1. Chandrayaan-2 Successfully Launched
Carrying “a billion dreams” in India’s quest to land its first spacecraft on the moon, Chandrayaan-2, riding the powerful GSLV Mk-III rocket, was successfully launched at 2.43 pm Monday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota.
It was a textbook launch and initial anxiety evaporated 16 minutes 23 seconds later when scientists at mission control broke into applause, signalling that Chandrayaan-2 was now on its own. It had been deposited in an earth orbit by the 640-tonne GSLV Mk-III which, after burning its successive stages, had separated itself completely from the spacecraft. The orbit at its nearest was 170 km from earth, and 39,120 km at the furthest.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Foreign Ministry Refutes Trump’s Claims on Kashmir Issue, Says ‘No Request Made by PM Modi’
Hours after US President Donald Trump in an interaction with reporters said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had requested him to mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue, the Ministry of External Affairs refuted his statement, saying that no such request had been made.
Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs took to Twitter to refute the statements made by the US President.
“We have seen @POTUS’s remarks to the press that he is ready to mediate if requested by India & Pakistan, on Kashmir issue. No such request has been made by PM @narendramodi to US President,” Kumar tweeted.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Karnataka Floor Test Spills Over Again, Deadline to Finish Trust Vote by 6 PM
Amid the ongoing chaos in the Assembly by the BJP leaders, Speaker KR Ramesh adjourned the House till 10 am on Tuesday, adding that the floor test stands postponed. The Speaker also gave a deadline to complete all the proceedings regarding the floor test by 4 pm and the trust vote to be completed by 6 pm Tuesday, 23 July.
On the sidelines of the Assembly, a letter, that appeared to be that of the resignation of Karnataka CM Kumaraswamy, surfaced on Monday and was circulated on social media spreading rumours of the chief minister putting down his papers. However, terming it a “cheap level of publicity”, Kumaraswamy said the letter was fake and his signature had been forged. “I got the information that I have tendered my resignation to the governor. I don’t know who is waiting to become the CM. Someone has forged my signature and spread the same on social media. I’m shocked at the cheap level of publicity,” news agency ANI quoted the CM as saying.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Lok Sabha Clears Changes to RTI
The Lok Sabha on Monday passed a bill to amend the Right to Information (RTI) Act to give the central government the power to set the salaries and service conditions for Chief Information Commissioners (CIC) and Information Commissioners (IC), even as opposition parties protested the changes and activists argued that the alterations would weaken India’s sunshine legislation.
The changes will apply to information commissioners at the Centre and also the states. The bill still has to be cleared by the Rajya Sabha before it becomes a law.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
5. 84 Rescued as Fire Engulfs Mumbai MTNL Building
The Mumbai fire brigade on Monday rescued 84 people after a fire engulfed third and fourth floors of a 10-storey Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) building in Bandra West. Mostly MTNL employees working on the building’s fifth floor and above rushed to its rooftop and were stranded there when the fire began at 3.11 pm. The rescue work was carried out using ladders that turn in any direction and have small platforms.
Officials said 175 fire brigade personnel and 40 labourers were involved in the rescue operation. A 25-year-old fireman, Sagar Salve, was hospitalised after he inhaled smoke. He was reported to be stable. No other injuries were reported.
As many as 14 fire engines, seven water tankers, three turn table ladders, 14 ambulances and a recently introduced fire fighting robot was rushed to MTNL building. Rescue operations went on until late in the evening and the fire brigade managed to rescue the last employee stranded on the rooftop by 6.45 pm.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Govt Counsel Against Granting Sanction in JNU Sedition Case
The Delhi government’s standing counsel, in response to a query by the Delhi government on whether or not to grant sanction to Delhi Police to prosecute former JNU students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar and others in a 2016 sedition case, has given the opinion that the police request be turned down, it is learnt.
Sources in the Delhi government’s Home Department said the law officer, Rahul Mehra — after perusing the original complaint, the findings of JNU’s High-Level Committee, and the transcript of the entire incident on February 9, 2016 — came to the conclusion that there was material error on the part of police in filing the chargesheet.
The Home Department has been conveyed that being critical of the government and its policies do not amount to sedition, and a clampdown on unpopular views will throttle democracy in the long run.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. Bill to Speed Up Rights Panel Appointments Cleared in Rajya Sabha
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The Rajya Sabha on Monday passed a Bill to expedite appointments of chairpersons and members of the national as well as the state human rights commissions. The Bill was passed by a voice vote.
During the session, the Opposition demanded that the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which was passed by Lok Sabha on Friday, be sent to a parliamentary panel for scrutiny.
Several Opposition MPs claimed that they were not given enough time to move amendments.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. House Passes Human Rights Bill Amid Opposition Concern
The Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2019, passed last week by Lok Sabha, was approved by Rajya Sabha on Monday with home minister Amit Shah seeking to allay fears that the government could influence appointments to human rights panels. Shah also said the opposition should not look at every government decision with suspicion. While the opposition expressed concern that the bill sought to amend the term of office of the chairperson and members of National Human Rights Commission and State Human Rights Commissions from five years to three years, Shah said this was done only to fill up vacancies.
Replying to the debate earlier, Shah’s deputy Nityanand Rai called for the opposition to show the same trust in PM Narendra Modi which the world was showing in him. “Modi hai to mumkin hai, Shah hai to siddhi hai,’’ Rai said.
The bill, passed by Lok Sabha on Friday, stipulates that besides a former Chief Justice of India, as is the current requirement, a former Supreme Court judge can also become NHRC chairperson.
(Source: The Times of India)
9. Sonbhadra Carnage: Crucial Land Papers of 1955 Missing
Five days after the Sonbhadra massacre, the three-member panel set up by UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath to probe the circumstances that led to the transfer of the gram sabha land, has hit a major hurdle after crucial documents dating back to 1955 were found missing from the district revenue office. The district magistrate, too, confirmed to TOI the papers were “untraceable”.
The panel led by additional chief secretary (revenue) had a specific brief to investigate how gram sabha land in the three villages of Ubha, Sapai and Murtiya in the Sonbhadra district was transferred to a society and then taken over by the village head.
Advocate Nityanand Dwivedi, who is fighting a legal battle for Gond tribals of the three villages in the lower court, told TOI that after abolition of the zamindari system, 600 bigha of land that belonged to the Raja of Badhaar, Anand Bhramh Saha, was marked barren (infertile) in revenue records and transferred as gram sabha land to be tilled by Gond tribals.
(Source: The Times of India)
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