DROUPADI MURMU BECOMES INDIA'S PRESIDENT

Her election is proof the poor can dream and fulfil them too, India's 15th president and its first tribal head of state Droupadi Murmu said after taking oath of office on Monday, a landmark day that melded tradition with the aspirations of a modern nation.

President Murmu, who is the second woman in the country’s top constitutional post, succeeds Ram Nath Kovind and was sworn in by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana at Parliament's Central Hall.

The tribal leader, India's youngest president at 64 and the first to be born after Independence, took oath of office in the name of god to 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law'.

"It is the power of India's democracy that a girl born in a poor tribal home could reach the topmost constitutional post," she said in her address, marking her journey from Odisha's Mayurbhanj district, one of the most underdeveloped in India, to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

Murmu, who began her speech in Hindi with 'Johar', a traditional tribal greeting, said, "That I attained the post of president is not my personal achievement. It is the achievement of every poor person in India. My election is proof of the fact that the poor in India can have dreams and fulfil them too."

"The entire nation watched with pride as Smt. Droupadi Murmu Ji took oath as the President of India. Her assuming the Presidency is a watershed moment for India especially for the poor, marginalised and downtrodden. I wish her the very best for a fruitful Presidential tenure," said PM Modi.

FOUR CONGRESS LOK SABHA MPS SUSPENDED FOR REST OF SESSION

The face-off between the government and the Opposition over the latter’s demand for an urgent discussion on price rise and the hike in GST rates escalated on Monday with Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla suspending four Congress MPs for the remaining part of the current session for “misconduct”.

The MPs — Manickam Tagore, Ramya Haridas, T N Prathapan and S Jothimani — were named by Rajendra Agrawal, who was in the Chair, under Rule 374, for displaying placards in the House. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi then read out a motion seeking their suspension for the rest of the session.

While the Opposition has been demanding an immediate discussion on price rise and the hike in GST rates of essential commodities, the government has maintained that it is ready for a discussion, but it can only be held after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recovers from Covid.

When the House met at 2 pm, the Speaker said the government was ready for a discussion as demanded by the Opposition. He told the members not to display placards, saying he would be left with no option but to take action to uphold the dignity of the House. But the Opposition was unrelenting.

Before adjourning the House till 3 pm, Birla said: “If you want to have a discussion, I am ready to start the discussion at 3 pm. But those members who show placards before the Chair, who want to break the dignity of the House… after 3 pm, they will get adequate time and opportunity outside the House.”

When the House reassembled at 3 pm, the protests continued. Agarwal then invoked Rule 374 and named the members, saying they had shown “stubborn behaviour”, “deliberately and continuously disrupted proceedings” and ignored House rules and directions of the Speaker.

GOVT WANTS TO THROTTLE OPPN'S VOICE, SAYS CONGRESS ON MPS' SUSPENSION

The Congress described as a "blot on democracy" the suspension of its four MPs, alleging the government was trying to "intimidate" the party but it would not be cowed down.

Congress's leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said: "Our demands are very simple. Since day one and before the commencement of the House at the all-party meeting in the presence of Rajnath Singh, the entire Opposition had been in one voice to call for discussion on price rise," he said.

“We have only two demands: withdrawal of GST on essential commodities and a discussion on price rise. We have been demanding this for the last six days. We have been giving adjournment notices every day but the government is not relenting. There is no unruly behaviour by us. We did not hurt the dignity or decorum of the House. It is our right to protest when the government doesn’t listen to our legitimate demand for a discussion on the hardships faced by the people,” said S Jothimani, one of the suspended members.

The government, she said, is afraid of holding a discussion. “The government says let Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman return, and they will hold a discussion. Remember it was Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who replied to a discussion on the farm laws. And it was the late Arun Jaitley who replied to a discussion on the Rafale issue. He was the Finance Minister then and Sitharaman was the Defence Minister,” she said.

“So all these are excuses to avoid a discussion. Why can’t the Prime Minister come to the House. He is the head of the government. He can listen to the discussion and answer,” she added.

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST / July 25

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Sunday  16,866

Active Cases 1,50,877 (-1,323)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 5,26,074 (28)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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RUSSIA TO FURTHER CUT GAS SUPPLY TO EUROPE

Russia’s Gazprom is set to cut supplies further through its single biggest gas link to Germany, crushing hopes a deal over grain supplies would lessen the economic impact of the Ukraine war. The EU has accused Russia of resorting to energy blackmail, while the Kremlin says the gas disruption is the result of maintenance issues and Western sanctions. Citing the instructions of an industry watchdog, Gazprom on Monday said flows through Nord Stream 1 would fall to 33 million cubic metres per day from 0400 GMT on Wednesday. That is half of the current flows, which are already only 40% of normal capacity. Germany said it saw no technical reason for the latest reduction.

Politicians in Europe have repeatedly said that Russia could cut off gas this winter, a step that would thrust Germany into recession and lead to soaring prices for consumers already faced with painfully high energy prices. Europe imports about 40% of its gas and 30% of its oil from Russia.

Ukraine said on Monday it hoped a UN-brokered deal to try to ease the food shortages by resuming grain exports from the Black Sea region would start to be implemented this week. Moscow brushed aside concerns the deal could be derailed by a Russian missile strike on Ukraine’s port of Odesa on Saturday, saying it targeted only military infrastructure.

Russia’s top diplomat said Moscow’s overarching goal in Ukraine is to topple President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government, expressing the Kremlin’s war aims in some of the bluntest terms yet.

RISHI SUNAK VS LIZ TRUSS: UK PM RACE GETS FIERCE WITH PERSONAL ATTACKS

It has been dubbed a bruising blue on blue battle, a reference to attacks within different factions of the governing Conservative Party as they turn on each other in the leadership contest to replace Boris Johnson as Tory leader and British Prime Minister.

Ahead of a key head-on televised BBC debate between the two finalists former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Monday night, the tone of the contest has been getting increasingly fierce.

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries, a Johnson loyalist who is backing Truss in the race, took to Twitter on Monday morning to quote tweet a Daily Mail' report on Sunak's GBP 3,500 bespoke suit and Prada shoes a jab at trying to paint him as distanced from the cost-of-living crisis facing the British public at large.

Liz Truss will be travelling the country wearing her earrings which cost circa GBP 4.50 from Claire Accessories, said Dorries, a reference to an affordable high street accessories store. Meanwhile Rishi visits Teeside in Prada shoes worth GBP 450 and sported GBP 3,500 bespoke suit as he prepared for crunch leadership vote, she said.

It prompted angry responses from some Tory activists and ministers warning that they were all on the same team and that such personal attacks would be punished at the next general election expected around 2024.

Probably worth remembering that on current trajectory we are out of power in two years' time. The puerile nature of this leadership contest is embarrassing. Time to raise the standards, tweeted Cabinet Office minister Johnny Mercer.

Sunak's personal wealth and that of wife Akshata Murty the daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy, has been referenced repeatedly in a race in which the British Indian former minister has admitted he is the underdog. He addressed the issue head-on in the last TV debate, when he spoke of his pride in what his parents-in-law had achieved with Infosys.

CHINA'S DWINDLING POPULATION TO SEE NEGATIVE GROWTH BEFORE 2025: REPORT

China's dwindling population will touch negative growth by 2025 and may continue to shrink for more than a century, a media report said on Monday, as it highlighted the need for improving the overall quality of the population and changing economic development plans to address the problem.

The growth rate of China's total population has slowed significantly and is expected to enter a negative growth during the current 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), Yang Wenzhuang, head of population and family affairs at the National Health Commission, said at the Annual Conference of China Population Association on Thursday.

Chinese demographers predicted that negative population growth will be the dominant trend in the coming years for a long time and improving the overall quality of the population and changing economic development plans are vital to address the problem, the Global Times newspaper reported.

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‘NO HOSPITALISATION NEEDED’: AIIMS BHUBANESWAR ON PARTHA CHATTERJEE

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar, on Monday said that West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, who was arrested in connection with the school teachers’ recruitment scam case, did not require hospitalisation as he did not have any serious illness and will be discharged later in the day.

The hospital authorities said they had sent Chatterjee’s medical reports to the Calcutta HC which on Sunday had ordered to shift the minister to the central tertiary healthcare centre in Odisha after the ED objected to the TMC leader being admitted to the West Bengal government-run SSKM Hospital in Kolkata.

Dr Ashutosh Biswas, executive director of AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, said, “Chatterjee has some chronic problems but he does not have any serious illness to be admitted to hospital. We have examined him. He will be discharged today as he doesn’t require hospitalisation at this time.”

Chatterjee was flown from Kolkata to Bhubaneswar in an air ambulance on Monday morning. He was taken to the airport from the SSKM in 25 minutes after a green corridor was created.

STATUE OF COL RINCHEN, LION OF LADAKH, COMES UP IN LEH

Ladakh has put up a seven-feet high statue of two-time Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) awardee and hero of the battle of Turtuk, Colonel Chewang Rinchen, at his native Sumoor village in Leh.

Col Rinchen was born on November 11, 1931, at Sumur village, Nubra Valley, in Ladakh region, and is known as the 'Lion of Ladakh' for his extraordinary acts of courage in defending Leh and Partapur sector.

He was a highly decorated officer in the Indian Army from the Union territory of Ladakh and was the youngest-ever recipient of the Maha Vir Chakra, the second highest Indian gallantry decoration, for his role in the defence of Ladakh in the first Kashmir War 1947-48.

He received the 2nd Maha Vir Chakra after the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 for his role in the conquest of Turtuk and Tyakshi, in what came to be known as the Battle of Turtuk, the officials said.

He was one of only six Indian defence personnel to have been awarded the Maha Vir Chakra twice.

7 DEAD, 20 HOSPITALISED AFTER HAVING SPURIOUS LIQUOR IN ‘DRY GUJARAT’

At least seven people died and over 20 others were hospitalised in various cities of Gujarat after they allegedly consumed spurious liquor in a village in Botad on Monday.

Police and administration officials rushed to Rojid village in Botad Monday afternoon and said the casualty figures are likely to rise. According to officials, the victims consumed spurious liquor Sunday night and their health started deteriorating Monday morning.

The state government has formed a special investigative team (SIT) to probe the sale of spurious liquor.

Terming the incident “unfortunate”, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal who arrived in Porbandar on a two-day visit to the state, said, “Despite prohibition in Gujarat, everyone knows that illegal liquor is available here. Who are these people selling illegal liquor? It is obvious that they are receiving political patronage. Where does all this money go and who are the patrons in this, it should be investigated.”

SC PULLS UP ALLAHABAD HC FOR PENDING BAIL CASES

Peeved over long delays in hearing the bail applications of convicted prisoners pending their appeals, the Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Allahabad high court, saying it should start thinking "out of the box" and convene even on off days to ensure quick disposal.

A division bench conveyed its annoyance by saying it is prepared to "take the extra burden" and call the applications to the apex court if the high court was finding it "difficult" to handle them.

The bench of Justices S K Kaul and M M Sundresh noted there are 853 pending criminal appeals where petitioners have spent more than 10 years in jail.

The top court ordered that a list be filed before it of the 853 cases with their serial numbers, details about the time the convicted prisoners have spent in custody, in which of these cases the state is opposing the bail and on which grounds. It granted two weeks to the state for furnishing the details.

CCI ARGUES AGAINST WHATSAPP APPEAL IN DELHI HC

Stating that WhatsApp hasn’t stopped implementation of its 2021 privacy policy, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday said that its probe into the policy was purely through the prism of The Competition Act and it should be allowed to continue with the same.

Following the completion of arguments, the division bench od Delhi High Court reserved its decision on the appeals of Meta and WhatsApp against CCI probe into WhatsApp’s privacy policy update of 2021.

CCI had last year come to a prima facie conclusion that the conduct of WhatsApp in “sharing of users’ personalised data with other Facebook companies, in a manner that is neither fully transparent nor based on voluntary and specific user consent” appears unfair to the users.

Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman, representing the CCI, submitted before the court that even now WhatsApp sends pop-up reminders regarding the privacy policy to users who haven’t accepted its updated terms and conditions. “It is not that they have stopped. What about people who have (already) opted in. We have voluntarily pressed the button sometime without realising,” the ASG argued.

He added, “There is no stay on policy nor have they withdrawn the same” and even if the Supreme Court were to set aside the privacy policy in future, WhatsApp would have to be examined for the “non-withdrawn” period.

WhatsApp on July 9 last year had told the court that it will not be limiting the functionality of its messaging app in case a user does not consent to its latest privacy policy and will maintain the approach at least till the data protection bill comes into effect.

ZOMATO STOCK CRASHES 11% AS IPO LOCK-IN PERIOD ENDS

Zomato’s shares plunged after the end of a lock-up period for investors that had stakes in the online fooddelivery and restaurant platform prior to IPO. The stock dropped 11% to a record low of Rs 47. 6 on Monday. Zomato’s offering last July raised close to $1. 3 billion and lured investors including Morgan Stanley and Fidelity Investments. China’s Ant Group was an early holder, having initially invested in it in 2018, owning a stake of about 16% before the share sale.

After a surge following the debut about one year ago, Zomato shares pared those gains to now trade about 40% below the IPO price. That compares to a 4.9% increase for the Nifty 50 over the same period.

Zomato’s successful IPO last year set the tone for the coming-out parties of a generation of Indian unicorns, including e-payments firm One97 Communications (Paytm). But their shares have also plummeted as doubts persist about the valuations of loss-making technology firms, particularly as global macroeconomic uncertainty mounts.

POLE VAULT: ARMAND DUPLANTIS SETS A NEW WORLD RECORD

Sweden’s Armand Duplantis broke his own pole vault world record with a jump of 6. 21 metres on Sunday on the way to winning his first gold medal at the World Championships.

The Olympic champion cleared 6. 00m to make sure of the title, before he set his sights on his own record of 6. 20m set at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade earlier this year and improved upon it by 1cm with his second attempt.

The world title completes the 22-year-old’s collection, making him the first pole vaulter to have won gold at the Olympics, World Championships, World Indoor Championships, World Junior Championships, World Youth Championships and European Championships.

Duplantis took two attempts at 5. 87m before clearing 6.00m and 6.06m with ease to edge Dmitri Markov’s Championships mark of 6.05m set in Edmonton in 2001.

He then had the bar raised to 6. 21m, falling short on his first attempt but soaring to the world record on the second.

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Dollar Index 106.16 Brent Crude 106.13 BDI 2,114

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics. - Thomas Sowell

OFF TRACK

A young boy was looking through the family album and asked his  mother, 'Who's this guy on the beach with you, with all the muscles and curly hair?'

'That's your father.' said the mother.

The boy seemed astonished as he said to his mom, 'Then who's that old bald-headed fat man that lives with us now?'