Daily Bulletin: President's Independence Day address, heavy rains in Kerala, Jio's 4G enabled phone sale; here are the day's top stories

Ram Nath Kovind’s Independence Day address: President Ram Nath Kovind will address the nation on Tuesday on the eve of the 72nd Independence Day, a statement issued on Tuesday by the Rashtrapati Bhavan said. The address will be broadcast from 7 pm on the entire national network of the All India Radio (AIR) and telecast on all channels of Doordarshan in Hindi followed by the English version, it said.  The broadcast of the address in Hindi and English will be followed by broadcast in regional channels of Doordarshan, the statement said.

Kerala rains: Rains pounded several parts of Kerala on Wednesday, triggering landslips and compounding the woes of people already reeling under unprecedented floods and downpour which have claimed 39 lives in the last six days, officials said. The Union home ministry’s National Emergency Response Centre (NERC) said in New Delhi that 187 people have lost their lives in Kerala in this year’s monsoon season, with 2,406 villages in 14 districts badly hit by rains and floods, and standing crop in over 26,400 hectres damaged.

Pakistan Independence Day: Pakistan will celebrate its 72nd Independence Day on Tuesday. On Monday, the country released 30 Indian prisoners ahead of occasion. The celebrations will begin with gun salutes in the capital of Islamabad with the nation will paying homage and respect to Mohammed Ali Jinnah — the founder of Pakistan — at his Karachi mausoleum.

Inflation data for July: Wholesale price index (WPI) inflation and trade data for July will be announced on Tuesday. The numbers will be watched closely in the backdrop of retail inflation falling sharply in July. The inflation trajectory will have significant say in deciding the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rate calls ahead.

JioPhone 2: Jio Phone at the Reliance Industries AGM, Jio’s 4G-enabled feature phone will finally go on sale in India on 15 August. The Jio Phone 2 isn’t really the successor to the original Jio Phone model, but simply offers a bit more in terms of features at a slightly higher price tag of Rs 2,999. Customers planning to upgrade to the new Jio Phone 2 will be treated to a bigger 2.4-inch QVGA display and new hardware QWERTY keyboard. The device features 512 MB RAM, 4 GB of internal storage which can be expanded up to 128 GB using microSD card and a 2,000 mAh battery. It supports VoLTE, voWiFi, dual-SIM, FM, BT, Wi-Fi, GPS and NFC. The device runs on KAI OS, comes with a mono speaker, 2 MP rear and front VGA camera.

Kangana Ranaut-Sadhguru row: Kangana Ranaut was in the news recently for her controversial statements on cow vigilantism, lynchings and views in liberalism, while in conversation with Jaggi Vasudev Sadhguru. In a recent post-event interview, Kangana said she stood by her statements and ‘did not mean to normalise lynchings’: “I am the most liberal person I know, but self-proclaimed liberals can’t rattle me by trying to seek attention,” she told Mid Day.