The Evening Wrap: PM Modi declares open 44th Chess Olympiad

Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared open the FIDE 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai on Thursday, and encouraging the players, said that in sports there are no losers but winners and future winners. The Chess Olympiad is hosted by India at a special time in its history, which marks 75 years of freedom from colonial rule, he said. In his address during the inaugural at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, PM Modi said it is an honour to have international chess players at a such a special time. “In sports there are no losers, there are winners and there are future winners,” he said. The Prime Minister, as in the events held in Tamil Nadu in the past began his speech by uttering the Tamil word for greetings, ‘Vanakkam.’ He said that in a short period of time, the organisers have made outstanding arrangements. The Tamil Nadu government along with the Centre’s full support is hosting the event. Assuring the best hospitality to players from far and wide, PM Modi quoted the ‘Athithi Devo Bhava’ slogan which means ‘our guests are like God.’ Also, the Prime Minister cited Tamil saint poet Tiruvalluvar’s couplet on the significance of hospitality. Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Union Ministers Anurag Thakur and L. Murugan among others were present during the glittering opening ceremony. The sporting event will be held in the nearby Mamallapuram, about 50 km from Chennai. The Olympiad is being held in India for the first time ever, after being moved out of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine and has attracted a record number of entries in the Open (188) and women’s (162) sections. Meanwhile, India has criticised Pakistan for pulling out of the event and said it is “highly unfortunate” that Islamabad has “politicised” the prestigious international event. Reacting to Pakistan’s decision, Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Arindam Bagchi said it was surprising that Pakistan has suddenly taken the decision not to participate in the event. It is highly unfortunate that Pakistan has politicised the prestigious international event by making such statements and withdrawing its participation after its team has already reached India, he said. Dramatic exchange in Lok Sabha between Sonia Gandhi and Smriti Irani Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Union Minister Smriti Irani were involved in a dramatic exchange in the Lok Sabha on Thursday over Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s reference to President Droupadi Murmu as ‘Rashtrapatni’. When Gandhi walked over to the Treasury benches to find out what happened from senior BJP member Rama Devi, Irani intervened. “You don’t talk to me,” Gandhi is said to have retorted, the BJP alleged and added that the ruling party members felt ‘threatened’ when Gandhi came towards the ruling party benches. Hitting back, the Congress accused the ruling party members of surrounding Gandhi when she had politely gone to have a conversation. The sharp exchange took place in between the adjournments of the House. As soon as the House had assembled at 11 am, Smriti got up and demanded an apology from Chowdhury as well as Gandhi for insulting the President, who hails from the tribal community. Irani charged that the Congress chief had directed Chowdhury to refer to the President as ‘Rashtrapatni’ and sought an apology. Soon the ruling party members started shouting *Sonia Gandhi maafi mango* [Sonia Gandhi apologise]. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House after the Minister had made her point in the floor of the House. Even as Gandhi was preparing to leave, some women MPs were sloganeering, asking Gandhi to apologise. In a sudden move, Gandhi turned around and walked over to BJP MP Rama Devi. “Adhir has already apologised. Why am I being dragged here?” Gandhi is supposed to told the BJP MP. And when Irani intervened to say that she is the one who took Gandhi’s name, the Congress chief reportedly asked her not to speak. “Some of our members in Lok Sabha felt very threatened when Shrimati Sonia Gandhi ji herself came up to one of our very senior members, Rama Devi ji, to find out. And our member approached there, she said, ‘you don’t talk to me’. As if putting a member of parliament down in the House,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters. “So instead of remorse, we find from the highest leader of the Congress party greater and greater aggression,” Sitharaman added. Countering this charge, Congress member from Chhattisgarh, Jyotsna Mahant, who was just behind Gandhi, accused Irani of insulting the Congress chief. “When Sonia ji went to the other side, Smriti Irani ji came and started talking to her by pointing her finger and in an insulting tone. Gandhi is our leader, elder to us in age and the wife of a former Prime Minister. She deserves respect. It is shameful that she was spoken to this way and we very hurt,” Mahant said. When reporters asked Gandhi if she would ask Chowdhury to apologise when she was enteringthe Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) office, she said, “Adhir has already apologized”. The controversy was triggered by Chowdhury referring to the President as ‘Rashtrapatni’ in a comment to a Hindi news channel. Admitting that it was a slip of tongue and a mistake, Chowdhury said as a Bengali he was not an expert in Hindi and therefore made a wrong usage. “I am a Bengali and admit that don’t know Hindi. I made a mistake and I will meet Rashtrapati ji and seek her forgiveness. I have sought time from her but I am not ready to apologise to do these [BJP] charlatans,” Chowdhury said. Partha Chatterjee sacked from Bengal Cabinet; suspended from Trinamool The Trinamool Congress has suspended Partha Chatterjee from the party with immediate effect. Chatterjee has been removed from all posts of the party, including secretary general and national vice president. Earlier, in the day Chatterjee was sacked from the Mamata Banerjee Cabinet. “Partha Chatterjee, minister in charge, department of industry, commerce and enterprises, department of information technology and electronics, department of parliamentary affairs and department of public enterprises and industrial reconstruction, is hereby relieved of his duties as MIC of the aforesaid department with immediate effect,” an official order said. Banerjee later said at a government event that she will look after the portfolios held by Chatterjee for the time being. The ED had arrested Chatterjee, who is also the Trinamool Congress secretary-general, on July 23 in connection with its investigation into alleged irregularities in the recruitment drives by the School Service Commission (SSC). The central agency has also arrested Chatterjee’s close associate Arpita Mukherjee, and seized crores of rupees from her houses in different parts of the city. U.S. economy shrinks for 2nd straight quarter, raising fears of a recession The U.S. economy shrank from April through June for a second straight quarter, contracting at a 0.9% annual pace and raising fears that the nation may be approaching a recession. The decline that the Commerce Department reported on Thursday in the gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of the economy — followed a 1.6% annual drop from January through March. Consecutive quarters of falling GDP constitute one informal, though not definitive, indicator of a recession. The report comes at a critical time. Consumers and businesses have been struggling under the weight of punishing inflation and higher borrowing costs. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by sizeable three-quarters of a point for a second straight time in its push to conquer the worst inflation outbreak in four decades. The Fed is hoping to achieve a notoriously difficult “soft landing”: An economic slowdown that manages to rein in rocketing prices without triggering a recession. Fed Chair Jerome Powell and many economists have said that while the economy is showing some weakening, they doubt it’s in recession. Many of them point, in particular, to a still-robust labour market, with 11 million job openings and an uncommonly low 3.6% unemployment rate, to suggest that a recession, if one does occur, is still a ways off. Thursday’s first of three government estimates of GDP for the April-June quarter marks a drastic weakening from the 5.7% growth the economy achieved last year. That was the fastest calendar-year expansion since 1984, reflecting how vigorously the economy roared back from the brief but brutal pandemic recession of 2020. But since then, the combination of mounting prices and higher borrowing costs has taken a toll. The Labour Department’s consumer price index skyrocketed 9.1% in June from a year earlier, a pace not matched since 1981. And despite widespread pay raises, prices are surging faster than wages. In June, average hourly earnings, after adjusting for inflation, slid 3.6% from a year earlier, the 15th straight year-over-year drop. The inflation surge and fear of a recession have eroded consumer confidence and stirred public anxiety about the economy, which is sending frustratingly mixed signals. And with the November midterm elections nearing, Americans’ discontent has diminished President Joe Biden’s public approval ratings and increased the likelihood that the Democrats will lose control of the House and Senate. Consumer spending is still growing. But Americans are losing confidence: Their assessment of economic conditions six months from now has reached its lowest point since 2013, according to the Conference Board, a research group. Recession risks have been growing as the Fed’s policymakers have pursued a campaign of rate hikes that will likely extend into 2023. The Fed’s hikes have already led to higher rates on credit cards and auto loans and to a doubling of the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage in the past year, to 5.5. Home sales, which are especially sensitive to interest rate changes, have tumbled. Even with the economy recording a second straight quarter of negative GDP, many economists do not regard it as constituting a recession. The definition of recession that is most widely accepted is the one determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a group of economists whose Business Cycle Dating Committee defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.” The committee assesses a range of factors before publicly declaring the death of an economic expansion and the birth of a recession — and it often does so well after the fact. This week, Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, lowered its profit outlook, saying that higher gas and food prices were forcing shoppers to spend less on many discretionary items, like new clothing. In Brief The auction of 5G spectrum for telephony services will stretch to the fourth day on Friday after 16 rounds of bidding fetched bids worth ₹1,49,623 crore. Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on July 28, 2022 said 16 rounds of bidding have been completed in three days and the auction will continue on July 29, 2022. Bids worth ₹1,49,623 crore have been received at the end of the third day, he said. This is marginally higher than ₹1,49,454 crore-worth bids received at the end of the ninth round on Wednesday, the second day of the auction. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow [logo] The Evening Wrap 28 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]( PM Modi declares open 44th Chess Olympiad Prime Minister Narendra Modi [declared open the FIDE 44th Chess Olympiad]( in Chennai on Thursday, and encouraging the players, said that in sports there are no losers but winners and future winners. The Chess Olympiad is hosted by India at a special time in its history, which marks 75 years of freedom from colonial rule, he said. [Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin attend the inaugural ceremony of the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai on July 28, 2022. ] In his address during the inaugural at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, [PM Modi said]( it is an honour to have international chess players at a such a special time. “In sports there are no losers, there are winners and there are future winners,” he said. The Prime Minister, as in the events held in Tamil Nadu in the past began his speech by uttering the Tamil word for greetings, ‘Vanakkam.’ He said that in a short period of time, the organisers have made outstanding arrangements. The Tamil Nadu government along with the Centre’s full support is hosting the event. Assuring the best hospitality to players from far and wide, PM Modi quoted the ‘Athithi Devo Bhava’ slogan which means ‘our guests are like God.’ Also, the Prime Minister cited Tamil saint poet Tiruvalluvar’s couplet on the significance of hospitality. Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Union Ministers Anurag Thakur and L. Murugan among others were present during the glittering opening ceremony. The sporting event will be held in the nearby Mamallapuram, about 50 km from Chennai. The Olympiad is being held in India for the first time ever, after being moved out of Russia following its invasion of Ukraine and has attracted a record number of entries in the Open (188) and women’s (162) sections. Meanwhile, [India has criticised Pakistan for pulling out of the event]( and said it is “highly unfortunate” that Islamabad has “politicised” the prestigious international event. Reacting to [Pakistan’s decision]( Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Arindam Bagchi said it was surprising that Pakistan has suddenly taken the decision not to participate in the event. It is highly unfortunate that Pakistan has politicised the prestigious international event by making such statements and withdrawing its participation after its team has already reached India, he said. Dramatic exchange in Lok Sabha between Sonia Gandhi and Smriti Irani Congress president [Sonia Gandhi and Union Minister Smriti Irani were involved in a dramatic exchange in the Lok Sabha]( on Thursday over Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s reference to President Droupadi Murmu as ‘Rashtrapatni’. When Gandhi walked over to the Treasury benches to find out what happened from senior BJP member Rama Devi, Irani intervened. “You don’t talk to me,” Gandhi is said to have retorted, the BJP alleged and added that the ruling party members felt ‘threatened’ when Gandhi came towards the ruling party benches. Hitting back, the Congress accused the ruling party members of surrounding Gandhi when she had politely gone to have a conversation. The sharp exchange took place in between the adjournments of the House. As soon as the House had assembled at 11 am, Smriti got up and demanded an apology from Chowdhury as well as Gandhi for insulting the President, who hails from the tribal community. Irani charged that the Congress chief had directed Chowdhury to refer to the President as ‘Rashtrapatni’ and sought an apology. Soon the ruling party members started shouting *Sonia Gandhi maafi mango* [Sonia Gandhi apologise]. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla adjourned the House after the Minister had made her point in the floor of the House. Even as Gandhi was preparing to leave, some women MPs were sloganeering, asking Gandhi to apologise. In a sudden move, Gandhi turned around and walked over to BJP MP Rama Devi. “Adhir has already apologised. Why am I being dragged here?” Gandhi is supposed to told the BJP MP. And when Irani intervened to say that she is the one who took Gandhi’s name, the Congress chief reportedly asked her not to speak. “Some of our members in Lok Sabha felt very threatened when Shrimati Sonia Gandhi ji herself came up to one of our very senior members, Rama Devi ji, to find out. And our member approached there, she said, ‘you don’t talk to me’. As if putting a member of parliament down in the House,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters. “So instead of remorse, we find from the highest leader of the Congress party greater and greater aggression,” Sitharaman added. Countering this charge, Congress member from Chhattisgarh, Jyotsna Mahant, who was just behind Gandhi, accused Irani of insulting the Congress chief. “When Sonia ji went to the other side, Smriti Irani ji came and started talking to her by pointing her finger and in an insulting tone. Gandhi is our leader, elder to us in age and the wife of a former Prime Minister. She deserves respect. It is shameful that she was spoken to this way and we very hurt,” Mahant said. When reporters asked Gandhi if she would ask Chowdhury to apologise when she was enteringthe Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) office, she said, “Adhir has already apologized”. The controversy was triggered by Chowdhury referring to the President as ‘Rashtrapatni’ in a comment to a Hindi news channel. Admitting that it was a slip of tongue and a mistake, Chowdhury said as a Bengali he was not an expert in Hindi and therefore made a wrong usage. “I am a Bengali and admit that don’t know Hindi. I made a mistake and I will meet Rashtrapati ji and seek her forgiveness. I have sought time from her but I am not ready to apologise to do these [BJP] charlatans,” Chowdhury said. Partha Chatterjee sacked from Bengal Cabinet; suspended from Trinamool The [Trinamool Congress has suspended Partha Chatterjee]( from the party with immediate effect. Chatterjee has been removed from all posts of the party, including secretary general and national vice president. Earlier, in the day Chatterjee was sacked from the Mamata Banerjee Cabinet. “Partha Chatterjee, minister in charge, department of industry, commerce and enterprises, department of information technology and electronics, department of parliamentary affairs and department of public enterprises and industrial reconstruction, is hereby relieved of his duties as MIC of the aforesaid department with immediate effect,” an official order said. Banerjee later said at a government event that she will look after the portfolios held by Chatterjee for the time being. The ED had arrested Chatterjee, who is also the Trinamool Congress secretary-general, on July 23 in connection with its investigation into alleged irregularities in the recruitment drives by the School Service Commission (SSC). [Combo image shows cash and jewellery recovered by ED officials from the residence of Arpita Mukherjee, a close aide of now sacked West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee. ] The central agency has also arrested Chatterjee’s close associate Arpita Mukherjee, and seized crores of rupees from her houses in different parts of the city. U.S. economy shrinks for 2nd straight quarter, raising fears of a recession The [U.S. economy shrank from April through June for a second straight quarter]( contracting at a 0.9% annual pace and raising fears that the nation may be approaching a recession. The decline that the Commerce Department reported on Thursday in the gross domestic product — the broadest gauge of the economy — followed a 1.6% annual drop from January through March. Consecutive quarters of falling GDP constitute one informal, though not definitive, indicator of a recession. The report comes at a critical time. Consumers and businesses have been struggling under the weight of punishing inflation and higher borrowing costs. On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate by sizeable three-quarters of a point for a second straight time in its push to conquer the worst inflation outbreak in four decades. The Fed is hoping to achieve a notoriously difficult “soft landing”: An economic slowdown that manages to rein in rocketing prices without triggering a recession. Fed Chair Jerome Powell and many economists have said that while the economy is showing some weakening, they doubt it’s in recession. Many of them point, in particular, to a still-robust labour market, with 11 million job openings and an uncommonly low 3.6% unemployment rate, to suggest that a recession, if one does occur, is still a ways off. Thursday’s first of three government estimates of GDP for the April-June quarter marks a drastic weakening from the 5.7% growth the economy achieved last year. That was the fastest calendar-year expansion since 1984, reflecting how vigorously the economy roared back from the brief but brutal pandemic recession of 2020. But since then, the combination of mounting prices and higher borrowing costs has taken a toll. The Labour Department’s consumer price index skyrocketed 9.1% in June from a year earlier, a pace not matched since 1981. And despite widespread pay raises, prices are surging faster than wages. In June, average hourly earnings, after adjusting for inflation, slid 3.6% from a year earlier, the 15th straight year-over-year drop. The inflation surge and fear of a recession have eroded consumer confidence and stirred public anxiety about the economy, which is sending frustratingly mixed signals. And with the November midterm elections nearing, Americans’ discontent has diminished President Joe Biden’s public approval ratings and increased the likelihood that the Democrats will lose control of the House and Senate. Consumer spending is still growing. But Americans are losing confidence: Their assessment of economic conditions six months from now has reached its lowest point since 2013, according to the Conference Board, a research group. Recession risks have been growing as the Fed’s policymakers have pursued a campaign of rate hikes that will likely extend into 2023. The Fed’s hikes have already led to higher rates on credit cards and auto loans and to a doubling of the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage in the past year, to 5.5. Home sales, which are especially sensitive to interest rate changes, have tumbled. Even with the economy recording a second straight quarter of negative GDP, many economists do not regard it as constituting a recession. The definition of recession that is most widely accepted is the one determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a group of economists whose Business Cycle Dating Committee defines a recession as “a significant decline in economic activity that is spread across the economy and lasts more than a few months.” The committee assesses a range of factors before publicly declaring the death of an economic expansion and the birth of a recession — and it often does so well after the fact. This week, Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, lowered its profit outlook, saying that higher gas and food prices were forcing shoppers to spend less on many discretionary items, like new clothing. In Brief The [auction of 5G spectrum for telephony services will stretch to the fourth day]( on Friday after 16 rounds of bidding fetched bids worth ₹1,49,623 crore. Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on July 28, 2022 said 16 rounds of bidding have been completed in three days and the auction will continue on July 29, 2022. Bids worth ₹1,49,623 crore have been received at the end of the third day, he said. This is marginally higher than ₹1,49,454 crore-worth bids received at the end of the ninth round on Wednesday, the second day of the auction. 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