Delhi

India: Pawar's Ayodhya temple remark is against Lord Ram: Uma Bharti

Sehore (MP), Jul 20 (PTI) BJP vice president and former Union minister Uma Bharti on Monday termed a remark made by NCP chief Sharad Pawar on the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya as "Bhagwan Ram drohi" (anti Lord Ram).

Pawar on Sunday said some people think building a temple will help get rid of the COVID-19 pandemic, a day after the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust suggested two dates in August for laying the foundation stone for a Ram temple in Ayodhya.

India: IndiGo to lay off 10% of its workforce: CEO

New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) IndiGo has decided to lay off 10 per cent of its workforce due to the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, its CEO Ronojoy Dutta said on Monday.

"From where things stand currently, it is impossible for our company to fly through this economic storm without making some sacrifices, in order to sustain our business operations," Dutta said in a statement.

India: Free Trade Agreements have not served India's economy well: Jaishankar

New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) The free trade agreements (FTAs) that India entered into over the years have not been able to largely serve the country's economy well in terms of building its capacities, though all such pacts are not the same, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday.

The external affairs minister said there are ways of engaging the world which do not necessarily have to be "FTA-centric".

India: ED freezes 60 bank accounts in India on Brazil's request

New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) The Enforcement Directorate is understood to have initiated a process to freeze over 60 bank accounts in the country on the request of the Brazilian government in connection with a money laundering case in that country, offiicials said on Monday.

They said the agency has undertaken the action under the provision of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in pursuance of a mutual agreement between the two nations to combat financial crimes.

India: Terrorist Vikas Dubey encounter: SC asks UP to consider ex-judge for inquiry committee

New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) The Supreme Court Monday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to consider adding a former apex court judge and a retired police officer in the inquiry committee which is probing the encounter of gangster Vikas Dubey.

The top court also said it was "appalled" that the gangster got bail despite so many cases against him.

India: HC declines to entertain plea to demolish slum on govt land near Majlis Park metro station

New Delhi, Jul 20 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Monday declined to entertain a plea seeking demolition of a slum cluster, which has allegedly encroached upon a vacant government land behind the Majlis Park metro station in north-west Delhi.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan said the land did not belong to someone who was poor or downtrodden and suggested to the petitioner to either withdraw the plea or "face an order of the court".

Sensing the mood of the court, the petitioner, a lawyer, sought permission to withdrew his plea.

India: BJP has institutionalised lies: Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi, Jul 19 (PTI) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday attacked the BJP and accused it of "institutionalising lies" over COVID-19 deaths, GDP figures and the Chinese aggression at the border.

Hitting out at the BJP over the rise in the number of deaths due to COVID-19, he said India will pay its price when the "illusion" is shattered.

BJP leader and Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat hit back, saying India paid a huge price for the illusion that the Gandhis had created for decades. He also attacked Gandhi for "wishing ill" for the country.

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