CURRENT AFFAIRS
20 September 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) NIA arrests 9 suspected al-Qaeda operatives in Kerala and West Bengal.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested nine suspected al-Qaeda operatives in raids conducted at several locations in Kerala and West Bengal on the morning of 19 September. The 6 persons arrested from West Bengal belonged to Murshidabad, while those picked up in Kerala were from Ernakulam. The arrested persons will be produced before the courts concerned in Kerala and West Bengal for police custody and further investigation, according to a release issued by the NIA. The agency learned about an inter-State module of Al-Qaeda operatives at various locations in the country, including West Bengal and Kerala. The module was allegedly planning to undertake terrorist attacks at vital installations. The investigating officials recovered large quantities of incriminating materials, including digital devices and documents from their possession. The arrests have pre-empted possible terrorist attacks in various parts of the country, the agency claimed.
B) Arrested scribe Rajeev Sharma was passing the info on border strategy to Chinese intelligence: Delhi Police
Delhi Police, which arrested freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma on September 14, claimed that he was passing sensitive information about India’s border strategy and Army deployment to Chinese intelligence. Sharma was also in contact with a Chinese intelligence officer, the police officer claimed, adding the freelance journalist got ₹40 lakh in one-and-a-half years and getting $1,000 for each piece of information. Sharma was arrested based on inputs from central intelligence. Police have seized classified defense documents from him, the DCP said, adding that a Chinese woman and her Nepalese associate have also been arrested for allegedly paying Sharma large amounts of money routed through shell companies.
C) COVID Watch: Numbers and Developments.
The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 53,83,991 with the death toll at 86,668. India has overtaken the U.S. and become the top country in terms of global Covid-19 recoveries, said the Union Health Ministry on 19 September, adding that the country has reported the highest number of total recoveries, with more than 42 lakh (42,08,431) Covid-19 patients having recovered. Rapid antigen test of Covid-19 virus in progress near a testing van in New Delhi on September 19, 2020, Rapid antigen test of Covid-19 virus in progress near a testing van in New Delhi on September 19, 2020. India now accounts for close to 19% of the total global recoveries. It has registered the highest-ever single-day recoveries in the last 24 hours. A total of 95,880 recoveries have been recorded. 90% of the new recovered cases are being reported from 16 States/UTs, including Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Delhi.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Iconic judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg passes away.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a diminutive yet towering women’s rights champion who became the court’s second female judge, died on 18 September at her home in Washington. She was 87 years old. Besides civil rights, Ginsburg took an interest in capital punishment, voting repeatedly to limit its use. During her tenure, the court declared it unconstitutional for states to execute the intellectually disabled and killers younger than 18. Ginsburg authored powerful dissents in cases involving abortion, voting rights, and pay discrimination against women. She said that some were aimed at swaying the opinions of her fellow judges while others were in favor of an appeal to the intelligence of another day in the hopes that they would provide guidance to the future courts.
B) Taiwan scrambles fighter jets because 18 Chinese planes buzz island
On 18 September, Taiwan has scrambled fighter jets because 18 Chinese aircraft has buzzed the island. They had also crossed the sensitive mid-line of the Taiwan Strait in an escalation of tensions. Earlier, China had announced the start of combat drills near the Taiwan Strait. They called it a collision between the island as part of their territory and the United States. The survey was conducted across 68 countries, which shows that vaccine hesitancy has ranged from 74% in Azerbaijan to 25% in India. US Undersecretary for Economic Affairs Keith Krach was also there in Taipei on 17 September for a 3-day visit. With the presidential election looming in the United States in November, Sino-US relations are under huge strain from a trade war to US digital security concerns. Taiwan said that 18 Chinese aircraft were involved in it. The ministry has shown a map of the flight paths of those Chinese jets which crossed the Taiwan Strait mid-line.
