LIVE news updates: Amarnath Yatra security ‘against people of Kashmir says Mehbooba Mufti

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has said the security arrangements made for the ongoing Amarnath Yatra were "against the people of Kashmir", but Governor Satya Pal Malik defended the measures, citing the Pulwama terror attack.

Mufti, the President of the PDP, said the arrangements made for the annual Yatra are causing inconvenience to the people of Kashmir.

"Amarnath Yatra has been taking place for years. But, the arrangements made this year are against the people of Kashmir. I request the Governor to intervene in this matter," she told reporters.

"Yatra signifies brotherhood. This year, the arrangements are done to trouble the locals. They cannot use the highway even in emergencies... they are forced to wait for Yatris to pass."

An association of trade representatives of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), commonly known as e-cigarettes, Monday asked the Gujarat government to reconsider its decision to ban their manufacturing, sale, import and advertisement.

The state Assembly had Wednesday last week passed a bill to this effect and also brought in a jail term and fine for violations.

"The unilateral ban on e-cigarettes is wrong. We should be given an opportunity to be heard before any such adverse decision is taken," Praveen Rikhy, convener of TRENDS, told reporters here.

The group is set to meet Gujarat government officials on Tuesday on the issue.

The Indian Army is set to mark the 20th anniversary of 'Operation Vijay' to commemorate its victory during the Kargil War against intruding Pakistani troops who had occupied the icy heights in 1999.

'Remember, Rejoice and Renew' is the theme with which the Indian army is going to celebrate te 20th anniversary of 'Operation Vijay'.

The nearly three-month-long Kargil War ended on July 26, 1999 after Pakistani irregulars and troops, mostly drawn from its Northern Light Infantry, were pushed back and the peaks in Kargil, Drass and Batalik were recaptured by the Indian Army.

A Defence Ministry spokesman said the celebrations will be spread over three days, from July 25 to 27.

Former state Ministers A. Mohammed John and N. Chandrasekaran, the two AIADMK candidates, on Monday filed their nomination papers here for the upcoming biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha from Tamil Nadu.

N.R. Elango of the Opposition DMK also filed his papers. Former Union Minister Anbumani Ramadoss of the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), which has been allotted one seat by ally AIADMK, is also in the fray.

As is DMK ally Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) Secretary General Vaiko, who had filed his papers on Saturday, along with the two DMK nominees, M. Shanmugham and P. Wilson.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackrey on Monday met UPA Chairperson and senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.

According to Congress leaders, Thackrey met Gandhi at her residence here and their meeting lasted for over 30 minutes.

Party leaders described the meeting as a courtesy call.

The meeting assumes significance as Assembly elections in Maharashtra are scheduled later this year.

The Jharkhand High Court on Monday sought a report from the state government on the mob lynching of Tabrez Ansari in Seraikela-Kharsawan district on June 17 and the violence that took place in Ranchi during an agitation to protest the tragedy.

A division bench of Justice H.C. Mishra and Justice Deepak Roshan was hearing a PIL filed by Pankaj Yadav. It has asked the state government to reply in a week and posted the next hearing on July 15.

Ansari was brutally thrashed by a mob on suspicion of a bike theft and forced to chant 'Jai Sri Ram'. He died five days in judicial custody. Eleven people have been arrested in the case.

Arun Sharma fought back from the brink to defeat his Maharashtra state mate Tejas Sathare in five games and enter the men's pre-quarterfinals of the GSC- All India Squash Open here.

Sharma trailed 0-2 before hitting the straps and carve out a 9-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-3 victory to enter the last 16 at the suburban Goregaon Sports Club.

Likewise, Services Mehul Kumar fought back from 1-2 to overcome the stiff challenge from Miheer Prakash of Maharashtra for a 11-9, 4-11, 3-11, 11-3, 11-4 win and also entered the last 16.

In contrast, the top two seeds, Abhishek Pradhan and Abhshek Agarwal - both from Maharashtra - were in their elements as they routed their respective rivals in straight games to advance into the pre-quarters without much ado.

Centre-right leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis was sworn in as Greece's new Prime Minister on Monday just a day after his New Democracy party landed an absolute majority in the country's elections, which put an end to the left-wing Syriza government.

Unlike his predecessor Alexis Tspiras back in 2015, Mitsotakis took a religious oath of office with his hand on the Bible in the presence of the Archbishop of Athens, Ieronymous II, and several other Orthodox representatives in a traditional ceremony at the presidential palace, reported Efe news.

"I swear in the name of the Holy, Consubstantial and Indivisible Trinity to safeguard the Constitution and the laws and to serve the general interest of the Greek People," he said, joined by President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, his wife and three children.

Karnataka Congress posed some questions to the BJP regarding the latest political crisis in Karnataka

Newly elected Congress MPs Orientation Meeting to be held at Congress War Room today. Sonia Gandhi, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Kodikunnil Suresh to address the meeting.

Nineteen people were killed in a multi-car crash in a Nigerian village, police said on Monday.

Seven people were hurt on Sunday in the accident at Dinyar Madiga village, about 85 km away from the Kano metropolis, said state Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps, reported Xinhua news agency.

"The collision involved four vehicles, two buses, and two cars, coming from opposite directions. All of them were trying to avoid potholes in the area," said Mato.

A bill which seeks to allow an individual suspected to have terror links to be designated as a 'terrorist' was introduced in Lok Sabha on Monday even as the opposition said the provision could prove to be draconian.

Opposing the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019, N K Premchandran (RSP) claimed that in the name of tackling terror, fundamental rights of an individual cannot be foregone.

He said there is no clarity on government's claims that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) finds it difficult to deal with such individuals at present. He said the House should not be kept in the dark on difficulties being faced by the anti-terror agency.

The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed a statutory resolution for levying 200 per cent duty on all goods exported from Pakistan.

The Upper House also adopted the move to increase basic custom duty (BCD) on lentils (masur), boric acid and diagnostic and laboratory reagents.

The resolution sought to raise BCD on lentils from 40 per cent to 50 per cent. The duty on boric acid would go up from 17.5 per cent to 27.5 per cent. For diagnostic items, the duty increase is from 20 per cent to 30 per cent.

Disappointment over the Budget proposals and muted global markets led the Sensex to log the heaviest fall in seven months on Monday. Both the key equity indices -- Sensex and Nifty -- fell over 2 per cent.

Global markets traded lower after US reported strong job data, which faded hopes of an aggressive rate cut by the Federal Reserve.

"Equity markets were expecting some kind of fiscal stimulus from the budget but there has been a big disappointment," said Rusmik Oza, Head of Research, Kotak Securities.

All nine JD(S) ministers in Karnataka have submitted their resignations to facilitate a cabinet reshuffle, Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's office said on Monday.

Their resignations came shortly after 21 ministers of coalition partner Congress quit the cabinet.

"All JD(S) ministers have also resigned like the 21 Congress ministers who have submitted their resignations. The Cabinet will be reshuffled at the earliest," the Chief Minister's Office said on Twitter.

The crisis in Karnataka was triggered by the resignation of 13 MLAs of the ruling coalition.

A civilian was injured on Monday in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district as Pakistan resorted to ceasefire violation on the Line of Control (LoC), police said.

The Indian Army has said that Pakistan has violated ceasefire on the LoC and the international border in Jammu and Kashmir 1,248 times so far this year.

On Monday, the Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked shelling and firing at Indian positions near the LoC in Nowshera sector. The Indian Army too, retaliated effectively, the police said after the firing stopped.

An encounter broke out between police and a wanted criminal Raja Mewati in Khazoori Khas area, in East Delhi. One constable has been injured and Mewati, has also received bullet injury

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday expressed shock at the death of 29 people in the Yamuna Expressway bus accident.

Twenty-nine people were killed and 18 injured after a state-run bus skidded off the Yamuna Expressway and fell into a large drain in Uttar Pradesh on Monday.

The news of the horrible bus accident on Yamuna Expressway is shocking, Priyanka Gandhi said.

https://twitter.com/INCIndia/status/1148173096140103680?s=20

Out of the 350 concrete bunkers being constructed for border residents on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, 150 are ready, officials said on Monday.

Authorities are constructing bunkers and concrete community shelters under an ambitious plan announced by the Union Home Ministry in areas close to the LoC and the international border in Jammu and Kashmir.

These bunkers and community shelters are part of the state and Central government's security plan for border residents whose lives are often threatened by cross-border shelling and firing, the officials added.

Lokayukta sleuths on Monday raided the residence and other premises of an officer of the Madhya Pradesh civil supplies corporation and recovered a large number of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income, an official said.

Acting on a tip-off, the Lokayukta officials conducted raids at three places in Indore and another premises in Katni town belonging to the civil supplies corporation manager, Salman Haider, he said.

Haider, currently posted in Katni, was till recently serving in Indore, the Lokayukta official said.

Cash worth Rs five lakh cash and documents related to purchase of seven flats, five plots and a shop, besides a n

One person injured after wall of Paper Box Industrial Estate, MIDC Andheri collapsed earlier, Mumbai

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday condoled the death of 29 passengers in a bus accident in Uttar Pradesh.

Twenty-nine people were killed and 18 injured after a Lucknow-Delhi state-run bus skidded off the Yamuna Expressway and fell into a large drain in UP in the early hours of Monday.

Gandhi said he is pained by the news of the accident on Yamuna Expressway.

"I express my deepest condolences to the families of those who died in the accident. I wish for the speedy recovery of the injured," he said in a Facebook post.

Just now Mr Nagesh (Independent MLA who resigned as minister) called me and said that he has been hijacked by Mr Yeddyurappas' PA and BJP. By the time I reached airport the flight had left, says Karnataka Minister DK Shivakumar

The issue will be resolved, don’t worry. This govt will run smoothly, says Karnataka CM & JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy

40 children from Telangana Minority Residential School admitted to hospital after consuming food at their hostel on Monday

The government on Monday introduced eight Bills in the Lok Sabha within an hour.

Soon after Question Hour ended, Speaker Om Birla allowed the government to introduce the Bills that were listed for legislative business.

The Bills include The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019; The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019; The National Investigation Agency (Amendment) Bill, 2019; The Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2019; The Consumer Protection Bill, 2019; The Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Amendment Bill, 2019; The Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial (Amendment) Bill, 2019; and The Central Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2019.

Our party has nothing to do with what is happening in Karnataka. Our party has never indulged in horse trading, says Rajnath Singh

All 22 Karnataka Congress ministers have resigned, Karnataka Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah

An Army captain was among three people to have been killed in two separate road accidents in Udhampur and Jammu districts of Jammu and Kashmir, police said Monday.

Two days after the Punjab National Bank (PNB) said that it had been defrauded by Bhushan Power & Steel Ltd. (BPSL) to the tune of Rs 3,805.15 crore, its scrip fell by over 10 per cent on Monday.

At 10.43 a.m., PNB shares were trading at 73.95 apiece, down 9.54 per cent before hitting an intra-day low of 73.15 a share.

All Congress ministers submit their resignation to Karnataka party chief. BJP keeps a close eye on the situation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday condoled the death of 29 passengers in a road accident in Uttar Pradesh.

An Uttar Pradesh roadways bus skidded off the six-lane Yamuna Expressway and fell into a large drain 50 feet below, killing 29 passengers and injuring 18.

We'll try to raise the Karnataka issue in Parliament but we won't reveal our weapons. But it is clear that BJP is a 'poacher' party, says Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury

A 26-year-old man drowned in a pond while trying to catch crabs in Palghar district of Maharashtra, police said Monday.

The incident took place on Saturday at Gorhe village in Wada taluka, an official said.

When Sagar Bhoir went to catch crabs, it was raining heavily and he suddenly slipped into the pond and drowned, the official said.

Flight operations were severely hit due to heavy rain and poor visibility at the Mumbai airport on Monday.

Mumbai Auto-Rickshaw Drivers' Unions have called for a strike starting 12 am tonight over their demand of increase in fare among others.

Congress party has given Adjournment Motion Notice in Lok Sabha on 'BJP trying to topple Congress-JDS government in Karnataka'.

Trinamool Congress MP Manish Gupta has given Zero Hour Notice in Rajya Sabha over "Centre’s proposal to link data of 3 crore students to Facebook".

Trinamool Congress MP Dola Sen has given Zero Hour Notice in Rajya Sabha over "Centre’s proposal to divest 42 PSUs"

Around 29 people died and several injured when an Awadh Depot Janrath bus, carrying 44 passengers from Lucknow to Anand Vihar (Delhi), fell off the Yamuna Expressway in Agra on early Monday morning.

Primary reports suggest that the bus fell from a height of 50 feet into a nullah due to the driver’s fault as he was sleepy and lost control of the vehicle.