NATIONAL NEWS
Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Bipin Rawat, wife, 11 others die in IAF helicopter crash near Coonoor
Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others were killed in a helicopter crash near Coonoor on December 8, the Indian Air Force said. The copter carrying Gen. Rawat and his entourage crashed in apparently foggy conditions, killing the 13 people on board, the IAF and other officials said. One person survived the crash and is being treated at a hospital. With deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident, the IAF said in a tweet. Gen. Rawat was on a visit to Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington to address the faculty and student officers of the staff course when the fatal mishap happened. Gen. Bipin Singh Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat in New Delhi. File Group Captain Varun Singh SC, Directing Staff at DSSC and the sole survivor, was undergoing treatment for injuries at the Military Hospital, Wellington, IAF added. The Prime Minister-led Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) was briefed about the crash and top Cabinet brass expressed condolences on the death of Gen. Rawat. Besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the meeting was attended by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, official sources said. The IAF confirmed that the crash happened at around 2 p.m., saying the Mi-17V5 helicopter with Gen. Rawat on board met with an accident near Coonoor. It has already ordered an inquiry to ascertain the cause of the accident. President Ramnath Kovind, Mr. Modi, Mr. Singh and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi condoled the death of Gen. Rawat. Gen. Rawat had served as the Chief of the Indian Army from December 17, 2016 to December 31, 2019. He was appointed as India’s first Chief of Defence Staff on December 31, 2019.
Bhima Koregaon case: Sudha Bharadwaj to be released on cash bond
The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Wednesday said human rights lawyer and trade unionist Sudha Bharadwaj would be released from Byculla jail on a cash bond of ₹50,000 with one or more sureties in the Bhima Koregaon case. Special judge D.E. Kothalikar permitted Bharadwaj, who was present in the court, to submit temporary cash security valid for three months. On December 1, the Bombay High Court granted her bail and directed the special NIA court to decide her bail conditions on Wednesday. The central agency moved in appeal against the bail before the Supreme Court which dismissed the appeal on Tuesday. Citing bail conditions, the NIA court on Wednesday directed Bharadwaj to not leave Mumbai without the court’s permission and inform the agency and the court about her place of residence, her contact number and those of her relatives. The conditions included giving the addresses of at least three blood relatives. The NIA court said if there was any change of residential address, the NIA would conduct physical or virtual verification to confirm it. She was also directed to attend proceedings of the trial, and not make any statement regarding the proceedings to anyone from the media. Advocate Yug Chaudhry, appearing for Bharadwaj, told the court that she was a practising lawyer in Chhattisgarh and needed to get back to work for a living and hence should be allowed to travel between Mumbai, Chhattisgarh and Delhi. The court said she could practise in Nagpur.
Opposition boycotts Rajya Sabha; blames Piyush Goyal for impasse
The Opposition leaders from the Rajya Sabha boycotted the proceedings for the day to sit in solidarity with their 12 colleagues who have been staging a protest at the Gandhi statue in Parliament against their suspension for the last eight days now. The leaders, speaking to The Hindu, blamed Leader of the House, Piyush Goyal, accusing him of inflexibility and leaving little room for compromise. Opposition parties’ MPs participate in a protest near Mahatma Gandhi’s statue demanding revocation of the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs, during the Winter Session of Parliament, in New Delhi, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021. At the protest site, Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said tendering an apology remains out of question. He said though Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu asked him and Goyal to sit together and solve the issue on Wednesday, there has been no outreach from the Government. It is only in the House that they speak about reaching out. Outside the House they blame, criticise and humiliate us. They have no moral right to hold the Opposition responsible for this impasse, Kharge said. Congress Rajya Sabha chief whip Jairam Ramesh said he visited the homes of the Opposition leaders, met Goyal, Chairman Naidu and Deputy Chairman Harivansh to explore options to resolve the deadlock. In the last three days, I have moved heaven and earth to find a way out. Chairman Naidu’s position in all fairness is not unreasonable. He has appealed to both sides to come together and talk. But I must say Goyal has taken fundamentalist position, leaving little room for a compromise, Ramesh said. Senior RJD leader Manoj K Jha was equally critical of Goyal’s role. He said, The Leader of the House should have the capacity and the willingness to transcend barriers. Instead of transcending barriers we see that new ones are created. I would go to the extent of saying that we are missing the presence of Arun Jaitely. CPI(M) leader Elamaram Kareem said the Government had deliberately suspended the 12 MPs to ease the passage of key Bills. Mr. Goyal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi humiliate and ridicule us inside the House. In such a situation, how can there be any headway out of this, he said. He said the question of whether the Opposition is giving a free walk over to the Government is misplaced. Everyone must remember that we are in this situation because of the Government’s insistence on passing the General Insurance Bill despite protests and our call seeking a vote in the last session, he said. NCP patriarch Sharad Pawar and Samajwadi leader Akhilesh Yadav also participated in the protest. Along with the slogans, the lawmakers sang songs as they sat through the day on the grass in the shadow of the Gandhi statue. TMC MP Dola Sen and AAP MP Sanjay Singh were the lead singers. Many others also joined in. Various leaders have been taking turns to bring in food for their protesting colleagues. On Wednesday, the responsibility fell on NCP leader Supriya Sule. Sule, along with her party leaders Vandana Chavan and Fauzia Khan, was seen serving food at the protest site.
Nagaland killings: Naga People’s Front MP says Amit Shah erred on facts
Naga People’s Front MP from Manipur Lorho S. Pfoze demanded that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in force in many northeastern States be repealed, while also raising questions over the sequence of events shared by Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his statement in Parliament on the events of December 4 in Nagaland that left 14 civilians dead. While Dr. Pfoze raised in the Lok Sabha the issue of what happened in Nagaland on December 4 evening, he could not complete his submission to the Chair under matters of Urgent Public Importance. While referring to the cruel and brutal murder of 14 civilians in Nagaland, and the suffering of the States of the northeast under the AFSPA, his time was up. Speaking to The Hindu outside of Parliament however, Dr. Pfoze said that he wanted to put on record that some facts put forward by Shah on the sequence of events leading to the killings did not survive close scrutiny. I basically wanted to say that the Home Minister’s statement in Parliament that it was a case of mistaken identity and that the armed forces had asked the truck carrying the civilians to stop and only fired when the truck didn’t stop is wrong. We now have videos of eyewitness accounts of a survivor who says that the truck was not asked to stop and firing happened, he said. This event and many others in the northeastern States have brought down what is a glorious legacy of Indian democracy all because of the AFSPA being in force in these States. The time has now come that this law be repealed, he said.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha, met at the Singhu border to consider the government’s amended proposal.
The leadership of the farmers’ body, Samyukt Kisan Morcha, met at the Singhu border on Wednesday to consider the government’s amended proposal in response to their pending demands regarding an MSP law, and withdrawal of cases against protestors. We have reached a consensus among ourselves to accept the proposal. No final decision yet on calling off the agitation, another meeting to be held tomorrow once we have received the official communication from the government, said farmers leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni. Virat Kohli was on Wednesday removed as India’s ODI captain, with the national selection committee making Rohit Sharma the sole white-ball leader of the team till the 2023 50-over World Cup. In another significant development, Ajinkya Rahane was removed from Test vice-captaincy, a position which was also given to Rohit. The BCCI also announced the 18-member squad for the three Test series against South Africa, which doesn’t include all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, spinner Axar Patel, and opener Shubman Gill due to various injuries.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Canada joins US allies to boycott Beijing Winter Olympics.
Canadian Prime Minister Justine Trudeau informed on December 8, 2021 that the nation will also join the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom in their diplomatic boycott of 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics over human rights concerns at Xinjiang Province. The nations will still be sending their teams to the Olympic Games but will not be sending their officials. Trudeau said that they are extremely concerned by the repeated human rights violations by the Chinese government and added that they should not be surprised that we will not be sending any diplomatic representation. Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly called on other countries also to take more similar action. China warned that the nations would inevitably regret launching the joint diplomatic boycott of the multi-sports event next winter. The nation said that using the Olympic platform for political manipulation is unpopular and self-isolating.
Singapore removed from India’s ‘at-risk’ nations list.
India has removed Singapore from its list of at-risk nations. The countries that are currently in the list include South Africa, Botswana, Ghana, Mauritius, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Israel, the United Kingdom and China. The development comes after the detection of a new Omicron variant in 57 countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) expects the number to grow further. As a precaution, India had added several countries to the list of ‘at risk’ nations, from where travellers would need to follow additional measures upon their arrival in India including post-arrival testing for infection. The new Omicron variant was first reported from South Africa on November 25.
