February 6: Top news at noon

Developing news

*The Supreme Court has set aside the Guwahati High Court order for a CBI probe against ex-Arunachal Pradesh CM Nabam Tuki in alleged corruption cases. The SC said the ex-CM was not granted adequate hearing and asked the HC to hear afresh the PIL on which CBI probe was ordered.

*SC says it will pronounce its verdict within a week on pleas challenging acquittal of late TN CM J Jayalalithaa and AIADMK legislative party leader VK Sasikala in assets case.

Trump slams judge for halting travel ban, warns of peril

US President Donald Trump ramped up his criticism of the judiciary for blocking his travel ban on citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations, saying the federal judge and the court would be to blame "if something happens". Trump said that he has asked the Department of Homeland Security to do a very "careful" check of those entering the country after the court order.

Trump's criticism comes after the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, in a brief order, denied the administration's request to set aside a Seattle judge James Robart's ruling that put a temporary hold on the ban.

Unclaimed bag found inside Parliament House

An unclaimed bag was today found near the statue of Mahatma Gandhi inside the Parliament House complex, sending security personnel into a tizzy. Security personnel rushed to the spot, however, nothing suspicious was found and the bag was removed. The Budget Session of Parliament is in progress. The incident happened soon after a protest demonstration by Opposition MPs, mostly from Congress and Trinamool Congress, in front of the Gandhi statue. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi was among the Opposition members who were protesting against the manner in which the death of former Union Minister and Lok Sabha MP E Ahamed was handled by the government.

TN governor accepts Panneerselvam’s resignation; Expelled AIADMK MP opposes Sasikala becoming CM

Tamil Nadu Governor C Vidyasagar Rao has accepted the resignation of CM O Panneerselvam and his council of ministers, paving the way for AIADMK legislative party leader VK Sasikala to become CM. Meanwhile expelled AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP Sasikala Pushpa today opposed VK Sasikala becoming CM, alleging she had a "criminal background". In letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and TN Governor Rao, she said, "It is condemnable to nominate or invite Sasikala Natarajan to be a Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu due to her criminal background. All criminal cases are pending and (she is) convicted." Pushpa was apparently referring to the disproportionate assets case against late chief minister Jayalalithaa in which Sasikala was a co-accused and convicted by the trial court in Bengaluru. The Karnataka High Court had set aside the conviction. An appeal challenging the acquittal is now pending before the Supreme Court.

NC opposes linking of Aadhaar with utility services in J&K

The J&K National Conference today questioned the purpose of linking various utility services with Aadhaar, as most of the people in Jammu and Kashmir were yet to get the cards due to non-payment of dues by the PDP-BJP government to the agency designated to issue unique identification numbers. "It is intriguing to make Aadhaar mandatory for availing benefits of various schemes notwithstanding the fact that a sizable segment of population is yet to be covered under Aadhaar programme," senior NC leaders said in a joint statement. NC said such a decision reflects the disconnect of the insensitive coalition government with the people, and urged the government either to withdraw this rider or ensure Aadhaar cards to every citizen on war-footing basis before the deadline of April.

'Missing' BSF jawan returns home in Mizoram

A BSF jawan, who was reported to have gone missing, has returned home in Mizoram. "The missing jawan has reached his home today," a senior BSF officer said here, adding further details are awaited. "The jawan went missing from Jalandhar in the evening of February 1 when he was returning to work from his home," the senior BSF officer said. The jawan has been identified as Constable Malsawkima (25) of 97 battalion and was serving at BoP Pansar in Hiranagar sector of Kathua district. A missing complaint was filed at Marheen police post on February 2.