WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump warned Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday (July 22) not to threaten the United States or face the consequences, hours after Rouhani told Trump that hostile policies towards Teheran could lead to "the mother of all wars".

In a late night Twitter message directed at Rouhani, Trump wrote: "NEVER, EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. WE ARE NO LONGER A COUNTRY THAT WILL STAND FOR YOUR DEMENTED WORDS OF VIOLENCE & DEATH. BE CAUTIOUS!"

Lahore: A Pakistani high court judge on Sunday alleged that the country's powerful ISI spy agency is pressuring the chief justice and other judges to get favourable verdicts in different cases, including against ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

Speaking at the Rawalpindi Bar Association, Islamabad High Court judge Justice Shaukat Siddiqui openly lashed out at the Inter Services Intelligence for "controlling" the judiciary and media.

"Today, the judiciary and media have come in the control of 'bandookwala' (army). Judiciary is not independent. Even the media is getting directions from the military. The media is not speaking the truth because it is under pressure and has its interests," he said

He said, "In different cases, the ISI forms benches of its choice to get desired results. The ISI had asked the chief justice to make sure that Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz should not come out of jail before the 25 July election. It also had asked him not to include me in the bench hearing the appeal of Nawaz Sharif and his daughter in the Avenfield case. The chief justice told ISI that he would make a bench of its choice."

The bench deferred the Sharifs' appeal case after polls. Both Sharif and Maryam are serving ten and seven-year terms, respectively, in Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi in the Avenfield corruption case.

Lewis Hamilton won the 2018 German Grand Prix, a race that Sebastian Vettel should have actually won. Hamilton’s recovery drive from P14 to the top step of the podium is already being hailed as one of his best wins in Formula 1.

In the case of Vettel, the German driver had a typical Vettel-esque race — starting from pole and controlling the race, until he binned it in the barriers under slippery track conditions. Either way, the truth is that both world champion drivers needed team orders to ensure that their teammates didn’t claim victory. But that’s how it works in Formula 1.

In Hamilton’s case, a case of a misjudged pit stop turned out to be a blessing in disguise when the Vettel-induced safety car period ended. Hamilton found himself in the lead, albeit with tyres that were 10 laps older than Valtteri Bottas’ (who was second). At the restart, Bottas attacked Hamilton for the lead, something we haven’t seen the Finnish driver do too often in the past, but was quickly asked by the Mercedes pit wall to ‘maintain position’.

Had Ferrari and Mercedes not used team orders, could a Finnish driver have won the German Grand Prix? Irrespective of who could have won, Formula 1 was robbed of a fight for victory between the fastest four drivers. Again, the idea is not to question the use of team orders, it is legally allowed in the sport, but to hail Hamilton’s win without Bottas’ sacrifice would be unfair.

Hamilton’s 66th career win came at Mercedes’ home race. Like Britain, in Germany too Hamilton had to plot a charge through the field after car issues in Saturday’s qualifying session saw him start in an out-of-position 14th place.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday rolled out the 'Student Police Cadet' (SPC) programme, under which high school students across the country will be taught to become much more responsible citizens.

Speaking at the formal launch at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium, Mr Singh said that the SPC programme, for students of classes 8 and 9, will be implemented across the country with a vision for citizens to respect and follow laws willingly, practice responsible behaviour towards others, demonstrate empathy for weaker sections of society, and participate in tackling community issues.

A sum of Rs. 67 crore had been sanctioned to states for the programme's implementation and each school would get Rs. 50,000 for educational aids, training and contingency for the programme, to be carried out on pilot basis in all states and union territories.

Rajnath Singh said that the venture aims to unlock the potential of India's youth and make them capable of becoming social leaders with global vision guided by humanitarian values. 

1. The council has approved quarterly returns for enterprises with turnover less than Rs 5 crore. It is to be noted that the tax payments will continue on a monthly basis.

2. In a major step, Sanitary Napkins exempted from GST going forward. Earlier, there was a 12% levy on the same.

3. No decision has been taken pertaining sugar cess. However, a report has been submitted for further perusal.

4. Ethanol for Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) will now be taxed at 5% as opposed to 18% previously.

5. Rate on bamboo flooring has been reduced to 12%.

6. GST on consumer electronics – TV (up to 68 cms), Washing Machine, Refrigerator, mixer, juicer, grinder has been slashed from 28% to 18%.

7. 5% GST ceiling on footwear raised from Rs 500 to Rs 1000.

8. GST on all leather items cut from 28% to 18%.

9. Exemption limit for traders in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Himalaya, Sikkim, increased from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh.

10. In case of services, major relief was provided on categories including  agriculture, farming and food processing industry; education, training and skill development and pension, social security and old age support.

11. The exempt services include services by way of artificial insemination of livestock (other than horses), warehousing of minor forest produce, works of installation and commissioning undertaken by DISCOMS/ electricity distribution companies for extending electricity distribution network for agricultural use, among others.

Indian badminton player Lakshaya Sen bagged the gold medal after defeating Indonesia’s top-seeded Kunlavut Vitidsaran in the final match of the Badminton Asia Junior Championship in Jakarta on Sunday.

The 16-year-old thrashed his Indonesian opponent 21-19, 21-18 to win gold for the country at the mega-event after a gap of six years.

Starting the game on a slow note, the Indian shuttler steadily built the momentum and kept his nerves intact to emerge victorious in the match.

As per the expectations, junior world number one Vitidsaran started the first game with some attacking moves and gained the initial lead of two points.

Making a comeback, Sen collected two points in quick succession and soon the two locked horns at the score of 7-7.

A tight contest was witnessed between the two players with no one willing to give away the lead.

Everybody was on their feet when both the players were at the score of 19-19. Ultimately, it was the Indian player who deceived his opponent with a wonderful drop and won the first game.

The second game started on a similar note with both the players battling hard to keep the lead.

After the initial score of 4-4, Indian shuttler took the lead of three points but the Indonesian player made a strong comeback to make it 17-17 on the score table. Sen gained the 18th point at the crucial stage of the match and gave no chance to his opponent, after that.

The Indian shuttler created history by beating the top-seed 21-18 in the second game, thus clinching the championship.

BENGALURU: 

Kerala stands as the best governed state in the country and Karnataka is in the fourth position, said the Public Affairs Index 2018 released by the think tank Public Affairs Centre (PAC) in Bengaluru.

"Kerala has topped the Public Affairs Index (PAI) for 2018 as the best governed state for the third consecutive year since 2016 among large states," said Bengaluru-based PAC at an event in Bengaluru on Saturday evening to release its third annual PAI.

Released annually since 2016, the index examines governance performance in the states through a data-based framework, ranking them on social and economic development they are able to provide.

Founded in 1994 by renowned Indian economist and scholar late Samuel Paul, the think tank works to mobilise a demand for better governance in the country.

Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka and Gujarat followed Kerala among the top five states delivering good governance, according to the report.

Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar ranked the lowest on the PAI, indicating higher social and economic inequalities in the states.

Among smaller states (with population less than two crore), Himachal Pradesh topped the list, followed by Goa, Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura which figured among the top five states with good governance.

Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya were ranked at the bottom of the index among small states.

Science& Technology, Earth Sciences; Environment, Forest & Climate Change Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan unveiled a state-of-the-art Air Quality and Weather Forecast System– SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting)at ChandniChowkin Delhi today. The giant true colour LED display gives out real-time air quality index on 24x7 basis with colour coding alongwith 72-hour advance forecast.

The system, first of its kind in the country, was developed indigenously in record time by Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune and operationalized by India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The minister said based on the Air Quality Index on a particular day, Health advisory and related precaution will be notified to prepare citizens well in advance. Dr. Harsh Vardhan, further added that in addition to monitoring and forecasting of regular air quality and weather parameters, the ChandniChowk air quality station will also measure sun’s UV-Index and will provide measurement of online automatic ultrafine particles PM1 and Mercury, both of which have direct relevance to human health. Based on UVI, skin advisories will be issued on display.

“Our mission model project SAFAR is implemented in four cities of India – Delhi, Pune, Mumbai and Ahmedabad as an operational service. Accordingto a preliminary economic assessment of the benefits of the system, if 5% of people suffering from air-pollution related diseases take advantage of the advisories and precautionsin Delhi alone, it would result in a saving of nearly Rs. 2,500 crores in terms of health-related cost benefit,” said Dr Harsh Vardhan, addressing a large gathering at Town Hall in ChandniChowk.

The system will be an integral part of India’s first Air Quality Early Warning System operational in Delhi and will strengthen the existing air quality network of SAFAR, Central Pollution Control Board and Delhi Pollution Control Committee.

SAFAR will accelerate public awareness and preparedness of air pollution and weather extremes. It will also lead to better understanding of linkages among emissions, weather, pollution and climate. It will monitor all weather parameters like temperature, rainfall, humidity, wind speed and wind direction.

In addition to regular air quality parameters like PM2.5, PM10, Sulfur Dioxide, Ozone, Nitrogen Oxides, Carbon Monoxide, the system will also monitor the existence of Benzene, Toluene and Xylene.

Besides health, SAFAR system would benefit cost savings to several other sectors like agriculture, aviation, infrastructure, disaster management skill, tourism and many others, which directly or indirectly get affected by air quality and weather. 

Indian star footballer Sunil Chhetri has been adjudged the 2017 AIFF Player of the year by the national governing body of football, All India Football Federation. The list of award winners for the previous year was announced at the recently concluded Executive Committee meeting in Mumbai.

The Bengaluru FC striker recently became the second Indian footballer to play 100 international games after legendary footballer Bhaichung Bhutia. The 33-year skipper old recently led the Men in Blue to the inaugural title of Hero Intercontinental Cup held last month.

Kamala Devi, on the other hand, was named the 2017 AIFF Women footballer of the year.

Young Anirudh Thapa, who took the Indian football by storm with his splendid performance in the Intercontinental cup was announced as 2017 AIFF Emerging player of the year. E Panthoi was named as the 2017 AIFF women Emerging player of the year.

AIFF, in its official statement, as released the full list of the 2017 Awards:

– 2017 AIFF Award for Best Grassroots Development Programme: Kerala FA.

– 2017 AIFF Award for long-time contribution to Indian Football: Hero Motocorp.

– 2017 AIFF Award for Best Assistant Referee: Mr. Sumanta Datta (Assam).

– 2017 AIFF Award for Best Referee: Mr. CR Srikrishna.

– 2017 AIFF Emerging Woman Footballer of the Year: Ms. E Panthoi.

– 2017 AIFF Emerging Player of the Year: Mr. Anirudh Thapa.

– 2017 AIFF Woman Footballer of the Year: Ms. Kamala Devi.

– 2017 AIFF Player of the Year: Mr. Sunil Chhetri.

Indian wrestlers bagged two gold medals on the final day to finish the 2018 Asian Junior Championships on a high note on Sunday. In men's freestyle, Deepak Punia emerged champion in the 86 kilogram category while Sachin Rathi won gold in the 74kg freestyle division. Meanwhile Suraj Kokate (61kg) and Mohit (125kg) ended up with bronze medals in their respective categories. Sachin defeated Byambasuren Bat-Erdene of Mongolia in the final. The Mongolian dominated the opening stages and went into the break with a comfortable 5-2 lead.

Byambasuren bolstered his advantage to 9-2 shortly after the resumption with a takedown and a couple of leg holds.

However, the Indian fought back to stage a superb comeback in the final minute to clinch the gold medal.

Later, Deepak defeated Azat Gajyyev of Turkmenistan to win the second gold for India.

Punia dominated right from the start and opened up a formidable 7-0 lead going into the break. He increased his led to 10-0 in the second round to win by technical superiority.

Iran consolidated their position as the superpower of Asian wrestling with two gold medals on the final day. They built up a total haul of eleven medals and took the first place with 189 points. India were second with 173 points while Uzbekistan scored 128 to finish third.