NATIONAL NEWS
A) Supreme Court asks U.P. to reconsider plan to hold Kanwar Yatra
The Supreme Court on July 16 disagreed with the Uttar Pradesh government’s proposal to conduct a symbolic Kanwar Yatra amid the pandemic for compelling religious reasons, saying the fundamental rights of citizens across faiths and their right to life trumped religious sentiments. A Bench of Justices Rohinton F. Nariman and B.R. Gavai gave Uttar Pradesh time till July 19 to rethink their proposal and file an affidavit. If the State did not change its plans, Justice Nariman said the court will deliver whatever we have to deliver on July 19. We are of the prima facie view that this is a matter that concerns everyone of us as citizens of India and goes to the very heart of Article 21 (right to life), which has the pride of place in the Fundamental Rights Chapter of the Indian Constitution. Health of the citizenry of India and the right to life are paramount. All other sentiments, albeit religious, are subservient to this basic fundamental right, Justice Nariman dictated in the order. The hearing began with Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitting that the State must not permit movement. The top law officer explained the logistics of the yatra, its destination and what participants do, including that they collect Ganga jal (water) from Haridwar and perform abhishek at various Shiva temples. An affidavit was filed by the Centre late in the Supreme Court. After speed-reading the affidavit, Justice Nariman announced peremptorily, State of Uttar Pradesh cannot go on with this, 100%. The Bench refused to permit a physical yatra. Senior advocate C.S. Vaidyanathan, for Uttar Pradesh, intervened saying, We only want a symbolic yatra. Past experience shows that a total ban would be inappropriate, the senior lawyer submitted for Uttar Pradesh. Vaidyanathan then proceeded to read out from Uttar Pradesh’s affidavit, explaining that its decision to hold the yatra was reached after considering the faith and religious sentiments and after consultations with the disaster management authorities. He explained the yatra would be held with a minimum number of people maintaining social distancing. The holy Ganga jal would be made available for abhishek at the nearest Shiva temples, he submitted.
B) Over 86% of breakthrough infections caused by Delta variant: ICMR
A majority over 86% of the breakthrough infections after Covid-19 vaccination have been caused by the Delta variant, with hospitalisation of 9.8% of such cases and fatality observed in 0.4% of cases, according to the results of a nationwide study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on breakthrough Covid-19 infection. A breakthrough infection is a case of illness in which a vaccinated individual becomes sick from the same illness that the vaccine is meant to prevent. For the study, Clinical characterisation and Genomic analysis of COVID-19 breakthrough infections during second wave in different States of India’’, ICMR collected 677 clinical samples of individuals who have been partially or fully vaccinated but contracted the infection. The samples were collected from 17 States and Union Territories, including Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Manipur, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh. The study found that a total of 482 cases (71%) were symptomatic with one or more symptoms, while 29% had asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. Fever (69%) was the most consistent presentation followed by body ache, including headache and nausea (56%), cough (45%), sore throat (37%), loss of smell and taste (22%), diarrhoea (6%), breathlessness (6%) and 1% had ocular irritation and redness, it noted. The southern, western, eastern and north-western regions predominantly reported breakthrough infection mainly from Delta and then the Kappa variant. Alpha was predominant behind reinfection in the northern region, it stated. Though this was not a study on the effect of the vaccines, it had been noted that among the 677 patients, 604 received Covishield, 71 Covaxin and two got China’s Sinopharm.
C) Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui killed in Afghanistan’s Kandahar province
Noted Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed during a Thursday night clash between the Afghan special forces and Taliban attackers. Tolo News, a leading news channel of Kabul, reported that Siddiqui, working for Reuters news agency, was covering the clashes between the two sides in Kandahar over the last few days and he died in Spin Boldak district, which has a contentious international border crossing between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, in a condolence message, expressed solidarity with the media, saying his government was committed to upholding freedom of expression. I am deeply saddened with the shocking reports that Reuters Photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was killed while covering the Taliban atrocities in Kandahar, he said. Reuters has reported that Siddiqui was in the main market of Spin Boldak when he was caught in a crossfire. Tolo News has reported that a senior commander of the Afghan special forces, Sediq Karzai, too was killed in the incident. The Indian journalist was embedded with Afghan security forces. Danish Siddiqui was travelling in an armoured Humvee with Afghan soldiers and he had shared videos over the past few days that showed the vehicle coming under attack on several occasions. In his last report filed on July 13 from Kandahar under highly difficult circumstances, Siddiqui had recorded the experience of Afghan commandos who conducted a raid to save a kidnapped policeman. Siddiqui was known for his compassionate photographic coverage of current developments in South Asia. In recent years, his photographs of the Rohingya refugees who were displaced by the Myanmar military from the Rakhine province, drew global attention to the plight of the displaced community that is currently living in camps in Bangladesh. The photographs of the Rohinyga refugees was recognised with a Pulitzer Prize. Earlier this year, he used innovative methods like drones to capture the scale of the second wave of Covid-19 in India. His photographs that showed funeral pyres burning in open spaces drew global attention to the tragedy that India faced during March-May 2021.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) 10,000 ‘jihadi’ fighters have crossed into Afghanistan from Pak., says Ashraf Ghani
Pakistan has not severed its relationship with terror groups, said Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani in a pointed charge at the neighbouring country as Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan sat a few feet away on stage at the Central and South Asia connectivity conference held in Tashkent on Friday. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, who also attended the conference, referred to the problems with transit trade in his speech alluding to Pakistan. He said economic development and prosperity go hand in hand with peace and security. In a hard-hitting speech, Ghani said more than 10,000 ‘jihadi’ fighters have entered Afghanistan in the last month, according to intelligence reports, while the Pakistan government had failed to convince the Taliban to participate seriously in the peace talks. Contrary to repeated assurances by Prime Minister Khan and his Generals that Pakistan does not find a Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in Pakistan’s interest and short of use of force will use its power and influence to make the Taliban negotiate seriously, networks and organizations supporting the Taliban are openly celebrating the destruction of the assets and capabilities of the Afghan people and State, Ghani said at the inaugural ceremony of the conference, as he listed the challenges and threats to regional connectivity. Responding to the charges a few minutes later, Khan said he was disappointed by the allegation that Pakistan had a negative role in the conflict. President Ghani, the country that is going to be most affected by turmoil in Afghanistan is Pakistan. Pakistan suffered 70,000 casualties in the last 15 years. The last thing Pakistan wants is more conflict, Khan said, addressing the Afghan President directly. I can assure you that no country has tried harder to get Taliban on the dialogue table than Pakistan. Khan said that apart from the violence in Afghanistan, outstanding disputes like Kashmir between regional players like India and Pakistan was the other big challenge to regional connectivity, and in comments to the media later, he blamed the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) for creating hurdles to India-Pakistan dialogue.
B) Eric Garcetti to be the Ambassador to India from U.S.
More than a month after the United States announced the donation of 80 million doses of American-made COVID vaccines to dozens of countries including India, and Vice-President Kamala Harris called Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convey the decision, the vaccines are being held up by regulatory issues over indemnity, Indian and U.S. officials told. President Joe Biden has nominated Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to the post of Ambassador to India. Mr. Garcetti’s nomination, which had been expected for weeks, was announced by the White House as part of a set of ambassadorial nominations. The Biden administration reacted to the death of Father Stan Swamy in custody in India and called on all governments to respect the role of human rights activists, saying it was saddened by his death.
C) Navjot Singh Sidhu meets Sonia Gandhi as Punjab Congress crisis escalates
Former Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Friday met Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her residence, 10 Janpath, after the infighting in the State Congress intensified following reports that he will be made the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief. All India Congress Committee (AICC) in charge of Punjab Harish Rawat, who was part of the meeting along with former party chief Rahul Gandhi, told reporters that Gandhi was yet to take a call on the proposed changes to revamp the PCC. After the hour-long meeting, Sidhu avoided speaking to the media but Rawat did. I had come here to submit my report on Punjab to the Congress chief and as soon as a decision is taken by the party president, I will come and share it with you, he said. Asked if Sidhu would be made PCC chief, he said, Who says this. On Thursday, however, Rawat, in response to the same question (whether Sidhu would be the new PCC chief), observed that a formula was being worked around it. What one puts as breaking news, it is their own interpretation. I don’t interfere in their area. And secondly, until the Congress president has cleared it, I don’t know what is on her mind and her last decision, he stated.
The leadership is desperate to broker peace between Chief Minister Captain (Retd.) Amarinder Singh and Sidhu before the State goes to the polls early next year. The crisis in the State Congress is said to have escalated on Thursday after Rawat hinted that Sidhu could be elevated as the PCC chief, with two working presidents, one from a Hindu community and the other a Dalit.
The suggestion, however, did not go do well with Captain Amarinder Singh’s camp. He is said to have reiterated his view that both the party and the government cannot be headed by Jat Sikhs (both him and Sidhu) and the party organisation should be headed by a Hindu leader.
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath, who met Gandhi on Thursday, is learnt to have batted for the Chief Minister. While Capt. Singh met his loyalists at his farmhouse on Thursday, Sidhu met a group of MLAs, including dissident Ministers.
D) SBI-led consortium realises ₹792.11 cr. by sale of Kingfisher Airlines’ shares in Mallya case
The State Bank of India-led consortium on Friday realised ₹792.11 crore by sale of shares in the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines in the Vijay Mallya case. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had handed over the shares to the consortium. In the cases involving Mallya, diamond merchant Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, the ED has so far transferred assets worth ₹12,762.25 crore to public sector banks. The accused persons have caused a total loss of ₹22,585.83 crore to them.
As on date, assets worth 58% of the total loss have been returned to the banks or confiscated in favour of the Central government. The ED has attached or seized assets worth ₹18,217.27 crore in these cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
In the Mallya case, the consortium had recovered ₹7,181.50 crore by liquidating the assets transferred to the lenders by the ED. A few days ago, the ED handed over assets worth ₹3,728.64 crore to the SBI-led consortium, including shares worth ₹3,644.74 crore, demand draft for ₹54.33 crore, and immovable properties valued at about ₹29.57 crore, said an ED official.
