Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. Tune in to get updated about the major news stories of the day.
Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host, Haritha Benjamin, and these are the major news stories of the day:
1. Pinarayi involved in anti-national activities at UAE consulate, says Swapna Suresh
2. Delhi Police registers FIRs against Nupur Sharma, Jindal, Owaisi for inciting people on divisive lines
3. Presidential Elections to be held on July 18, counting on July 21
4. India records 7,240 new COVID-19 cases, 8 deaths
5. LDF calls for a one-day hartal in Idukki district on Friday in protest against the designation of thickly populated areas as ecologically sensitive zones
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Let's get into the details....
1. Swapna Suresh, one of the prime accused in the sensational diplomatic gold smuggling case, levelled another set of accusations against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday.
The Kerala CM and his family members were involved in nefarious and anti-national activities which took place at the UAE Consulate in Thiruvananthapuram, she alleged her anticipatory bail plea submitted to the High Court.
Swapna also alleged that the chief minister's messenger, Shaj Kiran, reached the Palakkad office and asked her to withdraw her secret statement or face consequences.
Meanwhile, Shaji Kiran, a former journalist, has a different version of the meeting he had with Swapna on June 8.
He said he had indeed met Swapna at her office on June 8 and had even given her a friendly warning that her actions would have serious consequences.
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2. Delhi Police has registered FIRs against former BJP spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Naveen Kumar Jindal, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, controversial priest Yati Narsinghanand and others for allegedly posting and sharing messages on social media against the maintenance of public tranquility and inciting people on divisive lines. Notices will be sent to the social media intermediaries for the details.
Earlier, Delhi Police had provided security to Sharma and her family after an FIR was registered on a complaint that she was getting death threats over her controversial remarks on Prophet Muhammad.
The BJP on Sunday had suspended Sharma and expelled its Delhi unit media head Jindal as the row over their alleged derogatory remarks against Prophet Muhammad escalated with protests from many Muslim countries.
To know more on the Prophet Muhammed controversy checkout the latest episode of Onmanorama podcast News Brake. News Brake is a clutter free explainer about The News of the week and it is available on all podcast platforms.
Now, back to Daily News Dose.
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3. The Presidential Elections will take place in the Parliament and premises of assemblies on July 18, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Thursday.
The counting of votes will take place on July 21 and the new President will be sworn in on July 25.
Rajya Sabha Secretary-General will be the returning officer. The total number of electors will be 4,809, including 776 MPs and 4,033 MLAs.
The president is elected by the members of the electoral college consisting of elected members of both houses of Parliament, and elected members of the legislative assemblies of all states including the National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
The nominated members of either Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha or legislative assemblies of the states are not eligible to be included in the electoral college and therefore, they are not entitled to participate in the election.
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4. India records 7,240 new COVID-19 cases, 8 deaths
The single-day rise in new coronavirus infections in the country was recorded over 7,000 after 99 days, registering around 39 per cent jump in daily cases, while the daily positivity rate crossed 2 per cent after 111 days, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.
A total of 7,240 infections were recorded in a span of 24 hours taking India's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 4,31,97,522, while the death toll has climbed to 5,24,723 with eight fresh fatalities.
The active cases have increased to 32,498, comprising 0.08 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.71 per cent.
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5. Both the LDF and the UDF have called for a one-day hartal in Idukki district in protest against the designation of thickly populated areas as ecologically sensitive zones.
The LDF called for hartal on June 10 from 6 am to 6 pm while the UDF hartal will be on June 16 from 6 am to 6 pm.
Meanwhile, The State Government has decided to file a review/amendment petition on July 12 with regard to the recent Supreme Court order mandating 1 km ecologically sensitive zones (ESZs) around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.
That brings us to the end of this episode. Be sure to come back tomorrow. As always, thanks for listening to Daily News Dose.