Your Morning Briefing for 13 August 2020

Good morning readers,  We are covering the LAC standoff, Kamala Harris's nomination, the latest in the Sushant Singh Rajput case. Big Story Today, the standoff between Indian and Chinese troops entered its 100th day. India’s ambassador to Beijing reached out to a key interlocutor in the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee to try and make headway in talks on resolving the crisis. From The Front Page After Kamala Harris was picked as Joe Biden's running mate in the US presidential polls, her uncle in New Delhi recalls his sister's move to the US at the age of 19 and participation in the civil rights' movement. A  BJP leader and his family moved into their newly-constructed bungalow despite a J&K High Court order on strict implementation of a 2015 government notification barring general public from construction within 1,000 yards of defence works. In an indication that the Centre’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ push could be yielding early results in the solar energy space, the Renewable Energy Ministry has received proposals from a range of players for over 10GW (giga watts) of fresh solar equipment manufacturing.

Prayers For Pranab Mukherjee: Prayers continued for the former President in his ancestral villahe Miriti, a few kilometres from Kirnahar in Birbhum district. Mukherjee, who underwent surgery for a brain clot after testing positive for Covid, is in critical condition and remains on ventilator support, the Army's Research and Referral Hospital in Delhi said on Wednesday. (Partha Paul)

The Pandemic

To ensure that a Covid vaccine, whenever ready, is administered to a large population, the government is holding talks on building a digital infrastructure and upgrading an indigenously developed technology that tracks vaccine stocks digitally, sources have told The Indian Express.

The Mamata Banerjee government cannot seem to be able to finalise the lockdown dates in Bengal. On Wednesday, the administration changed the dates for this month for the fourth time in a fortnight and dropped August 28 from the list earlier announced, triggering criticism from opposition parties.

Beyond Covid-19

A further probe into Sushant Singh Rajput’s bank account has revealed that there has been no “substantial direct transfers” from the late actor’s account to actor Rhea Chakraborty or her family members, sources familiar with the case told The Indian Express.

The 14-member high-level committee on implementation of Clause 6 of Assam Accord has stated in its report that its recommendations should be implemented within two years from February this year, when it was submitted, Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Wednesday.

A cop was suspended and another transferred after BJP workers led by Aligarh MP Satish Gautam claimed mishandling by the police of party MLA Rajkumar Sahyogi. Both of them pointed out that action had been taken in a “record five hours” on the personal intervention of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

A mob in Bengaluru set fire to vehicles; 145 people have been arrested. (PTI)

ICYMI 

• Three youths were killed in police firing in east Bengaluru after a mob attacked a police station and targeted a Congress MLA’s house over a social media post.
  
• Private operators will pay heavy damages to the Railways if trains are late or even early and must guarantee at least 95 per cent punctuality each year to avoid financial penalties.
  
• Even as Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot described the return of the rebel MLAs as a “win of citizens”, the MLAs of both camps are yet to be reunited.
  
• More than 10 days after two senior Congress leaders raised a banner of revolt against Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, there has been no intervention from the central leadership yet.
  
• Of the proposed 10 lakh square metres for building an IIT campus, the Goa Cabinet has diverted a portion for religious activity to pacify villagers who had objected to the construction of the campus amidst their village.

And Finally...

Bengaluru-based historian Ramachandra Guha writes: The reputation of the Supreme Court of India today may be at its lowest ebb since the Emergency. That is the clear impression one gets from the writings of our top constitutional scholars.

Delhi confidential: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seems to have utilised the lockdown period to improve the efficiency of officials in the secretariat. One aspect of this is training officials in foreign languages. 

Whatever the situation, you can always find a suitable couplet from Rahat Indori. 

 Until tomorrow,

Leela Prasad G and Liu Chuen Chen