PM MODI LEAVES FOR U.S.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday left for his visit to the United States that he described would be an “occasion to strengthen Indo-US ties”. “At the invitation of Joe Biden, I am visiting the USA to continue our dialogue, and exchange views on areas of mutual interest. Also looking forward to meeting Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss global issues and explore ideas for cooperation between India and US,” Modi tweeted.

In a statement just before leaving for the US, Modi said he will conclude his visit with an address at the United Nations General Assembly focusing on the pressing global challenges including the Covid-19 pandemic, the need to combat terrorism, climate change, and other important issues.

Modi last visited the US in September 2019, when then US President Donald Trump had addressed the Howdy Modi event – the Prime Minister’s “abki baar Trump sarkar” line had not gone down well with the Democratic party’s establishment.

Two years since, it will be an effort to reach out to the Democratic establishment.

ISSUES WITH INDIA’S VACCINE CERTIFICATION, NOT COVISHIELD, SAYS UK; TALKS ON

A day after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar raised the issue of non-recognition of Covishield with newly appointed British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, the UK updated its travel guidance, clarifying that the formulations of Covishield qualify it as an “approved” vaccine but not the Covid-19 certificates issued by India.

This means that Indian travellers will continue to be treated as “unvaccinated”.

British authorities are in touch with the team in India managing the vaccine certification through CoWIN.

Alex Ellis, the British High Commissioner to India, said: “We are clear Covishield is not a problem…..We have been having detailed technical discussions regarding certification, with the builders of the CoWIN app and the NHS app.”

Dr R S Sharma, the CEO, National Health Authority (NHA), which has designed the CoWIN IT infrastructure, said: “There can be no concern because our product is as perfect as it can be. It is QR code-based and absolutely verifiable. Its authenticity can be verified; its integrity can be verified.”

A British High Commission spokesperson said, “We are engaging with the Government of India to explore how we could expand UK recognition of vaccine certification to people vaccinated by a relevant public health body in India.”

PM PUSHES FOR ‘MUTUAL RECOGNITION OF VACCINE CERTIFICATES’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that international travel should be made easier through mutual recognition of vaccine certificates, amid several countries adopting different sets of rules to allow foreigners to enter their territory in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In his video remarks at the Global Covid Summit hosted by US President Joe Biden, Modi also said India is ramping up production capacity of existing vaccines and the supply chains of raw materials must be kept open so that vaccine supplies to other countries can be resumed.

“We also need to focus on addressing the pandemic’s economic effects. To that end, international travel should be made easier, through mutual recognition of vaccine certificates,” Modi said.

He added, “India is now running the world’s largest vaccination campaign. Recently, we vaccinated about 25 million people on a single day. Our grassroots-level healthcare system has delivered over 800 million vaccine doses so far. Over 200 million Indians are now fully vaccinated…Like a family, the world also stood with India when we were going through a second wave. For the solidarity and support extended to India, I thank you all…The pandemic has been an unprecedented disruption and it is not yet over. Much of the world is still to be vaccinated.”

RS 50,000 RELIEF TO BE PAID TO KIN OF COVID VICTIMS: CENTRE TO SC

The families of Covid victims will be given Rs 50,000 compensation from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), the Centre on Wednesday told the Supreme Court. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has framed guidelines in this regard following directions issued by the top court.

The families of those who died of Covid will have to apply for compensation in the Disaster Management Office of their respective district along with medical/death certificate mentioning ‘death due to Covid’.

The compensation will be paid against not only the deaths that have already occurred, but for future ones, the Centre said. The top court had on June 30 directed the NDMA to frame guidelines for payment of compensation to the kin of those who died due to Covid, saying the authority was statutorily mandated to provide minimum relief, including ex-gratia to the victims of the pandemic.

Holding that by not providing an ex-gratia amount the NDMA had failed in discharging its statutory duty, a Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan had directed the NDMA to determine in six weeks the ex-gratia amount to be paid to the family of each Covid victim.

However, it had said it won’t be proper for the court to direct a particular amount to be paid. On September 3, it had expressed displeasure over delay in framing guidelines for issuance of death certificates to the families of victims.

The order had come on PILs seeking an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of the deceased. The Centre had opposed it, contending that giving an ex-gratia amount of Rs 4 lakh each to kin of Covid victims wasn’t possible due to limited resources as it would affect pandemic response on other aspects, leading to more damage than good.

KEY COVID NUMBERS

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 2,94,807

New Cases in last 24 hours: 31,947

Recovered in last 24 hours: 31,968

Change in no. of Active cases in last 24 hours: -300

No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 279 (4,46,080)

Daily Tests (Tuesday): 17,18,565

Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 1.6%

Percentage of Population Vaccinated (At Least One Dose / Two Doses): 46.1% / 15.9%

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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FRANCE’S ENVOY TO RETURN TO US AFTER MACRON, BIDEN TALKS

France will send its ambassador back to Washington next week after French President Emmanuel Macron and President Joe Biden agreed in a phone call Wednesday to meet next month over a submarine spat that sent relations between the longtime allies into a tailspin.

The two heads of state “have decided to open a process of in-depth consultations, aimed at creating the conditions for ensuring confidence,” the Elysee and the White House said in a joint statement. Macron and Biden will meet at the end of October in Europe, the statement said.

In an unprecedented move, France recalled its ambassador after the U.S., Australia and Britain announced a new Indo-Pacific defense deal last week. As part of the pact, Australia will cancel a multibillion-dollar contract to buy diesel-electric French submarines and acquire U.S. nuclear-powered vessels instead.

The French ambassador will “have intensive work with senior U.S. officials” after his return to the United States, the statement said.

Biden and Macron agreed “that the situation would have benefitted from open consultations among allies on matters of strategic interest to France and our European partners,” it said. Biden “conveyed his ongoing commitment in that regard.”

Biden reaffirmed in the statement “the strategic importance of French and European engagement in the Indo-Pacific region.”

TALIBAN WANT TO ADDRESS THE WORLD AT UN

The Taliban have asked to address world leaders at the United Nations in New York this week and nominated their Doha-based spokesman Suhail Shaheen as Afghanistan’s UN Ambassador, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi made the request in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday. Muttaqi asked to speak during the annual high-level meeting of the General Assembly, which finishes on Monday.

Mr. Guterres’ spokesperson, Farhan Haq, confirmed Muttaqi’s letter. The move sets up a showdown with Ghulam Isaczai, the UN Ambassador in New York representing Afghanistan’s government ousted last month by the Taliban.

Mr. Haq said the rival requests for Afghanistan’s UN seat had been sent to a nine-member credentials committee, whose members include the United States, China and Russia. The committee is unlikely to meet on the issue before Monday, so it is doubtful that the Taliban Foreign Minister will address the world body.

Eventual UN acceptance of the ambassador of the Taliban would be an important step in the hard-line Islamist group’s bid for international recognition, which could help unlock badly needed funds for the cash-strapped Afghan economy.

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NAGA TALKS: RN RAVI QUITS AS INTERLOCUTOR

Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi yesterday sent his resignation as the Centre’s interlocutor for the Naga peace talks, which has been accepted with immediate effect, the MHA said. Ravi had been holding peace negotiations with the Naga insurgent group NSCN-IM since 2014.

Ravi was appointed the Governor of Nagaland in July 2019, but he continued with his role as the interlocutor on behalf of the Centre. Of late, the NSCN-IM had refused to hold talks with him, accusing him of trying to sabotage the peace process.

The Centre has already engaged former special director of the Intelligence Bureau AK Mishra to hold peace parleys with Naga groups and he has resumed talks with them.

Ravi had signed a framework agreement with Muivah on August 3, 2015, in the presence of PM Narendra Modi as a major step towards the final settlement. The framework agreement came after over 80 rounds of negotiations spanning 18 years with the first breakthrough in 1997, when the ceasefire agreement was sealed after decades of insurgency in Nagaland.

WOMEN’S ENTRY INTO NDA CAN’T BE DEFERRED BY A YEAR: SC

The Supreme Court yesterday turned down the Centre’s request to postpone till May next year the entry of women into the National Defence Academy (NDA) — hitherto open to men alone.

“No, it has to be from this session only. We find it difficult to postpone everything by a year. After we have given hope (to women aspirants), we don’t want to deny the hope,” a Bench led by Justice SK Kaul told Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati.

The Bench refused to modify its August 18 interim order, allowing women candidates to appear for the NDA and the Naval Academy Examinations, and to train at the NDA.

The top court’s firm “no” came in response to Bhati’s request to allow women candidates to take the NDA exam in May next year and not this session, for which the exams are scheduled for November 14. She said a study group had been set up to make recommendations in this regard.

The Bench, however, said the examination had already been scheduled and interim orders passed. “The armed forces are best suited to deal with emergencies... I don’t think they will not be capable of accommodating the students who take the exam this year,” it said.

PINARAYI VIJAYAN SHOWS GOVT DATA TO JUNK ‘NARCOTIC JIHAD, LOVE JIHAD’ CLAIMS

Amid a raging debate over a Catholic bishop’s remarks about youngsters from non-Muslims communities being targets of “love jihad” and “narcotic jihad” in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday quoted government data to dismiss all such claims, and sought to delink them from religion.

Vijayan told reporters that if data on those involved in religious conversion and narcotics are analysed, it was clear that minority religious communities do not have any special role in such activities. There is no backing of facts for such claims made by certain quarters, he said.

He said these issues – so-called “love jihad” and “narcotic jihad” – cannot be categorised with any particular religion.

Dismissing claims of a concerted “narcotic jihad” as baseless, the Chief Minister gave government data. In 2020, as many as 4,941 cases were registered in Kerala under NDPS Act. Of 5,422 accused in these cases, 2,700 (49.80%) people were Hindus, 1,869 (34.47%) Muslims and 853 (15.73%) Christians. “There is no unusual ratio in these figures. The narcotic business is not on the basis of religion,” he said.

The Chief Minister said no incident or complaint of people being made addicted to drugs and then converted to another religion has come to the government’s notice. There is no evidence to show that drug peddlers or drug users belong to a particular religion. “On school, college campuses, there are students from various communities. If any of them uses drugs or becomes part of the drug peddling network, it is puerile to analyse that as part of a concerted attempt of any religion,” he said.

WILL OPPOSE SIDHU’S CM CANDIDATURE “TOOTH AND NAIL”: CAPT AMARINDER

The political drama in Punjab refuses to end despite the fact that the state got a new chief minister in Charanjit Singh Channi Sunday. Three days later, Amarinder Singh lashed out at the Congress high command, saying the “Gandhi children (Rahul and Priyanka)” were “inexperienced” and had been misled by their advisers during the recent series of events in the state.

The former Punjab CM also reiterated that he will oppose “tooth and nail” any move to project Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu as the party’s chief ministerial face in next year’s elections. If that happens, Amarinder said, he will pit a strong candidate against Sidhu in the polls to ensure the defeat of “such a dangerous man”.

SONY-ZEE TO BECOME A NEW MERGED ENTITY

India's largest publicly-traded television network Zee Entertainment Enterprises will merge with Sony Pictures Network India, capping days of high drama during which the firm's shareholders sought removal of key officials.

Sony, which will invest USD 1.575 billion, will hold 52.93 per cent stake in the merged entity and Zee the remaining 47.07, Zee Entertainment Enterprises said in a statement.

In recent days, Zee has seen its top investor seek a management reshuffle, including the exit of chief executive Punit Goenka.

A majority of the merged company's board would be nominated by Sony, while Goenka would lead it, according to the terms of the deal.

The combined entity will own over 70 TV channels, 2 video streaming services (ZEE5 and Sony LIV) and two film studios (Zee Studios and Sony Pictures Films India) making it the largest entertainment network in India.

WHO TIGHTENS AIR QUALITY NORMS

The harmful health effects of air pollution kick in at lower levels than previously thought, the WHO yesterday said as it revised its global air quality guidelines, recommending more stringent standards for key pollutants.

It has set new standards in the first update of its air quality guidelines since 2005.

Even at the current relaxed standard, most Indian cities fail to meet even those levels, says Prof SN Tripathi, Steering Committee Member, National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), calling for revising India’s air quality standards to make them more stringent.

According to Prof Tripathi, there is scientific evidence to prove that air pollution is leading to severe health impacts and 90 per cent of the entire global population is breathing polluted air.

PACKAGED FOOD TO BE TRANS FAT-FREE BY 2022

India is on track to become industrial trans fat-free by 2022, with only 1.34 per cent of the newly tested processed food samples showing more than the permissible levels of ingredients.

The national food regulator yesterday cited pan-India survey results to dismiss the perception of excessive usage of industrial trans fats in processed food products.

“The study shows that India is set to achieve its mandate of eliminating industrially produced trans fats by 2022,” said Arun Singhal, the CEO of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). It has mandated to reduce the limit of industrially produced trans fats to not more than 2 per cent to make the country free from the industrially produced trans fats by 2022, a year ahead of the WHO guidelines.

To test compliance by the industry, the FSSAI with the Quality Council of India collected 6,245 samples of processed foods from six predefined categories across 419 cities.

Trans fat intake is responsible for 5,00,000 premature deaths from coronary heart disease each year around the world.

MCC REPLACES BATSMAN WITH GENDER-NEUTRAL ‘BATTER’

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the custodian of the laws of cricket, has decided to go gender-neutral on one of the most commonly used terms in cricket, ‘batsman’.

The MCC yesterday announced amendments to the laws of the sport so that from now terms “batter” and “batters” would be used in the rules, rather than “batsman” or “batsmen”.

The changes have been approved by the MCC Committee, which currently includes Sourav Ganguly, Alastair Cook, Kumar Dharmasena and Ricky Ponting and Shane Warne, among others, the club said in a statement. The London-based MCC believes that the use of gender-neutral terminology would help reinforce cricket’s status as an inclusive game for all.

IPL MATCH 33: DELHI CAPITALS SCORE AN EASY WITN OVER SUNRISERS HYD

Delhi Capitals beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets on Wednesday. Chasing a target of 135, Delhi Capitals romped home in 17.5 overs with Shikhar Dhawan (42), Shreyas Iyer (47 not out) and Rishabh Pant (35 not out) scoring the runs with ease.

Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad had a torrid start when they lost David Warner in the third ball of the innings, followed by Wriddhiman Saha in the 5th over. Kane Williamson also could not muster anything much as he departed in the 10th over after surviving three dropped catches. Abdul Samad and Rashid Khan tried to steady the ship with 28 and 22 respectively. Kagiso Rabada took 3 for 37 and Anrich Nortje and Axar Patel got 2 each to restrict the Sunrisers to 134.

Hyderbad languish at bottom of points table with just 1 win from their 8 matches while Delhi are right at top, with 7 wins from 9.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Of all forms of caution, caution in love is perhaps the most fatal to true happiness. - Bertrand Russell

OFF TRACK

I asked my wife to describe me in 5 words.

She said I'm mature, I'm moral, I'm pure, I'm polite and I'm perfect.

Then she added that I also had a fundamental lack of understanding about apostrophes and spaces......