11:29 2 Pakistani soldiers killed by Indian Army in J-K’s Kupwara: Two Pakistani troopers were killed by the Indian Army in response to ceasefire violations along the Line of Control in Tangdhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir, a defence spokesman said here today. Indian troops carried out operations last night after the ceasefire violations.
“In retaliatory action to unprovoked ceasefire violations and repeated attempts to facilitate infiltration by Pakistan Army in Tangdhar sector, own troops carried out calibrated operations last night in which two Pakistani soldiers were killed,” Srinagar-based defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said. — PTI
11:25 Central Rly takes up restoration of CSMT heritage building: Artists skilled in stone carving have been roped in to restore the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai to its past glory, a Central Railway official said.
The 130-year-old majestic building, a UNESCO recognised world heritage site, has been chosen among 10 places to be upgraded and restored under the government’s ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’.
The building houses the Central Railway’s headquarters and also platforms of suburban and long distance trains. The total budget of the restoration project is Rs 51 crore and the State Bank of India’s CSR arm SBI Foundation has committed Rs 10 crore for conservation of the building, located in south Mumbai. — PTI
11:22 Rupee plummets to lifetime low of 70.09:
Rerversing all its early gains, the rupee today collapsed to a life-time low of 70.09 against the US dollar, falling 16 paise amid fears that Turkish economic crisis could lead to a global financial meltdown.
The ongoing currency turmoil in Turkey has dampened investors’ sentiments globally. Investors are turning to dollar as safe haven with Turkeys currency lira crisis continuing since the last week. Yesterday, the rupee had plunged by Rs 1.08, or 1.57 per cent, to a record low of 69.93 against the US currency. — PTI
10:56 Rupee crashes to all-time low of 70.09 against US dollar.
10:31 Pakistan celebrate Independence Day: India and Pakistan border guards exchange sweets at Attari-Wagah border on the occasion of Pakistan Independence Day.
Pakistan is celebrating 71 years since independence today with traditional fervour and enthusiasm.
As the clock struck midnight, fireworks began across the country while buildings were lit up to celebrate Independence Day.
The morning dawned with a 31 gun salute in the federal capital and 21 gun salute in the provincial headquarters.
Special prayers were offered in mosques at dawn for peace, solidarity, and prosperity of the country and for the resolution of the long-standing issue of Kashmir.
10:29 Ensure no attacks against those who criticise your govt: Umar to PM:
A day after he was shot at the Constitution Club in New Delhi, near Parliament, Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Umar Khalid has issued a statement, in which he appeals to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ‘guarantee that there will be no attack on those who criticise your government and its many failures’.
In his detailed statement, he writes, “Two days before 15th August, the question also is what does “freedom” even mean if the citizens of this country have to be ready to die for their “crime” of just being vocal against injustice? What is most paradoxical is that I had gone to attend an event named “Freedom from Fear” today when an unidentified gunman attacked me and tried to kill me in front of the Constitution Club.”
He further writes, “This hate campaign against me has been going on for last two years. There is no evidence, only lies. There has been no charge-sheet, only media-trial. There are no arguments, only trolling. There has been no debate, only death threats. And today it has all come down to a gun. Why is it that hashtags like “Tukde Tukde” has literally become a prefix to my name, whereas BJP leaders openly support those who say they will do “tukde tukde” of the country if a certain movie is released?
“Why is that I am called an anti-national and subjected to a never ending media trial, but there is no outrage against those who burnt the Constitution in the heart of the capital, in the presence of the Delhi police just a few days back? Why is it that those who are hell-bent on polarizing the country by hate-mongering against the minorities and by felicitating mob-lynchers are respected, revered and garlanded? And we who speak against hatred are villainised? Why is it that those who speak of dividing the society in the name of caste and attack the dalits the likes of Shambhaji Bhide, whom PM Modi calls a mahapurush- are not accused of breaking the country to pieces? Why is it that the people in power who want to sell off this country piece by piece to big corporates at the cost of the poor, are celebrated as deshbhakts and their critics deemed as “anti-nationals”? These are all relevant questions today.”
09:57 Venthodanpadi bridge connecting Chokkad & Kalikavu was washed away. Rescue columns utilizing local resources completed one part of the bridge.
Photograph: @adgpi/Twitter
09:33 New I-Day task for police: Keeping stray kites away from PM:
A hundred police personnel will have their eyes on the sky on Wednesday morning all looking out for any errant kite that may disturb the prime ministers Independence Day address.
Taking a lesson from the previous two years once last year when a black kite landed near the podium during Prime Minister Narendra Modis address at the Red Fort, and earlier in 2016 when a kite was seen above the ramparts before the address began the Delhi Police this year have decided to deploy kite catchers who will keep an eye on flying kites near the venue on Wednesday.
While the restriction on any kind of flying object is imposed every year as a precautionary measure to avoid any untoward incident, this is for the first time that personnel have been deployed to check for kites.
The Delhi Police has restricted kite-flying till 11 am around Red Fort on Independence Day.
09:26 When Modi suggested Gandhi sport a broom at Madame Tussauds:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had suggested that Mahatma Gandhi’s wax figure at the Madame Tussauds should show the Father of the Nation cleaning his surroundings with a broom.
“It’ll serve to inspire the 1.25 billion people of the country with the message of cleanliness across India that is enshrined in the ‘Clean India’ movement underway, and is also something which Gandhi’s life teaches us,” the prime minister told Madame Tussauds authorities in an undated interview, a video of which was shred by the museum ahead of Independence Day.
The request was made after Modi was informed that his was the first wax figure to be included in the museum that opened doors to the public in December last year.
“You have said that you would like the first replica in the museum in India to be mine. Instead, I would request you to consider having the first statue as that of Mahatma Gandhi and that too which depicts him as cleaning his surroundings,” he said.
“I will send a photograph that shows Gandhi with a broom,” he told the authorities.
Modi’s wax figure is installed alongside Gandhi’s in the museum’s history section that houses other national leaders including Bhagat Singh, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and APJ Abdul Kalam.
Initially hesitant about getting his wax figure installed alongside “distinguished dignitaries from around the world”, the prime minister eventually gave in, after learning that the decision was an outcome of “public opinion”.
He said the installation of his wax figure would perhaps lend a “softer” dimension to his personality which had otherwise been portrayed as a “harsh” one.
“I am happy that you have rendered me – someone who is perhaps seen as ‘hard’ by some – in tender, pliable wax.
“And it’s possible that when people see this wax figure, their natural instinct might be to exclaim, ‘look here’s Modi gone soft’,” he said.
— PTI
09:02 ‘CM, entire cabinet should have attended Karuna’s burial’:
Top Tamil star Rajinikanth today suggested that Chief Minister K Palaniswami and his entire cabinet should have attended the burial of late DMK President M Karunanidhi last week at the Marina beach.
The actor said he would have launched a protest if the government had appealed against a Madras high court verdict, directing it to provide burial space to the Dravidian stalwart on Marina beach.
Speaking at a memorial event organised by the South Indian Artistes Association for Karunanidhi, the actor said that many leaders, ranging from state Governor Banwarilal Purohit to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, were present during the burial of Karunanidhi at the Marina.
“For his burial, the whole of India came. State honours were given by members of the three armed forces. He was given a 21 gun salute.
“But one thing remains. The Governor, many Chief Ministers and Congress president Rahul Gandhi had come. Tamil Nadu’s first citizen, the Chief Minister, shouldn’t he have come? Should not the entire cabinet have come? What will people think? Are you MGR (AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran) or Jayalalithaa,” he asked.
— PTI
Image: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with former Union minister A Raja, at Rajaji Hall in Chennai to pay his last respects to the DMK patriarch. Photograph: P Ravikumar/Reuters
08:32 CCTV grab of man accused of attacking Umar Khalid released:
A picture of the suspect behind the shooting incident targeting Jawaharlal Nehru University student Umar Khalid has surfaced on social media. The picture, captured from a CCTV camera, was also shared on Twitter by news agency ANI.
The picture was extracted from the footage of CCTV installed at the Vittalbhai Patel Road in New Delhi.
The man had reportedly fired the shot in the air at the Constitution Club. In his statement to the police, Umar Khalid had on Monday said that the accused first pounced on him, and then pushed him as he fired in the air.
There was commotion at the spot after the shooting incident, following which the police took control of the situation. After discussing the sequence of events with Khalid, DCP Madhur Verma had said, Umar Khalid said that he was attacked. Somebody pounced on him and pushed, thereafter he tried to fire at Khalid but couldn’t. According to Khalid, the attacker fired in the air and was chased by people.
The police had recovered the weapon used by the suspect. He had reportedly dropped the weapon while trying to flee the spot where the incident took place. The police has launched an investigation into the incident.
08:01 Trump joked he could play matchmaker for PM Modi: Foreign media:
US President Donald Trump allegedly joked he could play matchmaker for Prime Minister Narendra Modi after learning from aides that the 67-year-old leader has long been estranged from his wife, according to a new report in Politico.
The article detailed a long list of “diplomatic faux-pas” Trump has made with foreign leaders around the globe, including a lack of telephone etiquette, “mispronunciations” and “awkward meetings.”
Trump also displayed a lack of familiarity with South Asia, according to the report.
Ahead of the meeting last year with Modi at the White House, Trump allegedly studied a map of South Asia and mispronounced Nepal as “nipple” and referred to Bhutan as “button,” Politico said, quoting two unnamed sources. The US president seemed confused that the two countries – which border India – even existed, the report says.
“He didn’t know what those were. He thought it was all part of India,” a source told Politico. “He was like, ‘What is this stuff in between and these other countries?'”
After Trump’s staffers told the US president that Modi would not be bringing his wife along to the meeting at the White House, Trump allegedly joked, “Ah, I think I can set him up with somebody,” the report said, according to “two people briefed on the meeting.”
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told Politico that Trump has developed “strong relationships” with “America’s closest allies,” which allow for “candid conversations.”
00:07 PM should campaign for all parties during elections: Uddhav Thackeray:
Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his whirlwind poll rallies, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said he should address election meetings of all parties and not just the BJP.
He said the prime minister, a star campaigner for the BJP in elections, and also chief ministers, should treat all as equal.
“While being sworn-in, the prime minister, chief ministers and ministers take oath that they will treat everyone as equal.
“Why should the prime minister go only for the BJP (poll) campaign?” he said, speaking at the 58th anniversary function of the weekly magazine Marmik on Monday.
“They (prime ministers) should go for poll campaign of all (parties). They should attend the poll campaign of the Shiv Sena, independents and Communists,” Thackeray said.
He made a veiled reference to BJP president Amit Shah writing to the Law Commission, pitching various benefits of holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies in the country.
“One nation, one election is nice. If democracy has to take root in our country, then the Election Commission should ban prime minister, chief ministers and ministers from (participating in) poll campaigns,” Thackeray said.
“The prime minister says he will give houses for all by 2022. If someone objects, he will say that person has negativity,” Thackeray said.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said the popular “achhe din” slogan of the BJP has become a “gale mein haddi” (bone stuck in neck) for the NDA government, he said.
He referred to Modi announcing a financial aid of Rs 1,000 crore for the IIT-Bombay during its 56th annual convocation here on Saturday and said the BJP-led government in the state is ignoring the adjoining Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation.
The corporation has not got even a single penny of the Rs 6,500 crore that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had promised in 2015, the Sena chief said.
Source: Rediff