“When told to bend, the Indian media crawled.” is a quote often heard when talking about the Emergency, which was imposed 46 years ago on June 25, 1975. Hopefully, that will never happen again. After UGC, it is turn of reputed national research institutes to prostrate before the govt, this time with an acronym! A wild elephant has got Jharkhand officials worried and fuel prices have hit a century in 12 states. See if yours is one of them!
CORONAVIRUS NEWS
🧐 Hold on a minute: AIIMS Director Randeep Singh Guleria, who is heading the Supreme Court-appointed panel to look into the pandemic response, has said that the controversy surrounding an interim report that suggested that Delhi may have exaggerated its oxygen demand was incorrect. He said the report itself was an internal document and not the final one.
🙇♀️Let us all Bow (2): Modi = Motivation Of Delivering Immunity, says over 300 scientists from leading national research institutes and central universities.
🆘 PM calls to NGOs: Prime Minister Narendra Modi called to involve NGOs to expand vaccine drive. This is not the first time Modi has sought NGOs’ help. But then, many NGOs say their hands are tied by laws he passed.
💉 Fake Vaccination: Debanjan Dey is accused of holding a fake vaccination drive in Kolkata and giving out vaccines, has been charged with attempt to murder. Lok Sabha member Mimi Chakraborty, who took her “shot” from this camp fell ill but her condition is stable. Police say that Dey, instead of anti-Covid vaccine, gave out Amikacin, which is an antibiotic.
INDIA NEWS
🌧️ Monsoon Holiday: The India Meteorological Department says that the monsoon is on a “break” and that it won’t cover much of north India for another week.
⚰️ Death Wait: A woman died in Kanpur while traffic was stopped for President Kovind’s train that was passing under a bridge. Four policemen were suspended in the incident and a probe is on. President is pained and Kanpur Police seeks forgiveness.
🔎 Deshmukh Probe: The Enforcement Directorate alleged that former Maharashtra home minister had set up several companies to direct money from bars. The money, almost ₹4 crore between Dec ’20 and Feb ’21, was collected by former assistant police inspector Sachin Waze for “smooth functioning, it said.
🤝 After J-K: The Centre will host leaders from Kargil, but in Ladakh and will be chaired by a minister of state. The meeting is part of the government’s efforts to look into preservation of Kargil’s land, culture and language, and the demand to include it under the Sixth Schedule.
😠 Forgive Rowdies: The Kerala government has approached the Supreme Court for permission to drop cases against its party members who vandalised the Assembly in 2015 when it was in the Opposition. This was earlier refused by the Kerala HC.
V Sivankutty in 2015 was on a bench, protesting the former finance minsiter, the late K M Mani, who was booked in a bribery case, from presenting the Budget. He is now education minister.
🤑 Goa Trouble: The Goa corruption ombudsman has written to the Governor on the state government not filing an FIR against a BJP MLA in a disproportionate assets case. He somehow had the capacity to build a bunglow worth ₹200 crore.
🐘 Tusker’s rage: An elephant has been killing people – 16 in 3 days – in Jharkhand after being separated from the herd. Most people killed were those who flocked to see the elephant despite the forest dept telling them to back off.
WORLD NEWS
🇺🇸 Return of the Trump:The former US president holds a rally in Ohio. Although he had been conducting rallies ever since his loss, this will be publicly against one of 10 Republican who voted for his impeachment. In Ohio, he dangled the possibility of a return in 2024. Falsely claims 2020 elections was a “fraud”.
🇺🇸 Misplaced Comment: US President’s impromptu comment on linking Congress’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill with a bill to spend on social sector and climate change, almost nuked the deal. The infrastructure bill is one of the most significant bills passed and got support from both Republicans and Democrats. The president’s comment took Republicans by surprise and threatened to derail the process. Biden later clarified and the issue was sorted.
🇨🇳 Tragedy: 18 children died in a martial arts school blaze. Cause unclear.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
⛽💯 Adding Fire to Fuel: Petrol prices have crossed ₹100 in Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Kerala and Bihar. It had already crossed the mark in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Telangana, Odisha, Manipur, J-K and Ladakh. On Saturday, the price was raised by 35 paise – the 30th time in 54 days.
💲 Forex Down: A week after the RBI reported a record high in terms of foreign reserves, the streak has been broken with falling gold prices bringing down forex.
💰💊 J&J Pays Up: The company has paid New York City $230 million to settle an opioid lawsuit and is said to have committed to leaving the business in the country. New York chief lawyer said J&J had added to the “opiod epidemic”. Pharma companies are said to promoting powerful painkillers beyond medically necessary levels that cause people to get addicted to drugs.
NEWS OF YESTERDAY
Yen made the official currency of Japan on this day in 1871.
News Of Today 