Morning Digest: Willing to stand by Afghan people, says India; PM Modi to attend Quad Summit at White House on Sept. 24, and more

India is willing to stand by the Afghan people just as it supported them in the past, said External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. Addressing the UN High Level Meeting on the Humanitarian Situation in Afghanistan, the Minister expressed support for a “central role” for the U.N. in dealing with the crisis.

U.S. President Joe Biden would host the first-ever in-person Quad summit on September 24 which will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia and Japanese premier Yoshihide Suga, the White House announced on Monday, September 13, 2021.

Testifying before a U.S. House of Representatives Committee, Secretary of State Antony Blinken defended the Biden administration’s decision to withdraw U.S troops from Afghanistan after two decades, as well as the actual withdrawal process in the last weeks of August , characterized by chaos and violence focused around Kabul’s airport.

U.S. President Joe Biden will host Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Prime Minsters Yoshihide Suga of Japan and Scott Morrison of Australia at the first-ever Quad leaders summit in Washington DC on September 24, the White House announced on Monday.

The United States is to collaborate with India to work towards installing 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030. “We look forward to partnering with India in bringing finance, technology and other elements needed to achieve it,” said John Kerry, United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, on Monday.

Five years after it cancelled the registration of international non-governmental organisation (NGO) Greenpeace to receive foreign funds, the government has moved to restrict the funding for a group of ten American, Australian and European NGOs dealing with environmental, climate change and child labour issues.

An expert review published in medical journal, The Lancet, has recommended that booster doses for the general population are not appropriate at this stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, weighing in on the global debate that calls for caution in administering booster doses.

The Supreme Court on Monday decided to pass interim orders after the government refused to respond, through a “detailed” affidavit, to allegations that it used Israeli-based Pegasus software to spy on citizens. The government said such an affidavit in the apex court would be too public and compromise national security.

Hinting at the Congress’ road map in Uttar Pradesh, senior party leader Salman Khurshid said on Sunday that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is the face of party for the next year’s Assembly elections and that the party would not forge any alliance.

The Supreme Court on Monday said the government should consider certifying COVID-19 as a reason for death in case of patients who chose to take their own lives. A Bench led by Justice M.R. Shah urged the government, while perusing the new guidelines issued by the Health Ministry which has simplified the process of issuing death certificates for the pandemic patients, to be compassionate.

Twelve days after the last session of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE-Main) was held, results are yet to be declared, forcing the Indian Institutes of Technology to once again postpone registrations for their entrance test JEE Advanced, which were due to begin on Monday. The top 2.5 lakh ranked students from JEE-Main are eligible to write JEE Advanced, which is scheduled to be held on October 3.

The Supreme Court on Monday said the legislature has so far been reluctant to introduce “irretrievable breakdown of marriage” as a ground for divorce because marriage is considered “sacramental” and is supposed to be an “eternal union of two people” under the Hindu law.

India’s retail inflation cooled to 5.3% in August from 5.6% in July, thanks to food price inflation falling to 3.11% from nearly 4% in July and the effect of a high base last August. This marks the second month of marginal moderation in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), keeping retail inflation below the central bank’s upper tolerance threshold of 6% after hitting 6.3% in May and June this year.