| 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. China detains three bloggers for 'insulting' PLA men who died in Galwan Authorities in China have said they have detained three people for "insulting" Chinese soldiers who died in the Galwan Valley clash last year, a day after Beijing officially confirmed the deaths. Among the arrested was Qiu Ziming (38), an investigative journalist formerly with The Economic Observer. Mr. Qiu was arrested on Saturday in Nanjing, where he lives, after questioning China's official account of the Galwan clash. On Friday, the Chinese military announced honours for five People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers, including four who died and one regimental commander who was injured, in the clash on June 15, 2020, which marked the worst violence on the India-China border since 1967. Twenty Indian soldiers lost their lives in the clash. In messages to his 2.5 million followers on Weibo, the Twitter-equivalent used in China, he suggested the fatalities would have been higher than four because as per the official account, some of the soldiers died coming to the aid of troops in difficulty, who, in his view, would have suffered losses as well. He also questioned why the announcement took eight months, while India had, in contrast, promptly recognised the 20 Indian soldiers who died. India's prompt announcement, he wrote, suggested that "in India's view they won and paid a lesser price". Police in Nanjing posted a message on Saturday saying he was arrested for "releasing false information and smearing the four heroes who died and one who was wounded when dealing with the Indian military's illegal trespassing". Mr. Qiu's social media account was subsequently suspended. His arrest was among the most discussed topics online, receiving 730 million views as of Sunday evening. A second blogger was detained in Beijing on Sunday, for comments made during a group chat on WeChat, the Chinese social media and messaging app. The police in the capital said they had received a report "of a person aged 28, surnamed Chen, publishing insulting comments in a group chat about the PLA soldiers who died when dealing with the Indian military's illegal trespassing in the Galwan Valley." "The comments sparked fury among other members in the group," the Global Times reported, "who later reported his remarks to the police. A third person, identified as a 25-year-old surnamed Yang, was detained in southwestern Sichuan province, in the city of Mianyang, after he was reported by Internet users for posting "smears toward the PLA soldiers, who fought in the China-India border clash." "Under social pressure, Yang confessed to the police the following day, and he was given seven days of detention," according to a statement by police authorities. Two more MLAs quit in Puducherry ahead of floor test Two more MLAs of the Congress-DMK alliance in Puducherry resigned on Sunday, delivering yet another jolt to Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, a day before he is scheduled to face a floor test in the assembly to prove his majority. The resignation by Congress MLA K Lakshminarayanan and DMK legislator Venkatesan further reduced the strength of the ruling alliance to 11, while the opposition has 14 MLAs in the 33-member assembly, which has seven vacancies. Mr. Lakshminarayanan and Mr. Venkatesan submitted their resignation letters separately to Assembly Speaker V P Sivakolundhu at his residence in Puducherry, the both said.  K. Lakshminarayanan. File Speaking to reporters, Lakshminarayanan said, "this government led by Narayanasamy has lost majority." He said he has also resigned from the party membership. Later, Venkatesan told the media that he had quit the post of MLA only and continued to be in the DMK. "... I was not able to meet the needs of the people in my constituency since there was no allocation of funds under the MLA Local Area Development fund," he said. Four Congress MLAs--including ex-ministers A Namassivayam (now in BJP) and Malladi Krishna Rao had quit, while another party legislator was earlier disqualified. Mr. Narayanasamy's confidante A John Kumar had resigned this week. Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, handed over additional charge of Puducherry, had on Thursday directed Narayanasamy to prove majority by ordering a floor test on February 22. Sonia Gandhi likens high fuel prices to extortion Congress president Sonia Gandhi in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused his government of profiteering from people's miseries by called the "excessively" levying excise duty on petroleum products and called it "nothing short of extortion to cover up economic mismanagement". In her three page letter, Ms. Gandhi mentioned that hardships faced by the middle class increased with the price of petrol crossing ₹100 per litre in several parts of India and the surging diesel prices have only added to the problems of the farmers. She asked the government to "focus on solutions instead of looking for excuses as India deserves better".  Congress president Sonia Gandhi. File The Congress chief said that while India was witnessing erosion of jobs, wages and household incomes, problems for the middle class and marginal income groups have compounded by "run away inflation and an unprecedented rise" in price of almost all household items and essential commodities. "Sadly, in these distressing times, the Government has chosen to profiteer off people's misery and suffering," Ms. Gandhi wrote, adding, "Governments are elected to ease the burden of our people and at the very least, not work directly contrary to their interests". "I urge you to roll back these increases and pass on the benefit to our middle and salaried class, our farmers and poor and our fellow citizens. It is they who are battling an unprecedented economic slowdown, widespread unemployment, wage reductions & job losses, high prices and erosion of income," Ms. Gandhi noted. Djokovic wins 9th Australian open title, third in a row Novak Djokovic racked up yet another Australian Open title, making it nine championship wins from nine finals. The Serbian continues to gain ground on Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the Grand Slam standings, now up to 18 overall, two away from the men's record shared by his two rivals. Djokovic wore Medvedev down with a combination of superb serving and his usual relentless returning and baseline supremacy, grabbing 11 of 13 games in one stretch for a third trophy in a row at Melbourne Park. Some statistics from the Associated Press - The 33-year-old from Serbia improved to 18-0 combined in semifinals and finals on the hard courts of the Australian Open.  Serbia's Novak Djokovic parades with the Norman Brookes Challenge Cup after defeating Russia's Daniil Medvedev in the men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne on February 21, 2021. Looking at the bigger picture, Djokovic has won six of the last 10 major tournaments and is assured of remaining at No. 1 in the rankings at least through March 8. That will give him 311 weeks in the top spot, breaking a mark held by Federer. The No. 4-ranked Medvedev was appearing in his second Grand Slam final — he was the runner-up to Nadal at the 2019 U.S. Open — but is still left trying collect his first such championship. Djokovic ended the 25-year-old Russian's 20-match winning streak. Medvedev also had won his previous 12 matches against Top 10 opponents. U.P. Police register FIR against 8 Twitter handles The Unnao police on Sunday lodged an FIR under the charges of provoking rioting against eight Twitter users for spreading "fake" stories about the alleged poisoning of three Dalit girls in Asoha on February 17, which left two dead and one in hospital in critical condition. The police said the Twitter handles had spread false information that the girls had been raped, which was not found in the post-mortem report, and that the last rites of the two girls were done without the consent of their families, which also was denied by the police. An FIR was registered under Section 153 of the IPC and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act against @NilimDutta, @themojostory, @janjagranlive, @SurajKrBaudh, @VijayAmbedkarUP, @Abhaykumarazad97, @Rahuldiwkr and @BhimSenaChief. Unnao SP Anand Kulkarni said further action would be taken in the case and the FIR under the same Sections against Congress leader Udit Raj for a tweet, after the police take legal opinion. He said the tweets could have affected the law and order in the village. Editor of Mojo (@themojostory) Barkha Dutt said in a tweet: "On FIR against us for reporting Unnao murders — We've followed journalistic principles by reporting all sides of an evolving story. To use IPC Sections that are punishable with prison is pure intimidation. I am very ready to fight it and face it in court." Covid watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stands at 1,10,05,310 at the time of publishing this newsletter with the death toll at 1,57,796. The Centre has written to States — Kerala, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and J&K — which are witnessing a daily surge in the number of daily Covid-19 cases directing an increase in proportion of RT-PCR tests while ensuring that those testing negative with Rapid Antigen be retested by RT-PCR. Centre has also asked states to look into strict, comprehensive surveillance and stringent containment to curb the spread of the virus. In its release issued on February 21 the Health Ministry said that more than 74% of the active COVID-19 cases of the country are in Kerala and Maharashtra and that a spike in cases has been seen in some States. "India has been witnessing a rise in the active caseload over the past few days and its total active caseload is pegged at 1,45,634 currently,'' said the Ministry.  People wait in a queue to receive COVID-19 vaccination in Mumbai, Maharashtra on February 20, 2021. It added that in the last four weeks in Kerala the average weekly cases have fluctuated between a high of 42,000 to a low of 34,800 and the weekly positivity here has ranged from 13.9% to 8.9%. In Maharashtra, in the last four weeks, the weekly cases have shown a rising trend and have increased from 18,200 to 21,300 and the areas of concern are the Mumbai Suburban areas where the weekly cases have risen by 19%. Data released by the Ministry said that Punjab too is rapidly assuming a critical dimension with COVID-19 infection registering a positivity rate from 1.4% to 1.6 % in the last four weeks. WHO says no traditional medicine cleared for Covid-19 treatment The World Health Organization (WHO) has in a tweet clarified that it has not certified any traditional medicine for the treatment of COVID-19. The statement comes after recent claims by Patanjali Ayurved on the certification of its product, Coronil, by the global health body. "WHO has not reviewed or certified the effectiveness of any traditional medicine for the treatment COVID-19," the global health body said earlier this week.  Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari (right) and Harsh Vardhan and Patanjali Ayurved's Baba Ramdev (second from right) and Acharya Balkrishna (left) release scientific research papers on Patanjali products at a press conference in New Delhi on February 19, 2021. "Coronil has received the Certificate of Pharmaceutical Product (CoPP) from the Ayush section of Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation as per the WHO certification scheme," a statement issued by Patanjali had said. The Ministry of Ayush had recommended additional therapies, including the Coronil tablet, as a "supporting measure (immune booster) in Covid-19". Patanjali Ayurved had introduced Ayurveda-based Coronil on June 23, 2020. In Brief: The All India Transporters' Welfare Association (AITWA) has demanded abolition of the new E-Way Bill or scrapping of certain rules and has, in support of its demand, decided to support the Bharat Bandh call given by The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on February 26 against the GST. "All State-level transport associations have confirmed their support to the AITWA also in protest against the fuel price hike," said Mahendra Arya, AITWA national president. "We will reject booking and movement of all Bill-oriented goods for one day. All companies have been asked to park their vehicles between 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. as a symbolic protest. Godowns will display protest banners. Customers will be requested not to book or load goods on the day." Evening Wrap will return tomorrow | 
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