Top stories of the day: Mayawati appoints brother, nephew to top BSP posts; Air India suspends regional director for alleged shoplifting, and more

Here are the top news stories of the day.

Mayawati appoints brother, nephew to top BSP posts

BSP chief Mayawati on June 23 appointed her brother Anand Kumar as the party’s national vice-president and named her nephew Akash Anand as national coordinator, a senior leader said.

The decision was taken at a meeting held in Lucknow, which was attended by top functionaries of the party.

Amroha MP Danish Ali has been made leader of the party in Lok Sabha and its Nagina MP Girish Chandra has been appointed chief whip, he said.

Climbers recover 7 bodies near Nanda Devi peak

ITBP climbers on Sunday recovered seven bodies believed to be of the mountaineers who had gone missing on their way to the Nanda Devi East peak in Uttarakhand nearly a month ago, an officer said.

A 10-member team of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) dug out the seven bodies, including that of a woman mountaineer, from under the snow, DIG APD Nimbadia said.

14 killed, several injured as shamiana collapses during religious programme in Rajasthan’s Barmer

At least 14 people were killed and about 50 injured after a shamiana fell on them due to strong winds during a religious programme in Barmer district of Rajasthan, police said.

Narendra Dabholkar murder case: Sanatan Sanstha lawyer Sanjeev Punalekar sent to judicial custody till July 6

Pune court on June 23 sent Sanatan Sanstha lawyer Sanjeev Punalekar, an accused in the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, in judicial custody till July 6.

Special judge R.M. Pande on June 20 granted Mr. Punalekar’s custody to the CBI till June 23, after the agency said it recovered some “incriminating documents” from the lawyer’s laptop and that he was required to be questioned about it.

Foreign governments have no right to question India on religious freedom: MEA

Foreign governments do not have the right to criticise India’s vibrant democracy and dedication to rule of law, said the Ministry of External Affairs on June 23 after the U.S. State Department’s annual report on religious freedompointed out India’s failure to protect minority communities.

“We see no locus standi for a foreign government to pronounce on the state of our citizens’ constitutionally protected rights,” said Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Air India suspends regional director Rohit Bashin for alleged shoplifting at Sydney airport

Air India has suspended its regional director (eastern region) allegedly for shoplifting a wallet at the duty-free area of Sydney airport on June 22.

The decision to suspend Captain Rohit Bhasin was taken following a report by the regional manager, Australasia. A senior commander, Capt. Rohit Bhasin was to fly AI 301 from Sydney to Delhi, a little after he allegedly committed the shoplifting.

The order signed by Air India’s director (personnel) Amrita Sharan said that with prejudice to any disciplinary action initiated against him and pending enquiry, Capt. Bhasin was being placed under suspension.

Water from Jolarpet to hit Chennai in two weeks

After nearly 18 years, Chennai will get drinking water by train in a couple of weeks. Chennai Metrowater is reviewing means to bring 10 million litres of water a day from Jolarpet in Vellore district, using a 50-wagon train.

Following Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s announcement about the ₹65-crore project, senior officials from the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board, Chennai Metrowater and Southern Railway conducted a survey on water resources in Jolarpet region to fetch water on Saturday.

Andhra Pradesh government transfers 17 IPS officers

Continuing with the bureaucratic reshuffle, the Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy government on Sunday transferred 17 IPS officers, five of them for the second time in a week, and gave posting to three other officers who were on wait.

Director General of Police-rank IPS officer A.R. Anuradha of 1987 batch, who was transferred out last week as Principal Secretary (Home), has been posted as Director General of AP State Disaster Response and Fire Services.

Visakhapatnam city police Commissioner Mahesh Chandra Laddha (1998) has been shifted and Rajiv Kumar Meena (1995) posted in his place.

Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari gets death threat

Delhi BJP president Manoj Tiwari has received a death threat through an SMS on his personal phone number, in which the sender said he is under “extreme compulsion” to eliminate the leader.

The unidentified person also threatened to eliminate the Prime Minister “if need be”, Mr. Tiwari said.

U.S. launched cyberattack on Iranian military computer systems, say sources

U.S. military cyber forces launched a strike against Iranian military computer systems on June 20 as President Donald Trump backed away from plans for a more conventional military strike in response to Iran’s downing of a U.S. surveillance drone, U.S. officials said on June 22.

Two officials told that the strikes were conducted with approval from Mr. Trump. A third official confirmed the broad outlines of the strike. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak publicly about the operation.

Sirisena demands repealing of 19th Amendment, blames it for political instability in Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday called for repealing the 19th Amendment to the Constitution which has curtailed the presidential powers, blaming it for the political instability in the country.

The 19A was the main election pledge of Mr. Sirisena when he challenged former president Mahinda Rajapaksa as the Opposition’s common candidate in 2015. Mr. Rajapaksa in 2010 had moved the 18A which allowed him to contest the presidency any number of times by lifting the then existing two-term bar.

2019 Cricket World Cup | Virat Kohli fined 25% match fee for excessive appealing during India-Afghanistan match

India skipper Virat Kohli has been fined 25% of his match fee for appealing in an aggressive manner during their tense World Cup win over Afghanistan, in Southampton on June 22.

“Kohli was found to have breached Article 2.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to ‘Excessive appealing during an International Match’,” an ICC release said.

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