🥥👴Democrats are unburdened by what has been | 🏪🧑⚖️Govt says display shopkeeper name, SC says not so fast.

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Market Watch

• Anticipating the Union Budget announcements, the Sensex closed at 80,525.22 down 79.43 points, while the Nifty closed at 24,509.30 down 21.60 points.
• Sectorally, Auto, Capital Goods, Healthcare, Metal and Power indices gained 1%. Media, Bank, IT, Realty and FMCG emerged as sectoral losers.

Democrats are unburdened by what has been

At the stroke of midnight (IST), US President Joe Biden made a historic announcement that he was dropping out of the presidential race just weeks ahead of the Democratic National Convention.

• In his letter, he said that he is dropping out ‘in the interest of the nation’ and in a separate tweet, he endorsed Kamala Harris as his pick for the candidacy. If nominated, she will become the first Black woman and Asian American to land a major party ticket.

• This was predicted by Republicans Vivek Ramaswamy and Tucker Carlson all along. So did The Simpsons and the famous TV show Veep. Republicans claimed that the Democrats would replace Biden before the Democratic Convention so that the new nominee would escape the months of scrutiny and possible criticisms. This ⬇️ was the Trump campaign’s response to being asked about the Vice Presidential Debate.

Who is backing Harris and who is not? Clintons have declared support and a bunch of senators and governors have already declared support for Harris.

• Barack Obama has not endorsed Kamala Harris yet fuelling speculations of other nominees. However, sources close to Obama cited in Seatle Times claim that Obama did not readily endorse Biden four years ago and that he wants the nominee to be chosen with a consensus. 
• The former speaker Nancy Pelosi has also remained silent.

Implications: In an unprecedented fundraising surge, Kamala Harris received $46.7 million hours after Biden announced his withdrawal from the race. Donors who have expressed support for Harris are LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, George and Alex Soros.

• Offshore bettors still think Donald Trump is likely to win the 2024 presidential election. His odds are at 63%, and Kamala Harris's odds for the Democratic nomination jumped by 30%. Biden’s chances were at 7% before dropping out.

What now? Two things remain — Delegates will now decide the Democratic nominee at the DNC which will be held in mid-August, and Harris is expected to campaign heavily for their support.

• Harris will have to pick a vice-presidential nominee and the Democratic Convention will ratify it. 

One interesting trivia:

Also read this story that explains all the references—from coconut trees to Venn diagrams and the phrase 'what can be, unburdened by what has been'—surrounding Kamala Harris as she becomes the next big thing in US politics.

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Govt says display shopkeeper name, SC says not so fast.

The Supreme Court has issued an interim stay on a government directive that required eateries along the Kanwar Yatra route to disclose the names of their owners.

What was the controversy? A directive issued initially by the Muzaffarnagar police (later state-wide) mandated shopkeepers to display their names along the Kanwar Yatra route so that the devotees are aware of who is preparing their food. Violators were to face fines.

• At the centre of this is the Kanwar Yatra undertaken by devotees of Shiva to collect sacred Ganga water and carry it on a bamboo stick over their shoulders to the Shiva temple. During this, they do not consume non-veg and reportedly maintain certain food restrictions.
• The BJP government and those backing the order argue that in order to maintain the purity of the yatra, displaying the shop owner’s name would help but the counter-argument was that it would lead to a boycott of shops owned by Muslims and others.

On social media: The controversy triggered many to share videos of shopkeepers ‘spitting on food’. The narrative largely targeted one community on social media as well.

• Actor Sonu Sood defended the video by comparing it to Ram eating Sharabri’s berries in Ramayana. It backfired and he had to clarify that he wasn’t making a case for spitting on food. He claimed that the only board that shopkeepers should have is 'Humanity'. 

• Then BJP MP and Kanagana Ranaut slammed him for his statements and claimed that ‘Halal’ boards should be replaced with ‘Humanity’.

• Baba Ramdev backed the order. Opposition leaders like Asaduddin Owaisi and Brinda Karat condemned the order, alleging it targets Muslims and divides society.

What happened in court today? Petitions argued that the directive exacerbates communal tensions and targets Muslim shop owners.

• The Supreme Court has fixed the next hearing date for July 26 and directed eateries to display only whether they serve vegetarian or non-vegetarian food.
• The Supreme Court remarked that such orders are contrary to constitutional norms, and the case continues to draw significant public and political attention.

Following the order, the majority of the backlash on social media is against the newly-appointed Supreme Court Judge SVN Bhatti who made this observation during the hearing:

ICYMI

• 🫨In a horrific incident, a truck dumped gravel on two women and tried to bury them alive in Madhya Pradesh
• 🤔Amidst political turmoil in Bangladesh, Mamata Banerjee in her rally yesterday said that the state ‘will give shelter to Bangladeshis if they come to our door’
• 🥲The Economic Survey was presented ahead of the Budget tomorrow and it gave stark statistics that only 51% of graduates are employable.
• 🦠Chandipura virus spreading in Gujarat. It has already claimed 32 lives while the number of infections has risen to 84.
• 🎲Has Nitish Kumar’s political gamble failed? Centre today made it clear that it has no plans to grant special status to Bihar.
• 🙋♂️The Competition Commission of India has sent 100 antitrust queries for Reliance, Disney $8.5 bln merger.
• 🤗Here’s a quick round-up of positive, uplifting news!