Weather is political, said Germany’s ARD public television. For many years now, the world has been seeing extreme weather events. With the rich now affected and even Ruport Murdoch creating a channel just for weather, what was a conversation starter is now truly a conversation.
Top News:
➡️ UP cancels Kanwar Yatra
➡️ Gujarat High Court begins live streaming of proceedings
➡️ Afghan envoy’s daughter abducted in Pak
➡️ Deaths of 12 people in a care home has shaken up Germany
CORONAVIRUS NEWS
4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣,0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣,0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ That’s how many vaccines India has administered till now – #2 in the world, but just over 33% of total eligible vaccinations.
🦠 Hot Spot: Kerala continues to be the biggest contributor to the nation’s Covid case count with more than 16,000 cases reported on Saturday.
🛕 Common Sense Prevails: Uttar Pradesh has decided to call of Kanwar Yatra this year.
🏊♀️Precautions not enough: Despite tough measures to prevent the virus from infecting athletes, the Tokyo Olympic Games village reported its first confirmed Covid case.
🇨🇳 China Push: President Xi Jinping said his country would support the waiver of intellectual property rights on vaccines and set up a fund to aid in the economic recovery of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC – Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Paupa New Guinea, Peru, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, United States, Vietnam).
INDIA NEWS
✋ Sorry First: Punjab CM Amarinder Singh is believed to have said that he would accept any decision made by the Congress High Command but will require a public apology from Navjot Singh Sidhu on his criticism against his govt. Sidhu is in line to take over the party reigns in the state.
“Not at all. Not at all… I don’t know of any rumours about leadership change. You tell me?”
B S Yediyurappa, Karnataka chief minister on whether has resigned from office.
🤝 Interesting: Amid reports of fissures in the Maharashtra coaltion govt of the NCP, Congress and Shiv Sena, NCP chief Sharad Pawar had a meeting with PM Narendra Modi. Pawar said it was just a routine visit on “national interest”. To quell any doubts, the party has said that “allies had been informed” of the meeting.
🪖 No Gaps: Home Minister Amit Shah has said that all “gaps” on India’s borders will be fenced this year.
🚆 Rail Link: The Indian Railways will link 40 cities with its semi-high-speed Vande Bharat trains.
👨🏻⚖️ Push for Mediation: Touching on India’s literature like the Mahabharata, Chief Justice of India N V Ramana said there needs to be a movement to popularise mediation. He said that India had a rich culture of mediation that eroded after the British colonised the land and brought its system in 1775.
“People are confident that they will get relief and justice from the judiciary. It gives them the strength to pursue a dispute. They know that when things go wrong, the judiciary will stand by them. The Indian Supreme Court is the guardian of the largest democracy.”
N V Ramana, Chief Justice of India
WORLD NEWS
😤 Outrageous: Afghan envoy’s 26-year-old daughter was briefly abducted and tortured in Pakistan. Afghanistan has demanded full protection for its diplomats in the country.
🇦🇫 Afghanistan: Even as Taliban gains control in the country, it is also talking to the Afghanistan government in Doha for “peace”. The US, Afhganistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan have formed a quadrilateral grouping for regional connectivity.
“While not all are affected equally, this tragic event is a reminder that, in the climate emergency, no one is safe, whether they live on a small island nation like mine or a developed Western European state.”
Mohammad Nasheed, President of Maldives
💔 Heartbreaking: 12 disabled people at a care home in Germany drowned before rescue personnel could reach them.
🧕 Malala Na Na: Pak authorities in Lahore and Punjab confiscated books featuring Malala Yousufzai who is a deeply polarising figure in the country.
🇮🇱🇸🇦 Israel’s Go-Ahead: The Israeli govt secretly encouraged companies to aid Saudi Arabia in its espionage, reports NYT. This even after the killing of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder in which the Saudi crown prince MBS was alleged to have had a hand in. Israeli companies’ tools have been alleged to have been used to abet crimes.
🤕 Mystery illness: Reports of Havana Syndrome are being reported in US diplomats once again. This time from Vienna. Scientists believe high energy beams directed at the victims cause this affliction, which is often described as “cognitive fog”
🇺🇸 Unlawful: Former US president Barack Obama’s immigration programme, called DACA and its beneficiaries called “Dreamers”, has been termed illegal by a federal court in Texas. The programme granted protection from deportation to those who came into the country as minors. Incumbent President Biden has assured an appeal.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
💰 Reserves Up: India’s forex reserves increased to a record high of $611bn due to the increase of foreign currency assets. Gold reserves too were up to almost $36bn.
News Of Today 