Daily Bulletin: FIR against Robert Vadra in Gurugram land deal; TRS to hold mega rally in Hyderabad; top stories for today

FIR against Robert Vadra, Bhupinder Singh Hooda Former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Robert Vadra, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s on-in-law, were booked on Saturday by the Haryana Police for alleged irregularities in land deals in Gurugram. The Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government had set up a commission in 2015 to investigate the licences given by the earlier Hooda-led Congress government in Haryana for the development of housing colonies and commercial complexes in four Gurugram villages. The BJP had made the land deals during the Congress regime a major poll issue in 2014, targeting Vadra. TRS mega rally today amid calls for early election Amid strong indications of early elections in Telangana, the ruling TRS is all set to hold a massive show of strength on Sunday. Billed as the mother of all rallies, it will be preceded by a meeting of the state Cabinet, which is likely to take a decision on the early polls. Leaders of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) said Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao will take “key decisions” at the Cabinet meeting and announce them at the public meeting. However, overnight showers have battered the venue — Kongara Kalan at Ibrahimpatnam on the city outskirts — of the rally. [caption id=“attachment_4501909” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of chief minister of Telangana K Chandrashekhar Rao. Twitter/@TelanganaCMO[/caption] Narendra Modi launches India Post Payments Bank Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched the payments bank of the Indian postal department, which aims to take banking to every home through an “unmatched network of post offices and almost three lakh postmen and grameen dak sewaks". India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) will operate like every other bank but on a smaller scale without the involvement of any credit risk. It will offer most banking features like accepting deposits, but cannot advance loans or issue credit cards. John McCain memorial A memorial service for the late Senator John McCain on Saturday turned into a clear rebuke of President Donald Trump’s divisive politics as his daughter, two former presidents and political dignitaries used their tributes to call for a return to civility in America. Standing near McCain’s flag-draped casket and with Trump’s daughter among the audience at Washington National Cathedral, Meghan McCain delivered a broadside against the uninvited president without mentioning his name. Lana Del Rey pulls out of Israeli music fest after backlash Singer Lana Del Rey has pulled out of a music festival in Israel next week in wake of backlash over her decision to perform. The singer was supposed to be one of the headline performers at the Meteor festival, which will be held from 6 to 8 September. It would have been her first time performing in the country, after cancelling a previous engagement in 2014. In a tweet on Friday, Del Rey said she wanted to play for both Palestinian and Israeli fans, but it had not been possible to “line up both visits with such short notice”. India vs England, Day 4 The ongoing fourth Test at Southampton heads into its fourth day, with England enjoying a competitive lead of 233, thanks to a resilient display from the likes of Jos Buttler (69) and Joe Root (48). Sam Curran, batting overnight on 37, will hope to guide the hosts past the 300-run mark. India, on the other hand, will try and get the last two wickets as quickly as possible. Play begins at 3.30 pm. Asian Games to conclude today With all events except the Triathlon final done and dusted, the 18th edition of the Asian Games at Jakarta and Palembang is set to come to an end with the closing ceremony. Rani Rampal, who led India to a silver in the women’s hockey event, will be the Indian flag bearer at the ceremony.