TODAY NEWS ON June 20, 2024
News Headlines for CAT, CLAT and IPM aspirants

National News

• Education Ministry announces cancellation of UGC-NET; CBI probe ordered
• At least 9 die after consuming spurious liquor in Tamil Nadu’s Kallakurichi
• Centre raises paddy MSP by ₹117 to ₹2,300 per quintal for 2024-25
• Madhya Pradesh suspends licence of Som Distilleries over child labour row
• CISF yet to get formal orders to take over Parliament security
• Demolition drive in Lucknow: More than 1,200 illegal structures razed in Akbarnagar
• PM Modi inaugurates new Nalanda University campus in Bihar
• Monsoon gathering pace, to strengthen in Maharashtra by June 21-22: IMD
• Mizoram awaits Centre instruction to initiate biometric enrollment for Myanmar refugees
• June rainfall 20% below average as monsoon stalls: IMD
• Multiple-tripping incidents reported in northern region as power demand shoots up to 89.4 GW

International News

• Canadian Parliament holds moment of silence for Nijjar killing anniversary; India says it will mourn Kanishka victims
• Sri Lanka needs to connect with India to benefit from its industrial success: President Wickremesinghe
• AI creating false stories about World War II, Holocaust: UNESCO
• Israel may have violated laws of war in Gaza campaign, UN rights office says
• You are one of the greats: Wesley Hall tells Kohli
• Russia and North Korea sign partnership deal, vowing closer ties as rivalry deepens with West
• U.S. lawmakers meet Dalai Lama in Dharamsala despite China’s warnings
• At least 550 haj pilgrims died, mostly due to heat, say Arab diplomats
• T20 World Cup 2024: Bangladesh bowler Tanzim fined 15% of match fee for violation of ICC Code of Conduct

Headlines in Detail

Education Ministry announces cancellation of UGC-NET; CBI probe ordered

The Education Ministry announced the cancellation of the UGC-NET examination after inputs from the Ministry of Home Affairs suggested that the integrity of the examinations had been compromised. The University Grants Commission–National Eligibility Test is conducted by the National Testing Agency. The development comes at a time when the NTA is embroiled in a controversy over irregularities in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for medical and allied courses.

At least 9 die after consuming spurious liquor in Tamil Nadu’s Kallakurichi

At least nine persons including a woman died after allegedly consuming spurious liquor at Karunapuram in Kallakurichi district. While six of them died in Kallakurichi, three others succumbed in neighbouring Salem district. It is feared the toll could go up. Only last year, at least 22 persons had died in twin hooch tragedies in nearby Villupuram and Chengalpattu districts.

Official data: more frequent surveys, quicker results on the cards

The Centre is eyeing an increase in the frequency of some critical official Surveys, including the periodic survey to measure employment, and releasing their results faster to facilitate timely and informed policy decisions, a top Statistics Ministry official said on June 19.

Centre raises paddy MSP by ₹117 to ₹2,300 per quintal for 2024-25

The government raised the minimum support price for paddy by 5.35% to ₹2,300 per quintal for the 2024-25 kharif marketing season. The hike in paddy support price comes despite the government sitting on surplus rice stocks, but it is significant ahead of elections in states like Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Delhi.

Canadian Parliament holds moment of silence for Nijjar killing anniversary; India says it will mourn Kanishka victims

Canadian parliamentarians stood for a moment of silence to mark one year since the killing of Khalistani separatist and Canadian citizen Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in a sign that bilateral ties between India and Canada are likely to spiral further downwards, despite a meeting between the two countries’ Prime Ministers, Narendra Modi and Justin Trudeau, in Italy on June 14. Khalistani groups were also allowed to take out processions in different Canadian cities, where they shouted anti-India slogans over the killing and called for a trial against Indian officials and Mr. Modi.

Madhya Pradesh suspends licence of Som Distilleries over child labour row

The Madhya Pradesh Government temporarily suspended the licence of Som Distilleries, a liquor factory in Raisen district. Authorities rescued 59 children from the factory last week amid allegations they were made to toil in the factory. An inspection was conducted by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights on a complaint by the non-profit Bachpan Bachao Andolan on June 15. The inspectors said, 39 boys and 20 girls were rescued from the liquor manufacturing unit.

CISF yet to get formal orders to take over Parliament security

The Central Industrial Security Force is yet to receive formal orders to take over the security at the Parliament, officials told The Hindu. In the past few months, over 2,500 CISF personnel have been deployed on the premises replacing the Delhi Police and the Central Reserve Police Force. CISF has assumed some key duties earlier assigned to the Parliament Security Service such as issuance of pass and facilitating the entry of MPs.

Demolition drive in Lucknow: More than 1,200 illegal structures razed in Akbarnagar

“The demolition work of illegal buildings on the river bed of Kukrail river in Akbarnagar has been completed,” officials of the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) said. “Around 1,169 illegal residential properties and more than 100 commercial properties were demolished using heavy machinery, including bulldozers,” they said.

Sri Lanka needs to connect with India to benefit from its industrial success: President Wickremesinghe

President Ranil Wickremesinghe on Wednesday said Sri Lanka needs to connect with neighbouring India to reap the benefits of its massive industrial development. “Our neighbour India is going through a phase of massive industrial development. Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are experiencing it. We must also join in,” said Mr. Wickremesinghe in his address at the Industry 2024 event in Colombo.

Monsoon gathering pace, to strengthen in Maharashtra by June 21-22: IMD

The south-west monsoon, which has slowed down after hitting Mumbai, is gathering pace and is expected to progress further by June 21-22, an official of the India Meteorological Department said. The progress of the monsoon will provide a much-needed relief to north India, which is reeling under an intense heatwave.

Mizoram awaits Centre instruction to initiate biometric enrollment for Myanmar refugees

“The Mizoram government is waiting for instruction from the Centre to initiate biometric enrollment for more than 33,000 Myanmar refugees in the northeastern State,” a Home Department official said. The official said that a new biometric enrollment portal has already been prepared. In April last year, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs had directed Mizoram and Manipur, which share borders with Myanmar, to capture the biometric and biographic details of "illegal immigrants" in their States.

AI creating false stories about World War II, Holocaust: UNESCO

AI technology is helping to create false stories about World War II atrocities including Holocaust denial, risking an "explosive spread of anti-Semitism", the U.N. warned. The U.N.'s education and culture body UNESCO called for governments and tech companies to introduce ethical safeguards around AI technology, and for schools to spread the word about the risks of AI-generated content.

Israel may have violated laws of war in Gaza campaign, UN rights office says

Israeli forces may have repeatedly violated fundamental principles of the laws of war and failed to distinguish between civilians and fighters in their Gaza Strip military campaign, the United Nations human rights office said. In a report assessing six Israeli attacks that caused a high number of casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure, the U.N. human rights office said Israeli forces “may have systematically violated the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack.”

You are one of the greats: Wesley Hall tells Kohli

Legendary West Indies pacer Wesley Hall has seen a lot of great batters over the years and in his opinion, Indian superstar Virat Kohli belongs right at the top with the all-time legends of the game. The 86-year-old from Barbados, who formed a lethal bowling partnership with Charlie Griffith in the 1960s, also feels that the modern day West Indies players can't be expected to turn down million-dollar contracts in franchise cricket though it does impact the health of Test cricket in the region.

PM Modi inaugurates new Nalanda University campus in Bihar

The Prime Minister on June 19 inaugurated the new campus of Nalanda University, an international University, close to the site of the ancient ruins of Nalanda in Rajgir, Bihar. Asserting that Nalanda is a symbol of India’s academic heritage and vibrant cultural exchange, Mr. Modi said, “Nalanda is the proclamation of this truth that books may burn in the flames of fire, but the flames of fire cannot destroy knowledge. Nalanda is an identity, respect, and pride.”

June rainfall 20% below average as monsoon stalls: IMD

India has received 20% less rainfall since the start of the monsoon period on June 1, with the rain-bearing system making no significant progress between June 12 and 18, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). However, conditions are now favourable for further advancement of the monsoon into parts of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, coastal Andhra Pradesh, northwest Bay of Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand over the next three to four days, the weather department said. India received 64.5 mm of rainfall between June 1 and 18 which is 20% less than the long period average of 80.6 mm, it said. Meanwhile, an official of the IMD also said that the south-west monsoon, which has slowed down after hitting Mumbai, is gathering pace and is expected to progress further by June 21-22. The progress of the monsoon will provide a much-needed relief to north India, which is reeling under an intense heatwave.

Multiple-tripping incidents reported in northern region as power demand shoots up to 89.4 GW

Multiple-tripping incidents were reported in the northern region on Monday after power demand shot up to 89.4 gigawatt (GW), leading to a supply gap of 16.5 GW, as per a Northern Regional Load Despatch Centre report. Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and J&K were the affected states, the report said. NRLDC is a part of the National Load Despatch Centre, which under the Union Ministry of Power, is responsible for scheduling and dispatch of electricity over the inter-regional links.

Russia and North Korea sign partnership deal, vowing closer ties as rivalry deepens with West

Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un signed a partnership deal during a summit in Pyongyang, in a bid to expand their economic and military cooperation and cement a united front against Washington. Mr. Putin’s first visit to North Korea in 24 years comes amid growing concerns over an arms arrangement in which the country provides Moscow with badly needed munitions for its war in Ukraine in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that could enhance the threat posed by Mr. Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile programme.

U.S. lawmakers meet Dalai Lama in Dharamsala despite China’s warnings

A group of U.S. lawmakers who met the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama in India on June 19 said they would not allow China to influence the choice of his successor, comments expected to anger Beijing which calls him a separatist. They also signalled that Washington would pressure Beijing to hold talks with Tibetan leaders, stalled since 2010, to resolve the Tibet issue with a Bill President Joe Biden is expected to sign soon.

At least 550 haj pilgrims died, mostly due to heat, say Arab diplomats

Diplomats on Tuesday said at least 550 pilgrims died during the haj, underscoring the gruelling nature of the pilgrimage which again unfolded in scorching temperatures this year. At least 323 of those who died were Egyptians, most of them succumbing to heat-related illnesses, two Arab diplomats coordinating their countries’ responses told AFP. “All of them (the Egyptians) died because of heat” except for one who sustained fatal injuries during a minor crowd crush, one of the diplomats said, adding the total figure came from the hospital morgue in the Al-Muaisem neighbourhood of Mecca.

T20 World Cup 2024: Bangladesh bowler Tanzim fined 15% of match fee for violation of ICC Code of Conduct

Bangladesh seamer Tanzim Hasan Sakib has been fined 15% of his match fee for violating ICC’s code of conduct during their final group D match of the T20 World Cup against Nepal. The incident took place in the third over of the Nepal chase on Sunday when Tanzim had a verbal spat with Nepal skipper Rohit Paudel amidst a spirited spell at Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown.

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