Rush Hour: Modi reiterates call for austerity, CJP cancels September 5 march and more

The Cockroach Janta Party withdrew its call for a march in Delhi on September 5. This came after the Supreme Court ordered that all first information reports registered in the country in connection with student protests held in July be withdrawn.

The plea to quash the cases was filed by the Union government on Monday. Bihar, Assam, Maharashtra and West Bengal followed suit.

The Union government had also sought permission for the Delhi Police to register a fresh FIR against 2,873 persons with serious criminal records who were present at the protest site. The Supreme Court has allowed this. Read on.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again appealed to Indians not to travel abroad and refrain from buying gold. “Avoid organising destination weddings in foreign countries,” said Modi in a video posted from Kyrgyzstan.

Modi had previously called for austerity in May, saying that such measures were needed to withstand the economic challenges created by the war in West Asia. He had urged the public to avoid non-essential foreign travel, adding that conserving foreign exchange reserves was “an act of patriotism”.

He repeated the appeal while congratulating the public on India’s gross domestic product in the April-June quarter growing at 7.8%. However, the Congress said that the numbers present a “greatly distorted picture”...

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