With an enrollment of over 80 crore people under Aadhar scheme the centre seems to be firm on institutionalizing the scheme. Accordingly the government today urged the supreme court bench hearing the Aadhar case to refer it to a constitution bench as several petitioners opposing the unique identity (UID) scheme have raised substantial questions of constitutional importance. Attorney General Mukul Rohtagi submitted that 80 crore people out of 120 crore have come under the scheme and it has reached the point of no return. In earlier orders, the court had passed interim orders asking authorities not to insist on aadhar cards to give any government benefits.The bench stated that the request will be taken up on Wednesday.

BJP distances itself from Shanta Kumar's views
The BJP on Tuesday snubbed party veteran Shanta Kumar over his concerns on charges facing its state governments and demand for a 'Lokpal'. Union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy told reporters that what Kumar has said or written, the party completely disassociated itself with it. "We generally consider Shanta Kumar a very mature leader. But it seems that he has been carried away by the propaganda of the Congress. Whatever he has said or written, we completely disassociate with Mr Shanta Kumar's version," Rudy said. Meanwhile, Shanta Kumar told a television channel today that he stands by his charges and spoke his mann ki baat.


Kejriwal chides PM Modi in government advertisements
Taking full benefit of huge advertising budget at its disposal, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal took to advertisements on radio and newspapers on Delhi's law and order situation chided prime minister Narendra Modi on not paying enough attention to police the national capital. Yesterday, he had released an audio clip on social media slamming the Delhi police and Modi over the gruesome murder of a 19-year-old girl.The advertisements have been published by the Delhi government in all major dailies in the national capital and FM Radio channels. The ads have two letters, one addressed to the prime minister and other to the people of Delhi. The Delhi government has allocated Rs 526 crore in the budget for publicity purpose.


No OROP for paramilitary forces
The government today said it is not formulating any policy for implementing 'One Rank One Pension Scheme' for paramilitary forces. The principle of OROP for the armed Forces has been accepted by the government, minister of state for defence Rao Inderjit Singh said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.The modalities for implementation were discussed with various stakeholders and are presently under consideration of the government.It will be implemented once the modalities are approved by the government, he said.

Civil services topper scored 53 percent
The Union Public Service Commission has made public the marks obtained by the successful candidates. The marksheets of the candidates who qualified the civil services (main) examination and those who could not, have also been put in public domain. Ira Singhal from Delhi who topped the 2014 exam, got a total of 1,082 marks (53.43 per cent) out of a total of 2,025 – comprising 1,750 of main and 275 of interview. Second rank achiever Renu Raj, a doctor from Kerala, got 1,056 marks (52.14 per cent) and third-rank holder Nidhi Gupta got 1,025 marks (50.61 per cent), according to their marks sheet. The results of the exam were declared by UPSC on July 4.

India to get Rafale planes on IAF-approved configuration
The 36 Rafale combat planes and associated systems and weapons would be delivered in the same configuration as had been tested and approved by Indian Air Force, and with a longer maintenance responsibility by France, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Tuesday.As per the India-France Joint Statement issued during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to France earlier this year, the Indian government conveyed to France that in view of the critical operational necessity for multirole combat aircraft for IAF, it would like to acquire 36 Rafale jets in fly-away condition as quickly as possible.

DD News DG reports to Prasar for all operational purposes
The government today said that the director general of Doordarshan News reports to Prasar Bharati for all operational purposes. Union minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said this in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha. "The Director General of Doordarshan News reports to Prasar Bharati for all operational purposes," he said. Earlier there had been a controversy over an I&B Ministry order appointing Veena Jain as Director General of DD News which had said that she would "report to the ministry for all purposes".

No second airport for Delhi, says govt
Union minister Mahesh Sharma has said that the government has not cleared any proposal to set up a second airport in the national capital, less than a month after saying that Civil Aviation Ministry has approved a second airport in the national capital region. Sharma on Tuesday informed the Rajya Sabha that there are no plans to amend the existing rules that do not allow building of a new airport within 150 kilometres aerial distance of an existing civilian airport. On June 26, Sharma had said the Ministry has cleared a proposal for a second airport in the national capital region to ease the burden on the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Mumbai again battered by rains, train services hit
Mumbai and surrounding areas have been lashed by monsoon rains since last night and the resulting water-logging has led to suburban train services, on both Central and Western lines, being delayed since morning. The WR train services have been severely affected beyond Virar due to water-logging at Palghar and Boisar stations. There is also some water-logging on tracks near Kalyan station leading to delays on the Central line.The Meteorological Department has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in Mumbai over the next 24 hours.