Daily bulletin: Congress-led Bharat Bandh today, Dilip Kumar in ICU, Motorola to launch G6 Plus; day's top stories

Opposition parties to participate in Congress-led Bharat Bandh A number of Opposition parties will unitedly protest the rise in fuel prices in the country on Monday and participate in the 'Bharat Bandh ’ called by the Congress. Top Opposition party leaders like Sharad Pawar, MK Stalin and left leaders have openly extended their support for the call for shut down, while the Trinamool Congress has decided to stay away from the protest. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala alleged that the Narendra Modi government has “looted” Rs 11 lakh crore from the people of the country in the last 52 months and was running a “profiteering company” rather than a government. Ahead of the Bharat Bandh, the Rajasthan government announced slashing of VAT on fuel prices by 4 percent. With the latest move, prices of petrol and diesel in the poll-bound state will come down by Rs 2.5 a litre from Monday. [caption id=“attachment_5150051” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  RJD leaders protest in Patna against fuel price hikes ahead of the Bharat Bandh. PTI[/caption] Congress dubs BJP’s political resolution as a testament of ‘unpardonable failures and betrayal’ The Congress on Sunday dubbed the BJP’s political resolution as a testament of “unpardonable failures and betrayal” by the Modi government and said the exclusion of key promises of 2014 establishes that the Modi-Amit Shah duo has failed to deliver. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala described the ruling party’s national executive meet as “arrogance Modi-fied” and “Shahi arrogance”. “Deliberate elimination and deceptive exclusion of key promises of 2014 establishes the that Modi-Shah duo has miserably failed to deliver. The prime minister on Sunday, set the tone for the 2019 Lok Sabha election. He said he sees ’no challenge’ to the BJP and described unity efforts among Opposition parties ‘unable to stand each other’ as proof of his government’s popularity and his party’s big success. Giving the slogan of ‘Ajey Bharat, Atal Bhajapa’ (invincible India, firm BJP), Modi exuded confidence that his party will win in 2019, " Surjewala said. China, Pakistan pledge to complete CPEC Pakistan and China on Sunday pledged to complete the multi-billion dollars China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi called on Prime Minister Imran Khan and expressed the desire to further enhance the bilateral strategic partnership. Wang, who arrived in Pakistan on a three-day visit on Friday, met Khan in Islamabad with a high-level delegation. “(The) foreign minister underscored the significance of the CPEC for the mutual benefit of the people of both countries,” the Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.  Wang also conveyed the desire of Chinese leadership to work with the new government for further enhancing the strategic partnership between Pakistan and China. Motorola Moto G6 Plus launch Following the launch of the Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play earlier this year, Motorola India confirmed that the Moto G6 Plus will be launched on 10 September. Apart from announcing the launch date, Motorola has also teased a bunch of key features of the smartphone. These include dual cameras, an 18:9 display, 6 GB of RAM, spot color, portrait mode, face unlock, Google Lens integration as well as TurboPower fast charging. India vs England, 5th Test, Day 4 With a lead of 154 runs, England are safely placed in the fifth and final Test against India. Alastair Cook (46) and Joe Root (29) will come out to bat on Day 4 aiming to further the lead over Virat Kohli and Co. On the other hand, the visitors will have to look for quick wickets in the morning session to make sure they are not chasing anything above 250. Fuel price hit Rs 87.89 in Mumbai Petrol rates hit Rs 80-mark in Delhi with a hike of 12 paise at Rs 80.38 per litre and a hike in diesel price of 10 paise to its highest-ever at Rs 72.51 per litre, according to the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC). In Mumbai, the prices of petrol and diesel are Rs 87.89 per litre diesel Rs 77.09 per litre respectively. Dilip Kumar still in ICU Veteran actor Dilip Kumar’s health is improving at the intensive care unit of a hospital in Mumbai, for treatment of pneumonia, said a family friend. The 95-year-old actor was on Wednesday admitted to the Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre, Bandra, after he felt uneasy due to chest infection. The treatment is on for a patch of pneumonia.