UAPA Amendments cleared in Rajya Sabha

  • One of the amendments in the bill allows individuals to be designated as terrorist by the government.
  • The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA will now go to President Ram Nath Kovind for clearance.
  • The amendment also proposes to empower more officers of the National Investigation Agency to investigate cases. 
  • Home Minister Amit Shah said that the only purpose of the amendments was to fight terror,

Ayodhya mediation panel fails to resolve the dispute

  • The mediation panel set up in March had submitted its report to the court in a sealed cover on Thursday.
  • The five-judge Constitutional bench said the hearing would be held on a daily basis on the dispute from August 6th.
  • The mediation  panel was led by retired Supreme Court judge FMI Kalifulla and comprising spiritual leader Ravi Shankar and senior advocate Sriram Panchu.

India reiterates its stance of no mediation on Kashmir

  • External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that any discussions on the Kashmir dispute will only be directly with Pakistan.
  • The United States President Trump had issued a statement offering help to  India and Pakistan resolve the decades-old dispute “if they wanted”.
  • Jaishankar convey the message to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the sidelines of the 9th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers meeting in Bangkok. 

India’s GDP ranking drops to 7th position

  • World Bank figures for 2018 show that India has fallen in Gross Domestic Product rankings.
  • France and United Kingdom overtook India in the latest ranking.
  • In 2018, India’s Gross Domestic Product was $2.72 trillion, while that of the United Kingdom was $2.82 trillion and France was $2.77 trillion.