The Evening Wrap: India slams China for blocking move against Jaish deputy chief

China on Thursday thwarted a joint India-U.S. bid to list Jaish-e-Mohammad deputy chief Rauf Asghar as a UN Security Council designated terrorist by placing a “technical hold” on the process, a move India called “politically motivated” and evidence of China’s “doublespeak” on Pakistan-based terrorism. Rauf Asghar, the brother of JeM leader Masood Azhar, is accused of masterminding a number of terror attacks from the IC-814 hijacking in 1999, the Parliament attack in 2001, as well as a number of attacks on security forces personnel from 2014-2019, including the strikes on the Air Force base in Pathankot, army camps in Kathua, Nagrota, Sanjwan and other locations. The National Intelligence Agency chargesheet on the Pulwama terror bombing in 2019, in which 42 CRPF personnel died, also names Rauf Asghar and Masood Azhar. Also known as Abdul Rauf Azhar Alvi, Asghar was arrested by the Pakistani authorities in 2019 and convicted for terror financing charges, Pakistani officials had submitted to the Financial Action Task Force some months ago. It is unclear where he is being held, however. In response to a question from The Hindu, ChineseForeign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China had “strictly followed rules and procedures of the committee”, and that the government required“more time to assess the information to sanction the individual”. This is the second time China has blocked an India-U.S. listing proposal at the UNSC in the past two months, after China placed a similar hold on the listing of Abdur Rahman Makki, deputy chief of the Lashkar-e-Taiba/ Jamaat-ud-Dawa (LeT/JuD). “China’s actions expose its doublespeak and double standards when it comes to the international community’s shared battle against terrorism,” said government sources in response, akin to a similarly angry response to the hold on Makki’s designation in June. The sources pointed out that both Makki and Asghar had been placed on terror lists in the United States and India and called China’s actions “politically motivated” in favour of Pakistan-based terrorists, and undermine the “entire sanctity of the working methods of the UNSC sanctions committee”. China’s decision is likely to further strain ties between New Delhi and Beijing, which have been in a military stand-off at the Line of Actual Control since April 2020, and comes despite signs of a diplomatic thaw, after External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of a G-20 meeting in Bali, and Chinese Special Envoy on Afghan Affairs Yue Xiaoyong travelled to Delhi for talks with his Indian counterpart J.P. Singh last week. Ministry of External Affairs officials declined to comment on whether the government had requested China to support the listing, although sources said the MEA officials discussed the proposal during the UN coordination talks with a number of countries recently, and that 14 of the 15 UNSC members had supported the proposal on Thursday. Jagdeep Dhankhar sworn-in as 14th Vice-President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar was sworn in as the 14th Vice-President of India at a brief oath-taking ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday. President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Mr. Dhankhar, 71, who took the oath in Hindi in the name of God. “Bahut-bahut badhai (many congratulations),” President Murmu said after Mr. Dhankhar signed the register of oath. Before his swearing-in, the Election Commission’s certification of election issued to Mr. Dhankhar was read out. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former President Ram Nath Kovind, Mr. Dhankhar’s predecessor M. Venkaiah Naidu, former Vice-President M. Hamid Ansari and Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Nitin Gadkari, Sarbananda Sonowal and Smriti Irani were among the dignitaries who were present on the occasion. In the morning, after visiting the Raj Ghat, Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial, Mr. Dhankhar tweeted “Felt blessed, inspired and motivated to be ever in service of Bharat in serene sublimity of Raj Ghat while paying respects to pujya Bapu”. Known for his highly visible tenure as West Bengal Governor with his frequent run-ins with the ruling party Trinamool Congress, Mr. Dhankhar was elected as the Vice-President on August 6 after he secured 528 votes against the Opposition’s joint candidate Margaret Alva who managed only 182 votes. Freebies case | Supreme Court refuses to look into aspect of derecognising political parties The Supreme Court has refused to consider the question of derecognising political parties who resort to freebies. "Derecognition of parties is an undemocratic thing… I will not go into all that," Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, heading a Bench, orally observed. The apex court was considering the question of reining in the practice of political parties offering "irrational freebies" to the electorate if they are voted to power, especially in states which are already drowning in debt. But the court said 'freebies' are different from the welfare schemes of the government. It said care-free promises and distribution of freebies by political parties and actual government welfare schemes were as different as chalk and cheese. One leads to sheer loss to the national economy while the other feeds the poor in drought-ridden areas and distributes care during COVID-19, the Supreme Court said. Senior advocates Vikas Singh, for petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay, said states have ₹15 lakh crore debt. "Public money should not be misused by political parties whose only intention is to gain and retain power," Mr. Singh said. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, also for the petitioner side, said "giving laptops, TVs and gold chains cannot be to promote Directive Principles of State Policy". Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the Centre, agreed with the court's proposal to form an expert body to recommend guidelines against freebies. He said the "freebie culture" has been "elevated to an art" by some parties. "Sometimes, elections are fought only on the promise of freebies. It is a dangerous situation if distribution of freebies is considered the only way to reach out to the electorate… We are leading the country to a disaster," Mr. Mehta submitted. The top law officer even suggested that the proposed expert body should, along with representatives of national political parties, RBI, Niti Aayog, Finance Commission, etc, also have members of the industry. He pointed out that some of these sectors, like electricity, was already "stressed" by the distribution of freebies by certain state governments. Chief Justice Ramana said the court is striving for a balance between the welfare requirements of the people, especially the poor and the downtrodden, and the need to avert a national economic loss through unbridled distribution of largesse by political parties to hold on to power The CJI referred to how political parties when they come into power use freebies to regularise the illegal acts of sections of society. "People who violated the law gain through freebies while people who chose to abide the law are punished… What is the message being given when freebies include regularisation of illegal acts?" Chief Justice Ramana asked. Mr. Mehta said ordinary tax payers, when face-to-face with crumbling public infrastructure, would wonder where their money had gone. "They will not understand if freebies become a norm," the Solicitor General said. The court said it is time to trigger a debate on the issue which raises "serious concern". "Financial restrictions" need to be debated. The Bench asked the parties to give written suggestions and posted the case on August 17. 2 militants, 4 soldiers killed, 6 jawans injured in Rajouri encounter Two ‘fidayeen’ militants and four soldiers were killed during a pre-dawn bid by the militants to storm an Army camp in the Pir Panjal valley’s Rajouri district on Thursday morning. Two soldiers were also injured during the encounter. “In the early hours of August 11, alert sentries of the Indian Army post at Parghal, Rajouri, detected suspicious persons approaching their post taking advantage of the inclement weather and dense foliage. The sentries challenged the two terrorists who threw grenade while attempting to gain entry inside the post,” Defence spokesmanLt. Colonel Devender Anand said. The Army said thealert troops cordoned off the area and engaged the terrorists in a firefight, thereby pinning them. “In the ensuing encounter, two terrorists were neutralised,” Lt. Col. Anand said. However, four soldiers of the Indian Army also lost their lives during the operation while two were injured. The deceased soldiers were identified as Subedar Rajendra Prasad from Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu, Rifleman Lakshmanan D. from Tamil Nadu’s Madurai, Rifleman Manoj Kumar from Haryana’s Faridabad and Rifleman Nishant Malik. Rajouri, home to dense forests, is close to the Line of Control (LoC). The attack took place around 26 km away from the district headquarters in Darhal tehsil. The Army camp that came under attack had its perimeters secured by barbed wire and iron poles. Official sources said the ‘fidayeens’ first hurled a grenade at the entry post and then made their way into the camp. Once a peaceful area, Rajouri saw an uptick in militant attacks since the reading down of Article 370 in 2019. Three Lashkar-e-Taiba modules were busted in Rajouri in July this year. These modules were behind multiple grenade attacks and received arms dropped by drones from across the LoC. In Brief At least four people, including two women and a child, lost their lives and several were still missing when a boat with roughly three dozen people, capsized in the river Yamuna in Marka area of Banda district in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. District administration officials said that the mishap occurred at around 3 p.m. when the boat, on its way to Jarauli Ghat in Fatehpur district capsized due to strong winds. Abhinandan, Banda’s Superintendent of Police (SP), said, “Till now, 13 people have been rescued and 17 are still missing. Four bodies have been recovered. Search and rescue operation is on. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team has reached, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team is on the way and senior government officials, including the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) and the District Collector are supervising the rescue operations.” Evening Wrap will return tomorrow [logo] The Evening Wrap 11 AUGUST 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]( India slams China for blocking move against Jaish deputy chief [China on Thursday thwarted a joint India-U.S. bid]( to list Jaish-e-Mohammad deputy chief Rauf Asghar as a UN Security Council designated terrorist by placing a “technical hold” on the process, a move India called “politically motivated” and evidence of China’s “doublespeak” on Pakistan-based terrorism. Rauf Asghar, the brother of JeM leader Masood Azhar, is accused of masterminding a number of terror attacks from the IC-814 hijacking in 1999, the Parliament attack in 2001, as well as a number of attacks on security forces personnel from 2014-2019, including the strikes on the Air Force base in Pathankot, army camps in Kathua, Nagrota, Sanjwan and other locations. The National Intelligence Agency chargesheet on the Pulwama terror bombing in 2019, in which 42 CRPF personnel died, also names Rauf Asghar and Masood Azhar. [Rauf Asghar, the brother of JeM leader Masood Azhar. Photo: Special Arrangement] Also known as Abdul Rauf Azhar Alvi, Asghar was arrested by the Pakistani authorities in 2019 and convicted for terror financing charges, Pakistani officials had submitted to the Financial Action Task Force some months ago. It is unclear where he is being held, however. In response to a question from The Hindu, ChineseForeign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said China had “strictly followed rules and procedures of the committee”, and that the government required“more time to assess the information to sanction the individual”. This is the second time China has blocked an India-U.S. listing proposal at the UNSC in the past two months, after China placed a similar hold on the listing of Abdur Rahman Makki, deputy chief of the Lashkar-e-Taiba/ Jamaat-ud-Dawa (LeT/JuD). “China’s actions expose its doublespeak and double standards when it comes to the international community’s shared battle against terrorism,” said government sources in response, akin to a similarly angry response to the hold on Makki’s designation in June. The sources pointed out that both Makki and Asghar had been placed on terror lists in the United States and India and called China’s actions “politically motivated” in favour of Pakistan-based terrorists, and undermine the “entire sanctity of the working methods of the UNSC sanctions committee”. China’s decision is likely to further strain ties between New Delhi and Beijing, which have been in a military stand-off at the Line of Actual Control since April 2020, and comes despite signs of a diplomatic thaw, after External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of a G-20 meeting in Bali, and Chinese Special Envoy on Afghan Affairs Yue Xiaoyong travelled to Delhi for talks with his Indian counterpart J.P. Singh last week. Ministry of External Affairs officials declined to comment on whether the government had requested China to support the listing, although sources said the MEA officials discussed the proposal during the UN coordination talks with a number of countries recently, and that 14 of the 15 UNSC members had supported the proposal on Thursday. Jagdeep Dhankhar sworn-in as 14th Vice-President of India [Jagdeep Dhankhar was sworn in as the 14th Vice-President of India]( at a brief oath-taking ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday. [President Droupadi Murmu administers oath of office to Jagdeep Dhankhar as the 14th Vice-President of India at a ceremony in the Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 11, 2022. Photo: YouTube/President of India via PTI] President Droupadi Murmu administered the oath of office to Mr. Dhankhar, 71, who took the oath in Hindi in the name of God. “Bahut-bahut badhai (many congratulations),” President Murmu said after Mr. Dhankhar signed the register of oath. Before his swearing-in, the Election Commission’s certification of election issued to Mr. Dhankhar was read out. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former President Ram Nath Kovind, Mr. Dhankhar’s predecessor M. Venkaiah Naidu, former Vice-President M. Hamid Ansari and Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Nitin Gadkari, Sarbananda Sonowal and Smriti Irani were among the dignitaries who were present on the occasion. In the morning, after visiting the Raj Ghat, Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial, Mr. Dhankhar tweeted “Felt blessed, inspired and motivated to be ever in service of Bharat in serene sublimity of Raj Ghat while paying respects to pujya Bapu”. Known for his highly visible tenure as West Bengal Governor with his frequent run-ins with the ruling party Trinamool Congress, Mr. Dhankhar was elected as the Vice-President on August 6 after he secured 528 votes against the Opposition’s joint candidate Margaret Alva who managed only 182 votes. Freebies case | Supreme Court refuses to look into aspect of derecognising political parties The [Supreme Court has refused to consider the question of derecognising political parties]( who resort to freebies. "Derecognition of parties is an undemocratic thing… I will not go into all that," Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, heading a Bench, orally observed. The apex court was considering the question of reining in the practice of political parties offering "irrational freebies" to the electorate if they are voted to power, especially in states which are already drowning in debt. But the court said 'freebies' are different from the welfare schemes of the government. It said care-free promises and distribution of freebies by political parties and actual government welfare schemes were as different as chalk and cheese. One leads to sheer loss to the national economy while the other feeds the poor in drought-ridden areas and distributes care during COVID-19, the Supreme Court said. Senior advocates Vikas Singh, for petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay, said states have ₹15 lakh crore debt. "Public money should not be misused by political parties whose only intention is to gain and retain power," Mr. Singh said. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, also for the petitioner side, said "giving laptops, TVs and gold chains cannot be to promote Directive Principles of State Policy". Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the Centre, agreed with the court's proposal to form an expert body to recommend guidelines against freebies. He said the "freebie culture" has been "elevated to an art" by some parties. "Sometimes, elections are fought only on the promise of freebies. It is a dangerous situation if distribution of freebies is considered the only way to reach out to the electorate… We are leading the country to a disaster," Mr. Mehta submitted. The top law officer even suggested that the proposed expert body should, along with representatives of national political parties, RBI, Niti Aayog, Finance Commission, etc, also have members of the industry. He pointed out that some of these sectors, like electricity, was already "stressed" by the distribution of freebies by certain state governments. Chief Justice Ramana said the court is striving for a balance between the welfare requirements of the people, especially the poor and the downtrodden, and the need to avert a national economic loss through unbridled distribution of largesse by political parties to hold on to power The CJI referred to how political parties when they come into power use freebies to regularise the illegal acts of sections of society. "People who violated the law gain through freebies while people who chose to abide the law are punished… What is the message being given when freebies include regularisation of illegal acts?" Chief Justice Ramana asked. Mr. Mehta said ordinary tax payers, when face-to-face with crumbling public infrastructure, would wonder where their money had gone. "They will not understand if freebies become a norm," the Solicitor General said. The court said it is time to trigger a debate on the issue which raises "serious concern". "Financial restrictions" need to be debated. The Bench asked the parties to give written suggestions and posted the case on August 17. 2 militants, 4 soldiers killed, 6 jawans injured in Rajouri encounter [Two ‘fidayeen’ militants and four soldiers were killed]( during a pre-dawn bid by the militants to storm an Army camp in the Pir Panjal valley’s Rajouri district on Thursday morning. Two soldiers were also injured during the encounter. “In the early hours of August 11, alert sentries of the Indian Army post at Parghal, Rajouri, detected suspicious persons approaching their post taking advantage of the inclement weather and dense foliage. The sentries challenged the two terrorists who threw grenade while attempting to gain entry inside the post,” Defence spokesmanLt. Colonel Devender Anand said. The Army said thealert troops cordoned off the area and engaged the terrorists in a firefight, thereby pinning them. “In the ensuing encounter, two terrorists were neutralised,” Lt. Col. Anand said. However, four soldiers of the Indian Army also lost their lives during the operation while two were injured. The deceased soldiers were identified as Subedar Rajendra Prasad from Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu, Rifleman Lakshmanan D. from Tamil Nadu’s Madurai, Rifleman Manoj Kumar from Haryana’s Faridabad and Rifleman Nishant Malik. Rajouri, home to dense forests, is close to the Line of Control (LoC). The attack took place around 26 km away from the district headquarters in Darhal tehsil. The Army camp that came under attack had its perimeters secured by barbed wire and iron poles. Official sources said the ‘fidayeens’ first hurled a grenade at the entry post and then made their way into the camp. Once a peaceful area, Rajouri saw an uptick in militant attacks since the reading down of Article 370 in 2019. Three Lashkar-e-Taiba modules were busted in Rajouri in July this year. These modules were behind multiple grenade attacks and received arms dropped by drones from across the LoC. In Brief At least [four people, including two women and a child, lost their lives]( and several were still missing when a boat with roughly three dozen people, capsized in the river Yamuna in Marka area of Banda district in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. District administration officials said that the mishap occurred at around 3 p.m. when the boat, on its way to Jarauli Ghat in Fatehpur district capsized due to strong winds. Abhinandan, Banda’s Superintendent of Police (SP), said, “Till now, 13 people have been rescued and 17 are still missing. Four bodies have been recovered. Search and rescue operation is on. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team has reached, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team is on the way and senior government officials, including the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) and the District Collector are supervising the rescue operations.” Evening Wrap will return tomorrow  Today’s Top Picks [[An anomaly for two seconds led to SSLV mission’s underperformance: ISRO chief] An anomaly for two seconds led to SSLV mission’s underperformance: ISRO chief]( [[Nitish Kumar refutes Sushil Modi’s claim that he wanted to be Vice-President] Nitish Kumar refutes Sushil Modi’s claim that he wanted to be Vice-President]( [[Current account deficit concerns to ease with falling commodity prices, says government official] Current account deficit concerns to ease with falling commodity prices, says government official]( [[CBI arrests Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal in cattle smuggling case] CBI arrests Trinamool Congress leader Anubrata Mondal in cattle smuggling case]( Copyright @ 2022, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please [try here]( If you do not wish to receive such emails [go here](