Breaking News, July 19 | HIGHLIGHTS

Elon Musk congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on becoming the most followed world leader on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, surpassing 100 million followers.

A special CBI court in Mumbai on Friday allowed Indrani Mukerjea, who was accused of killing her daughter Sheena Bora, for a 10-day foreign visit. The court gave permission to Indrani Mukerjea to travel abroad on a security deposit of Rs 2 lakh.

The monsoon session of the Uttar Pradesh legislature is set to begin on July 29. 
 

Union Home Minister Amit Shah today chaired a high-level meeting with various heads of security and Law Enforcement Agencies to review the functioning of Multi Agency Centre (MAC) of IB, responsible for tackling security challenges in the country, in New Delhi.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh condemned Uttar Pradesh government’s mandate to display names of eatery owners’ along the Kanwar Yatra route. He said, "Hatred is in the veins of BJP. They hate the Dalits, backwards, Adivasis and minorities. Since they have lost the (Lok Sabha) elections, they have taken a 'sankalp' to not do any work of Dalits, backwards, Adivasis and minorities."

India's foreign exchange reserves jumped by USD 9.699 billion, reaching an all-time high of USD 666.854 billion for the week ended July 12, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday. In the previous reporting week, reserves had risen by USD 5.158 billion, climbing to USD 657.155 billion, surpassing the earlier high of USD 655.817 billion recorded for the week ended June 7.

The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday said all Indian nationals are "safe and sound" in Bangladesh, which is witnessing violent protests over the quota system for government jobs, adding that they are in touch with appropriate authorities. The Ministry also said the ongoing protests are an internal matter of Bangladesh.

EAM Dr S Jaishankar held a conversation with Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. Elaborating on the details of the talks, the EAM tweeted, "A good conversation with Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba this afternoon. Spoke about further developing our bilateral relationship."

On Microsoft global outage, MoS Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol said, "The whole world is witnessing this global outage as the cloud services of Microsft are down. In our country, the ground operations of airports have been affected... DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) and MoCA (Ministry of Civil Aviation) are monitoring the situation..."

Microsoft users worldwide are experiencing an outage impacting various services, including Microsoft Teams, Windows 365, and OneDrive, according to reports. Downdetector data reveals over 900 reports, with OneDrive (74 percent), server connection (16 percent), and Outlook access (10 percent) being the most affected areas.

The death toll in the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express derailment in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda has risen to four, while 31 people were injured in the incident, an official said on Friday. Eight coaches of the train had derailed between Motiganj and Jhilahi railway stations, about 150 km from the state capital, on the Gonda-Gorakhpur section of the Northeast Railway on Thursday afternoon.

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine the contours of Article 361 of the Constitution which grants "blanket immunity" to governors from any kind of criminal prosecution. A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud also issued a notice to the West Bengal government on a plea of a contractual woman employee, who has alleged molestation by state Governor C V Ananda Bose.

A 47-year-old former defence personnel wanted for allegedly robbing Rs 6.6 lakh from a Punjab National Bank branch in Indore has been arrested from Uttar Pradesh, a police official said on Friday.

Air India on Friday said it is operating a relief flight from Mumbai to fly its Delhi-San Francisco flight passengers, who are stranded at the Krasnoyarsk International Airport (KJA) in Russia since Thursday. In an updated statement on microblogging site X, the airline said it has already received regulatory approvals for the relief flight.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is questioning a first-year MBBS student from the 2023 batch of RIMS in connection with the NEET-UG paper leak case, an official said on Friday. The student, who stays at the girls’ hostel of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), formerly known as Rajendra Medical College and Hospital (RMCH), an autonomous institute under the Jharkhand government, was approached by the CBI earlier this week for questioning.

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a plea of two of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case challenging the January 8 verdict cancelling their remission. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar termed the plea as "absolutely misconceived" and said how can it sit in appeal over an order passed by another bench of the apex court.

Delhi Finance Minister Atishi on Friday demanded Rs 10,000 crore from the Centre for infrastructure development, claiming the city government got nothing in return over the past year despite its income tax contribution of Rs 2 lakh crore. Delhi also provided Rs 25,000 crore as central GST to the pool of taxes, the minister said during a press conference.

Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and opposition YSRCP leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, complaining about the alleged atrocities against his party cadres by the ruling TDP and its allies. In just one month, Reddy alleged that 31 people were murdered, 35 people committed suicide, 560 private and 490 government properties were destroyed and 2,700 people were forced to flee their villages.

Goa Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar said on Friday that he had a providential escape earlier this week when his car met with an accident following a technical snag on the New Zuari Bridge in South Goa.

The flood situation in Assam improved on Friday, with water levels receding across the state, officials said. The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) here forecast no rain in most parts of the state barring the western districts during the day.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to attend the NITI Aayog meeting scheduled to be held in New Delhi next week, an official said on Friday. She is likely to leave for the national capital on July 25, he said.

The Supreme Court on Friday said a public interest litigation seeking a court-monitored investigation into the electoral bonds scheme will be heard on July 22. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the submissions of lawyer Prashant Bhushan and said the PIL of two NGOs -- Common Cause and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) -- is listed for hearing on Monday.

Fintech firm One97 Communications, which owns Paytm brand, on Friday said its loss has widened to Rs 840 crore in the quarter ended June 30, 2024. The company had posted a loss of Rs 358.4 crore in the same period a year ago, according to a regulatory filing by the company.

Three members of a family, including two children, were killed and three others injured after the roof of their house collapsed following heavy rains at Madapura village in Savanur taluk of district on Friday, police said. The deceased have been identified as Chennamma (aged 38) and two-year-old twin sisters -- Anushree and Amulya, they said.

In a massive move, the Uttar Pradesh government has ordered all roadside eateries to display the "name and identity" of their owners along the Kanwar Yatra route across the state. The 'nameplates' of the owners will have to be installed on the food shops. The decision was taken to maintain the "purity" of the faith of Kanwar pilgrims. The action will also be taken against those selling productions with Halal certifications.

No casualties were reported.

The NHRC has issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and the state's police chief over reports that a person died allegedly in police custody due to torture in Jalaun district.

Odisha Police has arrested four members of an inter-state gang for their alleged involvement in a series of thefts across the city over the last few days.

Six new bills, including the one to amend the disaster management law, will be presented during the Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning next week. Besides the Finance Bill, the government has also listed the Bhartiya Vayuyan Vidheyak, 2024 to replace the Aircraft Act of 1934 to provide enabling provisions for ease of doing business in the civil aviation sector.

Lokayukta raided the residence of 12 state officials - raids on the residence of 6 officials in Bangalore city - Raids on the residence of two officials in Bangalore Rural District - raids on the residence of two officials in Shimoga district - raid on the residence of one officer each in Yadagiri, Tumkur. 54 places belonging to officers were raided and records were checked.