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Bench seeks details in a sealed envelope by October 29 The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to submit details of the decision-making process in the Rafale deal with France in a sealed envelope by October 29. A Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, however, clarified that it …

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un wants Pope Francis to visit the officially atheist country, South Korea said on Tuesday. South Korea’s presidential office said in a statement that Mr. Kim told President Moon Jae-in during their summit last month that the Pope would be “enthusiastically” welcomed in North Korea. Mr. …

Says Beijing did not initiate the trade war but was acting in self defence China has stepped up its war of words with the U.S., following a frosty back-and-forth between its Foreign Minister Wang Yi and visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday. In response to a question …

Washington’s newly named point man tasked with finding a peaceful end to Afghanistan’s 17-year war is in Pakistan to seek help from the new government in Islamabad in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table, the U.S. Embassy said on Tuesday. A former U.S. Ambassador in Kabul, Zalmay Khalilzad arrived …

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said violent attacks on migrant workers in Gujarat were because of the frustration among unemployed youth and asserted that the migrant workforce is ‘critical’ for economic growth. He said the Vijay Rupani government had failed to stop the violence against North Indian workers. “Across …

Commanders conference to finalise radical measures to right-size the force The week-long biannual Army Commanders conference began here on Tuesday in which the service is keen to finalise several radical measures to right size the force and optimise the ballooning revenue expenditure. “As part of the conclave, commanders and directorates …

Unveils 64-foot statue of Jat leader Sir Chhotu Ram, credited with working for the uplift of farmers Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said his government had fulfilled the long-pending demand of farmers by considerably increasing the Minimum Support Price of around two dozen crops recently and was working towards …

Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Tuesday rejected an oral plea for urgent listing of review petitions filed against the September 28 judgment allowing women of all ages entry into the famed Sabarimala temple even as Kerala is yet to come to terms with the verdict. The Chief Justice …

Journalists say it curbs media freedom Bangladesh’s President on Monday signed a digital security act into law despite protests by journalists and rights groups that it will severely curb media freedom. “The digital security Bill has been signed by the President today,” President Abdul Hamid’s spokesman Joynal Abedin said. Top …

Brazil barrels towards uncertain presidential run-off A deeply polarised Brazil stood at political crossroads on Monday as the bruising first round of the presidential election left voters with a stark choice in the run-off between far-right firebrand Jair Bolsonaro and leftist Fernando Haddad. Mr. Bolsonaro, an ultraconservative former paratrooper, easily …

Foreign Minister tells Pompeo that the two countries should pursue cooperation U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo faced a testy exchange with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing on Monday, days after a blistering U.S. denunciation of the Asian power’s global and domestic policies. Mr. Pompeo and Foreign Minister Wang Yi …

The lifting of the prohibition at the instance of third parties, in spite of opposition by a large section of women worshippers, is anomalous, the petition said. Another review filed by Chetna Conscience of Women, represented by advocate K.V. Muthu Kumar, argued that a Pandora’s box would be opened if …

Victims must face no age bar: Maneka Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi has asserted that adult survivors of child sexual abuse must be allowed to file an FIR at any point in their lifetime. In a letter this month to Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, a …

Ready for talks, says Chief Minister With sporadic protests erupting across the State against the Supreme Court judgment allowing women of all age groups to enter the Sabarimala temple, the government has asserted that it was left with no option but to implement the verdict. It reiterated that it would …

Probe sought into purchase of 36 jets A petition was filed by Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh on Monday to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the supervision of the Supreme Court to investigate the reasons for cancellation of earlier deal for the purchase of 126 Rafale fighter jets. …

Justice Indu Malhotra had warned that permitting PIL pleas in religious matters would throw open the floodgates to ‘interlopers’ Justice Indu Malhotra’s rationale that courts should not allow “interlopers” to file PIL pleas challenging religious practices is a common thread in the review petitions filed in the Supreme Court on …

National Conference says it’s a superimposed election; BJP claims victory of democracy In contrast with the scene in Kashmir, voters queued up outside polling booths in large numbers in Kargil and Leh towns in Ladakh, with 78.2% and 55.2% casting their vote, respectively, in the first phase of the urban …

Overall turnoutis 56.7%, sayspoll official Jammu and Kashmir recorded 56.7% turnout on Monday in the first phase of urban local bodies elections for 321 wards, with just 8.3 % voters turning up in districts in Kashmir. Polling remained peaceful as no major incident of violence was reported in any designated …

They claim original PIL plea was filed by non-believers Three separate petitions on Monday asked the Supreme Court to review its September 28 judgment allowing women of all ages entry into the Sabarimala temple.‘Reform’ does not mean rendering a religious practice out of existence on the basis of a PIL …

Issues notice to govt.; CJI-led Bench to hear the petition The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the government on a public interest litigation to update the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Tripura, as is being done in Assam, in order to detect and deport the “illegal immigrants” …