CHINA HASN'T INTRUDED INTO OUR TERRITORY OR TAKEN OVER ANY POST: PM MODI

No one entered Indian territory nor were Indian posts taken over, Prime

Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday on the six-week border standoff with

China as he briefed prominent political leaders about the killing of 20

soldiers in the Galwan Valley that triggered a massive escalation in tension

between the two countries.

At an all-party meeting, he said the soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice

taught a "lesson" to those who had dared to look towards India and that the

Army has been given "freedom" to take necessary steps.

"At the outset, prime minister clarified that neither is anyone inside our

territory nor is any of our post captured," the government said in a

statement, adding he assured the leaders that the armed forces are leaving

no stone unturned to protect the country.

The categorical statement by the prime minister came in the wake of reports

that Chinese military has transgressed into the Indian side of the Line of

Actual Control (LAC), the de-facto border, in several areas of eastern

Ladakh, including Pangong Tso and Galwan Valley.

"While on the one hand, the Army has been given freedom to take necessary

steps, India has also conveyed its position clearly to China through

diplomatic means," he said, adding that India today has such capability that

no one can even dare to look towards "an inch of our land".

Modi said the entire country is hurt and angry at the steps taken by China

at the LAC and underscored that India wants peace and friendship, but

upholding sovereignty is "foremost".

The nearly four-hour meeting through video conference was attended by top

opposition leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee and

Sitaram Yechury among others. The government said the leaders of the

political parties hailed the bravery displayed by the armed forces in Ladakh

and reposed faith in the leadership of the prime minister in this hour of

need. They expressed commitment to stand united with the government.

In the meeting Gandhi asked some tough questions to the government like

whether there was any intelligence failure on the situation along the LAC,

and sought an assurance from Modi that status quo ante would be restored at

the border. In her introductory remarks, she said even at this stage they

were in the dark about many crucial aspects of the crisis as she posed a set

of questions to the government and sought specifics about when Chinese

troops intruded into the Indian territory.

Pawar, a former defence minister, said diplomatic channels should be used to

defuse the tension, adding Chinese troops must be "evacuated" from the high

ground in the Galwan Valley. He said that the Chinese army is occupying the

high ground in the Galwan Valley with a "specific objective of dominating

the Dubruk-DBO road on the Indian side".

Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee said her party stands firmly

behind the Union government in this hour of crisis and urged the Centre not

to allow Chinese investments in strategically important infrastructure

sectors.

CHINA SAYS 'PRESENTLY' IT HASN'T DETAINED ANY INDIAN SOLDIERS

China on Friday said that "presently", it has not detained any Indian

soldiers, amidst reports that the Chinese military took some Indian troops

captive after a deadly clash in the Galwan Valley on June 15.

The brief statement of the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian

came a day after the Indian Army said that all Indian soldiers involved in

the clashes with the Chinese army at the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on

Monday night have been accounted for.

Asked if there are any Chinese soldiers detained by India, Zhao said: "China

and India are (engaged) in a dialogue to resolve the matter on ground

through diplomatic and military channels. I don't have any information for

you at the moment".

"I would like to reiterate that regarding the serious situation in the

Galwan Valley, the right and wrong is very clear and the responsibility

entirely lies with the Indian side," he said.

"China values our bilateral relations. We hope India can work with China to

jointly maintain the long-term development of the bilateral relations," the

foreign ministry spokesman said.

Ten Indian Army personnel including two Majors were released by the Chinese

military on Thursday evening following three days of negotiations, people

familiar with the development said in New Delhi.

OPPOSITION PARTIES NOT INVITED TO ALL-PARTY MEET SLAM GOVT

The Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal MPs, including his daughter Misa

Bharti and Manoj Jha, also staged a protest at Mahatma Gandhi's statue

inside the Parliament complex and contended that despite being the chief

opposition party in Bihar and the single largest party in the Assembly, it

was not invited.

Jha also wrote a letter to Prime Minister Modi expressing "deep anguish" at

being excluded from the all party meeting on an issue of such national

importance.

According to sources, the criteria followed for sending invites to parties

was -- all recognised national parties, those with over 5 MPs in the Lok

Sabha, leading parties from the Northeast and parties with Union Cabinet

ministers.

Hitting out at the criteria, Jha tweeted, "The untenable logic of 'FIVE

MEMBERS' gets exposed... first through our strength of 5 in RS and second..

TDP- 4 MP invited, Apna Dal- 2 MPs invited, SAD- 2 MPs invited, CPI- 2 MPs

invited, NC- 1 MP invited...There is more to it than what meets the eye."

The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party was also miffed at not being invited

at the all-party meet with its Rajya Sabha leader Sanjay Singh saying the

party has a government in Delhi and in Punjab, it is the main opposition

party, but still the BJP does not want its opinion on such an important

matter.

"The BJP government at the Centre should take everyone along on a serious

issue like national security. It is unfortunate for democracy that a

three-time chief minister has not been called for suggestions on an

important subject," Singh told reporters.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi also wrote to

Modi, expressing disappointment at his party not being invited to the

all-party meet.

Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal-Secular leader H D Deve Gowda, who also

was not invited to the meeting, said he fully appreciated the prime

minister's decision to call the all-party meet. Gowda offered his

suggestions, saying a senior serving military officer and diplomat should

make a detailed presentation to opposition leaders on the ground situation,

and the progress of talks.

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

(Indian data from covid19india / and World Data from

worldometers.info/coronavirus/ )

Total Cases 3,95,762 (+14,717) / 87,57,750 (+1,79,698)

Total Deaths 12,970 (+366) / 4,62,519 (+6,235)

Total Recovered 2,14,206 (+9,024) / 46,25,449 (+95,188)

Active Cases 1,68,586 (+5,327) / 36,69,782 (+78,275)

Serious / Critical Cases - N.A. / 54,793 (+232)

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

Country, Total Cases / Total Deaths / Recovered Cases / Active

Cases

1 USA 22,97,190 / 1,21,407 /

9,56,061 / 12,19,722

2 Brazil 10,38,568 / 49,090 /

5,20,360 / 4,69,118

3 Russia 5,69,063 / 7,841 /

3,24,406 / 2,36,816

4 India 3,95,812 / 12,970 /

2,14,206 / 1,68,636

5 UK 3,01,815 / 42,461 / N/A

/ N/A

6 Spain 2,92,655 / 28,315 / N/A

/ N/A

7 Peru 2,47,925 / 7,660 /

1,35,520 / 1,04,745

8 Italy 2,38,011 / 34,561 /

1,81,907 / 21,543

9 Chile 2,31,393 / 4,093 /

1,91,491 / 35,809

10 Iran 2,00,262 / 9,392 /

1,59,192 / 31,678

11 Germany 1,90,660 / 8,960 /

1,74,400 / 7,300

14 Pakistan 1,65,062 / 3,229 /

61,383 / 1,00,450

17 Bangladesh 1,05,535 / 1,388 /

42,945 / 61,202

103 Sri Lanka 1,950 / 11 /

1,446 / 493

Top 18 impacted Indian States so far: (Total No. of Confirmed case / No. Of

Deaths)

State / Confirmed Cases / Active Case / Recovered /

Deceased

Maharashtra 1,24,331 / 55,652 / 62,773 /

5,893

Tamil Nadu 54,449 / 23,512 / 30,271 /

666

Delhi 53,116 / 27,512 / 23,569 / 2,035

Gujarat 26,198 / 6,412 / 18,167 / 1,619

Uttar Pradesh 16,594 / 6,092 / 9,995 /

507

Rajasthan 14,156 / 2,826 / 10,997 /

333

West Bengal 13,090 / 5,258 / 7,303 /

529

Madhya Pradesh 11,582 / 2,339 / 8,748 /

495

Haryana 9,743 / 4,710 / 4,889 /

144

Karnataka 8,281 / 2,943 / 5,210 /

124

Andhra Pradesh 7,961 / 3,960 / 3,905

/ 96

Bihar 7,290 / 2,143 / 5,098 / 49

Telangana 6,526 / 2,976 / 3,352 /

198

Jammu and Kashmir 5,680 / 2,411 / 3,194 /

75

Assam 5,006 / 1,927 / 3,067 / 9

Odisha 4,677 / 1,366 / 3,297 / 14

Punjab 3,832 / 1,104 / 2,636 / 92

Kerala 2,913 / 1,380 / 1,509 / 22

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

GERMANY, FRANCE, U.K. PRESS IRAN TO PROVIDE ATOMIC SITE ACCESS

The board of the United Nations' atomic watchdog agency on June 19 adopted a

resolution calling for Iran to provide inspectors access to sites where the

country is thought to have stored or used undeclared nuclear material, the

Russian representative said.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's Ambassador to international organisations in

Vienna, tweeted that his country and China had voted against the resolution

that Germany, France and Britain proposed at a meeting of the International

Atomic Energy Agency board.

Earlier this week, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi reiterated concerns

that for more than four months Iran had denied his inspectors access to two

locations "to clarify our questions related to possible undeclared nuclear

material and nuclear-related activities".

Activities at the sites are thought to have been from the early 2000s,

before Iran signed the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Iran maintains

the International Atomic Energy Agency has no legal basis to inspect them.

TWITTER LABELS TRUMP TWEET 'MANIPULATED MEDIA' FOR FIRST TIME

Twitter has labelled a video tweeted by US President Donald Trump as having

"manipulated media" for the first time.

The video shows a black child running away from a white child while playing,

with a fake CNN caption. The caption reads: "Terrified toddler runs from

racist baby", before the video accuses CNN of "fake news".

Twitter's decision to place a large warning label on the video is the latest

escalation in a row between Twitter and the president.

In late May, Twitter added fact-checking verification notices to the

president's tweets for the first time, following up two days later with

hiding some tweets behind a warning.

Trump responded by signing an executive order that seeks to curb the

long-standing legal protections of social media firms.

POMPEO TEARS INTO 'ROGUE ACTOR' CHINA FOR 'ESCALATING' BORDER TENSION WITH

INDIA

The US on Friday criticised the Chinese Army for "escalating" the border

tension with India and described the ruling Chinese Communist Party as a

"rogue actor."

"The PLA (People's Liberation Army) has escalated border tensions with

India, the world's most populous democracy. It's militarising the South

China Sea and illegally claiming more territory there, threatening vital sea

lanes," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

In his virtual address on "Europe and the China Challenge" during the 2020

Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Friday, the top American diplomat said that

for many years, the West, in an era of hope, believed they could change the

Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and improve the lives of the Chinese people

along the way. "Along the way, the CCP took advantage of our goodwill while

assuring us they wanted a cooperative relationship. As (former Chinese

politician) Deng Xiaoping said 'Hide your strength, bide your time.' I've

talked in other venues about why this happened. It's a complicated story.

It's no one's fault," Pompeo said.

THE REST

========

JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA, DIGVIJAYA SINGH AMONG 19 ELECTED TO RAJYA SABHA

Former Congress MP Jyotiraditya Scindia, who joined the BJP earlier this

year, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and ex-Jharkhand Chief Minister Shibu

Soren were among those elected to 19 Rajya Sabha seats on Friday.

All four seats up for grabs in Andhra Pradesh were won by the ruling-YSRCP,

taking the party's strength in the Upper House from two to six.

In Rajasthan, the ruling Congress won two of the three seats that went to

polls, while the Opposition BJP got one.

For two Rajya Sabha seats in Jharkhand, the Opposition Bharatiya Janata

Party candidate Deepak Prakash and ruling party Jharkhand Mukti Morcha

candidate Shibu Soren were elected comfortably while, the Congress candidate

Shahzada Anwar lost the poll.

For Meghalaya's lone seat, W.R. Kharlukhi of the National People's Party won

In Mizoram, Mizo National Front won the single seat up for grabs.

In Manipur, the State's titular king Leisemba Sanajaoba, the BJP candidate,

was declared the winner after a day of high drama. The Congress, which had

fielded, T. Mangi Babu, for the lone Manipur seat had asked the Election

Commission of India to reject two votes. According to ECI officials, it was

decided that the Congress' complaint did not require its intervention.

In Gujarat, BJP bagged three seats and Congress one.

CORONAVIRUS: DELHI L-G MAKES 5-DAY INSTITUTIONAL QUARANTINE MANDATORY

Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal has made five-day institutional

quarantine mandatory for every coronavirus patient asking to be home

quarantined in the national capital---a development that comes after the

central government wrote to states against casually allowing the home

isolation option.

The L-G's new order states that home isolation would be allowed only after a

review of the patient in question at the end of the five-day period.

The central government has written to states warning them against routine

and casual use of home isolation facility for those with COVID-19 infection.

In an urgent warning to states, the Centre said: "Some instances have been

noticed wherein home isolation is allowed in a routine manner in certain

States, and clauses of the revised guidelines are not followed in letter and

spirit".

The government said that its guidelines allow home quarantine only for very

mild and pre-symptomatic COVID-19 patients, provided the patient has a room

to himself with an attached toilet, and that he has an adult attendant.

"Also, the patient shall agree to monitor his health and regularly inform

the health status to the District Surveillance Officer for further follow up

by the surveillance teams".

Meanwhile, the medical condition of Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain

deteriorated Saturday afternoon after he developed a lung infection during

the ongoing treatment for Covid-19.

SUSPENDED J&K DSP DAVINDER SINGH GETS BAIL

A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to suspended Deputy Superintendent of

Jammu and Kashmir Police, Davinder Singh, who was arrested for allegedly

ferrying two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in

January this year.

The court also granted bail to co-accused, Irfan Shafi Mir, a lawyer, who

was arrested along with Singh, Hizbul Mujahideen commander Syed Naveed

Mushtaq and his associate Rafi Ahmad on January 11 by a team of J&K Police.

The court had granted relief to the two accused in a case filed by Delhi

Police Special Cell.

Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana granted bail to Singh and Mir

after he noted that the chargesheet has not been filed and mandatory

statutory period of 90 days has already elapsed. The court granted bail to

the two accused on furnishing personal bond/surety bond in the sum of Rs 1

lakh each with two sureties each in the like amount.

The IO in the case filed a status report before the court and submitted that

"investigation in the instant case has not been concluded yet, hence

chargesheet has not been filed."

FIR AGAINST REPORTER: EDITORS GUILD SAYS IT UNDERMINES FREEDOM OF MEDIA:

The Editors Guild of India on Friday expressed its concern over the

registration of an FIR against Scroll Executive Editor Supriya Sharma and

its Chief Editor over a report published from Varanasi's Domari village,

calling it an "overreaction" that "will seriously undermine freedom of the

media".

Taking cognizance of the FIR, the Guild, in a statement, said the use of the

various Sections of the IPC and the SC/ST Act and the use of "criminal

provisions of the law against journalists has now become an unhealthy and

despicable trend that has no place in any vibrant democracy".

"Worse, the increasing frequency of such misuse of laws by the authorities

is tantamount to shooting the messenger and destroying a key pillar of

India's democracy," the Guild said in a statement, adding that it "needs to

be resisted as well as eliminated."

An FIR was filed against the reporter on June 13, on the basis of a

complaint by Mala Devi, who Sharma had reportedly quoted in the report

titled 'In Varanasi village adopted by Prime Minister Modi, people went

hungry during the lockdown', published on Scroll.in on June 8.

MUKESH AMBANI NOW 9TH RICHEST GLOBALLY AS RELIANCE GOES NET DEBT-FREE

With the market capitalisation of Reliance Industries (RIL) crossing the Rs

11-trillion mark on Friday, its Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani

has become the ninth richest billionaire globally on the Forbes Real-time

Billionaires List with a net worth of $64.6 billion.

In March 2020, Ambani was ranked 21st on Forbes' annual billionaire list,

with a net worth of $36.8 billion.

RIL's shares hit a new all-time high of Rs 1,788.60 on the BSE on Friday

before ending at Rs 1,759.50 (up over 6 per cent) following Ambani's

statement on Friday that the company had become net debt-free ahead of its

March 2021 deadline.

As of March 2020, Reliance had a net debt of Rs 1.61 trillion. The company

managed to turn itself net debt-free after raising Rs 1.68 trillion via a

24.7 per cent stake sale in Jio Platforms and the rights issue.

INDICATORS

Sensex 34,732 (+524), Nifty 10,244 (+153), Trading Value NSE ,(Rs.crores)

82,343

Nasdaq 9,946 (+3) Dow 25,871 (-209), S&P 3,098 (-18)

US$-Rs. 75.95 GBP-Rs. 94.10, Euro-Rs. 85.07, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.67, Can$-Rs.

55.86, Aus$- Rs. 52.08

GBP 0.80 /US$, Euro 0.89 /US$, Jap.Yen 106.88 /US$, Aus$ 1.45 /US$, Sing

1.39 /US$, Bang Taka 83.36 /US$, Can$ 1.35 /US$, Mal Ring 4.27 /US$,

Pak Re 166.04 /US$, Phil Peso 50.04 /US$, Russian Rouble 69.54 /US$, NZ$

1.55 /US$, Thai Baht 30.97 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 26.57 /US$, Norway NOK 9.57

/US$

Bitcoin - USD 9,317

Dollar Index 97.63 Brent Crude 42.19 BDI 1,555

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,743 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,761 / 4,661

Silver (Rs. Per KG) 47,560

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

..And I've knowed some to lay and wait, To git up soon, and set up late, To

ketch some feller they could hate, For goin' at a faster gait. - James

Whitcomb Riley

OFF TRACK

Little Davie watched, fascinated, as his mother smoothed cold cream on her

face..

"Why do you do that, mommy?" he asked.

"To make myself beautiful," said his mother, who then began removing the

excess cream with a tissue.

"What's the matter?" asked Little Davie. "Giving up?"