OPPOSITION PARTIES OBJECT TO PM’S JOINT ADDRESS ON COVID TO MPs AT PARLIAMENT ANNEXE

Opposition parties on Sunday objected to the government’s offer for a joint address to all MPs by the prime minister on Covid at the Parliament annexe, saying this will be “highly irregular” at a time when Parliament will be in session and it aims to “bypass” norms.

Leaders, including from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the CPI(M), also said that when the Covid pandemic and issues related to it can be discussed on the floor of the House, what was the need to go “outside”.

The annexe is a separate building within the premises of the Parliament complex.

In an all-party meeting on Sunday, a day before the Monsoon Session of Parliament begins, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address MPs of both the Houses — Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha — on July 20 and speak on the pandemic.

“What is the need to go outside Parliament? Any address should be on the floor of the House. This is another idea to bypass Parliament. Stop making a mockery of the Parliament. How far will Modi and (Union Home Minister Amit) Shah go? Just when we thought that they cannot go lower, they want to make a presentation in the annexe and not on the floor of the House,” TMC Rajya Sabha member Derek O’Brien, who was at the meeting, said.

The meeting was attended by 33 parties ahead of the Monsoon session which will conclude on August 13.

“MPs do not want fancy power point presentations on COVID-19 from the PM or this government in some conference room. Parliament will be in session. Come to the floor of the House,” O’Brien said.

During the meeting, almost all parties raised issues related to fuel prices, farm laws, Covid and the state of the economy, they said.

Kharge hit out at the prime minister over his short presence at meeting and said that it was an “insult” to all political parties present. He also raised the issue of appointment of a deputy speaker, and said this should be done.

FRESH DISCLOSURES ON SURVEILLANCE THROUGH PEGASUS SPYWARE

In what could trigger a stormy start to the Monsoon session of Parliament commencing Monday, a global collaborative investigative project has revealed that Israeli company NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware targeted over 300 mobile phone numbers in India including those of two serving Ministers in the Narendra Modi government, three Opposition leaders, one constitutional authority, several journalists and business persons.

The leaked global database of 50,000 telephone numbers, was first accessed by French non-profit Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International, and then shared with 16 media partners.

The NSO Group describes its customers as 60 intelligence, military and law- enforcement agencies in 40 countries, although it will not confirm the identities of any of them, citing client confidentiality obligations, said The Washington Post. Responding to an earlier lawsuit by WhatsApp in California, NSO Group had said that Pegasus was used by sovereign governments in foreign countries.

In response to the development, the government said: “The allegations regarding government surveillance on specific people has no concrete basis or truth associated with it whatsoever. In the past, similar claims were made regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp by Indian state. Those reports also had no factual basis and were categorically denied by all parties, including WhatsApp in the Indian Supreme Court. This news report, thus, also appears to be a similar fishing expedition, based on conjectures and exaggerations to malign the Indian democracy and its institutions.”

In 2019, in a lawsuit it had filed in a US court in San Francisco, Facebook-owned WhatsApp had confirmed use of Pegasus to target journalists and human right activists in India.

Once the spyware is installed, Pegasus can potentially harvest most of the data on the device.

PAK IS ON FATF GREY LIST DUE TO MODI GOVT: JAISHANKAR

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said Pakistan had been put in global terror-financing watchdog FATF's Grey List because of the efforts made by the Narendra Modi government.

FATF continues to keep Pakistan in its ‘Increased Monitoring List’ because of the latter’s failure to do enough against UN-designated terrorists. The minister was also quoted as saying that India had given China an “appropriate reply” for “infringing” on the LAC. Addressing a training programme for BJP leaders, Jaishankar also said LeT and JeM terrorists were sanctioned by the UN because of India's efforts.

“The PM’s personal efforts made on forums like G20 or G7 made nations realise that terrorism is everyone's problem. India ensured that the world should be concerned about terrorism and that other countries should stop seeing terrorism as a domestic problem of certain nations or law and order problem of particular nations,” Jaishankar told the BJP functionaries.

The minister also said the issue of black money was taken up globally because of India’s efforts.

KEY COVID NUMBERS

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 4,16,333

New Cases in last 24 hours: 38,305

Recovered in last 24 hours: 38,529

Change in no. of Active cases in last 24 hours: -725

No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 501 (4,14,141)

Daily Tests (Saturday): 19,36,709

Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 2.1%

Percentage of Population Vaccinated (At Least One Dose / Two Doses): 24.1% / 6.2%

STATES-WISE DATA, BY NO. OF ACTIVE COVID-19 CASES

S. No. States Active Cases / New Cases / New Deaths / Daily Tests / DTPR

1 Kerala 1,25,039 / 13,956 / 81 / 1,30,000 / 10.7

2 Maharashtra 1,03,486 / 9,000 / 180 / 2,20,000 / 4.1

3 Karnataka 29,291 / 1,708 / 36 / 1,60,000 / 1.1

4 Tamil Nadu 27,897 / 2,079 / 29 / 1,40,000 / 1.5

5 Andhra Pradesh 24,708 / 2,974 / 17 / 1,10,000 / 2.7

6 Odisha 18,797 / 2,215 / 66 / 77,500 / 2.9

7 Assam 16,468 / 1,329 / 15 / 71,500 / 1.9

8 West Bengal 13,111 / 801 / 11 / 51,300 / 1.6

9 Telangana 9,824 / 578 / 3 / 91,000 / 0.6

10 Manipur 9,676 / 963 / 11 / 6,200 / 15.5

11 Mizoram 5,668 / 463 / 2 / 4,700 / 9.9

12 Tripura 4,546 / 325 / 2 / 7,900 / 4.1

13 Arunachal Pradesh 4,213 / 258 / 1 / 4,100 / 6.3

14 Meghalaya 3,979 / 388 / 6 / 4,400 / 8.8

15 Chhattisgarh 3,719 / 165 / 2 / 26,900 / 0.6

16 Sikkim 2,308 / 155 / 3 / 931 / 16.6

17 Jammu and Kashmir 1,932 / 146 / 1 / 59,800 / 0.2

18 Goa 1,562 / 120 / 2 / 4,500 / 2.7

19 Uttar Pradesh 1,260 / 25 / 6 / 2,50,000 / 0.0

20 Nagaland 1,149 / 106 / 4 / 920 / 11.5

21 Puducherry 1,124 / 100 / 2 / 6,200 / 1.6

22 Punjab 1,046 / 86 / 9 / 43,100 / 0.2

23 Himachal Pradesh 1,007 / 54 / 2 / 5,900 / 0.9

24 Haryana 817 / 35 / 6 / 25,600 / 0.1

25 Bihar 724 / 81 / 2 / 1,40,000 / 0.1

26 Uttarakhand 623 / 19 / Nil / 18,900 / 0.1

27 Delhi 592 / 51 / Nil / 71,500 / 0.1

28 Gujarat 493 / 33 / 1 / 56,000 / 0.1

29 Rajasthan 472 / 26 / 1 / 35,200 / 0.1

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

======================

TALIBAN SAY THEY WANT POLITICAL SETTLEMENT TO END AF CONFLICT

The leader of the Taliban said on Sunday that his movement is committed to a political settlement to end decades of war in Afghanistan, even as the insurgents battle in dozens of districts across to country to gain territory. The statement by Maulawi Hibatullah Alhundzada came as Taliban leaders were meeting with a high-level Afghan government delegation in the Gulf state of Qatar to jump-start stalled peace talks. The Kabul delegation includes the No. 2 in the government, Abdullah Abdullah, head of Afghanistan’s national reconciliation council. The talks resumed on Saturday. A second session was to take place Sunday afternoon.

Akhundzada said that “in spite of the military gains and advances, the Islamic Emirate strenuously favours a political settlement in the country, and every opportunity for the establishment of an Islamic system.” The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is what the Taliban called their government when they ruled the country , until their ouster in 2001. Still, there are few signs of a political agreement on the horizon. The Taliban are insisting on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Kabul wants the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Battles between the Taliban and government forces are continuing in dozens of provinces, and thousands of Afghans are seeking visas in hopes of leaving the country.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan has withdrawn its ambassador and diplomats from Pakistan’s capital following the kidnapping, for a few hours, of the ambassador’s daughter, the Afghan foreign ministry said on Sunday.

“The Afghan government recalled the ambassador and senior diplomats to Kabul until complete elimination of the security threats including the arrest and punishment of the perpetrators,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

NEPAL'S NEW PM SHER BAHADUR DEUBA WINS VOTE OF CONFIDENCE IN PARLIAMENT

Nepal's new Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba sprang a surprise on Sunday by seeking a vote of confidence in the reinstated lower House of Representatives and comfortably won it, averting a general election in the Himalayan nation amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

He had to seek a trust vote within one month after being appointed as prime minister. However, in a surprise move, he sought a vote of confidence on the first day of reinstated House. Mr. Deuba’s failure to win the trust vote in the House would have lead to dissolution of the House and snap polls within six months in Nepal, which is facing an unprecedented health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sunday's outcome of the trust vote paves the way for Prime Minister Deuba to remain in office for next one and half year, until fresh parliamentary election is held.

THE REST

=========

SIDHU APPOINTED PUNJAB CONGRESS CHIEF AMID ESCALATING TENSION

Amid the escalating tension within the Punjab Congress and putting days of speculation to rest, former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu was appointed the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief on Sunday.

Congress also appointed four working presidents for the Punjab unit — Sangat Singh Gilzian, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Pawan Goel and Kuljit Singh Nagra.

Earlier on Sunday, Sidhu arrived in Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s home constituency, Patiala, to meet party MLAs and garner support for his elevation.

Meanwhile, 11 MLAs on Sunday came out in support of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh whom they called the “tallest leader of masses” and appealed to the party high command not to let him down.

LETTER WRITERS SHASHI THAROOR, MANISH TEWARI IN NEW CONGRESS PARLIAMENTARY GROUPS

Ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday reconstituted the party’s parliamentary groups, bringing in Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor in the Lok Sabha group and senior leaders like P Chidambaram, Ambika Soni and Digvijaya Singh in the Rajya Sabha group.

The decision to include Tewari and Tharoor — who were signatories to the letter a group of 23 senior leaders had written to Sonia last year seeking radical changes in the party – is significant as it is seen as yet another attempt by her to involve the letter writers in the decision-making process.

Sonia also signalled that Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will continue as the leader of the party in Lok Sabha. The Congress leadership had toyed with the idea of removing Chowdhury, which was seen as an attempt by the party to build bridges with the Trinamool Congress and coordinate the campaign against the BJP and the central government in Parliament.

MAYAWATI ANNOUNCES CAMPAIGN TO REACH OUT TO BRAHMINS

Stepping up preparations for the UP Assembly election, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday announced the launch of a campaign from Ayodhya to reach out to Brahmin voters and assured the community that its interests will be safeguarded if her party comes to power.

Mayawati said she is fully confident that the members of the “Brahmin community will not get misled by the BJP” and will vote for her party in the upcoming elections. “A campaign, led by BSP general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra, will be started from Ayodhya on July 23 to awaken the Brahmin community once again. The Brahmins will be assured that their interests will remain safe under the BSP regime,” the former CM and Dalit leader said.

Mayawati’s Brahmin outreach was considered as one of the key factors for her win in the 2007 UP assembly elections.

DESPITE HIGH COVID NUMBERS, KERALA RELAXES CURBS FOR BAKRID

Amidst consistently high Covid-19 cases in Kerala, the Pinarayi Vijayan government has given in to pressure and lifted lockdown restrictions for three days for celebration of Bakrid, which falls on July 21. Even in local bodies where the test positivity rate has been steadily above 15%, restrictions have been waived for a day on Monday to enable people to go for festival shopping.

The state’s share in national daily cases has been consistently around 35%.

The Indian Medical Association criticised the government decision as “unwarranted and inappropriate at the time of a medical emergency”.

The LDF government lifted the restrictions in the wake of mounting pressure from religious groups as well as traders’ organisations battered by the long Covid lockdown.

GOVT CREATING 30-DAY STOCK OF KEY COVID DRUGS AHEAD OF ANTICIPATED 3RD WAVE

Ahead of the anticipated third wave, India is trying to build a buffer stock or inventory of essential Covid-19 medicines like remdesivir and favipiravir, besides common drugs and supplements like paracetamol, antibiotics, and vitamins. According to industry sources, the plan is to have a 30-day stock for key drugs like remdesivir, a shortage of which was witnessed during the first two waves.

“The Centre is planning to procure 5 million vials of remdesivir ahead of the third wave. What’s better is that this time, the government is paying us in advance,” said a senior executive of a Mumbai-based pharma player which makes remdesivir. “During the second wave when we were told to scale up our capacities by two-threefolds, we had asked what would happen to the excess capacities in the future unless there was an assurance of offtake. This time, the government has not only placed orders for large volumes but is also paying us in advance.”

CRYPTOCURRENCY BANK PLANS INDIA OPERATIONS, TAKES COOPERATIVE ROUTE TO GET AROUND RBI RULES

At a time when the RBI frowns on private virtual currencies, the proposal of cryptocurrency bank Cashaa to launch banking operations in India for customers of virtual currencies like Bitcoin from August, through the credit co-operative society route, has raised eyebrows in financial circles.

Cashaa says it has launched Unicas, the world’s first crypto-friendly financial institution with physical branches in India in association with the United Multistate Credit Co-operative Society. It allows services for both crypto and fiat (currencies) from a single savings account, Cashaa founder and CEO Kumar Gaurav said.

Asked whether the firm has sought RBI’s permission to launch a “bank”, Gaurav said United is a multistate credit co-operative society which is “registered and works under the Registrar of Societies”. “As we give services to members only, we do not need the RBI’s permission for this model. United is also a member of the National Federation of Urban Co-operative Banks and Credit Societies Ltd (NAFCUB) vide membership No. 1753 and certified with ISO 9001:2008 for Quality Management Systems,” he said.

BEZOS’ SMALL STEP COULD BE A GIANT LEAP FOR CHEAPER SPACE FLIGHT

When Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon on July 20, 1969, he said: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Exactly 52 years later, Jeff Bezos, the richest man alive, will add another historic step to humanity’s trail in space as he takes off aboard ‘New Shepard’, his space exploration company Blue Origin’s reusable rocket.

New Shepard will do more than launch the crew capsule beyond the Karman Line – the internationally accepted threshold of space 100km above Earth. From there, the capsule will descend on its own but New Shepard will also make a vertical landing, to be used again. This technology, experts say, will be crucial not just for human spaceflight but also to make commercial launches more economical.

New Shepard is pegged to be fully reusable, just like SpaceX’s Starship is expected to be.

New Shepard will come down the same way as it went up, but in a slow, controlled way, to land in an upright position. While a rocket going up has its ‘blowtorch’ pointing down – opposite direction – a rocket trying to land points it in the direction of flight – towards the ground – to slow down. Think of it as a jet brake.

For most of its downward trip, the rocket is in free fall, but in the ‘terminal guidance’ phase — a few kilometres or metres in altitude, depending on its size and weight — thrust is used to prevent a rapid fall under Earth’s gravity.

FIRST ODI: INDIA BEAT SRI LANKA BY 7 WICKETS

Ishan Kishan celebrated his 23rd birthday with a dazzling half-century on debut while Shikhar Dhawan, in his first match as captain, anchored India to a walk-in-the-park seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the opening ODI here on Sunday.

On a track that offered slow turn, the inexperienced Sri Lankan batters splurged like millionaires, throwing away one wicket after another but still managed to get 262 for nine, which wasn’t going to be enough against India’s batting might.

India reached the target in just 36.4 overs, with 7 wickets to spare.

Prithvi Shaw, with his new found swagger in 50-over cricket, butchered the Sri Lankan pacers during his brief stay by hammering nine boundaries in a 24-ball 43.

That set the pace for Kishan to come in and hit a six off the very first delivery he faced an followed it up with a square driven boundary. He scored the second fastest ODI fifty on debut — off 33 balls — to kill the contest inside the first 20 overs.

Veteran Dhawan, who very wisely dropped anchor and let the young guns express themselves, then took over to finish off the match in a professional manner with an unbeaten 86 off 95 balls.

Another debutant, Suryakumar Yadav, showed his flamboyance, smashing a quickfire 31 off 20 balls.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Man is a luxury loving animal. Take away play, fancies, and luxuries, and you will turn man into a dull, sluggish creature, barely energetic enough to obtain a bare subsistence. A society becomes stagnant when its people are too rational or too serious to be tempted by baubles. - Eric Hoffer

OFF TRACK

An influential Londoner wound up a business trip to the Orient with a visit to Taipei. At a luncheon he was asked to say a few words. Since he spoke not a word of Chinese, his address was to be translated by an interpreter sentence by sentence.

“I want you to know,” he began, “I’m tickled to death to be asked here today.”

A look of panicked confusion appeared on the interpreter’s face. “This poor man,” he said in Chinese, “Scratches himself until he dies, only to be with you today.”OPPOSITION PARTIES OBJECT TO PM’S JOINT ADDRESS ON COVID TO MPs AT PARLIAMENT ANNEXE

Opposition parties on Sunday objected to the government’s offer for a joint address to all MPs by the prime minister on Covid at the Parliament annexe, saying this will be “highly irregular” at a time when Parliament will be in session and it aims to “bypass” norms.

Leaders, including from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the CPI(M), also said that when the Covid pandemic and issues related to it can be discussed on the floor of the House, what was the need to go “outside”.

The annexe is a separate building within the premises of the Parliament complex.

In an all-party meeting on Sunday, a day before the Monsoon Session of Parliament begins, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address MPs of both the Houses — Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha — on July 20 and speak on the pandemic.

“What is the need to go outside Parliament? Any address should be on the floor of the House. This is another idea to bypass Parliament. Stop making a mockery of the Parliament. How far will Modi and (Union Home Minister Amit) Shah go? Just when we thought that they cannot go lower, they want to make a presentation in the annexe and not on the floor of the House,” TMC Rajya Sabha member Derek O’Brien, who was at the meeting, said.

The meeting was attended by 33 parties ahead of the Monsoon session which will conclude on August 13.

“MPs do not want fancy power point presentations on COVID-19 from the PM or this government in some conference room. Parliament will be in session. Come to the floor of the House,” O’Brien said.

During the meeting, almost all parties raised issues related to fuel prices, farm laws, Covid and the state of the economy, they said.

Kharge hit out at the prime minister over his short presence at meeting and said that it was an “insult” to all political parties present. He also raised the issue of appointment of a deputy speaker, and said this should be done.

FRESH DISCLOSURES ON SURVEILLANCE THROUGH PEGASUS SPYWARE

In what could trigger a stormy start to the Monsoon session of Parliament commencing Monday, a global collaborative investigative project has revealed that Israeli company NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware targeted over 300 mobile phone numbers in India including those of two serving Ministers in the Narendra Modi government, three Opposition leaders, one constitutional authority, several journalists and business persons.

The leaked global database of 50,000 telephone numbers, was first accessed by French non-profit Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International, and then shared with 16 media partners.

The NSO Group describes its customers as 60 intelligence, military and law- enforcement agencies in 40 countries, although it will not confirm the identities of any of them, citing client confidentiality obligations, said The Washington Post. Responding to an earlier lawsuit by WhatsApp in California, NSO Group had said that Pegasus was used by sovereign governments in foreign countries.

In response to the development, the government said: “The allegations regarding government surveillance on specific people has no concrete basis or truth associated with it whatsoever. In the past, similar claims were made regarding the use of Pegasus on WhatsApp by Indian state. Those reports also had no factual basis and were categorically denied by all parties, including WhatsApp in the Indian Supreme Court. This news report, thus, also appears to be a similar fishing expedition, based on conjectures and exaggerations to malign the Indian democracy and its institutions.”

In 2019, in a lawsuit it had filed in a US court in San Francisco, Facebook-owned WhatsApp had confirmed use of Pegasus to target journalists and human right activists in India.

Once the spyware is installed, Pegasus can potentially harvest most of the data on the device.

PAK IS ON FATF GREY LIST DUE TO MODI GOVT: JAISHANKAR

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday said Pakistan had been put in global terror-financing watchdog FATF's Grey List because of the efforts made by the Narendra Modi government.

FATF continues to keep Pakistan in its ‘Increased Monitoring List’ because of the latter’s failure to do enough against UN-designated terrorists. The minister was also quoted as saying that India had given China an “appropriate reply” for “infringing” on the LAC. Addressing a training programme for BJP leaders, Jaishankar also said LeT and JeM terrorists were sanctioned by the UN because of India's efforts.

“The PM’s personal efforts made on forums like G20 or G7 made nations realise that terrorism is everyone's problem. India ensured that the world should be concerned about terrorism and that other countries should stop seeing terrorism as a domestic problem of certain nations or law and order problem of particular nations,” Jaishankar told the BJP functionaries.

The minister also said the issue of black money was taken up globally because of India’s efforts.

KEY COVID NUMBERS

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 4,16,333

New Cases in last 24 hours: 38,305

Recovered in last 24 hours: 38,529

Change in no. of Active cases in last 24 hours: -725

No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 501 (4,14,141)

Daily Tests (Saturday): 19,36,709

Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 2.1%

Percentage of Population Vaccinated (At Least One Dose / Two Doses): 24.1% / 6.2%

STATES-WISE DATA, BY NO. OF ACTIVE COVID-19 CASES

S. No. States Active Cases / New Cases / New Deaths / Daily Tests / DTPR

1 Kerala 1,25,039 / 13,956 / 81 / 1,30,000 / 10.7

2 Maharashtra 1,03,486 / 9,000 / 180 / 2,20,000 / 4.1

3 Karnataka 29,291 / 1,708 / 36 / 1,60,000 / 1.1

4 Tamil Nadu 27,897 / 2,079 / 29 / 1,40,000 / 1.5

5 Andhra Pradesh 24,708 / 2,974 / 17 / 1,10,000 / 2.7

6 Odisha 18,797 / 2,215 / 66 / 77,500 / 2.9

7 Assam 16,468 / 1,329 / 15 / 71,500 / 1.9

8 West Bengal 13,111 / 801 / 11 / 51,300 / 1.6

9 Telangana 9,824 / 578 / 3 / 91,000 / 0.6

10 Manipur 9,676 / 963 / 11 / 6,200 / 15.5

11 Mizoram 5,668 / 463 / 2 / 4,700 / 9.9

12 Tripura 4,546 / 325 / 2 / 7,900 / 4.1

13 Arunachal Pradesh 4,213 / 258 / 1 / 4,100 / 6.3

14 Meghalaya 3,979 / 388 / 6 / 4,400 / 8.8

15 Chhattisgarh 3,719 / 165 / 2 / 26,900 / 0.6

16 Sikkim 2,308 / 155 / 3 / 931 / 16.6

17 Jammu and Kashmir 1,932 / 146 / 1 / 59,800 / 0.2

18 Goa 1,562 / 120 / 2 / 4,500 / 2.7

19 Uttar Pradesh 1,260 / 25 / 6 / 2,50,000 / 0.0

20 Nagaland 1,149 / 106 / 4 / 920 / 11.5

21 Puducherry 1,124 / 100 / 2 / 6,200 / 1.6

22 Punjab 1,046 / 86 / 9 / 43,100 / 0.2

23 Himachal Pradesh 1,007 / 54 / 2 / 5,900 / 0.9

24 Haryana 817 / 35 / 6 / 25,600 / 0.1

25 Bihar 724 / 81 / 2 / 1,40,000 / 0.1

26 Uttarakhand 623 / 19 / Nil / 18,900 / 0.1

27 Delhi 592 / 51 / Nil / 71,500 / 0.1

28 Gujarat 493 / 33 / 1 / 56,000 / 0.1

29 Rajasthan 472 / 26 / 1 / 35,200 / 0.1

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

======================

TALIBAN SAY THEY WANT POLITICAL SETTLEMENT TO END AF CONFLICT

The leader of the Taliban said on Sunday that his movement is committed to a political settlement to end decades of war in Afghanistan, even as the insurgents battle in dozens of districts across to country to gain territory. The statement by Maulawi Hibatullah Alhundzada came as Taliban leaders were meeting with a high-level Afghan government delegation in the Gulf state of Qatar to jump-start stalled peace talks. The Kabul delegation includes the No. 2 in the government, Abdullah Abdullah, head of Afghanistan’s national reconciliation council. The talks resumed on Saturday. A second session was to take place Sunday afternoon.

Akhundzada said that “in spite of the military gains and advances, the Islamic Emirate strenuously favours a political settlement in the country, and every opportunity for the establishment of an Islamic system.” The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is what the Taliban called their government when they ruled the country , until their ouster in 2001. Still, there are few signs of a political agreement on the horizon. The Taliban are insisting on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Kabul wants the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Battles between the Taliban and government forces are continuing in dozens of provinces, and thousands of Afghans are seeking visas in hopes of leaving the country.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan has withdrawn its ambassador and diplomats from Pakistan’s capital following the kidnapping, for a few hours, of the ambassador’s daughter, the Afghan foreign ministry said on Sunday.

“The Afghan government recalled the ambassador and senior diplomats to Kabul until complete elimination of the security threats including the arrest and punishment of the perpetrators,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

NEPAL'S NEW PM SHER BAHADUR DEUBA WINS VOTE OF CONFIDENCE IN PARLIAMENT

Nepal's new Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba sprang a surprise on Sunday by seeking a vote of confidence in the reinstated lower House of Representatives and comfortably won it, averting a general election in the Himalayan nation amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

He had to seek a trust vote within one month after being appointed as prime minister. However, in a surprise move, he sought a vote of confidence on the first day of reinstated House. Mr. Deuba’s failure to win the trust vote in the House would have lead to dissolution of the House and snap polls within six months in Nepal, which is facing an unprecedented health crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sunday's outcome of the trust vote paves the way for Prime Minister Deuba to remain in office for next one and half year, until fresh parliamentary election is held.

THE REST

=========

SIDHU APPOINTED PUNJAB CONGRESS CHIEF AMID ESCALATING TENSION

Amid the escalating tension within the Punjab Congress and putting days of speculation to rest, former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu was appointed the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief on Sunday.

Congress also appointed four working presidents for the Punjab unit — Sangat Singh Gilzian, Sukhwinder Singh Danny, Pawan Goel and Kuljit Singh Nagra.

Earlier on Sunday, Sidhu arrived in Chief Minister Amarinder Singh’s home constituency, Patiala, to meet party MLAs and garner support for his elevation.

Meanwhile, 11 MLAs on Sunday came out in support of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh whom they called the “tallest leader of masses” and appealed to the party high command not to let him down.

LETTER WRITERS SHASHI THAROOR, MANISH TEWARI IN NEW CONGRESS PARLIAMENTARY GROUPS

Ahead of the Monsoon session of Parliament, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Sunday reconstituted the party’s parliamentary groups, bringing in Manish Tewari and Shashi Tharoor in the Lok Sabha group and senior leaders like P Chidambaram, Ambika Soni and Digvijaya Singh in the Rajya Sabha group.

The decision to include Tewari and Tharoor — who were signatories to the letter a group of 23 senior leaders had written to Sonia last year seeking radical changes in the party – is significant as it is seen as yet another attempt by her to involve the letter writers in the decision-making process.

Sonia also signalled that Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury will continue as the leader of the party in Lok Sabha. The Congress leadership had toyed with the idea of removing Chowdhury, which was seen as an attempt by the party to build bridges with the Trinamool Congress and coordinate the campaign against the BJP and the central government in Parliament.

MAYAWATI ANNOUNCES CAMPAIGN TO REACH OUT TO BRAHMINS

Stepping up preparations for the UP Assembly election, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday announced the launch of a campaign from Ayodhya to reach out to Brahmin voters and assured the community that its interests will be safeguarded if her party comes to power.

Mayawati said she is fully confident that the members of the “Brahmin community will not get misled by the BJP” and will vote for her party in the upcoming elections. “A campaign, led by BSP general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra, will be started from Ayodhya on July 23 to awaken the Brahmin community once again. The Brahmins will be assured that their interests will remain safe under the BSP regime,” the former CM and Dalit leader said.

Mayawati’s Brahmin outreach was considered as one of the key factors for her win in the 2007 UP assembly elections.

DESPITE HIGH COVID NUMBERS, KERALA RELAXES CURBS FOR BAKRID

Amidst consistently high Covid-19 cases in Kerala, the Pinarayi Vijayan government has given in to pressure and lifted lockdown restrictions for three days for celebration of Bakrid, which falls on July 21. Even in local bodies where the test positivity rate has been steadily above 15%, restrictions have been waived for a day on Monday to enable people to go for festival shopping.

The state’s share in national daily cases has been consistently around 35%.

The Indian Medical Association criticised the government decision as “unwarranted and inappropriate at the time of a medical emergency”.

The LDF government lifted the restrictions in the wake of mounting pressure from religious groups as well as traders’ organisations battered by the long Covid lockdown.

GOVT CREATING 30-DAY STOCK OF KEY COVID DRUGS AHEAD OF ANTICIPATED 3RD WAVE

Ahead of the anticipated third wave, India is trying to build a buffer stock or inventory of essential Covid-19 medicines like remdesivir and favipiravir, besides common drugs and supplements like paracetamol, antibiotics, and vitamins. According to industry sources, the plan is to have a 30-day stock for key drugs like remdesivir, a shortage of which was witnessed during the first two waves.

“The Centre is planning to procure 5 million vials of remdesivir ahead of the third wave. What’s better is that this time, the government is paying us in advance,” said a senior executive of a Mumbai-based pharma player which makes remdesivir. “During the second wave when we were told to scale up our capacities by two-threefolds, we had asked what would happen to the excess capacities in the future unless there was an assurance of offtake. This time, the government has not only placed orders for large volumes but is also paying us in advance.”

CRYPTOCURRENCY BANK PLANS INDIA OPERATIONS, TAKES COOPERATIVE ROUTE TO GET AROUND RBI RULES

At a time when the RBI frowns on private virtual currencies, the proposal of cryptocurrency bank Cashaa to launch banking operations in India for customers of virtual currencies like Bitcoin from August, through the credit co-operative society route, has raised eyebrows in financial circles.

Cashaa says it has launched Unicas, the world’s first crypto-friendly financial institution with physical branches in India in association with the United Multistate Credit Co-operative Society. It allows services for both crypto and fiat (currencies) from a single savings account, Cashaa founder and CEO Kumar Gaurav said.

Asked whether the firm has sought RBI’s permission to launch a “bank”, Gaurav said United is a multistate credit co-operative society which is “registered and works under the Registrar of Societies”. “As we give services to members only, we do not need the RBI’s permission for this model. United is also a member of the National Federation of Urban Co-operative Banks and Credit Societies Ltd (NAFCUB) vide membership No. 1753 and certified with ISO 9001:2008 for Quality Management Systems,” he said.

BEZOS’ SMALL STEP COULD BE A GIANT LEAP FOR CHEAPER SPACE FLIGHT

When Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon on July 20, 1969, he said: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Exactly 52 years later, Jeff Bezos, the richest man alive, will add another historic step to humanity’s trail in space as he takes off aboard ‘New Shepard’, his space exploration company Blue Origin’s reusable rocket.

New Shepard will do more than launch the crew capsule beyond the Karman Line – the internationally accepted threshold of space 100km above Earth. From there, the capsule will descend on its own but New Shepard will also make a vertical landing, to be used again. This technology, experts say, will be crucial not just for human spaceflight but also to make commercial launches more economical.

New Shepard is pegged to be fully reusable, just like SpaceX’s Starship is expected to be.

New Shepard will come down the same way as it went up, but in a slow, controlled way, to land in an upright position. While a rocket going up has its ‘blowtorch’ pointing down – opposite direction – a rocket trying to land points it in the direction of flight – towards the ground – to slow down. Think of it as a jet brake.

For most of its downward trip, the rocket is in free fall, but in the ‘terminal guidance’ phase — a few kilometres or metres in altitude, depending on its size and weight — thrust is used to prevent a rapid fall under Earth’s gravity.

FIRST ODI: INDIA BEAT SRI LANKA BY 7 WICKETS

Ishan Kishan celebrated his 23rd birthday with a dazzling half-century on debut while Shikhar Dhawan, in his first match as captain, anchored India to a walk-in-the-park seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the opening ODI here on Sunday.

On a track that offered slow turn, the inexperienced Sri Lankan batters splurged like millionaires, throwing away one wicket after another but still managed to get 262 for nine, which wasn’t going to be enough against India’s batting might.

India reached the target in just 36.4 overs, with 7 wickets to spare.

Prithvi Shaw, with his new found swagger in 50-over cricket, butchered the Sri Lankan pacers during his brief stay by hammering nine boundaries in a 24-ball 43.

That set the pace for Kishan to come in and hit a six off the very first delivery he faced an followed it up with a square driven boundary. He scored the second fastest ODI fifty on debut — off 33 balls — to kill the contest inside the first 20 overs.

Veteran Dhawan, who very wisely dropped anchor and let the young guns express themselves, then took over to finish off the match in a professional manner with an unbeaten 86 off 95 balls.

Another debutant, Suryakumar Yadav, showed his flamboyance, smashing a quickfire 31 off 20 balls.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Man is a luxury loving animal. Take away play, fancies, and luxuries, and you will turn man into a dull, sluggish creature, barely energetic enough to obtain a bare subsistence. A society becomes stagnant when its people are too rational or too serious to be tempted by baubles. - Eric Hoffer

OFF TRACK

An influential Londoner wound up a business trip to the Orient with a visit to Taipei. At a luncheon he was asked to say a few words. Since he spoke not a word of Chinese, his address was to be translated by an interpreter sentence by sentence.

“I want you to know,” he began, “I’m tickled to death to be asked here today.”

A look of panicked confusion appeared on the interpreter’s face. “This poor man,” he said in Chinese, “Scratches himself until he dies, only to be with you today.”