1. ED summons Sonia Gandhi for the second session of questioning on July 25: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi was facing questions on the National Herald case by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) yesterday. After two hours of questioning, Mrs. Gandhi was asked to appear again on July 25.
2. SL protestors removed from Galle Face protest site: Military contingents and police force raided the protest site at Galle Face in Colombo early this morning and evacuated the protestors forcefully.
3. Government moves to cap drug prices: The Center will soon fix a trade margin for drugs patients use long-term and in chronic conditions. Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya would meet representatives from the Pharma industry on July 26 to arrive at a final proposal.
4. TMC to abstain from Vice-President polls: Trinamool Congress announced it would not vote in the August 6 VP polls, stating the party wasn’t consulted by the opposition before finalizing Margaret Alwa’s candidature.
5. New PM takes oath in Sri Lanka: Dinesh Gunewardena (73) has taken oath as the new prime minister of Sri Lanka. He has earlier served as education and foreign minister of the country. Ali Sabry will be the new Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka.
6. Shinde group to form new representative council: Eknath Shinde group is said to start new registrations for Sena’s Pratinidhi Sabha (Representative council) soon at the CM’s official residence ‘Nandanvan.’ Currently, the Pratinidhi Sabha has a strength of 282 members, which include Party President to Shaka Pramukhs.
7. Biden tests positive for Coronavirus: White House on Thursday announced that US President Joe Biden has tested positive for coronavirus. The statement added that the President has ‘very mild symptoms’ and would continue to discharge his duties while isolating himself in the White House.
8. Rishi Sunak calls himself the political heir of Thatcher: In an article carried out by UK’s Daily Telegraph, Rishi Sunak said if he becomes the PM then he would bring in radical reforms like what Margaret Thatcher did in the 1980s to push growth and prosperity to all corners of the UK.
9. Italy to face snap polls in September: Italian PM Mario Draghi has tendered his resignation after his coalition partners withdrew support on Wednesday. Draghi would continue to be a caretaker PM until Italy goes for a snap national poll on September 25.
10. World’s oldest panda dies: World’s oldest male panda in captivity, aged 35, has died at the Ocean Park theme in Hong Kong after his health deteriorated. He and a female panda were gifted to the theme park 1n 1999 by China.
Image: AP photos