Daily Bulletin: Sitaram Yechury to visit Jammu and Kashmir today; Rajnath to visit Ladakh; INX media case hearing to continue in SC; day's top stories

SC allows Sitaram Yechury to visit Kashmir to meet ailing CPM leader Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami; warns him against ‘politicising’ visit After getting a green signal from the Supreme Court, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury will visit Jammu and Kashmir today to meet his party colleague and former MLA Mohammed Yusuf Tarigami. [caption id=“attachment_4894671” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Sitaram Yechury. News18[/caption] Yechury said he will do “whatever needs to be done” on the basis of his visit. The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Yechury to visit the state to meet Tarigami, who has been detained by the authorities there in the wake of the Centre abrogating provisions of Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded a special status to the state. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, however, directed Yechury to only meet Tarigami and not use the visit for any “political purpose”. “I had filed a petition in SC for the production of Yusuf Tarigami. The court has now permitted me to visit Tarigami and report to the court on his health conditions and from there the case will proceed further. So the case is not closed as this is an interim order,” Yechury told reporters. “Once I return, the case will go on further. I will try to meet Tarigami and with this order, the authorities should facilitate my visit. I am proceeding tomorrow in accordance with the court’s order. We will do whatever needs to be done on the basis of my visit,” he said. Yechury said he will file an affidavit before the Supreme Court on his return. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader had attempted twice to visit Jammu and Kashmir this month, once with Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja and another with a delegation of opposition party leaders. Both the times, Yechury was turned away from Srinagar airport. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to visit Ladakh today Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will pay a visit to Leh on Thursday. This will be the first visit by the Defence Minister to Ladakh after the government abrogated Article 370 and passed a resolution bifurcating Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories earlier this month. During the visit, Rajnath Singh is expected to hold parleys with both locals and military officials deployed in the area, defence officials said. In Leh, the Defence Minister is expected to be briefed by the local military commanders about the security situation in both China and Pakistan border. The visit is also coming at a time when China had opposed the move to make Ladakh a Union Territory. In June, Rajnath had visited Ladakh soon after assuming the post and laid a wreath at the Siachen War memorial. Supreme Court extends protection from arrest to P Chidambaram till 29 August; ED says case is not a ‘witch hunt The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended interim protection from arrest granted to former finance minister  P Chidambaram  in the INX Media money laundering case. During the hearing held before the Bench comprising Justices R Banumathi and A S Bopanna, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Enforcement Directorate (ED), said that the case is not a witch hunt but a serious case of money laundering, supported by evidence. “This is not a witch hunt as alleged by them. We have material to show that it is a serious case of money laundering. We have collected cogent materials in the case,” Mehta told the bench. The counsel, who will continue to present his arguments before the Bench on 28 August said that Chidambaram was playing the “victim” card to evade arrest by the ED. “A ghost is sought to be created by playing the victim card,” Mehta said while opposing the grant of anticipatory bail to Chidambaram. Mehta argued that the ED has “cogent evidence” to prove that the case is that of money laundering. “In the money laundering case, we would be dealing with very intelligent people, stupid men cannot do laundering. These offences are not committed in the heat of the moment, they are cleverly crafted. Most of the laundering is a digital operation,” Mehta said. British prime minister Boris Johnson sparks outrage after forcing suspension of Parliament session; move supported by Queen Elizabeth II British Prime Minister Boris Johnson sparked fury Wednesday among pro-Europeans and MPs opposed to a no-deal Brexit by forcing the suspension of Parliament session weeks before Britain’s EU departure date. The pound slid on the surprise news, which opponents branded a “coup” and a “declaration of war” but Johnson claimed was necessary to allow him to pursue a “bold and ambitious” new domestic agenda. It came a day after opposition parties vowed to seek legislative changes to prevent a no-deal Brexit. Queen Elizabeth II approved the request to end what has been the longest session of parliament in nearly 400 years in the second week of September and reopen it on 14 October, just over two weeks before Brexit. However, his decision incensed lawmakers who are against Britain leaving the EU without a deal on 31 October as they will now have less time to try and thwart such a scenario. National Sports Day: Wrestler Bajrang Punia, para-athlete Deepa Malik to receive Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award On 29 August, which is celebrated as National Sports Day in India, wrestler Bajrang Punia and para-athlete Deepa Malik will be conferred with the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award. A total of 19 athletes have been selected for the Arjuna Award, which is the second-highest sporting honour in the country. Cricketer Ravindra Jadeja, hockey player Chinglensana Singh Kangujam and footballer Gurpreet Singh Sandhu are some of the top names in the Arjuna Award list. Redmi Note 8 and 8 Pro to launch in China today Xiaomi’s sub-brand Redmi is all set to launch the new Redmi Note 8-series in China today. The Note 8 Pro is confirmed to come with a quad-camera setup and the MediaTek Helio G90T chipset. One of the sensors in the quad-camera array will be of 64 MP resolution. The phones are said to be launched alongside the Redmi TV and the 14-inch RedmiBook as well. Baahubali’s box office record can be broken, says Prabhas With the kind of films that are being made, the box office record set by Baahubali can be broken any Friday, actor Prabhas told Press Trust of India. He said that post the success of the SS Rajamouli-directed franchise, everyone realised that a well-made film can travel to every corner of the country.   With inputs from agencies