News Highlights: India's merchandise export grows 48.34% in June 2021 over 2020

DH's latest updates of news in India and across the world

Major fire at IISER in Pune; one student suffers minor injuries

A major fire broke out at one of the laboratories at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) here on Friday, in which one student suffered minor injuries, officials said.

The blaze erupted around 12.15 pm, chief of the Pune Municipal Corporation’s fire department, Prashant Ranpise, said. "We have sent water tankers to the institute and the work of dousing the fire is going on," he said.

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ED attaches Anil Deshmukh's Rs 4-cr assets in PMLA case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached assets worth approximately Rs 4 crore of ex-Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh in a money laundering case.

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Merchandise exports in June 2021 were $32.50 billion, as compared to $21.91 billion in June 2020, exhibiting growth of 48.34%. India’s engineering goods exports saw a growth of 52.4% during the month of June 2021 as compared to 2020: Govt - ANI

Decision over Devaraja Market, Lansdowne building soon: Byrathi Basavaraj

Urban Development Minister B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) on Friday said that the final call over the works of heritage structures Devaraja Market and Lansdowne building will be taken soon.

Basavaraj along with district in-charge Minister S T Somashekar inspected the structures, which were in dilapidated state.

The Minister said, it will be decided whether to reconstruct the structure or restore the same. "I will conduct a meeting with the officials concerned," he said. -DHNS

Tulsi lake, one of the two lakes that supply water to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation , has started overflowing due to rains. It supplies an average of 1.8 crore liters of water to Mumbai per day: BMC - ANI

In view of orange alert for Mumbai by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), 3 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been shifted from Pune to Mumbai as a precautionary measure: NDRF

Pulitzer-winning Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui reportedly dead in Afghanistan clashes: Tolo News

PM holds meeting with 6 CMs on Covid situation

PM Narendra Modi calls on states seeing rising Covid cases to take proactive measures to rule out any chance of third wave. "Rise in Covid cases in Maharashtra, Kerala matter of grave concern for country, he says.

The abuse of process petition has been filed in Dominica & court accepted petition that's why illegal entry trial stayed. The man was picked up from Antigua against his will & thrown in Dominica so that he can be ferried from there to India: Mehul Choksi'

We're ready for the courtroom battle in Antigua. We've already taken a stay on the processing of the extradition request from India. We've also challenged the Antiguan Extradition Act as well as the Citizenship Act. So, there will a battle in Antigua courts now: Vijay Aggarwal

By-election to Rajya Sabha seat, that fell vacant after the resignation of Dinesh Trivedi (who was a TMC MP), to be held on 9th August 2021: Election Commission of India

Supreme Court asks Uttar Pradesh government to reconsider its decision to allow Kawad Yatra

There's absolutely no need to keep this law, it's completely archaic. In the last 15 yrs I've noticed that this law is being used by various govts who stifled free dissent. The real idea is that State Police is trigger-happy: Ex-Attorney General

The sooner it (Sedition Law) goes, the better. My suggestion to the Central Govt is, they should scrap it themselves. If it's not scrapped, the Supreme Court should scrap it: Former Attorney General (AG) Mukul Rohatgi

Centre files affidavit in SC -State govts mustn't permit movement of Kawadiyas for bringing 'Ganga Jal' from Haridwar in view of Covid. However, considering religious sentiments, State govts must develop system to make 'Ganga Jal' available via tanker

Centre tells Supreme Court that tankers be available at identified/designated locations so that nearby devotees can collect such 'Ganga Jal' and do 'abhishek' at their nearest Shiv temples.

Centre further tells SC that State govts must ensure that distribution of 'Ganga Jal' among devotees &rituals by such devotees in the nearby Shiv Temples take place while mandatorily ensuring social distancing, wearing masks & adhering to all steps required during Covid19 crisis

UN appeals for $850 million to help war-torn Afghanistan

The UN humanitarian chief in Afghanistan appealed for $850 million Thursday to help the war-torn country cope with the impact of the Taliban offensive, protracted malnutrition for a third of the country, a severe drought, and the return of 627,000 Afghans this year, most of them deported from neighbouring Iran.

Ramiz Alakbarov told reporters at U.N. headquarters after a virtual briefing from the capital of Kabul that at least 80 million Afghans are in need of assistance and the U.N. plan is to provide help for at least 15.7 million of them.

People hold Cuban and US flags as they march during a protest showing support for Cubans demonstrating against their government, in Hialeah, Florida in United States.

Credit: AFP Photo

US: 4 officers shot, 2 critically, in Texas standoff with man

Four officers were shot and wounded, two critically, after a man barricaded himself in a house in a small West Texas town, authorities said.

The episode began about 2 pm on Thursday in a residential street in Levelland, about 50 kilometers west of Lubbock.

Details were sketchy, but Levelland Police said in a social media posting that three of the wounded officers were taken to a Lubbock hospital, while one went to a Levelland hospital.

Choksi back in Antigua after getting bail in Dominica, alleges kidnapping attempt by Indian agencies

Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi, who was granted bail after spending nearly two months in a Dominican jail, alleged a "kidnapping attempt" by Indian agencies and said he was willing to cooperate in the Rs 13,000 crore scam investigation.

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Think tank recommends India set up new trade negotiating body

As India prepares for renegotiations and new trade negotiations with complementary markets including the UK, US, and European Union, a think tank paper has recommended establishing a new body of experienced trade negotiators with a designated trade representative within the ministry of commerce.

Normally, India’s trade negotiations are done by bureaucrats from the commerce ministry either through permanent representation in Geneva at the WTO or through a need-based swift move of other civil servants from relevant ministries, Ridhika Batra, a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center and vice president of corporate affairs, Americas for the Mahindra group, said in a report on India-US trade relations released by the think tank.

Cuban government blames Twitter for unrest

Unprecedented anti-government protests broke out in Cuba on July 11, which the single-party state leadership blames on a Twitter campaign orchestrated by the United States.

But experts AFP spoke to say that view is at best an exaggeration.

"I have irrefutable proof that the majority of those that took part in this (internet) campaign were in the United States and used automated systems to make content go viral, without being penalized by Twitter," Cuba's Foreign Affairs Minister Bruno Rodriguez said Tuesday.

Federal front? First fight for federalism

While it was the Congress that, in its heyday, started the trend of undermining the autonomy of state governments and encroaching on their powers, the BJP, in the Modi era, has gone further in usurping the rights of the states with its highhanded approach and unilateral policymaking.

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