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US shuts down Chinese consulate in Houston as tensions rise
The United States has told China to shut down its consulate in Houston by Friday, a move that China has described as "political provocation". The Houston consulate is one of five in the U.S, not counting the embassy in Washington DC. The U.S. justified its decision by citing a need to protect American intellectual property and information from Chinese spying. "We have directed the closure of PRC Consulate General Houston, in order to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told reporters during US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Copenhagen. She added that under the Vienna Convention, nation states "have a duty not to interfere in the internal affairs" of the receiving state, but there were no further details about the reasons behind the decision. In another statement, the State Department said China has engaged in massive spying and influence operations throughout the United States for years. "These activities have increased markedly in scale and scope over the past few years," it said. Beijing condemned the order and threatened retaliation. A source said China was considering closing the U.S. consulate in the city of Wuhan. A foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China was told Tuesday that its Houston consulate would have to close, and called it an "outrageous and unjustified move which will sabotage" China-US relations. "China urges the U.S. to immediately withdraw its wrong decision, or China will definitely take a proper and necessary response," Wang said at a press briefing. Rajasthan Speaker moves SC in Pilot case Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi on Wednesday challenged a State High Court order directing him to defer the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection) proceedings against former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot till July 24. Joshi described the court's order as an "interference" by the judiciary in the Speaker's exclusive domain. His petition, filed by advocate Sunil Fernandes, said the High Court order was an affront to the powers of the Speaker. It was "illegal and perverse" and "destroys the delicate balance envisaged by the Constitution between the legislature and the judiciary".  Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi. File Meanwhile, Pilot and 18 other MLAs filed a caveat in the apex court. They urged that no order should be done ex-parte without informing their side. "Let nothing be done without prior notice to the undersigned counsel", the seven-page caveat said. Joshi, too, has moved the Supreme Court, asking it to stop the Rajasthan High Court from pronouncing a verdict on the disqualification notices on Friday. Addressing the media before filing his petition, he said the High Court's interim order granting extended time to Pilot and 18 other breakaway Congress MLAs amounted to a violation of Article 212 (courts not to inquire into the proceedings of the Legislature) and Paragraph 6(2) of the Tenth Schedule. The paragraph was clear that anti-defection proceedings were clearly confined within the House, Joshi said. While Kapil Sibal will argue the Speaker's case in the Supreme Court, Pilot and his MLAs will be represented by Mukul Rohatgi. ED raids locations linked to Gehlot's brother in alleged scam The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday searched multiple locations, including premises linked to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's brother Agrasen, in connection with an alleged scam in the illegal export of a subsidised fertiliser component meant for sale to farmers. The searches were carried out in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Mumbai and West Bengal. The case pertains to the alleged illegal export of potassium chloride, known as Muriate of Potash (MoP), to Malaysia and Taiwan from 2007 to 2009. The MoP had been provided on subsidised rates for distribution among farmers. "Three parties were involved in the illegal export, which included Jodhpur-based Anupam Krishi, owned by Mr. Agrasen Gehlot. His company allegedly made ₹150 crore through export of 35,000 metric tonnes of MoP. The other parties also made huge financial gains," said an agency official. Former SC judge B.S. Chauhan to head Vikas Dubey probe The Supreme Court on Wednesday approved the Uttar Pradesh government's choice of retired apex court judge Justice B.S. Chauhan to head the commission that will probe the gunning down of eight police officers and the encounter killings of their alleged assailants, history-sheeter Vikas Dubey and his associates.  Police deployed at demolished residence of gangster Vikas Dubey Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad A. Bobde said the "single most important aspect" of the commission's inquiry should be how Dubey came to be released on bail or parole. Dubey and his associates allegedly ambushed a police team that was on its way to his house at Bikru village in Kanpur on July 2 night and killed eight policemen. "Had he been in jail, this would not have happened in the first place," Chief Justice Bobde said. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of coronavirus cases reported from India stood at 12,35,388 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 29,887. 11 policemen sentenced for murder of Raja Man Singh A Mathura court on Wednesday sentenced 11 policemen, including a then Deputy SP, to life imprisonment for the murder of former titular king of Rajasthan's Bharatpur, Raja Man Singh, in 1985. A lawyer for the accused read out the Court's decision before reporters a day after the 11 policemen were convicted of the crime.  Convicts in the 'Raja' Man Singh murder case are escorted out of a court in Mathura on July 22, 2020. The murder had taken place on February 21, 1985 when Man Singh, then 64, and his two associates were shot dead by police a day after he had allegedly battered his military jeep into the stage set up for an election rally of Chief Minister Shiv Charan Mathur. The jeep had also damaged a chopper kept at the site for the CM.
Writer and critic Kovai Gnani passes away
Eminent writer, Tamil Marxist scholar and literary critic Kovai Gnani died on Wednesday at his home in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. He was 85. His son Pari Vallal said that he died at 11.15 am due to age-related health problems. "Till his last day, he had books read to him," Vallal said. His eyesight had been impaired for more than 20 years. A key figure in the Vanambadi poetry movement in Coimbatore and an author of more than 50 books, Gnani promoted Tamil literature through several little magazines, including the likes of Parimanam, Nigazh and Tamizhneyam. In Brief: Acknowledging that it needs to do more to combat racism on its platforms, Facebook has said that it is setting up two teams to evaluate its policies and algorithms. Instagram's Equity team and Facebook's Inclusive Product Council will look for bias in algorithms and work to make both platforms "safe and fair" for all, the BBC reported. Recently, against the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter movement, Facebook has been under fire for its failure to crack down on racist content and groups on its platforms. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. | 
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