NEWS

Al-Qaeda on Tuesday called for the “liberation” of Kashmir and other so-called Islamic lands from the “clutches of the enemies of Islam” in a message congratulating the Taliban for its victory in Afghanistan. A detailed statement issued by al-Qaeda hours after the Taliban declared Afghanistan had gained “full independence” following the drawdown of US forces referred to the terror group’s long-standing calls for the so-called liberation of regions such as Palestine, the Levant, Somalia and Yemen.

“0’ Allah! Liberate the Levant, Somalia, Yemen, Kashmir and the rest of the Islamic lands from the clutches of the enemies of Islam. 0’ Allah! Grant freedom to Muslim prisoners across the world,” said the message titled “Congratulations to the Islamic Ummah on the victory granted by Allah in Afghanistan!”.

The government is learnt to have returned to the Supreme Court collegium names of 14 advocates it had recommended for elevation as high court judges. Sources in the government said all the names were returned with a request to reconsider within a span of one week sometime in end of July and early August.

But the recommendations by the apex court collegium were made nearly a year ago. In some cases the recommendations were made over a year ago. The names for elevation were made for the high courts of Delhi, Calcutta, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka and Kerala, the sources said without elaborating.

In written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha during the Monsoon session of Parliament, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju had said during the last one year, the Supreme Court collegium recommended 80 names for appointment as judges of various high courts, out of which 45 judges were appointed and the remaining proposals are under various stages of processing.

Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday said the Assembly elections will be held once the delimitation exercise is over in the UT, and that the Centre is committed to restore the statehood of J&K. “I have to talk about two things. One is about the Assembly elections. When the state became a UT, it was clearly stated that the elections would be held after the delimitation,” he said while addressing the media at the sidelines of the Parliamentary Outreach Programme for the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs). “The number of (Assembly) seats have increased by seven...”

The government is taking steps to ensure `no anti-national force’ is allowed to fuel cross-border terrorism by taking advantage of the evolving situation in Afghanistan, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday, while slamming Pakistan for its policy of giving `death of thousand cuts’ to India.

Delivering the Balramji Dass Tandon Memorial Lecture, organized by Panjab University through video-conferencing, Singh said the government has been “constantly monitoring” the developments in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover of the country.

"What is happening in Afghanistan is raising new questions from the security point of view. Security of Indians is a cause of concern for the government. We also do not want anti-India forces to take advantage of the evolving Afghan situation for cross-border terrorism,” he said.