News in Short

• The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terror group’s leader Noor Wali Mehsud has been designated as a global terrorist by the UN for participating in the financing and planning associated with al-Qaeda.
• The UN Security Council’s 1267 ISIL and Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee added Mehsud, 42, to the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaeda Sanctions List, subjecting the Pakistani national to an assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.
• Mehsud was named the leader of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan following the death of former TTP leader Maulana Fazlullah. The TTP was blacklisted by the UN on July 29, 2011 for its association with al-Qaeda.

• C.S. Seshadri, one of the leaders of Indian mathematics in the post-Independence era, passed away in Chennai. He was 88.
• A leader in the field of algebraic geometry, he made breakthroughs that lie at the base of many branches of this profound discipline.
• He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1988 and a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences, USA in 2010. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2009.

• The Kerala government has confirmed the community spread of coronavirus in two coastal areas in Thiruvananthapuram district.
• The tough measures are being enforced citing high case positivity rate, especially in the coastal areas where the density of population is higher and social distancing measures impractical.
• It should be noted that Kerala has so far tested less than four lakh people in total, while the neighbouring States of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have both tested triple that figure.

• The national capital, Mumbai and Chennai are among the six cities from where flights have been suspended by the Kolkata airport authorities from July 6 till July 19. The other blacklisted cities are Pune, Nagpur and Ahmedabad.
• While there is no restriction on outbound flights from Kolkata to these six cities, most airlines that fly point to point will find it unfeasible to operate empty flights into the city so as to be able to fly out with passengers.
• West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha had written to Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation P.S. Kharola urging him to stop flights to Kolkata from cities with a high prevalence of COVID-19 cases.

• Madrid clinched their 34th Spanish league title, first since 2017, after extending their perfect run following the pandemic break with a 2-1 win over Villarreal.
• Karim Benzema scored twice to give Madrid their 10th consecutive league victory. They were the only team with a perfect record after the coronavirus-enforced break.
• Barcelona had won the last two league titles but stuttered after the break, drawing three times and losing once after the league resumed.