SC to hear K’taka MLAs plea on Speaker’s delay in accepting resignations
Karnataka’s Congress and JD(S) MLAs, who submitted their resignations, have approached the Supreme Court accusing the Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh Kumar of abandoning his constitutional duty and deliberately delaying acceptance of their resignations. The Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi has agreed to hear the MLAs’ plea on Thursday. This comes after Kumar rejected eight MLAs’ resignation over incorrect format.
All were naked, doing coke: Ex-worker says Bumble owner promoted drugs
A Forbes report has accused US-based dating app Bumble’s billionaire owner Andrey Andreev of encouraging sexism, porn and drugs at the parent firm Badoo quoting former employees. A former Badoo employee claimed “everyone was naked and doing lines of coke” at a party of employees. It’s also reported that internal engineering updates were named after pornstars, which was discontinued later.
Gavaskar was mistakenly exchanged at birth, later returned
Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, who turns 70 today, was almost exchanged at birth after a nurse accidentally placed him next to a fisherwoman in the hospital. Gavaskar’s uncle had noticed a birthmark near his ear and when he didn’t see it in the other child, he brought the matter to the notice, following which Gavaskar was returned to his parents.
Marriott to face $123-mn UK fine for exposing 383 mn guests’ data
American hotel chain Marriott faces a fine of over $123 million from UK’s data protection authority for a data breach that exposed about 383 million guests. Marriott revealed last year that its acquired Starwood properties had its central reservation database hacked. Around five million unencrypted passport numbers and nine million credit card records were said to have been leaked.
Born together, die together in politics: Shivakumar on rebel MLAs
As Congress leader DK Shivakumar arrived at Mumbai hotel to meet the rebel Karnataka MLAs, he said, “We were born together in politics, we’ll die together in politics.” “They’re our party men. We’ve come to meet them,” he added. Mumbai Police had deployed forces outside the hotel after the rebel MLAs had sought their protection stating that they “feel threatened”.
Mumbai hotel cancels Congress leader Shivakumar’s room booking
The Mumbai five-star hotel, where the rebel Karnataka MLAs are staying, has cancelled Congress leader DK Shivakumar’s room booking amid heightened security at the hotel for the rebel MLAs’ protection. Responding to the cancellation, Shivakumar said, “They should be proud of a customer like me. I love Mumbai. I love this hotel. Let them cancel. I have other rooms also.”
We feel threatened: K’taka MLAs write to Mumbai Police, get protection
Ten rebel Karnataka MLAs, who’ve been staying at a Mumbai hotel, sought police protection in a letter stating, “We’ve heard that Shri Kumaraswamy and DK Shivakumar and others are going to storm the hotel premises…we feel threatened “. Police forces were deployed outside the hotel as the letter requested their help to stop Kumaraswamy and Shivakumar from entering the premises.
Mumbai Police imposes section 144 outside rebel K’taka MLAs’ hotel
Mumbai Police has imposed Section 144 at Powai Police station limits, which also includes the hotel where rebel Karnataka MLAs are lodged. The section prohibits an assembly of more than four people in the area. This comes after Congress’ DK Shivakumar refused to leave the hotel premises and was adamant on meeting the MLAs despite the hotel cancelling his booking.
Minor girl pregnant after being gangraped by 5 men in K’taka
A 17-year-old girl is six months pregnant after she was allegedly raped repeatedly by five men in a village in the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka. The accused had threatened the girl not to divulge the matter to anyone. A case has been registered under Sections 376, 506 and 34 of the IPC.
SpiceJet technician dies after he gets stuck in landing gear door
A SpiceJet technician lost his life after he got stuck in main landing gear door while working on an aircraft at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata at around 1 am on Wednesday. His body was removed from landing gear with the help of fire brigade. Police have launched an investigation into the incident.
Army officers told to quit WhatsApp groups with non-serving members
The Army has barred its officers from being part of any group on social media, including WhatsApp, where non-serving persons including Army veterans are members, a senior officer has revealed. The move followed attempts by foreign intelligence to gather information using such platforms. The new policy also restrained family members from posting information about serving officers on social media.
Finance Ministry restricts entry of media persons
The Finance Ministry has restricted the entry of media persons into North Block, allowing access to only those accredited journalists who have a prior appointment with an official. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the procedure is meant to streamline journalists’ entry and “no ban is in place.” Notably, until now, such a restriction was placed only ahead of the Budget.
Air France asks 26 flyers to ‘voluntarily’ leave flight over glitch
As many as 26 passengers of Paris-bound Air France flight were asked to exit the plane with their checked-in luggage at the Delhi airport over an unspecified technical problem on Wednesday morning. A video of the incident shows the flight crew requesting the passengers to deboard “voluntarily” so that the plane could take off.
1 dead as under-construction building collapses in Bengaluru
At least one person was killed and several others were injured when an under-construction building collapsed in Bengaluru on Wednesday morning. Meanwhile, eight people were rescued from the debris and sent to the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital. The adjoining building was also damaged in the incident.
Sex offender freed by Aus court, allowed to visit prostitutes
An Australian court has released a 61-year-old sex offender from prison and permitted him to solicit prostitution to reduce his risk of reoffending. He’s been released under a 10-year supervision order with 52 conditions, including no alcohol and no access to sex workers without approval. The offender has gained a rudimentary understanding of the concept of consent, a judge said.
‘Paan ki dukaan’ would manage affairs better than IndiGo: Co-founder
IndiGo’s American co-founder Rakesh Gangwal has accused co-founder Rahul Bhatia and his firms of entering into “questionable” related party transactions with the airline. Gangwal said that “even a ‘paan ki dukaan’ would have handled these matters with more grace”. He said Bhatia has “unusual rights” including the right to appoint three out of six directors, MD, CEO, President, and Chairman.
Journalists’ Guild boycotts Kangana after her argument with reporter
Entertainment Journalists’ Guild of India has decided to boycott Kangana Ranaut and “not give her any media coverage” after she argued with a reporter during the song launch of ‘Judgemental Hai Kya’. The body has asked Kangana and the film’s producer Ekta Kapoor to issue a public statement. Kangana had accused the journalist of “running a smear campaign” against her.
910 of 1641 projects completed in Uttarakhand: CM Rawat
Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat said that 910 out of 1641 projects commissioned at the Chief Minister’s level have been completed in the state. Reviewing the progress on all the announcements made at the CM’s level, Rawat added that officers’ negligence in the implementation of the announcements will not be tolerated. He said all announcements should be completed in time.
Walmart Labs acquihires Bengaluru startups FloCare, BigTrade
Walmart’s technology arm Walmart Labs has acquihired two Bengaluru-based startups, healthtech platform FloCare and B2B wholesale trading platform BigTrade, for undisclosed amounts. The technology arm had acquihired micro-app startup Appsfly and machine learning startup inti.ai in 2018, and data annotation startup DataTurks in February. Notably, Walmart acquired a 77% Flipkart stake in May 2018.
Govt may give up direct control of ONGC, Indian Oil, GAIL The government has identified ONGC, Indian Oil, GAIL and NTPC as possible candidates for cutting its direct holding to below 51%, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Atanu Chakraborty said. “Government’s indirect holding, through arms like LIC, will stay over 51%,” he added. The Centre has set the disinvestment target for 2019-20 at ₹1.05 lakh crore.
