Starmer is the new British PM as the Labour Party wins polls

The U.K.'s Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, won general election by a landslide, securing 412 (+211) seats with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party down to 121 (-250) seats in the 650-seat House of Commons.

Nevertheless, the vote shares told a story of a more modest victory for Labour, while confirming the Conservative defeat, with Labour getting 35% and the Conservatives 24%. Labour had consistently polled 20 points ahead of the Conservatives in opinion polls. 

Kerala village compiles in-depth biodiversity register

The Indian black turtle (Indian pond terrapin) was once a common species in Thazhakara grama panchayat in Kerala's Alappuzha district. 

However, its numbers have dwindled due to "poaching for meat." Similarly, the populations of Indian garden lizards, barn owls, Indian flying foxes, and plants such as henna and palash have also decreased. 

Meanwhile, the numbers of rock pigeons, rufous treepies, and other species have increased. The grama panchayat boasts 38 sacred groves, 10 paddy polders, and 35 ponds.

These details are part of the extensive information available in the second volume of the People's Biodiversity Register (PBR) prepared by the local body.

Thazhakara has become the first panchayat in Alappuzha and one of the first in Kerala to update and publish a comprehensive PBR with the involvement of local communities. 

'Modi's visit to Russia purely bilateral'

The timing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia is "purely bilateral", said Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, dismissing suggestions that his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 9 would appear in contrast to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit scheduled in the U.S.

The summit is expected to focus on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Briefing the media about the upcoming visit on July 8 and 9, he said that when the two meet for the 22nd annual summit, they will discuss the conflict in Ukraine, particularly the issue of Indians recruited by the Russian military, along with other global and regional issues. 

They are expected to focus, however, on the many issues pending between them since the last annual summit in 2021, with trade, connectivity, space, oil and LNG, defence supplies, payment issues given Western sanctions as well as cooperation on nuclear power reactors in India high on the agenda.

U.S. President Joseph Biden is hosting the transatlantic group of NATO for a special 75th-anniversary summit, which will also have Asia-Pacific leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as guests from July 8-10.

'Indo-Russian venture delivered 35,000 assault rifles to MoD'

Just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Russia, the Indo-Russian Rifles Private Limited (IRRPL), a joint venture between the two countries, has produced and transferred 35,000 Kalashnikov AK-203 assault rifles to the Indian Ministry of Defence, Rostec state corporation of Russia.

"The IRRPL joint venture, co-founded by Robo- ronexport on the Russian side, has completed the first phase of the project to produce AK-203 Kalashnikov assault rifles in India. 

To increase the degree of localization, all necessary equipment has been shipped to the Korwa Ordnance Factory in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh state, and production facilities are now fully equipped,"

"This made it possible to produce and deliver a batch of 35,000 Kalashni- kov assault rifles to the Indian Army within the time- frame agreed with the Ministry of Defence of India."

At 1.27 lakh crore, defence production registered a new high in 2023-24, says Centre

The country has recorded the highest-ever growth in indigenous defence production in value terms in the financial year (FY) 2023-24, the Defence Ministry said. 

As per the data received from all Defence Public Sector undertakings (DPSUs), other PSUs manufacturing defence items, and private companies, the value of defence production in the country has gone up to a record-high figure of ₹1,26,887 crore, reflecting a growth of 16.7% over the defence production of the previous financial year, the Ministry said in a statement.

"Of the total value of production [VoP] in 2023- 24, about 79.2% has been contributed by DPSUs/other PSUs and 20.8% by the private sector. The data show that in terms of absolute value, both DPSUs/ PSUs and private sector have recorded a steady growth in defence production," the statement said.