Global tech outage hits many sectors, aviation bears the brunt in India

Manual Check-Ins at airports led to serpentine queues, handwritten boarding passes, delayed and cancelled flights, and the dead blue screen on Windows computers - a disruption in a major cybersecurity software tied to the Windows operating system and cloud service brought the world to a virtual halt. 

Faulty software update

The Technical downtime seemed to partly emanate from a faulty software update by US cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike. The issue was specific to Falcon, one of its software products, embedded with the Windows operating system.

SC to look at immunity to Governors under Art 361

The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine the question of immunity to Governors from any kind of criminal prosecution, granted under Article 361 of the Constitution.

The Bench, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, was hearing a plea filed by a contractual woman employee of West Bengal Raj Bhavan, who has alleged sexual harassment by Governor CV Ananda Bose. 

"The petition raises the issue as regards the interpretation of Clause (2) (of Article 361), more particularly when criminal proceedings would be construed to have been instituted in terms of the governing provisions of law," the Bench, which included Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said.

Jaishankar discusses bilateral ties with his Ukrainian counterpart

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a phone conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, less than two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Moscow.

The phone conversation between the two foreign ministers came in the backdrop of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's criticism of Modi's visit to Moscow.

MEA on US envoy's remark: India values its 'strategic autonomy'

Days After US Ambassador Eric Garcetti said that "strategic autonomy" cannot apply in times of conflict, India on Friday said it values its "strategic autonomy" and that partnership with the US gives them the space to agree to disagree on certain issues while respecting each other's viewpoints.

Garcetti said at an event that "strategic autonomy" cannot apply in times of conflict and India and the US must work towards upholding principles when there is a breach of rules-based order or violation of sovereign borders.

Interfaith couple approach HC told to register live-in relation within 48 hrs

In the first such case, after the Uttarakhand assembly passed the Uniform Civil Code Bill, the state High Court allowed protection to an interfaith live-in couple, provided they applied for mandatory registration under the new Act within 48 hours.

The judgment was in response to a petition filed by a 26- 26-year-old Hindu woman and a 21- 21-year-old Muslim man, who had been living together for some time. 

As per the court order, the petitioners had approached the court for protection. They told the court that they are both major, belong to different faiths, and are residing together in a live-in relationship, due to which the parents and brother of one of the petitioners are extending threats to them.

Need greater synergy among agencies to dismantle terror networks: Shah

Stressing on a greater synergy among security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies to dismantle terror networks and their supporting ecosystem, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday directed the heads of these central agencies to dismantle terror networks and their supporting ecosystem to address India's evolving security threat scenario.

60 mcg/litre uranium in drinking water safe: Study

A new study by scientists from the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) has concluded that the concentration of uranium, a radioactive substance, up to 60 micrograms per litre (millionth of a gram per litre or µg/l) in drinking water was entirely safe, suggesting that the recently formulated "more stringent" national standard of 30 µg/l could be counterproductive.

For years, the acceptable level of uranium concentration in drinking water in India was 60 µg/l-set by the country's nuclear safety watchdog, Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB). In 2021, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the custodian of standards and quality, however, announced a new limit of 30 µg/l, in line with recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Slower deposit mobilisation may create structural liquidity issues: RBI Governor

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das raised concerns over slower deposit mobilisation compared to credit growth as it may create structural liquidity issues in the banking system.

Noting that credit growth should not run ahead of deposit growth by miles, the Governor asked banks to maintain a reasonable balance between the two.

"The deposit mobilisation has been lagging credit growth for some time now. This may potentially expose the system to structural liquidity issues," Das said while speaking at the BFSI Summit 2024.

Not thinking of giving banking licenses to business houses at present: Das

Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das spoke on a host of issues related to the relationship between the central bank and the government, giving banking licenses to business houses, interest rates, action on regulated entities due to non-compliance of norms and rise in rural consumption.

In an interaction with Shyamal Majumdar, Editor, of Financial Express, the Governor said the RBI is currently not contemplating giving banking licenses to corporate houses.

Forex reserves jump by $9.7 bn to an all-time high

India's forex reserves jumped by $9.699 billion to an all-time high of $666.854 billion for the week ended July 12, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.

In the previous reporting week, the kitty had increased by $5.158 billion to $657.155 billion, surpassing the previous high of $655.817 billion for the week ended June 7.

UN court: Israel's presence in occupied Palestinian territories illegal, must end

The top un court says Israel's presence in the Palestinian-occupied territories is "unlawful" and called for it to end.

The International Court of Justice said in its non-binding opinion issued on Friday that Israel has abused its status as the occupying power in the West Bank and East Jerusalem by carrying out policies of annexing territory, imposing permanent control and building settlements.

It said such acts render "Israel's presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful". It says its continued presence was "illegal" and should be ended as "rapidly as possible".