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• Soft-spoken, bespectacled, and based 650km (400 miles) from Hong Kong, Alex Ko is far removed from the widespread protests sweeping the former British colony.


• But he's exactly the kind of person China is worried about.


• In recent weeks, when protesters were battling police on the streets of Hong Kong demanding universal suffrage, and their freedoms to be preserved by China, Mr. Ko, 23, didn't just watch idly online.


• He launched a donation drive for gas masks, air filters, and helmets at his church.

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• Boris Johnson has two weeks to set out his Brexit plans to the EU, according to Finland's prime minister.


• Antti Rinne said he and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed the UK needed to produce the proposals in writing by the end of September, adding if not, "then it's over".


• Finland currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.

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• A day after their second dead-heat election in five months, Israelis awoke with their two main parties feverishly jockeying for the support of the smaller factions they will need to form a governing coalition, leaving uncertain the direction of the country and the fate of its longest-serving leader.


• The wheeling and dealing that followed April's election ended in a stalemate. This time, many Israelis are wondering if it will end with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu out of the office for the first time in a decade.

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• Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, a fervent advocate of the multiculturalism integral to Canadian identity, apologized for wearing brownface makeup to a party at a school where he taught 18 years ago.


• Time magazine published the photograph one week into a federal election campaign with Trudeau's Liberal Party in a tight contest against the Conservatives led by Andrew Scheer.

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• Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who has inspired a global movement for climate change, delivered a strong message to U.S. lawmakers "Wake up."


• Wrapping up a six-day visit to Washington, D.C., the 16-year-old Thunberg rallied a room full of Democratic lawmakers and activists, urging them to follow scientific warnings and push for strong measures to combat climate change.


• "This is not the time and place for dreams. This is the time to wake up," Thunberg said behind a lowered podium at the ornate House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee room.

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• Two Democratic U.S. senators urged Trump administration officials to halt talks with Saudi Arabia on building nuclear reactors after weekend attacks that halved the country's oil output and increased instability in the Middle East.


• U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry told reporters at a nuclear power conference in Vienna the United States would only provide Saudi Arabia with nuclear power technology if it signed an agreement with a U.N. watchdog allowing for intrusive snap inspections.

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• Sri Lanka will hold presidential elections on November 16, the Election Commission announced. Nominations would be called on October 7, according to the Election Secretariat.


• The coming election has been drawing much interest locally and internationally, with Leader of Opposition and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa naming his brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a controversial former Defence Secretary accused of war-crimes, as the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna candidate.

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• India is set to amend its ground handling regulations for foreign airlines to pacify the U.S., which in a retaliatory action recently barred Air India from performing ground operations on its own at American airports.


• “We are adjusting ground handling norms and devising a mechanism to attempt to address their concerns without compromising security,” P. S. Kharola, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, told The Hindu.

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• A new office building for staff and all MPs linked to Parliament via an underground pathway or a new structure on top of the existing building are among the options the Centre is open to, as it works on its redevelopment plan for the Central Vista, Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.


• After the government’s ambitious plan of redeveloping Parliament, the 3-km Central Vista that stretches from Rashtrapati Bhavan till India Gate and development of a common central secretariat was announced last week, some architects raised concerns about the project.

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• Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh wore a G-suit this morning as he readied himself to fly in the homemade light combat aircraft (LCA) Tejas in Bengaluru. He will be the first defence minister to fly in this aircraft.


• Mr. Singh walked up to the aircraft along with the pilot, climbed up the steps and buckled himself into the backseat.


• Wearing a white helmet and an oxygen mask, the Defence Minister was seen waving before the fighter jet took off. He was briefed by the pilot and other Air Force officials on board the LCA Tejas.

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• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump are scheduled to meet twice in less than a week this month, India's Ambassador to the United States has confirmed, asserting that the India-US strategic relationship has the "potential to become the "defining partnership within this century".


• Since his re-election in May this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump have already met twice.


• The previous two meetings of the two leaders were on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan and the G7 Summit in France this summer.

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• More than three years after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar rolled out an ambitious prohibition policy, its success remains a matter of debate.


• But one thing it has achieved is an alarmingly high pile of excise cases. Now, the Patna High Court has asked the state government to present a plan for how it plans to dispose these cases.


• In a recent judgment, the court noted that the total number of such pending cases till July 8 this year is some 2.7 lakh.


• In the absence of adequate judicial officers and support staff, the management of these cases is near impossible.

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• The United Nations indicated its acknowledgement of the Indian stance that Jammu and Kashmir is a bilateral issue and said dialogue between India and Pakistan is an "absolute essential element for the solution".


• India had reiterated its stand on Jammu and Kashmir at the UN Human Rights Council last week and accused Pakistan of attempting to "politicise" the forum with "hysterical statements with false narratives".

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• After Andhra Pradesh, the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan is also planning to grant 75 per cent reservations for locals in private sector jobs.


• The Gehlot government is contemplating providing job reservations for people of the state in big industries who have been given certain benefits by the state government in terms of the financial package.


• Also, projects running under pubic private partnership and small industries will employ the local residents under the scheme, confirmed official sources.

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• As many as 60 government school teachers have been suspended for allegedly using fake BEd degrees to get the jobs, an official of the Uttar Pradesh Education department said.


• District Basic Shiksha Adhikari Chandra Shekhar said the teachers, all of who were earlier transferred from Mathura to other districts, will also face legal action.

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• Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya (RDVV), Jabalpur, has released the Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) part 1 exam 2019.


• The RDVV results can be accessed from the official website of the varsity, rdunijbpin.org, or directly from the partner portal, rdujabalpur.net.


• The students who are searching for the RDVV results may check their results after entering their exam roll numbers on the space given on the results page of the portal.

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• Bihar Technical Services Commission (BTSC) will recruit more than 6,000 specialist medical officer and general medical officer.


• There are total 6,437 vacancies available out of which 2,424 are for Specialist Medical Officer in various departments and 4,012 are for General Medical Officer. Candidates would be shortlisted for empanelment on the basis of merit in qualifying examination and relevant work experience.

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• The Delhi government approved a proposal to pay the CBSE Examination Fee of Class X and XII students of the schools coming under its jurisdiction from the academic year 2019-20.


• The cabinet took this decision in its meeting chaired by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The scope and coverage of this decision are to give complete subsidy to the students towards CBSE Board exam fees.

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• Banks in India added fewer branches and consolidated their ATMs network in the last two years even as digital banking transactions gained traction.


• In fact, branch expansion in FY2018 and FY2019 was the slowest in the last 10 years.


• In FY2018 and FY2019, banks expanded their branch network by 1,804 and 2,958, respectively, as per the Reserve Bank of India's Handbook of Statistics on the Indian Economy (2018-19).

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• The board of Indian Bank has given its in-principle approval for its amalgamation with Allahabad Bank.


• The Chennai-headquartered Indian Bank’s board held a meeting to discuss the merger, where it gave its in-principle approval to the merger, the bank informed the stock exchanges.

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• New audit regulator amends rules to include PSBs within scope of 'banking companies'


• The National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) has made it clear that it has oversight powers on the auditors of nationalised banks (public sector banks) as well.

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• A business-like chase scripted by Virat Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan separated India and South Africa by seven wickets.


• More significant than the margin of victory was how ineffective the visitor’s attack was made to look in the chase of 150, culminating in the penultimate over at the PCA Stadium here.

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• From PSG coping without MSN, to holders Liverpool showing they are not unbeatable, here are five things we learned from the opening round of group-stage matches.


• Champions League holders Liverpool suffered defeat at Napoli this week, while Paris Saint-Germain laid down a marker by brushing aside Real Madrid and Juventus were held by Atletico Madrid.

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• Having endured a medal-less run in three World Championships before, Vinesh finally ended the drought by pinning Maria Prevolaraki to win by fall in the bronze-medal bout.


• Indian wrestling had a lot to celebrate as Vinesh Phogat secured Tokyo Olympics qualification and won a bronze, while Pooja Dhanda put herself one win away from her second medal at the World Championships here.

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• Asian Games gold medallist Amit Panghal on Wednesday became only the 5th Indian boxer to clinch a AIBA World Championships medal.


• Panghal reached the semi-final of 52kg (flyweight) category to assure himself at least a bronze medal in Ekaterinburg, Russia.


• Amit Panghal, who had finished with as the quarter-finalist in 2017 world championships, went one step further when he defeated Filipino Carlo Paalam in the 52kg quarter-final.


• Panghal won the bout by split decision and progressed to the semi-final.

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• India captain Virat Kohli went past his deputy Rohit Sharma to become the all-time leading run-scorer in T20 international cricket as he led his team to a stunning 7-wicket win over South Africa in the 2nd T20I in Mohali.


• India rode on Kohli's unbeaten 72 to chase down 149 with an over to spare. Kohli's 52-ball knock was laced with four boundaries and three sixes.


• He got excellent support from opener Shikhar Dhawan, who made 40 off 31 balls.

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• Super 30 founder and noted mathematician Anand Kumar has been felicitated in the US with a prestigious teaching award for his contributions towards imparting education to the country's needy students.


• The Education Excellence Award 2019 was presented to Mr. Kumar, 46, by the Foundation For Excellence (FFE) at a function on the occasion of the organization's 25th anniversary gala in San Jose, California over the weekend.


• Speaking at the event, Anand exhorted the strong Indian community living in the USA and across the world to help education become the strongest weapon to fight all the problems of the world.

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• The 20th edition of the IIFA Awards (International Indian Film Academy Awards) ended with a bang last night with Alia Bhatt, Ranveer Singh, Vicky Kaushal, Aditi Rao Hydari, Ishaan Khatter, Sara Ali Khan, filmmaker Sriram Raghavan and others scoring winning trophies in their respective categories.


• Alia Bhatt's Raazi was awarded the Best Film while the 26-year-old actress, who was critically acclaimed for portraying the role of a spy in the espionage drama, took home the Best Actress IIFA Award.

• Best film - Raazi


• Best Director - Sriram Raghavan (AndhaDhun)


• Best Actress- Alia Bhatt (Raazi)


• Best Actor - Ranveer Singh (Padmaavat)


• Best Supporting Actress - Aditi Rao Hydari (Padmaavat)


• Best Supporting Actor - Vicky Kaushal for (Sanju)


• Best Debut Actor - Ishaan Khatter (Dhadak)


• Best Debut Actress - Sara Ali Khan (Kedarnath)


• Best Story - Sriram Raghavan, Pooja Ladha Surti, Arijit Biswas, Yogesh Chandekar and Hemanth Rao (AndhaDhun)


• Best Music Direction - Amaal Mallik, Guru Randhawa, Rochak Kohli, Saurabh-Vaibhav and Zack Knight (Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety)


• Best Lyrics - Amitabh Bhattacharya (Dhadak)


• Best Playback Singer (Female) - Harshdeep Kaur and Vibha Saraf (Dilbaro from Raazi)


• Best Playback Singer (Male) - Arijit Singh for (Ae Watan from Raazi)


• Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema - Saroj Khan and Jagdeep

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• Meghalaya-based rights activist Agnes Kharshiing, who survived an assault by the coal mafia almost a year ago, received the 11th International Hrant Dink Award.


• She received the award along with Turkish activist against male violence, Nebahat Akkoc.

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• President Trump named Robert C. O’Brien as his new national security adviser, picking a top hostage-affairs official for the high-profile White House role at a time when the U.S. is weighing how to respond to attacks on Saudi Arabia.


• Mr. Trump tweeted the announcement, writing: “I have worked long & hard with Robert.

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• The new head of India operations will establish both a management committee and an operating committee for the country, says Cognizant CEO.


• Nasdaq listed IT firm Cognizant has elevated Ramkumar Ramamoorthy as chairman and managing director of Cognizant India, and named him head of India operations. He will be reporting directly to the company’s executive committee.

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• The human space mission of ISRO will get a boost with the DRDO joining hands to jointly develop systems that will aid and enhance flight capabilities.


• ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) is on course to its target of sending Indian astronauts to space by 2022 under the ‘Gaganyaan’ project, which entails an investment of ₹10,000 crore.