Republic Top 10 Headlines: Ram Mandir controversy, BJP's executive council meeting & more

Kerala CM Wants Centre To Decide On Repatriation Of IS Fighters' Widows In Afghanistan

With families of Islamic State (IS) fighters' widows urging the Kerala government to repatriate them, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday shifted the onus onto the Centre, asserting that Union Government should take a decision on the matter. The four widows of the Islamic State fighters have been languishing in Kabul since their surrender to the Afghanistan forces in December 2019. The four women and their children, natives of Kerala's Kasargod district, had surrendered following the death of their husbands in combat. 

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Congress Demands SC-monitored Probe Into Alleged Inflated Land Deal By Ram Temple Trust

The Congress on Monday demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the allegations of inflated purchase of land for the construction of the grand Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The party said righteousness demands that deals related to the task of temple construction by the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust be clean and fair.

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'Congress High Command Unfaithful': Ruling Rajasthan MLAs Respond To Sachin Pilot's Call

Congress leader Rajendra Gudha, who had defected from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), on Monday asserted that the high command of the party was 'unfaithful' to him. Pointing out that he along with many other MLAs were facing the heat of the Supreme Court in the form of notices that have been served to them, he added that they were in trouble and nobody was concerned or asking about it. He further said that all the MLAs will take a decision on Tuesday, without caring about 'anyone'. The statement of Gudha comes after Sachin Pilot dialed him and other MLAs earlier in the day. 

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Nadda Instructs BJP State Unit Chiefs To Hold Executive Council Meets From June 21 To 30

BJP National President JP Nadda on Monday directed all party state unit chiefs to hold state executive council meetings virtually from June 21 to June 30 to discuss various matters, including the upcoming Assembly polls. Nadda wrote a letter which was addressed to all party unit chiefs, containing a set of instructions for them.

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'Thank You PM Modi': Netanyahu Extends Gratitude For 'great Personal Friendship'

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed "profound gratitude" to Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu who had to step down as Prime Minister after the opposition forged an alliance to oust him. PM Modi expressed gratitude for Netanyahu's leadership and personal attention to India-Israel strategic partnership. The erstwhile Prime Minister of Israel, who has also been the longest-serving prime minister of Israel, returned the gratitude by thanking PM Modi for his great personal friendship and for the strong alliance that the two leaders were able to forge between Israel and India.

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'Missing' Jack Ma's Fortune Tanks Amid China's clampdown; Just Where Is Alibaba's Founder?

Chinese billionaire Jack Ma who was said to be the richest man in China has recorded a steep fall in his fortune within a span of one year, thanks to the communist regime's clampdown. His net worth has nosedived to half in a year from its earlier position where it was operating at a level where only a select few global tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Apple were bigger.

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Italy Takes U-turn On Own Project In China’s 'Belt & Road Initiative'; PM Draghi To Review

In a key development witnessed in the G7 Summit, Italy's (relatively new) Prime Minister Mario Draghi assured that China’s expansionist ‘Belt and Road initiative’ will be assessed carefully. The statement holds relevance as Italy, before PM Draghi took over the office, in a bid to avail certain benefits from China which included the revival of Italy's economy, had endorsed the initiative in 2019. 

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Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath, Who 'beat' Vishwanathan Anand In Chess Match, Admits He Cheated

A day after 'defeating' five-time world chess champion Vishwanathan Anand, Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath issued a public apology, admitting that he had help from 'people analyzing the game and computers', in essence, that he'd cheated. Vishwanathan Anand and Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath had engaged in a charity game on Sunday to raise funds for the COVID-19 battle. While several celebrities played against Anand and faced a similar fate, to everyone's surprise, Nikhil Kamath ended up winning the game against the five-time world champion. 

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ICC Responds Unfavourably On Ravi Shastri's 3-match WTC Final Idea; Points System Changing

As Team India and New Zealand are all set to lock horns in the historic ICC World Test Championship (WTC) Final from June 18, the demand to amend the format of the WTC Final is echoing around the world. In fact, Team India's Head Coach Ravi Shastri in a pre-departure press conference had suggested that a 'best of three finals' would have been ideal to decide the winner of the inaugural Test Championship. Even India's former all-rounder Yuvraj Singh suggested a similar change in the format of the WTC Final. Now, the ICC has responded to the suggestions on the WTC format. 

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'Still Very Much Alive', Claim Kin Of Mizoram's Zionghaka, Refuse To Perform Last Rites

In a shocking turn of events, the family members of Zionghaka, the head of the world's largest family are not ready to bid him final goodbye and claimed that he was "still very much alive". The family has refused to perform the last rites as they claim his body is still warm with a beating pulse. Around 36 hours before the news of Ziona Chana's death surfaced which was confirmed by the Chief Minister of Mizoram, Zoramthanga.

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