LADAKH STANDOFF: CHINESE SIDE SAYS PROGRESS MADE, INDIA FOR QUICK END TO

BUILD-UP

India on Thursday said it would continue its meetings with China both at

military and diplomatic levels to resolve the face-offs along the LAC to

mutual satisfaction. "We expect the Chinese side to sincerely follow up and

ensure the expeditious restoration of peace and tranquillity in the border

areas as per bilateral agreements and protocols," said MEA spokesperson

Anurag Srivastava.

The Chinese Foreign Office said that both sides "continue working towards

implementing the consensus reached at the two earlier rounds of

commander-level talks and China welcomes that".

India hoped that the overall situation would be handled in a responsible

manner and that both sides would implement the disengagement understanding

of June 6 sincerely.

Meanwhile, the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) yesterday cleared several

proposals worth close to Rs 39,000 crore that will boost the combat

capabilities of all three services-Army, Navy and the Air Force.

The most prominent of these proposals include missile systems for the three

services, and additional fighter jets for the Air Force. The aircraft will

be bought from Russia, and also from the domestic Hindustan Aeronautics

Limited.

PM MODI, PRESIDENT PUTIN VOW TO STRENGTHEN INDO-RUSSIA TIES

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed

the coronavirus crisis on Thursday and resolved to strengthen the

Indo-Russia ties for jointly addressing the challenges of the post-Covid

world.

During a telephonic conversation, the two leaders agreed to maintain the

momentum of bilateral contacts and consultations, leading to the annual

bilateral summit to be held in India later this year. The prime minister

conveyed his keenness to welcome Putin in India for the bilateral summit.

Putin thanked Modi for the phone call and reiterated his commitment to

further strengthening the special and privileged strategic partnership

between the two countries in all spheres.

An official statement issued by the Russian side said the two leaders

discussed topical issues on the Russian-Indian agenda and confirmed their

mutual commitment to further strengthening the privileged bilateral

strategic partnership and close cooperation both in the bilateral format and

within international organisations and associations.

COVID-`19: NOS. OF PATIENTS IN ICU, ON OXYGEN AND ON VENTILATORS

Of the over 6 lakh COVID-19 cases reported in the country till Thursday,

34,540 patients needed ICU care, 37,505 required oxygen and 9,272 were put

on ventilators, Health Ministry sources said.

They said of the 2,26,947 active cases, 2.53 per cent are in ICU (till 6 pm)

compared to 2.63 per cent the day before, 0.45 per cent are on ventilator

support as against 0.44 per cent as on Wednesday while 3.07 per cent are on

oxygen as against 3.13 per cent as on Wednesday.

According to ICMR, a cumulative total of 90,56,173 samples have been tested

up to July 1 with 2,29,588 samples being tested on Wednesday.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah Thursday emphasised on carrying out more test

for coronavirus using Rapid Antigen Kits, and suggested that focus should be

on reducing death rate by ensuring early hospitalisation of patients.

ITALIAN MARINES WILL FACE PROBE AT HOME; INDIA ENTITLED TO COMPENSATION

The two Italian marines - facing charges of killing two Indian fishermen in

February 2012 - will not be tried in India, and face criminal proceedings in

Italy, said the Permanent Court of Arbitration on Thursday.

The court, based in The Hague, further said New Delhi was entitled to

compensation and asked India and Italy to consult on the amount of

compensation due.

In a close 3:2 vote, the tribunal ruled that the Italian marines enjoyed

diplomatic immunity as Italian state officials under the United Nations

Convention on the Law of Sea. Taking note of the "commitment expressed by

Italy" to resume its criminal investigation into the incident, the tribunal

said India must cease to exercise its jurisdiction.

Known as the Enrica Lexie incident, it took place in February 2012, when the

Italian oil tanker Enrica Lexie, traveling off the coast of Kerala was

approached by an Indian fishing vessel. Two Italian marines onboard fired

what Italy contends were warning shots at the boat. Two fishermen, Ajesh

Binki and Valentine, were killed.

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

(Indian data from covid19india / and World Data from

worldometers.info/coronavirus/ )

Total Cases 6,27,102 (+21,948) / 1,09,84,798 (+1,81,949)

Total Deaths 18,225 (+377) / 5,24,039 (+5,118)

Total Recovered 3,79,902 (+20,006) / 61,40,758 (+2,01,804)

Active Cases 2,28,975 (+1,565) / 43,20,001 (-24,973)

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

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

Cases

1 USA 28,37,189 / 1,31,485 /

11,91,091 / 15,14,613

2 Brazil 15,01,353 / 61,990 /

9,16,147 / 5,23,216

3 Russia 6,61,165 / 9,683 /

4,28,978 / 2,22,504

4 India 6,27,168 / 18,225 /

3,79,902 / 2,29,041

5 Spain 2,97,183 / 28,368 / N/A

/ N/A

6 Peru 2,92,004 / 10,045 /

1,82,097 / 99,862

7 Chile 2,84,541 / 5,920 /

2,49,247 / 29,374

8 UK 2,83,757 / 43,995 / N/A

/ N/A

9 Italy 2,40,961 / 34,818 /

1,91,083 / 15,060

10 Mexico 2,38,511 / 29,189 / 1,42,593

/ 66,729

11 Iran 2,32,863 / 11,106 /

1,94,098 / 27,659

12 Pakistan 2,17,809 / 4,473 /

1,04,694 / 1,08,642

18 Bangladesh 1,53,277 / 1,926 /

66,442 / 84,909

109 Sri Lanka 2,066 / 11 /

1,827 / 228

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

Deaths)

State / Confirmed Cases / Active Case / Recovered /

Deceased

Maharashtra 1,86,626 / 77,260 / 1,01,172

/ 8,178

Tamil Nadu 98,392 / 41,050 / 56,021 /

1,321

Delhi 92,175 / 26,304 / 63,007 / 2,864

Gujarat 33,999 / 7,511 / 24,601 / 1,887

Uttar Pradesh 24,825 / 6,869 / 17,221 /

735

West Bengal 19,819 / 6,083 / 13,037 /

699

Rajasthan 18,662 / 3,284 / 14,948 /

430

Telangana 18,570 / 9,226 / 9,069 /

275

Karnataka 18,016 / 9,404 / 8,336 /

272

Andhra Pradesh 16,097 / 8,586 / 7,313

/ 198

Haryana 15,509 / 4,239 / 11,019 /

251

Madhya Pradesh 14,106 / 2,702 / 10,815 /

589

Bihar 10,682 / 2,610 / 7,994 / 78

Assam 9,435 / 3,311 / 6,107 / 14

Jammu and Kashmir 7,849 / 2,760 / 4,974 /

115

Odisha 7,545 / 2,008 / 5,502 / 35

Punjab 5,784 / 1,488 / 4,144 / 152

Kerala 4,754 / 2,088 / 2,638 / 26

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

NEPAL HOUSES PROROGUED, KP OLI MAY SPLIT PARTY TO REMAIN PM

Nepal was in turmoil Thursday after Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, refusing

to yield to party pressure to step down, got both Houses of Parliament

prorogued without consulting their presiding officers to ward off threats to

his continuance in office.

The move angered his Maoist partners led by former Prime Minister Pushpa

Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' who met President Bidhya Devi Bhandari to protest

Oli's "unconstitutional" action and its instant endorsement by her.

Prachanda and Oli are co-chairpersons of the ruling Nepal Communist Party. A

crucial meeting of the party central committee has been deferred till

Saturday as efforts are being made to keep the party intact.

NCP spokesperson and former Deputy Prime Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha

acknowledged that the party was going through a deep crisis and efforts were

on to keep the unity.

HONG KONG: US PASSES SANCTIONS AGAINST CHINA OFFICIALS

US lawmakers have approved new Hong Kong-related sanctions, after Beijing

imposed a security law that has been widely condemned across the world. The

US measure, which penalises banks which do business with Chinese officials,

was passed unanimously by both the House and the Senate.

It has been sent to President Donald Trump to sign into law.

Critics say China's law ends freedoms guaranteed for 50 years after British

rule ended in Hong Kong in 1997. "The law is a brutal, sweeping crackdown

against the people of Hong Kong, intended to destroy the freedoms they were

promised," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China "deplores and

firmly opposes" the US parliament's unanimous passing of the bill.

CHINA WARNS UK, AUSTRALIA AGAINST EXTENDING HONG KONG CITIZENSHIP PLAN

China warned Britain on Thursday it could retaliate with "corresponding

measures" for London's decision to extend a broader path to citizenship for

the residents of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong was under UK jurisdiction until it was handed over to China in

1997 with a guarantee that Beijing would preserve the city's judicial and

legislative autonomy for 50 years.

The Chinese embassy in London stressed that "all Chinese compatriots

residing in Hong Kong are Chinese nationals".

The British plan covers almost three million Hong Kongers who either have a

British National Overseas passports or are eligible to apply for one. The

Chinese embassy said these people were Chinese nationals as well.

"If the British side makes unilateral changes to the relevant practice, it

will breach its own position and pledges as well as international law and

basic norms governing international relations," it said in a statement. "We

firmly oppose this and reserve the right to take corresponding measures," it

said without elaborating.

Britain had sought closer relations with China after ending its decades-long

membership in the European Union this year. Prime Minister Boris Johnson's

govt also irritated the US administration in January by allowing the Chinese

telecom group Huawei to unroll Britain's speedy new data network.

But Britain is now studying ways it can cut Huawei out of its system

entirely and build up an alliance of European and Asian providers that

reduces China's dominance in the field.

Australian PM Scott Morrison said on Thursday that his cabinet was "very

actively" considering offering citizens safe haven. Zhao urged Australia to

"stop moving further down the wrong path".

THE REST

========

8 POLICE PERSONNEL KILLED IN FIRING BY CRIMINALS DURING RAID IN KANPUR

At least eight police personnel, including Deputy SP Devendra Mishra, were

killed and six were injured after they were fired upon by criminals when a

police team had gone to raid an area in search of history-sheeter Vikas

Dubey. The raid was carried out at around 1 am on the intervening night of

July 2-3 in Bithoor's Dikru village in Chaubepur police station area in

Kanpur.

The deceased include 1 DSP, 3 Sub-Inspector and 4 constables. Four other

policemen, who received bullet shots and were injured in the ambush, were

immediately rushed to a nearby hospital in a critical state.

The police team comprising of 15-16 personnel had gone to nab

history-sheeter Vikas Dubey, who has as many as 60 cases filed against him.

The criminals, as if they had inputs about the police raid, were alert with

arms, had already stationed a JCB machine on the road to block police team's

route. Following the attack, all criminals managed to flee from the spot and

fled into a jungle.

12 JYOTIRADITYA SCINDIA LOYALISTS AMONG NEW MINISTERS in MP

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday expanded his

Cabinet, inducting 28 new ministers, including "12 loyalists" of

Jyotiraditya Scindia, whose high-profile exit from the Congress in March

marked the end of the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government in the state.

Chouhan, who took oath as the CM for a record fourth term before the

COVID-19 lockdown, led a single-man Cabinet till April 21 when five

ministers, including two former Congress MLAs close to Scindia (Tulsi

Silawat and Govind Singh Rajput) were inducted.

Incidentally, those inducted from the Scindia camp today are not MLAs as

they had resigned from the Assembly in March and will now be contesting the

by-polls. Sources say this is the first time in the political history of the

state that so many non-members have been inducted in the council of

ministers.

SMALL CARS, RURAL SALES FUELLING THE AUTO SECTOR RECOVERY IN INDIA

Coming out of lockdown, the Indian automobile sector is drawing a close

parallel with the recovery trend seen in China. If the sale in April was nil

for most manufacturers following stringent lockdown restrictions, almost all

manufacturers reported 80 to 90 per cent dip in domestic sales in May

(compared to same month last year).

In June, however, the pace of decline slowed down and Maruti Suzuki and

Hyundai Motors that together command nearly 70 per cent market share,

announced 53 and 49 per cent decline in sales over that in June 2019.

So, there has been a recovery in month-on-month numbers. While Maruti

announced a 3.8 times jump in June over May, Hyundai too reported over three

times rise in sales in June.

Demand for compact small cars mostly by first-time buyers is driving the car

sales in India besides the pent up demand due to stringent lockdown

restrictions in April and May. Top executives at leading automobile

companies say the new realities of social distancing and scare of

contracting the virus is driving more and more individuals, who were earlier

dependent upon public transport, to buy a car.

While urban areas have been more impacted by Covid-19 and the lockdown,

industry players say that rural India is witnessing a faster recovery.

Both Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai Motors say their enquiries and bookings are

on a steady rise.

While the Indian automotive industry accounts for over 7 per cent of the

country's GDP, it accounts for 22 per cent of the manufacturing GDP.

According to the industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers,

the industry supports more than 3.7 crore employment and with GST

collections of around Rs 1,50,000 crore, it accounts for nearly 15 per cent

of total GST collection of the country in a year. The auto sector is also

one of the biggest recipient of foreign direct investment and between April

2000 and March 2020, the sector has received FDI amounting to $ 24.2

billion.

PRIVATE TRAIN OPERATIONS LIKELY BY APRIL 2023

Private train operations in the country will begin by April 2023, and the

ticket fares in these trains will be competitive with airfares on similar

routes, the Railways said Thursday.

Addressing a press conference online, Railway Board chairman VK Yadav said

private players in passenger train operations would mean a quantum jump in

technology and coaches that run at higher speeds.

The improvement in technology would also mean that the coaches that now

required maintenance after running 4,000 km, would need maintenance after

every 40,000 km, that was either once or twice a month, the Railway Board

chairman said.

His statement came a day after the Railways formally kick-started its plans

to allow private entities to operate passenger trains on its network by

inviting request for qualifications (RFQ) for participation on 109 pairs of

routes through 151 modern trains.

Allaying fears that the Railways network was being handed over to private

parties, Yadav told the Thursday press conference that private participation

in passenger train operations would only be five per cent of the existing

2,800 Mail/ Express trains over the IR.

Yadav said the private operators would also pay fixed haulage charges for

the path, stations, access to railway infrastructure and charges for

electricity consumed. It will also share revenue with Indian Railways

through competitive bidding.

The private entity has to ensure 95 per cent punctuality and record not more

than one failure per lakh kilometre of travel.

ALL MONUMENTS, INCLUDING TAJ MAHAL, QUTUB MINAR TO BE REOPENED FROM JULY 6

All ASI protected monuments will be reopened for the public from July 6 with

entry only through e-tickets, a cap on the number of visitors and mandatory

wearing of masks, the Culture Ministry said on Thursday.

Earlier in June, the ministry had reopened 820 monuments out of the over

3,000 ASI-maintained monuments where religious events take place.

BOLLYWOOD CHOREOGRAPHER SAROJ KHAN PASSES AWAY

Bollywood choreographer Saroj Khan passed away on Friday after suffering a

cardiac arrest in Mumbai. She was admitted to the Guru Nanak Hospital on

late Thursday night.

She was 72 years of age and had recently been discharged from the hospital.

She had earlier complained of breathing difficulties and tested negative for

the novel coronavirus.

With a career spanning over forty years, she had choreographed more than

2000 songs across the board. Her last film as a choreographer was Kalank for

which she won a Filmfare award for best choreography alongside Remo D'Souza.

Saroj Khan's first break as an independent choreographer came with Geeta

Mera Naam (1974). Her collaboration with Madhur Dixit shot her to fame in

films like Tezaab and Beta and others.

She was a recipient of three National Awards for films Devdas, Jab We Met

and Sringaram (Tamil). She won Filmfare Awards for movies like Hum Dil De

Chuke Sanam, Guru, Khalnayak and Chaalbaaz.

'MOST OF US WON'T NEED COVID-19 VACCINE': OXFORD EXPERT

Oxford University professor Sunetra Gupta, an epidemiologist, has been

tagged 'Professor Reopen' for her argument against lockdowns as a

countermeasure against the Covid-19 pandemic. "What we've seen is that in

normal, healthy people, who are not elderly or frail or don't have

comorbidities, this virus is not something to worry about no more than how

we worry about flu," she says.

She said that the vaccine, when it will come into existence, will be used to

support the vulnerable, "most of us don't need to worry about coronavirus,"

she said.

Gupta said that she thinks the coronavirus pandemic will end naturally and

will become part of our lives just like influenza. "Hopefully with a lower

death toll than influenza. I think it is fairly easy to make a vaccine for

coronavirus. By the end of this summer, we should have proof that the

vaccine works," she added.

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54.95, Aus$- Rs. 51.69

GBP 0.80 /US$, Euro 0.88 /US$, Jap.Yen 107.49 /US$, Aus$ 1.44 /US$, Sing

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/US$

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Silver (Rs. Per KG) 50,060

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The best things and best people rise out of their separateness; I'm against

a homogenized society because I want the cream to rise - Robert Frost

OFF TRACK

A dying man smells his favorite oatmeal raisin cookies cooking downstairs.

It takes all the strength he has left but he gets up from the bed and crawls

down the stairs. He sees the cookies cooling on the counter and staggers

over to them. As he reaches for one, his wife's wrinkled hand reaches out,

smacks his and she yells:

"No, you can't have those! They're for the funeral!"