Breaking News Live June 9: 13 shops gutted in Poonch blaze; J&K administration initiates rehabilitation measures

Congress on Tuesday slammed the BJP after nomination papers of Meenakshi Natarajan, the party's candidate for Rajya Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh, were rejected, with a Congress delegation also going to meet the Election Commission over the issue.

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said that rejecting Meenakshi Natarajan's "nomination to the Rajya Sabha is a blatant attempt by the BJP to destroy the democratic process in a clandestine manner".

"The allegation of any error or non-disclosure in her nomination is complete humbug and a desperate attempt to snatch a seat from the INC. They stooped so low as to reject her nomination when they realised that their dirty tricks to compromise our INC MLAs is going to fail," he said in a post on X.

"This shows the BJP's hollow commitment to the Constitution and democracy. At every step of the way, they are hell-bent on Vote Chori - one way or another. We will not take this daylight robbery of democracy lying down, and will fight this legally as well as politically on the streets tooth-and-nail," he added.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, who was among the party leaders who reached the Election Commission, said that they wanted to submit a petition to the Election Commission.

He accused the poll body of "deliberating stopping" the party delegation and said he had never seen something like this.

"We have come here to submit a petition. Our candidate has been disqualified. We just want to submit our petition to the Election Commission...Why can't I sit in the waiting room? I have been a Member of Parliament for over 35 years. I have been waiting here for over 10 minutes. You are deliberately stopping us. I have never seen anything like this," he said.

The polling for Rajya Sabha biennial elections is slated to take place on June 18.

In this meeting, committee to hear the views of the secretary, department of health and family welfare (ministry of health and family welfare) and the secretary, department of higher education (ministry of education) alongwith senior officers of National Medical Commission and National Testing Agency on ‘Conduct of NEET examinations under NMC Act, 2019’ as part of detailed examination of the subject ‘Organizational Structure, Mandate and Functional Proficiency of Regulatory Institutions pertaining to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Singh Sandhu on Tuesday directed departments to expand mobile relief vans and cooling centres across Delhi, directing agencies to work as a single team to ensure swift public relief amid the heatwave.

LG Sandhu headed a review meeting with chief minister Rekha Gupta on the roll out of the heat wave action plan.

The LG and the CM pointed out that since Delhi has a massive population across 13 districts, having just one mobile relief van per district may not be enough.

According to an official statement, LG Sandhu has directed departments to increase the number of Mobile Relief Vans and cooling centres and deployed them in areas having heavier presence of vendors and homeless, labour, people on streets for livelihood reasons and in markets with the heavy footfall.

Sandhu also explicitly highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's direction to focus on long-term urban cooling to create lasting relief solutions for the capital to combat the "Urban Heat Island" effect.

"He directed all agencies to work seamlessly as a single team with the sole objective of serving the public and delivering immediate relief," officials said.

CM Gupta also directed officials to ensure extra caution during employee shift changes at cooling centres so that public service remains uninterrupted.

She emphasised that all water pots, coolers, and containers must be refilled immediately so that no citizen finds them empty at any point.

A day after an opposition INDIA bloc meeting stressed unity and better coordination among the alliance partners, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday met senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi at her 10, Janpath residence.

Sources said the two leaders are learnt to have discussed the strategy between the two parties going forward after the opposition bloc meeting, and following an exodus of Trinamool members after the party's defeat to the BJP in the recent Bengal polls.

The meeting followed after Gandhi, the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party, and Banerjee met each other warmly with a hug at the opposition bloc's meeting here on Monday.

The Congress shared pictures of the bonhomie between the two leaders.

The meeting comes in the wake of a rebellion within the Trinamool, with several party MPs deciding to form a separate group and align with the ruling NDA.

A majority of Trinamool’s 80 MLAs have already formed a separate group led by Ritabrata Banerjee as the leader of opposition in the state Assembly.

This was the first closed-door meeting between Banerjee and Gandhi after Trinamool's defeat in the polls, and alleged attacks on party workers and MP Abhishek Banerjee after the elections.

Indonesia's central bank announced a surprise 25-basis-point interest rate hike Tuesday, citing "high global volatility".

More than a week before its next monthly monetary policy meeting, officials lifted borrowing costs to 5.5 percent, following an unexpected 50-point increase last month aimed at stabilising the weakening rupiah and battling inflation.

The five-day Shimla Summer Festival commenced at the historic Ridge Ground, attracting large numbers of tourists and local residents.

Himachal Pradesh Governor Kavinder Gupta inaugurated the annual event and urged visitors to adhere to administrative guidelines to ensure a safe and pleasant experience in the hill station. Addressing the gathering during the opening cultural evening, Gupta described the festival as a significant platform for promoting Himachal Pradesh’s rich culture, traditions and heritage. He also congratulated elected representatives, the Shimla Municipal Corporation and the district administration for successfully organising the event.

Taiwan’s ministry of national defence said it detected one sortie of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, six People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels and nine official Chinese ships operating around the island up to 6 a.m. local time.

According to the MND, the aircraft entered Taiwan’s southeastern Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ). The ministry said Taiwan’s armed forces closely monitored the activity and took appropriate measures in response to the developments. The latest incursion comes amid continuing military and maritime operations by China in areas surrounding Taiwan.

India strongly criticised Pakistan at the United Nations, describing Islamabad’s use of the term “Fitna al-Hindustan” for groups operating within its own territory as “officially sponsored misinformation and disinformation dressed in religious terminology.”

Speaking during a UN Security Council meeting on the situation in Afghanistan, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Harish Parvathaneni, said Pakistan was attempting to shift blame for its internal challenges through a misleading narrative. The remarks marked a sharp diplomatic rebuke as India accused Pakistan of promoting disinformation under the guise of religious rhetoric.

District Development Commissioner (DDC) Poonch Ashok Sharma, along with senior police officials, visited Bufliaz village to assess the damage caused by a fire that gutted 13 shops on June 7.

Sharma said the affected shops were the primary source of livelihood for their owners and that the administration was working to facilitate their rehabilitation. Referring to directions issued by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, he said support would be provided for the rehabilitation and livelihood of those impacted. Officials conducted an on-ground assessment of the losses and reviewed measures to assist shop owners in coordination with the Public Works Department and other concerned departments.

Union steel minister HD Kumaraswamy announced a compensation package of Rs 25 lakh for the families of those killed in the accident at the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and for workers currently undergoing treatment.

He said the assistance would be extended to both regular employees and outsourced workers, in addition to insurance, provident fund, gratuity and other statutory benefits. The minister also announced permanent employment for one family member of each affected household, free education for children of the victims, and permanent allotment of company housing to bereaved families.

Kumaraswamy said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had approved additional assistance of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured through the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund. He added that affected families could receive around Rs 38 lakh in total benefits, including insurance and other entitlements. To determine the cause of the accident and recommend safety measures, the Centre has constituted a three-member expert committee drawn from other steel plants, which will visit the site on Wednesday and submit a detailed report.