Your Daily Wrap: India’s inflation eases to five-month low, MEA calls for de-escalation of tensions in Taiwan; and more

The Ministry of External Affairs said India is concerned over the developments between Taiwan and China and called for avoiding unilateral action to change the status quo in the region. In its first reaction on the crisis in Taiwan, India also underlined the need to maintain peace and stability in the region.

Newly appointed Uttarakhand BJP state president Mahendra Bhatt has kicked up a controversy after he suggested that those who do not have the Tricolour on their house during the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations cannot be trusted, and asked for photographs of houses which have not hoisted the flag, only to clarify later that he was quoted out of context. Though the government, through the  Har Ghar Tiranga campaign, aims to spread the message of patriotism, not many know that there are a number of rules surrounding the act of hoisting or displaying the Tiranga. Who is allowed to fly a national flag and on which days? What should you do with the Tricolour after Independence Day? Read here.

India’s retail inflation, which is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), eased to a 5-month low 6.71 per cent in the month of July, down from 7.01 per cent in June. Separately, India’s factory output, measured through the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), witnessed a growth of 12.3 per cent in June, two separate data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation showed today.

A team from Mumbai Police went to actor Ranveer Singh’s residence to issue him summons to appear before the police in connection with an FIR registered against him for posting his nude photographs on his Instagram account. The actor was not at his residence and the police were told that he would be back on August 16 when the team will once again visit his residence to serve the summons. What is the case about, and what sections of the law is he supposed to have broken? Read this Explained piece to know more.

Political Pulse

The inherent differences in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition are coming to the fore now as, with power gone, there are few incentives for the three parties to hold together, and a shrinking pie to share between them. This is one reason behind the open war of words between the Congress and Shiv Sena over the Leader of Opposition position in the Legislative Council. Congress state chief Nana Patole has claimed the Sena did not take it into confidence before announcing the name of Ambadas Danve. Patole, not one to mince his words, went on to suggest that a break-up of the MVA might be inevitable. Leaders point out that differences such as this within the three unlikely allies which came together to constitute the MVA are not new. Alok Deshpande reports.

Manipur has become the second state in the Northeast, after Assam, to take concrete steps towards a National Register of Citizens (NRC), with the Assembly on August 5 adopting two private member resolutions to establish a population commission in the state and implement the NRC. The move follows demands by groups such as the United Naga Council (UNC) and Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity to finalise an NRC after fixing a base year to identify illegal immigrants in Manipur. As the tempo builds up, groups such as Kukis are worried that the burden of proving citizenship will fall on them.

Express Explained

It was on August 17, 1947, two days after Independence, that the award of the Boundary Commissions for the partition of Punjab and Bengal was announced. The award caused much anguish to the people of the two provinces and also to the governments of India and Pakistan. What were the main objections to the awards and what was the reaction of the political leaders of India and Pakistan? Read here.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday wrote to Lieutenant-Governor V K Saxena demanding a probe by the CBI into the alleged toll tax scam of Rs 6,000 crore in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has levelled allegations against the MCD that it colluded with two toll tax companies and caused a huge loss to the public exchequer. Sisodia alleged 10 lakh commercial vehicles enter Delhi everyday and tax is collected from them, but does not reach the MCD. How does MCD collect toll tax? What is AAP’s allegation? What is MCD’s defence? We explain.