Morning Digest | Salman Rushdie stabbed on stage in New York; India tells China to not alter the status quo around Taiwan, and more

Salman Rushdie stabbed in the neck at New York lecture event

Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, was attacked and apparently stabbed in the neck on Friday by a man who rushed the stage as he was about to give a lecture in western New York. A bloodied Mr. Rushdie, 75, was flown to a hospital.

Avoid unilateral action to alter Taiwan status quo, says India

India on August 12, 2022 indirectly called upon China to not alter the “status quo” around Taiwan, and cautioned that the current situation should not lead to any “unilateral action”. Addressing the weekly press briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi refrained from spelling out India’s clear position on the ‘One China’ policy but conveyed the impression that India’s stand on China’s claims over Taiwan is linked to Beijing’s persistent unwillingness to support India’s campaign against Pakistan-based terror elements.

‘Top secret’ documents recovered in raid on Trump home: U. S. court papers

The FBI recovered documents that were labeled “top secret” from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to court papers released Friday after a federal judge unsealed the warrant that authorised the unprecedented search this week.

Social Justice Ministry should process fellowships for disabled, says UGC

While thousands of disabled, Scheduled Castes (SC) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) Phd scholars have not received their national fellowships since April, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has told the Union Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry that it will not continue processing the fellowships, according to letters sent by it.

Banks to face consequence for unacceptable practices of loan recovery agents

In a major relief for bank loan defaulters, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), taking into account certain recent developments including growing incidences of ‘unacceptable practices’ followed by recovery agents (RAs), has issued additional instructions to regulated entities (REs) by extending the scope of the guidelines and limiting the hours for calling borrowers on phone for recovery of overdue loans.

Government to enumerate people who clean sewers

The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MoSJ&E) is now preparing to undertake a nationwide survey to enumerate all people engaged in hazardous cleaning of sewers and septic tanks, an activity that has led to at least 351 deaths since 2017. Drawing a distinction between this work and manual scavenging, the Ministry insisted that the practice of manual scavenging no longer takes place in the country as all manual scavengers had been accounted for and enrolled into the rehabilitation scheme.

Ballon d’Or nominees announced, Lionel Messi misses cut for first time since 2005

Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi was omitted from the 30-man list of nominees for the prestigious award on Friday for the first time since 2005. Robert Lewandowski, Kylian Mbappé, Karim Benzema, Erling Haaland and five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo were all included, as were Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané, Kevin De Bruyne, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.

Inaugural edition of Women’s IPL to be held in March 2023

The much-awaited Women’s IPL will be starting from March 2023 to be held in a one-month window and in all likelihood with five teams, a senior BCCI official confirmed the development on Friday. The BCCI bigwigs have discussed the issue and a March window has been found for the tournament after the Women’s T20 World Cup in South Africa.

China’s President Xi Jinping plans foreign trip including meeting Joe Biden, says Wall Street Journal

Chinese officials are planning a possible trip by President Xi Jinping to Southeast Asia in November for what could be the leader’s first foreign trip since the COVID-19 pandemic and include a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Mr. Biden’s team has long sought and has not yet confirmed an in-person meeting between the two leaders to lower tensions as the two countries spar over Taiwan, trade and a host of other issues.

Iran may accept EU proposal to revive nuclear deal if demands met: Report

A European Union proposal to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal “can be acceptable if it provides assurances” on Tehran’s key demands, the state news agency  IRNA said on August 12, quoting a senior Iranian diplomat. The EU said on August 8 it had put forward a “final” text following four days of indirect talks between U.S. and Iranian officials in Vienna.

In Sri Lanka, Tamil mothers of disappeared mark 2,000 days of struggle 

Hundreds of Tamil mothers on August 12 took out a rally in Sri Lanka’s northern Kilinochchi district to mark 2,000 days of their relentless struggle, seeking truth and justice for their loved ones forcibly disappeared during and after the civil war. Women wearing black sarees and headbands marched in Kilinochchi carrying photographs of their missing relatives. “Where are children who surrendered to the army?”, “Arrest Gotabaya who was involved in a genocide”, “We want justice”, they chanted.