1. Jadeja’s Heroics in Vain as India Suffer Heartbreak Against New Zealand
Long after the dust had settled, a smattering of men and women in blue jerseys could be seen in the different corners of Old Trafford, staring vacantly into space, surrounded by a sea of empty bucket seats.
India’s stirring World Cup campaign ended in the final over of the semi-final against New Zealand – kept alive by the innings of his life from Ravindra Jadeja and sheet-anchor MS Dhoni.
But, in reality, the show was over a whole lot earlier, when India’s heavy-scoring top order of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and captain Virat Kohli returned to the pavilion, each for a personal score of 1, leaving the team reeling at 5 for 3 in the fourth over.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Goa Meltdown: 10 of 15 Congress MLAs Join BJP
As the Congress struggles to save the coalition government with JD(S) in Karnataka, it suffered a major setback in Goa with 10 of its 15 MLAs joining the BJP on Wednesday, 10 June.
The Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly, Congress’s Chandrakant Kavlekar, walked to the Speaker’s office late evening with nine other party MLAs — minutes after India lost to New Zealand — to tender their resignation from the party.
With this, the ruling BJP ‘s strength in the Assembly swells to 27, and the strength of the Congress which won 17 seats in 2017, stands reduced to five. Two Congress MLAs had joined the BJP earlier.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Karnataka Crisis Deepens as Two More MLAs Resign
Karnataka’s tottering coalition government received a fresh jolt on Wednesday, 10 July, as two more lawmakers quit their positions and police in Mumbai scotched frenetic attempts by Congress troubleshooters to approach the rebel legislators whose resignations have plunged the one-year-old government into a crisis.
Ten rebel MLAs moved the Supreme Court against assembly speaker KR Ramesh Kumar’s decision to hold off on accepting their letters of resignation.
Kumar had rejected eight of 14 resignations, and said the remaining six lawmakers would have to meet him in person and convince him that their offers to demit office were not coerced.
The meetings begin on 12 July. If the resignation of all 14 law makers, plus the two from Wednesday, are accepted, the coalition government will slip to a minority in the assembly.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Al Qaeda Chief Zawahiri Calls for Jihad in Kashmir to Be Scaled Up
Al Qaeda chief Ayman al Zawahiri called on terror groups to inflict “unrelenting blows” on the Indian Army and the government, releasing what appeared to be his first video message focusing on Kashmir.
The message, first reported by the Long War Journal run by United States-based think-tank Foundation for Defense of Democracies on Tuesday, 9 July, was posted by al Qaeda’s media wing As Sahab. It was not clear when the video was made public.
“I am of the view that the Mujahideen (armed terrorists) in Kashmir — at this stage at least — should focus with single mind on inflicting unrelenting blows on the Indian Army and government so as to bleed the Indian economy and make India suffer sustained losses in manpower and equipment,” he said, according to an English transcript of the speech provided by As Sahab.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Withdraw Gag: Editors Guild to Finance Ministry on Press Entry Restrictions
Condemning the decision of the Ministry of Finance to restrict access of government-accredited journalists to its North Block offices to only those who have prior appointments, the Editors Guild of India on Wednesday, 10 July, called it “arbitrary… a gag on media freedoms” and sought its withdrawal.
In a statement, the Guild said it “has no dispute with the ministry that journalists should behave with restraint and responsibility while enjoying their access to the finance ministry” but “a blanket order is not the answer”.
It said: “Journalists do not go to government offices to enjoy the comforts and hospitality of visitors’ rooms designated for them. They go to perform their challenging job of news gathering. This order is a gag on media freedoms and can even result in a further fall in India’s global press freedom rankings, especially as the contagion can easily spread to other ministries as well.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Centre Bans Pro-Khalistan SFJ Under Anti-Terror Law
Moving to crush the potential of ‘fringe’ radical outfit, Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), to whip up pro-Khalistan sentiments with its ‘Referendum 2020’ campaign, the Centre on Wednesday, 10 July, declared the group an “unlawful association” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
A senior home ministry official said all the major Sikh bodies consulted ahead of the five-year ban had supported the action and that the Centre had largely relied on the “material” sent by Punjab government to impose the ban.
The US-based secessionist outfit with the primary objective of establishing an independent and sovereign country has its top leadership based in US, UK and Canada, with just 8-10 active members and negligible support base in India.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. Slowdown Deepens: Sale of Passenger Cars Fall for Eighth Consecutive Month
Witnessing its worst run ever, domestic passenger car sales fell for the eighth consecutive month, with June 2019 numbers falling by 17.54 percent to 2,25,732 units from 2,73,748 units in the same month last year.
Passenger vehicle sales have witnessed a fall in 11 out of the last 12 months with October 2018 being the only exception with marginal expansion. The decline was across the board with both two-wheeler and car sales witnessing a double-digit decline.
According to data released by Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), passenger car sales fell 24.97 percent in this month, and two-wheeler sales by 11.69 percent. Commercial vehicle sales declined 12.3 percent in June, while three-wheeler sales fell by 8.8 percent.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. Dutee Bags Gold at World Univ Games, 1st Indian to Win 100m at a Global Meet
Sprinter Dutee Chand became the first Indian ever to win gold in the 100m race at a global meet when she finished first in the event at the World Universiade in Naples on Wednesday, 10 July.
Soon after her historic win, Dutee Chand tweeted: “Pull me down, I will come back stronger!” The tweet was Dutee’s way of answering her critics, who have time and again raised doubts over her gender and questioned her personal choices.
In Naples, the 23-year-old from Odisha’s Chaka Gopalpur village clocked 11.32 seconds to win the gold, leading the race from start to finish. She was the first to get off the blocks in the eight-woman final and thwarted a late challenge from Switzerland’s Del Ponte (11.33s) to finish on top.
(Source: The Times of India)
9. HC: Builders to Face Separate Trials in Cases Filed by Buyers
Builders who dupe thousands of homebuyers, or those accused of Ponzi schemes to defraud investors will now face multiple prosecutions in Delhi — based on complaints of individual victims — and can be awarded long and consecutive prison terms.
The Delhi HC ended the current practice of Delhi Police (mostly EOW and crime branch) of lodging a single FIR in cases of cheating of a large number of investors/ depositors where, for instance, a lone homebuyer is treated as the complainant while the others are shown as witnesses in a criminal case.
In such cases, many are left in the lurch if the sole complainant withdraws the case or reaches a settlement with the builder/accused.
A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and I S Mehta termed as “erroneous and not sustainable in law” the practice “of registering a single FIR on the basis of the complaint of one of the complainants/victims, and of treating the other complainants merely as witnesses.”
(Source: The Times of India)
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