Have €600,000 lying around and have a dream of wanting to be Napoleon (or at least have his fashion sense? Sotheby’s is auctioning one of his iconic bicorne hats. Speaking of hats, Modiji is doffing his to Yogi Adityanath for his handling of Covid-19. Great.
Top News:
➡️ Soon, you could own/operate a drone easily in India
➡️ Supreme Court has said the sedition law has enormous power of misuse
➡️ Vladimir Putin may have been in on a 2016 plan on interfering in US Elections
➡️ Scientists have made a paralysed man ‘talk’
CORONAVIRUS NEWS
🦠🤧🤒 Long Covid: A study of over 3,700 people from 56 countries with ‘long Covid’ – symptoms that last for weeks or months after the infection- found over 200 symptoms.
👷💉 Jabs n Jobs: The Manipur high court has said that linking anti-Covid vaccinations to jobs was illegal on the part of the state.
🔎🇨🇳 China, Give Evidence: WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus has said it is too early to knock out the “lab theory” for the origin of the virus and has asked China for more raw data.
💊 Drug Overdose: In 2020, the number of deaths due to drug overdose increased 30% in the US. The CDC said these were mostly triggered by pandemic-related stressors.
INDIA NEWS
National Drone Policy: People now can own and operate a drone more easily with the Centre releasing a draft copy of the policy. A digital platform will help users register, companies to seek clarification and operators to check no-fly zones.
⛔ Blocked: WhatsApp automatically blocked at least 2 million accounts in India between May 15 and June 15 for abusing its bulk messaging feature. It normally blocks around 8 million accounts a month globally.
👨⚖️ Is This Needed?: Attorney General K K Venugopal said that the sedition law need not be struck down but that the Supreme Court could lay down guidelines. The court said that the govt has been scrapping many obsolete laws but not looking into this one. Between 2016 and 2019, 93 cases were filed under this but only 2 convicted.
⚖️ For Justice: The NHRC has asked for a CBI probe into the post-poll violence in West Bengal and the trial be taken outside the state. It said that it is not the rule of law in the state, but law of ruler.
✋ Oh Capt, My Capt: Congress said that Captain Amarinder Singh will remain the chief minister of Punjab and fight the state elections next year under him. Next question: Who will lead Punjab Congress?
👨🏻⚖️ Let them Go: Four students from Kargil who were arrested on charges of attempting to bomb the Israeli embassy have been let off by a Delhi high court stating that the Delhi Police had found nothing incriminating against them. The police were earlier fined Rs 25,000 by another court for shoddy investigation into a 2020 riots case.
✝️☪️ Numbers game: After the Kerala High Court quashed a state govt order that distributed minorities’ welfare scheme in the order 80:20 between Muslims and Christians, the govt has now changed it to reflect the 2011 Census and will be 59:41.
🚗 Vintage car rules: Own a vintage car? Now there could soon be rules for that: cannot drive it around as a regular vehicle or for commercial purposes. Special registration plate.
WORLD NEWS
Make 🍊 King: In 2016, Russia President Vladamir Putin had asked his spy agencies to support a “mentally unstable” Trump win the elections and sow the seeds of social discontent in the US and strengthen Russia’s position, according to papers obtained by The Guardian. The Kremlin has rubbished this report.
🇷🇺 Don’t Do: Russia has banned the website Proekt that had published alleged “deeply embarassing” reports on President Vladamir Putin and other top Kremlin officials. Its chief editor has been brought under “foreign agents” list.
🇺🇸🇨🇳 Matter of Concern: After cotton and tomatoes, manufactured goods from Xinjiang province of China could be banned from the US amid concerns of human rights violations of Uyghur Muslims. The bill has been passed by the US Senate and heads to the US House of Representatives.
🇻🇺 Citizenship from Home: Where do some people go to avoid prosecution? Over 2,000 people, including former TMC leader Vinay Mishra, bought citizenship in Vanuatu last year for $130,000 without stepping foot there. They can now get visa-free travel to the 130 countries, no income tax and enjoy the first day of the New Year before a lot many people. Leading citizenship buyer: people from China, Middle East and Africa.
🇿🇦 Worst since Apartheid: The riots and looting in South Africa over the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma continues with at least 117 dead and over 1,700 arrests.
🇨🇺 Sigh of relief: In a rare concession, the Cuban government temporarily lifted import duties on food and medicine as the country struggled to provide them to its citizens. Protests continue in the country against the government’s stranglehold.
🇦🇫 Afghanistan: The Taliban has offered a ceasefire to the Afghan govt in exchange for 7,000 of its prisoners. Last year, 5,000 fighters were released who returned to fight. This report from the BBC is a must-watch on the conditions of the people of Afghanistan. Meanwhile, the country’s vice president has accused the Pak Air Force of providing ‘close air support’ to Taliban.
🧕👳♀️📿 For Neutrality: EU’s highest court has said employers could ask people not to wear religious symbols, including headscarves, to “present an image of neutrality“.
“Europe will never allow parts of our society to be stigmatised: because of whom they love, because of their age, their ethnicity, their political opinion, or their religious beliefs.”
Ursula Von Der Leyn, European Commission President on the EU taking legal action against Poland and Hungary pver their Anti-LGBTQ laws
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
💰Funds Infusion: The Centre has released Rs 75,000 cr it borrowed from the market to the states as GST compensation for FY22. This is nearly half of the amount that the Centre agreed to give to the states. Another Rs 1 lakh crore is being transferred in instalments from the GST cess collection.
ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE & TECH
⛈️ Water, water everywhere: Record rains have caused rivers in western Europe to go into spate and flood many areas of Germany, Belgium the Neatherlands. Many people are dead.
🗣️ A First: Scientists have managed to map the brain signals of a paralysed man and turn it into speech.
New Feature: WhatsApp is testing a feature that would let users use its service even if the phone’s battery runs out. Currently, the phone has to be linked to the internet for people to use it on its desktop.
Despite Covid understandably taking the headlines, climate change has been getting worse over the past year as emissions continue to rise and the lives and livelihoods on the frontline suffer. We vulnerable countries are not asking for much – just that richer countries, who have caused this problem, take responsibility.
Sonam P Wangdi of Bhutan, chair of least developed countries at COP26
All images are from Wikimedia Commons unless otherwise credited.
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