The Evening Wrap: The Pilot saga plot thickens

The Hindu Newsletter - Evening Wrap: Pilot saga plot thickens Friday 17, July 2020 [alt_text]( The Evening Wrap [Here are the biggest news stories of the day]( [alt_text]( Welcome to The Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying safe. Pilot saga: The plot thickens The Congress has alleged that ₹500 crore is being readied by Maharashtra BJP leaders to help topple the Rajasthan government. Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant has demanded that the state home department probe this allegation. Meanwhile, the move to disqualify Sachin Pilot and other rebel MPs has been put off for now, with the Rajasthan High Court deferring any action against them by the Speaker till Tuesday. Ahead of the hearing, the Rajasthan Police had registered two FIRs on a complaint lodged by the Congress alleging a conspiracy to topple the Ashok Gehlot government through horse-trading of MLAs. Amongst those named in the FIR is Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat of the BJP. While audio recordings of purported conversations between rebel Congress MLAs and a BJP leader are circulating online, the Congress did not play the tapes and shared transcripts instead. It claimed that the voices belonged to Shekhawat and rebel Congress MLAs. In a related development, on Friday evening, Haryana police stopped a Rajasthan police team from entering a hotel in Gurgaon, where some Congress MLAs are said to be holed up. The Rajasthan police had sent a Special Operations Group (SOG) team to BJP-ruled Haryana to collect voice samples of the rebel MLAs. Meanwhile, Pilot himself continues to be in no man’s land. It’s evident that Gehlot and the party apparatus in Rajasthan are determined to ensure his removal from the party. At the same time, there also seem to be constant overtures from the party’s central command and its senior leadership. Pilot was reported to have spoken to Pryanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday and to former Finance Minister P Chidamabram on Thursday. “I just reiterated that the leadership had publicly invited him for a meeting and all issues can be discussed. I advised him to seize the opportunity,” Chidambaram told a TV channel. Nepal’s Ayodhya claim takes archaeological turn Nepal’s Department of Archaeology is holding cross-ministerial meetings [to explore an archaeological site in Thori near the border town of Birgunj](, officials in Kathmandu said today. The development comes just four days after [Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli said the real birthplace of Lord Ram is located in Thori](village around Birgunj, a major border town. [ Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli. File ] Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli. File Thori is known to have a cluster of ancient Hindu religious sites that draw pilgrims from different parts of Nepal. Nepalese historian Jagman Gurung, in a TV interview, said that according to the geographical descriptions in Valmiki’s Ramayana, it appears that Lord Ram’s Ayodhya was located nearer to Janakpur. “The travel time in a chariot from India's Ayodhya to Janakpur is around seven days. But Ramayana says Ram arrived in Janakpur [of Nepal] in a day. Is it possible?” he said, adding that the location of the ancient city of Ayodhya required to be studied further. “The department has been holding several meetings with different ministries to discuss the possibility of starting archaeological studies in Thori,” Ram Bahadur Kunwar, spokesperson for the Department of Archaeology, was quoted by a news outlet as saying. Human trials for Covaxin Three volunteers were administered Covaxin, the indigenous Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by Bharat Biotech, at [Post-Graduate Institute (PGI) of Medical Sciences in Rohtak]( today. Dhruva Chaudhry, Senior Professor and Head, department of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, and also the co-principal investigator, told The Hindu over phone that the three volunteers were picked from a shortlist of eight people. The candidates were given health checks to ensure proper liver function and absence of infection, and then administered the vaccine. [ ] “All three tolerated it well. There were no complaints. We observed them for two hours before releasing them. The immediate component of allergic reaction has been taken care of. We will now look for any soreness at the local site over the next 24-48 hours,” Dr. Chaudhry said. Talks may resolve issues but can’t say to what extent: Rajnath Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who is on a two-day visit to Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir to review the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the Line of Control (LoC), said today that while talks should resolve the border issue with China, [there was no guarantee about the extent to which they may do so](. His comments came during his address to the troops at Lukung Border Observation Post (BOP) near Pangong Tso. [ Defence Minister Rajnath Singh witnesses military exercises at Stakna, in Leh on July 17, 2020. Photo: Twitter/@DefenceMinIndia via PTI ] Defence Minister Rajnath Singh witnesses military exercises at Stakna, in Leh on July 17, 2020. Photo: Twitter/@DefenceMinIndia via PTI Rahul explainer on why China attacked India In a video where he sought to explain why China attacked India and why it chose to do so at this particular time, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that a combination of factors triggered by “the PM’s constant blunders and indiscretions” – a fragile economy, a troubled neighbourhood, and a weak foreign policy – had made India vulnerable, prompting China to act against India. The short video was released by the Congress on Friday. Gandhi, in the 3 minute 37-second video, alleged that in the past six years, the Narendra Modi government’s had “disturbed and disrupted” all these aspects and made the country vulnerable. The video is part of a newly launched series where Gandhi would discuss issues related to current affairs for those interested in knowing the “truth”. This comes after his high-profile virtual interviews with experts during the nationwide lockdown. Opposition parties oppose digital only campaign in Bihar A day after the Election Commission (EC) reversed its decision to extend postal ballot facility to voters above 65 years of age, nine Opposition parties met in Delhi to oppose the panel’s move to permit only digital campaigns for the upcoming Bihar Assembly election in view of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Bihar in-charge for Congress Shaktisinh Gohil, RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj K. Jha, CPI (ML) general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharjee, RLSP president Upendra Kushwaha, CPI general secretary D. Raja, and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, among others, were present at the meeting. Together, the parties came up with a joint memorandum opposing the EC’s decision to prohibit the traditional mode of campaign and allow only a “virtual election campaign”. The memorandum pointed out that as per TRAI, only 34% of Bihar voters had a smart phone. Shift Varavara Rao to Covid-19 hospital: NHRC Following a complaint from the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) regarding [lack of facilities and treatment being provided to Varavara Rao](, the 81-year-old poet who is in jail in connection with the Bhima Koregaon case, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) said on Friday that the Chief Secretary of the Maharashtra should look into the matter personally to ensure that he is shifted to the best possible [Covid-19]( hospital. Rao had recently tested positive for Covid-19 and his family had issued an appeal that he should get proper medical attention. Noting that Rao is an under-trial prisoner in the custody of the State, the Commission said that all the expenditure of the medical treatment should be borne by the State, as it is his lawful custodian. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of coronavirus cases reported from India stood at 10,37,267 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 26,279. The Health Ministry today said that less than 1.94% of all Covid-19 cases are in ICUs, 0.35% are on ventilators, and 2.81% are on oxygen beds. Meanwhile, the ICMR has asked the States and Union Territories to identify and approve all government and private facilities for conducting rapid antigen testing for Covid-19. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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