FIRST I2U2 SUMMIT TOMORROW, ONLINE

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually participate in the first summit of the ‘I2U2’ grouping on Thursday along with US President Joe Biden, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Israel PM Yair Lapid.

The leaders will discuss joint economic projects to bolster cooperation in the area of trade and investment.

Called the ‘West Asia Quad’, it was conceptualised during the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the four countries on October 18, 2021. The ‘I2U2’ also has sherpa-level interactions regularly to discuss possible areas of cooperation, said the Ministry of External Affairs.

The group will create “new frameworks that aim to harness unique American capabilities to enable partners to work more closely together,” said a US statement.

SANCTIONS-PROOF CORRIDOR TO RUSSIA VIA IRAN TAKES OFF

Iran on Tuesday held an elaborate ceremony to welcome the first Russian cargo bound for India via the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a sanctions-proof land-sea transportation corridor passing through a dozen countries.

Iran says the transportation of cargo through the north-south corridor has entered the operational phase after completing a trial phase in June when commodities were transited between Russia and India.

The project remained in the early stages of execution for many years. But due to new conditions and the disconnection of Russia and Europe, this corridor has come under the spotlight once again for the purpose of carrying cargo between India and Russia. Indicating the importance of this initiative, the Russian cargo of 39 containers was welcomed into Iran by First Vice-President Mohammad Mokhber along with ministers for transport, oil, industry and agriculture. A train had left Chekhov station on July 6 and travelled 3,800 km through Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to enter Iran. The cargo will be transported to Bandar Abbas port in southern Iran through a 1,600 km rail route to finally be sent to India’s Nhava Sheva Port via sea.

Mokhber said the transit capacity of Iran has increased to 20 million tons and further investments and planning could increase it to 300 million tons. The north-south corridor consists of three route sections, namely East, West and Middle. Iran and Russia are also cooperating in the maritime sector to use the Caspian Sea to shorten the transit route from Russia to India. Earlier this week, the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) announced that it has assigned 300 containers to transport goods between Russia and India.

ROW OVER ANGRY 'LIONS' REPLACING BENIGN ONES

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the national emblem atop the new Parliament building, another controversy erupted, this time over the “facial expression and built” of the Ashokan lions on it.

While on Monday it was the ceremony that triggered a massive row with Opposition parties accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of making it a “personal event with rituals of one particular religion”, they yesterday accused the govt of “distorting” the national emblem by replacing “graceful and regally confident” Ashokan lions with a “menacing, teeth-baring and aggressive” version. Union Minister Hardeep Puri’s argument about the difference in size of the Sarnath original and the replica atop Parliament failed to convince rival parties who insisted it to be yet another “Constitutional violation” by the Modi govt.

Observers termed the controversy as yet another example of the “growing mistrust and differences between the govt and the Opposition”. “Beauty is famously regarded as lying in the eyes of the beholder. So is the case with calm and anger. The original Sarnath Emblem is 1.6m high whereas the emblem on the top of the new Parliament building is huge at 6.5m in height,” Puri said, insisting that “if an exact replica of the original were to be placed on the new building, it would barely be visible beyond the peripheral rail”.

“One needs to appreciate the impact of angle, height and scale when comparing the two structures. If one looks at the Sarnath Emblem from below, it would look as calm or angry as the one being discussed,” he wrote.

Heeraman Tiwari, JNU professor at the Centre for Historical Studies, School of Social Sciences, too called it “a perfect replica”. “Anyone questioning its design has to be ignorant of ancient Indian iconography and history. As a student of history of ancient India, Buddhism and Hinduism, I can confirm that this emblem fully conforms to its original design. Don’t know what the fuss is all about,” argued Tiwari.

Detractors, however, claimed that not only were the lions in the replica more “muscular with wider chests”, but a closer look also showed “an unnecessary teeth-baring aggression”.

Taking a swipe, Lalu Prasad Yadav’s RJD said the lions in the Sarnath Emblem had gentleness about them while “those built during Amrit Kaal show a man-eating tendency to consume everything, humans, ancestors and the country. Each symbol reflects the inner thinking of a human being”. Slamming the govt, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said “to completely change the character and nature of the lions on Ashoka’s pillar at Sarnath is nothing but a brazen insult to India’s national symbol!”

TMC’s firebrand MP Mahua Moitra tweeted: “Truth be told, transition from Satyameva Jayate to ‘Singhameva Jayate’ has long been completed in spirit”. Historian S Irfan Habib objected saying: “Why should our lions look ferocious and full of angst?”

INDIA MOTHER OF ALL DEMOCRACIES: PM MODI AT BIHAR ASSEMBLY CENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asserted that India was the “mother of all democracies”, drawing upon the legacy of ancient republics like Vaishali, and expressed satisfaction over the nation’s march towards becoming a “mature democracy”.

Modi made the remark at a function in Patna organised on the occasion of centenary celebrations of Bihar Assembly as part of which he unveiled a commemorative pillar, planted a sapling of ‘Kalpataru’ tree and laid foundation stones of a guest house and a library.

“Many people say that democracy came to India because of western influence. By doing so they undermine the legacy of Bihar,” said Modi, recalling events like Champaran Satyagrah of Mahatma Gandhi to make his point.

“It is not a mere coincidence that the centenary celebrations of assembly premises are being held simultaneously with the Amrit Mahotsav (75th anniversary) of the Independence,” said the PM.

He also stated that the nation was “on its way to becoming a mature democracy” which was evident from “better attendance of lawmakers inside Parliament and state assemblies” and “discarding of obsolete laws”.

The PM’s address was preceded by speeches of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha and Leader of Opposition Tejashwi Yadav.

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST / July 13

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Tuesday  16,906

Active Cases 1,32,457 (+1,414)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 5,25,519 (30)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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RISHI SUNAK, SUELLA BRAVERMAN ON SHORTLIST OF 8 IN BRITISH PM RACE

Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Attorney General Suella Braverman are the two Indian-origin members of Parliament to make the initial shortlist of eight candidates in the race to replace Boris Johnson as Conservative Party leader and British Prime Minister at the close of nominations on Tuesday evening.

The others to make it on the ballot paper include Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, new Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt, former Cabinet ministers Kemi Badenoch and Jeremy Hunt and Tory backbencher Tom Tugendhat.

Sunak, 42, who formally launched his campaign earlier, remains the frontrunner in the race with reportedly the highest number of MPs behind him.

Earlier, Braverman, 42, said she has "got the numbers" to make the leadership race ballot. Braverman, whose parents emigrated to Britain in the 1960s from Kenya and Mauritius respectively, has been Member of Parliament for Fareham since 2015.

Just as the nominations closed, the two Pakistani-origin hopefuls -- former Health Secretary Sajid Javid and Foreign Office Minister Rehman Chishti -- had withdrawn from the race, not having met the 20-MP mark.

The candidates needed the backing of at least 20 MPs to make the first cut and all eight will now face the first round of voting on Wednesday and only those with the backing of at least 30 MPs -- or just under 10 per cent of Tory MPs -- will progress to round two.

There is provision for further ballots next week if the race to get to the final two candidates does not conclude by the end of this week.

The deadline to narrow down the shortlist to just two remaining candidates is July 21.

The new Tory leader will be announced on September 5 and address his/her first Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament on September 7.

SRI LANKA PRESIDENT FLEES TO MALDIVES AHEAD OF EXPECTED RESIGNATION

Sri Lanka's embattled president flew out of his country to the Maldives early Wednesday, in a probable prelude to his resignation after months of widespread protests against his island nation's worst-ever economic crisis.

As president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa enjoys immunity from arrest, and he is believed to have wanted to go abroad before stepping down to avoid the possibility of being detained.

He, his wife and a bodyguard were among four passengers on board an Antonov-32 military aircraft which took off from Sri Lanka's main international airport, immigration sources said.

His departure had been stymied for more than 24 hours in a humiliating stand-off with immigration personnel in Colombo.

He had wanted to fly to Dubai on a commercial flight, but staff at Bandaranaike International withdrew from VIP services and insisted that all passengers had to go through public counters.

The presidential party were reluctant to go through regular channels fearing public reactions, a security official said, and as a result, missed four flights on Monday that could have taken them to the United Arab Emirates.

At one point on Tuesday the group headed to a naval base with a view to fleeing by sea.

Rajapaksa's youngest brother Basil, who resigned in April as finance minister, missed his own Emirates flight to Dubai early Tuesday after a tense standoff of his own with airport staff.

Basil -- who holds US citizenship in addition to Sri Lankan nationality -- tried to use a paid concierge service for business travellers, but airport and immigration staff said they had withdrawn from the fast track service. "There were some other passengers who protested against Basil boarding their flight," an airport official said. "It was a tense situation, so he hurriedly left the airport."

Speaker Abeywardena is expected to publicly announce President Rajapaksa's resignation today.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's political parties have stepped up efforts to form an all-party govt and subsequently elect a new President on July 20 to prevent the bankrupt nation sliding further into anarchy.

CHINA LOCKS DOWN CITY OF 300,000 OVER SINGLE COVID CASE, SAYS REPORT

Hundreds of thousands of people were under lockdown in a small Chinese city Tuesday after just one case of Covid-19 was detected, as Beijing’s strict no-tolerance virus strategy showed no sign of abating.

China stays glued to a zero-Covid policy, crushing new outbreaks with snap lockdowns and onerous travel curbs despite mounting public fatigue and damage to the economy.

Authorities in several regions have imposed a range of restrictions as they struggle to tamp down fresh flare-ups driven by Omicron variant.

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UDDHAV ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR MURMU IN PRESIDENTIAL POLLS

Shiv Sena will support NDA’s presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu, party president Uddhav Thackeray said on Tuesday. Thackeray said the Sena is announcing support to Murmu without any pressure.

"Tribal leaders of my party told me that this was the first time that a tribal woman is getting the chance to become the President, he said. Actually, going by the present political atmosphere, I should not have backed her. But we are not narrow minded," he said.

Sena MP Sanjay Raut said Shiv Sena had earlier backed UPA presidential nominees like Pratibha Patil and Pranab Mukherjee. We believe in backing people in the national interest, he said.

After getting the support of some regional parties like the Biju Janata Dal, the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party, the AIADMK, the TDP, the Janata Dal-Secular, the Shiromani Akali Dal and now the Shiv Sena, the vote-share of NDA nominee Droupadi Murmu has already crossed 60 per cent.

It was around 50 per cent at the time of her nomination.

HC SLAMS GOVT’S 1-PAGE REPLY ON PM-CARES

The Delhi high court took exception on Tuesday to the Centre filing a one-page reply on “such an important issue” as the PM Cares Fund in response to a PIL seeking transparency in its functioning.

The HC pointed out that the issue concerning the PM-CARES Fund is “not so simple” to merit a one-page reply and asked the Centre to file a “detailed and exhaustive” response in the matter.

“You have filed a reply. One-page reply to such an important issue? Nothing beyond that?. . . There is not even a whisper of what the senior advocate (of the petitioner) is arguing. . . The issue is not so simple. We want an extensive reply,” a bench comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said.

In his plea, filed last year, petitioner Samyak Gangwal, represented by senior advocate Shyam Divan, had sought to have the PM-Cares Fund declared as a “State” under Article 12 of the Constitution and to direct the fund to disclose its audit reports online periodically.

CONGRESS SIGNALS STATES RULED BY IT MAY LIBERALISE BAIL LAW

A day after the Supreme Court said “there is a pressing need” for a bail law in the country to “streamline the grant of bails”, the Congress on Tuesday signaled that party-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh could enact amendments, which will liberalise the bail law.

Alleging that the ruling BJP is trying to rule through fear and control through coercion, the main opposition party said the Supreme Court’s observations in that context is a “much needed guidance”.

“We have seen, over the last 7 years, egregious executive action, on flimsy grounds, invoking usually inapplicable provisions like sedition, UAPA etc. The ruling party govts, both at the Centre and in many states, have been the most frequent defaulter in this regard. Often they are fully aware of the abuse of legal provisions they are indulging in but equally apply the principle that the process is the punishment and the end result be damned. Tardiness or hesitation of courts through bail intervention in this regard exacerbates the problem,” senior Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi said at an AICC briefing.

POLICE SETS UP SIT TO PROBE CASES AGAINST ALT NEWS' ZUBAIR ACROSS UP

The Uttar Pradesh police on Tuesday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) for a "transparent" and expeditious probe into cases lodged against Alt News co-founder Mohammad Zubair in various districts of the state. The SIT has been asked to conduct the probe expeditiously and submit a charge sheet in the court.

Separate FIRs have been lodged against Zubair in Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar and Hathras districts on charges of hurting religious feelings, making sarcastic remarks on news anchors, disrespecting Hindu gods and inflammatory posts, officials in Lucknow said.

INDIA’S ELDERLY ON THE WAY TO OUTNUMBER THE YOUTH

India’s favourable demographic dividend is at an inflection point of sorts, with the population share of the youth starting to taper off even as the share of the elderly is expected to steadily surge during 2021-2036. This is as per a report, titled ‘Youth in India 2022’  released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

Citing the findings from the Report of Technical Group on Population Projections, 2020, this report said youth in the age group of 15-29 years comprise 27.2 per cent of the population for 2021, which is expected to decrease to 22.7 by 2036.

The proportion of the population aged under 15 years is projected to decline, the elderly in the population is expected to increase, the report said.

COURT'S "SERIOUS VIEW" WARNING OVER FALSE CASES BY WOMEN AGAINST HUSBANDS

The Delhi High Court Tuesday said a serious view needs to be taken of incidents of false cases filed against husbands and their entire families, taking undue advantage of the women centric law.

The court's observations came in a matter where a false incident of the suicide of a woman. It noted that while the woman was alive, false information regarding her suicide was given after which a case was lodged against her in-laws and her husband was arrested.  

Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta said, that if false implication by fabricated omnibus allegations against entire family in the course of matrimonial disputes and differences, is allowed, it may lead to further misuse of the process of law and assume serious proportions.”  

OVAL ODI: INDIA SCORE A THUMPING WIN OVER ENGLAND

Jasprit Bumrah produced a devastating display of fast bowling on his way to career best six-wicket haul to set up India's 10-wicket hammering of England in the first ODI in London on Tuesday.

Bumrah ended with envious figures of 6 for 19 in 7.2 overs as India skittled out England for 110, their lowest against the visitors, after opting to bowl in overcast conditions.

Skipper Rohit Sharma (76 not out off 58) and Shikhar Dhawan (31 not out off 54), who was playing his first competitive game since the IPL, steered India home with an unbeaten 114-run stand off 18.4 overs.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The strong man holds in a living blend strongly marked opposites. Seldom are the humble self-assertive, or the self-assertive humble. But life at its best is a creative synthesis of opposites in fruitful harmony. - Martin Luther King

OFF TRACK

A woman was horrified to see a little boy smoking on the street. She walked up to him and said, "Do your parents know you smoke?"

The child answered, "Lady, does your husband know you speak to strange men?"