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| 5 THINGS FIRST |
Delhi court to hear Chidambaram's bail plea in INX Media case; Delhi High Court to hear plea on Shah Faesal's detention; Foreign minister Jaishankar to visit Maldives for Indian Ocean Conference; Chinese Taipei Open (badminton) begins in Taiwan; US Open
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| 1. More red lights flash on economy avenue |
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- Core slows down: The flow of bad news about the slowdown in the economy continues. Growth of India’s eight core sector industries — coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity — slowed down to 2.1% in July as against 7.3% in the same month last year, government data released on Monday showed. The new data comes days after official figures showed the economy grew at its slowest pace (of 5%) in more than six years.
- Slowing output: India’s manufacturing sector activity declined to its 15-month low in August, owing to slower increases in sales, output and employment, a monthly survey showed on Monday. The Nikkei Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index declined to 51.4 in August from July's 52.5, its weakest since May 2018. A figure above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction. Data released over the weekend showed that passenger vehicle sales have crashed 30% in August, marking the 10th straight month that sales have declined. India’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki said on Monday that it reduced its production by 34% in August, the seventh straight month it has reduced its output.
- No new jobs: According to the PMI survey, while companies recorded the slowest sales growth in 15 months, growth of new orders from overseas was the weakest seen since April 2018. This forced companies to curb output growth (which softened to the weakest in a year) and lower input buying (for the first time since May 2018) as input costs accelerated to a nine-month high. On the employment front, the survey said weak sales prevented manufacturing firms from replacing retirees and voluntary leavers.
- Slow road ahead? The UBS Evidence Lab survey of 267 C-suite executives (including CEOs and CFOs) in July 2019, to gauge the views of India Inc, noted on Monday that nearly half of the executives expect only modest demand momentum of up to 10% over the next 12 months. The share of respondents expecting double-digit growth in demand has come down from over 40% last year to only one-third now. Nearly 48% of the surveyed firms expect capital expenditure requirements either to remain broadly the same or increase modestly — less than 5% — over the next year. Singapore's banking group DBS has revised India's real GDP growth forecast downwards for the current financial year to 6.2% from 6.8% projected earlier.
A BJP spokesperson, meanwhile, said on Monday: "The world economy is facing a slowdown but we can say with happiness that Indian economy is doing well".
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| 2. Can you smell the Moon, India? |
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- The Vikram Lander module (containing the Pragyan Rover) of ISRO’s lunar probe was successfully separated from its Orbiter module on Monday. Considered to be one of the most critical operations of Chandrayaan-2 — read the final milestone ahead of landing — the separation of the two modules took place at 1:15 pm IST. The separation command was executed by the onboard systems autonomously after ISRO mission control had loaded the commands earlier in the day. All health parameters of both the orbiter, which will continue going around the Moon (alone) for at least a year, and the landing module were said to be normal.
- FYI: Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft comprises three segments — the Orbiter (weighing 2,379 kg, eight payloads), Vikram (1,471 kg, four payloads) and Pragyan (27 kg, two payloads). The separation meant Vikram was independent for the first time since July 22 when the integrated Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft was launched from Sriharikota. (Chandrayaan-2 had entered the lunar orbit on August 20.)
- Currently located in an orbit of 119 km x 127 km, the Vikram lander will now undergo two deorbit manoeuvres — on September 3 and September 4. After its September 3 manoeuvre (between 8:45 am and 9:45 am), the Lander will achieve a 109 x 120 km orbit around the Moon, and will get even closer — 39 X 110 km — after September 4.
- And finally, Vikram is expected to make a ‘powered descent’ at a touchdown velocity of 2 m/second on the lunar surface between 1:30 am and 2:30 am IST on September 7. (ISRO had announced that it that it would be at 1:55 am). After the Moon touchdown by Vikram, the rover Pragyan will roll down from lander between 5.30 am and 6.30 am on the same day. It will carry out various experiments on the lunar soil for a period of one lunar day (or 14 Earth days).
- India is on course to becoming the fourth country to achieve a soft landing on the Moon after the US, Russia and China. A successful landing would make the Rs 978 crore Chandrayaan-2 the first lunar probe on the south polar region of the Moon. (Earlier, Chandrayaan-1 had suggested the presence of water in the region.)
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| 3. In UP, a meal of salt & roti for kids is fine but making its video isn’t? |
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- The charge: The journalist who first reported that students at a government school in Uttar Pradesh’s Mirzapur district were being fed rotis with salt under the mid-day meal scheme has been charged with criminal conspiracy for doing “despicable work” of maligning the image of the UP government. The National Human Rights Commission had sent a notice to Uttar Pradesh chief secretary over the issue.
- The crime: The video of students of the Siyur Primary School in Jamalpur block of Mirzapur district being served salt and roti in their midday meal had gone viral on August 22, triggering outrage and leading to the suspension of two teachers. As per norms under the flagship nutrition scheme, pulses, rice, rotis, vegetables, with fruits and milk on certain days, are to be served to school-going children to ensure necessary nutrition to them. The midday meal scheme is designed to provide a minimum of 450 calories per child per day, which should include at least 12 grams of protein too each day. These meals should be served to each child at least 200 days a year.
- An old problem: Inadequate or poor-quality food being served in UP’s schools is not new, nor are notices by NHRC. A CAG report of 2016 had pointed out that school kitchens did not have proper doors, adequate lights, proper ventilation and proper facilities for drainage and waste disposal. A fifth of the schools did not have kitchen-cum-store and 42% did not have LPG connection for cooking meals despite availability of funds. In 48% schools, cooks were not trained in hygienic habits. The national auditor also said that against the directive to provide mid-day meals to children 200 days in a year, over 56,000 schools provided meals for 102 days on an average.
In another law and order-related development for UP, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the state government to set up a special team to look into the charges levelled by a Shahjahanpur woman law student, who had gone missing after accusing former Union minister and BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand of harassment and was found in Rajasthan. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday said that Uttar Pradesh is in the process of becoming “the best state” with the “participation of youth.”
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| 4. Just a few ‘imperfections’ from a perfect Caribbean tour |
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- With the mammoth 257-run win on the fourth day of the second Test in Kingston, Jamaica, India ended their tour of the Caribbean without losing a single match. They first blanked the hosts 3-0 in the T20Is, going on to win the three-match ODI series 2-0 and finally swept the Test series 2-0. The No. 1 Test team now sits pretty atop the World Test Championship table and Virat Kohli became India's most successful Test captain ever. Sounds perfect for Team India? Yep, except:
- KL Rahul: Prithvi Shaw out due to a doping suspension. Indian Test opener slot open. Rahul should have. Rahul could have. But it’s just not happened in the tour of the Caribbean, batting stance adjustments notwithstanding. Since the beginning of 2018, Rahul has averaged 22.23 in 15 Tests, scoring just one century, versus England at The Oval, and the lone fifty, against Afghanistan in Bengaluru. His career average, which stood at 44.62 before the lean period, is now down to 34.58. He still has a few opportunities in the three Tests against South and the first Test against Bangladesh that follow, after which Shaw becomes eligible. His place in the ODI and T20I XI isn’t under threat for now.
- Rishabh Pant: There was a chance at redemption for the 21-year-old in the second Test following his scores of 0, 4, 65 not out, 20, 0, 24, and 7 on the tour of the Caribbean. But a Jason Holder inswinger sent him back for 27 off 65 balls in the first innings and he didn’t get to bat in the second (given India’s declaration). While his Test batting average is a not-too-bad 44.35 (from 18 innings) currently, that figure is halved for the shorter formats — 22.90 in 10 ODI innings, and 21.57 from 17 T20I innings. With Kona Bharat and Wriddhiman Saha slotted into the India A squads for the first and second warm-up four-day Tests against South Africa, respectively, the pressure is on for the youngster.
- R Ashwin: India’s thirdmost experienced Test player on the Caribbean tour did not get a match, with the management going for the other spinning allrounder in Ravindra Jadeja for both matches. That means the offspinner has now sat out of five straight Tests. Add to this, the 32-year-old is yet to play international cricket for India this year and is out of the reckoning in white-ball cricket. Ashwin also failed to finish India's last two tours — in England and Australia. His impressive record against West Indies (read favourite opposition) may have merited an outing, but with Kuldeep Yadav, Shahbaz Nadeem, K Gowtham now being named in the India A squads for the warm-up Tests against South Africa, is time running out for Ashwin?
Check the series page here
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| 6. An Indian on death row in Pakistan meets hope |
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- A meeting: For the first time since retired Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav's detention by Pakistan in 2016, an Indian diplomat met him for an hour on Monday after being granted consular access. Jadhav, 49, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of “espionage and terrorism” in April 2017. In December 2017, Jadhav’s wife and mother were allowed to meet him but from behind a glass screen.
- The reason: India had moved the International Court of Justice (ICJ), seeking a stay on his death sentence and demanded “immediate, effective and unhindered” consular access to Jadhav. On July 17, the ICJ had ordered Pakistan to review Jadhav’s conviction and sentence and also grant consular access to India.
- The outcome: India’s foreign ministry spokesperson said after the meeting: “While we await a comprehensive report, it was clear that Jadhav appeared to be under extreme pressure to parrot a false narrative to bolster Pakistan's untenable claims. The government remains committed to continue to work towards ensuring that Jadhav receives justice at the earliest and returns safely to India.”
- The dispute: Pakistan claims that its security forces arrested Jadhav from the restive Balochistan province on March 3, 2016 after he reportedly entered from Iran. However, India maintains that Jadhav was kidnapped from Iran where he had business interests after retiring from the Navy.
- The timing: The meeting comes in the midst of spiralling tensions between the two countries after India withdrew Jammu and Kashmir's special status and bifurcated it into two union territories. Pakistan has been trying to raise the issue at various international fora, but India has maintained that it is an internal matter. India has not been engaging with Pakistan since an attack on the Air Force base at Pathankot in January of 2016 by Pakistan-based terrorists, maintaining that talks and terror cannot go together.
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| 7. How did the Ambanis check into Oberoi Hotels? |
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A report in Business Standard that the upcoming hotel in Mumbai's Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) being built by the Oberoi Hotels will be named after Anant Ambani — son of RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani — as Anant Vilas appears to be another indicator of the strengthening grip of the Ambani family on India’s second-oldest hotel chain. Here’s how the Ambanis became a major stakeholder in the hospitality group:
- Old ties: An apocryphal story emerged after Mukesh Ambani built a new residence for his family — Antilia — that the family didn’t feel comfortable with their laundry, which was washed at the Oberois' Mumbai hotel at Nariman Point, being mixed with that of other guests, ostensibly because of the fact that they are staunch vegetarians. Be that as it may, fact is that the Oberoi Hotels’ holding company, EIH, was hired by Dhirubhai Ambani for the maintenance of the family’s residence at Sea Wind, their 14 storeyed building in South Mumbai’s Cuffe Parade. That tradition has continued with the hotel group responsible for maintaining Antilia — including all housekeeping services.
- Oberois’ SOS: Ever since ITC, which operates its own hospitality chain under ITC Hotels, started acquiring stake in EIH, the Oberoi Hotels started scouring the market for white knights to prevent a possible hostile takeover. As of June 2019, ITC and its subsidiaries own 16.13% in EIH. The takeover code, which earlier had a limit of 15% for an open offer to be triggered, was amended in 2011 by SEBI, raising the trigger limit for the open offer to 25%. In 2009, Oberois first signed a deal with Max India promoter Analjit Singh, who was to pick up 26% stake — with Singh slated to become the hotel chain’s co-promoter and vice chairman. That deal fell through the cracks as the next year, RIL purchased 14.12% stake in EIH and later increased its stake to 18.53% — buying out Analjit Singh. It also got two seats on EIH’s board — for Nita Ambani, wife of Mukesh Ambani and Manoj Modi, a close confidante of Ambani.
- Ambani’s project: The hotel at BKC, which will be named after Ambani’s son, is located on a strip of land that is co-owned by RIL and real estate developer Maker Group’s subsidiary Indian Film Combine — in which RIL subsidiary, Reliance Industrial Investments and Holdings (RIIH), holds a 65% stake, having bought it last year for Rs 1,105 crore. Given RIL’s substantial stake in EIH, the entire project in BKC can be considered as belonging to the company.
- Will it take over? For the Oberois, an Ambani-RIL stake opens up avenues of finances to scale up the hotel chain — which, compared to its peers such as the Tatas’ Indian Hotels, promoters of the Taj Group of Hotels, has a far fewer number of properties, at 31, vis-a-vis 170 of the Indian Hotels. However, RIL-Ambani are not known to be content with just being investors without management control of a company and with the Oberoi patriarch — P R S ‘Biki’ Oberoi — already more than 90, it remains to be seen how long RIL plays second fiddle, considering that it’s just a little under 7% away from acquiring a 25% stake to trigger an open offer in EIH, especially after reports that ITC may want to sell off its entire stake though RIL has denied any interest in increasing its shareholding in EIH.
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| 8. Meanwhile, in the Ayodhya case… |
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- Contesting claims of Hindu parties for ownership of the 2.77 acre disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land in Ayodhya, Muslim parties on Monday told the Supreme Court that the case could not be decided on the basis of Hindus’ belief and faith that Lord Ram was born at the disputed site by glossing over recorded historical facts since 1934 about a living mosque.
- Opening the arguments for Muslim parties on the 17th day of hearing before the Supreme Court bench, senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan said: “In 1934, Hindus damaged the masjid. In 1949, they trespassed into the masjid and placed idols inside it. In 1992, the Hindus demolished it. Where do these facts stand for consideration before the Supreme Court? Do we lose sight of contemporary historical facts and travel into faith and belief to decide this case? And Hindus say their rights are to be protected. Is it a Hindu Constitution that their rights would be protected despite all these historical facts stacked against their claim?”
- He said the mosque was built on vacant land and assailed the ASI report about evidence of a huge Hindu structure underneath the demolished Babri Masjid. “The ASI dug 90 trenches and found some Hindu structure dating back to several periods of history. This means these structures belonged to several periods and which had become ruins. When the mosque was built, it was over barren land. No definite conclusion about pre-existence of Hindu structure at the site can be derived from the ASI report,” he added. Arguments will continue on Tuesday.
Full story here
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| 9. A step forward for peace in Afghanistan? |
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- A draft: A US envoy showed the draft of a US-Taliban agreement to Afghan leaders on Monday after declaring they were “at the threshold” of a deal to end America's longest war, reports Associated Press. Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, met Afghan president Ashraf Ghani on Monday after an initial meeting on Sunday. The ninth round of US-Taliban talks in Qatar had ended without a final agreement.
- The deal: Apart from the withdrawal of US troops, the deal is likely to include "a cease-fire, detail verifiable assurances that the Taliban will not permit terrorist organisations such as Al Qaeda or the Islamic State to maintain a toehold in territory under their control, and set a date for intra-Afghan talks in Oslo, Norway", according to this Foreign Policy report. The Afghan government is not part of the US-Taliban negotiations as the latter has dismissed it as a US puppet.
- The bargain: The Taliban, hit hard by the US-led invasion after the September 11 attacks in 2001, now hold sway over half of Afghanistan. Even as it takes part in talks, the insurgent group has stepped up attacks in recent months to strengthen its negotiating position with the US. The Afghan interior ministry on Monday said that 51 Taliban fighters, seven civilians and six members of security forces have been killed in the Taliban attack the previous day on Puli Khumri, the capital of Baghlan province.
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| 10. How bad will Djokovic hurt? |
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- Novak Djokovic’s US Open came to a disappointing end on Sunday as the top seed and defending champion was forced to retire during his fourth-round match against Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka. The 32-year-old Serbian, who won four of the past five Slam crowns and 16 overall, was in pain from a nagging left shoulder injury. And down 6-4, 7-5, 2-1, he walked to the net and threw in the towel following a double-fault. Djokovic admitted he has been hurting for weeks without detailing how or when the injury took place.
- "The pain was constant for weeks now, some days higher, some days with less intensity," he said. "Taking different stuff to kill the pain instantly. Sometimes it works. sometimes it doesn't. You just know (to quit) when you know, I guess, when you feel like you're not able to hit the shot anymore." FYI: Wawrinka himself has battled nearly two years to get back to Slam-winning form after knee surgery.
- Djokovic has now conceded (or retired in) 12 ATP matches. (He’s won 25 when opponents have conceded the match). The last time was during his 2017 Wimbledon quarter-final against Tomas Berdych. And twice he had to retire against Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka, while conceding once each to Berdych, Guillermo Coria, Nikolay Davydenko, Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Filip Krajinovic, Andy Murray and Feliciano Lopez. Interestingly, in the 2012 US Open pre-quarters it was Wawrinka who had retired 4-6, 1-6, 1-3 against Djokovic. But in the 2006 Croatia Open final between the two, it was the Serb who quit at 6-6.
- Nadal currently leads Djokovic by 140 points in the ATP Race to London and will further widen the gap if he reaches at least the quarter-finals in New York. Federer, on the other hand would trail Djokovic by a mere 75 points if he takes the title this fortnight. (As far as the all-time Grand Slam winners’ list goes, Djokovic is at 16 trophies, behind Nadal’s 18 and Federer’s 20.) But the Serbian plans to be back in four weeks at the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships before defending his title at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. Djokovic is also looking to tie Pete Sampras’ record of six year-end No. 1 finishes, but will need more wins in order to have a shot.
More 2019 US Open updates here
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| PLUS |
| Is Harry Potter evil? This school thinks so |
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- Evil spell? A Catholic school in the US state of Tennessee’s capital Nashville evidently is of the opinion that reading J K Rowling’s Harry Potter books "risk conjuring evil spirits" — and as such, it has banned its students from reading the series. The books, which were included in the school’s library only in the last academic session — 2018-19 — have been removed from the library from this year.
- Clergy-cal error? According to a local newspaper, the school’s pastor said that "these books present magic as both good and evil, which is not true, but in fact a clever deception. The curses and spells used in the books are actual curses and spells; which when read by a human being risk conjuring evil spirits into the presence of the person reading the text." The pastor claimed to have consulted exorcists before reaching the decision.
- No country for Harry Potter? According to the American Library Association (ALA), the Harry Potter books are the most banned books in the US. The book series is also banned in West Asian nations such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, for its theme of wizardry and witchcraft — both of which are considered un-Islamic.
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| Answer to NEWS IN CLUES |
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to receive an award from the foundation for his Swachh Bharat Abhiyan project. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will confer the prestigious award during the PM’s visit to the US. In 2014, immediately after assuming power after a landslide win in the Lok Sabha elections, Modi had announced the Swachh Bharat campaign, whose components include the construction of household toilets, community and public toilets and solid waste management.
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Compiled by: Judhajit Basu, Rakesh Rai, Sumil Sudhakaran, Tejeesh N.S. Behl
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