Republic Top 10 Headlines: New charges on Mehul Choksi, Mansukh Hiren murder case & more

Assam Congress MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi To Join BJP; Blames Rahul Gandhi's Poor Leadership

Just a month after BJP retained power in Assam, Congress MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi on Friday resigned from his post as Mariana LAC MLA. Handing over his resignation to the Speaker, he alleged that he had lost faith in Rahul Gandhi's leadership and the party's reluctance to give priority to young leaders. Kurmi along with several others from Congress are set to join BJP in the presence of CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday. Kurmi has been expelled by Congress for 'anti-party actvities'.

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Mehul Choksi Slapped With New Charges As Mumbai Court Takes Cognizance Of CBI Charge Sheet

In further trouble for Mehul Choksi, a Mumbai court took cognizance of the supplementary charge sheet submitted by the CBI in the PNB scam case on June 10. Moreover, he has also been booked under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) and 477-A (falsification of accounts) of the Indian Penal Code. This comes as the fugitive is fighting his deportation to India from Dominican soil, where he was detained for "illegal entry".

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Lancet Panel Proposes 8 COVID Recommendations To Centre: Free Vaccines, Data Transparency

As India's second deadly COVID-19 wave subsides, 21 members of the Lancet Citizens' Commission on Reimagining India's Health System proposed eight recommendations on Thursday to Central and state governments to tackle COVID-19. These recommendations include decentralised essential health services, transparent national pricing policy, evidence-based information dissemination, free vaccines for all and cash transfers. Currently, India has 7,98,656 active cases, 2,85,80,647 recovered cases and 3,83,490 fatalities.

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NIA Probes Red SUV Allegedly Used For Mansukh Hiren's Murder; Crucial DNA Samples Found

In another sensational development in the Vazegate scandal and the Mansukh Hiren murder case, the NIA has unearthed a red SUV in which the late businessman was allegedly strangled to death in March. According to the investigation agency, crucial DNA samples have been detected in the red Tavera car which is proving to be the clincher in the case. 

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BJP Accuses SP Of Trying To Communalise Ghaziabad Incident To Win 2022 Uttar Pradesh Polls

Weighing in on the progress in the probe into the Ghaziabad incident, BJP leader and Uttar Pradesh Minister Sidharth Nath Singh lashed out at Samajwadi Party. This comes days after SP leader Ummed Pahalwan Idrisi was slapped with an FIR after he appeared in a Facebook Live alongside Abdul Samad Saifi who claimed that he was assaulted, his beard was forcibly cut and asked to chant slogans of Jai Shri Ram on June 6. Addressing the media on Thursday, Singh alleged that the Akhilesh Yadav-led party was trying to create communal tension to win the 2022 Uttar Pradesh election. 

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Calcutta HC Defers Hearing Mamata Banerjee's Plea Against Nandigram Poll Result To June 24

Prolonging the Mamata-Suvendu battle, the Calcutta High Court deferred hearing CM Mamata Banerjee's plea challenging the Nandigram poll verdict where she lost to her former aide by 1,737 votes. The hearing is now scheduled on June 24. To remain West Bengal CM, Banerjee has already decided to contest from her bastion Bhowanipore, making MLA Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay resigned from the seat, triggering by-elections.

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Karnataka BJP Crisis: MLC Alleges 'Yediyurappa's Son Taking Kickbacks'; CM Denies Claims

Doubling down on his corruption allegations against Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa's son Vijayendra, BJP MLC H Vishwanath on Friday alleged that Vijayendra was taking 10% kickbacks in a Rs 20,000 crore Irrigation project. Stating that the state BJP vice-president had admitted to sending kickbacks to Central BJP leaders, Vishwanath said that BJP in-charge denied such claims when confronted by him.  Calling for Yediyurappa to step down as CM, Vishwanath alleged that all ministers were unhappy with the CM, vouching for a 'true Lingayat leader' to replace the 78-year old CM.

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WTC Final, IND Vs NZ Live Score Updates: IPL Teams Mark Day 1 Of Inaugural WTC Final

India and New Zealand are all set to lock horns today to play the inaugural edition of the World Test Championship final in Southampton. 

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Education Min Assures Aid To COVID-orphaned Children To Ensure Education Continuity

On Friday, June 18, Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Union Cabinet Minister for Education, took to Twitter and announce that the Department of School Education & Literacy, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Women and Child Development are determined to provide the necessary support to children who lost one or both the parents to COVID-19. Several hundreds of cases of COVID-19 orphaned children in the country stare at an uncertain future.

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India Reports 62,480 Fresh COVID-19 Cases And 1,587 Deaths, Active Cases Dip Below 8 Lakh

According to the Union Health Ministry, India reported 62,480 new COVID-19 cases and 1,587 fatalities on Friday, June 18, bringing the total number of cases and deaths to 2.97 crore and 3.83 lakh, respectively, with a daily positive rate of 3.24 percent. It also stated that India's weekly positivity rate has dropped to 3.80%. The number of infectious cases in India has fallen to 7.98 lakh for the first time in 73 days, according to the Health Ministry, with 2.85 crore patients recovering from the infection, bringing the country's recovery rate to 96.03 percent.

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