MONSOON SESSION ENDS 2 DAYS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
Both Houses of Parliament were on Wednesday adjourned sine die, two days ahead of schedule, bringing to an end a tumultuous monsoon session that was disrupted by Opposition protests over the Pegasus snooping row and farm laws.
Recording a productivity of just 22 per cent, the Lok Sabha functioned only for 21.14 hours, the lowest in this term. Since the start of the session on July 19, Opposition MPs rushed to the well of the Lok Sabha every day, raising slogans and displaying placards while demanding a debate on the Pegasus row and three farm laws.
Expressing anguish that the House could not function smoothly, Speaker Om Birla said Parliament functioned with “sahmati, samvad and charcha” (cooperation, dialogue and discussion) and its smooth conduct was the responsibility of all stakeholders.
Urging the Opposition to cooperate in future, Birla said people of the country wanted Parliament to function. “I share their pain as their issues could not be discussed,” he said.
Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venakaiah Naidu broke down yesterday as he expressed deep anguish over some opposition MPs climbing on the Table of the House, and said he couldn't sleep because of the sacrilege in Parliament, which is regarded as the "temple of democracy".
"I have no words to convey my anguish and to condemn such acts. As I spent a sleepless night last night, I struggled to find the provocation or reason for forcing this august House to hit such a low yesterday," an emotional Naidu said as he read out his remarks at the start of the proceedings in the Upper House of Parliament.
Regaining his composure he continued to read his remarks but was interrupted by some Trinamool Congress and Congress MPs who raised the issue of House dignity also being lowered by the passage of numerous bills within minutes and without debate.
On Tuesday, some TMC, Congress and Left MPs climbed on the House Table which is placed right below the presiding officers' chair, forcing multiple adjournments.
MORE MARSHALS THAN MPs AS KEY BILL CLEARED: OPPOSITION
The Opposition and the govt faced off over use of marshals in the Rajya Sabha during the passage of the insurance amendment Bill to privatise general insurance companies.
The Opposition walked out of the RS this evening alleging heavy deployment of security personnel by the govt to push the Bill.
Congress chief whip Jairam Ramesh termed the day as “worse than atrocious” amid indications that Opposition leaders and MPs would assemble in Parliament tomorrow to protest “govt’s high-handedness”. Trinamool Congress leader in RS Derek O’Brien alleged that there were more security guards than MPs. “RS TV will not show that. This is censorship, the Modi-Shah Gujarat model at work Parliament,” he said.
The govt rejected Opposition charges that marshals prevented their protests It said security men were pushed during the passage of the insurance Bill
The TMC alleged that the govt used “gender shields” to foil MPs’ protests inside RS today. “Male marshals were sent after women MPs and female marshals were deputed in front of male MPs,” Brien said as some women MPs, including TMC’s Dola Sen and Congress’ Ami Yagnik, alleged manhandling by marshals.
“The govt refused to send it to a select committee as demanded by all Opposition parties, including those close to the BJP. What happened this evening was worse than atrocious,” Jairam said.
The Bill will allow the govt to privatise state-owned general insurance companies by amending the parent law of 1972. It follows the FM’s budget speech where she had said that the govt proposes to privatise two public sector banks and one general insurance company in 2021-22 and will bring legislative amendments to this end.
REFORMS NOT OUT OF COMPULSION BUT OUT OF CONVICTION: PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the country’s economic growth is picking up pace again and the domestic industry needs to enhance its risk-taking appetite. He also said taking reforms is a matter of conviction for the govt, which is ready to take all risks in the national interest.
“We have taken bold decisions. Reforms continued even during the pandemic. The govt is bringing reforms not out of compulsion but out of conviction,” he said while addressing the CII’s annual meeting. He said the govt is carrying out major economic reforms, while singling out GST, improvement in ease of doing business and ending retrospective tax as some of the steps in this direction.
The several steps taken by the govt has led to record FDI in India and forex reserves are at an all-time high. “The situation is changing rapidly. Today, the sentiments of citizens lie with products that are made in India. It is not necessary for it to be an Indian company, but every Indian now wants to use products that are made in India. The nation has made up its mind,” he asserted.
The PM pointed out that startups are showing self-confidence and several unicorns are becoming the face of the nation.
KEY COVID NUMBERS
Current Active Cases Countrywide: 3,82,021
New Cases in last 24 hours: 43,630
Recovered in last 24 hours: 41,985
Change in no. of Active cases in last 24 hours: 1,126
No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 519 (4,29,702)
Daily Tests (Tuesday): 17,77,962
Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 2.0%
Percentage of Population Vaccinated (At Least One Dose / Two Doses): 30.3% / 8.7%
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
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KABUL COULD FALL TO TALIBAN IN 90 DAYS: US INTEL
Taliban fighters could isolate Afghanistan’s capital in 30 days and possibly take it over in 90, a US defence official said on Wednesday citing US intelligence, as militants took control of a ninth provincial Afghan capital. The Taliban now control 65% of Afghanistan, a senior EU official said on Tuesday.
US President Joe Biden urged Afghan leaders to fight for their homeland, saying on Tuesday he did not regret his decision to withdraw. “Look, we spent over a trillion dollars over 20 years. We trained and equipped over 3,00,000 Afghan forces. Afghan leaders have to come together. We lost thousands — lost to death and injury — thousands of American personnel. They’ve got to fight for themselves, fight for their nation,” he asserted. “The US — I’ll insist we continue to keep the commitments we made of providing close air support, making sure that their air force functions and is operable, resupplying their forces with food and equipment, and paying all their salaries. But they’ve got to want to fight. They have outnumbered the Taliban,” Biden said. “We are going to continue to keep our commitment. But I do not regret my decision,” he said.
CHINA JAILS CANADIAN IN CASE TIED TO HUAWEI
A Canadian entrepreneur was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Wednesday in a spying case linked to Beijing’s effort to push his country to release an executive of tech giant Huawei, prompting an unusual joint show of support for Canada by the US and 24 other govts.
China is stepping up pressure as a Canadian judge hears final arguments about whether to send the Huawei executive to the US to face charges related to possible violations of trade sanctions on Iran. On Tuesday, a court rejected another Canadian’s appeal of his sentence in a drug case that was abruptly increased to death after the executive’s arrest.
Entrepreneur Michael Spavor and a former Canadian diplomat, Michael Kovrig, were detained in what critics labelled “hostage politics” after Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou was arrested December 1, 2018, at the Vancouver airport.
The Canadian govt condemned Spavor’s sentence. It said he and Kovrig are “detained arbitrarily” and called for their immediate release. PM Justin Trudeau said the trial “did not satisfy even the minimum standards required by international law.”
Diplomats from the US, Japan, Britain, Australia, Germany and other European countries plus the EU gathered at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing in a show of support. They also have issued separate appeals for Spavor and Kovrig to receive fair trials or to be released.
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10 DEAD, 13 RESCUED AS LANDSLIDE HITS HIMACHAL PRADESH'S KINNAUR
Ten people were killed, 13 rescued and several others feared buried under debris after a landslide trapped a bus and other vehicles in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district on Wednesday, officials said.
Ten bodies have been recovered so far, while 13 injured have been pulled out of the rubble, Deputy Commissioner, Kinnaur, Abid Hussain Sadiq said. He said the rescue operation is underway to locate several other persons trapped under the debris.
Earlier, a police officer in Bhawanagar said around 25 to 30 were trapped under the rubble.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur told the state assembly that there are reports that 50-60 people are trapped under the debris, but the exact number was not known.
SATELLITE MISSION 'COULDN'T BE ACCOMPLISHED' DUE TO TECH ERROR: ISRO
A mission to launch an Earth observation satellite to help India monitor natural disasters has failed, said the country’s space agency Thursday morning hours after declaring a successful rocket blastoff.
EOS-03 was Isro’s (Indian Space Research Organisation) second launch this year after it placed in space Brazil's earth observation satellite Amazonia-1 and 18 co-passenger satellites in February.
"GSLV-F10 launch took place today at 0543 Hrs IST as scheduled. Performance of first and second stages was normal. However, Cryogenic Upper Stage ignition did not happen due to technical anomaly. The mission couldn't be accomplished as intended,” said Isro on Twitter.
The satellite, which blasted off after a 26-hour countdown, was to quickly monitor natural disasters and obtain spectral signatures for agriculture, forestry and water bodies. It was supposed to help in gathering information for disaster warning, cyclone monitoring, cloud burst and thunderstorm monitoring.
GOLD SMUGGLING: KERALA HC STAYS PROBE AGAINST ED
The Kerala High Court on Wednesday stayed the order issued by the state govt appointing a commission of inquiry to look into any alleged attempt by the ED to implicate CM Pinarayi Vijayan in the sensational gold smuggling case, saying a parallel inquiry would “derail the investigation” in the matter.
The Left govt’s May 7 notification appointing the CoI was stayed by Justice PB Suresh Kumar on a plea by the ED, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, which had contended that the state was “incompetent” to order such an inquiry as the subject matter fell in Central list of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution.
The HC said in such matters if parallel inquiries are carried out, it would “impede and derail the investigation” in the case and that in turn would benefit the accused. The SG had also told the HC that since the subject matter of the inquiry relates to probe of offences by agencies authorised to conduct such investigation, “there cannot be any inquiry into the same by any authority other than the court”.
MAHARASHTRA ALLOWS EATERIES, MALLS TO OPERATE TILL 10 PM FROM AUG 15
Further relaxing the Covid-19 curbs, the Maharashtra govt on Wednesday decided to allow malls and restaurants to remain open till 10 pm with a 50 per cent capacity from August 15 onwards, provided the entire staff is fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Shops are also allowed to operate till 10 pm.
Talking to reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said spas and gymnasiums will also be allowed to function till 10 pm at a 50 per cent capacity on the condition that the entire staff at these establishments has taken both doses of the vaccine.
Indoor games will be allowed but cinema halls and places of worship will continue to remain shut until further orders, the minister said.
Weddings in open spaces will be allowed with 200 people, while events can take place in closed halls with 100 people or at a 50 per cent capacity of the venue or whichever is less, he said.
The state task force on Covid-19 is not in favour of opening schools and colleges from August 17.
The daily oxygen requirement for Covid-19 patients will be the deciding factor for imposing lockdown in future, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Wednesday.
If the oxygen requirement reaches 700 metric tons, lockdown will be imposed again, he said in a statement.
The daily oxygen production capacity in the state is 1,300 metric tons, he said.
E-LEARNER’S LICENCE, ONLINE PERMITS: MANY OF DELHI’S TRANSPORT SERVICES GO ‘FACELESS’
The Delhi govt Wednesday moved most of its transport-related utilities online and became the country’s only city to offer ‘faceless’ services to citizens.
With this online initiative, the Aam Aadmi Party-led govt encourages people to save time, money and energy in visiting motor licencing officers. Aspirant drivers can now get an e-learner’s licence by simply appearing for an online test.
A statement issued by the AAP govt Wednesday said 33 ‘faceless’ services have been launched.
BSE PLANS TO CURB VOLATILITY IN MID, SMALL-CAPS
To curb excessive volatility in mid and small cap counters, the BSE has introduced a new surveillance measure for certain stocks having a market capitalisation of less than Rs 1,000 crore.
Under the framework, the shortlisted securities will be subjected to additional periodic price limits of weekly, monthly and quarterly. These add-on price bands will be in addition to the applicable daily price bands of such securities.
The new framework will come into effect from August 23, the exchange said.
A security placed under add-on price band framework will remain in the framework for a minimum period of 30 calendar days and will be eligible to move out if it does not qualify the provisions of the framework thereafter.
The exchange said that review of the shortlisted securities under the framework -- inclusion or exclusion -- will be carried out on monthly basis. It further said that shortlisting of securities under framework is purely on account of market surveillance and it should not be construed as an adverse action against the concerned company.
BILLION-DOLLAR ONLINE GAMING INDUSTRY SEEKS CLARITY ON VALUATION, TAXATION
India is the fifth largest market for online gaming, a billion-dollar industry that could double to $2 billion in the country by 2023. However, perception of online gaming hasn’t always been favourable and policies, too, have at times worked against the sector.
For instance, Tamil Nadu had recently made an amendment to the Tamil Nadu Gaming Act to ban playing of online betting games like rummy and poker with stakes. The Madras High Court struck down, though, earlier this month.
The industry has now come out with a report to make a case for itself, and put forth the matter of taxing the business. Given the contribution to economic development and job creation that are at stake, an alignment of the govt’s policies with internationally accepted practices of taxing online gaming is necessary, it says.
‘$600M GONE’ IN ONE OF BIGGEST CRYPTO HEISTS
Hackers behind one of the biggest cryptocurrency heists have returned over a third of around $600 million in stolen digital coins, blockchain researcher said on Wednesday. Poly Network, a decentralised finance platform that facilitates peerto-peer transactions, announced the hack on Twitter posting details of digital wallets to which the tokens were sent.
The value of the coins in the wallets was over $600 million, according to blockchain analysts. Poly Network urged the hackers to return the stolen funds to its digital addresses, saying it planned to take legal action. Blockchain forensics company Chainalysis said roughly $260.9 million worth of cryptocurrency was returned in a range of coins.
The hackers said they perpetrated the heist “for fun” and wanted to “expose a vulnerability” before others could exploit it, according to messages shared by blockchain analyst firm Elliptic and Chainalysis. The identity of the hackers was unknown, including whether a group or individual was responsible.
BOTH TEAMS BATTLE INJURIES AS LORD'S TEST STARTS TODAY
India’s potent bowling attack, their spirited and tireless spells and the lower order’s ability to scrape the barrel of their batting talent and string together crucial runs when the game is in the balance, have masked a crucial deficiency. The batting has been underperforming over the last 20 months. That they still go into the second Test starting at Lord’s against England from Thursday as favourites, only shows how badly England have been performing.
The Indian middle-order - Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane - have scored only one hundred between them since January 2020. That ton, a fine amalgam of denial, class and steel from Rahane, helped India win the Boxing Day Test and script a turnaround of Olympian proportions in Australia. It is also only one of the four hundreds scored by India since January 2020. Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin and Rishabh Pant are other members in that thinly populated three-figure club.
In the same period, their rivals have scored 12 tons and their talisman and captain, Joe Root, has scored four, including two against India.
They have some issues with the team combination. It was learnt late on Monday that Shardul Thakur has developed a hamstring niggle and has been ruled out of the second Test. He is likely to be replaced bu IShant Sharma or R Ashwin
For England, losing Stuart Broad for the entire series due to a tear in his right calf and an injury cloud over James Anderson (missed training on Wednesday due to a thigh issue) has only added to their woes.
INDICATORS
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Nasdaq 14,765 (-23) Dow 35,484 (+220), S&P 4,448 (+11)
US$-Rs. 74.18 GBP-Rs. 102.70, Euro-Rs. 87.00, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.19, Can$-Rs. 59.25, Aus$- Rs. 54.56
GBP 0.72 /US$, Euro 0.85 /US$, Jap.Yen 110.57 /US$, Aus$ 1.35 /US$, Sing 1.35 /US$, Bang Taka 83.35 /US$, Can$ 1.25 /US$, Mal Ring 4.23 /US$,
Pak Re 163.21 /US$, Phil Peso 50.40 /US$, Russian Rouble 73.75 /US$, NZ$ 1.42 /US$, Thai Baht 33.24 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 26.58 /US$
Bitcoin - USD 46,133
Dollar Index 92.90 Brent Crude 71.48 BDI 3,410
Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,750 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,628 / 4,528, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 67,700
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Mistakes are always forgivable if one has the courage to admit them. - Bruce Lee
OFF TRACK
A flight hit a patch of very rough turbulence just after a young teenager, obviously on her first flight, had entered the toilet. After the bumps had subsided, she exited the toilet, a look of sheer terror etched on her face.
"Are you all right?" a flight attendent asked as she helped her to her seat. "Don't worry, that turbulence was as bad as it gets."
"So that's what it was," she said. "And I thought I'd pushed some wrong button."
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