French mobility company Alstom on july 6 said it has won an order worth Rs 3,200 crore to supply metro trains and various systems for Bhopal and Indore metro rail projects.

The order has been awarded by Madhya Pradesh Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MPMRCL) to deliver 156 Movia metro cars with 15 years of comprehensive maintenance for the Bhopal and Indore metro projects.

This is the second such combined order in India for Alstom after the Agra-Kanpur metro projects.

Assam cabinet on july 5 approved the identification of five Assamese Muslim sub-groups, Gorias, Moriyas, Jolhas, Deshis and Syeds as indigenous Assamese Muslim communities.

The move will ensure their development in health, cultural identity, education, financial inclusion, skill development and women empowerment.

Assam Cabinet also took several decisions pertaining to the scrapping of old vehicles, exempting ex-servicemen and their widows from paying property tax, boosting renewable energy, improving data access, etc.

The Assam Cabinet decided to exempt ex-servicemen and their widows from paying property tax as a gesture of gratitude for their service to the nation.

The cabinet also approved the collaboration between the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) under SIDBI and the Assam government for providing additional guarantee coverage for loans given by lending institutions to Micro and Small units in Assam and the creation of a Corpus Fund of Rs 100 crore with 80 per cent from CGTMSE and 20 per cent from Assam government.

The cabinet also authorised the Assam Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) Ltd to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with SIDBI.

The creation of a venture capital fund worth Rs 200 crore via an MOU to be signed between SIDBI and AIDC Limited was approved by the cabinet.

Congress leader Tarvinder Singh Marwah on july 6 joined the BJP. Marwah later appealed to all the G-23 leaders of Congress to join the BJP.

He was a member of the Delhi Assembly for three terms from 1998-2013 and also served as parliamentary secretary to the chief minister.

·         While the TMC distanced itself from the controversial remarks of its Lok Sabha member Mahua Moitra about goddess Kali, a tea shop owner in Madhya Pradesh capital Bhopal has lodged an FIR against the TMC MP in the same matter.

A cleric of the Ajmer dargah, who on camera allegedly offered his house to anyone who beheads now-suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma for her controversial remark against Prophet Mohammad, has been arrested, police said on July 6.

The Secretary-General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has died, Nigerian authorities and the oil cartel announced  on july 6. Only hours before his death, he’d met with Nigeria’s president and spoken in defence of the energy industry amid increasing climate change pressure.

The reason for his death was not immediately known. The Vienna-based oil cartel also confirmed his death, saying he was a “much-loved leader” of OPEC.

His death came as a surprise to industry insiders. His second term as head of OPEC was set to end in three weeks on July 31. He’d held the post for six years since 2016.

OPEC’s 13 member-states have 1.24 billion proven crude oil reserves among them, or 80% of the world’s share. Of the world’s total crude oil production, OPEC producers’ share is just under 38%.

Barkindo’s successor Haitham al-Ghais, a veteran of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, was set to assume the post in August.

In a huge blow to embattled British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, two of his senior Cabinet colleagues, including Chancellor Rishi Sunak, resigned, as they expressed their loss of confidence in his leadership amidst a spate of scandals.

The 42-year-old British Indian minister posted his resignation letter on Twitter soon after another senior Cabinet colleague, UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid, resigned.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson  has named his Iraqi-born education secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, as finance minister after the shock resignation of Rishi Sunak.

Downing Street said Queen Elizabeth II had approved the appointment of Zahawi, who came to Britain as a child with his Kurdish family not speaking any English, before forging a lucrative business career.

The 55-year-old co-founded the prominent polling company YouGov and was active in local Conservative politics in London, before becoming an MP in 2010. He won widespread praise for overseeing Britain's pandemic vaccines rollout. But like Sunak, his private wealth has drawn adverse attention, including when he claimed parliamentary expenses for heating his horse stables in 2013.