1. An all-party meeting called to discuss the Sri Lankan crisis: The center has called an all-party meeting on Tuesday evening to discuss the situation in Sri Lanka. The move comes amid appeals from political parties in Tamil Nadu, particularly the AIADMK and the DMK, to intervene in the Sri Lankan crisis.
2. Margaret Alwa is the opposition’s VP nominee: Seventeen opposition parties have come together to choose Senior Congress leader and former union minister Margaret Alwa as their Vice President nominee. Mrs. Alwa (80) has also served as governor of various Indian states like Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand.
3. School girl’s death sparks violent protests in TN: Protestors in Kallakurichi in Tamil Nadu vandalized school property and torched several buses demanding justice for a school girl who allegedly committed suicide. Nearly 2000 people had gathered around the school and its hostel premises in Kaniyamoor of Chinna Salem.
4. Mrs. Varma, at 90, travels from India to Pakistan with memories that date before the partition: 90-year-old Indian woman, Reena Chhibber Varma, has received a three-month visa to visit her ancestral home in Rawalpindi in a goodwill gesture from the Pakistan High Commission in India. Reena was a 15-year-old girl when she had to leave Rawalpindi with her family during the 1947 Partition.
5. India is all set to elect its 15th president today: Some 4800 lawmakers, including MPs and MLAs, would cast their votes today in the Parliament House and State assemblies. For NDA-backed candidate Droupadi Murmu, the road to victory is clear, with more than 60% of votes expected in her favor.
6. KCR calls cloudbursts a foreign conspiracy: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) made a bizarre statement that cloudbursts could be a conspiracy hatched by some foreign countries. He said incessant rains in the Godavari Basin might be because of that.
7. NIA acquits 121 tribals arrested in 2017 killing of CRPF men: NIA court has acquitted 121 tribal villagers imprisoned on charges of assisting Maoists in an ambush that killed 26 CRPF personnel in 2017 near Burkpal village in Chhattisgarh. The court said the prosecution failed to produce evidence to nail the tribals.
8. In Bangladesh, the minority Hindu community was targeted again: Some unidentified men vandalized a Hindu temple, several shops, and houses belonging to Hindus in southwestern Bangladesh, alleging that a Facebook post spoke ill of Islam.
9. US gun violence in Indiana Mall, gunman gets killed by an armed individual: A gunman opened fire at the Greenwood Park Mall in the US state of Indiana on Sunday, killing three people and injuring three others. The gunman was shot dead by an armed civilian.
10. Nationwide emergency declared in Sri Lanka: With the Sri Lankan Parliament ready to elect the country’s new President by July 20, Interim President Ranil Wickremesinghe has declared a state of emergency to ensure public safety and the supply of essential services.
Image: Twitter/Narendra Modi