PRESIDENT KOVIND ADDRESSES THE NATION

In his address to the nation a day before he demits office, President Ram Nath Kovind talked about the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations.

“Next month, we will celebrate the 75th anniversary of Independence. We will enter the ‘Amrit Kaal’, the 25-year period leading to the centenary of Independence. These anniversaries are milestones on the journey of the Republic, a journey to discover its potential and to offer its best to the world. In modern times, the glorious journey of our country commenced with the awakening of nationalist feelings during colonial rule and the launch of the freedom struggle,” he said.

Kovind also took a trip down memory lane and recalled his earlier days when the country had just achieved independence and said, “There was a fresh wave of energy to rebuild the country; there were new dreams. I too had a dream, that one day I would be able to participate in a meaningful way in this nation-building exercise.” “A young boy living in a mud house could not have any idea about the highest Constitutional office of the Republic. But it is a testament to the strength of India’s democracy that it has created pathways to let each citizen take part in the shaping of our collective destiny.”

President-elect Droupadi Murmu will take oath today to become India’s 15 President.

CHINESE FIGHTER JETS CONTINUE TO PROVOKE INDIA ON LAC IN EASTERN LADAKH

Even after the Corps Commander-level talks, Chinese fighter jets are continuing attempts to provoke Indian forces deployed in Eastern Ladakh as they have been flying close to the Line of Actual Control on multiple occasions. The Chinese aircraft have been regularly flying close to the LAC in the last three to four weeks which is seen as an attempt to probe the Indian defence mechanism in the area.

The IAF has been scrambling its own fighter jets to tackle the threat from Chinese aircraft but it seems the People's Liberation Army is tense about the upgrade of IAF infrastructure in the Ladakh sector through which they can monitor Chinese activities deep within areas controlled by them, the sources said. The IAF has been responding to these actions in a calibrated manner and also keeping a very close watch on the Chinese flying pattern in the area where they are flying at both low and high altitudes, the sources said.

India has also been working at a very fast pace to upgrade its military infrastructure in Ladakh after the Chinese tried to unilaterally change the status quo on the LAC in April-May 2020 timeframe.

"POK PART OF INDIA, MAA SHARDA SHAKTI JI'S ABODE IS THERE": RAJNATH SINGH

On the occasion of the 23rd Kargil Vijay Diwas, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday recalled the supreme sacrifice of the Indian Army and asserted that Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) is an integral part of India and said that "How is it possible that Baba Amarnath is in India and Maa Sharda Shakti is across the LoC."

"A resolution has been passed in the Parliament on PoK. Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Kashmir was a part of India, is and will remain a part of India. How can it be that Baba Amarnath in the form of Shiva is with us and Mother Sharda Shakti is on the other side of LoC," Defense Minister added while referring to the Sharda Peeth, which has the ruins of a temple to Hindu goddess Saraswati, also known as Sharda.

Rajnath Singh said that today's India is one of the most powerful countries in the world as compared to 1962 when China captured our area in Ladakh when former PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was at the helm of the affairs. "I will not question his intentions. Intentions can be good but the same does not apply to policies. However, today's India is one of the most powerful countries in the world," he said.

MONKEYPOX: EXPERTS ALLAY FEARS, SAY DISEASE LESS CONTAGIOUS AND RARELY FATAL

With the WHO declaring monkeypox a global public health emergency of international concern and India reporting four cases of the disease, experts on Sunday said there is no need to panic as it is less contagious and rarely fatal.

Senior scientist at Pune's National Institute of Virology Dr Pragya Yadav said monkeypox virus is an enveloped double-stranded DNA virus having two distinct genetic clades -- the central African (Congo Basin) clade and the west African clade. "The recent outbreak which has affected several countries leading to a worrisome situation is caused by the west African strain which is less severe than the Congo lineage reported earlier. The cases reported in India are also of the less severe west African lineage," she said.

Monkeypox has been present globally for five decades, and there is a reasonable understanding of its viral structure, transmission and pathogenicity. The virus causes mostly mild illness. It is less contagious and requires close personal contact with symptomatic individuals in contrast to the SARS-CoV-2 that had a respiratory spread and a high proportion of asymptomatic cases.

India has so far reported four cases of the disease -- three in Kerala and one in Delhi.

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST / July 24

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Saturday  20,279

Active Cases 1,52,200 (+2,100)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 5,26,033 (31)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH": RISHI SUNAK PLEDGES TOUGHER STAND ON CHINA IF ELECTED

Rishi Sunak on Sunday promised to get tough on China if he becomes Britain's next prime minister, calling the Asian superpower the "number one threat" to domestic and global security. The former finance minister's pledge comes after his rival in the final two of the race to lead the ruling Conservative party, Liz Truss, accused him of being weak on China and Russia.

China's state-run Global Times has previously said Sunak was the only candidate in the contest with "a clear and pragmatic view on developing UK-China ties".

Sunak's proposals include the closure of all 30 Confucius Institutes in Britain, preventing the soft-power spread of Chinese influence through culture and language programmes. He also promised to "kick the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) out of our universities" by forcing higher education establishments to disclose foreign funding of more than £50,000 ($60,000) and reviewing research partnerships.

Britain's domestic spy agency MI5 would be used to help combat Chinese espionage, and he would look to build "NATO-style" international co-operation to tackle Chinese threats in cyberspace.

He would also study the case for banning Chinese acquisitions of key British assets, including strategically sensitive tech firms.

SKYSCRAPERS STRETCHING FOR 75 MILES: INSIDE SAUDI ARABIA'S AMBITIOUS MEGACITY PLANS

Saudi Arabia has ambitious plans to build a megacity spanning desert and mountains, featuring two skyscrapers stretching for 75 miles, according to planning documents accessed by The Wall Street Journal.

The project, Mirror Line, is expected to cost a whopping $1 trillion. It is just one of the gigantic projects that will become part of Neom -- the futuristic megacity envisioned by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in an effort to diversify the country's economy.

The Saudis are planning Mirror Line as a community of 5 million people. To feed them, vertical farming will be merged with the buildings. For transportation, there will be a high speed underground train, according to the WSJ report .

A yacht marina and a grand stadium 1,000 feet above the ground will cater to the leisure requirements of the residents.

If completed, Mirror Line will be a project unlike anything the world has seen before. Urban planners have been given a 2030 deadline to finish the project, WSJ reported.

THE REST

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AAP LEADER'S CROPPED VIDEO OF PM LOOKING AT CAMERA RED-FLAGGED BY TWITTER

A video tweeted by an Aam Aadmi Party leader suggesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi is looking at the cameras while President Ram Nath Kovind is seen greeting him has been called out by Twitter for being misleading. AAP leader Sanjay Singh's post has been marked "presented out of context" by Twitter.

In the original video, the Prime Minister can be seen returning the President's greeting and looking at him. However, the cropped video omits that part. The incident is from a ceremony at parliament's Central Hall to bid farewell to President Kovind.

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said that PM Modi had greeted President Kovind which could be seen in the complete video of the Parliament, as against the video shared by Sanjay Singh on Twitter. "Sanjay Singh tweeted today in which he said that the outgoing president was insulted. There could not be anything more unfortunate than this. He posted an edited clip and levels allegations against the Prime Minister at such an event on which there should not be any politics. The edited clip was shared. The Prime Minister had greeted President Kovind which could be seen in the full video. There are pictures in the public domain showing PM Modi greeting the President. Still, such an allegation was levelled. What was the intention?" asked Mr Poonawalla.

BJP LEADER’S REMARK ON CM POST ROBS FADNAVIS ‘GESTURE’ OF ITS SHEEN

Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil’s remark about Eknath Shinde’s chief ministership has left the party red-faced at a time when it has sought to send out larger signals about its decision to install the Shiv Sena rebel as the CM while itself settling for the Deputy CM’s post.

“It was with a heavy heart that we decided to make Eknath Shinde Chief Minister. It was sad…We had to take the decision to convey a message outside. The sacrifice of Devendra Fadnavis, who was the CM claimant, was laudable,” Patil said at the state BJP’s conclave in Navi Mumbai on Saturday.

The party rushed to issue clarifications and sought to underplay Patil’s remark by withdrawing his five-minute speech from social media. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis also went on to clarify that “the BJP was determined to reward Shinde, who has kept the Bal Thackeray Hindutva legacy alive and dared to walk out of government along with 50 members,” adding that the “BJP was in politics not for power but to use power as a medium to serve the people.” Party spokespersons were put to task to explain how Patil’s comment was being misinterpreted.

The announcement of Shinde as Chief Minister had come as a surprise because the BJP, with 106 MLAs, is the single-largest party in the House of 287 and the natural claimant to the post of the Chief Minister.

NO TMC PROTESTS FOR PARTHA

When the CBI last year arrested two West Bengal government ministers, a TMC MLA, and a leader once associated with the party, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to the central agency’s office in Kolkata and began a sit-in that lasted six hours. According to TMC leaders who were present there with her, Banerjee demanded the unconditional release of the four, held in connection with the Narada bribery case, and asked the central agency to arrest her too if it could not let them go.

But, no such protest or show of solidarity has been forthcoming for Partha Chatterjee. That the ruling party had decided to wait and watch the turns in the ED investigation into the alleged school recruitment scam was apparent when the state Industries minister, while leaving the ESI Hospital in Joka on Saturday after a medical examination, was asked if he had tried to contact Banerjee. “I tried but could not get through,” he responded as the ED whisked him away.

The lack of any street protests by the TMC or statements from the CM is more striking considering that in 2019 Banerjee sat on a dharna (sit-in) for two days in the city’s Esplanade area to protest against the CBI’s attempts to arrest then Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam. She had hit out at the BJP-led Central government in 2017 when TMC MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay was arrested in the Rose Valley chit fund case. TMC MPs and other leaders had also protested three years earlier when Madan Mitra, among the four leaders the CBI arrested last year, was taken into custody by the central agency in connection with the Saradha case.

A senior TMC leader said the optics of the ED investigation into the alleged school recruitment scam was worse as the agency claimed to have recovered Rs 21.2 crore unaccounted cash in bundles, foreign currency, ornaments and property papers from the apartment of Chatterjee’s close associate Arpita Mukherjee in the city’s Tollygunge area. Mukherjee, who is a model and an actor, has also been arrested. Following the raid at Mukherjee’s home, the ED tweeted a photo of heaps of cash.

SMRITI IRANI SENDS NOTICE TO CONGRESS LEADERS JAIRAM RAMESH, PAWAN KHERA

Union Minister Smriti Irani today sent a legal notice to Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera and asked them to apologise for their “baseless and false” allegations against her and her daughter.

The notice has been sent a day after the Congress leaders alleged that her 18-year-old daughter, Zoish Irani, ran a bar illegally in Goa and targeted the minister on the issue, demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi should drop her from his Cabinet.

In the notice, Irani stated that if the Congress leaders did not tender an unconditional and unequivocal apology and withdrew their allegations, she would initiate civil and criminal proceedings against them.

KERALA HC CITES AGONY OF ‘KARNA’, SAYS CHILDREN OF UNWED WOMEN CAN KEEP MOTHER’S NAME ALONE IN DOCUMENTS

Citing the mental agony and insult faced by ‘Karna’ of ‘Mahabharata’, the Kerala High Court has allowed a person to include his mother’s name alone in his birth certificate, identity certificates and other documents.

“We want a society with no such characters like ‘Karna’, who curses his life because of the insult he faced for not knowing the whereabouts of his parents. We want the real brave ‘Karna’ who was the real hero and fighter in ‘Mahabharata’. Our Constitution and the constitutional Courts will protect all of them and the new age ‘Karnas’ can live like any other citizen with dignity and pride,” Justice PV Kunhikrishnan said.

“The children of unwed mothers and the children of raped victim can also live in this country with the fundamental rights of privacy, liberty, and dignity. None can intrude into their personal life, and if it happens, the constitutional Court of this country will protect their fundamental rights,” Justice Kunhikrishnan said in his order.

Describing it as a “sad story of a mother and her son”, the high court noted that the petitioner was an “unfortunate mother” who conceived while she was a minor under a mysterious circumstance by an unidentified person.

The petitioner – son and her mother – had approached the high court seeking directions to the authorities concerned to expunge and remove the father’s name from the birth register and issue a certificate showing the mother’s name alone as a single parent as his father’s name was different in three of his documents. Citing a 2015 Supreme Court verdict and a subsequent directive issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to states and union territories, the high court accepted the petioners’ claim.

TRUST-BASED TAXATION SYSTEM HELPING IMPROVE COLLECTIONS: FM SITHARAMAN

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said that the trust-based taxation system introduced by the government has resulted in improved collections and increase in the number of return filings.

In her message on the 163rd Income Tax Day, the finance minister complimented the department for achieving the highest-ever revenue collection of over Rs 14 lakh crore in the last fiscal and expressed hope that the momentum would continue in the current fiscal too.

Direct tax collections surged to Rs 14.09 lakh crore in 2021-22, registering a year-on-year growth of 49.02 per cent on the back of strong growth in mop-up from individual and corporation tax.

The finance minister said the government has addressed several legacy issues and removed structural deficiencies related to direct taxes with a view to foster ease of living and ease of doing business.

The reforms introduced by the government in recent years have ensured a trust-based tax system. "The taxpayers on their part have vindicated this trust-based approach as evident from the trend of improved tax collections and increase in the number of income tax returns filed," she said.

AKSHAY KUMAR BECOMES "HIGHEST TAXPAYER" IN INDIA, AGAIN

Actor Akshay Kumar has been reportedly honoured by the Income Tax department as the 'highest taxpayer' in the country again. He has retained the title of the highest taxpayer for the past five years.

An honorary certificate for Akshay Kumar from the Income Tax Department has been doing the rounds on the internet.

Akshay Kumar was presented with a certificate by the income tax department.

INDIA PULL OFF THRILLING WIN OVER WI, SEAL SERIES

Axar Patel smashed a whirlwind unbeaten 35-ball 64, his maiden ODI fifty, as India scripted a sensational series-clinching two-wicket win over the West Indies in the second game at the Queen’s Park Oval in Port of Spain on Sunday.

Set a stiff target of 312, the visitors were down to 205 for five in 38.4 overs but Patel revived India's chase with a barrage of sixes, to take the visitors home with two balls to spare.

Patel smashed five sixes and three fours in his unconquered innings and added 51 off 33 balls with Deepak Hooda (33) to keep India in the hunt. Needing six off last three balls, Patel clobbered Kyle Mayers straight over the bowler’s head for a six as India took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

This was after Shreyas Iyer (63) and Sanju Samson (54) tried to take the chase deep with well-paced fifties.

Earlier, opting to bat, Shai Hope produced a masterclass 135-ball 117, while skipper Nicholas Pooran showed his big-hitting prowess with six maximums and one four during his 74 off 77 balls as West Indies posted an impressive 311 for six.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

I do not want to live in paradise; this world is enough, so broken and so full of promise. - Pam Durban

OFF TRACK

A man takes his girl out. On the way home he stops five miles out of town and tells her he wants her. She refuses to put out so he . . . puts her out. She walks back.

The next night they go back out again. This time, though, he has the presence of mind to go out of town 15 miles before he stops the car and proposes the same. She declines. Once again, she's put out of the car, and treks 15 long miles back home.

Third night (you see a pattern here?) they're out. 30 miles away from home he stops the car. And proposes the same thing yet again. But this time she gives in. And rather enthusiastically!

Later, he asks her why she gave in finally. 

She replies, "Look, for a friend, I'd walk five miles. I'd even walk fifteen miles. But there's no way on earth I'd walk thirty miles EVEN to save a FRIEND of mine from a case of Herpes!"