LIVE news: Joe Biden taps Senator Kamala Harris as running mate

Sachin Pilot said there should not be any space for personal ill-feelings in politics. Stay tuned with Business Standard for all latest news of the day.

2:33 AM

Joe Biden names Kamala Harris as vice presidential pick

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden on Tuesday tapped Senator Kamala Harris of California as his choice for vice president, his campaign told supporters in a text message.

 

Harris, 55, becomes the first Black woman on a major presidential ticket in US history and providing him with a partner well suited to go on the attack against Republican President Donald Trump.

 

“I have the great honor to announce that I’ve picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country’s finest public servants — as my running mate,” Biden said on Twitter.

1:03 AM

S&P 500 inches closer to record high; Nasdaq down

The S&P 500 was higher on Tuesday afternoon and within striking distance of its closing record from February, before the onset of the coronavirus crisis that caused one of Wall Street's most dramatic crashes in history.

 

The benchmark index was less than 1 per cent away from the all-time closing high it hit on Feb. 19, when investors started dumping shares in anticipation of what proved to be the biggest slump in the US economy since the Great Depression.

 

Ultra-low interest rates, trillions of dollars in stimulus and, more recently, a better-than-feared second-quarter earnings season have allowed all three of Wall Street's main indexes to recover.

1:01 AM

Central Vista project: Three firms qualify for submission of financial bid for new Parliament building

12:31 AM

EU refuses to monitor Venezuelan election, urges delay

The European Union said Tuesday it won't send observers to monitor Venezuela's upcoming congressional election, citing a lack of fair conditions for a vote that could erase the opposition's last major domestic stronghold of power.

 

The government had invited the EU to send an electoral mission, but I have to conclude that conditions are not met, at this stage, for a transparent, inclusive, free and fair electoral process, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement.

 

Still, he welcomed a report that President Nicols Maduro's government and an unspecified sector of the opposition are in talks over possibly delaying the vote, which is now set for Dec. 6.

 

The election will fill seats in the National Assembly now headed by opposition leader Juan Guaid, who the US and more than 50 other nations recognize as the country's legitimate leader. They said Maduro's reelection had been fraudulent.

12:01 AM

Moderate rain in Pune district in next 7 days: IMD

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday predicted light to moderate rain in Pune district in the next seven days.

 

An IMD official said light to moderate rain is very likely in Pune city and its surroundings areas in the next one week.

 

However, isolated heavy rain is likely in the Ghat region of Pune district, he said.

11:43 PM

Watchdog report: Pompeo acted properly in Saudi arms sale

The State Department's internal watchdog has found that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did not act improperly last year when he approved billions of dollars in arms sales to Saudi Arabia without the consent of Congress.

 

The State Department Office of Inspector General concluded in a report released Tuesday that Pompeo had the legal authority to declare an emergency and bypass Congress under the Arms Export Control Act.

 

Republicans joined with Democrats in Congress to oppose the sales, but President Donald Trump, who has made close relations to Saudi Arabia a priority, vetoed resolutions in July 2019 to block the transfers and there were not enough votes to override him.

 

The inspector general report itself has become the focus of congressional scrutiny after former Inspector General Steve Linick, who was removed from his post in May by Trump, testified to Congress that senior State Department officials had sought to block his inquiry.

11:42 PM

UK seeks French muscle to stop migrants crossing Channel

Britain's immigration minister said after meeting with French officials Tuesday that the two countries are looking to put new muscle into their efforts to stop a record number of migrants successfully crossing the English Channel from France to Britain in small boats.

 

Chris Philp said the U.K. and France were working at completely cutting the Channel route with what he called a comprehensive action plan.

 

Philp, who spoke to Sky News, provided no details. There was no comment from the French about Philp's meeting with Interior Ministry officials in Paris. Philp was joined in the talks by Britain's newly appointed Channel threat commander, Dan O'Mahoney. O'Mahoney is to return to France next week to continue talks, Philp said.

11:17 PM

Jairam Ramesh writes to Javadekar, says Draft EIA Notification flawed

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh has accused Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar of "misrepresenting" the implications of the Draft EIA Notification on the country's environmental regulatory framework and its impact on environment.

 

In a letter to Javadekar, Ramesh reiterated his strong objections and said the notification is "fundamentally flawed".

 

Ramesh, a former environment minister, said the Standing Committee met on August 7 and was apprised by officials on the Draft EIA Notification 2020.

 

"I am compelled to say that you are misrepresenting the implications of the Draft EIA Notification, 2020, on our country's environmental regulatory framework and its impact on the environment," Ramesh said, adding that he has read his reply in conjunction with the presentation made by the officials, along with the feedback received from various stakeholders.

11:05 PM

Hong Kong pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai released on bail

11:04 PM

Rahat Indori: Personal was political for rockstar' poet

When I die, write me a different identity, take my blood and write Hindustan on my forehead. That was Rahat Indori, the man of letters whose fiery verse fused the personal and the political and made him a poet for the times.

 

A former professor of Urdu language, National Award-winning lyricist and the soul of poetry gatherings, Indori, who took his name from the city of Indore he lived and died in, breathed his last a day after testing positive for Covid-19.

 

His last Twitter post, just hours earlier, asked people to pray that he defeats the disease as soon as possible.

But that was not to be.

 

The 70-year-old, who appealed to the young and old with his simple, lucid verse that elevated him to almost cult status with a section of the people, has gone, leaving behind a rich legacy in Urdu, the language he loved and taught for many years.

 

He was the man who kept audiences spellbound at mushairas and also on Tik Tok videos with wit, humour and thoughts of inclusive nationalism.

11:03 PM

MLAs in Gehlot camp annoyed after Pilot's return: Mahesh Joshi

Congress legislators in the Ashok Gehlot camp on Tuesday expressed their "annoyance" on the return of Sachin Pilot and other dissident MLAs, a senior party leader said.
 

However, Chief Minister Gehlot said he has faith in the party's high command and their decision. He said the party leadership in Delhi will be apprised of the MLAs' sentiments.
 

"Several MLAs expressed annoyance towards them. The chief minister said he trusts the party high command and their decision. He said there will be no compromise with the interest of any MLA who has stayed with us," Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi said after a Congress Legislature Party meeting Tuesday night.

10:56 PM

India's fuel demand fell 10.8 percent in July

India's fuel demand fell 10.8 per cent in July compared with the same month last year.

 

Consumption of fuel, a proxy for oil demand, totalled 15.68 million tonnes, data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry showed.

 

Sales of gasoline, or petrol, were 10.2 per cent lower from a year earlier at 2.26 million tonnes.

10:55 PM

Boeing: No orders, more cancellations for grounded 737 Max

Boeing sold no airline planes and customers canceled orders for 43 of its 737 Max jet last month as the aircraft maker continued to struggle with both the pandemic and the ongoing grounding of the Max after two deadly crashes.

 

Still, the cancellations reported Tuesday were down from 60 the month before. Boeing shares gained 3% in midday trading.

 

Between cancellations and orders that Boeing no longer considers certain often because of the buyer's fragile financial position Boeing has lost more than 800 net orders so far this year.

10:35 PM

With him, a bit of our past, present and future has died: Irshad Kamil on Rahat Indori

Writer-lyricist Irshad Kamil on Tuesday mourned legendary poet Rahat Indori's death, calling it a loss not only to the world of poetry but also to the country's past, present and future.

Indori passed away following a heart attack on Tuesday. The 70-year-old poet-lyricist was admitted to a hospital on Tuesday morning in Indore after he tested positive for Covid-19.

Kamil, lyricist of films like "Jab We Met", "Love Aaj Kal", "Rockstar" and "Tamasha", said a poet of calibre can reach where even sun can't shine, and Indori was one of them.

"When a shayar (poet) dies, a bit of past, a bit of present and a bit of future also dies. Why? Because a poet of calibre can go to past easily, can talk about present easily and can stroll to future easily. Where even sun can't shine, a poet can reach.

10:34 PM

Paswan pushes for fast-tracking setting up grain storage facilities on railways' surplus land