At a time when we probably have to fold our hands to Mother Nature for teaching us an important lesson through COVID-19, the UGC thinks we ought to thank someone else. Oh you know who. The Aam Aadmi Party is playing the religion card ahead of the Punjab polls. And in France, the name Valeri Bacot now evokes sadness at the state of affairs of women all around the world.
CORONAVIRUS NEWS
8️⃣,0️⃣9️⃣5️⃣,3️⃣1️⃣4️⃣: That’s the number of vaccinations conducted on Monday, the day when Centre took over the procurement and supply of vaccines to states. This is a record and more than New Zealand’s population.
🛕 Once again: Amarnath Yatra put off for the second year in a row.
🧘♂️🧘♀️ Let Us All Bow: University Grants Commission has asked all universities to put up “Thank You PM Modi” posters for the free shots. In Odisha, BJP is protesting the absence of Modi’s pic at vaccination centres.
🦠 Delta Virus: The World Health Organization says that current vaccines are less effective against the Delta variant although they can still prevent death.
🦠➕ Variant Alert: Delta Plus now found in 21 cases in Maharashtra, three in Kerala and one in Madhya Pradesh. Like the Delta variant, this too is immune escaping but studies yet to confirm anything.
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INDIA NEWS
✍🏽 CBSE Exams: Students not satisifed with their assessment can give the optional Class 12 Board exams between August 15 and September 15, “subject to the situation being conducive”.
⚔️ Bengal Violence: Calcutta HC order the National Human Rights Commission to probe allegations of post-poll violence in West Bengal. Panel will discover those responsible and officers who kept silent. The Centre, meanwhile, has initiated penalties against former Bengal chief secretary and now adviser to the CM, Alapan Bandyopadhyay.
“Punjab is annoyed with the current leadership… It is certain that the AAP CM face (in the ’22 state polls) will be from Sikh community.”
Arvind Kejriwal, AAP convener
🤝 Anti-BJP: Nationalist Congress Party will host a meeting of opposition leaders to discuss ways and means to band together against the BJP. This comes after its chief Sharad Pawar met Prashant Kishor for the second time in 10 days. The Congress that is not part of the meeting, meanwhile, has called a meeting of its top leaders in its first such meeting after election defeats in Kerala, West Bengal and Assam.
😞 So many years: Four years after driver Habib Miya was arrested on charges of allegedly aiding a terror attack at the IISc campus in Bangalore, the NIA court says police failed to establish it.
Esther Duflo 
Raghuram Rajan 
Arvind Subramanian 
Jean Dreze 
S Narayan
🗳️ Yogi for CM, Modi for Win: Stamping out speculations over who will lead the BJP’s campaign in next year’s elections in Uttar Pradesh, newly-appointed party vice-president A K Sharma has said it will be Yogi Adityanath, and says “the name and patronage of this great public personality (Modi) are enough to win the upcoming elections“. Earlier, deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya and Labour minister had stoked speculations after they said that the CM face was yet to be decided.
🤜🤛 Cong Feud: After Navjot Singh Sidhu’s public attack, the Congress has once again summoned senior leaders, including CM Amarinder Singh, from Punjab for talks. The infighting threatens the party’s prospects before elections next year.
Amarinder Singh 
Navjot Singh Sidhu
👩💼👨💼 For J-K Govt Jobs: No person in the state can get govt jobs without a CID nod and in case of adverse notice it will be screened once and then possibly rejected without notice. They will have to also disclose whether any close relative is part of any political party. This follows a previous amendment that allowed a government to dismiss someone from service without inquiry.
💬 Twitter Summoned: The website has restricted 50 tweets concerning the Ghaziabad incident to users in India. Twitter India MD Manish Maheshwari has been summoned for questoning by Ghaziabad Police that has refused offer of video call.
😠 Crimes: Two persons were held from Delhi on allegations that they were involved in converting people to Islam on the pretext of jobs, marriage etc. Woman found dead in Kerala suspected to be a dowry death case. Body of man who ran over “cow vigilante” found in a creek in Gujarat days after the incident.
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WORLD NEWS
🇮🇷 Sticking Point: Iran President-elect Ebrahim Raisi has said that he will not meet US President Joe Biden and instead asked the US and European countries to stick to the 2015 deal. This is a hardline stance contrary to current President Hassan Rouhani’s position that he would meet anyone if his country benefits.
Ebrahim Raisi 
Joe Biden
🇪🇺📺🇬🇧 Pass me the remote: Post-Brexit European Union is planning to cut down on British TV series saying it has a disproportionate representation on European television and a risk to its cultural diversity.
🇪🇸 Forgive thy enemies: Spain confirms that it will pardon Catalan separatists despite fierce opposition. Its PM Pedro Sanchez says he is guided by the “constitutional spirit of forgiveness”.
🇫🇷 Not Everyone: A woman named Valeri Bacot is on trial for allegedly killing a man who had allegedly been raping her since she was 12. At the time, he was her step-father, and then went on to be her husband. He allegedly forced her into prostitution.
🇸🇪 Swedish House Mafia: For the first time in its histroy, the country’s Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven, loses vote of confidence.
🇪🇺🆚🇧🇾 More sanctions: European Union is not holding back against Belarus, perceived to be close to Russia, and is planning to expand its sanctions to strike the country’s economy – oil, tobacco and potash – that bring in huge forex. EU banks may also be barred from offering services. The decisions will be finalised soon.
“Never in our history in Latin America have we faced such movement of people (5.6 mn) out of a country (Venezuela 🇻🇪) that was one of the richest in the region and a country that is not at war.”
Eduardo Stein, special representative of the UNHCR on the crisis in Venezuela
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BUSINESS/ECONOMY
🤑 UN Report: India was the fifth largest recipient of foreign direct investment in 2020 at $64 billion.
👾 Too many Bugs: The Finance Ministry will meet Infosys today to discuss issues related to the new income tax website – basic login issues, inability to generage OTP or password and other problems.
📉 Blowing to Bits: Chinese crackdown on mining operations has caused Bitcoin to lose 10% of its value.
“We have no option as a society, as a business, but to really adopt a sustainable business model… it is a prerequisite for every business to survive, and this means transforming businesses and integrating them with the future.”
Mukesh Ambani, RIL chairperson
ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE & TECH
🐬 Covid positive: With the demand for fish and sand reducing due to the pandemic, there has been a significant rise in the number of dolphins and ghariyal in the Chambal river.
🐟 In Danger: Unesco says the Great Barrier Reef should be put on a list of World Heritage Sites that are in danger. Australia opposes it.
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NEWS OF YESTERDAY
Diego Maradonna scored the “Hand of God” goal on this day in 1986
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News Of Today 