PEGASUS STALLS PARLIAMENT AGAIN

The Pegasus row continued to rock Parliament with Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday making a statement in the Rajya Sabha denouncing reports that the spyware could have been used to snoop on Opposition leaders, activists and others, and the Opposition forcing repeated adjournments of the House. “A highly sensational story was published by a web portal on July 18, 2021. Many over-the-top allegations were made around this story. The press report appeared a day before the Monsoon session of Parliament. This can’t be a coincidence,’’ Viashnav said.

The press reports of 18 July, 2021, are also an attempt to malign the Indian democracy with its well established institutions. We cannot fault those who haven’t read the story in detail, and I request all honourable members to examine the issue on facts and logic,’’ the Minister added.

The afternoon session of the Upper House witnessed some charged moments as Opposition MPs led by Trinamool MP Santanu Sen rushed to the well of the House and tore the minister’s statement.

CATEGORICALLY STAND BY FINDINGS OF PEGASUS PROJECT: AMNESTY INT.

Amnesty International on Thursday said it "categorically stands" by the findings of the Pegasus Project and asserted that the data is irrefutably linked to potential targets of NSO Group's Pegasus spyware.

The comments by Amnesty International came after some media reports quoting a few Israreli journalists said that the human rights group has claimed that it never said that the recently leaked phone numbers was specifically a list of numbers targeted by Pegasus spyware.

Amnesty claimed that the "false rumours" being pushed on social media are intended to distract from the widespread unlawful targeting of journalists, activists and others that the Pegasus Project has revealed.

CONGRESS SHIFTS GEARS FROM PEGASUS TO FARMERS

With farmers being given permission to protest at Jantar Mantar against the three contentious farm laws, the Congress party Thursday changed strategy in the Lok Sabha by shifting focus from the Pegasus ‘hacking’ controversy to the farmers.

Hibi Eden, Congress’s Lok Sabha MP from Ernakulam, said: “It is not that we have left Pegasus issue… all over the state, there are protests going on. But since farmers came to Jantar Mantar to protest against the anti-farmer bills, naturally it was decided to protest on farm bills today. There are a lot of issues on which government has to respond … every day we will raise issues one by one.”

On Thursday, as the Lower House assembled for the day’s business, Congress MPs came to the well and protested against the three contentious bills that farmers have been demanding a repeal of since last October.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told the media Thursday: “Government is ready for discussion with farmers, if they express their issue with law point wise… we can discuss it, but country has witnessed that these farm law are beneficial and are in favour of farmers.”

INDIA PUSHES FOR MILITARY TALKS WITH CHINA ON LAC PULLBACK

With no signs of a meeting between military commanders eight days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Dushanbe, the Indian Foreign Office said the two leaders had agreed to convene the talks at the earliest to discuss all the remaining issues and seek a mutually acceptable solution.

“The EAM had recalled that both sides had agreed that a prolongation of the existing situation was not in the interest of either side and that it was visibly impacting the relationship in a negative manner,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi while referring to the meeting of the two Foreign Minister on the sidelines of a SCO Ministerial in Tajikistan.

There was also an understanding that both sides will continue to ensure stability on the ground and neither side will take any unilateral action that could increase tension, he added.

KEY COVID NUMBERS

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 3,99,489

New Cases in last 24 hours: 34,856

Recovered in last 24 hours: 38,491

Change in no. of Active cases in last 24 hours: -4,116

No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 481 (4,19,502)

Daily Tests (Wednesday): 17,18,439

Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 2.4%

Percentage of Population Vaccinated (At Least One Dose / Two Doses): 24.8% / 6.6%

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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AFTER PEGASUS ROW, ISRAEL EYES CURBS ON SPYWARE EXPORTS

An Israeli parliamentary panel may seek changes to defence export policy over reports that software sold by Israel’s NSO Group was used to spy on journalists, officials and rights activists in several countries, a senior lawmaker said on Thursday. Among suspected targets of NSO’s Pegasus software is French President Emmanuel Macron, who convened his cabinet on Thursday over calls for investigations. Amid mounting EU concern, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters in Berlin that spyware should be denied to countries where there is no judicial oversight.

“We certainly have to look anew at this whole subject of licences granted by DECA,” Ram Ben-Barak, head of the Knesset (parliament) foreign affairs and defence committee, told Israel’s Army Radio, referring to the government-run Defence Export Controls Agency. Israel has appointed an inter-ministerial team to assess reports based on an investigation by 17 media organisations that said Pegasus had been used in attempted or successful hacks of smartphones using malware that enables the extraction of messages, records calls and secretly activates microphones.

NSO has rejected the reporting by the media partners as “full of wrong assumptions and uncorroborated theories”.

CHINA REJECTS RENEWED WHO INVESTIGATION AT WUHAN LABS

Chinese officials said on Thursday that they were shocked and offended by a WHO proposal to further investigate whether the coronavirus emerged from a lab in Wuhan, exposing a widening rift over the inquiry into the origins of the pandemic.

Senior Chinese health and science officials pushed back vigorously against the idea of opening the Wuhan Institute of Virology to renewed investigation after the WHO director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, laid out plans to examine laboratories in Wuhan.

Zeng Yixin, the vice minister of the National Health Commission, said at a presser in Beijing that he was “extremely shocked” at the WHO plan to renew attention on the possibility that the virus had leaked from a Wuhan lab. “I could feel that this plan revealed a lack of respect for common sense and an arrogant attitude toward science,” he said, adding, China opposed politicising the study. “We can’t possibly accept such a plan for investigating the origins.” Zeng urged WHO to expand origin-tracing efforts to other countries.

THE REST

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I-T RAIDS ON OFFICES OF DAINIK BHASKAR, BHARAT SAMACHAR

Alleging tax evasion, the Income Tax (I-T) department on Thursday conducted raids on offices of leading media house Dainik Bhaskar group in multiple cities as well as the home of its promoter at Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh.

Separately, the I-T department also conducted raids in Uttar Pradesh on Uttar Pradesh-based TV channel Bharat Samachar offices as well residences of its editors and employees.

One of the largest newspaper groups, Dainik Bhaskar has been at the forefront of reporting on the scale of devastation in the second wave of COVID during April-May this year. About a month ago, The New York Times had published op-ed by Dainik Bhaskar's editor Om Gaur on Covid deaths in India. The op-ed titled "The Ganges Is Returning the Dead. It Does Not Lie" was critical of the Indian government's handling of the COVID second wave.

The I-T department has also gone after the chief editor of Bharat Samachar news channel and its promoters in UP. "Searches taking place at places associated with Mr Brajesh Misra and the channel's UP head Virendra Singh. They have been highlighting crucial issues of UP," reports say.

Reacting to these raids, the Press Club of India said it deplores such acts of intimidation by the government through enforcement agencies to deter the independent media from discharging their duty to serve the society.

The Opposition hit out at the government Thursday, calling it a “brazen attempt” to “scare the media” and “suppress the voice of truth”, and a “brutal attempt to stifle democracy”.

Countering the allegations, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said there is no interference in the functioning of government agencies. “Agencies are doing their work. We are not interfering in that.”

EXIT IMMINENT, BSY SAYS WILL FOLLOW PARTY DECISION

Karnataka CM B S Yediyurappa dropped further hints on Thursday of his impending resignation once the BJP government in the state completes its second year in office on July 26. Yediyurappa also refused to name his likely successor, saying the decision has been left to the leadership in Delhi.

“Two months ago, I had suggested that I should resign as CM in order to give an opportunity to someone else. Whether I am in power or not, I must bring the BJP to power for the next few years by strengthening the party. I have decided to travel to all corners of the state to strengthen the party,” said the Karnataka Chief Minister ahead of a Cabinet meeting that’s considered to be his final as CM.

“I will not provide any suggestions on who should be made (the new CM). It is left to Central leaders. I will not suggest any names and it is not necessary,” Yediyurappa said, adding that he is awaiting a signal from the BJP to decide his next move.

GUJ RIOT-LIKE SITUATION IN BENGAL, NHRC TELLS HC

Polarised response to the NHRC team’s synopsis on post-poll violence in West Bengal submitted to the Calcutta high court found reverberations in the courtroom on Thursday when senior lawyers locked horns over the report’s contents.

Senior counsel Mahesh Jethmalani, representing NHRC before the five-judge bench, contended it was a “Gujarat riot-like situation” in Bengal that called for setting up of an “independent investigating agency”. Senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the state, contended that NHRC submitted a “politically motivated report”.

CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday questioned the role of an NHRC committee member who, she claimed, had “submitted reports prepared in BJP party offices” that had “fake stories”. Without naming anyone, she said: “Go to his Twitter bio. It still says he is a BJP student leader.”

MEENAKSHI LEKHI CALLS PROTESTING FARMERS ‘MAWALIS’, LATER APOLOGISES

Union Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi Thursday called the protesting farmers ‘mawalis’ (ruffians), inviting a sharp reaction from Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who demanded her “immediate resignation” and said her remarks reflect the BJP’s “anti-farmer” mindset.

Lekhi later claimed that her words were “twisted”, but added that she withdraws her remarks if they have hurt anyone.

Responding to a question on the ongoing farmers’ protest during a press conference at the BJP headquarters, Lekhi said, “Phir kisan aap un logon ko bol rahe hain; mawali hain wo (you are calling them farmers again; they are ruffians),” she said. “What happened on January 26 were shameful, criminal activities. The Opposition promoted such activities,” she added.

Lekhi also said the protesters are “playing in the hands” of some conspirators. “Farmers don’t have time to sit at Jantar Mantar. They are working in their farms. Middlemen are behind them (protestors), who do not want farmers to get benefits,” she said.

An aide of Lekhi’s said she was responding to questions specifically asked by a reporter on the alleged attack on a cameraperson at Jantar Mantar and the violence that broke out during a farmers’ rally at Red Fort on January 26.

Lekhi later said, “My words have been twisted. The (question during) press conference was on a completely different subject. Irrespective of anything, if my words have hurt farmers, I take them back and I apologise.”

UNION CABINET APPROVES 100% FDI IN PSU REFINERS TO AID BPCL SALE

The Union Cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to allow 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in public sector refiners, expanding the scope for FDI in the privatisation of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL).

The approval by the Cabinet will enable the sale of the government’s 52.98 per cent stake in BPCL to a foreign buyer, and, at the same time, will open the door for FDI in other public sector companies in the oil sector put up for privatisation. “FDI up to 100 per cent will be allowed under the automatic route in cases where a public sector undertaking has received in-principle approval for strategic divestment (in the oil and gas sector),” a government official said.

According to the government’s current FDI policy, 49 per cent FDI is allowed in public sector refining and 100 per cent in the private sector.

The change in the FDI regime was required because most bidders that had shown an interest to acquire BPCL have foreign investment.

MERC POWERS UP E-CAR RACE WITH TESLA

Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler plans to invest more than 40 billion euros by 2030 to be ready to take on Tesla in an all-electric car market, but warned the shift in technology would lead to job cuts. Outlining its strategy for an electric future, the inventor of the modern motor car said on Thursday it would, with partners, build eight battery plants as it ramps up electric vehicle (EV) production.

From 2025, all new vehicle platforms will only make EVs, the German luxury carmaker added. “We really want to go for it ... and be dominantly, if not all electric, by the end of the decade,” CEO Ola Kallenius told Reuters, adding that spending on traditional combustion-engine technology would be “close to zero” by 2025.

However, Daimler — to be renamed Mercedes-Benz as part of plans to spin off its trucks division later this year — stopped short of giving a hard deadline for ending sales of fossil-fuel cars. Some carmakers like Geely-owned Volvo Cars have committed to going all electric by 2030, while General Motors says it aspires to be fully electric by 2035, as they all try to close the gap to Tesla.

ANOTHER ONLINE FRAUD

A 29-year-old woman who tried to buy liquor online for Rs 1,700 was tricked into transferring Rs 1.6 lakh by a cyber fraudster, who posed as a liquor shop employee. The Malad police has registered an FIR.

Around 7 pm on July 14, the couple decided to order liquor from a local store.

In her statement to the police, she said: “My husband asked me to order Blenders Pride from Chincholi wine shop. I searched for its number on Google and called. A fraudster, posing as a wine shop employee, asked me to pay Rs 1,700. I paid the money but he asked me to scan a QR code that I received on WhatsApp saying that it is required for GST payment. I scanned the code and Rs 19,860 got debited from my account.”

When the woman confronted the fraudster, he said that it happened by mistake and sent another QR code. When the woman scanned it, Rs 10 were credited to her account. The fraudster then sent another QR code. This time when she scanned it, Rs 81,200 were debited from her account.

The police said that when the woman called on the number again, the fraudster apologised saying there was some technical issues with her account and asked for another phone number and bank account to refund the money. She gave her husband’s number and received another QR code. When she scanned it, another Rs 79,460 were withdrawn from the account.

The woman again called the number and the fraudster said he was on the way to their home to deliver the liquor and will resolve the issue. However, when no one showed up, the couple went to the liquor store and found out that they were duped by a cyber fraudster, said police.

TOKYO 2020: EXPECT TO SEE SYMBOLS OF PRTEST ON GRAND STAGE

Gwen Berry isn’t coming to Tokyo with a mere medal on her mind. The American hammer thrower is also weighing all her options to stage a protest on the podium, if she was to step on it. She’s done it before. Once, in 2019, Berry raised her fist when the US national anthem started playing as a form of protest against social injustice in her country. And just last month, when The Star-Spangled Banner blared out from the speakers during the US selection trials, she turned her back to the American flag.

“When I get there (Tokyo) I will figure something out,” Berry, who confronted the International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach through a New York Times video op-ed, recently said.

The fist-raising, knee-taking, glass ceiling-breaking athlete activists aren’t content simply by pushing the boundaries of human endeavour. For them, the biggest sporting platform is also a platform to leverage their influence to bring social and political change.

Until the Rio Games five years ago, an IOC rule – Rule 50 – prohibited any kind of demonstration or political/ religious statements at Olympic sites. But weeks after those Games concluded, American football player Colin Kaepernick took a knee before a match to protest social injustice. Kaepernick was ostracised but the trend he set spread like wildfire. Taking a knee before a game in many events is now as common as posing for a pre-match group photo.

The IOC, after initially insisting that the Tokyo Games will remain apolitical, had to relent. They reluctantly announced new rules, which will allow more freedom of expression even though demonstrations will still be prohibited on the medals podium and the field of play.

The players, though, couldn’t care less. On Wednesday, Great Britain’s women’s football team took a knee before their kick-off against Chile, proving that the focus this time will not just be on the athletic performances but also on what happens before and after matches.

INDICATORS

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GBP 0.72 /US$, Euro 0.84 /US$, Jap.Yen 110.16 /US$, Aus$ 1.35 /US$, Sing 1.36 /US$, Bang Taka 83.22 /US$, Can$ 1.25 /US$, Mal Ring 4.22 /US$,

Pak Re 160.28 /US$, Phil Peso 50.08 /US$, Russian Rouble 73.80 /US$, NZ$ 1.43 /US$, Thai Baht 32.83 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 26.94 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 32,601

Dollar Index 92.84 Brent Crude 73.53 BDI 3,103

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,803 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,790 / 4,690, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 71,900

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

One day in retrospect the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful – Sigmund Freud

OFF TRACK

"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways - cognac in one hand - cigar in the other - body thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and screaming - WOO HOO! What a Ride!"