In Parliament
Amid the gridlock in Parliament, the government has signalled that it is ready for a discussion on the issue of price-rise next week as demanded by the Opposition.
🔴 However, the tussle over suspension of MPs continued. Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu insisted that the suspension of 20 Rajya Sabha MPs will be revoked only if they expressed regret. Rejecting the suggestion, the MPs began a 50-hour dharna at the Gandhi statue.
🔴 A senior leader in BJP told The Indian Express, “The ongoing stalemate is affecting the already dented image of the Opposition. The government has clarified that it would discuss any issue. It does not bother us much.”
🔴 Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha was informed that of the 22.05 crore applications received from 2014-15 to 2021-22, only 7.22 lakh or 0.33 per cent, were recommended for appointment in different Central government departments.
Only in the Express
N K Singh writes in an Opinion column: “The PM’s recent remarks about the perils of freebie culture should serve as a timely reminder to those promising fiscally imprudent and unsustainable subsidies. His opposition to this culture should not be misconstrued as an objection to extending state support to citizens, especially the lower strata.”
From the Front Page
In upholding the reverse burden of proof condition for grant of bail under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Supreme Court overruled its own order of November 2017 that had declared the bail criteria unconstitutional. We take a closer look at what the Court has said.
In Karnataka, the murder of a BJP youth leader has prompted anger amongst the party workers against the state government and their own party leaders. State BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel and minister V Sunil Kumar were heckled by a mob when they came to Bellare to pay their last respects to the deceased.
SpiceJet has been ordered to operate only 50 per cent of its flights for the next eight weeks by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), following the recent spate of safety-related incidents on its planes.
Observing that “headwinds” against democratic rule are “strong” across the world, USAID Administrator Samantha Power, who was speaking at an IIT-Delhi event, said that there are forces in India and the United States “who seek to sow division… pit ethnicities and religions against one another… bend laws and abuse institutions”.
Must Read
A series of at least six mysterious crude bomb blasts in different areas of UP’s Prayagraj over the past three months is the result of an alleged turf war between two gangs of students from reputed schools in the city, a senior police officer in the district told The Indian Express. The students, mostly minor boys aged between 15 and 17 “from well-off families”, were allegedly engaged in “criminal activities” over the past year for two gangs called Immortals and Tandav, the officer said.
The ambitious Tamil Nadu government, riding a wave of goodwill since the curbing of the pandemic, has pulled no shutters to celebrate the Chess Olympiad. Music composer A R Rahman, Chief Minister M K Stalin, former world champion and one of Chennai’s own, Viswanathan Anand, and superstar Rajinikanth — if this confluence does not strike a chord, perhaps nothing would.
Starting in August, eight African cheetahs will be imported from Namibia, and another 12 from South Africa, for soft release in a compartmentalised enclosure ready at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh to establish the cheetah into its “historical range”. How will the cheetahs be released, how will they impact Kuno’s population, and what challenges are faced by conservation in India? We explain.
And Finally…
Delhi confidential: Former Union minister and BJP MP in Lok Sabha from Balasore in Odisha, Pratap Singh Sarangi, wanted to raise the issue of Coast Canal between Odisha and West Bengal, which is facing neglect, in Odia. But as he began, the Chair said the translator was not present and he should wait. Visibly upset, Sarangi left the House for a while.
🎧 In today’s ‘3 Things’ podcast, we talk about the Gujarat hooch tragedy which killed around 35 people since Monday, DGCA’s new rule for airlines regarding carrying persons with disabilities, and suspension of 24 Opposition MPs.
Until next time,
Sonal Gupta and Srishti Kapoor
