PM MODI'S STRONG PITCH TO US INVESTORS

Pitching India's rise as a country with "increasing openness" and one that

the world "can trust", Prime Minister Narendra Modi told US investors

Wednesday that there has "never been a better time to invest in India".

Modi made these remarks in an address to the US-India Business Council's

India Ideas Summit. Pointing to India's rise, Modi said, "The rise of India

means a rise in trade opportunities with a nation that you can trust, a rise

in global integration with increasing openness, a rise in your

competitiveness with access to a market which offers scale. And a rise in

your returns on investment with the availability of skilled human

resources."

"India is emerging as a land of opportunities. Let me give you one example

of the tech sector. Recently, an interesting report came out in India. It

said for the first time ever, there are more rural Internet users than even

urban Internet users. Imagine the scale! There are about half a billion

active Internet users in India now. Half a billion connected people. Does

this sound huge to you? Hold your breath. Because, there are over half a

billion more people who are being connected. Opportunities in technology

also include opportunities in the frontier technologies of 5G, big data

analytics, quantum computing, block-chain and Internet of things," he said.

"American investors often look out for the perfect timing to enter a sector

or a country. To them, I would like to say: there has never been a better

time to invest in India," he said. "India is contributing towards a

prosperous and resilient world through the clarion call of an 'Atmanirbhar

Bharat'. And, for that, we await your partnership."

"Today, there is global optimism towards India. This is because India offers

a perfect combination of openness, opportunities and options. Let me

elaborate. India celebrates openness in people and in governance. Open minds

make open markets. Open markets lead to greater prosperity. These are

principles on which both India and the USA agree," he said.

He also spoke on India's rise in the Ease of Doing Business rankings of the

World Bank. He said each year, India is reaching record highs in FDI, adding

that FDI inflows in India in 2019-20 were 74 billion dollars, an increase of

20 per cent over the previous year.

He highlighted that even during the pandemic, India has attracted foreign

investment of more than 20 billion dollars between April and July this year.

RAJNATH ASKS IAF TO BE READY FOR ANY EVENTUALITY

In a significant message to the Indian Air Force, Defence Minister Rajnath

Singh on Wednesday alluded to the ongoing efforts for military de-escalation

along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and urged the IAF to be ready for any

eventuality. Singh was addressing the Air Force Commanders' Conference

(AFCC) at the Air Headquarters in new Delhi.

In his address, Singh praised the rapid deployment of IAF assets at forward

locations in response to the prevailing situation in eastern Ladakh, saying

it had sent a strong message to the adversaries.

Chief of the IAF, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, assured that the IAF was

well prepared to counter short-term as well as strategic threats. "(We are)

evenly poised to counter any aggressive action by the adversary," said the

IAF chief. He emphasised the need to focus on the ability to handle

situations at a short notice for ensuring a robust response. All commands

were praised in ensuring deployment of force and the IAF chief termed it as

"prompt and laudable".

'LIKE-MINDED', INDIA CAN PROTECT INTEREST AGAINST CHINA: MIKE POMPEO

Calling India one of the "few trusted and like-minded countries", US

Secretary of State Michael R Pompeo on Wednesday said, while referring to

the June 15 clash between Chinese and Indian troops in Ladakh, that he is

confident they will be able to protect their interests with "concerted

efforts".

Addressing the India Ideas Summit, organised by the US India Business

Council, Pompeo said: "Recent clashes initiated by the PLA are just the

latest examples of the CCP's unacceptable behaviour. We are deeply saddened

by the death of 20 Indian service members (in Ladakh's Galwan Valley). I am

confident that with our concerted efforts we will be able to protect our

interests,"

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, speaking at the same event, said

that the US needs to "learn to work.with a more multipolar world". "I think

the US really has to learn to work in a sense with a more multipolar world,

with more plurilateral arrangements, go beyond alliances with which really

it has grown up over the last two generations. There will be issues on which

our convergence will be more, somewhere it could be less. I think the quest

in the last 20 years and I see that continuing into the future is really to

find more common ground."

Pompeo said the US has never been more supportive of India's security, and

called New Delhi "an important and a key pillar" of US President Donald

Trump's foreign policy. "We don't just interact on a bilateral basis. We see

each other for what we are - great democracies, global powers, really good

friends," Pompeo said. "India is one of a few trusted, like-minded countries

whose leaders I call on a regular basis for counsel and collaboration on

issues that span continents. I'm grateful in particular to minister

Jaishankar and his friendship, for his sage advice."

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

(Indian data from covid19india / and World Data from

worldometers.info/coronavirus/ )

Total Cases 12,39,270 (+45,590) / 1,53,73,616 (+2,80,370)

Total Deaths 29,890 (+1,120)*** / 6,30,193 (+10,728)

Total Recovered 7,84,267 (+31,874) / 93,49,201 (+2,38,578)

Active Cases 4,25,113 (+12,596) / 53,94,222 (+31,064)

TOP IMPACTED NATIONS SO FAR: (AND SOME OF INDIA'S NEIGHBOURS)

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

Cases

1 USA 41,00,875 / 1,46,183 /

19,42,637 / 20,12,055

2 Brazil 22,31,871 / 82,890 /

15,32,138 / 6,16,843

3 India 12,39,684 / 29,890 /

7,84,266 / 4,25,528

4 Russia 7,89,190 / 12,745 /

5,72,053 / 2,04,392

5 South Africa 3,94,948 / 5,940 /

2,29,175 / 1,59,833

6 Peru 3,66,550 / 17,455 /

2,52,246 / 96,849

7 Mexico 3,62,274 / 41,190 /

2,31,403 / 89,681

8 Chile 3,36,402 / 8,722 /

3,09,241 / 18,439

9 Spain 3,14,631 / 28,426 / N/A

/ N/A

10 UK 2,96,377 / 45,501 / N/A

/ N/A

11 Iran 2,81,413 / 14,853 /

2,44,840 / 21,720

12 Pakistan 2,67,428 / 5,677 /

2,10,468 / 51,283

17 Bangladesh 2,13,254 / 2,751 /

1,17,202 / 93,301

111 Sri Lanka 2,752 / 11 /

2,064 / 677

TOP IMPACTED INDIAN STATES SO FAR

State / Confirmed Cases / Active Case / Recovered /

Deceased

Maharashtra 3,37,607 / 1,36,980 /

1,87,769 / 12,556

Tamil Nadu 1,86,492 / 51,765 / 1,31,583

/ 3,144

Delhi 1,26,323 / 14,954 / 1,07,650

/ 3,719

Karnataka 75,833 / 47,066 / 27,239 /

1,519

Andhra Pradesh 64,713 / 31,763 / 32,127 /

823

Uttar Pradesh 55,588 / 20,825 / 33,500 /

1,263

Gujarat 51,485 / 11,916 / 37,341 / 2,228

West Bengal 49,321 / 18,450 / 29,650 /

1,221

Telangana 49,259 / 11,155 / 37,666 /

438

Rajasthan 32,334 / 8,387 / 23,364 /

583

Bihar 30,066 / 9,981 / 19,876 / 208

Haryana 28,186 / 6,117 / 21,697 /

372

Assam 27,745 / 8,325 / 19,351 / 66

Madhya Pradesh 24,842 / 7,236 / 16,836 /

770

Odisha 19,835 / 5,946 / 13,750 / 139

Jammu and Kashmir 15,711 / 6,831 / 8,607 /

273

Kerala 15,033 / 8,821 / 6,162 / 46

Punjab 11,301 / 3,391 / 7,641 / 269

***A WORD ABOUT SURGE IN NO. OF COVID DEATHS ON WEDNESDAY

A total of 444 deaths were added to Chennai's COVID-19 toll on Wednesday,

based on the recommendations of a Death Reconciliation Committee. As per the

guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research, all deaths of COVID-19

patients are to be declared as COVID-19 deaths, irrespective of the

underlying or antecedent cause of death. In line with these guidelines, the

committee was constituted to reconcile COVID-19 deaths by comparing the

details of deaths obtained from hospitals with those obtained from burial

grounds.

With the inclusion of the 444 deaths, the city's toll increased to 1,939,

while the State's figure rose to 3,144.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

U.S. Orders China to Close Houston Consulate, Citing Efforts to Steal Trade

Secrets

The United States has abruptly ordered China to close its consulate in

Houston, accusing diplomats of aiding economic espionage and the attempted

theft of scientific research as the Trump administration sharply escalates

its moves against China.

China vowed to retaliate, calling the action illegal. Hours after the

administration issued its order on Tuesday, consulate employees burned

papers in open metal barrels in a courtyard of the Houston building,

prompting police officers and firefighters to rush to the area.

It was unclear what had immediately prompted the crackdown on the consulate,

which must close by Friday, although the State Department said China was

directing "massive illegal spying and influence operations."

David R. Stilwell, who oversees policy for East Asia and the Pacific at the

State Department, said in an interview that the Houston consulate had a

history of engaging in "subversive behavior" and was the epicenter of

research theft in the United States. He gave few details to support that

assertion, though other American officials released a document with more

information on Wednesday night.

U.K. TO OPEN CITIZENSHIP PATH TO HONG KONGERS FROM JANUARY

Britain's announced Wednesday that it will open a new special pathway to

obtaining U.K. citizenship for eligible Hong Kongers as of January, taking

another step toward solidifying a policy denounced by China.

In a statement, the Home Office said holders of the British National

Overseas passport and their immediate family members can move to the U.K. to

work and study. The change to immigration rules was introduced after Beijing

imposed a new, sweeping national security law on Hong Kong.

"Today's announcement shows the U.K. is keeping its word. We will not look

the other way on Hong Kong, and we will not duck our historic

responsibilities to its people," British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab

said.

The Chinese embassy said in a statement posted on its website that Beijing

would respond strongly, adding that Britain should immediately correct its

mistakes.

THE REST

========

RAJASTHAN SPEAKER GOES TO SC

A day after the Rajasthan High Court asked him to defer action on the

disqualification notices issued to former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot

and his 18 MLAs till July 24, Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C P Joshi moved the

Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Seeking an interim stay on the High Court's direction, Joshi, in his

petition, said it was "illegal, perverse and in derogation of the powers of

the Speaker under the Constitution". A Bench of Justices Arun Mishra, B R

Gavai and Krishna Murari will hear the matter today.

Joshi told reporters that while he did not want a confrontation with the

judiciary, the law is clear that courts cannot intervene before the Speaker

decides on the disqualification.

He said he had only issued showcause notices to the MLAs on a complaint

filed by the Congress chief whip. "Showcause notice is simply to get

information. That is standard practice. When a complaint is received, a

showcause notice is issued. I have not taken any decision on it," he said.

"A Speaker is a Constitutional authority. And he is given ample powers by

law - the disqualification law passed by Parliament, duly endorsed by court,

and all examples till today is that no court has intervened in between," he

said.

Asked if a member could be disqualified for not attending a legislature

party meeting, Joshi said: "I have not dealt with all that.on the merit of

it. I have only issued showcause notices on a complaint received by me."

BHOOMI PUJAN ON AUGUST 5, PM MODI TO BE THERE, 200 IN ALL: RAM TEMPLE TRUST

The Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, formed to facilitate construction

of a Ram temple at the site where the Babri Masjid once stood, announced

Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be attending the "bhoomi

pujan" of the temple site in Ayodhya on August 5. Swami Govind Dev Giri,

treasurer of the Trust, told media persons that the Trust had invited the

Prime Minister for the "bhoomi pujan" and he had accepted it and would be

reaching Ayodhya on August 5.

Keeping in mind the social distancing requirement, a total of 200 people,

including 150 invitees, would be allowed for the "bhoomi pujan", he said.

THIRD UNIT AT KAKRAPAR ATOMIC POWER PLANT ACHIEVES CRITICALITY

Almost 25 years after the last unit was commissioned at Kakrapar Atomic

Power Plant, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) has

achieved criticality of a third unit of 700 MWe at the plant in Tapi

district which is fully based on indigenous technology.

This is a landmark event in India's domestic civilian nuclear programme

given that KAPP-3 is the country's first 700 MWe (megawatt electric) unit,

and the biggest indigenously developed variant of the Pressurised Heavy

Water Reactor (PHWR).

The operationalisation of India's first 700MWe reactor marks a significant

scale-up in technology.

The 700MWe reactors will be the backbone of a new fleet of 12 reactors to

which the government accorded administrative approval and financial sanction

in 2017, and which are to be set up in fleet mode.

As India works to ramp up its existing nuclear power capacity of 6,780 MWe

to 22,480 MWe by 2031, the 700MWe capacity would constitute the biggest

component of the expansion plan. Currently, nuclear power capacity

constitutes less than 2% of the total installed capacity of 3,68,690 MW

(end-January 2020).

CAN FINAL-YEAR EXAMS BE BASED ON MCQ, ASSIGNMENTS: HC ASKS UGC TO CLARIFY

The Delhi High Court Wednesday asked the UGC to clarify if the final-year

examinations by the universities be conducted based on Multiple Choice

Questions (MCQ), open choices, assignments and presentations, instead of

long form exams.

The guidelines issued by the UGC on July 6 mention only about the three

modes of conducting examinations-online, offline and blend of both.

During the hearing, the UGC submitted that the guidelines do not permit

internal assessment for evaluating final year students as it puts

credibility of the system at stake.

The high court was hearing a plea challenging Delhi University's decision to

hold Open Book Examination (OBE) for final year undergraduate courses which

will be in long form exams.

The Delhi University contended that they were holding online exams as the

UGC guidelines make it mandatory to hold final year examinations.

Advocate Akash Sinha, appearing for petitioner Anupam, said he was

challenging the manner in which exams are being conducted and sought that

there should be an alternative method of exams and OBE is not the only

option with the DU as per the UGC guidelines.

When the UGC counsel said DU can undertake a blended form of examination,

the judge shot back, "Look at the condition. ICMR says that COVID-19 is

going to be at its peak in November. How do you expect them to conduct the

offline exam by September?"

The petitioner's counsel pointed out that many universities have opted for a

creative mode of examination, including MCQs and assignment-based exams and

the traditional mode is very time taking and OBE is prima facie troublesome.

WORK-FROM-HOME RELAXATION FOR IT FIRMS NOW TILL DECEMBER 31

In a major relief for IT companies, BPOs and their employees, the Centre has

extended the relaxations of norms for such companies to allow 'work from

home' for their staff till December 31, 2020.

The relaxations to the norms brought about for the convenience and safety of

the IT sector employees amid the pandemic were due to end on July 31.

The industry has hailed the decision.

Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji tweeted: "Thank you to the government for their

tremendous support on the new ways of working from day 1. This has helped

tremendously in further elevating our standing and responsiveness globally."

COVID IMPACT: SC RULES OUT PHYSICAL COURT HEARINGS FOR NOW

Ruling out the possibility of physical court proceedings for the time being

due COVID-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said a seven-judge

panel would review the situation after four weeks.

A Bench of Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said the panel would take a call

on resuming physical hearings only after reviewing the pandemic situation.

The top court has been holding virtual courts through video conferencing

since March 25 following announcement of a nationwide lockdown due to

COVID-19. Even after lifting of lockdown, it decided to continue with the

virtual court hearings till further orders.

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

One of the longest-running and popular series on Indian television, Taarak

Mehta. returned to the small screen Wednesday after a four-month gap.

With shooting of television serials gradually resuming with a set of safety

guidelines, the cast and crew are learning to negotiate a new normal. Social

distancing has replaced the easy bonhomie of yore with some actors even

carrying their own makeup kits while lockdowns and face shields make their

way into scripts and storylines.

As the lockdown restrictions ease, the industry is slowly hobbling back to

activity. On Tuesday, Kapil Sharma shared a photograph of two men in PPE

suits applying make-up on him while a teaser promises that his show will be

back soon. On Sony, new episodes of India's Best Dancer, a reality show,

were aired on the weekend. A bunch of other shows also returned on Sony on

Monday.

INDICATORS

Sensex 37,872 (-59), Nifty 11,133 (-30), Trading Value NSE ,(Rs.crores)

65,668

Nasdaq 10,706 (+26) Dow 27,006 (+165), S&P 3,276 (+19)

US$-Rs. 74.37 GBP-Rs. 94.56, Euro-Rs. 85.95, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.24, Can$-Rs.

55.35, Aus$- Rs. 53.11

GBP 0.78 /US$, Euro 0.86 /US$, Jap.Yen 107.01 /US$, Aus$ 1.39 /US$, Sing

1.38 /US$, Bang Taka 83.08 /US$, Can$ 1.34 /US$, Mal Ring 4.25 /US$,

Pak Re 167.12 /US$, Phil Peso 49.31 /US$, Russian Rouble 70.88 /US$, NZ$

1.50 /US$, Thai Baht 31.55 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 27.57 /US$, Norway NOK 9.12

/US$

Bitcoin - USD 9,496

Dollar Index 94.93 Brent Crude 44.31 BDI 1,594

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,868 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,970 / 4,870

Silver (Rs. Per KG) 60,400

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Men fail much oftener from want of perseverance than from want of talent. -

William Cobbett

OFF TRACK

A retiring farmer in preparation for selling his land, needed to rid his

farm of animals. So he went to every house in his town.

To the houses where the man is the boss, he gave a horse. To the houses

where the woman is the boss, a chicken was given.

He got toward the end of the street and saw a couple outside gardening.

"Who's the boss around here?" he asked.

"I am." said the man.

"I have a black horse and a brown horse," the farmer said, "which one would

you like?"

The man thought for a minute and said, "The black one."

"No, no, no, get the brown one," the man's wife said.

"Here's your chicken," said the farmer.