CURRENT AFFAIRS
17 March 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Parliamentary panel flags slow pace of vaccinations.
A parliamentary panel on home affairs observed that till now, less than 1% of the Indian population has been vaccinated and at this rate it will take many years to vaccinate the whole population. The parliamentary standing committee on home affairs, headed by Congress leader Anand Sharma, tabled the report in Rajya Sabha on Monday. The Committee also expresses its concern that a large number of people are missing the second dose of the vaccine. The Committee believes that it is a very serious issue as the virus is mutating and new variants of Covid-19 are being reported in different parts of the world, the report said. The committee recommended that all frontline health workers and corona warriors, including central armed police force (CAPF) personnel and State police receive the recommended doses of vaccine. An attempt should be made to cover maximum people as early as possible, the report said. It added that that vaccination in Lakshadweep can be done for everyone as the population is very small (around 70,000) and the medical facilities are limited. Officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs also told the panel that a special campaign against vaccine hesitancy has been launched. Further, regular reviews are being undertaken with States and UTs for increasing the pace of vaccination drive and advisories have been issued to them on various operational aspects of Covid-19 vaccination, the Ministry said.
B) Census, NPR data to be ready before 2024 polls: MHA.
The provisional data for the latest Census and National Population Register (NPR) will be available before the next general elections in 2024, according to information provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to a parliamentary committee. The MHA informed the committee that Census, updation of NPR, will be among the major thrust areas for the financial year 2021-22. The last Census was conducted in 2011 and NPR, which has a database of 119 crore residents, was last updated in 2015. The first phase of Census-House listing and Housing Census that was to be conducted along with NPR from April 1, 2020, was indefinitely postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The MHA shared a tentative time line with the parliamentary panel, saying that provisional Census results will be released in financial year 2023-24 and the primary Census abstracts (PCA) will provide village-level data on important indicators. A mobile application has been developed for collecting the Census details and NPR and residents can also self-enumerate. The fieldwork for the first phase of Census 2021 that will provide data on housing conditions, household amenities and assets possessed by the households is expected in 2021-22. The fieldwork for population enumeration phase to provide data on demography, religion, SC/ST, language, literacy and education, economic activity, migration and fertility will be done in 2023-24. The committee was informed that the mobile app through which Census will be conducted will be available in 16 languages. MHA said the NPR database has been created by collecting family-wise data and it can be strengthened by linking Aadhaar to each member.
C) P.C. Chacko to formally join NCP.
Former Congress leader P.C. Chacko, who quit the party last week, on Tuesday announced that he will formally join the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) headed by Sharad Pawar. Chacko, who quit the Congress over his differences with the party leaders in Kerala, said NCP is a partner of the CPI (M)-led LDF in the southern state and he would work for the victory of the Left candidates in the April 6 Assembly polls. Announcing his resignation from the Congress last week, Chacko had alleged group interest in deciding party candidates for the coming assembly elections.
D) Swapan Dasgupta resigns from Rajya Sabha.
Rajya Sabha member Swapan Dasgupta on Tuesday resigned from Upper House after questions were raised about him contesting the West Bengal Assembly polls on a BJP ticket despite being a nominated MP. Dasgupta found himself in a tight spot after Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra pointed out that he, a nominated MP, should be disqualified from the Upper House of Parliament. Swapan Dasgupta is BJP candidate for WB polls. 10th Schedule of Constitution says nominated RS member to be disqualified if he joins any political party AFTER expiry of 6 months from oath. He was sworn in April 2016, remains unallied. Must be disqualified NOW for joining BJP, Moitra tweeted on Monday, sharing the specific clause of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution. Dasgupta was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in April 2016 and his term expires in April 2022. Congress chief whip Jairam Ramesh has reportedly written to Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu seeking clarification about the nominated MP contesting Assembly polls in Bengal on a party ticket.
E) Cabinet approves Bill to set up a Development Finance Institution.
The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a Bill to set up a Development Finance Institution (DFI) to generate funds for investment in the infrastructure sector. The proposed legislation will give effect to the Budget announcement made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1. The government has proposed ₹20,000 crore to capitalise the institution. The Cabinet has cleared this Bill, through which we will have an institution and institutional arrangement, which will help in increasing long term funds, she said after the meeting of the Cabinet. The proposed DFI will have 50% non-official directors, Sitharaman added. In her Budget 2019-20 speech, Sitharaman had proposed a study for setting up DFIs for promoting infrastructure funding. About 7,000 projects have been identified under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) with a projected investment of a whopping ₹111 lakh crore during 2020-25.
F) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.
The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,14,10,302 with the death toll at 1,61,464. The Health Ministry has cautioned Maharashtra to plan for a worst-case scenario with sufficient lead time as the State continues to report the maximum number of new daily Covid-19 cases and deaths across India. It has also directed the resumption of death audits to support public health action and minimise mortality. In its communication to the State earlier this week, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that while the available health infrastructure was adequate, Maharashtra needed to look into vaccine hesitancy among front-line workers, as their services would be required if the trajectory follows the upward swing as is being witnessed now. The State should also expedite vaccinating those with co-morbidities and elderlies. After its visit, the Central team has recommended that treating physicians should be re-sensitised on clinical management protocols. The report was submitted after the Central team visited Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon and Aurangabad. Previously, the team had covered the Vidarbha region.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) China to allow Indian travellers only if they take Chinese vaccines.
A number of China’s overseas missions, including its embassy in New Delhi, have announced they will begin facilitating travellers provided they have taken Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccines. Indians have been barred from travelling to China since November last year, when China suspended valid visas and residents permits not just for travellers from India but for most countries, citing Covid-19 concerns. The ban has been a particular concern for many Indian students enrolled in Chinese universities, who have been unable to return to China. There are at least 23,000 Indians studying in China, most in medical colleges. The March 15 announcement will bring little relief for them as Chinese-made vaccines are not available in India. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday China stands ready to advance mutual recognition of vaccines with other countries, but that process is expected to take time. For now, the limited easing of the travel ban will only apply to travellers who have taken Chinese vaccines. Indian students, who account for the fourth-largest segment of international students in China, have faced particular obstacles, the South China Morning Post reported last month, with many of the Chinese apps used for online teaching banned last year, when India restricted more than 200 Chinese apps in the wake of the June border clash in the Galwan Valley. After WeChat was banned and students complained to their colleges, one university, the newspaper reported, began to use the Alibaba-owned DingTalk and Tencent’s Meeting for online classes. Eventually, those apps were banned as well. The larger concern for the students, who will have to pass challenging exams in India after graduation to be able to practice, is their inability to receive laboratory training as they remain unable to return.
B) U.K. turns to Indo-Pacific in post-Brexit foreign policy.
Britain wants to expand its influence among countries in the Indo-Pacific region to try to moderate China’s global dominance, a document laying out post-Brexit foreign and defence policy priorities said on Tuesday. The document sets out a planned increase of Britain’s nuclear warhead stockpile by more than 40% to weigh against evolving global security threats, and underlines the importance of strong ties with the U.S. while naming Russia as the top regional threat. Britain’s biggest foreign and defence policy review since the end of the Cold War sets out how Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to be at the forefront of a reinvigorated, rules-based international order based on cooperation and free trade. Calling the Indo-Pacific increasingly the geopolitical centre of the world, the government highlighted a planned British aircraft carrier deployment to the region. China and the U.K. both benefit from bilateral trade and investment, but China also presents the biggest state-based threat to the U.K.’s economic security, the report said.
