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Ahead of the ASI survey, elaborate security arrangements have been made near the Gyanvapi mosque complex. The police department have closed roads leading to the mosque for vehicular movement along with putting up multiple barricades in the area.

The media was stopped at least 100m away from the area, amidst heavy police deployment.

The ASI survey of the Gyanvapi mosque is expected to begin shortly. The Muslim side has boycotted the survey as the Supreme Court on Friday is set to hear its plea against the survey ordered by the Allahabad High Court.

Three FIRs were filed on Thursday in Nuh for incendiary posts on social media that fanned communal tension in the buildup to the Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra, which was targeted by a mob in Nuh earlier this week on Monday, setting off a spate of communal attacks in south Haryana since.

These are the first cases against posts spreading hatred that have circulated both before and after the communal violence in Nuh. The accused identified by police in two of the FIRs are Shahid and Aadil Khan Mannaka alias Birjubhai while the third has been filed against a Facebook page called “Shayar Guru Ghantal”.

The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed the Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which aims to regulate the legal profession by a single Act and seeks to target "touts".

The amendment would help to regulate the legal profession through a single Act, the Advocates Act, 1961, according to statement of objects and reasons of the legislation.

Replying to a debate on the Bill in the Rajya Sabha, Union Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said the legal profession is a noble profession and unlawful practices should be dealt with firmly.

Opposition BJP in Karnataka on Thursday took strong exception to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah taking his "entire cabinet" to New Delhi to meet the Congress high command, terming it "unprecedented" and "undemocratic" and an insult to the people of the state who have elected this government with a huge majority. Questioning whether the cabinet is reporting to Congress high command, senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai alleged that Siddaramiah is a weak leader, compared to his earlier stint as the Chief Minister.

"Siddaramaiah taking his entire cabinet to Delhi is unprecedented. Never in the history of Karnataka politics, a Chief Minister has taken his entire cabinet to the party high command," he said.

India’s External Affairs Ministry (MEA) summoned the German ambassador in the national capital New Delhi to seek the early return of two-year-old girl Ariha Shah, who has been in foster care in Berlin for more than 20 months.

The move came after 59 MPs from 19 political parties signed a joint letter urging the early repartition of repatriation of Ariha Shah.

“We attach high priority to this case. At the minimum, her cultural rights and rights of being an Indian are being infringed in this respect. The German Ambassador (Philipp Ackermann) was summoned this week and our concerns were clearly conveyed. We have asked to get the child back from Germany as soon as possible. We will continue to press the German authorities on this matter,’’ MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said when asked about the case on Thursday (Aug 3).