LIVE! Countdown begins: India's heaviest rocket to be launched at 5:28 pm today

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June 05, 2017


12:40  Separatists stopped from holding meeting, Mirwaiz put under house arrest:  Authorities today prevented separatists from holding a meeting at residence of hardline Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Geelani, placing several leaders including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house arrest.

A posse of police personnel were posted outside Geelani's residence at Hyderpora where the separatists leaders were to hold a meeting and later address a press conference, a police official said.

He said no one was allowed to enter Geelani's residence. "Mirwaiz has once again been put under arrest since late last evening. He was to attend the joint resistance meeting at veteran leader Geelani's residence today," a Hurriyat spokesman said.

"The anti-Kashmiri state resorted to its usual tactic of curbing the leadership, once again showing that Kashmir is ruled by the forces' might," he added.

JKLF chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik was taken into preventive custody and lodged at a police station.

The meeting was convened by the separatists to discuss the NIA raids on several of their second rung leaders as part of crackdown on funding street protests and businessmen suspected of carrying out hawala operations.
12:29  Countdown begins: India's heaviest rocket to be launched at 5:28 pm today :  Update: India's heaviest rocket Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III) is set for its maiden flight into space along with a communications satellite GSAT-19 this evening.

The countdown began at 3.58 pm on Sunday, an official of the Indian space agency said. The rocket is scheduled to be launched at 5:28 pm today.

The rocket, weighing 640 tonnes and standing 43.43 metres tall, will blast off from the second launch pad at India's rocket port at Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh, around 105 km from Chennai.

It will carry a 3,136-kg GSAT-19 communications satellite the heaviest to be lifted by an Indian rocket till date to an altitude of around 179 km above the Earth after just over 16 minutes into the flight.


The mission's success will enable India to launch four-tonne satellites on its own rocket instead of paying huge amounts of money to foreign space agencies to execute the operation.


According to ISRO, GSAT-19 with a life span of 10 years is a multi-beam satellite that carries Ka and Ku band forward and return link transponders and geostationary radiation spectrometer.


Image: Panoramic view of the GSLV-Mk III-D1 to be launched today.
12:05  Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia compensation to families UP accident victims:  Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the kin of deceased in Bareilly truck-bus collision and also Rs 50,000 for those injured. The death toll rose to 22 this morning in a truck-bus collision in Bareilly.
12:00  NGO to adopt families of Maharashtra farmers who committed suicide:  A NGO led by Congress leader Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra will adopt 208 farmer families, whose only earning members have committed suicide, the NGO's top official told PTI.

The Padma Bhushan Dr Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil Foundation will be launched on June 15 and adopt distressed farmer families from Ahmednagar district, the NGO's chief executive Sujay Vikhe Patil said.

Balasaheb Vikhe Patil, a former union minister, was engaged in social work. The Congress leader's son Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil is currently leader of opposition in the Maharashtra assembly. He has served as agriculture minister in the previous Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government.

The initiative will commence on his birthday on June 15, the NGO's CEO said, adding programs are organised every year on the occasion. The foundation will provide aid to the wife, parents and children of 208 farmer families in Ahmednagar district, he said.

It will take care of education, marriage and healthcare needs of these families, and also try to provide a source of income by supporting the families to start a business or secure a job, he said.


Also read: P Sainath: How states fudge the data on declining farmer suicides
11:47  'Global jihad does indeed threaten India':  Dr Rashmi Singh, a professor of International Relations at Brazil's PUC Minas and a former lecturer in Terrorism Studies at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, speaks to Rediff.com's Archana Masih on the challenges to fending off lone wolf terrorism.  Read the interview here.
11:43  PM announces Rs 2 lakh each for kin of UP bus accident victims:   Prime Minister Narendra Modi today condoled the loss of lives in a bus accident in Uttar Pradesh and sanctioned Rs 2 lakh each to the kin of those killed. He also announced Rs 50,000 for each of those injured in the collision between a truck and a bus in Bareilly.

Twenty-two persons were burnt alive and 15 were injured in the accident.

"The bus accident in UP's Bareilly is heart-rending. I condole the loss of lives. I pray that those injured recover at the earliest," Modi said in his message.
11:30  NDTV on CBI raids: Will fight witch hunt, will fight for our country :   NDTV has issued a statement on its website, hours after a CBI raid at co-founder Prannoy Roy's residence. Reports said that the CBI registered a case against Prannoy and his wife and co-founder of NDTV Radhika Roy and others for causing an alleged loss to ICICI Bank to the tune of 48 crore.

The NDTV statement reads:

"This morning, the CBI stepped up the concerted harassment of NDTV and its promoters based on the same old endless false accusations.

"NDTV and its promoters will fight tirelessly against this witch-hunt by multiple agencies. We will not succumb to these attempts to blatantly undermine democracy and free speech in India.

"We have one message to those who are trying to destroy the institutions of India and everything it stands for: we will fight for our country and overcome these forces."
11:19  Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad says it is suspending flights to Qatar amid Gulf diplomatic rift.
11:13  Hold your horses!:  No, the image has not been photo-shopped. In Jaipur, a horse broke into a car's windshield after a collision between the two. The horse and the car driver suffered injuries. The collision happened yesterday.  
11:02  Support for Dr Roy:  Sonia Singh‏ @soniandtv Stand fully with Prannoy & Radhika Roy,the most honest, decent & courageous people I know. We will not be cowed down by false charges


Ajai Shukla‏ @ajaishukla CBI raid on @PrannoyRoyNDTV is watershed for free media in India. Media house's reactions will go down in history, just as in the Emergency.
10:57  Sent SMS to sister saying 'I love Tamils'; 'I love them too' she said: Rahul :  Rahul Gandhi, who has accused BJP-RSS of attempting to thrust one idea on the nation, said every individual, be it in Tamil Nadu or Uttar Pradesh, had a right to express dissent if they were aggrieved, and imposition of one idea was not acceptable.


While expressing his appreciation for the people of Tamil Nadu, their language, culture and culinary, "which is a strength for India like other states," Gandhi said he had a special connect with the state.


He also said that "he has decided to start watching Tamil movies," and "read about the culture of Tamil Nadu people."


"Sent an SMS to my sister, I told my sister that I love coming to Tamil Nadu. I don't know ... Some how I feel very connected to Tamil people," Gandhi said."I wrote (to Priyanka), I love Tamil, Tamils. She wrote back I love them too," he added.


Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President Su Thirunavukkarasar, Congress Legislature Party leader K R Ramasamy were among the functionaries who attended the meeting.
10:54  Rahul is reading the Upanishads, Gita to take on RSS, BJP:  Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said he was reading the Upanishads and the Bhagwad Gita to take on the RSS and the BJP.

"Nowadays, I study the Upanishads and the Gita since I am fighting the RSS and BJP," he said addressing party functionaries in Chennai.

"I ask them (RSS men), my friend, you are doing this, you are oppressing people, but it is written in the Upanishad that all people are the same and how come you are contradicting what your own religion says," party sources quoted him as having told them.

He alleged that BJP does not fundamentally "understand India," and "understand only Nagpur," headquarters of the RSS.

Taking potshots at Narendra Modi, he said BJP men were under the impression that the "entire universal knowledge" came out of the Prime Minister.
10:47  Qatari diplomats given 48-hours to leave Bahrain:  Severing diplomatic ties with Qatar, Bahrain's foreign affairs ministry on Monday issued an advisory for all Qatari diplomatic staff to leave the country within the next 48 hours and also issued an 14-day ultimatum to Qatari citizens to leave Bahraini territories.


Bahrain has accused Qatar of supporting terrorism, media incitement and funding linked to Iranian groups to carry out sabotage and spreading chaos in Bahrain.


Bahrain said it would withdraw its diplomatic mission from the Qatari capital of Doha within 48 hours and that all Qatari diplomats should leave Bahrain within the same period.


The ministry's statement has also given 14 -day ultimatum to Qatari citizens as they have to leave Bahrain within two weeks and that air and sea traffic between the two countries would be halted.Bahrain has announced it is cutting all ties and relations what so ever with Qatar, according to a statement carried on Bahrain News Agency.
10:45  S Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Qatar over 'terrorism':  Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain have broken off diplomatic relations and all land sea and air contacts with fellow Gulf Arab state Qatar over allegations that the latter is encouraging terrorism and extremism.


Riyadh has accused Qatar of backing terrorism and extremism, while Bahrain has charged Qatar with interfering in it internal affairs.


Saudi Arabia had decided to sever diplomatic and consular relations with Qatar "proceeding from the exercise of its sovereign right guaranteed by international law and the protection of national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism," The Guardian has reported.


Saudi Arabia said the move was necessary to protect the kingdom from what it described as terrorism and extremism.


Bahrain's foreign affairs ministry issued a statement that it would withdraw its diplomatic mission from Doha within 48 hours and that all Qatari diplomats should leave Bahrain within the same period.


The ministry's statement said Qatari citizens needed to leave Bahrain within two weeks and that air and sea traffic between the two countries would be halted. It wasn't immediately clear how that would affect Qatar Airways, one of the region's major long-haul carriers.


Image: US President Donald Trump at the Arab Islamic American Summit last month.
10:40  CBI registered a case against Prannoy, Radhika Roy and others for causing an alleged loss to ICICI Bank to the tune of 48 crore, says news agency ANI quoting CBI sources.
10:33  Sensex slips 41 points on profit-booking, mixed Asian cues:  Stock markets came off their peak and turned weak early today on emergence of profit-booking after recent rally amid mixed Asian cues.

The 30-share Sensex, which had gained 135.70 points to close at record high at 31,273.29 on Friday's trade, slipped by 40.64 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 31,232.65 with sectoral indices like FMCG, Metal and IT trading in the negative zone, falling by up to 0.27 per cent.

On similar lines, the NSE Nifty retreated from life-time high as it succumbed to profit-booking to quote 11.75 points lower, or 0.12 per cent, at 9,641.75. It had closed at an all-time high of 9,653.50 on Friday.
10:29  CBI raids NDTV co-founder Prannoy Roy's residence :  New Delhi Television (NDTV) co-founder and executive chairperson Prannoy Roy's Delhi residence was today raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation department in the early hours. The reason behind the raids is not known yet.

Rajya Sabha MP Dr Subramanian Swamy had last year written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing NDTV of money laundering. He had urged the PM to direct the CBI to file a case against NDTV under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

In April last year, the income-tax department had served a tax notice to RRPR Holding, a promoter group company of listed broadcaster New Delhi Television on two transactions dating back to 2009-10, totalling a sum of nearly Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion).

According to the I-T notice, served earlier this year, the first of the two transactions was a Rs 403.85-crore (Rs 4.03 billion) "interest-free loan" granted by Vishvapradhan Commercial Pvt Ltd (VCPL) in July 2009. Read more on that here.
10:17  'The Indian Army has been given a free hand':  Last month the Indian Army honoured Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi with a 'Commendation Card' for his 'sustained efforts' in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

The recognition comes barely a month after he tied a supposed stone-pelter to his jeep, using him as a human shield to prevent violent protesters from attacking his vehicle.

Major Gogoi was responding to a call from an officer who had informed him that around 1,200 people had cornered his polling booth and were trying to burn it with petrol bombs during a by-election in Budgam on April 9.

Defence and strategic affairs expert Maroof Raza -- a former military officer himself -- speaks to Dhruv Munjal about the army's decision to award Major Gogoi amid a public outcry, and if the force has let itself down with the handling of this situation. Read the full interview here.
10:11  Siddaramaiah issued enough ads* last week to fill up my 120 sq ft balcony:  The 180 degree metamorphosis of Narendra Modi's image -- from the monster of 2002 to the messiah of 2014 -- was largely achieved through the undisguised co-option of mainstream media using standard mercantile methods. Now other parties are following in his lead. Read more
10:03  Trump vows to do whatever necessary to protect US :  President Donald Trump has vowed to do whatever was necessary to protect the US and its allies from a "vile enemy" that has "waged war" on innocent lives, his first public comments after the van and knife attack in London.

"America sends our thoughts and prayers and our deepest sympathies to the victims of this evil slaughter and we renew our resolve, stronger than ever before, to protect the United States and its allies from a vile enemy that has waged war on innocent life, and it's gone on too long," Trump said yesterday, a day after three knife-wielding men unleashed a grisly terror rampage in London, killing seven people and injuring 48 others. It was his first public comments on the London attacks. He previously had commented via a series of Twitter posts.


IMAGE: Counter terrorism officers at the scene of Saturday night's terror attack in London. 
09:59  World Environment Day: Will take 10 years to clean Ganga, says Uma :  Union minister Uma Bharti said it would take 10 years to completely clean the Ganga, and that it would be done in a phased manner.

"In order to ensure clean Ganga, the industrial units which are located on the banks of Ganga will be shifted to other places.

"The framework of this plan has been drawn. The Uttar Pradesh government is making efforts to shift the tanneries located in Kanpur to other places," said Bharti, minister for water resources, river development & Ganga rejuvenation, who was here to participate in Ganga Dashera celebrations.


She also said once the Ganga is cleaned, mass awareness will be needed to maintain its cleanliness, for which she will herself undertake a 'padyatra' from Gangotri to Ganga Sagar.


This is exactly the timeline Uma Bharti had given to clean the Ganga in an interview to Rediff.com shortly after she became a minister. Read the interview here.
09:52  This is for you, Olivia! Ariana Grande belts out hits for Manchester victim :  Ariana Grande's One Love Manchester concert -- held almost two weeks after a terrorist attack outside her concert killed 22 and injured over 100 people -- ended on an emotional note as the 23-year-old, while fighting back tears, performed 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'.


At the Manchester Benefit Concert, the 'Side to Side' singer, who opened her performance with her hit song 'Be Alright,' followed by 'Break Free', also recalled meeting the mother of victim Olivia Campbell, 15, who died in the deadly explosion.


"As soon as I met her I started crying and I gave her a big hug and she said I should stop crying because Olivia would have wanted me to stop crying," she said as she fought back tears. "And she said Olivia would have wanted to hear the hits," she said as reported by E! Online.


Grande also said that meeting Campbell's mother made her change the set list at the last minute to include more of her chart-topping songs. "She said Olivia would have wanted to hear the hits."


During the star-studded concert Grande was joined by Marcus Mumford, Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, the Black Eyed Peas, Chris Martin, Oasis, Pharrell, Little Mix and others to celebrate and honor the 22 victims of the bombing that occurred after Grande's concert on May 22.
09:42  Update: 22 killed, 15 injured in UP road mishap:   At least 22 people were killed and 15 others injured when a passenger bus collided with a truck and caught fire on National Highway 24 in Bareilly early today.   

The bus was on its way to Gonda.   

Senior Superintendent of Police, Jogendra Kumar said, "The accident involving a bus of the Uttar Pradesh State Transport Corporation and a truck took place between 1.00 am and 1.30 am."

Twenty-two passengers of the bus were killed while 15 sustained injuries. One of the passengers is critically injured and has been hospitalised, the police said.
09:12  When MoS Mehgwal climbed a ladder to get cellphone network:  On one hand, 'Digital India' is being emphasised and on the other facilities like electricity, mobile network are not available in villages across the country.  

On Sunday, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal faced this problem, and that too in his own parliamentary area.  

Meghwal was on a tour to Dholia village, about 12 km from Rajasthan's Bikaner district. During his visit, the villagers talked about their problems in the area and alleged that the officers did not listen to them. 

When Meghwal phoned the officers from the spot, there was no network so he could not reach to them.  

The villagers told him that this was a major issue faced on a daily basis. They also said if he climbed a tree the network will be found. Immediately a ladder was brought for the minister. 

When Meghwal climbed the ladder kept against a tree, his cell phone came into the network area and he could talk to the officers. 
09:04  Cops accidentally shoot civilian during London terror attack:  The British police accidentally shot a civilian during response during the response to Saturday night's terror attack in London that left seven people dead and several others wounded. 

However, he was not critically injured.  

Assistant Commission of the Metropolitan Police Mark Rowley said that a civilian was hit by a bullet as the police officers confronted the terrorists. 

"As the officers confronted the terrorists -- and were shot -- a member of the public also suffered gunshot wounds. Although we do not believe the injuries to critical in nature, they are in hospital receiving medical attention. We will of course keep you updated on that," he said. 

Rowley said the investigation was progressing at pace and officers from the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, the National Counter Terrorism Policing network are working relentlessly with UK intelligence partners to piece together exactly what had occurred the place.  

"We have already made significant progress, but of course, there remains much more to do. We are making significant progress in identifying the three attackers, and that there were no other suspects at the scene, when the attack was carried out," he added.
08:56  4 terrorists killed in J&K:  
Four terrorists were killed on Monday in a retaliatory fire by security forces when they attempted to attack a CRPF camp at Sumbal in Bandipora district, Jammu and Kashmir.

The heavily armed terrorists tried to enter the CRPF's 45 Battalion camp at around 4:10 am, opening fire at the sentry post.

"Four militants were killed in the retaliatory firing and the suicide attack was foiled," a police official said.


08:43  Trump vows to protect US :  
Lalit K Jha/PTI reports: A day after the London terror attack President Donald Trump declared: "I will do what is necessary to prevent
this threat from spreading to our shores and work every single day to protect the safety and security of our country, our communities and our people." 
</p><p>
Trump said he has spoken to British Prime Minister Theresa May on the horrific attack. </p><p>
During the conversation, he "pledged that the US will do everything in our power to assist the United Kingdom and its
citizens as they work to protect their country and to bring those that are guilty to justice".
</p><p>
"America sends our thoughts, our prayers and our deepest sympathies to the victims of this evil slaughter and we renew
our resolve -- stronger than ever before -- to protect the United States and its allies from a vile enemy that has waged
war on innocent life. And it's gone on too long. This bloodshed must end. This bloodshed will end," Trump said.