The Evening Wrap Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying home and staying safe. Here are the big stories that you need to follow today: States to have more say on lockdown With Lockdown 4.0 set to end on May 31, PTI is reporting that from June 1, the Centre is likely to retain only a limited role and allow states and union territories to decide on whether to tighten or relax the lockdown regulations in their respective jurisdictions. The central government may, however, advise state authorities to continue with strict curbs in Covid-19 containment zones in the 30 worst-affected municipal areas, which account for 80% of the positive cases in the country. These 30 municipal areas are from Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Odisha. Trump and Modi didn’t discuss LAC: Centre The government forcefully rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim that he had spoken to Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the situation on the Line of Actual Control with China. It further denied that the two leaders spoke at all. “There has been no recent contact between PM Modi and President Trump. The last conversation between them was on April 4, 2020 on the subject of Hydroxychloroquine,” said government sources, who did not wish to be identified. On Thursday (Friday morning India time), Trump told reporters that he had spoken with Modi. “I can tell you, I did speak to Prime Minister Modi. He's not – he's not in a good mood about what's going on with China,” he said, prompting much speculation in India. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of Covid-19 cases in India stood at 1,72,744 at the time of publishing this newsletter. The country recorded 7,466 cases in the 24 hours that ended at 8 a.m. on Friday, according to figures from the Health Ministry, and the death toll, at 4,963, had crossed China’s official figure. Travel only if you need to: Goyal Following a number of passenger deaths on Shramik Special trains, Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said that the “few unfortunate cases” were related to pre-existing medical conditions. Goyal put up a Twitter post appealing to people “suffering from serious ailments, pregnant women and those above 65 years and below 10 years of age” to travel on Shramik Special trains only if necessary. The Railways Board Chairman, meanwhile, has termed news reports about some Shramik special trains being delayed and losing their way as “fake”. “Only 10% of trains were delayed by a few hours. Fake news dent the morale of the 12-lakh Railway employees who have been working round the clock for smooth operations of the special trains,” he said. There have been reports of trains bound for U.P. or Bihar finding their way to Karnataka in one case, and Odisha in another. The Railways clarified that these trains had been diverted as there was congestion in the routes. Sudha Bharadwaj’s bail plea rejected A special court in Mumbai today rejected the interim bail plea of human rights activist Sudha Bharadwaj, arrested in connection with the Elgar Parishad case. Bharadwaj (58) is currently lodged in Byculla women’s jail, where an inmate earlier this month tested positive for COVID-19. Bharadwaj's bail plea had noted that “she belongs to the most vulnerable category facing high fatality rate should she contract coronoavirus. If she continues to remain in incarceration, there is grave danger to her life as she has diabetes and high blood pressure.” Special Public Prosecutor Prakash Shetty opposed the bail, saying Bharadwaj had been charged with the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which had not been included by the High Powered Committee for granting bail or parole. EU’s letter to HM on human rights The Chair of the European Parliament’s Sub-Committee on Human Rights, Maria Arena, has written to Home Minister Amit Shah expressing concern over the treatment of human rights activists in India. Referring specifically to the arrests of activists Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha, the letter stated, “It is particularly alarming to note that human rights defenders cannot conduct advocacy activities, notably in favour of India’s poorest and most marginalized communities, without becoming subject to intimidation and harassment, but equally worrying is the fact that terrorism charges, including under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), are used to silence them.” The letter was shared on social media by Arena. Minneapolis protests turn violent On Thursday night, protesters set fire to a Minneapolis police precinct as three days of protests over the death of George Floyd reached a tipping point. According to the Associated Press, protesters could also be seen setting fire to a Minneapolis Police Department jacket and cheering. The protests were sparked by a video in which Floyd, an African-American, is seen handcuffed and pleading for air, while a white police officer presses his knee on his neck. The video, which went viral, shows Floyd eventually falling silent and motionless under the white officer’s knee. The events of Thursday night seemed to mark a turning point in what had started as a peaceful protest on Monday, with marches and demonstrations. News reports indicate that clashes between police and protesters led to a riot-like situation, with looters smashing windows in nearby buildings, including the statehouse and local shops. Reports indicate that the unrest has now spread to other American cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and Columbus. Trump moves against social media platforms President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that aims to remove some of the legal protections given to social media platforms. Trump claims that the companies have “unchecked power” to censure and edit the views of users. The order comes after Twitter, for the first time, added a fact check option to one of his tweets about postal voting. The BBC reports that the executive order, which is likely to face a legal challenge, seeks to amend a 1996 law, under which website operators, unlike traditional publishers, cannot generally be held responsible for content posted by users. The sites are also protected from lawsuits if they block posts deemed obscene or violent. The executive order now argues that this immunity should no longer apply if a social network edits posts, such as by adding a warning or a label. Meanwhile, Twitter added another unprecedented warning to a Trump tweet, this time about the Minnesota riots, informing users that the post “glorified violence”. Here is the Trump tweet in question: “These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!” In Brief: Former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi, 74, died on Friday after being hospitalised in Raipur following a heart attack. His death was announced on Twitter by his son Amit Jogi. The Union government is pushing ahead with its Central Vista Vista project, which could change the face of the national capital. The government is planning to relocate the offices of various Ministries to new buildings proposed by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) on Kasturba Gandhi Marg and Africa Avenue, while the existing buildings along the Central Vista are set to be demolished as a part of the redevelopment project. Evening Wrap will return on Monday. | 
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