SC TAKES COGNIZANCE OF MIGRANTS' MISERIES; ISSUES NOTICES TO CENTRE AND

STATE GOVTS

Taking suo motu cognisance of the plight of lakhs of stranded migrant

workers across the country, the Supreme Court on Tuesday pointed out the

"inadequacies and lapses" in the handling of the crisis and issued notices

to the Centre and state governments on steps taken to "redeem the

situation."

Observing that the migrants' crisis continues even today, the court in its

order pulled up the Centre and the state governments and said, "In the

present situation of lockdown in the entire country, this section of the

society needs succor and help by the concerned governments, especially steps

need to be taken by the Government of India, State governments/UTs in this

difficult situation to extend a helping hand to these migrant labourers."

The court has listed the matter for further hearing on Thursday and asked

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to assist it on the issue of migrant

labourers.

The apex court's criticism on the Centre's and states' approach to migrants

comes after another bench had recently refused to intervene on a plea that

sought the government to identify migrant workers, provide transport, food

and shelter for them.

PM MODI MEETS INDIA'S TOP MILITARY BRASS AMID ESCALATING BORDER TENSION

In the midst of escalating border tension between Indian and Chinese troops

in eastern Ladakh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday, held a meeting

with National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff General

Bipin Rawat and the three service chiefs with a focus on bolstering India's

military preparedness to deal with external security challenges, government

sources said.

The military brass is learnt to have apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi

about the evolving situation in eastern Ladakh, though the officials

maintained that the agenda of the pre-scheduled meeting was to discuss the

ambitious military reforms and ways to boost India's combat prowess.

The meeting came hours after the top four generals briefed Defence Minister

Rajnath Singh about the situation in Pangong Tso lake, Galwan Valley,

Demchok and Daulat Beg Oldi where the Indian and Chinese troops were engaged

in aggressive posturing for the last 20 days.

GOVT SHOULD BE MORE TRANSPARENT ON WHAT IS HAPPENING AT BORDER WITH CHINA:

RAHUL

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday asked the government to come clear

on what was happening at the border with China in Ladakh and be more

transparent. "I think, on the India-China issue, we would like to see some

more transparency on what is going on. It becomes very difficult for us to

have a position without understanding the facts," he told reporters when

asked about the issue at a virtual press conference.

"The government should make it clear to the people of India, what exactly is

happening on the border. We are hearing different stories so, I don't want

to go into conjecture, but it is important that the government of India

makes it clear, what is happening on the border so that people can

understand and have a proper position," he said.

ICMR, HEALTH MINISTRY HIGHLIGHT LOW FATALITY RATE IN INDIA

The COVID-19 fatality rate in India is among the lowest in the world at 2.87

per cent, the government said on Tuesday, attributing the timely lockdown,

early detection and management of coronavirus infection cases as the main

reasons for the low death toll.

From 3.38 per cent in April, the fatality rate in the country has come down

to 2.87 per cent as against 6.4 per cent globally.

Responding to a question at a press briefing on why the country's death rate

is one of the lowest in the word, ICMR Director-General Balram Bhargava said

there was no substantiated factor behind it.

"We have surprisingly found a low fatality rate in India and which is a very

good thing. Ultimately, we are interested in a patient surviving whether he

gets COVID-19 or not. There are several hypotheses such as we are living in

bad hygiene, have higher immunity and have been given certain vaccines such

as BCG and those for tuberculosis, but these all are hypothesis and we

cannot say anything clearly on any factor. So long as the fatality rate is

low it a good thing and I hope it continues," he said.

Health Ministry Joint secretary Lav Agarwal said that the country's graded

response to COVID-19 and timely identification of cases along with their

clinical management played a major role in keeping the death rate low. India

had 0.3 deaths per lakh population as against the 4.5 deaths globally, which

is among the lowest in the world. This has been due to lockdown, timely

identification and management of COVID-19 cases, Aggarwal said. The recovery

rate has improved from 7.1 per cent in March when the lockdown was initiated

to 11.42 per cent during the second phase and 26.59 per cent in the third

phase to 41.61 per cent now.

COVID-19 DASHBOARD - (Nos. IN INDIA / Nos. WORLDWIDE)

(Indian data from covid19india / and World Data from

worldometers.info/coronavirus/ )

Total Cases 1,50,782 (+5,843) / 56,84,795 (+96,439)

Total Deaths 4,344 (+172) / 3,52,225 (+4,352)

Total Recovered 64,277 (+3,571) / 24,30,593 (+64,874)

Active Cases 82,161 (+2,100) / 29,01,977 (+27,213)

Serious / Critical Cases (See below) / 53,100 (-67)

Top impacted nations so far: (And some of India's Neighbours)

Country, Total Cases / Total Deaths / Active Cases /

Serious-Critical Case

1 USA 17,25,275 / 1,00,572 /

11,44,734 / 17,158

2 Brazil 3,94,507 / 24,593 /

2,11,321 / 8,318

3 Russia 3,62,342 / 3,807 /

2,27,406 / 2,300

4 Spain 2,83,339 / 27,117 /

59,264 / 854

5 UK 2,65,227 / 37,048 / N/A

/ 1,559

6 Italy 2,30,555 / 32,955 /

52,942 / 521

7 France 1,82,722 / 28,530 / 88,313

/ 1,555

8 Germany 1,81,288 / 8,498 /

10,790 / 821

9 Turkey 1,58,762 / 4,397 / 32,858

/ 739

10 India 1,50,793 / 4,344 /

82,172 / 8,944

11 Iran 1,39,511 / 7,508 /

22,566 / 2,567

18 Pakistan 57,705 / 1,197 / 38,194

/ 111

24 Bangladesh 36,751 / 522 / 28,650

/ 1

100 Sri Lanka 1,319 / 10 / 597

/ 1

Top 17 impacted Indian States so far: (Total No. of Confirmed case / No. Of

Deaths)

State / Confirmed Cases / Active Case / Recovered /

Deceased

Maharashtra 54,758 / 36,012 / 16,954 /

1,792

Tamil Nadu 17,728 / 8,258 / 9,342 /

128

Gujarat 14,829 / 6,775 / 7,139 / 915

Delhi 14,465 / 7,223 / 6,954 / 288

Rajasthan 7,536 / 3,090 / 4,276 /

170

Madhya Pradesh 7,024 / 3,030 / 3,689

/ 305

Uttar Pradesh 6,724 / 2,723 / 3,824 /

177

West Bengal 4,009 / 2,240 / 1,486 /

283

Andhra Pradesh 2,983 / 909 / 2,017

/ 57

Bihar 2,968 / 2,154 / 800 / 14

Karnataka 2,283 / 1,489 / 748 /

44

Punjab 2,106 / 148 / 1,918 / 40

Telangana 1,991 / 650 / 1,284 /

57

Jammu and Kashmir 1,759 / 902 / 833 /

24

Odisha 1,517 / 777 / 733 / 7

Haryana 1,305 / 465 / 824 /

16

Kerala 964 / 416 / 542 / 6

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

======================

SCALE-UP BATTLE PREPAREDNESS, XI TELLS CHINESE MILITARY

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday ordered the military to scale up the

battle preparedness, visualising the worst-case scenarios and asked them to

resolutely defend the country's sovereignty.

Xi, 66 who is also the General Secretary of the ruling Communist Party of

China (CPC) and head of the two-million-strong military with prospects of

lifelong tenure in power, made the remarks while attending a plenary meeting

of the delegation of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and People's Armed

Police Force during the current parliament session being held here.

Xi ordered the military to think about worst-case scenarios, scale up

training and battle preparedness, promptly and effectively deal with all

sorts of complex situations and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty,

security and development interests, state-run Xinhua news agency reported,

without mentioning any specific issues that posed a threat to the country.

Xi has been stressing on the troops battle preparedness ever since he came

to power in 2012 insisting on real time exercises to win wars. He has also

revamped defence forces, cutting the PLA's strength by three lakh troops and

enhanced its naval and air power as Beijing expanded its influence abroad.

TWITTER TAGS TRUMP TWEET WITH FACT-CHECKING WARNING

A post by US President Donald Trump has been given a fact-check label by

Twitter for the first time.

President Trump tweeted: "There is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will

be anything less than substantially fraudulent."

Twitter put a warning label under the post and a subsequent tweet under its

new policy on misleading information.

Mr Trump responded by tweeting again, saying the social media giant "is

completely stifling free speech".

Twitter's notification displays a blue exclamation mark underneath the

tweets, suggesting readers "get the facts about mail-in ballots". Twitter's

link directs users to a page on which Mr Trump's claims about mail-in

ballots are described as "unsubstantiated". The social media company cites

reporting on the issue by CNN, the Washington Post and others.

This is followed by a "what you need to know" section where Twitter corrects

what it says are false claims by the US president.

THE REST

========

POLITICAL TUSSLE INTENSIFIES IN WORST-AFFECTED MAHARASHTRA

Ravaged by the coronavirus disease, Maharashtra, which has seen the most

number of cases and deaths on account of Covid-19, witnessed a political war

of words as well as a degree of uncertainty over the stability of the Uddhav

Thackeray-led government on Tuesday.

Speculation over the fate of the government picked up on Monday when NCP

chief Sharad Pawar -- widely considered the key architect of the Maha Vikas

Aghadi, met state governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari and also had his third

meeting in the span of weeks with CM Uddhav Thackeray, who is under

criticism for his handling of the pandemic.

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, a key intermediary between the coalition partners,

said that Pawar met Thackeray to discuss the future course of action for the

state government and measure to be taken to tackle Covid-19. "If we take

Pawar saheb's suggestions and guidance on these matters then what is the

harm. The country's prime minister too takes his guidance."

But even as the two senior partners in the government sought to allay

uncertainties, Rahul Gandhi's remark - in the course of a press conference

over the central government's handling of the pandemic - created a stir.

When asked about the situation in the state, Gandhi pointed out that as one

of the most connected places in the country, the virus was going to act

aggressively in Maharashtra. He added that the state was one of the most

important assets India had, that it was the centre of business, and the

Government of India must support Maharashtra's people and government. He

then added, "I would like to make a differentiation here. We are supporting

the government in Maharashtra, but, we are not the key decision maker in

Maharashtra. We are the key decision maker in Punjab; we are the key

decision maker in Chhattisgarh, in Rajasthan, in Puducherry. So, there is a

difference between running a government and supporting a government."

Soon enough, the BJP, led by former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis,

stepped up its attack on the state government's handling of the pandemic ;

while denying it was seeking to destabilise the government, party

functionaries say the situation is ripe for President's rule.

NC LEADERSHIP SHOULD EXPRESS PARTY'S STAND ON J&K SPL STATUS, SAYS TOP

LEADER

Seeking to break the party leadership's silence on abrogation of Jammu and

Kashmir's special status and bifurcating the erstwhile state into two Union

Territories, a senior National Conference (NC) leader has asked what is

stopping his party and its leaders from expressing the NC's "principled

stand" on the issue.

While agreeing that the Centre's response could be "ugly and brutal" if the

party breaks its silence, former J&K minister Aga Roohullah asked his NC

colleagues to be "ready for that". He said the party does not need

"permission from (New) Delhi" to express what happened on August 5, 2019.

A religious cleric with hold among J&K's Shia population, Roohullah is an

important and influential NC leader and has been a three-time legislator.

After he was released from jail in March, former J&K chief minister and NC

vice-president Omar Abdullah had said that he would talk politics later -

"let's first fight this coronavirus", he had said. But Roohullah asked if

the pandemic has not stopped the Union government, what is "stopping us".

Party chief Farooq Abdullah has also been silent on the issue of abrogation

of J&K's special status since his release from detention.

"The other side, which is New Delhi, as Ram Madhav put it, has taken it to

its logical conclusion. They did everything they wanted to do and turned us

into dust. They are doing their job, (but) what stops us," Roohullah asked.

"They are not stopped by the pandemic.what stops us? This pandemic isn't

going anywhere, anytime soon. Whatever happens during that course, whatever

is happening, we may not even be in a position to respond."

CHINA CITES COVID FOR EVACUATING ITS CITIZENS

China has said it is organising evacuation for its citizens from India in

view of the rising Covid cases in the country. In a notice on the Embassy

website, the Chinese Government has asked its citizens staying in India and

willing to return, to register by Wednesday.

Brazil and Russia have three times more cases than India, but China has so

far issued no such advisory linking evacuation of its nationals in those

countries to a rise in Covid cases. Embassy sources had earlier denied any

link with tension on the Sino-Indian border.

"In consideration of the development of the epidemic situation in India, the

Chinese side is planning to dispatch temporary flights to India to bring

back students, tourists and business inspectors who are facing

difficulties," said Chinese Embassy spokesperson Ji Rong.

HCQ BENEFICIAL, WON'T STOP USING IT: ICMR

A day after the WHO suspended solidarity trial on the efficacy of

hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for Covid-19 treatment amid safety concerns, India

said it would continue using the anti-malarial medicine for prevention of

the disease.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) chief Balram Bhargava today said

studies on HCQ use for prophylaxis (prevention) among Covid warriors had

shown the drug may be working.

"There are no major side-effects, though people have reported nausea,

vomiting and occasional palpitations. One ECG during the regimen is

mandatory," said Bhargava.

The ICMR Director General said several biological plausibility and in-vitro

studies in the past had pointed to anti-viral properties in HCQ and

chloroquine, both anti-malarial drugs.

INDIGO GROUNDS FLIGHT CREW AFTER A PASSENGER TESTS POSITIVE

IndiGo on Tuesday said it has grounded the crew that operated the flight

from Chennai-Coimbatore on Monday after one of the passengers tested

positive for coronavirus.

The development assumes significance as this is possibly the first case of a

passenger on-board being detected coronavirus positive after domestic

flights resumed services on Monday.

In a statement, IndiGo said that a passenger who travelled on 6E 381 from

Chennai to Coimbatore on May 25 evening has tested positive for COVID-19.

The airline said it had received confirmation from the Coimbatore airport

doctor that the passenger tested positive for coronavirus. "He was seated

on-board the aircraft with all precautionary measures including face mask,

face shield and gloves, as were the other passengers," it said, adding that

no one else was seated in his vicinity, significantly reducing the

possibility of transmission. PTI

KERALA TAKES FIRST STEP BACK TO SCHOOL WITH EXAMS

Social distancing, thermal screening, hand sanitisers, only 20 students in a

hall, and strict instructions against children huddling together.

Kerala had all the guidelines in place when it became the first state in the

country to resume the school board exams that were stalled by more than two

months due to the ongoing Covid lockdown.

But it was a challenging task for officials to ensure that the guidelines

were adhered to as 4.25 lakh students reached 2,945 centres for the class 10

state board exams, and 29,458 students turned up at 389 centres for the

vocational higher secondary tests across the state on Tuesday.

The Class 12 state board exams will resume today, with 3,79,519 students

expected at 2,032 centres. The school exams are scheduled to continue till

the month-end.

"We are not approaching the exams with fear, but with vigil. All students

have been given masks and pamphlets on Covid-19 guidelines. Students have

been told to ensure social distancing, right from the time they step out of

their homes,'' said Director of Public Instruction Jeevan Babu.

Officials said that about 5,000 thermal screening devices were purchased,

and over the last few days, all centres disinfected by fire and rescue

teams. After the first session, the halls, benches and desks were

disinfected again for the afternoon.

And with public transport services still not available in many districts,

schools arranged conveyance for students using PTA funds. In many cases,

officials said, parents dropped their children at the centres.

HEAT WAVE IN SEVERAL PARTS OF NORTH, WEST INDIA

Several parts of north and west India reeled under scorching heat wave with

the temperature touching 50 degrees Celsius in Rajasthan's Churu district on

Tuesday.

Haryana and Punjab including Chandigarh were in the grip of severe heat on

Tuesday, with Hisar turning out to be the hottest place in the region at 48

degrees Celsius.

Delhi recorded a maximum of 47.6 degrees Celsius in the Palam area, while

most places here saw their maximum temperatures six notches above the

normal.

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Silver (Rs. Per KG) 48,000

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. -

Winston Churchill

OFF TRACK

Now that they were retired, a couple were discussing all aspects of their

future.

`What will you do if I die before you do?` the man asked his wife.

After some thought, she said that she'd probably look for a house sharing

situation with three other single or widowed women who might be a little

younger than herself, since she is so active for her age.

Then the lady asked her husband, "What will you do if I die first?"

He replied, "Probably the same thing."