Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.
The Punjab government on Monday recommended death penalty for those convicted in drug smuggling cases. Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh said the recommendation was being forwarded to the Centre. Making Punjab free from drugs was one of the commitments of the Congress ahead of the Assembly election last year. “Since drug peddling is destroying entire generations, it deserves exemplary punishment. I stand by my commitment for drug-free Punjab,” Singh said.
Meanwhile, twelve people were arrested Monday in connection with the lynching of five people in Maharashtra’s Dhule district and sent to four-day custody. Those arrested are residents of Rainpada and between the age group of 20 and 30 years. The incident took place in the tribal hamlet of Rainpada in Sakri taluka, about 325 km from Mumbai. The mob reportedly comprised over 35 people, including some children.
In the national capital, relatives of a family in Delhi’s Burari, where eleven members were found dead under mysterious circumstances at their residence Sunday morning, said that less than two weeks ago, the Bhatia family had celebrated the engagement of Priyanka (33) at a banquet hall in outer Delhi.
In a fresh development in the Kathua rape and murder case, medical reports of one of the eight accused who pleaded to be treated as juvenile revealed that he is more than 20 years of age. The report was submitted before the district and sessions court in Pathankot by the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s crime branch on Monday. Special public prosecutor J K Chopra, who submitted the report of Parvesh Kumar, alias Mannu, in the court, said, “The report has been submitted and final arguments on it will be concluded tomorrow, after which the judge will pronounce his verdict.” Chopra added, “According to medical opinion, his age is stated to be 20 plus.” .
Four of the five Malankara Syrian Orthodox Church priests, who allegedly sexually assaulted a woman, have been slapped with rape charges by the Crime Branch wing of the Kerala Police, official sources said on Monday. The crime branch wing of the state police has registered an FIR and slapped rape charges against the priests after recording the woman’s statement, they said. The sources, however, did not give further details. Read the story here.
In what was termed a “historic” occasion, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched the “Happiness Curriculum” for students of nursery to Class 8 in government schools on Monday. The curriculum was launched in the presence of the Dalai Lama. According to the state government, the new subject was designed and prepared by a team of 40 Delhi government teachers, educators and volunteers over a period of six months. Students across schools can expect a ‘happiness’ period of 45 minutes. Each class will begin with a five-minute meditation session. The happiness period will also include value education and mental exercises, Delhi’s Education Minister Manish Sisodia said. Read the entire story here.
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi sounded the election bugle in Uttar Pradesh last week, the BJP and Congress presidents will be in the state to feel the pulse of the people and party workers for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. While Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be on a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency Amethi from July 4, during which he is likely to meet party workers and attend several programmes, BJP president Amit Shah will be in Varanasi, Mirzapur and Agra on the same dates. Read the entire story here.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday condemned the trolling of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on social media and termed it as “absolutely wrong”. “I consider this as absolutely wrong,” Singh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also criticised the trolls and those indulging in “verbal abuse”. “Strongly condemn the language used on social media against @sushmaswaraj Ji . She is a senior politician. We must respect each other and must never indulge in any form of verbal abuse,” she tweeted. .
The Punjab government on Monday recommended death penalty for those convicted in drug smuggling cases. Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh said the recommendation was being forwarded to the Centre. Making Punjab free from drugs was one of the commitments of the Congress ahead of the Assembly election last year. “Since drug peddling is destroying entire generations, it deserves exemplary punishment. I stand by my commitment for drug-free Punjab,” Singh said. .
Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi on Monday filed a complaint with Mumbai Police after she received a rape threat directed at her minor daughter by a troll account on micro-blogging site Twitter on Sunday night. In a tweet which was brought down later following the outrage, user @GirishK1605 had said that he wanted to rape her minor daughter. .
A day after 11 members of a family were found dead under mysterious circumstances at their residence in Burari area of North Delhi, a family relative suspected the incident to be a case of murder while dispelling reports of “mystical” angle. “Someone killed them and all the reports on spiritual angle are bogus. This family was a happy and peace-loving one who never believed in babas,” Sujata, a relative of the family, was quoted as saying by ANI. Read the full story here.
Five castes, including Gujjars, under the most backward classes (MBC), are also entitled to the 21 per cent quota under the Other Backward Class (OBC) category for admission to educational institutes and recruitment in state government jobs, the latest order passed by the Rajasthan government read on Monday. The notification came a day after Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rajendra Rathore assured the Gujjar leaders of issuing a fresh notification at the earliest as the latter threatened to stage a stir during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jaipur on July 7. Read the full story here.
In Burari death case, the medical board has conducted the postmortem of all the 11 bodies. "Autopsies of six persons -- Bhavnesh, Pratibha, Dhruv, Shivam, Teena and Lalit has revealed so far that they died of hanging and not strangulation," said Alok Kumar, JCP (crime branch).
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday stayed the proposed tree felling for re-development of seven south Delhi colonies by the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) and the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) till July 19, 2018. The green body has also issued notice to the central government and Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and others over the issue. The Delhi High Court had earlier stayed felling of trees till July 4.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to apprise it within 10 days about the time frame for appointing the anti-graft ombudsman Lokpal in the country. A bench comprising justices Ranjan Gogoi and R Banumathi asked the government to file an affidavit within 10 days giving details of the steps which are likely to be taken for appointing the Lokpal. Read More
The Supreme Court Monday agreed to consider listing of a batch of petitions challenging the practices of polygamy and ‘nikah halala’ among Muslims. A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud considered the submissions of senior advocate V Shekhar that the petitions be listed before a five-judge constitution bench for final adjudication. “We will look into it,” the bench said. Read More
Supreme Court issued a notice to Bihar govt in connection with a petition filed by Mohd Shahabuddin, convicted under the Arms Act by Patna High Court. He had moved the Apex Court challenging his conviction in the case.
Supreme Court on Monday asked the Vaishno Devi Shrine Board and the Jammu & Kashmir government to file a reply on the status of the rehabilitation plan of horses and mules. Matter fixed for further hearing, in August.
A week ago, among the ‘prospective brides’ lined up at a ‘Parichay Sammelan’ in this city, one diminutive woman in her mid-20s drew the most attention. It was Geeta. Two-and-a-half years after India brought the speech-and-hearing impaired woman back from Pakistan amidst much fanfare, the futile hunt for her parents by the government has evolved into a new search: a groom for Geeta. Read More
A student of Maharaja’s College, a prominent educational institution in Kerala, was stabbed to death inside the college hostel late Sunday night. Abhimanyu, a second-year student and a worker of the Students Federation of India (SFI), the student wing of the CPM, was rushed to the nearby Ernakulam General Hospital but succumbed to injuries. The incident of the stabbing was reported shortly after midnight. Another SFI worker was injured in the attack and is undergoing treatment at the Medical Trust Hospital. Read More
Interpol on Monday issued a Red Corner Notice against absconding jeweller Nirav Modi in connection with the Punjab National Bank fraud case. A Red Corner Notice mandates Interpol to arrest a fugitive after locating him. Nirav and his maternal uncle Mehul Choksi are accused of defrauding the bank to the tune of Rs Rs 13,500 crore. Read More
Another case of a family being attacked on suspicion of being child abductors reported in Malegaon in Maharashtra. Incident happened last night. Victims hail from Parbhani. Mob ransacked a police van, police had to resort to lathicharge.
Police has registered a case for rioting and obstructing a police servant to perform his duties. They are probing if any social media post was responsible for the incident.
Police arrested 12 people Monday morning in connection with a mob violence case in Maharashtra's Dhule district. All arrested are between the age group of 20-30 years and residents of Rainpada. In a mob violence triggered by social media posts, five people were lynched in Dhule district of Maharashtra on Sunday morning over suspicion that they were part of a gang of “child lifters”, police said.
The rains have been unrelenting. And every morning, a five-man road-opening party from the BSF has been conducting threat assessment operations from Chandanwari to Sheshnag. In between the two base camps, is the most difficult part of the Amarnath Yatra: Pissu top mountain, a punishing 3-km trek involving a steep ascent 11,000 ft above sea level over narrow tracks covered in mud.
The BSF party, the Mountain Rescue Team (MRT) and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) warn the Nunwan base camp that the “track is dangerous” due to “continuous rainfall”. The Sheshnag base camp director, too, requests his counterpart to not send anyone through. But despite the red flags, officials at Nunwan show the green light. Read More
In sports, hosts Russia beat Spain 4-3 on penalties on Sunday to advance to the World Cup quarter-finals where they will face either Denmark or Croatia. Russia keeper Igor Akinfeev saved Koke’s and Iago Aspas’ spot kicks in their first ever penalty shootout to send the hosts through following a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes. Spain, who have never beaten a host at World Cups or Euros, went ahead after 12 minutes when 38-year-old Sergei Ignashevich bundled into Spain captain Sergio Ramos at the far post, knocking a free kick in with his heel for the 10th own goal of the tournament. Read more
Ranbir Kapoor’s latest film Sanju has been slaying the box office game since the day of its release. The Sanjay Dutt biopic has done exceedingly well in the opening weekend. Sanju has collected a sum of Rs 73.35 crore till now. And it is expected to join the Rs 100 core club soon. Read more