Live updates: BCI slams Prashant Bhushan, says no one can't ridicule SC

Live news updates: Indian athletes produced a sensational show in Birmingham, claiming 61 medals, including 22 gold, 16 silver and 23 bronze

11:25 PM

Security tightened in Kashmir ahead of Independence Day

Security has been beefed up in Kashmir ahead of Independence Day celebrations with drones, snipers and policemen in plain clothes deployed for surveillance and vehicles being checked at several places, according to officials.

Police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in strength at many places in the city and elsewhere in the Valley to thwart any attempts by militants to disrupt the celebrations, officials said on Saturday.

11:01 PM

Salman Rushdie on ventilator, likely to lose an eye; suspect charged with attempted murder

Salman Rushdie was on a ventilator with damaged liver and may lose an eye after the Mumbai-born controversial author was stabbed in the neck and abdomen by a man who apparently sympathised with Shia extremism and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Rushdie, who faced Islamist death threats for years after writing "The Satanic Verses", was stabbed by a 24-year-old New Jersey resident identified as Hadi Matar, a US national of Lebanese origin, on stage on Friday while he was being introduced at a literary event of the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York.

9:44 PM

Delhi reports 2,031 new cases, 2,260 recoveries, and 9 deaths

9:23 PM

ATF price fall would benefit aviation sector: Scindia

The dip in the air turbine fuel (ATF) price and the continuation of this trend will benefit the aviation sector, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Saturday.

He said the fall in the ATF rates will have a good impact on airlines under pressure.

8:19 PM

'Vibhajan Vibhishika Smriti Diwas': JP Nadda to participate in silent march on Sunday in Delhi

BJP national president JP Nadda to participate in a silent march tomorrow on the occasion of 'Vibhajan Vibhishika Smriti Diwas' from Jantar Mantar to Connaught Place's A Block, ANI reported.

7:25 PM

BCI raps Prashant Bhushan, says no one has authority to ridicule SC, its judges and judiciary

The Bar Council of India has slammed activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan for his recent reported remarks against the judiciary in a webinar, saying no one has the authority to ridicule the Supreme Court and its judges and the Lakshman Rekha' should not be crossed by lawyers.

In a press statement, BCI chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra alleged that people like Bhushan "are misusing the fundamental rights of freedom of speech and expression" and indulging in anti-India tirade.

7:07 PM

Will apprise Centre of demand to restore old pension scheme: HP CM to govt employees

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Saturday assured protesting government employees that he would apprise the Centre of their demand to restore the old pension scheme, an official spokesperson said.

A delegation of the New Pension Scheme Employees Association (NPSEA) called on the chief minister and put forward their various demands.

6:09 PM

Kerala CM lashes out at ED, charges central agency of trying to destroy KIIFB

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday made a scathing attack on the Enforcement Directorate saying its move against the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), the government's special purpose vehicle (SPV), was to scuttle the development programmes initiated by them and thereby check the progress of the state.

While speaking in a party programme here, he said it was with the funds received through the KIIFB that the development programmes are now implemented in the state.

5:25 PM

403 new Covid cases in Odisha

Odisha's Covid-19 tally rose to 13,22,183 on Saturday as 403 more people, including 48 children, tested positive for the infection, a health bulletin said.

The Covid-19 death toll remained at 9,154 as there was no new death. Fifty-three other patients have died due to comorbidities so far, the health department said.

5:20 PM

Airtel gets shareholders' nod for re-appointment of Gopal Vittal as managing director for 5 years

Bharti Airtel's shareholders have approved the re-appointment of Gopal Vittal as managing director of the company for a period of five years with effect from February 1, 2023.

Over 97 per cent of total votes polled were in favour of the resolution, and the same "has been passed with requisite majority", the telco said in a regulatory filing on the outcome of its Annual General Meeting (AGM).