| 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. M.S. Dhoni calls it quits: 'Consider me retired' Two-time World Cup-winning former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni retired from international cricket on Saturday, ending over a year of suspense and an era during which his often unorthodox leadership and finishing skills became the stuff of legends. "Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. from 1929hrs consider me as retired," Dhoni posted on Instagram. The announcement came a day after he joined his Chennai Super kings teammates in Chennai ahead of this year's IPL in the UAE. LAC or LOC, our jawans gave a befitting response: PM Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address from the Red Fort on Saturday said India's soldiers had given a befitting reply to those who challenged the country's sovereignty, from the Line of Control to the Line of Actual Control. "From LoC [Line of Control] to LAC [Line of Actual Control], whenever India has been challenged, our soldiers have given a fitting response in a language they understand," he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day in New Delhi, Aug. 15, 2020. In a speech that lasted 90 minutes, Modi spoke about the policies and programmes that were framed to meet the health and economic challenges of the pandemic, and the security challenges at the border. Applauding the frontline workers in the battle against the novel coronavirus, he said India was going through a unique phase due to the pandemic but would emerge victorious. Stressing that India should be self-reliant, he said self-reliance should become a "mantra" for all countrymen. National Digital Health Mission and health ID card for every citizen "The pandemic has brought home to us the importance of strong health systems and interventions. With this in view, the government will be launching a National Digital Health Mission that would give every Indian a health identity verifiable digitally, and will work as each Indian's health account," Modi said. "Every test, disease, diagnosis and medical report along with medical prescriptions will be stored in every citizen's health ID." The PM also announced that there were three coronavirus vaccine candidates at various stages of trial in India. "In preparation for the time when any of these become viable for use, the government already has an elaborate road map for its production and distribution in the shortest possible time," he said. Committee to review minimum age of marriage for women On the infrastructure front, Modi announced that that the task of connecting India's more than six-lakh villages with optical fibre network will be completed in the next 1,000 days. Besides, high speed internet connectivity via submarine optical fibre cable will be extended to Lakshadweep in this period, he said. A woman army officer helps Prime Minister Narendra Modi in unfurling the national flag during the 74th Independence Day celebration at Red Fort in New Delhi on August 15, 2020. Modi also became the first Prime Minister to talk about menstrual health in an I-Day speech as he announced that 5 crore sanitary pads priced at ₹1 had been distributed through 6,000 Jan Aushadhi Kendras spread across the country. He further announced that a committee has been set up to reconsider the minimum age of marriage for women. Currently, the law prescribes a minimum age of 21 years for men and 18 years for women. Real tribute to Galwan martyrs would be to repel Chinese incursions: Sonia The real tribute to Colonel Santosh Babu and other officers who were killed at the LAC during a face-off with the Chinese army on June 15 would be to guard India's sovereignty and repel the Chinese incursions, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said, "Whether it was the LAC or the LoC, whenever anyone has tried to violate the territorial integrity of the country, our jawans have answered the challenge in the same language as it was issued". He had been careful not to refer directly to China in his speech. Congress president Sonia Gandhi. File In a statement in Hindi, Gandhi said that it has been 60 days since the martyrdom of Colonel Santosh Babu and 20 other Jawans at Galwan valley. While offering tributes to them, she urged the government to give the martyred soldiers due respect. "The real tribute to these soldiers would be to protect India's sovereignty and repel the Chinese incursions into our land," she said. She also accused the Modi government of standing against India's democratic and Constitutional values. "Today every countryman needs to look within and think what does freedom mean? Are they free today to write, to speak, to ask questions, to disagree, to seek accountability?" Nepal PM Oli calls up Modi on Independence Day Prime Minister of Nepal K.P. Sharma Oli on Saturday called up Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held a discussion, sources in Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed. A Nepalese official statement declared that Oli sought "meaningful bilateral cooperation" with India. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that anti-Covid-19 cooperation was discussed during the phone call. Today's high level contact came after nearly nine months of tension and verbal sparring after India asserted control over the Kalapani-Lipulekh-Limpiyadhura region of Pithoragarh, which is claimed by Nepal. In response, Nepal had issued a map which depicted the region as part of Nepalese sovereign territory and urged India to convene Foreign Secretary-level dialogue to address Nepal's concerns. Today's phone call is expected to boost the upcoming "oversight mechanism" level dialogue which is planned for next week. The discussion between the Foreign Secretary of Nepal Shankar Bairagi and Indian ambassador to Kathmandu Vinay Mohan Kwatra will focus on bilateral development projects and other issues such as border security and Covid-19 management. However, the Kalapani issue is unlikely to be a part of this initiative. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of coronavirus cases reported from India stood at 25,65,971 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 49,764. India on Friday recorded 65,002 new cases. Indian companies have sought technical details on the trials of Russian Covid-19 vaccine from the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) for possible production in India, Indian Embassy sources in Moscow said. Separately, in an interview to Russian state media Sputnik, Indian Envoy in Moscow D.B. Varma said, "I had a productive discussion with CEO of RDIF, Mr. Kirill Dmitriev and we are hopeful of positive outcome." Earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin had announced the successful development of the world's first vaccine against Covid-19. 'I have more Indians than her', Trump taunts Kamala Harris "If Joe Biden would become the President, he will immediately pass legislation to gut every single police department in America and probably Kamala [Harris] is a step worse. She is of Indian heritage. I have more Indians than she has," said President Donald Trump said, while speaking to members of the City of New York Police Benevolent Association. Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden's running mate Kamala Harris is of mixed Indian and Jamaican heritage. Harris's candidature, announced earlier this week, has been widely seen as a big challenge for Trump's Presidential bid, given her stronger track record in public debates compared to her Republican counterpart Mike Pence. In Brief: The health condition of former India opener Chetan Chauhan, who tested positive for Covid-19 last month, has worsened after he developed multi-organ failure. He is now on ventilator support at a medical facility in Gurugram. The 73-year-old Chauhan, who is also a cabinet minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, was admitted at the SanjayGandhi PGIHospital in Lucknow after testing Covid-19 positive on July 12. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. |
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