Governor N N Vohra today forwarded his report to President Ram Nath Kovind for imposition of Governor's rule in Jammu and Kashmir after the Bharatiya Janata Party pulled out of the coalition government and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti tendered her resignation. 

The Centre may appoint a new governor in Jammu and Kashmir after the Amarnath yatra, which starts on June 28 and will continue for two months, a senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader said today.

Mehbooba Mufti's tenure as Jammu and Kashmir chief minister came to an abrupt end today with a call from Governor N N Vohra, who informed  her that the Bharatiya Janata Party had pulled out of its alliance with the People's Democratic Party, officials said.

Two unidentified terrorists, belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), are believed to have been killed in an encounter with the security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir today, police said.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi said today that the 'opportunistic Bharatiya Janata Party-People's Democratic Party alliance' set fire to Jammu and Kashmir, killing many innocent civilians and brave soldiers, and that the damage would continue even if the state was put under central rule.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal writes to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requesting him to urgently meet the officers in the Secretariat so that apprehensions and concerns of both sides can be suitably addressed through a dialogue in the best interest of the people of Delhi, says a Raj Niwas press release.

@OmarAbdullah She was cutting ribbons while the BJP was cutting her legs out from under her. How I wish she had left with her head held high & her dignity intact! She was J&K's CM, not of the BJPDP.

@OmarAbdullah She was cutting ribbons while the BJP was cutting her legs out from under her. How I wish she had left with her head held high & her dignity intact! She was J&K's CM, not of the BJPDP.

Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal has written to CM Arvind Kejriwal and requested him to urgently meet the officers in the Secretariat so that apprehensions and concerns of both sides can be suitably addressed through dialogue in the best interest of the people of Delhi: Raj Niwas press release

Mehbooba Mufti is now holding her press conference. The J-K CM has given in her resignation to Governor NN Vohra.

"I have given in my resignation to the Governor Vohra. We didnt form the alliance for power. Muscular policy does not work, this isn't enemy territory. We thought the alliance would benefit J&K. I have told the governor we do not want to explore any other alliance.

She then gives a listicle on the achievements of her government.

"I am not shocked. We didn't do this alliance for power. This alliance had a bigger motive- unilateral ceasefire, PM's visit to Pakistan, withdrawal of cases against 11,000 youth. We came into the alliance to attempt a reconciliation.

There was no rancor against the BJP, when she said the BJP withdrew from the alliance, and that was their decision.

NC chief Omar Abdullah's press conference. Excerpts.


"I met Governor NN Vohra. I told him that National conference didn't receive mandate to form govt in 2014 and we don't have mandate in 2018 also. We haven't been approached and we aren't approaching anyone.

I have told Governor that since no party has the mandate to form government, he will have to impose Governor rule in the state.


We are not approaching anyone. I'm not in the habit of offering support to parties that don't want it. We are not celebrating this break-up. We are mourning the demise of democracy in the state. We want that in the earliest available opportunity the people should be given a chance to decide on a future government for themselves.

We create a climate conducive for elections so people can elect their own government.


Not for me to speculate what it was that broke the camel's back.

I just wish Mehbooba Mufti had left with some dignity in tact, that she had chosen to go and not being let go. The BJP pulled out the mat from under her.


I was expecting the coalition to fall apart, but not quite so soon. The time of pulling out is surprising. If the security situation is suffering then both these parties together are responsible for it, not just the PDP."

Arvind Kejriwal has a point. @ArvindKejriwal tweets: Didn't BJP tell us that demonetisation had broken the back of terrorism in Kashmir? Then what happened?

Six Byculla women's jail staffers charged with murder, criminal conspiracy and other sections for the alleged murder of inmate Manjula Shetye last year. All six plead not guilty before the sessions court.

The six jail staffers had been placed under suspension and police had registered a case under IPC section 302 (murder) against them. The staffers are jailer Manisha Pokharkar and guards Bindu Naikode, Waseema Shaikh, Sheetal Shegaokar, Surekha Gudve and Aarti Shingane. The Mumbai police crime branch has taken over the probe into Shetye's death. 

Jammu & Kashmir National Conference leader Omar Abdullah mmets Governor NN Vohra, say reports. The NC chief will hold a press conference at 4 pm, an hour before the PDP's conference.


Mehbooba will meet the governor shortly.


Reactions:

Shiv Sena: "The alliance was anti-national and natural. Our party chief had said this alliance won't work out. Had they continued with it they would have had to answer in the 2019 Lok Sabha election."


Congress: "When the BJP had formed the government in J&K, we had told the PM that it will be a Himalayan mistake. We have been proven right. After ruining the state in the last three years, they are now breaking the alliance. It is a total failure on the part of the govt of India. The Centre cannot shy away from the responsibility... There is no question of forming government with the PDP."


Here's the seat distribution in the 89-seat J-K Assembly.

28: PDP
25: BJP
NC: 15
CONG: 12
Others: 9

89 SEAT

Arvind Kejriwal @ArvindKejriwal After ruining it, BJP pulls out of Kashmir

Reports say that Mehbooba Mufti has tendered her resignation as J-K CM. She will meet Governor NN Vohra shortly. The governor can ask her to continue as caretaker CM till the new government is formed. The PDP has called for a meeting at 4 pm.

PDP statement: "We tried our best to run the govt with BJP. This had to happen. This is a surprise for us because we did not have any indication about their decision: Rafi Ahmad Mir, PDP Spokesperson.


We will talk in detail at 5pm, meanwhile she (Mehbooba Mufti) has submitted her resignation (as J&K CM) to the Governor, says PDP's Naeem Akhtar.


Meanwhile, the Congress rules out lending support the PDP. 

Reports say that Mehbooba Mufti tenders her resignation to J&K Governor NN Vohra.The governor can ask her to continue as caretaker CM till the new government is formed.

BJP National General Secretary Ram Madhav's press conference on the decision to pullout of its alliance with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir.


"It has become untenable for the BJP to continue with the alliance with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir.  We had formed the government in the state in 2014, but it was a fractured mandate. The PDP had got the majority of votes and after four months of discussion we decided to join hands with the PDP with a common minimum programme. We thought government will last for five years.

"We had to respect the mandate of the people. If we would not have formed govt at that time, Governor's rule or Presidential rule would have been imposed in the Valley. We had an alliance with them just for the mandate that was given by people


"We had formed government with the agenda of restoring peace in the Kashmir Valley, encouraging development in Ladakh, the Kashmir Valley and Jammu.

"Terrorism, violence and radicalisation have risen and fundamental rights of the citizens are under danger in the Valley. Shujaat Bukhari's killing is an example. He was killed in broad daylight in Srinagar and the culpirts have not been caught. Growing terrorist activity is a concern.

"Keeping in mind the larger interest of India's security and integrity, fact is that J&K is an integral part of India, in order to bring control over the situation prevailing in the state we have decided  that the reins of power in the state be handed over to the Governor.

"We must accept that the state government has failed. The suspension of anti-terror was a goodwill gesture not a sign of weakness.

"The Centre did everything for the Valley. We've tried to put a full-stop to the ceasefire violations by Pak. PDP has not been successful in fulfilling its promises. Our leaders have been facing a lot of difficulties from PDP in developmental works in Jammu & Ladakh.

"Even if Governor rule is imposed in the Jammu & Kashmir, our efforts to fight terrorism will continue."


Omar Abdullah tweets, And so it has come to pass........


Reports say that Jammu and Kashmir CM Mehbooba Mufti has handed in her resignation.

Just in: The BJP has pulled out of its alliance with the PDP in Jammu and Kashmir.

Just this morning NSA chief Ajit Doval met BJP president Amit Shah at his residence in New Delhi. All BJP ministers in the Jammu and Kashmir government were also summoned to New Delhi today for a meeting with Shah.

J-K is now headed for governor's rule.

Reports said that the meeting was organised following the Centre's decision that ceasefire would not be extended in Jammu and Kashmir after Ramzan. According to reports, ministers were summoned to the state to review the functioning of the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir.

The PDP and the BJP alliance has been uneasy to begin with since they are ideologically different.

BJP spokesperson Ram Madhav is now holding a press conference on the decision to pull out of the alliance.

New Delhi political circles are speculating that the Centre's special representative for Jammu and Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, will be appointed the next governor of the state.


There have been meetings aplenty taking place in South Block and the the visit of NSA chief Ajit Doval to BJP chief Amit Shah's residence in New Delhi this morning, is significant coming on the back of the fact that tenure of incumbent governor NN Vohra is ending on June 25.


Kashmir seems to be top-of-mind for the PM as well, who spoke to the BJP president for close to 15 minutes this morning. 

Children must not be traumatised by being separated from their parents, UN chief Antonio Guterres has said amid a growing backlash over US President Donald Trump's hardline immigration policy which has resulted in the separation of hundreds of migrant families.


The Trump administration's zero tolerance policy seeks prosecution for any adult crossing the southern border illegally.


The number of separations has jumped since early May, when Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that all migrants illegally crossing the US border with Mexico would be arrested, regardless of whether the adults were seeking asylum.


Since children cannot be sent to the facilities where their parents are held, they are separated, "As a matter of principle, the Secretary-General believes that refugees and migrants should always be treated with respect and dignity, and in accordance with existing international law," a statement issued by Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric said yesterday.


"Children must not be traumatized by being separated from their parents. Family unity must be preserved," the statement added. The Secretary General defended the rights of migrant and refugee children, but did not single out the US. -- PTI

The government has decided not to go ahead with Air India stake sale in an election year and will provide required funds for its operations, a senior official said today.


The decision comes less than 3 weeks after the proposed 76 per cent strategic stake sale in debt laden national carrier failed to attract any bidder. Air India will very soon get funds from the government for its day to day operations and will even place orders for a couple of aircraft, the government official said.


The decision was taken at the high level meeting convened by Union Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday. The meeting was attended by Piyush Goyal, who has been temporarily given the charge of finance ministry, Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and other senior officials of finance and civil aviation ministries.


"The airline is posting operational profits. None of the flights go empty. With all the cost efficient mechanism in place, we will continue improving its operational efficiency. There is no need to rush in for disinvestment as of now," the official told PTI. The government is looking at turning around the company to ensure that it makes profits on overall basis before going in for listing. -- PTI

Did Varun Gandhi just score a self goal?


The BJP MP expressed concern over "dynastic approaches" in various important areas, including politics, and said it was closing the doors of opportunity for the common man.


He was addressing an event on 'The road to India's Future: Opportunities and Challenges', organised by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industries in Bengaluru, yesterday.


"How do we open the doors to more people in politics? Everybody knows that politics has dynastic approaches. There are certain families in every state, district, and country that are prominent. It is unfortunate, but true," he said.


The BJP MP lamented that no important sector was devoid of this phenomenon. Gandhi said if one today looked at the film industry, sports fraternity, politics and industry, almost all doors were closed to the common man.


"If you are a talented young person growing up in a small town and you have immense talent and courage, ability what will you do? Sometimes it is just wasted. It saddens me," said Gandhi who hails from the Nehru family.


He, however, admitted that he would not have grown politically if he had not come from a political dynasty.  -- PTI


Image: Varun Gandhi at the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Bangalore yesterday. Courtesy: @varungandhi80 Twitter account.

Two District Reserve Guard personnel were injured in an encounter with Naxals in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district, the police said today. The face-off took place last night in a forest near Tamora village when a team of DRG was conducting a search operation along the border of Kanker and Narayanpur districts, a senior police official told PTI.


The DRG squad had received a tip-off following which it launched the operation in the forest last evening, he said. When the patrolling team was cordoning off the forest area near Tamora, a gun-battle took place between the security personnel and ultras, the official said. After a prolonged exchange of fire, the rebels fled into the core forest area, he said. 

Separatist leaders have called for a complete shutdown in Kashmir tomorrow against the killings of journalist Shujaat Bukhari and civilians, gunned down by security forces in the past few days.


The Joint Resistance Leadership, an amalgamation of separatist groups, said in a statement today that there had been a sudden spike in civilian killings since the eve of Eid. It also demanded an international probe into Bukhari's killing.


"Joint Resistance Leadership has called for a complete strike tomorrow against the continued civilian killings in the valley, which has witnessed a sudden spike since the eve of Eid... three young boys have been brutally gunned down by the Indian forces while the fourth is struggling for life at SKIMS," the statement said.


He said the strike will also be observed against the brutal killing of Bukhari, who was shot dead along with his two personal guards outside his office on June 14 by unknown gunmen.


"JRL demands an international probe into this gruesome murder," a JRL spokesperson said in the statement. He said cordon and search operations had returned with a vengeance to the villages as people were being severely beaten and harassed and used as human shields. -- PTI


Image: Mourners at Shujaat Bukhari's funeral on Friday.

Amnesty International has slammed the Trump administration for its immigration policy that splits families. Attorney General Jeff Sessions had announced the "zero-tolerance policy for criminal illegal entry" on 6 April 2018. Since the policy came into effect, more than 2,000 children have been separated from their parents or legal guardians at the US border.


In a statement, Amnesty says, "The sickening images of children cruelly separated from their parents and held in cages as a result of Attorney General Jeff Sessions' policy of 'zero-tolerance' will leave an indelible stain on the reputation of the USA, said Amnesty International today.


"This is a spectacularly cruel policy, where frightened children are being ripped from their parent's arms and taken to overflowing detention centres, which are effectively cages. This is nothing short of torture. The severe mental suffering that officials have intentionally inflicted on these families for coercive purposes, means that these acts meet the definitions of torture under both US and international law," said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International's Americas Director.


"There is no question that President Trump administration's policy of separating mothers and fathers from their children is designed to impose severe mental suffering on these families, in order to deter others from trying to seek safety in the USA. Many of these families come from countries experiencing generalized violence and grave human rights violations, including Honduras and El Salvador. This is a flagrant violation of the human rights of these parents and children and is also a violation of US obligations under refugee law."

Madhya Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel has directed all state universities and colleges to observe International Yoga Day slated to be held on June 21.


The educational institutions have been directed to send photographs of the preparations of the event, the names of the participating students and teachers and a CD of the function to the Raj Bhawan till 4 pm on Tuesday, as per a circular.


Further, all universities and colleges have been ordered to hold seminars, competitions, debates and other events on International Yoga Day.

As it may be recalled, Patel used to be Gujarat CM.


On a similar note, West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi issued a similar circular earlier this month directing vice-chancellors of all state universities to observe International Yoga Day.In 2014, an international day for yoga was declared unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) accepting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposal for the same. -- ANI


Image: Anandiben Patel with PM Modi. File pic

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and his colleague Satyendar Jain, who were on a hunger strike at the lieutenant governor's office and hospitalised after their health deteriorated, were discharged from the LNJP Hospital today, an official said.


Health Minister Jain was admitted to the hospital on Sunday night after his condition had deteriorated. Sisodia was rushed to the hospital around 3 pm yesterday after the ketone level in his urine rose sharply and his sugar level dropped. Medical Superintendent of the LNJP Hospital J C Passey said, "Both the ministers were discharged around 10 am. Their health parameters, including ketone level in urine are normal now." -- PTI

American fashion designer and businesswoman Kate Spade will be laid to rest on Thursday in her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri.


The funeral Mass will take place at the same church where her grandparents were married, reports E! Online.


Instead of flowers, the family has requested donations to Kansas City's largest no-kill animal shelter and pet adoption campus.


The 55-year-old was found dead in her apartment in New York on June 5.


Her death was later ruled a suicide by hanging."We are all devastated by today's tragedy," her family said in a statement at the time. "We loved Kate dearly and will miss her terribly. We would ask that our privacy be respected as we grieve during this very difficult time." -- ANI

App blamed for circulating false information in India, Brazil, Kenya and now the UK. Read the report here.

I had the resources to survive a campaign of online hate -- but other reporters have been far less fortunate, writes Rana Ayyub, Read the column here.

In March this year, Irrfan Khan posted a tweet that shockingly announced that he had been diagnosed with a rare disease. The actor was diagnosed with high-grade neuroendocrine cancer.


The acclaimed Bollywood actor who has also straddled Hollywood has moved base to the UK for treatment.


Three months on, Irrfan shares an account of his battle with cancer with the Times Of India. This is what he said.


"It's been quite some time now since I have been diagnosed with a high-grade neuroendocrine cancer. This new name in my vocabulary, I got to know, was rare, and due to fewer study cases, and less information comparatively, the unpredictability of the treatment was more. I was part of a trial-and-error game.


"I had been in a different game, I was travelling on a speedy train ride, had dreams, plans, aspirations, goals, was fully engaged in them. And suddenly someone taps on my shoulder and I turn to see. It's the TC: "Your destination is about to come. Please get down." I am confused: "No, no. My destination hasn't come." "No, this is it. This is how it is sometimes."


"The suddenness made me realise how you are just a cork floating in the ocean with UNPREDICTABLE currents! And you are desperately trying to control it.


"In this chaos, shocked, afraid and in panic, while on one of the terrifying hospital visits, I blabber to my son, "The only thing I expect from ME is not to face this crisis in this present state. I desperately need my feet. Fear and panic should not overrule me and make me miserable."


"That was my INTENTION. AND THEN PAIN HIT. As if all this while, you were just getting to know pain, and now you know his nature and his intensity. Nothing was working; NO consolation, no motivation. The entire cosmos becomes one at that moment just PAIN, and pain felt more enormous than GOD.


"As I was entering the hospital, drained, exhausted, listless, I hardly realised my hospital was on the opposite side of Lord's, the stadium. The Mecca of my childhood dream. Amidst the pain, I saw a poster of a smiling Vivian Richards. Nothing happened, as if that world didn't ever belong to me.


"This hospital also had a coma ward right above me. Once, while standing on the balcony of my hospital room, the peculiarity jolted me. Between the game of life and the game of death, there is just a road. On one side, a hospital, on the other, a stadium. As if one isn't part of anything which might claim certainty neither the hospital, nor the stadium. That hit me hard.


"I was left with this immense effect of the enormous power and intelligence of the cosmos. The peculiarity of MY hospital's location it HIT me. The only thing certain was the uncertainty. All I could do was to realise my strength and play my game better.


"This realisation made me submit, surrender and trust, irrespective of the outcome, irrespective of where this takes me, eight months from now, or four months from now, or two years. The concerns took a back seat and started to fade and kind of went out of my mindspace.


"For the first time, I felt what 'freedom' truly means. It felt like an accomplishment. As if I was tasting life for the first time, the magical side of it. My confidence in the intelligence of the cosmos became absolute. I feel as if it has entered every cell of mine.


"Time will tell if it stays, but that is how I feel as of now.


"Throughout my journey, people have been wishing me well, praying for me, from all over the world. People I know, people I don't even know. They were praying from different places, different time zones, and I feel all their prayers become ONE. One big force, like a force of current, which got inside me through the end of my spine and has germinated through the crown of my head.


"It's germinating sometimes a bud, a leaf, a twig, a shoot. I keep relishing and looking at it. Each flower, each twig, each leaf which has come from the cumulative prayers, each fills me with wonder, happiness and curiosity.


"A realisation that the cork doesn't need to control the current. That you are being gently rocked in the cradle of nature."


Image courtesy: Irrfan Khan on Facebook

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who was on a hunger strike since June 13 at the lieutenant governor's office and hospitalised after his health deteriorated, said that he is "recovering fast" and will try and resume work from today.


Sisodia was rushed to the LNJP Hospital here around 3 pm yesterday after the ketone level in his urine rose sharply and his sugar level slumped. "Good Morning!! With Doctor's care and your blessings, I am recovering fast. Yesterday, my ketone level was 7.4 & BP reached 184/100, which was leading to renal failure. But now everything is under control. If doctors allow I'll try to be back to work today only," he said on Twitter today.


Health Minister Satyendar Jain was hospitalised on Sunday night after his condition had deteriorated. He was taken to the LNJP Hospital where his condition is stable.


On Saturday, a team of doctors had examined Sisodia and Jain. While Jain went on indefinite fast at the L-G's office last Tuesday, Sisodia had been on a hunger strike since Wednesday. Kejriwal, along with his colleagues, have been at Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal's office since June 13, demanding a direction to IAS officers to end what the AAP describes a "strike" and approval of the doorstep ration delivery scheme. -- PTI

IndiGo call centre received a bomb threat call for its Jaipur-Mumbai flight in the early morning hours today. More details awaited.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is scheduled to visit China on Tuesday to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping. The meeting is in reference to Kim's historic summit with United States President Donald Trump in Singapore.


Yonhap reports, a ranking official from Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said, the North Korean government is well aware of ongoing developments between Beijing and Pyongyang.


It will be the third meeting between Kim and Xi. They earlier met in Chinese port city of Dalian for a summit on May 8. Prior to his summits with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on April 27 and with US President Donald Trump on June 12, Kim made his first foreign trip to China in March to meet Xi in Beijing.


Earlier, Trump had explained the outcome of the summit to South Korean President Moon Jae-in in a telephone conversation.


Trump and Kim, on June 12 signed a joint agreement, according to which Kim committed to 'complete denuclearisation of Korean Peninsula' and Trump pledged 'security guarantees' to the North.


At the summit, Trump and Kim decided to build new relations by making joint efforts to establish a lasting peace on the Korean peninsula.  -- ANI

The Belt-and-Road Initiative, a pet project of China's leader Xi Jinping, aims to build trillions of dollars of infrastructure from Asia to Africa to Europe, and along sea routes too. Involving roughly 70 countries so far, it entails massive spending (and lending) by China on railroads, ports and energy projects, highways'"and, increasingly, satellite launches. Read more

Benchmark Sensex declined by over 148 points in early trade today, tracking a weak trend in global markets as the trade spat between the US and China intensified.


Unabated capital outflows by foreign funds and profit-booking by retail investors too dampened sentiment.


The 30-share index, which had lost 73.88 points in the previous session, drifted down by 148.34 points, or 0.42 per cent, to 35,399.92. The NSE Nifty too was quoting lower by 52.55 points, or 0.49 per cent, at 10,747.30.


All sectoral indices, led by oil and gas, power, realty and power were in the negative zone, falling up to 1.31 per cent.


The laggards included Vedanta, HUL, Infosys, Bajaj Auto, Wipro, Coal India, Hero MotoCorp, NTPC, Maruti Suzuki, RIL, ICICI Bank, PowerGrid and IndusInd Bank, falling by up to 1.64 per cent. Stocks of oil marketing companies such as HPCL, BPCL and IOC, which had a good day yesterday, came under selling pressure in line with the overall trend and fell up to 3 per cent. -- PTI

The West Bengal government has extended the summer vacation in all government aided and government sponsored schools due to heat wave that has hit Kolkata and southern parts of West Bengal.


The state government has decided to extend the summer holidays up to June 30.


State Education minister Partha Chatterjee said, "Considering the intense heat, a decision has been taken that all state-aided and state-run schools will remain closed from June 20 to June 30. The minister has also appealed to private schools to keep their institutions closed to avoid extreme heat. The temperature crossed 40 degree Celsius since the last few days.


Several parts of the country have been reeling under an intense surge in temperatures since last month. The temperature touched the 45-Degree Celcius mark in the national capital, and several other places. -- ANI

File pic.