Rahul Gandhi’s successor: CWC likely to decide next week
Ten days after Rahul Gandhi went public with his resignation as party president, the Congress is yet to schedule a meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to decide on his successor. But sources in the party on Friday indicated that it could take place next week once there is clarity on the Karnataka political situation.
India's Anshula Kant is World Bank MD and CFO
The World Bank Group on Friday announced that Anshula Kant, an Indian national, has been appointed its next MD and CFO. Ms. Kant will be the first woman CFO of the Bank. “Anshula brings more than 35 years of expertise in finance, banking, and innovative use of technology through her work as CFO of the State Bank of India,” World Bank Group president David Malpass said via a statement.
ISRO’s lunar touchdown has dry run on soil fetched from Tamil Nadu
M. Annadurai, who as URSC Director oversaw activities related to the Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft until he retired in August 2018, recounts that geologists of various national agencies had found that a few sites near Salem in Tamil Nadu had the ‘anorthosite’ rock that somewhat matches lunar soil in composition and features. The URSC’s lunar soil simulation studies team zeroed in on Sithampoondi and Kunnamalai villages for the soil.
GROUND ZERO | Death by digital exclusion? : on faulty public distribution system in Jharkhand
Right to Food activists in Jharkhand have listed in detail 20 deaths between September 2017 and June 2019 due to hunger and malnutrition because of alleged irregularities in the PDS and a few due to denial of social security pensions. The irregularities are manifold. From the deletion of ration cards to the problems in linking ration cards to Aadhaar, the system seems to create more problems than it solves, excluding many families rather than including them. Many activists also point out that the Socio-Economic and Caste Census of 2011, which helps identify PDS beneficiaries, is faulty and outdated.
First-timers brought to the fore in Lok Sabha
The 17th Lok Sabha may not have topped the figure of the previous one for first-term MPs, with 313 in 2014 compared to the 267 now, but in terms of prominence and opportunities, the first-time members have never had it so good.
Ethanol pumps may be opened soon
Pushing for the use of biofuels like ethanol and butanol to help cut India’s ₹7 lakh crore oil import bill, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Friday he would soon send a note to the Petroleum Ministry to allow opening of ethanol pumps in the country. Mr. Gadkari was speaking at the launch of India’s first ethanol-powered motorcycle — Apache RTR 200 Fi E100 by Chennai-based TVS Motor.
‘Robot umpires’ debut in U.S. baseball league
The independent Atlantic League became the first American professional baseball league to let a computer call balls and strikes on Wednesday night at its All-Star Game. Plate umpire Brian deBrauwere wore an earpiece connected to an iPhone in his pocket and relayed the call upon receiving it from a TrackMan computer system that uses Doppler radar.
Comment | Game of chicken that can end in disaster: on U.S.-Iran relations
On July 7, Iran announced that it would begin enriching uranium above a concentration of 3.67% permitted under the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), reached by Iran and the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States) on July 14, 2015. This followed its July 1 announcement that it had breached the limit of the 300 kg of enriched uranium stockpile that was allowed by the JCPOA. It appears Iran’s patience is wearing out.
2019 Cricket World Cup | New Zealand showed that it can be a giant-slayer in the big battles
In the semifinal, New Zealand revived India’s old nemesis — good quality swing and seam bowling and backed it with athletic fielding where limbs were stretched to the maximum and gravity was constantly defied. The parched-earth policy affected Virat Kohli and company, and New Zealand yet again had pulled off the great heist.
Wimbledon: Eleven years after epic, Federer conquers Nadal on Centre Court
It didn’t quite reach the levels it had eleven summers ago here on Centre Court, but Roger Federer put on a display worthy of his rich grass-court history to beat Rafael Nadal 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 and enter his 12th Wimbledon final. In Sunday’s title-clash, he will encounter World No. 1 Novak Djokovic’s wiry, elastic genius which weathered a tough challenge from Roberto Bautista Agut.