Doctors’ safety: IMA calls for nationwide stir on Monday
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) announced on Sunday evening that all non-essential services, including out-patient services, will be withdrawn for 24 hours from 6.00 a.m. on Monday across India in support of the striking junior doctors in West Bengal. Only emergency and casualty services will be offered, it said.
The protesting junior doctors, who have been demanding better security following an assault on duty doctors on June 10 at the NRSMCH in Kolkata, agreed to meet Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee . However, they said the meeting would have to be “in the full view of the media” and not “behind closed doors”.
It’s too early to call off SAARC and say it isn’t relevant or viable: Bhutan PM
Six months after he was sworn in as Prime Minister of Bhutan, Dr. Lotay Tshering is still treating his patients and had a surgery scheduled just hours before travelling to Brussels for talks with EU leaders. In his first major interview since the elections, Dr. Tshering speaks about major themes in Indo-Bhutan relations, the SAARC region as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit, widely expected in July.
India preserves its hegemony over Pakistan in World Cups
Under Manchester skies, bright one moment, brooding the next second, India found its sunshine at Old Trafford here on Sunday. In their World Cup clash against Pakistan, Virat Kohli’s men proved they are far too superior with an 89-run triumph.
Rohit Sharma’s masterly 140 (113b, 14x4, 3x6), his second in the current championship, helped India post 336 for five. Though the Indian innings suffered a one hour break when the skies opened up at 1.45 p.m., Kohli’s merry bunch placed at 305 for four in 46.4 overs, cruised upon resumption.
Congress needs a major surgery: Moily
Asserting that the Congress needs a “major surgery” in the wake of the Lok Sabha poll debacle, senior leader M. Veerappa Moily said Rahul Gandhi must carry out a complete overhaul of the party by holding elections at every level and quell internal bickering with an “iron hand”.
Emphasising that Mr. Gandhi alone can lead the party, Mr. Moily said it was the AICC in-charges and chiefs of States where the party has done badly who should be held accountable and not the Congress president.
PM Modi calls for all-party meet on ‘one nation, one election’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday invited heads of all parties in Parliament to a meeting on June 19 to discuss ‘one nation, one election’.
Ahead of the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha, Mr. Modi addressed leaders of Opposition at an all-party meet where he asked them to introspect and urged Parliament to “reflect upon a new way of thinking along with new faces who have entered the august House”.
Opinion | The Gujarat model, nationally
Winners in multiparty contests in a ‘first past the post’ system often emerge with a plurality of votes, leaving several minorities that could add up to a majority on the opposing side. Electoral strategies tend to focus on assembling a plurality of voters on one’s side and preventing the consolidation of opposing voters. Groups based on static identities such as caste, gender and language are individual components that are usually aggregated to form social coalitions, while class, a more porous identity, has increasingly become an impossible instrument of mobilisation. Fresh realignments of the electorate are always possible until you define majority and minority in terms of a static meta-identity of religion, which precludes further negotiations.
The construction of that meta-identity and potentially a permanent majority is the singular achievement of Hindutva 2.0, Mr. Modi’s innovation to Hindu cultural nationalism.
Israel PM’s wife convicted of misusing public funds
An Israeli court on Sunday convicted the wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of fraudulently using state funds for meals, under a plea bargain which saw her admit to lesser charges.
While the ruling cut short a high-profile trial, the Netanyahu family’s legal woes are far from over: the veteran Premier himself faces possible indictment for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in the coming months.
Saudi Crown Prince warns countries against ‘exploiting’ Khashoggi murder
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has warned against “exploiting” the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi for political gains, in what appeared to be a veiled attack on Turkey.
Turkey’s ties with Saudi Arabia have come under strain since the brutal murder last October of Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Turkish officials were the first to report the murder and have continued to press Saudi Arabia for information on the whereabouts of his dismembered body, which has yet to be found.
This will be a tough budget to balance
Over the next 20 days, two major policy events will take place — the Budget and a GST Council meeting — that will reveal the government’s intent and vision for the next five years. While there are a number of issues that it can take up at both these events, there are three main problems that are relatively more noteworthy.
The first is the issue of private investment and how, despite the government’s best efforts so far, it has not recovered enough to shoulder its share of the burden as a prime driver of economic growth.
Women’s Series Finals: Gurjit powers India to victory over Poland
Gurjit scored a brace to lead the Indian women’s hockey team to a dominant 5-0 victory over Poland at the FIH Women’s Series Finals here on Sunday.
Right from the outset, India was on the attack, the left flank causing problems for Poland’s defence time and time again.
Though Poland enjoyed the lion’s share of possession, India’s speedy attacks put it on the backfoot.
