GERMANY, INDIA SIGN DEAL FOR 6 SUBMARINES

Germany’s Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) and Indian Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate on making six stealth submarines.

The MoU aims to utilise the latest technology from Germany and the manufacturing abilities of the MDL for six conventional submarines under the Project-75 (India) of the Indian Navy.

The TKMS is the global market leader for non-nuclear submarines based on air independent propulsion (AIP) technology, which helps a submarine to stay under water for longer periods. India had sought operational AIP technology, which would allow a submarine to remain under water for up to six days.

The MoU was signed in the presence of the German Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius at Mumbai. As per the pact, the TKMS will contribute to the engineering and design of the submarines as well as provide consultancy support to this joint project. The MDL will take the responsibility for constructing and delivering the submarines.

As of now, India has 16 conventional submarines and one nuclear submarine, way short of the envisaged plan drawn out in 1999 that spoke of having 24 conventional submarines by 2030.

AHEAD OF PM'S VISIT, INDIA & US HOLD MEET TO FIRM UP DELIVERABLES

India and the US on Tuesday held the inaugural India-US Strategic Trade Dialogue (IUSSTD) in Washington to take forward the strategic technology and trade collaborations envisaged under the India-US initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET).

The intention is to line up deliverables before PM Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US a fortnight later.

“The dialogue is a key mechanism to take forward the strategic technology and trade collaborations envisaged under iCET. The IUSSTD focused on ways in which both governments can facilitate the development and trade of technologies in critical domains such as semiconductors, space, telecom, quantum, AI, defence, bio-tech and others,” said a statement from the Indian Embassy in Washington.

OPPOSITION MEETING IN PATNA ON JUNE 23

The much-vaunted meeting of anti-BJP parties, organised by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, will be held in Patna on June 23, his deputy Tejashwi Yadav said on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference, the RJD leader, with JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lalan’ by his side, said that opposition leaders including Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Left leaders, have agreed to sit together and chalk out a strategy for next year’s Lok Sabha polls.

“Others who have agreed to attend the meeting are Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, his Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena (UBT) group president Uddhav Thackeray,” Lalan said.

Also, the CPI, the CPI(M) and the CPI(ML) Liberation will be represented by their respective general secretaries D Raja, Sitaram Yechury and Dipankar, Lalan added.

He, however, brushed aside questions about speculations that the Congress was insistent on contesting “not less than 350 seats”, stating, “As our deputy CM has pointed out, the country is witnessing a state of undeclared emergency. The top priority of all like-minded parties is to rid the country of the BJP.” Yadav, who had recently accompanied Kumar on his trips to various parts of the country as part of the efforts to forge an opposition unity, expressed satisfaction that parties agreed to the insistence of the Bihar CM that “heads” of respective political parties attend the meeting.

“Opposition unity is a dream of our honourable Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and respectable RJD president Lalu Prasad. The meeting on June 23 is going to be a very important step in that direction,” said Tejashwi.

WRESTLERS- PROTEST ON PAUSE, GOVT PROMISES POLICE CHARGESHEET BY JUNE 15

Signalling the first breakthrough in the protracted standoff between the wrestlers and the Government over allegations of sexual harassment and intimidation by federation president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the wrestlers agreed Wednesday to pause their protest until June 15.

This is the date by which, according to the Sports Minister Anurag Thakur who held talks with the wrestlers, a chargesheet in the case will be filed by Delhi Police.

This was the main takeaway from the six-hour-long meeting yesterday between Thakur and a delegation of wrestlers led by Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik. The government also agreed that Singh, or his close associates, would have no role in the new WFI body that is expected to be formed by the end of this month after an election that will be held by June 30. Besides, the wrestlers will be consulted in the appointment of office-bearers of the new WFI.

“it is better for the country to have the award-winning grapplers on the mat than on the roads…It was a congenial atmosphere and all issues were agreed by consensus,” said Anurag Thakur.

Punia suggested that the protest could be relaunched in case the government fails to keep its word. “Government has assured us that the police investigation will be completed before June 15. We have also requested that all FIRs against wrestlers should be taken back and he (Thakur) has agreed to it. If no action is taken by June 15, we will continue our protest.”

The Sunday midnight meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, sources said, set the stage for the talks with Thakur.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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UKRAINE, RUSSIA POINT FINGERS AT EACH OTHER OVER DAM DESTRUCTION

Thousands of exhausted people, some carrying only backpacks or pets, escaped inundated villages on Wednesday as a rescue effort pressed ahead across southern Ukraine, a day after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam unleashed another humanitarian disaster along the frontlines of the 15-month war.

“The sheer magnitude of the catastrophe will only become fully realised in the coming days,” UN aid chief Martin Griffiths told the UNSC. Targeting dams in war is explicitly banned by the Geneva Conventions.

“The whole world will know about this Russian war crime,” Ukrainian President Zelensky said in his nightly address, calling it “an environmental bomb of mass destruction”. Earlier he said Russia blew up the dam power plant from within. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has accused Ukraine of sabotaging the dam to distract attention from the counteroffensive he said was “faltering”. The US said it was still gathering evidence about who was to blame, but that Ukraine would have had no reason to inflict such devastation on itself.

CANADA WILDFIRE PUSHES NYC AIR QUALITY TO AMONG WORST IN WORLD

An eye-watering and cough-inducing smoky haze from Canadian wildfires smothered a swath of the eastern and northern US on Tuesday, with officials warning residents with health risks to stay indoors and keep their windows closed.

Health alerts were issued from New York to the Carolinas, and as far west as Minnesota. In New York City, the smoke could be tasted as well as smelled, and it wrapped the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and Manhattan’s other landmarks in a blanket of orange-gray haze.

IQAir, a technology company that tracks air quality and pollution, said New York’s air quality was among the worst in the world on Tuesday night; the city usually does not rank in the top 3,000.

THE REST

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NEW MEASURES IN WORKS TO FOOLPROOF RAILWAY SYSTEM AGAINST ACCIDENTS.

Putting double-lock in all ‘location boxes’, encouraging maintenance staff to not hide faults — however small — and not taking shortcuts. These are some of the systems the Railways will put in place as measures to foolproof its system against accidents.

At present, only relay rooms at stations are secured with a double-lock mechanism, and the signal maintainer and the station master have a key each.

Location boxes are opened with one key, which lies with signal maintainers. Now, in what could be a sign of the cause for the accidents triggered by Coromandel Express wrongly entering a loop line in full speed despite a green signal and hitting a stationary goods train, the Railways Ministry is said to be firming up plans to secure location boxes with such double-lock arrangement.

Media reports suggest that a signalling technician “looped” the location box at Bahanaga Bazar station to attain a green signal for the oncoming Coromandel Express, bypassing due process.

A “location box”, typically placed along the tracks, holds a junction of connections to the point motor (the movable piece of rail that physically guides a train to its designated track when there are two divergent tracks), the signalling lights, track-occupancy detectors, and virtually every critical piece that makes the ‘interlocking’ work seamlessly.

VIGIL UP IN MANIPUR AFTER 3 OF FAMILY BURNT ALIVE IN AMBULANCE

Alarmed over the brutal killing of a seven-year-old boy, his mother and a relative, who were burnt alive on Sunday when the ambulance carrying them to hospital was set on fire by a mob, the combined forces deployed in Manipur have stepped up vigil and area domination operations, security officials said today.

The boy was being rushed for treatment after he was hit by a bullet during clashes between tribal groups and the majority Meitei community.

According to officials, the forces launched operations in the affected region “to dominate sensitive areas and recover snatched weapons”. “Locals in possession of such weapons are being urged to surrender them,” an official said.

RIOT-LIKE SITUATION IN MAHARASHTRA DUE TO AURANGZEB’S ‘AULADEIN’, SAYS FADNAVIS

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said that riot-like situations had developed in the state because people of a particular community are glorifying Aurangzeb.

“I can easily see that all these leaders are talking the same language. People of a particular community are helping them and glorifying Aurangzeb. The riot-like situation is taking place in some areas only because of this,” Fadnavis, who also holds the charge of the Home Ministry, said while reacting to incidents of communal unrest in parts of Maharashtra.

He was speaking against the backdrop of some youths displaying photos of 17th-century Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in a procession in Ahmednagar and tension in Kolhapur city on Wednesday over the alleged use of Tipu Sultan’s image by some people on their social media status.

NEW DEGREE ON TABLE: BACHELOR OF SCIENCE FOR HUMANITIES, COMMERCE

Keeping in line with global norms and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the country’s higher education regulator is poised to introduce a new range of college degree names, including a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in disciplines like arts, humanities, management and commerce.

Currently, the University Grants Commission (UGC) permits universities to offer a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in arts, humanities and social sciences, and the Bachelor of Science (more commonly abbreviated in India as BSc) degree is typically for science subjects.

However, with the NEP 2020 advocating a restructuring of undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, a committee set up by the UGC to review degree nomenclatures has recommended that the new four-year undergraduate honours (or honours with research) degree programme, irrespective of the discipline, can also be offered as a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree.

Similarly, universities can adopt the Master of Science (MS) nomenclature for both the one and two-year postgraduate programmes, even for disciplines such as arts, humanities, management, and commerce.

Although the committee has recommended using BS nomenclature for degrees across disciplines, it hasn’t permitted the use of BA and MA for science programmes.

GANGSTER SANJEEV JEEVA, AIDE OF MUKHTAR ANSARI, SHOT DEAD IN LUCKNOW COURT

Dreaded gangster Sanjeev Jeeva was shot dead by a man inside a Lucknow court on Wednesday. The incident occurred inside the court house, where the assailant opened fire, killing Sanjeev Jeeva and also injuring a young girl.

Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva, a close aide of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, was an accused in the murder case of BJP MLA Bramha Dutt Dwivedi.

Initial reports suggest that the shooter arrived in the court dressed as a lawyer and opened fire at Sanjeev Jeeva. The attacker who killed Sanjeev Jeeva has been arrested by Lucknow Police. He has been identified as Vijay Yadav.

CARDIOLOGIST DIES OF HEART ATTACK AT 41 DESPITE NORMAL ECG

A 41-year old renowned cardiologist in Jamnagar, Dr Gaurav Gandhi, died due to what is being suspected as a cardiac arrest on the morning of June 6. His death has once again sparked anxieties about heart attacks among young Indians because he didn’t have any symptoms or traditional triggers and was completely atypical.

According to a colleague, Dr Gandhi was physically very active, a non-smoker and a teetotaller. There was no medical history to indicate that he might be vulnerable to a cardiac event.

He felt chest discomfort at around 2 am on June 6, went to Sharda Hospital and got an ECG done. The cardiogram was, however, normal. So he thought it was acidity and took an injectable for the same. He stayed in the hospital for half-an-hour or so to track any inconsistencies and then went home. At around 6 am in the morning, his wife found that he had collapsed on the floor of their bathroom. The family immediately brought him to the emergency ward at GG Hospital but he could not be revived.

GOVT'S 20% TCS POLICY UNFAIR ON DOMESTIC OPERATORS: TRAVEL AGENTS

Domestic travel agents (DTA) are up in arms against the finance ministry for creating a “non level-playing” field favouring overseas travel companies (such as tour operators and online aggregators) which, they say, will risk the viability of local businesses and make customers prefer the former.

In the last Budget, the Union finance ministry announced that the tax collected at source (TCS) on foreign remittances, including international bookings and tour packages, would be raised sharply from 5 per cent to 20 per cent from July 1. Overseas debit and credit card spends (on most items except education and healthcare) would also come under the new rule. This, DTAs say, provided them with a level playing field with overseas travel service players.

However, after a hue and cry, the finance ministry clarified that purchases of up to Rs 7 lakh per annum by individuals on credit or debit overseas will be exempted from paying TCS. However, the same exemption has not been granted to customers buying their tour packages from DTAs.

This means that if customers book through DTAs they have to fork out a TCS of 20 per cent as well as a GST of 5 per cent, without any exemption. But if they shift their bookings to overseas players, they need to pay TCS or GST only after the exemption limit of Rs 7 lakh is exceeded.

In a joint letter addressed to the finance minister this week, leading travel associations, FICCI, Associated Cham­bers of Commerce and Industry, Internet and Mobile Assoiation of India among others say that the move “potentially puts the existence and survival of all small and medium DTAs under threat and risk”.

WTC FINAL: ENGLAND END UP ON TOP, ON DAY 1

Travis Head struck like a tornado with a counter-attacking hundred that left an out-of-sorts Indian attack bereft of ideas as Australia made hay under bright sunshine by reaching 327 for 3 on the opening day of the World Test Championship final.

The ploy of leaving out Ravichandran Ashwin backfired as India were completely outplayed in the second and third session of the day, after Rohit Sharma elected to field first.

India picked an extra fast bowler at the expense of Ravichandran Ashwin but that did not help their cause as Head (146 batting, off 156 balls)) and Steven Smith (95 batting) amassed an unbeaten 251 run partnership off 370 balls for the fourth wicket, lifting Australia from an uncomfortable 73/3.

The third wicket of Marnus Labuschagne (26) came in the 25th over before overcast skies made way for bright sunshine as Smith and Head made the most of batting friendly conditions through the afternoon and evening sessions. In all there were 44 boundaries hit along with a maximum, depicting the plight of Indian pace attack.

Ashwin's non-selection will be debated for the remainder of the game but at least on the opening day, there was not much turn on offer for Ravindra Jadeja who bowled 14 overs without a wicket. "Ravichandran Ashwin's absence is baffling," Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports and his assessment couldn't have been more apt.

FRENCH OPEN: CASPER RUUD SETS UP SEMI-FINALS CLASH WITH ZVEREV

World No. 4 Casper Ruud reached the semi-final of the French Open 2023 after defeating Holger Rune in a spirited four-set battle on Wednesday, 7 June. Carried by the momentum of his first 2 sets win, Ruud booked the semi-final clash against Alexander Zverev who defeated Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry earlier in the evening in another four-setter.

Ruud completed his victory in 2 hours and 44 minutes after the scoreline read 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Alexander Zverev didn’t have things all his own way , but he stepped up when needed to reach the semi-finals at Roland Garros for the third consecutive season. In a heavy-hitting baseline battle against Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Zverev overcame an attacking bombardment from the Argentine to triumph 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

In Women's SIngles, Iga Swiatek was tested by American sixth seed Coco Gauff in a rematch of their 2022 French Open title clash but the world No.1 showed her class to secure a 6-4, 6-2 victory and reach the semi-finals on Wednesday.

Brazil’s Haddad Maia battled from a set down to win a second set tie-break before running away with the third for a 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-1 victory and a first-ever spot in the last four.

INDICATORS

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GBP 0.80 /US$, Euro 0.93 /US$, Jap.Yen 139.61 /US$, Aus$ 1.49 /US$, Sing 1.34 /US$, Bang Taka 106.72 /US$, Can$ 1.33 /US$, Mal Ring 4.59 /US$, Pak Re 286.14 /US$, Phil Peso 56.06 /US$, Russian Rouble 81.57 /US$, NZ$ 1.64 /US$, Thai Baht 34.74 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 36.78 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 26,470, Dollar Index 104.02, Brent Crude 76.93, BDI 1,020

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,945 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 6,065 / 5,560, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 77,800

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Only an utterly senseless person can fail to know that our characters are the result of our conduct. – Aristotle

OFF TRACK

Salesman: Sir, cockroach ke liye powder loge kya?

Customer: " Nahi, hum cockroach ko itna laad-pyar nahi karte! Aaj powder laga denge to kal sala deo mangega!!