Republic Top 10 Headlines: Rashtra Manch meet, Twitter's latest action, CBSE Exam & more

'Meeting not called to form an anti-BJP front,' claims Rashtra Manch

After a 2.5 hour-long meeting in the four walls of the Meena Bagh-situated residence of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar in Delhi, the Netas of the 'Rashtra Manch' put to end the speculations of the formation of the third front that was doing the rounds. The leaders that addressed the media after the meeting highlighted that they were on their way to provide an 'alternative vision' that India needed, in the form of the 'manch', and will include everyone who has a vision for the country's development and future, whether it's a political party, social organization or a person.

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Former PM Deve Gowda ordered by Court to pay ₹2 Cr for 'defaming' NICE project as 'Loot'

A Bengaluru court has directed former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda to pay Rs 2 crore to Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) Ltd for allegedly defaming the company in a 2011 interview. The NICE had filed an original suit against the statements made by the former PM on a project undertaken by the company, during an interview with a Kannada news channel. The court has now directed Deve Gowda to pay damages of Rs 2 crore to NICE for "the loss of its reputation on account of defamatory comments made by him".

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Prashant Kishor clears air on meeting Sharad Pawar; avers '3rd front can't beat PM Modi'

Speaking exclusively to Republic TV on his meeting with Sharad Pawar, poll strategist Prashant Kishor clarified that they held no discussion about the formation of a third front. Speculation was rife about the endeavour of various opposition parties to join hands for challenging BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls after the Indian Political Action Committee founder met Pawar in Mumbai and Delhi on June 11 and June 21 respectively. 

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Covaxin, Covishield vaccines effective against Delta variant of COVID-19: Health Ministry

The Union Health Ministry informed on Tuesday that both Indian vaccines – Covishield and Covaxin - are effective against the Delta variant of Coronavirus.

"Broadly speaking, both the Indian vaccines which we are currently using in Covid vaccination programme - so Covishield and Covaxin both are effective against Delta variant. But to what extent and what's the proportion of antibody titers that they produce, that we would share with you shortly," said Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan.

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Twitter restricts 50 Tweets related to Ghaziabad video amid police action; read statement

After facing action from the Ghaziabad Police, Twitter has withheld 50 tweets pertaining to the communally sensitive video clip of an elderly man in Uttar Pradesh. Sources informed PTI that the social media giant received a legal request from the Indian government on June 17 in this regard. Upon clicking on the controversial posts, a message saying that the tweet has been "withheld in India in response to a legal demand" is displayed. 

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CBSE Board Exam: SC dismisses plea seeking to conduct board exams

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed all the petitions filed for cancelling CBSE Compartment exams and against the evaluation scheme devised for marking Class 12 students. The special bench of A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari said that the evaluation scheme is fair and reasonable and is in the larger interest of students.

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'Kejriwal busy finding Sikh CM Face': Hardeep Puri slams Delhi CM for low vaccine numbers

Amid the vaccination drive hitting new heights on June 21, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday slammed Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal as the national capital administered low doses of COVID-19 vaccines on June 21 (Monday). Puri stated that Delhi has more than 11 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccines, yet only 76,259 people were inoculated. The minister's tweet comes in response to Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia's allegations where he said that the Centre is exporting COVID-19 vaccines at a time when thousands of Indians are dying.

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PM Modi pens LinkedIn blog titled 'Reforms By Convictions & Incentives';

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday took to global professional networking site LinkedIn and penned a blog post outlining how 'Centre-State Bhagidari' (Cooperative Federalism) helped India in the COVID era. PM Modi's LinkedIn blog, which is titled 'Reforms by Conviction and Incentives', states that despite the economic crunch due to the COVID-19 pandemic which impacted the entire world, the State governments 'raised an extra Rs 1.06 lakh crore in 2020-21'.

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Bihar CM hits back at Paswan for alleging his role in LJP split, calls it 'publicity'

After Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Chirag Paswan alleged that Bihar Chief Minister played a "visible" role in spitting his party, Nitish Kumar on Tuesday clarified that he has no role in it. While stating that this is the internal matter of LJP, the Bihar CM said that Chirag Paswan speaks against him for "publicity". 

This statement by Bihar CM comes after Chirag Paswan said that he is hurt by the BJP's silence while he battles challenges from within his party

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Smriti Irani slams 'Gyani Baba' Rahul Gandhi's COVID White Paper for PM; has 2 questions

Shortly after Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi's searing criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre's handling of the COVID-19 second wave, Union Minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday mocked him as "Gyani Baba" (pejorative - 'wise monk'), who is "dishing out pearls of wisdom" to others. Taking to her official Twitter handle, Smriti Irani said that Rahul Gandhi is trying to impart wisdom to others while not introspecting why states ruled by his party fared poorly amid the pandemic. 

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