QBullet: Shujaat Bukhari’s Killer Identified; Indo-US 2+2 Moved
Here are the top stories of the day.
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1. Mastermind of Kashmiri Editor’s Murder Did MBA in Bengaluru
Jammu & Kashmir police have identified a 48-year-old Lashkar-e-Taiba recruiter and management graduate, who crossed over to Pakistan five years ago, as the key conspirator behind the assassination of senior Kashmiri journalist Shujaat Bukhari. According to intelligence sources, the mastermind, Sajjad Gul, is a native of Kashmir who did his MBA from a private institution in Bengaluru and is now settled in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
The “kill” order came from LeT chief Hafiz Saeed and Gul assigned the job to local militants he personally selected. Bukhari, editor-in-chief of Srinagar-based English daily Rising Kashmir, had angered Lashkar and other Pakistan-controlled terror groups by supporting the Ramzan truce announced by the centre. Sources said his murder was part of a larger plot, hatched in March after the appointment of former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma as J&K interlocutor, to target those who supported efforts for peace.
(Source: The Times of India)
2. Surgical Strikes Video Out, Shows Terror Casualties, Damage to Bunkers
For the first time since India announced that it had conducted surgical strikes against terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in September 2016, video clips of these operations were broadcast on several television news channels on Wednesday, 27 June.
These clips showed some terrorists being killed, besides destruction of bunkers and other military constructions. TV channels claimed that these videos, which they had accessed from official sources, were taken by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Thermal Imaging (TI) cameras used by the Army to monitor the operation.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Germany Suffer Shock World Cup Exit with 0-2 Loss to South Korea
Champions Germany crashed out of the World Cup after suffering a stunning 0-2 defeat by a tenacious South Korea on Wednesday, 27 June that eliminated them in the opening round for the first time in 80 years.
Germany would have progressed with a win at the Kazan Arena but barely looked capable of scoring against the Koreans, let alone going on to successfully defend the title they won in Brazil four years ago.
(Source: The Times of India)
4. US Puts off ‘2+2 Dialogue’ with India: ‘Unavoidable Reasons’
Less than a fortnight before the first ‘2+2 dialogue’, the US conveyed to India on 27 June that it has postponed the dialogue due to “unavoidable reasons”. The dialogue was announced last August after a telephone call between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump, which focussed on “strengthening strategic, security and defence cooperation”.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman were slated to visit Washington for the first ‘2+2 dialogue’ on July 6 with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James Mattis. The meeting was earlier scheduled for April this year but was put off after Trump fired then secretary of state Rex Tillerson.
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Govt Rejects Report Calling India Most Unsafe for Women
The government has rejected an “opinion poll” by Thomson Reuters Foundation that said India is the most dangerous country for women, saying the conclusion is not based on any data but solely on subjective opinion.
With the report — which names India as more unsafe than strife-hit Syria and Iraq where violence against women is endemic, or deeply conservative Saudi Arabia with its discriminatory laws — sparking a major furore, the government said the poll uses a “flawed methodology” to present an erroneous picture.
(Source: The Times of India)
6. To Simplify GST, 28% Tax Slab Has to Go: CEA Arvind Subramanian
Outgoing Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian Wednesday, 27 June said that removing the highest 28 percent slab and a uniform rate of cess should be the first step for further simplification of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
“I think the 28 percent rate has to go. The cesses may have to remain, but there should be just one rate on cesses… Today, we have GST rates of zero, 3 percent (for gold), 5 percent, 12 percent, 18 percent and 28 percent. We need to rationalise but I think at the first instance the 28 percent should go,” Subramanian said at the Idea Exchange programme of The Indian Express.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. Supreme Court Allows Investigation of ED Officer in Charge of 2G Spectrum Case
The Supreme Court on Wednesday, 27 June allowed the government to inquire into allegations of possession of disproportionate assets against senior Enforcement Directorate officer Rajeshwar Singh who is in charge of the investigation into alleged irregularities in the 2008 allocation of 2G spectrum and the Aircel-Maxis case.
“No officer probing the sensitive 2G cases should be under a cloud,” the Supreme Court said.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
8. Canadian Woman Allegedly Raped by Man She Met at Pub in South Delhi’s Hauz Khas
A 20-year-old woman, a Canadian national, was allegedly raped at an east Delhi guest house by its manager whom she had befriended at a pub in south Delhi’s Hauz Khas on Wednesday, police said.
After the alleged rape, the woman visited AIIMS on the advice of her Indian friend and then called the police.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. HRD Ministry to Scrap UGC, Take Over Funding Role
The Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry has prepared a draft act to replace the University Grants Commission with a new regulator for higher education in the country in an effort to improve academic standards and crack down on bogus institutions, as per the draft released by the ministry on Wednesday.
The new Higher Education Commission of India will focus solely on academic matters. Monetary grants would be the purview of the ministry, according to the draft of the law that has been seen by Hindustan Times.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
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