‘Blade Runner’ actor Rutger Hauer passes away at 75
Hollywood actor Rutger Hauer, best known for his role in the 1982 film ‘Blade Runner’, passed away on July 19 aged 75 in the Netherlands after suffering from a brief illness. Dutch media said Hauer was buried at a private ceremony. Hauer had also starred in films including ‘Nighthawks’, ‘Dracula 3D’ and ‘Batman Begins’.
No one picked on Sanju when guy says he slept with 300 girls: Shahid
Speaking about ‘Kabir Singh’ being accused of glorifying ‘toxic masculinity’, Shahid Kapoor said, “‘Sanju’ had a scene where the guy [says] he has slept with over 300 women. No one picked on it the way they went after ‘Kabir Singh'”. However, Shahid added he “thoroughly enjoyed” ‘Sanju’ because he “didn’t watch it to see how people should be”.
Sri Lankan fast bowler Kulasekara retires from international cricket
Sri Lankan fast bowler Nuwan Kulasekara has announced his retirement from international cricket. The 37-year-old former world number one ODI bowler, will finish as Sri Lanka’s fifth-highest ODI wicket-taker with 199 wickets in 184 matches. Kulasekara, who had made his ODI debut in 2003, had last played an ODI in 2017. He also played 21 Tests and 58 T20Is.
Andy Murray to team up with brother Jamie at Washington Open
British tennis player Andy Murray will team up with his brother Jamie at Washington Open, reuniting the pairing that helped Great Britain win Davis Cup in 2015. Andy, who underwent hip surgery in January, made a victorious return to professional tennis in June, winning the doubles at Queen’s with Spain’s Feliciano Lopez. Washington Open starts on July 27.
Please be decent: Irani to BJP MP on sexual crimes against kids debate
Union Minister Smriti Irani asked her own party’s MP Harnath Singh Yadav to be decent during a Parliament debate on sexual crimes against children on Wednesday. “I’d heard of ‘popcorn’ but never ‘porn’,” Yadav said while recalling a friend who talked about pornography. “There are women here and this discussion is being viewed by the entire country,” Irani said.
This is ghar wapsi: BJP MLA after voting in favour of MP govt
After BJP MLAs Narayan Tripathi and Sharad Kaul voted in favour of a legislation backed by the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh Assembly, Tripathi said, “This is my ghar wapsi (homecoming).” Both the BJP MLAs are former Congress leaders. This comes after BJP MLA Gopal Bhargava said the Congress government won’t last 24 hours if BJP’s top leadership ordered so.
Doctors remove 1.5 kg jewellery, 90 coins from woman’s stomach in WB
Over 1.5 kg jewellery and coins were removed from a 26-year-old mentally unstable woman’s stomach at a government hospital in West Bengal’s Rampurhat on Wednesday, a doctor said. Around 90 coins of ₹5 and ₹10 denominations and ornaments like chains, earrings, bangles, and watches were found in her stomach. The ornaments were mostly made of copper and brass, he added.
Man behind FIR against woman accuser in CJI case goes missing
A 31-year-old man, who accused a former Supreme Court employee of cheating him of ₹50,000 on the pretext of job, hasn’t been found at his residence since April, police told a Delhi court. The woman employee accused in this case had levelled sexual harassment allegations against Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi. She had called the cheating case “false and frivolous”.
Priti Patel becomes Britain’s 1st Indian-origin Home Secretary
Priti Patel on Wednesday took charge as Britain’s first Indian-origin Home Secretary in the newly unveiled Boris Johnson-led Cabinet. The 47-year-old has replaced Pakistani-origin Sajid Javid, who has been moved to the Treasury department as the first ethnic minority Chancellor of the Exchequer. Patel previously served as Secretary of State for International Development, but was forced to resign in 2017.
Atanu Chakraborty replaces SC Garg as Economic Affairs Secretary
The government has appointed Atanu Chakraborty as the new Economic Affairs Secretary replacing Subhash Chandra Garg, who will be the new Power Secretary. Chakraborty, a 1985 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer, was the Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM). Anil Kumar Khachi will take over from Chakraborty as the secretary in charge of the disinvestment department.
India may launch $10-billion global bond sale in October
India is reportedly considering an option to raise $10 billion in one go from its first overseas bond sale in October. The government would prefer to sell yen or euro-denominated debt so as to offer lower yields, reports added. Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan recently warned that India’s plan to issue bonds overseas has enormous risks but no real benefit.
Lionel Messi banned for one game, fined for Copa America red card
Argentina captain Lionel Messi has been banned for one game and fined $1,500 after being sent off against Chile in the Copa America third-place playoff. Messi had also called the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) “corrupt” and did not attend the ceremony to pick up his medal. CONMEBOL said on Tuesday that Messi’s comments were “unacceptable”.
Oct 8 deadline set for Zimbabwe Cricket to reinstate governing body
The ICC has set October 8 as the deadline for Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) to reinstate its governing body that was elected by the government on June 14. ZC currently stands suspended and all funding from ICC has been stopped after it was found guilty by the ICC of political interference. Zimbabwe can lose membership if the deadline is not met.
Facebook fined $100 mn by US SEC over Cambridge Analytica scandal
Facebook was fined $100 million by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over misleading investors about the risks it faced from misuse of user data, particularly related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. British political consultancy firm Cambridge Analytica had accessed 87 million users’ data in 2014-15. Notably, Facebook was also fined a record $5 billion by the US FTC.
Cong equates BJP with ‘Bakasur’, calls it power-hungry party
Maharashtra Congress President Balasaheb Thorat on Wednesday likened BJP with ‘Bakasur’, a mythological demon who always remained hungry. Thorat said this after the reports of BJP eyeing Madhya Pradesh after Karnataka came out. “Wherever there is opposition government in states, they are trying to destabilise them. BJP is such a power-hungry party,” he said.
Happiest while vacating office, worked sincerely: Kumaraswamy
Karnataka caretaker CM HD Kumaraswamy said that he is the “happiest” person while vacating the office as he worked sincerely despite several kinds of disturbances. He added that he worked to uplift the state in the last 14 months. HD Kumaraswamy on Tuesday resigned as Karnataka Chief Minister after losing the trust vote in the Assembly.
Telangana BJP launches ‘BJP4TS’ app as part of membership drive
Telangana BJP has launched an app named “BJP4TS” as part of the membership drive in the state, party leader Bandaru Dattatreya said. He added that “primary members” can register themselves and become “active members” of the party through this app. Dattatreya said, if any active member provides 50 memberships through the app, then they’ll be offered posts by the party.
Kejriwal working with revenge intent, hampering CCTV fitting: Lamba
AAP MLA Alka Lamba accused Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal of working with the intent to take revenge by hampering the CCTV installation work in her constituency. She added that this is affecting people’s lives in her constituency and she won’t let them be a victim of AAP’s “vendetta politics”. She said, she isn’t afraid to fight for the people’s rights.
WeWork looking to go public as early as September: Report
Co-working space startup WeWork is reportedly looking to go public as early as September, earlier than previously assumed, and is expected to make its IPO paperwork public in August. The startup is also reportedly looking to raise $5-6 billion through a bond offering before the IPO. Founded in 2010, the SoftBank-backed startup was valued at $47 billion in January.
26 million-year-old species of vine snake found in Western Ghats
Researchers have discovered a new vine snake species, believed to have evolved around 26 million years ago, in the southern Western Ghats. The species, ‘Proahaetulla antiqua’, was first discovered in 2011 and looked similar to ‘Ahaetulla dispar’, a small-sized vine snake with similar morphological characters. The new species faces no major extinction threats at the moment, researchers revealed.
6 arrested for illegal mining of coloured stones in Andhra
Six persons were arrested by the forest department officials in connection with illegal mining of coloured stones in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam, police said. The police seized two crowbars, few nets for filtration and 21 coloured stones weighing 7.6 grams from their possession. A country-made weapon along with two bows and three arrows were also seized, the police added.
LeT militant carrying ₹5 lakh reward arrested in J&K
In a joint operation, police and 26 Rashtriya Rifles arrested a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant carrying ₹5 lakh reward on his head in Jammu and Kashmir. The police said, the militant had previously been injured in an encounter with the Army and was on the run since then. The police recovered an AK series rifle and a magazine from his possession.
Boeing posts its biggest-ever quarterly loss of $2.9 billion
Boeing reported its biggest-ever quarterly loss of $2.9 billion for the June quarter, affected by lower plane deliveries due to worldwide 737 MAX groundings after two crashes killed 346 people. Boeing had a $2.2-billion profit in the year-ago period. Its revenue fell 35.1% to $15.8 billion, reduced by a $5.6-billion charge it took to compensate MAX customers.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic medals made from recycled e-waste unveiled
The medals for Tokyo 2020 Olympics were unveiled on Wednesday with exactly one year to go until the next year’s Games. The medals are 85 millimetres in diameter and feature Greek goddess of victory Nike in their design along with the Olympic symbol. Further, the medals are made from recycled metals, collected from 6.21 million electronic devices donated across Japan.
