| 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 safe. Here are the big stories that you need to follow today: Noticeable 'thinning' of PLA presence at friction points We have some exclusive reporting today, based on inputs from a senior government source, who says that in the past three days there has been a "noticeable thinning of the presence of Chinese troops" at all the three friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh. However, they have neither vacated nor removed the prefabricated or semi-permanent structures built since May at the disputed sites. The official added that removal of these structures was not a part of the original June 22 agreement at the Corps Commander-level talks. "It was decided that there will be no patrolling, movement of troops and vehicles, or any fresh construction activity by either side. This reduction (of structures) was not being expected," the official said. The three areas are Galwan, Hot Springs, and the Finger area near Pangong Tso (lake) in Ladakh along the LAC. China has also fortified positions at Depsang plains in the north. These new developments come amid larger uncertainty over what kind of steps a de-escalation would entail, the time frames involved, and continuing questions over China's motivations and ambitions in the region. For a long view of the border dispute between the two countries and an assessment of where things stand at present, listen to the latest episode of The Hindu's In Focus podcast. Supreme Court accepts CBSE scheme on exams The Supreme Court today accepted the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)'s new scheme for assessing students of Class 10 and 12, in lieu of the Board exams that stand cancelled due to the pandemic. The scheme involves taking an average of a student's best performance in the papers she has already taken. Details of the CBSE assessment scheme are available on its official website.  As per the scheme, students who have completed all their examinations will be assessed based on their performance in the examinations. For those who have appeared in three or more subjects, the average of marks obtained in best three subjects will be awarded to those subjects in which examinations were not conducted. For students who wrote exams for just one or two subjects, the results will be declared on the basis of their internal, practical or project assessments, for the subjects for which they didn't give the examination. While the results declared for Class 10 will be the final one, Class 12 students will have the option to appear for a written examination at a later date, if they desire to do so. The Centre has said that examinations for such students will be conducted when the atmosphere is "conducive". Results for both Class 10 and 12 would be declared by July 15. ICSE's assessment plan The Indian Council for Secondary Education (ICSE), which had also cancelled its exams scheduled between July 1 and 14, said it will have a "slightly different" assessment scheme from that of the CBSE. Counsel for the ICSE said details of the scheme would be available on its website next week. What we know so far suggests that the ICSE may allow also its Class 10 students to appear for an optional exam like their Class 12 counterparts. Rahul continues offensive on Ladakh tensions Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak up and tell the country whether or not China has occupied any Indian territory. He said if the Prime Minister says no Indian territory has been occupied by China, while satellite images show otherwise, then China stands to benefit from his statement. "If you (the PM) say Indian land has not been taken by China and it has actually been taken, then China will stand to benefit," Gandhi said. Congress president Sonia Gandhi also said that the central government cannot shirk its responsibility of securing our borders with China and asked Modi to take the nation into confidence on the situation in Ladakh. Plans for international flights to resume Three months since the ban on international flights, the aviation regulator DGCA has hinted at a gradual re-opening of overseas air travel. "Scheduled international flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case to case basis (sic)," the DGCA said in its circular. Permissions will be granted only for select routes and a ban on the rest of the scheduled flights will continue to be in place at least until July 15, said the aviation watchdog.  File photo of Air India planes parked at the IGI airport in New Delhi. The circular from DGCA comes at a time when the Ministry for Civil Aviation has said that it will enter into bilateral agreements with the UK, US, France and Germany for creating travel bubbles to allow passage for air travellers. Bhutan rejects reports on stopping of water supply Bhutan has rejected media reports claiming that it has stopped the supply of irrigation water to farmers in Assam. Describing the reports as totally baseless, it said they were a "deliberate attempt" by vested interests to cause misunderstanding with India. In a statement, Bhutan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that since June 24, 2020, there have been several news articles published in India alleging that Bhutan has blocked water channels that supply irrigation water to Indian farmers in Baksa and Udalguri districts in Assam.  Photo released by Bhutan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows blockade being cleared to enable smooth flow of water to Indian farmers. Photo: Facebook/@MoFABhutan "This is a distressing allegation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would like to clarify that the news articles are totally baseless as there is no reason why the flow of water should be stopped at this time," it said. Covid Watch: Numbers and developments The number of coronavirus cases in the country stood at 5,04,165 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 15,619. India registered its worst single-day increase in Covid-19 cases today, recording over 17,000 infections, according to Union Health Ministry data. The Assam government has decided to impose a total lockdown in Guwahati for 14 days from the midnight of June 28, in view of the rising coronavirus cases. The government has also decided to impose night curfew across the state and twice-a-week lockdown in all urban and semi-urban places with immediate effect. Some good news coming out of Mumbai, however. The doubling rate of Covid-19 cases in Dharavi, once thought to be a crisis site, has now improved to 140 days, and the current growth rate of the pandemic is at 0.47 per cent, according to officials. Monsoon covers the country two weeks early: IMD The southwest monsoon has covered the entire country nearly two weeks ahead of schedule, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday. The monsoon usually sets in over Kerala on June 1 and takes 45 days to reach Sriganganagar in western Rajasthan, its last outpost in the country. From this year, however, the IMD has advanced the onset date over Sriganganagar by a week, and the new normal date for the monsoon to cover the entire country is July 8. "The Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into the remaining parts of Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab and thus it has covered the entire country today, June 26," the IMD said. In Brief: Liverpool were confirmed as Premier League champions on Thursday, courtesy second-placed Manchester City's 1-2 defeat at the hands of Chelsea, ending a 30-year wait for the title. The result at Stamford Bridge means Liverpool has an unassailable 23-point lead over City with seven games left. Liverpool had last been champions in England when they won the old First Division title in 1989-90, after which a decline in fortunes saw Manchester United and Arsenal, and later, Chelsea and Manchester City at the top. "I have no words, it's unbelievable and much more than I ever thought would be possible," manager Jurgen Klopp told Sky Sports. Evening Wrap will return on Monday. | 
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