1. Modi Govt Confident of Sailing Through No-Confidence Motion, Seeks to Make a Statement
Calls to allies and friendly (or non-aligned) parties. An effort to ensure the attendance of all its members, even those unwell or in hospital.
On Thursday, 19 July, ahead of Friday’s no-confidence motion, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government went all out. Not to defeat the motion – that’s a given – but to defeat it with a two-thirds vote against it in a sort of “There, take that” gesture to the Opposition, especially the Congress.
The intent is to demonstrate that the coalition enjoys support cutting across political boundaries, two senior leaders of the BJP said. The party has reached out to several non-aligned parties for their support, they added, asking not to be identified.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. No-Confidence Motion: Shiv Sena Withdraws Whip to MPs to Vote for Modi Govt
As PM Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre faces no-confidence motion on Friday, its estranged ally Shiv Sena remains non-committal about its support. Just hours after promising support to the BJP, Shiv Sena has withdrawn a whip to its lawmakers to vote in favour of the government. The party said that it will decide its course of action by Friday morning.
This morning, BJP chief Amit Shah reportedly spoke to Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray on phone, after which it decided to vote in favour of the NDA government.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Panel Formed to Pick Lokpal as Mallikarjun Kharge Boycotts Meeting
The Lokpal selection committee chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday evening decided to go ahead and constitute a search panel to choose the Lokpal, or the anti-corruption ombudsman, after the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge boycotted the meeting, two people familiar with the development said.
Kharge boycotted the meeting on the grounds that he was being invited as a “special invitee” without any right of participation, recording an opinion or voting.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Chidambaram Named as Accused by CBI in Aircel-Maxis Case
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Thursday charged senior Congress leader and former Union finance minister P Chidambaram and his son Karti Chidambaram in the Aircel-Maxis case, prompting allegations of political vendetta from the principal opposition party with the charge sheet being filed just a day before the Lok Sabha was slated to debate a no-confidence motion against the government.
The former finance minister termed the allegations against him as “preposterous”.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. Pakistan Says Case Against India on Kulbhushan Jadhav’s Conviction in ICJ is Strong
Pakistan on Thursday said that its case was “very strong” in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the conviction of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav who was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism.
India had moved the ICJ in May last year after Jadhav, 48, was sentenced to death. A 10-member bench of the ICJ on 18 May 2017 had restrained Pakistan from executing Jadhav till adjudication of the case.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Uproar Over Lynchings Rocks Parliament
Union Minister Jayant Sinha on Thursday faced protests from members of Oppositon parties, who hooted whenever he stood up to answer questions in the Lok Sabha during the Question Hour.
Soon after this, the Opposition raised the issue of mob lynchings, also criticising Sinha for allegedly garlanding persons accused of lynching.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh condemned the incidents of lynching, while saying that they were “not new” and that his ministry had issued advisories to the state governments, which are in charge of law and order.
(Source: The Hindu)
7. Rupee Tests New Low, Closes Below 69
The rupee on Thursday weakened past 69 to a dollar to close at a yet another record low, tracking losses among Asian peers.
The rupee ended at 69.05 a dollar, down 0.62 percent from its previous close of 68.62. The currency opened at 68.68 a dollar and touched a low of 69.07 a dollar.
The last time the rupee hit an all-time closing low of 68.9413 was on 5 July. It touched all-time intraday low of 69.0925 on 28 June.
(Source: Livemint)
8. In Second Notice to WhatsApp, Govt Warns of Legal Action If It Fails to Check Fake News
India on Thursday expressed dissatisfaction over measures listed by WhatsApp for checking fake news that have in several cases led to mob violence, saying the company cannot escape its responsibility for such rampant abuse and needs to find originators of provocative messages.
In the second notice to the US-based messaging service in three weeks, the government warned that in the absence of adequate checks, it will treat the messaging platform as ‘abettor’ of rumour propagation and legal consequences will follow.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. Famous Hindi Poet Gopal Das Neeraj Passes Away
Famous Hindi poet Gopal Das Neeraj passed away on Thursday evening at the AIIMS trauma centre, his family said. He was 93. Neeraj, who was a Padma Bhushan awardee, had suffered a head injury following a fall at his house in Agra and was undergoing treatment at a hospital there, Dr Rajesh Malhotra, chief of the AIIMS trauma centre, said.
“He was shifted to the trauma centre here last night in a critical condition. He had kidney failure, infection all over his body and head injury. He passed away today at around 7:30 pm,” he said.
(Source: The Indian Express)
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