Vijay Singh TOP NEWS IN NUTSHELLS (03 August 2021)
**NATIONAL NEWS**
- PEGASUS SNOOPING ROW: JD(U) becomes BJP’a first ally to call for a probe into Pegasus spyware row. Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said that the matter should also be discussed in Parliament. Pegasus controversy has rocked the monsoon session of Parliament. Opposition parties have united to protest against the alleged snooping and have been continuously demanding discussion on this issue in both houses of Parliament.
- OPPOSITION BREAKFAST MEET: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi hosts a breakfast meeting for Opposition leaders to plan strategies to overcome the current stalemate in Parliament.
- PARANJOY MOVES SC: Senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta’s name allegedly featured in the reported list of those who were targets of snooping using Pegasus. He filed a petition in Supreme Court seeking directions to the Centre to disclose materials with respect to investigation and authorization pertaining to alleged use of Israeli spyware on his mobile.
- BOMMAI CABINET EXPANSION: Karnataka cabinet expansion is most likely to take place on 04 August. Meanwhile CM Basavaraj Bommai is meeting with BJP central leadership to finalize the list of names.
- AP FORMER MINISTER MURDER CASE: CBI has nabbed the main accused in a former minister, Y S Vivekananda Reddy’s murder case. YSV Reddy is uncle of AP CM YS Jagan Reddy. He was found dead at his residence on March 15, 2019.
- LeT TERROR MODULE BUSTED: J&K police has busted Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror module in Anantnag and arrested four persons. Incriminating materials including hand grenade have also been recovered from their possession. Further investigation into the matter is in progress.
- ASSAM-MIZORAM BORDER DISPUTE: BJP MPs from Northeast meet PM over clash between Assam and Mizoram. Assam Chief Minister on Monday said, two ministers from his government will visit Aizawl on Thursday to hold talks to try resolve the state's long-running border dispute with Mizoram.
- SC NOTICE OVER USE OF SECTION 66A OF IT ACT: SC on Monday issued notices to all states, Union Territories and Registrar General of all High Courts over the continued use of Section 66A of IT Act, despite it being struck down in March,2015. Hearing on plea by NGO, a bench of Justice R F Nariman and B R Gavai said that they will pass comprehensive order so that matter of booking people under the said scrapped section will be settled once and for all. Earlier, Union Home Ministry had written to states, asking them not to register cases under the repealed provision and withdraw any such cases that may have been filed.
- KRISHNA WATER DISPUTE: Chief Justice NV Ramana on Monday opted out of hearing in the dispute between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana over the sharing of river Krishna waters on legal issues.
- PORNOGRAPHY CASE: Bombay HC reserves its order on the petitions challenging arrest of actor Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra and his associate Ryan Thorpe by Mumbai Police.
- NEW DIGITAL PAYMENT SYSTEM e-RUPI: PM Modi on Monday launched India’s new digital payment system e-RUPI via video conferencing. In his key address, PM said that e-RUPI voucher is going to play a vital role in making DBT more effective in digital transactions in India. It will help every one in targeted, transparent and leakage free delivery.
- COVAXIN EFFECTIVE: Indian Council of Medical and Research’s study said that Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin (BBV152) is effective against Delta Plus (AY.1) variant of the coronavirus.
*INTERNATIONAL NEWS*
- TALK ON LAC DISENGAGEMENT: The 12th round of corps commander-level meeting between India and China held on Monday at the Chusul-Moldo border in Ladakh. Both sides described as "constructive" military talks on the eastern Ladakh row. As per reports, they agreed to resolve the pending issues in an "expeditious" manner, even as no concrete outcome was visible on the much-anticipated disengagement process in the remaining friction points.The talks between the senior military commanders of the two neighbouring countries came close on the heels of the meeting between the External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Chinese Foreign Minister at Dushanbe last month.
- NAVAL EXECERCISE: The Indian Navy Eastern fleet ships- INS Ranvijay, INS Shivalik, INS Kadmatt and INS Kora will be deploying its task force to South East Asia, the South China Sea & Western Pacific for over two months to enhance military cooperation.
- INDIAN STUDENT DEATH: Nagsen, an Indian student studying in a university in the Chinese city of Tianjin, has been found dead in his room.The Indian Embassy officials in Beijing are working on sending remains to India.
- AFGHANISTAN CRISIS: President Ashraf Ghani has expressed hope that situation in violence hit Afghanistan will see a change within 6 months. He emphasised that security of cities is his government’s top priority. Ghani’s comments came as Afghan forces fought and bombed Taliban fighters and their positions on Sunday.
- CANADA ACCUSES PAKISTAN: Former Canadian politician & diplomat Chris Alexander has accused Pakistan of being complicit in ‘proxy war & war crimes”. He said that Pakistan is engaging in an “act of aggression” against neighbouring Afghanistan.
- EARTHQUAKE IN PAPUA REGION: A 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia’s easternmost Papua region on Monday.
- TOKYO OLYMPICS: Kamalpreet Kaur finishes creditable 6th in her first Olympic Women’s Discus Throw final with a best throw of 63.70 meter. American Valarie Allman won the Gold. In hockey, Indian women enter semi-final after beating strong contender Australia 1-0.
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