NATIONAL NEWS
Global Hunger Index ranks India at 101 out of 116 countries, indicates hunger is a serious problem in India
The Global Hunger Index launched on Thursday ranked India at the 101st position out of a total of 116 countries. India is also among the 31 countries where hunger has been identified as serious. India ranked 94 among 107 countries in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) released last year. Only 15 countries fare worse than India. These include Papua New Guinea (102), Afghanistan (103), Nigeria (103), Congo (105), Mozambique (106), Sierra Leone (106), Timor-Leste (108), Haiti (109), Liberia (110), Madagascar (111), Democratic Republic of Congo (112), Chad (113), Central African Republic (114), Yemen (115) and Somalia (116). India was also behind most of the neighbouring countries. Pakistan was ranked 92, Nepal at 76 and Bangladesh also at 76. Current projections based on the Global Hunger Index (GHI) show that the world as a whole — and 47 countries in particular — will fail to achieve even low hunger by 2030. The Index tracks key indicators used to measure progress toward Zero Hunger by 2030 at national, regional, and global levels. Based on the values of the four indicators — undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting and child mortality — the GHI determines hunger on a 100-point scale, where 0 is the best possible score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst. Each country’s GHI score is classified by severity, from low to extremely alarming. Somalia has the highest level of hunger according to the 2021 GHI ranking — its GHI score of 50.8 is considered extremely alarming. It is preceded by five countries with levels of hunger that are alarming — Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, and Yemen — and 31 countries that have serious levels of hunger. Although GHI scores show that global hunger has been on the decline since 2000, progress is slowing. While the GHI score for the world fell 4.7 points, from 25.1 to 20.4, between 2006 and 2012, it has fallen just 2.5 points since 2012. After decades of decline, the global prevalence of undernourishment — one of the four indicators used to calculate GHI scores — is increasing. This shift may be a harbinger of reversals in other measures of hunger, says the report.
Lakhimpur Kheri violence: SIT takes Union Minister’s son, 3 others to recreate sequence of events
The SIT probing the Lakhimpur Kheri violence on Thursday took Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son and three others arrested in the case to recreate the sequence of events leading to the incident in Uttar Pradesh’s Tikonia village. Amid tight security, the four accused were taken to the site of the incident on the Tikonia-Banbirpur road, around 60 km from District Headquarters, Lakhimpur city, the police said. Eight people died in the October 3 violence and of them, four were farmers, allegedly knocked down by a vehicle carrying BJP workers. The other dead included two BJP workers and their driver. In the incident, a journalist was also killed. Farmers claimed that Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra was in one of the vehicles, an allegation denied by him and his father who say they can produce evidence to prove he was at an event at that time. Ashish Mishra ‘Monu’ was arrested in the case on October 9 after 12 hours of questioning, and a court has accepted his police custody from October 12 to October 15. The other three, Shekhar Bharti was arrested on October 12, and Ankit Das and Latif alias Kale were arrested on October 13. Das, Latif and Bharti are in police custody from October 14 to October 17. On Thursday, investigators reached the District Jail premises in the morning to take Das, Latif and Bharti into police custody. The trio were taken to the crime branch’s office at the Reserve Police Lines, which is near the district jail where main accused Ashish Mishra is lodged. They were taken to Tikonia village by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) amid heavy security for further investigations, the police said.
Tamil Nadu allows play schools, kindergarten to reopen from November 1
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Thursday announced that play schools, kindergarten classes and anganwadis would be allowed to reopen from November 1 across the State. He also announced that all places of worship would be allowed to open on all days of the week with effect from October 14. All employees and workers in play schools and kindergarten classes must have been vaccinated for their reopening [from November 1], Stalin said. With effect from today (October 14), the restriction on not allowing people in places of worship on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays would be lifted, he said. In a statement, Stalin also announced that all shops, restaurants and bakeries would be allowed to remain open for business till 11 pm from today (Oct 14). He also announced that tuition centres and government and private organised employment camps would be allowed from today (Oct 14). From November 1, beaches would be open for the general public on Sundays too. A total of 100 people would be allowed to take part in weddings and related events from next month, he said. A total of 50 people could take part in funerals. However, the restriction against festivals, political, social and cultural events would continue, the Chief Minister clarified. Stalin also reiterated his appeal to the general public to get themselves vaccinated. It may be recalled that Stalin chaired a meeting in the Secretariat on Wednesday to review the COVID-19 scenario and lockdown restrictions in place across the State.
Court to pass order on Aryan Khan’s bail plea on October 20
A special NDPS court in Mumbai would pronounce its orders on bail applications filed by Aryan Khan, son of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and two others on October 20 in a case of alleged seizure of drugs from a cruise ship off Mumbai. After hearing extensive arguments of the investigating agency Narcotics Control Bureau and defence lawyers on Thursday, special judge V. V. Patil posted the matter for orders on October 20. Earlier, a magistrate’s court had rejected the bail pleas of Aryan Khan, Munmun Dhamecha and Arbaaz Merchant. The three were among those arrested from the Goa-bound cruise ship on October 3.
Petrol, diesel price hike: Rahul Gandhi accuses the Centre of ‘tax extortion’
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday attacked the government over the rise in prices of petrol and diesel and accused the Centre of tax extortion. The former Congress president’s attack came after petrol and diesel prices were hiked again by 35 paise per litre, sending retail pump prices to their highest-ever level across the country. There used to be stories of greedy misgovernance under which taxes were collected indiscriminately in old folk tales. At first, the people used to be unhappy but in the end the people used to end that misgovernance. In reality also, the same will happen, Gandhi tweeted in Hindi using the hashtags ‘TaxExtortion’ and ‘FuelPrices’. Along with his tweet, he also tagged a video collage on the rising prices of gas, diesel and petrol with his voiceover. In the voiceover, Gandhi is heard saying that the government has earned ₹23 lakh crore from increasing prices of gas, diesel and petrol in the last seven years, and urges the people of the country to ask where this money is going. The price of petrol in Delhi rose to its highest-ever level of ₹104.79 a litre and ₹110.75 per litre in Mumbai, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. In Mumbai, diesel now comes for ₹101.40 a litre; while in Delhi, it costs ₹93.52.
Motor Vehicles Act a piece of welfare legislation: Punjab and Haryana High Court
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that the Motor Vehicles Act is a piece of welfare legislation and its purpose is to provide prompt compensation to the injured or the next of kin dying in road accidents and a liberal approach is required while dealing with matters under this statute. The court has held that delay in lodging an FIR in such cases is insignificant. While the factor may be relevant during a criminal trial, much weightage cannot be given to it in proceedings for determining compensation under the Motor Vehicles Act, the court held. Justice H. S. Madaan passed these orders on October 5 while disposing of a petition filed by a private insurance company against the compensation awarded by a court in Palwal, Haryana, for the death of a 26-year-old man of Bhiduki village. The man riding a motorcycle rider was killed on October 10, 2015 due to rash and negligent driving by the driver of a car. It has to be kept in mind that Motor Vehicles Act is a piece of welfare legislation and its purpose is to provide prompt compensation to the persons suffering injuries in a motor vehicular accident or to family members of such persons unfortunately dying in such road mishaps. A liberal approach in the matter is required, the HC observed. FIR is often lodged in a hurry and it may not contain the minute and precise details of the incident. The FIR can be registered by a person, who may not be an eye-witness of the same, the court further observed. It is only during investigation of the case that the police can come to know about the culprit/criminal, who had committed the crime. Merely for the reason that accused is not named in the FIR does not result in causing any dent in the prosecution story, the HC observed.
Over 2 crore ITRs filed on new portal, CBDT urges taxpayers to file FY21 returns soon
The Income Tax department on Thursday said more than 2 crore income tax returns (ITRs) for the financial year 2020-21 have been filed so far and the performance of the new I-T portal has substantially stabilized. Asking taxpayers to file their ITRs for fiscal 2020-21 (April 2020-March 2021) at the earliest, the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said all ITRs have been made available for e-filing. More than two crore ITRs for assessment year (AY) 2021-22 have been filed on the portal, of which ITRs 1 and 4 constitute 86%. It is encouraging to note that more than 1.70 crore returns have been e-verified, out of which 1.49 crore are through Aadhaar-based OTP, the CBDT said in a statement. The process of e-verification through Aadhaar OTP and other methods is important for the department to commence processing of the ITR and to issue refunds, if any. Of the verified ITRs 1 and 4, over 1.06 crore ITRs have been processed and over 36.22 lakh refunds for the AY 2021-22 have been issued. Processing of ITRs 2 and 3 will be taken up shortly, it said. The new portal was launched on June 7 and in the initial period, taxpayers had reported glitches and difficulties in the functioning of the portal. A number of technical issues have since been resolved and the performance of the portal has substantially stabilised, the CBDT said, adding that over 13.44 crore unique taxpayers have logged in till October 13 and about 54.70 lakh taxpayers have availed of ‘forgot password’ facility to obtain their passwords.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Bhutan, China sign MoU for 3-step process to expedite boundary talks
In a step towards resolving their boundary disputes, Bhutan and China signed an agreement on a three-Step roadmap to help speed up talks, at a meeting of Foreign Ministers of both countries held via videoconference on Thursday, a development that New Delhi said it has noted. The roadmap for Expediting the Bhutan-China Boundary Negotiations, is expected to kickstart progress on the boundary talks process that has been delayed for five years, first due to the Doklam standoff in 2017, and then by the Covid Pandemic. The timing of the agreement is particularly significant for New Delhi, given India-China border talks on their 17-month old standoff at the Line of Actual Control appear to have hit an impasse this week. The [Bhutan-China] Memorandum of Understanding on the Three-Step Roadmap will provide a fresh impetus to the Boundary Talks. It is expected that the implementation of this Roadmap in a spirit of goodwill, understanding and accommodation will bring the boundary negotiations to a successful conclusion that is acceptable to both sides, said a press release issued by Bhutan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Bhutanese Embassy in Delhi declined to comment on the details of the three steps outlined in the MoU, and sources said that information on the process of negotiations are sensitive and could not be shared at this stage. According to the MFA statement, the three-step roadmap had been finalised during the 10th Expert Group meeting in Kunming in April 2021, and presented for approval to their government in Thimphu and Beijing respectively. Bhutanese Foreign Ministry sources called the three-step Roadmap a positive development that will enable the two sides to have more focused and systematic discussions on the boundary dispute over which they have held 24 rounds of talks and 10 Expert group meetings in the past 37 years. Since 1984, talks between Bhutan and China have largely focused on two separate areas of dispute, including Doklam and other areas in Bhutan’s West, near the India-China-Bhutan trijunction measuring 269 sq. kms, and the Jakarlung and Pasamlung valleys located near Tibet to Bhutan’s North, which measure 495 sq. kms. More recently, China has also laid claims to Bhutan’s Eastern Sakteng region.
U.S .- India ministerial dialogue adds focus on climate finance
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her American counterpart, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, met on Thursday, October 14, 2021 for the eight Ministerial meeting of the U.S.-India Economic and Financial partnership. Also in attendance, were Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das (attended virtually). The Ministerial held a session dedicated to climate finance for the first time, as per a joint statement. In the run up to the UN Climate Change Conference ( COP26) in Glasgow at the end of the month, India has been pushing for rich countries to meet their Paris Accord climate finance commitment of $100 billion per year. The two sides reaffirmed the collective developed country goal to mobilise $100 billion annually for developing countries from public and private sources, in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation, the statement said. Holding such a session, the statement said, reflected the critical role climate finance has to play in achieving global climate goals and the two sides’ commitments to drive urgent progress in combatting climate change. We intend to engage further on addressing climate change between our two ministries, as well as through the Finance Mobilisation pillar of the recently launched Climate Action and Finance Mobilisation Dialogue (CAFMD) under the U.S.-India Climate and Clean Energy Agenda 2030 Partnership, it said, referring to a partnership launched in April this year, after a visit by U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry to India. India has so far not declared further climate action commitments (beyond its Paris-related goals) and has argued that developing countries need space to grow and that rich countries need to move towards ‘net minus’ commitments in addition to fulfilling their climate finance pledges.
