Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday said if the BJP or the government engaged Israeli agencies to snoop on journalists, lawyers, activists and politicians, it is a "scandal" with grave ramifications for national security.&nbsp;Her remarks come after WhatsApp said that Indian scribes and human rights activists were among those globally spied upon by unnamed entities using Israeli spyware Pegasus.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday said if the BJP or the government engaged Israeli agencies to snoop on journalists, lawyers, activists and politicians, it is a "scandal" with grave ramifications for national security. Her remarks come after WhatsApp said that Indian scribes and human rights activists were among those globally spied upon by unnamed entities using Israeli spyware Pegasus.

Moments after the Congress party removed him from the post of Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister and state&nbsp;Congress president, rebel&nbsp;Sachin&nbsp;Pilot took to twitter and wrote that &lsquo;truth can be troubled, cannot be defeated&rsquo;.
The 42-year-old leader, who didn&rsquo;t attend a second meeting of Congress legislature party on Tuesday, also&nbsp;changed his twitter bio. The action against, Pilot, who is campaign in the national capital, comes after he also skipped the legislative meet on Monday. Over 100 MLAs&nbsp;had turned up for the meet on Monday, which passed a resolution backing Pilot's rival and chief minister Ashok&nbsp;Ghelot. The Congress after the Monday's meeting had left the door open for Pilot and had requested him to join the Tuesday's meeting in Jaipur.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp; In his changed twitter bio, the former minister at the Centre,&nbsp;has removed the designation of Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister and state&nbsp;president. Besides other information, Pilot&rsquo;s bio now reads that his is an MLA from&nbsp;Tonk.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Pilot&rsquo;s two loyalists&nbsp;Vishvendra&nbsp;Singh, Ramesh Meena have also been dropped from the Gehlot Cabinet. Govind Singh&nbsp;Dotasra&nbsp;has been made Congress state president and will replace Pilot. Hem Singh&nbsp;Shekhawat&nbsp;has taken over as the&nbsp;Sewa&nbsp;Dal state president.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On Monday, the Rajasthan Congress Legislature Party passed a resolution to extend their support to the Ashok Gehlot-led government, which Pilot claimed, has been reduced to a minority.&nbsp;
Rajasthan governor Kalraj Mishra&nbsp;accepted Gehlot's proposal to remove Sachin Pilot as Deputy CM, and Vishvender Singh and Ramesh Meena as ministers, news agency ANI reported.

The Centre has given in-principle approval to construct a strategic tunnel under the Brahmaputra river, Hindi newspaper Hindustan has reported. The four-lane tunnel will link Gohpur and Numaligarh towns in Assam. This is the first time that India will be constructing an under-river tunnel, the report said and it will be close to the Chinese border. It will be longer than the under water tunnel being built by China below the Taihu Lake in Jiangsu province, it further added. The proposed tunnel in India will provide year-long connectivity between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. It will also help in transporting military supplies and ammunition.

Amid the Congress internal trouble, the BJP on Tuesday demanded that CM Ashok Gehlot take a floor test in Rajasthan Assembly to prove the numbers. The Congress numbers are rapidly shrinking reportedly with more defections. Gehlot, who claims to hold the majority, met Governor Kalraj Mishra after the MLAs meet and decision to sack rebel Sachin Pilot as Dy CM. BJP, which has been in wait-and-watch mode till now has now rushed senior leader and in-charge of Rajasthan Om Mathur to Jaipur. The Congress had claimed support of 106 MLAs in the 200 member house after the rebellion, but since then 3 more MLAs have defected to the Pilot camp leaving Gehlot with a slender majority.

Sachin Pilot has been sacked as Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister, said Congress leader Randeep Surjewala&nbsp;on Tuesday. Govind Dotra has been appointed as the new Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Chief.
The move comes after the Congress Legislature Party meeting, where a proposal to remove Sachin Pilot as the state president and to expel rebel MLAs was put forward, which was then sent to the AICC.
Sachin Pilot skipped the Congress Legislature meeting again on Tuesday, despite&nbsp;several senior leaders reached out to him to end his dispute with chief minister Ashok Gehlot but he remained unmoved by the party's overtures since Monday.

Did Congress lobby to help Priyanka Gandhi keep the govt bungalow after she was served a vacation notice? Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Puri on Tuesday tweeted that a senior Congress leader requested him to allot the 35, Lodhi Estate bungalow, where Priyanka lives, to some other Congress MP so that the Congress general secretary&nbsp;can continue to live there.
Responding to minister's revelation, Priyanka Gandhi tweeted that she thank the said Congress leader and the minister for their concerns but the fact remains that she has not made any request.&nbsp;
Puri's tweet came in response to Priyanka Gandhi calling reports of her request for more time vacate as fake news. Priyanka on Tuesday stated that she would vacate the bungalow by August 1 as asked.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development had last week served a notice on her to vacate the said premises before August 1 as she no longer comes under SPG security cover.
"Consequent to withdrawal of SPG protection and grant of Z+ security cover by MHA, which does not provide for allotment or retention of government accommodation on security grounds to you, the allotment of type 6B house No. 35 Lodhi Estate is hereby cancelled wef July 1. One month concession period on same rent till August 1 is allowed as per rules," the Housing Ministry notice had said.

Sachin Pilot removed as Rajasthan Dy CM, state chief

80-year-old Telugu poet and activist Varavara Rao, who is behind bars since 2018 in the Elgaar Parishad case, was taken to state-run JJ hospital on Monday after he complained of dizziness. This comes after last week, Rao moved the Bombay High Court against a special NIA court order rejecting his interim bail plea on medical grounds. The high court will hear the bail plea on July 17.
JJ hospital authorities said that they will run a few tests and decide whether to hospitalise the ailing activist.
Rao&rsquo;s family had demanded that he be shifted to a hospital from the Tajola Central Jail in Navi Mumbai after receiving a call from him on July 11. The family told mediaperons on Sunday said that during the phone call, Rao was unable to speak coherently and spoke about events that had taken place decades ago.
His co-inmates have informed the family that he had been unable to do any of his chores by himself, and was dependent on others in the hospital ward where he was being kept.
In his plea filed before HC last week, Rao had sought interim bail citing ill health and susceptibility to Covid-19 and the setting aside of the NIA court order. The NIA court had also rejected the interim bail plea of other co-accused in the case &mdash; former professor Shoma Sen and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj.

PTI, New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the total number of coronavirus cases in the country will cross the 10 lakh-mark this week.
He had on Monday questioned the Centre&rsquo;s claims on battling COVID-19, asking if India was at a "good position" in the battle against the virus.
"This week, the figure of 10,00,000 will be crossed in our country," Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi. He also tagged a news report quoting the WHO chief who had said that if concrete steps were not taken, the coronavirus situation in the world would turn from bad to worse.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) chief on Monday slammed some government leaders for eroding public trust by sending mixed messages on coronavirus and warned that their failure to stop their countries' spiralling outbreaks meant there would be no return to normal for the foreseeable future.
With 28,498 fresh cases recorded in a day, India's COVID-19 tally sprinted past nine lakh on Tuesday, just three days after it crossed the eight lakh-mark, according to the Union health ministry data.

The Congress MLAs in Rajasthan, who attended the meet called by CM Ashok Gehlot, have demanded removal of rebel Sachin Pilot as deputy CM and as party chief, news agency ANI reported quoting cources. Two ministers who have joined him in his revolt will also be dropped. Sachin Pilot, whose demands reportedly include Chief Ministership, was asked to attend the meeting as surety for his talks with the leadership. The Congress had warned of action against all those who skipped the meeting.
Pilot has, however, remained defiant amid reports that he is in active talks with the BJP. After Ashok Gehlot flaunted over 100 MLAs on Monday, Pilot camp released a video of 15 MLAs who they claimed were with Sachin Pilot.
In the 200-member assembly, the Congress had 107 MLAs and the support of 13 independents and five from smaller parties. That number has now come down to 90 Congress MLAs, seven independent members and five from smaller parties, totalling 102.
One ally, Bhartiya Tribal Party (BTP), which has two MLAs in the Rajasthan assembly, withdrew support from the Congress and asked its members to stay neutral and not align either with Mr Gehlot or Mr Pilot. But there were indications that the MLAs were inclined towards supporting the Chief Minister, if it came to that.

PTI, New Delhi: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday said she would be vacating her government accommodation in Lodhi Estate in Delhi by August 1. She trashed the reports that she had sought more time as "fake news". The government had on July 1 issued an eviction notice to the Congress leader, asking her to vacate the 35, Lodhi Estate bungalow before August 1.
Taking to Twitter, she termed as "Fake news", reports that she has requested the government to grant her extension and that she has been granted one.
"This is FAKE NEWS. I have not made any such request to the government. As per the eviction letter handed to me on the 1st of July, I will be vacating the government accommodation at 35 Lodhi Estate by the 1st of August," she said in a tweet.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development had last week served a notice on her to vacate the said premises before August 1 as she no longer comes under SPG security cover.
"Consequent to withdrawal of SPG protection and grant of Z+ security cover by MHA, which does not provide for allotment or retention of government accommodation on security grounds to you, the allotment of type 6B house No. 35 Lodhi Estate is hereby cancelled wef July 1. One month concession period on same rent till August 1 is allowed as per rules," the Housing Ministry notice had said.

China in its attempt to cover up the number of its soldiers killed in the Galwan clash with the Indian Army is even denying burials for its soldiers, according to a US intelligence assessment. Reports say that Beijing is pressuring the families of soldiers who died in Galwan face off to not conduct burials and in-person funeral ceremonies.
The bloody brawl between Chinese and Indian troops took place on June 15 in which both sides suffered casualties. India, in contrast, accepted that 20 of its soldiers have been martyred in the clash. They are being hailed as heroes.
Even after the one month of the incident, China has still not disclosed how many of its soldiers were killed in the incident.
According to the US intelligence assessment, China is not accepting that its soldiers have been killed in the showdown in order to cover up an episode that Beijing appears to consider a blunder, reported the US News.
The Chinese government has acknowledged the deaths of only a few officers so far. Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including the dead and seriously injured.
American intelligence believes that 35 of the Chinese soldiers were killed in the showdown.

In a diplomatic setback for India, Iran has dropped New Delhi from the Chabahar rail project. The Hindu news paper reported that four years after India and Iran signed an agreement to construct a rail line from Chabahar port to Zahedan, along the border with Afghanistan, the Iranian government has decided to proceed with the construction on its own. Tehran has cited delays from the Indian side in funding and starting the project.
The development comes as China finalises a massive 25-year, $400 billion strategic partnership deal with Iran, which could cloud India&rsquo;s plans.
Officials told The Hindu that the entire project would be completed by March 2022, and that Iranian Railways will proceed without India&rsquo;s assistance, using approximately $400 million from the Iranian National Development Fund.
&nbsp;

PTI, New Delhi: The national capital&nbsp;recorded over 1,200 fresh Covid-19 cases on Monday, taking the city's tally to over 1.13 lakh. Forty deaths in the last 24 hours took the number of fatalities to 3,411, authorities said.
This is the third consecutive day when the national capital has recorded fresh cases in the range of 1,000-2,000.
The health department bulletin said that the total number of cases in the Capital have now reached 1,13,740.
The number of active cases on Monday stood at 19,017, down from 19,155 the previous day.
However, the total number of Covid-19 tests conducted so far in the national capital was revised to 6,92,845, a reduction of over 97,000, according to the bulletin.
The bulletin issued on Sunday stated that a total of 7,89,853 tests had been conducted in the capital.

PTI, New Delhi: A 14-year-old girl was found dead at a boarding school in UP's Noida. Her family has alleged that she was raped, killed and the body cremated without their consent by the institute management, police said on Monday.
 The incident allegedly took place on July 3 at the school in Sector 115 and came to light on Sunday after an uproar on social media, demanding justice for the girl's family, police said.
No case has been registered as there has been no formal complaint yet at the local Sector 49 police station, even as senior officials assured investigation into the incident if the family approached them with any evidence supporting their claim.
However, the family, based in Mahendragarh district of Haryana, has written to their Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, seeking legal action against senior officials of the Noida school.
The Class 10 student's mother has urged people to support them to get "justice", citing weak financial condition of the family.

Continuing with his anti-India tirade, Nepal PM KP Oli on Monday claimed that Lord Ram's birthplace Ayodhya is in Nepal and not in India. The Prime Minister also claimed that Lord Ram is actually Nepali.
Speaking at a cultural programme at his residence, Oli accused India of cultural oppression and encroachment, and said Nepal's contribution to science had been undervalued.
"We still believe we gave Sita to Prince Ram but we gave the prince too, from Ayodhya, not India. Ayodhya is a village a little west of&nbsp;Birgunj (a district in Nepal that is around 135 km from capital Kathmandu)," Prime Minister Oli said.
"We have been oppressed a bit, culturally. Facts have been encroached," he was quoted by Nepali news website Setopati.com, which describes itself as "Nepal's digital newspaper".
According to news agency ANI, which quoted Nepalese media sources, Oli also said: "Real Ayodhya lies in Nepal, not in India. Lord Ram is Nepali not Indian".

After CM&nbsp;Ashok&nbsp;Gehlot's show of strength in Jaipur&nbsp;on Monday, the Sachin&nbsp;Pilot camp released a video of 15 MLAs&nbsp;at a hotel in Haryana's&nbsp;Manesar, who they claim are supporting the deputy&nbsp;CM who has revolted against his own government.&nbsp;
Pilot had claimed that he has the support of 30 MLAs and that the Ashok Gehlot government is in minority. But after 102 MLAs&nbsp;attending CM's&nbsp;meet in Jaipur, there were doubts over the claim. The Congress has now said that there are only 10-12 MLAs&nbsp;with Sachin&nbsp;Pilot.&nbsp;&nbsp;
The 42-year-old rebel leader has been camping in Delhi since Saturday. Unconfirmed reports said he visited Manesar in Haryana on Monday morning. Pilot's aides have not denied a dialogue with the BJP, though they said the negotiations are not active. Mr Pilot, however, denied reports of an impending switch.

Amid a&nbsp;deepening&nbsp;political crisis in Rajasthan, the ruling Congress has called for a second legislative party meet on Tuesday. Congress leader&nbsp;Randeep&nbsp;Singh Surjewala, who along with other senior party leaders, was dispatched to&nbsp;Jaipur on Monday, held a second press conference and said that that the key meeting of the lawmakers will be held ar 10 am.&nbsp;&nbsp;
 &ldquo;To discuss political situation another Congress Legislative Party (CLP) meet will be held here at 10 am tomorrow. We request&nbsp;Sachin&nbsp;Pilot &amp; all MLAs to come, we&rsquo;ll also give them in writing. We&rsquo;ve requested them to come &amp; discuss the situation,&rdquo; Surjewala&nbsp;&nbsp;said.&nbsp;
On Monday, the Rajasthan Congress Legislature Party passed a resolution to extend their support to the Ashok Gehlot-led government, which Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot claimed, has been reduced to a minority.&nbsp;

New Delhi (PTI): Nineteen states and union territories have a Covid-19 recovery rate higher than the national average of 63.02 per cent, the Centre said on Monday, asserting that coordinated steps taken by it along with state governments have contributed to a &lsquo;gradual surge&rsquo; in the recovery of patients.&nbsp;
It also said that there are 30 states and union territories (UTs) that have a fatality rate lower than the national average of 2.64 per cent.&nbsp;
The norms and standards for home isolation care along with use of oximeters have also helped to keep a check on asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic patients without burdening the hospital infrastructure, the Union health ministry said in a statement.&nbsp;
"The series of pro-active, pre-emptive and coordinated steps taken by the Centre and the state governments for containment and prevention of COVID-19 has contributed to a gradual surge in COVID-19 recovery," the ministry said.&nbsp;
Aggressive testing coupled with timely diagnosis has led to identifying COVID-affected patients before they progress into an advanced stage of the disease, it said.&nbsp; Effective implementation of containment zones and surveillance activities ensured that the rate of infection stays under control, the ministry said.&nbsp;
The states and UTs having a recovery rate higher than the national average include Ladakh (85.45 per cent), Delhi (79.98 per cent), Uttarakhand (78.77 per cent), Chhattisgarh (77.68 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (76.59 per cent), Haryana (75.25 per cent), Chandigarh (74.6 per cent), Rajasthan (74.22 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (73.03 per cent) and Gujarat (69.73 per cent).&nbsp;
Tripura (69.18 per cent), Bihar (69.09 per cent), Punjab (68.94 per cent), Odisha (66.69 per cent), Mizoram(64.94 per cent), Assam (64.87 per cent), Telangana (64.84 per cent), Tamil Nadu (64.66 per cent) and Uttar Pradesh (63.97 per cent) also have a recovery rate higher than the national average.&nbsp;

Mumbai |&nbsp;PTI:&nbsp;Maharashtra recorded 6,497 new cases of Covid-19, taking its tally to 2,60,924 on Monday, while 193 more patients succumbed to the infection, 47of them in Mumbai, the state health department said.&nbsp;
With 193 fresh deaths, thetoll rose to 10,482, said a statement from the health department.&nbsp;Also, 4,182 people were discharged from hospitals in the state, pushing up the number of recoveries to 1,44,507, the statement added.
There are 1,05,935 active cases in the state, where so far 13,42,792people have been tested for coronavirus, it said.&nbsp;Out of the total 193 deaths, 47were reported from Mumbai, which also accounted for 1,158 of the total cases recorded in the last 24 hours.
With this, the case tally in Mumbai rose to 94,146, while the death toll increased to 5,335.&nbsp;The statement said recovery rate in the state was 55, that is 38 per cent, while the case fatality rate was 4.02 per cent.
Currently, 6,87,353 people are in home quarantine and 41,660 in institutional quarantine.&nbsp;Out of the total 6,497 new cases in the state, Pune city accounted for 564 and Aurangabad city 110.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), including Mumbai city, accounted for the highest 3,807 cases, taking the tally to 1,76,867, while the death toll rose to 7,398.&nbsp;Out of the total 193 fatalities, 117 occurred in the MMR which includes areas of districts adjoining Mumbai.
In the MMR, Thane city and Kalyan-Dombivali, the two satellite cities which are among the worst-hit areas, saw their count rising to 15,110 and 15,105 cases, respectively.&nbsp;Kalyan-Dombivali registered 494 new cases, while Nashik city recorded 148 fresh infections.
Pimpri-Chinchwad in Pune district logged 367 new cases.&nbsp;Jalgaon district saw 179 new cases, Aurangabad district 105 and Jalna district recorded 100 fresh infections, the statement said.

Kottayam, (PTI):&nbsp;A local court on Monday cancelled the bail granted to Bishop Franco&nbsp;Mulakkal, accused of raping a nun in Kerala, for failing to appear for the trial in the case and issued a Non Bailable Warrant against him.&nbsp;The Bishop was not present in the Additional Sessions Court during the hearing.&nbsp;&nbsp;
 Mulakkal's&nbsp;counsel informed the court that his client could not appear as he had been in self quarantine due to his primary contact with a Covid-19 infected person.&nbsp;During the previous hearing on July 1 also he had failed to appear before the Court.&nbsp;&nbsp;
The prosecution on Monday countered the claim by the accused, saying the place where he lived in Jalandhar was not a Covid-19 containment zone on July 1.&nbsp;&nbsp;
The Kerala High Court on July 7 had dismissed a petition seeking to discharge&nbsp;Mulakkal&nbsp;from the sexual assault case filed against him by the nun.&nbsp;
The rape case against the Bishop was registered by police in Kottayam district.&nbsp;
In her complaint to the police in June 2018, the nun had alleged that she was subjected to sexual abuse by the Bishop between 2014 and 2016.&nbsp;
The bishop, who was arrested by the Special Investigation team which probed the case, has been charged with wrongful confinement, rape, unnatural sex and criminal intimidation.&nbsp; &nbsp;

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