BJP ON THE FRONT FOOT AFTER CONGRESS LEADER’S ‘RASHTRAPATNI’ REMARK

Deepening the divide in Parliament, already rocked by noisy protests and repeated adjournments, Union Minister Smriti Irani and Congress president Sonia Gandhi faced off Thursday, prompting the BJP and Congress to hurl accusations of “intimidation” and “heckling” at each other in the wake of a remark by Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury regarding President Droupadi Murmu.

After a video clip of Chowdhury referring to Murmu as ‘Rashtrapatni’ did the rounds — he said it was “a slip of tongue” and he would apologise to the President because he “never meant to disrespect” her — the BJP demanded that Sonia Gandhi, as chief of the Congress, apologise for her colleague’s remark.

Accepting his mistake, Chowdhury said he will apologise to the President. “I inadvertently used the word ‘rashtrapatni’ just once and it was a slip of the tongue. I never meant any disrespect to the President….what should I do? I said it and realised I uttered a wrong word. I even looked for mediapersons to request them to not focus on it. However, I couldn’t find them.”

While Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman led the offensive against Sonia inside Rajya Sabha and outside Parliament House, Irani slammed the Congress in Lok Sabha. “Chowdhury’s comments were not a slip of tongue. It was a deliberate sexist insult against the President,” Sitharaman said in a brief statement in Rajya Sabha.

Amid protests from BJP women MPs who sought an apology from Chowdhury, Irani said the Congress had been targeting Murmu ever since the BJP-led NDA named her the Presidential candidate. Targeting Sonia, Irani said, “You sanctioned the humiliation of Shrimati Droupadi Murmu. You sanctioned the humiliation of the tribal legacy of this country. Sonia ji sanctioned the humiliation of a woman in the highest constitutional post… Sonia ji sanctioned the humiliation of a poor woman who has ascended to the highest office in this country.”

As BJP women MPs shouted “Sonia Gandhi maafi mango (apologise)”, the Congress chief walked up to Rama Devi, a senior BJP MP and one of the presiding officers in Lok Sabha. Sonia asked her why her name was being dragged into this.

Seeing Sonia walk towards the treasury benches, Irani stepped in.

Later, Jairam Ramesh, Congress general secretary in-charge of communication, said, “Sonia Gandhi was talking to BJP MP Rama Devi. Smriti Irani cornered Sonia and used objectionable language in a very offensive manner. When Sonia politely told her that she was not talking to her and she was talking to another MP, Irani shouted and said ‘you don’t know who I am’. MPs of the Congress and many other parties are witness to this.”

The BJP countered this version. Sitharaman accused Sonia of speaking in a “threatening tone” with BJP members.

In a Twitter post, TMC MP Mahua Moitra said, “Was in Lok Sabha when 75 year old lady senior leader encircled & heckled pack-wolf style when all she did was walk over & speak (masked) to another senior lady panel chairperson.”

Outside the House, Rama Devi told the media that Sonia sought to know why her name was dragged into the issue. She said she told Sonia that she had selected Chowdhury as the Congress leader in Lok Sabha.

PAKISTAN BOYCOTTS CHESS OLYMPIAD IN CHENNAI

A team from Pakistan pulled out of the Chess Olympiad being held in Tamil Nadu after landing here, leading to both New Delhi and Islamabad accusing each other of politicising the sporting event.

“Surprising that Pakistan suddenly took the decision not to participate in the Chess Olympiad, particularly after its team reached India. It is highly unfortunate that Pakistan politicised a prestigious international event,’’ said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Pakistan’s sudden announcement earlier in the day over a torch relay for the Olympiad that took place a week back in Srinagar.

A Pakistan Foreign Office statement regretted that India has chosen to politicise the Olympiad by passing the event’s torch relay of this event through Srinagar on June 21.  Besides boycotting the Olympiad, the statement said the matter will be raised with the International Chess Federation at the “highest level’’.

Bagchi also reiterated that the UTs of J&K and Ladakh “have been, are and will remain an integral part of India.’’

Pakistan said, “by passing the torch relay through J&K K, in utter disregard of the globally acknowledged ‘disputed’ status of the territory, India has committed a travesty that the international community cannot accept under any circumstances.’’

INDIA'S FIRST INDIGENOUS AIRCRAFT CARRIER VIKRANT HANDED OVER TO NAVY

The Indian Navy created maritime history on Thursday as it took delivery of the indigenous aircraft carrier ‘Vikrant’ from the public sector ship builder, Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), Kochi.

Designed by Indian Navy’s in-house Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and built by CSL, a public sector shipyard under the Ministry of Shipping (MoS), the carrier is christened after her illustrious predecessor, India’s first aircraft carrier which played a vital role in the 1971 War with Pakistan.

The 45,000 tonne vessel is slated to be commissioned in a few weeks from now. The 262-meter-long carrier is powered by four gas turbines totalling 88 MW power and has a maximum speed of 28 knots.

Built at an overall cost of close to Rs 20,000 crore, the ship’s keel was laid in February 2009, followed by launching in August 2013.

With an overall indigenous content of 76 per cent, India has joined a select group of nations having the niche capability to indigenously design and build an aircraft carrier.

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST / July 28

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Wednesday  20,557

Active Cases 1,46,323 (+1,297)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 5,26,211 (34)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

IN CALL, XI WARNS BIDEN AGAINST ‘PLAYING WITH FIRE’ OVER TAIWAN

The phone call was long — two hours and 17 minutes according to the White House — and the spin and the substance of the conversation differed widely in readouts offered by the two sides. According to the Beijing, President Xi Jinping warned US President Joe Biden that “those who play with fire will get burned” during their first conversation in four months.

According to a more restrained version tweeted out by Biden himself he spoke with President Xi “as part of our efforts to deepen lines of communication, responsibly manage our differences, an d address issues of mutual interest”. No word of any fire or burn.

The fifth call between the two leaders since Biden took office came amid simmering tensions over a potential visit to Taiwan by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Beijing sees it as a provocation and has warned of consequences. The US sees that as a threat to its sovereign right and has indicated it will militarily protect Pelosi — who is second in line to the Oval Office after the vice-president — if she goes ahead with the trip. There did not seem to be a climbdown from either side after the phone call.

A White House readout of the call said it was “part of the Biden administration’s efforts to maintain and deepen lines of communication between the US and the PRC and responsibly manage our differences and work together where our interests align. ” It said two presidents discussed a range of issues important to the bilateral relationship and other regional and global issues, and tasked their teams to continue following up on today’s conversation, in particular to address climate change and health security.

CHINA DENIES ITS LOANS, PROJECTS CAUSED SL CRISIS

China on Thursday defended its massive infrastructure ventures and investments in crisis-hit Sri Lanka and said that they have “boosted’ its economic development, amid criticism from the US of Beijing’s unproductive projects and opaque loan deals among the reasons for the country’s bankruptcy. “The China-Sri Lanka practical cooperation has always been led by Sri Lanka with scientific planning and thorough verification with no strings attached,” spokesman Zhao Lijian said.

“Chinese projects have boosted Sri Lanka’s economic development, and brought tangible benefits to the Sri Lankan people,” he said while responding to a question on the criticism of China’s projects and policies towards Sri Lanka by USAID administrator Samantha Power. Speaking in New Delhi on Wednesday, Power said India reacted swiftly to help Sri Lanka tide over its economic crisis, but calls to China went unanswered. She said China became one of Sri Lanka’s “biggest creditors” offering often “opaque loan” deals at high interest rates.

Refuting her claims, Zhao said “there are multiple components to Sri Lanka’ s foreign debt, where China-related debts take far less share than the international capital market and multilateral development banks. ” “Besides. . . China provides Sri Lanka almost preferential loans with low-interest rates and long terms,” he said.

He also sought to blame US policies, including interest rate hikes, unilateral sanctions and massive stimulus policies, saying they had seriously impacted many developing countries like Sri Lanka.

THE REST

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TWO PILOTS KILLED IN IAF FIGHTER PLANE CRASH

Two pilots were killed after an Indian Air Force fighter aircraft crashed in Barmer on Thursday night.

“At 9:10 pm this evening, an IAF MiG 21 trainer aircraft met with an accident in the western sector during a training sortie. Both pilots sustained fatal injuries. IAF deeply regrets the loss of lives and stands firmly with the bereaved families.

A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident,” the IAF said in a tweet.

The twin-seater MiG 21 trainer aircraft was airborne for a training sortie from Barmer’s Utarlai air base on Thursday evening.

THREE MORE MPs ARE OUT SUSPENDED FROM RAJYA SABHA

Escalating tensions in the House, another three members of Rajya Sabha — AAP’s Sushil Kumar Gupta and Sandeep Kumar Pathak and Assam independent member Ajit Kumar Bhuyan — were suspended Thursday for the rest of the week for alleged misconduct, taking the total number of Opposition MPs suspended from the Upper House this session to 23.

Earlier this week, four Congress MPs were suspended from Lok Sabha for the remainder of the current session.

The fresh action came even as suspended MPs continued sitting on dharna within Parliament House premises, accusing the govt of “throttling the voice” of the Opposition.

The motion seeking the suspension of the three MPs, moved by Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan, mentioned the display of placards as an offence — for the first time.

The Opposition hit back. “This govt uses bulldozers on the ground and bulldozes us inside Parliament. That is the reality,” TMC’s suspended MP Sushmita Dev said.

“I think their target is 75 because it is Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. So we are waiting for Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav,” said CPM’s A A Rahim, who was suspended on Tuesday.

THE CONTROVERSY OVER HOW THE PRESIDENT SHOULD BE ADDRESSED

India has had a woman President earlier. The first time this happened, there was a minor debate on the proper way to address the Head of State, apparently because “Rashtrapati”, according to some people, has a “male” connotation. That debate died down soon, after it was agreed that in India’s constitutional scheme, words like Rashtrapati and Sabhapati (Speaker) are understood to be gender-neutral.

President Pratibha Patil was referred to as Rashtrapati throughout her tenure in Rashtrapati Bhavan that ended in July 2012.

Among the suggestions made was “Rashtrapatni”, though it was never taken seriously. Activists and feminists objected to expressions like “Rashtramata”, saying the use of such terms for a constitutional post was “patriarchal” and “gender-biased”.

India has since had two women Speakers, Meira Kumar and Sumitra Mahajan, and both have been referred to as “Sabhapati”.

MAMATA BANERJEE SACKS MINISTER PARTHA CHATTERJEE AFTER CASH HAUL

Five days after he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with its investigation into the alleged school jobs scam in West Bengal amid recovery of crores in currency notes from his associate, Partha Chatterjee was removed from his ministries as well as all party posts Thursday. The TMC also announced his suspension from the party.

Chatterjee was State Education Minister when the alleged scam took place. He currently held various portfolios in the ministry, including Industry and Commerce.

The ED has said that over Rs 48 crore in cash has been recovered from different residences linked to Chatterjee’s aide, Arpita Mukherjee, who has also been arrested in the case.

IF NEEDED, WILL FOLLOW ‘YOGI MODEL’, SAYS KARNATAKA CM BOMMAI

Following the outrage and protests among party workers over the murder of BJP youth worker Praveen Nettaru, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Thursday that he is ready to take action on the lines of the “Yogi model”, if the situation demands it.

“For the situation in Uttar Pradesh, Yogi (Adityanath) is the right chief minister. Similarly, there are different methods to deal with the situation in Karnataka and all of them are being used. If the situation demands, the Yogi model govt will come to Karnataka too,” Bommai said.

The CM was responding to a question on demands by a section of BJP and Sangh Parivar supporters, who have slammed the Bommai govt for failing to protect the lives of its party workers in the state, for a ‘Yogi model’ of governance in Karnataka.

USE PHOTOS OF PRESIDENT, PM IN ADS OF CHESS OLYMPIAD: HC

A day after BJP workers pasted photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on billboards for the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai saying they featured only Chief Minister M K Stalin, the Madras High Court Thursday ordered the Tamil Nadu govt to ensure that photographs of the President and Prime Minister are published in all Chess Olympiad advertisements in print and electronic media.

Rejecting the state govt’s submission that the President’s photograph was not published because the Presidential election had not concluded and that of the Prime Minister because consent from his office came late, the bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice S Ananthi said “the interest of the nation should be (of) paramount importance in the mind of every citizen”.

‘GIVE US A BREAK, THERE IS A LIMIT TO TARGETING JUDGES’: JUSTICE CHANDRACHUD

Taking exception to the targeting of judges, the Supreme Court on Thursday expressed strong displeasure over news reports that said it was delaying hearing of a petition alleging increasing attacks on Christian institutions and priests in India.

“Give us a break…There is a limit to targeting judges,” said a Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud, disapproving of misreporting on an adjournment of the hearing on the previous date.

“Last time the matter could not be taken because I was down with Covid. You get it published in newspapers that the Supreme Court is delaying the hearing. Look, there is a limit to which you can target the judges. Who supplies all this news?” wondered Justice Chandrachud.

Earlier, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves had last month mentioned the matter before a Vacation Bench and alleged that 45-50 violent attacks on an average took place against Christian institutions and priests every month.

MOTHER HAS RIGHT TO DECIDE CHILD'S SURNAME AFTER FATHER'S DEATH: SC

Describing mother as the natural guardian of a child, the Supreme Court on Thursday said she had the right to decide the surname of the child after the father’s death.

The court was dealing with a dispute between the mother, who remarried after the death of her first husband, and the parents of the deceased biological father of the child over the surname to the child.

After the demise of her first husband, being the only natural guardian of the child, how could the mother be lawfully restrained from including the child in her new family and deciding the surname, a Bench of Justice Dinesh Maheshwari and Justice Krishna Murari wondered.

The top court said a name was important as a child derived his identity from it and a difference in name from his family would act as a constant reminder of the factum of adoption and expose the child to unnecessary questions hindering a smooth and natural relationship between him and his parents.

There was nothing unusual in a mother, upon remarriage, having given the child the surname of her second husband or even giving the child in adoption to her husband, it added.

SANJAY DUTT PENS EMOTIONAL NOTE AS 'SHAMSHERA' FLOPS AT BOX OFFICE

Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt, who was last seen in 'Shamshera' with Ranbir Kapoor and Vaani Kapoor, has penned a long note as the film flopped at the box office.

In his note, Sanjay said that he admires director Karan Malhotra as a filmmaker. Karan and Sanjay earlier worked together in 'Agneepath' which was a box office hit.

"Films are acts of passion - passion to tell a story, to bring to life characters you've never met before. Shamshera is one such labour of love to which we gave our all. It's a movie made up of blood, sweat and tears. It's a dream that we brought on screen. Movies are made for audiences to relish. And every movie finds Its viewers, sooner or later. Shamshera found a lot of people hating on It: some of the hate came from people who didn't even watch It. I find it horrible that people don't respect the hard work we all put in," Sanjay wrote.

The much-hyped action drama 'Shamshera' hit the theatres in July 22, but failed to impress the audience. The film tanked miserably at the box office. 'Shamshera', which stars Ranbir Kapoor and Vaani Kapoor, registered a weekend collection of just Rs 32 crore. The film, which is made on a mammoth budget of Rs 150 crore, was billed as a big scale action-drama set in the 1800s.

The film chronicles the story of a dacoit tribe, headed by Ranbir - who plays the dual role of Shamshera and his son, Balli - fighting for their right and independence from the British.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits. - Thomas Edison

OFF TRACK

Two goldfish were in their tank. One turns to the other and says, "You man the guns, I'll drive."