HIGHLIGHTS

DEL55 APPOINTMENT-LD IB Tapan Kumar Deka made IB chief, Samant Goel gets another year as RAW chief New Delhi Tapan Kumar Deka, the crisis man who was put in charge of the counter-assaults during the 2611 Mumbai attack, was on Friday appointed the Director of the Intelligence Bureau IB while the tenure of Samant Goel, who has been heading the Research and Analysis Wing RAW, has been extended by one more year.

Following are the top stories at 2100 hrs: NATION DEL75 LDALL ZAKIA 2002 Guj riots: SC upholds SIT clean chit to Modi, ''no material to show violence pre-planned''; ''Satyamev Jayate'', says BJP New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the SIT's clean chit to the then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and 63 others in the 2002 communal riots in the state, saying there is no "tittle of material" to show the violence after the Godhra train carnage was "pre-planned'' owing to the criminal conspiracy allegedly hatched at the ''highest level'' in the state.

DEL63 VACCINE-COVOVAX Govt panel recommends emergency approval for SII's Covovax for 7-11 year olds New Delhi: An expert panel of India's central drug authority on Friday recommended granting emergency use authorisation to Serum Institute's Covovax for children aged 7 to 11 years, official sources said.

CAL18 MG-FLOODS-BORDER FENCING Stretches of Indo-Bangla border fencing damaged due to Meghalaya floods: BSF Shillong/Tura (Meghalaya): Stretches of the India-Bangladesh border fencing have been damaged due to floods in Meghalaya but a tight vigil is being maintained, BSF officials said on Friday. BOM12 MH-SENA-SHINDE-PARTY No national party in contact with us: Eknath Shinde Mumbai: A day after claiming that a ''powerful national party'' was supporting his group of MLAs in the ongoing political drama in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena rebel Eknath Shinde on Friday said no national party is in contact with them. MDS10 KL-LD RAHUL-OFFICE-ATTACK Rahul Gandhi's office in Wayanad vandalised by SFI activists, Kerala CM assures stern action against culprits Wayanad (Kerala): A protest march of the SFI, the students wing of ruling CPI(M), against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's office here on Friday turned violent as a group of protestors allegedly entered the Lok Sabha member's office and vandalised it, prompting Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to strongly condemn the incident and warned stern action against the culprits. DEL66 APPOINTMENT-2NDLD NITI-CEO Parameswaran Iyer appointed as Niti Aayog CEO New Delhi: Former Drinking Water and Sanitation Secretary Parameswaran Iyer, who spearheaded the Swachh Bharat Mission, was on Friday appointed as the CEO of Niti Aayog, according to a government order. DEL55 APPOINTMENT-LD IB Tapan Kumar Deka made IB chief, Samant Goel gets another year as R&AW chief New Delhi: Tapan Kumar Deka, the ''crisis man'' who was put in charge of the counter-assaults during the 26/11 Mumbai attack, was on Friday appointed the Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) while the tenure of Samant Goel, who has been heading the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), has been extended by one more year. DEL68 ED-ATTACH-LD EX SENA MLA MSCB scam: ED attaches assets of Maha sugar mill linked to ex-Sena MLA New Delhi: The ED on Friday attached over 200 acres of land and other assets worth a total Rs 78.38 crore of a Jalna-based sugar mill linked to Shiv Sena leader and former party MLA Arjun Khotkar in connection with the alleged Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB) scam-linked money laundering probe.

DEL67 JK-MODULE Narco-terror module of LeT busted Srinagar: Security forces Friday busted a Lashkar-e-Taiba narco-terror funding module by arresting four terrorist associates and recovering explosives, ammunition and vehicles from them, police said.

BUSINESS DEL72 BIZ LD-ZOMATO BLINKIT Food delivery platform Zomato to acquire Blinkit in Rs 4,447 cr deal New Delhi: Online food delivery platform Zomato Ltd on Friday said it will acquire Blink Commerce Pvt Ltd (formerly known as Grofers) for Rs 4,447.48 crore in a share swap deal as part of its strategy of investing in quick commerce business.

DEL50 BIZ-PATRA-LD RUPEE Not targeting any level, but RBI will not allow 'jerky movements' of Rupee: Dy Guv Patra New Delhi: Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Michael D Patra on Friday said the Central Bank is defending the Rupee against volatility and will not allow ''jerky movements'', though it is not looking at any particular level for the domestic currency against the US dollar. DEL52 BIZ-RBI-FOREX Forex reserves dip by USD 5.87 bn to USD 590.588 bn Mumbai: The country's foreign exchange reserves declined by USD 5.87 billion to USD 590.588 billion in the week ended on June 17, the RBI data showed. FOREIGN FGN52 CHINA-BRICS-XI-DEVELOPMENT Chinese President Xi announces additional USD 1 billion for Global Development Fund Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday announced an additional USD 1 billion to the USD 3 billion already committed by China to the Global Development and South-South Cooperation Fund as he held a high-level dialogue on global development in virtual format, a day after hosting the 14th BRICS summit. By K J M Varma FGN41 BANGLA-HASINA-INDIA-VISIT Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina expected to visit India in early September Dhaka: Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to visit India in early September for a bilateral visit at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, her spokesman said on Friday, a day after the Indian envoy here called on her and delivered the official invitation letter for a ''substantive summit.'' By Anisur Rahman PTI RDT RDT RDT

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