1. Poverty criterion should be the same: A government panel has suggested that educational scholarships provided to the under-privileged should have 2.5L/annum as the base income across all social and religious groups.
2. The fight over Gujarat SIT’s report: The BJP and Congress party are at loggerheads over SIT’s report stating that Ahmed Patel had given Rs.30 Lakhs to activist Teesta Setalvad and that the former advisor to Mrs. Sonia Gandhi was acting at the behest of his boss. Congress retorted by calling Gujarat SIT’s claims ‘Mischievous.”
3. CJI on case pendency in courts: Responding to the law minister Kiren Rijiju’s concerns over the huge pendency of cases, Chief Justice Ramana said the root cause is the center not filling up judicial postings and want of judicial infrastructure. However, he expressed hope and trust that the government would address them.
4. TN to screen for Monkeypox at airports: TN state minister Ma Subramanian said on Saturday that medical teams would screen inbound air travelers for Monkeypox arriving from 63 countries. He added that the government has intensified surveillance in the TN-Kerala border areas as a 35-year-old returnee from UAE tested positive for Monkeypox in Kerala.
5. Sunak and Truss clash over tax policy in their televised debate: In the first of three televised debates among the remaining five contenders for the Conservative party leadership in the UK, Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss fought over the country’s taxation policy.
6. Heatwave scorches Europe: As Europe is facing its worst heatwaves, wildfires raged in the pine forests of the Bordeaux region of France for the fifth day in a row. Meanwhile, with temperatures expected to touch 40 degrees Celsius, Britain has given its first red alert for extreme heat.
7. Biden and MbS on Kashoggi killing: US President Joe Biden has said in his meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salmaan (MbS) that he thought the prince was responsible for Khashoggi’s murder. However, Biden told reporters that MbS said he wasn’t involved and has acted against those responsible.
8. Sri Lankan Parliament to vote on July 20 to choose a new president: Four candidates in the fray for the Sri Lankan President post are Interim President Ranil Wickremesinghe, principal opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, JVP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, and the breakaway SLPP leader Dullas Alahapperuma.
9. Second unscheduled landing of an Indian flight in Karachi in just two weeks: Indigo flight 6E – 1406 between Sharjah and Hyderbad was directed to Karachi after its pilot detected a snag in Engine 2. The airline said it is sending an additional plane to bring the passengers to Hyderabad from Karachi.
10. Vaccine against cervical cancer: India will be rolling out its first Quadrivalent Human Papillomavirus vaccine (qHPV) against cervical cancer. The vaccine developed by the Serum Institute of India (SII) would become a part of the national immunization program later this year.
Image: BBC