Day of the Year
Take Your Houseplant For A Walk Day
- eople have been growing houseplants for several centuries. In addition to keeping vegetables, fruits and flowers in their outdoor gardens, the idea of bringing plants inside to grow was an appealing one for those who lived in less favorable environments. By the end of the 1600s, the art of growing plants indoors gained popularity and became an interesting hobby or pastime.
- It wasn’t until much more recently that Take Your Houseplant For A Walk Day was thought of. The day was the brainchild of Thomas and Ruth Roy, holiday-makers extraordinaire. The idea behind this day was to celebrate plants, and to acquaint plants with their immediate environment, which might even be healthy for them.
Latest Updates
SC extends stay on order to shops on Kanwar Yatra route
- The Supreme Court on Friday reasoned that laws should apply equally to all and in every part of the country while countering Uttar Pradesh’s argument that its directive to shop owners and staff along the Kanwar Yatra route to display their names was in line with a “Central law”.
- A Bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S.V.N. Bhatti refused to rethink the court’s earlier stay on the implementation of the directives issued by Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and extended the stay orders till August 5.
- Uttar Pradesh, represented by senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, said that there was nothing wrong in ordering shop owners and their staff along the yatra route to prominently exhibit their names outside their establishments. “It is a requirement by law. Your Lordships’ order staying it violates the Central law,” Mr. Rohatgi claimed.
- “Then enforce it all across and not in only certain areas. You can file an affidavit showing you have enforced it everywhere,” Justice Roy retorted.
India's Capital
Char Dham pilgrims will have to carry trash bags
- Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Radha Raturi on Friday instructed officials to ensure that pilgrims travelling on the Char Dham Yatra route carry trash bags in vehicles.
- The Char Dham temples fall under an eco-sensitive zone.
- Ms. Raturi asked the officials to permit only those vehicles that have a dustbin or garbage bag. She directed them to issue challans and impose penalty on those violating the rules.
States
In Delhi for NITI Aayog event, Mamata meets Sunita Kejriwal
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday met Sunita Kejriwal, the wife of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal who is in jail in connection with an alleged corruption case. Ms. Banerjee is in Delhi to attend the NITI Aayog meeting even as most INDIA bloc CMs have decided to give it a miss. In a video shared by AAP on X, the CM could be seen touching the feet of Mr. Kejriwal’s parents. AAP leader Raghav Chadha was also present at the meeting. In a post in Hindi, AAP said, “INDIA is united against the dictatorship. West Bengal Chief Minister (@MamataOfficial) reached Delhi Chief Minister’s @ArvindKejriwal residence to meet his family.”PTI
Indian Economy
‘Capital gains rejig won’t hurt realty’
- India’s tax-to-GDP ratio is not low as is widely assumed, and suggestions that the proposed changes to the capital gains tax regime will hurt the real estate sector are misplaced, Revenue Secretary Sanjay Malhotra asserted on Friday.
- Acknowledging that expanding India’s tax base was a real challenge with no simple solutions, the gradual formalisation of the economy would make it difficult for people to stay outside the tax net, Mr. Malhotra said at an interaction with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). “Our tax-to-GDP, given our level of development is actually not so low… when you take into account the State taxes. The ratio is at about 11.7%-11.8%, so let’s say 12% for the Government of India, and another 6% is States, so it is about 18%,” he said.
Sports
Plotting India’s World T20 title defence: does winning template need altering for a team in transition
- There is a new T20I captain in Suryakumar Yadav, a new vice-captain in Shubman Gill, and a new head coach in Gautam Gambhir. The next T20 World Cup is less than two years away, and India is starting from scratch.
- Suryakumar’s appointment came as a surprise, as Hardik Pandya — Rohit’s deputy at the World Cup — was expected to take charge. Hardik had a fantastic run with both bat and ball in the USA and West Indies, which strengthened his case for leadership.
- It should have been the great climax of Hardik’s redemption story — from being booed during IPL 2024, to winning the World Cup and becoming the India captain. But instead, Hardik has fallen down the leadership pole, stripped of the vice-captaincy post. Chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar explained that Hardik’s recurrent injury troubles were to be blamed. “The biggest thing is the captain should be on the park more often than not. I mean, that’s a prerequisite,” Agarkar remarked.
News Capsule
Minister ducked question on legal guarantee for MSP, says Opposition
- Accusing Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan of ducking the question on introducing a legal guarantee for minimum support price (MSP), a demand from the farmers organisations, the Congress and other Opposition leaders strongly registered their protests inside the Rajya Sabha, leading to noisy scenes.
- The question was posed by Samajwadi Party MP Ramji Lal Suman, who asked, “whether the government is contemplating to bring legislation to provide legal guarantee of MSP to farmers..” In response, Mr. Chouhan listed the steps taken by the government for the welfare of farmers and spoke about the committee looking into strengthening the MSP system but stopped short of talking about a legal guarantee for crop support prices.
India, U.S. sign agreement to protect cultural heritage
India and the U.S. on Friday signed a cultural property agreement aimed at enhancing cooperation to protect cultural heritage of both countries. Cultural property agreements prevent illegal trade of cultural property and simplify the process by which looted and stolen antiquities may be returned to their country of origin. The U.S.-India Cultural Property Agreement was signed by U.S. Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti and Union Culture Secretary Govind Mohan in the presence of Minister of Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the U.S. Embassy said. With this, India joins the ranks of 29 existing U.S. bilateral cultural property agreement partners.
Heavy rain floods parts of Gujarat; IMD issues red alert
Around 2,500 people were rescued and more than 18,000 were shifted to safer locations in areas affected by floods caused by incessant rain in south Gujarat and Saurashtra regions. The IMD has issued a red alert in a few places while an orange alert has been issued in the districts in south Gujarat region. So far, around 12 people have died in rain-related incidents in the State in the past one week. Severe flooding and damage to properties have been reported in 13 districts, including Tapi, Dang, Surat, Navsari and Dwarka. The Purna river in south Gujarat is now flowing above the danger mark. Twelve teams of the NDRF have been deployed for rescue operations.
