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5 THINGS FIRST Rajnath Singh to virtually inaugurate 43 bridges in border states; Nepal hosts virtual SAARC meet, Jaishankar likely to participate; SC to hear petition against sedition case on journalist Vinod Dua; Bombay HC to hear bail plea of Rhea Chakraborty; IPL: Kings XI Punjab vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

1. The jets are here, where’s the tech? French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, the maker of Rafale jets, and European missile maker MBDA are yet to fulfil their offset obligations of offering high technology to India as part of the deal relating to the procurement of 36 Rafale jets, the Comptroller and Auditor General has said.

In its report tabled in Parliament, the CAG painted a grim picture of the efficacy of India's offset policy, saying it did not find a single case of foreign vendors transferring high technology to the Indian industry.

Under India's offset policy, foreign defence entities are mandated to spend at least 30% of the total contract value in India through procurement of components or setting up of research and development facilities.

The auditor said though the vendors failed to keep up their offset commitments, there was no effective means of penalising them.

The CAG said 48 offset contracts worth Rs 66,427 crore were signed with foreign vendors from 2005 to March 2018, and Rs 19,223 crore worth of offsets should have been discharged by December 2018. But less than 60% (Rs 11,396 crore) was done.

Who’ll clean the toilets? In another report, the national auditor said 75% of government school toilets it audited in 15 states were not hygienic and 30% were not in use for want of running water or cleaning arrangements.

In another report, the national auditor said 75% of government school toilets it audited in 15 states were not hygienic and 30% were not in use for want of running water or cleaning arrangements.

2. A monsoon session like no other The monsoon session of Parliament ended abruptly on Wednesday, eight days ahead of schedule amid opposition protests over the passage of two farm bills earlier this week.

It was a session without Question Hour and possibly one which saw the fewest number of questions asked by the opposition during the passage of bills.

Rajya Sabha rushed through 15 bills in the last two sittings with opposition parties boycotting the proceedings to protest the suspension of eight members for their “unruly” behaviour. That was 60% of all bills passed in the Upper House this session. The discussion and minister’s reply on these bills was over in minutes.

The justification from the RS chairman M Venkaiah Naidu: “If legislative work is not taken up during the boycott by some sections of the House, it may legitimise such a boycott as an effective instrument of blocking legislation”.

The session also saw the first-ever notice of motion for the removal of the deputy chairman by the opposition.

The session began a month late due to the pandemic. The two Houses were supposed to have 18 sittings (of four hours each) but managed only 10 as the “pandemic continues to challenge humankind”. For RS, this was the second shortest of all 69 monsoon sessions and third shortest of all the 252 sessions so far.

While there was a flurry of bills, reports submitted by the national auditor, some last year, were tabled only on the last day. The delay in tabling of bills is not new though. Dig deeper here

3. Shaheen Bagh ‘dadi’, Modi in TIME’s list



Bilkis (in pic), one of the dadis of Shaheen Bagh, who became the face of the anti-CAA protests that went on to trigger massive protests across the country, is among the five Indians to feature on TIME magazine’s list of 'The 100 Most Influential People of 2020'. Journalist and author Rana Ayyub wrote about the 82-year-old:

Bilkis, along with thousands of women who joined her in Shaheen Bagh, a neighborhood in New Delhi, became the symbol of resistance in a nation where the voices of women and minorities were being systematically drowned out by the majoritarian politics of the Modi regime. Bilkis gave hope and strength to activists and student leaders who were being thrown behind bars for standing up for the unpopular truth in a democracy that was sliding into authoritarianism, and inspired peaceful copycat protests across the country.



Also on the list are PM Narendra Modi, Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurrana, Ravindra Gupta, a pioneer in the research of HIV, and Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. Full list here. Courtesy: TIMEBilkis, along with thousands of women who joined her in Shaheen Bagh, a neighborhood in New Delhi, became the symbol of resistance in a nation where the voices of women and minorities were being systematically drowned out by the majoritarian politics of the Modi regime. Bilkis gave hope and strength to activists and student leaders who were being thrown behind bars for standing up for the unpopular truth in a democracy that was sliding into authoritarianism, and inspired peaceful copycat protests across the country.

4. The Delhi Police chargesheet says... Delhi Police’s chargesheet following its contentious probe into the February riots in the capital and the anti-CAA protests that preceded it have, among other things, said the Shaheen Bagh protesters were paid “daily wages” by alleged conspirators and that the women were used for a “secular cover, gender cover and media cover”.

It also said JNU scholar Sharjeel Imam as the “mastermind” of the blockade; Imam and his associates “fuelled the emotions of local residents” by distributing provocative and misleading pamphlets, it said. The Shaheen Bagh sit-in blockade began in mid-December against policies protesters said were against India’s secular ideals. The protests ended over 100 days later in March.

The riots in northeast Delhi began a day after BJP leader Kapil Mishra made a provocative speech addressing a pro-CAA rally on February 23. According to the details in the chargesheet, Mishra told Delhi Police he had gone to the area to “resolve” the situation, and that remarks made by him were only meant to convey his intention of launching a “dharna”.

The chargesheet that names Pinjra Tod activists Devangana Kalita and Natasha Narwal, former DU student Gulfisha, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain, among others, said since the 2019 general election results, “the tone and tenor of the public utterances of the key conspirators of the present case has shown a clear streak of affinity towards violence”.

Also, Delhi state assembly panel told the Supreme Court it summoned Facebook India chief as a witness, without “threat of coercive action”.

Also, Delhi state assembly panel told the Supreme Court it summoned Facebook India chief as a witness, without “threat of coercive action”.

6. And now, NCB summons...



The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Wednesday summoned actors Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, and Rakul Preet Singh to record their statements in connection with the agency’s probe into allegations of drugs linked to Bollywood. Fact: These are the most high-profile names to come up so far in the drugs case lodged in connection to the Sushant Singh Rajput death probe.

While Rakul has been summoned today, Deepika is scheduled to appear tomorrow, and Shraddha and Sara on Saturday.

Deepika: Investigators are looking into the role of the 34-year-old after, reportedly, Jaya Saha's (Sushant's talent manager) phone revealed a WhatsApp chat between one 'D' (Deepika) and 'K' (Deepika’s manager Karishma Prakash) on arranging drugs. Shraddha's name reportedly also figured in the chats retrieved from Saha, who is being questioned as well.

Investigators are looking into the role of the 34-year-old after, reportedly, Jaya Saha's (Sushant's talent manager) phone revealed a WhatsApp chat between one 'D' (Deepika) and 'K' (Deepika’s manager Karishma Prakash) on arranging drugs. Shraddha's name reportedly also figured in the chats retrieved from Saha, who is being questioned as well. The others: According to NCB, actor Rhea Chakraborty had named Sara, Rakul and designer Simone Khambatta during her questioning. Per media reports, Chakraborty, in her statement to the agency, had confessed that she would party with Sara, Shraddha, Rakul and Sushant at the late actor's Lonavala farmhouse. From left: Deepika, Sara, Shraddha, Rakul

8. Rohit, MI dominate KKR again Which batsman has the most IPL runs against a particular team in the IPL? After his scintillating half century against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, that would be Mumbai Indians (MI) skipper Rohit Sharma. Over the last 12 years of the IPL, that's 904 runs, including six fifties and one hundred.

Rohit signalled his intent from the start smashing Sandeep Warrier for a six off the final ball of the first over. And he never let the momentum drop, bringing up his fifty off 39 deliveries in the 11th over. The Man of the Match stayed till the 18th over, blitzing three fours and six sixes in total (the fourth batsmen to hit 200 IPL sixes). KKR found the going tough in their season opener and MI romped to their first-ever IPL win in the UAE.

The scorecard: MI 195/5 (Rohit 80, Mavi 2/32) beat KKR 146/9 (Pattinson 2/25) by 49 runs.

MI 195/5 (Rohit 80, Mavi 2/32) beat KKR 146/9 (Pattinson 2/25) by 49 runs. The stat: MI continued their hoodoo over KKR, winning for the 20th time — an IPL record for most wins by any team against any opponent.

9. Microsoft’s sweet deal with human-like AI Microsoft may be out of contention to acquire TikTok, but it sure has struck some neat deals. The latest: It has “exclusively licensed” the world’s most advanced language generator, i.e artificial intelligence that can write like a human — almost.

The GPT-3 language model developed by Open AI, a research hub founded by Sam Altman, Elon Musk and others, was released in July this year and immediately caused a frenzied discussion — some fascinated by its sophistication and others worried about its implications. And now Microsoft has licensed it, expanding on a partnership that has its Azure be the cloud platform for Open AI.

“The scope of commercial and creative potential that can be unlocked through the GPT-3 model is profound, with genuinely novel capabilities — most of which we haven’t even imagined yet,” said Kevin Scott, Microsoft’s executive VP and chief technology officer.

Earlier this week, Microsoft announced its largest acquisition in the gaming industry, a $7.5 billion purchase of game maker ZeniMax Media to boost its Xbox division.

Oh, here’s a Guardian article that was

Oh, here’s a Guardian article that was written entirely by GPT-3 , based on a pitch by its editors.

Answer to NEWS IN CLUES

International Labour Organization. The economic fallout from the pandemic has wiped out $3.5 trillion of earnings for millions globally, according to the UN’s labour body. It added income from work declined by an estimated 10.7% in the first three-quarters of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. Also, by the mid-year point, global working hours had declined by 17.3% compared to last December — equivalent to nearly 500 million full-time jobs. The economic fallout from the pandemic has wiped out $3.5 trillion of earnings for millions globally, according to the UN’s labour body. It added income from work declined by an estimated 10.7% in the first three-quarters of 2020 compared with the same period in 2019. Also, by the mid-year point, global working hours had declined by 17.3% compared to last December — equivalent to nearly 500 million full-time jobs.

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