Apprehending law and order problems, the Manipur government suspended mobile internet services for five days across the state from Aug 7 . The state’s home department said some anti-social elements have been fanning communal passions and hate speeches using social media.

The authorities have clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 in Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts for two months, after miscreants torched two vehicles in two separate incidents on Aug 6.

Tension began brewing on  Aug 5 when the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM) imposed an indefinite “economic blockade” along the national highways in the hill districts after rejecting the Manipur (Hill Areas) District Council 6th and 7th Amendment bills introduced by the government in the Assembly on Aug 2.

The ATSUM has been demanding the tabling of Manipur (Hill Areas) Autonomous District Council (Amendment) Bill 2021 in the House to ensure that the hills get greater financial and administrative autonomy and they develop on par with the valley areas.

The ATSUM said the amendment bills introduced by the government cannot fulfil tribal aspirations.

The blockade choked supplies to the non-tribal majority Imphal valley.

Meitei Leepun, a valley-based organisation, had  locked the ATSUM’s Imphal office, after viewing the blockade as being targeted at valley areas. It was reopened later by the police.

The police arrested five leaders of the students’ organisation and charged them with conspiring to impose the blockade. The ATSUM has condemned the state government for its “bias” against the tribals.

There has always been a divide between the hills and the valley in Manipur. During 2002-17, the state witnessed a series of economic blockades when it was ruled by the Congress.

Ahead of the 2017 Manipur elections, the BJP had promised to rid the state of blockades. The issue vanished after the party came to power.

A local court has issued a warrant against Uttar Pradesh minister Sanjay Nishad in connection with a 2015 case.

While Gorakhpur-based lawyer and Nishad Yuva Vahini's national president Sushil Sahini said the warrant was non-bailable in nature, the minister's lawyer noted that the CJM court had issued a bailable warrant and Sanjay Nishad will appear before the court on August 10.

However, the minister's lawyer Surnedra Nishad contended that it was a bailable warrant.  "The warrant issued by the Gorakhpur Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) court is bailable and on August 10, Sanjay Nishad will be present in the court. The case was registered against 37 people in 2015 among which three people have died, and the hearing of Sanjay Nishad is going on in the CJM court. The hearing in the matter should be shifted to an MP/MLA court," the lawyer said.

The Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) party is an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the northern state, and it has six MLAs in the UP Legislative Assembly.

State-run aerospace behemoth Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) is working on an AI-driven multi-role, advanced and long-endurance drone for strategic missions in high-altitude areas including along the frontiers with China.

The rotary-wing drone will have the capability to carry a load of 40 kgs, including missiles and sensors, and it is being developed considering the requirement of the armed forces to keep a strong vigil over the mountainous areas along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The HAL has set a target of conducting the maiden test-flying of the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) by the middle of next year and plans to produce 60 such platforms in the first phase of the project.

The operating system of the long-endurance drone will feature applications of Artificial Intelligence and the armed forces will be able to use it for multiple purposes including transporting essential supplies.

Separately, HAL is also looking at the possibility of producing the Israeli Heron TP drones in collaboration with its manufacturer under an ambitious project.

The medium-altitude Heron drones are capable of operating for nearly 45 hours at an altitude of up to 35,000 feet.

The Heron TP drones are equipped with automatic taxi-takeoff and landing (ATOL) and satellite communication (SATCOM) systems for an extended range.

The HAL is also working on two separate drone projects with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

The three services are planning to acquire a sizeable number of unmanned aerial platforms in the next few years to significantly ramp up their surveillance capability, particularly to monitor Chinese activities along the LAC and Indian Ocean Region.

Each of the three services has drawn up plans for the acquisition of the new-age platforms.

India is also planning to procure around 30 multi-mission armed Predator drones from the US for the three services at an estimated cost of over USD 3 billion.

In November 2020, the Navy got two non-weaponised MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones from the US on lease.

In the first US Navy ship (USNS) Charles Drew reached India on Aug 7  for the first ever repair by an Indian agency. The US Navy Ship arrived at Larsen &Toubro’s Shipyard at Kattupalli, Chennai for undertaking repairs and allied services.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) sees it as adding a new dimension to the burgeoning Indo-US strategic partnership.

Terming it important Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar said, “We are indeed pleased to welcome US Naval Ship USNS Charles Drew to India, for making her voyage ready. India’s initiative also assumes special significance in furthering the strategic partnership between India and the US. It marks the beginning of a new chapter for deeper engagements”.

The US Navy had awarded a contract to L&T’s Shipyard at Kattupalli for undertaking maintenance of the ship.

Dr Ajay Kumar described the arrival of USNS Charles Drew for repairs as a sign of maturing Indian shipbuilding industry.

On a day Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar skipped the NITI Aayog meeting in Delhi for the second time in a row, his party continued to be in a sulk saying it will not join the Union ministry despite a vacancy created by its former member R C P Singh’s resignation from the Cabinet.

JD(U)’s national chief Rajiv Ranjan Singh a.k.a Lalan Singh said his party will stick to its 2019 stand on the issue. He, however, added that the JD(U) will continue to be part of the NDA.

Portugal has reformed its immigration laws to attract foreign workers as it faces a labour shortage in tourism and construction.

The Portuguese president approved the new law on  Aug 5 which provides foreigners seeking employment with a temporary 120-day visa that can be extended by 60 days. The reform will come into force in the next few days.

The move is also designed to make it easier for digital nomads -- those who work online without the need for a fixed business location -- to work from Portugal.

The Iberian country's tourism sector was hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic and requires around 50,000 extra employees, Tourism Minister Rita Marques said.

The change in the law comes after Portugal signed an agreement with Portuguese-speaking nations including Brazil in July 2021 to make it easier for students and workers to move between countries.

The number of foreigners living in Portugal has risen by 40 per cent over the past decade according to the latest census, carried out in 2011.

Colombia’s first leftist president was sworn into office on Aug 7 , promising to fight inequality and bring peace to a country long haunted by bloody feuds between the government, drug traffickers and rebel groups.

Mukesh Ambani for the second year in a row drew no salary from his flagship firm Reliance Industries in the last fiscal as he voluntarily gave up remuneration in light of the pandemic hitting the business and economy.

In its latest annual report, Reliance said Ambani's remuneration for the financial year 2020-21 was "nil".

In June 2020, Mukesh D Ambani, the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, voluntarily decided to forego his salary for the year 2020-21, in light of the COVID-19 outbreak in India, which exacted a huge toll on the societal, economic and industrial health of the nation.

He continued to forgo his salary in 2021-22 as well.

In both these years, Ambani did not avail of any allowances, perquisites, retiral benefits, commission or stock options from Reliance for his role as the Chairman and Managing Director.

Prior to that, the Chairman and Managing Director had his salary capped at Rs 15 crore from 2008-09 in order to set a personal example of moderation in managerial compensation levels.

The Rs 15 crore salary in 2019-20 was the same as in the previous 11 years. Ambani has kept salary, perquisites, allowances and commission together at Rs 15 crore since 2008-09, forgoing over Rs 24 crore per annum.

The remuneration of his cousins Nikhil and Hital Meswani remained unchanged at Rs 24 crore but this time it included a Rs 17.28 crore commission.

Executive Directors PMS Prasad and Pawan Kumar Kapil saw their remuneration fall marginally.

While Prasad drew Rs 11.89 crore in 2021-22, down from Rs 11.99 crore in 2020-21, Kapil got Rs 4.22 crore, lower than Rs 4.24 crore in the previous year.

The payment of Prasad and Kapil included "performance-linked incentives for FY 2020-21 paid in FY 2021-22," the annual report said.

Ambani's wife Nita, a non-executive director on the company's board, earned Rs 5 lakh as a sitting fee and another Rs 2 crore commission for the year.She had in the previous year got Rs 8 lakh sitting fee and another Rs 1.65 crore commission.

Apart from Ambani, the RIL board has the Meswani brothers, Prasad and Kapil as whole-time directors.

Besides Nita Ambani, other non-executive directors include Dipak C Jain, Raghunath A Mashelkar, Adil Zainulbhai, Raminder Singh Gujral, and Shumeet Banerji, former SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya and former CVC KV Chowdary.

While all independent directors got a Rs 2 crore commission, Yasir O Al-Rumayyan, Managing Director and a Board Member of PIF - the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, got Rs 1.40 crore. He was appointed to the board with effect from July 19, 2021