BJP to stake claim to form govt. in Karnataka sooner than later

A day after the H.D. Kumaraswamy-led Janata Dal (S)-Congress government in Karnataka lost the trust vote, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with its status as the single largest party in the Assembly indicated that it will be proceeding towards staking claim sooner rather than later. A meeting of the State legislature party will be called in a day or two. The BJP, having postponed a meeting of its legislature party and of the parliamentary board in New Delhi as it sought more clarity about the prospects of providing a stable government after last week’s unsettling events, has decided, sources said, that since much depends on Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar on the question of rebel MLAs, no purpose would be served by allowing the grass to grow.

Ajay Bhalla to be new Home Secretary

The Modi government on Wednesday reshuffled over a dozen Secretaries. A 1984 batch IAS officer and currently Secretary, Ministry of Power, Ajay Kumar Bhalla has been appointed Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Ministry of Home Affairs with immediate effect. He will take over as Home Secretary from incumbent Rajive Gauba. Mr. Bhalla will have a fixed two-year tenure as Union Home Secretary till August 2021.

Two BJP MLAs cross-vote in Madhya Pradesh ‘ghar wapsi’

Stunning the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is exulting over the collapse of the Congress government in Karnataka, two of its MLAs on Wednesday voted in favour of an amendment to the criminal procedure code in the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha. Terming it a ghar waapsi (homecoming), Maihar legislator Narayan Tripathi told reporters, “In the previous government, Shivraj Singh Chouhan had made tall promises in my constituency, but delivered nothing. There was also an attempt within the party to sabotage my election. The Congress is my old home and I am headed back to it. I’ll do whatever is the best for my constituency.”

Large-scale burning of grasslands detrimental to invertebrates: study

A recent study on “prescribed burning” of large tracts of grassland for the conservation of threatened ungulates in the Eravikulam National Park (ENP), a biodiversity hotspot in the Western Ghats, reveals that such burning is detrimental to endemic invertebrates, including grasshoppers. Grasshoppers are sensitive to grasslands management and an indicator of grasslands quality, health and restoration success.

India’s first dragon blood-oozing tree

Assam has added to India’s botanical wealth a plant that yields dragon’s blood — a bright red resin used since ancient times as medicine, body oil, varnish, incense and dye. A trio of researchers led by Assam forest officer Jatindra Sarma has discovered Dracaena cambodiana, a dragon tree species in the Dongka Sarpo area of West Karbi Anglong. The team’s report has been published in the latest issue of the Journal of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

Boris Johnson promises Brexit on October 31 ‘no ifs, no buts’

Newly-installed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on July 24 promised to deliver Brexit on October 31 “no ifs, no buts” and prove wrong “the doubters, the doomsters, the gloomsters”. Speaking outside his Downing Street office after being formally appointed, Mr. Johnson — one of the key figures behind the 2016 Brexit referendum — promised to do a “new deal” with Brussels.

Priti Patel appointed Britain’s first Indian-origin Home Secretary

Priti Patel, an ardent Brexiteer who was among the most vocal critics of Theresa May’s Brexit strategy, on Wednesday took charge as Britain’s first Indian-origin Home Secretary in the newly-unveiled Boris Johnson Cabinet. Ms. Patel had been a prominent member of the ‘Back Boris’ campaign for the Conservative Party leadership and was widely tipped for the plum post in his frontline team.

Tokyo Olympic organisers on Wednesday unveiled medals designed to reflect the “energy” of athletes as the city marked a year to go until the opening ceremony of the 2020 Summer Games. The medals, which will be made from recycled materials collected from old electronics, are intended to “resemble rough stones that have been polished and which now shine,” organisers said.

Pro Kabaddi League 2019: Bengal Warriors flattens UP Yoddha

Bengal Warriors scored a thumping, 48-17 win over UP Yoddha in the league phase of the Vivo ProKabaddi League Season-7 at Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday. It was a remarkable performance by PKL debutant Mohammad Nabibakhsh, who overcame a false start when he was ‘self-out’ with his first raid, to cap a Super-10 from 11 raids.

The Economic Survey 2018-19 notes that India is set to witness a “sharp slowdown in population growth in the next two decades”. The fact is that by the 2030s, some States will start transitioning to an ageing society as part of a well-studied process of “demographic transition” which sees nations slowly move toward a stable population as fertility rates fall with an improvement in social and economic development indices over time.