The Covid death toll in the world has topped 4 million, while the Delta Variant is now set to dominate the highly vaccinated US population. The UP govt is very confident that it has tamed the virus. Hopefully, they have! There is shocking news from Haiti where their President has been assassinated. And Trump continues to make the news.
Check out our interactive on Modi’s new team
INDIA NEWS
👨🏻⚖️ Ok, but not ok: Justice Kausik Chanda of the Calcutta HC imposed a Rs 5 lakh fine on Mamata Banerjee for asking him to recuse himself in her election petition on her loss to BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari. Banerjee said there could be bias as Chanda had represented the BJP in 2019 before his elevation. Chanda said he didn’t think so, imposed the fine and then removed himself.
🛕 Amid Covid: Uttar Pradesh will allow the annual Kanwar Yatra to proceed. The Yatra will see many marching to receive Ganga water from Haridwar. But the Uttarakhand govt has banned the Yatra. Now UP officials are figuring out how to get the water to the devotees.
🔎 CBI to probe: Supreme Court has ordered the agency to look into a Haryana case in which 400 acres in Rohtak from acquisition and granting colonisation licence to a real estate developer.
WORLD NEWS
😱 Haiti President Assassinated: Jovenel Moïse was shot dead at around 1 am at his private residence. Police later said they killed the four suspected assassins. Moïse had been clinging onto power for more than a year, ruling by decree, while many had demanded his removal citing the constitution. The US backed him. The country has seen rising poverty, hunger and crime.
🍊 Trump Sues: The former US President has sued Big Tech – Google, FB and Twitter – challenging the closure of his accounts following the January 6 attack on the Capitol that he is alleged to have played a role in instigating rioters.
🇮🇷⚛️ No Nukes!: The IAEA has confirmed that Iran has moved to enrich uranium metal, a step that could lead to nukes. France, Germany and Britain have condemned this.
🇸🇪 I’m Back!: Stefan Lofven has been re-elected PM in Sweden just weeks after he lost a vote of confidence. This time he won the nomination from the 349-member Parliament
🇨🇳🇱🇰 China Yo!: Sri Lanka has minted coins to mark the Communist Party of China’s 100 years and 65 years of relationship with China.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Solar Push: RIL is looking to foray into the clean energy sector with the acquisition of Norwegian company REC that manufactures solar modules (The company had earlier announced Rs 75,000 crore into the sector).
Conflict of Interest: PNB has asked the board of its housing business to reconsider the Rs 4,000 crore stake sale to US private equity firm Carlyle Group in which certain board members have an interest in. The bank had earlier said that all procedures had been followed.
Fiber Push: Private equity firms are interested in investing in Vodafone Idea’s (VI) data and broadband infrastructure. Even as telecom struggles and the govt is expected to control predatory pricing in an effort to normalise rates, the data/broadband sector is expected to rise making VI, a company struggling with Rs 1.8 lakh crore in liabilities, attractive.
Banks Penalised: The RBI has penalised 14 banks -between Rs 50 lakh to Rs 2 crore- for violating rules regarding lending to non-banking financial companies. This includes SBI, South Indian Bank and Bank of Baroda.
ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE & TECH
🥵 Hot June: North America suffered its hottest June on record clocking an average rise of 1.2 deg C over 1991-2020. Europe suffered its second hottest June.
News Of Today 