Pooja Khedkar is an IAS trainee officer from the 2023 batch and had secured rank 821 (PWD-5) in the UPSC exams. Pooja is the daughter of former civil servant Dilip Khedkar, who served as Commissioner of the Pollution Department. Her maternal grandfather, Jagannathrao Budhwant, also had a renowned career as an IAS officer. As per rules, a trainee is not provided with the above amenities and is required to be appointed as a gazetted officer first. She created a controversy after using red-blue beacon lights on her private vehicle, a VIP number plate, letter pads, a nameplate, a separate office chamber, and dedicated staff, despite not being entitled to these privileges as a probationer, according to reports. She had also installed a 'Maharashtra government' board on her private car. There are also speculations that she also occupied the ante-chamber of Additional District Collector Ajay More without his knowledge.

India's relationship with Russia has been strained by the Ukraine conflict, resulting in a decline in arms exports. However, India has become a major buyer of discounted Russian oil, providing revenue for Moscow. This has reshaped the energy partnership, saving billions and bolstering Russia's war coffers, unlike China's welcome of lower-ranking Deputy Prime Minister.

After the billionaire Elon Musk postponed a visit to India in late April, Musk’s team hasn’t made any further inquiries with officials in New Delhi. According to sources, "The government is given to understand that Tesla has capital issues and doesn’t plan on pledging fresh investment into India in the near future," The loss of interest in India comes as Tesla reported a second consecutive drop in quarterly deliveries globally and faces heightened competition in China. Musk announced major staff reductions in April, the EV maker’s first new model in years, the Cybertruck, has been slow to ramp up while construction of a new plant in Mexico has been delayed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chosen not to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) annual summit in Astana next week, thus External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will represent India instead. For his first visit to the nation in almost five years, Modi will be in Russia from July 8 to 9. Modi is expected to leave Russia on July 9 and make a two-day journey to Austria after wrapping up his visit.

During repair work in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, a United Nations agency said that it had found five bombs hidden in a wall of the famous Al-Nuri mosque, installed years ago by jihadists affiliated with the Islamic State group.

The cancellations of Canadian airline Westjet's 150 flights hitting 20,000 passengers followed after the union of maintenance workers called for a strike. The Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association stated that its members began striking on Friday evening, June 28, due to the airline’s refusal to engage in negotiations with the union, which they deemed unavoidable. The strike occurred after the federal government issued a ministerial order for binding arbitration on Thursday, following two weeks of tumultuous negotiations with the union over a new agreement. The unexpected strike, impacting both international and domestic flights, is occurring over the Canada Day long weekend.

Boeing gets sanctioned by the National Safety Board over breaking an agreement by disclosing details of an investigation into the 737 Max 9 mid-air incident that happened in January. The agency cited violations of investigative information that were not cleared to release and speculating about the cause of the incident. The fallout began in 2018, amplified in January 2024 after the mid-air incident involving an Alaska Airlines 737 plane adds to the growing list of troubles Boeing has encountered this year Boeing is already facing criminal prosecution threat. As a result of these sanctions, Boeing will not be able access information related to the investigation. Boeing is also set to appear at a board hearing on August 6 and 7 in Washington.

A Philippines navy personnel was severely injured when China’s coast guard seized two Filipino ships on a resupply mission to an outpost on Second Thomas Shoal last week as China has ramped up actions targeting the Philippines in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, especially the use of “gray zone tactics”. India backed the Philippines on Friday amid a flaring of tensions in the South China Sea over China’s aggressive actions in recent weeks. “We oppose de stabilizing or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion...and we underline the need for peaceful settlement of disputes,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media without directly referring to China.

India's Deputy Representative to the United Nations, R Ravindra, said that it was Pakistan's “another habitual attempt” to divert attention from the “grave violations” against children that continue in their country on Thursday as he slammed Pakistan for its “baseless” and “politically motivated” remarks on Jammu and Kashmir during the United Nations Security Council's open debate on ‘Children and Armed Conflicts’.“Let me respond briefly in the interest of time to remarks which were, obviously, politically motivated and unfounded, made by one representative against my country. I categorically dismiss and condemn these baseless remarks with the contempt they deserve…This is nothing but another habitual attempt to divert attention from the grave violations against children that continue unabated in his own country, as highlighted in this year's Secretary General's report on children and armed conflict,” Ravindra said.

Shangfu former defence minister and his predecessor Wei Fenghe have been dismissed from the party and have been under probe since August and September last year, respectively for corruption investigations and their dismissal from the Communist Party of China (CPC). State-run news agency Xinhua reported that both Li Shangfu and his predecessor Wei Fenghe have been dismissed from the party and have been under probe since August and September last year, respectively. CMC – the top military body in China – opened an investigation into Li’s conduct on 31 August, 2023. Li seriously violated political and organisational discipline. He sought improper benefits in personnel arrangements for himself and others, took advantage of his posts to seek benefits for others, and accepted a huge amount of money and valuables in return according to the investigation results.