Headlines at 8:30 PM on 10th June 2022

You are listening to the Expresso News Update. Here is the latest news from The Indian Express.
Beginning today’s evening bulletin with the top national news: Protest erupted outside Jama Masjid in Delhi after the Friday prayers demanding the arrest of suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma over her controversial remarks on Prophet Mohammed, police said. Scores of people, carrying placards, shouted slogans against Sharma. A senior police officer said that while some of the demonstrators left the site after some time, others continued to protest. Delhi Police has registered an FIR against 31 people, including AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and controversial priest Yati Narsinghanand, and filed a separate case against former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for allegedly spreading hate and hurting religious sentiments. The two FIRs were registered on Wednesday after a social media analysis.
Life came to a halt in Srinagar today as the city observed a shutdown in protest against the statements by former BJP spokespersons about Prophet Mohammad, and the objectionable remarks against a particular community during a protest rally by members of a majority community at Bhaderwah in Jammu. Shops and other business establishments remained closed at the city centre or Lal Chowk and other parts of the capital. Authorities snapped mobile internet services in the district. However, broadband services remained operational. Limited protests were also seen across the district. This comes a day after curfew was imposed in Kishtwar district and Bhaderwah town in Doda district.
Next up: Two Congress MLA votes that came under cloud today morning for allegedly violating “secrecy norms” have resulted in a delay in counting of votes for two Rajya Sabha seats in Haryana. Voting was scheduled to begin at 5 pm. Interestingly, the ruling BJP and the candidate it supported, Kartikeya Sharma, are crying foul alleging that the returning officer did not conduct fair polling, while the opposition Congress says the “polling was totally fair” and it was only a “tactic” being adopted by BJP after realising that they had lost the battle. In the first hour of polling that began at 9 am, Congress MLAs B B Batra and Kiran Choudhry’s votes came under question. Jannayak Janta Party’s (JJP) election observer Digvijay Chautala alleged that both had shown votes to “others than their respective party’s designated election observer”. Both Batra and Choudhry refuted Digvijay’s objections. The counting for the 89 MLAs’ votes out of total 90 will only begin after ECI takes a decision on the objections.
Meanwhile, K Srinivasa Gowda, JD(S) MLA from Kolar told reporters that he voted for the Congress party in the Rajya Sabha polls. This comes amid remarks by the party chief H D Kumaraswamy that Congress leader Siddaramaiah had asked JD(S) MLAs to not vote for their own party but for the grand old party. Along with Gowda, another JD(S) MLA S R Srinivas from Gubbi voted for Congress. In the Karnataka Assembly, which has 224 seats, the Congress has 70 MLAs, the BJP has 121 seats and the JD(S) has 32. The ruling BJP is set to win two of the four seats, and the Congress one. The fourth seat, however, is turning out to be a crucial one with both the Congress and the BJP fielding an extra candidate each.
Moving on: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that “history cannot be created by governments” and urged society to take the initiative to present history in its true form. Lamenting that many battles fought by the Indian kings against invaders have been forgotten, Shah said that those battles – like the ones undertaken by the Ahom kings in Assam and Shivaji-led Marathas in the north-western region – have brought India where it is now. Shah’s remarks came while releasing the book ‘Maharanas: A Thousand Year War for Dharma’ by Omendra Ratnu at the NDMC Hall. Shah said no one can stop the process of writing about these battles for the next generation, and added that the efforts to bring out the facts through new history books should be “bigger and more intense than those who spread lies” so that it “can be effective”.
In other news: The Centre has released the Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022, which prohibits surrogate advertising and prescribes conditions for bait advertisements and commercials targeting children. Addressing a press conference, consumer affairs additional secretary Nidhi Khare said the guidelines will apply to “all advertisements regardless of form, format or medium.” The guidelines will be applicable to “a manufacturer, service provider or trader whose goods, product or service is the subject of an advertisement, or to an advertising agency or endorser whose service is availed for the advertisement of such goods, product or service.”
Shifting focus to international news: Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has created two new ministries, including an investment ministry, to handle the worst economic crisis in the island nation. The role of the new ministry of ‘Technology and Investment Promotion’ will also be to promote foreign direct investment and private sector investment while promoting economic potential in Sri Lanka. The new ministry was created after Basil Rajapaksa, former finance minister and the intellectual pillar of the Rajapaksa brothers, quit Parliament on Thursday. Also, a ‘Ministry of Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment’ was created through a gazette notice issued by President Gotabaya. It is reported that the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs and Social Empowerment includes 15 institutions including the National Child Protection Authority and the Samurdhi Development Department.
And finally: Australia’s prime minister has said that after a meeting with his New Zealand counterpart that the two nations are in lockstep in their policies toward the Pacific islands, where China’s influence is growing. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern became the first foreign leader to visit Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Australia since he was elected on May 21. Both lead centre-left administrations and Ardern described the Albanese Labor Party’s election after almost a decade in opposition as a reset in the bilateral relationship. Australia, New Zealand and the United States have voiced concerns that a new Beijing security pact with the Solomon Islands could result in a Chinese military base being established there. The Solomons and China have both denied that that will happen.