1. Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee recently said that India is among the worst performing economies in world.

Speaking at a virtual event, Banerjee said that India’s economic growth was slowing down even before the pandemic hit and according to him, India’s economic stimulus wasn’t adequate. He felt that we could have done more.

2. More than 100 deaths have been reported in the ongoing Azerbaijan and Armenia clashes over a disputed region.

As per a report by BBC, as the clashes continued for the fourth day, Azerbaijan’s president has vowed to fight on until Armenian forces leave the disputed territory.

3. The UP government started issuing press releases in Sanskrit, alongside English, Hindi and Urdu.

Recently, the UP government made it mandatory for the state departments to issue press releases in Sanskrit along with other languages.

4. Bombay HC set three sex workers free and said that women have the right to choose their vocation.

The court observed that prostitution is no offence under the law and an adult woman has the right to choose her vocation and cannot be detained without her consent.

5. After Hathras incident, another 22-year-old Dalit woman was raped and killed in Uttar Pradesh.

According to the police, the accused took the woman to a doctor after the rape, but when her condition deteriorated, they sent her home. Two men, identified as Shahid and Sahil, have been arrested in the case.

6. The Supreme Court directed the state governments to provide dry ration to sex workers without asking for identity proof.

A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Ajay Rastogi said that sex workers who are identified by the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and state committees will be given this benefit.

7.  Unpaid for months, doctors of Hindu Rao Hospital in Delhi have taken to online protest.

These doctors have launched an online campaign demanding pending payments. They will post pictures with the text – ‘Doctors on Covid duty, Unpaid Day 105, Hindu Rao Hospital Delhi’ –  on social media. 

8. 250 women in Agrotha village of Chhatarpur district dug over 18 months through a hill, to channel water into local village pond.

9. Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai will now expand by 800 acres after addition of land from the Aarey forest.

Just weeks after Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray proposed to designate 600 acres of land in Aarey Colony as forest, the state government’s Forest Department has not only agreed to add another 200 acres to what the CM sought, but also the entire land parcel to the neighbouring SGNP.

10. A 14-year-old girl was murdered and dumped in a field outside a village under Gopiganj police station area of Bhadohi district of UP.

The incident reportedly took place when the girl went out of her house for some work. When asked if the girl was also raped, the SP said that he can’t say anything about it now.

11. California fires have now spread to the world famous Napa Valley wineries, burning down at least a dozen wineries and vineyards.

Also known as the Glass Fire, it has consumed almost 50,000 acres of land after eruption, earlier this week. Nearly 2,000 firefighters were deployed but only 2% of the fire has reportedly been contained so far. 

12. Japan’s serial ‘Twitter Killer’ admitted to killing 9 people.

A Japanese man, Takahiro Shiraishi, who has been called the “Twitter Killer” for luring victims on social media, admitted to killing nine people in court. Shiraishi is accused of dismembering his victims and storing their body parts in coolboxes and is also reportedly facing rape charges.