Here are the top 5 news updates of July 10, 2021:
1. Union Cabinet 2.0: 42% of Ministers face criminal cases and 90% are crorepatis, says ADR report
Earlier this week, 36 individuals were inducted into Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet, even as several high profile exits set tongues wagging.
According to a recent report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) poll rights group, however, there are also some unfortunate statistics to contend with. An analysis undertaken by the organisation on July 7 indicates that 42% of the Ministers (33 people) have criminal cases against them.
Of these, 24 are ministers with "serious criminal cases". The report also analysed the financial situation of the Ministers to conclude that 90% of the Ministers analysed were crorepatis. "12 (out of 78) Ministers have declared their educational qualification to be between 8th and 12th standard while 64 (82%) Ministers have declared having an educational qualification of graduate or above.
2. Jammu & Kashmir delimitation exercise may be complete by March 2022, says panel
The members of the Delimitation Commission, who were in Jammu and Kashmir for four days till July 9, met several leaders of national and regional political parties, administrators and civil society groups. The commission is looking at completing the delimitation exercise by March next year.
The commission members visited Srinagar, Pahalgam, followed by a visit to Jammu. The purpose of this interaction was to gather first-hand information about the conduct of the mega exercise to carve out new constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir. Sources have said that that elections will most likely be held early next year.
Addressing the media, CEC Sushil Chandra said 24 seats in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) seats will remain vacant and will be not be included in this delimitation. "We have taken all the demands and recommendations into account, a draft will be prepared and put in the public domain for their comments," he said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued summons to former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh to get his statement recorded in connection with the agency’s ongoing money laundering probe against former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, agency officials informed on Friday. The ED sources stated that Singh had sought time to respond to the summons owing to a health issue.
Last month, the ED had searched the premises of Deshmukh and people linked to him in Nagpur and Mumbai. The officials had also arrested Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande and personal assistant Kundan Shinde, for their alleged involvement in the money laundering case.
4. India reports 42,766 COVID-19 cases and 1,206 deaths in last 24 hours
India reported 42,766 COVID-19 cases and 1,206 deaths in the last 24 hours. At the same time, 45,254 people recovered from the virus. As per a Health Ministry update on Saturday morning, there are now 4.55 lakh active cases in the country. The cumulative case tally since the pandemic began has now risen to 3,07,95,716.
The recovery rate has now increased to 97.20% while the weekly positivity rate presently stands at 2.34%. At the state level, active cases in Maharashtra and Kerala continue to remain above the one lakh mark.
US President Joe Biden has nominated Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, his close political ally and a former Navy intelligence officer with Indo-Pacific experience, to be the ambassador to India.
The White House also announced on Friday that Biden was nominating a career diplomat, Peter Haas, as the ambassador to Bangladesh. Both of them will have to be confirmed to their posts by the Senate.
Global Indian diaspora organisation Indiaspora's founder M.R. Rangaswami said, "It speaks volumes to the importance of the US-India relationship that a close and trusted ally of President Biden may be America's point person in Delhi."
