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With friends like Trump, who needs enemies: EU chief
The European Union's top official launched a stinging attack today on President Donald Trump, slamming his "capricious assertiveness" and saying the US leader acted more like an enemy than a friend. EU president Donald Tusk urged leaders meeting in Bulgaria to form a "united European front" against Trump's withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal and his move to impose trade tariffs on Europe.
The party that blew up the constitution to shambles is teaching us the constitution, the party that imposed President rule the most number of times is giving us lessons: Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
India may miss solar, wind energy targets by 2022: Survey
India may not achieve its renewable energy target of having 100 GW of solar energy and 60 GW of wind power by 2022, as per a survey conducted by a consulting firm Bridge to India. India is expected to add total 66 GW of solar energy and 52 GW of wind power by March 2022 —which is 66 percent of 100 GW of solar and 87 percent of 60 GW wind targets set by the government, as per the 3rd edition of RE CEO Survey by Bridge To India said in a statement.
Cambridge Analytica shared data with Russia: Whistleblower
Political consulting group Cambridge Analytica used Russian researchers and shared data with companies linked to Russian intelligence, a whistleblower told a congressional hearing on interference in the 2016 US election tpday. Christopher Wylie, who leaked information on the British-based firm's hijacking of data on millions of Facebook users, told a Senate panel he believes Russian intelligence services had access to data harvested by the consultancy.
JSW Steel to invest Rs 17,600cr more to up capacity to 24.7 mt
Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel today said the company has decided to invest an additional Rs 17,600 crore for increasing its steel capacity to 24.7 million tonne per annum (mtpa) by 2020. "Looking at the domestic demand growth, we see a shortage of steel if we don't expand in the next two years," JSW Steel joint managing director and group chief financial officer Seshagiri Rao told reporters here while announcing almost two-fold rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,879 crore in the March quarter, against Rs 1,008 crore in the year-ago quarter.
Reports of BSY to take oath tomorrow 'shocking' if true
The Congress today termed as "shocking" the Karnataka BJP spokesperson's claim that B S Yeddyurappa will be sworn in tomorrow and said it will tantamount to "murdering" democracy, "trampling" Constitution and disregarding all the precedents. Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala also said that the will of the majority cannot be subjugated at the whimsof the BJP and the Narendra Modi government at the Centre.
Flyover collapse: Uttar Pradesh Congress chief demands Maurya's resignation
Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar has demanded the resignation of state PWD Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, holding him morally responsible for the flyover collapse here, in which 15 people lost their lives and several were injured, reported PTI.
Airtel to lay-off section of Telenor staff post-merger
A day after government approved its merger with telecom major Airtel, a section of Telenor India's employees are facing lay-off. They got mails from Bharti Airtel asking them to attend a meeting with the HR officials to discuss "way ahead and next step", an employee working for the Norwegian telecom company's Indian subsidiary in Andhra Pradesh circle said.
Govt to push wage code, table social security code in Monsoon Session
Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar today said the Wage Code Bill 2017 will be pushed for passage while the Labour Code on Social Security Bill 2018 would be tabled for consideration in the monsoon session of Parliament. "The Standing Committee on Labour has finalised its report on the Code on Wages. We would push the bill for passage in the next session," Gangwar told reporters at a FICCI event.
Govt to review position of 11 PSBs under prompt corrective action on May 17
The finance ministry has called a meeting tomorrow of all the 11 state-owned banks under the Reserve Bank's prompt corrective action (PCA) to discuss various measures taken by them to come out of the watch list. The lenders will make presentations on steps being taken by them and share timeframe within which they expect to come out of PCA, sources said.
JUST IN |
BS Yeddyurappato take oath at 9 am tomorrow, reports CNN News18 citing sources.
JUST IN |
BS Yeddyurappa to be sworn-in as the chief minister of Karnataka tomorrow, reports CNN News18 citing sources.
Governor's office being misused to buy time for horse-trading: CPI(M)
Criticising the Karnataka governor's decision to give time to the BJP to prove its majority in the state Assembly, the CPI(M) today accused the saffron party of indulging in horse-trading. In a statement, the Left party alleged that the constitutional office of the governor was being misused in the southern state.
ArcelorMittal shareholders approve converting share capital currency to US dollar
The world's leading steelmaker ArcelroMittal today said it has got shareholders' nod to convert the currency of share capital to US dollar from the euro. The move is aimed at simplifying the company's reporting process given the fact that the company prepares its consolidated financial information in dollars and the parent company uses it as functional currency.
Muthoot Finance to raise up to Rs 6,000 cr via NCDs
Muthoot Finance today said it will raise Rs 6,000 crore through public issue of non-convertible debentures (NCDs). The money is to be issued in one or more tranches.
US going ahead with preparations for Trump-Kim summit despite North Korea's cancellation threat: White House
White House today said it is proceeding with the preparations for a meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un notwithstanding Pyongyang's threat to cancel the historic summit on June 12, alleging that America was trying to push it "into a corner" on nuclear disarmament. North Korea has threatened to abandon planned talks between Kim and Trump in June if Washington insists on pushing it "into a corner" on nuclear disarmament.
FIR against officials in flyover collapse; govt-run corp faced flak earlier too
The police have registered an FIR over yesterday's flyover collapse against officials of the Uttar Pradesh State Bridge Corporation Limited, a government-run entity that has faced criticism also in the past over the standard of its work. The corporation received flak earlier after some bridges built by it developed cracks.
I-T dept conducts searches at premises of Asnani Group for tax evasion
The Income Tax department today conducted searches at the premises of a real estate group and its associates in Bhopal, Indore, and Bengaluru for suspected tax evasion, an official said here. "Searches were conducted at 30 premises of Asnani Group and its 12 associate companies at Bhopal, Indore, and Bengaluru," Income Tax Investigation wing (MP and Chhattisgarh region) Principal Director RK Paliwal told reporters in Bhopal.
Indore, the cleanest, followed by Bhopal and Chandigarh: Survey
Indore emerged as the cleanest city, followed by Bhopal and Chandigarh in the government's cleanliness survey. The results of Swachh Survekshan 2018, which aims to estimate levels of cleanliness across cities in the country, were announced today by Minister of State for Housing Hardeep Singh Puri today.
Congress-JDS submit list of 117 MLAs to Guv for govt formation
Stepping up pressure, JDS and Congress leaders today met Governor Vajubhai Vala and submitted a list claiming support of 117 MLAs with a plea to consider their claim for government formation.
Tata Steel posts Q4 net profit of Rs 14,688 crore, beats Street estimates
Tata Steel on Wednesday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 10,187 crore for the March quarter, as against a loss of Rs 1,168 crore in the same quarter last year, benefiting from a one-time gain from the restructuring of its UK business' pension scheme.
As many as 10 analysts polled by Reuters estimated the domestic steel-making behemothto report a consolidated net profit of Rs 2,552 crore.
Read the full story here.
SP workers protest at Varanasi flyover accident site
Samajwadi Party (SP) workers protest at Varanasi flyover accident site. Workers say,"We demand high level investigation into the matter." (ANI)
Loktantrik Janata Dal with Sharad Yadav as mentor to be formally launched on May 18
Aiming to stitch an alliance of non-BJP parties to oust the NDA major from power and introduce “politics of socialism”, supporters of rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav will formally launch their party Loktantrik Janata Dal (LJD) here on May 18. The party is being formed with Yadav as its "mentor", a leader of the rebel group Arun Srivastava told reporters here.
"Yadav ji will be present on the occasion besides other senior leaders like (currently independent) MP Veerendra Kumar. The party aims to introduce a new kind of politics," he said. (PTI)
Supreme Court says auction process of Sahara's Amby Valley project will continue on 2 June. (ANI)
Fadnavis approves filling up of 36,000 vacant posts in state govt
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis gave his approval on Wednesday to fill 36,000 vacant posts in different departments of the state government, especially in agriculture and rural development departments.
During the budget session of the state legislature held earlier this year, Fadnavis had announced that total 72,000 vacant posts will be filled in two phases over the next two years.
As part of that, 36,000 vacancies will be filled in the first phase, a statement from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said. The move is aimed at strengthening the government machinery in rural areas, it said. (PTI)
MLAs who switch should be banned from contesting polls for 1 term: Omar Abdullah
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday said MLAs who switch parties should be banned from contesting elections for one term in order to prevent horse-trading in the event of a hung house.
He was apparently referring to the post-poll situation in Karnataka where the BJP has staked claim to form the government despite being seven short of simple majority. On the other hand, JDS leader H D Kumaraswamy also has staked claim to form the government with Congress' support as the two parties have a combined strength of 115 MLAs.
"Simply disqualifying defecting MLAs isn't enough to stop horse trading since most of them come back with a mandate of their newly-discovered party. They should be barred from fighting elections for a period of not less than one term," he tweeted. (PTI)
Varanasi flyover collapse update
: "We think the lock of the bearing underneath the beam broke due to recent thunderstorms in the region that led to thisaccident. Traffic should've been diverted away from theconstruction site. We should learn from this incident," R Mittal, MD, Bridge Corporation said.
Further, he added that at all other project sites, traffic in the area of construction will be diverted. "We have made teams comprising of 6-7 people to identify all the sites & identify if there are any security lapses at those sites." (ANI)
Andhra Pradesh boat capsize: 2 bodies recovered as rescue operation continues
Two bodies have been recovered so far from the ill-fated boat that sank in Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh's East Godavari district even as rescue operation is underway, police said on Wednesday.
As the boat got stuck in the sand of the riverbed at least 40 feet below the surface, and with all its doors and windows closed, extricating the bodies trapped inside is proving cumbersome, a senior official involved in the rescue operation said.
Besides Navy, personnel from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, Fire Services, revenue and police departments were carrying out the search and rescue operation as over 30 passengerstravellingin the boat were said to be missing. The exact number is still unclear due to conflict among authorities.(PTI)
Lalu granted release order from jail in fodder scam cases, set to fly to Patna by evening
RJD president Lalu Prasad was on Wednesday granted release order by trial courts from jail in accordance with the Jharkhand High Court's verdict providing
him provisional bail in all three cases of fodder scam on medical ground.
The release order has been granted in all three cases of fodder scam in which Prasad has been convicted, his lawyer Prabhat Kumar told PTI. While Special CBI court Judge Shivpal Singh granted release order to Prasad in two cases -- RC 64A/96 (Chaibasa treasury) and RC 38A/96 (Dumka) -- the CBI court of Judge S S Prasad provided the release permission in case number RC 68A/96 (Chaibasa), he said.
Kumar said that they completed the formalities of signing bond and submitting sureties of Rs 50,000 each in the three cases to get the release order. (PTI)
Will maintain status quo on Yamuna water supply
till May 21: Haryana
The Haryana government today told the Supreme Court that it would maintain status quo on the supply of Yamuna river water to Delhi till May 21. The apex court asked the Delhi government and the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to request Haryana for the maintenance of status quo on water supply and directed Haryana to take an independent decision on the matter.
A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Navin Sinha said the Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) should deal with the issue and it would be appropriate if the Delhi government approached the Board. The Delhi government withdrew a plea filed by the DJB in the apex court and said it would approach the Board immediately for release and continuation of drinking water supply from Haryana.
The court was hearing the DJB's plea alleging that Haryana had reduced by one-third the supply of Yamuna water to the national capital, leading to a grave water crisis. (PTI)
Supreme Court hears centre's review petition against dilution of SC/ST Act
Supreme Court, while hearing centre's review petition against the dilution of SC/ST Act, said that we are not living in a civilised society if a sword is hanging on someone's head that he can be arrested at any time on the basis of a one-sided version of an incident.
SC said that even Parliament cannot make a law that denies Article 21 and the fair procedure. It added that a constitutional court has to ensure liberty and fair procedure to everyone in the society, News18 reported.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee congratulated JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy over thephone on the Karnatakaverdict.Sources told News18that leaders of few opposition parties have advised the JD(U)-Congress combine to go to the President in case the Karnataka Governor doesn’t invite them to form the government.
Rs 100 crore figure is not only imaginary but it is what Congress-JDS do politics through. We are going by rules,we have submitted our claim to the Governor, are confident of forming the govt: Prakash Javadekar,Karnataka BJP In-charge said on HD Kumaraswamy's horse-trading allegations.
Twitter sees over 3mn mentions of Karnataka elections
Karnataka assembly polls, which have thrown up a hung verdict, created a lot of buzz on Twitter with over three million mentions being generated in three weeks. Between April 25 and May 15, Twitter saw "more than 3 million mentions in relation to the #KarnatakaElections2018".
PNB Scam case update:
CBI files second charge-sheet of 12,000 pages in Mumbai's Special CBI Court under sections 409, 420, 120B of Indian Penal Code. Mehul Choksi named as 'wanted' in the charge-sheet.
Yeddyurappa meets Karnataka governor, requests him to invite BJP to form govt
BJP'sKarnatakaunit chief B SYeddyurappatoday said he met GovernorVajubhaiVala, PTI reported. He asked him to allow him to take oath as chief minister as the party had emerged the single largest party.
Guatemala opens embassy in Jerusalem, two days after U.S. move
Guatemala opened an embassy in Jerusalem on Wednesday, two days after the United States made the same move. Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended the embassy's opening, in an office complex in west Jerusalem. (Reuters)
Turkey expels Israeli consulate in spat over Gaza violence
Turkey has ordered the Israeli consul general in Istanbul to return to Israel "for some time", a Turkish Foreign Ministry official said on Wednesday, in a diplomatic spat which follows the killings of 60 Palestinian protesters by Israeli forces.
Turkey has been among the most vocal critics of the Israeli use of deadly force against protesters at the Gaza border and of the U.S. decision to open its new embassy in a ceremony attended by President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner.
President Tayyip Erdogan described Monday's bloodshed, the deadliest for Palestinians since the 2014 Gaza conflict, as genocide and called Israel a terrorist state. The government declared three days of mourning. (Reuters)
Turkey has expelled Israel's ambassador and recalled its ambassadors from Tel Aviv and Washington. It has called for an emergency meeting of Islamic nations on Friday.
Israel expelled the Turkish consul-general in Jerusalem, and Erdogan exchanged heated words on Twitter with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Cauvery water dispute case: SC to hear the case on Thursday
The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected Karnataka's plea that finalisation of the draft Cauvery management scheme should be put on hold as the process of formation of a new government in the state is underway.
The apex court also asked the Centre to modify a provision in the draft Cauvery management scheme that authorises the Union government to issue directions "from time to time" on Cauvery water distribution between four southern riparian states, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra asked Attorney General K K Venugopal to modify the scheme and submit it for approval on Thursday.
The bench, also comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, did not accept the vehement submission of senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing Karnataka, that the finalisation of the draft Cauvery scheme be put on hold till the first week of July as the process of government formation was on in the state. (PTI)
Kathua rape case update:
Supreme Court refuses to give protection to witnesses and fixed the matter for hearing on May 17. The Court also refused to change the investigating agency in the case, ANI reported.
Three witnesses alleged torture by Jammuand Kashmir Police. The police hadasked for time to respond to these accusations. Government also said there were attempts to impede the probe, News18 reported.
Varanasi flyover
collapse:Four officials of the UP State Bridge Corporation have been suspended after the accident in Varanasi.UP Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya suspended the four officials and announced the formation of Setu Suraksha Cell to check such incidents in future, News18 reported.
“Project manager (PM) HC Tiwari, APM KR Sudan, assistant engineer Rajesh Singh and junior engineer Lal Chand were suspended with immediate effect. A three-member technical committee has been constituted to carry out a probe and submit report within a fortnight,” Maurya said.The Deputy CM added that four officers have been appointed immediately in place of the suspended ones to continue the work.
Karnataka Elections verdict
: BS Yeddyurappa, BJP's CM candidate, after meeting the governor told the press, "The party has chosen me. I have given the letter to the Governor & he will call me, that is what I am hoping. He told me that he will take an appropriate decision. I'll inform you after I receive a letter from Governor."
Nepal Army's cargo helicopter crashes in Muktinath
An army helicopter crashed inMuktinath, killing both the pilots in the accident, ANI reported.Nepal's home ministry clarified that the cargo helicopter which crashed in Muktinath was of Makalu Air and had been requisitioned by the Army to carry goods.
Europe offers no guarantees but vows to keep Iran deal alive
European powers vowed to keep the 2015 nuclear deal alive without the United States by trying to keep Iran's oil and investment flowingbut admitted they would struggle to provide the guarantees Tehran seeks. British, French and German foreign ministers, along with the EU's top diplomat, discussed the next steps with their Iranian counterpart, a week after U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the pact he branded "the worst deal ever" and reimposed U.S. sanctions on Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the meeting had been a good start, but he wanted to see guarantees materialise. "We are on the right track ... a lot will depend on what we can do in next few weeks," he said. Highlighting just how difficult it will be, the U.S. Treasury announced on Tuesday more sanctions, including on Iran's central bank governor, just minutes before the meeting was due to begin. (Reuters)
Novartis's top lawyer exits
over payment to President Trump's lawyer
Novartis General Counsel Felix Ehrat will leave the company over his role in a $1.2 million contract the Swiss drugmaker struck with the lawyer for U.S. President Donald Trump, saying on Wednesday that it was legal but still an error.
The $100,000-per-month contract with Trump's attorney Michael Cohen's Essential Consulting, the same firm used to pay porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to hush up an alleged affair with Trump, has distracted Novartis's efforts to improve its image after a series of bribery scandals. Trump has denied the affair. (Reuters)
Varanasi flyover
collapse: District magistrate Yogeshwar Mishratold ANI, "We are waiting for the findings that will come in an investigation. I don't want to comment on anything right now. All compensation will be given to victims soon. The death toll is 15 & people injured are 11."
