PM UNVEILS NATIONAL EMBLEM ATOP NEW PARLIAMENT BUILDING, OPP SLAMS ‘SHOW’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday unveiled the national emblem that has been placed atop the new Parliament building in a special ceremony also attended by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Union Housing Minister Hardeep Puri.

The ceremony, however, triggered a political row with opposition parties accusing the Prime Minister of making it a personal event and questioning the Constitutional propriety of the PM unveiling the emblem atop the Parliament building.

Work on the new Parliament, a ground plus two-storey triangular-shaped building, is expected to be completed before the Winter Parliament session.

“Honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji inaugurated the national emblem installed on the top of the new building of Parliament. While the new Parliament House will fulfill the aspirations of a new India, this national symbol will continue to inspire us to keep the unity, integrity and sovereignty of India intact,” Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla tweeted.

“Parliament and the national emblem belong to the people of India and not one man. Imagine if the leaders of all major parties were present at the inauguration today, swearing to uphold the Constitution. But why ruin the photo for our Shahenshah?” tweeted Congress deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi.

“The Constitution unambiguously separates the three wings of our democracy — the Executive (government), the Legislature (Parliament and state assemblies) and the Judiciary. The President summons Parliament. The Prime Minister is the head of the Executive. The Legislature has its independent role to perform, amongst others, to legislate laws, keep the Executive accountable and answerable. This constitutional separation of powers between the three wings is being subverted by the head of the Executive,” the CPM said in a statement.

“Opposition parties questioning the unveiling ceremony should understand the administrative process. Right from its design to funds and constructions supervision, entire work is being done by the urban development department. Even the foundation laying was done by the prime minister,” BJP’s chief spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni said.

He said once the construction work is completed, the building will be handed over to the parliament administration. “It is unfortunate that the opposition parties have come out with another set of unfounded allegations, which smacks of their political motive,” Baluni said.

CONGRESS DEMANDS OVER BORDER ISSUES WITH CHINA

Congress has demanded a two-day debate in Parliament on all the outstanding border issues with China. MP Gaurav Gogoi on Monday demanded a press conference by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to explain the current situation along the LAC.

The opposition led by congress has been demanding the restoration of the status quo that prevailed along the LAC prior to May 5, 2020 at all costs.

Addressing a press conference, Gaurav Gogoi, the deputy leader of Congress in Lok Sabha, said, "More than two years after the border crisis with China began in eastern Ladakh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strategy can be summed up with DDLJ: Deny, Distract, Lie, Justify. Speaking at an all-party meeting on 19 June 2020, only four days after we lost 20 brave Indian soldiers in Galwan, the PM gave China a clean chit, saying: “Na yahan koi hamari seema main ghus aya hai, na hi koi ghusa hua hai.” Yet somehow India has lost control of 1,000 square kilometres of territory where our troops could earlier patrol but are now either blocked by Chinese troops or are no longer able to enter because of disengagement agreements."

Gogoi further claimed that previous Congress governments had a clear policy to repel Chinese intrusions. A quick, focused counter that creates bargaining space and facilitates Chinese withdrawal. This was done in Nathu La (1967), Sumdurong Chu (1986) and Chumar (2013) — leading in the third case to a Chinese pull-out from Depsang after three weeks, he said.

"After its initial blunders, this government also did well to authorise the Indian Army to occupy positions in the Kailash Range south of Pangong Tso on the night of August 29-30, 2020. However, the prime minister lost his nerve and gave up these advantageous positions in February 2021 without insisting on a full Chinese withdrawal and a return to the status quo. Former Corps Commander Major General Raj Mehta (Retd.) described this premature withdrawal as a grave mistake," he added.

INDIA TO SURPASS CHINA AS MOST POPULOUS IN 2023, SAYS UN

The UN on Monday projected that India would surpass China as the most populous country in 2023 and the world population would hit the 8 billion mark by November 15 this year.

In other major projections with policy implications for nations, the 27th edition of the UN’s World Population Prospects-2022, released on the World Population Day yesterday, says that the number of women will equal those of men by 2050. By then, it says, there will also be more than twice as many people aged 65 or above than children under-5 globally.

The report says that India’s population stands at 1.412 billion today against China’s 1.426 billion, but is projected to rise to 1.668 billion in 2050, far ahead of China’s 1.317 billion.

Importantly, in 2020, the global population growth rate fell under 1 per cent per year for the first time since 1950 with projections suggesting the world’s population could grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100.

Life expectancy reached 72.8 years in 2019, an increase of almost 9 years since 1990. Further reductions in mortality could result in average longevity of around 77.2 years globally in 2050. Life expectancy at birth for women exceeded that for men by 5.4 years globally, with female and male life expectancy standing at 73.8 and 68.4, respectively.

In 2021, the average fertility of the world’s population stood at 2.3 births per woman over a lifetime, having fallen from about 5 births per woman in 1950. Global fertility is projected to decline further to 2.1 births per woman by 2050.

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST / July 12

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Monday  13,615

Active Cases 1,31,043 (+330)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 5,25,474 (20)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

AMID CHAOS, PARTIES IN SRI LANKA TAKE STEPS TO ELECT NEW PRESIDENT

The Sri Lankan Parliament will elect the new president to succeed Gotabaya Rajapaksa on July 20, Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena announced on Monday. The decision was taken during an all-party meeting held earlier in the day. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has already said that he would step down after a new government is formed.

Gotabaya is yet to resign but the Speaker has said he had informed him on Saturday that he would quit on July 13. Parliament will then convene on July 15 to announce the vacancy and meet again on July 19 to accept the nominations for the post. A parliamentary ballot will be held on July 20 to elect the new President, said the Speaker. The Sri Lankan Constitution stipulates that in the absence of a President and PM, the Speaker will serve as acting President for a maximum of 30 days.

Gotabaya had appointed Wickremesinghe as PM in May after his elder brother Mahinda Rajapaksa was forced to resign due to popular protests. The whereabouts of the President, the former PM and their family members, many of whom were Cabinet ministers, is unknown.

Meanwhile, the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka dismissed reports that claimed India was sending troops to Colombo to bail out the Rajapaksas. “These reports are not in keeping with the position of the Government of India,” it said.

RUSSIA EXPANDS FAST-TRACK CITIZENSHIP FOR ALL UKRAINIANS

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Monday expanding a fast-track procedure of obtaining Russian citizenship available to all Ukrainians, yet another effort to expand Moscow’s influence in war-torn Ukraine. Until recently, only residents of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as residents of the southern Zaporizhzhia and the Kherson regions, large parts of which are now under Russian control, were eligible to apply for the simplified passport procedure.

Ukraine’s foreign ministry condemned the decree. “The mentioned decree is another encroachment on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, incompatible with the norms and principles of international law,” the ministry said.

The passport announcement came as Russian shelling of Kharkiv killed at least six people on Monday and injured 31 others, officials said. Hours earlier, Russian troops launched three missile strikes on the city, which one official described as “absolute terrorism.

THE REST

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FIRST PIC OF EARLIEST GALAXIES FORMED AFTER BIG BANG BY WEBB TELESCOPE

The clearest image to date of the early universe, going back 13 billion years, has been released - and it doesn't disappoint. The stunning shot, released in a White House briefing by President Joe Biden, is overflowing with thousands of galaxies and features some of the faintest objects observed, colorized in blue, orange and white tones.

The image, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful to be placed in orbit, covers a patch of the sky "roughly the size of a grain of sand held at arm's length by someone standing on earth", NASA administrator Bill Nelson said.

"We are looking back at more than 13 billion years. The light that you are seeing on one of these little specks has been travelling for 13 billion years," he said. That makes it just 800 million years younger than the Big Bang, the theoretical flashpoint that set the expansion of the known universe in motion some 13.8 billion years ago.

Releasing the image, US President Joe Biden said, "Today is a historic day... This is a historic moment, for America and all of humanity.

AIADMK EXPELS OPS, PICKS EPS AS INTERIM CHIEF

Tamil Nadu’s main Opposition party and BJP’s ally AIADMK yesterday elected Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) as the interim general secretary, vesting in him full powers to helm the organisation and expelled O Panneerselvam (OPS)—the man who stood for late J Jayalalithaa as the Chief Minister twice—accusing him of “being close to DMK leaders and acting against the interests of the party”.

Ahead of the general council meeting in a marriage hall, violence involving the supporters of Palaniswami (EPS) and Panneerselvam (OPS), who are bitter rivals, broke out in and around the AIADMK headquarters in Chennai after which the premises was sealed by authorities. Some people also reportedly sustained injuries.

GOA CONGRESS AVERTS CRISIS, DISSIDENT MLAS SAY 'ALL IS WELL'

The Congress appears to have averted a possible split in its legislative wing in Goa for the time being, as on Monday it claimed the support of seven of the 11 party MLAs in the BJP-ruled state which saw assembly polls just four months ago.

A day after five out of the 11 MLAs went incommunicado, Goa Congress chief Amit Patkar said the number of MLAs with the party has risen to seven -- two more than Sunday's count -- and the party has also sought the disqualification of a couple of legislators.

These so far 'out of reach' MLAs attended the monsoon session of the state assembly which began on Monday and claimed there was "nothing wrong" in the opposition party.

12 OF UDDHAV'S MPS READY TO CROSS OVER: BJP MINISTER DANVE

Union minister and BJP leader Raosaheb Danve on Monday claimed 12 MPs of Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena are in touch with the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde faction and are ready to cross over.

Danve also said the Shinde faction is the true Shiv Sena as he has the support of two-thirds of total (55) MLAs. "I am confident that the Supreme Court and the Election Commission will rule in favour of the Shinde faction," he said when asked about which faction will be allotted the Shiv Sene'a bow and arrow poll symbol.

In a relief to Shiv Sena MLAs of the Uddhav Thackeray faction, the Supreme Court on Monday asked newly-elected Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar not to proceed with the plea seeking their disqualification which was sought by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's group on the ground of them defying the party whip during the trust vote and the election of the speaker.

Earlier in the day, 13 Lok Sabha MPs of the Shiv Sena physically attended a key meeting held at Uddhav's private residence 'Matoshree' in Mumbai on the presidential elections and a majority of them suggested supporting Murmu.

POPULATION IMBALANCE SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED, COULD LEAD TO ANARCHY: ADITYANATH

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday told officials that while enforcing population control measures, they should keep in mind population balance and religious demography, saying otherwise it could lead to chaos and anarchy.

Speaking at a function to mark the World Population Day in Lucknow, Adityanath said, “When we talk about family planning and population stabilization, we have to keep in mind that population control programme should go ahead, but the situation of jan sankhiki asuntalan (population imbalance) should not arise… It should not be that the rate of increase of population of a group of people is more and their percentage is more, while in the stabilization of the population of some people who are native residents, we maintain the population balance through awareness and enforcement.”

ABU SALEM MUST BE RELEASED ON 25-YEAR TERM COMPLETION: SUPREME COURT

Gangster Abu Salem, a convict in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, will be a free man after spending 25 years in prison as the Supreme Court today ruled that the Centre should honour the terms of India-Portugal extradition treaty that formed the basis of his extradition.

A Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, however, made it clear that Salem’s detention period in Portugal in relation to a passport fraud case can’t be considered as part of the 25-year term.

The 25 year sentence will end in Nov 2030.

SC SENTENCES MALLYA TO 4-MTH JAIL, ASKS HIM TO RETURN $40M

The Indian Supreme Court on Monday sentenced fugitive former liquor baron Vijay Mallya, holed up in London, to four months’ imprisonment and ordered him and his three US-based children to return $40 million, which was contemptuously siphoned out by Mallya, within four weeks with 8% interest.

More than five years after he was found guilty of contempt charges, an SC bench said it was proceeding to sentence him in absentia since Mallya neither showed remorse nor tendered any apology. “We impose a sentence of four months and fine in the sum of Rs 2,000 upon the contemnor. In case the amount of fine is not deposited within the time stipulated, the contemnor shall undergo a further sentence of two months,” the bench said.

ELON MUSK'S ALARM OVER TWITTER BOTS TAKES THE LID OFF ADVERTISING FRAUDS

Elon Musk’s decision to drop the idea of acquiring Twitter over purported under-reporting of fake accounts due to the use of bots has opened a can of worms on what is a growing and crucial problem —advertisers who put in money based on these falsified numbers (which is the mainstay revenue of these platforms) are making losses; they are paying for bots in the guise of viewers.

mFilterIt — a global digital ad fraud detection and protection company in India — says search engines like Google have the lowest average ad fraud rate of 10-12 per cent, based on the inference arrived at while working with clients that use these platforms.

This means 10-12 per cent of the ad viewership is generated by machines.

But the average ad fraud rate on Google Ads Network and Facebook Audience Network (where they tie up with other digital platforms to insert their impressions through a revenue-share agreement in which generally 70 per cent share goes to the website and 30 per cent to the social media company) is higher at 18 per cent.

On the popular YouTube and other over-the-top channels based on data, the rate is 17 per cent.

Says Dhiraj Gupta, co-founder and chief technology officer, mFilterIt, “It’s a big problem faced not by Twitter alone, but across all digital platforms. The technology (tech) behind creating a bot has become so simple and easy that its use is proliferating with unattended impact as has happened with Twitter.”

SUNIL GAVASKAR BACKS OUT-OF-FORM VIRAT KOHLI

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar backed out-of-form Virat Kohli, saying that it was too early to worry about Kohli’s place in India's squad for the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. Gavaskar admitted that while Kohli is going through a lean patch with the bat, Rohit Sharma and other players have struggled to perform as well.

Kohli's place in the T20 side is being questioned repeatedly by the experts, including former greats like Kapil Dev and Virender Sehwag, although skipper Rohit Sharma has firmly backed his long-time colleague.

"See, I cannot understand that when Rohit Sharma does not score runs no one talks about it. It is the same with other players as well. There is a saying that form is temporary, class is temperament. See, the kind of template they are adopting (in T20Is) where they have to swing the bat from ball one, you will succeed and fail," Gavaskar said.

Gavaskar believes that the ODI format is a chance for Virat Kohli to regain his form. However, as per the latest reports, Kohli is set to miss the first ODI against England today due to a groin injury.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing. - Blaise Pascal

OFF TRACK

A store manager overheard a clerk saying to a customer, "No, ma'am, we haven't had any for some weeks now, and it doesn't look as if we'll be getting any soon."

Alarmed, the manager rushed over to the customer who was walking out the door and said, "That isn't true, ma'am. Of course, we'll have some soon. In fact, we placed an order for it a couple of weeks ago."

Then the manager drew the clerk aside and growled, "Never, never, never, never say we don't have something. If we don't have it, say we ordered it and it's on its way. Now, what was it she wanted?"

"Snow."