Republic top 10 headlines: Mamata meets Sonia; Mumbai court rejects Raj Kundra's bail plea

Mamata Banerjee meets Sonia Gandhi

Mamata Bannerjee's 5-day rendezvous in Delhi is turning enough heads around. On Tuesday she met PM Modi and called it a 'courtesy' visit where she discussed COVID-19 and vaccine supply strategy. On Wednesday she met Congress president Sonia Gandhi at 10 Janpath. She is later supposed to meet Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and NCP supremo Sharad Pawar in her inferred bid to unite the Opposition against the BJP on the road to the general elections. 

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LG Manoj Sinha approves transfer of 278 canal lands for return of Kashmiri pandits

The administrative council of Jammu and Kashmir headed by Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha on Wednesday approved the transfer of 278 canal lands in 5 districts for the construction of over 2600 flats as transit accommodation to ensure the return of Kashmiri migrant employees. The land has been transferred to the department of disaster relief rehabilitation and reconstruction under Prime Minister's development package 2015. The estimated cost for the project stands at 356 crores and construction will be done at 7 locations in Kashmir. 

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Kishtwar Cloudburst: PM Modi & Amit Shah assure assistance

In an unfortunate incident in Jammu, on Wednesday, July 28, six dead bodies were recovered as six-eight houses collapsed in the Kishtwar district due to heavy rains. Nearly 30-35 people are missing from the Honzar village of Dachhan tehsil in Kishtwar. Rescue operation is underway. Currently, the Indian Army and State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) from Jammu are conducting rescue operations. But, it has been difficult to continue the same as the road connectivity to the village has been cut off.

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'India-US will be world leaders in ending COVID pandemic': Blinken 

Addressing a joint press conference after his meeting with India's External Affairs Minister Dr. Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that going forward, India and the United States together will be world leaders in bringing this pandemic to an end and will be able to set up a stronger global security system in case another pandemic strikes. Anthony Blinken also highlighted India's assistance at the initial days of the pandemic when the US was struggling due to the alarming rise in COVID-19 infections with its health infrastructure overwhelmed to contain the pandemic. The US Secretary of State is on a visit to India and met PM Narendra Modi, MEA Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval earlier in the day.

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Kerala records 50% of India's daily COVID-19 cases

In a massive surge of COVID-19 infections, Kerala clocked over 20,000 fresh cases accounting for more than 50% of India's daily rise in active cases. India registered 43,654 new cases on Wednesday, more than half of which were contributed by the Pinarayi Vijayan-led state. Even as the nation slowly recovers from a deadly second wave, Kerala has been troubled with a rising infection tally. Recording 22,129 fresh cases in a span of 24-hours, Kerala has also become the first state in more than 50 days to record over 20K cases.

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Centre's SEC allows SII's Covovax to conduct phase 2/3 trials on kids aged 2-17 yrs

In a big boost to India's inoculation drive, the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on Tuesday recommended granting permission to Serum Institute of India (SII) for conducting phase 2/3 trials of COVID-19 vaccine Covovax on children aged 2 to 17 years with certain conditions, official sources said. The trials had previously been denied due to the lack of phase-3 trial data for the age-group. The trials would cover 920 children, 460 each in the age-group of 12-17 and 2-11 across 10 sites. 

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Raj Kundra, Ryan Tharp's bail pleas rejected in porn films case

In a major development, Mumbai's Esplanade Court on Wednesday, July 28 rejected the bail pleas of Raj Kundra and Ryan Tharp in the porn film case. Following the significant update, both the accused will remain in judicial custody for 14 days as earlier directed by the court. The latest development came in response to Kundra's Tuesday plea to the magistrate's court for bail. Kundra's representative had argued that his arrest was illegal as all the other nine accused in the matter were not arrested.

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Anil Deshmukh Case: CBI conducts raids at 12 locations in extortion case

In a significant development, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday conducted a series of raids across Maharashtra in connection with the Anil Deshmukh extortion racket. The raids are taking place at 12 locations across 4 cities in Maharashtra namely-- Mumbai, Ahmednagar, Nashik, and Thane. The searches started yesterday and have continued through the night till Wednesday morning as a part of the probe into the extortion racket. This is by far the biggest crackdown that the CBI has launched in the case.

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Centre says over 2.18 crore unutilized COVID-19 vaccine doses available with states, UTs

Amid the rising COVID-19 cases, over 2.18 crore unused anti-COVID vaccine doses are still available with states, union territories, and private hospitals, as informed by the Central Government on Wednesday.  According to the latest data issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), 46,23,27,530 vaccine doses have been provided to states and UTs so far through all sources, and a further 1,20,70,820 doses are in the pipeline. Of this, the total consumption, including wastages, is 44,29,95,780 doses.

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World's largest sapphire cluster 'accidentally' discovered in Sri Lanka

In an astonishing incident, the world's largest sapphire cluster was discovered in a home backyard in Sri Lanka. On July 27, Tuesday, the stone was dug out in the capital city of Sabaragamuwa Province, Ratnapura. Ratnapura is known as the traditional centre for gem trade. Ever since it was found, the sapphire cluster has been owned by Gamage, a third-generation gem trader. The sapphire cluster has been named "Serendipity Sapphire" by the owner.

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