1. Centre Steps in as Kerala Floods Take ‘Very Serious’ Turn
Kerala struggled on Sunday to cope with floods that have inundated half the state, left at least 40 people dead and a trail of devastation that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan described as the worst disaster to have befallen the southern Indian state with a population of 35 million.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh promised all possible central help to Kerala to deal with the unprecedented flooding after carrying out an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who sent out an SOS for help to “all quarters.”
Singh announced immediate relief of Rs 100 crore to the state. The Kerala government put the total loss from floods at Rs 8,316 crore. Vijayan sought immediate relief of Rs 1,220 crore.
Army, navy, air force and National Disaster Response Force teams were deployed in many areas of the worst-hit Idukki and Wayanad districts. Besides thousands of houses, many bridges and roads were swept away by flash floods. State public works department minister G Sudhakaran said at least 500 km of roads were damaged. Many areas are still without power and drinking water supplies.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
2. Opp Bid to Form Mahagathbandhan Is ‘Political Adventurism’: PM
The attempt of Opposition parties to form a “Mahagathbandhan” (grand alliance) against the government for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections is “political adventurism” that’s bound to fail, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said in an interview to Hindustan Times.
“These groups that are being formed, Mahagathbandhan, or whatever they may call it, cannot create a gathbandhan of the electorate. Indian electorate has always kept the national interest paramount and I have a faith that it will not compromise its vote for such incongruent groups whose only focus is, as you say, ‘anyone but Modi’,” the Prime Minister said in the email interview.
His comments come after Opposition parties failed to get their act together in election for the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman’s post and the candidate of the ruling National Democratic Alliance won easily on Thursday, 9 August.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. V S Naipaul, Nobel Prize Winning Author, Passes Away at 85
V S Naipaul, the Trinidad-born Nobel laureate whose precise and lyrical writing in such novels as “A Bend in the River” and “A House for Mr Biswas” and brittle, misanthropic personality made him one of the world’s most admired and contentious writers, died on Saturday, 11 August, at his London home, his family said. He was 85.
His wife, Nadira Naipaul, said he was “a giant in all that he achieved and he died surrounded by those he loved having lived a life which was full of wonderful creativity and endeavour.”
Naipaul’s work reflected his personal journey from Trinidad to London and various stops in developing countries. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001 “for having united perceptive narrative and incorruptible scrutiny in works that compel us to see the presence of suppressed histories.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. Somnath Chatterjee on Ventilator but Stable
Former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee was put on ventilator support after he suffered a heart attack, but was "stable", an official of a private hospital said on Sunday, 12 August.
"He is undergoing dialysis. In such cases it happens at times that the heart stops giving support. Chatterjee suffered a mild heart attack this morning, but was revived. He is in the ICCU. He is stable and responding to treatment but still on ventilation," the official told PTI tonight.
Eighty-nine-year-old Chatterjee, who is suffering from a kidney-related ailment, was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday.
A 12-member team of doctors was keeping a constant watch on the veteran politician, the official said.
Last month, the former speaker had suffered a haemorrhagic stroke.
(Source: PTI)
5. AAP to Contest Only Around 100 Seats in 2019 Elections
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) plans to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in a focused manner, restricting itself to fielding candidates in around 100 seats, primarily in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi among the states in north India.
"The party feels that there is no point fighting in all seats. So, plans are to contest around 80 to 100 seats where we are in a better position to influence the results," said AAP's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh, who is also the in-charge of party's Uttar Pradesh and Bihar units.
Punjab, Haryana and AAP's home turf Delhi, will be where the party would focus to win maximum seats in 2019, he said. The party will also field candidates for some Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In Bihar and Uttar Pradesh too, AAP plans to field candidates in some seats.
In Uttar Pradesh, the party is looking to contest in 10 to 15 seats, Singh said. In Delhi, the AAP has announced in-charges for five of the seven Lok Sabha constituencies.
(Source: PTI)
6. Cop Killed in J&K Encounter, Two Aides of Militants Held
A policeman was killed and two paramilitary personnel injured in a gunfight in Srinagar on Sunday, 12 August, morning. The militants – one of them injured in the gunfight – managed to escape. Police said they arrested two of their associates.
The encounter took place when a joint team of J&K Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG) and paramilitary forces cordoned off the Diyarwani neighbourhood of Batamaloo in Srinagar Sunday morning after specific inputs about the presence of militants. As the security forces zeroed in on the target house, the militants opened indiscriminate fire to break the security cordon.
In the initial burst of fire, three security personnel were injured. One of them, police constable Parvaiz Ahmad, succumbed to his injuries. The militants managed to break the security cordon and escaped after the gunfight.
(Source: The Indian Express)
7. I Share Donald Trump’s Vision of Prosperity for India, US: Modi
Amid uncertainties regarding US President Donald Trump’s trade and visa policies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that he shared Trump’s vision of prosperity for India and the US.
“I share with him the vision of prosperity of our peoples through a strong India-US partnership, based on important convergences, inter alia, in combating terrorism and promoting stability and development in the Indo-Pacific,” Modi said.
“I have met President Trump a few times,” Modi said in an interview to a media house. “We have also been in touch through several conversations,” he added.
Modi’s comments come ahead of the India-US 2+2 Dialogue next month in New Delhi involving External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and their US counterparts Mike Pompeo and Jim Mattis.
(Source: IANS)
8. Centre Preparing Bill to Attach Properties of NRI Husbands in Domestic Violence Cases
With a rise in cases of domestic violence and abandonment against women who had married non-resident Indians (NRI), the Centre is working on a bill that will allow the government to attach properties of NRI husbands and their families if they do not respond to court summons.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), along with women and child development, home and law ministries are involved in the exercise. Officials said the court summons would be published on the MEA portal and deemed served to such NRI husbands and their families.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. Modi Supporters Disrupt Pro-Khalistan Event in London
Pro-India and pro-Khalistan groups were engaged in a noisy face-off during an event to call for a so-called “referendum” for the independence of Punjab at London’s Trafalgar Square on Sunday, 12 August.
More than 2,500 pro-Khalistan supporters gathered to issue what the organiser, US-based Sikhs for Justice, called a “London declaration” to hold the “referendum” in 2020. Many travelled from other parts of Europe and elsewhere for the event, with some participation by UK-based groups.
The event was allegedly backed by elements in Pakistan.
There was considerable police presence to segregate the pro-India and pro-Khalistan groups. British authorities had earlier rejected India’s demand that permission be denied for the event on grounds of freedom of expression, leading to renewed strain in bilateral relations.
(Source: Hindustan Times)