News Digest (25th June 2021) Friday

News Digest (25th June 2021) Friday

-by Annadatha V Murali Manohar*

Every little smile can touch somebody’s heart. No one is born happy, but all of us are born with the ability to create happiness

Headlines

PM's all-party meet: Assembly polls in J&K soon after delimitation, statehood on cards; Article 370 & 35 A not discussed since it is pending before Supreme Court

Holding elections priority, PM Modi tells J&K leaders at all-party meet

It’s well recognised that Chinese actions led to LAC stand-off: India

NSA Ajit Doval, mounts pressure on Pakistan at SCO with plan on LeT, JeM, while calling for full implementation of UN resolutions and targeted sanctions against designated terrorists

Study: Over a billion people to be affected if melting of Himalayan glaciers continue; Rivers from the Indus to Brahmaputra depend on glaciers for water, continuous melting may end that source

At Shanghai Corporation Organisation (SCO) Meet, Doval's proposed 'Action Plan' against Lashkar, Jaish leaves Pakistan red-faced

Four students from Kargil detained over blast near Israel Embassy in Delhi that took place on Jan 29

NCB arrests drug kingpin from Punjab

US Scientist finds early virus sequences that were mysteriously deleted from early Covid cases in China

Won’t allow Class 12 exams unless sure of ‘no fatality’ due to Covid, SC tells AP

AP SSC, Inter Exams 2021: Andhra govt scraps Board Exams after SC rebuke, to set-up High-Power Committee to give grades

Declare boards marks scheme by July 31, SC directs states

Nishad Party chief Dr. Sanjay Nishad: Will retain power in UP, come what may; demanded the post of Dy CM, in the state if the coalition wins the election

Financial & Business News

India’s bank credit-to-GDP ratio inches up to 56% in 2020, but still way behind peers: BIS data

Twitter India MD may not appear before Ghaziabad Cops; Karnataka HC grants interim relief from coercive action by Ghaziabad Police

RIL AGM 2021: Ambani shares Rs 75,000-cr Energy Biz Plan to put India on Global Solar Map; RIL Retail to create 10 lakh jobs, on a Hyper Growth Trajectory; RIL-Saudi Aramco deal likely this year; Yasir Al-Rumayyan joins Board; Jio Institute set to commence academic sessions; RIL plans big 5G push, will launch Jiophone next from Sep

Jio’s ‘made in India’ 5G solution globally competitive: Mukesh Ambani

India's bank credit-to-GDP ratio inches up to 56% in 2020, but still way behind peers: BIS data

NAA nudges GST Officers to collect evidence against suppliers not cutting prices of Covid essentials

Tax Dept detects Rs 100Cr Hawala Transactions after raids in Chhattisgarh; 6Cr unaccounted cash seized

IRDAI: Insurers have settled 15.3 lakh health and 48,000 life claims amid lethal second wave

Global electronics firms Foxconn, Flex, Jabil, Sanmina among 29 registered under 12,195Cr production linked incentive scheme for the telecom sector

Detroit: Some used vehicles now cost more than original sticker price

High oil prices will throttle recovery, Dharmendra Pradhan tells Opec

India presses Opec for affordable oil price

Adani group to begin coal export from Australia mine this year

Mukesh Ambani throws a $10 billion clean energy challenge at rivals

Govt frees BPOs as global rivals rise

Corona updates

72-year-old UK man Dave Smith tested Covid-19 Positive for 10 straight months; tested positive 43 times, was hospitalised seven times and had made plans for his funeral

WHO: Delta variant now reported in 85 countries globally, expected to become dominant lineage

Sydney faces ‘scariest period’ in pandemic amid Delta outbreak

ICMR, NIV to study if vaccines in India enough to neutralise Delta Plus Covid variant; hopeful vaccines will work on Delta Plus; result likely in 2-3 weeks

India’s cumulative Covid-19 vaccination coverage crosses 30.72 crore

In UP's Prayagraj, mass graves open up as water rises in Ganga; local official cremated 40 such bodies in the last 24 hours

Kolkata cops seize ‘dust and liquid’ vials from fake vaccination site where Mimi Chakraborty took jab

Decoding Long Covid: Viral Thyroiditis, Covid induced diabetes are real threats for recovering patients

Lancet: Single dose of Pfizer/AstraZeneca vaccine offers around 60% protection against infection from SARS-CoV-2 in adults aged 65 years and above

Sputnik V is safest among all Covid-19 vaccines, no deaths recorded: Buenos Aires study

Meghalaya High Court orders shops, commercial vehicles to put up signage of vaccination status

Infections, deaths continue to soar in Russia

British PM suggests unrestricted travel for the fully vaccinated is coming soon

Delta variant puts Africa at risk of third wave, reports AP

Chile detects first case of Delta Covid-19 variant, reports Reuters

Five government facilities in Gurugram to give Sputnik V jabs soon

Reflecting the declining trend of Covid-19 deaths in the country, the nationwide daily toll from the virus stayed below 1,000 for the third time in the past four days, with 962 fatalities reported on Thursday

World: 180,746,386; Active 11,429,928 (6.32%); Recovery 165,401,005 (91.51%)

India: 30,133,147; Active 619,739 (2.06%); Recovery 29,120,340 (96.64%)

State News

UP bride calls off wedding after groom fails to read newspaper without glasses on; case filed by bride against the groom and his relatives for hiding his weak eyesight

Delhi inflated oxygen need by 4 times during peak, says SC panel

23 states at additional Covid risk due to bio-med waste

Couple who eloped a year ago shot in Delhi’s Dwarka

Delhi: Private school teacher commits suicide over non-payment of pending salary

Delhi reports 109 new Covid-19 cases, 8 deaths, positivity rate 0.14 pc; Maha reports 9,844 new cases and 197 deaths

Hilal Ahmed Qayomi, Afghan man held with Rs. 10 lakh worth foreign currency at Indira Gandhi Airport

Delhi HC allows man convicted in POCSO case to attend elder brother’s wedding

Delhi: Man involved in helping gangster escape held

Delhi: Bizman robbed of Rs. 70L, nobody arrested

DJB vice-chairman directs setting up emergency teams for redressal of water supply complaints

Delhi: 2 fake call centres busted, 30 held for duping UK-based residents

Delhi Police: Supplier of fake Indian currencies Habibur Rehman, resident of Malda in West Bengal, held

Shabana Azmi accuses alcohol delivery platform of allegedly duping her, tweets 'Beware I have been cheated'

Bengal local train services unlikely to resume after Covid curbs end on June 30

Kuwait News

Kuwait’s Amir arrives in Germany on private visit

Kuwait FM, Bahraini Ambassador discuss bilateral ties

Int’l Arab Banking Summit discusses post-Covid recovery

WHO hails ‘highest safety standards’ of Kuwait Covid-19 vaccine centers

Largest Kuwaiti oxygen shipment arrives in India’s port of Mumbai to support the dire shortage facing India, embattled by the fast-spreading Covid-19 Delta variant – Amb Al-Najem

KRCS distributes clothes 4,000 needy families for Eid Al-Adha

Kuwaiti Environment Public Authority launches awareness campaign on protecting islands, Bay

Kuwaiti Finance minister, EU Ambassador discuss economical cooperation

The European Parliament welcomes Kuwait Parliament Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanim’s invitation for talks between lawmakers from the EU and GCC

Qatar’s 2020 World Cup stadiums inspired by Arab, Gulf culture

The price of barrel of Kuwaiti oil rose 82 cents to reach $74.65

Kuwait reports 1,761 new Covid cases with 9 fatalities

International News

EU must seek ‘direct contact’ with Putin: Merkel

Kremlin said Vladimir Putin is a "supporter" of a proposal from Germany and France for the EU to restart summits with Russia

A federal US body has announced that it will allow some foreign guest workers to re-submit their applications for (most after sought) H-1B visa

64 killed, 180 were injured in an air strike on a market in Ethiopia's war-torn northern Tigray region

The US sanctions five Chinese entities for human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang region

The Arab League slams Honduras relocation of its Tel Aviv embassy to occupied Jerusalem as a grave violation of international law

Biden says dmin. ready to offer federal assistance ‘immediately’ in wake of partial building collapse in Florida

White House, lawmakers strike deal on infrastructure

Official data show that the no of deaths in Britain has exceeded the no of births for the first time since 1976 and the British National Statistics Office confirms in a report that the no of births during the past year reached 683,000 while the no of deaths reached 690,000, at a time, when 13% of the total deaths due to Covid-19

The ruling political alliance in Sudan (Freedom and Change) and the Revolutionary Front) announce their support for the Sudanese PM’s initiative to fortify the transition and urge the ruling partners to expand it as a strategic project for the success of the transition

The Algerian presidency announces that President Abdelmadjid Tebboune has decided to start political consultations on Saturday, with party leaders and representatives of the winning lists in the recent legislative elections ‘for the purpose of’ forming the new government

130 Taliban terrorists surrender in western Afghanistan

Kabul could fall to Taliban before end of the year, say western analysts

Taiwan’s future lies in ‘reunification’: China

China challenges Australia anti-dumping measures at WTO

US, Germany confront rising anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial

Buckingham Palace must do better on diversity, royal sources says

Over 618,000 Pakistanis deported from 138 countries since 2015

Sports News

Tokyo Organising Committee relaxes Covid requirement for Indian athletes

Saurabh Chaudhary clinches bronze at ISSF World Cup in the men’s 10m air pistol event

Inter-State Athletics Championships: Dutee Chand, Hima Das among Top Athletes to make one last attempt at Olympic Berths

WTC Final: Best Test team should be decided by over at least three games, says Virat Kohli

Better team won in the conditions: Shastri on NZ’s WTC triumph

Ishant Sharma gets stitches on his right hand

Murray named in Britain’s tennis squad for Tokyo Olympics

Fitness-wise we are no less than any European team, says Indian women’s hockey team skipper Rani Rampal

Marijne expects Indian women’s hockey team to reach quarterfinals at Tokyo Olympics

UEFA abolishes away-goals rule in club competitions

Dutch cyclist Koen de Kort has three fingers amputated after crash

Euro 2020: England’s showdown with Germany tops last-16 billing

India vs. New Zealand, WTC Final: Team India eyes Test transition