1. Protests against Agniveer scheme turn violent in northern states: The protest against India’s new recruitment scheme for the armed forces, Agniveer, turned violent across many northern states. In Bihar, protestors resorted to arson, pelted stones, and lit a train. Meanwhile, as a one-time change, the government raised the maximum eligibility age from 21 to 23.
2. SC tells UP Govt to follow the due course of law: Listening to a plea from the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, the Supreme court said the UP government should follow the process of law before demolishing illegal structures. The SC bench also added that the demolition drive should not appear targeting one community.
3. Congress’ Renuka Chowdhury grabs a cop’s shirt collar: Telangana Congress party protest against ED summons to Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in the National Herald money laundering case turned violent. In the melee, Former Union Minister Renuka Chowdhury grabbed the shirt collar of a male cop.
4. European trio pledges more arms to Ukraine: Leaders of France, Germany, and Italy visited Kyiv to meet Ukrainian President Zelensky. They asserted that Ukraine is a part of the European family and pledged more arms to the war-torn nation.
5. Protests in Lanka against Adani group: Colombo witnessed protests and sloganeering against the Indian business conglomerate, the Adani group, alleging discrepancies in the allotment of a 500 MW windmill project to the company. However, the Adani group clarified that as a responsible corporate, the company’s intent is only to address the energy needs of India’s valued neighbor Sri Lanka.
6. Booster shot in six months: The Union Health Ministry will soon decide on cutting down the time gap for Covid booster shots, following a recommendation from the Standing sub-committee (STSC) of the NTAGI. STSC has suggested bringing down the difference before the booster dose from nine to six months.
7. Edible oil prices fall: Retail edible oil prices would come down by Rs.3-6. The slash in the price is due to the readjustment of global supply chains of edible oil and countries like Indonesia lifting export curbs.
8. Airfares to go high with rising Jet fuel price: With oil marketing companies raising their cost of Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) by a steep 16.3%, all major airlines have indicated a possible increase in airfares. Also, the rupee weakening against the dollar is pushing jet fuel prices.
9. Calcutta HC instructs WB Government to act in advance: Hearing PILs seeking a probe into protest violence in West Bengal, the Calcutta High Court asked the state government to ensure no violence occurs during protests. It has also asked the state to assess the ground situation in advance, and call the central forces to handle uncontrollable events of violence and arson.
10. Baby covered by ants in the garbage to unite with its parents: The Bareilly baby born out of wedlock and left by the grandmother in the garbage will soon unite with its parents. The clerics of Aala Hazrat Dargah got the child’s parents married so they could get the child back. However, CWC is mulling action against the grandmother for endangering the child’s life.