Top news: Activist Bindu Ammini attacked with pepper spray on her way to Sabarimala

Here are the day’s top stories:

Kashmir: Train services fully restored in Srinagar-Banihal section, says Indian Railways

The Indian Railways said on Tuesday that it has fully resumed train services in the Srinagar-Banihal section of the Kashmir Valley. A limited service of two trains had been started between Srinagar and Baramulla from 10 am to 3 pm on November 12. Trial train services were conducted in the following days.

Lok Sabha: Centre introduces bill to merge UTs of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu

The Centre on Tuesday introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to merge two Union Territories – Daman and Diu, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli – into one. Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy introduced the Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (Merger of Union Territories) Bill 2019, in the Lower House.

Cartoonist Sudhir Dar dies at 87

Cartoonist Sudhir Dar died on Tuesday at the age of 87, The Indian Express reported, quoting his family members. Dar died of a cardiac arrest in Noida. Dar began his career with The Statesman in 1961, after which he moved to the Hindustan Times. His cartoons have also appeared in foreign newspapers like The Independent, The New York Times and the Washington Post. Scientist Jayant Narlikar’s book Journey Through the Universe also carried his cartoons.

Parliament passes Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill

The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday passed the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019, after voting against sending the legislation to a select committee. The bill had already been passed in the Lok Sabha in August.

Maharashtra: Fadnavis resigns as CM, says Sena-NCP-Congress alliance will ‘crumble under own weight’

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his deputy Ajit Pawar resigned from their posts on Tuesday afternoon, just three days after they took oath in a surprise development. Hours earlier, the Supreme Court had asked their alliance to prove its majority in the state Assembly by Wednesday evening.

Sensex, Nifty reach all-time high intra-day, but close slightly lower

Indian markets on Tuesday surged to an all-time high intra-day, before closing slightly lower. The BSE Sensex, which opened at 41,022.85 points, rose to 41,120.28 before closing 67.93 points lower at 40,821.30. The National Stock Exchange Nifty, on the other hand, began the day at 12,110.20 points, rose to 12,132.45 points intra-day before ending 36.05 points lower at 12,037.70.

GDP growth projection revised to 5.6% by credit rating agency Fitch’s Indian subsidiary

American credit rating agency Fitch Ratings’ company India Ratings and Research has revised its growth forecast for India in the 2019-’20 financial year to 5.6%. The agency had revised its forecast only a month ago to 6.1%.

Ayodhya verdict: Sunni Waqf Board decides not to file review petition

The Sunni Waqf Board on Tuesday decided against filing a review petition on the Supreme Court’s Ayodhya verdict, PTI reported. The board’s chairman Zufar Farooqi said that six of the seven members present in the meeting were against filing the plea.

Maharashtra crisis: Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar resign as CM and deputy hours after SC orders floor test

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday afternoon resigned as chief minister of Maharashtra, soon after the Nationalist Congress Party’s Ajit Pawar quit as deputy chief minister. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court ordered that a trust vote be held in the Assembly on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka does not want to get caught between India and China’s power struggles: Gotabaya Rajapaksa

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has said his government will work with both India and China, and does not want to be caught “in between the power struggle of superpowers”. Rajapaksa, a former defence secretary who won the November 16 General Elections by more than 13 lakh votes, made the remarks on Monday in an interview with news agency Strategic News International.

US: 19-year-old Indian-American student raped and murdered in Chicago, body found in parking garage

The police in Chicago in the United States have arrested a 26-year-old man for allegedly raping and murdering a 19-year-old Indian-American student. The woman was found strangled in a campus parking garage on Saturday, and two days later the police formally booked the accused, identified as Donald Thurman, for first-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault.

INX Media case: Supreme Court adjourns hearing for P Chidambaram’s bail plea till tomorrow

The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing for the bail application of former Union minister P Chidambaram till Wednesday as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, was busy with the hearing of the pleas on Jammu and Kashmir. The top court had, last week, asked the agency to respond to the bail plea in the INX Media case by November 25.

J&K: Two suspected militants killed in gunfight with security forces in Pulwama district, say police

Two suspected militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, the police said on Tuesday. The police said the encounter started on Monday night after the militants fired on security personnel posted at a vehicle checkpoint on Shadimarg in South Kashmir. One of the militants was killed in retaliatory action.

Parliament: PM Modi remembers BR Ambedkar at joint session, Opposition boycotts event

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the legislators in Parliament on Tuesday on the occasion of Constitution Day. However, Opposition parties, led by Congress, boycotted the joint session to protest against the developments in Maharashtra. Modi in his address said nobody would be happier at the state of affairs in the country than BR Ambedkar if he were alive today. India has “strengthened both its independence and democracy”, he told the parliamentarians.

Telangana transport workers cannot be taken back till labour commissioner decides, says official

Telangana State Road Transport Corporation on Monday said the workers who called off the transport strike cannot be taken back till the state labour commissioner takes a decision. Over 48,000 employees called off their 52-day-long strike on Monday evening.

Vyapam scam: CBI court sentences 30 to seven year imprisonment, kingpin gets 10 years

A special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Bhopal on Monday sentenced 30 people to seven years’ imprisonment in connection with the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh. The alleged kingpin of the scam was sentenced to 10 years in jail.

Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb’s remarks on NRC were ‘taken out of context’, says adviser: Report

The office of Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb have said that a video in which he was purportedly seen saying the National Register of Citizens exercise in his state would cost him his post is fake. The video has been widely shared on social media in the past few days.

Sabarimala: Woman activist alleges attack with pepper spray on her way to shrine

Women’s rights activist Bindu Ammini was on Tuesday attacked with pepper spray as she, along with Trupti Desai and three others, reached Kochi to trek to the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple. Ammini was one of the two women who had entered the hilltop shrine last year.

Both Desai and Ammini reached the Kochi police commissioner’s office to seek security for their visit. However, a group of right-wing leaders reportedly indulged in an argument with them, and a man threw chilli and pepper powder on her face.

JNU high-level committee offers another partial rollback of fee hike after massive protests

The high-level committee constituted by the Jawaharlal Nehru University to resolve the standoff between students and the administration in the fee hike matter on Monday recommended 50% reduction in service and utility charges, The Indian Express reported.

The committee recommended that the utility and service charge be brought down from Rs 2,000 per month to Rs 1,000 a month for all students, and 75% reduction in these charges for those below the poverty line. It said the eligible BPL students would be charged Rs 500 in place of Rs 2,000 per month.

UP: Law student who accused Chinmayanand of rape denied permission to appear for semester exams

The 23-year-old law student who accused former Union minister Chinmayanand of rape was on Monday denied permission to sit for her third semester examination, reported The Indian Express. The university in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, said that the student did not fulfill the mandatory rule of 75% attendance. It asked her to produce a court order to appear for the examination that will start from Tuesday.

Kashmir: Two former MLAs released from detention, say reports

The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Monday released two former MLAs – Mohammad Dilawar Mir and Ghulam Hassan Mir – from detention, PTI reported. The two had been in detention since August 5, when India scrapped the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and imposed prohibitory orders in the state.

Mohammad Dilawar Mir was an MLA of the Peoples Democratic Party and Ghulam Hassan Mir belongs to the Democratic Party Nationalist. The administration also shifted former MLAs Ashraf Mir and Hakeen Yaseen from the MLA Hostel in Srinagar to their homes, where they will now be under house arrest, officials said. As many as 34 political leaders had been detained at the MLA Hostel.

Maharashtra crisis: ‘162’ Sena-NCP-Congress MLAs pledge allegiance before SC ruling

Leaders and MLAs of the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress gathered at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Mumbai on Monday evening in an apparent show of strength, ANI reported. A banner placed behind the MLAs’ seats read, “We are 162”, implying that the number of MLAs present was 162, well above the Maharashtra Assembly’s majority mark of 145.

Telangana transport employees’ strike called off after 52 days

Over 48,000 employees of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation called off their 52-day strike on Monday, The News Minute reported. The employees said they would be reporting back for duty at 6 am on Tuesday. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had earlier said that the employees were “self-dismissed” as they did not adhere to the deadline to return to work, which was November 5.