MODI AT ASEAN-INDIA AND EAST ASIA SUMMITS

As world leaders headed to New Delhi for the G20 Summit this weekend amid divisions in the grouping over the Russia-Ukraine war and tensions with China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a veiled message Thursday, called for “joint efforts” to “strengthen the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries”, underlining that “it is imperative to adhere fully to international laws”.

Modi reached Jakarta early morning to attend the ASEAN-India summit, which was followed by the East Asia Summit. He flew back to Delhi at night.

Speaking at the East Asia Summit, Modi reiterated that “today’s era is not of war” and “dialogue and diplomacy” form “the only path to resolution” – a theme he has advocated for an end to the war in Ukraine ever since its invasion by Russia in February 2022. “The present global landscape is surrounded by challenging circumstances and uncertainties. Terrorism, extremism and geopolitical conflicts are big challenges for all of us. Multilateralism and rules-based international order are essential in countering them,” he said.

“It is imperative to adhere fully to international laws; and everyone’s commitment and joint efforts are also necessary to strengthen the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries,” he said.

The Prime Minister also brought in ASEAN’s relevance in Quad, a grouping of US, Australia, Japan and India.

He said India fully supports the “ASEAN outlook on the Indo-Pacific”. “There is unison in the vision of India and ASEAN for the Indo-Pacific. This underscores the significance of the East Asia Summit as a crucial platform for implementing the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative. ASEAN holds a central position in the vision of Quad. The positive agenda of Quad complements with the various mechanisms of ASEAN,” he said.

MODI TO HOST DINNER FOR BIDEN THIS EVENING

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host US President Joe Biden for a private dinner today, when the two leaders meet for bilateral talks. This special gesture for the US President will be at the Prime Minister’s Lok Kalyan Marg residence where they will meet around 7.30 pm.

This is Biden’s first visit to India as the US President, three months after Modi was in the US on a State visit. The last US President to visit India was Donald Trump in February 2020.

Biden is scheduled to reach New Delhi Friday evening and he will leave for Vietnam Sunday afternoon at the end of the Summit.

Ahead of Biden’s visit, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “We commend Prime Minister Modi for his leadership of the G20 this year and we are committed to helping ensure that India has a successful G20 host as they host (the Summit) this year.” “So, that’s going to continue to be our commitment. During Prime Minister Modi’s visit here in June, the President and the Prime Minister shared their determination to deliver on shared priorities at the Summit,” she said.

AN OPTIMISTIC MANMOHAN SINGH’S PRAISE, AND CAUTION

In the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, India has a “pivotal role” in “steering” the new world order and has “done the right thing in putting its sovereign and economic interests first while also appealing for peace,” former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said.

In an interview to The Indian Express ahead of the G20 summit that begins Saturday, Manmohan Singh said that he was “more optimistic about India’s future than worried,” but that optimism is “contingent on India being a harmonious society.”

Manmohan Singh also struck a note of caution calling for “restraint” in using “diplomacy and foreign policy for party or personal politics.”

UDHAYANIDHI STALIN’S SANATAN DHARMA REMARKS REMAIN CENTRESTAGE

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi told his ministers to strongly refute comments by Opposition leaders on Sanatan Dharma, DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin stepped in to suggest that the BJP may have misinterpreted his son’s statement, while ally Congress sought to put distance between its and Udhayanidhi Stalin’s views.

Udhayanidhi too indicated a moderation, releasing a statement on Thursday where he stood by his remarks but suggested he did not want to escalate the issue further, as he appealed to DMK cadres to not file counter-FIRs against those attacking him.

In his first remarks on the row, Stalin said Udhayanidhi’s criticism was directed at the inhumane practices that had become a part of Sanatan Dharma, and not the religion itself. “He (Udhayanidhi) expressed his views on Sanatan principles that discriminate against Scheduled Castes, tribals and women, with no intention to offend any religion or belief,” the DMK chief said.

However, the DMK’s efforts to downplay the issue got diluted to some extent due to remarks made by party MP A Raja on the issue on Wednesday. A Dalit leader and former Union minister, known for his strong stand on Dravidian issues, he said Udhayanidhi’s remarks were “soft” as he had only talked about “eradicating” Sanatan Dharma like dengue or malaria, diseases which do not have social stigma. “Once upon a time there was leprosy and recently HIV had a stigma (associated with it)… As far as we are concerned, it (Sanatan Dharma) should be regarded as HIV and leprosy,” Raja said.

The Congress, which initially said that “every political party enjoyed the freedom to hold its views”, said Thursday: “We have very clearly said and we are repeating, that we are not with such comments. Asked whether the Congress had raised the issue with the DMK, Congress media department head Pawan Khera said: “There is no need because we know for a fact that each one of our (INDIA’s) constituents also respects every religion. If anybody wants to twist remarks, they are free to do so. It suits the Prime Minister… but every single member of the INDIA alliance has immense respect for all faiths, communities, beliefs and religions.”

The BJP indicated it was in no mood to go easy on it or the INDIA alliance on the issue. “Outrageous and vitriolic comments about Sanatan Dharma, this time by… A Raja, reflect the mental bankruptcy and deep-rooted Hinduphobia that engulfs the I.N.D.I.A bloc… Let these hate-mongers be reminded that Sanatan is eternal, Sanatan is truth,” Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan posted on X on Thursday.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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GOTABAYA DENIES BOMBINGS STAGED TO ENABLE HIS ELECTION

Former Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday denied allegations in a British TV programme that IS-inspired extremists were used to carry out suicide bomb attacks in 2019 to create insecurity in the country and help him win election later that year. “To claim that a group of Islamic extremists launched suicide attacks in order to make me president is absurd,” Rajapaksa said in a public statement . He said the documentary on Britain’s Channel 4 television was “mostly an anti-Rajapaksa tirade”.

Rajapaksa said in his statement that he did not have any contact with the intelligence officer named in the documentary from the time he resigned as defence ministry secretary in 2015 until he became president in 2019. He said the official was not part of any intelligence agency during that period and claims that he met the bombers were a fabrication.

US TO GIVE KYIV ANTI-TANK URANIUM-BASED AMMO

The US has announced it’s sending depleted uranium anti-tank rounds to Ukraine, following Britain’s lead in sending the controversial munitions to help Kyiv push through Russian lines in its gruelling counteroffensive. The 120 mm rounds will be used to arm the 31 M1A1 Abrams tanks the US plans to deliver to Ukraine in the fall.

The armour-piercing rounds were developed by the US during the Cold War to destroy Soviet tanks, including the same T-72 tanks that Ukraine now faces in its counteroffensive. Depleted uranium is a byproduct of the uranium enrichment process needed to create nuclear weapons. The rounds retain some radioactive properties, but they can’t generate a nuclear reaction like a nuclear weapon would, RAND nuclear expert Edward Geist said.

The Kremlin said that the US would have to answer for the “very sad consequences” of its decision. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Nato’s heavy use of such ammunition in bombing Yugoslavia in 1999 had caused a jump in cases of cancer and other diseases.

THE REST

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DELHI ALL SET FOR THE BIG SHOW

Ahead of the G20 summit, Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Thursday went on a final round of inspection of Rajghat, Pragati Maidan and other places to take stock of preparations for the mega event. Delhi is all decked up and set to welcome the dignitaries and delegates for the G20 Summit, Saxena said during the inspection.

The event is expected to be to be attended by more than 30 heads of state, top officials from the European Union and invited guest countries, and 14 heads of international organisations.

The summit will be held from September 9 to 10 at the newly built international convention and exhibition centre -- Bharat Mandapam -- at Pragati Maidan.

The Delhi police commissioner briefed Saxena about the security preparedness and the control room where live visuals from more than 5,000 CCTV cameras installed in different parts of the city will be received.

Saxena also inspected the control room of the NDMC Disaster Management Cell which is manned by senior officers and around 30 personnel who are working round the clock to immediately address complaints such as water leakage, damage of pavements, replacement of damaged branches and flower pots.

The LG's observations of the last minute works were noted by the officers of PWD, NDMC, MCD, DDA, and other departments and agencies for further fine-tuning, officials said.

GOVT WANTED RS 2-3 LAKH CR FROM RBI AHEAD OF 2019 POLLS: EX-DEPUTY GUV

The RBI resisted a 'raid' planned by some in the govt to extract Rs 2-3 lakh crore from its balance sheet in 2018 to meet populist spending in run-up to general elections, Viral Acharya, who was deputy governor at RBI at that time, has written.

Acharya who had first flagged the issue while delivering AD Shroff Memorial Lecture on October 26, 2018, in a fresh prelude to his book Quest for Restoring Financial Stability in India, called the exercise a 'backdoor monetisation of the fiscal deficit by the central bank'.

'Creative minds in the bureaucracy and the govt' devised a plan to transfer substantial sums accumulated by RBI during the tenure of previous govts to the current govt's account, he said in the prelude in the updated edition of his book first published in 2020.

Acharya quit in June 2019, six months before his three-year term as the deputy governor in-charge of the monetary policy, financial markets, financial stability and research.

MEAT-EATING LED TO CLOUDBURSTS, LANDSLIDES IN HIMACHAL: IIT-MANDI DIRECTOR

IIT Mandi director Laxmidhar Behera has stirred a controversy after he asked students to take a pledge not to eat meat while claiming that landslides and cloudbursts in Himachal Pradesh are happening because of cruelty on animals.

"It is having landslides, cloudbursts and many other things again and again, these are all effects of cruelty on animals...people eat meat," Behra said while addressing the students, a video of which is doing the rounds on social media. "To become good human beings, what you have to do? No to meat eating," he further said.

His comments attracted criticism from netizens.

Last year, he hit the headlines for claiming that he was involved in an act of exorcism to rid his friend's apartment and family of "evil spirits" by chanting "holy mantras".

CRUELTY IN MARRIAGE HAS NO FIXED MEANING, SAYS SC IN A LIBERAL STANCE

Noting that cruelty for men and women may differ, the Supreme Court (SC) has said a relatively more elastic and broad approach is required while examining a wife’s plea for divorce.

Cruelty is one of the grounds for divorce under Section 13(1) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, which sets contours and rigours for the grant of divorce at the instance of both the parties to a marriage.

Underlining that the word “cruelty” under the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955 had no fixed meaning, a Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice MM Sundresh said the provision gave a very wide discretion to the court to apply it “liberally and contextually”.

Writing the judgment for the Bench, Justice Sundresh said cruelty in one case may not be the same for another and it had to be applied from person to person while taking note of the attending circumstances.

Reversing a concurrent decision of the trial court and the Chhattisgarh High Court rejecting the wife’s divorce plea, the top court granted her a decree of divorce to end the couple’s 21-year-old marriage.

ADITYA L1 CAPTURES SELFIE, IMAGES OF EARTH AND MOON

Aditya L1, India’s first mission to study the Sun, has taken images of itself as well as the Earth and the Moon from the highly elliptical orbit around the Earth where it is currently present.

A video posted by the ISRO shows an image of a portion of the spacecraft captured by its on-board camera. It shows the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) that will study the solar corona, including the very inner layers that haven’t been studied by other missions and the Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) that will study the different layers of solar atmosphere in the shorter UV wavelengths that are not possible to detect from Earth.

The video also showed the image of one hemisphere of Earth illuminated by sunlight as well as a tiny white speck that the space agency had to point out was the Moon.

The spacecraft is currently undergoing a series of manoeuvres to raise its orbit as well as velocity till it can finally be slingshot towards the Sun. The spacecraft underwent the second such manoeuvre around the Earth on September 5, reaching an orbit of 282 km x 40,225 km. The next manoeuvre is set to take place on September 10 at 02:30 am.

Once injected to the path towards the Sun, the spacecraft will take nearly four months to travel the 1.5 million kilometre distance to the L1 point that provides an unobstructed 24×7 view of the Sun.

HUGE BUZZ AROUND SRK'S JAWAN

On the back of strong reviews and fan excitement, Shah Rukh Khan's second film of the year, Jawan, is expected to break records at the box office. The film is directed by Atlee and also stars Nayanthara and Vijay Sethupathi in significant roles. Deepika Padukone has an extended cameo in the movie.

With Jawan’s trailer, SRK promised to offer an action-packed drama to cinephiles and, according to most reviewers, has delivered with the film.

Early estimates say Jawan box office collection on day 1 will easily surpass Pathaan’s, making it the biggest opening day earner of Hindi cinema. As per trade analyst Girish Johar, the 30-odd single-screen cinemas in the Hindi belt, which were shut down in the pandemic, have opened just after looking at the craze around Jawan.

US OPEN: CARLOS ALCARAZ REACHES SEMIS; COCO GUAFF IN FINAL

Carlos Alcaraz kept his US Open title defence on track after overcoming the challenge of Alexander Zverev to set up a semi-final meeting with third seed Daniil Medvedev. The top-seeded Alcaraz brushed aside Zverev 6-3 6-2 6-4 and moved a step closer to becoming the first man to win consecutive titles at Flushing Meadows since Roger Federer collected five in a row from 2004-08.

He also became the second man in the Open era, behind Andre Agassi, to reach the last four at Flushing Meadows three times before turning 21.

In the other semi-final (Men's Singles) Novalk Djokovic will take on Ben Shelton.

In Women's Singles, American teenager Coco Gauff defeated Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova to qualify for her maiden US Open Women's Singles final. The 19-year-old American secured a 6-4, 7-5 victory over the Czech player. Gauff will face either second seed Aryna Sabalenka or compatriot Madison Keys in Saturday's final.

In Men's Doubles, 43 year old Rohan Bopanna has reached the final, along with his partner Matthew Ebden of USA. They will take on Rajeev Ram (USA) and Joe Salisbury (Gr. Britain).

"DON'T NEED YOUR ADVICE": SUNIL GAVASKAR PAKISTAN, AUSTRALIAN EXPERTS

With the announcement of the Indian team's Cricket World Cup 2023 squad, opinions have flown thick about the team combination. The topic of discussion has mostly surrounded the Indian cricket team. Sunil Gavaskar, former Indian cricket team captain and 1983 Cricket World Cup winner, is irked by foreign experts giving their opinion on the Indian team combination.

The triggering point to Gavaskar's outburst was a question about how former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Najam Sethi indicated, in a post on X, that India are afraid to play Pakistan.

"If you see the statements that come out from their side...sadly our media gives them the prominence. We have Pakistan players, and Australian players selecting Indian team. How is it their concern? Do any Indian players go and select the Australian or the Pakistan team? It's none of our business. But we allow that," Sunil Gavaskar said on Sports Today.

"From there it's always Babar is better than Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma; Shaheen Afridi is better than so and so. Inzamam-ul-haq is better than Sachin Tendulkar. For them, they are always better than us. That is the way they have to cater to their audience."

"Don't give them space in your papers. You have a South African saying a player should be in your team. You have an Australian saying. It happens too often. They say who should bat at no. 3 or no. 4. C'mon, we don't need your advice," Sunil Gavaskar said.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Until you have learned to be tolerant with those who do not always agree with you; until you have cultivated the habit of saying some kind word of those whom you do not admire; until you have formed the habit of looking for the good instead of the bad there is in others, you will be neither successful nor happy. - Napolean Hill

OFF TRACK

The teacher was asking the class about their coming vacations. She turned to little Manu and asked what he plans to do in the vacations. "We plan to visit my grandmother in Machhlipatnam," he said.

"Good," the teacher said, "Can you tell the class how you spell Machhlipatnam?"

Manu thought about it and said, "Actually, I think we’ll go to Goa."