Top Stories on 23rd in a capsule

Toronto ‘white van’ road rash kills 10, 16 injured

At least 10 people were reported dead and 16 were declared injured after a white van struck pedestrians on a busy Yonge street and Finch Avenue in Toronto, on Monday. The car fled from the scene but was roped at an intersection and the driver was taken into custody. The incident occurred as Cabinet ministers from the major industrial countries were gathered in Canada to discuss a range of international issues in the run-up to the G7 meeting near Quebec City in June. “Our hearts go out to anyone affected,”Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said to media agencies, expressing his grief.
_______________

Karnataka Polls 2018: Yeddyurappa son’s will not contest elections

BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate for the upcoming Karnatala Assembly elections, BS Yeddyurappa on Monday announced that his son BY Vijayendra will not be contesting polls for the Varuna constituency seat, quashing possibility of a highly anticipated face-off with current CM Siddaramiah’s son Yatheendra. State BJP workers initiated massive protests as a reactive, setting a deadline of Tuesday morning to appoint Vijayendra as a candidate. Hundreds of Vijayendra’s supporters surrounded his hotel, shouting slogans against BJP president Amit Shah and Union Minister Ananth Kumar Hegde. The workers have also threatened that they would resign and support to former PM HD Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular)
_______________

AIIMS writes to PMO over comment made in London on doctors

The Doctors of AIIMS' Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) on Monday issued a letter, disappointment over the remarks Prime Minister Narendra Modi made on his London visit last week about doctors and pharma companies being associates and the doctors promoting these companies abroad. The PM in his ‘Bharat ki Baat Sabke Saath’ event had also alleged that the doctors push for sale of expensive medicines. This move comes after on Sunday the Indian Medical association (IMA) and Association of Medical Consultants (AMC) also criticised the PM’s comment. "We are getting foreign trips in reward of writing costly medicines, but this is utterly shameful to generalise and paint black whole Medical fraternity that too on International forum," an AIIMS doctor was quoted by media agency.

_______________

Tennis champion Sania expecting first child with Shoaib Malik

Tennis player Ace tennis player Sania Mirza found the most adorable way to announce the news of expecting her first child on Monday. Mirza, taking to Twitter posted picture of a baby’s jersey in a locker, in between that of herself and husband Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik. The Grand Slam winner released the news by just captioning the picture #BabyMirzaMalik while Malik sharing the same post wrote #MirzaMalik. The post went on to become viral online as fans on social media went on to call the baby ‘South Asian Royal Baby,’ as the news coincided with the birth of third child of Britain’s Prince William and Duchess Kate Middleton on Monday afternoon.

_______________

Congress to move SC after impeachment motion against CJI gets rejected

In a big blow to the Congress party and other six other Opposition parties, the Vice President and Chairman of Rajya Sabha Venkaiah Naidu on Monday rejected the impeachment motion that they had filed against the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. Hours after news broke, Congress leader Kapil Sibal through a press conference, said that it has decided to move to the Supreme Court to appeal for a judicial review into the Vice President’s order. Sibal termed Naidu's decision to reject impeachment motion as "illegal, unprecedented, ill-advised, and hasty”.
_______________

Petrol, Diesel prices rise for 5th day; Highest since 2014 

Petrol and diesel prices continued to rise for the fifth consecutive day on Monday. Prices increased by 10 paise per litre for both the fuels. The petrol prices have been at Rs 74.50 per litre in Delhi, while diesel rates touched a record high of Rs 65.75 the highest under the BJP-led government since 2014.  Petrol prices are at Rs 77.2 per litre in Kolkata, Rs 82.35 per litre in Mumbai and Rs 77.29 per litre in Chennai. With an aim to bring transparency in oil pricing, the government started revising petrol and diesel prices on a daily basis from June 2017 onwards. Before this prices were revised on a fortnight basis. Excise duty on petrol has gone up by 100 percent while on diesel it has gone up by more than 200 percent. The government has reduced taxes just once in October 2017 by Rs. 2 a litre.
_______________

AFSPA ended in Meghalaya, parts of Arunachal Pradesh 

The Union Home Ministry on Monday ended the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, AFSPA from Meghalaya and reduced it to 8 police stations in Arunachal Pradesh. The act empowered security forces to conduct operations, arrest anyone anywhere without prior notice. The decision has reportedly been taken due to a significant improvement in security situation in the state. Until September 2017, 40 percent of Meghalaya was under AFSPA. However, after a recent review in consultations with the state government, AFSPA was removed completely from Meghalaya,” a senior MHA official stated. According to the statement of the MHA, there has been a decline of 63 percent in insurgency-related incidents in the north-east region in the last four years.

_______________

SC puts proceedings on hold against Salman Khan over casteist remark

The Supreme Court on Monday put on hold all criminal proceedings against Bollywood actor Salman Khan, under the SC/ST Act over making communal remarks on the Valmiki community. The bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud also issued a notice to all states on the actor’s plea to quash all proceedings and FIR against him that were registered last year. The actor was accused of humiliating the Valmiki community by using an offensive word to describe them on a TV show while promoting his film "Tiger Zinda Hai". The court has set July 23 as the date to hear Centre’s response.
_______________

One killed in BJP-TMC clash in West Bengal ahead of Panchayat polls

One person was killed after violent clashes erupted between workers of the BJP and TMC in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, as nomination process started for the upcoming panchayat polls. The deceased, identified as Sheikh Dildar has been claimed by the BJP as their state BJP Minority Morcha general secretary who was allegedly shot by TMC workers. Condemning the violence BJP state President Dilip Ghosh said, “The party would move the Calcutta High Court against this violence. If such situation continues, Article 356 will have to be imposed in the state.” The violence allegedly broke out after workers of the two parties clashed outside the Block Development Office (BDO) before fresh nominations were to be held on Monday following the Calcutta High Court order directing the state election commission to extend the date.
_______________

Around 32 Chinese tourists dead in North Korea bus crash

Several Chinese tourists were declared dead by the Chinese Foreign Ministry in a tragic bus accident that took place in North Korea on Sunday evening. Around 32 Chinese nationals and four North Koreans were dead as a tourist bus fell off a bridge in North Hwanghae province that borders South Korea. On Monday morning, a team of medical assistants were sent to North Korea by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, to help in rescue and treatment efforts. As isolated as it is, North Korea continues to entertain a large segment of Chinese tourists, with the numbers as high as 100,000 a year, one of the major tour operators was quoted by media agencies.
_______________

TCS becomes first Indian company to cross $100 billion in m-cap 

Tata consultancy services created history on Monday by becoming the first Indian company to cross $100 billion in market capitalization (m-cap). At 10.30 am, the market value of the company stood at Rs 6,79,332.81 crore ( $102.6 billion). By definition, market capitalisation is the value of a company that is traded on the stock market, calculated by multiplying the total number of shares by the present share price. Last week, when the markets closed on Friday, the company was on the verge of the milestone as the m-cap stood at slightly above $99 billion. TCS stock had surged more than 6 percent on Friday.
_______________