CURRENT AFFAIRS
08 October 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) UP police slaps UAPA, sedition charges on Malayalam journalist arrested near Hathras.
On 7 October, Malayalam journalist Siddique Kappan and three others arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police on their way to Hathras have been booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967 and sedition, according to an FIR registered in Mathura. All the 4 persons were produced before a local court, which sent them in judicial remand. Gaurav Grover who is the SSP of Mathura has said that further action will be taken after collection of evidence in the investigation. The police said that they were taken into custody at a toll plaza in Mathura on 5 October when they were travelling in a car from Delhi to Hathras. An FIR was lodged against them and charges them under section 124A (sedition) of the IPC, sections 14 and 17 of the UAPA, and sections 65, 72 and 76 of the Information Technology Act, for promoting enmity between groups and outraging religious feelings. Section 17 of the UAPA deals with raising funds for terrorist acts. Apart from Kappan, a journalist working with a Malayalam portal based in Delhi, the other 3 were identified as Ateeq-ur-Rehman of Muzaffarnagar, Masood Ahmed of Bahraich and Alam of Rampur. In the FIR, sub-inspector Prabal Singh accused the four of carrying pamphlets titled ‘Justice for Hathras Victim’ and moving towards the district to disrupt peace as part of a big conspiracy.
B) Bombay HC grants bail to Rhea Chakraborty.
Actor Rhea Chakraborty, 28, was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on Wednesday. She has been in Byculla jail since being arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau on September 8 in a drug case following the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. She was directed to be released from jail on furnishing a bond of ₹1 lakh, with one or two sureties in the amount. Justice SV Kotwal said that the investigation did not reveal any recovery either from Rhea or from the house of Sushant Singh Rajput. It is their own case that the drugs were already consumed and hence there was no recovery. In that case there is nothing at this stage to show that Rhea had committed any offence involving commercial quantity of contraband. The court added that they are satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the applicant, Rhea, is not guilty of any offence punishable under sections 19 [punishment for embezzlement of opium by cultivator], 24 [punishment for external dealings in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances] or 27A [punishment for financing illicit traffic and harboring offenders] [of the Narcotics Drugs Psychotropic Substances Act] or any other offence involving commercial quantity. Since she has no criminal antecedents, there are reasonable grounds for believing that she is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.
C) UGC declares 24 universities as fake; maximum from Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
On 7 October, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has announced a list of 24 self-styled, unrecognized institutions in the country, terming them as fake. UGC Secretary Rajnish Jain has said that most of these fake universities were operating from Uttar Pradesh, followed by Delhi. Students and public are informed that currently 24 self-styled, unrecognized institutions are functioning in contravention of the UGC Act, which have been declared as fake universities and these are not empowered to confer any degree. While 8 of these universities are from Uttar Pradesh, Delhi has seven, and Odisha and West Bengal two each. Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Puducherry and Maharashtra have one such fake university each
E) Study finds high levels of child stunting among poor with access to PDS, calls for widening food basket.
A first-ever study on linkages between availability of PDS ration and prevalence of malnutrition has found that the poorest households most in need of free food grains are often left out of the scheme. The study, authored by Basat K Panda, Sanjay K Mohanty, Itishree Nayak, and Vishal Dev Shastri from the International Institute of Population Science in Mumbai and Subramanian SV from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, is titled ‘Malnutrition and poverty in India: Does the use of public distribution system matter’. It was published in BioMed Central’s Nutrition Journal last week. The study, based on National Family Health Survey-4 (NHFS-4) data, found skewed distribution of the BPL cards that determine access to various welfare schemes, including food ration. It found high prevalence of stunting and malnutrition among poor families that used the PDS, as well as the poor who were excluded from the PDS. “Reduction of child nutrition was not in the gambit of PDS. In many states, the odds of stunting among excluded poor are higher than real poor. Since the PDS cards are given largely to poor people, it is no surprise to see high stunting and underweight among these real poor,” Panda said, in response to a question on why there was high prevalence of malnutrition even among poor households which were provided PDS ration. The study concludes that the poorest of the poor, most in need of welfare schemes, are not being covered by them. It recommends improved coverage to ensure poor households are given priority. It also calls for improvement in the quality of nutritious food under the PDS, and a widening of the food basket to help reduce malnutrition.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) U.S.-French duo win Nobel Chemistry Prize for gene-editing tool.
Emmanuelle Charpentier of France and Jennifer Doudna of the U.S. have won the Nobel Chemistry Prize for the gene-editing technique known as the CRISPR-Cas9 DNA snipping scissors, which is the first time a Nobel science prize has gone to a women’s only team. The Nobel jury has said that using these, researchers can change the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with extremely high precision. This technology has had a revolutionary impact on the life sciences, is contributing to new cancer therapies, and may make the dream of curing inherited diseases come true. The technique has been tipped for a Nobel nod several times in the past, but speaking to reporters in Stockholm via telephone link, Prof. Charpentier said that the call was still a surprise.
B) America has become a dangerous place. Standing in front of a held in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where a significant battle in the American Civil War was fought, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden spoke of a country divided and the need to come together. The former Vice-President said that America had become a dangerous place with something darker and more dangerous than just broken politics. There is no more fitting place than here in Gettysburg, to talk about the cost of division. About how much it has cost America in the past, about how much it is costing us now, and about why I believe in this moment, we must come together as a nation, he said that in a speech of a little over 20 minutes. There is something bigger going on in this nation than just our broken politics. Something darker, some Call for unity: Joe Biden speaking at Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania on Tuesday.
