The Evening Wrap: China doubles down on new map, tells India not to 'over-interpret'

China on August 30 defended issuing a new “standard map” for 2023 that India has protested, saying it was “a routine practice” and asking New Delhi to “refrain from over-interpreting” it. India on August 29 lodged a “strong protest” over the new map that was released on Monday, and showed within China’s borders all of the Indian State of Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin, as well as the entire South China Sea. While these territories were also displayed in previous Chinese maps, the new publication was seen by New Delhi as an unnecessary move that will only further complicate already tense relations, particularly over the border issue. While China downplayed the move, Beijing for its part had in 2019 strongly objected to India’s map showing the newly created union territory of Ladakh, although New Delhi had underlined to Beijing then that the map had not changed India’s external borders. It still drew a strong protest from Beijing at the time. Asked about India’s protest, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the map, put out by the Ministry of Natural Resources, was “routine”. “It is a routine practice for China to exercise sovereignty in accordance with the law,” he said. “We hope the relevant side can stay objective and calm, and refrain from over interpreting.” PM Modi should speak on Chinese transgressions, says Rahul Gandhi; BJP calls his allegations ‘baseless’ A day after India dismissed the new official map of China that includes Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as “absurd,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on August 30 asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak on the issue of Chinese incursion. “I have been saying this for years now that the Prime Minister’s claim that not an inch of land has been taken away from Ladakh is a complete lie. I have just come back from Ladakh and all of Ladakh knows that China has usurped our land,” Gandhi said. “The map is a very serious issue but they have already taken land. The Prime Minister should speak about it,” he added. However, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, reacting to Gandhi’s remarks, called them “baseless” and said Gandhi “should understand” that “whatever land that China had grabbed was during the tenure of [the late Prime Minister] Jawahar Lal Nehru.” “They are doing some activities in the area that was grabbed during Nehru’s tenure as Prime Minister. This is due to the sins committed by the Congress post-Independence that China has become our neighbour. From the time it was Tibet till today, these people pursued policies which led to this,” Joshi said. Karnataka’s Gruha Lakshmi scheme that provides ₹2,000 per month to women head of families launched in Mysuru Karnataka’s Congress government launched the Gruha Lakshmi scheme to provide financial aid of ₹2,000 to women head of families in Mysuru on August 30. The scheme was launched by Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and party MP Rahul Gandhi at an event presided over by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in front of a mammoth gathering of beneficiaries at Maharaja’s College. Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar and a host of Cabinet Ministers were also present. Listen to today’s episode of the In Focus podcast Does the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2023 dilute protections for forests? The Parliament has passed the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2023. This law amends the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. While the government claims that the aim of this law is to help fight climate change by promoting afforestation, conservationists have panned the Act. They say it is actually promoting deforestation. Why are environmentalists so worried about this Bill? Does it really take away existing protections afforded to forests? And why are people in the north-eastern states so concerned about this law? Lawyer shot dead inside his chambers in Ghaziabad court complex A lawyer was shot dead in his chambers on the tehsil court complex in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, police said on August 30. Manoj Chowdhary alias Monu Jaat was having lunch in his chambers around 2 p.m. when two assailants entered the room and fired at him. He died on the spot, police said. Shortly after the shooting, a police team arrived at the spot with forensic experts. After completing the legal formalities, Chowdhary’s body was sent for post-mortem, they added. Police teams are obtaining CCTV footage from cameras installed on the court premises, Deputy Commissioner of Police (City) Nipun Agarwal said. At the time of the attack, other lawyers were holding a meeting to chalk out their strategy about a strike, called by bar associations in western Uttar Pradesh in support of their colleagues in Hapur, the police said. Congress leader Digvijaya Singh’s tweet found misleading; case registered in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Congress leader Digvijaya Singh’s post on X (formerly twitter) that Bajrang Dal workers were installing Shivling on the premises of Shri Digambar Jain Siddha Kshetra Kundalpur in Damoh district was said to be misleading. A case was registered following a complaint lodged by a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) convenor in the district in the evening on August 29. After Singh’s post on X, district convener of VHP Shambhu Vishwakarma lodged a police complaint in connection with the tweet and claimed that it was baseless. City Superintendent of Police Abhishek Tiwari said that the post was investigated and the information was found incorrect. “We have registered a case against this twitter handle account under Indian Penal Code sections 153, 505 and 171 and started investigation into the matter. Whatever facts will come forward, legal action will be taken against the person who operates this account,” he said. Gabon military officers seize power days after presidential election Mutinous soldiers in Gabon said on August 30 they were overturning the results of a presidential election that was to extend the Bongo family’s 55-year hold on power. The central African country’s election committee announced that President Ali Bongo Ondimba, 64, had won the election with 64% of the vote early on August 30 morning. Within minutes, gunfire was heard in the centre of the capital, Libreville. A dozen uniformed soldiers appeared on state television later the same morning and announced that they had seized power. The soldiers intended to “dissolve all institutions of the republic,” said a spokesman for the group, whose members were drawn from the gendarme, the republican guard and other elements of the security forces. The coup attempt came about one month after mutinous soldiers in Niger seized power from the democratically elected government, and is the latest in a series of coups that have challenged governments with ties to France, the region’s former coloniser. Unlike Niger and two other West African countries run by military juntas, Gabon hasn’t been wracked by jihadi violence and had been seen as relatively stable. There were concerns about post-election violence, due to deep-seated grievances among the population of some 2.5 million. Nearly 40% of Gabonese ages 15-24 were out of work in 2020, according to the World Bank. In Brief: Chandrayaan-3 | Pragyan’s cameras capture Vikram Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyan’s Navigation Camera captured an image of the Vikram lander on August 30. The image of the lander also showed the deployment of the Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) and Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA). On August 29, Pragyan confirmed the presence of Sulphur in the region as the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument onboard the rover made the first-ever in-situ measurements on the elemental composition of the lunar surface near the south pole. Lok Sabha panel adopts resolution to revoke Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s suspension The Privileges Committee of Lok Sabha on August 30 unanimously adopted a resolution to revoke the suspension of Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury from the lower house. The resolution was adopted after Chowdhury appeared before the Committee and expressed regret over certain remarks made by him in the House which had led to his suspension from the Lok Sabha on the last day of the Monsoon session of Parliament on August 11. Chowdhury is learnt to have told the Committee, chaired by BJP member Sunil Kumar Singh, that it was never his intention to hurt anybody’s feelings and expressed regret for his remarks. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 30 August 2023 [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]( China doubles down on new map, tells India not to ‘over-interpret’ [China on August 30 defended issuing a new “standard map” for 2023 that India has protested]( saying it was “a routine practice” and asking New Delhi to “refrain from over-interpreting” it. India on August 29 lodged a “strong protest” over the new map that was released on Monday, and showed within China’s borders all of the Indian State of Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin, as well as the entire South China Sea. While these territories were also displayed in previous Chinese maps, the new publication was seen by New Delhi as an unnecessary move that will only further complicate already tense relations, particularly over the border issue. While China downplayed the move, Beijing for its part had in 2019 strongly objected to India’s map showing the newly created union territory of Ladakh, although New Delhi had underlined to Beijing then that the map had not changed India’s external borders. It still drew a strong protest from Beijing at the time. Asked about India’s protest, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said the map, put out by the Ministry of Natural Resources, was “routine”. “It is a routine practice for China to exercise sovereignty in accordance with the law,” he said. “We hope the relevant side can stay objective and calm, and refrain from over interpreting.” PM Modi should speak on Chinese transgressions, says Rahul Gandhi; BJP calls his allegations ‘baseless’ A day after India dismissed the new official map of China that includes Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as “absurd,” Congress leader [Rahul Gandhi on August 30 asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak on the issue]( of Chinese incursion. “I have been saying this for years now that the Prime Minister’s claim that not an inch of land has been taken away from Ladakh is a complete lie. I have just come back from Ladakh and all of Ladakh knows that China has usurped our land,” Gandhi said. “The map is a very serious issue but they have already taken land. The Prime Minister should speak about it,” he added. However, Union Minister [Pralhad Joshi, reacting to Gandhi’s remarks, called them “baseless”]( and said Gandhi “should understand” that “whatever land that China had grabbed was during the tenure of [the late Prime Minister] Jawahar Lal Nehru.” “They are doing some activities in the area that was grabbed during Nehru’s tenure as Prime Minister. This is due to the sins committed by the Congress post-Independence that China has become our neighbour. From the time it was Tibet till today, these people pursued policies which led to this,” Joshi said. Karnataka’s Gruha Lakshmi scheme that provides ₹2,000 per month to women head of families launched in Mysuru [Karnataka’s Congress government launched the Gruha Lakshmi scheme]( to provide financial aid of ₹2,000 to women head of families in Mysuru on August 30. The scheme was launched by Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and party MP Rahul Gandhi at an event presided over by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in front of a mammoth gathering of beneficiaries at Maharaja’s College. Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar and a host of Cabinet Ministers were also present. Listen to today’s episode of the In Focus podcast Does the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2023 dilute protections for forests? The Parliament has passed the [Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2023](. This law amends the Forest Conservation Act, 1980. While the government claims that the aim of this law is to help fight climate change by promoting afforestation, conservationists have panned the Act. They say it is actually promoting deforestation. Why are environmentalists so worried about this Bill? Does it really take away existing protections afforded to forests? And why are people in the north-eastern states so concerned about this law? Lawyer shot dead inside his chambers in Ghaziabad court complex [A lawyer was shot dead in his chambers on the tehsil court complex in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh]( police said on August 30. Manoj Chowdhary alias Monu Jaat was having lunch in his chambers around 2 p.m. when two assailants entered the room and fired at him. He died on the spot, police said. Shortly after the shooting, a police team arrived at the spot with forensic experts. After completing the legal formalities, Chowdhary’s body was sent for post-mortem, they added. Police teams are obtaining CCTV footage from cameras installed on the court premises, Deputy Commissioner of Police (City) Nipun Agarwal said. At the time of the attack, other lawyers were holding a meeting to chalk out their strategy about a strike, called by bar associations in western Uttar Pradesh in support of their colleagues in Hapur, the police said. Congress leader Digvijaya Singh’s tweet found misleading; case registered in Madhya Pradesh’s Damoh Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Congress leader [Digvijaya Singh’s post on X (formerly twitter) that Bajrang Dal workers were installing Shivling on the premises of Shri Digambar Jain Siddha Kshetra]( Kundalpur in Damoh district was said to be misleading. A case was registered following a complaint lodged by a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) convenor in the district in the evening on August 29. After Singh’s post on X, district convener of VHP Shambhu Vishwakarma lodged a police complaint in connection with the tweet and claimed that it was baseless. City Superintendent of Police Abhishek Tiwari said that the post was investigated and the information was found incorrect. “We have registered a case against this twitter handle account under Indian Penal Code sections 153, 505 and 171 and started investigation into the matter. Whatever facts will come forward, legal action will be taken against the person who operates this account,” he said. Gabon military officers seize power days after presidential election [Mutinous soldiers in Gabon said on August 30 they were overturning the results of a presidential election]( that was to extend the Bongo family’s 55-year hold on power. The central African country’s election committee announced that President Ali Bongo Ondimba, 64, had won the election with 64% of the vote early on August 30 morning. Within minutes, gunfire was heard in the centre of the capital, Libreville. A dozen uniformed soldiers appeared on state television later the same morning and announced that they had seized power. The soldiers intended to “dissolve all institutions of the republic,” said a spokesman for the group, whose members were drawn from the gendarme, the republican guard and other elements of the security forces. The coup attempt came about one month after mutinous soldiers in Niger seized power from the democratically elected government, and is the latest in a series of coups that have challenged governments with ties to France, the region’s former coloniser. Unlike Niger and two other West African countries run by military juntas, Gabon hasn’t been wracked by jihadi violence and had been seen as relatively stable. There were concerns about post-election violence, due to deep-seated grievances among the population of some 2.5 million. Nearly 40% of Gabonese ages 15-24 were out of work in 2020, according to the World Bank. In Brief: Chandrayaan-3 | Pragyan’s cameras capture Vikram [Chandrayaan-3’s Pragyan’s Navigation Camera captured an image of the Vikram lander]( on August 30. The image of the lander also showed the deployment of the Chandra’s Surface Thermophysical Experiment (ChaSTE) and Instrument for Lunar Seismic Activity (ILSA). On August 29, Pragyan confirmed the presence of Sulphur in the region as the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument onboard the rover made the first-ever in-situ measurements on the elemental composition of the lunar surface near the south pole. Lok Sabha panel adopts resolution to revoke Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s suspension The [Privileges Committee of Lok Sabha on August 30 unanimously adopted a resolution to revoke the suspension of Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury]( from the lower house. The resolution was adopted after Chowdhury appeared before the Committee and expressed regret over certain remarks made by him in the House which had led to his suspension from the Lok Sabha on the last day of the Monsoon session of Parliament on August 11. Chowdhury is learnt to have told the Committee, chaired by BJP member Sunil Kumar Singh, that it was never his intention to hurt anybody’s feelings and expressed regret for his remarks. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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