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New Delhi: This week saw the Modi government and the Opposition spar over the inauguration of the new parliament building by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as parties like Congress, AAP, Shiv Sena UBT, NCP, and more announced a boycott of the ceremony over not inviting President Droupadi Murmu for the historic event. Another row erupted over the ‘sengol’ to be installed close to the Chair of the Lok Sabha speaker as the Congress claimed there is no documented evidence of Lord Mountbatten, C Rajagopalachari, and Jawaharlal Nehru describing it as a symbol of the transfer of power by the British to India. Union Home Minister Amit Shah criticised the grand old party asking, “Why does the Congress party hate Indian traditions and culture so much?”. On the entertainment front, celebrities made news in Abu Dhabi as they arrived for the 23rd edition of the International Indian Film Academy and Awards (IIFA) at Yas Island.
INDIA
‘Soul Of Democracy Sucked Out’: Congress To Boycott New Parliament Opening, 19 Oppn Parties Issue Statement
A total of 19 opposition parties came together and said that they will not attend the opening of the new Parliament building on May 28. They said that “when the soul of democracy has been sucked out from the Parliament, we find no value in a new building”. Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said that they held discussions with all like-minded parties to boycott the inaugural function of the new Parliament building. “The inauguration of a new Parliament building is a momentous occasion. Despite our belief that the government is threatening democracy, and our disapproval of the autocratic manner in which the new Parliament was built, we were open to sinking our differences and marking this occasion,” the statement read. On the issue of Prime Minister Modi inaugurating the new Parliament complex instead of President Droupadi Murmu, the parties said the decision “is not only a grave insult but a direct assault on our democracy which demands a commensurate response.” Another row erupted between the Congress and the Modi government after the grand old party’s Communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh claimed there is no documented evidence of Lord Mountbatten, C Rajagopalachari, and Jawaharlal Nehru describing the ‘Sengol’ as a symbol of the transfer of power by the British to India. Also Read: Sengol Saga: Claims Of Power Transfer ‘Bogus’, Says Congress. ‘Why Hate Indian Traditions,’ Asks Centre
Australian PM Albanese Calls PM Modi ‘The Boss’, Compares His Popularity With Bruce Springsteen
Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a grand resounding welcome at Sydney’s Qudos Bank Arena during the Australia leg of his three-nation tour. As the crowds cheered and applauded for Modi, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called his Indian counterpart “the boss” saying the last he saw someone on the stage was American singer Bruce Springsteen who too, did not receive a welcome like Modi did. “The last time I saw someone on this stage was Bruce Springsteen and he did not get the welcome that Prime Minister Modi has got. Prime Minister Modi is The Boss,” Albanese said in his introductory remark. Addressing the Indian diaspora, PM Modi said that it is the mutual trust and respect that bind India and Australia. Modi also said that he has kept his promise that the Indians in Australia will not have to wait for another 28 years to see their Prime Minister.
Kejriwal Gets Pawar’s Support Over Services Ordinance, To Meet Rahul Gandhi And Kharge Next
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held discussions with Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai this week as a part of a countrywide campaign to increase backing for the AAP’s battle against the Centre’s ordinance on control over services. Kejriwal said he also sought a meeting with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi to discuss this issue. The Centre issued an ordinance to establish an organisation for reallocating and assigning Group-A officials in Delhi. The AAP administration deemed it a misrepresentation of the Supreme Court ruling regarding authority over services. Earlier in the week, the Delhi Chief Minister also met his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar who arrived at Kejriwal’s residence in Delhi and assured his support to the AAP’s cause. Previously, the Supreme Court had granted the authority of services in Delhi, with the exception of police, public order, and land, to the government that was elected.
WORLD
Russia Begins Moving Tactical Nuclear Weapons To Belarus, US Slams Move As ‘Irresponsible Behavior’
Russia on Thursday proceeded with a plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus in the Kremlin’s first deployment of such bombs outside Russia since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union. This development comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States and its allies of fighting an expanding proxy war against Russia after he sent troops into Ukraine 15 months ago. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko said that the tactical nuclear weapons were already on the move as per an order signed by Putin, though there was no confirmation of that from the Kremlin, news agency Reuters reported. The US State Department denounced the deployment plan, however, it said that Washington does not intend to alter its position on strategic nuclear weapons or has so far seen any signs Russia was preparing to use a nuclear weapon.
Pakistan Health Minister Claims Alcohol, Cocaine Detected In Imran Khan’s Medical Test
Traces of alcohol and cocaine consumption were discovered in the body of PTI chairman Imran Khan, according to Pakistan’s health minister Abdul Qadir Patel, who cited details of the former prime minister’s medical report prepared by the PIMS hospital based on samples taken following his arrest on May 9 by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). He claimed that shortly after the deposed premier’s arrest, a medical board was formed that included renowned psychologist Dr Rizwan Taj, orthopaedic medicine experts, and medico-legal specialists. “On May 9, Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi was brought before the medical board for questioning. He was intoxicated when he was taken into custody by NAB,” Patel said at a press conference in Islamabad. He further claimed the report contained no information about Khan’s leg fracture, which he claimed occurred during an assassination attempt in November 2022. He stated that Imran Khan had a plaster on his leg for about five to six months, but the medical report revealed that there was no fracture.
‘Ready To Launch Counter-Offensive’: Ukraine’s Top Security Official After Latest Russian Missile Attack
Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov said that the country is ready to launch a long-expected counter-offensive against Russian forces. This came after a Russian missile struck a clinic in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the attack and said authorities were working to rescue others from the hospital. Danilov said that the assault to retake territory from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s occupying forces could begin “tomorrow, the day after tomorrow or in a week”. As secretary of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine, Danilov is an integral part of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s de facto war cabinet. On being questioned about whether Ukrainian armed forces were ready for the offensive, he said, “We are always ready. The same as we were ready to defend our country at any time. And it is not a question of time.”
SPORTS
BUSINESS
Inadequate Charging Infra To High Upfront Vehicle Cost: Why EVs Are Longing For A Smoother Ride In India
Last year, the penetration rate of electric vehicles (EVs) in the Indian market was only 1.1 per cent, as compared to the Asian average of 17.3 per cent, as per S&P Global Ratings data. Furthermore, another noted rating agency, Moody’s, reported that even though India has the third-largest car market in the world, EV penetration has hovered around 1 per cent only. Surely, the figure looks dismal. But there are ample reasons why India is lagging behind in EV adoption. Experts from the EV industry have talked about the biggest issues regarding India’s EV adoption and showed paths to make the journey smooth for EVs. Despite making significant strides, there are still ample challenges that need to be addressed that include high initial cost of the EVs, limited charging infrastructure, especially in remote areas, and the need for robust policies to support the recycling and disposal of batteries.
‘Productive’ Talks Yield No Deal Yet: Understanding The US Debt Ceiling And The Ongoing Congressional Impasse
US President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have called their latest round of negotiations on the debt ceiling “productive”, but they still haven’t reached a deal to avoid looming debt default. On Monday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy after the meeting in White House, said, “I felt we had a productive discussion. We don’t have an agreement yet, but I did feel the discussion was productive in areas (where) we have differences of opinion.” This is his first one-on-one talk in months with President Joe Biden. The President ended his trip to Japan for the G7 summit early and returned to the US on Sunday to address the deadlock over US debt.
Stock Market: Sensex Surges 629 Points, Nifty At 18,500. RIL, Sun Pharma Jump 3%, All Sectors In The Green
The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday closed with broad-based gains, aided by positive global sentiment as investors closely track US debt limit negotiations. After starting trade with nominal gains in the morning, the BSE Sensex surged 629 points to end at 62,502. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 settled at 18,499, up 178 points. On the 30-share Sensex platform, Reliance, Sun Pharma, HCL, HUL, Wipro, TechM were among the lead gainers. On the flipside, Airtel, PowerGrid, and NTPC were the only three laggards.
TECH
Twitter Is Restoring Old, Deleted Tweets For No Reason
Twitter is apparently restoring deleted tweets for several of its users, media reports say. Several Twitter users have been reporting that tweets they mass-deleted have been restored to their profiles. Some of the old and deleted tweets date back to 2020. However, there is no acknowledgement from Twitter as to why three-year-old tweets are being restored on their own.
AI-Generated Pentagon Blast Image Goes Viral, Leads To Stock Market Chaos
A social media frenzy ensued on Monday as an AI-generated image depicting an explosion near a building in the Pentagon complex circulated online, intensifying concerns surrounding the spread of AI-generated misinformation. The image, portraying a tall plume of dark grey smoke, rapidly disseminated on Twitter, with verified accounts also sharing it. Its origin remains unknown. The US Department of Defense has officially confirmed the image to be a fabrication. Nevertheless, its virality briefly impacted the stock market.
Apple iPhone Maker Wistron Is Exiting India Business. Here’s Why
Apple iPhone manufacturer and Taiwanese electronics company Wistron will wind down and withdraw business from India after 15 years. The company is going to sell its plant in Kolar, near Bengaluru to Indian conglomerate Tata Group, says a report by ET Telecom.
It is being said that Wistron failed to go deeper into the iPhone maker’s supply chain and faced challenges from local employment norms due to which it was forced to leave the country. Tata Group has been in talks with Wistron since last year for the transaction.
SCIENCE & HEALTH
More Than Half Of The World’s Largest Lakes Are Losing Water, Satellite Images Show. Study Explains Why
More than half of the world’s largest lakes are losing water, satellite images show. Climate change, unsustainable human consumption, and sedimentation are the key reasons behind this decline in global lake water storage, according to a study published May 18, 2023 in the journal Science. The decline in water storage in the world’s largest natural lakes and reservoirs has occurred over the past three decades. Both human and climatic drivers have contributed to this decline. Lakes store 87 per cent of Earth’s liquid surface fresh water, but climate change and human activities threaten these water bodies.
Axiom Mission 2: Four Private Astronauts, Including First Saudi Woman To Fly To Space, Reach ISS
Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2) astronauts Peggy Whitson, John Shoffner, Rayannah Barnawi and Ali Alqarni reached the International Space Station (ISS) on May 22, 2023, and joined Expedition 69 crew members. This makes Barnawi the first Saudi woman to fly to space, and to reach the ISS. Ax-2, the second all-private astronaut mission to ISS, docked to the orbiting laboratory at 9:12 am EDT (6:42 pm IST) on May 22. The four private astronauts blasted off into space aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, atop a Falcon 9 rocket, at 5:37 pm EDT on May 21 (3:07 am IST on May 22), from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Barnawi is a biomedical researcher with almost a decade of experience in cancer stem-cell research, and will be focusing on stem cell and breast cancer research on the space station during Ax-2.
Sabre-Toothed Creature Was A Top Predator Before The ‘Great Dying’, Its Fossils Reveal
A sabre-toothed creature the size of a tiger was a top predator in the period leading up to the “Great Dying”, its fossils have revealed. The creature, called Inostrancevia, illustrates the instability during the Great Dying. Inostrancevia struggled for dominance in the food chain prior to the Great Dying, according to a study published May 22 in the journal Current Biology. According to the Field Museum, a natural history museum in Chicago, Inostrancevia likely had skin like an elephant or a rhino, was vaguely reptilian in appearance, and was part of the group of animals that included modern mammals. Eventually, the sabre-toothed creature went extinct itself.
ENTERTAINMENT
Caught On Camera: Salman Khan’s Security Pushes Away Vicky Kaushal At IIFA Event — Watch Viral Clip
A video of Vicky Kaushal taking a selfie with a fan in the middle of a crowd is doing the rounds online. A little while later, Salman and his bodyguards can be seen approaching from the other direction.
Adah Sharma’s Personal Contact Details Leaked Online, ‘The Kerala Story’ Actress Faces Harassment
The fact that the protagonists of Sudipto Sen’s The Kerala Story are a group of women in Kerala who are coerced into becoming members of ISIS is only one of the many reasons why the film has been in the spotlight. Now, it has been reported that Adah Sharma is being harassed after her contact information leaked online.
Veteran Actor Ashish Vidyarthi Gets Married To Fashion Entrepreneur Rupali Barua At 60
Veteran actor Ashish Vidyarthi got married to fashion entrepreneur Rupali Barua in an intimate ceremony at a Kolkata club on Thursday. Pictures of their wedding have surfaced online.
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