Major News and Events of 14 July 2014

The meeting of yoga guru Ramdev’s aide Ved Pratap Vaidik with Hafiz Saeed created uproar in the Rajya Sabha. The upper house was adjourned for 15-minutes. The picture of Vaidik meeting with the 26/11 Mumbai mastermind Hafiz Saeed circulated on social media has created a controversy. The Congress is questioning why proper channels for the meeting were not used and whether he was sent as a representative. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley clarified that Vaidik did not go as a representative of the government. To pacify the house, Chairman M. Hamid Ansari said that action will be taken in case Vaidik has done anything illegal.

The first Test between India and England ended in draw at the Trent Bridge. India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was satisfied with the performance of his team. He added that he managed to put pressure on England’s team and performed well when under pressure. England captain Alastair Cook was unhappy as passive play had added nothing to his pacers. He said that they had a poor session in this Test match.

Capital goods and consumer durables stocks dipped on Monday which led to a fall in a benchmark index of Indian equities markets by 0.24%. It was trading at 60.16 points.  Capital goods, consumer durables and healthcare sectors saw a selling pressure whereas there was a slight good buying in auto stocks.  The highest point touched by the Sensex was at 25,095.76 and the lowest was at 24,955.56.

Transport Minister Durga Prasad Yadav inaugurated the Radio taxis installed with GPS/GPRS facility in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. With this new facility, users can keep track of the cab’s movement. To start with, just 10 cabs will be equipped with the GPS/GPRS system. In case the response is positive, number of such taxis will be increased. As per official reports,  GPS equipped cabs are currently available in the state capital and the service has been extended to Varanasi which is the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It will upgrade the transport system for the betterment and safety.

To expand the forest cover in the capital, the government has planned to plant 5 lakh seedlings in Delhi, by roping in  civic bodies, hospitals and educational institutes. Seedling will be made available free of cost at the selected Mother dairy booths and petrol pumps for people to take and plant these in their backyards or gardens. As per the India State of Forest Report 2013, Delhi forest cover has increased slightly with the addition of 3.61 km. Two lakh seedlings during monsoons will be planted by The Indian Army's Eco Task Force.

Satish Upadhyay who has recently appointed as Delhi BJP chief said that senior party leaders and members will be consulted on the decision of forming government in Delhi. Only subsequently, he can say anything on this issue. Since February, the capital is under President’s rule after the Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal resigned as Delhi chief minister. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s strength has reduced to 28 from 31 in the 70-member house as three members of the BJP got elected as members of the Lok Sabha.