| 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. FCRA clearance of four Christian groups suspended Of the six NGOs whose license under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) was suspended by the Union Home Ministry this year, four are Christian associations, exclusive reporting by The Hindu reveals. An FCRA licence is mandatory for a non-profit organisation to receive foreign funds. At least two U.S.-based Christian donors are also under the Ministry's scanner for funding NGOs and groups here, a senior government official said. "Concerns have been raised regarding the impact of U.S.-based evangelical donors including Seventh Day Adventist Church and Baptist Church in regard to Indian associations; a probe is on," the official said. The four Christian groups whose FCRA was suspended are Ecreosoculis North Western Gossner Evangelical in Jharkhand, the Evangelical Churches Association (ECA) in Manipur, Northern Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jharkhand and New Life Fellowship Association (NLFA) in Mumbai. The reasons for the suspension or violation was not specified. The Bajrang Dal, the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), had obstructed prayer meetings organised by the NLFA in Mumbai in April and September last year. The Hindu religious group alleged that the meeting was a pretext for religious conversion and later submitted a complaint to the police. "Self-righteous ego a must for any truth loving person": Prashant Bhushan interview  Prashant Bhushan addresses a press conference in New Delhi on August 31, 2020. In an interview with The Hindu published today, noted civil rights lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who was punished by The Supreme Court for criminal contempt and made to pay a ₹1 fine, speaks about the criticism he received from the court for refusing to apologise. Though the court blamed his 'admance and ego' Mr Bhushan has a different take: "One should at least have some self-righteous ego. Not in the sense that you refuse to apologise even when judges reason with you to apologise. Self-righteous ego in the sense that nobody can force you to apologise if there is no reason to do so. If you have not said anything wrong and if you fully believe in what you have said, then your ego should be such, your self-righteousness should be such that you don't cave in just because they are offering you an easy way out. You cannot cave in saying something that is against your conscience and belief," he said. Read the full interview here. Kesavananda Bharati, petitioner who saved democracy, dies
Kesavananda Bharati Swamiji, whose name is synonymous with the historic Fundamental Rights case which prevented the nation from slipping into a totalitarian regime, died today at the age of 80. Though the judgment is a landmark in Indian legal history, the Swamiji did not win any relief in the case. The amendments in the Kerala land reforms law which he had challenged were upheld by the Supreme Court in 1973.  It was senior advocate Nani Palkhivala, representing Swamiji, who extended the ambit of the case. Mr. Palkhivala saw an opportunity through Swamiji's case to challenge a series of constitutional amendments introduced by the Indira Gandhi government granting unlimited power to Parliament to alter the Constitution. We link here to the judgement in that case and you can read the rest of our profile on him here. IPL schedule released Ending days of anxious wait, the BCCI on Sunday released the schedule for the upcoming IPL, and in keeping with tradition, defending champions Mumbai Indians will take on runners-up Chennai Super Kings in the opener in Abu Dhabi on September 19. The Press Trust of India reports that the upcoming edition of the world's biggest T20 league will be held in the three venues of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah in the UAE. After the tournament-opener in the capital city, Dubai will host its first game the next day when Delhi Capitals take on Kings XI Punjab followed by the third match on Monday between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore. The action will then shift to Sharjah on September 22 when Rajasthan Royals will host Chennai Super Kings. Full refund a must for flights booked during lockdown, DGCA tells SC Passengers must be paid full refund for air tickets booked from 25march to 3 May, during the coronavirus lockdown, the Director-General of Civil Aviation told the Supreme Court on Saturday adding that if the airlines are unable to pay fliers will get a credit shell up to March 31 next year. This applies to domestic and international tickets booked between March 25 and May 3 this year and will have to be refunded immediately. The DGCA statement comes after the top court asked the centre's views on a PIL seeking full refund of booked air tickets during the lockdown. The centre also said the passenger can use the credit on any route of choice and should also be able to transfer it to anyone. "The passenger can transfer the credit shell to any person, and the airlines shall honour such a transfer. The airlines shall devise a mechanism to facilitate such a transfer. By the end of March 2021, the Airlines shall refund cash to the holder of the credit shell," the DGCA told the Supreme Court. U.K. Police launch investigation after Birmingham stabbing One man was killed and two people were critically injured during a "random" stabbing attack lasting several hours in Britain's second city of Birmingham, police said on Sunday. Detectives said they were hunting one suspect after being called to reports of stabbings at four separate locations in the city centre, according to reporting by the Associated Press, but they ruled out hate crime, gang violence and terrorism. "It does appear to be random in terms of the people that were attacked," said Chief Superintendent Steve Graham of West Midlands Police, adding that it was being treated as homicide. The latest incident comes amid concern about levels of knife crime in Britain, particularly in the capital, London. NCB questions Rhea Chakraborty for six hours The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) today questioned Rhea Chakraborty for six hours as part of the probe into the drug angle in actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death case. She has been summoned again on Monday. It is not yet clear if she was confronted with some other suspects. In the same case, the Mumbai zonal unit of the NCB on Sunday conducted another raid, resulting in the seizure of 590 gm of hashish, 0.64 gm of LSD sheets (commercial quantity), 304 gm of marijuana and capsules, besides over ₹1.85 lakh in cash and 5,000 Indonesian Rupiah.  Bollywood actor Rhea Chakraborty leaves the Narcotics Control Bureau office in Mumbai on September 6, 2020. "One person, Anuj Keshwani, from whose possession the drugs were seized, is being examined. His name was revealed during Kaizan Ibrahim's interrogation," said an NCB official. On Saturday, the agency had arrested Dipesh Sawant, who worked as a housekeeper for Sushant. He was produced in a court that sent him to the NCB custody till September 9. Covid watch — Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stands at 41,94,658 at the time of publishing this newsletter with the death toll at 71,656. India has reported another record rise of 90,632 cases in the last 24 hours In Brief: A covert operation that spanned Kerala and Karnataka resulted in the seizure of 500 kg of marijuana from a container lorry at Attingal in the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram early on Sunday. The State Excise Enforcement Squad (SEES) has arrested a Jharkhand resident in connection with the drug bust. Law enforcers claimed the drug haul was the single biggest seizure of ganja in Kerala in recent times. | 
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