1. ‘Howdy, Modi’: In Trump’s Presence, Modi Attacks Pak for Terror Export
With US President Donald Trump seated in front of him, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a fullfrontal attack on Pakistan’s sponsorship of terrorism in India and across the world, telling a rapturous Indian-American crowd at the HowdyModi rally on Sunday that the time has come for a decisive battle against terrorism.
Drawing from Trump’s blunt remarks earlier about the need to protect innocent civilians from “radical Islamic terrorism” – that drew a standing ovation from Modi and the Indian delegation – the Prime Minister invited the gathering to in turn give an ovation to Trump for his fight against terrorism.
Although Modi did not mention Pakistan by name, the reference and the context were obvious. “People who can barely manage their country object to what has happened in India,” Modi gibed at Pakistan’s chronic instability and Islamabad’s protests about India’s move to better integrate Jammu & Kashmir into the Indian union.
(Source: The Times of India)
2. Quad to Meet: Foreign Ministers of India, US, Japan and Australia
A year after India refused to upgrade its Quadrilateral grouping with the US, Australia and Japan to the level of Foreign Secretaries, the Foreign Ministers of the four countries are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.
The Quadrilateral, which was revived in November 2017, has so far met at the level of Joint Secretary-rank officials. The new plan will result in an upgrade by at least three levels.
Sources said the meeting has been scheduled for the morning of September 26. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will be heading to New York after attending the Howdy Modi event in Houston on Sunday.
(Source: The Indian Express)
3. Amit Shah Pitches J&K Move as Poll Issue in Mumbai
Home minister Amit Shah said on Sunday the move to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir was a nationalistic decision taken by the Narendra Modi-led government, even as he appeared to pitch the issue as a referendum for the party’s popularity in the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly elections.
Addressing an election campaign rally in Mumbai, the Union minister also hit out at the opposition Congress, accusing it of politicising the Centre’s August move to effectively revoke Article 370 of the Constitution on an issue that involved “national security”.
“I am happy that the campaign for the state polls is beginning with the discussion on our decision to remove Articles 370 and 35(A),” Shah told the rally in suburban Goregaon, where he launched the party’s poll campaign.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
4. Scientists, Including ISRO’s, Question Sivan’s 98% Claim
Soon after Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K Sivan reiterated on Saturday that Chandrayaan-2 was a 98 percent success (citing the orbiter), some senior scientists have challenged the claim, one of them posting on social media his thoughts on leadership and rocket science.
A senior space scientist said such claims “without any deep introspection make us a laughing stock in front of the world”. ISRO sources said Vikram, the Chandrayaan-2 lander, probably crashed at great speed and was lost forever. Moon landing was the stated highpoint of the mission.
The talking point on Sunday was a social media post by Tapan Misra, adviser to the Isro chairman, who took a dig at Sivan’s leadership without naming him. “Leaders inspire, they do not manage,” wrote Misra, who was moved out of the post of director of Space Applications Centre after Sivan took over as ISRO chief.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. Jharkhand Again: A Man is Lynched, Two Injured Over Suspicion of Cow Slaughter
One man was killed and two others injured in Khunti district of Jharkhand Sunday after they were assaulted by a mob that accused them of “slaughtering” a cow. Police said the men were attacked around 10 am in Jaltanda Suari village, when villagers spotted them allegedly carving out meat from an animal carcass.
“The three villagers, identified as Kalantus Barla, Philip Horo and Faagu Kacchap, are alleged to have been carving an animal prohibited for slaughtering. Other villagers spotted them and started beating them. However, police reached the spot as we got information and rushed them to hospital. Barla sustained grievous injuries and he died before reaching hospital. The other two are said to be stable,” said DIG (Chhotanagpur Range) Homkar Amol Venukant.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Tax Cuts Will Attract Investors Looking to Shift From China: FM
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Sunday the government’s decision to reduce the corporate tax rate for new manufacturing companies to 15 percent has turned India into an attractive investment destination for firms that want to relocate supply chains from China, including Apple and its component manufacturers.
The finance minister on Friday announced the reduction of the corporate tax rate for domestic manufacturing companies from 30 percent to 22 percent and for new manufacturing firms from 25 percent to 15 percent in a measure aimed at reviving growth in the country’s slowing economy.
On Sunday, she said India now has the lowest corporate tax rate in Southeast Asia. The tax rate in Singapore is 17 percent, Vietnam 20 percent, Thailand 20 percent, Indonesia 25 percent, China 25 percent and the Philippines 30 percent, according to data reviewed by the Finance Ministry.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
7. At Top Law School in Bengaluru, Students Clamour for Their VC
“Volumus Nostram VC” – translated ‘We want our VC’ – says a poster on the wall of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), the country’s premier law school. For several days now, students have been demanding the immediate appointment of their new vice chancellor – in Latin, among other languages.
Over 400 undergraduate students are set to boycott the semester examinations that are scheduled to begin on Monday to protest the delay in appointing Prof Sudhir Krishnaswamy as the new VC. This is the first time in the NLSIU’s 31-year history that students are boycotting classes and exams.
Krishnaswamy, who graduated from NLSIU in 1998, was recommended as the first of three choices for VC by a committee headed by Justice SA Bobde of the Supreme Court on August 4, but the university’s Executive Council is yet to issue a formal appointment order.
(Source: The Indian Express)
8. ‘Five-Year Period Ending 2019 Hottest Ever’
A damning new UN report published on Sunday said the world is falling badly behind in the race to avert climate disaster as a result of runaway warming, with the five-year period ending 2019 set to be the hottest ever.
It comes ahead of a major UN climate summit Monday that will be attended by more than 60 world leaders, as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pushes for countries to increase their greenhouse gas reduction targets.
The report “highlights the urgent need for the development of concrete actions that halt global warming and the worst effects of climate change,” said its authors, the Science Advisory Group, to the summit.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
9. 211 Held Under PSA Compared to 921 After Burhan Wani’s Death
There has been a substantial reduction in the application of the “draconian” Jammu & Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA) in the aftermath of the defanging of Article 370 on August 5. PSA is a defensive detention law that allows keeping a person perceived to be a threat to law & order in custody without trial for two years.
As many as 921 people were slapped with PSA in the six weeks following the killing of Hizb terrorist Burhan Wani in 2016. However, in 2019, after the Centre took away the special status of J&K, the use of the same Act has been drastically reduced to 211 instances (in the same timeframe). The government did not approve 21 detentions.
While 102 were detained under PSA in 2016 in the Jammu region, which has historically remained peaceful in comparison to the Kashmir Valley, only 19 have been detained in the region this year.
(Source: The Times of India)
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