LS NOD TO CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT BILL TO RESTORE STATES’ POWERS ON OBC LIST

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday evening passed the 127th Constitution Amendment Bill restoring powers of the state governments to identify and notify their own lists for OBCs and Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBCs) for quota in jobs and education.

The Lok Sabha passed the Bill unanimously. This was the first proper debate of the Monsoon session since it began on July 19.

Given the political implications of the legislation, the Bill was supported by all parties.it was passed by 386-0.

Initiating the debate, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury extended his party’s wholehearted support to the Bill saying they were participating in the debate because it is an important Bill and voting of three-fourth members of the House is needed. “The government repeatedly blames us for stalling the parliament. We are here to narrate the plight of people,” he said.

During the course of the debate, several opposition leaders linked the passage of the bill to the upcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

Dayanidhi Maran, an MP from the DMK, said he hoped the UP elections came every year and also highlighted Tamil Nadu’s role in recognising the concerns of the backward classes. “Who pushed V.P. Singh out for implementing the Mandal Commission? It was the BJP and we will never forget it. Where is the caste-based census? 27 ministers are OBC in BJP, why? Because of the UP elections. I hope UP elections come every year!” said Maran.

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav cited the 50 per cent cap on reservations and noted that it was indicative of the Modi government’s anti-reservation stance. “For your convenience, you are getting a Central Vista constructed so that you can ensure it can accommodate more members comfortably. But at the same time, you want to accommodate all the OBCs, Dalits and minorities under 50 per cent. You are playing with reservation,” he said.

He pitched for a caste-based census and said that if the present government fails to do so, the Samajwadi Party will undertake the exercise once it comes to power after the upcoming polls in UP.

The Congress, too, supported the bill but pointed out that several states want to increase the ceiling of reservation. “You (BJP government) had a majority so you assumed you could do whatever you wished. But soon after the states started raising their voices you realised you had made a mistake. With assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand around the corner you decided to bring this bill. Though we support the bill, we also want the 50 per cent ceiling to be removed. This is a demand that has been made by Maharashtra too,” said Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

Several MPs also spoke in favour of reservation in the private sector.

Meanwhile, Social Welfare Minister Veerendra Kumar thanked all MPs for supporting the bill. “As far as the issue of the 50 per cent ceiling is concerned, the government is of the view that it should be discussed at length. However, as the Supreme Court has reiterated this ceiling it requires careful consideration on legal and constitutional aspects,” he said.

INDIA PULLS OUT OF MAZAR-E-SHARIF, TELLS NATIONALS TO LEAVE AFGHANISTAN

With the Taliban advancing on Mazar-e-Sharif, India Tuesday evacuated its diplomats and personnel from its consulate in the largest city of north Afghanistan.

Simultaneously, the Indian embassy in Kabul issued a security advisory — the third in three months — asking Indians to leave Afghanistan in view of the escalation in violence and as air services to several provinces and cities are discontinued.

The evacuation from Mazar-e-Sharif, the bustling city in the north which is situated close to the border with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, comes after Indian diplomats and staff left the Kandahar consulate last month.

A special aircraft was sent to bring back Indian diplomats, officials and other staff members, including a group of Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel.

COVID 19: RISING R VALUE IN SOME STATES A CONCERN: GOVT

Raising a red flag, the Centre on Tuesday said that while Covid-19 cases are “stabilising” across the country, the reproduction number (or R value) greater than 1, specifically from newer states, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, is a “significant reason to be concerned”.

The warning by the head of India’s Covid-19 task force, Dr V K Paul, came after the Health Ministry on Tuesday said that eight states are reporting R value equal to 1 and above, which indicates how fast the virus is spreading in a region.

The ministry said that in Punjab, which is reporting R of 1.3, the daily cases are increasing. Similarly, in Himachal Pradesh (1.3 R), Uttar Pradesh (1.1 R), and Andhra Pradesh (1 R) there is an indication of a likely increase in cases. In Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh (1.1), Goa and Nagaland (1), daily cases are stable but require strict containment.

Raising concerns over the dominance of Delta variant in the country, Paul said there is growing evidence of an increase in viral load found in patients infected with the highly infectious variant. “There is also a clear message that the Delta variant is ruling the nation; in fact, ruling the world,” he said. “You can see the spread of Delta everywhere, which is behind the upsurge of cases. The updated report of WHO on the characteristics of Delta, based on current evidence, shows that transmissibility and attack rate is more.”

KEY COVID NUMBERS

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 3,80,895

New Cases in last 24 hours: 36,312

Recovered in last 24 hours: 37,241

Change in no. of Active cases in last 24 hours: -1,397

No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 468 (4,29,183)

Daily Tests (Monday): 15,11,313

Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 1.8%

Percentage of Population Vaccinated (At Least One Dose / Two Doses): 30.0% / 8.6%

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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

TALIBAN SEIZE 2 MORE PROVINCIAL CAPITALS, MARKING 8TH IN 5 DAYS

Two provincial capitals in Afghanistan all but fell to the Taliban on Tuesday, this time in the country’s west and north, local officials said, marking the seventh and eighth to be overrun in under a week. The Taliban had been encroaching for some time on Farah city, the capital of the province with the same name, as the western province has been a focal point for the group’s offensive operations in the country’s west for years. Gulbuddin, a police officer in Farah city, said that government officials had fled to an army headquarters several miles outside the city and that the main prison had been breached by Taliban fighters. The streets, he said, were full of freed inmates.

And in the north, the monthslong Taliban stranglehold on the capital of Baghlan Province, Pul-i-Khumri, finally succeeded, forcing government forces to retreat. The city is on the highway connecting the northern provinces to Kabul, meaning the insurgents need only to turn south and advance to begin putting even more pressure the country’s capital.

The US, meanwhile, showed no sign of stepping up airstrikes in Afghanistan despite accelerating Taliban gains. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby emphasised that Americans now see the fight as one for Afghan political and military leaders to win or lose. He added, “It’s their country to defend now. It’s their struggle.”

Meanwhile, Zalmay Khalilzad, the US envoy, travelled to Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office, to tell the group that there was no point in pursuing victory on the battlefield because a military takeover of Kabul would guarantee they will be global pariahs. He and others hope to persuade Taliban leaders to return to peace talks with Afghan government.

‘PAK THREATENING MILITARY DISSIDENTS ABROAD’

Pakistan is cracking down on dissidents living abroad who are critical of the country’s military, a British newspaper has reported, evoking a rebuttal from Islamabad which on Tuesday dismissed the report as false. According to the report published in Guardian newspaper on Saturday, Pakistani exiles living in London who have criticised the country’s military have been warned that their “lives are in danger”. The report said the exiled Pakistanis have been warned by authorities in the UK that “they will be targeted”.

“Since Imran Khan came to power in Pakistan in 2018 with the backing of the military, civil rights groups there have documented an erosion of press freedom with rising violent attacks on journalists. The concern now is that Pakistan appears to be moving from suppressing criticism within its borders to targeting critics based overseas,” the paper said.

THE REST

=========

SC PUSHES FOR URGENT NEED TO CLEAN UP POLITICS

The Supreme Court on Tuesday drummed loudly the urgency for weeding out criminals from electoral politics, and lambasted the Centre’s lackadaisical approach in enacting suitable laws to decriminalise legislatures. It warned that the nation is losing patience as repeated appeals for reforms have fallen in the deaf ears of sleeping political parties.

In a 71-page judgment holding most political parties guilty of contempt for breaching a SC laid down rules mandating publicising criminal antecedents of candidates in the fray, a bench of Justices R F Nariman and B R Gavai said, “The nation continues to wait, and is losing patience. Cleansing the polluted stream of politics is obviously not one of the immediate pressing concerns of the legislative branch of government.”

The court ruled that the political parties will have to publish information regarding the criminal antecedents of candidates on the homepage of their websites, thus making it easier for the voter to get to the information that has to be supplied. It will be necessary now to have on the homepage a caption which states “candidates with criminal antecedents”.

The EC will have to create a mobile app containing information published by candidates regarding their criminal antecedents, so that at one stroke, each voter gets such information on his/her mobile phone. Also, the EC needs to spread awareness to make every voter aware about his/her right to know about antecedents of all contesting candidates.

The Supreme Court also  fined eight political parties, including the BJP, Congress, RJD and the JD(U), for failing to comply with its directions “in letter and spirit” with regard to the disclosure of candidates’ criminal record on their websites and in the media during the Bihar Assembly polls.

AUG 16 IS NEW DATE FOR PEGASUS HEARING

The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred to August 16 the hearing on petitions seeking a court-monitored SIT probe into Pegasus snooping controversy even as it took exception to parallel debates on social media and websites by some petitioners.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana adjourned the hearing to Monday after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said he needed time to take instructions in the matter.

Maintaining that it wasn’t against debates, the Bench, however, said when the matter was pending in the court, “it should be deliberated upon here” and the petitioners should observe discipline.

Last week, the Bench had agreed to hear a batch of petitions seeking a court-monitored SIT probe into Pegasus snooping controversy on August 10.

GOVT EXPLAINS WHY PM’S PICTURE IS THERE ON VACCINATION CERTIFICATES

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photograph and message on vaccination certificates reinforce the need for creating awareness about the importance of following COVID-19-appropriate behaviour even after vaccination, in larger public interest, and hence feature on the certificate.

This is what the government has argued when it was questioned by Congress Rajya Sabha MP and former journalist Kumar Ketkar in Parliament on whether it is necessary and compulsory to print photographs of the prime minister on the certificate of COVID-19 vaccination. Ketkar also asked who had made it compulsory.

While replying, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said that it is the "moral and ethical responsibility of the government” to ensure that such critical messages are disseminated to people “in the most effective manner”. The minister also stressed in her reply that the formats of COVID-19 vaccination certificates, which are being issued to vaccinated beneficiaries from Co-WIN, are standardised and conform to evolving WHO guidance on verifiable vaccination certificates.

DELHI POLICE DETAIN FORMER BJP SPOKESPERSON ASHWINI UPADHYAY, 5 OTHERS

Delhi Police have detained six people, including advocate and former BJP spokesperson Ashwini Upadhyay, in connection with a video showing anti-Muslim slogans being raised during a protest at Jantar Mantar. According to a senior police officer, the six people were detained from different areas of the Delhi-National Capital Region. Their roles are being verified in connection with the incident and further action would be taken accordingly, he said.

A video showing anti-Muslim slogans being raised during a protest at Jantar Mantar here was widely circulated on social media, following which Delhi Police registered a case on Monday.

Hundreds of people had attended the protest organised by Bharat Jodo Aandolan at Jantar Mantar on Sunday.

“TWITTER ‘PRIMA FACIE’ IN COMPLIANCE WITH NEW IT RULES”

The Centre told the Delhi High Court on Tuesday that Twitter was prima facie in compliance with the new Information Technology Rules by appointing a Chief Compliance Officer (CCO), Resident Grievance Officer (RGO) and Nodal Contact Person on permanent basis.

Justice Rekha Palli, who was hearing a petition alleging non-compliance of IT Rules by the US-based microblogging site, sought an affidavit from the Centre to bring its stand on record within two weeks.

Senior advocate Sajan Poovayya, representing Twitter, iterated that the company had appointed permanent officials for the posts of CCO, RGO and NCP.

On July 28, the court had expressed displeasure over Twitter appointing a contingent worker as CCO and said that the social media platform was in non-compliance with the new IT Rules.

NEW FILINGS FOR IPOs COULD CROSS 100 IN 2021

It’s raining IPOs, with eight issues hitting the market in a span of six days. However, the pace of new filings points to a deluge during the latter part of the year. So far this year, 58 companies have filed their draft red herring prospectus with the market regulator for IPOs exceeding the combined tally of 50 in the last two years.

Industry participants said the filing count could cross 100 this year, setting a new benchmark in terms of amount mobilised in a calendar year.

“Both last year and this year have been good in terms of the market performance. This is helping companies and promoters get the right kind of valuations. Many companies are skipping the private equity (PE) route and want to do an IPO straight away.

After soaring more than 15 per cent in 2020, the benchmark Nifty has added another 16 per cent this year, while the Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 indices are up 32 per cent and 42 per cent, respectively, this year. Most companies that are looking to launch an IPO fall in the mid- and small-cap universe, where stocks are trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of more than 22 times on the FY22 earnings estimate.

Any company launching an IPO takes valuation cues from the secondary market, which bankers say are “encouraging”.

STARTING OCTOBER 1, RBI TO LEVY PENALTY ON ATMs THAT RUN OUT OF CASH

The RBI has asked banks and white label automated teller machine (ATM) operators to put in place a robust system that will allow them to monitor the availability of cash in ATMs and ensure timely replenishment to avoid cash-out situations.

The central bank has introduced a 'scheme of penalty for non-replenishment of ATMs', effective October 1, 2021, wherein banks and white label ATM operators will be penalised, in the event of cash-outs beyond the permissible time limit.

According to the scheme, a penalty of Rs 10,000 per ATM will be levied in the event of a cash-out situation for more than 10 hours in a month. “In the case of white label ATMs, the penalty would be charged to the bank which is meeting the cash requirement of that particular white label ATM. The bank, may, at its discretion, recover the penalty from the white label ATM operator”, RBI said.

CRYPTO EXCHANGE IS 22ND UNICORN

CoinDCX has become the first Indian cryptocurrency exchange to enter the unicorn club with a $90-million series-C funding round. This funding round raises CoinDCX’s valuation to $1.1 billion, making it the first Indian cryptocurrency exchange to reach unicorn status.

CoinDCX co-founder & CEO Sumit Gupta said, “We will be joining hands or enter into partnerships with key fintech players to expand crypto investor base, set up R&D facility, strengthening the policy conversations through public discourse, working with the government to introduce favourable regulations, education, and ramping up the hiring initiatives.”

Founded in 2018, CoinDCX has onboarded more than 3.5 million users so far.

MESSI GETS HERO’S WELCOME IN FRANCE AFTER AGREEING TO JOIN PSG

Six-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi received a hero’s welcome after flying to Paris on Tuesday to join Paris Saint Germain (PSG) following his shock departure from Barcelona.

The agreement to sign the 34-year-old Argentine is a major coup for wealthy PSG, who will add one of the best soccer players of all time to an already formidable front line that includes Brazil’s Neymar and young Frenchman Kylian Mbappe.

Wearing a T-shirt that read “This is Paris,” Messi beamed and waved at scores of fans who had come to greet him at the airport.

INDICATORS

Sensex 54,555 (+152), Nifty 16,280 (+22)

Nasdaq 14,788 (-72) Dow 35,265 (+163), S&P 4,437 (+4)

US$-Rs. 74.28 GBP-Rs. 102.85, Euro-Rs. 87.10, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.22, Can$-Rs. 59.16, Aus$- Rs. 54.50

GBP 0.72 /US$, Euro 0.85 /US$, Jap.Yen 110.47 /US$, Aus$ 1.36 /US$, Sing 1.35 /US$, Bang Taka 83.37 /US$, Can$ 1.25 /US$, Mal Ring 4.22 /US$,

Pak Re 163.60 /US$, Phil Peso 50.35 /US$, Russian Rouble 73.75 /US$, NZ$ 1.42 /US$, Thai Baht 33.43 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 26.56 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 45,458

Dollar Index 93.06 Brent Crude 70.51 BDI 3,375

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,734 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,628 / 4,528, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 68,200

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

If you have tried to do something and failed, you are vastly better off than if you tried to do nothing and succeeded. - Richard Martin Stern

OFF TRACK

The fragrance departments in shopping malls often offer to spray their shoppers with their newest scents. One day, outside a mall’s restaurant, a salesperson sprayed two women who had just finished their lunch. When one woman commented that the perfume was too strong, the salesperson replied, "The fragrance will be softer once it dries and the alcohol wears off."

"See!" her friend chided. "I told you not to have that second drink."