COVID R-NUMBER RISING IN EIGHT STATES AND UTS, CAUTIONS GOVT

Sounding a Covid-19 alarm all over again, the Centre said Tuesday the fact that the reproduction number, a key metric measuring how fast the pandemic is spreading, has risen beyond 1 in eight states and Union Territories, is “truly a cause of concern”, and indicated the possibility of a further rise in cases in the coming days.

Dr V K Paul, head of the Covid-19 task force, said the rising reproduction number, or R-value, coupled with the dominant presence of the highly infectious Delta variant, meant that the pandemic is still “raging” in India, and is far from over. He made these remarks on the day the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said there are eight states and UTs in the country the R-value has risen above 1: Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir (1.4); Lakshadweep (1.3); Tamil Nadu, Mizoram, Karnataka (1.2); Kerala and Puducherry (1.1).

“We have to remember that this number had come down to 0.6 and below. If it is rising in some states, then it is truly a cause for concern. It shows that the virus wishes to expand and we must curb it,” he said.

He also expressed concern over just above 50 per cent vaccination coverage in the most vulnerable age group. “In the 45-60 age group, 52 per cent have received their single dose and 19.4 per cent have received the second dose; in above 60 years, 55.6 per cent have received first and 27 per cent have received the second dose. Advanced age is a risk factor,” he said.

Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said India recorded weekly positivity of less than 2 per cent for the first time in the past three months: Between July 27 and August 2, the weekly positivity rate stood at 1.98 per cent. “However, there are limited areas and districts where high case positivity is being reported and 44 districts are reporting more than 10 per cent positivity rate,” Agarwal said.

The Ministry said that in the week ending August 1, 57 districts in the country reported more than 100 daily cases as compared to 107 districts in the week ending July 1. The Ministry highlighted that 18 districts in the country are reporting an increasing trend in daily new cases during the last four weeks.

“It is important to understand that 47.5 per cent cases of the country are coming from these 18 districts. Specifically, ten districts from Kerala, in the last one week, contributed to 40.6 per cent cases,” Agarwal said.

These districts are Malappuram, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Kasaragod, Pathanamthitta, Wayanad and Idukki in Kerala; Ahmednagar, Solapur and Beed in Maharashtra; Chandel and Noney in Manipur; Lower Subansiri in Arunachal Pradesh; South West Khasi Hills in Meghalaya; and Aizawl in Mizoram.

Paul said: “It is a mixed picture. The districts reporting more than 100 cases are going down; there is also a decrease in high positivity districts. There is an overall decline in the positivity rate. However, there is a signal that new districts are getting added in high positivity rate districts.”

On Tuesday, Parliament was informed that the production capacity of Covaxin is projected to be increased from 25 million doses per month to around 58 million doses per month.

KEY COVID NUMBERS

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 4,04,248

New Cases in last 24 hours: 42,545

Recovered in last 24 hours: 36,646

Change in no. of Active cases in last 24 hours: +5,338

No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 561 (4,25,789)

Daily Tests (Sunday): 16,49,295

Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 1.8%

Percentage of Population Vaccinated (At Least One Dose / Two Doses): 28.0% / 7.9%

RAHUL GANDHI TAKES THE LEAD TO RALLY OPPOSITION

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Tuesday took his attempts to rally the Opposition together one step further by chairing a breakfast meeting with leaders and MPs of like-minded parties. This was his first such interaction with the Opposition without Congress president Sonia Gandhi present.

On Tuesday, the carefully planned interaction over breakfast with around a hundred Opposition MPs from 15 parties including the Congress, at Rahul’s invitation, was followed by a surprise cycle rally to Parliament. Earlier, Rahul had attended two meetings of the Opposition where the parties agreed to coordinate their protests in Parliament.

In the evening, the Congress declared Tuesday as “a historic day”, saying “this is the trailer for 2024”. Rahul put out a video of his engagement with the Opposition leaders prepared by his team.

At the meeting, he said, “We represent 60% of the voice of this country… and we are treated as if we represent nobody. When the government shuts us up in Parliament, humiliates us… not just humiliating us as Members of Parliament… they are humiliating and shutting up the voice of the people of India and the majority of the voice of India.”

Seeking Opposition unity, Rahul added, “The more this voice unites… the more powerful this voice will become and more difficult it will become for the BJP to suppress it and the RSS to suppress it.”

Leaders from the Trinamool Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena, DMK, CPM, CPI, RJD, JMM, Samajwadi Party and National Conference, besides the IUML, RSP, KCM and Sharad Yadav’s LJD were present at the meeting, apart from the Congress’s Kharge, Chowdhury, KC Venugopal, Anand Sharma and P Chidambaram.

WILL SAFEGUARD INDIAN PROJECTS, SAYS TALIBAN

The Foreign Office is yet to react to the Taliban stating that it was not going to threaten the economic projects in Afghanistan of any country, including India provided it stopped providing firepower support to the Ashraf Ghani-led government in Kabul.

The Taliban spokesman made all the right noises in the interview by denying that the outfit viewed India through the lens of Pakistan. The Taliban wanted "good relations with India as an important country in the region", he assured.

This is the first time the Taliban has been reportedly conciliatory towards India.

Without commenting on the genuineness or sincerity of the message conveyed through an interview by Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, a source pointed out that the statement comes from a considerably low ranking member as compared to Taliban delegation members that visited Beijing, Moscow and Tehran.

“But before we take a stand on India, India is providing military assistance to our opponents, even reports that it has sent some of its pilots for airstrikes to support the Kabul administration, which is against our people and needs to change,” the Taliban spokeman cautioned.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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BRITISH NAVY ALERT ON LIKELY SHIP HIJACK OFF UAE COAST

The British navy warned on Tuesday of a “potential hijack” of a ship off the coast of the UAE in the Gulf of Oman, without elaborating. The incident comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers and as commercial shipping in the region has found itself caught in the crosshairs. Most recently, the US, the UK and Israel have blamed Iran for a drone attack on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman that killed two people. Iran has denied involvement.

The British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations initially warned ships on Tuesday that “an incident is currently underway” off the coast of Fujairah. Hours later, they said the incident was a “potential hijack”, but provided no further details. Shipping authority Lloyd’s List and maritime intelligence firm Dryad Global both identified the vessel involved as Panama-flagged asphalt tanker Asphalt Princess.

Earlier, six oil tankers announced around the same time via their Automatic Identification System trackers that they were “not under command”, according to MarineTraffic.com. One of the vessels later began moving. An Oman Royal Air Force Airbus C-295MPA, a maritime patrol aircraft, flew in circles for hours over the waters, according to FlightRadar24.com. Apparently responding to the incident, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh called the recent maritime attacks “completely suspicious”. He denied that Iran was involved. “Iran’s naval forces are ready for help and rescue.”

As per latest reports, MV Asphalt Princess was heading into the congested approach to the Strait of Hormuz

HERAT CELEBRATES TALIBAN ‘RETREAT’

A public uprising against the Taliban has started in the western Afghan city of Herat after government forces repulsed an assault by the militant group. Herat, capital of the eponymous province, was the first city feared to fall to the Taliban as they had reached close to the government offices. The latest deployment of forces by Kabul helped the Afghan soldiers and private militia headed by former warlord Muhammad Ismail Khan to drive the militants out of key parts of the provincial capital. Until lately, the militants had engaged government troops in a street-to-street fight.

Officials in Herat said that government forces had managed to push back Taliban fighters from several areas of the city, including near the vital airport. “Afghan security forces plus resistance forces launched a big operation in the west of the city,” said spokesman for Herat’s governor.

On Monday night, the residents of the city, sensing the Taliban retreat, marched on the streets of Herat chanting “Allahu Akbar (God is Great)”. The locals had announced their support for the government forces and vowed to defend the province. Monday was the sixth day of fighting in Herat. The move was welcomed by Afghans in other regions including Kabul, who joined in by creating the hashtags “Herat uprising” and “Allahu Akbar”.

THE REST

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MONSOON SESSION: GOVT, OPPOSITION PARTIES REFUSE TO BUDGE ON PEGASUS

At the breakfast meeting hosted by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Opposition parties spelt out the bottom line: If the government wants to run the rest of the session, it will have to agree to a debate on Pegasus, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi renewed his attack on the Opposition, terming repeated adjournments forced by it “an insult to the Constitution... to democracy and to the public”, suggesting there is no change in the government’s stance — that the Pegasus issue is irrelevant.

The government says the Opposition is wasting the collective time of Parliament by not allowing it to function and merely wants an issue to disrupt the two Houses. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said in a statement in Parliament that checks and balances against the kind of snooping alleged by the Opposition is impossible in India’s legal framework.

TMC MP Derek O’Brien tweeted that the government was passing laws at the speed it takes to assemble “papri chaat”. The PM called his remarks “derogatory”. Modi also criticised the conduct of TMC MP Santanu Sen, who snatched the IT minister’s papers from his hand, as he was about to make a statement on the Pegasus scandal. MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said: “If a dozen Bills are passed in the Rajya Sabha amid uproar... is this a parliamentary system? Government should answer this first...”

AFTER ‘PAPRI CHAAT’ JIBE, LS PASSES 2 BILLS WITHOUT DEBATE, RS ONE

Ahead of Tuesday’s Parliamentary session, it had emerged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had taken umbrage at opposition leaders’ conduct in Parliament, and Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien’s ‘papri chaat’ jibe.

On Tuesday, despite the prime minister terming O’Brien’s remarks as being an insult to the nation, the government pushed through three bills in Parliament in about 30 minutes without any discussion.

The Lok Sabha passed the Essential Defence Services Bill, 2021, without a discussion. The bill was passed through voice vote amid opposition protests. The bill is aimed at preventing the employees of the government-owned ordnance factories from going on a strike, with violators likely to attract a fine and a jail term. There are about 70,000 staff in about 41 ordnance factories across the country.

Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, “The Bill snatches the democratic rights of workers in ordnance factories to strike.”

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the government had engaged the representatives of all unions across essential defence establishments. “The provisions of the Bill may not need to be invoked as it would be invoked under special circumstances only for a limited period,” he added.

Two hours later, the treasury benches pushed through The Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2021, clause-by-clause in a record 10 minutes. This bill was also passed through a voice vote amid protests from the opposition.

It was no better in the Rajya Sabha. The House passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2021, in about 20 minutes, following a brief discussion and amid a ruckus created by opposition parties.

PM HAILS OLYMPICS SQUAD

Lauding the performance of Team India at the Tokyo Olympics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that they showcased “New India’s” “new confidence”, and such “confidence comes when systems change and become transparent”.

The PM will invite India’s Olympic contingent to the Red Fort as special guests on August 15.

Addressing an event in Dahod, via video conference, to mark Chief Minister Vijay Rupani’s five years in office, Modi said: “This time, the highest number of Indian players have qualified for the Olympics. We must not forget the fact that we have achieved this while fighting the worst pandemic of the last 100 years. There are sports in which our players have qualified for the very first time.”

“Our players haven’t just qualified, they are giving tough fights to better ranked players… The zeal, passion and spirit of Indian players is at the highest level today. This confidence comes when right talent is identified and encouraged. This confidence comes when systems change and become transparent. This new confidence is becoming the hallmark of New India,” he said.

UAE LIFTS BAN ON TRANSIT FLIGHTS, INCLUDING FROM INDIA AND PAKISTAN

The United Arab Emirates will on Thursday lift a ban on transit flights, including from India and Pakistan, the National Emergency and Crisis Management Authority (NCEMA) said on Tuesday.

The Gulf state, a major international travel hub, had banned passengers from many South Asian and African states travelling through its airports this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

NCEMA said on Twitter that passengers travelling from countries where flights had been banned would be able to transit through its airports from August 5 as long as they present a negative PCR coronavirus test taken 72 hours prior to departure.

99.04 PER CENT STUDENTS PASS AS CBSE DECLARES CLASS 10 RESULT

Girls outshone boys by a slender margin of 0.35 per cent while 99.04 per cent students passed the class 10 exams, the results which were declared by the CBSE on Tuesday.

According to the CBSE data, 57,824 students have scored above 95 per cent marks, while 2,00,962 candidates have scored between 90 and 95 per cent.

A total of 17,636 candidates have been placed under compartment.

The board exams were cancelled this year in view of the aggressive second wave of Covid-19. The result has been announced on the basis of an alternate assessment policy. According to the policy, while 20 marks for each subject were for internal assessment as every year, 80 marks were calculated on basis of the students' performance in various tests or exams throughout the year.

VODA IDEA LENDERS FRET OVER ‘TOO BIG TO FAIL’ TELCO GIANT

A day after Kumar Mangalam Birla’s letter warning that Vodafone Idea (VIL) may reach an “irretrievable point of collapse” became public, banks are worried about the fate of the telecom major which, they say, is “too big to fail”.

Lenders, both Indian and global, have an exposure of Rs 1.8 lakh crore. A large part of this is in the form of guarantees. Some private lenders with a funded exposure have already started making provisions. However, the bulk of the exposure is to public sector banks.

If VIL fails to repay its dues to the government and these guarantees are invoked, it would immediately turn into debt and would soon be classified as a non-performing asset. The hit on public sector banks will not be as large as their exposure because in recent years, lenders have been demanding a substantially higher cash margin from Vodafone for their guarantees. IDBI Bank is understood to have up to 40% margins for the guarantees it has extended. But even then it will be large enough to wipe out profits for many.

OLYMPICS: HOW INDIA'S ATHLETES FARED ON TUESDAY

India had a disappointing Tuesday at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing on the losing side in all events its athletes competed in.

In athletics, shot-putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor and javelin thrower Annu Rani finished way down the order.

In wrestling, Sonam Malik lost to Mongolia’s Bolortuya Khurelkhuu after a 2-2 scoreline in first round of the women's Freestyle 62kg event.

The biggest of all disappointments was in Men’s Hockey semi-final. India's hopes of snatching gold at the Olympics after 41 years went up in smoke as they were beaten 2-5 by Belgium.

The Belgians scored thrice from penalty-corners and a 'stroke' to snatch a berth in the final.

Alexander Hendrickx (19th, 49th, 53rd minutes), the tournament's leading scorer, registered a hat-trick while Loick Luypaert (2nd minute) and John-John Dohmen (60th) were also on target as the defending Olympics silver-medallists made their second successive entry to the final.

For India, who led 2-1 at one stage, Harmanpreet Singh scored from a penalty-corner and Mandeep Singh from a field goal.

India will take on Germany, who lost 1-3 to Australia in the other semi-final, in the bronze medal play-off on Thursday.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Scientists were rated as great heretics by the church, but they were truly religious men because of their faith in the orderliness of the universe. - Albert Einstein

OFF TRACK

A guy walks into a mini-supermarket in the USA:

“I want to buy an automatic rifle with telescopic aim and 14,000 bullets of ammo, and one bottle of penicillin.

Store clerk: Sure sir, but sorry, I can’t sell you the penicillin without a prescription!!