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The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) on Tuesday declared former Jharkhand governor Droupadi Murmu as the candidate for the presidential elections slated to be held in July. The NDA's move to field a tribal leader as presidential nominee has put Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in a tight spot.

Speculations are rife that Nitish Kumar would not back the NDA's presidential nominee as he had done in the last two presidential elections. This is because Nitish Kumar had supported presidential candidates from the opposition camp.

Amid the nationwide protests against the Centre's Agnipath army recruitment scheme, National Security Advisor of India Ajit Doval said that the recruits of the Agnipath scheme are not meant to constitute the whole army. He also said that the 'misled' youth need to look at the scheme through a specific perspective as 'Agnipath isn't a standalone scheme in itself'.

Agniveers will never constitute the whole army: NSA Ajit Doval

Speaking to a news agency about the Agnipath scheme uproar in the country, he said, "Agniveers will never constitute the whole army. Those Agniveers who become regulars eventually will undergo intensive training, acquire experience over a period of time."

A Rs 100-crore defamation suit was filed against Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday, weeks after CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said he will be filing a civil defamation case against the AAP leader for accusing the Assam government of giving contracts to his wife’s firms and son’s business partner to supply PPE kits above market rates during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

The case was filed at the Guwahati civil court on behalf of Himanta Sarma’s wife, Riniki Bhuyan Sarma.

On behalf of the CM’s wife, advocate Padmadha Nayak said, “As you know that on June 4, AAP leader and Delhi deputy CM Manish Sisodia called a press conference in Delhi and made certain remarks against my client, alleging that she had got a government contract to supply of PPE kits to the National Health Mission in March 2020. This is a completely false and defamatory statement.”

AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam, who is struggling to retain his position in the party, on Tuesday wrote to Avadi Commissioner of Police to reject permission for the party’s executive and general council meeting scheduled for June 23 on the outskirts of Chennai, citing the prevailing “unusual situation” and “law and order” issues. His position, however, further weakened, with a few more party district secretaries, who were loyal to him, switching support to the party co-coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami, who is seeking to take full control of the AIADMK.

In a related development, the Madras High Court said it was the duty of the State to provide necessary police protection for the AIADMK meeting.

Telecom operators have told the department of telecommunications (DoT) that abolishing spectrum usage charge (SUC) in the upcoming 5G auctions and beyond will be meaningless if the government does not remove the floor rate of 3% on such payments which is applicable on current holdings. The floor was fixed in 2016 to protect government revenues as SUC at that time was lowered as an incentive to participate in auctions.

The operators told DoT officials at a pre-bid conference on Monday that the notice inviting applications (NIA) for the auctions does not mention the removal of the floor rate of 3% SUC levied on their adjusted gross revenue.