| | 5 THINGS FIRST | SC to hear petitions seeking modification of its stay order on 'Rath Yatra'; Rajnath Singh on three-day visit to Russia; Oil India to move Gauhati High Court for stay of closure notice for Baghjan oilfield; Serie A: Bologna vs Juventus (1:15 am IST, Tuesday); World Rainforest Day | |
| | 1. Record daily spikes yet again: 15,372 cases, 423 deaths |  | - India registered its biggest single-day caseload high on Sunday with 15,372 patients testing positive for Covid, taking the country’s caseload to 426,397. With 423 casualties recorded on Sunday, it was the first time that the country’s daily fatality count crossed the 400-mark (barring June 16 when adding backdated deaths from Maharashtra and Delhi took the daily count to 2,003). The nationwide death toll has now risen to 13,695. On the positive side, 235,907 people have been cured across the country, taking the recovery rate to 55.3%.
- With 3,870 fresh cases, Maharashtra’s caseload rose to 132,075. And with 186 deaths on the day (earlier deaths were added to the count on Sunday), its cumulative death toll crossed the 6,000-mark, to 6,170. Mumbai accounted for 1,159 new cases and 110 deaths. Also, five other states registered their biggest single-day spike: Telangana (730), Gujarat (580), Rajasthan (393), Odisha (304) and Kerala (133).
- However, the number of fresh cases dropped in Delhi on Sunday. While 3,000 people tested positive in the Capital against Saturday’s 3,630, the casualties were 63 against 77 the previous day. Delhi’s cumulative caseload is 59,746, while the death toll has reached 2,175. That meant Delhi pipped Tamil Nadu to become the second worst-hit state in the country. Tamil Nadu added 2,532 fresh cases, taking its tally to 59,377. With 53 fresh deaths, the state’s fatality count reached 757.
- Now, utilisation of in-patient services were severely affected in both public and private hospitals during the 10-week-long nationwide lockdown with a 51% drop in average weekly hospitalisations under Ayushman Bharat, the world’s largest health insurance scheme. And a policy brief paper published by the National Health Authority, which is the implementing agency of the insurance scheme showed:
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- Finally, the ministry of external affairs has requested diplomatic missions in India to resume visa processing services “in view of lifting of the Covid lockdown”. The move comes at a time when the government is considering the calibrated resumption of scheduled international flights from next month, depending on the pandemic situation. Senior officials of several foreign airlines feel resumption of visa processing could be viewed positively by India for allowing restart of international commercial flight services operated by them. They sense it will also signal acceptance of the ‘new normal’ in the post-pandemic travel world. Most countries at the moment have different entry requirements for non-citizens.
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| | 2. 'Full freedom' for armed forces to deal with Chinese along LAC |  | - India is determined to impose costs on Chinese troops if they attempt any further aggressive behaviour on the border, officials said on Sunday after defence minister Rajnath Singh reviewed operational readiness along the 3,488-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) with the Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and the three service chiefs — Army Chief Gen MM Naravane, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria.
- The armed forces have been given “full freedom” to respond in an “adequate and proportionate manner” to any hostile act in accordance with their judgement. “They have been told not to start a fight, but also not to hold back in the event of any ground intrusion or breach of airspace. The Army, Navy and IAF reported satisfactory levels of preparedness and high operational alertness along the LAC,” an official told TOI.
- The decisive shift away from the long-standing border management policy to largely maintain “peace and tranquillity” on the LAC gives the military commanders on the ground the leeway to undertake whatever action is required to foil any misadventure by the Chinese People's Liberation Army. “This obviously includes freedom to the commanders to order troops to open fire in the face of extreme provocation and extraordinary situations like the one near PP-14 on June 15,” the official said.
- Sources said diplomatic talks are likely to be held with China in the coming week in a bid to break the military stalemate on the ground. A second meeting between 14 Corps commander Lt-General Harinder Singh and South Xinjiang Military District chief Major General Liu Lin is also on the cards, on the lines of the one they held on June 6. Also this week, MEA joint secretary in charge of China, Naveen Srivastava, will hold a second virtual conference with Wu Jianghao, director general in the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs, to bring about a diplomatic resolution to the crisis.
- Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government put three agreements signed with Chinese companies at the recent Magnetic Maharashtra 2.0 investor meet on hold. The proposed investments total over Rs 5,000 crore and includes the Rs 3,770-crore MoU with Great Wall Motors to set up an automobile plant in Talegaon near Pune.
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| | 3. What’s up with India’s four fingers? |  | - The status: Chinese soldiers continue to occupy an almost 8 km stretch in what India considers to be its territory along Pangong Tso in eastern Ladakh (tso means lake in the Tibetan language). Reports say the Chinese have, since early May, built dozens of new fortifications and bunkers in the area. The slopes of the mountains surrounding the lake jut into it at eight points, which are referred to as “fingers”. India claims that the area till Finger 8 is its territory. The Chinese have blocked India’s access from Finger 4- to 8. Chinese troops have also taken control of the heights to dominate 'Finger-4 to 8', adroitly utilising the time when bilateral military talks were underway on the troop confrontations at Patrolling Points 14, 15 and 17 in the Galwan Valley and Hogra-Hot Springs area.
- The claim: Located at an altitude of 13,900 feet, two-thirds of the 134-km long lake is controlled by China as it extends from Tibet to India. India physically controls till Finger 4 (has a post between Finger 3 and Finger 4) but for decades has been patrolling west to east till Finger 8, where it says the Line of Actual Control runs north to south. Finger 4 is located more than 5 km inside India's perception of LAC.
- The game: In 1999, while India's attention was diverted during the Kargil conflict with Pakistan, China had surreptitiously built a dirt track reaching up to Finger-4 area. Subsequently, the PLA also black-topped it.
Meanwhile, this is what US President Donald Trump thinks of the standoff: “It's a very tough situation. We're talking to India. We're talking to China. They've got a big problem there … They've come to blows, and we'll see what happens. We'll try and help them out”. Trump last month offered to “mediate or arbitrate” the raging border dispute between India and China, saying he was “ready, willing and able” to ease the tensions. | |
| | 4. This Yoga Day was easier on your pocket too |  | - The firsts: The coronavirus forced this year’s Yoga Day asanas to go indoors and the celebrations to go digital for the first time since 2015, when India marked the first one. There’s likely another first: the amount spent on marking the event may have come down.
- The bill: In the last five years, not including this year’s event, the Centre had spent Rs 140 crore on Yoga Day celebrations. Last year, over Rs 44 crore was spent on Yoga Day, which was more than double the amount spent in 2015 and 2016. The expenses incurred by state governments, NGOs and trusts to celebrate the occasion are separate.
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- The trend: In the first Yoga Day celebration, a bulk of the Rs 16 crore bill was for advertising and publicity (Rs 8.8 crore) and the main event that the prime minister attended (Rs 7.5 crore including Rs 53 lakh worth of T-shirts and mats). In 2016, while the cost of organising the main event came down to Rs 5 crore (plus T-shirts and mats for Rs 65 lakh), the publicity budget increased to Rs 11.5 crore. In the third year, the main event held in Lucknow cost the Centre Rs 8.5 crore (and Rs 99 lakh in T-shirts and mats) and selling the day another Rs 16 crore. In 2018, the publicity budget ballooned to Rs 25 crore while that for events was about Rs 8.5 crore. Interestingly, the Centre has clubbed about Rs 22 crore out of the Rs 44 crore spent last year under the head “miscellaneous”, though it also spent over Rs 7 crore in advertising and publicity, Rs 12 crore on events and Rs 1.65 crore on mats and T-shirts.
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| | NEWS IN CLUES | | 5. Which US city is home to the NBA team ‘The Timberwolves’? | - Clue 1: It also boasts the largest continuous network of skyways in the world, spanning 13 km.
- Clue 2: Its name translates to ‘Water City’ — a mash-up of the Dakota Sioux word for ‘water’ and the Ancient Greek word for ‘city’.
- Clue 3: Together with Saint Paul, it forms the ‘Twin Cities’.
Scroll below for answer | |
| | 6. Why MPs aren’t keen on building ideal villages |  | - An idea: Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana for developing “model villages” six years ago. The plan was to get each member of parliament to select a village in his constituency and use government schemes (there was no separate budget for it) to improve its developmental parameters. The goal was to develop three “model villages” by each MP by March 2019, and then five more by 2024.
- The audit: Times of India reports that an audit of rural schemes commissioned by the Centre has said that it did not find any significant impact of the model village scheme and in many of the chosen villages MPs did not give any significant money from MPLADS. Even in cases where MPs have been proactive, the scheme has not made any “perceptible impact”. The team that undertook the audit has suggested reviewing the scheme to enhance its impact as it has failed to achieve the desired objective and these villages can’t be called model villages.
- The issue: With each passing year after its launch, fewer MPs were adopting villages under the scheme. The reasons were two-fold - there was concern that picking one village would earn them the wrath of other villages in their constituencies, while the absence of budget too acted as a dampener.
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| | 7. You may soon be investing in India’s biggest investor |  | - The option: The government last week kick-started the process of disinvestment of the Life Insurance Corporation, India’s largest financial institution and the biggest domestic investor in stocks. It has invited bids from consulting firms, investment bankers, and financial institutions for advising it on the proposed public listing. On listing, LIC could emerge as the most valued listed firm overtaking the likes of TCS and RIL. The insurer manages assets worth over Rs 33 lakh crore and accounts for over two-thirds of the new business insurance premium.
- The reason: In 2018, the International Monetary Fund had asked the government to remove the explicit sovereign guarantee on every LIC policy and convert the 64-year-old big daddy of insurance into a company. In 2013, the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission had advised the UPA government to do the same. The reason: customers choose to buy LIC policies over those offered by private insurers due to the guarantee, giving LIC an unfair competitive advantage. The government aims to raise Rs 2.1 lakh crore this year to narrow India’s fiscal deficit and LIC’s disinvestment can be a good source.
- The problem: While LIC’s money comes from the premium paid by policyholders, it is also an investor and the government has been the biggest beneficiary of this. The insurer has been used by successive governments to boost their divestment programmes by forcing it to buy shares that other investors were not interested in. It has been the government’s bailout agent that has bought and sold shares to perk up the markets or in line with the government’s requirements. It has also been a source of funds for the central and state government when it bought bonds issued by them.
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| | 8. Holes in the cover for healthcare workers |  | - A policy: The Rs 50 lakh insurance scheme for about 22 lakh healthcare providers that was slated to end on June 30 has been extended for another three months till September. The scheme, funded through the National Disaster Response Fund and implemented by New India Assurance, is meant for healthcare workers who may have to be in direct contact with patients suffering from coronavirus infection and are at risk of infection too.
- The claims: The Indian Express last week reported that the insurer has paid six claims and is currently processing “another 30 odd eligible claims” under the scheme. However, due to lack of awareness about the scheme, a “substantial number of some 75 claims lodged till date” are not covered under the scheme.
- The gap: Private healthcare professionals doing non-Covid work at hospitals are also at risk of contracting the coronavirus infection. While they are not covered under the government's scheme for healthcare workers, other insurers are either refusing or demanding high premiums to sell group mediclaim policies, reports Times of India.
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| | | 9. Highest wicket-taker in Ranji history dies |  | - Former Haryana left-arm spinner Rajinder Goel, who holds the record for most wickets (637) in the Ranji Trophy — India's premier first class competition — died on Sunday in Rohtak after a prolonged illness. He was 77. In all, Goel bagged 750 wickets in 157 first-class matches from 1958-59 to 1984-85, bagging an incredible 53 five-wicket hauls and 17 ten-wicket match hauls.
- However, he never played for India. That’s because former captain Bishan Singh Bedi had cemented his spot in the national team. The closest Goel came to play for India was in the unofficial Test against Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1964-65. In September 1979, he also picked up 6/102 against a visiting Australian side led by Kim Hughes. Goel continued playing first-class cricket until he was 43, with fitness proving a crucial aspect of his long and storied domestic career. But he couldn't win the Ranji Trophy as a player.
- He was the chairman of the Haryana selection committee in 1991 when a Kapil Dev-led side shocked Bombay (now Mumbai) in the Ranji Trophy final at the Wankhede Stadium. And he also also served as a match referee in both men's and women's cricket.
- In 2017, Goel received the CK Nayudu Lifetime Achievement Award. He is one of the four non-Test players to have got the BCCI's Lifetime Achievement Award; the others being Padmakar Shivalkar, Bhausaheb Nimbalkar and journalist KN Prabhu.
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| | BEFORE YOU GO | | 10. A thrilling ‘ring of fire’ |  | Skywatchers along a narrow band in India witnessed Sunday a dramatic ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse. In Uttarakhand, the annular phase reached ‘maximum eclipse’ — with a perfect solar halo around the Moon — at 12:10 IST. More spectacular, but less long-lived: the exact alignment of the Earth, Moon and Sun was visible for only 38 seconds. Here’s an image from news agency AFP of the eclipse as seen in the skies of Dehradun, the state Capital.
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| | Answer to NEWS IN CLUES |
Minneapolis. A shooting in the city’s popular nightlife area early Sunday left one man dead and 11 people wounded. Police said they believe there was more than one shooter, described only as “individuals on foot”. No one was in custody, and police have not said what may have prompted the shooting. All of the injured were adults. Also on Sunday, UK Police declared the murder of three people who were stabbed in a park in Berkshire, 40 miles from London, as a terrorist incident. A 25-year-old "Libyan man" from Reading was arrested. | |
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| Written by: Rakesh Rai, Judhajit Basu, Sumil Sudhakaran, Tejeesh N.S. Behl
Research: Rajesh Sharma
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