The big news: Maharashtra farmers to protest outside Assembly from Monday, and 9 other top stories
Other headlines: Bye-polls were held in 5 Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Bihar and UP, and the road is now clear for Xi Jinping to be China’s leader for life.
A look at the headlines right now:
- Farmers from Nashik reach Mumbai, to protest outside Maharashtra Assembly from Monday: Their demands include better safeguards, and a complete waiver of loans and electricity bills.
- Voter turnout in Gorakhpur Lok Sabha bye-poll crosses 40%, Bihar’s Araria fares best with 56%: Bye-elections are also being held in Uttar Pradesh’s Phulpur constituency and in the Jehanabad and Bhabua Assembly seats in Bihar.
- Xi Jinping can remain China’s president for life as Parliament abolishes term limit: The Great Hall of the People passed a constitutional amendment removing the clause that restricted the president’s tenure to two consecutive terms
- French President Macron raises aid for developing countries to adopt solar energy by three times: Inaugurating the International Solar Alliance with him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Vedas could help fight climate change.
- Around 20 college students caught in forest fire in Tamil Nadu, Air Force to help rescue them: Chief Minister Palaniswami reportedly asked the defence minister for assistance.
- ‘We have completely forgiven our father’s killers,’ says Rahul Gandhi: The Congress president also accepted that the party lost the 2014 General Elections because of internal fighting and corruption.
- RBI cracks down on banks’ lending, asks for documents from past ‘several years’, say reports: The central bank asked for details of letters of undertaking issued as far back as 2011, a banker told Reuters.
- Russia test-fires hypersonic missile that Vladimir Putin has called an ‘ideal weapon’: The missile has a range of 2,000 km and can overcome air-defence systems, the president had said earlier this month.
- Syrian forces escalate attacks in Eastern Ghouta, 1,099 people have died in the past 3 weeks: The government denied charges that it had used chlorine gas in its attacks at the enclave.
- Sikh student in United Kingdom ‘dragged’ out of a bar for refusing to remove his turban: The bar asked 22-year-old Amrik Singh to leave the bar because of its ‘no headwear’ policy.