The Evening Wrap
22 June 2024

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PM Modi likely to skip SCO summit in Kazakhstan in July; Putin, Xi, Sharif may attend
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to skip the Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to be held in Kazakhstan next month, and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is expected to officiate in his place. According to sources aware of the decision, Modi has decided not to travel to Astana for the summit to be held on July 3-4, although he had earlier confirmed his presence, and an advance security team had conducted its reconnaissance survey there.

The summit hosted by Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is expected to include Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Central Asian leaders and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Modi’s decision to miss the SCO Heads of State Council in Astana could also have a bearing on India’s participation in the SCO Heads of Government conference due to be held in Islamabad in “Autumn 2024”, which Pakistan would host.

When asked on June 21, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal declined to confirm India’s participation in the SCO, saying that details of the visit were not yet “finalised”.

The sources cited the upcoming Parliament session, which will run from June 24 to July 3, as the reason for Modi’s decision. In addition to the Speaker’s election and the President’s address to both Houses, the Prime Minister is expected to reply to the debate on the motion of thanks to the President in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha between July 2 and 4.

Modi’s absence at the SCO, despite the presence of other international leaders, is likely to raise questions over India’s commitment to the grouping that it joined just seven years ago as a full member. Modi had visited Kazakhstan to attend the SCO Summit in 2017, but the setting has become more troublesome for New Delhi over the past few years. India’s tensions with Pakistan, which also was inducted in 2017, have often been the chief irritant at the conference, with leaders of both countries taking aim at each other over the issue of terrorism.

GST council has decided to mandate biometric-based Aadhaar authentication for all GST registrations: Finance Minister

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the 53rd GST council has taken a lot of decisions relating to trade facilitation and easing the compliance procedures for small businesses, MSMEs and other taxpayers.

Services by way of hostel accommodation provided to students outside educational institutions will be exempted from GST for services with a value of upto ₹20,000 per person per month, Sitharaman said.

This will be subject to the condition that such services are provided for a minimum continuous period of 90 days. This will particularly help students coming from rural areas, and will be a big relief for all students across India.

The GST Council has clarified that all solar cookers will attract 12% GST, whether linked to single or dual energy sources, the Finance Minister said.

The Council has also decided to exempt services provided by the Indian Railways to the common man such as waiting room, cloak room and so on, from GST. All intra-railway services will also be exempted from GST, she added.

The Council has decided to mandate biometric-based Aadhaar authentication for all GST registrations across the country in a phased manner. This is based on the successful rollout of pilot projects in Gujarat and Puducherry and will make the registration process quick while curbing the fraudulent use of input tax credits through fake invoices.

INDIA bloc MPs to skip assisting pro tem Speaker in oath-taking of newly-elected Lok Sabha MPs
Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc leaders, who are part of a panel to assist pro tem speaker Bhartruhari Mahtab in administering oath to newly-elected Lok Sabha members, will not be performing their duties, a senior Opposition leader said on June 22. This could signal an escalation of tensions between the government and the INDIA bloc.

Congress’ Kodikunnil Suresh, DMK’s T.R. Baalu, and Sudip Bandopadhyay of the Trinamool Congress were part of the panel, but they will skip their duties to protest against the Centre’s decision to ignore Suresh despite his being the senior-most MP, sources said.

Two other senior MPs — BJP leaders Radha Mohan Singh and Faggan Singh Kulaste — are also on the panel to assist the pro tem Speaker.

“By all convention and tradition, Kodikunnil Suresh should have been the pro tem Speaker,” Congress leader Jairam Ramesh told The Hindu in an interview.

While Mahtab has been elected for seven consecutive terms, the Congress MP from Kerala is an eight-term member. However, Suresh was not a member of the Lok Sabha in 1998 and 2004, and therefore, did not have an uninterrupted tenure in the Lok Sabha.

“We wanted the proceedings of Parliament, meeting for the first time with a new set of MPs, to start on a good note. But even before the start of the first session of the Parliament, Congress resorted to misleading everyone through social media posts,” Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju had said on June 21.

But the Congress said the Centre’s decision was part of the Narendra Modi government’s “bulldozer tactics” in running the Parliament. “The Opposition is not going to take it lying down… It cannot be the standard Modi-Shah way of dealing with Parliament and bulldozer tactics,” Ramesh said.

Ministry of Education notifies seven-member panel to reform process of competitive exams
The Ministry of Education said on June 22 it has constituted a high-level committee of experts led by former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan to ensure transparent, smooth and fair conduct of examinations through the National Testing Agency (NTA).

The seven-member committee will make recommendations on reforms in the mechanism of the examination process, improvement in data security protocols and the structure and functioning of the NTA, the Department of Higher Education in the Ministry said.

It added that the committee will submit its report to the ministry within two months.

Central University of Hyderabad Vice-Chancellor Professor B J Rao and former director of AIIMS Delhi Randeep Guleria are on the panel.

India, Bangladesh ink pact to boost ties in maritime sphere, blue economy
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 22 held extensive talks with his visiting Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina to shore up cooperation in diverse areas including trade and connectivity. The two leaders decided to expand cooperation in several new areas and inked a raft of agreements, including to boost ties in the maritime sphere and blue economy.

The key pacts signed by the two sides included one on forging strong ties in the digital domain and another on having a “green partnership”. The two sides also inked an agreement on railway connectivity.

“Today we have prepared a futuristic vision for cooperation in new areas. The youth of both the countries will benefit from the consensus reached on cooperation in areas such as green partnership, digital partnership, blue economy and space,” Modi said.

In her remarks, Hasina described India as Bangladesh’s major neighbour and a trusted friend. “India is our major neighbour, trusted friend and regional partner. Bangladesh greatly values our relations with India, which were born out of the War of Liberation in 1971,” she said.

“I recall with gratitude the contribution of the government and the people of India to Bangladesh’s independence,” she said.

She also paid homage to the “brave fallen heroes of India” who sacrificed their lives in the 1971 war. “Today, we had very productive meetings where we discussed cooperation in areas of security, trade, connectivity, sharing of water from common rivers, power and energy, and regional and multilateral cooperation,” she said. “We agreed to collaborate with each other for the betterment of our people and countries,” she added.

Kallakurichi hooch tragedy: Death toll rises to 54, seven arrested
The death toll in the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy in Tamil Nadu rose to 54 with four more people losing their lives after consuming spurious liquor at Karunapuram. The victims include 48 men and six women. Most of those who succumbed on the interim night between June 21 and 22 were from Karunapuram.

Thirty people died at the Government Kallakurichi Medical College Hospital, 17 at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital in Salem, four at the Government Villupuram Medical College Hospital and three at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer) in Puducherry.

A total of 142 others are undergoing treatment at the Government Kallakurichi Medical College Hospital, and government medical college hospitals in Salem, Villupuram, and Jipmer.

The CB-CID police have so far arrested the bootlegger Govindaraj alias Kannukutty, his wife Vijaya, brother Damodaran and Chinnadurai, the prime suspect who is believed to have supplied the brew to Govindaraj. Joseph alias Raja of Sankarapuram who had supplied the brew to Chinnadurai was also arrested. Two more accused, Ramar and Madesh have also been arrested.

Director of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes S. Ravivarman conducted an enquiry into the tragedy. He visited those admitted at the Government Kallakurichi Medical College Hospital and inquired with the patients about the incident. He also visited Karunapuram, the epicentre of the tragedy and conducted enquiries with family members of the victims.

Ravivarman said the condition of six persons admitted at Government Kallakurichi Medical College critical. The remaining were stable, and quality treatment was being given to them. He said that no case had been booked under the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act into the hooch tragedy so far.

The issue echoed for the second day in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly as the AIADMK, led by former CM Edappadi K. Palaniswami, staged a walkout after Speaker M. Appavu rejected their demand to adjourn the Question Hour to discuss the issue.

Holding the DMK government in Tamil Nadu responsible for the tragedy, the BJP demanded a CBI probe into it, and the immediate resignation of the State Prohibition and Excise Minister S. Muthusamy.

BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla accused the State government of shielding those involved in the illicit liquor trade. He said a majority of the victims in Karunapuram belonged to the Scheduled Castes and backward communities, and most of them were young breadwinners of their families. The BJP leader also questioned the silence of the Opposition INDIA bloc, including Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, over the issue.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Law Minister S. Regupathy said there was no need for a CBI inquiry into the tragedy since the State government was acting in a transparent manner and had not suppressed anything. Both the AIADMK, which is the principal Opposition party, and the PMK, have demanded a CBI inquiry.

In brief
At least 42 people were killed in Israeli attacks on districts of Gaza City in the north of the Palestinian enclave on June 22, the director of the Hamas-run government media office said. One Israeli strike on houses in Al-Shati, one of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, killed 24 people, Ismail Al-Thawabta told Reuters. Another 18 Palestinians were killed in a strike on houses in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood. The Israeli military released a brief statement saying: “A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck two Hamas military infrastructure sites in the area of Gaza City.” Hamas did not comment on the Israeli claim to have hit its military infrastructure. It said in a statement the attacks targeted the civilian population and vowed in a statement “the occupation and its Nazi leaders will pay the price for their violations against our people.”

Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.

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