Current Events

Barely a day after the merger of the two camps of AIADMK- one led by CM E Palaniswami (EPS) and the other led by O Panneerselvam (OPS), 19 MLAs of AIADMK have withdrawn their support to the Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami. These MLAs belong to T.T.V. Dhinakaran's faction and were against the merger since it was done without consulting them. 19 MLAs have submitted their letters to the governor of Tamil Nadu, Ch. Vidyasagar Rao. As per the new developments, CM Palaniswami falls short of majority by one vote.

In order to protect and preserve 'composite culture' which is the soul of the constitution, Janata Dal United [JD(U)] leader, Sharad Yadav is set to coordinate “Sajha Virasat Bachao Sammelan.” He referred to the constitution as a holy book which was given to the nation by the members who framed it in such a manner that our people should live together without any differences on the basis of caste and creed. He further said that there is fear among the citizens of the country which is quite paradoxical to what the Constitution of India promises. Talking about the sammelan Sharad Yadav said, “The 'sajha virasat bachao sammelan' is not against anybody but in the interest of 125-crore people of the country.” In order to elucidate that contemporary times are tough for the citizens of India, Sharad Yadav cited the instances of the suicides of farmers across the country, disappearance of Jawaharlal Nehru University's student Najeeb Ahmed and the suicide of Rohith Vemula. According to media reports, the gathering (sammelan) will be attended by leaders of the opposition parties, intellectuals, farmers, Dalits and tribals from across the country.

According to Government, the implementation of Goods and Services Tax, GST, will be beneficial for the country as well as the states. The government sources stated that the taxation system in the country has become more transparent after GST came into existence.

According to reports, Wholesale inflation for June 2017 fell to 0.9 per cent as prices of food articles, including vegetables, declined. The inflation has dropped to the lowest level in the last two quarters. Inflation in food articles was negative (-) 3.47 percent in June and inflation in vegetables stood at -47.32 percent in June 2017.

According to reports, Foodgrain production in the country has been estimated at a record level of over 273 million tonnes during 2016-17. This information was provided by Minister of State for Agriculture SS Ahluwalia. The production of rice, wheat, coarse cereals and pulses touched new record levels in the last fiscal.  

According to reports, India has successfully test-fired  Surface-to-Air Missile from Test Range at Chandipur in Odisha. This is the second developmental trial of the missile just within three months from the same test range.

According to reports, ISRO has successfully launched PSLV C-38 from Sriharikotta. It has placed Cartosat-2 Series remote sensing earth observation satellite and 30 other nano-satellites into their orbits. Out of the 30 nano-satellites 29 belongs to foreign customers from 14 countries. This is the fortieth flight of its highly reliable polar satellite launch vehicle lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikotta at 9.29 am.

On day two of the third and final test of India vs Sri Lanka series at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Pandya smashed a maiden test hundred in 86 balls. In the first innings, Sri Lanka was bowled by the Indian bowlers at 135 wherein Kuldeep Yadav took 4 for 40 and Shami claimed two wickets. Pandya's aggressive knock aided India to 487 runs at the end of the day. Pandya scored 26 runs off Malinda Pushpakumara's over smashing 3 sixes and 2 fours. His 26 runs off an over were the most runs scored by an Indian batsman in an over in Test Cricket.



With a best effort of 84.22m, Davinder Singh Kang becomes the first Indian to qualify for the final round of the javelin throw at the World Athletics Championship. Kang, a 26 year old athlete from Punjab, completed his final throw of 84.22m spectacularly. This is the first time ever that an Indian has qualified in the men's javelin throw final round in the World Championship. Despite his shoulder injury, Davinder Singh Kang performed brilliantly, while Neeraj Chopra succumbed at 82.26m in his best effort and could not qualify.

Amidst being the Man of the Match for the second Test against Sri Lanka and having 6 demerit points in 24 month period, Ravindra Jadeja faces one match suspension by the International Cricket Council (ICC). Jadeja has been suspended from the 3rd test of the Sri Lanka vs India Test Series to be held from August 12 in Pallekele. Jadeja faces this suspension after an incident which took place during Sri Lanka's second inning when Jadeja threw the ball back at the batsman after fielding off his own bowling, the batsman had not left his crease.  

In one of the worst ever floods that hit Bihar recently, around 1.08 crore people have been affected in 17 districts of Bihar. According to the report of the MeT Dept, Patna, Gaya, Bhagalpur and Purnea are likely to witness rain today. These floods have affected almost 1,688 panchayats of Bihar. Also, the condition in some of the areas of eastern Uttar Pradesh adjoining Nepal is worse. Railways in Bihar continue to be worst affected by floods. Army was called in for rescue operations. Seven Army teams comprising 2,228 personnel are conducting rescue operations with the help of 118 boats and 28 National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams comprising 1,152 personnel have been deployed. 1,765 community kitchens have been looking after the needs of 3.44lakh people in the flood affected areas. 30 deaths have been reported in Araria district, 23 in West Champaran, 13 in Sitamarhi, 11 each in Kisanganj, East Champaran and Supal, 9 each in Purnia and Madhepura, 8 in Madhuban, 7 in Kathiar, 4 each in Gopalganj, Saharsa and Darbhanga, 3 each in Khagaria and Sheohar, 2 in Saran and one in Muzaffarpur as reported by Anirudh Kumar, Special Secretary in Disaster Management Dept.

The Union Cabinet approved new Metro Rail Policy which seeks to initiate Public-Private Partnership policy. This Public-Private Partnership would be obligatory to seek central aid. The new policy comprises system approach and no adhoc sanction. It also ensures provision of last mile connectivity and prevents escalation in the cost of the project. According to Durga Shanker Mishra, an Urban Development Ministry Secretary, the new Urban mass transit projects should be seen as urban transformation projects. In order to promote compact and dense urban development along the corridors of metro, Transit Oriented Development (TOD) has been made compulsory by the new policy. Pertaining to the new Metro Rail Policy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said, “the Metro Rail was witnessing a rapid expansion with 370km of metro rail operation in seven cities, 537 km under construction in 12 cities & another 600km in 13cities under consideration of the government.”

Owing to heavy rains, 46 people were killed in a mudslide while five were injured in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. According to the reports, while all the bodies have been identified, still one or two people might be trapped in the mud pile. Most of the people belonged to Himachal Pradesh while some were from Jammu and Kashmir. The Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh has announced an ex-gratia of rupees five lakh to the next of kin of those killed. The search operation, which was stopped on Sunday night due to landslide threat, was resumed by the Army, National Disaster Response Force and the local authorities.