Breaking News, June 16 | HIGHLIGHTS

Over 2,000 domestic and foreign tourists were stranded in North Sikkim due to a road blockade following incessant rainfall since Thursday, officials said. The road from North Sikkim district headquarters Mangan to Chungthang has been blocked at Pegong Supply Khola, disrupting vehicular traffic, the officials said. As a result, 1,975 domestic and 36 foreign tourists were stranded at hotels in Lachen and Lachung areas – considered gateways to various places with scenic beauty. Of the foreign tourists, 23 are from Bangladesh, 10 from the US and three from Singapore, reported news agency PTI.

As many as 345 four-wheelers and 11 motorbikes were also stuck at various places in North Sikkim, the officials said. The road clearance works will begin once the rain stops, they added.

A history-sheeter allegedly attempted to end his life in Nagpur Central Jail, an official said on Friday. Shijo Nadar slit his wrist with a knife on Wednesday but he was saved by alert prison guards who rushed him to hospital, the official said. "He has several serious offences against his name. He is also an accused in an MCOCA case. Nadar had attempted to set himself on fire in February this year," the official added.

Due to health issues, Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji's electricity portfolio has been given to Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu and Prohibition and Excise portfolio has been given to Housing and Urban Development Minister Muthusamy. Senthil Balaji to continue as minister without portfolio, said Tamil Nadu govt.

Delhi Assembly’s Petitions Committee summons Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar in the alleged irregularities in the transfer of evacuee land.

 BJP national president JP Nadda arrives in Agartala, Tripura.

Final preparations for the world-famous Rath Yatra in Puri are underway. This year, the Yatra will take place on 20th June.

ED has summoned Tamil Nadu Power Minister Senthil Balaji's brother Ashok Kumar and his wife for questioning in money laundering case. Both have been asked to appear before ED to join the investigation

Gujarat: State's Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi offers prayers at Dwarkadhish temple in Dwarka.

Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao, Governor Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan & Union Minister Kishan Reddy receive President Droupadi Murmu as she arrives in Hyderabad.

ED summons Tamil Nadu Minister Senthil Balaji's brother RV Ashok Kumar, others for questioning next week in money laundering case, said Officials.

Chennai local court grants Enforcement Directorate 8 days custody of arrested TN minister Senthil Balaji.

Waterlogging was reported on NH48 in Gurugram as Delhi-NCR receives fresh spell of rain under the influence of Cyclone Biparjoy and a western disturbance active over the northwest Himalayan region.

TN Guv Ravi re-allocates portfolios held by Senthil Balaji to other ministers; "has not agreed" to Balaji continuing in Cabinet, said Raj Bhavan.

Cong demands an immediate all-party meeting on the Manipur situation.

West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar writes to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, requesting for immediate intervention in the security situation of West Bengal's Panchayat Elections.

Delhi witnesses a sudden change in weather as the city receives light showers.

Bengal Panchayat nomination process peaceful, said Mamata Banerjee after West Bengal Governor Dr CV Ananda Bose's comments on poll violence.

The 22nd Law Commission, which is looking into the issue of age of consent, held a meeting with officials of the Women and Child Development Ministry recently and sought details on the subject, sources said on Friday. Over the years, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which defines a child as a person aged below 18, has often come in conflict with the role of consent in determining the nature of relationships between adolescents. Sources said the Law Commission held a meeting with the government and sought some information on the matter of age of consent. "We are dealing with the subject. we had a meeting with them to provide some information," a government functionary said.

The Customs department has seized gold worth Rs 47.45 lakh from a passenger at the Shri Guru Ramdas ji International Airport here. In a statement issued here on Friday, a Customs official said the passenger, who came from Sharjah, was intercepted on Thursday evening. During his search, three white capsules, weighing around 1,072 grams, were found hidden inside his rectum. Around 778 grams of gold was recovered from these capsules, the official said. Further investigation is underway, the official said.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Friday said the entire state cabinet has been called to New Delhi by Congress President M Mallikarjun Kharge for a meeting with the party top brass. They are also likely to meet a host of central ministers separately during the visit to discuss various state projects, he said, and did not rule out the possibility of him and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There are reports that Siddaramaiah has sought an appointment with the Prime Minister.

No lives were lost after Cyclone Biparjoy made a landfall in Gujarat, however, 23 people were injured and electricity supply was disrupted in about 1,000 villages in the state, NDRF Director General Atul Karwal said on Friday. The Arabian Sea cyclone ripped through Kutch and parts of Saurashtra region of Gujarat leaving a trail of destruction. Heavy rains lashed the entire Kutch district since the cyclone started making landfall near Jakhau Port from 6.30 pm on Thursday and the process continued till 2.30 am, according to officials. Karwal said while two lives unfortunately were lost before the landfall, not a single human life was lost post the landfall in Gujarat.

The Navi Mumbai police in Maharashtra have registered a case against six persons for allegedly stealing power worth Rs 17.8 lakh, an official said on Friday. The flying squad of state-run distributor MSEDCL had checked the premises of six users at Kalmboli on June 5 and found that they were illegally drawing power by bypassing the electricity supply meter, he said.

A senior health official was caught red-handed by Lokayukta sleuths as he allegedly took a bribe of Rs 10,000 from a doctor in Madhya Pradesh’s Agar Malwa district on Friday, an official said. The Lokayukta is an anti-corruption authority constituted at the state level and it investigates allegations of corruption and malpractices against public servants. R C Kuril, chief medical and health officer (CMHO), demanded Rs 20,000 from a contractual child specialist for not putting any adverse remark on his extension proposal, Lokayukta Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Sunil Talaan said.

Yoga brings the world together to further good health and wellness, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday and wished that it keeps getting more popular globally. In a historic commemoration, Prime Minister Modi will lead a yoga session for the first time at the UN Headquarters in New York on the 9th International Day of Yoga on June 21. The International Day of Yoga aims to raise awareness worldwide of the many benefits of practising yoga. Recognising its universal appeal, in December 2014, the United Nations proclaimed June 21 as the International Day of Yoga. "I am looking forward to participating in the 9th International Day of Yoga celebrations @UN with Prime Minister @NarendraModi at the UNHQ North Lawn next week," President of the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly Csaba Korosi said in a tweet Thursday.

The Assam cabinet has decided to increase the reservation for six communities of the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) and More Other Backward Castes (MOBCs) belonging to the non-creamy layer for MBBS seats in the medical colleges of the state. The meeting chaired by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has decided to amend the Medical Colleges and Dental Colleges of Assam (Regulation of Admission into 1st year MBBS/BDS courses) Rule, 2017 to increase MBBS seats in the medical colleges of the state, Water Resources Minister Pijush Hazarika said at the media briefing after the meeting on Thursday night.

Tamil Nadu Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on money laundering charges, was being treated in the ICU with cardiac monitoring, the private hospital treating him said on Friday. Following a court relief, Balaji was shifted to the Kauvery Main Hospital here on Thursday from a government facility in city. He also holds the Prohibition and Excise portfolio. He was assessed by a team of doctors led by A R Raghuram, Senior Consultant Cardio Thoracic Surgeon, who has advised early Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) surgery, a medical bulletin issued by Dr Aravindan Selvaraj, co-founder and Executive Director, Kauvery Group of Hospitals, said. "He is undergoing further tests to assess fitness for anaesthesia and based on the assessment, the surgery will be planned," it added.

AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday asked his party workers in Assam to help the victims in flood-affected areas and provide all possible support to the local administration in rescue and relief work. The flood situation in Assam deteriorated on Thursday with nearly 29,000 people reeling under the deluge in three districts of the state due to incessant rain, according to an official bulletin. Taking to twitter, Kejriwal said, "Heavy rains and floods are affecting life in Assam,"

Pope Francis has been discharged from the Rome hospital where he had abdominal surgery nine days earlier to repair a hernia and remove painful scarring. Francis, 86, left in a wheelchair, smiling and waving and saying “thanks” to a crowd of well-wishers, then stood up so he could get into the small Vatican car awaiting him.

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha thanked Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for sending 500 kg mangoes as a gift to the people of the northeastern state. The Bangladesh Assistant High Commissioner in Agartala, Arif Mohammad Khan handed over the mangoes to the Tripura CM on Thursday evening at his official residence. "Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sent a gift of delicious mangoes. The gift was handed over to me by the officials of Bangladesh Asst High Commission office, Agartala. On behalf of the people of Tripura, I sincerely thanked the Bangladesh Prime Minister for the gift", the chief minister said in a Facebook post. Last year the Bangladesh PM had sent mangoes as a gift to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the chief ministers of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will undertake separate state visits to the United States and Egypt from June 20 to 25, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Friday. Modi's visit to the US will commence in New York, where he will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Yoga at the headquarters of the United Nations on June 21. In December 2014, the UN General Assembly had adopted a resolution proclaiming June 21 as the International Day of Yoga.

A minor fire erupted in the electricity cables attached to the pillars that are part of the under-construction Metro rail route at Ovala Naka in Thane city of Maharashtra, an official said. Nobody was injured in the incident that occurred on Thursday evening, said Yasin Tadvi, the disaster control officer of the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC). "Electrical cables on a pillar at Ovala Naka signal caught fire around 7.45 pm. Soon after being alerted, a fire brigade team and other personnel rushed to the scene and doused the fire within half an hour," he said. The incident occurred on the Metro line-4 route between Wadala in Mumbai to Kasarvadavali. This fully-elevated 32.32 km-long corridor is currently under construction. The cause of the fire is being investigated, he said.

United States Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti has hailed the strong and growing ties between India and the US and described the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi there as "a prime example of the accelerated collaboration between our two countries". He made the remarks while presiding over the 247th anniversary celebration of US independence here on Thursday evening. According to a release from the US Consulate here, the event highlighted US-India areas of cooperation, including in the Indo-Pacific, gender equity, innovation, space, and climate change, while also recognising robust people-to-people ties and institutional partnerships between the two countries. Ambassador Garcetti hailed the strong and growing partnership between the US and India, particularly South India.

India and China, the world's top oil users, continued to lap up heavily discounted Russian crude oil, buying as much as 80 per cent of the oil that Moscow exported in May, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in a report. "Heavily discounted Russian crude oil has found new buyers primarily in Asia. India has increased purchases from almost nothing to close to 2 million barrels per day, while China has raised liftings by 500,000 barrels per day to 2.2 million barrels per day," the Paris-based energy agency said in its latest Oil Market Report. Russia-origin seaborne crude exports averaged 3.87 million barrels per day in May, the highest since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. "In May 2023, India and China accounted for almost 80 per cent of Russian crude oil exports," IEA said. "In turn, Russia made up 45 per cent and 20 per cent of crude imports in India and China, respectively.

CPI (ML) Liberation leader Dipankar Bhattacharya has asserted that the non-BJP leaders' meeting in Patna on June 23 will send a message of opposition unity across the country. He said that Bihar's ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government, of which his party is a part, is a model of opposition unity to take on the BJP. "Bihar played a crucial role in India's struggle for Independence... The state gave birth to several mass movements... The June 23 meeting will also send a message that people are up in arms against forces that are attacking the Constitution and spreading the politics of hate," he told reporters Thursday. The CPI (ML) Liberation general secretary said that given "strong possibilities of early elections", all opposition parties must come together to defeat the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The intensity of cyclone Biparjoy which lashed Saurashtra-Kutch region has reduced from 'very severe' to 'severe' category hours after making landfall in coastal areas of Gujarat, an official said on Friday. The cyclone has moved northeastwards and has weakened into a cyclonic storm and will become a depression by the evening over south Rajasthan, the official said. Biparjoy (meaning disaster or calamity in Bengali) unleashed destructive wind speeds of up to 140 kmph and incessant rains as trees and electricity poles were uprooted, while seawater entered villages located in low-lying areas. A cattle-rearer duo of father and son died while trying to save their goats stuck in a flooded ravine in Bhavnagar district on Thursday.

A tornado ripped through the Texas Panhandle town of Perryton on Thursday, killing one person, injuring dozens more and causing widespread damage as another in a series of fierce storms carved its way through the South. The National Weather Service in Amarillo confirmed that a tornado hit the area Thursday afternoon. But there was no immediate word on its size, meteorologist Luigi Meccariello said. “There are still reports of ongoing rescues,” he said. Perryton Fire Chief Paul Dutcher told ABC 7 that a person was killed in a mobile home park that took a “direct hit” from a tornado. Dutcher said at least 30 trailers were damaged or destroyed. At 6 p.m., firefighters were rescuing people from the rubble. First responders from surrounding areas and from Oklahoma descended on the town.

In a historic commemoration, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lead a yoga session for the first time at UN Headquarters here on the 9th International Day of Yoga to be celebrated on June 21. The International Day of Yoga aims to raise awareness worldwide of the many benefits of practising yoga. Recognising its universal appeal, in December 2014, the United Nations proclaimed June 21 as the International Day of Yoga. “On the occasion of the 9th International Day of Yoga, the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations cordially invites you to join a Yoga session led by H. E. Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi,” an advisory for the event said. Nine years after Prime Minister Modi had first proposed from the UN General Assembly podium to mark International Yoga Day as an annual commemoration, the Indian leader will for the first time be at the UN Headquarters to lead the yoga session in a historic commemoration of the day.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested the nephew of a suspended judge, who was posted in a Panchkula special court, as part of a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged bribery case against the former judicial officer, official sources said on Friday. Ajay Parmar, the nephew of former special court judge Sudhir Parmar, was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after the federal agency conducted searches of his premises, they said. The arrest comes just a day after the agency arrested two directors and 'key managerial persons' of Gurugram-based realty group M3M-- Basant Bansal and Pankaj Bansal-- on June 14 in this case.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met with Cuban leader Miguel Díaz-Canel on Thursday, wrapping up a Latin America trip that also included visits to Iran's two other allies in the region — Venezuela and Nicaragua. During a trade forum with local businesspeople in Havana, Raisi said Cuba and Iran would seek to work together in biotechnology, mining, electricity generation and other areas. “I hope this meeting will help facilitate integration as well as an exchange of ideas and opinions," Raisi said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel over the phone on Thursday night and enquired about the situation in the state following the landfall of powerful cyclone 'Biparjoy'. Among other things, the PM sought to know the steps taken by the state administration for the safety of wild animals, especially the lions in the Gir forest. "PM Modi held a telephonic conversation with me and took all the details about the current situation of Gujarat following the landfall of cyclone Biparjoy. He also enquired about the steps taken by the government for the safety of all wild animals, including the lions of Gir Forest," Patel tweeted. The CM also visited the State Emergency Operations Centre in Gandhinagar and held a meeting with top officials to review the situation, said an official release.

The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday flayed Governor R N Ravi for returning the file pertaining to the reallocation of portfolios following the arrest of Minister V Senthil Balaji by the Enforcement Directorate. Chief Minister M K Stalin, earlier in the day, recommended to the Governor to reallocate the portfolios of electricity and prohibition, held by Balaji, to Ministers Thangam Thennarasu and S Muthusamy, but Ravi had not accepted the recommendation, state Higher Education minister K Ponmudi said.

The Reserve Bank has called upon banking supervisors to get abridged with the latest technological tools so that their capabilities are enhanced enough to meet the challenges of the fast-evolving financial technologies. As banks adopt new technologies, it is essential for supervisors to be equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills and resources to effectively supervise and regulate these advancements, Reserve Bank deputy governor Mukesh Jain told the 25th SEACEN-FSI conference of the directors of supervision of Asia-Pacific economies here.

Hearing the plea of a 16-year-old rape survivor seeking permission for abortion, the Gujarat High Court on Thursday asked the authorities to produce the accused so that the possibility of a "compromise" between him and the girl could be explored. Earlier, the court had ordered the rape survivor's medical examination. After taking on record the submissions made by her lawyer and medical reports submitted by a panel of doctors, Justice Samir Dave on Thursday directed the authorities to produce the 23-year-old accused, who is lodged in judicial custody in Morbi jail, on Friday evening.

The Indian Air Force's assets are in operational readiness for relief and rescue work that would follow Cyclone Biparjoy's landfall, the IAF said on Thursday. Strong winds and heavy rains lashed Kutch and Saurashtra coasts as Cyclone Biparjoy made landfall near Jakhau Port in Gujarat on Thursday evening after churning across the Arabian Sea for more than 10 days. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the landfall will end by midnight. "IAF assets in operational readiness for relief and rescue operations that would follow the landfall of Cyclone Biparjoy. IAF is committed to assisting fellow citizens to tackle contingencies that arise due to the cyclone," the IAF tweeted earlier in the day.