News18 Daybreak |Kumaraswamy Exclusive Interview, Nitish Dials Lalu and Other Stories You May Have Missed

In case you missed it

Video wars: Just hours after Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy assured that all is well in the Congress-JDS alliance, a video showing his predecessorSiddaramaiah expressing doubts about the longevity of the coalition government surfaced on Tuesday. This comes two days after a video clip purportedly showing Siddaramiah expressing his displeasure to a few Congress MLAs over presentation of a fresh budget had emerged, adding to the unease among the coalition partners. ICYMI, here's Kumaraswamy's exclusive interview with News18.

Militant menace: Six security personnel were reportedly killed and five injured during an anti-Maoist operation in the Burha Pahar region of Jharkhand’s Latehar. Maoists triggered a landmine blast in the area and then attacked the security personnel who belonged to the Jharkhand Jaguars.

Political courtesy: Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday called RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav to inquire about his health, giving rise to speculation that friends-turned-foes could become friends once again. But Lalu’s son and heir apparent Tejashwi Yadav quickly shut down the talk and made it clear that the "the door is closed" for JD(U)’s return into the grand alliance fold.

Passport revolution: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday launched the mPassportSeva Mobile App along with a new scheme by which an applicant can apply for passport from anywhere in the country, an official statement said. The mPassport Seva App is available on Android and iOS platforms and will have the facilities to apply, pay and schedule appointments for passport services. The announcement follows the recent instance of alleged Islamophobia against an inter-faith couple by a Lucknow passport officer.

High stakes: Issuing new security guidelines to states in the wake of an “all-time high” threat to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the home ministry has said not even ministers and officers will be allowed to come too close to the Prime Minister unless cleared by the Special Protection Group (SPG).

Another lynching: A 40-year-old woman beggar was killed and three others seriously injured in Ahmedabad on Tuesday when a mob allegedly thrashed them on suspicion of being child lifters. Police said the incident occurred at Juna Vadaj Circle when the four women were travelling in an autorickshaw. A mob of about 30 people caught hold of them and thrashed them, claiming they were child lifters. The killing follows a series of similar lynchings, all of them based on the rumours about child kidnappers that were circulated on WhatsApp.

Impact: Plunged into darkness for 71 years, a village on Sitapur-Barabanki borderfinally saw the light of the day – quite literally. According to local residents of Kodra village in east Uttar Pradesh, electric poles were erected in the villages about two years ago, but they never received electricity. The plight of the villagers was highlighted by News18 last week, following which Barabanki district magistrate Sandeep Kumar Gupta took cognizance of the matter. The houses in Kodra are now lit.

Forking road: Pravin Togadia, the ousted Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader, on Tuesday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2014 election slogan ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas.’ The former VHP chief warned the government of consequences if the construction of Ram Mandir is not commenced in next four months. He was speaking at a press conference while launching his own party. Meanwhile, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that ideally Ram Mandir should be built after consent from all the sides. The minister was speaking at an event in Lucknow.

Dangerous India: A new survey has allegedly found that India is the world's most dangerous country for women. The survey, conducted by the Thompson Reuters Foundation, includes inputs from about 550 experts on the issue. However the National Commission for Women has denied the charge and said the countries that have been ranked after India have women who are not even allowed to speak in public.

Scribe attacked: A journalist and his parents were allegedly beaten up by the son of a BJP MP and his friend in Chhattisgarh's Surguja district after he published a report on irregularities in a government scheme. An FIR was registered against Devendra Singh Maravi (32) and his friend Shivwrat Singh today at Lakahnpur police station, based on the complaint filed by the victim Rajesh Prasad Gupta.

Rehab horror: A study, which investigated the conditions of 96 drug de-addictional centres of rehabs centres in NCR Delhi, found that in most of them, inmates were being subjected to physical and emotional torture, unhygienic living spaces, and even sexual exploitation.

News18 Immersive: On 11 June, the cops of River Front West Police Station received a distress call from the control room and were asked to hurry near Ellis bridge on the River Front, where two women had reportedly committed suicide with a child. Like many other homosexual couples from rural India, they were left with hard choices. They had eloped three days before their deaths, in the hope to find a safe space for themselves, where they will be accepted. Unfortunately, they never found it. This story tries to track the how the same-sex couple was forced to take this drastic step in a 'homophobic' country like ours.

Agree or disagree?

“One thing which always puzzled my father was that how did someone as astute and shrewd as Indira Gandhi make the elementary political blunder of imprisoning various opposition leaders together and permitting them to interact with each other (during the emergency years) This allowed them to unite together against her.” Ravi Visvesvaraya Sharada Prasad reminisces. Read the academic’s view on why Indira Gandhi lifted the Emergency in January 1977 and called for fresh elections to be held in March 1977.

On reel

When 17,000 trees were ordered to be cut in Delhi, hundreds of Delhiites braved the scorching heat and humidity to come out and hug trees in what was the city’s own Chipko Movement. The protest bore fruit as the very next day, the Delhi HC, responding to petition filed against the felling, put a stay on the order until July 2. While the issue of the mass deforestation, part of the plans to redevelop South Delhi and accommodate government flats, is yet to be decided by the court, here’s a look at some landmark instances of judicial activism that saved India’s environment.