Daily wrap: Scindia resigns as Cong gen secy; singer Sapna joins BJP

Jyotiraditya Scindia resigns as Congress general secretary

Congress general secretary Jyotiraditya Scindia resigned from his post on Sunday, taking responsibility for the party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls. “Accepting the peoples verdict and taking accountability, I had submitted my resignation as General Secretary of AICC to Shri @RahulGandhi.

After poll defeat, Milind Deora resigns as Mumbai Congress president

Mumbai Congress president Milind Deora on Sunday announced his resignation from the post and said he was looking forward to play a role at the national level to help stabilise the party. He recommended setting up of a provisional collective leadership comprising three senior Congress leaders to oversee the city party unit till the Maharashtra Assembly polls which are due later this year.

After rumours of joining Congress, singer Sapna Chaudhary joins BJP

Haryanvi singer Sapna Chaudhary on Sunday (June 7) joined the Bharatiya Janata Party at a membership drive in the presence of Delhi party president Manoj Tiwari and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. “There was no need to think twice. I was highly impressed by BJP’s work. BJP is a great party and I have taken its membership,” Choudhary was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Karnataka crisis: Congress a sinking ship, hence MLAs deserting it, says Chouhan

Congress is a sinking ship whose captain Rahul Gandhi is deserting it, senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan said here on Sunday (July 7), and claimed MLAs quitting the party in Karnataka was a fallout of it. The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister also attacked Congress prime ministers Jawahar Lal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, charging them of “weakening” the country. “Congress is a sinking ship and Rahul Gandhi who is its captain is deserting it. When the captain will flee, the Congress MLAs will not be behind in fleeing,” Chouhan said launching Delhi BJP’s membership campaign at JLN stadium here.

Federer posts new Slam record as favourites cruise into Wimbledon last 16

Eight-time Wimbledon singles champion Roger Federer posted yet more landmarks as all the main contenders encountered few problems in reaching the last 16. Federer registered a record 350th win in Grand Slam matches in his 7-5 6-2 7-6 (7/4) victory over Lucas Pouille of France on Saturday and in the process reached the fourth round for an unprecedented 17th time.

Govt to suo motu allot PAN to those furnishing Aadhaar for I-T returns

The taxman will “suo motu” allot a fresh PAN to a person who files I-T returns with only Aadhaar as part of a new arrangement to link the two databases, the CBDT chief said after the Budget proposed that only the biometric ID is enough for tax purposes. The PAN (permanent account number) is “certainly not dead” and the recent Budget announcement of interchangeability of the two databases is an “additional facility” to ensure their linkage, which is now mandatory under the law, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), Chairman, Pramod Chandra Mody, said.

Air France-KLM to increase flights between India and Europe

Air France-KLM will increase its passenger-carrying capacity between India and Europe by more than 25 per cent from this winter even as profitability remains one of the biggest challenges for its flights on this route, a senior executive of the airline said. “One of the major challenges in India is the route profitability. From a historical point of view, it has always been a bit of challenge. Our flights are doing well. But the economical performance is always a bit of a concern,” Welmer Blom, the senior vice-president (Middle East, Gulf and India), Air France KLM, told PTI.

Disney Channel star Cameron Boyce dies at 20

Actor Cameron Boyce, best known for his performance in the Disney Channels television shows and series, has died at age 20. According to ABC News, the actor passed away on Saturday (July 6) morning after suffering a seizure as a result of “an ongoing medical condition”. “It is with a profoundly heavy heart that we report that this morning we lost Cameron.