India vs South Africa 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final will be held at the Kensington Oval on June 29, 2024

NTA announces new dates for UGC-NET, CSIR UGC-NET, NCET exams

The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Friday night announced the new dates of cancelled and postponed examinations, including the UGC-NET, amid a raging row over alleged irregularities in their conduct. The UGC-NET, which was cancelled a day after being conducted on June 18, will now be held from August 21 to September 4.

Opposition forces disruptions in both Houses of Parliament over alleged NEET irregularities 

The row over alleged irregularities in the conduct of the NEET examination for medical college admissions rocked both Houses of Parliament on Friday, with the Lok Sabha getting adjourned for the day after Speaker Om Birla disallowed adjournment motions on the issue. 

Former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren gets bail in alleged money laundering case, walks out of jail

Jharkhand High Court on Friday granted bail to Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren in alleged land scam case. Justice Rongon Mukhopadhyay ’s court granted him regular bail.

Monsoon arrives in Delhi bringing heavy rainfall leaving four death

Four people died and several were injured as the south-west monsoon arrived in the national capital bringing with it 228 mm of rainfall in a span of 24 hours, mostly concentrated between 3 a.m. and 8.30 a.m., on Friday. This is the highest rainfall in a 24-hour period in Delhi in June after 1936, while the average rainfall for June in the last 30 years is 75.2 mm.

India slams ‘deeply biased’ U.S. report on religious freedom

India on Friday slammed the U.S. State Department’s report on International Religious Freedom for 2023 as “deeply biased” and said it reflected “one-sided projection of issues”. During the weekly press briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the report questioned the “integrity” of certain legal judgments of the Indian courts and highlighted the United States’s own record in handling domestic hate crimes.

German Chancellor to visit India in October, ease of doing business and migration top on agenda: envoy

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is scheduled to visit India in the second half of October for inter-governmental consultations during which ease of doing business, migration, geopolitics and climate change will be high on the agenda, German Ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann said on Friday.

India achieves an ‘outstanding outcome’ in FATF mutual evaluation 2023-24

India has achieved an outstanding outcome in the Mutual Evaluation conducted during 2023-24 by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), said the government on June 28. The Mutual Evaluation Report of India, which was adopted in the FATF plenary held in Singapore from June 26 and June 28, places India in the “regular follow-up” category, a distinction shared by only four other G-20 countries.

‘Global south’ should reform world governance to make it more effective, balanced: Xi Jinping

Underlining the importance of the “Global South”, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday said that the Global South should actively participate in reforming and developing the global governance system and make the global governance architecture more balanced and effective. 

Joe Biden concedes debate fumbles but declares he will defend democracy

President Joe Biden forcefully tried on Friday to quell Democratic anxieties over his unsteady showing in his debate with former President Donald Trump, as elected members of his party closed ranks around him in an effort to shut down talk of replacing him atop the ticket.

Supreme Court makes it harder to charge Capitol riot defendants with obstruction, charge Trump faces

The Supreme Court on Friday limited a federal obstruction law that has been used to charge hundreds of Capitol riot defendants as well as former President Donald Trump. The justices ruled 6-3 that the charge of obstructing an official proceeding, enacted in 2002 in response to the financial scandal that brought down Enron Corp., must include proof that defendants tried to tamper with or destroy documents. Only some of the people who violently attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, fall into that category.

Coal, electricity buoy core output in May

Output growth in India’s eight core infrastructure sectors eased to 6.3% in May, from April’s 6.7% pace, with a double-digit rise in coal and electricity production offsetting contractions in three sectors, including cement and fertilisers.

RBI raises WMA limits of States/UTs by 28% to ₹60,118 crore

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday increased the Ways and Means Advances (WMA) limits of State governments and Union territories to ₹60,118 crore from ₹47,010 crore. “Based on the recommendations made by the Group constituted by the Reserve Bank and consisting of select state Finance Secretaries and taking into account the expenditure data of the states for the recent years, it has been decided to revise the WMA limits of the State Governments/ UTs, effective from July 1, 2024,” the RBI said in a circular. 

2024 T20 World Cup Final | History and heartbreak beckon as the T20 extravaganza reaches much-awaited climax

India has not won an ICC title since 2013. South Africa has reached the final of a men’s World Cup for the first time, after seven semifinal defeats. Come Saturday, at the grand finale of the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup at the Kensington Oval, a jinx will be broken. This is a battle between the two unbeaten teams in the tournament.

T20 World Cup: Rohit, Dravid back Kohli, say ‘there’s a big one coming up’

India head coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Rohit Sharma have thrown their weight behind the struggling Virat Kohli, saying the stylish batter has shown the intent and is due for a “big one” in the T20 World Cup finals against South Africa.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange to plead guilty to the U.S justice dept. File photo
| Photo Credit: AP

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will plead guilty in deal with U.S. and return to Australia

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will plead guilty to a felony charge in a deal with the U.S. Justice Department that will free him from prison and resolve a long-running legal saga that spanned multiple continents and centered on the publication of a trove of classified documents, according to court papers filed late Monday.

No talks on Teesta water sharing without involvement of Bengal Government, says Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on June 24 wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying no discussion on the Teesta river treaty should be taken up with Bangladesh without the involvement of the State Government. She emphasised that if Teesta river water was shared with Bangladesh, lakhs of people in north Bengal would be severely impacted due to inadequate availability of irrigation water.

NEET paper leak: four including 2 teachers booked in Maharashtra

The Maharashtra police have booked four persons, including two zilla parishad teachers, in connection with the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) question paper leak case. 

Kuki-Zo groups take out protests in Manipur seeking Union Territory

The Kuki-Zo tribal bodies took out rallies across the hill districts of Manipur calling for the Centre to carve out a Union Territory (UT) for the community, to end the ongoing ethnic conflict in the State. They said a UT with a legislature, as provided under Article 239A of the Constitution, was the solution to the crisis.

BJP to launch nationwide programme to mark anniversary of Emergency, ‘expose Congress authoritarianism’

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday said that it would launch a nationwide programme on June 25 to mark entering the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the Emergency in 1975, to “expose” what it termed the “Congress party’s authoritarianism” and “disregard for the Constitution”.

Labour will reset partnership with India, says Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy

Days before the U.K.’s general election, the opposition Labour Party’s shadow Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, reiterated that his party would reset its relationship with India. Mr Lammy is all but certain to be the country’s next Foreign Secretary, given that Labour is most likely — as per polls — to form the next U.K. government after the country’s July 4 elections.

A fire at a lithium battery factory in South Korea kills 22 mostly Chinese migrant workers

A fire likely sparked by exploding lithium batteries swept through a manufacturing factory near South Korea’s capital on Monday, killing 22 mostly Chinese migrant workers and injuring eight, officials said.

Kremlin warns U.S. after Ukrainian strike on Crimea

The Kremlin on Monday warned the United States of “consequences” and summoned its Ambassador after Moscow said a Ukrainian strike with a U.S. missile on Crimea killed four persons. Moscow has increasingly blasted Washington and Kyiv’s Western backers for supplying weapons to be fired on Russian targets, calling them direct participants in the two-year conflict.

Legal fraternity may explore Gen AI to reduce errors, enhance efficiency

Generative Artificial Intelligence, or GenAI, is poised to transform the legal profession as many law firms and corporate legal departments are already exploring the GenAI pool, say tech savvy legal professionals and tech experts. Law firms and corporate legal departments are dipping their toes into the GenAI pool, experimenting with tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot, young legal professionals told The Hindu.

India’s current account turns surplus after 10 quarters in Q4 at $5.7 billion

India’s current account balance recorded a surplus of $5.7 billion (0.6% GDP) in Q4 FY24 against a deficit of $1.3 billion (0.2% GDP) a year ago as per data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday. The merchandise trade deficit at $50.9 billion in Q4 FY24 was lower than $52.6 billion a year ago and Q4 services exports grew 4.1% year-on-year (YoY) on the back of rising software exports, travel and business services, the RBI said.

Everton Tea India eyes new markets to increase sales volume

Everton Tea India Pvt. Ltd. has drawn up plans to increase tea bags production capacity by 20% at its Sri City SEZ unit, near Nellore to cater to the needs of export market, said a top executive. “Currently, we are producing 2.8 million tea bags per day, and it will be increased to 3.6 million tea bags by CY25,” said its General Manager Roshan Gunawardhana during an interaction.

T20 World Cup 2024: Rohit Sharma roars as India merrily marches into semifinal

Rohit Sharma once again elevated the muscular exercise of T20 six-hitting into an aesthetic art form as his 41-ball 92 headlined India’s 24-run win in the final T20 World Cup Super 8 game against Australia at the Daren Sammy Stadium in St. Lucia, on June 24. 

Paris Olympics: India secure team quotas in archery; Deepika Kumari, Tarundeep Rai set for fourth appearances

For the first time in 12 years, India will be sending a full six-member archery contingent to the Olympics, making them eligible to compete in all the five events at the Paris Games. This was made possible after the Indian men and women secured the team quotas based on the updated world rankings on June 24.

India tour of Zimbabwe: Riyan Parag, Abhishek Sharma and Nitish Reddy get maiden call-up in Gill-led team

Shubman Gill will lead a relatively inexperienced India squad for a five-match T20I series in Zimbabwe next month. Four members of the squad — allrounders Abhishek Sharma and Nitish Reddy, middle-order bat Riyan Parag and speedster Tushar Deshpande — have earned a maiden India call-up.

Bhartruhari Mahtab, a seven-time Member of Parliament, was sworn in as pro-tem Speaker for the 18th Lok Sabha today. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Cuttack. However, the Opposition slammed the Centre for Mr Mahtab’s appointment as the pro-tem Speaker and “overlooking” Kodikunnil Suresh, an eight-term Lok Sabha member, who apparently should have got the post as per the convention of naming the senior-most MP. They also alleged that Suresh was sidelined because “he belongs to the Dalit community”. 

Who is Bhartruhari Mahtab?

1. Born in 1957, Mr Mahtab is the son of Odisha’s first chief minister, the late Harekrushna Mahtab. After completing his schooling in Bhadrak, he pursued a Bachelor of Arts and later a Master’s Degree in English from Utkal University in 1978, according to his election affidavit.

2. After being a part of the former Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for a few decades, Mr Mahtab severed ties with the party ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. He expressed displeasure over the party’s functioning in recent years. Subsequently, he joined the BJP, which later announced him as its candidate for the Cuttack seat. In 2024 polls, Mr Mahtab secured a historic seventh consecutive term from the seat, defeating his former party colleague Santrupt Misra by 57,077 votes.

3.  Mr Mahtab is a seven-term MP from the Cuttack parliamentary constituency in Odisha, making him one of the longest-serving parliamentarians in the 18th Lok Sabha. The 66-year-old has been representing the Cuttack seat in the Lower House of Parliament since 1998. He was on the panel of chairpersons in the 17th Lok Sabha.

4. The choice of Mr Mahtab to serve as the pro-tem Speaker comes after the BJP’s resounding victory in Odisha, where the party managed to dislodge Mr Patnaik’s 24-year regime. While the saffron party bagged 78 seats and formed a government in the state. The BJP also registered a win on 20 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

5. During his last term, he served as the chairperson of the Standing Committee on Labour, Textiles and Skill Development. He was also appointed as the deputy chairperson of the Committee on Official Language, besides being a member of the Public Accounts Committee.  Mr Mahtab also serves as the owner and editor of The Prajatantra, an Odia daily that was founded by his father.