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: Pak claims Kulbhushan Jadhav has refused to file review petition Pakistan claimed today that Kulbhushan Jadhav, arrested on charges of espionage and terrorism in 2016, has refused to file an appeal in the Islamabad High Court against his death sentence handed down by a Pakistani Army court in April 2017. Speaking at a special briefing arranged by the Pakistani Foreign Office, Pakistan's Additional Attorney-General Ahmed Irfan said that an ordinance had been issued in May that allowed Jadhav, his legal representative, or a representative of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad to file a review petition in line with the International Court of Justice verdict of July 2019. Irfan claimed that on June 17 this year, Jadhav was invited to file a review petition in the Islamabad High Court against his sentence, but chose not to do so. Jadhav, instead, "preferred to follow-up" on his pending "mercy" petition. The Pakistani legal officer also claimed that they had written repeatedly to the Indian High Commission to file a review petition on behalf of Jadhav, a former Indian Navy officer. Harvard, MIT sue U.S. govt over student visa row Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are suing the Department of Homeland Security and the federal immigration agency over new guidelines barring foreign students from remaining in America if their universities switched to online-only classes in the fall. General view of the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts on April 22, 2020. A report in The Harvard Crimson said the two educational institutions filed a lawsuit in a Boston court Wednesday morning against the two federal agencies. "We will pursue this case vigorously so that our international students — and international students at institutions across the country — can continue their studies without the threat of deportation," the Harvard Crimson quoted University president Lawrence S. Bacow as writing in an email to affiliates. MHA targets Congress-linked NGOs The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has constituted an inter-ministerial committee to probe the violation of various legal provisions by three NGOs — Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust, and Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust. All the three NGOs are linked to the Congress. An MHA spokesperson tweeted, "MHA sets up inter-ministerial committee to coordinate investigations into violation of various legal provisions of PMLA, Income Tax Act, FCRA etc. by Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust & Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust." Recently, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had alleged that the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, continuously received donations from the Chinese embassy from 2006 to 2009. Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the move and said "those who fight for the truth have no price and cannot be intimidated." The Congress said its leadership would not be intimidated by "cowardly acts and a blind witch-hunt" by the "panicked" government. FBI director says China has its 'preferences' in U.S. election Christopher Wray, the director of the FBI, has said that China is pushing its preferences in the U.S. election as part of broad intelligence operations whose economic impact was "unprecedented". "China's malign foreign influence campaign targets our policies, our positions, 24/7, 365 days a year," Wray said at the Hudson Institute. "So it's not an election-specific threat; it's really more of an all-year, all-the-time threat. But certainly that has implications for elections and they certainly have preferences that go along with that." Wray did not say whether China backed either President Donald Trump or his presumptive Democratic rival Joe Biden, both of whom have harshly criticised Beijing. It has been reported, however, that the Trump campaign plans to bring up Biden's ties to China as a possible line of attack. Once again, it involves the former U.S. Vice President's son, Hunter Biden, who had an investment deal that involved the Bank of China. Indian banks pursuing Mallya bankruptcy order A consortium of Indian banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) are pursuing their bankruptcy order against liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya in the U.K. as they seek to establish that any settlement offer made by him is now dead in the water. In a hearing in the insolvency division of the High Court in London on July 7, Justice Michael Briggs heard the argument of the banks, represented by barrister Marcia Shekerdemian, that they had no option but to pursue the bankruptcy order since – contrary to the claims made by Mallya -- the banks were not secured creditors. And speaking of fugitives… The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached ₹329.66 crore worth of assets belonging to Nirav Modi and entities linked to him. Modi is the alleged 'mastermind' of the Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud. The assets were confiscated under the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act. The Samudra Mahal building, which houses four flats owned by Punjab National Bank fraud accused Nirav Modi. File In the money-laundering case against the diamond merchant, the ED has so far attached properties valued at ₹2,348 crore. The confiscated assets include four flats at the iconic Samudra Mahal building in Mumbai's Worli neighbourhood, a seaside farmhouse and land in Alibaug, one windmill in Jaisalmer, a flat in London, and some residential flats in the UAE, besides shares and bank deposits. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of coronavirus cases reported from India stood at 7,53,466 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 20,819. The World Health Organisation on Tuesday acknowledged "evidence emerging" of the airborne spread of the novel coronavirus after a group of scientists urged the global body to update its position on how the respiratory disease passes between people. "We have been talking about the possibility of airborne transmission and aerosol transmission as one of the modes of transmission of Covid-19," said Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead on the Covid-19 pandemic at the WHO. In Brief: The Union Cabinet has approved a scheme to provide affordable housing on rent for migrant workers in 107 cities. There are 1.08 lakh houses in 107 cities that are ready, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said. This will be done through municipal corporations under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. An undated combo photo of P. Jayaraj and his son J. Benicks The CBI has taken over two cases pertaining to the custodial deaths of a father and son, Jayaraj and J. Benicks, following alleged torture by the Sattankulam police in Tamil Nadu's Thoothukudi district last month. The cases were earlier registered at the Kovilpatti East police station. The Crime Branch-CID has already arrested five suspects, including the then Sattankulam police inspector, Sridhar, and two sub-inspectors, Raghu Ganesh and Balakrishnan. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. |
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