Morning Digest | Quad is here to stay, says PM Modi at Leaders’ Summit; Centre notifies appointments of Chief Justices in eight High Courts, and more

The Hindu Morning Digest gives a select list of stories to start the day. Read the top news today on September 22, 2024

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the Quad is not against anyone, but for a rules-based international order and respect for sovereignty. "Our message is clear - Quad is here to stay, to assist, to partner and to complement," Mr. Modi said in his opening remarks at the summit hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden and also attended by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met U.S President Joe Biden for bilateral talks at the President’s house in Wilmington, Delaware, U.S. The meeting took place shortly after the Prime Minister arrived in the city for a summit-level meeting of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) with President Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Mr. Biden, who is the final months of his presidency, hosted the leaders at his home, keen to emphasise the connections with his counterparts that has fuelled his diplomacy. The White House pool and Indian traveling press did not have access to this “personal meeting“ as the White House described the bilateral talks.

Buoyed by the peaceful ongoing election in Jammu and Kashmi, and a higher voter turnout of 61% in the first phase of polling, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has invited a group of senior diplomats, mainly from the American, European and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) embassies, to visit Kashmir “for a first-hand account of the ongoing election process in J&K”, sources told The Hindu.

Centre notifies the appointments of Chief justices in eight High Courts

The Centre notified the appointment of Chief Justices in eight High Courts. These includes the High Courts of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Madras (Tamil Nadu) and Jharkhand. The appointments came after the Supreme Court Collegium on Tuesday (September 17, 2024) amended some of its July 11, 2024 recommendations.

Rahul Gandhi defends his comments on Sikhs, accuses BJP of spreading lies to silence him from speaking the truth

Breaking his silence on the controversy over his statements in the U.S., Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi accused the BJP of spreading lies and accused the ruling party of trying to silence him from speaking the truth. In a post on X, Mr. Gandhi shared a video clip, which runs for one minute and 50 seconds, and asked Sikhs whether there was anything wrong in what he had said and if India should not be a country where every Indian could practise their religion without fear.