Morning Digest: Nirmala Sitharaman to present Union Budget for a record 7th time in a row; Frigate INS Brahmaputra ‘lying on its side’ after fire, and more

The Hindu’s Morning Digest on July 23, 2024, gives a select list of stories to start the day

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be presenting the Union Budget 2024-25 on July 23, 2024. It will be a record seventh consecutive Budget presentation for Ms. Sitharaman. The monsoon session of parliament started on July 22 with the tabling of Economic Survey 2023-24. A total of 20 hours has been allocated for the debate on the budget.

A sailor is missing after a major fire broke out onboard an Indian Naval Ship Brahmaputra at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai on July 21 evening leading to the ship listing on one of its sides. “The fire was detected by the ship’s duty staff while carrying out routine maintenance work onboard the ship. The ship’s fire fighting team immediately commenced fire fighting action and was augmented by the fire brigade from Naval Dockyard, Mumbai and other units in the vicinity. No casualties have been reported in the incident,” Indian Navy spokesperson briefed on July 22.

A discussion on India’s preparedness for the Paris Olympics held in the Lok Sabha on July 22 set off questions from the Opposition not just on the timing of the debate (the event is to begin this Friday) but also on the controversies such as harassment allegations levelled by women wrestlers against former BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. During the discussion, Congress member Deepender Hooda brought up the wrestlers’s case. Though he did not name Mr. Singh, Mr. Hooda said a situation should not arise where players have to fight their own government and the system.

Observing that India is transitioning from women’s development to women-led development, the Chief Economic Advisor on July 22 said there has been a 218.8% increase in budgetary allocation for schemes for the welfare and empowerment of women even as it acknowledged that women in India face the “’motherhood penalty” with a drop in female labour force participation rate around childbearing years.

The Supreme Court on July 22 asked the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi Director to assign three of its finest professors to solve a tricky and “ambiguous” question in the NEET-UG 2024 exam’s Physics paper within 24 hours and report back. Their answer would impact the total marks of over four lakh candidates, including 44 students who scored perfect scores in the exam.

Top Democratic leader and former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday endorsed U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s presidential nominee after President Joe Biden stepped aside amid concerns from within their party that he would be unable to defeat Republican Donald Trump.

The Allahabad High Court has been recently informed that the family members of the 19-year-old Dalit woman, who was gang-raped and murdered in 2020, face difficulty in their daily movement due to security concerns which prevail as the Uttar Pradesh government has not complied with the court order for their relocation.