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 HEADLINES 

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• India and Vietnam sign nine agreements to deepen strategic partnership and enhance cooperation including customs and agriculture.

• New Delhi advises Indian Nationals to avoid travelling to Lebanon as tentions escalates in the region.

• Supreme Court permits sub-classification of SC and ST reservations to grant separate quota for more backwards within the categories.

• At least 10 people killed due to lightning strikes in Bihar; Heavy rains and cloudburst incidents lead to widespread destruction in Himachal Pradesh.

• In Paris Olympics on Day 6, Shooter Swapnil Kusale clinches third Bronze medal for India; Shuttler Lakshya Sen enters Men’s Singles quarterfinal, defeating compatriot HS Prannoy.   

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India and Vietnam today signed nine agreements to deepen comprehensive strategic partnership and enhance cooperation in the fields of customs, agriculture, legal, radio and television broadcast, culture, and tourism. This was stated by Secretary East of Ministry of External Affairs Jaideep Mazumdar in New Delhi today. Briefing media on the State Visit of Prime Minister of Vietnam Pham Minh Chinh to India, the Secretary said, both the countries emphasized on increasing bilateral trade.

 

 

Earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh. Both the leaders agreed to further deepen India-Vietnam relationship by increasing economic, strategic and cultural ties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, India-Vietnam relations have expanded and deepened in the last 10 years.

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The Lok Sabha has taken up the discussion on demands for grants related to the Ministry of Education. Initiating the discussion in the House, Tejasvi Surya of BJP said, the country witnessed significant improvement in the infrastructure and quality of education in the country in the last ten years. Mohammad Jawed of Congress highlighted the vacant positions in school and colleges. Hanuman Beniwal of RLP said, the government should take stern measures to put an end to the coaching mafia.

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The government today asserted that it is committed to check the incident of rail accidents in the country, saying numbers of accidents have come down by 68 percent in comparison to UPA rule. Replying to discussion on Demand for Grants of his Ministry in the Lok Sabha, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, more than 87 thousand crore rupees were spent on safety in 2022-23, which reached over 98 thousand crore rupees in the last fiscal year. The Minister also said that now 558 running rooms are air conditioned.

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The Rajya Sabha has taken up discussion on working of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. Initiating the discussion, Randeep Singh Surjewala of Congress criticised the government for not being able to fulfil the promise of doubling farmers’ income by 2022. Surendra Singh Nagar of BJP said the government implemented the Swaminathan Committee report for the welfare of farmers. V Vijayasai Reddy of YSRCP expressed concern that agricultural lands are being converted to non-agricultural use.

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The Supreme Court today ruled that sub-classification within the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes reservation is permissible to grant separate quotas for more backwards within the categories. A seven-judge Constitution bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud gave the judgement by 6-1 majority upholding the power of States to sub-classify the reserved categories of SC and STs into different groups based on their backwardness for extending the benefits of reservation. The Apex Court clarified that while allowing sub-classification, the State cannot earmark 100 percent reservation for a sub-class. The Bench also comprising gave the judgement overruling the 2004 EV Chinnaiah vs State of Andhra Pradesh judgement of the Apex court. The bench said, State must evolve a policy to identify creamy layer among the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes category and exclude them from the fold of affirmative action. He also held that the criteria for identifying the creamy layer among SCs/STs should differ from those used for the Other Backward Castes.

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The Allahabad High Court ruled today that the trials for 18 cases connected to the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura can continue. The court dismissed a petition from the mosque committee that challenged the maintainability of these lawsuits. Earlier, the high court had reserved its judgment related to the dispute. The court has now fixed the 12th of this month as the date for framing of issues. The lawsuits were initiated by Hindu devotees and deity Shree Krishna Virajman.

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In Bihar, at least 10 people lost their lives due to lightning strikes in the last 24 hours. In Gaya maximum five casualties have been reported followed by three deaths in Jehanabad and two in Rohtas district. The majority of the casualties occurred when lightning struck people working in the fields in the ongoing Kharif season. The Met Department predicts heavy rain accompanied by lightning in the Southern and North Eastern Region for the next 24 hours. The Disaster Management Department asked people to remain cautious during rains and lighting.

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Heavy rains and cloudburst incidents in various parts of Himachal Pradesh have caused significant damage to life and property. In these incidents, 55 people are missing, and 2 people have died. Relief and rescue operations are in full swing in the affected areas. The state government has established 13 emergency centers. A report:

 

 

“In the cloudburst incident in Jhakhri of Rampur subdivision in Shimla district, 36 people are missing, while in Tikkan near Padhar in Mandi district, 9 people are missing and the bodies of 2 people have been recovered. Similarly, 10 people are missing in Kullu district. Three to four people are trapped on the ground floor of the Malana Power Project Dam due to its bursting. Chief Parliamentary Secretary and Kullu MLA Sunder Thakur stated that the people trapped in the Malana Power House are completely safe and that NDRF and state disaster authority teams are engaged in relief and rescue operations in the affected area. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said in Shimla today that he has instructed the local administration to expedite the relief and rescue work in the affected areas. Ritesh Kapoor, Akashvani News, Shimla.”

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In Uttarakhand, 425 pilgrims stranded on the Kedarnath Dham Yatra route have been brought to a safe place by helicopter from Lyncholi and Bhimbali in Rudraprayag district so far. Earlier, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami inspected the disaster-affected area in Tehri district. He said that the government will provide all possible assistance to the affected people. Meanwhile, the Met Department has issued an orange alert for very heavy rain at some places in Uttarkashi district tomorrow.

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In Kerala, the death toll in the massive landslide that devastated Wayanad has risen to 274. our correspondent reports that 187 injured in the mishap are undergoing treatment in the hospital, while 107 persons are reported to be missing. 70 relief camps have been set up, where over 7,000 persons have been accommodated. We have this report:

 

 

“The Army said that it recovered 18 bodies besides six mutilated ones from the debris. It informed the state government that no more survivors are expected from the the landslide hit areas. The Bailey bridge built by the Army, connecting Chooralmala with Mundakkai over a small river, was opened to traffic this evening, and has been handed over to the civil administration. The bridge will facilitate the movement of men and heavy machinery to the landslide hit region. Tomorrow, more men and machinery will be moved across the river, to clear the debris there. Search operations suspended this afternoon following heavy rain in the higher reaches of Mundakkai area, will resume tomorrow. Raj Mohan, Akashvani News, Kochi.”

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In Rajasthan, life has been affected in many districts due to torrential rains since last night. Four people died in rain-related accidents in Jaipur district. Due to continuous rain since last evening, many roads in the city were flooded. A report:

 

 

“Apart from Jaipur, heavy rains have occurred in Karauli, Ajmer, Alwar, Bharatpur, Dausa, Sikar, Sawai Madhopur, Tonk, Nagaur, Hanumangarh and Churu. Due to this, rivers and streams are on spate. Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma held a high level meeting in Jaipur and reviewed the situation. He said that the officers should go to the field and take stock of the situation and ensure immediate relief to the people. Jitender Dwivedi, Akashwani News, Jaipur“

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The Embassy of India in Beirut has advised all Indian nationals to avoid travelling to Lebanon until further notice in view of the recent developments and potential threat escalations in the region. Those currently residing in the country are advised to exercise extreme caution and restrict their movements. The Embassy also urged them to remain in contact via email or call.

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Now news from the ongoing Summer Olympics at Paris in France.

 

“Today at the Paris Olympics, India won their third medal, another bronze and again from the sport of shooting in which the nation has been going great guns. Swapnil Kusale, taking part in his maiden Olympics, won the coveted medal in the 50m rifle three positions event. He is the first Indian to win a medal at the Olympics in the event and has thus made history.

 

 

The great success from the shooting arena at Chateuaroux was not replicated elsewhere. In archery, Pravin Jadhav suffered a 0-6 defeat in the first round of the individual event, while star boxer Nikhat Zareen was knocked out in the round of 16 of the 50 kg event by the top-seeded Wu Yu from the Republic of China.

 

 

There was a shock loss in badminton as one of India’s Big medal hopes, the men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty crashed out in the quarterfinals, going down 21-13, 14-21, 16-21 to the Malaysian pair of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik Lakshya Sen marched on to the quarterfinals of the men’s singles after easily overcoming compatriot HS Prannoy 21-12, 21-6.

 

 

Meanwhile, the Indian hockey team battled hard against the defending champions Bslgium before going down 2-1.

 

 

In the men’s and women’s race walk events, India’sVikash Singh came 30th and Priyanka Goswami finished 41st. This is Shaurya Choudhary reporting from Paris for Akashvani News.”

 

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President Droupadi Murmu, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have congratulated Swapnil Kusale on winning a bronze medal at Paris Olympics. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Government has announced a cash reward of one crore rupees for Swapnil Kusale.

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Sports Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya today felicitated six shooters for their impressive performances at the Paris Olympics. During the ceremony, Dr. Mandaviya awarded a cheque of 22.5 Lakh rupees to Sarabjot Singh who secured a bronze medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team event alongside Manu Bhaker.  Dr. Mandaviya highlighted the impact of the Khelo India program stating that this time, out of 117 athletes, 70 are participating in the Olympics for the first time.

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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN: –

• India and Vietnam sign nine agreements to deepen strategic partnership and enhance cooperation including customs and agriculture.

• New Delhi advises Indian Nationals to avoid travelling to Lebanon as tentions escalates in the region.

• Supreme Court permits sub-classification of SC and ST reservations to grant separate quota for more backwards within the categories.

• At least 10 people killed due to lightning strikes in Bihar; Heavy rains and cloudburst incidents lead to widespread destruction in Himachal Pradesh.

• In Paris Olympics on Day 6, Shooter Swapnil Kusale clinches third Bronze medal for India; Shuttler Lakshya Sen enters Men’s Singles quarterfinal, defeating compatriot HS Prannoy

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