THE HEADLINES:

 

• India and Malaysia elevate ties to comprehensive strategic partnership; Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, trade between the two countries can now be settled in domestic currencies.

• India and Japan review bilateral cooperation during Two plus Two Ministerial Dialogue in New Delhi.

• Supreme Court orders removal of name, photos and video clips of Kolkata rape and murder victim from social media platforms; Sets up task force to ensure safety of medical professionals.

• UPSC cancels advertisement related to lateral entry in bureaucracy after government’s direction.

• Number of internet subscribers in the country reaches over 95 crore; Telephone subscribers rise to around 120 crore.

• IMD forecasts heavy rainfall over Northeast India during next two days.

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India and Malaysia have decided to elevate their Enhanced Strategic Partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The two countries signed agreements in the fields of labor and employment, Ayurveda and traditional medicines, digital technologies, culture, tourism, and cooperation in youth and sports. India and Malaysia also inked agreements in the area of public administration, governance reforms, and mutual cooperation. The agreements were signed after delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Malaysian counterpart, Anwar Ibrahim, in New Delhi today.

 

Addressing a joint press conference after the talks, Prime Minister Modi said, both sides will work on linking India’s UPI with Malaysia’s PayNet. He said, trade between India and Malaysia can now be settled in Indian Rupee and Malaysian Ringgits.

 

Mr Modi said, the two countries also discussed new possibilities of mutual cooperation in the defense sector.

 

The Prime Minister said, Malaysia is an important partner of India in ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific region. He said, India will extend full support to Malaysia’s successful ASEAN Chairmanship in 2025. 

 

Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister of Malaysia said that there are many areas that both sides need to explore further.

 

The Prime Minister of Malaysia called on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan this evening.

 

Briefing media, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs Jaideep Mazumdar said, both sides held extensive discussions on various issues of mutual interest.

   

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India and Japan reviewed bilateral cooperation during the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue in New Delhi today. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, Japanese Minister of Defense Kihara Minoru and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ms Yoko Kamikawa took part in the meeting. During the meeting, the Ministers explored new initiatives to further strengthen the engagements between the two countries. They also exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest.

 

In the Press Statements after the meeting, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said, both sides have achieved substantial progress since the last meeting in Tokyo in September 2022. He said, in many cases the results have exceeded expectations. Mr Singh said, this has been possible only because of the excellent coordination between the Defence Ministries of the two countries. Mr Singh said, the Indo-Japan partnership is important for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. He said, in today’s meeting both sides expressed their commitment to support each other’s endeavors to promote stability and security in the region and reach meaningful outcomes.

 

In his Press Statements, External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar said, extensive and productive views were shared in the meeting on defence and security. He said, there is further complexity and volatility in the Indo-Pacific region and the world at large. He said, today’s 2+2 dialogue was an occasion to share assessment and agree on cooperation in this regard. Dr Jaishankar announced that India will open a consulate in Fukuoka to nurture people to people ties between the two countries. He said, India and Japan are resolute in their opposition to terrorism, including cross-border terrorism.

 

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be on a three day visit to Poland and Ukraine from tomorrow. During the visit, Mr Modi will hold talks with his Polish counterpart Donald Tusk and will call on President Andrzej Duda. 

 

Prime Minister Modi will undertake an official visit to Ukraine on 23rd of this month on the invitation of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

 

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The Supreme Court has orderd immediate removal from all social media platforms of any references to the name, photos and video clips of the Kolkata rape and murder victim. A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud gave the directions while hearing the case regarding the alleged rape and murder of a doctor at the at the RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata. The Apex Court also directed the deployment of CISF for the protection and safety of resident doctors, especially female doctors at the RG Kar Hospital. The Court said it has initiated the case on its own regarding the rape and murder of the doctor at the Kolkata hospital to address systemic issues. The Apex Court also set up a national task force to ensure the safety of medical professionals. The court directed the task force to submit its interim report within three weeks and the final report within two months. The Chief Justice of India said  the National Task Force comprising doctors from across the country will provide recommendations on the modalities to be followed nationwide to ensure the safety of women.

 

The bench also voiced strong dissatisfaction with both the West Bengal government and the authorities at the hospital over the handling of the case.

 

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The BJP today hit out at the TMC led West Bengal government in connection with the alleged rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata. Addressing media in New Delhi, party spokesperson, Dr. Sudhanshu Trivedi alleged that attempts were made to destroy the evidence in different ways in the case.

 

Dr. Trivedi said, that the Central Government will leave no stone unturned to ensure justice for the victim.

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The Maharashtra government has constituted a Special Investigation Team under senior IPS officer Arati Singh to investigate the case of sexual assault of a young girl at a school in Badlapur. Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said the Thane Police Commissioner has been instructed to give a proposal to conduct the trial in the fast-track court. Meanwhile, the parents and public held protests, demanding justice and accountability from authorities.

 

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The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has cancelled the advertisement related to lateral entry in the bureaucracy following the directions from the Department of Personnel and Training today. The UPSC had issued an advertisement recently to appoint 45 Joint Secretaries, Directors, and Deputy Secretaries in Central Ministries, which has been questioned by the opposition parties. Earlier in the day, the government had asked the UPSC to cancel the advertisement.

 

Union Minister for the Department of Personnel and Training, Dr. Jitendra Singh, wrote a letter to UPSC Chairman Preeti Sudan, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is of the firm belief that the process of lateral entry must be aligned with the principles of equity and social justice enshrined in the Constitution, particularly concerning the provisions of reservation.

 

Responding on the issue, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said the Prime Minister always believed in social justice and his programmes have advanced the welfare of the weakest sections of the society.

 

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The total number of internet subscribers in the country have increased from around 88 crore to 95.4 crore while the number of broadband subscribers reached from 84.6 crore to 92.4 crore. The Government has said that 7.3 crore internet subscribers and 7.7 crore broadband subscribers have been added in the financial year 2023-2024. The Communications Ministry said, during the period, the number of telephone subscribers reached around 120 crore in the country adding three crore customers. According to the Annual Report of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, the Indian telecom sector has witnessed remarkable growth during the financial year 2023-2024.

 

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In Jammu and Kashmir, the filing of nominations for the first phase of Assembly elections began today after the issuance of notification by the Election Commission of India. Twenty-four Assembly constituencies will go to the polls in the first phase of elections, with voting taking place on the 18th of September. 

 

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The BJP today released a list of its candidates for the byelections to the Rajya Sabha. Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu is the BJP candidate from Rajasthan. Another Union Minister George Kurian is the party candidate from Madhya Pradesh. While the  party has fielded Kiran Choudhary from Haryana, Manan Kumar Mishra is the candidate from Bihar. From Assam, the party has given the ticket to former Union Minister Rameswar Teli and Mission Ranjan Das. 

 

Bye-election for 12 seats of Rajya Sabha is scheduled to be held on the 3rd of next month. Tomorrow is the last day for filing of nomination. 

 

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The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has issued guidelines outlining the necessary steps for handling patients with suspected Monkeypox virus. AIIMS said  patients with fever, rash, or a history of contact with confirmed Monkeypox cases will be flagged for immediate assessment and key symptoms will be identified. It directed the departments to immediately place suspected patients in a designated isolation area to minimize contact with other patients and staff.

 

Safdarjung Hospital has been designated for managing and treating Monkey Pox patients.

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In Tripura, at least seven persons have lost their lives in rain-related incidents during the past two days. Talking to media state revenue secretary Brijesh Pandey said  the widespread rainfall across the state in the last 48 hours has resulted in flood-like situation across different parts of the state.

 

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The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall over Northeast India for the next two days. The IMD said that under the influence of a low-pressure area over central parts of Bangladesh, very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall is expected over Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura. Eastern parts of the country including West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha are also expected to witness heavy rainfall for the next few days.

 

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THE HEADLINES ONCE AGAIN

 

• India and Malaysia elevate ties to comprehensive strategic partnership; Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, trade between the two countries can now be settled in domestic currencies.

• India and Japan review bilateral cooperation during Two plus Two Ministerial Dialogue in New Delhi.

• Supreme Court orders removal of name, photos and video clips of Kolkata rape and murder victim from social media platforms; Sets up task force to ensure safety of medical professionals.

• UPSC cancels advertisement related to lateral entry in bureaucracy after government’s direction.

• Number of internet subscribers in the country reaches over 95 crore; Telephone subscribers rise to around 120 crore.

• IMD forecasts heavy rainfall over Northeast India during next two days.