Daily Bulletin: SC to hear plea on Nageswara Rao's appointment; Kovind's Republic Day address at 7pm; Rahul in Bhubaneswar; day's top stories

Hearing in Supreme Court on plea challenging Nageswara Rao’s appointment Justice AK Sikri had on Thursday recused himself from hearing a plea challenging the Centre’s decision to appoint M Nageswara Rao as the interim CBI director. A bench headed by Sikri then listed the matter for hearing on Friday before a different bench. Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi on Monday, too, had recused himself from hearing the plea, saying he would be part of the selection committee to choose the agency’s new chief. [caption id=“attachment_5478391” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of the Supreme Court of India. AP[/caption] As soon as the matter came up for hearing on Thursday, Sikri told senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for petitioner NGO Common Cause, that he would not like to hear the matter and was recusing himself. Sikri was also part of the high-powered panel which had removed CBI director Alok Verma. Ram Nath Kovind to address the nation at 7 pm President Ram Nath Kovind will address the nation on Friday, the eve of the 70th Republic Day. “The address will be broadcast from 7 pm on the entire national network of All India Radio (AIR) and telecast over all channels of Doordarshan in Hindi followed by the English version,” the Rashtrapati Bhavan said. This will be followed by broadcast in regional languages by regional channels of Doordarshan. Rahul Gandhi in Bhubaneswar Congress president Rahul Gandhi is set to address a rally in Bhubaneswar, where he is also scheduled to hold a public meeting. He will also meet farmers, civil society members and employees of HAL. Rain, thunderstorm lash Delhi Heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms and strong winds hit the national capital again on late Thursday night. People took refuge at night shelters as heavy rain lashed the national capital. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), rains along with thunderstorms and hail are expected on Friday as well. The weather department has predicted that on Friday the maximum and minimum temperatures will be around 19 degree Celsius and 10 degree Celsius, respectively. Toll rises to seven in Gurugram building collapse Seven bodies have been recovered so far after a four-storey building collapsed at Ullawas locality in Haryana’s Gurugram, adjoining the national capital. The incident occurred around 5 am on Thursday. Several others are feared trapped under the debris. Rescue operation is underway to pull out safely those trapped. Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced financial assistance of Rs 3 lakh to the family members of the victims. Three National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams were rushed to the site to rescue those trapped under the rubble. State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel are also at the spot to assist in the rescue operation. Meghalaya mine rescue operation continues after miner’s body retrieved The Indian Navy and the NDRF on Thursday retrieved the body of one of the 15 miners trapped since 13 December inside a 370-foot deep coal mine in Meghalaya’s East Jaintia Hills district, officials said. They said that a search operation for the other missing miners continued using an underwater robotic vehicle. The body of the miner was detected by an unmanned remotely controlled vehicle (ROV) on 16 January during a routine search mission. The body will be kept in cold storage to allow the relatives to come and identify. Don’t want to restrict myself to one genre: Kriti Sanon Actress Kriti Sanon, who has three comedy films in the pipeline, says she does not want to get comfortable in one genre and wants to explore more. The actress was present at the trailer launch of the upcoming entertainer Luka Chuppi in Mumbai on Thursday. She said, “I do not want to get comfortable in one space or genre of film. Yes, it is true that I have associated with a happy film, as my last was Bareilly Ki Barfi, which was a success. Coincidentally, my next two films — Arjun Patiala and Housefull 4 are also happy films. But I am not looking at these things that way. For me, the connection with a film happens through a story. I want to explore.” Vivo’s button-less, port-less concept smartphone to be announced today Vivo had showcased its Vivo Apex concept smartphone with a full-screen display at Mobile World Congress (MWC) last year, which had around 98 percent screen-to-body ratio. The company later launched the Vivo NEX. This year, Vivo is all set to launch yet another experimental smartphone called the Vivo Apex 2019. As far as teasers go, this time, Vivo plans to not only go bezel-less but also port-less and button-less. Maruti Suzuki, L&T results to be announced today Maruti Suzuki, the country’s second largest IT services provider, will announce its October-December quarter earnings today. Rising fuel prices, higher inventory at dealers level is expected to have an impact on results. Stocks of Maruti Suzuki shed 0.07 percent during trading hours on Bombay Stock Exchange yesterday (24 January). L&T Q3 results: A meeting of the Board of Directors of Larsen & Toubro Ltd will be held today to consider and approve the unaudited financial results of the Company for the quarter and nine months period ended 31 December 2018. The company’s shares were at Rs 1,296.60 per share, down by 0.24 per cent at the closing bell on Thursday.