FEW RELATIONSHIPS GLOBALLY MORE VITAL THAN US PARTNERSHIP WITH INDIA, SAYS BLINKEN

The visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday said there were few relationships in the world that were more vital than the one between the US and India.

His discussions with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar touched on regional concerns, multilateral institutions and global issues. Among the many issues the two looked at, Afghanistan, the Indo-Pacific and the Gulf were the most prominent. “It is essential that peace negotiations are taken seriously by all parties. Unilateral imposition of will by any party will never lead to stability nor indeed can such efforts ever acquire legitimacy,” noted Jaishankar.

On Afghanistan, Blinken told his Indian interlocutors that the US would remain engaged in the country even after the troop withdrawal as it was concerned about the Taliban advances.

Jaishankar spelt out India’s redlines: that the outcome in Afghanistan should not be “decided by force on the battlefield”; that there is “broad and deep consensus” on a negotiation that leads to peace and cessation of violence; and that there should be a political settlement.

Blinken also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and NSA Ajit Doval during the day.

MAMATA BANERJEE RALLIES PARTIES AGAINST BJP, SAYS LEADER CLOSER TO POLLS

In the national capital after two years to meet parties, and ostensibly to rally them for an anti-BJP coalition ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Wednesday indicated doors were also open for parties like the BJD and YSRCP, which have been on the fence when it comes to the Narendra Modi government.

Banerjee dodged the question of who would lead such an Opposition front, while acknowledging the Congress’s importance in it. “When elections near, the Opposition parties will decide. The country will fight Narendra Modi. There will be many faces to fight against him,” she said, in an interaction with a group of journalists.

Banerjee, who met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during the day, was specifically asked about the BJD and YSRCP, which have often voted with the government in Parliament. “I have good relations with Naveenji (Patnaik) and Jagan (Mohan Reddy),” she said, emphasising their importance in a future Opposition. Asked about Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, she said: “He is with the BJP right now. If he leaves the BJP, let’s see then.”

Asked what role she would like to play, Banerjee said, “I met Sonia Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal today. I spoke to Lalu Prasad Yadav yesterday. Things will emerge from the talks. There have been some discussions and there will be more concrete discussions once the Monsoon Session of Parliament gets over. Let’s see how things turn out.”

PARL PANEL MEET ON PEGASUS DEFERRED DUE TO BJP MEMBERS' PROTEST

A parliamentary panel meeting that was set to question government officials on Wednesday on the Pegasus spyware issue was postponed due to lack of quorum.

BJP members of the panel who were present in the meeting room didn't sign the attendance register in protest leading to a lack of quorum required for holding the meeting.

The panel's chair, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had said the panel members will question officials from the Information and Technology Ministry and the Home Ministry who will depose before it on the Pegasus issue.

BJP members opposed this alleging that when the Congress is not allowing discussion on this issue in Parliament then it can't be discussed in the committee meeting.

KERALA PARADOX: ONLY 44 PER CENT SEROPREVALENCE

Only 44 per cent of Kerala’s population above the age of six years had so far been infected by the coronavirus, against the national average of over 67 per cent, according to the state-level serosurvey data released by the Government.

This, in effect, means that a much larger proportion of the population in the state is still susceptible to the disease compared to many other states. Also, the number could, at least partially, explain why Kerala is continuing to report a high number of cases.

For the last two days, Kerala has reported over 50 per cent of the national count. The state has been reporting the maximum number of cases in the country for several weeks now.

This seeming dichotomy — very high reporting of cases for a prolonged period, as well as low disease prevalence — can be explained by the fact that Kerala has had a much better record of detecting infections. Earlier serosurveys had shown that while only one out of 26 infections in the country were detected, in Kerala this number was one in five.

The results of the serosurvey show that the disease prevalence was the highest in Madhya Pradesh, where about 79 per cent of the population could already have been infected. This number was 76.2 per cent in Rajasthan, about 76 per cent in Bihar and 71 per cent in Uttar Pradesh.

A 71 per cent seroprevalence among those above six years of age in Uttar Pradesh would mean that about 14 crore people in the state would have been infected. The state has so far reported about 17.1 lakh cases. That would mean that Uttar Pradesh has been able to detect one in over 80 infections, much lower than the national average of one in 26, and Kerala’s one in 5.

KEY COVID NUMBERS

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 3,97,330

New Cases in last 24 hours: 43,204

Recovered in last 24 hours: 38,732

Change in no. of Active cases in last 24 hours: + 3,831

No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 641 (4,22,695)

Daily Tests (Tuesday): 17,36,857

Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 2.5%

Percentage of Population Vaccinated (At Least One Dose / Two Doses): 26.2% / 7.3%

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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CHINA-TALIBAN TIES WARM UP

A Taliban delegation, led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, on Wednesday made a surprise visit to China and held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, during which the Taliban leader termed Beijing as a “trustworthy friend” and assured that the group would not permit “anyone to use” Afghanistan's territory. This is the first meeting between China and the Taliban amid the withdrawal of US and NATO forces from Afghanistan.

The ongoing offensive by the Taliban capturing a significant amount of territory from government forces has sparked concerns in China that the separatist Uygur militant group from its volatile Xinjiang province, the East Turkistan Islamic Movement, (ETIM) would infiltrate through its Afghan borders. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Zhao Lijian, has confirmed at a media briefing that the delegation led by Baradar met Wang at the port city Tianjin located close to Beijing. The ministry also posted photos of Wang with Baradar and his delegation.

During talks, Wang expressed hope that the Taliban could draw a clear line between themselves and the ETIM. Wang said the ETIM was a listed terrorist organisation that threatened territorial integrity.

THERE’S NO RUSSIA AT THE OLYMPICS, BUT ITS ATHLETES ARE WINNING MEDALS IN TOKYO

Russia is not participating in the Tokyo Olympics. And yet Russian athletes have already won 22 medals at the event, including seven golds.

Despite a ban on the country participating in any international sporting event till 2022, 335 Russian athletes are part of the Tokyo Olympics, participating under the ROC banner, which is currently ranked fourth, according to the medal tally.

In 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned Russia from participating in any international events for four years, following doping allegations against athletes from the country.

However, while the country is banned — stopping Russian athletes from participating under the country’s banner and flag, using the country’s name or singing the national anthem — the country’s athletes are participating at the Tokyo event under the ROC banner.

ROC stands for the Russian Olympic Committee, but since the use of the committee name is also prohibited under the ban, the athletes are using the acronym ‘ROC’, which is all that Russian athletes have been allowed to publicly display as the association to which they belong.

Also, only those athletes who are not under any suspension or restriction have been allowed to participate.

THE REST

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OPPOSITION MPs TEAR PAPERS INSIDE HOUSE; BJP SAYS ‘SHAME ON DEMOCRACY’

The BJP Wednesday accused the Opposition of having “damaged the dignity and decorum of the temple of our democracy” after Congress and Left MPs, protesting over the farm laws and alleged Pegasus snooping, tore agenda papers and threw them towards the Chair of the Speaker and Treasury benches in the Lok Sabha.

As BJP MPs demanded action against them, Speaker Om Birla summoned the erring members to his chamber and issued a warning.

Speaking to reporters later, I&B Minister Anurag Thakur said it was the Opposition that was running away from a discussion. “The Opposition doesn’t want to utilise the parliamentary session to discuss important issues. Ministers are not allowed to answer or give statements on the issues raised. All this conduct will ruin the country’s image in front of the world.”

BASAVARAJ BOMMAI TAKES OVER AS KARNATAKA CM

In his first meetings with senior officials in the Karnataka government, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has called for an end to a “chalta hai attitude”, fiscal discipline and creation of a file movement system that will facilitate speedy decision making.

Bommai, who took oath as the 23rd Chief Minister of Karnataka on Wednesday morning, also held a one-man cabinet meeting where he took a few decisions to spotlight the “pro-people, pro-poor” agenda that he intends to pursue in the remaining 22 months of BJP governance in the state.

NOT ABOVE LAW: SC REJECTS KERALA PLEA TO DROP CASES AGAINST MLAs

The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the Kerala Government’s plea for permission to withdraw criminal cases against CPM MLAs who allegedly vandalised the state Assembly in 2015, saying elected representatives were not above law.

“Privileges and immunity are not gateways to claim exemptions from the general law of the land, particularly the criminal law that governs the action of every citizen. To claim an exemption from the application of criminal law would be to betray the trust which is impressed on the character of elected representatives as the makers and enactors of the law,” a Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud said.

The order came on the Kerala Government’s petition seeking permission under Section 321 of the CrPC to withdraw cases against CPM leaders, including state Education Minister V Sivankutty, for alleged vandalism on the floor of the state Assembly in 2015, when the party was in the opposition.

BORDER ROW: ASSAM, MIZORAM AGREE TO DEPLOY NEUTRAL CENTRAL FORCES

The chief secretaries and police chiefs of Assam and Mizoram at a meeting called by the Union Home Ministry in Delhi agreed to the deployment of a neutral central armed police force along National Hghway 306, headed by a senior central police officer to keep peace along the border of the two states.

The meeting also decided that the two states will 'work out arrangement in coordination' with the centre to facilitate the functioning of the central peace-keeping force besides agreeing to continue talks to resolve the border dispute, according to top Mizoram officials.

It also said 'both the state governments should continue discussions mutually to resolve the border issue in an amicable manner'.

CABINET CLEARS DICGC BILL, BANK DEPOSITS UP TO RS 5 LAKH TO BE INSURED

The Union Cabinet yetserday cleared the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (Amendment Bill), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said. She said that as per the bill, depositors of troubled banks would get back amounts below Rs 5 lakh within 90 days, even if a bank is put under moratorium by the RBI.

"As per the bill approved by cabinet, each depositor's bank deposit is insured up to Rs 5 lakh in each bank for both principal and interest. Increase of insured amount from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh will cover 98.3 percent of all deposit accounts and 50.9 percent of deposit value," Sitharaman said.

Sitharaman said this was above the global average. As per her, only 80 per cent of all deposit accounts globally get covered under similar deposit insurance schemes, while only 20-30 per cent of the deposit value gets covered.

GLITCHES CONTINUE BUG I-T PORTAL

Technical glitches continue to affect the functioning of the new income tax portal, restricting taxpayers and practitioners from carrying out tax-related works.

The Income Tax Department had launched the new e-filing portal on June 7. Since then, it continues to face technical issues. Practitioners claim the portal has not been working since its launch in June, the peak time of filing returns.

Even as the deadline for filing the I-T returns is September 30, many want to file it well on time to avoid the last minute rush. There are others who want to avail home or other loans for which the latest ITR is mandatory. Also, taxpayers from whom excess TDS was collected usually file their returns early to get refund on time.

TOKYO OLYMPICS: HOW INDIA'S ATHLETES FARED ON WEDNESDAY

PVSindhu, Deepika Kumari and Pooja Rani kept India's hopes of a second medal alive with scintillating performances that saw them advance to the next round in their respective events at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday.

Reigning World champion Sindhu stormed into the badminton pre-quarter-finals while world No. 1 archer Deepika made it to the pre-quarter-finals of the women's individual archery event and Pooja packed  power in her punches to move into the boxing quarter-finals in her maiden Olympic Games.

Here's a look at the country's athletes' showing at the Games on Wednesday.    

ARCHERY

Men's Individual Elimination:

Tarundeep Rai beat Ukraine’s Oleksii Hunbin 6-4 in Round 1; lost to Israel’s Itay Shanny in shoot-off in Round 2.

Pravin Jadhav beat Galsan Bazarzhapov of Russian Olympic Committee 6-0 in Round 1; lost to Brady Ellison of the United States 0-6 in second round.

Women's Individual Elimination:

Deepika Kumari beat Bhutan's Karma 6-0 in first round; beat Jennifer Mucino-Fernandez of the United States 6-4 in second round

BADMINTON

P V Sindhu beat Hong Kong’s Ngyan Yi Cheung 21-9, 21-16 in women's singles second Group J match.

B Sai Praneeth lost to the Natherlands’s M Caljouw 14-21, 14-21 in men's singles Group D match.

BOXING

Pooja Rani beat Algeria’s Ichrak Chaib in women's 75kg Round of 16 bout 5-0.

HOCKEY (Women)

India lost to Great Britain 1-4 in women's Pool A match.

ROWING

Arjun Lal Jat and Arvind Singh clocked 6:24.41 seconds and finished last in the six-team men's lightweight Double Sculls semi-finals.

SAILING

KC Ganapathy and Varun Thakkar finished 18th, 17th and 19th in the three Men's Skiff 49er races on Wednesday.

DEPLETED INDIA GO DOWN TO SRI LANKA IN SECOND T20

A depleted Indian team, playing with only five batsmen, could not defend a modest target of 133 despite a valiant effort from its players as Sri Lanka kept the three-match series alive with a four-wicket victory in the second T20 International in Colombo on Wednesday.

With nine players unavailable after Krunal Pandya tested positive for COVID-19, India had no option but to play with six specialist bowlers, including one pacer Navdeep Saini, who wasn't even given a single over.

India were forced to field four debutants in the second T20 International after Krunal Pandya tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, resulting in the postponement of the second T20I. It also led to isolation of eight Indian players including Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Deepak Chahar, Manish Pandey, Ishan Kishan, and Krishna Gowtham after they were identified as close contacts, resulting in them missing the remaining two T20Is.

SIMONE BILES’ BAILING OUT IGNITES A TOXIC DEBATE IN AMERICA

The withdrawal of star US gymnast Simone Biles from team and all-round individual events at the Tokyo Olympics ignited a social and political firestorm on Wednesday after right-wing commentators and trolls accused her of letting down her team and her country. Former Olympians, celebrities, and political figures from the liberal side of the spectrum rushed to defend Biles after she was attacked from the white-dominated right for bailing out following a sub-par performance that put the US team’s medal prospect in jeopardy. Widely considered the greatest American gymnast of all time, Biles, who is black, was expected to lead the US to a clutch of team and individual gold medals at Tokyo, after her four-gold medal performance at the Rio 2016 Games, including individual all-around title.

But after stumbles in the early rounds she dropped out of events “to focus on my mental health”, triggering criticism from right-wing commentators, one of whom called her a “selfish sociopath” and a “shame to the country”, and said “we are raising a generation of weak people like Simone Biles”.

Biles’ defenders, however, argued that more recent disclosures of what gymnasts are put through in a win-at-all-cost culture raised questions about whether Strug’s effort was raw courage or coercion by a “hectoring” coach. She was also molested by her team doctor throughout her entire childhood and teenage years.

Biles also found support from the Biden-Harris establishment and many current and former athletes. “Putting your mental health first is hard in normal circumstances. Doing it when the eyes of the world are upon you takes extraordinary strength. Grateful to @Simone_Biles for demonstrating what strength looks like on and off the mat,” tweeted US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

It's the tragedy of the world that no one knows what he doesn't know, and the less a man knows, the more sure he is that he knows everything. - Joyce Cary

OFF TRACK

The man was on his way out of the house to meet with a cantankerous client, and he was dreading it. The look on his face must have given him away because his five-year-old daughter asked what was wrong.

"I'm going to meet a mean woman who always yells at Daddy," he told her.

"Oh," she said. "But mom's home."