Hours after the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) exonerated actor Shah Rukh Khan’s son, Aryan, in the Cordelia drugs raid case, the Centre on Friday recommended action against the agency’s former zonal director, Sameer Wankhede, over his “shoddy investigation” in the case, people familiar with the matter said. A special investigation team (SIT) of the NCB, which was probing the case, on Friday said it found several irregularities in the raids that were conducted by Wankhede and his team on a Cordelia Cruises yacht on October 2 last year, suggesting misuse of position and non-adherence to rules. India on Friday rejected the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) criticism of the life imprisonment given to Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, saying the remarks amounted to implicit support for his terrorist activities. External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi described the remarks of the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission of OIC on Malik’s conviction and sentencing as unacceptable. “India finds unacceptable the comments made by OIC-IPHRC [on Friday] criticising India for the judgement in the case of Yasin Malik. Through these comments, OIC-IPHRC has implicitly expressed support for the terrorist activities of Yasin Malik, which were documented and presented in the court,” he said. “The world seeks zero tolerance of terrorism and we urge OIC not to justify it any manner,” Bagchi said. With four days left for the by-election in Thrikkakara (Kochi) three major political parties in the state are busy giving final touches to the electioneering. Despite the bypoll being inconsequential in terms of numerical strength for the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) and opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF), it has turned into a prestigious battle for both. The three-cornered contest between UDF candidate and widow of PT Thomas, Uma Thomas, LDF candidate and cardiologist Joe Joseph and BJP state vice- president AN Radhakrishnan won’t be a cake walk . Twenty20, a party floated by a corporate outfit that polled over 13,000 votes in 2021 poll, is not contesting this time. All three claim they will get Twenty20 votes. More than three decades after her sensational abduction in 1989 marked the beginning of separatist terrorism in the Kashmir Valley, Rubaiya Sayeed has been summoned by a Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) court that is hearing a case about separatist Yasin Malik’s alleged involvement in the incident. Rubaiya Saeed, now 55 years old, is the daughter of former Union home minister and former Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) chief minister, the late Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. She is the sister of former J&K CM and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief, Mehbooba Mufti. The trial in the murder case of journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh started on Friday in a special court here, nearly five years after she was gunned down outside her residence. Justice CM Joshi, who is presiding over the special Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act (KCOCA) court that is hearing the case, set the guidelines for the trial on Friday. “The trial will be held continuously for weeks.For now, the trial will be held every second week of the month for five days. The hearing of arguments in the case will be held from July 4 to July 8,” justice Joshi said. Johnny Depp’s lawyers asked a jury Friday “to give Mr. Depp his life back” by finding that his ex-wife, Amber Heard, committed libel. Heard “ruined his life by falsely telling the world she was a survivor of domestic abuse at the hands of Mr. Depp,” lawyer Camille Vasquez told the jury in closing arguments. Depp is hoping the six-week trial will help restore his reputation, though it has turned into a spectacle of a vicious marriage, with broadcast cameras in the courtroom capturing every twist to an increasingly rapt audience as fans weighed in on social media and lined up overnight for coveted courtroom seats. Rajasthan Royals’ star Jos Buttler on Friday equaled Virat Kohli for most centuries in a single edition of the Indian Premier League, as he slammed his fourth ton of the ongoing season during the Qualifier 2 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Buttler reached his century in merely 59 balls, as the Royals registered a dominant win against RCB to book a place in the final.
