INDIA ALLIANCE PARTIES TO MEET TODAY IN DELHI

The coordination and election strategy committee of the INDIA alliance, set up at the Opposition bloc’s conclave in Mumbai a fortnight ago, will meet today at NCP president Sharad Pawar’s residence in New Delhi.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee, who has been called by the ED for questioning on Wednesday, is likely to skip the meeting. The TMC has decided not to send any representative to the meeting either. The TMC is hoping that INDIA leaders will take note of Abhishek’s absence at the high table and speak out against the summons issued to him, reaffirming the Opposition alliances’s joint statement in Bengaluru that had spoken about the “brazen misuse of agencies by the BJP government against political rivals”. This, they claimed, was “undermining democracy”.

While the coordination committee will discuss the joint rally plan proposed by the alliance’s campaign committee, leaders of several parties — among them the TMC, JD(U), RJD, SP and AAP — feel seat sharing is the “central issue” and want the alliance to show urgency in finalising the formula based on which it can be decided.

The meeting comes against the backdrop of the Sanatan Dharma controversy triggered by DMK leader Udayanidhi Stalin. Most of the Opposition parties are upset with Udhayanidhi’s comments as they believe it unnecessarily gave the BJP the ammunition to attack the alliance and paint it as anti-Hindu.

LAC FOCUS AS RAJNATH SINGH INAUGURATES 90 BORDER INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS

As many as 90 border infrastructure projects – from the Nechiphu tunnel that will provide all-weather connectivity to the strategic Tawang region of Arunachal Pradesh to the foundation stone for a key military airfield in eastern Ladakh’s Nyoma – across 11 states and Union Territories were inaugurated Tuesday by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

Of the 90 projects of the Border Roads Organisation, 64 are in Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and Sikkim. These projects will help in faster mobility of troops and equipment to the Line of Actual Control in case of a contingency while also improving overall connectivity for the population.

Inaugurating the projects via virtual mode at an event in Samba in Jammu, Rajnath Singh said the Nyoma airfield “will act as a staging ground for Indian troops at forward posts in eastern Ladakh… and will be a game-changer for our armed forces”.

Worth over Rs 2,900 crore, the projects include the Nechiphu tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh, two airfields in West Bengal, two helipads along with 22 roads and 63 bridges.

SC REFERS SEDITION LAW PLEAS TO 5-JUDGE BENCH

The Supreme Court on Tuesday referred petitions challenging the validity of colonial-era sedition law, Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, to a five-judge Constitution Bench.

A three-judge Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud said the Constitution Bench would consider if the issue needed to be further referred to a seven-judge Constitution Bench in view of the fact that a five-judge Bench had in Kedar Nath Singh versus State of Bihar (1962) upheld the validity of Section 124A. Being a smaller Bench of three judges, it may not be appropriate for it to doubt or overrule the ruling of a five-judge Bench in Kedar Nath Singh’s case, the CJI-led Bench said.

Noting that Kedar Nath Singh’s case was decided on the basis of the narrow understanding of fundamental rights prevalent at that time that fundamental rights operated in distinct silos, the Bench said the issue was examined only from the angle of Article 19 (fundamental right to various freedoms). Later, this understanding of fundamental rights changed in view of subsequent verdicts that ruled Articles 14, 19 and 21 operated in harmony.

The top court turned down the Centre’s request to defer the reference to a larger Bench as Parliament is in the process of re-enacting the provisions of the penal code.

Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta urged the Bench to defer the hearing as the Centre proposed to replace the IPC with the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that has already been sent to a parliamentary panel for scrutiny and suggestions.

On behalf of the petitioners, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Arvind Datar submitted that if the CJI wanted, he could directly refer the matter to a seven-judge Bench. They said the new Bill had a similar and “far worse” provision than sedition. “Sedition exists in the new Bill, just that they have given a new label,” Datar submitted.

KHALISTAN FACTOR CASTS CHILL ON VISITS BY TRUDEAU, SUNAK; PANNED BACK HOME

Having been stranded for two days following a technical snag in his aircraft, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau finally left Delhi on Tuesday afternoon. He was the last G20 leader to leave the country after a glitch in the plane when it was about to take off on September 10 evening.

After a frosty welcome during the G20 summit, the government offered to fly him out in Air India One, but he reportedly declined.

Trudeau as well as British PM Rishi Sunak have been criticised by their respective media for their reduced stature in global politics. Trudeau messed up his India visit for a second time in a row. For Sunak, the visit did not measure up despite proclaiming himself to be a “proud Hindu” and “son-in-law of India”. In Trudeau's case, what did not go down well with New Delhi was his remark that Khalistani separatists were “a small group of people”. India responded with a strong readout after the Modi-Trudeau talks. "The nexus of such forces with organised crime, drug syndicates and human trafficking should be a concern for Canada as well,” said the readout.

For Sunak too, the visit was underwhelming. Though Sunak maintained an 'all-is-well visage' after meeting PM Modi and expressed confidence that FTA talks would be concluded by the year-end, a senior diplomat assessed that the interaction was tepid.

Like Trudeau, Sunak was seen to be soft-peddling on the Khalistan issue. His observations that two groups were handling the issue did not mollify the government here.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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N KOREAN LEADER GOES TO RUSSIA

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un arrived in Russia by private train to the strains of a military band on Tuesday for talks with President Vladimir Putin — amid warnings from Washington they should not trade weapons. Kim left Pyongyang for Russia on Sunday on board his train the North’s state media reported on Tuesday, accompanied by top arms industry and military officials. A Russian source said Kim had arrived on Tuesday morning, leaving his train to meet Russian officials in Khasan, the rail gateway to Russia’s far east, before continuing on.

Kim and Putin are expected to meet at an unspecified location in Russia’s Far East later this week, the Kremlin has said.

The make-up of Kim’s delegation, including top defence industry and military officials with the notable presence of munitions industry department director Jo Chun Ryong, suggested an agenda heavy on defence industry cooperation, analysts said.

South Korea said many countries were watching the summit between “North Korea which has been sanctioned by the UN, and Russia, a permanent member of the UNSC”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said,“While implementing relationship with our neighbours, the interests of our two nations are important to us, and not warnings from Washington.”

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POK WILL BECOME PART OF INDIA ON ITS OWN: VK SINGH

Senior BJP leader and Union Minister VK Singh on Tuesday said Pakistan-occupied Kashmir would become a part of India on its own and “it is just a matter of time”.

Addressing a press conference under the BJP’s ‘Parivartan Yatra’ campaign in election-bound Rajasthan’s Dausa, Singh said India has proved its mettle to the world by successfully hosting the G20 summit, which was unprecedented.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh has routinely reiterated that taking back PoK was very much on the agenda of the BJP government led Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Jitendra Singh had recently said this government was committed to correcting historical wrongs of the past.

COURT TURNS DOWN CHANDRABABU NAIDU’S PLEA FOR HOUSE CUSTODY

The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) court at Vijayawada on Tuesday evening rejected a ‘house custody’ petition filed by TDP supremo and ex-chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu. “The house arrest request that was filed  on the basis of threat to his life while in jail was not granted. The court felt that he was secure in the jail and there was no threat to his life,’’ TDP spokesperson K Pattabhiram said, quoting from the order.

The CID had countered the petition stating that all the facilities for security and comfort of the former CM were provided in the jail as were specified by the court while sending Naidu to judicial custody and therefore there was no reason to send him to house arrest.

NIA IDENTIFIES 15 INVOLVED IN VIOLENCE AT INDIAN HIGH COMMISSION IN LONDON

More than two months after releasing photos of 45 people who were allegedly involved in the violence at the Indian High Commission in London during a protest on March 19, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has identified 15 of them, and is preparing to send their details to the immigration department to issue Look Out Circular (LOC) against them.

In a related development, the NIA has also identified four Khalistan supporters, who allegedly targeted the Indian Consulate in San Francisco on July 2. Another NIA team is set to visit Canada next month, as part of its investigation into the Khalistani attack on the Indian High Commission there.

WANTED FOR 'INCITING' NUH RIOTS, COW VIGILANTE MANESAR HELD

Bajrang Dal member and self-proclaimed cow vigilante Mohit Yadav, also known as Monu Manesar, was arrested by Haryana Police on Tuesday for allegedly uploading “objectionable and inflammatory” posts under a fictitious name on social media.

Hours later, he was handed over to Rajasthan Police, which had been looking for him for the past several months in connection with the murder of two men in February this year.

The arrest comes more than a month after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot accused the Haryana government of “non-cooperation” in the murder case of Junaid, 35, and Nasir, 27, in February.

2 NIPAH DEATHS IN KERALA, CENTRAL TEAM RUSHED IN

The Centre on Tuesday rushed disease surveillance experts to Kerala's Kozhikode after confirmation of two deaths due to the Nipah virus disease.

Confirming the two deaths due to Nipah, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said Central teams had been sent to Kerala to assist the state in management of the disease. This is the fourth Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala after previous ones in 2018, 2019 and 2021. In the current case, samples from two persons who died due to unnatural causes at a private hospital in Kozhikode yesterday, were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune for processing. The samples returned positive, said Mandaviya.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George apprised Mandaviya of the situation and said systems were in place to contain the disease.

The first outbreak of Nipah in Kerala (2018) in Kozhikode and Malappuram had claimed 17 lives. The subsequent two had claimed a life each.

Nipah virus spreads from the saliva of fruit bats and the disease is a matter of concern due to a 70 per cent mortality rate and a strain it might cause to health systems with Covid still surging in Kerala. There is no cure for Nipah and supportive care is the only option.

INFLATION OFF 15-MONTH HIGH, FACTORY OUTPUT SHOWS UPTICK

India’s retail inflation rate eased to 6.83 per cent in August from a 15-month high of 7.44 per cent in July 2023, mainly due to a slide in prices of food items, especially vegetables, data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) Tuesday showed. The inflation however, continued to remain above the upper limit of the 4+/- 2 per cent band of RBI's medium-term inflation target, making it the fourth instance of headline inflation staying higher than the upper limit of the target during this calendar year and the seventh such instance since August 2022.

Meanwhile, factory output grew to a five-month high of 5.7 per cent in July due to strong performance of manufacturing, mining and electricity sectors, separately released data by NSO showed.

Manufacturing, which accounts for 77.6 percent of the weight of the IIP, grew by 4.6 per cent in July as against 3.1 per cent each in the year-ago period and month ago. Mining and electricity output grew at 10.7 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively.

High inflation is being seen as a concern by policymakers. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das last week had said the recurring food price shocks pose a risk to anchoring inflation expectations. In its monetary policy review last month, the RBI had kept the key repo rate unchanged at 6.50 per cent but had hiked the inflation projection from 5.1 per cent to 5.4 per cent for FY2024.

IISC DEVELOPS TECHNIQUE TO DETECT CANCER EARLY, KILLING INFECTED CELLS

In a boost to cancer research, scientists at the Indian Institute of Science(IISc) have proposed a novel approach for cancer treatment with a potential of early detection and killing of lung and cervical cancer cells.

Researchers exploited the anti-cancerous properties in the hybrid gold and copper sulphide nanoparticles, particularly to target malignancy progressing to form a solid tumour mass in the body. These particles, scientists said, are rich in photothermal, oxidative stress and photoacoustic properties — combining which showed high cancer detection rate.

Breast and many other cancers, when detected early and provided with subsequent medical intervention have resulted in recovery with higher chances of the patient’s survival.

For the experiment, the team subjected the cancer cells, obtained from cell lines, to infrared light at frequencies 960 nanometres (imaging) and 1,064nm for photothermal study.

“Along with a good detection rate, the observed cancer killing rate was about 25 per cent ,” Jaya Prakash, Assistant Professor, Department of Instrumentation and Applied Physics (IAP), IISc, said. He is one of the authors of the paper published in the ACS Applied Nano Materials. The Bengaluru team of experimentalists further noted that the nanoparticles could also help diagnose certain other cancers, too.

A HAMPER FULL OF INDIA’S RICH CRAFTS, ORGANIC PRODUCE FOR FOR G20 LEADERS

The world leaders who had assembled in Delhi for the G20 Summit last weekend were offered a peek into India’s traditions and diversity through a multitude of gifts.

All these items were packed in a sandook (chest) made of sheesham (Indian rosewood) with brass detailing.

The chest contained, among several other items, a pack of saffron from J&K, which is considered the most expensive spice in the world and is valued across civilisations for its culinary and medicinal value. Two varieties of tea were sourced from Darjeeling and Nilgiris; Araku coffee growing on organic plantations in the Araku Valley of Andhra Pradesh was also a part of the hamper.

From the Sundarbans came the special honey harvested by the traditional honey collectors.

The Kashmiri Pashmina shawl was also a part of the package.

APPLE BOWS TO EU AND UNVEILS IPHONE WITH USB-C CHARGER

Apple unveiled its new iPhone lineup on Tuesday, with its Lightning charger ports replaced on the newest models by a universal charger after a tussle with the European Union.

The European bloc is insisting that all phones and other small devices must be compatible with the USB-C charging cables from the end of next year, a move it says will reduce waste and save money for consumers.

"USB-C has become a universally accepted standard. So we're bringing USB-C to iPhone 15," said Kaiann Drance, Apple's vice president of iPhone marketing at a launch event.

Along with rolling improvements to iPhone cameras and chips, Apple said that the iPhone 15, which includes four varieties, would have internal components that simplify repair and a new frame that allows the back glass to be easily replaced.

The openness to repair is an unexpected turnaround. Apple last month said it was endorsing the passage of a California law requiring major gadget makers to enable people to fix their devices without taking them back to companies.

Apple also unveiled new models of the Apple Watch that would respond to a tap of the index finger and thumb to start and stop calls or other key functions.

INDIA CRUSH SRI LANKA; SEAL SPOT IN FINAL

Indian bowlers produced a splendid collective effort to carry their team to a 41-run win over a spirited Sri Lanka in a Super 4 match, and into the Asia Cup final in Colombo on Tuesday.

Rohit Sharma's fifty (53 off 48 balls) was the cornerstone of India's sub-par 213 after Lankan spinners Dunith Wellalage (5/40) and Charith Asalanka (4/18) bamboozled them.

But India bowled out Sri Lanka for 172.

India, who entered the final with four points, will either face Sri Lanka or Pakistan in the summit clash on Sunday. The hosts will face Pakistan in a crunch match on Thursday.

The insipid effort of their batsmen made it mandatory for the Indian bowlers to be on the money from ball one, and Jasprit Bumrah led the way.

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