Top news of the day: Saifuddin Soz claims he is kept under house arrest without formal orders; Jaya Jaitly gets four years in jail in corruption case exposed by Tehelka, and more

The major news headlines of the day, and more.

July 30, 2020 07:33 pm | Updated 07:33 pm IST

A security person tries to prevent Congress leader Saifuddin Soz from speaking to the media at his residence in Srinagar on July 30, 2020.

A security person tries to prevent Congress leader Saifuddin Soz from speaking to the media at his residence in Srinagar on July 30, 2020.

‘I am not a free man’: Saifuddin Soz claims he is under house arrest

Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Saifuddin Soz on Thursday scaled a tall pillar of his gate at Srinagar’s Friends Colony, even as policemen kept warning him against doing so, to make a point that he remained “under house arrest without any formal orders” since August 5, 2019.

Tehelka expose | Jaya Jaitly, two others get four-year jail term

The case was registered by the CBI following a sting operation by news portal Tehelka . In the sting operation, Ms. Jaitly was shown to have accepted ₹2 lakh from Mathew Samuel, who represented a non-existing firm named Westend International. The retired Major General received ₹20,000.

Trump raises possibility of delaying November U.S. presidential election

The U.S. President raised the possibility of delaying the nation's November presidential election despite its date being enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Mr. Trump, without evidence, repeated his claims of mail-in voter fraud and raised the question of a delay, writing: “delay the election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”

Sushant Singh Rajput death | Supreme Court refuses to entertain plea seeking CBI probe

A Bench led Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad A. Bobde said the “police should be allowed to do their job”. The CJI asked writ petitioner Alka Priya, represented by advocate S.R. Setia, how she is concerned with the death of the actor. “He had done a lot in public interest... Sent children to NASA...” Mr. Setia submitted. The court said the petitioner could approach the Bombay High Court in case she got hold of anything concrete to help the police investigation.

Rajasthan political crisis | High Court sends notices to Speaker, 6 BSP MLAs who joined Congress

Sandeep Yadav, Wajib Ali, Deepchand Kheria, Lakhan Meena, Jogendra Awana and Rajendra Gudha won the Assembly elections in 2018. In September 2019, the entire group of BSP MLAs joined the Congress.

India’s development cooperation does not come with any conditions: Modi

Addressing the virtual event with his Mauritian counterpart Pravind Jugnauth to inaugurate the new Supreme Court building of Mauritius at Port Louis, the Prime Mnister said that history has taught us that in the name of development partnerships, nations were forced into dependence partnerships.

Rahul Gandhi, Chidambaram slam Modi over state of economy

“Modi is ruining the country. 1. Demonetization. 2. GST 3.Mismanagement of the Coronavirus Pandemic. 4. Employment and the economy has been destroyed. His capitalist media has created an illusion but the confusion will be broken soon,” Mr. Gandhi tweeted, along with a news report that mentioned that 10 crore jobs could be lost in India because of COVID-19 . In a series of tweets separately, Mr. Chidambaram cautioned about a deepening crisis.

BJP accounts for 54% of major parties’ 2019 poll expenses in U.P.

A report released by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), analysed the expenditure statements submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI) by five national parties – the BJP, the Congress, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Communist Party of India (CPI) – and five regional parties – the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the All-India Forward Bloc (AIFB), the Janata Dal (United) (JD-U), the Shiv Sena (SHS) and the Samajwadi Party (SP).

Supreme Court looks to save both wild animals and crops

Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde, heading a three-judge Bench, suggested “explosives that do not kill” but make a lot of noise and “rubber bullets” to scare off the animals. The court was hearing a petition filed by Biju Janata Dal MP Anubhav Mohanty seeking measures to prevent killing of wild animals in India. Mr. Mohanty highlighted the indiscriminate killing of blue bulls (nilgai) as vermin.

T.N. extends lockdown till August 31 with fresh relaxations

E-commerce firms allowed to ship both essential and non-essential goods; complete lockdown on Sundays.

U.S. economy shrinks 33% in worst ever quarterly plunge

The U.S. economy shrank at 33% annual rate in the April-June quarter — by far the worst quarterly plunge ever — when the viral outbreak shut down businesses, throwing tens of millions out of work and sending unemployment surging to 14.7 %, the government said.

Deadline for filing I-T returns extended till September 30

“In view of the constraints due to the Covid pandemic and to further ease compliances for taxpayers, CBDT extends the due date for filing of Income Tax Returns for FY 2018-19 (AY 2019-20) from July 31, 2020 to September 30, 2020…,” the Income tax department said in a tweet.

NASA launches Mars rover to look for signs of ancient life

NASA’s Perseverance rode a mighty Atlas V rocket into a clear morning sky in the world’s third and final Mars launch of the summer. China and the United Arab Emirates got a head start last week, but all three missions should reach their destination in February after a journey of seven months and 480 million km.

Jerry Lalrinzuala extends stay at Chennaiyin FC

Into fifth season for Chennaiyin, Jerry has so far made 65 appearances for the club and played a pivotal role in the 2017-18 ISL title triumph as he featured in all but one game in that campaign.

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