QBullet: Trump Sides With Putin; First Panama Cases Sent to Court
Here’s the news roundup of top headlines of the day.
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1. Trump Says ‘No Reason to Believe’ Russia Hacked US Election
United States President Donald Trump said after meeting Vladimir Putin on Monday he saw no reason to believe his own intelligence agencies rather than trust the Kremlin leader on the question of whether Russsia interfered to help him win the 2016 election.
On a day when he faced pressure from critics, allied countries and even his own staff to take a tough line, Trump said not a single critical word about Moscow on any of the issues that have brought relations between the two powers to the lowest ebb since the Cold War.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Govt Discusses Military Training Plan for Disciplined 10-Lakh ‘Force of Youth’
In the name of having a “disciplined” and nationalist “force of youth,” the government has discussed a proposal to target 10 lakh young men and women every year with a military training programme, The Indian Express has learnt.
Billed as the National Youth Empowerment Scheme or N-YES, aimed at “optimising the Indian demographic advantage,” it proposes a slew of incentives to students fresh from Class X and XII and currently enrolled in college. The incentives include a fixed stipend for the 12-month training and making N-YES an “essential qualification” for jobs in defence, paramilitary forces and police.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Politician to Chawl Resident, First Panama Cases Sent to Court
Just over two years after the Panama Papers revelation, the Finance Ministry announced that Rs 1,140 crore was traced in undetected income and in assets of Indians who incorporated offshore companies through Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian law firm that has now shut shop.
The government also revealed that 16 Indians are facing prosecution in courts in different cities.
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. PM Modi Attacks TMC: Syndicate Raj in Bengal, Be Hopeful Like Tripura
Mounting a scathing attack on the Trinamool Congress of Mamata Banerjee and her government in West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday said they were running a “syndicate raj” in the state. He urged “people of Bengal” to “be united and hopeful” like people of Tripura – where BJP ended Left rule this March – to “uproot the syndicate raj”.
Addressing crowds at the Krishak Kalyan Samabesh in Midnapore, Modi said: “The TMC uses the syndicate to extort, kill Opposition cadres, snatch farmer produce, and for vote-bank politics, appeasement politics. The syndicate gets to decide where farmers will sell their crops and at what rate, where bags of cements, sand and tin will be brought from. One even needs its permission to get admitted to colleges.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
5. Rahul Gandhi, in Letter to PM Modi, Offers Unconditional Support on Women’s Bill
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to ensure the passage of the women’s reservation bill in the monsoon session of Parliament, which begins on Wednesday.
In his letter, Rahul said that while the Congress has been unwavering in its commitment to the bill, the BJP appears to have had second thoughts even though this was one of its key promises in its 2014 manifesto.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
6. Govt Eyes a ‘Fruitful’ Monsoon Session; Triple Talaq Bill, OBC Commission Top Agenda
The government is looking forward to a “fruitful” monsoon session of Parliament, and has already reached out to the Opposition with assurance for debate on any subject of its choice, two ruling coalition leaders said.
Parliamentary affairs minister Ananth Kumar has called an all-party meeting on Tuesday morning to discuss the agenda for the monsoon session with them. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan will meet the leaders separately in the evening. Parliament’s monsoon session will take place from 18 July to 10 August.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. L-G Anil Baijal Gives ‘In-Principle Nod’ to Cadre Rejig, Aap Hits out
Exercising his authority over services – a contested area between him and the elected government – Lt-Governor Anil Baijal gave “in-principle approval” to the long-pending demand of restructuring of DASS and steno cadre of Delhi government employees on Monday.
Baijal’s decision, which may have an impact on the career graph of at least 8,000 employees, was described by the Aam Aadmi Party as an attempt by him to “cling on” to services using the 2015 Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notification.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. Delhi Police Arrests Husband of Air Hostess Who Allegedly Committed Suicide
Three days after 39-year-old flight attendant Anissia Batra allegedly jumped to her death from the terrace of her home in south Delhi’s Panchsheel Park, the police on Monday arrested her husband, who has been accused of harassing her for dowry.
Mayank Singhvi was arrested on Monday evening after an hour of questioning.
His wife’s family had earlier alleged lapses and laxity in the police probe.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. IMF Cuts India’s Growth Projection, but It Still Retains World’s Top Spot
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut India’s growth projections for this fiscal year to 7.3 percent and for the next to 7.5 percent on Monday, although the country will still retain its top spot in the global growth league.
The World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update reduced by 0.1 percent the projections made in April for this year and by 0.3 percent for 2019, citing the impact of higher oil prices and the likelihood of monetary policy tightening.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
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