| 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. Reforms the need of the hour, says PM Modi in address to UN General Assembly Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said reform of the United Nations is the need of the hour. "For how long will India be kept out of the decision-making structures of UN," he asked. Modi also raised questions about the UN's response in combating the Covid-19 pandemic, and assured the global community that India will use its production and delivery capacity to help all humanity in fighting the deadly disease. "Over the last 8 to 9 months, the whole world has been battling the pandemic of the coronavirus. Where is the United Nations in this joint fight against the pandemic? Where is its effective response?" Modi said as he asserted that reform in the responses, in the processes, and in the very character of the UN is the need of the hour. In his pre-recorded video statement to the landmark General Debate of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, Modi said that even during these difficult times of the pandemic, India's pharmaceutical industry has sent essential medicines to over 150 countries. The Prime Minister's remarks questioning the UN's effectiveness in combating the pandemic came amidst strident criticism of the World Health Organisation (WHO) by U.S. President Donald Trump, who this week alleged that the top world health body was virtually controlled by China. Modi told the 193-member UN General Assembly that in India and the neighbourhood, "we are moving ahead with phase 3 clinical trials". He further assured that India will also help all the countries in enhancing their cold chain and storage capacities for the delivery of the vaccines. This year's high-level UN General Assembly is being held in a largely virtual format as world leaders did not travel to New York for the annual gathering due to the coronavirus pandemic. Modi holds talks with Rajapaksa, pitches for devolution of powers to minority Tamils India on Saturday pitched for devolution of powers by the Sri Lankan government to the minority Tamils in the island. The issue figured prominently in a virtual bilateral summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa. In the talks, Modi emphasised the need to fully implement the 13th amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, saying it is essential for the peace and reconciliation process. The 13th amendment provides for devolution of powers to the Tamil community in the neighbouring country. India has been pressing Sri Lanka to implement the 13th amendment, which was brought in after the Indo-Sri Lankan agreement of 1987 that envisaged devolution of powers to the Tamils.  Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa virtually meet for the India-Sri Lanka Virtual Bilateral Summit on September 26, 2020. Photo: Twitter/@MEAIndia via PTI The two leaders also deliberated on a range of key issues, including ways to deepen defence and security ties, as well as trade and investment cooperation. "The outcomes of the summit are substantial, forward-looking and will help in setting an ambitious agenda to deepen ties," Joint Secretary in the Indian Ocean division in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Amit Narang said at a media briefing. In the talks, Modi also announced a grant assistance of $15 million for promotion of Buddhist ties with Sri Lanka. Renowned economist Isher Judge Ahluwalia dies aged 74 Dr. Isher Judge Ahluwalia, a renowned economist and Padma Bhushan awardee, who had worked extensively on issues related to urbanisation and education, passed away on Saturday in the national capital. Fondly known as Isher by her colleagues and friends, the 74-year old, who was married to former Deputy Chairperson of the erstwhile Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, was battling cancer over the past ten months. Her demise comes little over a month after she stepped down from the chairpersonship of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), which she is credited with transforming into a research institution to reckon with. Dr. Ahluwalia was ICRIER's chairperson for a period of 15 years till she resigned citing her declining health. Prior to that, she had been the director and Chief Executive of the think tank since 1998. Awarded the Padma Bhushan by the President of India in 2009 for her services in the field of education and literature, Dr. Ahluwalia had also led a high-level expert group on urban infrastructure and services for the Centre. Nadda announces new team of BJP's national office-bearers BJP president J.P. Nadda on Saturday announced a new team of party's national office-bearers. The list of eight general secretaries -- a crucial position in the party's organisation as they are the link between state and central leadership -- has five new faces, with Bhupender Yadav, Arun Singh and Kailash Vijayvargiya being retained. However, Ram Madhav, P Muralidhar Rao, Saroj Pandey and Anil Jain have been replaced with new faces. Dushyant Kumar Gautam, D Purandareshwari, C T Ravi, Tarun Chugh and Dilip Saikia are the new choices as general secretaries. Party MP Tejasvi Surya has been made the president of the youth wing in place of Poonam Mahajan. The party has also expanded its list of spokespersons to 23, with MP Anil Baluni being elevated as the chief spokesperson while remaining its media head. NCB questions Deepika Padukone for over five hours Actor Deepika Padukone was on Saturday questioned in Mumbai for over five hours by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) probing the alleged Bollywood-drug nexus linked to film star Sushant Singh Rajput's death case, an official said. Padukone was confronted with her manager Karishma Prakash during questioning, sources said. Prakash's WhatsApp chats, including purported conversations about drugs with one 'D', are on the radar of the anti-drugs agency. Padukone, who reached the NCB guest house in Colaba in south Mumbai around 9.50 am, left around 3:50 pm.  Actor Deepika Padukone arrives at NCB guest house in Mumbai for an enquiry. The NCB is also questioning actors Shraddha Kapoor and Sara Ali Khan at its office separately in connection with the alleged drug nexus. The federal agency had arrested actor Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik, and some suspected drug peddlers, earlier. Apparently, the names of Deepika and Shraddha were mentioned in WhatsApp chats on the phone of Rajput's talent manager Jaya Saha. Meanwhile, Rajput's family have criticised the direction the probe has taken, stating that "the NCB probe too going in the same direction like Mumbai Police probe... calling big names for questioning just to get attention." In general, the NCB's mandate is to probe drug cartels, smugglers and suppliers rather go after individual consumers. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 59,80,040 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 94,448. The coronavirus vaccine in India would likely retail between $2-3 (₹140-210), a highly placed official told The Hindu on condition of anonymity. He also said that those unable to afford the vaccine will get it for free, and the government is considering a large immunisation programme to make the vaccine widely available.  On Saturday, Adar Poonawalla, CEO, Serum Institute of India (SII), tweeted that the expenses involved in delivering the vaccine could cost the government ₹ 80,000 crore, which roughly works out to ₹600 per person for 130 crore Indians. "Quick question; will the government of India have 80,000 crores available, over the next one year? Because that's what @MoHFW_INDIA needs, to buy and distribute the vaccine to everyone in India. This is the next concerning challenge we need to tackle," he tweeted. In Brief: The Union Ministry of Education, in an affidavit in the Supreme Court, has pushed for "mother tongue" as the medium of instruction in schools, saying that it is the objective of the National Education Policy to promote "multilingualism" and use of "home language" as a mode of instruction. This would bridge the gap between the intelligentsia and the masses, it claimed. The affidavit was filed in an appeal filed by the Andhra Pradesh government against a high court decision which had struck down its order to make English a mandatory medium of instruction in government schools. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. | 
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