INDO-US MILITARY DRILLS NEAR LAC IN OCTOBER MAKE CHINA SEE RED

China's defence ministry on Thursday said it was firmly opposed to any third party "meddling" in the border issue and hoped India will abide by the bilateral agreements not to hold military drills near the Line of Actual Control, the very pacts it has been accused of violating in eastern Ladakh leading to a prolonged standoff.

Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for China's ministry of national defence, made the comments while replying to question about reports of special forces of the US and India recently holding a joint combat exercise in the southern foothills of the Himalayas and their plans to conduct a joint military exercise code-named "War Exercise" (Yudh Abhyas) in October close to the border.

The last edition of the exercise took place in October last year in Alaska in the US.

UKRAINE: IN A FIRST, INDIA VOTES AGAINST RUSSIA AT UNSC

India for the first time on Wednesday, August 24, voted against Russia during a 'procedural vote' at the United Nations Security Council on Ukraine, as the 15-member UNSC invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to address a meeting through a video tele-conference.

This is for the first time that India has voted against Russia on the issue of Ukraine, after the Russian military action began on February. So far, New Delhi has abstained at the UN Security Council on Ukraine, much to the annoyance of the Western powers led by the United States.

currently is a non-permanent member of the UNSC for a two-year term, which ends in December.

On Wednesday, the UNSC held a meeting to take stock of the six-month-old conflict on the 31st anniversary of Ukraine's independence. As the meeting began, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily A Nebenzia requested a procedural vote concerning the Ukrainian president's participation in the meeting by video tele-conference.

Following statements by Nebenzia and Ferit Hoxha of Albania, the UNSC extended an invitation to Zelenskyy to participate in the meeting via video tele-conference by a vote of 13 in favour to one against. Russia voted against such an invitation, while China abstained.

Nebenzia insisted that Russia does not oppose Zelenskyy's participation, but such participation must be in person.

SC SAYS NO CONCLUSIVE PROOF OF PEGASUS SPYWARE IN PHONES EXAMINED

The Supreme Court-appointed technical committee, which probed allegations of unauthorised use of Israeli NSO Group spyware Pegasus software for surveillance, examined 29 phones and found some malware in 5 of them, said a bench headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana Thursday.

“In 5 phones they found some malware, but it doesn’t mean it is a malware of Pegasus,” said CJI N V Ramana, who is heading the three-judge bench, after perusing the report submitted by the three-member technical committee.

CJI Ramana also said the government had not cooperated with the committee.

During the hearing, the Centre had filed a brief affidavit “unequivocally” denying the allegations against it and said the matter involved national security questions due to which it did not wish to put the details in a public affidavit and make it a matter of public debate. It said it would divulge the details to a committee of experts who would examine the issue. It urged the court to allow it to set up the committee.

The court turned down the government’s request to allow it to set up the committee stating that allowing the request “would violate the settled judicial principle against bias, i.e., that ‘justice must not only be done, but also be seen to be done’.”

On October 27, 2021, a bench of CJI N V Ramana, Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli had appointed the technical committee to conduct an inquiry into allegations of unauthorised use of Pegasus software for surveillance. It also appointed Justice (retired) Raveendran to oversee the functioning of the committee.

MEA CONDEMNS ATTACK ON SALMAN RUSHDIE; ALSO CALLS OUT PAKISTAN OVER FORCED CONVERSIONS

In its first reaction to the stabbing of Salman Rushdie, India on Thursday condemned the “horrific attack” on the celebrated novelist and wished him a speedy recovery.

“India has always stood against violence and extremism. We condemn the horrific attack on Salman Rushdie and we wish him a speedy recovery,” said External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi at his weekly media briefing. Rushdie, 75, was stabbed in the neck and torso at the Chautauqua Institution in New York 13 days ago.

In another development, the MEA called on Pakistan to stop its discriminatory approach toward minorities, including Hindus, Sikhs and Christians, after a Sikh girl was forcibly abducted and converted to Islam on August 20.

Bagchi said, “We have seen media reports on kidnapping, forced conversion and marriage. It was also reported that police refused to file an FIR, following which the family and Sikh community members staged a protest. We strongly condemn the targeting of minorities, including Hindus, Sikhs and Christians. The Government of India has been raising such issues through diplomatic channels.”

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST / Aug 25

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Wednesday 10,725

Active Cases 94,047 (-2,395)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 5,27,488 (36)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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SUNAK SLAMS BOJO’S COVID RESPONSE: WAS A MISTAKE TO EMPOWER SCIENTISTS

Former finance minister Rishi Sunak, one of two candidates vying to be Britain’s next premier, criticised the way outgoing PM Boris Johnson handled the Covid-19 pandemic, saying it had been a mistake to “empower” scientists and that the downsides of lockdowns were suppressed.

Sunak said the government had been “wrong to scare people” about coronavirus. He said he was banned by officials in Johnson’s office from discussing the “trade-offs” of imposing Covid-related restrictions, such as the impact on missed doctor’s appointments and lengthening waiting lists for health care in the state-run National Health Service. “The script was not to ever acknowledge them,” he told Spectator magazine. “The script was: ‘oh there’s no trade-off, because doing this for our health is good for the economy’. ”

Sunak said scientists on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, the group that helped respond to the outbreak, were given too much influence by ministers on decision making such as closing schools and nurseries. Sunak said that during the start of the pandemic, when presented with scenarios by the scientists about what would happen if lockdowns were not imposed or extended, his requests for the underlying modelling were ignored.

Asked why opinion polls showed that the public was eager to be in a lockdown, Sunak said: “We helped shape that: with the fear messaging”.

DEFYING CHINA, US SENATOR VISITS TAIPEI

A US senator who sits on the Senate’s Commerce and Armed Services Committees arrived in Taiwan on Thursday, the third such visit this month and defying pressure from Beijing for such trips not to take place.

Senator Marsha Blackburn arrived in Taiwan’s capital Taipei on Thursday on board a US military aircraft, live television footage from the downtown Songshan airport showed. Taiwan’s official Central News Agency said she was due to meet President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday. Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee, earlier in August voiced support for Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan.

THE REST

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DISQUALIFY HEMANT SOREN AS MLA OVER MINING LEASE, EC TELLS GOV

In a setback for the JMM-led Jharkhand regime, the Election Commission (EC) on Thursday recommended the disqualification of Chief Minister Hemant Soren as MLA under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

The EC, in its opinion shared with Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais, found Soren guilty of misusing his position to allot a stone mining lease to himself last year. The Chief Minister also heads the state’s mining department.

The EC sent its opinion to the Governor earlier on Thursday following which the JMM put up a brave front, saying that the outcome, even if adverse, would not affect the state government.

The EC had issued a notice to Soren in May this year, seeking his response to the complaint that the Chief Minister had, prima facie, violated Section 9A of the Representation of People’s Act, which prohibits elected representatives from entering into any contract with the government for “supply of goods” or “execution of any works undertaken” by it.

Soren hit out at the BJP. “It apparently seems that BJP leaders, including a BJP MP and his puppet journalists, have themselves drafted the ECI report, which is otherwise a sealed cover report. This blatant misuse of Constitutional authorities and public agencies and its complete takeover by BJP HQ in Deendayal Upadhyay Marg in this shameful manner is unseen in Indian democracy,” the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) quoted Soren as saying in a statement.

In the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly, the JMM has 30 MLAs while UPA ally Congress has 18 members and RJD has one. The main opposition BJP has 26 MLAs in the House.

KEJRIWAL SHOWS STRENGTH AT GANDHI MEMORIAL, BJP POURS GANGAJAL

As the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers waited outside Delhi Chief Minister and party supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s residence with a pen and paper in hand on Thursday morning, there was only one question doing the rounds there – how many party MLAs had reached?

On Wednesday, the AAP alleged that four of its Delhi MLAs had been offered Rs 20 crore each to defect to the BJP. The BJP has pooh-poohed these charge.

AAP has scheduled a meet of all party MLAs at 11 am yesterday at Kejriwal’s house as a show of strength. Hours before the Thursday meeting was to start though, some AAP leaders claimed that 6-7 party MLAs were not reachable by phone. As 11 am drew closer, anxiety started to spread, with over a third of the MLAs not reaching the CM’s bungalow at Civil Lines on time.

Finally at noon, the AAP said that all its MLAs who were supposed to make it to the meeting had reached Kejriwal’s house and that the AAP government was stable. Some of them were unable to reach as they were not in the city, but they were contacted over the phone.

Following the meeting at his house, Kejriwal, accompanied by over 50 AAP MLAs, headed to Rajghat, where they prayed at the Mahatma Gandhi memorial.

Hours later, the BJP’s Yuva Morcha activists went to Rajghat and poured Gangajal to “purify” the Gandhi Samadhi.

PM SECURITY BREACH: SC PANEL FINDS FEROZEPUR SSP AT FAULT

A Supreme Court-appointed committee to probe the security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Punjab in January has found that the Ferozepur SSP failed to discharge his duty though sufficient force was available.

The top court said it will send the report of the committee headed by former apex court judge Indu Malhotra to the government for appropriate action.

"Ferozepur SSP, Avneet Hans failed to discharge his responsibility to maintain law and order or take steps to deploy forces to secure the route despite knowledge that there were large hostile groups on the route. "He failed to do this even though sufficient force was available and even though he was informed two hours before that the Prime Minister will enter that route," the bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana and also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli said on Thursday while reading from the committee's report.

On January 5, Modi's convoy was stranded on a flyover due to a blockade by protesters in Ferozepur after which he returned from Punjab without attending any event, including a rally.

The top court on January 12 had appointed the committee to probe the security breach during Modi's visit to Punjab, saying these questions cannot be left to 'one-sided enquiries' as they needed 'judicially trained independent mind' to effectively deal with them.

DELHI HIGH COURT REFUSES TO STAY AGNIPATH SCHEME, SEEKS CENTRE REPLY

The Delhi High Court on Thursday refused to stay the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces and asked the Centre to file a reply on a batch of petitions challenging it. A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad asked the Centre to file a consolidated reply on petitions challenging the scheme.

The Agnipath scheme announced on June 14 provides for the recruitment of youths in the defence forces between the age of 17-and-a-half and 21 for only four years with a provision to retain 25 per cent of them for 15 more years.

Protests had erupted in several states soon after the scheme was announced last month. Later, the government extended the upper age limit to 23 years for recruitment under the scheme in 2022.

BILKIS BANO GANGRAPE CASE: SUPREME COURT NOTICE TO GUJARAT GOVT

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a notice to the Gujarat Government on a petition filed by three activists challenging the premature release of 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano gangrape case that sparked widespread outrage.

“Issue a notice… We direct the 11 convicts to be impleaded in the case,” a Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana said, directing the Gujarat Government to respond to the petition filed by CPM leader Subhashini Ali, journalist and filmmaker Revati Laul and Prof Roop Rekha Verma. “We have to see whether there was application of mind in this case while granting remission,” said the Bench, which also included Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice Vikram Nath.

As the Bench asked, “Are you saying remission cannot be granted.” Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, representing the petitioners, said, “We only want to see if application of mind was there.”

“Merely because the act was horrific, is that sufficient to say remission is wrong? Day in and day out remission is granted to convicts of life sentence…what is the exception?” Justice Rastogi asked Sibal. Justice Rastogi and Justice Vikram Nath were part of the Bench which in May 2022 held that Gujarat Government was the “appropriate government” to consider the remission plea. It had asked the Gujarat Government to decide the remission applications of the convicts in two months.

GOA POLICE REGISTER MURDER CASE IN SONALI PHOGAT DEATH

The Goa Police Thursday registered a murder case to probe the death of BJP leader Sonali Phogat. The 42-year-old actor-turned-politician died of a suspected heart attack in Goa on Tuesday with her family questioning the circumstances leading to her death.

Inspector General of Police Omvir Singh Bishnoi said, “Based on the complaint filed by the brother of the deceased, an FIR under Section 302 (murder) has been registered at the Anjuna Police Station.” Phogat’s brother Rinku Dhaka had filed a complaint on Wednesday accusing her personal assistant Sudhir Sangwan and his aide Sukhvinder of killing Phogat. The two are now suspects in the case and have been detained by Goa Police, Bishnoi added.

Meanwhile, Phogat’s family, which had refused consent for a post-mortem to be conducted on her body, agreed to proceed with it at the Goa Medical College and Hospital in Bambolim on Thursday. In the post-mortem report, doctors from GMCH reserved the cause of death pending chemical analysis, histopathology and serological reports. The report, however, stated that “there are multiple blunt force injuries on the body”. It added that the manner of death “is for the investigation officer to ascertain”.

BWF WORLD C’SHIPS: HS PRANNOY BEATS COMPATRIOT LAKSHYA SEN

In a much-awaited contest at the Badminton World Championships, India's HS Prannoy defeated compatriot Lakshya Sen in a thrilling match to enter the quarter-final of the showpiece event. Prannoy got the better of Sen in three games as he won the contest 17-21, 21-16 and 21-17 to book his berth for the quarter-final.

Sen, who won a bronze medal at the event last year, took the first game 21-17 before Prannoy bounced back in style to win the contest.

The India duo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy also stormed into the quarterfinals of the men's doubles category.

Commonwealth gold winners took only 35 minutes to secure a win over the pair of J. Bay and L. Molhede in straight sets 21-12 and 21-10. The pair annihilated their Danish opponents and left them stunned by their superior gameplay.

Also, the men's doubles pair of MR Arjun and Dhruv Kapila advanced to the next stage of the tournament. Playing on court one, the Indian duo made a sensational comeback after losing the first set to win the match 18-21, 21-15, and 21-16.

Saina Nehwal was knocked out after going down to Busanan Ongbamrungphan in a hard-fought women’s singles pre-quarterfinals. The 32-year-old went down 17-21 21-16 13-21 to her Thai opponent, who extended her head-to-head record against the Indian to 5-3.

DJOKOVIC TO MISS US OPEN OVER COVID-19 VACCINE

Former world number one Novak Djokovic will miss the US Open after he said on Thursday that he will not be able to travel to New York for the tournament, having chosen not to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Current rules require travellers to show proof of full vaccination to board flights to and enter the United States.

The 35-year-old was also unable to defend his Australian Open crown earlier this year after being deported from the country over his vaccination status.

The United States Tennis Association (USTA) described Djokovic's absence as "unfortunate" but looked forward to having him back at Flushing Meadows next year.

The hashtag #LetNovakPlay has been circulating on social media as Djokovic's fans voiced their support for a player who moved to within one of Spaniard Rafa Nadal's record of 22 Grand Slam titles after his Wimbledon triumph last month.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that it ill behoves any of us to find fault with the rest of us. - James Truslow Adams

OFF TRACK

A guy on the radio was helping callers with their home problems. One woman called up hysterical after finding a skunk in her basement. 

"Leave a trail of breadcrumbs or cat food from your basement to your backyard," suggested the show's host. "That'll get rid of it." 

An hour later the woman called back, even more upset. "Now I have TWO skunks in my basement!"