Here are the top 5 news updates of June 24, 2021:
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani today announced the launch of JioPhone Next, a fully-featured smartphone being developed in partnership with Google. "JioPhone Next is one of the most affordable smartphones globally which has cutting-edge technology," he said while addressing the company's 44th annual general meeting held virtually. "Despite Covid, Jio sustained its track record of its robust performance and became the first operator outside China to cross 400 million subscribers in a single country," said Ambani. Jio handled at one point a monthly traffic of over 6 billion GB a month and is the world's second-largest mobile data carrier, he said.
The Supreme Court today directed the state boards to declare internal assessment results of Class 12 examination by July 31, making it clear that there can't be a "fit-all" scheme and each board was autonomous and free to formulate its own evaluation method for students. Stating that it will not pass any direction for having a uniform scheme for assessment across the country, the apex court directed the state boards to ensure that scheme be formulated at the earliest and not later than 10 days from today. A bench of Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari observed that each board will have to evolve their own scheme.
The Calcutta High Court today reserved its order on a plea by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that the judge assigned to hear her election petition against BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari recuse himself from the case as he was an "active member" of the BJP like her Nandigram rival. Banerjee appeared before the court of Justice Kaushik Chanda through video conference, as directed by him on June 18. Justice Chanda, against whom the recusal petition has been filed, heard the matter and reserved his order. The judge did not specify the date for pronouncement of the verdict. Banerjee had moved the high court claiming she apprehended that she may not get justice from the judge due to his alleged BJP links.
The Delta variant, the significantly more transmissible strain of COVID-19, is expected to become a "dominant lineage" if current trends continue, the WHO has warned after it was reported in 85 countries and continues to be detected in more places around the world. The COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update released on June 22 by the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that globally, the variant Alpha has been reported in 170 countries, territories or areas, Beta in 119 countries, Gamma in 71 countries and Delta in 85 countries.
Equity benchmark Sensex rallied 393 points today, tracking gains in Infosys, TCS and HDFC Bank amid a positive trend in global markets. The 30-share BSE index ended 392.92 points or 0.75 per cent higher at 52,699. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty surged 103.50 points or 0.66 per cent to 15,790.45. Infosys was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 3 per cent, followed by TCS, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech and Asian Paints. On the other hand, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel, PowerGrid and SBI were among the laggards.