GOVT FAILED IN MANIPUR, PM INDIFFERENT, OPPN DELEGATION TELLS GOVERNOR

A day after visiting relief camps in Manipur, the delegation of 21 Opposition MPs met Governor Anusuiya Uikey in Imphal on Sunday and submitted a memorandum in which they flagged the “anger” and “alienation” among Kuki-Zomis as well as Meiteis, and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “silence… shows his brazen indifference to the violence”.

The MPs, from 16 parties who are part of the INDIA alliance, are on a two-day visit to the state.

Saying they visited relief camps in Imphal, Churachandpur and Moirang on Saturday, the MPs stated in their memorandum: “We are, indeed, very shocked and sad to hear the stories of anxieties, uncertainties, pains and sorrows of the individuals affected by the unprecedented violence unleashed by both sides since the beginning of the clashes. There is an anger and a sense of alienation amongst all communities, which has to be addressed without delay.”

The memorandum flagged the breakdown of the law and order machinery in the state, the condition in the relief camps, and the plight of children affected by the violence. It also said that the restrictions on internet services for nearly three months were doing more harm than good.

The MPs appealed to Uikey to “apprise” the Centre “of the complete breakdown of law and order in Manipur for the last 89 days so as to enable them to intervene in the precarious situation… to restore peace and normalcy.”

“The failure of both the central and state govts to protect the lives and properties of the people of the two communities is apparent from the figures of more than 140 deaths, more than 500 injuries, burning of more than 5,000 houses and internal displacement of over 60,000 people,” it said.

Speaking to reporters in Imphal after the meeting, Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said Uikey had recommended a visit by an all-party delegation. “The Governor herself expressed her sorrow. In these two days, whatever we observed and experienced, we put them all before her, and she expressed her support and also advised that we should speak to leaders of both the Meitei and Kuki communities and find a path to a solution. She also advised that an all-party delegation, comprising the ruling parties and Opposition, visit Manipur and speak to leaders of all communities. Because the atmosphere of mistrust which has been created here has to be addressed by all together,” he said.

SHARAD PAWAR SET TO FELICITATE PM MODI, ALLIES AND PARTY PUSH BACK, WANT HIM TO BACK OUT

A delegation of various political parties, including his own, is set to meet Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Monday to persuade him not to felicitate Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event in Pune on August 1.

Modi is scheduled to be honoured with the Lokmanya Tilak Award at a function at the SP College ground on Tuesday. Pawar is scheduled to share the stage with Modi and confer the award on him. The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), an NCP ally, has said that Pawar’s decision “does not look appropriate”.

The delegation led by socialist leader Baba Adhav includes leaders from the veteran leader’s NCP faction, the Congress, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), the Aam Aadmi Party, and the CPI(M). They were supposed to meet Pawar on Sunday evening but the meeting was postponed to Monday after the NCP leader did not travel from Mumbai to Pune as per his initial plans.

NCP Rajya Sabha MP Vandana Chavan said, “Personally, I am against our party chief sharing the stage with PM Modi who has broken our party and accused us of corruption. I urged Pawar saheb to stay away from the event. However, he said it was he who invited the PM to the function. He did it after being persuaded by members of the Tilak Trust, which is organising the felicitation. And this was before the Ajit Pawar-led rebellion.”

JOIN DEBATE, SHARE EXPERIENCES OF MANIPUR VISIT: ANURAG THAKUR TO OPPOSITION

Union minister Anurag Thakur on Sunday urged the opposition MPs who returned from Manipur to join a discussion in Parliament on the ethnic violence in the northeastern state and share their experiences from the visit.

The Union information and broadcasting minister accused the opposition members of running away from discussion in Parliament when the govt had offered a debate on the ethnic violence in the state after the Monsoon session began on July 20.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already made a strong statement on the atrocities against women in Manipur, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh before the Parliament convened for the current session.

“It is my appeal to the opposition members to tell the entire nation how Manipur used to burn for six months under Congress rule, hundreds of lives would be lost and yet no home minister or prime minister made any statement in Parliament,” Thakur said.

The opposition has been demanding a statement from the prime minister on the Manipur violence in both Houses of Parliament, a demand rejected by the govt.

In a bid to force a statement from the PM, the opposition parties have moved a motion for no-confidence against the govt, which has been admitted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. However, a date for taking up the no-confidence motion is yet to be announced.

IN THE WORKS, WORLD’S LARGEST MUSEUM WITH INDIA’S STORY OF 5,000 YRS

The British Museum in London and the Grand Louvre in Paris are among the world’s largest museums, each covering around 70,000 square metres and housing millions of objects. That may change a few years down the line as India, in collaboration with France, works on creating the Yuge Yugeen Bharat National Museum in New Delhi which will cover 1.17 lakh sq. metres, said officials.

Last week, while inaugurating the International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre complex in Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “Soon, the biggest museum of the world, Yuge Yugeen Bharat, will be constructed in Delhi.” In May, the Prime Minister had released a virtual walkthrough of the museum. It was also mentioned in the joint statement released after Modi’s visit to France in July.

Divided into eight thematic zones, the museum will showcase historical events, personalities, ideas and achievements related to India’s past that have contributed to the making of India’s present. It will tell the story of 5,000 years of Indian civilisation, said officialS, adding that the name signifies the civilisation’s “perennial” nature.

The project is slated for completion by 2026.

The museum will be designed to have 950 rooms across three storeys and a basement, which will showcase India’s ancient town planning systems, the Vedas, Upanishads, ancient medical knowledge, and a number of empires including Mauryan, Gupta, Vijayanagara and Mughal.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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44 PEOPLE KILLED, 100 HURT IN SUICIDE ATTACK AT PAK POLITICAL PARTY'S MEETING

A powerful blast triggered by a suicide bomber killed at least 44 people and injured nearly 100 others on Sunday at a rally of a hardline Islamic party in a restive tribal district of Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.

The explosion took place at 4 pm at the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl workers' convention in Khar, the capital of Bajaur tribal district.

Saad Khan, the district emergency officer in the Bajaur region, said that Maulana Ziaullah Jan, JUI-F's local leader, was also killed in the blast, one of the worst in recent years.

Rescue workers said they feared the number of casualties would rise. Over 500 people were attending the convention when the blast occurred.

An official of the Bomb Disposal Unit said the initial investigation report confirmed it was a suicide blast in which 12 kg explosives were used.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in terrorist attacks following the Afghan Taliban's return to power in August 2021. Meanwhile, Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban govt in Afghanistan, has condemned the attack.

NOT REJECTING PEACE TALKS, BUT CAN'T CEASE FIRE WHILE UNDER ATTACK FROM KYIV: PUTIN

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that an African initiative could be a basis for peace in Ukraine but that Ukrainian attacks made it hard to realise.

He was speaking at a press conference after meeting African leaders in St Petersburg on Friday and hearing their calls for Moscow to move ahead with their plan.

"There are provisions of this peace initiative that are being implemented," he said. "But there are things that are difficult or impossible to implement." It was reported in June that African mediation in the conflict could begin with confidence-building measures followed by a cessation of hostilities agreement accompanied by negotiations between Russia and the West.

Putin said one of the points in the initiative was a ceasefire. "But the Ukrainian army is on the offensive, they are attacking, they are implementing a large-scale strategic offensive operation... We cannot cease fire when we are under attack," he said.

On the question of starting peace talks, he said, "We did not reject them... In order for this process to begin, there needs to be agreement on both sides."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected the idea of a ceasefire now that would leave Russia in control of nearly a fifth of his country and give its forces time to regroup after 17 grinding months of war.

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SPURT IN CRITICAL TECH TIE-UPS WITH ‘TRUSTED’ WEST

Talk of a “chips war” may be overblown but critical and emerging technologies (CET) have become an important matrix of power which is why India is conducting wide range of global interactions on the subject, especially with trusted partners like the US, the Quad, Australia, Japan, the EU and France, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in Gandhinagar while speaking at ‘SemiconIndia Conference 2023’ on Sunday.

Focusing on India’s role in critical and emerging technologies, he said technology trade is not just trade; it is as much as about political science because CET transforms the very nature of economic and social activities. India needs to become more deeply embedded in global value chains and also focus on the semiconductor domain at a time when there has been a re-emergence of export controls as a response to strategic assertions of economic strength.

“Who invents, who manufactures, what are the market shares, where are the resources, who has the skills, where is the talent pool -- these are increasingly the crucial questions. How to do business needs to be tempered with where and with whom to do it,’’ he said while referring to India-US MoU on Semiconductor Supply Chain, commitments by three US companies in chips manufacturing, membership of the Minerals Security Partnership, pact for co-research between Bharat 6G and the American NextG Alliance, the Artemis Accords and Joint Indo-US Quantum Coordination Mechanism.

“It is essential that those of us who are comfortable working with each other enhance our collaboration,’’ said Jaishankar.

‘ALL BILLS PASSED AFTER ADMISSION OF NO-TRUST MOTION CONSTITUTIONALLY SUSPECT’

Congress MP Manish Tewari on Sunday claimed that all bills passed after the no-confidence motion was admitted in the Lok Sabha are "constitutionally suspect" and asserted that any substantive legislative business must succeed the outcome of the motion, not precede it.

The former Union minister also said the 10-day period for scheduling a discussion on the no-confidence motion tabled in the Lok Sabha cannot be used to "steamroll" bills.

The Lok Sabha MP's assertion comes as the bill to replace the Delhi services ordinance is set to come up in the House this week. He claimed the very legality of all the legislations which have been passed in the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha after the no-confidence motion was admitted would have to be examined by a court of law as to whether they were legally passed or not.

ANJU WHO MARRIED PAK FB FRIEND GIFTED MONEY, LAND FOR EMBRACING ISLAM

A 34-year-old Indian mother of two children who travelled to a remote village in Pakistan to marry her Facebook friend after converting to Islam has received some money and a piece of land as gifts for embracing the religion.

Anju, who now goes by the name of Fatima after converting to Islam, on July 25 married her 29-year-old friend Nasrullah, whose home is in the Upper Dir district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

On Saturday, Mohsin Khan Abbasi, the chief executive officer of a real estate company based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, visited Anju and Nasrullah at their residence. He presented Anju a cheque, the amount of which was not known, and a land document in the presence of her husband to make her feel at home in Pakistan.

Anju travelled all along from India to this part of Pakistan and converted to Islam to start her new matrimonial life. We came here to welcome her to our religion and congratulate her on her marriage," he said.

Anju, who was born in Kailor village in Uttar Pradesh and lived in the Alwar district of Rajasthan, travelled to Pakistan legally from India via the Wagah-Attari border. She was granted a 30-day visa, valid for Upper Dir only. Her visa will expire on August 20.

Anju is married to Arvind, who is in Rajasthan. They have a 15-year-old daughter and a six-year-old son.

INAPPROPRIATE TO ASK OTHER STUDENTS ABOUT THEIR JEE RANK: IIT BOMBAY

Months after it came under spotlight for alleged caste-based discrimination on campus following the death of a first-year student, Darshan Solanki, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay has instructed its students that it is “inappropriate” to ask other students about their JEE Advanced rank or GATE score or any other information that may reveal caste or other related aspects.

Asking rank could appear like “an attempt to find the caste and may set the stage for discrimination”, states the notification on anti-discrimination guidelines made public by the institute, ahead of the new academic year.

The notification on anti-discrimination guidelines is circulated among students and also pasted at different locations on campus, especially in the hostel areas. “While the student asking the question may feel it is innocent and it may be driven purely by curiosity, asking the question can often have an adverse impact on the other student,” states the notification.

Darshan’s death by suicide had sparked a conversation on many forms of caste-based discrimination on campuses of IITs. Darshan’s sister had alleged that after knowing his rank, Darshan’s roommate had reduced interacting with him.

NO PLACE FOR EMOTIONS IN CONTEMPT CASES: SC

Maintaining that the contempt jurisdiction enjoyed by courts is only for upholding the majesty of the judicial system, the Supreme Court has said the courts must act judiciously while exercising this power.

The apex court set aside a Calcutta High Court order revoking a doctor’s licence.  It said the licence could not be suspended as penalty in contempt proceedings over failure to remove an unauthorised construction.

“The court has time and again asserted that the contempt jurisdiction is only for the purpose of upholding the majesty of the judicial system that exists. While exercising this power, the courts must not be hypersensitive or swung by emotions, but must act judiciously,” a Bench of Justice R Gavai and Justice Sanjay Karol said.

ISRO SCIENTISTS REAP SUCCESS WITH UNIQUE SCIENTIFIC EXPERIMENT IN LATEST PSLV MISSION

It was a double delight for scientists at ISRO on Sunday as the space agency scripted a successful mission and also reaped victory in a unique scientific experiment using the fourth stage of a PSLV rocket.

In a dedicated commercial mission earlier in the day, ISRO successfully placed seven Singaporean satellites into intended orbits on board a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV).

During the mission, the scientists decided to perform a unique scientific experiment in which the fourth stage of the rocket would be lowered into a 300 kilometre orbit after placing customer satellites at an altitude of 536 km "to mitigate the space debris problem", according to Chairman S Somanath.

In an update after the successful launch of PSLV-C56 mission, ISRO said the unique attempt by the scientists is "successful" and "ISRO/India remains committed to reduced space debris".

According to ISRO, normally after a successful mission, a rocket before re-entering into the Earth's atmosphere would travel for "decades" in an orbit as a space debris. However, with Sunday's experiment, the duration is now reduced to "two months".

DRAVID KEEPS FAITH IN YOUNG GUNS SHUBMAN, ISHAN

Head Coach Rahul Dravid is mighty impressed with yougsters Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan's performances and termed the former a vital cog of the team in all three formats of the game.

Talking about India's score in the 2nd ODI, Dravid believes the pitch was not easy for batting and they were 50-60 runs short of what could have been a winning score. "We are little disappointed, we knew it was a tricky wicket, not an easy wicket to bat on. We needed to get somewhere near to 230-240, that would have been a very good and competitive score.

"I won't worry so much about Shubman. He is batting really well, he looks really good. It can happen, you can't criticise people after every single game. These things can happen, it's not easy batting conditions. We needed to grind and fight it out there. Shubman is an important part of all the three formats now," he said.

"Ishan has done really well. This is third fifty in a row now counting the Test matches. He is taking the opportunities when he is given the chance. That's all we ask from young players."

OVAL TEST: RAIN HALTS AUS CHASE ON DAY 4

The fourth day's play in the final Ashes Test at The Oval on Sunday was abandoned due to rain after Australian openers David Warner (58) and Usman Khawaja (69) shared a partnership of 135 as they chase a target of 384 to beat England.

The pair withstood a barrage of hostile bowling as they steamed past 100 on their way to the highest opening partnership in the Ashes in England since 2009.

Jimmy Anderson floored Warner with an unintended beamer when Australia were just short of a hundred, with the batter just managing to fend off the shoulder-height ball with his bat handle.

Fast bowler Mark Wood then hit Khawaja on the helmet with a bouncer shortly after, leading to a lengthy concussion check before the rain set in.

Chris Woakes, Moeen Ali, Joe Root and Wood all joined the attack for spells on an overcast day, but were unable to break through the openers' defences.

Scores so far: England 283 & 395; Australia 295 & 135/0

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Work and acquire, and thou hast chained the wheel of Chance. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

OFF TRACK

Two friends were out drinking when suddenly one lurched  backward off his barstool and lay motionless on the floor.  

"One thing about Jim," his buddy said to the bartender, "he knows when to stop."