Morning Digest | India monitoring impact of Zawahiri’s killing; Modi govt. renews push to reach out to Muslim community, and more

Central officials assessing impact of Zawahiri’s killing on al-Qaeda’s presence in India  

A day after the United States announced that al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri had been killed in a drone strike in Kabul on July 30, Indian government officials on Tuesday said they were assessing its impact in India.

Centre cuts jet fuel and diesel taxes, hikes petroleum crude export tax

The Centre on Tuesday raised the windfall tax on crude petroleum producers by 4.41%, scrapped the ₹4 per litre levy on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) exports, and reduced the cess on the export of diesel from ₹11 to ₹5 a litre. The changes will come into effect from August 3.

Modi govt. renews push to reach out to Muslim community

The Modi government has opened a new channel of communication with the Muslim community. Steering away from the days of cultivating Imam Bukhari and various Muslim Jamaats, the government is now banking on the well-entrenched Sufi orders for a meaningful dialogue with the largest minority.

ED searches premises linked to Niira Radia

The Enforcement Directorate has conducted searches on the premises linked to former corporate lobbyist Niira Radia in connection with a money laundering probe, said a senior agency official on Tuesday.

SC quashes Jharkhand decision to grant 100% quota to locals in govt jobs, upholds HC verdict

The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed the Jharkhand government’s 2016 decision to grant 100% reservation to locals of 13 Scheduled Areas in public jobs and upheld a High Court decision that had termed the government decision discriminatory and impermissible. The top court said “the citizens have equal rights, and the total exclusion of others by creating an opportunity for one class is not contemplated by the founding fathers of the Constitution of India”.

Kidambi Srikanth falters as India settle for silver with loss to Malaysia

Kidambi Srikanth came up with an underwhelming performance as India succumbed 1-3 to Malaysia and settled for a silver in the mixed team badminton event at the Commonwealth Games on Tuesday. Srikanth lost to lower-ranked Tze Yong Ng in three games to put the defending champions on the backfoot in the final.

Parliament proceedings | No one is denying price rise, constant efforts on to control it: Nirmala Sitharaman

Replying to a short duration discussion on the “rising prices of essential items” in Rajya Sabha on August 2, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Centre was not denying the fact that there was price rise. She said the Centre was taking constant efforts to check prices of essential items such as tomato, onion, potato, pulses and edible oil. She denied the charges by the Opposition that the Centre was denying share of cess and duties on petroleum products. She added that the country’s macro economic fundamentals were strong.’

Shinde-Fadnavis govt. illicit, 40 rebel MLAs can never be the face of Maharashtra: Aaditya Thackeray

Launching a broadside against Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the rebel Shiv Sena faction, Sena leader and MLA Aaditya Thackeray on Tuesday said that the 40 rebel MLAs “could never be the true face of Maharashtra” while stating that the reasons given by Eknath Shinde camp to justify their intra-party rebellion were “utterly frivolous.”

Seema Punia finishes 5th, Navjeet Dhillon eighth in women’s discus throw final

Indian discus throwers Seema Punia and Navjeet Kaur Dhillon were disappointed as they finished fifth and eight respectively in the final with below-par performances at the Commonwealth Games. In what could be her last Commonwealth Games appearance, the 39-year-old Punia produced a best throw of 55.92m which she came up in her second attempt but that was not enough for a podium finish on Tuesday.

Announce statehood for Jammu and Kashmir on August 15: Congress to PM Modi

The Jammu and Kashmir Congress on August 2 urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce statehood for the Union Territory and holding of Assembly elections during his Independence Day speech from the Red Fort on August 15. J&K Congress leader G.A. Mir said the party will hold 75-kilometre-long ‘padayatra’ in every district of the country in connection with the 75th year of Independence.

Elon Musk’s tech allies miffed about Twitter subpoenas

Elon Musk’s wealthy high-tech allies don’t seem too happy about receiving subpoenas from Twitter as part of the company’s legal battle with the Tesla CEO. San Francisco-based Twitter is suing Mr. Musk in Delaware in an attempt to get him to complete his $44 billion acquisition of the social media company, a deal Mr. Musk is trying to get out of.

Commonwealth Games 2022 | Weightlifter Vikas Thakur strikes silver in men’s 96kg

Indian heavyweight lifter Vikas Thakur added yet another Commonwealth Games medal to his kitty, winning a silver in the men’s 96kg in Birmingham on August 2, 2022. The seasoned Thakur lifted a total of 346kg (155kg+191kg) to finish second and claim his third CWG medal across three editions.

India beat West Indies by seven wickets to take 2-1 series lead

Suryakumar Yadav gave an exhibition of his incredible hitting skills with a superb 76 as India cantered to a seven-wicket win against the West Indies in the third T20 International on Tuesday. India now lead the five-match series 2-1 with the cricket caravan moving to USA’s Florida for the last two games of the series.