National Political News:
1. The leaders of the grand secular alliance comprising of Sonia Gandhi of INC, Lalu Yadav of RJD and Nitish Kumar of JDU claimed victory at an election rally for Bihar legislative assembly at Patna for thwarting the BJP governments land acquisition bill in Parliament.
In the Casino of Bihar politics, The Samajwadi party has quit the grand secular alliance of Bihar. It was offered just 5 of the 243 seats going to the polls.
TMC of Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP have extended support to the grand secular alliance.
2. Sheena Bora Murder case involving her mother and social climber Indrani Mukerjee and her former beau Sanjeev Khanna as prime suspects along with the car driver continues to evince considerable interest in the national media. The high profile murder mystery is near solution by the Mumbai Police. Indrani Mukerjee is currently married to Ex Star channel CEO with vast business interests. The media indicates it to be a tail of sleaze, sex and money.
3. The Government has agreed to give One Rank One Pension (OROP) to the retired defence services personnel. It will be effective from July 1, 2014. The base year for fixing pension shall be 2013 calendar year. The pension is to be re-fixed every 5 years. The arrears are to be paid in 4 half yearly installments. The fiscal burden on the government shall be an additional Rs. 10,000 crores every year. The arrears may amount to Rs. 12,000 crores or so.
The retired Ex Servicemen have been demanding OROP for the last 42 years.
International Political News:
1. Prime Minister Najib Razak of Malaysia is facing increasing unrest in his country. The demonstrators are asking for his resignation. He has been accused of misgovernance and allied charges of corruption by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad.
2. Thailand arrests the main suspect in the country’s worst bombing attack that killed 20 people at the Brahma temple in Bangkok. A suspected fugitive foreign national named Ali Jolan has been arrested while trying to cross over into Cambodia.
3. China’s rare public holiday to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender on Sep 2, 1945, that marked the end of World War II. A military parade to mark the occasion was held in Beijing, China. 17 foreign contingents also participated in it. It was a show casing of Chinese military might. Chinese missiles that could travel 10 times faster than the speed of sound were on show. Russian President Vladimir Putin, South Korean President Park Guan– hye, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbeyev and Indian union minister Gen. V.K. Singh were present at the parade amongst other dignitaries.
Business News:
1. World Economists indicate that there are more than 700 zombie factories in China producing cement, steel, electronics and electrical goods for which there is too little internal Chinese demand. The world demand has also slowed down. These factories still continues to run to keep their workers employed thereby piling up inventories. They are supposed to provide ‘An Iron rice bowl,’ a Chinese term for life employment of workers.
2. Crude oil slide is likely to cushion Indian rupees fall against the dollar. From a high of $ 111.89 to a barrel, oil has now weakened to under$50 a barrel.
3. India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data indicates growth at 7% in June quarter as compared to 7.4% in the previous quarter ending 31st March. The Gross Value Added (GVA) stood at 7.1% against 6.7% in the same period.
4. The Indian Stock and Share market continues to fall on FII withdrawal, selling in the market
Science and Technology:
1. Microwave Diamonds – Stones grown in lab that have same physical characteristics and chemical make up as the real stuff which is mined. They are made from a carbon seed placed in a microwave with methane or another carbon containing gas, superheated to a plasma ball. This creates particles that crystallize into diamonds.
Sports:
1. The IAAF games have concluded at Beijing.
Kenya tops the list of medal winners with 7 Gold, 6 Silver and 3 Bronze, followed by Jamaica with 7 Gold, 2 Silver and 3 Bronze. USA was at 3rd Place. India fails to win any medal.
2. The 3 Match of theIndia, Sri Lanka Cricket Series has been won by India 2-1.
In the third match of the series played at Colombo, India scored 312 and 274 runs in the first and second innings. Sri Lanka replied with 201 and 268 runs in both the innings. The Player of the match was India’s Cheteshwar Pujara, and Player of the Series award went to R. Ashwin.
3. The US Open lawn tennis tournament at Flushing Meadows in New York has got under way.
The World’s top player Rafael Nadal has been beaten in a preliminary round match and has bowed out of the tournament.
