UNLOCK 3: GYMS TO RE-OPEN; NIGHT CURFEW REMOVED, NO RESTRICTIONS ON

INTER-STATE TRAVEL

The nationwide Unlock 3 guidelines were on Wednesday issued by the

government, opening up more activities outside the containment zones. The

Unlock 3 guidelines will come into force from August 1 and strict

enforcement of lockdown in containment zones will continue till August 31.

Here's what's open and what's not:-

- Schools, colleges and coaching institutions will remain closed till August

31

- Restrictions on movement of individuals during night (night curfew) have

been removed.

- Among the prohibited activities are metro rail services, cinema halls,

swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars, auditoriums, assembly

halls and similar places.

- Social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious

functions and other large congregations will also continue to be prohibited

till August 31.

- Independence Day functions will be allowed with social distancing and by

following other health protocols, e.g., wearing of masks etc.

- International air travel of passengers has been permitted in a limited

manner under the Vande Bharat mission. Further opening up will take place in

a calibrated manner

- No restriction on inter-state and intra-state movement of persons and

goods. No separate permission, approval, e-permit will be required for such

movements.

- In weddings, the number of guests should not exceed 50.

- In funeral and last rites related gatherings, the number of people should

not be more than 20.

- Movement of Indian nationals stranded outside the country and of specified

persons to travel abroad; evacuation of foreign nationals; and sign-on and

sign-off of Indian seafarers will continue to be regulated as per SOPs

issued.

- Vulnerable persons like those above 65 years of age, persons with

co-morbidities, pregnant women, and children below the age of 10 years, are

advised to stay at home, except for meeting essential requirements and for

health purposes.

RAJASTHAN DEADLOCK ENDS, ASSEMBLY SESSION FROM AUG 14

Following a week of hectic parleys, protests and exchange of letters between

Raj Bhavan and the state government in Rajasthan, Governor Kalraj Mishra on

Wednesday night finally agreed to call an Assembly session from August 14.

Earlier in the evening, the state government had yielded to the Governor's

direction regarding a 21-day notice for calling an Assembly session, with

the Ashok Gehlot-led state Cabinet sending a fresh proposal to Raj Bhawan

asking for an Assembly session on August 14. Law and Parliamentary Affairs

Minister Shanti Kumar Dhariwal said the government had chosen August 14 as

the new date as it will be 21 days if counted from July 23. "Our first

proposal was sent to the Governor on July 23," Dhariwal said.

Raj Bhawan spokesperson Lokesh Chandra Sharma confirmed the Governor has

approved the cabinet recommendation.

"Since active Covid 19 cases have increased three-fold in the state in the

last one month, why should the lives of 1,200 persons be put at risk without

any reason and (absence of) special circumstances," Governor told the

government Wednesday morning.

After this, Gehlot went to Raj Bhawan during the day, and later held a

cabinet meeting in the evening. Speaker C P Joshi also met the Governor

during the day. These two meetings with the Governor are said to have been

crucial in breaking the deadlock.

In a message to rebel MLAs, Gehlot said those who deceived should apologise

to the high command and that the "party high command's decision will be

accepted by us."

CABINET OKAYS NEW EDUCATION POLICY, HRD IS NOW EDUCATION MINISTRY

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the new National Education Policy

(NEP) and renamed the HRD ministry as the education ministry.

A panel led by former ISRO chief K Kasturirangan had submitted the draft of

the new NEP to Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' when he took

charge last year.

The new National Education Policy approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday

is "set to usher in a slew of changes with the vision of creating an

education system that contributes directly to transforming the country,

providing high-quality education to all, and making India a global knowledge

superpower."

Some of the key highlights of the New Education Policy are:-

The policy aims to enable an individual to study one or more specialised

areas of interest at a deep level, and also develop character, scientific

temper, creativity, spirit of service, and 21st century capabilities across

a range of disciplines including sciences, social sciences, arts,

humanities, among others.

Elaborating on the reforms, School Education Secretary Anita Karwal said at

a briefing, "Board exams for classes 10 and 12 will be continued, but will

be reformed to eliminate the need for taking coaching classes". She further

said, "All students will be allowed to take board exams on up to two

occasions during any given school year -- one main examination and one for

improvement, if desired. All students will take school examinations in

classes 3, 5, and 8 which will be conducted by the appropriate authority".

A per the new policy, the 10+2 structure of school curricula will be

replaced with a 5+3+3+4 curricular structure corresponding to age groups

3-8, 8-11, 11-14 and 14-18 years respectively.

The new system will cover four stages -- Foundational Stage (3 years of

anganwadi or pre-school followed by classes 1-2), Preparatory Stage (classes

3-5), Middle Stage (classes 6-8) and Secondary Stage (classes 9-12).

"Students will have increased flexibility and choice of subjects so that

they choose their own paths according to their talents and interests. There

will be no rigid separations between arts and sciences, between curricular

and extra-curricular activities, between vocational and academic streams.

The medium of instruction until at least class 5, but preferably till class

8 and beyond, will be the home language, mother tongue, local language and

regional language, Karwal said. "Sanskrit will be offered at all levels of

school and higher education as an important, enriching option for students,

including as an option in the three-language formula. Foreign languages,

such as Korean, Japanese, Thai, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and

Russian, will also be offered at the secondary level," she said.

The undergraduate degree will be of either 3 or 4-year duration with

multiple exit options within this period, with appropriate certifications.

"The 4-year multidisciplinary bachelor's programme shall be the preferred

option since it allows the opportunity to experience the full range of

holistic and multidisciplinary education in addition to a focus on the

chosen major and minors as per the choices of the student."

NEP 2020 also paves way for foreign universities to set up operations in

India

Other Highlights include:

All higher education institutions, except legal and medical colleges, to be

governed by single regulator

Increase in Public Spending up to 6 per cent on education

Common norms to be in place for private and public higher education

institutions

Common entrance exams to be held for admission to universities, higher

education institutions

COVID-19 DASHBOARD - (Nos. IN INDIA / Nos. WORLDWIDE)

(Indian data from covid19india / and World Data from

worldometers.info/coronavirus/ )

Total Cases 15,84,185 (+52,473) / 1,71,85,927 (+2,92,634)

Total Deaths 35,003 (+779) / 6,70,200 (+6,735)

Total Recovered 10,21,668 (+32,898) / 1,06,96,797 (+2,40,426)

Active Cases 5,27,514 (+18,796) / 58,18,930 (+45,473)

TOP IMPACTED NATIONS SO FAR: (AND SOME OF INDIA'S NEIGHBOURS)

Country, Total Cases / Total Deaths / Recovered Cases / Active

Cases

1 USA 45,68,037 / 1,53,840 /

22,45,044 / 21,69,153

2 Brazil 25,55,518 / 90,188 /

17,87,419 / 6,77,911

3 India 15,84,384 / 35,003 /

10,21,611 / 5,27,770

4 Russia 8,28,990 / 13,673 /

6,20,333 / 1,94,984

5 South Africa 4,71,123 / 7,497 /

2,97,967 / 1,65,659

6 Mexico 4,08,449 / 45,361 /

2,67,147 / 95,941

7 Peru 4,00,683 / 18,816 /

2,80,044 / 1,01,823

8 Chile 3,51,575 / 9,278 /

3,24,557 / 17,740

9 Spain 3,29,721 / 28,441 / N/A

/ N/A

10 UK 3,01,455 / 45,961 / N/A

/ N/A

11 Iran 2,98,909 / 16,343 /

2,59,116 / 23,450

12 Pakistan 2,76,288 / 5,892 /

2,44,883 / 25,513

16 Bangladesh 2,32,194 / 3,035 /

1,30,292 / 98,867

115 Sri Lanka 2,810 / 11 /

2,317 / 482

TOP IMPACTED INDIAN STATES SO FAR

State / Confirmed Cases / Active Case / Recovered /

Deceased

Maharashtra 4,00,651 / 1,46,129 /

2,39,755 / 14,463

Tamil Nadu 2,34,114 / 57,490 / 1,72,883

/ 3,741

Delhi 1,33,310 / 10,770 / 1,18,633

/ 3,907

Andhra Pradesh 1,20,390 / 63,771 /

55,406 / 1,213

Karnataka 1,12,504 / 67,447 / 42,901

/ 2,147

Uttar Pradesh 77,334 / 29,997 / 45,807 /

1,530

West Bengal 65,258 / 19,652 / 44,116 /

1,490

Gujarat 59,126 / 13,437 / 43,297 / 2,392

Telangana 58,906 / 14,663 / 43,751 /

492

Bihar 45,919 / 15,141 / 30,504 / 273

Rajasthan 39,780 / 10,817 / 28,309 /

654

Assam 36,296 / 8,368 / 27,833 / 92

Haryana 33,631 / 6,798 / 26,420 /

413

Madhya Pradesh 30,134 / 8,356 / 20,934 /

844

Odisha 29,175 / 10,041 / 18,939 / 195

Kerala 21,798 / 10,350 / 11,365 / 69

Jammu and Kashmir 19,419 / 7,749 / 11,322 /

348

Punjab 14,946 / 4,372 / 10,213 / 361

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

======================

FATF RELATED LEGISLATION WILL MOVE PAKISTAN FROM GREY LIST TO WHITE LIST,

CLAIMS MINISTER

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) related legislation will move the

country from grey list to white list, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood

Qureshi claimed on Wednesday.

"This FATF-related legislation will move us to the white list from grey

list," he was quoted as saying while speaking over FATF-related legislation

from the Parliament.

According to a Dawn report, the Pakistan government on Wednesday "managed to

get two Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-related bills passed by the

National Assembly amidst a noisy protest by the opposition."

Last month, India had stated that Pakistan continuing to be in Financial

Action Task Force's (FATF) 'Grey List' vindicates its position that

Islamabad has not taken appropriate action against terror financing and safe

havens which exist in that country.

Pakistan will likely remain in the Grey List till February 2021 even if it

completes all its action plan items by October 2020 as an on-site visit by

the FATF team would have to be held to confirm completion of the plan.

LAWMAKERS PUMMEL BIG TECH CEOS AT US ANTITRUST HEARING

Big Tech executives faced an onslaught of criticism from US lawmakers

Wednesday at a high-stakes antitrust hearing which could lay the groundwork

for tougher regulation and legal actions against the major internet

platforms.

CEOs Tim Cook of Apple, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook

and Sundar Pichai of Google were grilled for more than five hours in the

unprecedented joint appearance -- by video -- before a House of

Representatives panel investigating market dominance.

While the hearing was called to focus on whether the companies have abused

their dominant positions in the market, it veered quickly into other topics

including political bias, privacy, dealings with China and how platforms

deal with misinformation.

"Simply put, they have too much power," said Representative David Cicilline,

a Democrat from Rhode Island who chairs the panel conducting a year-long

investigation into the business practices of the four companies.

Cicilline said the hearing made clear that the firms "have monopoly power --

some need to be broken up, all need to be properly regulated and held

accountable."

THE REST

========

RAFALE JETS TOUCH DOWN IN AMBALA

The first five Rafales bought from France in a multi-billion-dollar deal

landed in the country on Wednesday and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh used

their arrival to launch a veiled warning to neighbouring China over

territorial tensions. "If it is anyone who should be worried about or

critical about this new capability of the Indian Air Force, it should be

those who want to threaten our territorial integrity," Mr Singh said.

The ability to strike air-to-air targets from up to 150 km away and safely

hit land targets 300 km within enemy territory make India's Rafales some of

the deadliest fighter jets flying in the world. Known for air-superiority

and precision strikes, the French-made Rafales are India's first major

acquisition of fighter planes in 23 years after the Sukhoi jets were

imported from Russia.

Apart from weapons, Rafales also fly with SPECTRA - widely considered the

world's most advanced fighter-based electronic warfare suite, a system which

is the cornerstone of the Rafale's survivability against a host of the

latest threats. SPECTRA is designed to detect threats and provides a

multi-spectral threat warning capability against hostile radars, missiles

and lasers.

India has also received five more jets which are currently in France for

training missions. The delivery of all 36 aircraft as part of the deal is

set to be completed on schedule by the end of 2021.

CONG WELCOMES ARRIVAL OF RAFALE JETS, BUT QUESTIONS GOVT OVER DELAY AND HIGH

COST

The Congress on Wednesday welcomed the arrival of Rafale fighter jets in

India, but questioned the delay and their high cost.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked why each Rafale jet was purchased by the

government at a cost of Rs 1,670 crore while the erstwhile Congress-led

dispensation struck a deal for Rs 526 crore, and why the offset contract was

given to a "bankrupt" private firm (Anill Ambani's) instead of the

public-sector Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

"Why 36 aircraft were bought instead of 126?" he further asked on Twitter.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said every nationalist should

question why the Rafale aircraft are 'Made in France' and not in India and

why was their arrival delayed by five years.

JULY SURGE IN BENGALURU: 65% OF THE DECEASED HOSPITALISED LATE

Over 65% of Covid-19 deaths that have occurred in Bengaluru since July 1 -

when cases and mortalities in the city began rocketing - happened within 24

hours of hospital admission or involved patients who were already dead when

brought to hospital, an analysis of daily health bulletins put out by the

Karnataka government shows.

Bengaluru saw 860 coronavirus-linked deaths between July 1 and July 28. Of

these, 479 died within 24 hours of hospital admission while 94 were declared

dead on arrival. The data also shows that all the patients who died within

24 hours of hospitalisation had been admitted in a state of breathlessness.

"Of the patients who came on time, very few went into ICU," says a doctor.

Between March and July 28, Bengaluru recorded 957 deaths, 860 of them in

July alone.

BRINDA KARAT SEEKS ACTION AGAINST A SENIOR SERVING COP FOR 'OUTRAGEOUS'

REMARKS

Senior CPM leader Brinda Karat on Wednesday wrote to Home Minister Amit

Shah, seeking prosecution of a serving IPS officer M Nageswara Rao for his

"most outrageous politically motivated statements", which she said violate

service rules and go against the spirit of the Constitution and incite

"communal feelings". Rao is due to retire at end of this month.

Karat's complaint comes days after Rao claimed on Twitter that Indian

history had been "distorted" with the "whitewashing" of "bloody Islamic

invasions/rule", naming previous education ministers, including Maulana Abul

Kalam Azad, who "were in charge of Indian mind space" for 20 "out of 30

years (1947-77)".

Rao's post alleged this system patronised pro-Left academics and sidelined

pro-Hindu nationalist scholars.

BIHAR COPS IN MUMBAI TO PROBE FIR AGAINST RHEA CHAKRAVARTY

A four-member Bihar Police team on Wednesday met its counterparts in Mumbai

over the probe into the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput after "new

evidence" emerged following an FIR lodged by the late actor's father,

Krishna Kishore Singh, in Patna against actress Rhea Chakravarty and five

others.

The FIR, registered in Patna, accuses the six, which includes Rhea's family

members, of abetment to suicide, criminal intimidation and criminal

conspiracy.

In the FIR, Singh alleged siphoning of Rs 15 crore from Sushant's account in

one year "to bank accounts of persons not known or connected to the late

actor". Singh has also accused Rhea of giving Sushant an overdose of

medicine at her home and "falsely telling him that the actor was suffering

from dengue".

"My daughter had met Sushant in Mumbai. As he was talking incoherently, my

daughter insisted on his treatment by a good doctor. But Rhea insisted on

Sushant getting treatment at home." Singh, a retired engineer, alleged that

Rhea changed his son's phone number in December "so that people known to him

could be cut off from him".

"I had tried to bring Sushant to Patna but Rhea and her family members did

not let that happen. Sushant had once told me that Rhea and others had been

trying to declare him lunatic," he alleged in the FIR.

'NO POLITICAL INFLUENCE FROM CHINA': CHINA APP MAJORS SEEK REVIEW OF BAN

After their mobile applications (apps) were banned in India on the grounds

of national security breach, several Chinese firms have approached the Union

government for a review of the decision while stating there was no political

influence from China in their business.

In their representation to the Ministry of Electronics and Information

Technology (MeiTY), some of the firms running popular apps said there was no

interference of the Chinese government, adding they're working for the

development of the Indian economy and contributing to employment generation.

These apps were blocked amid rising tension between India and China,

following clashes at the border since June. Earlier this week, India barred

another 47 apps which were operating as lite variants of the banned 59 apps.

INDICATORS

Sensex 38,071 (-422), Nifty 11,203 (-98), Trading Value NSE ,(Rs.crores)

65,540

Nasdaq 10,543 (+141) Dow 26,540 (+160), S&P 3,258 (+40)

US$-Rs. 74.58 GBP-Rs. 96.67, Euro-Rs. 87.67, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.30, Can$-Rs.

55.83, Aus$- Rs. 53.50

GBP 0.77 /US$, Euro 0.85 /US$, Jap.Yen 105.00/US$, Aus$ 1.39 /US$, Sing 1.37

/US$, Bang Taka 83.31 /US$, Can$ 1.33 /US$, Mal Ring 4.24 /US$,

Pak Re 166.16 /US$, Phil Peso 49.01 /US$, Russian Rouble 72.45 /US$, NZ$

1.50 /US$, Thai Baht 31.40 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 27.55 /US$, Norway NOK 9.07

/US$

Bitcoin - USD 10,998

Dollar Index 93.30 Brent Crude 43.80 BDI 1,317

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,966 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 5,241 / 5,141

Silver (Rs. Per KG) 66,050

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Strength doesn't come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the

things you once thought you couldn't. - Anonymous

OFF TRACK

Man, on Whatsapp: Honey, I got hit by a car outside of the office. Teena

brought me to the Hospital. They have been making tests and taking X-rays.

The blow to my head though very strong, will not have any serious or lasting

injury. But, I have three broken ribs, a broken arm and a compound fracture

if the left leg.

Wife's Response: Who is Teena?