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The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Bombay high court to decide expeditiously the bail petition of former Maharashtra home minister and NCP leader Anil Deshmukh in a money laundering case. While expressing it's displeasure over the 8-month pendency of Deshmukh's petition, the apex court directed the HC to take a call by the end of this week.

It further clarified that it has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case. Deshmukh was arrested in connection with a money laundering case.

Congress's game of thrones in Rajasthan became further embroiled in intrigue on Monday after parliamentary affairs minister and Ashok Gehlot loyalist Shanti Dhariwal alleged a "100% conspiracy" against the chief minister by AICC's state-in-charge Ajay Maken and the former's bete noire Sachin Pilot.

"A Congress general secretary is canvassing for a person who, despite being the deputy chief minister and Pradesh Congress Committee president at one time, claimed sitting in Manesar back in 2020 that the party's government in the state had become a minority," Dhariwal said at an unscheduled presser. "Our MLAs won't tolerate attempts to reward those who betrayed the party."

The Supreme Court is all set to create history, with proceedings before three of its Constitution benches set to be livestreamed starting Tuesday. The livestream will be available on the official platform webcast.gov.in/scindia. Sources told media that the new system was tested on Sunday and Monday and the results were found to be satisfactory. The National Informatics Centre is handling the project.

This will be the first time actual hearings in the court are livestreamed for public viewing. On August 26, proceedings before the ceremonial bench on the date of retirement of former CJI N V Ramana were livestreamed.

An INLD-organised rally in Haryana’s Fatehabad on Sunday that was meant to be the stage for prominent non-BJP faces to find common ground saw a clutch of opposition parties skip the event, leaving Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Sharad Pawar and a handful of others to peddle a “mahagathbandhan” as the panacea for the 2024 poll challenge.

Nitish said the search was not for a “third front” but a mutually beneficial alliance of all parties united against BJP. He invited Congress to join the proposed alliance. Former Punjab deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal attended the rally.

Ironically, INLD hadn’t invited Congress and AAP to the rally commemorating its founder and ex-deputy PM Devi Lal's birth anniversary. Of the regional powerhouses that received invitations, the notable absentees were DMK, TRS and TMC. There was no clarity on whether Andhra CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had been invited. NC’s Farooq Abdullah, Meghalaya governor Sat Pal Malik and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik sent messages expressing their inability to attend the rally, sources said.

Calling upon the United Nations to play an effective role in solving the Rohingya crisis, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has warned that the problem may affect the security and stability of the entire region, and beyond if it persists.

She made the call while delivering her speech in the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.

Like the previous years, she addressed the UNGA in Bangla. The theme of this year’s general debate is “A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges”.