A bill to include Hattee community of Trans Giri area of Sirmour district in Himachal Pradesh in the list of Scheduled Tribes was introduced in Rajya Sabha amid opposition walkout against the government's stance on the demand for a discussion on the Manipur issue.

Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda moved the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill, 2022 for consideration and passage in the post-lunch period in the Upper House of Parliament amid an exchange of barbs between treasury benches and Opposition members who had staged a walkout.

He noted that with the passing of the bill, the ST population in Himachal Pradesh will go up to 5.5 lakh from 3.5 lakh currently.

The Centre  has apprised the Supreme Court that it is moving an application seeking an extension of the tenure of Director of Enforcement Directorate (ED) Sanjay Kumar Mishra.

The plea was mentioned by Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta before a bench led by Justice BR Gavai.

The application has been filed seeking a modification of the top court's ruling delivered on July 11 wherein the SC had quashed the Centre’s order of granting a third extension to the ED Director.

Terming the same as “illegal”, a bench of Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol had given him time till July 31 to relinquish office. The top court had also taken into consideration the Centre’s concern regarding the ongoing evaluation of India by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the likelihood of the time that would be required for appointing a new ED director. 

Hun Manet has an economics degree from England and graduated from the US military academy West Point, but there are few expectations he will uphold Western liberal ideals when he succeeds his father as Cambodia's prime minister.

Groomed for years, the eldest son of Cambodia's iron-fisted ruler will take over next month in a dynastic transfer long in the making, which sees Hun Manet move from the premier's bodyguard unit to the seat of power in the capital Phnom Penh.

After nearly four decades as Cambodian leader, Hun Sen on  Jul 26  announced his resignation in a televised speech, three days after claiming a landslide victory in a one-sided election that the ruling party was guaranteed to win after having silenced all viable opposition.

Hun Manet, already a member of the ruling Cambodian People's Party's (CPP) powerful permanent committee, has served as commander of the Royal Cambodian Army since 2018.

Born on October 20, 1977, the princeling graduated from West Point in 1999 and has more recently met world leaders including President Xi Jinping of China -- Cambodia's main ally and benefactor.

But the 45-year-old four-star general only contested a parliamentary seat for the first time in  july 23 election, a poll he has insisted was legitimate, while Western powers criticised it as neither free nor fair.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law banning gender reassignment surgeries in the country.

The law was published on the official portal of legal information.

The document supplements the law outlawing medical treatments and the use of medications intended to switch genders to the statute protecting the health of Russian nationals.

The restriction does not apply to medical procedures used to address child mal-development and birth defects, as well as genetic and endocrine problems linked to childhood disorders of sexual differentiation. Medical commissioners of the agencies under the Russian Ministry of Health will decide on such operations.

A sex swap by either partner in a marriage is legally grounds for divorce. In addition, those who change their gender are ineligible to be foster parents or other child carers.

The law's goals, as stated in the explanatory note, are to maintain Russian society's constitutional moral principles and family values as well as to safeguard people's health, particularly that of children.

The US is "shocked and horrified" by the video of an extreme attack on two women in Manipur and supports the Indian Government's efforts to seek justice for them,  Vedant Patel, Deputy Spokesperson of the State Department, told reporters at his daily news conference.

The video showing two women being paraded naked and molested by a group of men on May 4 in Kangpokpi district surfaced on July 19, attracting condemnation countrywide.

Patel was responding to a question asked by a Pakistani reporter on the violence in Manipur.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself noted that such violence against women is shameful in any civilised society, Patel said.

In his first public comments on the situation in Manipur, Prime Minister Modi last week expressed pain and anger over the incident, saying it has shamed 140 crore Indians and asserted that the guilty will not be spared even as the Congress Party termed his remarks "too little, too late".

More than 160 people have lost their lives, and several have been injured since ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3, when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.

Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley, while tribals, which include Nagas and Kukis, constitute 40 per cent and reside mostly in the hill districts.

Meanwhile, the small Manipuri diaspora in the United States has sought an immediate end to violence in the state and the imposition of the president's rule, which it said is important to restore law and order in Manipur.

Aviation safety regulator DGCA has suspended the flying licence of two IndiGo pilots for violating safety norms and Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) while landing at the Ahmedabad airport last month.

The flying licence of the Pilot-in-Command has been suspended for three months and of the co-pilot for one month.

An IndiGo aircraft operating its Bengaluru-Ahmedabad flight on June 15 had suffered a tail strike while landing at the Ahmedabad airport, following which the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) launched a probe into the incident.

Besides, it had ordered the grounding of the two pilots till an investigation into the incident was completed.

India's state-owned engineering firm Bharat Heavy Electricals on  July 26  announced the synchronisation of 660-MW unit-2 of the 1,320-MW Maitree Super Thermal Power Project (STPP) with the electricity grid in Bangladesh.

Synchronisation of a thermal power plant means the beginning of electricity supply through the main grid at prescribed parameters.

The synchronisation of the unit has been done ahead of the commitment given at a high-level G2G meeting, which was a very tough target even at the time it was given, a company statement said.

Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has achieved a major milestone with the successful synchronisation of the 660-MW Unit-2 of the 1,320-MW Maitree Super Thermal Power Project (STPP) in Bangladesh, it stated.

Maitree STPP is located at Rampal, Mongla, Bagerhat, Bangladesh, and is being set up by BHEL for the Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (BIFPCL), a 50:50 joint venture between the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and NTPC Ltd.

The project is a symbol of successful cooperation between India and Bangladesh and is a priority infrastructure development project for Bangladesh aimed at establishing reliable, cost-effective, base-load power production in the country.

This project is a testament to BHEL's expertise and technological prowess in the power sector, it said, adding that the accomplishment further strengthens BHEL's position as a leading global player in providing reliable and sustainable energy solutions.

The CEO of one of the biggest banks in the United Kingdom has resigned after admitting she leaked details of Brexit campaigner and political commentator Nigel Farage’s finances to BBC News.

The chief executive of NatWest, one of Britain’s biggest banks, left her job after discussing personal details of a client — the populist politician Nigel Farage — with a journalist.

The bank said Alison Rose was leaving “by mutual consent.” The surprise early-morning statement came just hours after NatWest had expressed full confidence in the CEO, who was the first woman to head one of Britain’s four big banks.

Rose’s departure came after days of news stories sparked when Farage complained that his bank account had been shut down because the banking group didn’t agree with his political views.