Category: Current Affairs

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Rockets fired at Kabul airport hit residential neighbourhood

Rocket fire apparently targeting Kabul’s international airport struck a nearby neighborhood on Monday, the eve of the deadline for American troops to withdraw from the country’s longest war after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone was hurt. The rockets did not halt the steady stream of U.S. military C-17 cargo jets taking off and landing at Hamid Karzai International Airport in the Afghan capital. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Last week, the Islamic State group launched a devastating suicide bombing at one of the airport gates that killed at least 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members. The airport has been a scene of chaos in the two weeks since the Taliban blitz across Afghanistan took control of the country, nearly 20 years after the initial U.S. invasion that followed the September 11 terrorist attacks. But since the suicide bombing, the Taliban have tightened their security cordon around the airfield, with their fighters seen just up to the last fencing separating them from the runway. In the capital’s Chahr-e-Shaheed neighborhood, a crowd quickly gathered around the remains of a four-door sedan used by the attackers. The car had what appeared to be six homemade rocket tubes mounted in place of backseats. The Islamic State group and other militants routinely mount such tubes into vehicles and quietly transport them undetected close to a target. Some of the rockets landed across town in Kabul’s Salim Karwan neighborhood, striking residential apartment blocks, witnesses said. That neighbourhood is some 3 km from the airport. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Five rockets targeted the airport, said U.S. Navy Capt. Bill Urban, a spokesman for the American military’s Central Command. A defensive weapon known by the acronym C-RAM — a Counter- Rocket, Artillery and Mortar System — targeted the rockets in a whirling hail of ammunition, Urban said. 

Taliban didn’t take away passports: Afghan visa agency 

A week after the Government of India cancelled all existing visas for Afghan nationals wanting to travel to India, and instituted the e-visa only system after reports that Taliban gunmen had stolen many passports, the sole Indian visa agency has denied any passports have been lost or misplaced. In a letter to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), a copy of which The Hindu has seen, owners of Shahir Travel Agency, which has handled Indian visas since 2009, have asked the government to revoke the order dated August 25, and also to expedite the e-visa system to enable genuine cases of students, businesspersons, and others associated with India in the past who could need to leave Afghanistan urgently. We have written to the Government of India with our very legitimate concerns. The problem this fake news has created is that the current personnel in power [Taliban] have been accused of something they did not do and that puts all our Kabul staff in danger. Therefore, we have to publicly and vociferously refute all the fake news in the Indian media, Muhammad Karim, CEO of Shahir Travel Agency (STA), the sole Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) in Kabul, told The Hindu. According to Karim, Taliban representatives now in charge of Kabul had visited their offices, along with other offices and businesses in the city, but at no point were passports containing Indian visas taken by them or misplaced. All the visas that were issued by the Embassy were done so after complete security check in Kabul. NIC (National Informatics Centre of India) maintains details of all visa stickers issued and biometrics captured, the agency’s letter said, adding that the government could match the passport holders at any time required. MEA officials declined to comment on the letter sent by STA. They said it was unlikely that the government would revoke its decision, given uncertainty over the security situation in Afghanistan, and particularly after the deadline for all foreign troops to leave the country expires on Tuesday. As The Hindu has reported earlier, the MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs) has delayed issuing any e-visas, as it is difficult to conduct security checks on applicants without local inputs as the Indian Embassy in Kabul is shut down. On August 27, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the decision to cancel thousands of visas previously issued to Afghan nationals had been made following reports of people raiding one of our outsourcing agencies, where Afghan passports with Indian visas were there, but did not mention who was responsible for the reports. Several media agencies had suggested that the worry was that a Pakistan-backed group or intelligence agencies may have taken the passports in order to use them for terror attacks in India.

NATIONAL NEWS  

Shooter Avani Lekhara and javelin thrower Sumit Antil clinch gold at Paralympics; discus thrower Vinod Kumar loses bronze 

Shooter Avani Lekhara scripted history on August 30 as she became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Paralympics, firing her way to the top of the podium in the R-2 women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event in Tokyo. The 19-year-old finished with a world record equalling total of 249.6, which is also a new Paralympic record. She’s the fourth Indian athlete to win a Paralympics gold after swimmer Murlikant Petkar (1972), javelin thrower Devendra Jhajharia (2004 and 2016) and high jumper Thangavelu Mariyappan (2016). Avani Lekhara became the first Indian woman to win a gold medal at the Paralympics, firing her way to the top of the podium in the R-2 women’s 10m Air Rifle Standing SH1 event. In the SH1 Rifle category, shooters are able to hold a gun with arms. The athletes have an impairment in their legs, for example amputations or paraplegia. Some athletes will compete in a seated position, while others will compete in a standing position. Javelin thrower Sumit Antil clinched India’s second gold, shattering the men’s F64 category world record multiple times in a stunning Games debut performance. The 23-year-old from Sonepat in Haryana, who lost his left leg below the knee after he was involved in a motorbike accident in 2015, sent the spear to 68.55m in his fifth attempt, which was the best of the day by quite a distance and a new world record. In fact, he bettered the previous world record of 62.88m, also set by him, five times on the day. Australian Michal Burian (66.29m) and Sri Lanka’s Dulan Kodithuwakku (65.61m) took the silver and bronze respectively. The F64 category is for athletes with a leg amputation, who compete with prosthetics in a standing position. A student of Delhi’s Ramjas College, Antil was an able-bodied wrestler before his accident, which led to the amputation of his leg below the knee. A para athlete in his village initiated him to the sport in 2018. Meanwhile, discus thrower Vinod Kumar on Monday lost his F52 category bronze medal after being found ineligible in disability classification assessment by the competition panel. The 41-year-old BSF man, whose Army man father was injured during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, produced a best throw of 19.91m to finish third behind Piotr Kosewicz (20.02m) of Poland and Velimir Sandor (19.98m) of Croatia on Sunday. However, the result was challenged by some competitors. The panel was unable to allocate the athlete Vinod Kumar from NPC India with a sport class and the athlete was designated as Classification not Completed (CNC), the organisers said in a statement. The athlete is therefore ineligible for the Men’s F52 Discus medal event and his results in that competition are void, it added. F52 is for athletes with impaired muscle power, restricted range of movement, limb deficiency or leg length difference, with athletes competing in seated position with cervical cord injury, spinal cord injury, amputation, and functional disorder. Para-athletes are classified depending on the type and extent of their disability. The classification system allows athletes to compete with those with a similar level of ability. Vinod’s classification was done on August 22. 

ED records witness statement of Jacqueline Fernandez in Sukesh Chandrasekhar money-laundering case 

The Enforcement Directorate on Monday recorded the witness statement of Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez in a money laundering case against ‘conman’ Sukesh Chandrasekhar. Earlier this month, the agency seized a sea-facing bungalow in Chennai and 16 luxury cars, besides two kg gold, during the searches in connection with a fresh case registered by the Delhi police accusing Sukesh of cheating and extortion. The premises of Sukesh’s wife Leena Maria Paul, a small-time actress in Malyalam films who has also done some roles in Hindi movies, were also searched. The police have alleged that Sukesh had been running the racket from inside Delhi’s Rohini jail where he was lodged. He and his associates allegedly extorted about ₹200 crore from various people. It is alleged that Sukesh arranged mobile phones inside the prison. He used a number-spoofing mobile App to contact his prospective victims, posing as a senior government functionary. The accused cheated many people on the pretext of getting their jobs done. In 2017, Sukesh was arrested by the Delhi police for allegedly taking money from then AIADMK (Amma) leader T.T.V. Dhinakaran on the promise of helping him get the two leaves symbol for his faction.

Maharashtra BJP launches protest demanding reopening of temples 

Alleging that the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government gave more importance to liquor bars than temples, the opposition BJP in Maharashtra staged an aggressive protest demanding the re-opening of temples on Monday. Symbolically blowing conches in their shankhnaad agitation and defying Covid-19 regulations, hundreds of BJP activists and State leaders participated in protests in key temple areas of Pune, Mumbai, Nashik, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Nagpur and Solapur districts flouting pandemic protocols. Alleging that the MVA government was deliberately hurting sentiments of the Hindu community, BJP MLA from Mumbai’s Ghatkopar, Ram Kadam also charged that the government apparently gave permission for other religions for their festivities but was refusing to open temples. Please bear in mind, we are not advocating crowding in front of temples. But the government can certainly devise a system based on the issuance of online passes for lakhs of devotees who have not been able to offer worship at the iconic temples in Pandharpur and Shirdi. When you can make rules for beer bars, then why does this government dither when it comes to re-opening temples, said Kadam. Earlier, a police shield had been stationed outside the famous Siddhi Vinayak Temple to prevent Kadam from holding a protest there. A partner in the coalition government, the Congress hit out at the contradictory stand taken by the BJP government at the Centre and the party’s Maharashtra unit over celebration of festivals and the re-opening of temples amid the looming threat of a third wave of infections. The Congress said that despite the Modi government’s directives on restrictions on festivities, why were Maharashtra BJP leaders pressurising the MVA government to permit festivities and allow temples to be reopened.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Red flags raised on oil palm plans for northeast, Andamans

Given the widespread destruction of rainforests and native biodiversity caused by oil palm plantations in Southeast Asia, environmental experts and politicians are warning that the Centre’s move to promote their cultivation in India’s northeastern States and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands could be disastrous. Other concerns include the impact on community ownership of tribal lands, as well as the fact that the oil palm is a water-guzzling, monoculture crop with a long gestation period unsuitable for small farmers. However, the government says land productivity for palm oil is higher than for oilseeds, with the Agriculture Minister giving an assurance that the land identified for oil palm plantations in northeastern States is already cleared for cultivation. In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week, soon after the launch of the ₹11,040 crore National Mission on Edible Oil-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), Meghalaya MP Agatha Sangma warned that the focus areas were biodiversity hotspots and ecologically fragile and oil palm plantations would denude forest cover and destroy the habitat of endangered wildlife. It could also detach tribespeople from their identity linked with the community ownership of land and wreak havoc on the social fabric, said the National People’s Party. Congress leader and former Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said proposals for large-scale oil palm cultivation had been studied and rejected as part of the technology mission on edible oils in the late 1980s as it was a recipe for ecological disaster. He said that the present proposal of course is designed to benefit Patanjali and Adani, both corporates with interests in edible oil expansion. The palm is an invasive species. It’s not a natural forest product of northeastern India and its impact on our biodiversity as well as on soil conditions has to be analysed even if it is grown in non-forest areas. Any kind of monoculture plantation is not desirable, said Bibhab Talukdar, a biologist who heads the Guwahati-based conservation organisation Aaranyak, advising caution in introducing oil palm.

CBI inquiry found no ‘cognisable offence’ by Anil Deshmukh 

A leaked report of a preliminary inquiry conducted by the CBI reveals that the agency had concluded that no cognisable offence has been committed by Anil Deshmukh, the former Home Minister of Maharashtra. The inquiry was conducted by a CBI team following orders by the Bombay High Court on a criminal writ petition filed by Advocate Jayshri Patil, who had lodged a complaint with Malabar Hill police station in south Mumbai in the wake of the letter written by former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. In his letter, Singh had alleged that Deshmukh had asked former Mumbai Police API Sachin Vaze to collect ₹100 crore from hotel owners in Mumbai. However, based on this inquiry report, the CBI filed an FIR against the former minister. Subsequently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) too initiated a probe against Deshmukh and has summoned him several times to appear for it. Deshmukh is, however, yet to appear before the ED. The CBI report, which has been leaked to the media and has been seen by The Hindu, has now cast doubts over the ongoing investigation by the central agency. According to sources, despite the investigation officer not finding any cognisable offence committed by Deshmukh, an FIR was registered. The CBI is yet to react on the leaked report. According to the CBI report, within two days of his reinstatement in July 2020, Vaze was posted as in charge of Crime Investigation Unit (CIU) by the then Joint CP as per the orders of Parambir Singh. He used to report directly to the police chief, bypassing all channels of hierarchy. The inquiry report stated that after the Antilia case, it came to the knowledge of the then HM (Home minister) that most of the important and sensitive cases were assigned to Sachin Vaze on the directions of Parambir Singh. He was accompanied by Parambir Singh to all the important meetings at CM’s residence. There was no personal interaction of the then HM with Sachin Vaze. There is no proof of any meeting of Sachin Vaze with the then HM at his residence apart from official briefings/purposes in the presence of other officers. There was NO proof of any demand by the then HM or his P.S. Sanjeev Palande for collection of money, the report said. It further noted that, ACP Sanjay Patil and DCP Bhujbal have confirmed in their statements that no such demand for any collection of money was ever made by the then HM directly or through his PS.

Cannot imagine Ayodhya without Ram, says President Ram Nath Kovind 

It is impossible to imagine Ayodhya without Lord Ram, said President Ram Nath Kovind as he visited the Uttar Pradesh town on Sunday to launch several cultural projects. The President also visited the makeshift Ram Janmabhoomi temple and offered prayers there. Ayodhya nagri is not just Prabhu Ram’s janmabhoomi and leelabhoomi but without Ram it is impossible to even imagine about this town, Kovind said. The President was speaking at the inauguration of the Ramayana Conclave and launch of various projects of the Department of Culture and Tourism, U.P.

Crypto money gains traction in adult industry amid OnlyFans drama, potentially paving way for mainstream adoption 

Porn stars, sex workers and others in adult entertainment were taking a closer look at cryptocurrency payments in the wake of a series of troubles with the mainstream financial system, potentially propelling digital currencies into wider use. The latest problem came earlier this month when OnlyFans announced it would ban sexually explicit content on the sex-friendly creator site, only to reverse course days later following a backlash. Nonetheless, the drama could accelerate a move to cryptocurrency to allow anonymous payments to performers outside the banking system. With stricter rules from payment processors and the recent issues with OnlyFans, it’s obvious crypto will be the solution, said British performer Adreena Winters, who is also a brand ambassador for an upcoming crypto-friendly adult content marketplace. Porn has frequently been the factor for new concepts taking off, be it VHS, online credit card payments and even the internet, so I don’t think it’s surprising it is that porn will eventually get crypto to become mainstream. Jeff Dillon, chief development officer at Nafty, a cryptocurrency platform launched this year specifically for the adult industry, said the OnlyFans saga has done more than any marketing we could ever paid for. Dominic Ford, founder of JustFor.Fans, an OnlyFans rival which accepts bitcoin, said crypto represents just a small fraction of transactions on his platform because it is more cumbersome, but suggested this could ramp up quickly if popular money transfer tools adapt. A cryptocurrency that works online and transcends borders seems an obvious evolution like email was the evolution of mail, said Ford.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

U.S. says drone kills suicide bombers targeting Kabul airport

A U.S. drone strike on August 29 struck a vehicle carrying multiple suicide bombers from Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate before they could target the ongoing military evacuation at Kabul’s international airport, American officials said. There were few initial details about the incident, as well as a rocket that struck a neighbourhood just northwest of the airport, killing a child. The two strikes initially appeared to be separate incidents, though information on both remained scarce. The strike came as the United States winds down a historic airlift that saw tens of thousands evacuated from Kabul’s international airport, the scene of much of the chaos that engulfed the Afghan capital since the Taliban took over two weeks ago. After an Islamic State affiliate’s suicide attack that killed over 180 people, the Taliban increased its security around the airfield as Britain ended its evacuation flights on August 28.

As Biden warns of more attacks, U.S. destroys car bomb in Kabul. 

The United States said itdestroyed an explosive-laden vehicle with an air strike in Kabul on Sunday, hours after President Joe Biden warned of another terror attack in the capital as a massive airlift of tens of thousands of Afghans entered its last days. A Taliban spokesman confirmed the incident, saying a car bomb destined for the airport had been destroyed – and that a possible second strike had hit a nearby house. The U.S. said it had only struck the vehicle, but added that secondary blasts indicated a substantial amount of explosive material. Local media reported there may have been civilian casualties. The strike comes after a suicide bomber from the Islamic State group on Thursday targeted U.S. troops stopping huge crowds of people from entering the airport in Kabul, from where about 1,14,000 people have been evacuated since August 15 when the Taliban swept back into power. More than 100 people. Died in the attack, including 13 U.S. service personnel, slowing down the airlift ahead of Mr. Biden’s deadline for evacuations to end by Tuesday. The operation is winding down despite Western powers saying thousands may be left behind.300 Americans remain U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said some 300 Americans still in Afghanis tan were seeking to leave the country. They are not going to be stuck, he told ABC, adding that the U.S. had a mechanism to get them out.The Pentagon said on Saturday that retaliation drone strikes had killed two highlevel IS jihadists in eastern Afghanistan, but Mr. Biden warned of more attacks from the group. The situation on the ground continues to be extremely dangerous, and the threat of terrorist attacks on the airport remains high, Mr. Biden said.Our commanders informed me that an attack is highly likely in the next 2436 hours.The IS attack has forced the U.S. military and the Taliban into a form of cooperationto ensure security at the airport that was unthinkable two weeks ago. On Saturday, Taliban fighters escorted a steady stream of Afghans from buses to the main passenger terminal, handing them over to the U.S. forces for evacuation.The troops were seen throughout the civilian side of the airport grounds and annexe buildings, while U.S. Marines peered at them from the passenger terminal roof. After a 20-year war, the foes were within open sight of each other, separated by just 30 metres.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Duty of public intellectuals to expose the lies of the state: Justice Chandrachud

Public intellectuals have a duty to expose the lies of the state, Supreme Court Justice DY Chandrachud observed, stressing that in a democratic country it is important to hold governments in check and guard against falsehoods. The SC judge was delivering the 6th Chief Justice M.C. Chagla Memorial Lecture, when he cautioned against an over-reliance on the government to provide social, political, economic, cultural and, in the current context, medical truths. He also highlighted the importance of a press that is free from influence of any kind political or economic to ensure that governments can truly be held to account for actions and policies. One cannot rely only on the State for truth. Totalitarian governments are known for their constant reliance on falsehoods to consolidate power we see there is an increasing trend among countries around the world to manipulate COVID-19 data, Justice Chandrachud said. His remarks come in the wake of concerns expressed by experts, activists and journalists that governments may have fudged Covid data to hide the true spread of infections. The phenomenon of fake news is on the rise. The WHO (World Health Organization) recognized this during the COVID pandemic calling it infodemic. Human beings have a tendency to get attracted to sensational news which are often based on falsehoods, he explained. This is the second time in this month that judges of the Supreme Court have asked the public to be cautious. On Independence Day, CJI Ramanna had criticised the functioning of the Parliament, saying there was no clarity in laws. Now we see legislations with lot of gaps, and lot of ambiguity in making laws, Justice Ramana said at the Independence Day ceremony organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association. We don’t know for what purpose are the laws being made which is creating a lot of litigation, inconvenience and loss to the government and inconvenience to the public.

ED goes after Abhishek Bannerjee

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) which comes under the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, has summoned Trinamool Congress national general secretary, Abhishek Banerjee, also the nephew of chief minister Mamata Bannerjee, in connection with a money laundering and coal scam case. The ED, it is learnt, has also summoned Abhishek Banerjee’s wife Rujira Naroola Banerjee as well, setting the stage for another confrontation between the Centre and West Bengal. Mamata Bannerjee charged the Centre of petty, vindictive politics reminding The BJP once again of the losses suffered in the Assembly elections. When the BJP government in Delhi cannot compete with us in politics, they use agencies, Ms Bannerjee said at a recent public event. Challenging the BJP to fight against her party politically, the Chief Minister said, Why are you unleashing the ED against us. Against your one case we will raise bagfuls. We know how to fight back. We know the history of Gujarat. Stepping up the counter attack, Banerjee pointed out that allocation of rights for natural resources like coal comes under the purview of the central government. No use pointing fingers at the Trinamool for corruption in coal. It is under the Centre. What about its ministers? What about the BJP leaders who looted the coal belt of Bengal, the Asansol region, she said on the occasion of the party’s foundation day programme. PTI reports that Abhishek Banerjee, 33, who represents the Diamond Harbour seat in Lok Sabha, has been summoned to appear before the investigating officer of the case in New Delhi on September 6, while his wife  Rujira has been sent a similar summon under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) for September 1. Rujira had earlier been grilled by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the case. Some Indian Police Service (IPS) officers and a lawyer linked to Abhishek Banerjee have also been summoned to appear on different dates next month in the same case, the officials said. The Bengal coal smuggling case, which had led to the arrest of several middle-men, refers to the mining and smuggling of coal worth Rs 20,000 crore across the borders of the states to Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Bihar, allegedly with the help of government officials in collusion with politicians.

Bhavina goes for gold.

And, in the ongoing Tokyo Paralympic Games, paddler Bhavinaben Patel has her sights fixed on gold after she entered the finals beating silver medalist of Rio Olympics, Zhang Mia of China in the semi-final of the Women’s Singles Class 4 category at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games on Saturday. Bhavinaben won 7-11, 11-7, 11-4, 9-11, 11-8 in a match that lasted 34, to enter the final gold medal match. She will now face World No.1 Zhou Ying of China. Patel was quoted as saying, I don’t consider myself as disabled, I am always confident I can do anything and today I also proved that we are not behind and para table tennis is as ahead as other sports. This is a very, very, very big achievement for me. People say that to beat China (in table tennis) is impossible but I’ve proven today that nothing is impossible. Everything is possible if you want to do (it), Bhavinaben said in a video posted on Twitter by public broadcaster Doordarshan. When asked if she had expected to make it this far coming into the Paralympics, Bhavinaben told SAI Media, No, I just thought that whatever match comes, I have to give it my 100%. And that’s what I’ve been doing. When you give 100%, a medal will come.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Taliban largely seal off Kabul airport as airlift winds down

The crowds kept coming to the Kabul Airport to flee from the Taliban as the US and its allies began winding up rescue operations. Italy said its final evacuation flight had landed in Rome but that it would work with the United Nations and countries bordering Afghanistan to continue helping Afghans who had worked with its military contingent to leave the country. Our imperative must be to not abandon the Afghan people, especially women and children, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Saturday. He said 4,890 Afghans were evacuated by Italy’s air force on 87 flights, but did not say how many others were still eligible. The U.S. and its allies have said they will continue providing humanitarian aid through the U.N. and other partners, but any broader engagement including development assistance is likely to hinge on whether the Taliban deliver on their promises of more moderate rule. A U.N. agency meanwhile warned that a worsening drought threatens the livelihoods of more than 7 million people. The Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization said Afghans are also suffering from the coronavirus pandemic and displacement from the recent fighting. The Taliban deployed extra forces around Kabul’s airport on Saturday to prevent large crowds from gathering after a devastating suicide attack two days earlier, as the massive U.S.-led airlift wound down ahead of an August 31 deadline. Agencies reported on the new layers of checkpoints that have sprung up on roads leading to the airport, some manned by uniformed Taliban fighters with Humvees and night-vision goggles captured from Afghan security forces. Areas where large crowds of people have gathered over the past two weeks in hopes of fleeing the country following the Taliban takeover were largely empty. A suicide attack on Thursday by an Islamic State affiliate killed 169 Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, and there are concerns that the group, which is far more radical than the Taliban, could strike again. Many Western nations have completed their evacuation operations ahead of Tuesday’s deadline for the withdrawal of all U.S. forces. More than 1,00,000 people have been safely evacuated through the Kabul airport, according to the U.S., but thousands more are struggling to leave and may not make it out by Tuesday. In Kabul, hundreds of protesters, including many civil servants, gathered outside a bank while countless more lined up at cash machines. The protesters said they had not been paid for the past three to six months and were unable to withdraw cash. ATM machines are still operating, but withdrawals are limited to around $200 every 24 hours. The Taliban cannot access almost any of the central bank’s $9 billion in reserves, most of which is held by the New York Federal Reserve. The International Monetary Fund has also suspended the transfer of some $450 million. 

Biden :China still withholding ‘critical’ details on virus origins. 

President Joe Biden said on Friday that China was withholding critical information on the origins of COVID-19 after the U.S. intelligence community said it did not believe the virus was a bioweapon – but remained split on whether it escaped from a lab. The U.S ., however, does not believe Chinese officials had foreknowledge of the virus before the initial outbreak of the pandemic that has now claimed 4.5 million lives, according to the unclassified summary of an eagerly awaited intelligence report. Critical information about the origins of this pandemic exists in the People’s Republic of China, yet from the beginning, government officials in China have worked to prevent international investigators and members of the global public health community from accessing it, Mr. Biden said in a statement. To this day, the PRC continues to reject calls for transparency and withhold information, even as the toll of this pandemic continues to rise. U.S. intelligence has ruled out that the coronavirus was developed as a weapon, and most agencies assess with low confidence it was not genetically engineered. But the community remains divided on the pathogen’s origins, with four agencies and the National Intelligence Council judging in favour of natural exposure to an animal as the likely explanation, and one agency favoring the lab leak theory. Analysts at three agencies were unable to reach a conclusion. The intelligence community and global scientists lack clinical samples or epidemiological data from the earliest Covid-19 cases, it added. Mr. Biden said the U.S. would continue to work with allies to press Beijing to share more information.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Half a million more may flee Afghanistan: UNHCR

The U.N. refugee agency is gearing up for as many as half a million people or more to flee from Afghanistan in a worse-case scenario in the coming months. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said that the situation in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover last week remains uncertain and may evolve rapidly, with up to 515,000 new refugees fleeing. The agency said that would add to the 2.2 million Afghans who are already registered as refugees abroad nearly all of them in Pakistan and Iran. The upsurge of violence across the country and the fall of the elected government may have a serious impact on civilians and cause further displacement, the plan said. The agency cited estimates that 558,000 people have been internally displaced within Afghanistan due to armed conflict this year alone – four in five of them women and children. UNHCR estimates that the number of displaced will rise, both internally and across border, it said. Najeeba Wazedafost, CEO of the Asia Pacific Refugee Network, in an online UNHCR news conference on Friday, warned of coming darkness in Afghanistan amid a tragically intertwined series of crises. The U.N. agency is seeking nearly $300 million for its response plan for inter-agency requirements. Meanwhile, official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Arindam Bagchi said today that there was no clarity on ‘any entity’ forming a government in Afghanistan, Addressing a press conference, he observed that India was waiting to see how inclusive the next government in Kabul would be. The situation on the ground was uncertain, he noted. Currently, there is no clarity on any entity forming a government in Kabul. There have been a lot of stories going around about who will be represented in the government and whether the government will be inclusive, which is another question, and whether other elements of the Afghan polity will be represented in that, he stated. Explaining that India was aware of the dialogue currently underway on government formation in Kabul, he said that the issue of recognition of the Taliban amounted to jumping the gun in view of the fluid situation.

 

New urgency in evasituation

Evacuation flights from Afghanistan resumed with new urgency on Friday, a day after a suicide bombing targeted the thousands of people desperately fleeing a Taliban takeover and killed more than 100. The U.S. warned more attacks could come ahead of next week’s end to America’s longest war. The U.S. said more than 1,00,000 people have been safely evacuated from Kabul, but thousands more are struggling to leave in one of history’s largest airlifts. President Joe Biden has pledged to continue the evacuation of Americans and others from Talibancontrolled Afghanistan, and the Pentagon said more than 12,000 people were airlifted from Kabul in the last 24 hours, as of Friday morning. More people hoping to flee arrived on Friday at the airport, though in one area Taliban fighters set up a cordon about 500 m away. Britain has evacuated almost 14,000 U.K. citizens and Afghans from Kabul in the two-week operation,but the final flights are departing on Friday. Hundreds of U.K. Troops at the airport are due to leave in the next few days. U.K. Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said that about 1,000 Afghans authorized to come to Britain, and about 150 U.K. citizens, have not made it to the airport and will likely be left behind. Italy’s last evacuation flight from Kabul left Afghanistan on Friday, ending the country’s airlift operation, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said. The French European Affairs Minister, Clement Beaune, said the country will end its operation soon.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Navjot Singh Sidhu’s adviser Malvinder Singh Mali quits 

Under fire for his controversial comments on Kashmir, Malvinder Singh Mali on August 27 quit as adviser to Punjab Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu. However, Mali did not term it as a resignation. In a statement posted on his Facebook page, Mali said, I humbly submit that I withdraw my consent given for tendering suggestions to Navjot Singh Sidhu. Mali, in another Facebook post claimed that the question of his resignation does not arise as he never accepted the post. Neither accepted any post, nor resigned from any post, Mali said in a post in Punjabi. Amid a power tussle in Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had asked Sidhu on August 22 to rein in his advisers after two of them made atrocious comments recently on sensitive issues like Kashmir and Pakistan. AICC general secretary Harish Rawat, who is in charge of Punjab affairs, had also said that the two advisers need to go. Sidhu on August 11 had appointed Mali, a former government teacher and political analyst, and Pyare Lal Garg, a former registrar of Baba Farid University of Health and Sciences, as his advisers to seek their wise counsel. In a recent social media post, Mali had waded into the issue of revocation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. He had reportedly said if Kashmir was a part of India, then what was the need to have Articles 370 and 35A. He had also said, Kashmir is a country of Kashmiri people. Garg, another adviser of Sidhu, had reportedly questioned the Chief Minister’s criticism of Pakistan. The Chief Minister had warned against such atrocious and ill-conceived comments that were potentially dangerous to the peace and stability of the state and the country.

Congress’s leadership crisis in Chhattisgarh continues; Rahul Gandhi to visit State next week

No clear announcement on the leadership question in Chhattisgarh was forthcoming at the end of a nearly four-hour-long parley between Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Baghel told the reporters at the end of the meeting that on his invitation, Gandhi has agreed to come to Chhattisgarh. He ducked questions on the reported assurance given by former Congress President Rahul Gandhi to Health Minister T S Singh Deo that the term of chief ministership would be split between him and Deo. Baghel claimed that this issue was clarfiied three days back by the state in-charge PL Punia. Our state in-charge PL Punia has already amply clarified the position on this issue. Once he has spoken, what else can I say, Baghel said. Punia on Tuesday had claimed that there was no discussion on a change of leadership in the state. But Punia’s assurance did little to settle the speculation. Baghel said that during the meeting both political and administrative issues of the state were discussed. At the end of the meeting, I requested Gandhi to visit the state to see our work and he gladly accepted the invitation. He will be coming next week, Baghel said. On the question of whether he will continue as the Chief Minister, Baghel said that he invited Gandhi in his position as the Chief Minister of the state. General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal and Punia were also present at the meeting. Sources said that on Tuesday, Vadra, who was not in Delhi, could not attend the meeting and Baghel was asked to return to the capital for another round in her presence. While Gandhi is bound by his reported promise to Deo, Vadra, senior leaders claim, is in favour of continuing with Baghel. Being the party’s lead OBC face, Vadra, according to sources, expressed the view that a change in leadership just ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls where each party is pursuing the OBC vote, would send the wrong message.  Meanwhile, in a show of strength, 55 of the 70 Congress legislators who support Baghel are camping in Delhi and had two rounds of meeting with Chhattisgarh state in-charge PL Punia. By the evening, the legislators had moved to the party headquarter at 24 Akbar road. All day long the MLAs lobbied for him. On Thursday night, 26 MLAs supporting him arrived in a chartered airplane to the Capital. We went directly to Punia’s home at around 11:00 pm. He had already slept. We woke him up and told him that the decision on who should be the Chief Minister should be left to us since it is we who have to face elections and not any leader sitting in Delhi, one of the legislators said. Following the meeting between Baghel and Gandhi, the legislators have decided to return to Chhattisgarh. Gandhi is coming to Raipur and Bastar. So we have decided to return to prepare for his visit, Bilaspur MLA Devendra Yadav told. 

Mekedatu dam: Tamil Nadu moves Supreme Court

The Tamil Nadu government has urgently moved the Supreme Court seeking judicial orders to restrain Karnataka from proceeding with any activity in regard to the proposed construction of a reservoir at Mekedatu across the inter-State Cauvery river. The application, drawn by advocate G. Umapathy, vetted by Tamil Nadu Advocate General R. Shanmugasundaram and filed by advocate D. Kumanan, stated that the planning of the Mekedatu project by Karnataka with a capacity of 67.16 TMC ft. and generation of 400 MW project worth ₹9,000 crore was in gross violation of the decision of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal of February 5, 2007, which was affirmed by the Supreme Court itself on February 16, 2018. The entire objective of the Tribunal’s final decision is to ensure that the pattern of the release of water to the downstream State to meet irrigation interests is not jeopardised, Tamil Nadu said. It submitted that Karnataka unilaterally, despite the Tribunal and apex court decisions, sent a feasibility report of the Mekedatu project to the Central Water Commission (CWC), which proceeded to entertain the proposal. The proposed reservoir would result in the impounding of the flows generated in the Cauvery river from the uncontrolled catchment of the Kabini sub-basin downstream of the Kabini reservoir, the catchment of Cauvery river downstream of KRS dam, uncontrolled flows from Shimsha, Arkavathy and Suvarnavathy sub-basins and various other small streams, which are the sources to ensure 177.25TMC at Billigundlu, the State application stated. The proposed construction of the reservoir by Karnataka would have a cascading effect on the daily and monthly inflows during the crucial months of June to September and prejudice the livelihood of lakhs of inhabitants of Tamil Nadu depending on the flows from the upstream in Karnataka, it said. Further any new scheme contemplated should be taken up only with the consent of the other basin States as they are vitally affected by the unilateral action of the upper riparian State, Tamil Nadu pressed. The State urged the Supreme Court to direct the CWC to reject and return the detailed project report for the proposed Mekedatu balancing reservoir-cum-drinking water project filed by Karnataka on January 18, 2019. It also requested the court to restrain the Environment Ministry and its agencies from entertaining any application for clearance relating to the Mekedatu project.

SC urged to ‘expeditiously’ begin hearing pleas on Article 370 abrogation 

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and spokesperson of the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration M.Y. Tarigami has urged the Supreme Court to expeditiously begin hearing petitions challenging the Centre’s abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of the State of Jammu and Kashmir into Union Territories (UTs), saying the government was taking irreversible actions that may render the pending case infructuous. Several petitions, including one by Tarigami, have been waiting in the Supreme Court for nearly two years. The petitions were referred to a five-judge Bench in August 2019 by the then Chief Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi. The case was last listed before a Constitution Bench led by Justice Gogoi’s successor, Chief Justice S.A. Bobde (now retired), on March 2, 2020. The other four judges on the Constitution Bench are Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, R. Subhash Reddy, B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant. The petitions challenged a Presidential Order of August 5 that blunted Article 370. The Article had accorded special rights and privileges to the people of Jammu and Kashmir since 1954 in accordance with the Instrument of Accession. The special status was bestowed by incorporating Article 35A in the Constitution. Article 35A was incorporated by an order of President Rajendra Prasad in 1954 on the advice of the Jawaharlal Nehru Cabinet. Parliament was not consulted when the President incorporated Article 35A into the Constitution through a Presidential Order issued under Article 370. Following the abrogation, the Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Act of 2019 came into force and bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into UTs without a Legislative Assembly. Immediately after August 5, 2019, a strict security lockdown was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir that last over a year, along with a communication blackout and months-long Internet shutdown, Tarigami, represented by advocate P.V. Dinesh, submitted.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Two major explosions outside Kabul airport, hand of Islamic State suspected

The U.S. military confirmed a large explosion on Thursday outside the Kabul airport in Afghanistan, where the United States and other countries have been evacuating tens of thousands of people. Subsequently, a second explosion was reported outside Baron Hotel, also near the Kabul airport. We can confirm an explosion outside Kabul airport. Casualties are unclear at this time. We will provide additional details when we can, said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. Unconfirmed reports put the explosion at the airport’s main Abbey Gate, where thousands of people have massed over the past 12 days hoping to be evacuated after the Taliban seized power. Other reports located it close to the Baron Hotel near the gate, which Western nations had used to stage some evacuations. U.S. and allied officials have said they had intelligence that suicide bombers tied to the Afghan arm of the Islamic State group the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) were threatening to attack the airport ahead of Washington’s August 31 deadline to finalise the evacuation. Early on Thursday Kabul time, Western nations warned their citizens to immediately leave the surrounds of the airport over a terrorist threat, as thousands of people tried to reach a dwindling number of evacuation flights. Those at the Abbey Gate, East Gate, or North Gate now should leave immediately, said the US State Department. Britain’s Armed Force Minister James Heappey said on Thursday a terrorist threat against the airport was imminent. Reporting over the week has become ever more credible. And it is of an imminent and severe threat to life, Heappey said. Most member nations of the U.S.-led coalition said on Thursday they had wound up or would soon end their own evacuation flights from Hamid Karzai International Airport. The total number of people who have been taken out of the US-controlled hub since the international airlift began on August 14 hit 95,700 on Thursday, including both Afghans and foreign nationals. President Joe Biden said Tuesday that the United States would stick to its deadline of withdrawing all troops from Afghanistan by August 31, to end the two-decade US-led war there. Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry said a suicide attack outside Kabul airport killed at least two people and wounded 15, AP reported. It was the first official report specifying a number of casualties.

Taliban stops 140 Hindu, Sikh Afghans from leaving Kabul 

At least 140 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus and others have been stopped by the Taliban from going to the Kabul airport, said president of the Indian World Forum Puneet Singh, who has been coordinating the evacuation with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Indian Air Force (IAF). The development has forced a delay in the departure of a special IAF aircraft, which has been waiting at the Kabul airport since Wednesday. The Indian World Forum said the Taliban turned back the passengers from outside the airport on Wednesday night. The Hindu had reported that around 200 Hindus and Sikhs of Afghanistan, including other citizens of the country, were scheduled to arrive in the Hindon airbase by Thursday morning. But the movement has been stopped, as the Taliban reportedly blocked those approaching the airport. The Taliban has been urging Afghan nationals not to leave the country and work with the Islamic Emirate that it aims to set up in the coming weeks. Sources said India had moved out a total of 565 stranded individuals from Afghanistan since evacuation flights began. This included 175 personnel of the Indian embassy, 263 other Indian nationals, and 112 Afghan nationals, including Hindus and Sikhs. The Hindu was informed that multiple checkpoints by various armed militant groups, overflight clearances from different countries, and delay in landing permissions have been the major problems posing a challenge to the evacuation process. The biggest challenge, however, came from the frequent firing near the airport and inside.

 

NATIONAL NEWS 

Baghel summoned again by Congress’s central leadership 

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has been summoned again by the Congress’s central leadership and he is expected to be in Delhi on Friday amidst the continuing power struggle between him and State Health Minister T.S. Singh Deo. Party sources did not rule out a change of guard in the State, though Baghel is resisting it. On Tuesday, Baghel and Deo met former Congress president Rahul Gandhi to resolve the issue. Deo has invoked the assurance made by Gandhi when he was leading the party in 2018 that he (Deo) will be handed over the reins of the State halfway through the government tenure. Following the meeting, party’s State-in-charge P.L. Punia told reporters that the leadership change issue was not discussed, indicating Baghel will continue. The Congress has 68 MLAs in the 90 member Assembly and its central leadership is said to be assessing the risk of effecting a leadership change. Gandhi is reportedly eager that the mid-course change of guard agreed upon by both leaders must be honoured. With the party’s position numerically very strong in the Assembly, the party high command is confident that a rebellion by either Deo or Baghel can be reined in. Baghel returned to Chhattisgarh on Wednesday to a rousing welcome at the airport by his supporters and loyalist MLAs. All along Thursday, more than 30 MLAs paid him a visit. Deo, on the other hand, continued to stay in Delhi. Sources close to him said he was told to remain in the Capital for further meetings. On Wednesday, he met party general secretary K.C. Venugopal, who has been entrusted with the responsibility of arriving at a compromise formula. Deo said, If a person plays in a team, then he can aspire to be the captain too. It’s not about his thoughts or aspirations. It’s about his capabilities and it is for the high command to take a decision. Venugopal has a tough job on his hands, with both sides refusing to cede space. Sources said it was suggested that except for the Chief Minister’s post, Deo could be given other concessions, including admitting his loyalists in the Cabinet and weeding out those against him. He was also offered the Deputy Chief Minister’s post, but he is not too keen to take it up. On the other hand, Baghel also remains adamant on not changing the composition of his Cabinet.

Can PM-CARES Fund spare money to help children affected by Covid-19 stay in school, SC asks Centre 

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre whether it can immediately release funds from the PM-CARES Fund for the education of children who have been orphaned or have lost legal guardians or either of their parents during the pandemic. A Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose highlighted that education was a fundamental right of children. Children needed to stay in school. It was especially anxious about the future of children who studied in private schools, where the fee may be on the higher side, and had lost their parents after the Covid-19 virus began disrupting lives since March 2020. Children should not lose the benefits of education because of the pandemic… Can the PM-CARES Fund come forward and immediately release some funds for the education of these children at least for the year? Is there any facility for that? Justice Rao asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, for the Centre. Justice Rao said the Centre could coordinate with the States and help with the funds for education of children. Justice Rao asked Bhati to enquire with the Central authorities about the release of funds later in the day so that the court could pass an appropriate order. We can say that the States can contact the Central government for funds for the education of these children… the Bench observed.

SC orders shifting ex-Unitech bosses from Tihar jail to Mumbai prisons after discovery of their ‘secret underground office’  

The Supreme Court Thursday directed that erstwhile Unitech promoters Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra be shifted from Tihar Jail in Delhi to Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail and Taloja jail in Maharashtra. A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said that two reports of Enforcement Directorate about the conduct of Sanjay and Ajay and connivance of Tihar jail staff in flouting the orders and undermining the jurisdiction of the court have raised some serious and disturbing issues. It directed that Delhi Police Commissioner personally hold inquiry forthwith about the conduct of Tihar Jail staff with regard to the Chandras and submit the report to the court within four weeks. Making a startling revelation in the Supreme Court, the ED said it has unearthed a secret underground office which was being operated by erstwhile Unitech founder Ramesh Chandra and visited by his sons Sanjay and Ajay when on parole or bail. The ED, which has been investigating money-laundering charges against the Chandras’ and Unitech Ltd, said in its report that both Sanjay and Ajay have rendered the entire judicial custody meaningless as they have been freely communicating, instructing their officials and disposing of properties from inside the jail in connivance with the prison staff there.

 

DGCA lifts ban on Boeing 737 MAX airplanes 

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday cleared the decks for operating Boeing 737 MAX upon satisfactory compliance to applicable requirements for return of service. The order, ending more than two years of grounding, would come into immediate effect, aviation sources said. The DGCA had, effective March 13, 2019, banned the operation of two makes of Boeing airplanes following two fatal accidents involving Boeing 737 Max airplanes (Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302) and directed that, for the purpose of securing safety, operation of Boeing 737-8 and 737-9 would not take place from/to Indian airports and transit or enter into Indian airspace. In April, the order was relaxed to the extent that foreign-registered Boeing 737 Max aircraft, which were grounded in India due to the ban, were permitted to fly out of the country. Also, overflying foreign registered Boeing 737 Max aircraft were allowed to fly over Indian airspace. However, commercial operations in the country remained prohibited. The decision now to allow the operation of the airplanes was taken after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an Airworthiness Directive on November 18, 2020, mandating actions for Boeing 737 Max airplanes to return to service. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) also issued the Airworthiness Directive on February 17, 2021. The move followed certain design changes by Boeing. After the grounding order for the airplanes was rescinded by FAA and EASA, the regulatory authority closely monitored the global trend on removal of ban. World-wide 17 regulators have permitted operation of Boeing 737 Max airplanes. A sizeable number of airlines (34) with B737 airplane (345) are operating currently and have attained 1,22,824 departures with 2,89,537 cumulative hours since the ungrounding from December 9, 2020, with no untoward reporting, the DGCA said in an order.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Pegasus row: Supreme Court asks Bengal to wait and not go ahead with judicial inquiry

The Supreme Court on Wednesday urged the West Bengal government to wait and not go ahead with a separate judicial inquiry into the Pegasus snooping allegations when the apex court is already seized of the issue. A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana and Justice Surya Kant did not pass a formal order staying the work of the government-appointed commission of inquiry after senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi gave an oral assurance to convey the apex court’s message of restraint to the government. The commission of inquiry comprises retired Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B. Lokur and retired Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, Justice Jyotirmay Bhattacharya. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the petitioner, an NGO called ‘Global Village Foundation’, submitted that there cannot be a parallel inquiry when the apex court was hearing the issue. The petition has challenged the government notification, which appointed the commission in July. It said the commission has no jurisdiction to embark on such an inquiry. Salve submitted that a public notice was issued by the commission of inquiry and proceedings were taking place on a day-to-day basis. The Bench said it may take up the Pegasus cases next week and pass a comprehensive order. It tagged the petition with the Pegasus cases pending before it. Justice Kant said any decision in the Pegasus issue would likely have a pan-India impact. The Supreme Court issued a pre-admission notice to the Centre on August 17 on petitions seeking an independent enquiry into the charges that the government used the Israeli-based spyware to snoop on journalists, activists, dissenters, parliamentarians, Ministers and other citizens. After issuing the notice, a Bench of CJI Ramana, Justices Kant and Aniruddha Bose said it would consider the further course of action, including the formation of a committee to inquire into the allegations, in due time. The notice was issued after the government, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, stood firm by its two-page affidavit, denying all and any allegations. Mehta had said any revelation about any software allegedly used by government to counter terrorism would compromise national security.

Won’t take action against Narayan Rane in FIR till Sept. 17, Maharashtra govt tells HC 

The Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that no coercive action would be taken till September 17 against Union Minister Narayan Rane in the FIR registered at Nashik for making a ‘slap’ remark against Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Rane moved a division bench of justices S.S. Shinde and N.J. Jamadar to quash the FIR registered at the Nashik cyber police station on Tuesday and sought no coercive action against him. Advocate Satish Maneshinde, appearing for Rane, told the court that there were multiple FIRs against him, and he would amend the petition with all the details. Senior advocate Amit Desai, representing the government, said no action would be taken against him in the Nashik FIR till September 17. Rane, Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, in the petition filed through advocate Aniket Nikam has urged that he is innocent and falsely implicated in this crime. The plea mentions, The investigation in the said crime is completed and nothing remains to be investigated. FIRs at various police stations against Rane for the same series of transactions is nothing but causing harassment and multiplicity of litigation. On Monday, while addressing a ‘Jan Ashirvad Yatra’ of the BJP in Raigad district, Rane said Thackeray forgot the year of Independence during his August 15 address to people and had he been present at the spot, he would have slapped the Chief Minister.

Supreme Court directive to HC on Asthana’s appointment as Delhi Police chief 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Delhi High Court to decide the legality of Gujarat cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana’s appointment as Delhi Police Commissioner preferably within two weeks. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana allowed NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL), represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan, to intervene in the case in the High Court. The order was passed when Bhushan’s case, also challenging the Asthana appointment, came up for hearing before the apex court Bench. The identical case pending before the High Court has been filed by a Delhi-based advocate, Sadre Alam. As soon as the hearing began before the CJI Bench, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Supreme Court about Alam’s case in the High Court. He said the apex court should allow the High Court to decide that petition first. Bhushan initially resisted. He said the petition in the High Court was filed after his client had moved the apex court. It was a word to word, copy-paste of the CPIL’s plea. There is this spectre of ambush petitions filed in collusion with the government in order to disable genuine petitions, he submitted. Mehta retorted, Less said the better about professional PIL litigants who file surrogate petitions. However, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud assuaged the situation by highlighting how the court has given Bhushan’s client permission to intervene in the High Court proceedings. We have given you the liberty to file a substantive petition in the High Court so that you don’t have to, if such a situation arises, wait for the other petitioner [Alam], though he is the dominuslitis, to file an appeal in the Supreme Court, he explained to Bhushan. Meanwhile, the CJI raised the issue of his participation in the CPIL case. He referred to how the CPIL petition alluded to the fact that his views based on law in a high-powered meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Opposition leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had led to Asthana’s exit from the list of contenders for the CBI Director post in May. The CJI had at the time informed the committee about the Supreme Court judgment that only officers with a minimum residual tenure of six months ought to be considered for appointment as CBI Director. Asthana was scheduled to retire in July, leaving him with less than six months of service. During the hearing, Bhushan said the appointment of Asthana, merely four days before his superannuation, was egregious and a brazen violation of every law, every norm. The CPIL said the Centre violated the apex court’s directions in the Prakash Singh judgment as Asthana did not have a minimum residual tenure of six months before retirement. The Centre did not bother to form a Union Public Services Commission panel for the appointment of the Delhi Police chief. Again, the government ignored the criterion laid down by the court in the judgment that candidates should have a minimum tenure of two years. The CPIL petition has urged the court to cancel the order of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by the Prime Minister on July 27, granting Asthana inter-cadre deputation from Gujarat to AGMUT cadre. It has asked the court to direct the government to take steps for a fresh appointment strictly in accordance with the directions of the apex court in the Prakash Singh case. The central government did not have the power under Rule 3 of All India Services (Conditions of Service- Residuary Matters) Rules, 1960 to relax Rule 16(1) of the All India Services (Death-Cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules, 1958 to give extension to Rakesh Asthana, the CPIL noted.

There are forces that want to end my career, alleges J& Kashmir cricket captain Parvez Rasool

Once the posterboy of cricket in Kashmir, earning praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, cricketer and captain of the J&K team Parvez Rasool, who hails from the small town of Bijbehara in south Kashmir, is distraught by an e-mail written by a Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)-appointed sub-committee member seeking to nail him down. I fail to understand why I am being targeted. It’s clear the intention is to tarnish my image and ruin my future. It seems there are forces who want to end my career. The mail of a sub-committee member talking about ‘nailing me down’ has disturbed me mentally, Rasool, the first cricketer from Kashmir to play for Team India (in 2014) and join Indian Premier League (IPL) teams, told. Rasool was referring to the email he received inadvertently from Brigadier Anil Gupta, member, administration, J&K Cricket Association, on July 26, in which he addresses coach Majid Dar with a short message: Do we have any proof to nail him down, a copy of which is with them. In  a subsequent email, though, Brig. Gupta praises Rasool, saying, JKCA has high regards for your cricketing achievements and wish you all the best for the future. However, Brig. Gupta also accuses Rasool of not returning equipment belonging to the JKCA. Earlier, in another mail, Brig. Gupta asks Rasool to return a pitch roller or face police action. Please keep me out of this as I reiterate that I have not taken any machinery from the JKCA. In case you have any receipt, please enlighten me…I assure you my support for the betterment of J&K cricket, as a cricketer who has given his life to it, reads the reply from Rasool, who alleges unnecessary victimisation after a new sub-committee was constituted in the JKCA. Three months ago, a three-member administrative sub-committee was constituted by the BCCI to look after the affairs of the JKCA and resolve the long-pending dispute between 30 cricket clubs and 20 district-level teams in the Union Territory. It is headed by Brig. Gupta, a BJP spokesperson according to his Twitter account; advocate Sunil Sethi, also a BJP leader who shot into limelight during the Amarnath land row agitation in 2008; and former cricketer Mithun Manhas, who owns the Jammu Cricket Club. However, the committee’s functioning came in for criticism from several members of the JCC. A joint letter by them to Brig. Gupta demands strict compliance with the Lodha Committee recommendations, which bars any politician from being a member of the BCCI committees.

Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments 

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,25,15,843 with the death toll at 4,35,854. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday said more than two crore additional Covid-19 vaccine doses are being made available to States this month to vaccinate all school teachers on priority before Teachers’ Day on September 5. Schools across the country were closed in March last year ahead of a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus infection. The Centre had allowed the reopening of schools as per the Covid-19 situation in October last year. While several States began partial reopening of schools, there was a complete closure again in April when an aggressive second wave of Covid-19 hit the country. With an improvement in the COVID-19 situation again, several States have begun reopening schools now, even as concerns have been expressed over the staff and teachers not being completely vaccinated. In addition to the plan to provide vaccines to every state this month, more than 2 crore vaccine doses are being made available. We have requested all states to try to vaccinate all school teachers on priority before Teachers’ Day, which is celebrated on September 5, Mandaviya said in a tweet in Hindi. In line with the announcement made by the Union Health Minister, more than 2 crore additional vaccine doses will be dispatched to the States from August 27 to 31 to vaccinate school teachers and non-teaching staff on a priority basis, an official release said.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

India anticipated Taliban takeover: Gen. Rawat India anticipated the takeover of Kabul by the Taliban, said Chief of Defence Staff  Speaking at a think tank event, he observed that India was ready to deal with a possible upsurge in terror activities that may be an indirect outcome of the victory of the Taliban. Everything that has happened was something that had been anticipated, only the timelines have changed. From the Indian perspective, we were anticipating the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, said Gen Rawat at the event titled The India-US Partnership: Securing the 21st Century by the Observer Research Foundation. The event was attended by the Commander of US Indo-Pacific Command (US-INDOPACOM) Admiral John C. Aquilino, who also met the Tri-Service chiefs and Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar. Gen. Rawat expressed India’s concern over a possible increase in terror activities following the arrival of the Taliban fighters in Kabul. India’s contingency planning had been ongoing and the Indian forces were prepared for that, he asserted. He expressed surprise over the fast pace at which the Taliban moved into various cities of Afghanistan and captured Kabul. The timeline has surprised us because we were anticipating this happening, may be a couple of months down the line.

Kamala Harris reaches Hanoi after ‘Havana syndrome’ delay. 

Vice-President Kamala Harris began a visit to Vietnam on Wednesday to stress U.S. commitment to Asia, a trip critics have slammed as tone-deaf given the parallels with the superpower’s evacuations from Saigon and Kabul. Ms. Harris will meet the communist state’s President and Prime Minister in Hanoi, a day after accusing regional giant Beijing of intimidation in the disputed South China Sea. Her arrival was delayed due to what U.S. officials called an anomalous health incident in Hanoi, an apparent reference to the so-called Havana syndrome, which has afflicted U.S. diplomats in several countries including China and Russia. It is not clear what causes the syndrome and it has led to unproven allegations that Russians or others used sonic or other high-intensity. The visit, the first to Vietnam by a sitting U.S. Vice-president, comes after a two-day stop in Singapore, where Ms. Harris took aim at China and sought to shore up U.S. credibility in the wake of the Taliban’s stunning return to power. But the Vietnam leg of the Asian tour has sparked criticism after the chaotic evacuation of Kabul prompted comparisons with the trauma of 1975 Saigon, when U.S. Helicopters ferried final evacuees from the embassy roof in the last days of the Vietnam War. Ms. Harris used a speech in Singapore to say Beijing continues to coerce, to intimidate and to make unreasonable claims to large areas of the South China Sea. We need to find ways to pressure and raise the pressure, frankly, on Beijing to abide by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, she added. China hit back at the accusations through its state media on Wednesday, accusing the U.S. of hypocrisy in attempting to coerce and intimidate countries in the region in its scheme to contain China. China claims almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in shipping trade passes annually, with competing claims from four Southeast Asian states including Vietnam.