TODAY NEWS ON July 25, 2024
News Headlines for CAT, CLAT and IPM aspirants

Source: The Hindu

National News:

• Centre, Opposition face off in Parliament over Budget
• Supreme Court to examine the right of an accused to be forgotten after acquittal in criminal case
• Supreme Court urges a balance between railway needs in Haldwani and right to shelter of ‘encroacher’ families
• Amid NEET row, UPSC to revamp its exam system with new tech
• Centre defends fact-check unit, says right to correct information important
• DRDO successfully tests Phase-II ballistic missile defence system
• Government admits BSNL data breached in May; forms telecom security panel
• Centre says all departments asked to identify backlog reserved vacancies
• 600 schools with zero, low enrolment shut in Arunachal Pradesh
• Jailed former PM Imran Khan refuses to undergo polygraph test linked to May 9 riots
• C.T. Kurien, distinguished economist, no more
• Snipers, divers and AI: securing the Paris Olympics opening ceremony

International News:

• Nepal plane crash: 18 dead as Saurya Airlines plane crashes during takeoff in Kathmandu; pilot lone survivor
• Netanyahu gives fiery speech to U.S. Congress, seeking support for war in Gaza
• Joe Biden says he ended 2024 U.S. presidential bid to unite Democratic party
• Bangladesh partially restores telecommunication services as protests taper off
• Trump campaign files complaint to block Biden’s campaign funds being transferred to Harris
• WHO sees ‘high risk’ of polio virus spreading across Gaza, assessment underway
• SCO countries hold first joint live anti-terror drills with all member states

Headlines in Detail

Centre, Opposition face off in Parliament over Budget

In both Houses of Parliament, the Opposition attacked the government, accusing it of presenting a “discriminatory budget” that excluded the non-National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-ruled States. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman issued a strong rebuttal to this in Rajya Sabha, hitting out at the Opposition for deliberately maligning the government, and giving a wrong impression that some States had been left out.

Supreme Court to examine the right of an accused to be forgotten after acquittal in criminal case

The Supreme Court agreed on July 24 to examine an issue related to the right to be forgotten of an accused who seeks removal of judgments containing names from the public domain, saying this will have “serious ramifications”. A bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud also stayed a judgment of the Madras High Court that had asked a law portal to remove a verdict that had acquitted a man in a rape case from its website. “The judgments are part of public records and the orders for their removal by the courts will have serious ramifications,” the CJI said.

Supreme Court urges a balance between railway needs in Haldwani and right to shelter of ‘encroacher’ families

The Supreme Court on July 24 urged a balance to be struck between railway infrastructure development at Haldwani, considered to be the doorway to the hills in Uttarakhand, and the fundamental right to shelter of nearly 50,000 people accused of illegally living on railway land. “They are also human beings…” a Bench headed by Justice Surya Kant observed.

Nepal plane crash: 18 dead as Saurya Airlines plane crashes during takeoff in Kathmandu; pilot lone survivor

At least 18 people were killed when a domestic airline plane crashed during takeoff at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, on July 24. The pilot survived and is receiving treatment at a hospital, officials said. There were 19 people onboard the plane, which was headed to Pokhara, a tourist destination which is a 25-minute flight from Kathmandu. The incident took place at 11:11 a.m. (local time).

Netanyahu gives fiery speech to U.S. Congress, seeking support for war in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza and condemned American protesters in a scathing speech to the U.S. Congress on July 24, which triggered boycotts by many top Democratic lawmakers and drew thousands of protesters to the Capitol to condemn the war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis it has created.

Amid NEET row, UPSC to revamp its exam system with new tech

Amid widespread allegations of cheating in the NEET examination for medical college admissions, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is all set to revamp its own examination system through technological solutions such as Aadhaar-based fingerprint authentication and facial recognition systems, and closed circuit television (CCTV) surveillance using artificial intelligence (AI).

Centre defends fact-check unit, says right to correct information important

Defending the formation of a fact-checking unit (FCU), the Union government said in the Bombay High Court on July 24 that the right to know factually correct information and the right to not be misled were equally important as the right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a). Stand-up artist Kunal Kamra, the Editors Guild of India, and the Association of Indian Magazines, have challenged the constitutionality of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023 that permit an FCU of the Union government to identify “fake or false or misleading” online content “related to the business of the Central Government” and demand its removal.

DRDO successfully tests Phase-II ballistic missile defence system

The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) on Wednesday successfully flight-tested the Phase-II Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) system demonstrating the indigenous capability to defend against ballistic missiles of 5,000 km class. Phase 1 of the BMD, which can intercept ballistic missiles with a range of 2,000 km, has already been deployed.

Government admits BSNL data breached in May; forms telecom security panel

The Union government confirmed a data breach in BSNL’s systems, saying that the breach was reported on May 20. “Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) reported possible intrusion and Data Breach at BSNL on 20.05.2024,” Minister of State for Communications Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani said on Wednesday in a written response to a Lok Sabha query by Congress MP Amar Singh.

Joe Biden says he ended 2024 U.S. presidential bid to unite Democratic party

U.S. President Joe Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office for probably the last time as he explained his decision to “pass the torch” to Vice President Kamala Harris and end his 2024 presidential campaign. The address offered the public their first chance to hear directly from Mr. Biden his rationale for dropping out of the 2024 after weeks of insisting he believed himself to be the best candidate to take on former President Donald Trump, whom he has called an existential threat to the nation’s democracy.

Centre says all departments asked to identify backlog reserved vacancies

All Central Government Ministries and departments have been asked to form an in-house committee for the identification of backlog reserved vacancies and fill them through special recruitment drives, the Lok Sabha was informed on July 24. In a written reply, Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said the occurrence and filling of vacancies, along with backlog reserved vacancies, is a continuous process.

600 schools with zero, low enrolment shut in Arunachal Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh Education Minister Pasang Dorjee Sona on July 24 said the State Government has shut around 600 schools, which were either non-functional or had zero enrolment. Replying to a question from lone Congress MLA Kumar Waii in the Assembly, Mr. Sona said the government is planning to close more such schools with zero or low enrolment. Nearly 600 such schools have already been shut or merged with other schools, he said.

Bangladesh partially restores telecommunication services as protests taper off

Bangladesh partially restored telecommunication services on July 24 although internet connection was slow and social media remained suspended, days after deadly protests against reservations for government jobs killed almost 150 people. The country has mostly been calm since Sunday when the Supreme Court scaled down reservations for various categories to 7%, overruling a high court verdict reinstating a 56% quota in government jobs that had been scrapped in 2018.

Trump campaign files complaint to block Biden’s campaign funds being transferred to Harris

The Trump campaign has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission arguing that money raised for U.S. President Joe Biden’s 2024 reelection bid could not be transferred to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. The complaint was filed on Tuesday by the Trump campaign’s general counsel David Warrington and argues that transferring the funds to Harris’s presidential campaign would amount to “flagrantly violating” the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.

Jailed former PM Imran Khan refuses to undergo polygraph test linked to May 9 riots

Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan has refused to undergo polygraph and voice matching tests as part of an investigation by Lahore police in connection with a dozen cases related to the unprecedented May 9 riots last year. A 12-member forensic team reached Adiala Jail on July 23 to conduct the polygraph test on the 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician. The May 9 riots in 2023 were triggered across the country after the Pakistan-Tehreek-e-Insaf founder was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau in a 190-million-pound corruption case. He faces over 200 cases and has been in jail since August last year.

WHO sees ‘high risk’ of polio virus spreading across Gaza, assessment underway

The World Health Organization said on July 23 that there was a high risk of the polio virus spreading across the Gaza Strip and beyond its borders, due to the dire health and sanitation situation in the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave. Ayadil Saparbekov, team lead for health emergencies at WHO in Gaza and the West Bank, said circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 had been isolated from environmental samples from sewage in Gaza.

SCO countries hold first joint live anti-terror drills with all member states

Security officials from the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held the first joint anti-terrorism drill in China focussing on live drills and specialised operations such as “the eradication of terrorist groups.” The ‘Interaction-2024’ joint counter-terrorism exercises were held recently in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China’s Ministry of Public Security said. “The exercise marks the first time the relevant agencies from all SCO member states have participated in a joint counter-terrorism live drill,” the state-run Xinhua news agency reported on July 23.

C.T. Kurien, distinguished economist, no more

C.T. Kurien, distinguished economist and former professor of Madras Christian College, is no more. He died due to age related ailments at 11 pm on July 23, 2024. He was 93. Prof. Kurian had got his Master’s degree in Economics from Madras Christian College in 1953. He had pursued economics as major field of study in college with the hope that through the study of economics he would be able to understand the causes of poverty and contribute to its eradication.

Snipers, divers and AI: securing the Paris Olympics opening ceremony

On the water, perched on rooftops and operating AI-augmented cameras, French security forces will lock down central Paris during the opening ceremony of the Olympics on July 26 aiming to prevent an incident that would ruin the biggest show on earth. The figures tell only part of the story of the colossal effort made to protect the river parade along the Seine, the first time a Summer Olympics has started outside a stadium. About 45,000 police and paramilitary officers will be on duty, along with 10,000 soldiers and 20,000 private security guards.

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