1. Indian Presidential poll concludes: India’s Presidential election concluded yesterday with 99.1% of lawmakers (MPs and MLAs) registering their votes. The counting would happen at the Parliament House on July 21 at 11 am.
2. Kerala has reported its second Monkeypox case: A 31-year-old native of Kerala’s Kannur district, who returned from Dubai last week, has tested positive for Monkeypox. Fearing an outbreak, the center has urged strict screening of inbound international travelers.
3. CM Shinde forms Sena’s new national executive: Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde has constituted Shiv Sena’s new national executive with rebel leaders and has declared himself ‘Mukhya Neta’ (chief leader) of the party while retaining Uddhav Thackeray as the party president.
4. Nupur Sharma seeks protection from arrest: Suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma has approached the Supreme Court seeking protection from arrest in cases slapped against her for her comments on Prophet Mohammad. She has also sought the SC to expunge its July 1 remarks on her.
5. SC says, linguistic and religious minorities should be determined state-wise: The Supreme court bench led by Justices U U Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat, and Sudhanshu Dhulia said that linguistic and religious minorities should be decided state-wise based on the state population. The bench was responding to a PIL seeking directions to declare Hindus as a minority community in certain states.
6. LAC talks between India and China inconclusive: The 16th round of corps commander-level talks between India and China concluded on Sunday with no breakthrough. However, a joint military statement from both countries said they would work on a mutually acceptable resolution of pending issues through diplomatic and defense channels.
7. British press has termed Tory debates ‘vicious’: The Tuesday night Sky News debate between contenders for the position of conservative chief stands canceled as the candidates’ assessment of the previous debate session was not civil enough and was damaging the party image.
8. Two top Ukrainian officials suspended for colluding with Russia: President Zelensky made this announcement citing dozens of cases of collusion with Russia. However, with investigations pending, they have not been formally removed.
9. IMF talks nearing conclusion, says Ranil Wickremesinghe: Sri Lanka’s acting President, Ranil Wickremesinghe, has appealed to political leaders to put aside differences and form an All-party government to help the country recover from the economic crisis. He also said that talks with IMF are nearing conclusion.
10. Imran Khan’s Punjab by-poll victory: In a significant setback for Pakistan PM Shebhaz Sharif, Imran-khan led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party has won 16 seats in the Punjab by-polls. Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) could win only three seats.
Image: Reuters