Category: Current Affairs

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Taliban announce ‘amnesty,’ urge women to join government.

The Taliban declared an amnesty across Afghanistan and urged women to join their government Tuesday, seeking to convince a wary population that they have changed. Following a blitz across Afghanistan that saw many cities fall to the insurgents without a fight, the Taliban have sought to portray themselves as more moderate than when they imposed a brutal rule in the late 1990s. But many Afghans remain skeptical. Older generations remember the Taliban’s ultraconservative Islamic views, which included severe restrictions on women as well as public stonings and amputations before they were ousted by the U.S-led invasion following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. The capital of Kabul remained quiet for another day as the Taliban patrolled its streets and many residents stayed home, fearful after the insurgents’ takeover saw prisons emptied and armories looted. Many women have expressed dread that the two-decade Western experiment to expand their rights and remake Afghanistan would not survive the resurgent Taliban. Germany, meanwhile, halted development aid to Afghanistan over the Taliban takeover. Such aid is a crucial source of funding for the country, and the Taliban’s efforts to project a milder version of themselves may be aimed at ensuring that money continues to flow. The promises of amnesty from Enamullah Samangani, a member of the Taliban’s cultural commission, were the first comments on how the Taliban might govern on a national level. His remarks remained vague, however, as the Taliban are still negotiating with political leaders of the country’s fallen government and no formal handover deal has been announced. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan with full dignity and honesty has announced a complete amnesty for all Afghanistan, especially those who were with the opposition or supported the occupiers for years and recently, he said. Other Taliban leaders have said they won’t seek revenge on those who worked with the Afghan government or foreign countries. But some in Kabul allege Taliban fighters have lists of people who cooperated with the government and are seeking them out. A broadcaster in Afghanistan said she was hiding at a relative’s house, too frightened to return home, much less return to work following reports that the insurgents are also looking for journalists. She said she and other women didn’t believe the Taliban had changed their ways. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she feared for her safety. Samangani addressed the concerns of women, saying they were the main victims of the more than 40 years of crisis in Afghanistan. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan is ready to provide women with the environment to work and study, and the presence of women in different (government) structures according to Islamic law and in accordance with our cultural values, he said. That would be a marked departure from the last time the Taliban were in power, when women were largely confined to their homes. Samangani didn’t describe exactly what he meant by Islamic law, implying people already knew the rules. In another sign of the Taliban’s efforts to portray a new image, a female television anchor on the private broadcaster Tolo interviewed a Taliban official on camera Tuesday in a studio an interaction that once would have been unthinkable. Meanwhile, women in hijabs demonstrated briefly in Kabul, holding signs demanding the Taliban not eliminate women from public life. Talks continued Tuesday between the Taliban and several Afghan government officials, including former President Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, who once headed the country’s negotiating council. Discussions focused on how a Taliban-dominated government would operate given the changes in Afghanistan over the last 20 years, rather than just dividing up who controlled what ministries, officials with knowledge of the negotiations said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential details of the talks.

Islamic State, JeM, LeT fighters have entered Afghan capital, say sources on the ground.

A large number of fighters belonging to the Islamic State (IS), Jaish e-Mohammed (JeM), and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) have entered the Afghan capital Kabul in the last few days, sources on the ground have informed. The Taliban leadership is aware of the presence of these foreign terrorists, who entered the city carrying the Taliban flag. It is understood that the groups are operating in different parts of Kabul city and are not under the control of the Taliban. Under the agreement with the United States, the Taliban are committed to prevent terrorist groups from operating in Afghanistan and are expected to evict these groups from Kabul in the next few days. An Afghan human rights worker who works closely with the Taliban political office in Doha said that the next few days are going to be critical as the groups may indulge in operations on their own in violation of the orders of the Taliban leadership. Taliban leaders are trying to mobilise themselves to prevent the foreign fighters from finding a base in Kabul and some developments in that direction took place late on Monday with the arrival of Mullah Yaqub, son of the late Mullah Omar, founder of the Taliban. Yaqub arrived from Quetta, where the Taliban leaders have been based for decades. He is the ‘Chief of Operations’ of the Taliban forces, and it is expected that he will soon begin firming up Taliban’s rule over Kabul. There are concerns about possible clashes that may take place between these terror groups and the Taliban if the latter try to dislodge them militarily. Irrespective of the threats, the Taliban have asked them to leave Afghanistan and they will have to obey the orders, said the human rights worker over phone from a location in Afghanistan. The Taliban have already engaged former President Hamid Karzai, Tajik leader and former CEO of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah, and Hezb-e-Islami chief Gulbuddin Hekmatyar seeking support in forming the next government of Afghanistan. The transition can begin once the political leadership arrives from Qatar. As of now, it appears that the arrival of the political team has been delayed because of the chaotic scenes at the Kabul airport, which remains under the control of the U.S. government. Ensuring security of Kabul will be a major challenge for the Taliban in the first phase of their government. The international community will be keenly watching the Taliban’s commitment to ensure Afghanistan remains free of terror elements such as IS or Daesh, JeM and LeT. Sources said that in the absence of effective police forces on the ground, there is a high probability of violence by these terror outfits that may also secure enclaves in Kabul and other cities in Afghanistan.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Pegasus case: Supreme Court issues pre-admission notice to Centre on pleas

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued pre-admission notice to the Central government on petitions seeking an independent inquiry into the allegations that the government used Israeli-based Pegasus spyware to snoop on citizens. The court made it clear to the government that none of us want to compromise the defence of the nation… but there are citizens, some of them persons of eminence, who have complained of hacking of their phones. After issuing notice, a Bench of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana, and Justices Surya 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 court listed the case for hearing after 10 days. 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 said any revelation about any software allegedly used by the government to counter terrorism would compromise national security. They [petitioners] want us to say whether Pegasus was used or no Softwares are used. They want to know which software is used… No government will say which software is used because if we divulge, terrorists may take advantage. Which software is used or not is a matter of national security. It cannot be a matter of public debate, Mehta stated at the start of the virtual hearing. He clarified that the government was not refusing to reveal anything to anybody at all. We are just saying we will not reveal it publicly, he observed. The government had agreed in court to form a committee of experts to inquire into the reports of Pegasus snooping, he noted. Justice Kant said there was no question of compromising national security. We are not going to ask you to divulge anything that will harm the defence of the nation… But the question here is that there are some persons of eminence who have come here, saying there has been interception of their phones. That can be done, but with the permission of the competent authority. What is the problem if that competent authority filed an affidavit before us? he explained. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, for veteran journalists N. Ram and Sashi Kumar, said The security of the State is as important to the citizen as it is to the State. On Monday, Sibal rebutted the affidavit on five points. One, he said it was filed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and not the Ministry of Home Affairs which authorised surveillance under the law. Secondly, the affidavit skipped the part on whether the government or its agencies used Pegasus at all. Thirdly, he stated that if the government did not get the time to study the petitions and reply to them, then the court should give them the time. Fourth, he countered that the affidavit did not even say whether the facts and contentions in the petitions were right or wrong. Finally, and most importantly, we do not want a government who might have used Pegasus, to form a committee of experts to inquire into the issue. As far as I am concerned, the issue is simple. If the government says they have used the Pegasus, there is no need for a committee. If the government says they have not used the Pegasus, then too, there is no need for a committee, Sibal had reasoned.

 

Congress counters ‘oil bonds burden’ argument on fuel prices

The Congress party on August 16 accused Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman of falsely citing the oil bonds issued by the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government as the reason for not reducing fuel prices. The Finance Minister ruled out a cut in the excise duty on petrol and diesel for now, saying that the government has to pay for the oil bonds issued by the UPA in the past. Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said oil bonds of ₹1.3 lakh crores are not even due for payment so far and that the government has collected much more revenue in seven years. Don’t lie. Oil Bonds of ₹1.3 lakh crore are not even due for payment so far, he said on Twitter. Till April 2021, payment made on oil bonds is ₹3,500 crore only, yet you falsely hold UPA responsible, Surjewala said. Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, please stop falsehood or dare to contradict… BJP raised central taxes on petrol and diesel by ₹23.87 and ₹28.37 per litre in seven years. Modi Government collected additional ₹17.29 lakh crore, he added. He also alleged that the government has extorted ₹22,33,868 crores by levying excise on petrol and diesel in the last seven years. The Congress leader said that in 2020-21 alone, Modi Tax on petrol and diesel was ₹4,53,812 crore. He also listed other taxes imposed and total revenue collection from the petroleum sector to support his claim. His remarks came after Sitharaman said if she did not have the burden to service the oil bonds, she would have been in a position to reduce excise duty on fuel. A significant amount is going for interest payment and principal repayment. What unfair burden on me, she said, adding, previous government has made our job difficult by issuing oil bonds. Even if I want to do something I am paying through my nose for the oil bond.

 

India evacuates all Kabul embassy personnel

After a tense day when diplomats were turned back from travelling by Taliban guards, 140 Indians, including about 120 Indian embassy staff and Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel, 16 civilians, and four media persons flew back to Delhi on board a special military flight on Tuesday. The flight, a C-17 Globemaster, was one of the two aircraft operated by the Indian Air Force for bringing home all Indian personnel from the embassy. However, the government maintained that it has not abandoned Afghans, and launched a new e-visa category especially for Afghan nationals wishing to come to India. We were a very large mission of 192 personnel, who were evacuated from Afghanistan within a period of three days in a very orderly fashion in two phases, said Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Rudrendra Tandon, during a refuelling stopover in Jamnagar on Tuesday, where he thanked the Air Force for the evacuation effort. On August 16, another C-17 flight brought back about 40 diplomats and other personnel, after the others were turned back from driving to the airport by Taliban guards in Kabul, who stopped their convoy, confiscated some equipment and forced them back to the embassy. According to sources, some difficult and uncertain hours followed, as Indian diplomats, led by Tandon, coordinated with the new militia now in control of the capital and other diplomatic missions to ensure the safe passage of the convoy out of Kabul, and then to the Hamid Karzai International Airport, currently under the control of U.S.-led NATO troops. After spending the night at the airport, all Indians were boarded around 6 a.m. According to flight tracker data, both the flights took a long and circuitous route, avoiding Pakistani airspace and minimising travel through the Afghan airspace, to fly over Iran and returned to India over the Arabian Sea, and back over Gujarat. In view of the prevailing circumstances, it has been decided that our Ambassador in Kabul and his Indian staff will move to India immediately, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson tweeted, announcing the evacuation, but did not clarify whether the India’s diplomatic presence in Afghanistan has ended. Government officials also clarified that they would open visa applications of Afghans of all religions, including Hindus and Sikhs, that they had earlier issued statements about. On Tuesday, the MEA set up a MEA’s 24×7 Special Afghanistan Cell for all those needing evacuation once commercial operations begin on Tuesday. In addition, the Ministry of Home Affairs introduced a new category of electronic visa called e-Emergency X-Misc Visa to fast-track the visa applications of all Afghans wishing to travel to India, which will be a six-month visa that will be granted online. The return of all staff means that the Indian diplomatic mission in Afghanistan is at least, temporarily, closed. India closed its missions in Jalalabad and Herat last year and the consulates in Kandahar and Mazar e Sharif ast month. The government will now have to decide on the nature of relations with the Taliban government in Kabul, once it is formally announced, and whether to even maintain a basic engagement in order to continue flight operations into Kabul to evacuate more civilians.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Pegasus row: Government affidavit is ‘delightfully non-committal’: Petitioners

A two-page skimpy and delightfully non-committal affidavit filed by the government in the Supreme Court shortly before the hearing on Monday, denying all and any allegations of using Pegasus to snoop on journalists, activists, dissenters, Supreme Court officers, Ministers, parliamentarians and the Opposition, raised a clamour among the petitioners, who said the Centre, through the Union Home Secretary, should swear on oath before the apex court whether the government or any of its agencies used Pegasus spyware or not. The sum and substance is they (petitioners) are not satisfied with your limited affidavit. They want to know in clear terms whether the government has used Pegasus or not. If you want time to file a detailed affidavit, you can take time, Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana addressed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. But Mehta said even a detailed affidavit may not appease the petitioners. He asked whether the petitioners would swear to withdraw from court if the government said no to using the Pegasus in a further one-page affidavit. Mehta indicated that things were not so simple. Any discussion on this issue would involve national security. We are dealing with a sensitive matter. Attempts are being made to make it sensational, Mehta complained. If the government is reluctant about filing a detailed affidavit, how can we compel them to? the CJI turned to senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for veteran journalists N. Ram and Sashi Kumar. Well, that would mean they don’t want to admit or deny (to using Pegasus). Then I can argue that they have not denied. Then the matter gets more serious. We want a straight answer. Did the government or any of its agencies use Pegasus? That question does not deal with national security. Again, if the government has used Pegasus, did they use it through the Home Secretary. That again does not concern national security. So, let them file an affidavit, Sibal replied. The Solicitor General clarified that there was no reluctance of any kind on the part of the government. The truth must come out, Mehta said. He wistfully referred to the Information Technology Act, which dealt with the regime of interceptions, monitoring, etc, of digital communications, as a beautiful legislation. Mehta said the Act came into effect during the tenure of Sibal as Minister. Mr. Mehta, beauty over the years becomes no longer beautiful. It was once beautiful, but is no longer so the way you are using it, Sibal retorted. At one point, Justice Aniruddha Bose, on the Bench, asked whether there was any material other than news reports to suggest violation had taken place. To this, Sibal said the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) had stated in the Lok Sabha in 2019 that social media messaging platform, WhatsApp, had informed the government about attempts to breach the mobile phones of 1400 users globally, including 121 users in India, using Pegasus. The court stood over the arguments in the case to Tuesday, while at the same time asking Mehta to mull over with officials the point of filing a detailed affidavit.

India reviews fast deteriorating situation in Afghanistan.

India’s defence top brass, the foreign policy establishment and senior intelligence officials are understood to have reviewed the fast-paced developments in Afghanistan on Monday, a day after the Taliban seized control of the country 20 years after it was ousted by a US-led military coalition. People familiar with the meetings said the immediate priority of the government is to evacuate nearly 200 Indians, including Indian embassy staffers and security personnel from Kabul as the situation in the Afghan capital was fast deteriorating after the Taliban captured it on Sunday night. Capping its month-long rapid advances, the Taliban took positions in Kabul hours after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani left the country on Sunday for an unknown destination, paving way for a bloodless takeover of the capital city but triggering fear, chaos and uncertainty among its residents. The chaos and panic at the Kabul airport was delaying a decision on sending evacuation flights to the Afghan capital though a number of heavy-lift C-17 Globemaster military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force is kept on standby for the last two days, people familiar with these deliberations said. According to unconfirmed reports, India sent a C-17 Globemaster aircraft to Afghanistan and it returned on Monday. There were also security concerns over bringing the Indians from the Indian embassy and other places to the airport in view of the deteriorating security situation in the capital city. The government is also looking at bringing back hundreds of Indian citizens and facilitate the evacuation of the members of the Hindu and Sikh minorities as well as Afghan nationals who have applied for visas from the Indian embassy, officials said. The situation is evolving very fast and we are monitoring it closely, said one of the persons involved in preparations for evacuating the stranded Indians in Kabul. India has been a key stakeholder in Afghanistan and it has invested nearly USD 3 billion in carrying out nearly 500 projects across Afghanistan. The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan is largely seen as a setback for India as the militant outfit has strongly been backed by Pakistan’s powerful military.

Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev joins Trinamool Congress

Former Assam MP Sushmita Dev has quit as the president of the All India Mahila Congress as well as the primary membership of the party. She joined Trinamool Congress in the presence of party general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee. Taking to Twitter, the TMC welcomed the former parliamentarian to its camp. We warmly welcome the former President of All India Mahila Congress @sushmitadevinc to our Trinamool family! Inspired by @MamataOfficial, she joins us today in the presence of our National General Secretary @abhishekaitc & Parliamentary Party Leader, Rajya Sabha, @derekobrienmp, the TMC wrote on its official Twitter handle. In a letter to Congress president Sonia Gandhi late on Sunday evening, Dev said she wished to begin a new chapter in my life of public service and would always cherish my three decades-long association with the Indian National Congress. Dev said: Please treat this letter as my resignation from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress. I cherish my three-decade-long association with the Indian National Congress. Madam, I thank you, personally, for your guidance and the opportunities you gave me. I value the enriching experience. I hope I have your good wishes as I begin a new chapter in my life of public service, she added. Dev did not respond to calls or messages, but her Twitter handle shows her profile as a former member of Congress and former president of its women’s wing. A Congress leader in southern Assam’s Barak Valley confirmed her resignation. With her exit once again raising uncomfortable questions for Congress’ leadership, Kapil Sibal on Monday charged his party with moving on with eyes wide shut. Sibal, one of Congress’s group of 23 dissenters (G-23), tweeted, Sushmita Dev Resigns from primary membership of our Party. While young leaders leave we ‘oldies’ are blamed for our efforts to strengthen it. The Party moves on with: Eyes Wide Shut. Asked about her resignation, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said he has been unable to reach her on phone and claimed that Gandhi has not yet received her letter. Describing Dev as friend who is versatile and talented, Sujewala said, I am certain she is mature enough to take whatever political decision that she takes with appropriate consideration of her history, legacy and capacities. There were speculations that Dev, who had represented Congress in Parliament from the Silchar constituency like her father and former Union Minister Santosh Mohan Dev, may join the Trinamool Congress. During the recently concluded Assam Assembly election, Dev had spoken out against her supporters being ignored during ticket distribution as well as against the seat allocation to Congress’s ally, All India United Democratic Front, in the Barak Valley. Considered to be a close aide of former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Dev now joins the ranks of leaders like Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jitin Prasada, who left the Congress in search of better political prospects.

Sharad Pawar underlines need to lift 50% cap on reservations, hints at Home Ministry role in Pegasus use

The Central government’s hasty move to pass the bill giving rights to States to identify OBCs without lifting the 50% reservation limit is to deceive the OBC community, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said on August 16. Addressing a press conference on a wide range of issues at the NCP headquarters, Pawar also targeted Union Home Minister Amit Shah over the Pegasus spyware issue, saying that it could be the Home Ministry which has gotten involved and a probe may reveal the truth. All States in the country have already crossed the 50% reservation limit, including Maharashtra. Giving rights to the States to identify OBCs will not serve any purpose, because the reservation limit has not been lifted. All of the opposition members raised this issue in Parliament, which went unanswered from the government’s side, said Pawar. Till the reservation cap is lifted, even Marathas cannot be given benefits of reservation, Pawar pointed out, adding that his party will be uniting all OBC forces to create public opinion demanding the removal of 50% reservation limit. Clarifying the demands of the party, Pawar said a caste census must be held, empirical data should be provided to the State governments, and 50% reservation limit should be lifted. Only then OBCs will get actual benefits, otherwise they will continue to be misled, he added. Recalling the events at Rajya Sabha where marshals were called in to control opposition members, Pawar said he saw this for the first time in his parliamentary career of over five decades. Rajya Sabha MPs, including women MPs, were manhandled by the security. We did not even know these security personnel. Some said that they were brought from outside. This is a serious charge and needs to be probed, he said. The NCP chief said the Opposition had informed ruling benches that it wants a discussion on Pegasus, farm bills and fuel price rise which was sidelined by the government. When asked about the Defence Ministry’s statement of not buying Pegasus, Pawar said, The Defence Ministry said it did not purchase Pegasus. Israel says that it does not sell it to anyone except the government. We believe that such work is not only done by Defence ministry, but RAW, Home Ministry, NSA are also involved. We don’t know for sure, so the Supreme Court’s committee may look into it. The NCP chief also suggested the names of Congress leaders Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Kapil Sibal and P. Chidambaram as possible members of the committee. When asked about the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan, Pawar said time has come to assess how India’s foreign policy has worked in maintaining relations with our neighbours. The situation is not good, he said.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Kabul airport chaos stalls evacuations amid criticism of U.S. pullout

Thousands of civilians desperate to flee Afghanistan thronged Kabul airport on Monday after the Taliban seized the capital, prompting the U.S. military to suspend evacuations as the United States came under mounting criticism at home over its pullout, Reuters reported. Crowds converged on the airport seeking to escape, including some clinging to a U.S. military transport plane as it taxied on the runway, according to footage posted by a media company. Five people were killed in the chaos. The Taliban’s rapid conquest of Kabul follows the U.S. withdrawal of troops after 20 years of war that cost billions of dollars. President Joe Biden defended his decision to pull out, ending the United States’ longest war, arguing that Afghan forces had to fight back against the Islamist Taliban. Taliban forces patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan. But the speed at which Afghan cities fell in just days and the likely crackdowns on freedom of speech and women’s rights gained in 20 years have sparked angry criticism. If President Biden truly has no regrets about his decision to withdraw, then he is disconnected from reality when it comes to Afghanistan, a Twitter post from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham read. Republican Representative Jim Banks, a member of the House armed services committee, said on Fox News that Biden should explain his actions to the American people. What was more shocking to me than the images coming out of Afghanistan is what’s happening right here at home, he said. We have never seen an American leader abdicate his responsibilities and leadership like Joe Biden has. He’s in hiding. The lights are on at the White House, but nobody’s home. Where is Joe Biden? Jim Messina, a White House deputy chief of staff under former President Barack Obama, defended Biden’s move. There’s been bipartisan consensus that it was time to get out of Afghanistan, Mike Pompeo, the former Secretary of State, said earlier this month he supported Biden’s plan, and we’ve been there 20 years. It’s America’s longest-running war, it is time to get out, he said on Fox. Why should American troops be fighting a civil war that Afghan troops this week refused to fight for themselves, it was time to get out. President Ashraf Ghani fled on Sunday as the Islamist militants entered Kabul virtually unopposed, saying he wanted to avoid bloodshed. The United States and other foreign powers have rushed to fly out diplomatic and other staff but the United States temporarily halted all evacuation flights to clear people from the airfield, a U.S. defence official told Reuters. Suhail Shaheen, a spokesperson for the Taliban, said in a message on Twitter that their fighters were under strict orders not to harm anyone. Life, property and honour of no one shall be harmed but must be protected by the mujahideen, he said. It took the Taliban just over a week to seize control of the whole country after a lightning sweep that ended in Kabul as government forces, trained for years and equipped by the United States and others at a cost of billions of dollars, melted away.

Taliban assert control over Afghanistan. 

Victorious Taliban militants patrolled Kabul on Monday after a stunningly swift end to Afghanistan’s 20-year war, as thousands of people mobbed the city’s airport trying to flee the group’s feared hardline brand of Islamist rule. President Ashraf Ghani flew out of the country on Sunday night as the insurgents encircled the capital, capping a military victory that saw them capture all cities in just 10 days. After police and other government forces gave up their posts in Kabul on Sunday, Taliban militants took over checkpoints across the city and entered the presidential palace. Militants with rifles slung over their shoulders also walked through the streets of the Green Zone, the formerly heavily fortified district that houses most Embassies and international organisations. The Taliban, however, sought to reassure the international community that Afghans should not fear them, and said they will not take revenge against those who supported the U.S .- backed alliance. In a message posted on social media, Taliban cofounder Abdul Ghani Baradar called on the militants to remain disciplined after taking control of the city. China ready for ties China was the first major nation to flag support for the Taliban, stating it was ready for friendly relations. There were desperate scenes at Kabul’s airport on Monday as people tried to board the few flights available. Senior U.S. military officials say the chaos at the airport left seven people dead, including some who fell from a departing American military transport jet, according to Associated Press.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

President Ghani flees as Taliban close in on Kabul

The Taliban fighters entered the outskirts of Kabul on August 15 as panic-stricken workers fled government offices and helicopters landed at the U.S. Embassy in the Afghan capital as the militants’ further tightened their grip on the country. President Ashraf Ghani fled Afghanistan as the Taliban closed in on capital Kabul. Taliban fighters were ordered to wait at the gates of Kabul and not enter the city, an insurgent spokesman said, after the complete collapse of the country’s security forces. The Islamic Emirate instructs all its forces to stand at the gates of Kabul, not to try to enter the city, a spokesman for the Taliban tweeted. An Afghan official tells The Associated Press that Taliban negotiators are heading to the presidential palace to prepare for a transfer of power. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the goal was a peaceful handing over of the government to the Taliban. Britain’s interior ministry said earlier that it was working to protect its citizens and help other eligible former UK staff to leave Afghanistan. Indian consulates in Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif – two of Afghanistan’s largest cities – were handed over to local staff over the last four weeks and all Indians evacuated via special flights. India is closely monitoring the situation. An Afghan official says forces at Bagram air base, home to a prison housing 5,000 inmates, have surrendered to the Taliban. The one-time American base over to the insurgents. The prison housed both Taliban and Islamic State group fighters. It came as the Taliban entered the outskirts of Kabul. Russia is working with other countries to hold an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan as the Taliban completes its military takeover of the country, foreign ministry official Zamir Kabulov told Russian news agencies. Three Afghan officials told The Associated Press that the Taliban were in the districts of Kalakan, Qarabagh and Paghman in the capital. The militants later pledged not to take the capital by force as sporadic gunfire could be heard in the capital. It may be recalled that U.S. President Joe Biden had announced the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan starting on May 1 and ending on Sept.11, bringing America’s longest war to a close. Within a matter of few days the Taliban launched a major offensive on Afghan forces leading to the fall of Kabul by August 15.

Israel condemns Poland restitution law. 

Israel on Saturday condemned Poland’s approval of a law that restricts the rights of Holocaust survivors or their descendants to reclaim property seized by the country’s former communist regime and announced it was recalling its top diplomat in protest. The move ignited a diplomatic crisis between Israel’s government and the nationalist conservative government in Poland. After years of close ties under former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s new government, which includes top officials who are the children of Holocaust survivors, has taken a far more confrontational approach. Both the U.S. and Israeli governments had strongly urged Poland not to pass the law and Israel had warned it would harm ties. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called Duda’s signing of the law a shameful decision and disgraceful contempt for the memory of the Holocaust and said Poland has chosen to continue harming those who have lost everything. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said that he had instructed Israel’s charges d’affaires in Warsaw to return home immediately and that the new Israeli Ambassador to Poland, who was scheduled to leave for Warsaw, will remain in Israel. The Israel Foreign Ministry also said it was recommending that the Polish Ambassador, who is on vacation home, not return to Israel.

NATIONAL NEWS 

PM’s address from Red Fort promises inclusion and progress

Marking the 75 anniversary of India’s independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for making the next 25 years (when India will hit a century of independence) a glorious one with new thresholds, aspirations and dreams , coining the phrase Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayaas (With all, development for all, the trust of all, the striving of all). In his eighth consecutive address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Mr Modi like independent India’s first prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru’s India’s Tryst with Destiny address said, There comes a time in every nation’s life where it defines anew what development means for it, and resolves anew on how to reach its goals, that moment for our country is now,. Modi termed the next 25 years as amrit kaal for achieving of these goals. The Prime Minister recalled the services and commitment of doctors, nurses, paramedics, sanitation workers, scientists and entrepreneurs who helped fight COVID-19 pandemic assisted by the development of indigenous vaccines. He also mentioned that while celebrating independence, Indians had taken an emotional decision to mark August 14th as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day for all those who had lost their lives and loved ones in the Partition of 1947. His speech, nearly 90 minutes in all, highlighted the efforts of his government to simplify laws, make government less intrusive, heavy investment in infrastructure, including the ₹100 lakh crore Gatishakti initiative the master plan for which would be unveiled soon.  It is worth noting that the Prime Minister was only repeating the promise made in 2019 and 2020! Prime Minister Narendra Modi raises slogans while addressing the nation from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort during the 75th Independence Day function, in New Delhi, Sunday, August 15, 2021.   The Prime Minister said his government was committed to the goal of 100% coverage of all welfare schemes, including the Jal Jeevan mission of tapped drinking water connections in all homes, Ujjwala cooking gas scheme, Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana for housing, Jan Dhan bank accounts for everyone and other such schemes. He also announced the admission for girls in all Sainik Schools across the country and that the use of fortified rice across all government nutrition programmes would also be undertaken —the government had committed to both promises a few years ago. The Prime Minister, in a nod to the ongoing protests by farmers to the three contentious farm laws introduced by his government, said the majority of Indian farmers were small and marginal and his government had prioritised their interests. Giving the slogan of ‘Chhota kisan bane desh ki shaan (small farmers should become India’s pride)’, Mr. Modi said 80% of India’s farmers had less than two hectares of land. Stressing that he had full faith in the youth of the country, the Prime Minister said this was a can-do generation which could achieve every goal. The Prime Minister said that development of Jammu and Kashmir as well as Ladakh was under way as was the work of the delimitation commission in J&K, and that Assembly polls would be held in the Union Territory sooner rather than later.

Sorry state of affairs, says CJI N V Ramana

Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana lamented the lack of quality parliamentary debates while enacting laws, saying its absence has led to spurt in litigation in courts inconveniencing citizens, courts and other stakeholders. Calling the current situation in the context of Parliamentary debates a sorry state of affairs, the CJI said laws are being notified without any proper debate, among lawmakers, leaving many gaps and ambiguity in legislations.  The CJI was speaking on the occasion of the flag hoisting ceremony organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association of India to celebrate India’s 75th Independence Day. The CJI’s cryptic observations come in the backdrop of a highly disruptive monsoon session of Parliament where little business was conducted  and the hurried manner in which important bills were passed in Parliament without discussion. For instance, the Tribunal’s Reforms Bill of 2021, sought the abolishment of nine appellate tribunals despite the Opposition pointing out that the move undermined the judiciary!

Mohan Bhagwat reminds the Government to be swadeshi in business and spirit

If dependence on China increases, we will have to bow before it, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat said after hoisting the national flag at a Mumbai school on the 75th Independence Day. Swadeshi for the RSS chief means doing business on India’s terms. We use the internet and technology a lot. Our country does not have the original technology. It comes from outside, Bhagwat said. No matter how much we shout as a society about China and boycott Chinese items, where does everything that is in your mobiles come from? If  dependence on China increases, then (we) will have to bow before China, Bhagwat said as quoted by agencies. Bhagwat’s observations appeared to be advising the government on the vision that should guide its economic policies. He said the economic vision should be to produce more and competition should be for the best quality of produce. We are not against international trade and commerce but our production must be in villages. It should not be mass production but production by masses, he said. News wire PTI quoting Bhagwat reported,  A controlled consumerism is necessary to ensure there is no exploitation of natural resources. The standard of living should not be decided by how much we earn, but by how much we give back,. We will be happy when we consider the welfare of all. To be happy, we need sound finances and for this, we need financial strength, Bhagwat said.

Trekking the highest battlefield in the wsaid

Where there’s a will there’s a way. A team of people with disabilities embarked upon a journey to trek the Siachen Glacier on Independence Day. They will attempt a world record for the largest group of people with disabilities to scale the highest battlefield in the world. Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Virendra Kumar flagged off the expedition, which is being executed by Team CLAW’, a group of armed forces veterans working towards empowering people with disabilities. The final leg of the expedition from Siachen Base Camp to Kumar Post, at an altitude of 15,632 feet, will commence on September 1, 2021, Major Ambathy added. This is the land world record expedition part of ‘Operation Blue Freedom Triple World Records’ being undertaken, CLAW Global said. Those selected will undergo all the three stages of acclimatization and training at Leh (Stage 1), Siachen base camp (Stage 2) and North Pullu (Stage 3) after which the final expedition team would be selected. CLAW Global was set up in January 2019 by Major Vivek Jacob, a retired Para Special Forces officer, with the aim of teaching life skills to adventurers and people with disabilities.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Modi declares August 14 as ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday declared that August 14 will be observed as ‘Partition Horrors Remembrance Day’ to acknowledge the pain undergone by Indians due to the partition of India in 1947. Taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, he tweeted, Partition’s pains can never be forgotten. Millions of our sisters and brothers were displaced and many lost their lives due to mindless hate and violence. In memory of the struggles and sacrifices of our people, 14th August will be observed as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day. He added that the day, remembered for India’s partition into two countries, India and Pakistan, would remind Indians of the need to remove the poison of social divisions. May the #PartitionHorrorsRemembranceDay keep reminding us of the need to remove the poison of social divisions, disharmony and further strengthen the spirit of oneness, social harmony and human empowerment, he tweeted. The Union Home Ministry on Saturday evening issued a notification declaring that August 14 will be observed as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day. In a notification, the Home Ministry said the people of India, while celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, will salute those sons and daughters of the country who had to sacrifice their lives during the partition of India. The Government of India has decided to declare 14th August as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day in remembrance of the people who lost their lives during the partition. Therefore, the Government of India declares 14th August as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day to remind the present and future generations of Indians of the pain and suffering faced by the people of India during the partition, the notification said. As soon as Modi made the announcement, BJP general secretary (organisation) tweeted that it was a laudable attempt to remember the tragedy sought to be whitewashed by proponents of Nehruvian legacy. While no details were shared on any memorial events to be held on the day, the announcement comes on the eve of India’s 75th Independence anniversary. A year-long series of events connected to the anniversary, ‘Amrit Mahotsav,’ has been lined up, including recording the national anthem by ordinary citizens and uploading them on the Rashtrapati Bhavan website.

Twitter unlocks accounts of Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders.

A day after Rahul Gandhi accused Twitter of interfering with India’s political process, Gandhi’s account has been restored, a Congress leader confirmed to The Hindu on Saturday. Gandhi’s account was temporarily suspended last week after he tweeted pictures of the family of a nine-year-old victim of alleged rape and murder in Delhi. Calling it a violation of the law, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had complained to Twitter as well as the Delhi Police. Handles of all those leaders, who had shared the same picture as Gandhi, have also been unblocked. Gandhi is yet to tweet but Lok Sabha member Manickam Tagore tweeted about the unblocking of his account. On Friday, in a video statement, Gandhi had cautioned that taking sides in a political contest will have repercussions for Twitter. It’s obvious now that Twitter is actually not a neutral, objective platform. It is a biased platform. It’s something that listens to what the government of the day says, Gandhi had said. On Saturday, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, said locking an account was an extreme step. Locking an account is an extreme step that infringes the freedom of expression of users. The rules can be upheld without such action. This may be a worldwide policy but I urge @Twitter to revise it forthwith. Its often selective application makes it worse. A rethink is overdue, Tharoor said. In my conversations w/@Twitter I took strong exception to the policy of automatically locking accounts, whether @RahulGandhi’s or @rsprasad’s. If there is a violation of law, whether POSCO or copyright, it should suffice to withhold the offending tweet & issue notice to the user, he added. In the midst of being entangled in a high-profile political contest, Twitter has transferred its India head Manish Maheshwari. The company did not specify any reason for the change. It said Maheshwari will move to the U.S. as senior director (revenue strategy and operations) and focus on new markets in his new role. Twitter, in a statement, said, As part of the appeal process, Rahul Gandhi submitted a copy of the formal consent/authorisation letter to use the referenced image via our India Grievance Channel. We have followed the necessary due diligence process to review the appeal and have updated our enforcement action based on the consent provided by the people depicted in the image. The Tweet is now withheld in India and the account access has been restored. As explained in our Country Withheld Policy, it may be necessary to withhold access to certain content in accordance with valid legal provisions under the Indian law(s).

Parliament is temple of country’s democracy, says Kovind in Independence eve address to nation 

President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday said Parliament is the temple of the country’s democracy which provides the highest forum to discuss, debate and decide issues for the well-being of people, remarks that came against the backdrop of the recent ruckus and continuous disruptions that led to the abrupt adjournment of the two Houses. In a televised address to the nation on the eve of the 75th Independence Day, the President also referred to the second Covid-19 wave, and said the country is yet to come out of its devastating effects. He asserted this is the time for extra care and caution, and people should not let their guard down. President Kovind also sought to address the concerns raised by protesting farmers’ unions against the three contentious farm laws, saying the series of agricultural marketing reforms will empower our ‘annadata’ farmers and help them get better price for their produce.  President Kovind said when India won independence, many sceptics thought democracy would not survive in India. Little did they know that roots of democracy were nurtured in this soil in ancient times, and even in modern times India was ahead of many western nations in offering franchise to all adults, regardless of any distinctions. The founding fathers had reposed their faith in the wisdom of the people, and ‘we, the people of India’ have made India a strong democracy, he added. Incidentally, in ‘Freedom in The World 2021’, the Freedom House’s annual status report on the world’s democracies, India was downgraded this year, from ‘Free’ to ‘Partly Free’. India’s status declined from Free to Partly Free due to a multiyear pattern in which the Hindu nationalist government and its allies have presided over rising violence and discriminatory policies affecting the Muslim population and pursued a crackdown on expressions of dissent by the media, academics, civil society groups, and protesters, the report by the American democracy watchdog had noted. President Kovind in his address said, We have adopted the system of parliamentary democracy. Therefore, our Parliament is the temple of our democracy which provides us highest forum where we discuss, debate and decide issues for the well-being of our people.

Courts continue to differ in views on marital rape 

Four years after the Supreme Court referred to Justice J.S. Verma committee’s recommendation to make marital rape a crime, besides quoting from decisions of courts across the world that a rapist remains a rapist and marriage with the victim does not convert him into a non-rapist, Indian courts continue to take views on marital rape that are the polar opposite of each other. The recent response from courts to complaints of marital rape has been contradictory. When the Kerala High Court backed marital rape as a valid ground for divorce, a court in Maharashtra gave anticipatory bail to a man while concluding that forcible sex with his wife was not an illegal thing though she said it left her paralysed. In 2017, the top court, in Independent Thought versus Union of India, refused to delve into the question of marital rape while examining an exception to Section 375 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code which allows a man to force sex on his wife if she is above 15 years of age. However, in its judgment that declared sexual intercourse with a girl below 18 years of age is rape regardless of whether she is married or not, the Supreme Court highlighted that legislative immunity given to marital rape stemmed from the outdated notion that a wife is no more than a subservient chattel of her husband. Similarly, the Gujarat High Court has held that a law that does not give married and unmarried women equal protection creates conditions that lead to the marital rape. It allows the men and women to believe that wife rape is acceptable. Making wife rape illegal or an offence will remove the destructive attitudes that promote the marital rape, the High Court had suggested. However, legislative amnesty to marital rape continues to survive in the statute book despite a gamut of decisions by the Supreme Court upholding the bodily integrity and privacy of women. The report submitted by the Justice J.S. Verma Committee of Amendments to Criminal Law of January 2013 had recommended the removal of the marital rape immunity and underscored the fact that marital rape immunity had been withdrawn in most foreign jurisdictions. It had observed, A rape that actually occurs cannot legislatively be simply wished away.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Ashraf Ghani vows not to give up ‘achievements’ after Taliban seize Province near capital; India mulls options on Kabul embassy.

The Taliban seized a province just south of Afghanistan’s capital and launched a multi-pronged assault early Saturday on a major city in the north defended by powerful former warlords, Afghan officials said. The insurgents have captured much of northern, western and southern Afghanistan in a breakneck offensive less than three weeks before the United States is set to withdraw its last troops, raising fears of a full militant takeover or another Afghan civil war. The Taliban captured all of Logar and detained its provincial officials, Hoda Ahmadi, a lawmaker from the province, said Saturday. She said the Taliban have reached the Char Asyab district, just 11 km (7 miles) south of the capital, Kabul. The Taliban also attacked the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif from several directions, setting off heavy fighting on its outskirts, according to Munir Ahmad Farhad, a spokesman for the provincial governor. There was no immediate word on casualties. Taliban fighters pose on the back of a vehicle in the city of Herat, west of Kabul on August 14, 2021, after they took this province from Afghan government. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani delivered a televised speech on Saturday, his first public appearance since the recent Taliban gains, in which he vowed not to give up the achievements of the 20 years since the US toppled the Taliban following the 9/11 attacks. We have started consultations, inside the government with elders and political leaders, representatives of different levels of the community as well as our international allies, he said. Soon the results will be shared with you, he added, without elaborating further. The President had flown to Mazar-e-Sharif on Wednesday to rally the city’s defences, meeting with several militia commanders, including Abdul Rashid Dostum and Ata Mohammad Noor, who command thousands of fighters. They remain allied with the government, but during previous rounds of fighting in Afghanistan, warlords have been known to switch sides for their own survival. Ismail Khan, a powerful former warlord who had tried to defend Herat, was captured by the Taliban when the insurgents seized the western city after two weeks of heavy fighting. Residents of Mazar-e-Sharif expressed fears about the security breakdown. The withdrawal of foreign forces and the swift retreat of Afghanistan’s own troops – despite hundreds of billions of dollars in US aid over the years – has raised fears the Taliban could return to power or the country could be shattered by factional fighting, as it was after the Soviet withdrawal in 1989. Meanwhile, amidst moves by other countries to secure their diplomats based in Afghanistan, the Indian government has begun a series of consultations on whether to scale down operations at its Embassy in Kabul. The meetings on Saturday in New Delhi came amidst reports that the Taliban has taken territory around 50 km from Kabul. According to sources, security assessments had earlier been in favour of keeping the Indian Embassy in Kabul fully operational, after consulates in Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif were closed and Indian staff flown out.

U.S. troops reach Kabul to assist in evacuations. 

American troops have flown into Kabul to help evacuate Embassy personnel and other civilians in the Afghan capital, a U.S. official said on Saturday. The Pentagon said two battalions of Marines and one infantry battalion will arrive in Kabul by Sunday evening, involving about 3,000 troops. They have arrived, their arrival will continue till tomorrow, the U.S. official said on condition of anonymity. An infantry brigade combat team will also move out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to Kuwait to act as a quick reaction force for security in Kabul if needed, the Pentagon has said. Britain and several other Western nations are also sending troops as resistance from Afghan government forces crumbles and fears grow that an assault on Kabul could be just days away. An Afghan government official confirmed on Friday that Kandahar, the economic hub of the South, was under Taliban control as U.S .led international forces complete their withdrawal. Kabul is not right now in an imminent threat environment, but clearly if you just look at what the Taliban has been doing, you can see that they are trying to isolate Kabul, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said. Some embassies have begun to burn sensitive material ahead of evacuating, diplomats said.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Petrol to cost ₹3 cheaper a litre in Tamil Nadu

In a major announcement, Tamil Nadu’s DMK government on Friday announced a cut in the effective rate of tax on petrol by ₹3 a litre, effective midnight of August 13. Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan made the announcement while presenting the revised budget for 2021-22 on the floor of the Assembly here. The decision will result in a loss of revenue of ₹1,160 crore a year to the State exchequer. Tamil Nadu has 2.63 crore two-wheelers. This has become the most popular mode of transport for the working poor. They keenly feel the pinch of the rising cost of petrol. The Chief Minister [M.K. Stalin] keenly feels the pain of the working poor and the middle class, Rajan said in his maiden budget speech and hoped that the cut would provide a major relief to the toiling working-class people in the State. Contending that the Union government was solely responsible for the increase in the cost of the fuel, Rajan underlined, Nowhere is this dilution of the spirit of federalism more apparent than in the taxation of petrol and diesel at the pump. The overall Union levies on petrol were increased from ₹10.39 per litre in May 2014 to ₹32.90 per litre today. The State government also announced a waiver of loans to the tune of ₹2,756 crore due from self-help groups to the co-operative credit societies. The government will work out a suitable mechanism to infuse equity into the cooperative credit structure in stages to ensure that the lending capacity of the co-operatives is not affected, the Finance Minister said. As for an important scheme relating to the payment of ₹1,000 every month to women heads of households, Rajan said, To ensure that the payment of basic entitlement income is targeted to the genuinely poor, the government in consultation with experts is formulating guidelines on the objective criteria by which the eligible households will be identified for this scheme. In another announcement to implement a commitment made in its election manifesto, the DMK government enhanced the period of maternity leave from nine months to 12 months for women government employees with less than two surviving children with effect from July 1, 2021. The lumpsum grant from the Family Security Fund paid to the family of a government employee who dies while in service will be enhanced from ₹3 lakh to ₹5 lakh, the Minister announced. With the Minister’s announcement that the enhanced Dearness Allowance (DA) to government servants and to pensioners will be paid with an effect from April 1, 2022, the government indicated that the DA for them would not be revised this year. Unlike in many other States, government servants in Tamil Nadu have been paid salaries in full and without any delay throughout the entire Covid-19 pandemic period. In many departments, government servants have served selflessly, often putting their own life to risk in this period. I am sure that government servants will appreciate the difficulty that the government will face in enhancing Dearness Allowance at this stage, Rajan, who is also Minister for Human Resources Management, said.

Twitter interfering in India’s political process, says Rahul Gandhi 

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday accused Twitter of interfering in India’s political process and described the social media platform as a biased one. In his first video statement on Twitter blocking his account, Gandhi said Twitter only listened to the government. Last week, Twitter blocked his account after he posted the picture of the parents of a 9-year-old girl who was allegedly raped and murdered in Delhi. By shutting down my Twitter they are interfering in our political process. A company is making its business to define our politics. And as a politician I don’t like that, Gandhi said in a two-minute video. It was not just an attack on him but the democratic structure of the country as it was denying the right to an opinion for his 19-20 million followers. Our democracy is under attack. We are not allowed to speak in Parliament. The media is controlled. And I thought there was a ray of light where we could put what we thought on Twitter. But obviously, that’s not the case, he stated. It’s obvious now that Twitter is actually not a neutral, objective platform. It’s a biased platform. It’s something that listens to what the government of the day says. As Indians, we have to ask the question: are we going to allow companies just because they are beholden to the Government of India to define our politics for us? he observed. Gandhi cautioned that taking sides in a political contest will have repercussions for Twitter and could be a dangerous thing for investors. Since its action against Gandhi last week, Twitter India has blocked thousands of handles associated with the Congress, including the official party handle and over two dozen senior leaders. In its defence, Twitter said they acted against Gandhi a after receiving a complaint from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), which has pointed out that posting the picture of the parents of a victim is a violation of Indian law. However, the Congress pointed to Twitter’s double standards as a similar picture of parents had been shared by the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) on August 2. When The Hindu checked the timeline of the NCSC, the offending photograph from August 2 was removed but the account was functional and the last tweet from the verified handle was sent out at August 11:50 a.m. on August 13.

Political battles should not be fought on the ‘Table of the House’, says Venkaiah Naidu 

The political battles should not be fought on the table of the House, Rajya Sabha Chairman and Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu said in an informal interaction on Friday, two days after the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Amendment Bill, 2021 was passed in Rajya Sabha amid fierce protests from the Opposition, who also had a tussle with a strong contingent of marshals deployed in the chamber. On August 10 when Rajya Sabha took up a discussion on the agricultural problems and solutions, some opposition members, demanding a discussion on the Pegasus cyber-attack and a repeal of the farm laws, had clambered onto the reporter’s table which is placed right in front of the Chair. On August 11 again, when the government, despite demands from a united opposition to send the Insurance Bill to a select committee, pushed to pass the legislation, similar scenes were repeated. To prevent opposition members from climbing on to the table, 42 marshals were deployed. As The Hindu has reported, the Bill was passed amid clashes between opposition members and marshals. Legislatures are meant for debate and discussion and outside political battles should not be fought on the Table of the House, Naidu said. He also commented that it is the government’s prerogative to decide which bill is sent to a Parliamentary Committee. Whenever differences persist on such matters in the House, the House collectively takes a decision and the Chair cannot force it one way or the other, he added. Naidu said the Opposition and Treasury benches in the House are like his two eyes and are equal for him. One cannot have proper vision if one eye is not functioning properly. For me both government and opposition are like my two eyes, he said. Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha secretariat has prepared a detailed chargesheet of the August 11 events indicting the Opposition. The Opposition, on the other hand, had complained about the scale of deployment of security officers inside the chamber, comparing it to a war-like situation. The internal report states that additional security officials were rushed in to prevent MPs from causing any damage to the Chair and the Table of the House. When the opposition MPs, the report said, failed to breach the cordon of security officials (Marshals) and their efforts to cause potential damage to the Chair/Table of the House went in vain, they started manhandling security officials (marshal).

Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments 

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,21,50,112 with the death toll at 4,30,579. Bharat Biotech’s BBV154 intranasal vaccine has become the first of its kind to receive the regulatory approval for Phase 2/3 trials, according to a release issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology on Friday. This is the first of its kind Covid-19 jab to undergo human clinical trials in India. BBV154 is an intranasal replication-deficient chimpanzee adenovirus SARS-CoV-2 vectored vaccine. The Company has in-licensed technology from Washington University in St Louis, USA, said the release. The development of the vaccine was supported by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and its PSU, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), the release stated. As per information released by the Ministry Phase 1 Clinical trial has been completed in age groups ranging ≥18 to ≤60 years.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Taliban close in on Kabul, embassies prepare for evacuations.

The Taliban seized more major cities on August 13 as they raced to take full control of Afghanistan and inched closer to Kabul, with the U.S. and Britain deploying thousands of troops to evacuate their citizens from the capital. The evacuation orders came as the Taliban took control of Kandahar the nation’s second-biggest city — in the insurgency’s heartland, leaving only Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, Jalalabad and pockets of other territories in government hands. The Taliban also captured the capital of Logar Province, just 50 km from Kabul, with a local lawmaker saying the insurgents were in complete control of Pul-e-Alam city. Earlier on Friday, officials and residents in Kandahar said government forces had withdrawn masse to a military facility outside the southern city. Kandahar is completely conquered. The Mujahideen reached Martyrs’ Square, a Taliban spokesman tweeted, referring to a city landmark. Hours later, the Taliban said they had also taken control of Lashkar Gah, the capital of neighbouring Helmand Province. A security source confirmed the fall of the city, saying that the Afghan military and government officials had evacuated Lashkar Gah after striking a local ceasefire deal with the militants. The government has now effectively lost most of the country following an eight-day blitz into urban centres by the Taliban that has also stunned Kabul’s American backers. Meanwhile, Washington and London announced plans late on August 12 to pull out their Embassy staff and citizens from the capital. We are further reducing our civilian footprint in Kabul in light of the evolving security situation, U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters, while noting the embassy would remain open. This is not abandonment. This is not an evacuation. This is not the wholesale withdrawal. The Pentagon said 3,000 U.S. troops would be deployed to Kabul within the next 24 to 48 hours, underscoring they would not be used to launch attacks against the Taliban. The insurgents have taken over more than a dozen provincial capitals in the past week and encircled the biggest city in the north, the traditional anti-Taliban bastion of Mazar-i-Sharif, which is now one of the few holdouts remaining. As the rout unravelled, three days of meetings between key international players on Afghanistan ended in Qatar without significant progress on August 13. In a joint statement, the international community, including the United States, Pakistan, the European Union, and China, said they would not recognise any government in Afghanistan imposed through the use of military force.

No need for further WHO virus origins probe: China. 

China on Friday rejected the World Health Organization’s calls for a renewed probe into the origins of COVID-19, saying it supported scientific over political efforts to find out how the virus started. Pressure is once more mounting on Beijing to consider a fresh probe into the origins of a pandemic which has killed over four million people and paralysed economies worldwide since it first emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. A delayed and heavily politicised visit by a WHO team of international experts went to Wuhan in January 2021 to produce a first phase report, which was written in conjunction with their Chinese counterparts. It failed to conclude how the virus began. On Thursday the WHO urged China to share raw data from the earliest COVID-19 cases to revive its probe into the origins of the disease. China hit back, repeating its position that the initial investigation was enough and that calls for further data were motivated by politics instead of scientific inquiry. We oppose political tracing and abandoning the joint report issued after the WHO expert team’s Wuhan visit in January, Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu told reporters. We support scientific tracing. That report said the virus jumping from bats to humans via an intermediate animal was the most probable scenario, while a leak from Wuhan’s virology labs was extremely unlikely.

NATIONAL NEWS

Opposition takes out protest march against government over alleged manhandling of MPs

Leaders of several opposition parties on Thursday took out a protest march in Delhi against the government on several issues, including Pegasus and the alleged manhandling of their MPs in the Rajya Sabha, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying the voice of people was crushed in the House, PTI reported. Top leaders of several opposition parties met in the chamber of the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and then walked in protest from Parliament House to Vijay Chowk. Those who attended the meeting included Gandhi,  Sharad Pawar, Kharge, Sanjay Raut, Manoj Jha and other opposition leaders. The protest comes a day after the passage of bills in Rajya Sabha amid charges of manhandling of opposition leaders.The protesting MPs carried placards and banners against the government that read ‘Stop murder of democracy’ and ‘We demand repeal of anti-farmers laws’. The Parliament session is over. Frankly, as far as 60% of the country is concerned, there was no Parliament session as the voice of 70% of the people was crushed, humiliated, Gandhi told reporters. On Wednesday, Rajya Sabha MPs were physically beaten, he charged. He said the Ppposition was not allowed to speak inside Parliament and this is nothing short of murder of democracy. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi had termed as totally false the Opposition’s allegations that marshals manhandled their MPs and said one can check facts from the CCTV footage.

Twitter blocks Congress’s official handles, several leaders’ accounts 

A virtual war erupted between Twitter India and the Congress on Thursday after the social media platform blocked the party’s official handle and the accounts of several senior leaders. Twitter also blocked the party’s Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra handles, besides that of the Mumbai Regional Congress Committee and the Daman & Diu Congress Committee. The move comes just days after Twitter blocked former Congress president Rahul Gandhi for posting a photograph of the parents of a nine-year-old girl who was allegedly raped and murdered in Delhi. In defiance, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra changed her display picture to Gandhi’s, while others like Youth Congress chief B.V. Srinivas changed both his display picture as well the name of his handle to Rahul Gandhi. By late Wednesday evening, prominent leaders whose handles had been suspended by Twitter for violating its policy included Randeep Surjewala, K.C. Venugopal, Ajay Maken, Sushmita Dev, Bhanwar Jitendra Singh and Lok Sabha member Manickam Tagore among others. All these leaders’ as well as the Congress’s handle had shared the same photograph in solidarity with Gandhi. Breaking his silence on the Twitter episode, Gandhi said on Instagram, If fighting for justice for murder and rape victim is a crime, then I am guilty. They can lock us out on a platform but they can’t lock our voice for the sake of the people. Party leaders claimed that not just prominent leaders but thousands of handles associated with the Congress have been blocked by Twitter. Last week, Twitter removed Gandhi’s tweet along with the photo, as sharing of photos of a victim or her relatives is barred under the Indian Law. However, the Congress targeted Twitter for adopting double standards, since functionaries of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) had shared similar photos with the parents of the victims but no action was taken against them. Vadra said on Twitter, Is Twitter following its own policy for the suspension of Congress leaders’ accounts or the Modi government’s? Why hadn’t it locked the account of SC commission that had tweeted similar photos before any of our leaders did? By locking Congress leaders’ accounts en masse, Twitter is blatantly colluding with the stifling of democracy by the BJP government in India. When The Hindu checked the timeline of the NCSC, the offending photograph from August 2 was removed for violation of Twitter’s policy. The account was, however, functional as the handle tweeted about a public hearing by a member at 3:19 p.m. on August 12. Replying to a query on the development, a Twitter spokesperson said the ‘Twitter Rules’ were enforced judiciously and impartially for everyone on its service.

GSLV-F10 fails to launch earth observation satellite into intended orbit 

A technical anomaly preventing the ignition of the GSLV-F10 rocket’s cryogenic upper stage spelt disappointment for Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Thursday morning, as the national space agency could not accomplish the mission to launch earth observation satellite EOS-03 into the intended orbit. Though the lift-off at the scheduled time of 5.43 a.m. from the second launch pad in the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota, some 100 km from here, was successful, the anomaly was realised only after a few minutes. The performance of the first and second stages was normal. However, cryogenic upper stage ignition did not happen due to a technical anomaly. The mission couldn’t be accomplished as intended, the ISRO said in a statement. It did not elaborate any further. EOS-03, intended to be positioned in the geostationary transfer orbit initially, was supposed to reach the final geostationary orbit. It was expected to provide near real-time imaging of a large area of interest at frequent intervals, which could be used for quick monitoring of natural disasters, episodic events, and any short-term events. The mission life of the satellite was 10 years. Soon after the 51.70 metre-tall GSLV-F10’s went up, a live telecast on Doordarshan showed scientists in the Mission Control Centre (MCC) eagerly waiting and hoping for its smooth and successful functioning. The launch resembled a routine affair until the rocket’s second stage, some five minutes after the lift-off. A sense of suspicion and uncertainty descended upon the MCC as the graph on the screens showed a slight deviation of the rocket’s path. A few minutes later, some ISRO officials were seen discussing with ISRO chairman K. Sivan. After a few rounds of discussions, the Range Operations Director announced: Performance anomaly [was] observed in the cryogenic stage. [The] mission could not be accomplished fully. Union Minister Jitendra Singh said the mission can be rescheduled again.

Muslim man in Kanpur thrashed, asked to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’, as minor daughter begs for mercy 

A Muslim man was assaulted in the public and allegedly asked to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ even as his minor daughter tried to save him, said police here on Thursday, PTI reported. A one-minute video of the incident surfaced on social media on Wednesday. The 45-year-old man is seen being assaulted by some men, who ask him to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’. The victim’s daughter is seen trying to save her father, crying and asking the attackers not to beat him. Later, some policemen took the man to their Jeep. The footage also shows the man being hit while in police custody. Deputy Police Commissioner (South) Raveena Tyagi said the matter came to the fore at the Kacchi Basti locality near the Ram Gopal crossing in the Barra area of Kanpur on Wednesday. On the complaint of the victim, we have lodged an FIR and legal action is under way, she said. Police, however, did not mention the name of the organisation involved in the act. The victim, an e-rickshaw driver, said that around 3 pm, some people started abusing and assaulting him. They threatened to kill his family. He said he was saved by police. The man is a relative of a Muslim family, which is involved in a dispute with their Hindu neighbours in the Kanpur locality. Police statement said that in July, the two families had filed cases against each other at the local police station.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Kabul offers Taliban a power-sharing arrangement to end violence

The Taliban seized the strategic Afghan city of Ghazni on Thursday, just 150 kilometres (95 miles) from Kabul, their most important gain in a lightning offensive that has seen them overrun 10 provincial capitals in a week. The interior ministry confirmed the fall of the city, which lies along the major Kabul-Kandahar highway and serves as a gateway between the capital and militant strongholds in the south. The enemy took control, spokesman Mirwais Stanikzai said in a message to media, adding later the city’s governor had been arrested by Afghan security forces. Pro-Taliban Twitter feeds showed a video of him being escorted out of Ghazni by Taliban fighters and sent on his way in a convoy, prompting speculation in the capital that the government was angered with how the provincial administration capitulated. As security forces retreated across the country, Kabul handed a proposal to Taliban negotiators in Qatar offering a power-sharing deal in return for an end to fighting, according to a member of the government’s team in Doha who asked not to be named. A second negotiator, Ghulam Farooq Majroh, said the Taliban had been given an offer about a government of peace without providing more specifics. Authorities in Kabul have now effectively lost most of northern and western Afghanistan and are left holding a scattered archipelago of contested cities also dangerously at risk of falling to the Taliban. The conflict has escalated dramatically since May, when US-led forces began the final stage of a troop withdrawal due to end later this month following a 20-year occupation. The loss of Ghazni will likely pile more pressure on the country’s already overstretched air force, needed to bolster Afghanistan’s dispersed security forces who have increasingly been cut off from reinforcements by road. Pro-Taliban social media accounts also boasted of the vast spoils of war their fighters had recovered in recent days, posting photos of armoured vehicles, heavy weapons, and even a drone seized by the insurgents at abandoned Afghan military bases. In less than a week, the insurgents have taken 10 provincial capitals and encircled the biggest city in the north, the traditional anti-Taliban bastion of Mazar-i-Sharif. Fighting was also raging in Kandahar and Lashkar Gar pro-Taliban heartlands in the south as well as Herat in the west. An official in Lashkar Gah said Taliban fighters were inching closer to government positions after a massive car bomb badly damaged the city’s police headquarters Wednesday evening. The blast forced local police to retreat to the governor’s office, while around 40 of their colleagues and one senior commander surrendered to the Taliban. And in Kandahar, the Taliban said they had overrun the heavily fortified jail, saying hundreds of prisoners were released and taken to safety. The Taliban frequently target prisons to release incarcerated fighters and replenish their ranks. The loss of the prison is a further ominous sign for the country’s second city, which has been besieged for weeks by the Taliban. Kandahar was once the stronghold of the Taliban — whose forces coalesced in the eponymously named province in the early 1990s — and its capture would serve as both a tactical and psychological victory for the militants. Hundreds of thousands have been displaced by the fighting that has enveloped the country. In recent days, Kabul has been swamped by the displaced, who have begun camping out in parks and other public spaces, sparking a fresh humanitarian crisis in the already overtaxed capital. In Washington, defence officials appeared to be grappling with the spiralling situation but insisted that Afghan security forces were still holding their ground.

 

China governance blueprint signals continuing crackdown. 

A new  blueprint issued by China to promote rule of law has called for more legal and institutional efforts to tighten what it called unjust micro-economic activities, signalling the ongoing crackdown on a number of sectors is likely to continue. The document was issued jointly on Wednesday by the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee and the State Council, or Cabinet, of the Government, and called for building a rule of government during the current five-year plan period (2021-25). It called for strengthening the Party’s leadership for the building of a government based on the rule of law. The new blueprint suggests the recent regulatory crackdown aimed at tightening control over some industries is likely to continue. Late last year, regulators launched investigations into alleged monopolistic practices of top tech companies, including Alibaba and Tencent, and took the unprecedented step of stopping at the last minute what was set to be a record-breaking IPO for Alipay, the financial payments arm of Alibaba. This year, crackdowns have followed targeting ridesharing app Didi Chuxing and the entire private education sector. The moves have wiped out close to $1 trillion in value for leading Chinese tech and education companies, according to estimates. Identifying promoting the rule of law for government as the main task in advancing law-based governance in all areas, the document highlighted the guiding philosophies, principles, and overall goals of this cause for the next five years, the official Xinhua news agency reported, adding the document urges improving government functions in various fields, including economic adjustment, market supervision, social management, public service, and environmental protection. It called for more legal and institutional efforts to curb unjust interventions in micro-economic activities, as well as concrete efforts to prevent the administrative power from eliminating or stifling competition.’ The document also called for strengthened enforcement of anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition laws and highlighted as key areas national security, biosecurity, infectious diseases prevention and control, and digital economy.