A billboard with photos of presidential candidates hangs on a street in Tehran, Iran, June 17, 2024. REUTERS
Friday’s schedule is tight.
Iran will hold tightly controlled presidential elections, and Mongolia will hold parliamentary elections.
In India, the Maharashtra state government will present the state’s annual budget in the monsoon session of the parliament.
Here’s a quick rundown of today’s big news headlines.
Iranian Presidential Election
Iran will hold tightly controlled presidential elections on Friday.
The election, held following the death of Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash last month, is expected to influence the succession of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the clerical state’s top decision-maker.
The elections come at a delicate time: rising tensions with Israel over the Gaza conflict, Western countries pressuring Iran to curtail its nuclear program and growing discontent at home over a political, social and economic crisis.
Mongolian parliamentary elections
Mongolia is holding its first parliamentary elections on Friday since the parliament was expanded to 126 seats, adding some uncertainty to a system that has been dominated by two parties and plagued by corruption.
Mongolia was a one-party communist country until 1990, but the elections in the relatively new democracy come at a time when many Mongolians are unhappy with their government, which they see as favouring businesses and the wealthy.
Maharashtra annual budget announced
The Maharashtra government is scheduled to present the state’s annual budget on June 28 in the monsoon assembly session that began on Thursday, June 27 and ends on July 12 in Mumbai.
This will be the last session of the Eknath Shinde-led government before the Maharashtra Assembly elections, which are expected to be held in October this year.
US court hearing in Nikhil Gupta case
The US court will be hearing the case of Nikhil Gupta, an Indian national who is alleged to have been involved in an attempted plot to assassinate pro-Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on US soil.
The 52-year-old was arrested in the Czech Republic last year at the request of the US government.
He faces charges related to the conspiracy to assassinate Pannung.
Gupta is being held at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and is listed as an inmate on file.
Uttar Pradesh government holds Bodhi procession in Delhi
The Uttar Pradesh government will host a ‘Bodhigashi’ in New Delhi on June 28 as part of efforts to promote Buddhist pilgrimage tourism and attract devotees and tourists from across the world to the state’s famous Buddhist sites.
The day-long event aims to showcase the remarkable life journey of Lord Buddha through the Buddhist sites of Uttar Pradesh.
The programme will see guests from India and abroad invited to honour the guests with a dinner. An interactive cultural session will be an important highlight of the ‘Bodhigaya’ event.
Indian government bonds to be included in JPMorgan bond index
India is set to formally join the JPMorgan GBIEM Global Series index on Friday.
The move could potentially bring an inflow of $25-30 billion to the country.
This will be phased in over a 10-month period, with domestic bonds having a 10 percent weighting starting this month, increasing by 1 percent each month.
The country will be the 25th market to be included in the index since it was launched in June 2005.
A day to remember
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Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk’s birthday
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Former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao’s Birthday
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In a 1997 bout, Mike Tyson was disqualified in the third round for biting off Evander Holyfield’s ear.
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Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sophie were assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914, sparking World War I.
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The Treaty of Versailles was signed in Paris in 1919, ending hostilities between Germany and the Allied Powers in World War I.
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The Aum Shinrikyo cult released sarin gas in Matsumoto city in 1994, killing seven people and injuring around 660.
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The saxophone was patented in 1846 by Adolphe Sax in Paris, France.
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