The Evening Wrap: Supreme Court asks Centre to come clean on starvation death figures

The Supreme Court’s questions on hunger deaths drew a near blank from the Union government on Tuesday. The government’s response ranged from urging the court to ask the States for data, and making sweeping comments about malnutrition in “developing countries”, to reading statistics out of a 2015 health survey report and a newspaper article. “Why are you looking at a 2015-2016 report? Are you looking through that prism to say there are no starvation deaths now? So you have to look at a newspaper report?” a three-judge Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana, Justices A.S. Bopanna and Hima Kohli asked the Centre, represented by Attorney General K.K. Venugopal. The debate began with the Bench referring to an affidavit filed by the Centre, which said that not a single State had reported starvation deaths. “Can we understand that there are no starvation deaths in the country? Our limited question is whether your officers have the latest information on starvation deaths... Is there any survey report indicating whether starvation deaths are happening or not? Give us some data. Ask your officers to furnish some information,” the CJI asked Venugopal. “Officers have said there is no such starvation deaths,” the top law officer replied at one point. Advocate Ashima Mandla, for petitioners, intervened to submit that starvation deaths could only be detected through autopsy. She said the authorities have to make a conscious effort to identify starvation deaths or they could easily fall under the radar. The CJI underscored that the “hunger of the poor on the streets has to be satisfied”. Venugopal responded that the Centre was on the front foot in food welfare schemes. “We have 131 food related programmes,” he said. “That malnutrition exists is not disputed by us. That community kitchens are needed is not disputed. The problem is the funding,” he observed. The States have to source the funds for community kitchen programmes by themselves, even if by additional taxation, and the panchayats were obliged under the Constitution to provide the logistics for distribution. The Union government was already financially stretched by its own 131 food programmes. “We cannot divert money from the 131 programmes. We have a constraint for funds. We have the huge funding of 131 programmes to take care of... Government has so many welfare schemes,” he said. The Bench asked the Centre to explore the possibility of a “model” community kitchen scheme by which it could support the States to ensure food security for the poor. The Bench said it was not up to the judiciary to formulate a “uniform” community kitchen scheme for the States, but the Centre ought to do it in consultation with the States. “We cannot prepare a straitjacket and uniform scheme for the entire country... You can make a model scheme and leave it to the States to follow the guidelines depending on their individual food habits,” the Bench addressed Venugopal. The Attorney General agreed to convey to the Union government the court’s suggestion to provide the States with an additional 2% food grains. The court asked the States to file reports on the status of malnutrition and hunger deaths in two weeks along with suggestions for community kitchen schemes. In a previous hearing, the court had questioned the government’s commitment to run community kitchens to stave off hunger across the country, saying the first job of a welfare state was to ensure that people do not starve to death. “Every welfare state’s first responsibility is to provide food to people dying due to hunger,” Chief Justice Ramana had said. The court is hearing a petition that highlights how starvation deaths continue to eat into the right to life and dignity and a “radical” new measure like community kitchens need to be set up across the country to feed the poor and the hungry. The petition, filed jointly by activists Anun Dhawan, Ishann Dhawan and Kunjana Singh drew attention to how Tamil Nadu’s Amma Unavagam had become a roaring success by involving peers in self-help groups and employing the poor to serve hygienic food to eradicate the gnawing problem of hunger on the streets. SC asks govt to explain admission of just 19 women in NDA The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Union government to explain the admission of merely 19 women in the prestigious National Defence Academy (NDA) for 2022. A Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Union, to explain why the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) had restricted women’s admissions to just 19 for the year. The court also asked the Centre to place on record the total number of candidates, including women, who appeared in the NDA, Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) and Rashtriya Military School (RMS) entrance tests. “The figure is the same as for the 2021 test. Last year, you said that it was due to infrastructure problems that the intake of women will be less. Now, again for the year 2022, you have proposed to take the same number of women candidates. Why have you fixed this figure? You have to explain this. Nineteen seats cannot be for all times to come. It was only an ad hoc measure,” the Bench addressed the government. The court gave the Centre three weeks to file its affidavit. The case was listed on March 6. Petitioner Kush Kalra said they have filed an additional affidavit stating that on November 14, 2021, the NDA exam was held and 8,009 candidates qualified for the Service Selection Board test as also medical tests, out of which 1,002 candidates were women and 7,007 men. The government advertisement had said NDA would take in 400 cadets in the current NDA-II 2021 intake. “Of these, 208 candidates, including 10 women, will go to the Army. The Navy will take in 42 candidates, including three women, while the IAF will admit 120 candidates, of which six will be women. Thus, the total number of women to be inducted into the NDA in June 2022 is 19,” the petitioner said. Rajnath writes to Stalin, Mamata on Republic-Day tableaux row Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has conveyed to the Chief Ministers of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu that there exists a well-established system for selection of tableaux for participation in the Republic Day Parade (RDP), as per which the Ministry of Defence invites proposals from all States, Union Territories, Central Ministries and Departments. Singh was responding to letters from Mamata Banerjee and M.K. Stalin to the Prime Minister over the rejection of their State tableaux. In the letter to the Tamil Nadu CM, Singh said, “For RDP-2022, a total of 29 proposals were received from States/ UTs, including the proposal from the State of Tamil Nadu. The tableaux from the State Government of Tamil Nadu was considered in the first three rounds of meetings. After the third round of meeting, the tableaux could not make it into the final list of 12 tableaux selected for participation in the RDP-2022.” Singh further stated that tableaux from Tamil Nadu have been selected for participation in RDP during 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021. “In view of the above details, you would appreciate that the selection of tableaux is as per the prescribed guidelines on the matter,” Singh said. In his letter to the West Bengal Chief Minister, Singh said: “It was our government that celebrated the 75th anniversary of the government-in-exile of India led by Netaji in a grand manner in 2018 and honoured the surviving Soldiers of the Azad Hind Fauj in the Republic Day parade.” “I would also like to tell you that this time the CPWD tableau has also paid tribute to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on his 125th birth anniversary,” he added. In a letter to the Prime Minister, Banerjee said the people of Bengal were “deeply pained” by the Government of India’s decision. Explaining the selection process, Singh said the tableaux proposals received are evaluated in a series of meetings of the Expert Committee comprising eminent persons in the field of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, choreography etc. The Expert Committee examines the proposals on the basis of theme, concept, design and its visual impact before making its recommendations. “As per the time slot allotted for tableaux in the overall duration of the parade, short-listing of tableaux is done by the Expert Committee. A Defence official said on Tuesday that a total of 21 tableaux, including from nine ministries and government departments were selected this year. The States from which tableaux have been selected include Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Goa Assembly polls: NCP rules out alliance with Congress in Goa The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday ruled out any alliance with the Congress in the coming Goa Assembly elections on grounds that the latter had not responded favourably to seat-sharing. The Sharad Pawar-led party, however, stated that it would fight the polls in alliance with the Shiv Sena. Praful Patel, who is the NCP’s Goa in-charge, said the Congress believed it could win the 40-seat elections on its own and that it did not need anyone’s help. “The Congress believes that they can win Goa on their own strength even after losing 15 of its 17 MLAs [to other parties like the BJP and the TMC]. Every day, the situation in Goa is so fluid, and if every party thinks they can win on their own, it is up to them to decide… We [the NCP] are a responsible party. While we have an alliance with the Congress and the Sena in Maharashtra, the Congress has its own views in Goa,” he told reporters after arriving in the coastal State. Patel clarified that the NCP, which had been traditionally contesting the Goa elections along with the Congress, would not be talking with the latter any more on alliance. The NCP was quite capable of fighting and winning a reasonable number of seats in Goa, the former Union Minister claimed. The Sena had expressed its desire to fight along with the NCP and that like-minded parties were welcome to join the alliance, he observed. He clarified that Pawar had not spoken with TMC chief Mamata Banerjee on forming an alliance. “The TMC is a new factor in Goa. Good luck to them in contesting the election,” he remarked. Both the NCP and the Sena will announce their list of candidates on Wednesday and also reveal the seat-sharing arrangements. Meanwhile, Sena MP Sanjay Raut hit out at the BJP for ‘blocking’ Utpal Parrikar’s ticket for the Panaji Assembly seat, which had been held by his father, the late BJP leader and former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. “Manohar Parrikar’s son is being insulted by the BJP… Utpal is being made to run from pillar to post to secure a ticket. We [the Shiv Sena] are not speaking from a political point of view when we are saying that all parties must support Utpal if he decides to contest…today, the BJP is known in Goa only because of Manohar Parrikar. Those people in the Goa BJP who have become big due to the late Mr. Parrikar are now behaving disrespectfully towards Utpal Parrikar,” said Raut, who will be arriving in Goa on Wednesday. BJP Goa in charge C.T. Ravi said Utpal was being “used as a tool” and that the latter would remain with the BJP. “Utpal is a BJP worker, and he will stay with the BJP and work for the party. Manohar Parrikar always worked for the party and never brought his family into politics,” he stated. The BJP, too, will announce its first list of candidates on Wednesday, while AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has reached Goa to announce the party’s chief ministerial candidate. PM’s Davos address: Rahul Gandhi takes 'teleprompter' jibe at Modi, BJP leaders cite ‘technical glitch’ When Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to restart his Davos Agenda address, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took a swipe, saying “even the teleprompter could not take so much lies”, even as BJP leaders pointed to a “technical glitch'” at event organiser World Economic Forum’s (WEF) end. There was no official reaction from the Central Government or the World Economic Forum on the incident. Several Congress leaders and social media users claimed that it was a “teleprompter gaffe” as Prime Minister Modi had to pause and then restart his special address to the WEF’s online Davos Agenda 2022 summit, but BJP leaders and many others pointed out that it was a technical glitch due to which the WEF people were not able to patch the PM and requested him to start again. In an apparent dig at Prime Minister Modi, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi, “Even the teleprompter could not take so much lies.” Fact-checking website Alt News co-founder Pratik Sinha said it is unlikely that the Prime Minister had a teleprompter gaffe. “If you look at the WEF version of the recording of his speech, someone in the background says, ‘Sir, aap unse ek baar pooche ki sab jud gaye kya’ (Sir, ask them once if everyone is connected). This portion is not clear in the video live-streamed on PM’s YouTube channel. After this, the PM questions if he and the interpreter can be heard properly, to which (WEF executive chairman) Klaus Schwab responds stating that he can. “However, Schwab interrupts the PM’s speech to give a brief introduction. The PM repeats the whole speech again,” Sinha said, recounting the events from Monday evening during the Prime Minister’s address. However, several Congress leaders took a dig at the Prime Minister over the incident. Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, “Teleprompter se bhashan chal sakta hai, shasan nahin. Kal ye poore desh ki samajh mein aa gaya’ (You can give a speech but not rule using a teleprompter. The whole country understood this yesterday). The Congress, on its official Twitter handle, shared the video of the Prime Minister taking a pause in his speech, calling him the “teleprompter guy”. Youth Congress tweeted, “Failed to address after teleprompter stopped working, PM Modi failed to represent the country on World Economic Forum!”. In a tweet, BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga slammed those criticising the PM. “Don’t those getting excited at the tech glitch not realise that the problem was at WEF’s end? They were not able to patch PM, so requested him to start again, which is evident in the way Klaus Schwab said that he will again give a short introduction and then open up the session,” he said. Several other BJP leaders cited the same reason for the incident and some posted a video from the WEF’s YouTube channel, showing the sequence of events. According to the video and pointers along with it shared by BJP leaders, Prime Minister Modi’s speech started abruptly from the middle without the English interpretation. The Prime Minister was interrupted by the co-ordinator who asked him to check if all had been connected, and Schwab then started the official session. Modi again started his speech with English interpretation being shared. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,76,93,966 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,86,877. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 18 JANUARY 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Supreme Court asks Centre to come clean on starvation death figures The Supreme Court’s questions on hunger deaths [drew a near blank from the Union government]( on Tuesday. The government’s response ranged from urging the court to ask the States for data, and making sweeping comments about malnutrition in “developing countries”, to reading statistics out of a 2015 health survey report and a newspaper article.  “Why are you looking at a 2015-2016 report? Are you looking through that prism to say there are no starvation deaths now? So you have to look at a newspaper report?” a three-judge Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana, Justices A.S. Bopanna and Hima Kohli asked the Centre, represented by Attorney General K.K. Venugopal. [Various organisations and students celebrated Nag Panchami by distributing milk and fruits to poor children and the destitute in Kalaburagi on Friday.]   The debate began with the Bench referring to an affidavit filed by the Centre, which said that not a single State had reported starvation deaths. “Can we understand that there are no starvation deaths in the country? Our limited question is whether your officers have the latest information on starvation deaths... Is there any survey report indicating whether starvation deaths are happening or not? Give us some data. Ask your officers to furnish some information,” the CJI asked Venugopal.  “Officers have said there is no such starvation deaths,” the top law officer replied at one point.  Advocate Ashima Mandla, for petitioners, intervened to submit that starvation deaths could only be detected through autopsy. She said the authorities have to make a conscious effort to identify starvation deaths or they could easily fall under the radar. The CJI underscored that the “hunger of the poor on the streets has to be satisfied”.   Venugopal responded that the Centre was on the front foot in food welfare schemes. “We have 131 food related programmes,” he said.  “That malnutrition exists is not disputed by us. That community kitchens are needed is not disputed. The problem is the funding,” he observed. The States have to source the funds for community kitchen programmes by themselves, even if by additional taxation, and the panchayats were obliged under the Constitution to provide the logistics for distribution.  The Union government was already financially stretched by its own 131 food programmes. “We cannot divert money from the 131 programmes. We have a constraint for funds. We have the huge funding of 131 programmes to take care of... Government has so many welfare schemes,” he said. The Bench asked the Centre to explore the possibility of a “model” community kitchen scheme by which it could support the States to ensure food security for the poor. The Bench said it was not up to the judiciary to formulate a “uniform” community kitchen scheme for the States, but the Centre ought to do it in consultation with the States.  “We cannot prepare a straitjacket and uniform scheme for the entire country... You can make a model scheme and leave it to the States to follow the guidelines depending on their individual food habits,” the Bench addressed Venugopal.  The Attorney General agreed to convey to the Union government the court’s suggestion to provide the States with an additional 2% food grains. The court asked the States to file reports on the status of malnutrition and hunger deaths in two weeks along with suggestions for community kitchen schemes.  In a previous hearing, the court had questioned the government’s commitment to run community kitchens to stave off hunger across the country, saying the first job of a welfare state was to ensure that people do not starve to death. “Every welfare state’s first responsibility is to provide food to people dying due to hunger,” Chief Justice Ramana had said.  The court is hearing a petition that highlights how starvation deaths continue to eat into the right to life and dignity and a “radical” new measure like community kitchens need to be set up across the country to feed the poor and the hungry.  The petition, filed jointly by activists Anun Dhawan, Ishann Dhawan and Kunjana Singh drew attention to how Tamil Nadu’s Amma Unavagam had become a roaring success by involving peers in self-help groups and employing the poor to serve hygienic food to eradicate the gnawing problem of hunger on the streets. [underlineimg]  SC asks govt to explain admission of just 19 women in NDA  The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Union government to explain the [admission of merely 19 women]( in the prestigious National Defence Academy (NDA) for 2022. A Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Union, to explain why the UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) had restricted women’s admissions to just 19 for the year.  The court also asked the Centre to place on record the total number of candidates, including women, who appeared in the NDA, Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) and Rashtriya Military School (RMS) entrance tests.  “The figure is the same as for the 2021 test. Last year, you said that it was due to infrastructure problems that the intake of women will be less. Now, again for the year 2022, you have proposed to take the same number of women candidates. Why have you fixed this figure? You have to explain this. Nineteen seats cannot be for all times to come. It was only an ad hoc measure,” the Bench addressed the government. The court gave the Centre three weeks to file its affidavit. The case was listed on March 6.  Petitioner Kush Kalra said they have filed an additional affidavit stating that on November 14, 2021, the NDA exam was held and 8,009 candidates qualified for the Service Selection Board test as also medical tests, out of which 1,002 candidates were women and 7,007 men. The government advertisement had said NDA would take in 400 cadets in the current NDA-II 2021 intake.  “Of these, 208 candidates, including 10 women, will go to the Army. The Navy will take in 42 candidates, including three women, while the IAF will admit 120 candidates, of which six will be women. Thus, the total number of women to be inducted into the NDA in June 2022 is 19,” the petitioner said. [underlineimg]  Rajnath writes to Stalin, Mamata on Republic-Day tableaux row [The West Bengal State tableaux rolls down during the full dress rehearsal of the Republic Day Parade in 2021. File]  Defence Minister Rajnath Singh [has conveyed to the Chief Ministers of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu]( that there exists a well-established system for selection of tableaux for participation in the Republic Day Parade (RDP), as per which the Ministry of Defence invites proposals from all States, Union Territories, Central Ministries and Departments.  Singh was responding to letters from Mamata Banerjee and M.K. Stalin to the Prime Minister over the rejection of their State tableaux. In the letter to the Tamil Nadu CM, Singh said, “For RDP-2022, a total of 29 proposals were received from States/ UTs, including the proposal from the State of Tamil Nadu. The tableaux from the State Government of Tamil Nadu was considered in the first three rounds of meetings. After the third round of meeting, the tableaux could not make it into the final list of 12 tableaux selected for participation in the RDP-2022.”  Singh further stated that tableaux from Tamil Nadu have been selected for participation in RDP during 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021. “In view of the above details, you would appreciate that the selection of tableaux is as per the prescribed guidelines on the matter,” Singh said.  In his letter to the West Bengal Chief Minister, Singh said: “It was our government that celebrated the 75th anniversary of the government-in-exile of India led by Netaji in a grand manner in 2018 and honoured the surviving Soldiers of the Azad Hind Fauj in the Republic Day parade.”  “I would also like to tell you that this time the CPWD tableau has also paid tribute to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on his 125th birth anniversary,” he added. In a letter to the Prime Minister, Banerjee said the people of Bengal were “deeply pained” by the Government of India’s decision.  Explaining the selection process, Singh said the tableaux proposals received are evaluated in a series of meetings of the Expert Committee comprising eminent persons in the field of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, choreography etc.  The Expert Committee examines the proposals on the basis of theme, concept, design and its visual impact before making its recommendations. “As per the time slot allotted for tableaux in the overall duration of the parade, short-listing of tableaux is done by the Expert Committee.  A Defence official said on Tuesday that a total of 21 tableaux, including from nine ministries and government departments were selected this year. The States from which tableaux have been selected include Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. [underlineimg]  Goa Assembly polls: NCP rules out alliance with Congress in Goa  The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Tuesday [ruled out any alliance with the Congress]( in the coming Goa Assembly elections on grounds that the latter had not responded favourably to seat-sharing. The Sharad Pawar-led party, however, stated that it would fight the polls in alliance with the Shiv Sena.  Praful Patel, who is the NCP’s Goa in-charge, said the Congress believed it could win the 40-seat elections on its own and that it did not need anyone’s help. “The Congress believes that they can win Goa on their own strength even after losing 15 of its 17 MLAs [to other parties like the BJP and the TMC]. Every day, the situation in Goa is so fluid, and if every party thinks they can win on their own, it is up to them to decide… We [the NCP] are a responsible party. While we have an alliance with the Congress and the Sena in Maharashtra, the Congress has its own views in Goa,” he told reporters after arriving in the coastal State.  Patel clarified that the NCP, which had been traditionally contesting the Goa elections along with the Congress, would not be talking with the latter any more on alliance. The NCP was quite capable of fighting and winning a reasonable number of seats in Goa, the former Union Minister claimed. The Sena had expressed its desire to fight along with the NCP and that like-minded parties were welcome to join the alliance, he observed.  He clarified that Pawar had not spoken with TMC chief Mamata Banerjee on forming an alliance. “The TMC is a new factor in Goa. Good luck to them in contesting the election,” he remarked. Both the NCP and the Sena will announce their list of candidates on Wednesday and also reveal the seat-sharing arrangements.  Meanwhile, Sena MP Sanjay Raut hit out at the BJP for ‘blocking’ Utpal Parrikar’s ticket for the Panaji Assembly seat, which had been held by his father, the late BJP leader and former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.  “Manohar Parrikar’s son is being insulted by the BJP… Utpal is being made to run from pillar to post to secure a ticket. We [the Shiv Sena] are not speaking from a political point of view when we are saying that all parties must support Utpal if he decides to contest…today, the BJP is known in Goa only because of Manohar Parrikar. Those people in the Goa BJP who have become big due to the late Mr. Parrikar are now behaving disrespectfully towards Utpal Parrikar,” said Raut, who will be arriving in Goa on Wednesday.  BJP Goa in charge C.T. Ravi said Utpal was being “used as a tool” and that the latter would remain with the BJP. “Utpal is a BJP worker, and he will stay with the BJP and work for the party. Manohar Parrikar always worked for the party and never brought his family into politics,” he stated.  The BJP, too, will announce its first list of candidates on Wednesday, while AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has reached Goa to announce the party’s chief ministerial candidate. [underlineimg]  PM’s Davos address: Rahul Gandhi takes 'teleprompter' jibe at Modi, BJP leaders cite ‘technical glitch’ [Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivers 'State of the World' special address at the World Economic Forum’s Davos Agenda, via video conferencing, in New Delhi on January 17, 2022. World Economic Forum (WEF) President Borge Brende and WEF Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab are also seen.]   When Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to restart his Davos Agenda address, Congress leader [Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday took a swipe]( saying “even the teleprompter could not take so much lies”, even as BJP leaders pointed to a “technical glitch'” at event organiser World Economic Forum’s (WEF) end.  There was no official reaction from the Central Government or the World Economic Forum on the incident.  Several Congress leaders and social media users claimed that it was a “teleprompter gaffe” as Prime Minister Modi had to pause and then restart his special address to the WEF’s online Davos Agenda 2022 summit, but BJP leaders and many others pointed out that it was a technical glitch due to which the WEF people were not able to patch the PM and requested him to start again.  In an apparent dig at Prime Minister Modi, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi, “Even the teleprompter could not take so much lies.” Fact-checking website Alt News co-founder Pratik Sinha said it is unlikely that the Prime Minister had a teleprompter gaffe. “If you look at the WEF version of the recording of his speech, someone in the background says, ‘Sir, aap unse ek baar pooche ki sab jud gaye kya’ (Sir, ask them once if everyone is connected). This portion is not clear in the video live-streamed on PM’s YouTube channel. After this, the PM questions if he and the interpreter can be heard properly, to which (WEF executive chairman) Klaus Schwab responds stating that he can.  “However, Schwab interrupts the PM’s speech to give a brief introduction. The PM repeats the whole speech again,” Sinha said, recounting the events from Monday evening during the Prime Minister’s address.  However, several Congress leaders took a dig at the Prime Minister over the incident. Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, “Teleprompter se bhashan chal sakta hai, shasan nahin. Kal ye poore desh ki samajh mein aa gaya’ (You can give a speech but not rule using a teleprompter. The whole country understood this yesterday).  The Congress, on its official Twitter handle, shared the video of the Prime Minister taking a pause in his speech, calling him the “teleprompter guy”.  Youth Congress tweeted, “Failed to address after teleprompter stopped working, PM Modi failed to represent the country on World Economic Forum!”.  In a tweet, BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga slammed those criticising the PM. “Don’t those getting excited at the tech glitch not realise that the problem was at WEF’s end? They were not able to patch PM, so requested him to start again, which is evident in the way Klaus Schwab said that he will again give a short introduction and then open up the session,” he said.  Several other BJP leaders cited the same reason for the incident and some posted a video from the WEF’s YouTube channel, showing the sequence of events.  According to the video and pointers along with it shared by BJP leaders, Prime Minister Modi’s speech started abruptly from the middle without the English interpretation. The Prime Minister was interrupted by the co-ordinator who asked him to check if all had been connected, and Schwab then started the official session. Modi again started his speech with English interpretation being shared. [underlineimg]  Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments  The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,76,93,966 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,86,877. [underlineimg]  Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. Today's Top Picks [[What’s behind the Kazakhstan unrest? | In Focus podcast] What’s behind the Kazakhstan unrest? | In Focus podcast]( [[New on Netflix: ‘Ozark: Season 4,’ ‘The Royal Treatment’ and more] New on Netflix: ‘Ozark: Season 4,’ ‘The Royal Treatment’ and more]( [[‘Moon Knight’ trailer: Oscar Isaac enters his worst nightmare] ‘Moon Knight’ trailer: Oscar Isaac enters his worst nightmare]( [[‘Hotel Transylvania: Transformania’ movie review: Monster-human jumble is a bit of harmless fun] ‘Hotel Transylvania: Transformania’ movie review: Monster-human jumble is a bit of harmless fun]( Copyright @ 2021, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. 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