DEBATE ON PRICE RISE IN LOK SABHA TODAY

After a near washout of House proceedings for two weeks, the Lok Sabha will have a debate on price rise today. According to the list of business, Shiv Sena MP Vinayak Raut and Congress’ Manish Tewari will raise a discussion on price rise under Rule 193.

Since the beginning of the session on July 18, the Opposition in both Houses has been raising the issue of rising prices and GST. The proceedings on last Thursday and Friday were washed out due to the “Rashtrapatni” remark of Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and the subsequent face-off between party president Sonia Gandhi and Union Minister Smriti Irani in the Lok Sabha chamber. On Friday, Chowdhury apologised to President Droupadi Murmu for his remark.

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Sunday wrote to Speaker Om Birla demanding an unconditional apology from Union minister Smriti Irani for “lowering the dignity” of the president’s office during her Thursday speech in the lower House. “I may like to point out that the manner in which Smt. Smriti Irani was taking the name of Hon'ble Madam President in the House was not proper and in consonance with the status and position of the Hon'ble President. She was yelling 'Droupadi Murmu' repeatedly without prefixing Hon'ble President or Madame or Smt. before the Hon'ble President's name," the letter read.

CONGRESS SUSPENDS 3 JHARKHAND MLAs HELD IN BENGAL WITH CASH

The Congress on Sunday suspended three Jharkhand MLAs, who were caught allegedly with a huge amount of cash in Howrah, and accused the BJP of attempting to topple its coalition govt in the state.

However, the Congress asserted that its coalition govt led by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is "completely secure and stable'' and would complete its term.

Acting on a tip-off, the police on Saturday intercepted an SUV in which Congress MLAs Irfan Ansari, Rajesh Kachchap and Naman Bixal Kongari were travelling on national highway-16 at Ranihati in West Bengal's Howrah and allegedly found a huge amount of cash in the vehicle.

Accusing the BJP of attempting to topple the Jharkhand govt, Congress general secretary and Jharkhand in-charge Avinash Pande said democracy is being "shredded to pieces" as democratically elected govts are being destabilised in a brazen manner.

INDIA, IRAN MAKING EFFORTS FOR LINKING CHABAHAR WITH INSTC

The regional vision to make Shahid Beheshti Port at Chabahar a transit hub was reflected in the presence of diplomats of all five Central Asian Countries, Iran and Afghanistan along with a strong Indian contingent led by Ports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal at ‘Chabahar Day’ in Mumbai today.

India has committed a grant of $85 million and credit facility of $150 million to modernise the port. The immediate spinoff has been providing “much-needed access to landlocked Afghanistan”, said MEA's Joint Secretary (Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran) JP Singh. With the involvement of regional countries, it would become a more economical and stable route for landlocked countries to reach India and the global markets, he added.

India and Iran are making efforts to link Chabahar Port to the INSTC (International North-South Transport Corridor), which will reduce the time for shipments to reach Russia, Europe, and enter the Central Asian markets.

Sonowal said he looked forward to businesses and logistics companies utilising the incentives of the Shahid Beheshti Port and Chabahar Free Trade Zone. “We urge all stakeholders to come forward with suggestions to reduce the transportation time and cost further to make a cheaper, shorter, faster and more reliable route from India to Iran and Central Asia,” he added.

PM MODI’S ‘MANN KI BAAT’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today urged people to put ‘Tiranga’ as profile picture of their social media accounts between August 2 and 15 to mark the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’.

Noting that the Independence Day this year would mark the completion of 75 years of India’s freedom, he urged the people to participate in the “Har Ghar Tiranga” campaign, which would be organised from August 13-15. He said people should hoist or display the national flag at their homes during the campaign.

Recalling the freedom struggle, he said 75 railway stations in 24 states that were witness to it would be decorated as part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ campaign.

Pitching for “vocal for local”, he said the country’s export of toys had increased and the import, which earlier used to be worth more than Rs 3,000 crore, had declined by 70 per cent. “India has exported toys worth more than Rs 2,600 crore to foreign countries, a count that stood at Rs 300-400 crore earlier,” he said.

“Indian manufacturers are now making toys based on Indian mythology, history and culture. Toy clusters that are there everywhere in the country. Small entrepreneurs, who make toys, are getting a lot of benefit from it. The toys made by these small entrepreneurs are now going around the world,” he said.

Underlining that the fight against Covid was not yet over, he said the interest in “holistic healthcare” had been helpful. He also spoke about the growing interest in Ayurveda and Indian medicine around the world. Investment proposals worth about Rs 10,000 crore have been received during the recent ‘Global Ayush Investment and Innovation Summit’.

He lauded Indian athletes for growing excellence in international events.

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST / July 31

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Saturday  19,673

Active Cases 1,43,676 (+292)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 5,26,357 (45)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

TAIWAN OFF THE ITINERARY, US HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI BEGINS ASIA TOUR

After a week of heightened US-China tensions over US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s potential trip to Taiwan, it appears that she will not be visiting the island nation, which Beijing views as part of its territory.

Pelosi, the third most powerful politician in America, was reportedly planning a visit to Taiwan as part of her tour of the Indo-Pacific region that officially kicked off Sunday.

Taiwan was missing from Pelosi’s itinerary, which mentioned other Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan.

This comes three days after US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping had a phone conversation, during which the latter warned against “playing with fire” over Taiwan.

ZELENSKY URGES CITIZENS TO FLEE DONBAS: ‘FEWER PEOPLE FOR RUSSIAN ARMY TO KILL’

Hundreds of thousands of civilians living in eastern Ukraine were ordered to evacuate their homes this weekend after months of relentless Russian bombardment destroyed the infrastructure needed to deliver heat and electricity. While the Ukrainians have stabilised their defensive lines in eastern Ukraine and the Russians have failed to make significant advances in weeks, Russian shelling of towns and villages continues to kill civilians daily.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking to the nation in his overnight address, urged the hundreds of thousands of people — including tens of thousands of children — living in Donetsk province to move quickly. “The sooner it is done, the more people leave Donetsk region now, the fewer people the Russian army will have time to kill,” he said.

It is the first time the Ukrainian govt has issued such a broad directive. By doing so before winter, it was seeking to give people time to move and to prevent an unmanageable crisis later. Protecting civilians also takes up resources, taxing beleaguered emergency crews. Zelensky said the govt would help people logistically and financially.

The Ukrainian president’s emotions sounded raw as he condemned the killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war in an explosion at a detention facility in the Russian-occupied part of Donetsk province as an act of mass murder. “Everyone is guilty — who approved, who organised, who blasted these people, who knew about it — they all will be found,” he said.

The Kremlin has said that Ukraine killed its own soldiers being held in the Russian prison camp using precision Umade missiles.

Meanwhile, President Putin on Sunday signed a new naval doctrine which cast the US as Russia’s main rival and set out Russia’s global maritime ambitions for key areas such as the Arctic and in the Black Sea.

THE REST

=========

ED ARRESTS SENA MP SANJAY RAUT, HE ALLEGES IT’S A FRAMEUP

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) probing the alleged Patra ‘chawl’ land deal scam yesterday conducted searches at Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut’s residence at suburban Bhandup in Mumbai for nine hours and questioned him before shifting him to the agency’s office in the evening, officials said.

Before being taken to the ED’s south Mumbai office, Raut claimed he was being “framed on the basis of false evidence, but he won’t bow down or quit the party”. “They (ED) are going to arrest me,” Raut told mediapersons outside the ED office. “Jhukega nahin’ (won’t bow down),” the Sena MP said, putting up a brave front. He alleged that the probe agency’s action was aimed at weakening the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra, and that a “false” case had been prepared against him.

After the ED action began early morning, Raut tweeted that he “will die, but will not surrender and never leave Shiv Sena”. At 7 am, ED officials accompanied by CRPF personnel reached Raut’s ‘Maitri’ bungalow in Mumbai and began the search. The action followed two ED’s summonses against him, the latest on July 27.

Uddhav Thackeray alleged that the agency’s action against Raut was part of a “conspiracy” to finish off the party. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said if Raut was innocent, he should not be afraid of the ED action against him.

MONEY IS NOT MINE, SAYS PARTHA CHATTERJEE

Arrested Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, who is at the centre of a multi-crore school jobs scam, on Sunday claimed that the money recovered during Enforcement Directorate raids does not belong to him, and time will tell who are “conspiring” against him.

As he deboarded a vehicle after being taken to ESI Hospital at Joka for a medical check-up, and was approached by reporters with questions regarding the scam, Chatterjee said, "The money (recovered) is not mine.”

Chatterjee had on Friday asserted that he was a victim of a conspiracy and expressed unhappiness over the Trinamool Congress' decision to suspend him. "This decision (to suspend me) could influence an impartial probe…," he had said.

The TMC leadership has taken exception to his comments, contending that Chatterjee was himself responsible for his fate. "Why was he silent for the last few days after his arrest? He has every right to approach the court and prove his innocence. The party has nothing to do with this scam," TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh had said on Thursday.

The CBI, as directed by Calcutta High Court, is probing the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of Group-C and -D staff, as well as teachers in govt-sponsored and -aided schools on the recommendations of the West Bengal School Service Commission.

NIA CONDUCTS RAIDS IN 4 STATES IN CRACKDOWN ON ISIS

The National Investigation Agency on Sunday conducted searches at several places in Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra in connection with cases of Islamic State activities. The NIA on Sunday conducted searches in Bhopal and Raisen districts of Madhya Pradesh in a case pertaining to the activities of terror group ISIS, the agency said.

The searches led to the seizure of incriminating documents and material, it said. Further investigation into the case is in progress, the agency said.

SILLY TO COMPARE SRI LANKA’S ECONOMIC SITUATION WITH INDIA: ARVIND PANAGARIYA

Former NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya on Sunday said it would be ‘silly’ to compare the economic situation of Sri Lanka with India, though lessons can be learnt from the crisis in the island nation.

Panagariya, in an interview with PTI further said since the 1991 balance of payments crisis, successive govts have managed the macroeconomy conservatively.

He pointed out that in the case of India, fiscal deficits have not been allowed to get out of hand, the exchange rate has been allowed to depreciate to keep the current-account deficit low, monetary policy has been restrained to keep inflation low and the opening of financial capital flows has been done in a calibrated fashion.

“This is a silly comparison...suggestions of any parallels between India and Sri Lanka currently are laughable,” Panagariya said, adding that India has rarely borrowed abroad to finance its fiscal deficit.

The eminent economist was asked to comment on former Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s statement in which Gandhi hit out at the Modi govt over rising inflation and unemployment and said India looks a “lot like Sri Lanka” and the Centre should not distract people.

Meanwhile. a day after former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said India is not facing any economic crisis like Sri Lanka and Pakistan, the BJP on Sunday said decisions taken by the Narendra Modi govt to handle the economy have turned out to be correct, with even its critics acknowledging that.

LINKING RUPAY CREDIT CARDS WITH UPI A GAME-CHANGER, BUT PAIN POINTS REMAIN

Come September, and millions will be able to buy whatever they’ve set their hearts on and pay through RuPay credit cards linked to the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

The merchant discount rate (MDR) has been set at 2 per cent of the transaction size, of which 1.5 per cent will go as interchange towards the card-issuing bank, with the rest (50 basis points) being shared as fees with RuPay and the acquiring entities — be it banks, or non-banks like Mswipe Technologies and Paytm.

It will lead to exponential growth in RuPay credit-card issuances, but a raft of issues may need to be seen afresh, given the inter-linkages.

Will smaller merchants agree to cough up the MDR? After all, the UPI is a toll-free highway. The huge spurt in UPI transactions masks the fact that a good percentage of them is declined, as the system can’t take the load. A related issue is what happens to buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) firms.

Then there’s the elephant in the room: should there be zero-MDR on RuPay debit-card transactions with a ticket-size of up to Rs 2,000? And should UPI transactions continue to be free for all time to come?

DGCA EASES NERVES, SAYS SNAGS FACED BY AIRLINES ROUTINE

Aviation watchdog DGCA chief Arun Kumar today said technical snags faced by domestic carriers in recent weeks did not have the potential to cause havoc and that even foreign airlines that came to India reported 15 technical snags in the last 16 days.

The country’s civil aviation space was “absolutely safe” and all protocols laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation were followed, he said.

Against the backdrop of a spate of technical snags suffered by Indian airlines in recent weeks and the DGCA curtailing operations of SpiceJet, Kumar stressed there was no need to panic as none of the events that had been reported/discussed had the potential to cause havoc.

“All snags experienced are routine and happen with all airlines and all types of fleet,” Kumar said.

EARTH SMASHES RECORD FOR SHORTEST DAY

On July 29, the Earth broke its record for the shortest day as it completed a full spin in 1.59 milliseconds less than its standard 24-hour rotation.

According to the Independent, the planet recently has been increasing its speed. Back in 2020, the Earth saw its shortest month that has ever been recorded since the 1960s. On July 19 of that year, the shortest of all time was measured. It was 1.47 milliseconds shorter than a typical 24-hour day.

The next year, the planet continued to spin at a generally increased rate, but it did not break any records. However, according to Interesting Engineering (IE), a 50-year phase of shorter days may be starting right now.

The cause of the differing speed of Earth's spin is still unknown. But scientists speculate that this could be because of processes in the inner or outer layers of the core, oceans, tides or even changes in climate.

BIG BUDGET SHAMSHERA BOMBS AT BOX OFFICE

Ranbir Kapoor-starrer Shamshera is a big disappointment at the box office - the film did not manage to pull the audience to the theatres. Shamshera also stars Sanjay Dutt and Vaani Kapoor.

For the banner behind the Rs 150-crore period action drama, Yash Raj Films (YRF), it is the fourth flop in succession.

Shamshera embarked on its journey with an opening of Rs 10.25 crore on Day 1. The opening is way lower than what the industry expected out of it. Throughout the week, the collections kept dipping, and now with the release of Ek Villian Returns and Vikrant Rona, the film may sink further. In week 1, the film earned a mere Rs 40 crore.

TWO MORE GOLDS AT COMMONWEALTH GAMES

Teenager Jeremy Lalrinnunga and Achinta Sheuli continued the country's dominance in the weightlifting arena with a superlative gold-winning performances, which pushed India to the top six on the medal table on Day 3 of the Commonwealth Games, in Birmingham, Sunday.

Lalrinnunga, the 19-year-old reigning Youth Olympic champion, battled excruciating muscle cramps but shattered two records en route the gold medal in the men's 67kg category. Overcoming cramps, he first bettered the Games snatch mark with a successful 140kg attempt and then lifted 160kg in clean and jerk to take his aggregate to 300kg, a new CWG record.

A massive 7kg difference from his nearest rival Samoa's Vaipava Ioane (127kg +166kg) summed up the dominance of the 19-year-old, who first made headlines by winning a historic gold at the Youth Olympics in 2018.

Later in the day, Achinta Sheuli (73kg) lived up to his top billing, clinching India's third gold at the Commonwealth Games. Favourite to win the event, debutant Sheuli heaved 313kg (143kg+170kg) to emerge triumphant.

The Manpreet Singh-led Indian men's hockey team also kicked off their campaign on a rousing note, thrashing Ghana 11-0 in a Pool B match.

India also resumed their rivalry against Pakistan on the cricketing field with a facile eight-wicket victory in a rain-curtailed women's T20 contest at Edgbaston.

In boxing, World champion Nikhat Zareen stormed into the quarter-finals, while there was disappointment in store for Shiva Thapa, who crashed out in the Round of 16.

India also remained in medal contention in table tennis, squash and lawn bowls, entering the quarter-finals of their respective events.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Accomplishment and success are often the result of commitment and perseverance rather than skill or talent. - George Van Valkenburg

OFF TRACK

Bob hadn't been to a class reunion in decades. When he walked into this latest one, he thought he recognized a woman over in the corner, so he approached her and extended his hand in greeting, saying, "You look like Helen Brown."

"Well," the woman snapped back, "you don't look so great in blue, either!"