Top news: India rejects Pakistan-China joint statement on Kashmir, calls for status quo in PoK

J&K: Restrictions reimposed in several parts of Valley to stop Muharram processions

Curfew-like restrictions were reimposed in several parts of Kashmir Valley on Tuesday to prevent people from holding marches on the occasion of Muharram. Shia Muslims organise the processions to commemorate the martyrdom of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Imam Husayn in the Battle of Karbala. It is one of the holiest days in the Islamic calendar.

Jammu and Kashmir: Centre to buy apples directly from growers, transfer payment to bank accounts

The Centre has decided to buy apples from Jammu and Kashmir directly from the growers under the Direct Benefit Transfer scheme that provides subsidies to the bank accounts of the sellers. The announcement came days after Home Minister Amit Shah met apple growers from Kashmir who voiced concerns about suffering losses due to restrictions in the region.

UN human rights council must not remain ‘indifferent’ to Kashmir, says Pakistan foreign minister

Pakistan on Tuesday told the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, that it must not remain “indifferent” to the situation in Kashmir after India revoked the state’s special status on August 5. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who lead the delegation from Islamabad, said at the 42nd session of the Human Rights Council that the UN rights body should not be embarrassed on the world stage by its inaction over the Kashmir dispute.

Karnataka IAS officer who resigned is guilty of treason, claims BJP MP Anantkumar Hegde

Bharatiya Janata Party MP and former Union minister Anantkumar Hegde has lashed out at Indian Administrative Service officer S Sasikanth Senthil, who resigned as deputy commissioner of Karnataka’s Dakshina Kannada district after criticising the central government on September 6. Hegde represents the Uttara Kannada constituency in Parliament.

IIT-Kanpur removes professor after foreign student accuses him of ‘inappropriate conduct’

The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, on Tuesday, removed a professor after a foreign student accused him of “inappropriate conduct”. The IIT-Kanpur administration said it has zero-tolerance policy against any “deviant behaviour” and strict action would be initiated once the recommendations of the panel were submitted.

Faye D’Souza steps down as Mirror Now’s executive editor but will keep working with Times Network

Faye D’Souza, the executive editor of television news channel Mirror Now, has stepped down from her post. A day after reports of her resignation, D’Souza on Tuesday said she would move away from the day-to-day management of the channel but would “continue to be associated with the Times Network, creating and presenting flagship shows and IPs”.

J&K: India rejects Pakistan-China statement, raises concern over economic corridor in PoK

The Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday rejected the reference to Jammu and Kashmir in the joint statement issued after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Pakistan. In the joint statement on Sunday, Beijing reaffirmed its support for Islamabad in safeguarding its sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence and national dignity.

Bhima Koregaon case: DU professor’s house searched by Pune Police; laptops, books seized

Pune Police on Tuesday searched the home of Delhi University professor Hany Babu in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, in connection with the Elgar Parishad case, PTI reported. Assistant Commissioner of Police Shivaji Pawar, however, said that no arrest had been made.

Mumbai: Actor Urmila Matodkar quits Congress, blames ‘petty in-house politics’

Actor-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar resigned from the Congress party on Tuesday. “My political and social sensibilities refuse to allow vested interests in the party to use me as a mean to fight petty in-house politics instead of working on a bigger goal in Mumbai Congress,” she said in a press note, according to ANI.

India, Pakistan likely to raise Kashmir dispute at UN council in Geneva

India and Pakistan are expected to talk on Monday about Jammu and Kashmir at the ongoing United Nations Human Rights Council session in Geneva, Switzerland, according to NDTV. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who will lead the delegation from Islamabad, said on Monday that the country would “speak definitively” at the session on “continued Indian atrocities in Kashmir”.

Modi says India, Nepal have close ties as he inaugurates Motihari-Amlekhgunj oil pipeline

India and Nepal on Tuesday jointly inaugurated the Motihari-Amlekhgunj oil pipeline, the first ever cross-border petroleum products link in South Asia, PTI reported. The pipeline is supposed to help Nepal meet its energy demands and reduce the cost of fuel transportation.

Pakistan: Former legislator from Imran Khan’s party seeks asylum in India

A former legislator from Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has sought asylum in India, claiming that minorities are deprived of their rights in his country, PTI reported. Baldev Kumar came to India with his wife and two children last month and is presently living in Khanna in Ludhiana district of Punjab.

Motor Vehicles Act: Road safety experts urge Centre to increase fines gradually

Road safety experts have praised the Centre for bringing in changes to the Motor Vehicles Act, but urged it to implement hefty fines gradually, the Hindustan Times reported on Tuesday. Amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act came into force on September 1. The legislation aims to remove corruption, improve road safety and use technology to regulate traffic. It also enforces stricter penalties for road traffic violations.

Man bound for New York apprehended at Delhi airport for impersonating an 81-year-old

Officials of the Central Industrial Security Force said on Monday that they apprehended a 32-year-old man for impersonating an 81-year-old, PTI reported. The officials said that the individual, identified as Jayesh Patel, was carrying a fake passport with the name Amrik Singh.

J&K: Eight Lashkar-e-Taiba militants arrested in Sopore for threatening locals, say police

Eight suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba militants accused of threatening and intimidating locals were arrested from south Kashmir’s Sopore town on Monday, NDTV reported, quoting police. The arrest came two days after four civilians, including a minor, were injured in firing by militants in Dangerpora area of the town.

Azamgarh: Journalist arrested for shooting video of kids mopping school floor, probe ordered

The Azamgarh district magistrate on Monday ordered an investigation into the arrest of a journalist allegedly after he shot a video of some children mopping the floor of their school, PTI reported. The police arrested Santosh Jaiswal on Friday after he took pictures and videos of children cleaning the floor at Oodpur Primary School. He allegedly called up the police and complained against the school, but the police soon arrested both him and the school’s principal, Radhey Shyam Yadav.

Farm scientists’ body dismisses idea of zero-budget natural farming, calls it an unproven technology

The Natural Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the country’s top body of farm scientists, has criticised zero-budget natural farming, calling it an “unproven” technology that will not bring tangible gain to either farmers or consumers, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday.

Grab officers by their collars to become a big politician, Chhattisgarh minister tells students

Chhattisgarh minister Kawasi Lakhma told a group of school students last week that if they wanted to become politicians, they should grab collectors and superintendents of police by their collars. Lakhma, the excise and industries minister in the Congress government in Chhattisgarh, made the remark during a Teacher’s Day event at a school in Sukma district on September 5, PTI reported. A video of the event surfaced on Monday.

Activist Shehla Rashid granted interim protection from arrest in sedition case

A court in Delhi on Monday granted activist and former Jawaharlal Nehru University student leader Shehla Rashid interim protection from arrest in a sedition case. On August 18, Rashid had tweeted that Indian Army personnel had tortured four men in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, placing a microphone next to them “so that the entire area could hear them scream, and be terrorised”.

Telangana: BJP seeks apology from CM after aide criticises appointment of governors

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday demanded an apology from Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao after his public relations officer criticised the appointment of governors in a newspaper article.

Trump says India-Pakistan situation ‘little bit less heated right now’, reiterates offer to mediate

United States President Donald Trump on Monday reiterated his offer to help India and Pakistan resolve the Kashmir dispute. “India and Pakistan are having a conflict over Kashmir as you know. I think [it] is a little bit less heated right now than [what] was two weeks ago,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. “I get along with both countries very well. I am willing to help them if they want. They know that. That [offer] is out there.”

Jharkhand mob lynching: Police drop murder charges against 11 accused in Tabrez Ansari case

The Jharkhand Police have dropped the murder charges against the 11 people accused in the mob lynching of a man in June. The police said one reason they had not filed charges under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code was that the postmortem examination report blamed cardiac arrest for the death of 24-year-old Tabrez Ansari.

Telangana: KCR slashes state budget by almost 20%, blames economic slowdown

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, popularly known as KCR, on Monday presented a trimmed budget of Rs 1.46 lakh crore in the Assembly, almost 20% less than what was presented in the vote-on-account Budget in February. The chief minister attributed the reduction in funds to economic slowdown and decline in revenues.

J&K: Centre sets up panel to distribute assets and liabilities between new Union Territories

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday constituted a three-member committee to look into distribution of assets and liabilities of Jammu and Kashmir between the two Union Territories that will come into existence on October 31.

Shashi Tharoor says Congress shouldn’t leave its idea of inclusive India for electoral benefits

Congress parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor on Monday said he had joined the party because it is the “best vehicle” to advance the idea of an inclusive India, and it should not leave this belief because of electoral losses.