Sri Lanka Crisis: President Rajapaksa flees to Maldives

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Sri Lanka Crisis: President Rajapaksa Flees To Maldives; India Denies Reports of Facilitation

On early Wednesday, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled to the Maldives, leaving the island nation in the middle of an unprecedented economic crisis. Sri Lanka is facing its worst-ever economic crisis in 7 decades after its economy collapsed due to the acute shortage of foreign-exchange reserves. Meanwhile, protestors barged into Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's office, and Sri Lankan police had to fire tear gas to scatter them. An Associate Press report said that the Lankan President, his wife, and two bodyguards left for the capital of Maldives, Male, in a Sri Lankan Air Force Plane. Colombo is witnessing another wave of protests as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country without handing his resignation letter to the Speaker. While Gotabaya had earlier said that he would resign on July 13. It has to be the Prime Minister who is to be sworn in as the interim President as per the Lankan Constitution. However, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe himself tweeted that he would resign on July 9 to make way for an all-party government. Meanwhile, there were reports that India has facilitated the travel of President Gotabaya to the Maldives. However, India categorically denied baseless and speculative media reports of helping the Lankan President with his travel to the Maldives. The High Commission of India in Sri Lanka said: "The High Commission categorically denies baseless and speculative media reports that India facilitated the recent reported travel of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Basil Rajapaksa out of Sri Lanka," "It is reiterated that India will continue to support the people of Sri Lanka as they seek to realize their aspirations for prosperity and progress through democratic means and values, established democratic institutions and constitutional framework," it added. The 73-year-old President, who enjoys immunity from arrest as a President, is believed to have fled to the Maldives before resigning in fear of being arrested by the new government. In a brief statement, the Sri Lankan Air Force said: "On government request and in terms of powers available to a President under the Constitution, with complete approval from the ministry of defence, the President, his wife and two security officials were provided a Sri Lanka Air Force plane to depart from the Katunayake international airport for the Maldives in the early hours of July 13," The island nation of 22 million people is under the grip of a worst economic turmoil leaving them to struggle for basic necessities including food, fuel, medicine and other essentials. The economic crisis of Sri Lanka is being blamed upon some uncalculated decisions taken by the Rajapaksa government, the lavish life of the Rajapaksa family, the covid-19 pandemic and the downfall of the tourism sector. https://twitter.com/IndiainSL/status/1547046478090121218

Covid-Bulletin: India Registers 16,906 New Cases; Recovery Rate At 98.49%

According to the latest data released by the union health ministry, India has registered 16,906 new covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours. The active caseload of the country currently stands at 1,32,457. Meanwhile, the nation has recorded 15,447 new recoveries in the previous 24 hours, and the total recoveries have reached 4,30,11,874. The daily and weekly positivity rates currently stand at 3.68% and 4.26%, respectively. As per the Indian Council of Medical Research, the country has conducted 199.12 crore covid-19 tests so far. On the vaccination front, India has administered 86.77 crore covid-19 vaccine doses so far under the nationwide vaccination drive. https://twitter.com/MoHFW_INDIA/status/1547067365342728192

Heavy Rainfall In Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh Kills 18 People

After heavy rainfall stormed the states, including Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, 18 people were killed, including six children. Thousands were evacuated amid continued heavy rains in the states on Tuesday. Heavy spells of rain occurred at places in east Rajasthan, including Mount Abu and Pratapgarh, recording a maximum of 8 cm of rainfall. Delhi also witnessed low to medium rain, which caused traffic snarls and waterlogging in parts of the city. The data from the Indian Meteorological Department revealed that 5 districts in Delhi recorded deficient rainfall this monsoon season due to poor distribution of rainfall. Officials said that heavy rains have lashed parts of Gujarat, and a total of 27,896 people were evacuated from the flood-affected areas. In the last 24 hours, heavy downpours of rains in Gujarat have raised the toll to 69 since June 1, after 6 people died in rain-related incidents in the last 24 hours. Heavy rain spells continued to lash parts of Maharashtra as at least 9 people died, including 3 children, while 95 people were evacuated from flooded areas. A red alert has been issued for extremely heavy rains in Nashik, Pune and Palghar districts in the next 3 days. https://youtu.be/C1BqPL82xm8

A Very Evil Philosophy of India Says Congress' Ajoy Kumar To NDA's Presidential Pick Droupadi Murmu

Kicking off a fresh controversy, Congress leader Ajoy Kumar said that NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu represents a 'very evil philosophy of India' and shouldn't be made a 'symbol of Adivasi', which has drawn a sharp reaction from the Bhartiya Janata Party. Meanwhile, the Congress-led opposition parties have fielded former union minister Yashwant Sinha for the Presidential Election scheduled to be held on July 18. Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, Ajoy Kumar said: "It's not about Droupadi Murmu. Yashwant Sinha is also a good candidate, and Murmu is also a decent person. But she represents a very evil philosophy of India. We should not make her a symbol of 'Adivasi'. We have President Ram Nath Kovind, Hathras happened. Has he said a word? The condition of Scheduled Castes has become worse," Hitting back at the Congress, BJP National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said that the Congress has insulted Droupadi Murmu. If elected, Droupadi Murmu, who hails from a poor tribal family in Mayurbhanj village, Odisha, will be the first tribal President of India and the second female President of the country. https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1547081550226788352?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1547081550226788352%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ndtv.com%2Findia-news%2Fdroupadi-murmu-represents-evil-philosophy-of-india-congress-leader-3152721

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