejaz Ahmad alias Munna Ansari.

He will have to serve a jail term of another two years, if he fails to pay the fine.

The Sashastra Seema Bal had arrested Ahmad on March 2, 2017, with 5.4 kg of charas from an area under the Narkatiaganj police station of the district.

Over 170 monuments and sites in the national capital have been declared as 'monuments of national importance', Culture Minister Prahlad Patel informed Parliament Tuesday.

In a reply to a query in Rajya Sabha, he said the expenditure incurred on conservation, preservation and environmental development of centrally protected monuments and sites in Delhi during the last three years was Rs 31.87 crore.

He said 174 monuments and sites in Delhi are declared as 'monuments of national importance' under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.

The tomb of Ghaziuddin Khan, Ajmeri Gate, Delhi Gate , Kotla Firoz Shah (Firozabad) are some centrally protected monuments in Delhi.

Civil aviation watchdog DGCA will issue safety directions to airlines in the wake of multiple incidents of planes overshooting runways after landing, a senior official said on Tuesday.

In the last two days, there have been at least two incidents of commercial planes overshooting the runway at various airports after landing, amid bad weather conditions.

A senior official at the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) told PTI that it is probing incidents of planes overshooting runway after landing.

In the wake of such incidents, the regulator would be issuing some directions to airlines, the official added.

Group of locals in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk come out on streets with placards asking for 'peace' and 'resumption of normal business' in the area. A clash had broken out between 2 groups over parking, and a temple was vandalized in the locality on Sunday night.

The ruling BJP and its junior partner IPFT will contest against each other in the July 27 three-tier gram panchayat elections in Tripura, leaders of the two parties said on Tuesday.

Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) election committee Chairman Ratan Lal Nath and Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT) Assistant General Secretary and Spokesman Mangal Debbarma separately told the media that they would field candidates independently in gram panchayats, panchayat samitis and zilla parishads seats.

Debbarma said the IPFT would nominate candidates in 25 per cent of the 6,646 seats in these local bodies

In order to consolidate its footprints on a pan-India basis, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has decided to set up more ‘shakhas in the southern states and, most importantly, in Jammu and Kashmir.

The ongoing meeting of the RSS in Jhansi has decided to penetrate into the territories where it does not have a strong presence.

Apparently preparing for the upcoming Assembly elections as well as the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the RSS will increase its activities in southern states such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and even Kerala.

The Delhi High Court pulled up the AAP government on Tuesday for "lack of concern and sensitivity" and a "myopic" manner of appointing Special Education Teachers (SET) for disabled kids by not granting age relaxation to eligible candidates despite a dearth of such educators.

A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli said that since there was a dearth of suitably qualified candidates for SET, "it is qualification and merit which should be given due precedence" and relaxation of age ought to have been granted to all who were otherwise eligible.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned Bengali artist Subhaprasanna and businessman Sibaji Panja in connection with the chit fund scam cases, an official said on Tuesday.

While Subhaprasanna has been summoned in the multi-crore Saradha Chit Fund scam case on July 4, Panja has been summoned in connection with the Rose Valley probe on July 9.

Both of them are known to be close to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her party Trinamool Congress.

Firebrand PML-N parliamentarian Rana Sanaullah was sent on a 14-day judicial remand by a court on Tuesday, a day after he was arrested for allegedly possessing huge amount of narcotics in his vehicle, according to media reports.

Sanaullah, the chief of the Punjab unit of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), is one of the biggest critics of Prime Minister Imran Khan. He had called Khan an "addict" and demanded search of his Islamabad house to find narcotics.

Two Forest Department employees sustained injuries in an attack allegedly by a group of tribals in a village in Telangana, days after the brutal assault of a woman forest officer that triggered an outrage.

Police said the two Forest personnel came under attack at Timmampet village in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district Monday night after they objected to ploughing of forest lands.

The injured have been admitted to a local government hospital, a police official said.

The Government Tuesday introduced in the Lok Sabha a bill providing for supersession of Medical Council of India for a period of two years with effect from September 26, 218.

The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2019, was introduced by Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in the lower house to replace an Ordinance promulgated on February 21, 2019.

The Indian Medical Council or the Medical Council of India (MCI) was set up under the Medical Council Act 1956, for setting standards for medical professionals, new medical colleges and revision of curriculum, among others.

Participating in the debate on the bill, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury opposed the Ordinance route taken by the Government to supersede the Indian Medical Council saying it was unhealthy for democracy.

Sri Lanka's former defence secretary Hemasiri Fernando and suspended police chief Pujith Jayasundera were arrested on Tuesday, a day after the Attorney General instructed the authorities to charge them for their failure to prevent the Easter terror attacks that claimed 258 lives.

Jayasundera and Fernando were suspended by President Maithripala Sirisena for their alleged inaction on the intelligence shared by India, which warned of an impending attack by Islamic militants, and thereby, failing to prevent the serial blasts on April 21

A Trinamool Congress (TMC) worker was found dead at Narayangarh in West Medinipur district of West Bengal, police said Tuesday.

While the TMC alleged that its activist was killed by BJP workers, the saffron party put the blame of the death on TMC infighting.

The body of 42-year-old Ganesh Bhuniya was found on a road beside a field near his residence on Monday.

He had ventured out on Sunday night after receiving a phone call from an unknown person.

The body was sent for autopsy and the report is awaited.

An Indian national was among nine people injured in an attack by Yemeni rebels on Abha international airport in southern Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, a spokesperson of the Saudi-led military coalition said.

"A terrorist attack at Abha International Airport...led to the injury of 9 civilians - eight Saudis and one Indian national," Coalition for the Support of Legitimacy in Yemen spokesperson Colonel Turki al-Maliki said in a statement.

All injured are stable and under treatment at hospitals, Colonel al-Maliki was quoted as saying by the state-owned Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

He blamed the Houthi militia for the attack, which took place shortly after midnight on Tuesday.

Kamala Harris, the first Indian-origin US Senator and Elizabeth Warren, the Senator from Massachusetts have made steep gains after the first Democratic presidential debate, according to a new opinion poll.

The results of the CNN poll conducted by SSRS indicate a significant tightening in the race among a pack of 23 candidates vying for the Democratic Party nomination. The winner will take on President Donald Trump, a Republican in the November, 2020 presidential election.

Ten Delhi Police personnel were transferred for attacking a mini taxi driver and his son and not showing "greater patience and professionalism", the Delhi High Court was told on Tuesday.

The police said the policemen should have behaved differently even if the conduct of the Sikh driver and his son were aggressive in Mukherjee Nagar.

The incident had triggered outrage.

The court was hearing a plea seeking an independent inquiry by an impartial agency like the CBI into the "most horrific incident of police brutality" on Sarabjeet Singh and his minor son on June 16 so that the guilty can be booked and the victims be compensated in accordance with law.

Nine persons have been arrested for allegedly carrying out a robbery attempt at a jewellery shop here on June 27, Thane police said.

A jewellery shop in Anand Vihar area of Kalwa township was raided by the accused who also fired in the air to scare the staff, but were unable to loot anything due to the alertness of people there, police said.

Additional Commissioner of Police Anil Kumbhare said five firearms and eight live bullets have been seized from the accused.

Two waiters in Kashimira in Thane district were Tuesday killed when rain water gushed into their hotel and they got electrocuted by a live wire lying there, police said.

Thane Rural police spokesperson Yuvraj Kalkutage said Virendra Dasu Buniya (27) and Rajan Das (19) had gone into the kitchen when they came in contact with a live wire.

One more person is hospitalised, he added.

Police custody of Vipul Agrawal and Vivek Agrawal, both builders accused in Pune wall collapse incident (Kondhwa) extended till 6 July. 15 people had died and 3 were injured in the incident that occurred on 29 June

Four labourers were Tuesday killed and two others injured when a water tank collapsed at an under-construction building in Maharashtra's Nashik district, police said.

The incident happened at around 8:30am in Someshwar Colony on Gangapur Road here, an official said.

"Three were brought out dead from the debris. One person who was hospitalised succumbed to his injuries later," he said, adding that a case has been registered at Gangapur police station.

An official identified the dead as Mohammed Bariq (32) and Baby Sanabi Khatun (28), both from Bihar, Sudam Gohir (30) of Odisha and Anami Chandan (50) from New Delhi.

Rain shower expected in Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi even Himachal Pradesh, J&K and remaining MP, monsoon will make further advancement in next 72 hrs. UP and Himahcal Pradesh are likely to receive good rainfall activity after 2 days

Three persons, including a woman, were injured in a clash between two groups in Uttar Pradesh's Muzaffarnagar district, police said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred on Monday in a village in Miranpur area when two persons -- Intakhab and Imran -- started arguing when the latter was levelling his plot, the police said.

The heated argument between the two turned into a violent group clash in which fire arms were also used, Miranpur police station incharge Pankaj Tyagi said.

A woman was allegedly killed by her in-laws for dowry here and her body cremated without informing her parents, police said on Tuesday.

The incident occurred on Monday at Mimlana road in Kotwali police station area, the police said.

After learning about her death, the family of the woman, Babita, staged a protest here, alleging that she was killed by her in-laws as their dowry demands were not fulfilled, Circle Officer Harish Bhadoria said

Embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya arrived at the UK High Court on Tuesday as he seeks permission to appeal against an extradition order signed off by UK home secretary Sajid Javid for him to be extradited to India to face alleged fraud and money laundering charges amounting to Rs 9,000 crores.

The 63-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss said he was feeling "positive" as he entered the Royal Courts of Justice here.

He has already lost a UK High Court "leave to appeal" on paper, leading to an oral hearing of his renewal application this week.

Three people were killed when their motorcycle was hit by a truck under the Nizamabad police station area here, police said Tuesday.

The victims were returning from a function late Monday night when the accident occurred near the Nizamabad turn, they added.

Abdur Rehman and Saqib died on the spot and Wasim succumbed to injuries during treatment at a hospital Tuesday morning, the officials said.

All three were in their twenties, they said, adding that the bodies have been sent for an autopsy.

Supreme Court defers hearing of PILs challenging MHA’s ‘Snooping’ order authorising central agencies to monitor online data

The Ministry of Home Affairs had issued a notification on December 20 last year, authorizing ten Security and Intelligence agencies to intercept, monitor and decrypt "any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer."

African swine fever (ASF) has struck 61 localities across Vietnam, leading to the culling of over 2.84 million pigs or 10.3 per cent of the country's total pig population.

The country's Tra Vinh province has become the latest locality to be hit by ASF, the provincial authorities said, noting that a herd of 54 pigs raised by a household in Giong Trom district was affected by the animal disease, Vietnam News Agency reported on Tuesday.

Vietnam will focus on developing cattle, poultry and aquatic breeding to compensate for a shortage of pork which is expected to hit the country this year due to ASF, its Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said late last month.

A leopard that entered Srinagar Government Medical College in Uttarakhand's Pauri district on Sunday was shot dead by forest guards on Tuesday after efforts to tranquilize the wild cat failed, officials said.

A team of experts accompanied by forest guards found the leopard trapped in a room of the medical college.

Initially, they tried to tranquilize the leopard but it attacked the forest guards. Later, in self defence, the wild cat was shot dead.

A trap around the neck of the dead leopard was also found.

The Congress on Tuesday termed the vandalisation of a temple and violence in Old Delhi area as "condemnable", while underlining that the national capital's law and order is the responsibility of the Modi government.

Tensions prevailed Monday in old Delhi's Chawri Bazaar area after a fight over parking a scooter took a communal turn and a temple was vandalised in the locality.

"The incident of vandalisation of Durga temple and violence by anarchic elements in Old Delhi is condemnable and utterly shameful," Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted in Hindi.

"Delhi's law and order is in the hands of Home Minister Amit Shah and is the responsibility of the BJP government," he said.

The Delhi Police comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

BJP ally Ramdas Athawale accuses BJP’s Gurdaspur MP Sunny Deol of outsourcing responsibilities as an MP, says "He works in films, he doesn't know much"

Muslims in the country are facing problems and several incidents of lynching have been reported in states like Jharkhand, SP member Shafiqur Rahman Barq said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour, Barq said, "We have to decide how Muslims would live in this country" on account of lynching incidents.

The issue prompted an angry response from BJP members.

Opposition members also stood at their seats as the Lok Sabha Speaker asked another member to raise matter in the Zero Hour.

Bengali actress-turned Member of Parliament Nusrat Jahan has been invited by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) to its Rath Yatra in Kolkata on July 4. The event coincides with Jahan's wedding reception day.

Accepting the invite on Tuesday, Jahan tweeted: "Thank You @iskconkolkata for the invite. It would be my pleasure to be associated with this inclusive event." The ISKCON said Jahan was showing the way forward to achieving "social harmony".

The actress also retweeted a message by Radharamn Das, the spokesperson of ISKCON Kolkata. "ISKCON Kolkata Rath Yatra is an example of that social harmony where the Lord's chariots are also built by our Muslim brothers. Some of the most beautiful Lords dresses are also made by our Muslim brothers & they are doing it for decades in some of our temples," said the message.

At least eight members of a family, including three women and two children, were killed on Tuesday when their van collided with a truck in Pakistan's Punjab province, officials said.

The accident happened near Faisalabad when the van was about to exit a superhighway.

The van was coming from Lahore when it collided with a truck at an interchange in the city, killing at least 8 persons and injuring two others, The News International reported.

Singapore HC orders freezing of Rs 44 cr bank deposits kept in that country of PNB fraud accused Nirav Modi's sister and brother-in-law, says ED

“Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru had termed PSUs as 'temples of modern India'. It hurts to see that most of such temples are in danger today. Despite profits, their employees are not being given salary on time and they have been put in trouble to benefit some industrialists

Supreme Court grants two weeks time to the Election Commission, on the PIL filed by Mumbai based advocate Sunil Ahya questioning the authenticity of the source codes of EVM, VVPAT & EVM tracking software (ETS) which may change the election results.

The rainfall in the 24-hour period before 8.30 am Tuesday was the highest since the July 26, 2005 deluge in Mumbai, officials said.

The rainfall during the 24-hour period was 375.2 mm, the official said, quoting data from the Santa Cruz-based Mumbai Regional Centre of the IMD.

Raising the issue of corporatisation of six Railway Units, Sonia Gandhi said in the first phase, the coaching factory of Rae Bareli is being corporatised, which is the beginning of privatization. Gandhi won from Rae Bareli.

3 people, including a minor, have been arrested in connection with the incident where a clash broke out between 2 groups over parking and a temple was vandalised on Sunday night, in Hauz Qazi area.

CM Devendra Fadnavis visits Shatabdi Hospital to meet the people injured in Malad wall collapse incident on Tuesday, Minister Yogesh Sagar also present. 18 people died and at least 13 were injured in the incident.

After the Maharashtra government declared a public holiday in Mumbai and its suburbs, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis advised residents to stay indoors as the weather office has sounded a red alert in Mumbai on Tuesday, warning of heavy rain.

Streets in the city flooded due to heavy rainfall, people wade through water in Gandhi Market area

Public holiday for today, declared in 3 districts of the state - Mumbai City, Mumbai Suburban and Thane district. Decision has been taken due to continuous rainfall and IMD warning.

Intense spells of rainfall likely to continue in the districts of Mumbai during next two hours.

1000 people were evacuated from Kranti Nagar, Kurla, to prevent any untoward incidents due to overflowing Mithi river.

At least 13 persons were killed in a wall crash in Malad, north-west Mumbai and another seven perished in a wall collapse in Pune, early on Tuesday as rains continued to wreak havoc in large parts of Maharashtra.

In the wake of the incessant rainfall, the state government has declared July 2 as a public holiday for Mumbai.

According to officials, the compound wall of a school in Pimpripada in Malad suburb, collapsed on some adjoining hutments in which more than 13 people were killed, around 1 am on Tuesday.