The Evening Wrap: NIA arrests 9 suspected al-Qaeda operatives

The Hindu Newsletter - Here are the latest updates and the big news stories to follow today [The Hindu Logo]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( [Instagram]( Saturday 19, September 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. NIA arrests nine suspected al-Qaeda operatives in Kerala, West Bengal The National Investigation Agency (NIA) [arrested nine suspected al-Qaeda operatives]( in raids conducted at several locations in Kerala and West Bengal on Saturday morning. The six arrested from West Bengal belonged to Murshidabad, while those picked up in Kerala were from Ernakulam. The arrested persons will be produced before the courts concerned in Kerala and West Bengal for police custody and further investigation, according to a release issued by the NIA. The agency learnt about an inter-State module of Al-Qaeda operatives at various locations in the country, including West Bengal and Kerala. The module was allegedly planning to undertake terrorist attacks at vital installations. The investigating officials recovered large quantities of incriminating materials, including digital devices and documents from their possession, the NIA said. The release said the men were radicalised by Pakistan-based Al-Qaeda terrorists on social media and were motivated to undertake attacks at multiple places, including the National Capital Region. The module was actively indulging in fund-raising, and a few members of the gang were planning to travel to New Delhi to procure arms and ammunition. The arrests have pre-empted possible terrorist attacks in various parts of the country, the agency claimed. Parliament’s monsoon session likely to be curtailed, may end by mid-next week The ongoing [monsoon session of Parliament is likely to be curtailed]( and may end by the middle of next week in view of the threat of Covid-19 spreading among parliamentarians, official sources said on September 19. At a meeting of the business advisory committee of Lok Sabha, which has floor leaders of all parties besides the government representatives, and is chaired by the Speaker, most political parties favoured curtailment of the session, which started on September 14 and was scheduled to conclude on October 1. [A scene from the Lok Sabha as the supplementary demand for grants, 2020-21, was discussed on September 18, 2020.]A scene from the Lok Sabha as the supplementary demand for grants, 2020-21, was discussed on September 18, 2020. A final decision will be taken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs. The Lok Sabha has so far passed three Bills to replace agriculture sector-related ordinances. Also, both the Houses have cleared a bill to replace an ordinance for cutting MPs’ salaries by 30%. The session began on September 14 and is slated to end on October 1. Both houses are meeting in shifts of four hours each, without the customary Saturday-Sunday weekend break. The Budget Session was short-terminated in March following the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Arrested scribe Rajeev Sharma was passing info on border strategy to Chinese intelligence: Delhi Police Delhi Police, which arrested freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma on September 14, claimed today that [he was passing sensitive information about India’s border strategy and Army deployment to Chinese intelligence](. At a press conference, Special Cell DCP Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said Sharma was writing on defence-related issues for some Indian media organisations, as well as China’s Global Times. He was allegedly contacted by Chinese Intelligence agents in 2016. Sharma was also in contact with a Chinese intelligence officer, the police officer claimed, adding the freelance journalist got “₹40 lakh in one-and-a-half years and getting $1,000 for each piece of information”. Sharma was arrested based on inputs from central intelligence. Police have seized classified defence documents from him, the DCP said, adding that a Chinese woman and her Nepalese associate have also been arrested for allegedly paying Sharma large amounts of money routed through shell companies. Iconic judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg passes away U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a diminutive yet [towering women’s rights champion]( who became the court’s second female judge, died on Friday at her home in Washington. She was 87. [Ginsberg’s death]( just over six weeks before Election Day is likely to set off a heated battle over whether President Donald Trump should nominate, and the Republican-led Senate should confirm, her replacement, or if the seat should remain vacant until the outcome of his race against Democrat Joe Biden is known. [ U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ] U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Ginsburg spent her final years on the bench as the unquestioned leader of the court’s liberal wing and became something of a rock star to her admirers. Young women especially seemed to embrace the court’s Jewish grandmother, affectionately calling her the Notorious RBG, for her defense of the rights of women and minorities. She resisted calls by liberals to retire during Barack Obama’s presidency at a time when Democrats held the Senate and a replacement with similar views could have been confirmed. Instead, Trump will almost certainly try to push Ginsburg’s successor through the Republican-controlled Senate — and move the conservative court even more to the right. Besides civil rights, Ginsburg took an interest in capital punishment, voting repeatedly to limit its use. During her tenure, the court declared it unconstitutional for states to execute the intellectually disabled and killers younger than 18. Ginsburg authored powerful dissents in cases involving abortion, voting rights and pay discrimination against women. She said some were aimed at swaying the opinions of her fellow judges while others were “an appeal to the intelligence of another day” in the hopes that they would provide guidance to future courts. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported [coronavirus]( cases from India stood at 53,83,991 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 86,668. India has overtaken the U.S. and become the top country in terms of global Covid-19 recoveries, said the Union Health Ministry on Saturday, adding that the country has reported the highest number of total recoveries, with more than 42 lakh (42,08,431) Covid-19 patients having recovered. [ Rapid antigen test of Covid-19 virus in progress near a testing van in New Delhi on Saturday, September 19, 2020 ] Rapid antigen test of Covid-19 virus in progress near a testing van in New Delhi on Saturday, September 19, 2020 “India now accounts for close to 19% of the total global recoveries. It has registered the highest-ever single-day recoveries in the last 24 hours. A total of 95,880 recoveries have been recorded. 90% of the new recovered cases are being reported from 16 States/UTs, including Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Delhi,” the release said. The phase-III human clinical trial developed by Oxford University and being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) will begin at the Sassoon General Hospital in Pune next week, Dean of the state-run Sassoon General Hospital Dr. Muralidhar Tambe said on Saturday. “Some volunteers have already come forward for the trial. Around 150 to 200 volunteers will be administered the vaccine candidate dose,” he said. Under phase-II, trials were conducted at BhartiVidyapeeth MedicalCollege and also KEM Hospital in the city. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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