Breaking News July 13 Highlights: INDIA Bloc Wins 10 Seats, BJP 2 In By Election; Facebook Lifts Restrictions On Trump

The national capital—Delhi, adjacent areas including Noida wake up to rain on Saturday as IMD predicted more showers for the day. Delhi NCR witnessed light to moderate rainfall in the early hours of Saturday, while rain is expected to to continue till July 17.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch developmental projects worth over Rs 29,000 crores in Mumbai on Saturday.

On Supreme Court granting interim bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Bhagirath Choudhary on Saturday said,"Those who are corrupt will not be spared...Action will be taken against them. PM Modi's vision is to make India corruption-free...Whoever is corrupt, from any party, action should be taken against them..."

Shri Rajput Karni Sena leader Mahipal Singh Makrana was allegedly attacked with the butt of a gun by the gunman of Shiv Singh Shekhawat, national president of the Rashtriya Karni Sena.

A government employee Baikunthanath Pradhan, who is working on deputation in Odisha Raj Bhawan has accused Odisha Governor Raghubar Das’ son of assaulting him during President Droupadi Murmu's visit to Puri last week.

The counting of votes for the bypolls in 13 assembly constituencies across seven states in the country began on Saturday. Earlier, the voting for the bypolls concluded on July 10. The assembly constituencies that went to the polls were Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagda, and Maniktala (West Bengal); Dehra, Hamirpur, and Nalagarh (Himachal Pradesh); Badrinath and Manglaur (Uttarakhand); Jalandhar West (Punjab); Rupauli (Bihar); Vikravandi (Tamil Nadu); and Amarwara (Madhya Pradesh).

The bypolls were conducted to fill vacancies resulting from either the death or resignation of incumbent members.

Counting of votes for the bypolls held in four assembly seats in West Bengal began on Saturday, amid tight security arrangements, an Election Commission official said.

The counting of votes commenced at 8 am.

"We have made adequate security arrangements in and around the counting centres. Apart from the state police, central forces are also deployed," the official told PTI.

The bypolls for Maniktala, Bagdah, Ranaghat Dakshin and Raiganj assembly seats were held on July 10.

Raiganj witnessed the highest voter turnout at 71.99 per cent, followed by Ranaghat Dakshin at 70.56 per cent, Bagdah at 68.44 per cent and Maniktala at 54.98 per cent. PTI

Counting of votes began on Saturday for the by-election to the Rupauli assembly seat in Bihar’s Purnea district, officials said.

The counting of votes commenced at 8 am.

The voter turnout was 52.75 per cent in the July 10 bypoll.

The by-election was necessitated by the resignation of sitting MLA Bima Bharti, who had won the seat for JD(U) several times but quit the party recently to contest the Lok Sabha election on an RJD ticket.

Following her loss in the parliamentary election, she contested the bypoll as an RJD candidate.

The RJD hopes that Bharti will win the seat.

Pappu Yadav, the Independent MP from Purnea, announced his support for Bharti.

Altogether 11 candidates were in the fray in the bypoll, in which the JD(U) had fielded Kaladhar Prasad Mandal, who had contested the 2020 assembly polls from the seat as an Independent. PTI

Counting of votes for the Jalandhar West assembly bypoll in Punjab was underway on Saturday.

Polling in the seat took place on Wednesday and a voter turnout of 54.98 per cent was recorded, a sharp drop from the 67 per cent the assembly segment saw in the 2022 state elections.

Votes are being counted at a centre set up at the Lyallpur Khalsa College for Women here and the process began at 8 am, officials said.

The Jalandhar West (Reserve) assembly constituency saw a multi-cornered contest among major political outfits like the ruling AAP in Punjab, the Congress and the BJP.

Fifteen candidates were in the fray.

The seat fell vacant after Sheetal Angural resigned as the AAP legislator and joined the BJP in March.

The AAP fielded Mohinder Bhagat, the son of former minister and former BJP MLA Bhagat Chunni Lal, for the bypoll.

The Congress placed its bet on Surinder Kaur, a former senior deputy mayor and a four-time municipal councillor of Jalandhar.

The BJP fielded Angural, who had won this seat in the 2022 Punjab assembly polls on an AAP ticket.

Though the Shiromani Akali Dal had fielded Surjit Kaur for the bypoll, the Sukhbir Badal-led outfit later withdrew its support and disowned her. She was picked as the party's candidate by a panel, two members of which rebelled against Badal.

The SAD had also announced support Bahujan Samaj Party nominee Binder Kumar for the bypoll.

However, a section of SAD leaders, who revolted against Badal, supported Surjit Kaur in the bypoll. PTI

Counting of votes for the bypolls to three assembly seats in Himachal Pradesh was underway on Saturday.

Polling was held for the Dehra, Hamirpur and the Nalagarh assembly constituencies on Wednesday.

Thirteen candidates, including of the BJP and the Congress, were in the fray.

The Nalagarh assembly constituency had recorded the highest polling at 79.04 per cent, followed by Hamirpur (67.72 per cent) and Dehra (65.42 per cent).

The overall voting percentage of the three bypolls was 71 per cent, according to the data of the state election department

The seats fell vacant after the three Independent legislators Hoshiyar Singh (Dehra), Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur) and K L Thakur (Nalagarh), who had voted in favour of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha polls held on February 27, resigned from the state assembly on March 22 and joined the party the next day.

Their resignations, however, were accepted by the assembly speaker on June 3, and the seats were declared vacant, necessitating the by-elections.

The BJP fielded all the three former MLAs from their respective seats.

The Congress fielded Kamlesh Thakur, wife of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, from Dehra, repeated its candidate Pushpinder Verma from Hamirpur and gave ticket to five-time Indian National Trade Union Congress president, Himachal Pradesh unit, Hardeep Singh Baba, from Nalagarh.

Though the bypolls will not make much difference in the 68-member House as the Congress has a majority with 38 MLAs. The BJP has 27 members.

The entry of Kamlesh Thakur has made the elections interesting as the prestige of the chief minister is at stake in Dehra. PTI

Counting of votes for the bypolls to the Manglaur and the Badrinath assembly constituencies in Uttarakhand was underway on Saturday.

Voting took place on both the seats on Wednesday.

The bypoll to the Manglaur seat was marred by violence that left four people injured, even as a 67.28 per cent polling was recorded in the constituency. The voter turnout in Badrinath was 47.68 per cent and polling there remained peaceful.

The counting of votes began at 8 am.

The Manglaur bypoll was necessitated following the death of sitting BSP MLA Sarwat Karim Ansari in October last year. The Badrinath seat fell vacant after sitting Congress MLA Rajendra Bhandari resigned and switched to the BJP in March.

The BSP fielded Ansari's son Ubedur Rehman against Congress nominee Qazi Nizamuddin in Manglaur.

Gujjar leader and BJP nominee Kartar Singh Bhadana was also in the fray from the Muslim and Dalit-dominated constituency which has been held either by the BSP or the Congress in the past.

In Badrinath, there was a direct contest between BJP's Rajendra Bhandari and Congress newcomer Lakhpat Singh Butola.

The other two candidates in the fray in Badrinath were former CRPF officer Himmat Singh of the Sainik Samaj Party and Naval Khali, a journalist who is contesting as an Independent candidate. PTI

Delhi Police has registered after the National Commission for Women (NCW) recently taken suo motu cognisance over a lewd remark made on the widow of Kirti Chakra Captain Anshuman Singh, the Commission has said.

The MHA(Ministry of Home Affairs) has notified the amended rules under Section 55 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 inserting new Sections giving more power to the LG.

A fresh batch of 4,669 pilgrims, including 96 sadhus and two sadhvis, left Jammu city to join the pilgrimage to the cave shrine of Amarnath in the south Kashmir Himalayas early Saturday, officials said.

They will leave for the shrine, at a height of 3,880 metre, after reaching the two base camps of the yatra -- Baltal and Pahalgam.

The 16th batch of pilgrims, which also included 1,130 women and 23 children, left Bhagwati Nagar base camp here in a convoy of 183 vehicles between 3 am and 4 am under tight security arrangements, the officials said.

While 3,039 pilgrims are heading for Pahalgam base camp in Anantnag district, 1,630 others are reaching Baltal base camp in Ganderbal district for their onward trek to the cave shrine the next day, the officials said.

The 52-day pilgrimage began on June 29 and so far over 2.8 lakh people have paid obeisance at the cave shrine, they said. PTI

On June 25 to be observed as Samvidhan Hatya Divas in remembrance of the 1975 Emergency, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said, "They have no work left. It has been 50 years, people have forgotten the Emergency. Why was Emergency imposed in this country? Some people want to spread anarchy in the country. An open announcement was made from Ramlila Maidan, our jawans, army were told not to follow the orders of the government... "

He added, "So in such a situation, if Atal Bihari Vajpayee had been the Prime Minister, then he would have also imposed it. It was a matter of national security, some people were making bombs in the country and were exploding bombs at various places... Balasaheb Thackeray had openly supported the Emergency at that time. RSS had also supported it..."

Former Karnataka Minister and Congress leader B Nagendra has been sent to ED custody till July 18 in connection with the alleged Valmiki Corporation scam case.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday won the Jalandhar West Assembly bypoll in Punjab.

The seat has been won by AAP's Mohinder Bhagat by defeating BJP's Sheetal Angural by margin of over 37,000 votes.

The INDIA-bloc is leading on 10 out 13 Assembly seats as the counting is underway on Saturday for the bypoll elections held across seven states.

Out of 13 Assembly seats, Congress is leading on five seats, TMC is leading on four seats, BJP, DMK, AAP and JDU are leading on one seat each.

Congress is leading on Dehra, Nalagarh seats of Himachal Pradesh. Congress is also leading on Badrinath and Manglaur seats of Uttarakhand and Awarwara seat of Madhya Pradesh.

TMC is leading on Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin, Bagda, and Maniktala seats of West Bengal. AAP has already won Jalandhar West seat of Punjab. JDU is leading on Bihar's Rupauli seat. BJP is leading on Hamirpur seat of Himachal Pradesh. DMK is leading on Vikravandi seat of Tamil Nadu

Congress candidate and Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu's wife Kamlesh Thakur has won the assembly bypoll from the Dehra constituency by defeating Hoshyar Singh of the BJP.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh during a press conference in Delhi on Saturday said, “Loosing 8.5 kgs can be a sign of a serious health condition. It is a matter of concern for us, Arvind Kejriwal and his family. His sugar level dropped below 50. You can control increasing sugar levels but not when it starts to reduce. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's blood sugar level has reduced five times."

On winning the Raiganj assembly by-polls, TMC candidate Krishna Kalyani on Saturday said, "... I am a resident of Raiganj and I want to thank all those who voted to keep development in mind. People have turned away from BJP ever since PM Narendra Modi tried to poison the minds of people by politicising the Sandeshkhali issue. TMC has got a clear mandate of the people."

TMC has won the Raiganj, Ranaghat Dakshin and Bagda assembly seats for which the bypolls were held. The party is leading in Manikatala seat.

The Congress has won two seats while the BJP has secured victory in one in Himachal Pradesh Assembly bypoll results.

BJP’s Kamlesh Shah has won Amarwara seat by defeating Cong’s Dheeran Shah Invati by over 3,200 votes, officials said.

A woman has lodged a complaint against her husband for allegedly circulating private videos of their 18-year-old daughter on social media platforms, police said on Saturday.

Following her father's act, the daughter tried to end her life by allegedly consuming toxic Phenyle. She has been admitted to the government hospital in Udupi city and is stated to be in critical condition, they said.

According to the complaint, the girl's father, was not happy with his daughter for allegedly being in love with a relative from Thirthahalli. He called her boyfriend home, beat him up, and forcibly downloaded all private videos and photos from his phone and allegedly circulated them on social media. (PTI Inputs)

Congress's Lakhpat Singh Butola wins Badrinath bypoll; defeats BJP's Rajendra Bhandari by 5,224 votes

Three juveniles booked in a case of theft escaped from police custody while they were being taken to a protective home in Meerut, police said on Saturday.

The incident took place at Kudana village in Shamli district, where they were booked for theft on Friday, the police said.

According to Superintendent of Police Abhishek, the three juveniles escaped when they were being taken to a juvenile home in Meerut in a private car from Shamli.

Three policemen have been suspended for their negligence in discharge of duty, the SP added. (PTI Inputs)

Defence minister Rajnath Singh was on Saturday discharged from AIIMS here, two days after he was admitted to the hospital with complaints of back pain, an official said on Saturday, PTI reported.

According to Dr Rima Dada, All India Institute Medical Sciences media cell in-charge, Singh was evaluated and treated for back pain. The minister was discharged around 2 pm on Saturday, Dada said.

Singh was admitted to the the hospital's old private ward under the neurosurgery department early Thursday, she said.

Andhra Pradesh police are searching for the body of the nine-year-old girl who was allegedly raped and pushed into a canal here by three minor boys, said an official on Saturday.

On 7 July evening, the three boys allegedly gang-raped the girl who was last seen playing in a park and then pushed her into the Mucchumarri Lift Irrigation Canal in Nandyal district.

"We are yet to trace the girl's body. We are still searching. One National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team and a State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are searching as well," the official told PTI.

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, have been acquitted of charges related to their marriage, a court in Islamabad ruled on Saturday.

The couple was accused of violating Islamic law by not observing the required interval between Bushra Bibi's divorce from her previous husband and her marriage to Imran Khan. In February, a court sentenced them to seven years in prison for the offence.

However, the judge overturned the conviction on Saturday, accepting the couple's appeals and ordering their immediate release from jail if they are not required in any other case.

“If they are not wanted in any other case, then PTI founder Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi should be released [from jail] immediately,” the judge said after accepting their appeals.

The first shipment carrying 150 tonnes of perishable food items from India to a port at Addu is set to reduce the cost and complexity of imports into the southern atolls of Maldives, according to media reports here.

An Indian ship carrying fresh fruits, vegetables, onions, garlic, and eggs had set sail from Tuticorin Port and reached Hithadhoo Port at Addu, the southernmost atoll of this archipelagic nation, late on Wednesday night.

The arrival of the Indian cargo ship also saw the opening of a direct shipping route by the Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) from Tuticorin Port in Tamil Nadu to Hithadhoo Port at Addu.

The Opposition INDIA-bloc won ten seats while the BJP-led NDA managed to get only two after the final round of counting for the bypolls in 13 assembly seats across 7 states on Saturday.

The voting for these seats was held on July 10. This is the first election post Lok Sabha elections with the ruling BJP and the opposition INDIA-bloc, constituting comprising Congress, TMC, DMK and AAP contesting on the key seats.

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As heavy rains lashed several parts of Kerala, the India Meteorological Department on Saturday issued an orange alert in three northern districts of the state for the day.

The IMD issued an orange alert in Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod and a yellow alert in nine other districts of the state for the day.

The weather department also predicted thunderstorms with moderate rainfall and gusty winds at one or two places in Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, and Ernakulam districts for the day.

The Nagpur police have busted a sex racket operating out of a salon in the city and booked two managers of the establishment, an official said on Saturday.

The social security branch (SSB) of the crime branch raided a salon on West High Court Road on Friday night and found a prostitution racket operating out of the premises, the official said.

The police nabbed Akanksha alias Ritika alias Kumud Hiralal Meshram (26) and Sophia alias Neetu Zakir Sekh (30), who were managing the establishment, he said. (With PTI Inputs)

Jammu and Kashmir administration Saturday foiled the plans of mainstream political parties, to pay homage to the 22 Kashmiri people killed by the army of a Dogra ruler on this day in 1931, by preventing them from taking out marches and putting several leaders under house arrest.

• Several political leaders, including PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, claimed authorities have put them under house arrest to prevent them from visiting the 'martyrs' graveyard' to pay homage. "The gates of my house have been locked up yet again to prevent me from visiting Mazar e Shuhada - an enduring symbol of Kashmir's resistance and resilience against authoritarianism, oppression and injustice," she said in a post on X.

• Separatist-turned-mainstream politician and People's Conference chairman Sajad Lone also claimed that he has been put under house arrest. "For no reason informed of being under house arrest. I really fail to understand what the administration gets in stopping people from going to the martyrs graveyard," Lone said on X.

• NC vice president Omar Abdullah said from next year, Jammu and Kashmir would mark July 13 to pay homage to the 22 Kashmiri people."Another 13th July, Martyr's Day, another round of locked gates and police excesses to stop people from paying homage to those who sacrificed their lives to establish a just, fair and democratic regime in J-K," Abdullah said in a post on X.

Iran's newly elected president said his government will create "balance in relations with all countries” in line with national interests and the prerequisites for peace but stressed to the United States that his country “will not respond to pressure.”

Masoud Pezeshkian penned “My Message To The New World” in the country's state-owned Tehran Times late Friday, praising the latest presidential election that “demonstrated remarkable stability” and vowing to uphold “promises I made during my campaign.” '

He said in his message his administration would “prioritise strengthening relations with our neighbours” and urged Arab countries to use “all diplomatic leverages” to push for a lasting cease-fire in the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.

Facebook has lifted restrictions imposed on Donald Trump after the Jan 6 attack on the Capitol, placing the former president on an equal footing on the platform with President Joe Biden just days before the Republican National Convention.

The social media giant had initially banned the former president from using its platforms in 2021 after his supporters stormed the Capitol. Meta, Facebook's parent company, lifted that ban last year but announced Trump would be subject to “guardrails” such as "heightened suspension penalties” if posts violated its standards.

Russian shelling of Ukraine killed three people on Saturday, officials said, as the two countries exchanged drone attacks, one of which set ablaze a Russian oil depot.

Two people died in Ukraine's partly occupied Kherson region and two were wounded in the attack close to the regional capital, said Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin. Another person died Saturday afternoon and 16 were wounded in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, according to Gov. Oleh Syniehubov.

A body of a 40-year-old Indian national working in Nepal was among three corpses recovered by rescuers on Saturday from the wreckage of two buses that were swept by a mudslide into a rain-swollen river with more than 50 passengers a day earlier.

The two buses carrying 54 passengers, including seven Indians, went missing in the Trishuli River in the landslides at the Simaltal area along the Narayanghat-Mugling road in Chitwan district on Friday. Three people swam to safety later.