XI AND PUTIN NOT COMING FOR G20 SUMMIT

Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend the G20 summit in New Delhi on September 9 and 10 — in what is going to be the most conspicuous and telling absence from the summit.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced Monday that Chinese Premier Li Qiang will attend the summit.

Xi, who has been China’s President for a decade now, is going to miss the G20 summit for the second time. But the last time he skipped this important forum was in 2021, when Covid-19 pandemic was still at its peak, and the Chinese government’s hard “Zero COVID policy” had prevented him from going overseas. In fact, he had not travelled during the pandemic at all.

This time, therefore, his absence sends stronger political messages given that the G20 is considered the world’s “premier economic forum.” It came into being at the leaders’ level during the international financial crisis in 2008 effectively creating a space for the world’s top economies gather and brainstorm on the future.

The other noteworthy absence that continues for the second year in a row is the absence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is waging a war in Ukraine since February 2022. His absence in the Bali summit in November 2022 will be repeated in Delhi as well.

Xi’s absence also comes at a time when India, as the host of the G20 summit and the President of the G20 process for the current year, is in a strained relationship with China.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar yesterday played down concerns over the absence of the two leaders from the G20 summit, saying “level of representation is not a determinant of a country’s position. The real issue is what position a country takes at the summit”.

DMK’S SANATAN DHARMA REMARKS REMAIN IN FOCUS

The political storm over DMK scion Udhayanidhi Stalin’s equation of Sanatan Dharma with “diseases that warrant eradication” intensified on Monday, with the ruling BJP asking the opposition INDIA bloc, of which DMK is a major constituent, to come clean on it.

“A contest is underway to abuse the Hindu and Sanatan Dharma. The opposition bloc could not finalise a convener at its Mumbai meeting, but it did finalise political strategy of abusing Sanatan Dharma. Unable to find electoral feet, these dynasts are reviving an old story line from the ‘divide and rule’ book of the British. They are afraid of the unity of Sanatan Dharma. We want to know why Rahul Gandhi, who hops from temple to temple, is silent?” asked Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan fielded by the BJP to target the INDIA bloc.

Even as other top ministers, including Rajnath Singh, stepped up the offensive on the issue and said “anti-India forces are back at work”, the principal opposition party, the Congress, appeared divided. After AICC general secretary KC Venugopal articulated the party’s official position saying the Congress respected all religions “but other parties have freedom of expression”, veteran Karan Singh slammed Udhayanidhi’s remarks. “Udhayanidhi’s preposterous statement that Sanatan Dharma should be eradicated is most unfortunate. Crores of people in this country follow to a lesser or greater extent the tenets of Sanatan Dharma... I take strong objection to Udhayanidhi's statement,” senior Congressman and J&K ex-Governor Karan Singh said.

Younger leaders of the Congress like Priyank Kharge and Karti Chidambaram have backed Stalin Junior.

Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday signalled her disapproval at Stalin junior’s remarks. "As far as the remarks (of Udhayanidhi Stalin) is concerned, he is a junior. From my side, I am not clear about why and on what grounds he has made the comment. I feel that each and every religion should be equally respected," she said Monday evening. Pointing to the "Unity in Diversity" and India's inclusive secularism, Banerjee said, "I respect the Sanatana Dharma and we derive our learnings from the Vedas... We have so many purohits and our state government offers pension to them... We have so many temples across the country. We visit temples, mosques, and churches". 

J&K DEMAND FOR PROPERTY TO GIVE PERMANENT RESIDENT STATUS ‘ODD’: SUPREME COURT

The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the requirements prescribed by the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir for those desirous of acquiring permanent resident status.

Justice Sanjeev Khanna, who is part of the five-judge Constitution bench hearing petitions challenging changes made to Article 370 of the Constitution, termed as “odd” the requirement of owning property as a condition to acquire this status.

He said this as senior advocate Guru Krishnakumar sought to highlight how “thousands of Hindu and Sikh families”, who had to flee Pakistan-occupied J&K, have not been able to return to their ancestral homes till date and were “also denied other benefits extended to similarly placed displaced persons” in the erstwhile state.

Krishnakumar said this “discrimination is by reason of the operation of Section 6 of J&K Constitution and Article 35A of the Constitution of India as applicable to Jammu & Kashmir, which empowered the administration to systematically discriminate against such Indian citizens”.

He pointed out that as per Section 6, his clients, who were displaced forcefully by circumstances, lost the right to be permanent residents, notwithstanding that they were State subjects as on August 15, 1947. Those who did not fall within the definition of permanent resident as per the provision would have to fall back on the definition of permanent resident in the 1927 order issued by the then ruler of J&K, he said.

4 OF EDITORS GUILD BOOKED FOR REPORT ON MANIPUR CLASHES

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Monday said his government had filed an FIR against the president and three members of the Editors Guild of India (EGI), and accused them of trying to provoke clashes in the state.

Addressing a press conference, Biren Singh said at a time when many persons had been killed and left homeless, the EGI published a “totally one-sided” report without understanding the complexity of the crisis in Manipur.

In a report published last week, the EGI had critiqued media coverage out of Manipur, a state which has seen ethnic clashes for the past four months. It has criticised one-sided reporting by some media outlets, slammed the Internet ban as being detrimental to press reporting and claimed there were indications that the state leadership had turned partisan during the conflict period. Besides EGI president Seema Mustafa, those who were booked are three senior journalists — Seema Guha, Bharat Bhushan and Sanjay Kapoor — who visited the state between August 7 and 10 to study media reportage on the violence.

Meanwhile, the Press Club of India joined a number of bodies in condemning the filing of the case against the EGI.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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PUTIN-ERDOGAN GRAIN TALKS IN VAIN

President Vladimir Putin restated his opposition on Monday to the internationally backed Black Sea grain deal, a sign that little progress was made toward reviving the agreement after bilateral talks with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Amid an international push to revive the deal, which Turkiye helped broker and which had allowed Ukraine to safely export tens of millions of tons of grain through the Black Sea, Putin reiterated a litany of complaints about the accord and said that Russia was prepared to re-enter the deal only after Western nations addressed its concerns.

Moscow withdrew from the deal in July and has since repeatedly bombarded Ukrainian grain facilities and threatened civilian ships heading to Ukrainian ports. Those attacks continued on Monday as Russia fired drones at the southern Odesa region for the second straight day, targeting the Uk rainian side of the Danube River, which has emerged as an alternative shipping route amid Russia’s de facto blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast.

Putin and Erdogan met for about 90 minutes in Sochi, a Russian Black Sea resort. Addressing reporters afterward, Putin said that Western nations were still refusing to ease sanctions. Russia has said that the restrictions have prevented it from exporting its own products as the deal brokered last summer had allowed. “As I’ve already said, we were simply forced to take this decision,” Putin said, referring to Russia’s withdrawal from the agreement on July 18.

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ASK 13 HIMALAYAN STATES TO FILE PLAN ON ‘CARRYING CAPACITY’, CENTRE URGES SC

The Centre on Monday urged the Supreme Court to direct all 13 Himalayan states/UTs to spell out steps taken and an action plan, in a time-bound manner, for initiating a plan regarding the carrying capacity assessment as per the guidelines prepared by GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment.

The issue assumes importance in view of recent landslides in HP and Uttarakhand in which hundreds died and scores went missing.

“It will be imperative that factual aspects of each hill station are specifically identified and collected with the help of the local authorities,” the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said in an affidavit filed in the apex court.

The ministry suggested that the “carrying capacity studies thus prepared by the 13 Himalayan states may be examined by a technical committee headed by the Director, GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment”. The institute has been involved in conducting similar “studies for Mussoorie, Manali and McLeodganj.

The affidavit has been filed in response to an oral direction by a Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud which had on August 21 asked the Centre to suggest a way forward for the top court to pass directions with regard to the carrying capacity of Himalayan states and towns.

HEARING ON ARTICLE 370: PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO CONSTITUTION, SUBMIT AFFIDAVIT, SUPREME COURT TELLS MP

The Supreme Court on Monday asked National Conference MP Mohammad Akbar Lone, the lead petitioner challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, to file an affidavit that he swears allegiance to the Constitution of India after the Centre took strong exception to pro-Pakistan slogans raised by him in the past.

“When he invokes the jurisdiction of our court under Article 32, he necessarily abides by the Constitution...we want to have it from him that he unconditionally accepts that J&K is an integral part of India and that he abides by and owes allegiance to the Constitution of Attorney General R Venkataramani said a person seeking to enforce his fundamental rights should have faith in the Constitution.

CONCERN OVER TRAFFIC RESTRICTIONS IN DELHI DURING G20 SUMMIT

Addressing concerns over the use of facilities in the national capital during the G20 summit, the Delhi Police have said there was no lockdown in Delhi and they were frequently trying to answer people's queries on how to reach the airport and the railway station.

The Delhi Police are using X (formerly Twitter) to address the concerns of people about the traffic management plan in view of the G20 summit.

On access to the Indira Gandhi International Airport, the police said people travelling to Delhi on trains and wanting to go to the airport were advised to board the Metro’s airport express.

On the road route, the Delhi Police said, “Passengers should note that road journey towards the IGI Airport will be affected from the wee hours of September 8 to 11:55 pm on September 10.” Those travelling by road to the airport must be ready to take alternate routes, a list of which has been posted on the website of the traffic police.

The police said no taxi and auto-rickshaw would be allowed to enter or ply in New Delhi district from 5 am on September 9 to midnight on September 10. However, taxis carrying Delhi residents and tourists having valid bookings in hotels located inside New Delhi district will be allowed to ply.

EXTORTION CHARGE IN ASSAM, IPS OFFICER AMONG 5 COPS HELD

Nine people, including senior police officers in Assam’s Bajali district, were arrested by the state crime investigation department (CID) after a local businessman alleged that he was being extorted by police.

Rabiul Islam, the businessman, alleged, among other things, that he was wrongfully detained by police and told to pay Rs 2.5 crore, failing which he would be killed in an encounter and his killing would be justified by concocting “links with Pakistani and Bangladeshi jihadi elements”. In his complaint, Islam said the threats were made by a man who claimed to be an “encounter specialist”.

On Monday, the Assam Police arrested Siddhartha Buragohan, a 2014 batch IPS officer who had been Bajali Superintendent of Police before being transferred two days ago to Assam Police Headquarters. Deputy Superintendent of Police (HQ) Pushkal Gogoi, Additional Superintendent of Police Gayatri Sonowal, her husband Subhas Chander, Sub-Inspector Debajit Giri, and constable Injamamul Hassan were also arrested. The three others arrested were one Kishore Baruah, and police drivers Nabir Ahmed and Dipjoy Kalita.

Assam DGP G P Singh said that the FIR was registered because the complaint was found to be “prima facie true”.

AROUND 500,000 TAXPAYERS GET I-T DEPARTMENT ALERT FOR LOW ADVANCE TAX

The income tax department issued intimations to an estimated 500,000 taxpayers between April and August this year over “zero” and “lower advance tax payment”. The department sent these intimations after analysing “significant transaction” data for the previous financial year and the first quarter of the current financial year.

The department’s analysis flagged around 2.5 million cases where there were no or less advance tax payments in FY23 by those taxpayers who had significant income and made high-value purchases. In several cases, the advance tax payment in the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year indicated that taxpayers paid lower taxes when compared to their high-value spends, indicating mismatch.

Typically 15 per cent of the tax liability is paid in June, 45 per cent by September, 75 per cent by December, and a full payment by March.

With gross tax revenue between April and July up only 2.8 per cent year-on-year and net revenue witnessing a contraction of nearly 13 per cent, the government is looking at plugging leakages in direct taxes.

US FIRM NVIDIA’S CEO CALLS ON PM MODI

Taiwanese-born American billionaire businessman Jensen Huang on Monday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Huang cofounded graphics-chip maker Nvidia in 1993 and has served as its CEO and president since inception.

“Had an excellent meeting with Mr. Jensen Huang, the CEO of @nvidia. We talked at length about the rich potential India offers in the world of AI. Mr. Jensen Huang was appreciative of the strides India has made and was upbeat about the talented youth of India,” PM Modi posted on X.

AFTER A HOP, LANDER ALSO GOES OFF TO SLEEP

In a successful hop test, Vikram lander fired engines, elevated 40 cm before landing safely 30 to 40 cm away.

This test is key to bringing back samples to earth in future moon missions and helping planned human missions.

With rover already in sleep mode, lander with payloads followed suit on Monday. They are likely to be ‘awakened’ on September 22.

RISING ACCEPTANCE OF ORGAN DONATIONS IS MAKING CHENNAI A HUB OF TRANSPLANTS

Last Wednesday, Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai was witness to an unusual sight. Doctors, nurses, and other hospital staff were gathered, heads bowed with solemnity, in tribute to the body of a 36-year-old woman from Vellore. Lined up on both sides of the hospital’s driveway, the body’s route from the operation theatre to the mortuary, some saluted, some offered prayers, and some stayed silent.

Impressed as well as intrigued, a visitor wanted to know who the deceased person was. “She,” said a hospital staff member, “is an organ donor.” The woman’s family had agreed to donate five of her organs, giving hope to people the donor would never know. That was enough introduction and explanation. No further details given, none sought. Obeisance to donors is one of the initiatives by the Tamil Nadu government to increase awareness about organ donation and infuse a sense of pride and responsibility in families.

Chennai has emerged as an organ transplant hub, conducting the second highest number of organ transplants in the country, next only to Delhi. Data from the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (Notto) shows a total of 16,041 organ transplants in India in 2022. Of these, 11 per cent happened in Tamil Nadu, and almost all of them in Chennai.

ASIA CUP: INDIA BEAT NEPAL INA RAIN TRUNCATED MATCH

Unfazed by a bland bowling effort, India hit the top gear through Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill, who made polished unbeaten fifties, to post a 10-wicket win over Nepal that also ensured them an Asia Cup Super Four berth in Pallekele on Monday.

Amidst frequent rain interruptions, Nepal posted an impressive 230 after being asked to bat first.

India, required to score 145 from 23 overs as per DLS calculations, went past the line as Rohit (74 not out off 59 balls) and Gill (67 not out off 62 balls) gave power to their chase. India reached the target with 17 balls to spare.

Hence, India finished their Group A engagements with three points, while Pakistan had already entered the Super Four having logged three points.

US OPEN: SINGLES DOWN TO LAST 8s (ALMOST) – Q FINALS LINE UP

MEN’ SINGLES

Carlos Alcaraz (Spain, Seeded 1) vs ((Alexander Zverev (Germany, 10) OR Jannik Sinner (Italy, 6)))

Daniil Medvedev (Russia, 3) vs Andrey Rublev (Russia, 8)

Frances Tiafoe (USA, 10) vs Ben Shelton (USA)

Taylor Fritz (USA, 9) vs Novak Djokovic (Serbia, 2)

WOMEN’S SINGLES

Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia, Seeded 20) vs Coco Gauff [USA, 6]

Sorana  Cirstea (Romania, 30) vs Karolina Muchova (Czech, 10)

Marketa Vondrousova (Czech, 9) vs Madison Keys (USA, 9)

Qinwen Zheng (China, 23) vs Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus, 2)

INDICATORS

Sensex 65,628 (+241), Nifty 19,529 (+94)

(US markets were closed yesterday on account of Labour Day)