| | 5 THINGS FIRST | Today: NTA to release centre and city-wise NEET-UG exam results; Maldivian Foreign Affairs Minister Moosa Zameer to visit China from today; Tomorrow: Government to hold all-party meeting ahead of Budget session; Nepal PM Oli to seek vote of confidence; Women's T20 Asia Cup – India v UAE in Colombo
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| | 1. Security patch leaves Microsoft users feeling blue |  | What- The world was hit by one of the biggest IT outages ever on Friday.
- Ironically, it was caused by a security patch meant to keep systems running Microsoft Windows safe.
- The disruption lasted several hours.
Enormous toll- Industries ranging from banking to travel were hit.
- The outage grounded many flights, some broadcasters could not telecast their shows, and in some cases customers were not able to access their insurance and bank accounts.
- Major US airlines like American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines grounded flights, and there were delays at airports around the world.
CEO’s take- Reports say the problem arose due to a software update by cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike.
- CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said on X that a defect was found “in a single content update for Windows hosts” that affected Microsoft’s customers and that a fix was being deployed.
- “We’re deeply sorry for the impact that we’ve caused to customers, to travellers, to anyone affected by this, including our company,” Kurtz told a TV channel.
- Kurtz said many customers had got over the problem by merely rebooting their machines, but for others that didn’t recover on their own, the wait could last longer.
- Later in the day, Microsoft confirmed the issue had been fixed.
Market impact- US-based CrowdStrike is a $83 billion company with more than 20,000 large subscribers.
- The outage caused its shares to fall 14.5% on Wall Street and Microsoft shares fell almost 1.5%.
Cloud over cloud- Experts said the outage had highlighted the dangers of a connected world working on cloud-based services.
- Governments and businesses alike are becoming increasingly dependent on a few interconnected technology companies.
- “This is a very, very uncomfortable illustration of the fragility of the world’s core Internet infrastructure,” Ciaran Martin, professor at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government and former head of the UK National Cyber Security Centre, told Reuters.
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| | | 2. Six new bills government is planning to introduce |  | On the cards- The government has lined up six new bills, including an amendment to the disaster management law, for introduction in the Monsoon session of Parliament beginning next week.
- The session will start on July 22 and conclude on August 12.
- Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to present the Union Budget for 2024-25 on July 23.
New bills- As per the list of bills published by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the government will table the Bhartiya Vayuyan Vidheyak 2024 to replace the existing Aircraft Act of 1934.
- The new bill aims to provide enabling provisions for ease of doing business in the civil aviation sector.
- The proposed legislation also aims to give effect to provisions of international conventions and to implement Standard and Recommended Practices and ensure safety and security oversight as per recent audit recommendations of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).
- The government also proposes to bring The Coffee (Promotion and Development) Bill 2024 to promote and develop the Indian coffee industry and help the functioning of the Coffee Board.
- A similar but separate bill is also being planned for promotion of the rubber industry and functioning of the Rubber Board.
- Another bill is The Disaster Management (Amendment) Bill 2024, which aims to bring more clarity and convergence in the roles of different organisations working in the field of disaster management.
- Other key bills on the agenda are the Finance Bill, which will be presented as part of the Budget, and the Boilers Bill to replace a pre-independence era law.
Meanwhile- Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has constituted the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) to decide the parliamentary agenda for the session.
- The BAC will be chaired by Birla and comprises members from various parties, including the TMC, BJP, TDP, Congress, JD(U), DMK and SP.
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| | TOI EXPLAINS | | 3. Why Indian cricket team should play in Pakistan |  | No go- BCCI has indicated that the Indian cricket team won’t be travelling to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy next Feb.
- India has not played any cricket in Pakistan since the Asia Cup in 2008.
Not new- Mixing sports and geopolitics has little traction beyond a point.
- It’s nobody’s case that Team India travelling to Pakistan will dramatically change New Delhi-Islamabad relations.
- Sports should always be separate from politics.
Security quotient- In 2009 the Sri Lankan cricket team bus had come under a terror attack.
- In 2002, a bomb blast outside the New Zealand cricket team’s hotel in Karachi had cut short that tour.
- Should India tour Pakistan, security of the team must be of paramount concern.
Political symbolism- Boycotting sports events simply amounts to posturing and not much else.
- Despite its anti-racism impulse, there’s little to suggest that the sports boycott of Apartheid South Africa in the 1970s and ’80s alone led to the end of the discriminatory regime.
- Similarly, the boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan did not change the Afghan situation.
Slippery slope- Sports boycotts frequently lend themselves to hypocrisy. For example, Russian and Belarussian athletes can only compete at the upcoming Paris Olympics as neutrals due to the war in Ukraine.
- But some argue that the same rule doesn’t apply to Israeli athletes despite Netanyahu’s war in Gaza.
Spirit of sports- Athletes dedicate their lives to their sporting discipline. They make huge sacrifices to excel and push the limits in their game. That’s the Olympic spirit.
- They have no influence on the political decisions of their countries. Therefore, to penalise sportspersons for political reasons is unfair.
- Team India should tour Pakistan provided it is given iron-clad, high-level security, just as Russian and Belarussian athletes should be allowed to compete under their flags if they qualify.
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| | 4. UPSC, cops move against IAS trainee Puja Khedkar |  | UPSC action- Controversial IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, who was recalled to the IAS training academy early this week, suffered twin setbacks on Friday.
- Union Public Service Commission filed a police complaint alleging she fraudulently availed extra attempts to appear for the IAS exam by using a fake identity.
- She is said to have changed her name and the names of her parents, and used a different photograph, signature, email ID, phone number and address.
- The Commission also asked why it shouldn’t cancel her candidature in the 2022 exam and debar her from future exams.
What UPSC said- The Commission said it had “conducted a detailed and thorough investigation into the misdemeanour of Ms Puja Manorama Dilip Khedkar, a provisionally recommended candidate of the Civil Services Examination-2022”.
- It also said it had “initiated a series of actions against her, including criminal prosecution by filing a First Information Report (FIR)...”
Police case- Following the UPSC complaint, Delhi Police’s Crime branch registered a case against Khedkar for alleged forgery and cheating.
- Sections of the IT Act and the Disability Act have also been invoked against her.
Maharashtra report- On July 18, Maharashtra’s General Administrative Department (GAD) had submitted a report after probing the many accusations against Khedkar to the Centre’s Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
Background- Khedkar is a 2023-batch IAS officer.
- She was accused of misusing her power and privileges while posted at the Pune collector’s office.
- She had allegedly used a beacon and the state government’s emblem on her private Audi that she drove to work.
- She was also reported to have usurped a senior’s office in his absence.
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| | | 6. Now, SC to hear pleas challenging Nithari killer’s acquittal |  | What- The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear separate pleas filed by the CBI and the Uttar Pradesh government challenging the Allahabad High Court's verdict acquitting Surendra Koli in the 2006 Nithari serial killings case.
- The apex court in May had agreed to hear a plea filed by the father of one of the victims challenging the high court's order acquitting Koli in the case.
Old case- The Allahabad High Court had overturned the death sentence of Surendra Koli, which was awarded by the trial court on September 28, 2010.
- It also acquitted Moninder Singh Pandher, who had been cleared by the session court.
- Reversing the death sentence given to Koli in 12 cases and Pandher in two cases, the HC had noted that the prosecution had failed to prove the guilt of both the accused "beyond reasonable doubt, on the settled parameters of a case based on circumstantial evidence" and the probe was "nothing short of a betrayal of public trust by responsible agencies".
- In all, 19 cases had been lodged against Pandher and Koli in 2007.
- The CBI had filed closure reports in three cases due to lack of evidence. In the remaining 16 cases, Koli was earlier acquitted in three and his death sentence in one was commuted to life.
Nithari killings- The sensational killings came to light with the discovery of the skeletal remains of eight children from a drain behind Pandher's house at Nithari in Noida, bordering the national capital, on December 29, 2006.
- Further digging and searches of drains in the area around the house led to more skeletal remains.
- Most of these remains were those of poor children and young women who had gone missing from the area.
- Within 10 days, the CBI had taken over the case and its search resulted in the recovery of more remains.
Also- The SC refused to entertain an interim bail plea filed by two convicts in the Bilkis Bano case.
- “What is this plea? How is it even maintainable? Absolutely misconceived. How can, in Article 32, we sit over appeal?” a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and PV Sanjay Kumar asked. More here
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| | | 8. Trump accepts Republican nomination in emotional speech |  | What
- Just five days after surviving an assassination attempt, a bandaged Donald Trump accepted his party's presidential nomination in a speech designed to unify his party — and the nation — behind his third consecutive White House bid.
- The 78-year-old former president, known for his willingness to criticise his political foes in both parties, had promised to offer a softer and more personal message of unity following his brush with death.
- Trump's speech marked the climax and conclusion of a massive four-day Republican pep rally that drew thousands of conservative activists and elected officials to swing-state Wisconsin as voters weigh an election that currently features two deeply unpopular candidates.
‘God on my side’
- Trump described his experience of the attack.
- “There was blood pouring everywhere, and yet, in a certain way I felt very safe, because I had god on my side,” he said.
- He added, “If I had not moved my head at the very last instant, the assassin’s bullet would have perfectly hit its mark, and I would not be with you tonight.”
‘Fight, fight, fight’
- Trump recalled raising his fist in the air after he was shot, proclaiming, "Fight."
- This declaration prompted the crowd to erupt into chants of "fight, fight, fight," a recurring rallying cry throughout the week at the convention.
Tribute
- There was a moment of silence in the arena for Corey Comperatore, who was killed in the Pennsylvania shooting at Trump's rally.
- The 50-year-old volunteer fire chief was shot as he dived in front of family members to protect them.
- “He lost his life selflessly acting as a human shield to protect them from flying bullets,” Trump said.
Family affair
- After concluding his speech on the final night of the RNC, Trump was accompanied on stage by his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka, sons Donald Jr and Eric, and grandchildren.
- Melania's appearance marked a rare public moment for the former first lady, who had not been actively involved in the campaign or accompanied her husband to court appearances related to the Stormy Daniels hush money case.
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| | 9. What led to the riot break-out in UK’s Leeds? |  | Unrest
- Major riots broke out in Leeds, UK, with protesters overturning a police vehicle and setting a double-decker bus on fire.
- Footage on social media showed vehicles, including a bus, on fire while other videos showed the overturned police car on the road with its blue lights flashing.
Police response
- West Yorkshire Police were dispatched to Luxor Street, Harehills, at 5 pm on Thursday in response to a disturbance involving agency workers and children.
- As a crowd began to gather, the officers decided to relocate the agency workers and children to a safer location. However, the situation escalated, and "pockets of disorder" emerged in the area.
The trigger
- Reports suggest that the riots were triggered by a protest following the removal of four children from a family by social services.
- One of the children had been taken to the hospital for treatment of an injury inflicted by a sibling.
- According to local media, hospital authorities notified social services about the incident, prompting the children's removal and igniting the protests.
Investigations
- Yorkshire police arrived at the main disturbance site and promised a thorough investigation into all criminal activities, including property damage caused by fires, emphasising their commitment to holding those responsible accountable.
Restoration of calm
- Tom Riordan, chief executive of the Leeds City Council, said calm was restored by about 1 am and authorities have already begun to clean up the damage.
- “There was a family incident earlier in the day that the police attended and our officials attended that a lot of the community got concerned about,” Riordan said in an interview with the BBC. “And that appeared to be the trigger of concern for groups of people being concerned about what had happened.”
Reactions
- Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has condemned the “shocking and disgraceful” disorder seen in Harehills.
- Home Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned the violence, stating that such disorder has no place in society.
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| | | ANSWER TO NEWS IN CLUES |  | Osama bin Laden (right). Pakistani counter-terror officials have arrested an al-Qaeda leader, Amin ul Haq (left), describing him as a close associate of the dead Osama Bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the United States. The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in the most populous province of Punjab said it had registered a legal case against ul Haq, accusing him of having planned sabotage targeting important installations in the province. "In a significant breakthrough in the fight against terrorism, CTD, in collaboration with intelligence agencies, successfully apprehended Amin ul Haq, a senior leader of al-Qaeda," the department's spokesperson added in a statement. Osama was killed in 2011 during a US raid on his hideout in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad. | |
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| Written by: Jairaj Singh, Rajesh Sharma, Abhilash Gaur and Labanya Maitra
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