CURRENT AFFAIRS
23 August 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Bombay HC quashes FIRs against foreign Tablighis, says they were made “scapegoats”
The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has quashed the FIRs against 29 foreign nationals who were accused of participating in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Delhi without permission amid the Covid-19 pandemic. It said that the action against them was taken in order to make them scapegoats during a pandemic. The Government tries to find out that whenever there are any such calamity and the circumstances also show that there is a probability that these foreigners were guilty. These circumstances show that such action against present petitioners should not be taken. Justice TV Nalawade by slamming the media for carrying propaganda about the Tablighis has said that there was big propaganda in print media and electronic media against the foreigners who had come to Markaz Delhi. There was virtually persecution against these foreigners.
B) CBI visits Sushant Singh Rajput’s Bandra flat to recreate the death scene.
The members of the CBI team probing the actor Sushant Singh Rajput case visited the residence of the late actor in Bandra on 22 August along with forensic experts to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to his death. The actor was found dead at his flat on June 14. The team along with forensic experts reached the residence in the afternoon and his cook and flatmate also accompanied the team. Another CBI team has also visited the Cooper Hospital in the city on 22 August, where the autopsy on Sushant’s body had been performed. Another CBI team has also visited the Bandra police station to meet the Mumbai who had investigated the death of the actor. The Supreme Court on 20 August upheld the transfer of an FIR to the CBI which was lodged in Patna against actress Rhea Chakraborty and others for allegedly abetting the suicide of Sushant.
C) Bloomsbury withdraws book on Delhi riots after backlash.
Bloomsbury India on 22 August withdrew the publication of their new book, Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story by following public opposition. The opposed the inauguration ceremony of the book because the company has invited BJP leader Kapil Mishra for the inauguration, who was the one who instigates the riots by giving an inflammatory speech. The publishing house in a statement said that the book was written on the riots held in Delhi in February 2020. But because of huge criticism on the launch program organized for the virtual launch of the book by Kapil Mishra. The publishing house has now decided to withdraw publication of the book.
D) COVID Watch: Numbers and Developments
The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 30,26,847 at with the death toll at 56,642. Union Health Ministry said that India has crossed a milestone of testing more than 10 lakh samples in a single day and this has taken the cumulative tests to more than 3.4 crores. The Ministry further said that with 10,23,836 tests done on 21 August, India has achieved its resolve to test 10 lakh samples daily. It further added that enhanced diagnostic lab network has also led to this achievement. At present, the country has a network of 1,511 labs, comprising 983 in the government sector and 528 private labs.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Pakistan puts Dawood, Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi on terror list
After decades of denial, Pakistan has added the names of Dawood Ibrahim, as well as 26/11, LeT operations chief Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, and some leaders of the Taliban to its own list of terrorists and declared an assets freeze and travel ban as per the U.N. Security Council’s (UNSC) designations. This is the first time the Mumbai blasts mastermind has been acknowledged as a terrorist by Pakistan, albeit as a part of the UNSC list. The move is part of Pakistan’s commitment to the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which continues to scrutinize the country’s actions.
B) Pompeo, Kushner likely to visit West Asia as the U.S. presses Arab-Israeli peace.
This administration of Trump will send 2 of its top officials to West Asia in a bid to capitalize on the momentum from the agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. This visit was taken in order to establish diplomatic relations. The Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to depart on 23 August for Israel, Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Sudan. This information was received from the diplomats. They also spoke on the present condition of anonymity because the journey has neither been finalized nor publicly announced.
C) Protests intensify in Belarus
A huge crowd of protesters had swarmed the streets and thousands of workers have rallied outside industrial plants on 22 August in Belarus in order to criticize a police clampdown on demonstrations over a disputed election which extended the rule of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko which was going on from past 26 years. Since the morning, many women thanks started forming long lines of solidarity in various areas of Minsk, which is the capital of Belarus. Many people were dressed in white and carried flowers and portraits of loved ones who have been detained during protests that began shortly after Sunday’s vote, which they said was rigged. The human chains grew throughout the whole day by filling the main central squares and avenues as motorists honked in support. In many other cities of Belarus, thousands of factory workers rallied against the violence by the police. More than 50 news media websites have been blocked by the authorities in Belarus who were reporting about the protests.
D) Canada’s conservatives vote wholly by mail for a new leader
The opposition Conservative Party of Canada is holding an entire mail-in ballot election for a new leader to carry it into the next general election. The results are going to be announced on 23 August. Over 269,000 party members are eligible to vote in the elections. The candidate is Peter MacKay. He was a Cabinet minister under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Erin O’Toole. He was also a longtime member of Parliament and Royal Canadian Air Force veteran who had finished his third in the 2017 leadership race.
