Rajasthan political crisis | Ashok Gehlot to push again for Assembly session as crisis drags on
Amid a serious face-off with the Governor, the Congress government in Rajasthan on Saturday deliberated on a fresh proposal to convene a session of the State Assembly next week to enable Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to prove his majority on the floor of the House. Governor Kalraj Mishra had on Friday refused to give immediate approval to a similar proposal.
Coronavirus | India hikes testing capacity to over 4 lakh a day
India has now hiked its coronavirus (COVID-19) sample testing capacity to over 4 lakh tests per day with 4,20,898 samples tested in the last 24 hours, according to a release issued by the Union Health Ministry on Saturday.
Also read: Coronavirus | Active cases rise in A.P. as 7,813 test positive
Ladakh left out in the cold 11 months after becoming a Union Territory
Eleven months after it was carved out as a separate, administrative Union Territory (UT), the high-altitude desert region of Ladakh is at a crossroads, with minimal staff functioning from makeshift accommodation, no recruitment agency to fill gazetted posts, no formal bank and a dispute over its capital.
India-China standoff | Army is working to restore status quo along LAC, says Northern Command chief
“We shall continue all efforts to restore the status quo ante along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China,” said Northern Command chief Lt. Gen. Y.K. Joshi on Saturday.
Congress leaders raise concerns over Anti-Defection Law
The order of the Rajasthan High Court asking for status quo on the Rajasthan Assembly Speaker’s disqualification notice to the dissident Congress lawmakers seems to have triggered a debate within the Congress on the broader issue of the Anti-Defection Law (ADL), technically known as Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, as well as political parties regularly approaching the courts to fight their battles.
Congress to protest in front Raj Bhavans and launch a Save Democracy campaign online
The Congress will launch on Sunday a “Speak Up Democracy” campaign on social media to protest against the BJP’s role in the Rajasthan crisis.
Coronavirus | U.K. quarantines travellers from Spain in major blow to Europe's revival
Britain abruptly imposed a two-week quarantine on all travellers arriving from Spain after a surge of coronavirus cases, a dramatic and sudden reversal on Saturday to the opening of the European continent to tourism after months of lockdown.
Quad | The confluence of four powers and two seas
Parallel exercises in the Indo-Pacific this week, including a trilateral exercise between the U.S., Australia and Japan in the Philippines Sea, and an Indo-U.S. naval exercise in the Indian Ocean have fuelled speculation that Quadrilateral (Quad) exercises will be launched soon between all four navies.
Tomorrow Group | The fall of a red capitalist empire
On July 17, Chinese regulators announced the takeover of nine financial institutions, with combined assets worth $140 billion. All of them are thought to have links to the Tomorrow Group, a Chinese conglomerate with interests spanning financial services, insurance and real estate.
Over 2,500 ceasefire violations on LoC this year: Army
While tensions continue on the border with China, Ceasefire Violations (CFVs) have continued unabated along the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, along with attempts to smuggle in weapons.
India, U.K. affirm committment to an FTA
India and the U.K. have affirmed their commitment to negotiate a free trade agreement (FTA) with a view to further strengthening economic ties, the Commerce Ministry said on Saturday.
The hoary history of Kerala’s Padmanabhaswamy temple — Part I | The Hindu In Focus podcast
The Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, is one of the most storied temples in India, said to hold unimaginable riches within its walls, including gold ornaments and other historical artefacts that are yet to be unearthed. A decade-old dispute about its management and administration was brought to a close a week ago, when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Travancore royal family. In this two-part podcast, author and historian Manu S. Pillai talks us through the origins of the historical institution before cutting to the present and going into recent developments.
