Morning digest: Centre gears up for tussle with Gujarat over traffic penalties, U.S. lawmakers flag curbs in Kashmir, and more

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

Costly affiar: Traffic police official challaning motorist for driving with pillion rider without wearing helmet near Rajghat in New Delhi on Saturday.

Centre gears up for tussle with Gujarat over traffic penalties

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has sought the Law Ministry’s opinion on whether State governments can tweak the lower limit for fines prescribed in the law after Gujarat slashed some of the fines.

Supreme Court continues its stay on eviction of lakhs of forest dwellers

The Bench referred to how resorts and illegal structures have encroached on forest lands and led to the depletion of the green cover. Senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, appearing for one of the parties, said the focus should be on the lakhs of forest dwellers who face eviction.

U.S. lawmakers flag curbs in Kashmir

Pramila Jayapal and James McGovern, two prominent and liberal Democrats from the U.S. House of Representatives, have written to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking him to “press” the Indian government to immediately end the communications restrictions in Kashmir and adhere to international human rights standards there.

NATGRID wants to link social media accounts to central database

The ambitious National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) project wants to link social media accounts to the huge database of records related to immigration entry and exit, banking and telephone details among others.

Boris Johnson denies lying to Queen Elizabeth II

Mr. Johnson asked the British head of state to shutter Parliament for five weeks from last Tuesday, claiming it was necessary ahead of rolling out a new domestic agenda.

IIP growth rebounds, retail inflation surges

Industrial activity rebounded in July to 4.3% across key sectors such as mining, manufacturing and construction, data released on Thursday showed. In a separate release, data showed retail inflation rose in August to hit a 10-month high of 3.21% on quickening food price rises.

All this talk about Dhoni retiring has no basis, says M.S.K. Prasad

It all started with an innocuous tweet from Virat Kohli, and soon blew up into yet another round of speculation about whether Mahendra Singh Dhoni had decided to call it a day. It took a categorical dismissal from Indian selectors to be put to rest.

The Ashes: Jos Buttler strikes back against Australia after England collapse

World Cup winners England, desperate to level the series at 2-2, have struggled to find consistency and contributed to their own downfall at the Oval, slipping from 170-3 to 226-8.

Cogent reasons for High Court judge transfers: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court issued a statement that each recommendation for transfer of Chief Justices and judges of the High Courts were made for cogent reasons, in compliance with the required procedure, in the better interest of administration of justice.

Ayodhya hearing: Supreme Court takes serious view of comment by U.P. Minister

The Constitution Bench led by CJI Ranjan Gogoi, which is hearing the Ayodhya dispute appeals, on Thursday took a serious view of a comment reported to be made by an Uttar Pradesh State Minister that Ram temple will be built on the disputed land as the “Supreme Court is ours”.