Morning Digest: Centre invites 14 J&K leaders to meet PM Modi on June 24; Left, Congress also demand withdrawal of Bengal Governor, and more

A select list of stories to read before you start your day

Members of People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration during a meeting in Srinagar. File

Centre invites 14 J&K leaders to meet Narendra Modi on June 24

In a first political engagement since the August 5, 2019 move by the Centre to end J&K's special constitutional position, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give an audience to the mainstream leadership, including those who were incarcerated for opposing the Centre's move, from the region on June 24.

Left, Congress also demand withdrawal of Bengal Governor

The Left parties and the Congress may be drifting apart on electoral alliance but they have joined the Trinamool Congress in demanding the withdrawal of West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Act against those who assault health workers: Centre

Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Saturday advised the States and the Union Territories to register cases against those involved in assaulting doctors and healthcare professionals.

Former IAS officer A.K. Sharma made U.P. BJP vice-president

Arvind Kumar Sharma, the IAS officer, who had taken voluntary retirement and joined the BJP, was on Saturday appointed vice-president of the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit.

Doval, Pak. NSA to attend SCO summit in Dushanbe next week

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is expected to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in Dushanbe, Tajikistan next week, which Pakistan’s NSA Moeed Yusuf will attend as well, officials in Delhi and Islamabad confirmed.

No significant chance of Indians’ Swiss bank deposits rising: Finance Ministry

The Finance Ministry has asserted that ‘there does not appear to be any significant possibility’ of an increase in Swiss bank deposits from undeclared incomes of Indians, but has requested Swiss authorities to provide the ‘relevant facts’ and ‘possible reasons’ for changes in deposit numbers.

SC flags delay in listing of bail application for more than a year before Punjab and Haryana High Court

A “shocked” Supreme Court found that a bail application had not even been listed for hearing for more than a year before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, that too at a time when judiciary is going the extra distance to hear cases virtually.

Odisha BJP demands white paper on COVID-19 toll

The Odisha unit of BJP on Saturday demanded that the Naveen Patnaik government present a white paper on actual number of lives lost in the State during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For FTA to succeed, Indian industry must be on board: Australian Envoy

Indian industry must get behind free trade talks for them to go forward, says Australian High Commissioner Barry O’ Farrell, ahead of an expected resumption of talks on the  Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement  (CECA), which ran aground in 2015. He also expressed Australian support for the Indian proposal for a patent waiver for Covid vaccine, a turnaround of sorts.

Kulbhushan Jadhav case | India ‘misrepresenting’ ICJ verdict, says Pakistan

Pakistan on Saturday accused India of "misrepresenting" the verdict of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case and asserted that it is ready to fulfil all obligations under the international law.

Assam to apply population norms to government schemes

The Assam government has decided to apply “population norms” in all government schemes. The condition will initially not apply to the tea garden community and people belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told journalists on Friday evening.

World Test Championship final | Kohli and Rahane strive to give India early advantage

Virat Kohli led India's resolute batting effort against a high quality New Zealand attack in testing conditions before bad light brought an anti-climatic end to day two of the World Test Championship final in Southampton on Saturday.