INDIA ON TRACK FOR SANCTIONS WAIVER FROM US FOR BUYING RUSSIA’S S-400

The US House of Representatives has passed by voice vote a legislative amendment seeking to exempt India from a law that sanctions nations for purchasing military hardware from Russia.

Authored and introduced by Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna, the amendment wants the Biden administration to use its authority to exempt India from the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) in order to deter aggressors like China.

The amendment is the most significant piece of legislation for US-India relations out of Congress since the US-India nuclear deal. Ro Khanna, indian-american congressman

While New Delhi got waiver, the US slapped sanctions on Turkey for buying S-400 system and also banned sales of an advanced F-16C and its modernisation kits to Turkey

Though the Senate is yet to take up the issue, the fact that it was not debated separately means that it may have a smooth run in the other House as well. Specifically, Ro Khanna sought a legislative amendment seeking a waiver to India against CAATSA sanctions for its purchase of the S-400 missile defence system from Russia.

“The US must stand with India in the face of escalating aggression from China… and ensure that India can defend itself along the Indian Chinese border,” said Khanna.

ASSAM, ARUNACHAL INK PACT TO END BORDER ROW

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday inked a pact to end the decades-old border dispute between the two states, and they agreed in principle on restricting the number of contested villages to 86 instead of 123.

The two CMs announced in separate tweets that they met at Namsai in Arunachal Pradesh and signed the agreement.

"We have decided to restrict the 'disputed villages' to 86 instead of 123. Based on our present boundary, we'll try to resolve the rest by September 15, 2022," Sarma tweeted.

The border dispute between the two states was seven-decades-old, but sadly no earlier govts showed the political will to resolve it, Khandu said in a Twitter post and thanked the Narendra Modi govt for its guidance in addressing the issue.

Sarma also tweeted: "Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and guided by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, we could achieve this landmark in resolving our long-pending border disputes. This is a milestone in the history of our friendship and brotherhood."

NO DHARNAS, STRIKES IN PARLIAMENT HOUSE, SAYS NEW RAJYA SABHA CIRCULAR

Demonstrations, dharnas, fast or religious ceremonies can no longer be held in the precincts of Parliament House, a new circular by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat states.

The circular on dharnas comes amid Opposition outrage over the "gag order" on using certain words in Parliament, and has sparked criticism from the Opposition Congress.

The new bulletin, which has been issued by Rajya Sabha Secretary General P C Mody ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament beginning 18 July, said the kind cooperation of members is solicited.

Congress general secretary and chief whip of the party in Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh took to Twitter to attack the govt.

"Vishguru's latest salvo D(h)arna Mana Hai!," he said, sharing a copy of the circular.

NCP president Sharad Pawar slammed the decision of prohibiting demonstrations, calling it an attack on democratic rights of elected representatives. He said Opposition parties are meeting in New Delhi on Saturday to discuss the issue and frame a collective stand.

The monsoon session of Parliament is beginning on July 18.

WE NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR NEW COVID-19 WAVES: WHO CHIEF SCIENTIST

Be prepared for fresh COVID-19 waves, WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan has warned, amid the onset of new variants that are more transmissible, immune evasive and growing concerns about greater hospitalisations.

There is mounting evidence that suggests that Omicron subvariants –BA.4 and BA.5 – are infecting people who have been vaccinated.

“We need to be prepared for these #COVID19 waves—each new #variant will be more transmissible & immune evasive—higher numbers infected will translate into greater hospitalisations & sickness. All countries must have a data driven plan to quickly respond to changing situations,” Swaminathan tweeted.

She was tweeting in response to a Twitter thread by Senior Advisor at World Bank Group Philip Schellekens who said that “we are seeing a global U-turn in COVID-19 mortality. Following months of decline, it has started to rise again,” which did not come as a big surprise “given properties of BA.5, relaxed attitudes towards infection control and ¾ of the world not being up-to-date on vaccination.”

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST / July 16

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Friday  20,044

Active Cases 1,40,760 (+1,687)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 5,25,660 (31)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

WICKREMESINGHE SWORN IN AS LANKA INTERIM PREZ

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was on Friday sworn in as Sri Lanka's interim president until Parliament elects a successor to Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who resigned after protests against his govt for mishandling the economy that bankrupted the country.

Parliament Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena officially announced on Friday that Rajapaksa has resigned as president, two days after the embattled leader fled the country.

Abeywardena told the party leaders that Parliament will meet on July 20 to elect a new president.

Last Saturday, Rajapaksa announced that he will step down on July 13 after thousands of protesters stormed his official residence, blaming him for the unprecedented economic crisis that has brought the country to its knees. He, however, fled to the Maldives without resigning from his office. From the Maldives, he went to Singapore on Thursday.

The Speaker had received the resignation letter from Rajapaksa through the Sri Lanka High Commission in Singapore on Thursday night. However, he wanted to make the official announcement after the verification process and legal formalities, his media secretary had said.

The authorities in Singapore are said to have told Rajapaksa that he has permission to stay for 15 days, which is unlikely to be extended

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court restrained Mahinda and Basil, Gotabaya Rajapaksa's brothers, from leaving the country after the Transparency International filed a petition claiming that they were directly responsible for Sri Lanka’s foreign debt and the current economic crisis.

‘BACK ANYONE, BUT SUNAK’: JOHNSON TO ALLIES

As the race to become Britain’s next prime minister gained pace, caretaker premier Boris Johnson has reportedly told his allies to back “anyone but Rishi Sunak”.

Johnson, who resigned as the leader of the ruling Conservative Party on July 7, has been urging defeated Tory leadership candidates not to back former chancellor Sunak, who is widely blamed for Johnson’s loss of support among his own party members, The Times newspaper reported.

“The whole No.10 [Downing Street] team hates Rishi. It’s personal. It’s vitriolic. They don’t blame Saj [Sajid Javid] for bringing him down. They blame Rishi. They think he was planning this for months,” the newspaper quoted a source as saying.

Sunak, who was the winner of the first two rounds of voting by Tory members of Parliament, will appear for a series of televised debates over the weekend with his remaining opponents — Trade Minister Penny Mordaunt, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, former minister Kemi Badenoch and Tory backbencher Tom Tugendhat.

SAUDI ARABIA OPENS AIRSPACE TO 'ALL CARRIERS' IN GESTURE TO ISRAEL

Saudi Arabia announced Friday it was lifting restrictions on "all carriers" using its airspace, an apparent gesture of openness towards Israel ahead of US President Joe Biden's arrival.

The US leader welcomed the "historic" decision, the latest conciliatory move by Riyadh concerning the Jewish state, which it has refused to recognise despite intensive efforts by the Israelis to establish ties with Arab countries.

Prior to Biden's arrival in Israel at the start of his Middle East trip on Wednesday, Washington had hinted that more Arab nations could take steps to pursue relations with Israel, spurring speculation about whether Riyadh would alter its long-held position of not establishing official bilateral ties until the conflict with the Palestinians is resolved.

The kingdom did not show any opposition when its regional ally, the United Arab Emirates, established diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020, followed by Bahrain and Morocco under the US-brokered Abraham Accords.

Yet analysts have stressed that any immediate gains are likely to be incremental and that Riyadh will probably not agree to formal ties -- not during Biden's visit or while King Salman, 86, still reigns.

THE REST

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BJP STEPS UP ATTACK ON EX-VP, CONGRESS; SHARES PIC WITH 'PAK SPY'

The BJP on Friday stepped up its attack on the Congress over ex-vice president Hamid Ansari's alleged connection with a Pakistani journalist and cited a photograph of both purportedly sharing stage during a conference in India.

Meanwhile, Ansari said he stands by his previous statement that he never knew or invited Pakistani journalist Nusrat Mirza to any conference.

Pakistani journalist Nusrat Mirza has claimed that he had visited India five times during the UPA rule and passed on sensitive information collected here to his country's spy agency ISI. Mirza purportedly commented that he had visited India on Ansari's invitations and also met him.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters on Friday, the party's national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia showed a picture of Ansari purportedly sharing a stage with Mirza at a conference on terrorism in Delhi in 2009.

Hitting out at the Congress, Bhatia said intelligence clearance is required for holding such programmes and inviting dignitaries from abroad.

For a programme of someone holding a constitutional post, protocol dictates that his office gathers information about those involved in the event. In such a situation, would it not be correct to believe that the Congress wanted a person from Pakistan to enter India and hurt its integrity, he alleged.

AT AHMED PATEL’S BEHEST, TEESTA AND OTHERS PLOTTED TO DESTABILISE GUJARAT GOVT: SIT

The Gujarat SIT probing charges of fabrication of evidence and conspiracy linked to the 2002 riots against activist Teesta Setalvad, retired DGP R B Sreekumar and former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt has stated in an affidavit that the accused were allegedly part of a “larger conspiracy” for “dismissal or destabilisation” by “hook or by crook” of the then state govt. It stated that this was done allegedly at the “behest” of the late Ahmed Patel, who was political advisor to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi at the time.

The affidavit states that Setalvad allegedly obtained “illegal financial and other benefits and rewards from the political party” for implicating and prosecuting “various authorities and other innocent persons in the State of Gujarat including the then Chief Minister”.

Setalvad, Sreekumar and Bhatt are being investigated in relation to an FIR lodged in Ahmedabad on June 25, a day after the Supreme Court dismissed a plea against the clean chit given to Narendra Modi, who was then Gujarat’s chief minister, and others in cases related to the 2002 riots.

In its order, the apex court had pointed to a “coalesced effort of the disgruntled officials of the state of Gujarat along with others… to create sensation by making revelations which were false to their own knowledge”. It had said that those responsible for keeping the “pot boiling” for 16 years “need to be in the dock and proceeded with in accordance with law.”

RUBAIYA SAYEED POINTS OUT YASIN MALIK, THREE OTHERS AS HER ABDUCTORS

Appearing before a Special TADA Judge in a case related to her abduction in 1989, Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of former Jammu and Kashmir CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, identified Yasin Malik, the jailed Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) chief, and three others as her abductors on Friday.

The case dates back to December 8, 1989, when Rubaiya was abducted from a mini-bus in Srinagar, when she was returning home from the Lal Ded Memorial Hospital where she was a medical intern. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was then the Union Home Minister in the V P Singh govt.

The JKLF had claimed the abduction and demanded the release of five jailed militants. The militants were freed, and Rubaiya was released after five days in captivity.

This was the first time that Rubaiya was asked to appear before the court to record her statement.

Malik is also facing trial in a case related to the killing of four Indian Air Force personnel in Srinagar in January 1990.

The trials in both cases – Rubaiya abduction and the killing of IAF personnel – gained momentum after Malik was picked up by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2019 on charges of terror funding. The CBI framed the charges against the JKLF leader in the killing of the IAF personnel in March 2020 and in the Rubaiya abduction case in January 2021.

"VOICE OF DISSENT NECESSARY...": DELHI COURT ON FACT-CHECKER'S BAIL ORDER

A Delhi court while granting bail to Alt News fact-checker Mohammed Zubair in a 2018 tweet case on Friday said Hinduism is one of the oldest and most tolerant religions and rejected the prosecution's argument that Mr Zubair's use of "Before 2014" and "After 2014" in a tweet had hurt sentiments of Hindus.

The BJP had won the 2014 general elections and the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi became Prime Minister for the first time the same year.

While granting bail to Mr Zubair in the 2018 case, Additional Sessions Judge Devender Kumar Jangala said Indian democracy and political parties are open to criticism, which means mere criticism of any party can't be the basis to punish a person.   "The voice of dissent is necessary for a healthy democracy...Undoubtedly free speech is the proper foundation of a democratic society," the court said.

"The applicant has posted the image of the scene of a movie 'Kisi Se Na Kehna' released in 1983. This movie was certified by the Central Board of Film Certification, which is a statutory body of the govt, and is available for public viewing since then. No complaint is stated to have been filed till today that the said scene of the movie has hurt the feelings of a particular community of society," the court said.

"Hindu religion is one of the oldest religions and most tolerant. The followers of the Hindu religion are also tolerant. Hindu religion is so tolerant that its followers proudly name their institution/organisation/facilities in the name of their God or Goddess," the judge said in the order.

Though Mr Zubair got bail in this case, he will remain in jail as he faces other cases filed by the Uttar Pradesh Police for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. Six First Information Reports, or FIRs, have been filed against Mr Zubair in UP's Sitapur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar and Hathras.

IF CHILDREN CAN GO TO SCHOOL AT 7 IN THE MORNING, WHY CAN’T WE COME TO COURT AT 9: JUSTICE LALIT

Justice Lalit – who is to succeed Justice NV Ramana as the Chief Justice of India on August 27– did an unusual thing on Friday. He commenced hearing of cases before the Bench led by him at 9.30 am, instead of the usual 10.30 am timing followed by all judges.

“Ideally, we should sit at 9 in the morning. I have always said that if our children can go to school at 7 in the morning, why can’t we come to court at 9?” said Justice Lalit who headed a three-judge Bench.

If courts were to commence hearings at 9 am and carry on till 11.30 am, followed by a half-an-hour break and then they could re-assemble at 12 pm and carry on till 2 pm, he said, adding “You would get time to do more things in the evening.”

Usually, Supreme Court Benches assemble at 10.30 am on weekdays. Judges take lunch break at 1 pm and resume hearings at 2 pm and continue till 4 pm.

HEATHROW LIMITS No. OF PASSENGER DEPARTURES TO 100K A DAY

Virgin Atlantic cancelled its Delhi-London flight on Thursday and other airlines might follow suit with Heathrow airport's decision this week to limit the number of passengers to one lakh a day to cope with a staff crunch.

There are 102 direct flights a week between India and Heathrow airport -- British Airways (41), Virgin Atlantic (21), Air India (33) and Vistara (7).

The limits on passenger numbers imposed by Heathrow airport will remain till September 11.

On July 12, Heathrow Airport's CEO John Holland-Kaye said in a statement that over the past few weeks, as departing passenger numbers have regularly exceeded one lakh per day, the airport has started to see periods when service drops to a level that is not acceptable: long queue times, delays for passengers requiring assistance, bags not travelling with passengers or arriving late, low punctuality and last-minute cancellations.

He said there are some critical functions in the airport which are still significantly under resourced, in particular ground handlers, who are contracted by airlines to provide check-in staff, load and unload bags and turnaround aircraft.

"Our assessment is that the maximum number of daily departing passengers that airlines, airline ground handlers and the airport can collectively serve over the summer is no more than 1 lakh," he added.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future. - Paul Boese

OFF TRACK

A judge asks a defendant to please stand. "You are charged with murdering a school teacher with a chain saw." From out in the audience a man shouts, "You lying bastard!"

"Silence in the court!" the judge shouted back. He turns to the defendant again and says, "You are also charged with killing a paperboy with a shovel."

"You goddamned tightwad!" blurted the spectator.

"Quiet!" yelled the judge. "You are also charged with killing a mailman with an electric drill."

"You cheap son of a..." the man starts to shout.

The Judge thunders back, "If you don''t tell me the reason for your outbursts right now, I will hold in contempt!"

"I''ve lived next to that lying bastard for ten years now, but do you think he ever had a goddamned tool when I needed to borrow one!"