Opposition coalition named INDIA — Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance
The Opposition alliance that will take on the ruling BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections has been named INDIA. Mallikarjun Kharge, president of the main opposition Congress party, said INDIA stood for ‘Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance’.Top leaders of 26 opposition parties met in Bengaluru on July 17-18 to discuss a united strategy to take on the ruling BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Delhi Court grants two-day interim bail to BJP’s Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in sexual harassment case
Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court on July 18 granted interim bail to BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and Vinod Tomar, who is a co-accused, till Thursday in an alleged case of sexual harassment by female wrestlers. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh granted relief to Singh on a personal bond of ₹25,000. The regular bail pleas have now been listed for July 20.
Former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy passes away at 79
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has passed away. He was 79. The senior Congress leader, who was being treated for cancer, breathed his last at a Bengaluru hospital early July 18 morning. His son Chandy Oommen announced the news through a Facebook post. A long-time legislator representing the Puthupally constituency in Kottayam district and an immensely popular public figure, Chandy was the Chief Minister of Kerala twice.
Supreme Court to hear plea by Rahul Gandhi in criminal defamation case on July 21
The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to list on July 21 a petition filed by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to suspend his conviction in a criminal defamation case in which he said a political speech critical of economic offenders and also of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, made in the course of democratic political activity, has been held to be an act of moral turpitude. Mr. Gandhi has also sought a stay of a Gujarat High Court judgment which according to him “has no parallel or precedent in the jurisprudence of the law of defamation”.
Government calls all-party meeting on July 19 ahead of Monsoon Session of Parliament
The government has convened an all-party meeting on July 19 to deliberate on a host of issues related to Parliament’s Monsoon Session, which will begin from July 20. It’s a customary get-together on the eve of a Session’s start as various parties put across their issues at the meeting attended by senior government Ministers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also participated in many such meetings.
Train accident probe reveals loco pilots passed signal in danger
The collision involving two goods trains at Singhpur station of Bilaspur Division in South East Central Railway (SECR) which left a loco pilot dead and few others injured was caused by overworked loco pilots, who were in a daze or microsleep and crossed the signal in danger. In his interim report on the early morning accident on April 19, 2023, in which a goods train collided in the rear of another goods train, the Commissioner of Railway Safety A. M. Chowdhary expressed concern over the increasing number of trains passing the signal in danger and called for technological intervention to prevent the same. The accident also damaged railway assets causing an estimated loss of ₹65.12 crore.
Incessant rain continues to lash Uttarakhand, CM reaches disaster control room
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on July 18 reached the State Disaster Control Room here to take stock of the situation in the state amid continuous rains and directed officials to remain on alert mode. Several roads, including national highways, were closed due to landslides due to incessant rains in the State. Due to incessant rains, the water level of all the rivers in the State, including Ganga and Yamuna, has increased.
South Korea searches for missing people as death toll from downpours reaches 41
Rescuers searched, on July 18, for about 10 people still missing in landslides and other incidents caused by more than a week of torrential rains in South Korea, as the country’s military dispatched more than 10,000 troops to support rescue works. The downpours pounding South Korea since July 9 have left 41 people dead, nine missing and 35 others injured. The rainfall has also forced about 12,780 people to evacuate and left about 28,600 households without power.
Hindenburg report combination of targeted misinformation, discredited allegations: Adani
Billionaire Gautam Adani on July 18 invoked growth prospects of ‘matrabhumi’ India and the potential it offers for his business empire as he again slammed U.S. short-seller Hindenburg for a ‘malicious’ attempt to damage the reputation of his conglomerate. At the annual shareholders meeting of his ports-to-energy conglomerate, Mr. Adani said the group’s assets and operating cashflows have got stronger and healthier and it will continue to consolidate what it has built while looking at expanding its horizons.
Arrested T.N. Minister Senthilbalaji moves Supreme Court in cash-for-jobs scam case
Tamil Nadu Minister V. Senthilbalaji on July 18 appealed the Supreme Court against a Madras High Court decision that a court order for his remand in money laundering charges linked to the cash-for-jobs scam will prevail over a habeas corpus petition filed by his wife, Megala. The High Court had found the habeas corpus plea not maintainable in law.
Analysis | A tale of two coups — Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction seeks to avoid Sena vs Sena bitterness
With Maharashtra’s electorate yet to recover from the shock of rebel Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar’s sudden alignment with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), two consecutive ‘surprise’ calls by the rebel faction on NCP chief Sharad Pawar have stupefied political pundits. On July 15, nearly two weeks after being sworn-in as Deputy CM and splitting the NCP, Ajit Pawar had visited his uncle Sharad Pawar’s ‘Silver Oak’ residence in Mumbai to meet his aunt and Mr. Pawar’s wife, Pratibha, who was discharged after recently undergoing a surgery.
Commonwealth Games in limbo as Australia pulls out as 2026 host
The Australian State of Victoria pulled out of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games on Tuesday, July 18, 2023 citing major cost blow-outs, leaving organisers fuming as they scrambled to keep the multi-sport event afloat. State Premier Daniel Andrews said the initial estimated Aus$2 billion (US$1.36 billion) needed to hold the Games would more likely be around Aus$7 billion, which he called “well and truly too much”.
WFI ad-hoc panel hands direct Asian Games entries to Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, raises eyebrows
The WFI ad-hoc panel on July 18 handed Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia and World Championship medallist Vinesh Phogat direct entries into the Asian Games, a decision which was taken without the consent of the national chief coaches. The IOA ad-hoc panel said in a circular that it has already selected wrestler in men’s freestyle 65kg and women’s 53kg but trials will be held in all six weight categories in each of the three styles. The ad-hoc panel did not name Bajrang and Vinesh in the circular but panel member Ashok Garg confirmed to PTI that the two wrestlers have been exempted from the trials.
Data | E-rickshaws to two-wheelers: The shift in the share of electric vehicles
The number of electric vehicles in India has surged from just 2,400 a decade ago to over 27.4 lakh as of July 2023. However, given the concurrent rise in the number of non-electric vehicles, the overall share of electric vehicles has still not crossed the 1% mark. Notably, there is also a wide inter-State disparity in the penetration of electric vehicles. There has also been a dramatic shift in the class of electric vehicles over time. In the initial years, between FY2015 and FY2020, when the number of electric vehicles was growing at a relatively slow pace, the share of e-rickshaws in the mix was much higher than the share of electric bikes. However, in the last four fiscal years, as the absolute number of electric vehicles has increased at a quicker pace, the share of electric bikes has surged and surpassed the share of e-rickshaws.
Chirag Paswan formally announces his return to the NDA
Nearly three years after breaking away from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Chirag Paswan, who heads one faction of his late father Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), announced his formal return to the coalition, and said that his party, the LJP (Ramvilas), will be contesting the next Lok Sabha elections in an alliance with the BJP. “We have taken a formal decision to join the NDA because LJP (Ramvilas) and BJP are natural allies,” Mr. Chirag Paswan said. The announcement came just hours before the NDA meeting of 38 parties at the national capital on Tuesday. According to sources, Mr. Chirag Paswan, who has had meetings with both BJP president J.P. Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, has successfully negotiated six seats that the united LJP had fought in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections for his faction.
Global PC shipments decline 15% YoY in Q2 2023: report
Global PC shipments fell 15% year-over-year(YoY) in Q2 2023. Inventory levels also continued to normalise, with shipments decline in Q2 of 2023 being seen as relatively stabilising since the shipment downturn in Q1 2022, Counterpoint shared in a blogpost. While HP and Apple avoided suffering decline in shipments in the second quarter of 2023, other vendors suffered double digit shipment declines.
Government launches portal to help small-time investors of Sahara group’s cooperative society
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on July 18 launched a portal to refund the money of around four crore small-time investors of four cooperative societies linked to the Sahara group of companies. Two Sahara Group entities are being investigated by several agencies including the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for alleged money laundering and foreign exchange rules violations.
Nirmala Sitharaman meets Chinese counterpart, discusses global debt vulnerabilities
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on July 18 met her Chinese counterpart Liu Kun and discussed various deliverables under G20 India Presidency, including strengthening Multilateral Development Banks and global debt vulnerabilities. Both Ministers met on the sidelines of the ongoing 3rd G20 Finance Minister and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meeting and discussed the state of their economies, inflation, trade and recognised the importance of a good business environment for economic growth and development. Minister Liu Kun appreciated India’s leadership in G20 and stated that a lot of results have been achieved so far, the Finance Ministry said in a tweet.
