How old is animal life? What did it look like? A new paper published in the journal Nature says it may have found an answer – in an 890 million years old fossil of a sponge. Yes, your bath sponge could be a descendant of one of them! Of course, this has generated debate and it may well be proved otherwise later. But a sponge, imagine!
TOP NEWS
➡️ Assam’s advisory against travel to Mizoram
➡️ Centre introduces OBC, EWS quota in med education
➡️ Cabinet OKs move to privatise one general insurer
➡️ Russian space module pushes at Int’l Space Station
IN PARLIAMENT
😠 Shots Fired: Shashi Tharoor, who heads the parliamentary standing committee on information technology, has sought action against three government officials who did not present themselves before the panel over the Pegasus reports.
🤦🏻♂️ Govt’s Perfect World: The Centre told Rajya Sabha that there had been no deaths due to manual scavenging in the last five years in the country. In recent years, however, there had been many such deaths reported.
INDIA NEWS
⚔️ Unprecedented: Assam has advised its residents not to travel to Mizoram and those already there to be cautious, given the tension between the two states over the killing of seven people near the border.
📚👆 Education Policy: The Centre said it will introduce 27% reservation for OBCs in the All India Quota in medical and dental institutes, while also reserving 10% for EWS students. The govt said that the Indian Sign Language will be introduced in secondary level schooling.
👨🏻⚖️ Death of a Judge: The incident in Dhanbad, which is now suspected to be a murder case, has caught the attention of the Supreme Court. The Jharkhand High Court called the incident an “attack on the judiciary” and ordered a special investigation team to look into the case.
👮 That’s Illegal!: The Delhi Assembly has passed a resolution against the appointment of Rakesh Asthana as the city’s top cop. In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that appointments to the post of director-general of police required officers to have at least 6 months of service left before their superannuation.
😐 Bill Clears House: The Chhattisgarh govt’s controversial Bill to acquire a medical institute owned by the chief minister’s kin has got legislature approval. It’ll cost the state Rs 140 crore every year.
🤚 Party Revival: The Congress is discussing a “reform and revival” agenda that ace poll strategist Prashant Kishor offered.
😡 Ridiculous: Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant made himself a target of ridicule when he said parents of girls need to introspect when they stay out on the beach late. His comments came after four men, one of them a govt employee, raped two girls on Benaulim beach.
WORLD NEWS
🦠 Coronavirus News: China has increased surveillance after the Delta variant was detected in the eastern city of Nanjing; US President Joe Biden has asked states to offer $100 to people for getting vaccinated, while ordering federal govt employees to get their shot.
🇬🇧⚓🇨🇳 Challenging Waters: China is irked at the presence of a UK Strike Group led by its aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth in the contested South China Sea. The UK has said it will conduct Freedom of Navigation exercises in the area, while China accuses it of still living in the colonial era.
🇮🇱🇵🇸 When Innocents Die: A 12-year-old Palestinian boy was killed in Israeli gunfire. He was travelling in a car with his father when the incident happened. During a protest at his funeral, the Israelis killed a 20-year-old man.
👾📲 Pegasus Row: Israel has searched the offices of NSO Group, which created Pegasus, in a probe into the controversy.
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Private Insurance: The Union Cabinet has cleared introduce amendments to the insurance laws in the Monsoon Session that will see privatisation of one of its general insurance (that caters to every aspect of insurance, except life) : New India Assurance, National Insurance Company, Oriental Insurance Company and New India Insurance.
On Back of Govt Aid: Massive govt aid and vaccinations have pulled the US GDP back to its pre-Covid levels and more, although the pace of growth had been slower than expected.
Permit Cancelled: The RBI has cancelled the licence of Madgaum Co-op Bank after its finances were found to be too weak to even pay its depositors. It will now be liquidated.
“While there is no doubt that digital markets are the epicentres of technological progress, they have become centres for entrenched and unchecked dominance.”
Ashok Kumar Gupta, Chairperson of Competition Commission of India
ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE & TECH
🛰️ Mistake in Space: Russia’s first attempt at docking with the International Space Station got off to a shaky start after its Nauka (meaning “science” in Russian) lab module accidentaly fired its thrusters and pushed the station off course. The ISS regained its space after counter manoeuvres.
💨 3 for 1: The lifestyle of three average Americans can cause enough emissions – 4,434 metric tonnes of CO2 – to kill one person, according to a new study.
News Of Today 