CONGRESS PRESIDENT ELECTIONS: GEHLOT WILL CONTEST IF RAHUL DOESN’T

Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot yesterday gave clear signals to Congress MLAs from the state that he has made up his mind to contest for the post of Congress president in the event of Rahul Gandhi not contesting. This came even as the party leadership indicated that the members of the Gandhi family, including Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, are unlikely to sign on the nomination papers of any candidate as proposers to show that they would remain “neutral” and that there is no official or establishment candidate.

At a surprise meeting of Congress MLAs Tuesday evening, Gehlot is learnt to have said that he was a loyal party man and would abide by whatever decision the leadership takes. He told them he would meet Sonia in Delhi Wednesday and would fly down to Kerala to meet Rahul Gandhi to convince him “one last time” to contest and return as Congress president.

If Rahul does not change his mind, he said, he would do what the party asks him to do.

Gehlot also invited all the MLAs to come to Delhi in the event of his filing of nomination papers. The week-long window for filing of nomination papers opens on September 24.

But there is uncertainty on whether Gehlot will resign as CM before filing his nomination. Gehlot is said to be keen that he be allowed to continue as Chief Minister for some more time or a person “close” to him is appointed as his successor. While Congress sources denied such talk, there is tension in both Gehlot and Sachin Pilot camps.

The Pilot camp is keen that Gehlot step down before he files his nomination papers and a successor is appointed. Pilot’s supporters are wary that if Gehlot continues as Chief Minister and is elected Congress president, he will have a “huge say” in picking his successor and it may not be Pilot.

Meanwhile, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, who was with Rahul, flew down to Delhi and was closeted with the Congress president for nearly an hour. He then officially declared that the party leadership would remain “neutral.” “We have already declared that anybody can contest in this election. That is the party’s stand. That is also the stand of the leadership. Whoever contests… the leadership will take a neutral stand,” Venugopal said.

On Monday Shashi Tharoor had met Gandhi and conveyed to her that he is considering contesting for the top post.

ARMY MULLS SHEDDING COLONIAL BAGGAGE

The Army is looking to shed its colonial past vis-a-vis its uniform, ceremonies and names of regiments and buildings dating back to pre-Independence times.

In an internal discussion tomorrow, the Adjutant General of the Army will review the prevailing customs, old practices, regulations and policies. Several veterans, however, have reacted strongly over the agenda note that is doing the rounds on social media platforms.

Army sources said the mere circulation of the agenda note did not mean that all suggestions would be carried out. The matter would be debated threadbare before any changes are executed.

The agenda note for the review meeting says “it’s time to move away from archaic and ineffective practices”. Army uniforms and accoutrements are being considered for the review, the sources said, adding that it wasn’t clear if the lanyard (the cord around the shoulder) would stay or not.

The note also lists “names of units” for a review. Infantry regiments like Sikh, Gorkha, Jat, Punjab, Dogra, Rajput and Assam were all named by the British.

Last year while addressing the Combined Commanders Conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid emphasis on the indigenisation of doctrines, procedures and customs in the armed forces. He had advised the three services to “rid themselves of legacy systems and practices that have outlived their utility and relevance”.

Units, establishments and institutes of colonial past are also on the review list, so are the names of buildings, roads and parks after the names of British commanders like Sir Claude Auchinleck and Herbert Kitchener. The affiliation of Army units with foreign armies, especially those which fought in the two World Wars will be reviewed, and there is a proposal that the regimental events and reunion should be restricted to the Army.

The meeting will also touch upon the pre-Independence theatre honours or battle honours awarded by the British to quell dissent by Indian states. Several Indian Army units have battle honours to mark the Anglo-Sikh wars, Anglo-Maratha wars and the Anglo-Gorkha wars.

The meeting will also review the ‘affiliation with Commonwealth War Graves Commission’, the grant of Honorary Commission, ceremonies like Beating the Retreat and having a “Colonel” as the head of regiment.

EX-TOP COPS URGE PREZ TO 'COUNSEL' KEJRIWAL; AAP HITS BACK

A number of former IPS officers wrote to President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday tp protest the "high-headed and boorish behaviour" of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal with police personnel and urged her to the "counsel" the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener.

The letter was signed by at 30 retired IPS officers, including several former state police chiefs. It said the recent spat between Kejriwal and Gujarat Police officials over the former's insistence to ride an autorickshaw on his way to meet a supporter in the poll-bound state created an "unfair spectacle" of the police force.

Citing the Gujarat incident, the letter to Murmu said the police officers enjoined with the duty of providing security to the chief minister acceded to his request to go to an autorickshaw driver's home in his autorickshaw.

To ensure that the requisite level of security was maintained and to prevent any lapses in the chief minister's safety, the police officer concerned said he would accompany Kejriwal to the location, it said. "However, in response to the police official's prudent suggestion, Mr Kejriwal made certain distasteful and inconsiderate remarks. These curt remarks have caused deep injury to the police force," the letter claimed. As Kejriwal is the chief minister of the country's capital city, police were duty-bound to ensure his safety, it said.

The letter said Kejriwal was involved in such incidents earlier as well. Ahead of the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, the AAP leader had raised a "similar grievance" against the state police, demanding complete withdrawal of his security, it said. Soon after the campaigning concluded, in a "completely conflicting stance", Kejriwal cited "threat perception" and alleged that he was not given adequate protection, the letter added.

In its statement, the AAP said BJP leaders lack any mass appeal and are completely discredited. "That is why the BJP has to now sought the help of some retired police officers. The AAP is gaining ground exponentially and the BJP is clueless on how to tackle the AAP, which is why such a letter has been written," the statement said.

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST / Sep 20

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Monday 4,649

Active Cases 44,792 (-648)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 5,28,370 (9)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

RUSSIA ROLLS OUT PLAN TO ANNEX SWATHES OF UKRAINE ‘IN NEXT FEW DAYS’

Russian-installed leaders in occupied areas of four Ukrainian regions set out plans for referendums on joining Russia, a move Ukraine and its allies dismissed on Monday as a stunt by Moscow to try to reclaim the initiative after battlefield losses.

“The Russians can do whatever they want. It will not change anything,” Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said in response to reporters’ questions at the start of a meeting with US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield. “Ukraine has every right to liberate its territories and will keep liberating them whatever Russia has to say,” he tweeted.

US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Washington rejected any such referendums “unequivocally”. French President Macron and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda used the word “parody” to describe the planned votes.

In the apparently coordinated move, pro-Russian figures announced planned referendums for September 23-27 in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia provinces, representing around 15% of Ukrainian territory or an area about the size of Hungary.

3 DEAD IN VIOLENT IRAN PROTESTS AFTER DEATH OF WOMAN HELD IN HIJAB CASE

Iran faced international criticism on Tuesday over the death of a woman held by its morality police, which ignited three days of protests, including clashes with security forces in the capital and other unrest that claimed at least three lives.

The UN human rights office called for an investigation. The US called on the Islamic Republic to end its “systemic persecution” of women. Italy also condemned her death. Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian rejected the criticism, accusing the US of “shedding crocodile tears. ”

Later on Monday, the semi official Fars news agency reported that small groups of protesters had again gathered in downtown Tehran, chanting “Death to the dictator”. It said the crowd numbered around 300 and that the protesters damaged street signs. Videos posted on social media have shown demonstrations in numerous cities, with women waving their headscarves and protesters facing off with security forces.

The UN body said Iran’s morality police have expanded their patrols in recent months, targeting women for not properly wearing the hijab. It said verified videos show women being slapped in the face, struck with batons and thrown into police vans for wearing the hijab too loosely. A similar patrol detained 22-year old Mahsa Amini last Tuesday, taking her to a police station where she collapsed. She died three days later.

THE REST

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LEICESTER VIOLENCE: UK POLICE NABS 47; HINDUS, MUSLIMS APPEAL FOR HARMONY

Leaders of the Hindu and Muslim communities in the eastern England city of Leicester presented a united front on Tuesday as they appealed for harmony in the wake of violent clashes following an India-Pakistan cricket match, which has led to 47 arrests.

Pradyumna Das, president of the city's ISKCON Temple, read out a statement joined by community leaders outside a mosque in the city to express “sadness” over the violence which escalated over the weekend.

The community leaders demanded that the “inciters of hatred” leave Leicester alone and called for an immediate cessation of provocation and violence, both in thought and behaviour.

“Our message to anyone that sows disharmony between us is clear: we will not let you succeed. We ask all to respect the sanctity of religious places, both mosques and mandirs alike -- whether provocation with loud music, flag bearing, derogatory chants or physical attacks against the fabric of worship. This is not acceptable nor upheld by our faiths,” the statement said.

It came as police patrols continued in the city as the Indian high commission in London issued a strongly worded statement condemning the violence against the Indian community and called for protection for those affected.

AVIATION MINISTER TO PROBE DEPLANING ROW

About the controversy over the alleged deplaning of a “drunk” Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann from a Delhi-bound Lufthansa flight at Frankfurt on Saturday, Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia yesterday said he would get the issue looked into.

“This was an incident on international soil. We will have to make sure we verify the facts. It’s up to Lufthansa airline to provide the data. Based on the request that has been sent to me, I will certainly look into it,” Scindia told reporters on the sidelines of an event.

In a statement issued on Monday, Lufthansa, however, had clarified that the delay was not because of any inebriated passenger, but because of a delayed inbound flight and change of aircraft.

Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal was the first to allege that Mann was deplaned as he was in an “inebriated state”. However, the “request” in question mentioned by Scindia was a letter sent to him by Congress MLA from Punjab’s Qadian Partap Singh Bajwa, who has sought an inquiry into the matter.

The AAP has dismissed the Opposition’s charge as “baseless and bogus”.

NO HIJAB DEMAND FOR YEARS, PFI MOVEMENT PART OF LARGER CONSPIRACY, SC TOLD

Pointing out that “women are revolting” against the hijab even in constitutionally Islamic countries such as Iran, the Karnataka government on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that what unfolded in the state before some college development committees banned hijab in their respective educational institutions was not “spontaneous” but “part of a larger conspiracy”.

Appearing for the State, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also countered arguments that the ban was meant to target the minority community. Far-fetched arguments (were made) that the government is…throttling the voice of the minorities. No. The government had to enter because of the circumstances created,” he told a bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia.

Taking the court through the time-line of events, Mehta said that “at least from 2013, nobody was deviating from the prescribed uniform, which did not include the hijab”.

“Neither anybody was insisting on wearing a hijab, nor was anybody insisting for saffron shawl,” he said. “In 2022, a movement started on social media by an organisation called the Popular Front of India. The movement — as the FIR lodged subsequently suggested — was designed to create a kind of an agitation based on religious feelings of people, and as a part, there were continuous social media messages that (said), start wearing hijab.”

This, Mehta submitted, was “not a spontaneous act of a few individual children…they were part of a larger conspiracy, and the children were acting as advised.” He said the State had placed relevant material in this connection before the High Court.

CYRUS MISTRY DEATH: PALGHAR COPS FLAG ROAD DESIGN FLAWS TO NHAI

In its preliminary investigation report on the September 4 accident that killed Cyrus Mistry and Jehangir Pandole, the Kasa Police Station, Palghar district, has pointed out several lacunae in the National Highway 48 stretch such as sudden conversion of three lanes into two lanes, absence of signboards to alert drivers, and lack of yellow blinkers on the road dividers and the bridge.

“It is very necessary to install a signboard of lanes being converted into two lanes from three lanes. A lane drop signboard needs to be installed. A road diversion sign board is necessary before 500 m of bridge,” says the report.

The letter to NHAI sent following the Kasa Police Station’s investigation listed out a series of suggestions including widening the two-lane highway stretch to three-lane, placing yellow/ black colouring strips on the road divider and regulating the speed of vehicle at around 60 kmph with a speed signboard placed before the Charoti bridge. “It is also necessary to minimise the road diversion curve sharpness as far as feasible,” it said.

ONDC AND UPI TOGETHER WILL REORDER INDIA'S SUPPLY CHAIN: NANDAN NILEKANI

Technology innovations due to India’s digital stack such as credit enablement through United payment interface (UPI) and account aggregator (AA), and the Open Network of Digital Commerce (ONDC) will fundamentally reorder the supply chain of India, says Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani.

Speaking at the Global Fintech Fest 2022, Nilekani said: “India's supply chain will become far more efficient and will make it far easier to reach products and services to everyone.”

He added that the AA system championed by the RBI will revolutionise the credit and lending ecosystem. "Once the AA system is applied to credit and lending, it will make lending as simple as making a payment. At the same time, since it is based on data, it will be much more stable and risk-free,” he said while addressing the GFF delegates.

Speaking on ONDC, he said the network will allow retailers, suppliers and logistics players to participate in a democratised manner, and will have a big impact on how commerce is done because everybody in India will now be doing e-commerce. “This will also have an impact on hyperlocal commerce and quick commerce,” he added.

1ST T20I: INDIA SCORE 208, AUS CHASE IT DOWN COMFORTABLY

India's frailties with the ball were laid bare as Australia gunned down a formidable 209-run target rather comfortably for a four-wicket win in the first T20I in Mohali on Tuesday.

K L Rahul (55 off 35 balls) and Hardik Pandya (71 not out off 30) helped India post a daunting 208 for six after Australia put the hosts in to bat.

Australia were dominant in the run chase, romping home in 19.2 overs.

Last year's World Cup hero Matthew Wade (45 not out off 21) and Cameron Green (61 off 30) played special knocks to make short work of a stiff target.

SOME NEW CRICKET RULES KICK IN FROM OCT 1

New batters will come in at the striker’s end after a catching dismissal even if those in the middle had crossed, the ICC said yesteerday as it detailed several changes to playing conditions. Crossing allows an incoming player a little more time to get up to speed and could prove crucial in tight contests in limited-overs cricket.

The ICC’s new rule comes into effect on October 1.

“When a batter is out caught, the new batter will come in at the end the striker was, regardless of whether the batters crossed prior to the catch being taken,” the ICC said.

The governing body has also permanently banned the use of saliva to polish the ball. It had temporarily banned the practice to prevent the spread of Covid.

It had also clamped down on slow-over rates in One-day Internationals following recommendations by the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the custodians of the game’s laws. As in T20 Internationals, teams failing to bowl their full quota within the stipulated time will have to bring an additional player inside the 30-yard circle for the remainder of the innings.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honourable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. - George Bernard Shaw

OFF TRACK

A bar in New York is installing a breathalyzer. If you’re drunk, it advises you not to drive. If you're really, really drunk, it advises you not to call your old girlfriend.