Daily Bulletin: Sushma Swaraj's last rites to be held in Delhi's Lodhi crematorium at 3 pm today; Narendra Modi likely to address nation on Article 370; day's top stories

Sushma Swaraj passes away at 67 in Delhi; last rites to be held at Lodhi crematorium Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj passed away late on Tuesday in Delhi  after suffering a cardiac arrest. The illustrious BJP leader, who brought a rare empathy and a human approach to India’s diplomacy, was admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) around 9.30 pm in a critical condition earlier on Tuesday. According to hospital sources, Swaraj was taken straight away to the emergency ward where a team of doctors attended to her but, could not revive her. “She suffered a massive cardiac arrest. She was brought to AIIMS around 9.30 pm but doctors could not revive her,” a source said. [caption id=“attachment_5278281” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who passed away on Tuesday. AP[/caption] The 67-year-old leader, who had served her fourth term in Lok Sabha had long been her party’s most prominent face. The sudden demise of Swaraj triggered a wave of shock and grief with leaders cutting across political spectrum paying tributes to the astute leader. “A glorious chapter in Indian politics comes to an end. India grieves the demise of a remarkable leader who devoted her life to public service and bettering lives of the poor. Sushma Swaraj Ji was one of her kind, who was a source of inspiration for crores of people,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted. Just hours earlier, Swaraj had tweeted to congratulate Modi after the Centre’s move to revoke special status for Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate the border state into two Union Territories.  “Narendra Modi ji - Thank you prime minister. Thank you very much. I was waiting to see this day in my lifetime,” she had said. The mortal remains of Swaraj was taken from AIIMS to to her Delhi residence, where it will be kept till 11 am. Then from 12 pm to 3 pm, “her remains will be kept at the BJP headquarters for party workers and leaders to pay tributes,” BJP working president JP Nadda said. Her last rites will be performed at the Lodhi crematorium. Narendra Modi likely to address nation to explain Centre’s Kashmir move on Article 370 Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to address the nation on Wednesday to explain his government’s landmark move to redefine and reorganize the state of Jammu and Kashmir after Parliament gave its approval earlier this week. Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday introduced a proposal in Rajya Sabha revoking Article 370, that accords special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and dividing the state into two union territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. On Tuesday, Modi hailed the passage of bills on Jammu and Kashmir in Parliament as a “momentous occasion” in parliamentary democracy and said a new dawn awaits the people there as they are now free from the “shackles” of vested interest groups. Modi said the passage of key bills pertaining to Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh is a fitting tribute to Sardar Patel, who worked for India’s unity, to BR Ambedkar, whose views are well known, and Dr SP Mookerjee, who devoted his life for India’s unity and integrity. “Together we are, together we shall rise and together we will fulfil the dreams of 130 crore Indians! A momentous occasion in our parliamentary democracy, where landmark bills pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir have been passed with overwhelming support!” Modi said in a series of tweets soon after the Lok Sabha passed the bills. Unnao rape case: Arguments on charges against key accused Kuldeep Singh Sengar to begin A Delhi court Monday directed that expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar, accused of raping a minor girl at his residence in Unnao in 2017, be shifted to Tihar jail from the Sitapur prison in Uttar Pradesh, and decided to hear arguments on framing of rape and other charges against him and others on Wednesday. Armed with the Supreme Court’s directive to hear the Unnao cases on day-to-day basis, district judge Dharmesh Sharma put up the rape case for 7 August and asked the lawyers to be ready to advance arguments on framing of charges against the lawmaker and other co-accused. Meanwhile, the Unnao rape survivor was admitted to the AIIMS Trauma Centre in Delhi on Monday night after being airlifted from King George Hospital at Lucknow following Supreme Court’s direction to the Uttar Pradesh government to transfer her to Delhi. The woman, allegedly raped by Sengar in 2017 when she was a minor, is battling for her life after a truck rammed into the car she was travelling in with some family members and her lawyer in Rae Bareli. Two of her aunts died in the accident on 28 July. Sengar and nine others were also booked for murder by the CBI in the accident case. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial acquires significant stakes in Indian firms Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) has acquired significant stakes in several Indian firms, including Dr Reddy’s, Tech Mahindra Tata Global Beverages, Godrej Consumer, Marico and Cyient through acquisition of entities that hold shares of the companies. The acquisitions of indirect stakes in different companies follow MUFG’s acquisition of First State Investments (UK), First State Investments (Singapore) Colonial First State Asset Management (Australia), First State Investments Ltd, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Coporation and Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management on 2 August. These entities held stakes in the said companies, according to separate regulatory filings. Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) said following the transaction, MUFG has an aggregated interest of 5.47 percent. Similarly, Marico Ltd said MUFG’s stake in it has gone up to 6.47 percent from 0.02 percent earlier. Pharma major Dr Reddy’s said MUFG has acquired an indirect interest amounting to 8.41 percent, up from 0.05 per cent stake earlier. India register T20I series whitewash against West Indies India picked up their sixth straight T20I win against West Indies to thump them 3-0 in the shortest format. In the dead rubber in Guyana, India registered a 7 wicket win by chasing down 147 with ease. Deepak Chahar emerged as the Man of the Match with figures of 3/4. Kieron Pollard’s 58 from 45 balls gave Windies some breathing room. In the chase, Virat Kohli scored 59 and Rishabh Pant remained unbeaten on 65 to seal the deal. Krunal Pandya was picked as the Man of the Series. The action now moves on to the ODIs starting on 8 August. Apple will reportedly discontinue the 15-inch MacBook Pro There have been several reports about Apple’s plans for launching a 16-inch MacBook Pro. Although production of the new MacBook is rumoured to start in September for a September release, it’s currently being reported that the 15-inch model could be replaced by the newer one. The updated 16-inch model is said to use the same 9th Gen Intel Coffee Lake-H processors that are currently being used on the refreshed lineup of the 15-inch models. Taika Waititi to receive TIFF Ebert Director Award Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi is set to receive the Ebert Director Award at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival. The director will also screen his anti-hate satire Jojo Rabbit at the festival. The award, which honours a filmmaker for their outstanding contribution to cinema, will be handed to Waititi during the TIFF Tribute Gala awards event on 9 September.