England win World Cup in Super Over drama

England ended their 44-year wait for a maiden cricket World Cup by beating a gutsy New Zealand side on boundaries after a tied Super Over amidst heart-stopping drama on July 14. Chasing 242 for victory, Ben Stokes’ scintillating 84 not out helped the hosts tie the see-saw contest, forcing the Super Over where more nail-biting excitement unfolded. Jos Buttler and Stokes took 15 runs off Trent Boult’s Super Over without losing their wickets. New Zealand also scored 15 runs off Jofra Archer’s over but England won on boundary count, triggering wild celebrations at Lord’s as the hosts capped a stunning turnaround. After six weeks of cricket, it all boiled down to a boundary count in the final and England were comfortable 26-17 winners. It was a second successive defeat in the final for the Kiwis, who lost to Australia in 2015.

WPI inflation eases to 2.02 per cent in June

Wholesale price-based inflation declined for the second consecutive month to its 23-month low of 2.02 per cent in June, helped by a decline in the prices of vegetables as well as fuel and power items, according to official data released on July 15. The Wholesale Price Index-based inflation was at 2.45 per cent in May. It was 5.68 per cent in June 2018. Inflation in food articles basket eased marginally to 6.98 per cent in June, from 6.99 per cent in May. Vegetable inflation softened to 24.76 per cent in June, down from 33.15 per cent in May. Inflation in potato was -24.27 per cent, against -23.36 per cent in May. However, onion prices continued the rising trend with inflation at 16.63 per cent during the month, as against 15.89 per cent in May. WPI inflation in June was the lowest in 23 months, since July 2017, when it was at 1.88 per cent.

Court imposes $5.97 bn penalty on Pakistan

In a jolt to cash-strapped Pakistan, an international arbitration court has imposed a $5.976 billion penalty - one of the biggest in its history - on Islamabad for the unlawful denial of a mining lease to a company for the Reko Diq project in 2011. The Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) - a joint venture between Chilean mining company Antofagasta and Canada's Barrick Gold Corporation - had filed claims for international arbitration before the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in 2012 after the Balochistan government rejected a leasing request from the company. In its ruling, the tribunal awarded a $4.08 billion penalty and $1.87 billion in interests. The TCC had claimed $11.43 billion in damages.

Govt to pay damages to power consumers

Union Power Minister R.K. Singh said the aim of the Centre is to have ‘One Nation One Grid’ and pay damages to consumers in case of load sheddings. The government will soon go ahead with structural reforms to achieve the objective of ‘One Nation One Grid’, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in her Budget speech earlier this month. “The government will pay damages (to consumers) if load sheddings happen,” Singh said without elaborating. The ministry would seek the Union Cabinet’s nod for the power tariff policy in the next few days, which would provide for a penalty for unscheduled power cuts except in the case of technical faults or act of God (natural calamities), Singh had said on the day of tabling the Union Budget.

Djokovic beats Federer in Wimbledon epic

Novak Djokovic again proved the toughest nut for Roger Federer to crack, repelling all the Swiss threw at him in an epic duel to win a fifth Wimbledon crown in the longest singles final in the tournament’s 133-year history on July 14. The Serbian withstood almost five hours of Federer brilliance to prevail 7-6(5), 1-6, 7-6(4), 4-6, 13-12(3) in the first Wimbledon singles final decided by a tiebreak. Serving for the match at 8-7 in a cliffhanger fifth set, Federer - three weeks before his 38th birthday - seemed poised to become the oldest man to win a Grand Slam singles title in the professional era. But it was a case of so near yet so far as defending champion Djokovic fought off two match points before going on to snatch a 16th Grand Slam title. Earlier, Serena Williams remained tantalisingly one short of a record-equalling 24 Grand Slam singles titles as Romania’s Simona Halep triumphed 6-2, 6-2 in a one-sided women’s final on July 13.

Newsmakers

Senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra has been appointed as the governor of Himachal Pradesh, replacing Acharya Devvrat, who has been transferred and appointed as the governor of Gujarat. Devvrat was appointed as the governor of Himachal Pradesh in 2015. He will replace O.P. Kohli as Gujarat governor.