TODAY NEWS ON July 27, 2024

News Headlines for CAT, CLAT and IPM aspirants

Source: The Hindu

Paris Olympics 2024 opening ceremony | Paris unveils ultimate spectacle with pomp, fervour and splendour

The magnificent City of Light, dotted with the spectacular Eiffel Tower and scores of majestic buildings featuring admirable architecture, welcomed the 33rd Olympic Games in a unique way, with the much-awaited Opening Ceremony on the Seine involving a stretch of Paris’ rich heritage, here on Friday. The riot of colours and lights turned the Seine and the pastel city into a surreal place, amalgamating history and contemporariness in a spellbinding show.

17 share top rank as NTA declares final results of NEET-UG

The National Testing Agency (NTA) on Friday released re-revised results, the fourth iteration, of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) undergraduate exam that pave way for medical and para-medical course admissions. The latest results were published after the Supreme Court asked the NTA to deduct marks for a Physics question that NTA had said had two ‘correct’ answers.

NITI Aayog needs to be scrapped: Mamata Banerjee

A day before the meeting of the Governing Council of NITI Aayog, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called for “scrapping” the body claiming that it had little use other than organising annual meetings. Six Opposition Chief Ministers are skipping the meeting protesting the alleged bias in the Union Budget which they claim, only catered for the NDA-ruled States. Ms. Banerjee and her Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren are the only Opposition Chief Ministers who are expected to attend the meeting.

India, U.S. sign agreement to protect cultural heritage

India and the U.S. on July 26 signed a cultural property agreement aimed at enhancing cooperation to protect cultural heritage of the two countries. Cultural property agreements prevent the illegal trade of cultural property and simplify the process by which looted and stolen antiquities may be returned to their country of origin.

Trump meets Netanyahu, mends relationship with key political ally

A beaming former U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to their first face-to-face meeting in nearly four years on Friday, patching up a political alliance important to both men that had broken down when the Israeli leader offended Mr. Trump by being one of the first to congratulate Joe Biden on his 2020 presidential victory.

BJP chief attacks Congress for politicising Agnipath scheme, PM’s Drass visit

Union Minister and BJP chief J.P. Nadda on Friday hit out at the Congress for politicising the Agnipath military recruitment scheme and the Drass visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pay tributes to the soldiers on the 25th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas.

Doctor, his teenage daughter test positive for Zika virus infection in Pune

A 46-year-old doctor and his teenage daughter have tested positive for Zika virus infection in Pune city of Maharashtra, but their health condition is stable, an official said on June 26. The man recently developed symptoms like fever and rashes, following which he was admitted to a private hospital. The medical facility sent his blood samples to the city-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) for analysis. On June 21, his reports confirmed that he tested positive for Zika virus infection, a health official of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) said.

Tamil Nadu Assembly: Resolution urging Centre to undertake caste-based census adopted unanimously

The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, on June 26, unanimously adopted a resolution proposed by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, urging the Union government to conduct a caste-based census along with the general population census. “This House considers that a caste-based population census is essential to formulate policies in order to ensure equal rights and equal opportunities in education, economy and employment to every citizen of India. This House, therefore, unanimously urges the Union government to commence the census work immediately, which has been due from 2021, along with a caste-based population census, this time,” the resolution said.

Bombay High Court refuses to interfere in hijab ban decision of Mumbai college

The Bombay High Court on June 26 dismissed the petition filed by nine women students from a city-based college to impose a ban on hijab, burka and naqab in its premises. A division bench of Justices A.S. Chandurkar and Rajesh Patil said it was not inclined to interfere in the decision taken by the college and dismissed a petition filed against it by nine girl students, who are in the second and third year of a science degree course.

Militant killed in anti-militancy operations in J&K’s Doda: officials

Security forces, engaged in a firefight with hiding militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district since June 26 morning, have spotted a body of a suspected militant at the encounter site, officials said. Heavy gunfire resounded in Gandoh area of Doda after the security forces spotted and established contact with militants hiding in a forest area. Officials said the body of one militant was spotted at the encounter site.

Held after 20 years, polling for Nagaland civic bodies ends

The polling for 25 civic bodies in Nagaland, held after a gap of two decades on June 26, came to a close, officials said. The final poll percentage is not immediately available, officials said. Around 20% of the 2.23 lakh electors exercised their franchise on Wednesday in the first two hours of the civic body polls being held for the first time in Nagaland in 20 years, an official said. Voting began at 7.30 am with tight security arrangements in place and will continue till 4 pm.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returns to Australia a free man

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange returned to his homeland Australia aboard a charter jet on June 26, hours after pleading guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors that concludes a drawn-out legal saga. The criminal case of international intrigue, which had played out for years, came to a surprise end in a most unusual setting with Mr. Assange, 52, entering his plea in a U.S. district court in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands. The American commonwealth in the Pacific is relatively close to Mr. Assange’s native Australia and accommodated his desire to avoid entering the continental United States.

NATO appoints outgoing Dutch PM Mark Rutte as next secretary-general

NATO appointed Mark Rutte as its next secretary-general on June 26, putting the outgoing Dutch prime minister in charge of the world’s biggest security organisation at a critical time for European security as war rages in Ukraine. Mr. Rutte’s appointment was sealed by NATO ambassadors during a meeting at the 32-nation alliance’s headquarters in Brussels. U.S. President Joe Biden and his counterparts will formally welcome him to their table at a summit in Washington on July 9-11.

Sri Lanka finalises debt restructuring agreement after financial crisis

An auction of radiowaves that carry voice and data signals for mobile phones ended within two days on June 26, garnering less than 12% of the ₹96,238 crore minimum value that the government had estimated for the spectrum on offer. “The auction, where a total of 10 GHz of spectrum ranging between 800 MHz to 26 GHz was offered, got total bids worth ₹11,340 crore,” sources said. Five rounds of bidding happened on the opening day on June 25, but on June 26, there was not much action, leading to officials declaring the end of the auction at around 11.30 hrs.

ICC T20 rankings: Travis Head replaces Suryakumar Yadav as top T20 batter, Jasprit Bumrah moves to 24

Australia opener Travis head on June 26 toppled India’s Suryakumar Yadav as the number one batter in the latest ICC T20 rankings. Suryakumar was holding the number one spot since December 2023 but Head’s splendid run at the T20 World Cup catapulted him to the top even as his team has been knocked out. Head scored 255 runs with two half centuries, including a 76 against India in a Super Eight contest.