Modi meets Xi Jinping briefly, Trump-Putin meet at G20, Lalu Yadav’s properties raided: Top stories to bring you up to date
Narendra Modi-XI meet informally in G20 at Hamburg , Chinese media hits out at India, Lalu Prasad Yadav accuses BJP of targeting him, Donald Trump meets Vladimir Putin, gau rakshaks followed Jharkhand trader for hours before lynching him, Supreme Court puts IIT admissions on hold.
PM Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping discuss ‘range of issues’ on the sidelines of G20 summit
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping briefly discussed a “range of issues” during an informal gathering of BRICS leaders in Hamburg on Friday, raising hopes of a resolution to the three-week-old standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the Sikkim sector. Addressing the gathering before the interaction, Xi also called on BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries to “push for peaceful settlement of regional conflicts and disputes,” Chinese state media reported. External affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted a photo of the two leaders smiling and shaking hands. He said Modi and Xi had a “conversation on a range of issues”. Read the story here.
After Modi-Xi meet, Chinese media hits out at India over Sikkim standoff
Soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping exchanged greetings at an informal meeting of BRICS leaders in Hamburg, China’s state-run media again said Indian troops should immediately withdraw from the Donglang region as a precondition for dialogue. State-run Xinhua news agency ran commentary with the headline “Immediate withdrawal is only wise move for India” said India should pull back its “trespassing troops” as a “precondition for any meaningful dialogue” between the two sides. The commentary reinforced China’s position that a resolution of the standoff is possible only if India orders its troops to withdraw. India’s argument that the Chinese construction represents a “significant change of status quo with serious security implications “ is “unconvincing”, it said. Read the story here.
CBI raids Lalu Prasad’s homes in land-for-hotels scam; RJD chief accuses Modi, Shah of targeting him
The CBI searched the homes and properties of Lalu Prasad and his family on Friday as part of investigations into alleged irregularities in leasing out railway hotels when the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief was the rail minister. The raids were carried out at 12 locations in five cities a day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed cases against Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi and son and deputy Bihar chief minister Tejashwi, among others. The searches are likely to put more pressure on the ruling coalition in Bihar already under strain over differences between chief minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) and the RJD over the choice of presidential candidate. Read the story here.
From fodder scam to properties: Lalu Prasad and his family are caught in a web of trouble
Even as RJD chief Lalu Prasad seeks to forge a grand opposition unity, he is in the middle of one of his worst political and personal crises. He and his family today face a maze of corruption charges – some old going back to the fodder scam, many new linked to land deals and alleged money laundering. For details of the allegations read the story here.
Modi’s office tipped off Nitish about CBI raid on Lalu Prasad | HT Exclusive
In a late night call on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office told Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar that federal agents were about to raid his deputy Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad over an alleged land-for-hotels scandal. Government officials said Kumar was informed after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which carried out the raids on Friday, told the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) that it feared trouble while searching the homes and properties of Lalu and his son Tejashwi. Read the story here.
Gau rakshaks followed Jharkhand trader for hours before lynching him | A blow by blow account by police
The lynching of a 45-year-old Muslim trader in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh last month was not a spur-of-the-moment assault but a well-planned move in which gau rakshaks allegedly followed the man for two hours before attacking him, police said on Friday. A Bajrang Dal member, Raj Kumar, first saw trader Alimuddin Ansari purchasing meat at about 7.30am. Kumar then allegedly followed Ansari – who was driving a Maruti Van – for around 15 kilometres and gave constant location updates to 10-12 more members, who gathered at one spot, ready to intercept the Muslim man. Read the story here.
Modi targets Pakistan at G20 summit, equates LeT, JeM to Islamic State, al-Qaeda
Naming Pakistan-based terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday some countries were using terror as a tool to achieve political objectives and pressed for “deterrent” action collectively by the G-20 members against such nations. Addressing the G20 summit in Hamburg, he equated LeT and JeM to Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda, saying their names might be different but their ideology was the same. With leaders like US President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping listening, Modi regretted that the international response to terrorism was weak and said more cooperation was needed to fight the menace. Read the story here.
West Bengal violence: Peace returns to Basirhat, but public mood still volatile
At first glance, Basirhat is at peace. Shops have reopened in many places, and fear doesn’t seem to stalk people on the streets anymore. But scratch the surface of this picture, and one can see a strong undercurrent of communal tension that’s still capable of blowing up in the face of a wary Bengal government. In fact, police personnel barely managed to avert a number of communal clashes on Friday. While life returned to normal in places like Swarupnagar, Taki and Baduria, the mood remained tense at Sardarati, College Para and Chapapukur Road. Read the story here.
Supreme Court puts admissions to IITs and NITs on hold over bonus marks
The Supreme Court on Friday put on hold admissions to most of the country’s engineering colleges, including the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), over awarding of bonus marks in the joint entrance examination (JEE). The order, which will affect 33,000-odd students, came on a petition filed by two candidates who sought the court’s direction to IIT-Madras to revise the list of successful students without giving them bonus marks. Read the story here.
G20 summit: Trump, Putin discuss election hacking, terrorism and cybersecurity
US President Donald Trump voiced optimism that there are “very positive things” in store for the United States and Russia as he sat down with President Vladimir Putin on Friday for an historic first meeting. Seated next to Putin in Germany, Trump said it was “an honour” to be with Putin. As journalists were briefly allowed in to witness part of the meeting, Trump said that he and Putin had already held “very, very good talks.” “We look forward to a lot of very positive things happening for Russia, for the United States and for everybody concerned,” Trump said. Read the story here.
Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai joins Twitter
Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai made her debut on Twitter on Friday evening with a simple ‘Hi’. The 19-year-old joined the social media platform following her last day in school and within an hour-and-a-half had a 115,000 followers. Read the story here.
Moeen Ali achieves the double, England on top vs South Africa in Lord’s Test
Moeen Ali and Stuart Broad’s two wickets, combined with Joe Root’s brilliant 190 put England in the driver’s seat after the end of day 2 of the first Test against South Africa in Lord’s on Friday. Following Root’s magnificent knock, Moeen and Broad picked up two wickets as South Africa ended the day on 214/5, still trailing the hosts by 244 runs. During the course of the day, Moeen became the fifth-quickest player in terms of matches played to do the Test ‘double’ of 2,000 runs and 100 wickets. Read the story here.
Wimbledon 2017: Simona Halep, Venus Williams enter women’s singles last 16
Simona Halep powered past China’s Peng Shuai 6-4, 7-6(7) to enter women’s singles last 16 at Wimbledon 2017. The second seed will now face Victoria Azarenka for a place in the quarter-finals. On the other hand, five-time champion Venus Williams beat Japan’s Naomi Osaka 7-6(3) 6-4 to reach the fourth round. Read the story here.