The Evening Wrap: In farewell address to the nation, President Kovind highlights climate crisis

President Ram Nath Kovind, in his last address to the nation while in the post, urged youth to be mindful of their roots in villages and towns and made a strong appeal to countrymen to take care of the environment, stating that, “Mother nature is in deep agony and the climate crisis can endanger the very future of this planet.” “As the first citizen, if I have to give one advice to my fellow citizens, it is this,” he said. Mr. Kovind, India’s 14th President, completes his term on Sunday, and his successor, Droupadi Murmu, will be sworn in on Monday. In his customary remarks on the eve of demitting office, he said that in his five-year term, he had discharged his responsibilities to the best of his abilities, he had tried hard to be a worthy successor to great presidents like Rajendra Prasad, S. Radhakrishnan and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. “My predecessor, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, also shared his wise counsel with me,” he said, adding however, that whenever he did feel that he needed to think over a certain path of action, he remembered Mahatma Gandhi’s talisman which enjoined that whenever in doubt over a course of action, one need only to ask whether this action would help the poorest person around. “I would urge you all to spend some time everyday going over Gandhi- ji’s thoughts and words,” he said. Mr. Kovind said some of the most unforgettable parts of his Presidency for him had been to visit his ancestral village near Kanpur, and reconnect with and take the blessings of elderly teachers there. “To think of occupying any Constitutional post or even to conceive of what it meant was quite beyond the scope of my imagination as a child or of those around me, but our democracy has given ways and means for people to find ways of contributing to serve the country,” he said. He urged young people to stay connected to their roots in villages and towns and their teachers and elders. He remembered the final speech of Constitution framer B.R. Ambedkar before the Constitution of India was adopted. He pointed out that Dr. Ambedkar had said that mere political democracy was not enough, that social democracy, embodied in the phrases liberty, equality and fraternity, should underlie political democracy. “These values must not be mistaken for abstractions,” he said. “And what do such ideals mean for a common citizen today? I believe the chief goal is to help them discover the joy of living. For that, first of all, their basic necessities must be taken care of,” he said, after which he added, “The next requirement is to let each citizen pursue happiness by discovering their potential and letting them do what they alone are destined to do.” He praised the New Education Policy as making it possible for young Indians to connect with their heritage and also find their feet in the 21st Century. He signed off his speech with a strong appeal to take the climate crisis seriously. “Mother nature is in deep agony and the climate crisis can endanger the very future of this planet. We must take care of our environment, our land, air and water, for the sake of our children. In our daily lives we must be more careful to protect our trees, rivers, seas and mountains as well as all other living beings. As the first citizen, if I have to give one advice to my fellow citizens, it is this,” he said. Smriti Irani sends legal notice to Congress leaders over allegations against daughter The Indian National Congress, and Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Netta D’Souza were on Sunday recipients of a legal notice issued by Union Minister Smriti Irani, demanding an apology for the “baseless and false allegations” directed at the Minister and her daughter, Zoish Irani. Ms. Irani had announced that she would be sending out the notice in a statement issued on Saturday, the day Congress came out with allegations about the Minister’s 18-year-old daughter running a restaurant in Goa for which a bar licence was acquired illegally. In the absence of “an unconditional and unequivocal apology” and withdrawal of allegations, the notice warned the recipients of civil and criminal proceedings. Zoish Irani has never applied for any licence for “running” any bar or for any business enterprise, it said, asserting that she has not been served with any show-cause notice from the Excise Department in Goa as alleged by the Congress leaders, it said. These allegations have been made with the knowledge of their falsity or at least in careless disregard of the truth, it added. “The false allegations were intended to hurt the reputation of our client as a Minister and a person in public life, and also to outrage her modesty and that of her daughter,” the notice said, reading further that “the Congress leaders stooped to a new low, morally and ethically, by attacking Irani’s young daughter who is in her first year at university and at the threshold of a new chapter of her life, pursuing her professional aspirations. These aspirations of our client’s (Irani) daughter are sought to be cruelly marred, jeopardised and prejudiced by the addressees (Congress leaders) through their inhumane, insensitive and false narratives as collateral damage.” “The insistence of addressees to invoke value systems of our client with a reference to her sanskar is an effort to make our client and her young daughter social outcasts by proclaiming that by the act of ‘running’ a bar our client and her young daughter are women of disrepute,” the notice stated. The Congress had on Saturday demanded Ms. Irani’s sacking, alleging her daughter was running an illegal bar in Goa, but the Minister had claimed the “malicious” charge was made at the Gandhi family’s behest due to her vocal stand in the National Herald case and vowed to fight back. Youth Congress workers on Sunday protested outside the Goa restaurant, which the Congress claimed is owned by Ms. Irani’s daughter. Delhi reports its first case of monkeypox Delhi confirmed its first case of monkeypox, the fourth case of the disease in the country, a day after it was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organisation. Three other cases have earlier been reported from Kerala. The patient has no travel history and was admitted some days ago with fever and skin lesions. The Union Health Ministry confirmed that a 34-year-old male resident of Delhi was isolated at Lok Nayak Hospital as a suspected case of monkeypox. “A confirmation of the diagnosis has been done by National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. The case is presently recovering at the designated isolation centre at Lok Nayak Hospital,” the Ministry said. The close contacts of the case have been identified and they are under quarantine in accordance with the Centre’s guidelines. Further public health interventions such as the identification of the source of the infection, enhanced contact tracing, testing sensitisation of private practitioners, etc., are being carried out. Meanwhile, the Centre held a high-level review meeting, chaired by the Directorate General of Health Services and attended by officials from the Health Ministry, National Centre for Disease Control and ICMR among others. Mumbai Police serve notices prohibiting unlawful assembly to Aarey protesters The Mumbai Police started serving notices under the Criminal Procedure Code to people gathering to stage demonstrations against the construction of the metro car shed at Aarey colony, an official said. The city police have started issuing notices under section 149 of the CrPC, prohibiting unlawful gathering at the protest venue in the western suburb of Goregaon, he added. Notices have been served to two protesters, Tabrez Sayyed and Jayesh Bhise, in the last two days warning them not to assemble unlawfully and violate the law, the official said. Hundreds of protesters, including women and senior citizens, have been staging demonstrations with placards and “Save Aarey” banners. A few people were seen with placards appealing to the newly elected President Droupadi Murmu to intervene and save the forest area in the City. The police have barricaded the venue, and no one is allowed to go near the car shed site. Soon after assuming office, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde directed the State administration to submit a proposal to build the Metro-3 car shed in Aarey Colony instead of Kanjurmarg. The previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had shifted the proposed car shed site to Kanjurmarg from Aarey Colony on the ground of environment protection, but the issue got embroiled in a legal dispute. Neeraj Chopra wins silver at World Athletics Championships, scripts history again Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra made history winning the javelin silver at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday but midway through the final he was in the fourth spot with 86.37m after opening the series with a foul. For a man used to grabbing the lead with his opening effort — as he did at the Tokyo Olympics qualification and final rounds and also in the qualifiers here — Neeraj appeared to be stuck in a rather different world in the final. What was running in his mind then? “I was only thinking of how to throw at the target I had imagined. With time, the competition also gets tougher. The fourth throw was good, but, I feel, it could have been better. Anyway, whatever I did, I am happy with the silver,” said the 24-year-old, the country’s greatest athlete and also the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games champion. “I was a little bit tense after seeing the first two throws (a foul followed by an 82.39m),” Anju Bobby George, the country’s only other World Championships medallist with her long jump bronze in Paris 2003, told The Hindu. “And then, when he started the fourth throw I knew it would end up being a big one,” she added. For a country used to disappointments on the big stage, for a few minutes, it felt as if its Olympic champion was also falling into this habit. But, suddenly misgivings were replaced by joy as Neeraj’s 88.13m fourth attempt made him the country’s first-ever silver medallist and the first male medallist at the Worlds, pushing Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch (88.09) to bronze. Grenada’s defending World champion Anderson Peters retained his title with a massive 90.21m opener and then followed it with two more 90-plus throws (90.46 & 90.54) in what was perhaps the greatest series in Worlds history. In Brief Sri Lanka’s Presidential Secretariat set to resume operations after 100 days Sri Lanka’s Presidential Secretariat, which was stormed by a sea of anti-government protesters in early July, is set to return to functioning from Monday under a tight security cover, according to a media report. Cleaning and repair work was under way to ready the Secretariat over the weekend as security forces opened Galle Road in front of the Secretariat for traffic. The site, which had been blocked by protesters for more than 100 days, saw an excessive rampage by protesters on July 9, forcing Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign as president. Ukraine prepares to resume grain exports even after missile strike on Odesa Ukraine pressed ahead on Sunday with efforts to restart grain exports from Odesa and other Black Sea ports after a missile attack that cast doubt over whether Russia would honour a deal aimed at easing global food shortages caused by the war. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denounced the strikes on Odesa as blatant “barbarism” that showed Moscow could not be trusted to implement Friday’s deal, mediated by Turkey and the United Nations. However, a government minister said preparations to resume grain shipments were ongoing. Public broadcaster Suspilne quoted the Ukrainian military as saying the missiles had not significantly damaged the port. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow [logo] The Evening Wrap 24 JULY 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]( In farewell address to the nation, President Kovind highlights climate crisis President Ram Nath Kovind, [in his last address to the nation]( while in the post, urged youth to be mindful of their roots in villages and towns and made a strong appeal to countrymen to take care of the environment, stating that, “Mother nature is in deep agony and the climate crisis can endanger the very future of this planet.” “As the first citizen, if I have to give one advice to my fellow citizens, it is this,” he said. [President Ram Nath Kovind addresses the nation on the eve of demitting office on July 24, 2022. Photo: Rashtrapati Bhavan via PTI] Mr. Kovind, India’s 14th President, completes his term on Sunday, and his successor, Droupadi Murmu, will be sworn in on Monday. In his customary remarks on the eve of demitting office, he said that in his five-year term, he had discharged his responsibilities to the best of his abilities, he had tried hard to be a worthy successor to great presidents like Rajendra Prasad, S. Radhakrishnan and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. “My predecessor, Shri Pranab Mukherjee, also shared his wise counsel with me,” he said, adding however, that whenever he did feel that he needed to think over a certain path of action, he remembered Mahatma Gandhi’s talisman which enjoined that whenever in doubt over a course of action, one need only to ask whether this action would help the poorest person around. “I would urge you all to spend some time everyday going over Gandhi- ji’s thoughts and words,” he said. Mr. Kovind said some of the most unforgettable parts of his Presidency for him had been to visit his ancestral village near Kanpur, and reconnect with and take the blessings of elderly teachers there. “To think of occupying any Constitutional post or even to conceive of what it meant was quite beyond the scope of my imagination as a child or of those around me, but our democracy has given ways and means for people to find ways of contributing to serve the country,” he said. He urged young people to stay connected to their roots in villages and towns and their teachers and elders. He remembered the final speech of Constitution framer B.R. Ambedkar before the Constitution of India was adopted. He pointed out that Dr. Ambedkar had said that mere political democracy was not enough, that social democracy, embodied in the phrases liberty, equality and fraternity, should underlie political democracy. “These values must not be mistaken for abstractions,” he said. “And what do such ideals mean for a common citizen today? I believe the chief goal is to help them discover the joy of living. For that, first of all, their basic necessities must be taken care of,” he said, after which he added, “The next requirement is to let each citizen pursue happiness by discovering their potential and letting them do what they alone are destined to do.” He praised the New Education Policy as making it possible for young Indians to connect with their heritage and also find their feet in the 21st Century. He signed off his speech with a strong appeal to take the climate crisis seriously. “Mother nature is in deep agony and the climate crisis can endanger the very future of this planet. We must take care of our environment, our land, air and water, for the sake of our children. In our daily lives we must be more careful to protect our trees, rivers, seas and mountains as well as all other living beings. As the first citizen, if I have to give one advice to my fellow citizens, it is this,” he said. Smriti Irani sends legal notice to Congress leaders over allegations against daughter The Indian National Congress, and Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Netta D’Souza [were on Sunday recipients of a legal notice issued by Union Minister Smriti Irani]( demanding an apology for the “baseless and false allegations” directed at the Minister and her daughter, Zoish Irani. Ms. Irani had announced that she would be sending out the notice in a statement issued on Saturday, the day Congress came out with allegations about the Minister’s 18-year-old daughter running a restaurant in Goa for which a bar licence was acquired illegally. In the absence of “an unconditional and unequivocal apology” and withdrawal of allegations, the notice warned the recipients of civil and criminal proceedings. Zoish Irani has never applied for any licence for “running” any bar or for any business enterprise, it said, asserting that she has not been served with any show-cause notice from the Excise Department in Goa as alleged by the Congress leaders, it said. These allegations have been made with the knowledge of their falsity or at least in careless disregard of the truth, it added. “The false allegations were intended to hurt the reputation of our client as a Minister and a person in public life, and also to outrage her modesty and that of her daughter,” the notice said, reading further that “the Congress leaders stooped to a new low, morally and ethically, by attacking Irani’s young daughter who is in her first year at university and at the threshold of a new chapter of her life, pursuing her professional aspirations. These aspirations of our client’s (Irani) daughter are sought to be cruelly marred, jeopardised and prejudiced by the addressees (Congress leaders) through their inhumane, insensitive and false narratives as collateral damage.” “The insistence of addressees to invoke value systems of our client with a reference to her sanskar is an effort to make our client and her young daughter social outcasts by proclaiming that by the act of ‘running’ a bar our client and her young daughter are women of disrepute,” the notice stated. The Congress had on Saturday demanded Ms. Irani’s sacking, alleging her daughter was running an illegal bar in Goa, but the Minister had claimed the “malicious” charge was made at the Gandhi family’s behest due to her vocal stand in the National Herald case and vowed to fight back. Youth Congress workers on Sunday protested outside the Goa restaurant, which the Congress claimed is owned by Ms. Irani’s daughter. Delhi reports its first case of monkeypox [Delhi confirmed its first case of monkeypox]( the fourth case of the disease in the country, a day after it was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organisation. Three other cases have earlier been reported from Kerala. The patient has no travel history and was admitted some days ago with fever and skin lesions. The Union Health Ministry confirmed that a 34-year-old male resident of Delhi was isolated at Lok Nayak Hospital as a suspected case of monkeypox. “A confirmation of the diagnosis has been done by National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. The case is presently recovering at the designated isolation centre at Lok Nayak Hospital,” the Ministry said. The close contacts of the case have been identified and they are under quarantine in accordance with the Centre’s guidelines. Further public health interventions such as the identification of the source of the infection, enhanced contact tracing, testing sensitisation of private practitioners, etc., are being carried out. Meanwhile, the [Centre held a high-level review meeting]( chaired by the Directorate General of Health Services and attended by officials from the Health Ministry, National Centre for Disease Control and ICMR among others. Mumbai Police serve notices prohibiting unlawful assembly to Aarey protesters The [Mumbai Police started serving notices]( under the Criminal Procedure Code to people gathering to stage demonstrations against the construction of the metro car shed at Aarey colony, an official said. The city police have started issuing notices under section 149 of the CrPC, prohibiting unlawful gathering at the protest venue in the western suburb of Goregaon, he added. Notices have been served to two protesters, Tabrez Sayyed and Jayesh Bhise, in the last two days warning them not to assemble unlawfully and violate the law, the official said. [Residents hold a banner with a picture of President-elect Droupadi Murmu in Mumbai on July 24, 2022 as they take part in a protest after the government re-approved of constructing a metro railway train car shed at the Aarey forest which residents call as “Mumbai’s Amazon”. ] Hundreds of protesters, including women and senior citizens, have been staging demonstrations with placards and “Save Aarey” banners. A few people were seen with placards appealing to the newly elected President Droupadi Murmu to intervene and save the forest area in the City. The police have barricaded the venue, and no one is allowed to go near the car shed site. Soon after assuming office, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde directed the State administration to submit a proposal to build the Metro-3 car shed in Aarey Colony instead of Kanjurmarg. The previous Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had shifted the proposed car shed site to Kanjurmarg from Aarey Colony on the ground of environment protection, but the issue got embroiled in a legal dispute. Neeraj Chopra wins silver at World Athletics Championships, scripts history again Olympic champion [Neeraj Chopra made history]( winning the javelin silver at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday but midway through the final he was in the fourth spot with 86.37m after opening the series with a foul. For a man used to grabbing the lead with his opening effort — as he did at the Tokyo Olympics qualification and final rounds and also in the qualifiers here — Neeraj appeared to be stuck in a rather different world in the final. [Neeraj Chopra competes in the men’s javelin throw final during the World Athletics Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on July 23, 2022. ] What was running in his mind then? “I was only thinking of how to throw at the target I had imagined. With time, the competition also gets tougher. The fourth throw was good, but, I feel, it could have been better. Anyway, whatever I did, I am happy with the silver,” said the 24-year-old, the country’s greatest athlete and also the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games champion. “I was a little bit tense after seeing the first two throws (a foul followed by an 82.39m),” Anju Bobby George, the country’s only other World Championships medallist with her long jump bronze in Paris 2003, told The Hindu. “And then, when he started the fourth throw I knew it would end up being a big one,” she added. For a country used to disappointments on the big stage, for a few minutes, it felt as if its Olympic champion was also falling into this habit. But, suddenly misgivings were replaced by joy as Neeraj’s 88.13m fourth attempt made him the country’s first-ever silver medallist and the first male medallist at the Worlds, pushing Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch (88.09) to bronze. Grenada’s defending World champion Anderson Peters retained his title with a massive 90.21m opener and then followed it with two more 90-plus throws (90.46 & 90.54) in what was perhaps the greatest series in Worlds history. In Brief Sri Lanka’s Presidential Secretariat set to resume operations after 100 days Sri Lanka’s Presidential Secretariat, which was stormed by a sea of anti-government protesters in early July, is [set to return to functioning]( from Monday under a tight security cover, according to a media report. Cleaning and repair work was under way to ready the Secretariat over the weekend as security forces opened Galle Road in front of the Secretariat for traffic. The site, which had been blocked by protesters for more than 100 days, saw an excessive rampage by protesters on July 9, forcing Gotabaya Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign as president. Ukraine prepares to resume grain exports even after missile strike on Odesa Ukraine [pressed ahead on Sunday with efforts to restart grain exports]( from Odesa and other Black Sea ports after a missile attack that cast doubt over whether Russia would honour a deal aimed at easing global food shortages caused by the war. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denounced the strikes on Odesa as blatant “barbarism” that showed Moscow could not be trusted to implement Friday’s deal, mediated by Turkey and the United Nations. However, a government minister said preparations to resume grain shipments were ongoing. Public broadcaster Suspilne quoted the Ukrainian military as saying the missiles had not significantly damaged the port. 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