Breaking News, July 29 | Highlights

A three-year-old girl, who accidentally slipped into an open borewell near a village in Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh on Monday evening, was rescued after more than five hours and rushed to a hospital where her condition was stated to be critical, officials said.

"We must take concrete steps now to prevent a similar incident from happening again," said Rahul Sharma, a civil service aspirant, staging a sit-in at Old Rajinder Nagar to demand justice for the three students who drowned in the basement of a coaching centre in the west Delhi locality.

Sharma, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, is among the hundreds of aspirants protesting near Rau’s IAS Study Circle where horror unfolded on Saturday night when students got trapped in the basement illegally used as a library as floodwaters rose outside. On Monday evening, the students held a candlelight vigil near the institute where the incident happened. Some of them sat with their phone's flashlight on.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted heavy rainfall for five districts of Odisha on Tuesday, a bulletin said.
IMD's Bhubaneswar regional centre also issued a yellow warning (be updated) for the five districts of Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak and Jajpur.

The weather office also predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Nayagarh, Angul, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Boudh, Khurda, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Koraput, Malkangiri, Deogarh, and Sundargarh districts on July 31.

The Delhi Police presented all the arrested accused in the Delhi coaching centre drowning incident in the court and sought their judicial custody. The arrested accused comprise four co-owners of property and a car driver. The arrested car driver's counsel sought release on bail claiming no intention or knowledge of causing death. Upon hearing the arguments from both sides, the court sent all the accused to 14-day judicial custody.

The Jharkhand Assembly witnessed chaotic scenes on Monday as opposition BJP MLAs raised concerns over Bangladeshi infiltration and alleged 'atrocities' against tribals, leading to multiple adjournments until Tuesday. As the session began at 11 am, BJP members stormed the well of the House, demanding the government's response to the high court's directive to identify Bangladeshi infiltrators in the Santhal Parganas region and police's alleged atrocities on tribal students at a hostel in Pakur.

The initial uproar forced the first adjournment at 11:26 am until 12:30 pm. When the session resumed at 12:35 pm, chaos persisted, eventually leading to another adjournment at 12:40 pm, with the House scheduled to reconvene at 11 am the next day.

Allahabad High Court quashed Ghazipur MP MLA court's order sentencing Samajwadi Party MP from Ghazipur Afzal Ansari. On the Allahabad HC decision, Afzal Anzari's advocate Daya Shankar Mishra said, "The court's order against MP Afzal Ansari has been quashed. His sentence has been cancelled. He has been acquitted and has taken the oath as an MP."

Delhi Police has served a notice to MCD seeking information in the investigation of a case registered in connection with the death of 3 students at a coaching centre in Old Rajinder Nagar on July 27.

A Delhi court on Monday suspended the sentence of five months' simple imprisonment awarded to Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar in a defamation case filed against her by Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena 23 years ago when he headed an NGO in Gujarat.

On an appeal filed by Patkar, Metropolitan Magistrate Raghav Sharma suspended the sentence and also issued a notice to the opposite party (LG), Saxena's counsel Gajinder Kumar said. The court also granted bail to Patkar on a bail bond and surety bond of Rs 25,000, he said.

A school bus, carrying 15 students, collided with a BMW car in Pune's Pimpri Chinchwad. The bus driver has been taken into custody the by the police while the BMW driver has sustained injuries and undergoing treatment.

Delhi LG V K Saxena on Monday visited the coaching hub of Old Rajinder Nagar and interacted with students protesting over the death of three civil services aspirants after their institute's basement got flooded with rainwater. Officials said the protesting students explained their grievances to Saxena who assured them that action will be taken in the matter.

The Rajasthan Assembly was briefly adjourned on Monday amid a ruckus after the opposition cornered the government over crimes against Dalits. During Zero Hour, Bharat Adivasi Party MLA Thavar Chand raised the murder of a Dalit teacher in Salumbhar district last week. He alleged the government was biased on providing compensation. Congress MLA Pitram Singh Kala also raised several cases of atrocities against Dalits. He referred to the murder of Laxman Meghwal in Bikaner and asked what action the government had taken.

 The AAP on Monday staged a protest near the LG Secretariat and demanded that officers who allegedly failed to issue directions for desilting of drains in Delhi be sacked. This comes two days after three civil services aspirants died when the basement of their coaching centre in central Delhi's Old Rajinder Nagar was flooded following heavy rain.

Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud on Monday said the first seven benches of the Supreme Court will hear cases listed for amicable resolution in a special Lok Adalat at 2 pm from today till Friday. The top court is holding the special Lok Adalat till August 3 in an effort to reduce the pendency of cases. "From today till Friday, we will have the Supreme Court Lok Adalat and the first seven benches will sit for it. If lawyers have cases which can go before the Lok Adalat, please bring them," the CJI said at the outset of the day’s proceedings on Monday.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said his government was ready for a constructive discussion on issues related to people and the state's development during the monsoon session of the legislative assembly. Talking to reporters before the beginning of the session, Adityanath sought the opposition's support for smooth functioning of the House.

A 22-year-old Haryana man "sent to the frontline by the Russian Army to fight against Ukrainian forces" has died, his family claimed on Monday.
The Indian embassy in Moscow confirmed the death of Ravi Moun, who hailed from Matour village in Haryana's Kaithal district, his brother Ajay Moun said. Ravi Moun went to Russia on January 13 after being "hired" for a transportation job but was inducted into the military, his brother claimed. Ajay Moun wrote to the embassy on July 21 for information on his brother's whereabouts.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has appointed two Indian-American community leaders Raj Bhutoria and Avanti Ramraj to his youth empowerment commission. Formally established in 2023, the California Youth Commission provides meaningful opportunities for civic engagement, particularly for disconnected and disadvantaged youth. Bhutoria has been Chief of Staff at Snappr since 2023, before which he was a Strategy Analyst at Accenture from 2022 to 2023 and a researcher at the Financial Economics Institute from 2019 to 2021.

The Gauri Shankar Temple in Delhi's Chandni Chowk witnessed a significant influx of devotees today, as worshippers gathered to offer prayers on the second Monday of the holy month of 'Saavan'. This period, dedicated to Lord Shiva, is considered highly auspicious by Hindus, with Mondays holding particular significance for special rituals and observances.