1. West Bengal: After Communal Violence, War of Words Between Mamata Banerjee and Keshari Nath Tripathi
The communal violence that broke out in West Bengal over a Facebook post has led to a war of words between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi.
Addressing media after his telephonic conversation with Tripathi over the violence in North 24 Parganas district, Banerjee accused the latter of insulting and threatening her. She also said that the governor was acting like a “BJP block president”.
“He (Governor) threatened me over phone. The way he spoke taking the side of BJP, I felt insulted. I have told him that he cannot talk like this,” Banerjee told reporters at the state secretariat.
Source: The Indian Express
2. Modi Housed at World's Most Secure Suite in Israel
PM Narendra Modi will sleep without a care in the world. He has been kept in the most secure suite in the entire planet. "His suite is secured against bomb attacks, chemical attacks, everything," said Sheldon Ritz to TOI. Ritz is the director of operations in King David Hotel and has been in charge of the entire PM's visit. "If the entire hotel is bombed, PM's suite will be untouched, will come down in a pod."
Ritz said they cleared out 110 rooms of the hotel to accommodate Modi and his delegation.
We have hosted every US president in this century, from Clinton, Bush, Obama and, three weeks ago, Trump. And now we are hosting Mr Modi.
Source: The Times of India
3. IAF Chopper on Flood-Hit Rescue Mission Missing in Arunachal Pradesh
An advanced light helicopter (ALH) of the Indian Air Force that was deployed for evacuating people from the flood-hit district of Papum Pare in Arunachal Pradesh since Tuesday morning, had gone missing in the afternoon amid heavy fog and rain. There were three crew members and a police personnel on board when it took off from Sagalee.
The IAF chopper that had already made several sorties since the morning and had evacuated as many as 50 people including several women and children from Sagalee to Itanagar, went missing around 4pm on Tuesday.
Source: The Indian Express
4. PM Modi, Netanyahu Pledge to Fight 'Evil Forces of Terror' Together
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday reaffirmed their determination to fight the scourge of terrorism that plagues both countries.
"We (India and Israel) face several common challenges. The first of these is to defeat the forces of terror that has ravaged the world and our countries," Prime Minister Netanyahu said at a joint press conference in Jerusalem.
Laying the foundation of a new chapter in relations with Israel, PM Modi embarked on his "path-breaking" visit to the Jewish nation earlier in the day. While the two sides are expected to deepen cooperation in the areas of water, agriculture, energy, science and space technology, PM Modi had stated that global concerns like terrorism and security will also be on his agenda.
"We must resolutely oppose evils of terrorism, radicalism and violence that plague our time... We want to put in place a robust security partnership to respond to shared threats to our peace, stability and prosperity," the Indian PM said during the joint statement.
Source: Times of India
5. Centre Plans Partial Removal of AFSPA in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh
The Centre is considering partial removal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, a senior Home Ministry official said.
The Ministry has asked the two BJP-ruled States for their views and said that it was open to review the stringent law in other States like Manipur.
“We are waiting for the State government’s comments and will take the final decision once they reply. In Arunachal Pradesh, we are looking at complete withdrawal, except two districts in the east bordering Myanmar and Nagaland,” Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home told The Hindu.
Source: The Hindu
6. Abu Salem Deserves to Be Hanged, but Our Hands Tied: CBI
"Though he deserves death, I am bound to seek a life sentence," said Deepak Salvi, special public prosecutor for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday, as he asked for a lower sentence for Abu Salem in the 12 March 1993, Mumbai serial bomb blasts case.
Salvi concluded his submissions on sentencing by also seeking life imprisonment for Riyaz Siddiqui, held guilty on 16 June for abetment under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (Tada) to cause the blasts that killed 257 and injured 713.
As Salvi began listing aggravating circumstances against Salem, his defence counsel Sudeep Pasbola objected saying since death was not sought and cannot be given, there was no reason to mention these factors now.
Source: The Times of India
7. Law Panel Okays Bill for Mandatory Registration of Marriage
Greenlighting a central bill to amend a law for making registration of marriages compulsory along with births and deaths, the Law Commission has suggested linking marriage registration with Aadhaar number to prevent fraudulent marriages and denial of subsistence to deserted women.
The commission, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice B S Chauhan, submitted its 270th report to law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and answered a query put forth by the legislative department whether the Births and Deaths Registration (Amendment) Bill, 2015, which was forwarded to the commission in February 2017 for an opinion, was enough to implement the SC's 2006 judgment making registration of marriages mandatory.
Source: The Times of India
8. Cow Protection Sacred, Lynching in Its Name Is Not: Ram Madhav
BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav said on Tuesday that although cow protection was sacred, lynching in the name of cow protection is not. “Cow is sacred. Cow protection is sacred too. But life itself is sacred, and there is nothing sacred in lynching or taking life in the name of cow protection,” Madhav said at the valedictory function of a three-day India-Bangladesh Friendship Dialogue said.
The BJP general secretary did not speak further on the issue, and instead asked Bangladesh to keep fundamental forces at bay.
Source: The Indian Express
9. Supreme Court Hints at Relief on Its Liquor Bar
The Supreme Court said on Tuesday that the order barring liquor vends within 500 metres of highways was meant to deny drivers access to alcohol on highways, where vehicles are driven in higher speeds, not on busy cities.
Spelling relief for liquor vends that operate in city limits but fall within 500 metres of highways, a bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud observed that highways within city limits could be considered internal or district roads.
The court's remarks came during a hearing on an appeal by NGO Arrive Safe Society of Chandigarh against a Punjab and Haryana high court decision to reject its plea against the Chandigarh administration's decision to denotify highways passing through the city to allow vends to continue operations.
Source: The Times of India
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