OPPN MAKES AN EXCEPTION OVER OBC QUOTA BILL

The government yesterday pushed through six Bills, three of which were passed, in the Lok Sabha despite Opposition protests over Pegasus row and other issues.

Congress leader Manish Tewari alleged that democracy was being “murdered” with the government pushing with the legislative agenda even though the House was not in order

However, parliament witnessed a temporary truce between the government and the Opposition over the introduction of a Constitution Amendment Bill that seeks to return to states the right to draft their own OBC lists. Fifteen Opposition parties, led by the Congress, decided to support the introduction and passage of the Constitution (127th Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha.

The Bill will offset a Supreme Court judgment striking down the Maharashtra Government’s decision to earmark Maratha quota.

The government played its cards well by moving to bring the Bill opposing which was a no-go zone for any party. The Bill is expected to be passed by the LS today and the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

OPPOSITION UNITY FOR 2024 ON MENU, SAD, BJD, TDP JOIN DINNER MEETING

8 Teen Murti Lane, in the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi, was once the epicentre of many Third Front formation efforts. The house — where CPM’s Harkishan Singh Surjeet lived — came alive Monday night as top leaders of almost all Opposition and non-BJP parties came together for dinner at the invitation of its present occupant, Kapil Sibal.

On the table was just one agenda: the need for all Opposition parties to join hands to take on the BJP in 2024.

The guest list was impressive. From NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, National Conference’s Omar Abdullah, Trinamool Congress’s Derek O’Brien and Kalyan Banerjee, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury, CPI’s D Raja, Aam Aadmi Party’s Sanjay Singh, RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary, DMK’s Tiruchi Siva, BJD’s Pinaki Misra, Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut, Akali Dal’s Naresh Gujral and representatives of the TDP and the YSRCP.

The BSP was perhaps the only major non-BJP party which was absent at the dinner.

What is noteworthy is that almost all members of the Group of 23 — the 23 senior leaders in the Congress who wrote to party President Sonia Gandhi last year seeking sweeping changes in the party — were invited, and present at the dinner. The only two Congress leaders, who are not part of the G23, but were invited and came over to Sibal’s dinner were P Chidambaram and his son and Lok Sabha MP Karti Chidambaram.

But the meeting had its own contradictions. For example, Akali Dal will be fighting the Congress in Punjab and the Congress will field candidates in Uttar Pradesh where the Samajwadi Party is the largest opposition party.

Interestingly, Akali Dal’s Gujral bluntly told the Congress leaders present that the “grand old party needs to free itself from the clutches of the family”. Abdullah said that the Congress has to first get its act together

AUSTRALIA SIGNALS DEMOCRACIES’ TRADE SWING FROM CHINA TO INDIA

Australian special envoy and former Prime Minister Tony Abbott said a free trade agreement between his nation and India would signal the “democratic world’s tilt away from China.”

Abbott visited New Delhi last week as Australia’s special trade envoy for India as the Australian government gives priority to sealing a bilateral trade deal.

In an opinion piece likely to anger Beijing that that was published in The Australian newspaper on Monday, Abbott said the “answer to almost every question about China is India.” “With the world’s other emerging superpower becoming more belligerent almost by the day, it’s in everyone’s interests that India take its rightful place among the nations as quickly as possible,” he wrote.

“Because trade deals are about politics as much as economics, a swift deal between India and Australia would be an important sign of the democratic world’s tilt away from China, as well as boosting the long-term prosperity of both our countries,” Abbott added.

KEY COVID NUMBERS

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 3,82,292

New Cases in last 24 hours: 27,439

Recovered in last 24 hours: 41,461

Change in no. of Active cases in last 24 hours: -14,398

No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 376 (4,28,715)

Daily Tests (Sunday): 17,28,047

Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 2.1%

Percentage of Population Vaccinated (At Least One Dose / Two Doses): 29.7% / 8.5%

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

IPCC REPORTS CLEAR HUMAN HAND IN CLIMATE CHANGE

More intense and frequent heat-waves, increased incidents of extreme rainfall, dangerous rise in sea-levels, prolonged droughts, melting glaciers — there is little in the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that it has not flagged earlier. Except, perhaps, the fact that 1.5°C warming is much closer than was thought earlier, and inevitable.

But the 4,000-page document, the first part of the Sixth Assessment Report, released on Monday, contains mountains of fresh evidence to support what IPCC has been warning of for decades, so that IPCC can make those same statements with far greater confidence, and higher accuracy. As Valerie Masson-Delmotte, co-chair of IPCC’s Working Group-I that produced the latest report, put it, scientists now have much better clarity about what was happening to the Earth’s climate.

“We have the clearest picture of how the Earth’s climate functions, and how human activities affect it. We know, better than ever, how the climate has changed in the past, how it is changing now, and how it will change in the future,” she said after the release of the report.

An example of that is the confidence with which IPCC is now saying that the rise in global temperatures was a direct result of human activities. In the previous assessment reports, the IPCC had said that human activities were “likely”, or “most likely” behind the rising temperatures. The latest report says it was “unequivocal” that this was indeed the case.

One of the headline statements of the latest report is that the 2°C warming is likely to get exceeded by the end of this century unless immediate and deep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are initiated immediately.

The IPCC report has made some devastating predictions about the consequences of global warming for the planet. Among other things, it says the South Asian region, which includes India, will see more extreme heatwaves and rainfall in future decades.

MODI FOR JOINT EFFORTS TO FIGHT MARITIME THREATS, MAKES OBLIQUE REFERENCE TO CHINA

In an oblique reference to China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called for maritime disputes to be resolved peacefully and in accordance with international law. Speaking at one of the best-attended UN Security Council debates (UNSC) where other members, barring China, fielded Presidents, Prime Ministers and senior Cabinet ministers, PM Modi outlined a five-principle framework for the first-ever debate on maritime security.

Presiding over the debate on “Enhancing maritime security: A case for international cooperation”, which was attended by Russian President Valdimir Putin and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, PM Modi said first on the agenda should be removing barriers to maritime trade by fully respecting the rights of seafarers of other countries.

Second, it was extremely important for ensuring global peace and stability for maritime disputes to be resolved peacefully.

Third, countries must jointly tackle maritime threats from non-state actors and natural disasters with India as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean.

Fourth, the PM said the maritime environment and marine resources must be conserved.

Fifth, a structure was required to boost maritime trade with the development of global norms and standards.

While PM Modi steered clear of mentioning any maritime stretch, Blinken pointed out that maritime security was in serious danger, especially in the South China Sea.

Putin lauded India for initiating the meet during its presidency of the UNSC for the month of August and concurred with PM Modi on the requirement for a special structure to deal with maritime crime. He also said Russia stood for strict observance of key norms and principles of international law fixed in the UN Charter.

THE REST

=========

PEACE RESTORED ALONG ASSAM-MIZORAM BORDER: SARMA

Underlining that peace and tranquility have been restored at the shared border with Mizoram, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said there cannot be an overnight resolution of the decades-old border dispute between the states as it is a very complex issue.

Noting that the border disputes go back to the British era, Sarma said Assam has been holding talks with other states too and faulted the previous Congress governments for not clearly demarcating boundaries while carving out new states.

Six Assam police personnel were killed in a violent clash between the police forces of Assam and Mizoram last month over the border dispute between the two states following a fresh escalation of tension.

"Mizoram has been demanding the inner line forest based on the notification issued by British in 1870. Assam's position is that there is a constitutional boundary and Mizoram is asking about the historical boundary. Assam is protecting its constitutional boundarySarma asserted.

However, he added that as of now the issue between the two states has been resolved.

ONLY 8 STATES AND UTs HAVE RE-OPENED OR WANT TO REOPEN SCHOOLS, GOVT TELLS PARLIAMENT

Only eight states and Union Territories (UTs) are on board with the idea of re-opening schools, as they have either already done so, or are planning to in the days ahead, the government told Parliament Monday.

According to a written reply shared in the Lok Sabha by Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Nagaland, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh have reopened schools as of 2 August. Andhra Pradesh is likely to reopen schools by 16 August.

Among the Union Territories, only Lakshwadeep and Puducherry have re-opened for all classes. The rest have only allowed lessons from Class 9 and above.

Goa, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Odisha, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal are among the states and union territories that have not reopened schools as of 2 August.

While states are accessing their Covid situation at the individual level by looking at the test positivity rate and number of hospitalisations before deciding on school reopening, experts  said that test positivity rate of less than 5 per cent should be good to reopen schools.

DIDI OPPOSING POWER BILL TO PROTECT PVT CO?

Power minister R K Singh on Monday questioned Mamata Banerjee’s motives for opposing delicensing of government discoms proposed in the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2021 with the aim of ushering in competition and giving consumer choice of service providers like in mobile telephony.

“Why does she want to protect monopoly in the power distribution sector, especially when Kolkata has one of the highest tariff in the country,” Singh said when asked for his reaction on the Bengal chief minister’s letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi describing the bill’s provisions as “anti-people” and opposing the government’s plan to introduce it in the current session.

DELHI: ANTI-MUSLIM SLOGANS RAISED AT JANTAR MANTAR, FIR FILED

A video showing anti-Muslim slogans being raised during a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi is being widely circulated on social media, following which the Delhi Police registered a case in connection with the matter on Monday.

Hundreds of people had attended the protest organised by Bharat Jodo Aandolan at Jantar Mantar on Sunday. Shipra Srivastava, media in-charge of Bharat Jodo Aandolan, said the protest was held under the leadership of advocate and former BJP spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay. However, she denied any links to those who raised anti-Muslim slogans.

"The protest was held against colonial laws and demanding to abolish 222 British laws. We have seen the video, but have no idea who they are. The police should take strict action against the persons who raised the slogans," Ms. Srivastava said.

SUPREME COURT: SUBMIT ATR ON AVERTING OXYGEN CRISIS

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to submit in two weeks its action-taken report (ATR) on implementing the recommendations of a court-appointed national task force (NTF) on allocation of oxygen to states and UTs to deal with Covid-19 pandemic.

On June 22, the NTF had recommended that India should have strategic reserves of medical oxygen for two-three weeks of consumption on the lines of the arrangements made for petroleum products.

A Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud said since the NTF consists of senior doctors and experts from across the country, it’s imperative for the Centre to take steps to ensure that its recommendations were duly implemented at the policy level to meet any exigencies in present and foreseeable future.

'CHAWL' REVAMP TO SLASH CENTRAL MUMBAI REALTY PRICES BY UP TO 25%

One of Mumbai's biggest real estate redevelopment projects of Bombay Development Directorate's (BDD's) chawls (large buildings divided into many separate tenements, offering cheap, basic accommodation) has taken off in Central Mumbai, opening up a Rs 20,000-crore opportunity for real estate companies. It is expected to drive down real estate prices in Central Mumbai by up to 25 per cent, forecast real estate experts.

Spread over 92 acres in Central Mumbai's prime localities of Worli, Lower Parel, and Dadar and consisting of 195 four-storey houses, the BDD chawls were constructed in the 1920s.

The over-a-century-old chawls are one of the largest cluster redevelopment projects led by the government in Asia. They were used as prisons to house freedom fighters. Later, they were used as accommodation for textile mill workers. Now, tenants live cheek by jowl in these chawls even as swanky office buildings got constructed on textile mill lands next door.

JHUNJHUNWALA'S AKASA AIRLINES IN TALKS WITH BOEING FOR UP TO 100 MAX JETS

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed new airline Akasa is in talks with US aerospace company Boeing for buying up to 100 737 Max aircraft. Former Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube and his family members are promoters while ex-IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh is a board member of the airline.

The airline is in negotiation with Boeing and has reached out to the government to recertify the aircraft which has been grounded since 2018 after two crashes killing 349 persons, according to sources in the know.

While most of the European countries and USA have approved the return of the jet, Indian regulators haven’t removed the ban so far.

Each 737 Max jet carries a list price of roughly $100 million, though such jets usually sell for less than half of their official value with typical market discounts.

Jhunjhunwala, in a television interview, had said the airline was looking to have 70 aircraft within the first five years of its operation. A narrowbody aircraft with dense seating of more than 185 seats is important to have a low-cost structure.

YOU CAN SOON BUY GOOGLE, APPLE SHARES ON NSE IFSC

Indian investors will soon be able to buy and sell shares of Google, Amazon, Microsoft and other USlisted companies through NSE’s GIFT City arm in the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in Gujarat.

The entire trading, clearing, settlement and holding of US stocks will be under the regulatory purview of the IFSC Authority, a release from NSE IFSC said. IFSC Authority has facilitated the offering under its regulatory sandbox where the fund transfers for buying will be through the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) of the RBI, it said.

At present, every Indian is allowed to remit up to $250,000 annually under the LRS. However, the usage of the funds remitted under LRS has certain restrictions, including that it cannot be used for leveraging. Hence, investors sending money abroad through this route cannot use the fund for investing or trading in any derivatives product. However, investing in stocks directly, in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), fixed-income products and mutual funds is allowed, market players said.

OLYMPIC HEROES GET A WARM WELCOME ON ARRIVAL

Neeraj Chopra, Ravi Dahiya, Bajrang Punia, Lovlina Borgohain and the men’s hockey team, were given a red carpet welcome as thousands poured to catch a glimpse at the Indira Gandhi International Airport as our Olympic Heroes returned from the best-ever medal haul of seven medals from the Tokyo Olympics. Mirabai Chaniu and PV Sindhu had reached home earlier.

The stars were led to the Ashoka Hotel for the felicitation ceremony organised by the Sports Ministry on Monday evening, in a long cavalcade. Bajrang and Ravi were atop their SUVs taking salutations from the fans assembled to thank the champions.

“I have been roaming with this medal in my pocket ever since that day. I haven’t slept and eaten right since but a glance at it puts me at ease and then I tell myself ‘all is good’,” Chopra said at the felicitation function. “Most of these athletes gathered here today are from middle-class families and family members’ backing is the most important thing in our lives.

Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, his deputy Nisith Pramanik, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, and several top officials of the ministry and Sports Authority of India were present at the function.

The ministry also asked the women’s hockey team to cut a cake to celebrate the team’s performance.

INDICATORS

Sensex 54,403 (+125), Nifty 16,258 (+20), Trading Value NSE (Rs.crores) 57243.57

Nasdaq 14,860 (+24) Dow 35,102 (-107), S&P 4,432 (-4)

US$-Rs. 74.18 GBP-Rs. 102.84, Euro-Rs. 87.17, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.19, Can$-Rs. 59.04, Aus$- Rs. 54.47

GBP 0.72 /US$, Euro 0.85 /US$, Jap.Yen 110.21 /US$, Aus$ 1.36 /US$, Sing 1.35 /US$, Bang Taka 83.40 /US$, Can$ 1.25 /US$, Mal Ring 4.22 /US$,

Pak Re 163.51 /US$, Phil Peso 50.36 /US$, Russian Rouble 73.51 /US$, NZ$ 1.42 /US$, Thai Baht 33.41 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 26.58 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 46,079

Dollar Index 92.98 Brent Crude 69.10 BDI 3,371

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,734 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,628 / 4,528, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 68,700

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. – Aristotle

OFF TRACK

A man and his wife were making their first doctor visit prior to the birth of their first child. After everything checked out, the doctor took a small stamp and stamped the wife's stomach with indelible ink.

The couple was curious about what the stamp was for, so when they got home, he dug out his magnifying glass to try to see what it was. In very tiny letters, the stamp said, "When you can read this without a needing a magnifying glass, come back and see me."