DH Evening Brief: August 18, 2021

Here are the top headlines this evening.

Supreme Court allows women to take NDA exam, slams Army for gender discrimination

The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed women to take up examination for the National Defence Academy (NDA) where only men can join for traning as officers in defence services, saying the bar created for female candidates was discriminatory. Read more

'Covid-19 ebbing as R-value drops to below 1 in India'

After breaching the value of 1 in the first week of August, the R number, which reflects how rapidly the coronavirus pandemic is spreading, has been steadily ebbing, according to researchers at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai. Read more

UAE says Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani is in the country

The United Arab Emirates said on Wednesday that it is hosting former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani "on humanitarian grounds", after he fled his country amid a Taliban takeover. Read more

Faith in judiciary stands vindicated: Tharoor after court ruling in Sunanda Pushkar death case

After a Delhi court discharged Shashi Tharoor in a case related to his wife Sunanda Pushkar's death, the senior Congress leader on Wednesday said his faith in the Indian judiciary stands vindicated and the ruling brings a "significant conclusion to the long nightmare" which had enveloped him. Read more

Cooking gas LPG price hiked by Rs 25 per cylinder: Check rates

Domestic cooking gas LPG price on Wednesday was increased by Rs 25 per cylinder - the second straight month of increase in rates. Subsidised LPG now costs Rs 859 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi, according to a price notification of oil companies. Read more

Kundra gets interim protection from arrest in porn case

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday granted interim protection from arrest to businessman Raj Kundra in connection with a porn films racket case registered by the city police in 2020. A single bench of Justice S K Shinde directed the police to respond on August 25 to the pre-arrest bail plea filed by Kundra. Read more

400 booked for harassing, molesting Pakistani YouTuber

Lahore police have booked 400 people who allegedly harassed and molested a YouTuber girl on Pakistan's Independence Day at the historic Minar-i-Pakistan, officials said.The police got into action following the videos of her harassment and molestation that went viral on social media with calls to Prime Minister Imran Khan and Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar to take action against the culprits. Read more

Thousands flee Afghanistan as Taliban take control — See pictures

Tens of thousands of people are trying to flee Afghanistan to escape the hardline Islamist rule expected under the Taliban. Evacuation flights fromKabul'sairportrestarted on August 17 after the chaos of the previous day in which huge crowds mobbed the tarmac. Some people were so desperate to escape that they clung to the a US military plane as it prepared for take-off. See pics

Fugitive godman Nithyananda names himself as Madurai Aadheenam's 293rd pontiff

Fugitive godman Nithyananda, who has been eluding Indian authorities after facing several charges of rape and other complaints from his former disciples and devotees, has created a major controversy by declaring on social media that he has assumed charge as the 293rd pontiff of Madurai Aadheenam. Read more

Justice Nagarathna likely to be first woman CJI in 2027

The Supreme Court Collegium led by Chief Justice of India is learnt to have recommended names of nine judges, including three women, for elevation to the top court.According to sources,Justice Hima Kohli, Chief Justice of Telangana High Court, Justice B V Nagarathna of Karnataka High Court and Justice Bela Trivedi of the Gujarat High Court are among the names proposed by the Collegium, which consisted of five senior-most judges of the Supreme Court. Read more

Union Minister dubs protesting farmers as 'brokers', faces flak

The opposition parties have slammed Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Shobha Karandlaje for calling protesting farmers as brokers and middlemen. Farmers are protesting against the three farm laws for nearly nine months at the borders of Delhi. Karandlaje has dubbed protesters as 'brokers' and 'middlemen'. Read more

Cabinet nod for Rs 11,040 crore National Mission on edible oils-oil palm

The Cabinet on Wednesday approved the National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) with a financial outlay of Rs 11,040 crore to promote the domestic cultivation of oil palm in the next five years and reduce the country's dependence on edible oil imports. Read more

Progress for Afghan women could disappear overnight

As the Taliban takes control of the country, Afghanistan has again become an extremely dangerous place to be a woman. Even before the fall of Kabul on Sunday, the situation was rapidly deteriorating, exacerbated by the planned withdrawal of all foreign military personnel and declining international aid. Read more