| 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. Economy may contract due to 'act of God' Covid: FM Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said that the economy was facing an extraordinary "act of God" in the form of the Covid-19 pandemic and it may cause a contraction in India's growth this financial year. "This year we are facing an extraordinary situation... we are facing an act of God which might even result in a contraction of the economy, to what percent I am not getting into that," she said while addressing the media. GST compensation: States get 7 days to choose between two options The Centre on Thursday proposed two options for States to borrow in order to meet compensation shortfall. The States will come back within seven days and then GST Council will take final decision. "The Centre will work with the RBI to facilitate borrowing so that interest rates do not vary," Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said after chairing a five-hour meeting of the GST Council. The meeting was called to discuss the means to meet the compensation shortfall. Initial estimate of total compensation requirement was around ₹3 lakh crore. The Government expects collection through GST compensation to be around ₹65,000 crore, while the remaining ₹2,35,000 crore would be the shortfall. So now there are two options left to meet this shortfall. Option 1: States, through a special window of the RBI, will be able to borrow ₹97,000 crore at a reasonable rate of interest. Option 2: The entire GST compensation gap of ₹2,35,000 crore of this year can be borrowed by the states, again through a special window of the RBI. The repayment of principal and interest would be linked to compensation cess receivables. This means cess could be levied beyond five years on 29 items falling in the 28% category such as automobiles, cement, and air-conditioners. Sitharaman said that the aim would be to facilitate borrowing through a special window of the RBI. If the States rushed to open market, then there would be a possibility of varying interest rates. She also explained that additional 0.5% borrowing under FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act) of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) as provided under Atmanirbhar Bharat can be used for this purpose. These options would be available only during current year. The situation would be reviewed next year and a decision taken accordingly. U.P. Congress unit targets Congress leader Jitin Prasada Four days after the Congress Working Committee meeting that reaffirmed the leadership of the Gandhis and everyone agreed that there would be no hard feelings over a 'letter of dissent' written by 23 senior leaders, there are signs that sections of the party are seeking retribution. A Congress unit in Uttar Pradesh has demanded action against all the letter writers. It also specially targeted former union minister Jitin Prasada. The Lakhimpur Kheri District Congress reportedly passed a resolution demanding action against Prasada, a leader from Uttar Pradesh, and accused his family of being against the Gandhi family. Congress leader Kapil Sibal, who was among those who signed the letter, said it was "unfortunate" that Prasada was being targeted. "Unfortunate that Jitin Prasada is being officially targeted in UP. Congress needs to target the BJP with surgical strikes instead of wasting its energy by targeting its own," Sibal said on Twitter. Reacting to it, another Congress leader, Manish Tewari who was also a signatory, posted a single word, "prescient", on Twitter. 2004 verdict on sub-classification of SC/STs needs to be reconsidered, says Supreme Court The Supreme Court today held that its 2004 verdict holding that states do not have the power to further sub-classify the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for grant of quotas in jobs and admissions to educational institutions needs to be revisited. A five-judge bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra said the 2004 verdict of a constitution bench in the E.V. Chinnaiah case needs to be reconsidered and, therefore, the matter be placed before the Chief Justice of India for appropriate direction.  A view of Supreme Court of India in New Delhi. The bench, also comprising Justices Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran, M.R. Shah and Aniruddha Bose, said that in its view the 2004 verdict was not correctly decided and states can make laws to give preferential treatment by sub-classifying caste within SC/STs. The bench referred the case, filed by the Punjab government against a high court order, before CJI Justice S.A. Bobde for setting up of a larger bench to revisit the earlier verdict. The Punjab and Haryana high court had struck down a state law empowering the government to sub-classify SC/STs for grant of quotas. The high court had relied on the 2004 verdict of the apex court and held that the Punjab government was not empowered to undertake the exercise of sub-classifying SC/STs. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 33,76,468 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 61,623. Indian today registered its highest single-day spike of over 75,000 new cases.  A private security guard checks the body temperature of a student before the entrance examination of the Banaras Hindu University in Kolkata on August 27, 2020. SC refuses 'general directions' allowing Muharram processions The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to pass "general directions" to allow Muharram processions across the country amid the pandemic restrictions, saying an order like that would lead to "chaos" and "targeting of a particular community for spreading Covid-19". "It is not possible to give general directions for the whole country... It will lead to chaos. A particular community will be targeted for spreading Covid… We as a court cannot do that, cannot expose you to that risk. We cannot give general directions," Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde said, addressing advocate Azim H. Laskar, appearing for prominent Shia cleric Syed Kalbe Jawad. Just a few days ago, while allowing prayers at three Jain temples in Mumbai, the CJI had orally remarked how the court found it "strange that they [states] are willing to allow activities involving economic interests, but if it involves religion, they cite Covid to say they cannot open." Laskar pointed out that the court had allowed devotees access to places of worship in other cases and permitted the annual chariot procession in connection with the Jagannath Puri temple festivities amid the pandemic. But the CJI replied that those permissions were given for specific places and not the entire country. "They pertained to specific places and from one point to another. There were no general directions passed." Delhi High Court halts insolvency proceedings against Anil Ambani The Delhi High Court today halted insolvency proceedings against Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), and barred him from disposing of any of his assets. Anil Ambani, who runs a business group separate from his billionaire brother Mukesh Ambani, had filed a plea with the Delhi High Court challenging the appointment of a resolution professional over a roughly ₹1,200 crore ($163 million) personal guarantee that he had given to the State Bank of India (SBI) for loans to his companies. Earlier this month, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had appointed a bankruptcy administrator to verify SBI's claim that Ambani offered about ₹ 1,200 crore of personal guarantees to seek the loan. Following the order, Ambani had filed a plea with the Delhi High Court challenging it. Republicans defend cops after yet another shooting of a black man Republicans aggressively defended law enforcement on the third night of their convention, as the nation faced renewed tensions following the police shooting of a Black man in Wisconsin. The shooting of Jacob Blake (29) sparked protests in a state that could play a deciding role in the November presidential elections, the Associated Press reported. U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence, the evening's featured speaker, seized on the national reckoning over racial injustice to argue that Democratic leaders are allowing lawlessness to prevail in cities from coast to coast. He and others described the cities as wracked by violence, though protests in most places have been largely peaceful.  U.S. Vice President Mike Pence delivers his acceptance speech as the 2020 Republican vice presidential nominee during an event of the 2020 Republican National Convention held at Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S, August 26, 2020. "The American people know we don't have to choose between supporting law enforcement and standing with African American neighbours," he said in remarks released before his appearance. Blake was shot and injured by police on Sunday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as he leaned into his car and as his children watched. Hours after he was shot, hundreds rallied outside Kenosha's police headquarters. As the protests went on, cars were set alight, armed robberies were reported, and a night-time curfew was eventually put in place. The protests have been continuing for four days now. In Brief: TikTok chief executive officer Kevin Mayer has quit, the company said in a statement. His resignation comes days after the popular short-form video-sharing app and one of its employees separately sued U.S. President Donald Trump's administration over his executive order banning transactions in the US. They described Trump's order as a pretext to fuel anti-China rhetoric as he seeks re-election. In a letter to staff, the TikTok CEO said, "It is with a heavy heart that I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to leave the company." Russia is hopeful of concluding contracts for MiG-29 and SU-30MKI fighters jets and six Ka-31 helicopters by year-end, a representative of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) said at the ongoing Army 2020 expo in Russia. Deliveries of S-400 long-range air defence systems would begin by 2021 and could not be accelerated further, she said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. | 
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