Morning Digest: Telegram founder-CEO Pavel Durov charged, banned from leaving France; Centre agrees to further discussions with trade unions on Labour Codes, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on August 29, 2024.

France on Wednesday (August 28, 2024) charged Pavel Durov, the founder and chief of Telegram, with a litany of violations related to the messaging app and banned him from leaving the country while allowing the billionaire to walk free after four days under arrest.

Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has agreed to hold further discussions on the implementation of the four Labour Codes with the Central Trade Unions, union leaders said on Wednesday. The Minister’s assurance came during a round table meeting with the CTUs, where ten unions alleged that the Codes are in favour of big corporations.

Normal life was paralysed in different parts of West Bengal on Wednesday (August 28, 2024) due to a 12-hour bandh called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in protest against alleged police excesses on protesters during the march to the State Secretariat on Tuesday (August 27, 2024).

The sweeping investigation into the complaints of sexual exploitation and abuse in the Malayalam film industry gathered pace on Wednesday. The special investigation team (SIT) probing the accusations recorded the statement of the woman artist who had publicly accused veteran actor and former general secretary of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists, Siddique, of raping her at a hotel in Thiruvananthapuram under the pretext of auditioning her for a movie project. 

Two Jharkhand police officers suspected of spying on former Chief Minister Champai Soren in the national capital were questioned by the Delhi police, officials said on Wednesday. According to Delhi police sources, the two sub-inspectors were staying at a five-star hotel in the city for the past few days and were taken to the Chanakyapuri police station for questioning.

India and Russia signed the working plan of the Joint Russian-Indian Commission on the Cooperation in the Field of Emergency Management for 2025-2026 on Wednesday (August 28, 2024). Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai and Kurenkov Aleksandr Vyacheslavovich, Minister of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (EMERCOM of Russia) signed the agreement in Moscow. 

The Ministry of Defence has signed a repeat order for 73,000 SIG716 rifles from Sig Sauer of the U.S. and deliveries are expected to completed by end-2025.“The contract was signed in June 2024 and delivery is within 18 months of contract,” a defence official said. The Army has earlier procured and inducted 72,400 SIG-716 rifles from Sig Sauer of the U.S. through fast track procurement under a ₹700 crore contract signed in February 2019.