FLAGGING TERROR THREAT, INDIA PLEDGES SUPPORT TO MALDIVES

To counter the threat of transnational crime, terrorism and drug trafficking in the Indian Ocean region, India on Tuesday said it will give 24 vehicles and one naval boat to the Maldives Security Force and help train the island-nation’s security personnel.

After holding bilateral talks with visiting Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “The threat of transnational crime, terrorism and drug trafficking in the Indian Ocean is serious. And therefore, close contact and coordination between India and Maldives in the field of defence and security is vital for peace and stability of the entire region.”

Solih said Maldives will always remain “a true friend” India, “firmly committed to our shared vision of peace and development…”

The joint statement said, “India-Maldives defence and security partnership is time-tested and is the leading example of regional cooperation in areas of transnational crimes and disaster relief. This partnership is a force for stability in the Indian Ocean Region. Recognizing that the security of India and the Maldives are inter-linked, the two leaders reiterated their assurance to be mindful of each other’s concerns on the security and stability of the region; and to not allow their respective territories to be used for any activity inimical to the other.”

Thanking Delhi for its “generous assistance” when his country was reeling under the impact of Covid-19, Solih said, “Was it not for generous assistance received in the form of budgetary support, medical assistance and the Covishield vaccines by India, our economic recovery would have been hard and long.”

SRI LANKA WANTS AMICABLE SETTLEMENT OF CHINESE SHIP ISSUE, SAYS MINISTER

Sri Lanka is looking forward to settle the issue of a Chinese research vessel's visit to a strategic port in the country with an "approach of friendship", Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena said on Tuesday, days after India said it carefully monitors any development having a bearing on its security and economic interests.

The Chinese vessel, Yuan Wang 5, is expected to dock in Sri Lanka's Hambantota port from August 11-17 for ‘replenishment' and will conduct satellite control and research tracking in the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean region through August and September.

“Both countries are our close friends, we will try to settle the issue with an approach of friendship,” the newly-appointed Gunawardena told reporters at a public gathering.

Sri Lanka's reactions came as the government of India officially conveyed its concerns over the vessel's docking at a key Sri Lankan port. Indian officials are reported to have informed Sri Lanka that the visit could pose a threat to its national security, according to local officials.

CAA ROLLOUT AFTER COVID BOOSTER DOSE EXERCISE, SAYS AMIT SHAH

BJP leader from West Bengal Suvendu Adhikari Tuesday urged Union Home Minister Amit Shah to implement the citizenship law CAA at the earliest, with the latter assuring him that rules regarding it will be framed after the Covid precaution dose vaccination exercise is over.

The framing of rules for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act will pave the way for its implementation.

Passed by Parliament in December 2019, the Act is yet to be rolled out due to the absence of rules. The government has cited the outbreak of pandemic for not framing them so far.

Adhikari told reporters that the implementation of CAA, slammed by critics for its alleged anti-Muslim bias, is very critical for West Bengal where a large number of people can benefit from its provisions.

There is a view that the government is treading cautiously on the matter after the Act drew saw protests in different parts of the country. It seeks to grant citizenship to persecuted minorities of neighbouring countries, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, who had come to India by December 31, 2014.

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST / Aug 2

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Monday  13,734

Active Cases 1,39,792 (-4,197)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 5,26,430 (34)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

21 CHINA FIGHTER JETS ENTER TAIWAN AIR DEFENCE ZONE AS NANCY PELOSI VISITS

More than 20 Chinese military planes flew into Taiwan's air defence zone on Tuesday, officials in Taipei said, as US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi began her controversial visit to the self-ruled island that Beijing considers its territory.

Pelosi landed in Taiwan on Tuesday evening, defying a string of increasingly stark warnings and threats from China that have sent tensions between the world's two superpowers soaring.

Second in line to the presidency, she is the highest-profile elected US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years and Beijing has made clear that it regards her presence as a major provocation, setting the region on edge.

Live broadcasts showed the 82-year-old lawmaker, who flew on a US military aircraft, being greeted at Taipei's Songshan Airport by foreign minister Joseph Wu. "Our delegation's visit to Taiwan honors America's unwavering commitment to supporting Taiwan's vibrant democracy," she said in a statement upon her arrival, adding that her visit "in no way contradicts" US policy towards Taiwan and Beijing.

Taiwan said the trip displayed "rock solid" support from Washington.

China's military promptly announced plans for a series of military exercises in waters around the island to begin on Wednesday, including "long-range live ammunition shooting" in the Taiwan Strait.

"Those who play with fire will perish by it," Beijing's foreign ministry added.

RISHI SUNAK CLOSES GAP, SHOWS FIGHT FOR UK PM POST IS NOT OVER

Former UK chancellor Rishi Sunak is closing the gap to catch up with rival, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, in the race to 10 Downing Street, with only five points separating the two in a latest poll of the Conservative Party members on Tuesday.

The data tables for a survey of 807 Conservative members, conducted by Italian public affairs company Techne for a private client and concluded last week, show Sunak at 43 per cent, Truss at 48 per cent while 9 per cent undecided in the election to replace Boris Johnson as Tory leader and British prime minister.

It is in sharp contrast to a YouGov survey carried out at the end of the knockout stages last month, which suggested that Truss had a 24-point lead over the 42-year-old British Indian former minister.

MORE DETAILS EMERGE ABOUT AL-ZAWAHIRI KILL

After the US drone strike that killed al-Zawahiri, as announced by US President Joe Biden announced on Monday, members of the terror group Haqqani network had tried to conceal that the al-Qaeda leader was at the house in Kabul, which reportedly was owned by a top aide to Sirajuddin Haqqani, and restricted access to the site, The New York Times reported.

The report citing a senior administration official said that according to one American analyst, the “house that was struck was owned by a top aide to Sirajuddin Haqqani,” who is now the interior minister in the Taliban government in Kabul.

The Haqqani network is an Islamist terror outfit founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani, who emerged as a top Afghan warlord and insurgent commander during the anti-Soviet war.

The report added that the United States had “multiple intelligence threads” confirming that al-Zawahiri was killed in the strike.

Al-Zawahiri was long believed to have been living in Pakistan. “That he was killed in Kabul is a testament to not only the porous border between the two countries but also to Al Qaeda's decades-long use of facilities, houses, buildings and compounds throughout both countries,” the report said, citing a US official.

“Once al-Zawahiri arrived at the location, American officials were never aware of him leaving, and he was observed for sustained periods on the balcony where he was ultimately struck,” it said. Al-Zawahiri was killed by an R9X, a “Hellfire missile armed with long blades aimed at killing targets with kinetic energy to minimize major collateral damage.”

The FBI updated its "Most Wanted Terrorist" poster on Monday with al-Zawahiri's status: "Deceased."

The US claims that the Taliban violated the peace agreement by letting al-Zawahiri into the country. The Taliban claims the US violated the peace agreement by conducting a strike.

THE REST

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BENGAL SCHOOL JOB SCAM: PARTHA’S AIDE SAYS MONEY ‘SLIPPED’ INTO HER FLATS

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday conducted raids at six locations in connection with its ongoing probe into the multi-crore teachers’ recruitment scam.

According to ED official sources, several flats and a nail art studio in Patuli, owned by Arpita Mukherjee, an associate of suspended Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Partha Chatterjee — both were arrested by the ED in connection with the scam — were searched and sealed.

Meanwhile, Arpita Mukherjee on Tuesday claimed that crores of rupees seized by the agency were slipped into her flats without her knowledge.

Speaking with the media on her way to ESI hospital, she claimed that “the seized cash doesn’t belong to her”. The cash was kept in her apartments in her absence and without her knowledge, she claimed.

‘ARRESTED MLAs PART OF CONSPIRACY TO TOPPLE JHARKHAND GOVT’

The West Bengal Crime Investigation Department (CID) on Tuesday claimed that the three Jharkhand MLAs arrested with around Rs 50 lakh were “part of a conspiracy to topple their state government” and strongly suspected “their indirect links with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma through an influential person close to the BJP-led Centre”.

Suspecting that the money was arranged by a local share market trader for the MLAs, the CID raided the trader’s office close to the police headquarters in Lalbazar on Tuesday and claimed to have seized more than Rs 3 lakh cash, 250 silver coins and documents.

“Definitely, they (arrested MLAs) were part of a plan to topple the Jharkhand Government. Not directly though, we strongly suspect they were in touch with Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma through someone close to the Centre. We have found their links. This is a complicated economic offence,” a senior CID officer said. The officer said the CID was in the process of examining the call records of the three MLAs, but he refused to disclose name of the person who served as a link between the MLAs and the Assam CM.

BANKS LOST RS 10 LAKH CRORE IN 5 YEARS

Banks have written off loans worth about Rs 10 lakh crore in the last five financial years, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat K Karad said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

The write-off amount was Rs 1.57 lakh crore in 2021-22, Rs 2.02 lakh crore in 2020-21, Rs 2.34 lakh crore in 2019-20, Rs 2.36 lakh crore in 2018-19, and Rs 1.61 lakh crore in 2017-18. This amounted to Rs. 9.91 lakh crore written off in the last five years.

The total number of wilful defaulters, maintained from 2018-19 onwards, in the last four years stood at 10,306.

Sharing details of top 25 wilful defaulters at the end of March 2022, Karad said Mehul Choksi’s company Gitanjali Gems topped the list with Rs 7,110 crore default, followed by Era Infra Engineering (Rs 5,879 crore), Concast Steel and Power (Rs 4,107 crore), REI Agro (Rs 3,984 crore) and ABG Shipyard (Rs 3,708 crore) among others.

JAIRAM RAMESH: WILL REPLY TO COURT OBSERVATIONS IN SMRITI IRANI CASE

A day after the Delhi High Court said Union Minister Smriti Irani and her daughter had no licence for a Goa restaurant observing that the recent comments of Congress leaders in respect of Irani were in the nature of slander, AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the court had given them four weeks to reply.

“We’ll ensure each and every one of the observations in the order are responded to,” tweeted Ramesh.

RELIANCE JIO'S PURCHASE OF 700 MHZ LIKELY TO GIVE IT EDGE OVER RIVALS

Reliance Jio’s decision to acquire 700 MHz in combination with the possible use of an advanced standalone (SA) 5G network could give it an edge over its rivals, according to most analysts.

But the dissenters argue that the stiff price tag touching Rs 40,000 crore to grab 10 MHz of spectrum in 700 MHz to provide coverage for its SA 5G network which offers ultra-low latency (unlike non-standalone or NSA), has a long way to go in India in terms of finding use cases that can be monetised.

Globally, 700 MHz is a pivotal band which provides huge coverage, indoor penetration (especially useful in India where walls are thick) and is already considered by the European Union to be the ‘pioneer band’ for 5G, with 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz, both of which were auctioned in India recently.

Reliance Jio will be the only player to have not only spectrum straddling all the three bands but also, if it takes that call, will be the only player in India - and among the few in the world - which will leapfrog directly to the SA network.

In the SA network, the core which controls the network and the network are both on a 5G platform. To boot, Jio has its own indigenous SA stack. In NSA 5G, the network continues to use a 4G core.

Reliance Jio is considering plans to offer 5G services in nine cities in the country by January 2023. These cities are Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Jamnagar, Ahmedabad, and Lucknow.

AAMIR KHAN PLEADS AGAINST "BOYCOTT LAAL SINGH CHADDHA" TWITTER TREND

Just a few days before its theatrical release, Aamir Khan's upcoming project Laal Singh Chaddha became the unwilling centre of controversy after "#BoycottLaalSinghChaddha" started trending on Twitter. Aamir Khan, who stars in the titular role and has also co-produced the film, recently reacted to the boycott trend regarding his film and told news agency PTI: "That Boycott Bollywood... Boycott Aamir Khan... Boycott Laal Singh Chaddha... I feel sad also because a lot of people who are saying this in their hearts believe I am someone who doesn't like India... In their hearts they believe that... And that's quite untrue."

The actor added, "I really love the country... That's how I am. It is rather unfortunate if some people feel that way." Asking his fans and the audience to give his film a fair chance, Aamir Khan said: "I want to assure everyone that it's not the case so please don't boycott my films, please watch my films."

In Laal Singh Chaddha, Aamir Khan will be seen sharing screen space with his 3 Idiots co-stars Kareena Kapoor and Mona Singh. It also marks the Bollywood debut of Naga Chaitanya.

INDIA BEAT WINDIES IN 3RD T20i

Suryakumar Yadav gave an exhibition of his incredible hitting skills with a superb 76 off 44 as India cantered to a seven-wicket win against the West Indies in the third T20 International on Tuesday.

India lead the five-match series 2-1 with the cricket caravan moving to Florida in the United States for the last two games of the series (to be played on 6th and 7th Aug respectively)

While more than 147 had never been chased in a T20I at the Warner Park ground, Suryakumar decided to alter that script in a 44-ball knock as India made a short work of the 165-run target in 19 overs.

Shreyas Iyer (24 off 26 balls) was an ideal partner at the other end in a stand of 86 as they made the target look way easier than it actually was and that too on a surface which exactly didn't look batting-friendly during the first part of the game.

Having had a brief dry spell after his maiden T20I hundred at Nottingham, Suryakumar was back in his element and this time in an unfamiliar role as an opener, which he has been performing during the series.

The Indian bowling unit was disciplined for the better part before Avesh Khan and Arshdeep Singh's relative inexperience saw West Indies put up a competitive 164/5.

CWG 2022, TUESDAY: INDIA WIN 2 GOLD AND A SILVER

India bagged two more gold medals on Day 5 of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games: a historic one in Lawn Bowls before the men's table tennis team successfully defended the crown it won at the Gold Coast Games in 2018.

Vikas Thakur also won silver in the men’s 96kg weightlifting, the eighth medal in the discipline, as India held on to sixth place in the medals tally with five gold, four silver and three bronze thus far.

Lovely Choubey, Pinki Singh, Nayanmoni Saikia and Rupa Rani Tirkey struck gold, India’s fourth at the Games, in the women’s Fours Lawn Bowls competition, beating South Africa 17-10 in the gold medal match. It was not only the first-ever gold, but also the country's first medal in the sport.

In Table Tennis, India was up against Singapore in the men’s team final. First up were Sathiyan Gnanasekaran and Harmeet Desai against Yong Quek and Yew Pang in the doubles rubber. The Indian pair beat the Singaporeans 13-11, 11-7, 11-5, before Zhe Yu Chew drew parity with a hard-fought win over veteran Sharath Kamal 11-7, 12-14, 11-3, 11-9.

Sathiyan put India back in the lead with a similar four-game 12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 11-4 victory over Yew in the second singles.

Harmeet Desai then clinched victory with a clinical 11-8, 11-5, 11-6 demolition of Zhe as India successfully defend their crown in style.

In Weightlifting,  Vikas Thakur, in the men’s 96kg category, who won silver with a total lift of 346kg. He lifted a best of 155kg in snatch and 191 in clean and jerk but finished well behind Samoan heavyweight Don Opeloge, who smashed the Games record with a massive 381kg lift.

Earlier, Punam Yadav, in the women’s 76kg, registered a no-lift in the clean and jerk and did not make the board as a result, while three failed lifts cost weightlifter Usha Bannur dearly as she finished a poor sixth in the women's 87kg event.

In Boxing, Rohit Tokas (67kgs) outpunched Ghana’s Alfred Kotey in a Round of 16 bout for a unanimous 5-0 verdict to book a berth in the quarter-finals.

The Indian women’s hockey squad suffered its first defeat of the campaign, going down to hosts England 1-3 in their third group game. They had earlier beaten Ghana and Wales.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. - Maya Angelou

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