The Evening Wrap: Sonia asks Congress to elect new leader

The Hindu Newsletter - Here are the latest updates and the big news stories to follow today [The Hindu Logo]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( [Instagram]( Sunday 23, August 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. Sonia Gandhi asks Congress to elect new leader ahead of crucial meeting Faced with an unprecedented situation of senior leaders questioning the party’s top leadership, Congress president [Sonia Gandhi is learnt to have asked her colleagues]( to find a new party chief and expressed her desire to step down in a letter. Though the contents of Ms. Gandhi’s letter have not officially been made public, the move has prompted several other senior leaders like Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and former Union Minister Salman Kurshid to come out in support of the Gandhis ahead of the crucial meeting of the Congress Working Committee tomorrow. The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee held an emergency meeting to discuss the issue while more State units are supposed to back the Gandhis. “Currently no other leader in the Congress can give the party a strong leadership,” the Punjab Chief Minister said in a statement on Sunday, adding, “any move to divide or destabilise the party would give advantage to the dictatorial forces.” Khurshid even hit out at those asking for internal polls, saying consensus among party members was more important. “I am very surprised. I have not heard a single demand being made in the Communist party or in the regional parties or in the BJP. I have not heard about demand for elections in any of those parties,” Mr. Khurshid said. “Elections are important, but the historical context in which elections have to be held, circumstances, have to be taken into account. Consensus has been an important part of the political process in the Congress,” he said. His comments come days after Shashi Tharoor had said that he has been advocating elections to the CWC and for the post of the president as it would certainly have a number of beneficial outcomes for the party. Ms. Gandhi’s letter is a response to a letter from a group of senior leaders including Leader of the Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, Lok Sabha member Manish Tewari Tewari, former union minister Veerappa Moily, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda among others. In their letter, written about two weeks ago, the group questioned the Congress party’s style of functioning and suggested sweeping reforms. China has been administering Covid vaccine since July according to official An exclusive [report today in The Hindu]( which says that China has been administering its domestically-developed COVID-19 vaccines to a broad range of people since July. The number of those who have been given the vaccine may soon be in the hundreds of thousands, including medical workers, the armed forces, and employees of companies who are working overseas on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects, said a health official on August 22. China has eight different vaccines which are going through clinical trials, and none have so far been approved for the market. Some of the vaccines have, however, been administered on an “urgent use” basis for the past month, Zheng Zhongwei, director of the Development Centre for Medical Science and Technology of the National Health Commission, which is leading the vaccine development programme, told State media. [Image for representation purpose only.]Image for representation purpose only. Authorities have permitted administering vaccines to medical workers, border officers and those employed overseas, while the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has also begun inoculating military personnel. Vaccines are being administered in two doses, with the second given one month after the first shot. “The number of people being vaccinated on an urgent basis may reach hundreds of thousands across China, considering that personnel in wider sectors are being offered free injections,” Tao Lina, an immunology expert, was quoted as saying by the Communist Party-run newspaper, Global Times. Tablighi Jamaat cases become diplomatic headache Five months after the government ordered a crackdown on all members of the Tablighi Jamaat, present at their headquarters or ‘Markaz’ in New Delhi when a number of coronavirus cases were detected, the [matter is becoming a diplomatic headache]( for the government, The Hindu’s Diplomatic Affairs Editor Suhasini haidar reports. The action ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in March included 2,550 foreigners from about 45 countries who belonged to the ultra orthodox Islamic sect; and several countries have expressed their concern to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) over the continued custody of their nationals in India, diplomats and officials told The Hindu. [ ] The MEA has been left to coordinate the various cases with “real time coordination” with the MHA and the Bureau of Immigration, even as they deal with the diplomatic missives, say officials. Earlier this week, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said he had raised the issue of about 173 Bangladeshis still being held in India when he met Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla in Dhaka on Wednesday, asking him to expedite their return. According to diplomatic sources privy to the meeting, the Bangladesh government is particularly worried as many of them have run out of money, and may not be able to pay the fines of ₹5,000-10,000 in order for them to leave. . AG refuses consent for contempt action against Swara Bhasker Attorney General [K.K. Venugopal has refused consent]( to a plea to initiate criminal contempt action against actor Swara Bhasker for scandalising the Supreme Court saying her comment regarding the Ram Janmabhoomi title dispute verdict “appears to be a factual one” and her “perception”. The prior consent of the Attorney General is required for the Supreme Court to initiate criminal contempt action in a case. The contempt plea was filed by Karnataka resident, Usha Shetty. [ Actor Swara Bhasker speaks at a panel discussion organised by the Mumbai Collective on February 1, 2020. Photo: Twitter/@Mumbai4Freedom ] Actor Swara Bhasker speaks at a panel discussion organised by the Mumbai Collective on February 1, 2020. Photo: Twitter/@Mumbai4Freedom Ms. Shetty has now sought the consent of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. She wrote to Mr. Mehta on Sunday, saying she “respectfully differs” with Mr. Venugopal. The contempt plea refers to a public address made by Ms. Bhaskar in a meeting organised by Mumbai Collective following the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Ram Janmabhoomi title dispute case in November last year, in which the court ordered the handing over of the disputed land to the Hindus to build a temple. The petition quoted Ms. Bhasker as saying “We are living in a country where the Supreme Court of our country states that the demolition of Babri Masjid was unlawful and in the same judgment rewards the same people who brought down the mosque”. Covid watch - Numbers and Developments The number of reported [coronavirus]( cases from India stands at 31,02,233 at the time of publishing this newsletter with the death toll at 57,648. MHA had warned of plot to trigger blasts in Indian cities A day after an alleged terror suspect was arrested from Delhi, a team of Delhi police special cell unit recovered a large quantity of explosives and an ISIS flag from the house of Mohammad Mustakim Khan in Uttar Pradesh’s Balrampur, a senior police officer said today. Later in the day it came to light that the [Ministry of Home Affairs had warned of terror modules]( of religious fundamentalists, backed by Pakistan intelligence, to trigger blasts in one of the cities in India. Acting on intelligence inputs, the MHA issued an alert to all States two days before the Independence day celebrations that members of some banned outfits had planned to cause IED blasts in Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal and some other places in the north-east along the Indo-Myanmar and Indo-Bangladesh border, police sources told The Hindu on Sunday. BJP to contest Bihar with JD (U) and LJP Amid reports of growing dissent between ruling National Democratic Alliance partners the Janata Dal (U) and the Lok Janshakti Party in Bihar, the [BJP president J.P. Nadda on Sunday asserted]( his party would contest the coming Bihar Assembly poll together with both. “We will fight together and emerge victorious as well,” asserted the BJP president while addressing the concluding session of the party’s two-day State executive committee virtual meeting. The BJP president’s assertion through the virtual meeting comes at a time when the JD(U) and the LJP are engaged in a bitter war of words. In brief: Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar released a [six-page standard operating procedure (SOPs)]( for the resumption of production of films and television series. “‘Contact Minimisation’ is at the core of the SOP. This will be ensured by minimal physical contact and sharing of props, PPEs for hairstylists and make-up artists among others,” Mr. Javadekar said. Announcing the decision on Doordarshan, Mr. Javadekar said that the SOP was part of the decision to restart all economic activities. “For the last six months, this industry had come to a standstill and many people had lost their jobs. We hope all States will adopt this SOP,” the Minister added. Trying to specifically woo Indian American voters, the [Trump campaign has released a commercial]( featuring footage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump held in Houston almost one year ago and in Ahmedabad in February. While the data show that Indian Americans mostly vote Democrat, the Republican party is trying to target voters who are likely to switch loyalties based on the Modi-Trump camaraderie. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. Today's Top Picks [alt_text]( [Actor Suriya’s Soorarai Pottru to release on Amazon Prime]( [alt_text]( [Jack Sherman, early guitarist for Red Hot Chili Peppers, dies at 64]( [alt_text]( [A car touchscreen you don't have to touch]( [alt_text]( [London's famous Tower Bridge gets stuck in an open position]( You are receiving this email because you are a user of [thehindu.com]( If you do not wish to receive any such emails, [unsubscribe here.](mailto:rm-0b4vdd4zbf2f90kauhrxfebysa8hkxu@newsalert.thehindu.com?subject=Unsubscribe&body=You will be unsubscribed from our mailing list.) To ensure you continue to receive emails from The Hindu in your inbox, please add newsletters.th@newsalert.thehindu.com to your contact. If you can't see the mailer, please [click here.]( Group Sites [The Hindu]( | [இந்து தமிழ் திசை]( | [Business Line]( | [BL on Campus]( | [Sportstar]( | [Frontline]( | [The Hindu Centre]( | [Images]( | [roofandfloor]( | [Classifieds]( Copyright @ 2020 ,THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. [About Us]( | [Contact Us]( | [Digital Subscription](