The Evening Wrap: Cat out of the bag in Rajasthan, says Congress

The Hindu Newsletter - The Morning Filter Sunday 26, 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. Cat out of the bag in Rajasthan political crisis: Congress Objections and queries posed by Rajasthan Governor Kalraj Mishra’s office intended to delay the floor test to prove the majority of Congress government led by Ashok Gehlot in the State Assembly have let the “cat out of the bag” on who really has the numbers, [the Congress said]( at a press conference today. The Rajasthan Cabinet, for the second time, on Sunday, advised the Governor’s office to call for an Assembly session. The Governor’s office had raised objections to an earlier request by the State government on Friday and continues to try and delay the matter. In fresh communication to the Raj Bhavan, the Rajasthan Cabinet conveyed that the Governor has no discretion in the matter and has to follow the advice of the Cabinet, The Hindu has learnt. In fact, as we observed in a news analysis piece yesterday, a Constitution Bench judgment of the Supreme Court has held earlier that a Governor is bound to convene a meeting of the Assembly for a floor test on the recommendation of the Cabinet. The five-judge Constitution Bench judgment of the Supreme Court in Nabam Rebia versus Deputy Speaker on July 13, 2016 held that a Governor cannot employ his ‘discretion’, and should strictly abide by the “aid and advice” of the Cabinet to summon the House. 200 Chinese investment bids await MHA nod [Image for representational purpose only. Illustration: Deepak Harichandan]Image for representational purpose only. Illustration: Deepak Harichandan About [200 investment proposals from China are awaiting security clearance]( from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) after new rules were notified in April, making prior government approval mandatory for foreign direct investments (FDI) from countries which share a land border with India. As FDI is allowed in non-critical sectors through the automatic route, earlier these proposals would have been cleared without the MHA’s nod. Prior government approval or security clearance from MHA was required only for investments in critical sectors such as defence, media, telecommunication, satellites, private security agencies, civil aviation and mining and any investments from Pakistan and Bangladesh. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) notified the new FDI policy on April 18, which said, “…an entity of a country, which shares land border with India or where the beneficial owner of an investment into India is situated in or is a citizen of any such country, can invest only under the Government route.” The revised FDI policy, a press statement from DPIIT said, is aimed at “curbing opportunistic takeovers/acquisitions of Indian companies due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.” India could fast track clearances on imported vaccines [ In this handout photo released by the University of Oxford samples from coronavirus vaccine trials are handled inside the Oxford Vaccine Group laboratory in Oxford, England Thursday June 25, 2020. ] In this handout photo released by the University of Oxford samples from coronavirus vaccine trials are handled inside the Oxford Vaccine Group laboratory in Oxford, England Thursday June 25, 2020. Indian companies looking to import or test potential COVID-19 vaccines, that have been developed internationally, [could get leeway in the number of India-specific tests and trials]( they would need to conduct, says a guidance document from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). Normally, a vaccine that has been licensed in another country, would still need to repeat all human safety tests in India. “Data generated outside India will be considered and examined and an abbreviated pathway may be considered for COVID-19 vaccine based on scientific rational and level of completeness of data in human trials in addition to satisfactory pre-clinical data. Phase I/II or phase III multi-centric study on statistically significant sample size may be considered based on, initial safety studies, proof of concept and dose finding data,” says the document that was published on May 23, but has only now been made public. Congress set to move no-confidence motion against Manipur CM Biren The coalition Ministry in Manipur is [likely to face a no-confidence motion]( on the one-day Assembly session scheduled on August 10. Congress MLA and party spokesperson Keisham Meghachandra has announced the decision to table the motion even as BJP Chief Minister N. Biren expressed confidence of his political survival. At the same time, the Opposition party will also move a contempt of court against Speaker Yumnam Khemchand. Meanwhile, two dissident Congress MLAs R.K. Imo and Okram Henry are yet to respond to the party’s showcause notice to explain why disciplinary actions should not be taken up against them for voting for Leishemba Sanajaoba, the BJP candidate for the lone Rajya Sabha seat in Manipur. The BJP candidate won the election by a narrow margin, defeating Tongbram Mangibabu of the Congress. PM to inaugurate new testing centres [Prime Minister Narendra Modi. File]Prime Minister Narendra Modi. File Prime Minister [Narendra Modi will launch]( on Monday “high throughput” COVID-19 testing facilities in Noida, Mumbai and Kolkata, which will ramp up testing capacity and help strengthen early detection and treatment in the country, the Prime Minister’s Office said. The virtual launch event will be attended by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and the chief ministers of Maharashtra, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh -- Uddhav Thackeray, Mamata Banerjee and Yogi Adityanath respectively. As part of his monthly radio address today, Modi said India’s COVID-19 recovery rate is better compared to other countries and its case fatality rate is much less as well, but the threat of the deadly virus is far from over. Covid Watch - Numbers and Developments The number of reported [coronavirus]( cases from India stands at 14,30,358 at the time of publishing this newsletter with the death toll at 32,816. As many as 36,145 patients have recuperated from COVID-19 in a span of 24 hours, the highest recorded in a day, pushing the recovery rate to 63.92%, the Union Health Ministry said today. The COVID-19 case fatality rate has further dropped to 2.31%, the ministry added. In Brief: A district court in Gurugram has [summoned Alibaba and its founder Jack Ma]( in a case in which a former employee in India says he was wrongfully fired after objecting to what he saw as censorship and fake news on company apps, documents seen by Reuters showed. The case comes weeks after India cited security concerns in banning Alibaba's UC News, UC Browser and 57 other Chinese apps. Bollywood director Mahesh Bhatt and manager of filmmaker Karan Johar will be called in for questioning in the[investigation of actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death](, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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