The Monsoon Session of Parliament has begun from today (July 19, 2021) and is likely to witness a confrontation between the government and the Opposition over raging issues of the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers’ protest, fuel prices hike and vaccination strategy.
On the other hand, social media was abuzz throughout Sunday with speculation about the worldwide release of Pegasus report which claimed that telephones of India’s top Ministers, Supreme Court judges, journalists and others were tapped. However, the government dismissed allegations of any kind of surveillance on its part on specific people, saying it “has no concrete basis or truth associated with it whatsoever”.
In other developments, at least 30 people died and several others were injured in rain-related incidents in Mumbai on Sunday as incessant heavy downpour overnight during a major thunderstorm pummeled the city, causing severe water-logging and traffic disruptions.
Several parts of Delhi also witnessed light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorm in the early hours of Monday. According to the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) prediction in wee hours of Monday, thunderstorm with light to moderate intensity rain is likely in Delhi and its adjoining places including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan.
Meanwhile, Punjab Youth Congress President Brinder Singh Dhillon has called a key meeting on Monday in view of the rift between Captain Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu. This development came before Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi appointed Navjot Singh Sidhu as the party’s new Punjab unit President.
