Morning Digest | Situation under control in Goa, says Congress; all eyes on Trinamool as Murmu visits West Bengal, and more

Mamata Banerjee’s remarks on Droupadi Murmu keeps everyone guessing

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee on July 1 had softened her stand on the NDA candidate, saying that if she was aware of Ms. Murmu’s candidature earlier, things would have been different.

New U.K. Prime Minister to be announced on September 5

The new U.K. Prime Minister to replace the outgoing Boris Johnson will be announced on September 5, the ruling Conservative party said on Monday, with 11 hopefuls currently vying for the job. The leadership contest was triggered last week when Mr. Johnson, 58, was forced to step down after a frenzy of more than 50 resignations from his government, in opposition to his scandal-hit premiership.

I am naturally disappointed, says Vijay Mallya on Supreme Court verdict

Former Kingfisher Airlines boss Vijay Mallya, who is based in Britain for over five years, on Monday expressed his disappointment at the Supreme Court verdict sentencing him to four months in a contempt case. The 66-year-old U.K.-based businessman did not comment further on the verdict handed down by a top court bench headed by Justice U.U. Lalit earlier on Monday.

Twitter calls Musk merger withdrawal ‘invalid and wrongful’

Twitter demanded on Monday that Elon Musk complete a proposed $44 billion takeover of the social media company, slamming the Tesla chief’s withdrawal of his offer as “invalid and wrongful.” “Twitter has breached none of its obligations under the Agreement,” attorneys for Twitter said in a letter to Mr. Musk’s lawyers that was included in a securities filing late on Monday.

Situation under control in Goa, says Congress

A day after the Goa Congress leadership charged senior legislators Michael Lobo and Digambar Kamat with attempting to split the party by hobnobbing with the ruling BJP, the party on Monday moved disqualification petitions against the duo for ‘anti-party activities’ even as senior Congressman and MP Mukul Wasnik, sent as a troubleshooter to the coastal State, declared the situation to be “under control.”

Political stalemate persists in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka on Monday was rife with speculation over President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s whereabouts, and uncertainty over the island’s political future, two days after citizens mounted massive resistance against the two leaders over an unprecedented economic crisis. President Gotabaya, who has promised to resign on July 13, was on Monday flown to an airbase near the main international airport in Katunayake, near Colombo, AFP reported. When The Hindu contacted spokespersons of the island’s Civil Aviation Authority and the Air Force, both said they were unaware of such a development.

Seven Shiv Sena MPs skip meeting called by Uddhav Thackeray

Amid raging speculation of a split within the Shiv Sena MPs, seven of the 19 Lok Sabha MPs were missing at a meeting of all lawmakers called by party chief and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at the latter’s residence ‘Matoshree’ on Monday. Twelve Lok Sabha MPs were present along with the two Rajya Sabha lawmakers Sanjay Raut and Priyanka Chaturvedi while the other RS MP Anil Desai, said to be a staunch supporter of the Thackeray faction, was in Delhi.

Bhima Koregaon case | Supreme Court to take up Varavara Rao’s plea for permanent bail today

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to take up as the first case on July 12 a plea for permanent bail on medical grounds by Telugu poet and an accused in the Bhima Koregaon-Elgar Parishad case P. Varavara Rao. A Bench led by Justice U.U. Lalit could not take up the case, which was listed as item number 30 on Monday, as the judges had to sit in a different combination at 2 p.m.

Congress questions PM’s silence on Chinese inroads into Ladakh, demands debate in Parliament

Raising the issue of Chinese transgressions in Eastern Ladakh a week before the Monsoon session, the Congress on July 11 claimed that the July 7 talks between India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi did not yield the desired result in restoring status quo ante prior to May 2020 at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Rajnath Singh briefs House panel on Agnipath scheme

Ahead of the monsoon session of Parliament, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday briefed the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Defence on the Agnipath scheme at the end of which the Opposition MPs submitted a memorandum demanding its immediate withdrawal.

Go First cabin crew, technicians go on leave against salary cuts

The unrest over salaries in the aviation industry has spread to Go First, where nearly 70 cabin crew across the airline’s network went on mass sick leave on Monday to protest salary cuts, and technicians entered their second day of protest leave.

Soon AI-based Mandarin translation devices for troops on LAC

Indian soldiers patrolling on the Line of Actual Control (LAC), when they come face to face with Chinese soldiers, will soon be able to understand Mandarin and reply instantly, with the help of a 600gm Artificial Intelligence-based device developed by an Indian start-up. Currently under advanced trials with the Army, it was one of the 75 AI-enabled products and applications unveiled by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the ‘AI in Defence’ symposium on Monday

CBI registers case against private company on SBI’s complaint alleging loss of ₹1,438.45 crore

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday registered a case based on a complaint from State Bank of India that a private company and its directors caused a loss of ₹1,438.45 crore to the bank and four other consortium member banks. The investigative agency said it conducted searches at three premises of the accused in Mumbai and Pune which led to recovery of incriminating documents/articles.

Europe frets over reduced Russia gas supplies

Russian energy giant Gazprom began 10 days of maintenance on its Nord Stream 1 pipeline on Monday – with Germany and other European countries watching anxiously to see if the gas comes back on. The annual work on the gas link was scheduled long in advance. But the fear is that – with relations between Russia and the West at their lowest in years because of the invasion of Ukraine – Gazprom might take the opportunity to simply shut off the valves.

Hockey | India’s World Cup dream ends after loss to Spain in crossover match

The Indian women’s hockey team was eliminated from the FIH World Cup title race after losing 0-1 to co-hosts Spain in a hard-fought crossover match here on Monday. After a fiercely-contested three quarters, the Indian defence let in a goal just three minutes from the final hooter when Marta Segu scored from a rebound to exit from the knock-out rounds.

Federer unranked for 1st time in 25 years; Djokovic down to No. 7

Roger Federer dropped out of the ATP rankings entirely for the first time in a quarter-century on Monday, while Novak Djokovic slid four spots to No. 7 a day after winning Wimbledon for the seventh time. Federer had appeared in the singles rankings every week since he made his debut at age 16 in September 1997, tied for 803rd, and held the record for most time at No. 1 until Djokovic broke it.