The Mystery Of The ‘Missing’ Rs. 1.7 Lakh Crore In India’s Budget

  • Three days after the Union Budget was presented, questions have surfaced over a nearly Rs. 2 lakh crore ‘fiscal hole’ in India’s financial accounts.
  • The anomaly was first picked up by Rathin Roy, a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council. Writing in the Business Standard, he studied both the Economic Survey and the Budget and found that the revenue estimates for 2018-19.

India slams U.N. rights office report on J&K as continuation of ‘false narrative’

  • In an update of a report on Kashmir released last year by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, it claimed that ‘neither India nor Pakistan have taken any concrete steps to address the numerous concerns raised.’
  • Last year, the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights released its first-ever report on Kashmir, urging action by both countries to reduce tensions.

Tens of thousands in Hong Kong take message to mainlanders

  • Tens of thousands of people, many wearing black shirts and some carrying British colonial-era flags, marched in Hong Kong on Sunday, targeting a mainland Chinese audience as a month-old protest movement showed no signs of abating.
  • Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam suspended the bill and apologized for how it was handled, but protesters want it to be formally withdrawn and for Lam to resign. Organizers said 230,000 people marched on Sunday, while police estimated the crowd at 56,000.

Chandrayaan 2: India’s second date with the Moon

  • For India’s second date with the Moon, expected in the first week of September, ISRO scientists have swiped left and right through 3,500 images in search of the right place for the rendezvous near the lunar south pole.
  • Here, they hope to find clues to the origin and early history of not just the Moon, but Earth and some other members of the solar system as well. Also expected is more evidence of water.