For first time, there are very few Covid-19 reports in the papers today. This is a sign, but hopefully NOT of govts or public taking the virus lightly. An explosive story from the Guardian has exposed how the Buckingham Palace has been undercutting racial and sex discrimination laws. Chennai schools are rattled by more allegations of misconduct. And NASA is planning a Venus mission
CORONAVIRUS NEWS
💉👨🏻⚖️ Vaccine mess Programme: SC calls Centre’s policy “arbitrary” and “irrational”; Odisha CM writes to his counterparts asking for consensus in getting Centre to procure vaccines
INDIA NEWS
🏠 Tenancy Law: The Union Cabinet has shared draft of a model tenancy law that could leverage private sector into renting out houses and reducing the housing crisis. Under this, max residential deposit would be 2 months’ rent.
😡 #MeToo in Schools: Over the last few days, there have been many allegations raised against schools in Chennai, from casteism to slut shaming.
IT Rules: Google says it’s a search engine and so, new rules don’t apply to it.
👨⚖️ Role after role: Less than a year after he retired, former SC judge Arun Mishra has accepted the offer to head the national human rights panel. Congress leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge wished that the chairperson was a member of a minority or vulnerable community.
🇵🇰 Pak Clears Air: Relationship with India cannot be normalised without reinstatement of Article 370, says PM Imran Khan.
🇵🇸 ‘Clear Air’: Palestine says it is concerned over India’s abstention at votes at the UN Human Rights Council. On May 16, India had referred to the Palestinan cause as “just”. But since then, it has dropped this reference on 3 occasions.
“Republic of India missed an opportunity to join the international community at this turning point, both crucial and overdue, on the path to accountability, justice and peace.”
Riad Malki, Palestine foreign minister
🤐 Gag by another name: Retired security and intel officers say that the new pension rules is a virtual gag order as it says the benefit will be withdrawn if they wrote anything about their work, including experience and expertise.
👤👤 Another Side: After one section of former bureaucrats say that the Centre’s action against ex-Bengal chief secy was “bizarre”, another says the officer “slighted the President”.
💰🗳️ Kerala BJP Soup: Audio clip emerges of BJP state chief allegedly paying alliance partner Rs 10 lakh before polls.
WORLD NEWS
👸 Checking the Queen: Neither sex nor racial discrimination laws apply to the Queen or its household making it impossible for people to take them to court. An “obscure” parliamentary procedure called the Queen’s Consent was used to pressure the govt into protecting the queen from these laws.
🇮🇱 Israel Leadership: Isaac Herzog is 11th President. Eight very different political parties have come together to form a new govt that will be initially headed by Naftali Bennet as PM, then power transfer to Yair Lapid.
🇮🇷🛳️ Iran Warship Sinks: Largest naval ship Kharg mysteriously catches fire and sinks in the Gulf of Oman. No loss of life.
🛩️ Bird Fright: Malaysia complains after 16 Chinese military aircraft flew over restricted airspace over the South China Sea. China says it followed law.
🏳️🌈 Gender: Florida bans transgender girls and women from participating in sports with female competitors. It, however, does not ban females from participating in men’s or boys’ teams.
🇨🇦 Canada Horror: Indigenous Services Minister says Pope Francis had to apologise for the deaths of children in the early 20th century in the country when the church attempted to assimilate the local populace.
🐘 When Giants Walk: The Chinese are enthralled by… elephants. A herd of 15 elephants left their natural habitat and are trekking through residential areas pushing the government to increase surveillance on the group and keeping them away from people.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
📈 Import-Export: India’s exports grew 67% in May thanks again to low base effect due to lockdown. Comparing it to pre-Covid May ‘19, the growth was 7.9%, which is still “comfortable”. Imports too rose 68.5% but lower than pre-pandemic levels.
💰 Show Tax: EU will ask large MNCs to disclose how much tax they are paying in each of the bloc’s 27 member countries and tax havens.
🤕 Occupational Hazards: With its emphasis on “fast delivery”, Amazon’s workers seem to be suffering a lot. A report finds that injuries to workers at the company’s US warehouses were 80% higher than the industry average.
⚡🪄👓Always: Harry Potter book sales rose 7% during the pandemic.
ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE & TECH
🚢 Disaster: Ship that had been on fire for nearly two weeks sinks off the coast of Sri Lanka sparking fears of an oil leak.
🌡️ Climate Change: Lakes are losing oxygen as warmer waters can’t hold it as effectively. When the surface layer of water is warmer than the bottom, it prevents O2 mixing thereby making life there difficult. This is a deadly cycle: Lakes with 0 oxygen it’ll promote bacterial growth that increases greenhouse gas methane.
☀️🆚🛢️ Unbalanced: The rich G7 countries committed $189bn to fossil fuels, but only $147bn on clean energy between January 2020 to March ’21.
News Of Today 