STRONG LESSONS FROM LANKA CRISIS, SAYS GOVT

There are “very strong” lessons to be learnt from the turmoil in Sri Lanka, including lessons on fiscal prudence, responsible governance and abandoning a culture of freebies, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said at an all-party meeting held on Tuesday to discuss the Lankan crisis.

In the meeting, Jaishankar said India, as the immediate neighbour, is naturally worried over the “very serious crisis” in the island-nation. “The reason we took the initiative to request you all to join an all-party meeting was…this is a very serious crisis and what we are seeing in Sri Lanka is in many ways an unprecedented situation… Given the proximity, we naturally worry about the consequences, the spillover it has for us,” he said.

Jaishankar said there have been some “misinformed comparisons” in the context of Sri Lanka and some people have asked whether “such a situation” can take place in India. “The lessons from Sri Lanka are very, very strong. They are of fiscal prudence, responsible governance and that there should not be a culture of freebies,” he said.

Besides presentation by Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra on the crisis in Lanka and assistance extended by New Delhi, there was a presentation by the Economic Affairs Secretary, which led to protests. The second presentation, Opposition MPs said, made a mention of the debt and fiscal condition of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Several members, including DMK’s T R Baalu and TRS’s K Keshava Rao, objected. The presentation was thereafter stopped midway. Baalu said they came for a discussion on Lanka, not on the Indian economy.

NO PLAN FOR LEGISLATION ON POPULATION CONTROL, GOVT TELLS RS

The government is not contemplating any legislative measures for population control, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

Responding to a question on whether the government has taken note of the statement by a Union Minister that a Bill will be brought for the purpose of population control, Pawar said the government seeks to stabilise population by 2045, in line with the National Population Policy 2000 and National Health Policy 2017.

Efforts of the government have been successful in reining in the growth of population, she said in a written reply.

Pawar said the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) declined to 2.0 in 2019-21, according to the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS 5), -- which is below replacement level -  fertility rates in 31 out of 36 states and UTs were seen to have come down to the replacement level fertility in the same survey.

Many right wing groups and some BJP leaders, including Union Minister Giriraj Singh, have been demanding a stringent law to check the population growth in India.

SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW CHINA BUILDING NEW VILLAGE EAST OF DOKLAM PLATEAU

New satellite images emerged on Tuesday indicating the construction of a Chinese village East of the Doklam plateau on the Bhutanese side, a region that is considered important for India's strategic interest.

The NDTV came out with the images captured by MAXAR, a company that focuses on space technology and intelligence, and said the village is fully inhabited with cars parked at the doorstep of virtually every home. It said alongside the village is a neatly marked all-weather carriageway, which is part of China's "extensive land grab" in Bhutan.

The road could give China access to a strategic ridge in the Doklam plateau.

There was no immediate comment from the Army on the new images.

The Doklam tri-junction is considered important from the point of view of India's security interests.

The India-China stand-off in the Doklam plateau in 2017, that lasted 73 days, even triggered fears of a war between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.

RUPEE FALLS BELOW 80 AGAINST DOLLAR

Raising concerns over high imported inflation, the rupee Tuesday fell below the psychological level of 80 to 80.05 against the US dollar intra-day amid tightening monetary conditions and risk-off sentiments as well as persistent outflows from domestic markets.

Although the rupee has depreciated against the US dollar, it has appreciated against other major currencies such as euro, British pound and the Japanese yen. “Global factors such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, soaring crude oil prices and tightening of global financial conditions are the major reasons for the weakening of the Indian rupee against the US dollar,” Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to Parliament.

In a Twitter post last week, Sanjeev Sanyal, Member, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, had said, “The RBI is using reserves to smoothen move but correctly allowing market adjustment… the only real cause for concern is imported inflation from energy prices. Given oil import dependence, there is little India can do about this in short term beyond some domestic adjustments (say cutting taxes at the margin) but all such measures have a price.”

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST / July 19

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Monday  15,528

Active Cases 1,43,654 (-610)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 5,25,785 (20)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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SRI LANKA'S OPPOSITION LEADER'S APPEAL TO INDIA

Ahead of the big vote in Sri Lanka, in which the parliament will elect a new president, Leader of Opposition Sajith Premadasa has made a request to India to keep supporting the island nation irrespective of who is elected to the top post.

Mr Premdasa, the leader of Sri Lanka's Opposition party Samagi Jana Balawegaya, tweeted last evening, "Irrespective of who becomes the President of Sri Lanka tomorrow it is my humble and earnest request to Hon. PM Shri @narendramodi, to all the political parties of India and to the people of India to keep helping mother Lanka and it's people to come out of this disaster."

BRITAIN SMASHES ALL-TIME HEAT RECORD AS TEMPS BREACH 40°C

Britain shattered its record for highest temperature ever registered on Tuesday amid a heat wave that has seared swaths of Europe, as the UK’s national weather forecaster said such highs are now a fact of life in a country ill-prepared for such extremes. The UK Met Office registered a provisional readings of 40. 2°C at Heathrow Airport and 40. 3 °C at Coningsby in eastern England —breaking the record set just hours earlier of 39. 1°C in Surrey. Before Tuesday, the highest temperature recorded in the UK was 38. 7°C, set in 2019. By later afternoon, 29 places in Britain had broken the record.

The sweltering weather has disrupted travel, healthcare and schools. Many homes, small businesses and even public buildings, including hospitals, don’t have air conditioning, a reflection of how unusual such heat is in the country better known for rain and mild temperatures.

THE REST

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RAHUL SHEWALE RECOGNISED AS NEW LS LEADER: EKNATH SHINDE

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde yesterday claimed that Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had recognised Rahul Shewale, Mumbai South Central MP, as the Shiv Sena floor leader in the lower house.

Shewale leads the group of MPs owing allegiance to Shinde in the legacy war with Uddhav Thackeray and will replace Vinayak Raut (Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg MP) as the floor leader.

The development came after 12 Sena MPs (of the 19 in the Lok Sabha) met the Speaker in his chamber demanding recognition for their majority group in the House as the battle for claim over the Shiv Sena symbol intensified.

These 12 MPs also appeared alongside Shinde during a press conference at the Maharashtra Sadan in New Delhi. Shewale said Uddhav wanted to rejoin the BJP last year, but retracted at the last moment. “We had also asked Uddhav not to support Opposition candidate Margaret Alva in the vice-presidential election, but our views were disregarded,” he said.

CONSENSUS AMONG CENTRE, STATES ON FOOD GST, SAYS FM

Amid protests by the opposition, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday sought to put the record straight on GST on unbranded and packed food products, saying the 5% levy was needed to check evasion and the decision, taken “with complete consensus of all the members” of the GST Council, went through multiple rounds of talks — from officers to a group of ministers.

Sitharaman took to Twitter to make the position clear as political parties disrupted Parliament for the second day. Opposition members such as Rahul Gandhi and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal have been among those who have gone public against the move after it was implemented.

The FM, however, said, “This was a unanimous decision by the GST Council. All states were present in the GST Council when this issue was presented by the group of ministers on rate rationalisation in the 47th meeting held in Chandigarh on June 28, 2022. All states, including non-BJP states agreed with the decision.”

“There have been a lot of misconceptions about this (levy) that have been spread,” she said, adding that several states such as Punjab and UP were collecting tax before GST kicked in, with unbranded and packed food items subjected to tax even after the new regime kicked in.

NUPUR SHARMA CASE: THE BENCH CORRECTS ITSELF

The Supreme Court on Tuesday protected BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma from any coercive action in multiple FIRs registered in various parts of the country following her televised remarks about Prophet Muhammed.

Appearing before a Bench of Justices Surya Kant and J. B. Pardiwala, Ms. Sharma’s lawyer said there is a continuing threat to her life.

She said more FIRs were registered against her immediately after the same judges, sitting as a Vacation Bench, had declined her plea for protection on July 1. On Tuesday, Nupur Sharma was able to convince the bench, who assembled specially at 3 p.m. to hear her case.

This time, the Bench issued notice on her plea to either quash all the cases against her or, in the alternative, transfer them from various States to Delhi in order to safeguard her right against multiple prosecution for the same offence. The Bench has sought responses from the States of West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra and Telangana in this regard.

“Meanwhile, as an interim measure it is directed that no coercive shall be taken against Nupur Sharma,” the court directed. The Bench listed the case on August 10, 2022.

The Bench took note of the threats issued to her, including that by Salman Chisti, a khadim of Ajmer Dargah, and a lookout circular issued by the Kolkata Police on July 2.

“We never wanted you to go everywhere. Maybe we could not convey this…. Your impression of going to different High Courts.... Now you explain it’s nearly impossible for you and there is threat to life… but you understand that you have to go to one place of your choice,” the Bench said.

FIVE WOMEN HELD IN KERALA NEET FRISKING ROW, NTA SETS UP FACT-FINDING TEAM

Five women were arrested on Tuesday in Kerala for forcing girl students, who appeared for National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, to remove their innerwear while the National Testing Agency (NTA) constituted a fact-finding committee to look into the alleged incident.

While three women worked for an agency hired by the NTA, two worked for the private educational institution at Ayur in Kollam where the incident happened.

The state police earlier registered a case based on the complaint of a girl, who alleged that she was asked to remove her bra before she could be permitted to appear for the eligibility test. The NTA, which conducts the test, set up the panel after the Kerala government took up the issue with the Centre seeking strong action.

The arrests follow protests that began on July 18. Such protests intensified and turned violent on Tuesday in Kerala's southern region of Kollam.

Demanding action, the stir is against NEET frisking personnel who allegedly nudged girl students to remove their innerwear. The personnel reportedly objected to the metallic hook in the innerwear.

Taking note of the allegation, the Union ministry of education said that it has been brought to its notice through various media reports that an incident allegedly happened in one of the centres of NEET-UG-2022 in Kerala.

4 ARRESTED FOR OFFERING NAMAAZ AT LUCKNOW’S NEWLY OPENED LULU MALL

The Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday arrested four people and is in search of four others for 'unauthorisedly' offering namaaz in the newly inaugurated LuLu Mall in Lucknow. Police categorically said none of the accused are staff of the mall.

The arrest in the namaaz incident came after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had on Monday directed the administration to act tough against such elements hell-bent on vitiating the atmosphere.

The incident kicked up a row after a right-wing Hindu outfit objected to the namaaz and sought permission to recite the Hanuman Chalisa there.

A video of people offering namaaz at Lulu Mall had surfaced on social media on July 13. Some members of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha staged a sit-in at the gate of Lulu Mall next day. Shishir Chaturvedi, who claimed to be the national spokesperson of the Mahasabha, had alleged that people belonging to a particular community were being allowed to offer prayers inside the mall. The mall authorities should also allow Hindus and other religions to offer prayers inside the mall, he had said.

Sameer Verma, general manager of the mall in Lucknow, in a video statement had said, "Lulu Mall respects all religions. Any kind of religious work or prayer is not permitted here. We train our floor staff and security staff to keep an eye on such activities."

GOVT CUTS WINDFALL TAX ON FUEL EXPORTS AS GLOBAL CRUDE OIL PRICES FALL

India eliminated a levy on gasoline exports and cut windfall taxes on other fuels less than three weeks after they were imposed, offering relief for the nation’s No. 1 fuel exporter Reliance Industries Ltd. and top crude explorer ONGC.

New Delhi reduced the windfall tax on diesel and aviation fuel shipments by Rs 2 a liter, and scrapped completely a Rs 6-per-liter levy on gasoline exports, according to a government notification. It also cut the tax on domestically produced crude by about 27% to Rs17,000 a ton.

India imposed the taxes on July 1, joining a growing number of nations placing windfall levies to tap energy companies’ booming profits. But international fuel prices have cooled since then, eroding profit margins at both oil producers and refiners.

International crude prices have slumped since mid-June on concerns about a potential global recession, at one point erasing all the gains that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Returns from processing gasoline and diesel in Asia have plunged in recent weeks

ED ARRESTS RECENTLY RETIRED MUMBAI CP IN NSE PHONE TAPPING CASE

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday arrested recently retired Mumbai police commissioner Sanjay Pandey after confronting him with alleged payments of more than Rs 12 crore received from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) by a firm, iSec Services, which is linked to him in connection with the illegal phone tapping of some NSE officials and clients.

Pandey is also being investigated for suspicion of using the tapped phone conversations by some of the accused in the money laundering case who may have benefitted from these illegally recorded conversations. Though Pandey was being evasive, agency officials are trying to establish a money trail between his iSec Services and some NSE clients.

OVER 3.9 LAKH INDIANS GAVE UP CITIZENSHIP IN PAST 3 YRS TO SETTLE ABROAD

More than 3.9 lakh Indians have renounced their citizenship in the past three years, the government told the Parliament on Tuesday, with America emerging as the top choice among 103 countries where the emigrants settled.

More than 1.63 lakh Indians relinquished their citizenship in 2021 alone, according to the data tabled by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. Of them, more than 78,000 took US citizenship, it added.

While 1.44 lakh Indians gave up their citizenship in 2019, the data showed, the numbers fell in 2020 to 85,256 in 2020, before rising again last year.

Responding to a question by BSP MP Hazi Fazlur Rehman, Union MoS for Home Nityanand Rai told the Parliament that according to the Ministry of External Affairs the Indian citizens renounced their “for reasons personal to them”.

GOVT WORKING ON ‘RIGHT TO REPAIR’

Even as Centre announced that it is working to come out with a framework on ‘Right to Repair’, stakeholders from the re-commerce and repairs industry have called upon the government to avail original spare parts in the open market to help mainstream third-party repairs and reduce the monopoly of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the sector.

Last week, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs said a holding on repair processes infringes the customer's "right to choose". The ministry said consumers should be able to repair and modify the product with ease and at a reasonable cost, without being captive to the whims of manufacturers for repairs.

The department has since formed a committee to develop a comprehensive framework to allow customers to self and third-party repair of products. The industry expects the 'Right to Repair' policy would provide recognition to the largely unorganised third-party repairs sector through the increased availability of original spare parts in the open market in India.

Industry experts said this is a much needed reform in the country.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

When a friend makes a mistake, a friend remains a friend, and a mistake remains a mistake. - Shimon Peres

OFF TRACK

Mildred, the church gossip and self-appointed monitor of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose into other people's business.

One day she accused Frank, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his old pickup parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon. She emphatically told Frank, (and several others), that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing!

Frank, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just turned and walked away. He didn't explain, defend, or deny. He simply said nothing.

Later that evening, Frank quietly parked his pickup in front of Mildred's house, walked home... and left it there all night.