The Evening Wrap: G-20 adopts New Delhi Declaration; Ukraine says nothing to be proud of it

The Group of 20 countries have adopted the New Delhi declaration that came amid increasing tensions and divergent views over the Ukraine conflict. The announcement about the consensus on the declaration and its subsequent adoption came hours after India circulated a new text to the G-20 countries to describe the Ukraine conflict. After much negotiation, the Leaders’ Declaration was drafted and adopted as all leaders have reached a consensus on the wording of the Ukraine conflict. However, Kyiv criticised the statement on the Russian invasion. The statement denounced the use of force for territorial gain but stopped short of naming Russia. “Ukraine is grateful to the partners who tried to include strong wording in the text. At the same time, in terms of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the Group of 20 has nothing to be proud of,” said Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman at the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry. Nikolenko posted a photo of a part of the statement edited in red, changing “the war in Ukraine” to “the war against Ukraine” and adding references to Russia. There was no explicit reference to Russia, unlike in a G20 statement in Bali last year that cited a UN resolution condemning “in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine”. Among other developments, the African Union became a full member of the G-20. Also, India announced the launch of the Global Biofuel Alliance and urged G-20 nations to join the initiative with a plea to take ethanol blending with petrol globally to 20%. BJP hiding poor people and animals from G-20 dignitaries: Rahul Gandhi The Congress on September 9 accused the government of covering up or demolishing slums and rounding up stray animals in view of the G-20 Summit, with its leader Rahul Gandhi saying “there is no need to hide India’s reality from our guests.” The Congress shared a video on X, formerly Twitter, showing some slum areas being covered with green sheets ahead of the two-day summit, which began in New Delhi on the day and was attended by leaders of the largest economies of the world. “The Government of India is hiding our poor people and animals. There is no need to hide India’s reality from our guests,” Gandhi, who is currently abroad, said in a post on X. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also attacked the Prime Minister over the matter. In addition to the video of slums being covered up, the Opposition party also shared videos of cruelty towards stray dogs and animals ahead of the G-20 Summit. Powerful quake in Morocco kills more than 1,000 people and damages historic buildings in Marrakech A rare, powerful earthquake struck Morocco late on September 8, killing more than 1,000 people and damaging buildings from villages in the Atlas Mountains to the historic city of Marrakech. The full toll was not known as rescuers struggled to get through boulder-strewn roads to the remote mountain villages hit hardest. People woken by the magnitude-6.8 quake ran into the streets in terror and disbelief. State television showed people clustered in the streets of Marrakech, afraid to go back inside buildings that might still be unstable. Many wrapped themselves in blankets as they tried to sleep outside. The quake was the biggest to hit Morocco in 120 years, and it toppled buildings and walls in ancient cities made from stone and masonry not designed to withstand quakes. In a sign of the huge scale of the disaster, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI ordered the armed forces to mobilize air and land assets, specialized search and rescue teams and a surgical field hospital, according to a statement from the military. But despite an outpouring of offers of help from around the world, the Moroccan government had not formally asked for assistance, a step required before outside rescue crews could deploy. In Marrakech, the famous Koutoubia Mosque, built in the 12th century, was damaged, but the extent was not immediately clear. Its 69m minaret is known as the “roof of Marrakech.” Moroccans also posted videos showing damage to parts of the famous red walls that surround the old city, a UNESCO World Heritage site. At least 1,037 people died, mostly in Marrakech and five provinces near the quake’s epicentre, and another 1,204 people were injured, Morocco’s Interior Ministry reported on September 9. Of the injured, the ministry wrote, 721 were in critical condition. Rescuers worked through the night, searching for survivors in darkness, dust and rubble. The Moroccan military deployed aircraft, helicopters and drones and emergency services mobilised aid efforts to the areas hit by damages, but roads leading to the mountain region around the epicentre were jammed with vehicles and blocked with collapsed rocks, slowing rescue efforts. Trucks loaded with blankets, camp cots and lighting equipment were trying to region that hard-hit area, the official news agency MAP reported. World leaders offered to send in aid or rescue crews as condolences poured in from countries around Europe, the Middle East and a Group of 20 summit in India. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 when it hit at 11:11 p.m. (10.11 p.m. GMT), with shaking that lasted several seconds. The U.S. agency reported a magnitude 4.9 aftershock hit 19 minutes later. The epicentre of Friday’s tremor was near the town of Ighil in Al Haouz Province, roughly 70km south of Marrakech. The USGS said the epicentre was 18km below earth’s surface, while Morocco’s seismic agency put it at 11km down. Such shallow quakes are more dangerous. Initial reports suggest damages and deaths were severe throughout the Marrakech-Safi region, which more than 4.5 million people call home, according to state figures. Earthquakes are relatively rare in North Africa. Lahcen Mhanni, Head of the Seismic Monitoring and Warning Department at the National Institute of Geophysics, told 2M TV that the earthquake was the strongest ever recorded in the region. The quake was felt as far away as Portugal and Algeria, according to the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere and Algeria’s Civil Defense agency, which oversees emergency response. Chandrababu Naidu named principal conspirator in skill development scam case Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department on September 9 said that former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was the principal conspirator and “accused no 1” in the ₹371-crore skill development scam case. The agency further said that the government order was issued under Naidu’s instructions intending to cause wrongful loss to the public exchequer and gain to private individuals. He was arrested around 6 a.m. on the day from RK Function Hall in Nandyala town. In its remand report, the CID said that “according to the investigation so far, the total amount spent by private entities on six skill development clusters is sourced exclusively from funds advanced by the Government of AP and AP Skill Development Center, totalling ₹371 crore.” The CID alleged that the investigation implicates prime accused Naidu, along with the Telugu Desam Party, as beneficiaries of the misappropriated funds. The ultimate use of the misappropriated funds, including cash holdings with individuals like Vikas Khanvilkar, requires further examination. Later in the day, TDP cadre staged a protest and stopped the convoy of Chandrababu Naidu on the National Highway in Chilakaluripet in Palnadu district, when he was being shifted to Vijayawada. Party supporters blocked roads with vehicles and burning tyres on the highway and the police called for additional forces. Police also resorted to lathi charge against the mob. Naidu termed his arrest “undemocratic” and said that the YSR Congress government in the State hatched a conspiracy to stifle his voice. He said that the CID had arrested him without showing any evidence. Several senior leaders of the party condemned the arrest. Earlier in the day, all TDP leaders were house arrested or shifted to police stations. Police forces have been mobilised to all bus and railway stations and to the houses of TDP leaders. The Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation suspended services across the State but later restored operations. TDP General Secretary Nara Lokesh, currently touring the State for gathering support for his party, called off his Yuva Galam Padayatra in Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Konaseema district and launched a protest against the police for preventing him from leaving the district to see his father, Chandrababu Naidu. The police arrived at Podalada Yuva Galam camp in Razole, where they stopped Lokesh from meeting his father. Lokesh alone began a sit-in protest in front of the camp. As news of the arrest of Chandrababu Naidu spread, scores of TDP supporters arrived at the camp but Konaseema police served a notice to Lokesh for preventive arrest to avoid any untoward incidents. Monkeypox surveillance throws-up variant of chickenpox-causing virus for the first time in India The Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV) has, for the first time, found the presence of Clade 9 variant of varicella zoster virus (VZV) in India. “The multi-country mpox (monkeypox) outbreak across the globe has led to the systematic surveillance of mpox cases in India. During the surveillance of mpox, we encountered cases of VZV in suspected mpox cases amongst children and adults,” said the new study published in the Annals of Medicine journal. This study focused on the genomic characterization of VZV in India. It added that this is the first study reporting the circulations of VZV clade 9 in India, whereas the variant is the most common strain in circulation in countries such as Germany, the U.K., and the U.S. Monkeypox disease symptoms are frequently mistaken for VZV, as their clinical presentations often closely resemble each other. There is a need for clinical differentiation between mpox and VZV for accurate diagnosis, said the study. It added that despite infection with the VZV clade 9 strain there were no significant indications of heightened disease severity in the patients. For the study, scientists took a total of 331 suspected cases, of which 22 cases were positive for monkeypox virus infection (15 from New Delhi and seven from Kerala), while 17 were positive for Enteroviruses and one case was confirmed as Buffalopox virus. Of these 331 suspects, 28 were positive for VZV, with primary presentation of vesicular rashes all over the body. The other clinical manifestations included fever (82%), myalgia (46%), headache (36%), fatigue (29%), loss of appetite (14%), and lymphadenopathy (11%). Supreme Court to hear petitions against sedition law on September 12 The Supreme Court is scheduled on September 12 to hear a series of petitions challenging the legality of the sedition law. The hearing follows sweeping changes proposed in criminal law by the government with the introduction of three new Bills in the Parliament. One of them, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, seeks to replace the colonial Indian Penal Code (IPC) of 1860. The other two are Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita 2023, meant to replace the Criminal Procedure Code, and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill 2023, in place of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Section 124A is part of the IPC. Its use had been kept in abeyance following a Supreme Court order in May 2022. The court had given the government time to re-look the sedition law. Though the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill does not explicitly have a Section 124A in it, it has Section 150. This proposed provision in the new Bill avoids using the term ‘sedition’, but describes the offence as “endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”. When the petitions had come up for hearing previously in the Supreme Court on May 1, 2023, the government had vaguely told a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud that the “process of re-examination” of Section 124A (sedition) of the IPC and consultations were in its “final stage”. The three new Bills were introduced in August. It hopes to get the Bills passed in the Parliament in the winter session. If that is the case, the petition may become infructuous as Section 124A any way ceases to exist. A battery of lawyers appearing for the petitioners, including senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, advocates Kaleeswaram Raj, P.B. Suresh, Vipin Nair and Prasanna S., had been urging the apex court to strike down sedition as an offence in any form. In Brief: Veteran South African politician and the traditional Prime Minister of the ethnic Zulu Monarch and nation, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, died early on September 9 at the age of 95. Buthelezi, who was the President Emeritus of the Inkatha Freedom Party, had just marked his 95th birthday last week. He was admitted to a hospital in August after complications related to the treatment for a back pain operation but returned home last week to recover and recuperate. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Buthelezi’s death through a statement. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 09 September 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]( G-20 Summit | New Delhi Declaration adopted; Ukraine says ‘nothing to be proud’ on statement The [Group of 20 countries have adopted the New Delhi declaration]( that came amid increasing tensions and divergent views over the Ukraine conflict. The [announcement about the consensus on the declaration and its subsequent adoption]( came hours after India circulated a new text to the G-20 countries to describe the Ukraine conflict. After much negotiation, the Leaders’ Declaration was drafted and adopted as all leaders have reached a consensus on the wording of the Ukraine conflict. However, [Kyiv criticised the statement]( on the Russian invasion. The statement denounced the use of force for territorial gain but stopped short of naming Russia. “Ukraine is grateful to the partners who tried to include strong wording in the text. At the same time, in terms of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the Group of 20 has nothing to be proud of,” said Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman at the Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Ministry. Nikolenko posted a photo of a part of the statement edited in red, changing “the war in Ukraine” to “the war against Ukraine” and adding references to Russia. There was no explicit reference to Russia, unlike in a G20 statement in Bali last year that cited a UN resolution condemning “in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine”. Among other developments, the [African Union became a full member]( of the G-20. Also, [India announced the launch of the Global Biofuel Alliance]( and urged G-20 nations to join the initiative with a plea to take ethanol blending with petrol globally to 20%. BJP hiding poor people and animals from G-20 dignitaries: Rahul Gandhi The[Congress on September 9 accused the government of covering up or demolishing slums and rounding up stray animals in view of the G-20 Summit]( with its leader Rahul Gandhi saying “there is no need to hide India’s reality from our guests.” The Congress shared a video on X, formerly Twitter, showing some slum areas being covered with green sheets ahead of the two-day summit, which began in New Delhi on the day and was attended by leaders of the largest economies of the world. “The Government of India is hiding our poor people and animals. There is no need to hide India’s reality from our guests,” Gandhi, who is currently abroad, said in a post on X. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also attacked the Prime Minister over the matter. In addition to the video of slums being covered up, the Opposition party also shared videos of cruelty towards stray dogs and animals ahead of the G-20 Summit. Powerful quake in Morocco kills more than 1,000 people and damages historic buildings in Marrakech [A rare, powerful earthquake struck Morocco late on September 8, killing more than 1,000 people]( and damaging buildings from villages in the Atlas Mountains to the historic city of Marrakech. The full toll was not known as rescuers struggled to get through boulder-strewn roads to the remote mountain villages hit hardest. People woken by the magnitude-6.8 quake ran into the streets in terror and disbelief. State television showed people clustered in the streets of Marrakech, afraid to go back inside buildings that might still be unstable. Many wrapped themselves in blankets as they tried to sleep outside. The quake was the biggest to hit Morocco in 120 years, and it toppled buildings and walls in ancient cities made from stone and masonry not designed to withstand quakes. In a sign of the huge scale of the disaster, Morocco’s King Mohammed VI ordered the armed forces to mobilize air and land assets, specialized search and rescue teams and a surgical field hospital, according to a statement from the military. But despite an outpouring of offers of help from around the world, the Moroccan government had not formally asked for assistance, a step required before outside rescue crews could deploy. In Marrakech, the famous Koutoubia Mosque, built in the 12th century, was damaged, but the extent was not immediately clear. Its 69m minaret is known as the “roof of Marrakech.” Moroccans also posted videos showing damage to parts of the famous red walls that surround the old city, a UNESCO World Heritage site. At least 1,037 people died, mostly in Marrakech and five provinces near the quake’s epicentre, and another 1,204 people were injured, Morocco’s Interior Ministry reported on September 9. Of the injured, the ministry wrote, 721 were in critical condition. Rescuers worked through the night, searching for survivors in darkness, dust and rubble. The Moroccan military deployed aircraft, helicopters and drones and emergency services mobilised aid efforts to the areas hit by damages, but roads leading to the mountain region around the epicentre were jammed with vehicles and blocked with collapsed rocks, slowing rescue efforts. Trucks loaded with blankets, camp cots and lighting equipment were trying to region that hard-hit area, the official news agency MAP reported. World leaders offered to send in aid or rescue crews as condolences poured in from countries around Europe, the Middle East and a Group of 20 summit in India. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 when it hit at 11:11 p.m. (10.11 p.m. GMT), with shaking that lasted several seconds. The U.S. agency reported a magnitude 4.9 aftershock hit 19 minutes later. The epicentre of Friday’s tremor was near the town of Ighil in Al Haouz Province, roughly 70km south of Marrakech. The USGS said the epicentre was 18km below earth’s surface, while Morocco’s seismic agency put it at 11km down. Such shallow quakes are more dangerous. Initial reports suggest damages and deaths were severe throughout the Marrakech-Safi region, which more than 4.5 million people call home, according to state figures. Earthquakes are relatively rare in North Africa. Lahcen Mhanni, Head of the Seismic Monitoring and Warning Department at the National Institute of Geophysics, told 2M TV that the earthquake was the strongest ever recorded in the region. The quake was felt as far away as Portugal and Algeria, according to the Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere and Algeria’s Civil Defense agency, which oversees emergency response. Chandrababu Naidu named principal conspirator in skill development scam case [Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department on September 9 said that former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was the principal conspirator]( “accused no 1” in the ₹371-crore skill development scam case. The agency further said that the government order was issued under Naidu’s instructions intending to cause wrongful loss to the public exchequer and gain to private individuals. [He was arrested around 6 a.m. on the day from RK Function Hall in Nandyala town.]( In its remand report, the CID said that “according to the investigation so far, the total amount spent by private entities on six skill development clusters is sourced exclusively from funds advanced by the Government of AP and AP Skill Development Center, totalling ₹371 crore.” The CID alleged that the investigation implicates prime accused Naidu, along with the Telugu Desam Party, as beneficiaries of the misappropriated funds. The ultimate use of the misappropriated funds, including cash holdings with individuals like Vikas Khanvilkar, requires further examination. Later in the day, [TDP cadre staged a protest and stopped the convoy of Chandrababu Naidu]( on the National Highway in Chilakaluripet in Palnadu district, when he was being shifted to Vijayawada. Party supporters blocked roads with vehicles and burning tyres on the highway and the police called for additional forces. Police also resorted to lathi charge against the mob. [Naidu termed his arrest “undemocratic”]( and said that the YSR Congress government in the State hatched a conspiracy to stifle his voice. He said that the CID had arrested him without showing any evidence. [Several senior leaders of the party condemned the arrest](. Earlier in the day, all TDP leaders were house arrested or shifted to police stations. Police forces have been mobilised to all bus and railway stations and to the houses of TDP leaders. The Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation suspended services across the State but later restored operations. TDP General Secretary [Nara Lokesh, currently touring the State for gathering support for his party, called off his Yuva Galam Padayatra in Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Konaseema district and launched a protest against the police]( for preventing him from leaving the district to see his father, Chandrababu Naidu. The police arrived at Podalada Yuva Galam camp in Razole, where they stopped Lokesh from meeting his father. Lokesh alone began a sit-in protest in front of the camp. As news of the arrest of Chandrababu Naidu spread, scores of TDP supporters arrived at the camp but Konaseema police served a notice to Lokesh for preventive arrest to avoid any untoward incidents. Monkeypox surveillance throws-up variant of chickenpox-causing virus for the first time in India [The Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV) has, for the first time, found the presence of Clade 9 variant of varicella zoster virus (VZV) in India.]( “The multi-country mpox (monkeypox) outbreak across the globe has led to the systematic surveillance of mpox cases in India. During the surveillance of mpox, we encountered cases of VZV in suspected mpox cases amongst children and adults,” said the new study published in the Annals of Medicine journal. This study focused on the genomic characterization of VZV in India. It added that this is the first study reporting the circulations of VZV clade 9 in India, whereas the variant is the most common strain in circulation in countries such as Germany, the U.K., and the U.S. Monkeypox disease symptoms are frequently mistaken for VZV, as their clinical presentations often closely resemble each other. There is a need for clinical differentiation between mpox and VZV for accurate diagnosis, said the study. It added that despite infection with the VZV clade 9 strain there were no significant indications of heightened disease severity in the patients. For the study, scientists took a total of 331 suspected cases, of which 22 cases were positive for monkeypox virus infection (15 from New Delhi and seven from Kerala), while 17 were positive for Enteroviruses and one case was confirmed as Buffalopox virus. Of these 331 suspects, 28 were positive for VZV, with primary presentation of vesicular rashes all over the body. The other clinical manifestations included fever (82%), myalgia (46%), headache (36%), fatigue (29%), loss of appetite (14%), and lymphadenopathy (11%). Supreme Court to hear petitions against sedition law on September 12 The [Supreme Court is scheduled on September 12 to hear a series of petitions challenging the legality of the sedition]( law. The hearing follows sweeping changes proposed in criminal law by the government with the introduction of three new Bills in the Parliament. One of them, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, seeks to replace the colonial Indian Penal Code (IPC) of 1860. The other two are Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita 2023, meant to replace the Criminal Procedure Code, and Bharatiya Sakshya Bill 2023, in place of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Section 124A is part of the IPC. Its use had been kept in abeyance following a Supreme Court order in May 2022. The court had given the government time to re-look the sedition law. Though the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill does not explicitly have a Section 124A in it, it has Section 150. This proposed provision in the new Bill avoids using the term ‘sedition’, but describes the offence as “endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”. When the petitions had come up for hearing previously in the Supreme Court on May 1, 2023, the government had vaguely told a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud that the “process of re-examination” of Section 124A (sedition) of the IPC and consultations were in its “final stage”. The three new Bills were introduced in August. It hopes to get the Bills passed in the Parliament in the winter session. If that is the case, the petition may become infructuous as Section 124A any way ceases to exist. A battery of lawyers appearing for the petitioners, including senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, advocates Kaleeswaram Raj, P.B. Suresh, Vipin Nair and Prasanna S., had been urging the apex court to strike down sedition as an offence in any form. In Brief: [Veteran South African politician and the traditional Prime Minister of the ethnic Zulu Monarch and nation, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, died]( early on September 9 at the age of 95. Buthelezi, who was the President Emeritus of the Inkatha Freedom Party, had just marked his 95th birthday last week. He was admitted to a hospital in August after complications related to the treatment for a back pain operation but returned home last week to recover and recuperate. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Buthelezi’s death through a statement. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. Today’s Top Picks [[News Analysis | Chandrababu Naidu’s arrest: A knee-jerk reaction or a planned strategy?] News Analysis | Chandrababu Naidu’s arrest: A knee-jerk reaction or a planned strategy?]( [[The evolution of Subramania Bharati via his writings in The Hindu | An interview with historian A.R. Venkatachalapathy] The evolution of Subramania Bharati via his writings in The Hindu | An interview with historian A.R. 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