US-Iran MoU Collapses, Trump Retracts Demand to Levy Toll on Ships

The interim peace deal between US and Iran came apart as the US launched a fresh wave of strikes on Iran, and Iran retaliated with attacks on American allies and ships trying to cross strait of Hormuz. 

The International Maritime Organisation said the attack on the tankers Mombasa and Al Bahiyah killed two mariners and wounded 14 others. The Emirates threatened to retaliate, the Wire reported. 

Iran's strike on the Al Bahiyah killed one Indian seafarer and injured another, while its hit on the Mombasa hurt nine Indians, including two seriously. India summoned the Iranian deputy chief of mission in New Delhi to lodge its ‘strong protest’ against the attacks and released a statement.  Earlier, an Iranian attack on the commercial GFS Galaxy vessel off Oman's coast rendered one Indian mariner missing.

President Trump walked back his demand for collecting a 20% toll from ships that transit through the Strait of Hormuz — and instead said Gulf states would make major investments in the U.S.

Before the war with Iran, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Bahrain had already pledged to invest more than $2 trillion in the U.S. over the next several years. 

Trump said in his post that the Gulf countries will make "new Investments". Trump made his comments several hours before a U.S. naval blockade on Iran comes into effect, and amid exchanges of fire between the U.S. and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz for the fourth day in a row. Axios reported that President Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call Thursday that Israel should start redeploying its forces out of Syria and urged him to do the same in Lebanon, according to U.S. and Israeli officials.

India Wholesale Prices Rise 9.87%: Fuel and Power Prices Increased 27.41% Year-on-Year in June

India's wholesale price inflation came close to a double-digit rise at 9.87% year-on-year in June, ‌driven by higher food prices, government data showed, Reuters reported.

The rate of wholesale price increase was higher than the 9.68% ⁠rise a month ago and economists' projection of 9.15%, the news wire said. Wholesale food prices rose 6.14% year-on-year in June after rising 4.49% in May Prices of manufactured products rose 7.48% year-on-year in June, level with the 7.48% year-on-year rise ‌a ⁠month ago.

Fuel and power prices increased 27.41% year-on-year in June, as against a rise of 30.33% a month ago. Petroleum and natural gas prices rose 34.75% year-on-year in June after a 61.51% increase in ⁠May. Producer prices in June rose 9.57% year-on-year against a 9.38% ⁠rise in the previous month, according to Reuters' calculation.

Protests Over Ken-Betwa River Link Project Resume in Madhya Pradesh

In  Chhatrapur district villagers mostly tribals, who are being impacted by the Ken-Betwa river linking project, have restarted their agitation for better compensation and rehabilitation, after their talks with officials failed to reach a conclusion, the Hindu reported adding that the tribals want their compensation to increased from 12 lakh to 25 lakh. Flagged off  on December 25, 2024, the the Ken-Betwa link project (KBLP) is the first of 30 such link projects under a National Perspective Plan (NPP) for water resources development and interlinking of rivers with ‘surplus water’ to those with ‘deficit water’. The KBLP plans to transfer excess water from the Ken river basin to the Betwa river basin in the Bundelkhand region that covers parts of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh

Several protestors, most of them women, have launched a symbolic protest by placing hanging noose around their necks which has now reached its fifth day on the banks of the Barana River near Kupi village

Dainik Bhaskar reported that the ₹45,000 crore Ken-Betwa river link project faces legal setback as “All clearances” have lapsed and work continues without forest dept nod.

1,091 Trees to be Felled for Sarojini Nagar Housing Project in Delhi, Mumbai Loses 523 Trees to Heavy Rains, Experts Blame Concrete Roads

The Delhi government’s Department of Forests and Wildlife has given a nod to the NBCC (India) Limited to make way for the redevelopment of Sarojini Nagar’s General Pool Residential Accommodation (GPRA) Colony by felling or transplanting 1,091 trees, reported Indian Express.

“It was a long process to approve the project. Ground inspections were carried out and every tree was mapped. After this, the site map was extensively studied and superimposed with the trees surveyed to count the number of trees affected. Since we realised the project is important. The aim was to reduce the number of trees affected,” a top official involved in the permission process told The Indian Express.

As part of the compensatory framework, a plantation site at Bharat Vandana Park in West Delhi’s Dwarka was inspected by forest field staff and found suitable to accommodate 10,910 saplings, while the same site was also cleared for the transplantation of 1,049 of the affected trees, the newspaper said adding that  the project is part of a larger Central government initiative approved by the Union Cabinet in July 2016 for the overhaul of seven ageing GPRA colonies in the Capital.

Recently,the Delhi High Court’s judge Neena Bansal Krishna expressed serious concern over the Centre's move to take back land occupied by the Indian Polo Association (IPA) and the Delhi Gymkhana Club, observing that shrinking green spaces could make the capital increasingly unlivable. The court  remarked, "Delhi will choke. Whatever little breather we have in the NDMC area is also going away. We will all suffocate and die."

Meanwhile, Mumbai recorded 523 tree-fall incidents in just 24 hours, leaving one dead and eight injured. While the BMC blames extreme weather, experts point to deeper structural issues such as concretisation of roads may be worsening the crisis, India Today reported.