News in Short

• Lebanon's Prime Minister announced his government's resignation, saying a huge explosion that devastated Beirut and triggered public outrage was the result of endemic corruption.
• President Michel Aoun accepted the resignation and asked Mr. Diab's government to stay as a caretaker until a new cabinet is formed, a televised announcement said.
• For many ordinary Lebanese, the explosion was the last straw in a protracted crisis over the collapse of the economy, corruption, waste and dysfunctional governance, and they have taken to the streets demanding root-and-branch change.

• Mount Sinabung on Indonesia’s Sumatra island has erupted, sending a column of volcanic materials as high as 5,000 metres (16,400 feet) into the sky.
• The volcano was dormant for four centuries before exploding in 2010, killing two people. Another eruption in 2014 killed 16 people, while seven died in a 2016 eruption.
• Sinabung is among more than 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, which is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.

• India’s imports from China have risen to $5.6 billion in July, climbing for the second straight month, although imports are still down by 24% from 2019.
• India’s imports from China, its largest trading partner in goods, had fallen to a record low of $3.2 billion both in the months of April and May, coinciding with India’s lockdown on account of the pandemic.
• Imports subsequently rose to $4.8 billion in June and further to $5.6 billion in July, almost back to the pre-lockdown level of $5.8 billion reported in March, driven by Chinese exports of medical supplies.
• Two-way trade is $43.37 billion and continues to be heavily tilted in China’s favour, with India’s exports, which are up 6.7% year-on-year, accounting for $11 billion.

• The BJP-led coalition government in Manipur won the confidence motion moved by Chief Minister N Biren Singh through a voice vote in the monsoon session of the Assembly.
• The one-day session ended with much drama as the opposition Congress opposed the Speaker’s decision to hold a voice vote. Eight of the 24 Congress legislators did not vote, with two MLAs abstaining and six others submitting their resignations to the Speaker.
• Former Congress CM Okram Ibobi Singh had demanded a special session ahead of the Rajya Sabha election in June after BJP ally NPP withdrew support from the N Biren Singh-led government and three BJP MLAs resigned.

• Shah Faesal, who had floated the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement (JKPM) last year, has resigned as its president.
• The JKPM’s executive committee held an online meeting on Monday to discuss the ongoing political developments in the state.
• The JKPM has said it has been unanimously decided to appoint vice president Feroze Peerzada as interim president till formal elections can be held for the post of president.