CURRENT AFFAIRS
01 February 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Country very pained at dishonour to Tricolour on R-day: PM Modi.
Breaking his silence over the vandalism at the Red Fort on Republic Day by a group of farmers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the country was saddened to see the National Flag being insulted. In his first radio broadcast, Man Ki Baat, of 2021, Mr. Modi also said his government was committed to modernising agriculture and the efforts of the government will continue in that direction in the future as well. The Prime Minister also talked about the country’s fight against COVID-19 and how the Made in India vaccine has not only made India self-reliant (Atma Nirbhar) but has also become a moment of self-pride (Atma Gaurav). While recounting the developments in January this year including India’s remarkable come-back in the four match test series in Australia, Mr. Modi mentioned the violence on Republic Day. Amidst all this, the country was saddened by the insult to the Tricolour on January 26 in Delhi. Also, referring to India’s on-going vaccination exercise, Mr. Modi said that not only is the world largest vaccination drive is but also at the fastest rate. While India has vaccinated over 30 lakh front line corona warriors in 15 days, he said, the United States needed 18 days and the United Kingdom took 36 days to reach this figure. The Prime Minister pointed out that India’s decision to send vaccines to several countries has generated world wide appreciation and displayed its capabilities and self-reliance in the field of medicines.
B) Mamata will be left alone by the time of elections, says Amit Shah.
Highlighting the series of defections in the Trinamool Congress in the past three months Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said that by the time polls are held in West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee will be left all alone. In the past three months so many leaders from the Trinamool Congress have joined BJP. Mamata Ji should contemplate why this is happening. By the time polls are held you ( Ms. Banerjee) will be standing all alone, Mr. Shah, said virtually addressing a public gathering at Howrah. The Home Minister also referred to another defection when several MLAs along with Suvendu Adhikari joined the BJP in December last year. He said that ten years ago when the Trinamool Congress government came to power on the slogan of ‘Maa Maati Maanush’ (Mother, Earth, Humanity) but the party has resorted to extortion, corruption and appeasment. During his address the Home Minister welcomed the Trinamool leaders including former Minister Rajib Banerjee who joined BJP yesterday and expressed hope that they will contribute to the BJP slogan of making Sonar Bangla (Golden Bengal). Mr. Shah said that Mamata Banerjee has taken the State to a far worse situation where it was ten years ago during the Left Front regime. The Home Minister raised the non-implementation of two central government schemes Ayushman Bharat and PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. The Trinamool Congress government is not implementing the schemes because of these are schemes are run by Centre and assured these schemes will be implemented from the first cabinet meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government in West Bengal.
C) V.K. Sasikala discharged from hospital.
Expelled AIADMK leader V.K. Sasikala, who was released from jail recently, was discharged from the Victoria Hospital where she had been admitted for treatment of COVID-19 at 12 p.m. on Sunday. Wearing mask and hand gloves, she was driven out of the hospital amidst heavy security. She is currently at Prestige Golfshire Club, where she will stay for a week and follow COVID-19 protocols, said sources. Her followers and supporters had gathered in large numbers near the hospital waiting for her discharge. Victoria Hospital Medical Superintendent Ramesh Krishna K. said she completed 10 days of treatment on Saturday and had been asymptomatic and maintaining saturation without oxygen support for three days. As per protocol, there is no need to test her before discharge, he said. She has been advised home quarantine for a week, he said.
D) FIR against journalist Siddharth Varadrajan for tweeting article on farmer’s death.
The Rampur Police has registered an FIR against Siddharth Varadarajan, the founding Editor of The Wire, for posting a provocative tweet regarding the death of a Rampur farmer during the tractor rally in Delhi on Republic Day. Registered under Sections of 153 B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505 (2) (inciting any class or community for violence), the FIR said Mr. Varadarajan tweeted about a story in The Wire wherein the grandfather of the deceased farmer Navreet Singh is quoted as alleging that one of the doctors in the panel that conducted the postmortem told him on condition of anonymity that his grandson died of a bullet injury but his hands were tied. The FIR said that the report was deliberately presented in a fashion that created a false impression about the death of the farmer and led to tension in the area. It further said that the post-mortem report was submitted in a sealed cover to the Senior Superintendent of Police and the investigating officer. It alleged that through the tweet an attempt had been made to malign the image of medical officers, provoke the general public and disrupt the law and order situation which is a serious offence under Section 505 of the IPC. Describing it as malicious prosecution by Uttar Pradesh police, on Sunday, Mr. Varadarajan tweeted, In UP, it is a crime to report statements of relatives of a dead person if they question a post-mortem or police version of the cause of death.
E) Gandhian organisations call for farmers protests to be peaceful.
A group of Gandhian organisations has called for the farmers’ movement to continue their protests against the Centre’s farm laws in a peaceful manner. In a statement issued on January 30, Gandhi Peace Foundation, Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, Sarva Seva Sangh and Rashtriya Yuva Santhan said the farmers’ movement over the months had shown restraint and peacefulness. The chaos that took place on January 26, in the name of the farmers movement, has deeply pained the democratic and peace loving citizens of the nation like us. It is not a question of supporting or opposing any movement, it is a question of respecting and following the Gandhian heritage and democratic values of the country, the statement said. The group said the country was going through a very delicate phase and that the government and society should respect the limits of the Constitution and a democracy. They said the farmers’ movement was one for justice.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) WHO team investigating origins of COVID-19 visits Wuhan.
A World Health Organisation team looking into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic on Sunday visited the food market in the Chinese city of Wuhan that was linked to many early infections. The team members visited the Huanan Seafood Market for about an hour in the afternoon which was the site of a December 2019 outbreak of the virus. Scientists initially suspected the virus came from wild animals sold in the market. The market has since been largely ruled out but it could provide hints to how the virus spread so widely. Very important site visits today a wholesale market first & Huanan Seafood Market just now, Peter Daszak, a zoologist with the U.S. group EcoHealth Alliance and a member of the WHO team, said in a tweet. Very informative & critical for our joint teams to understand the epidemiology of COVID as it started to spread at the end of 2019. Earlier in the day, the team members were also seen walking through sections of the Baishazhou market one of the largest wet markets in Wuhan surrounded by a large entourage of Chinese officials and representatives. The market was the food distribution center for Wuhan during the city’s 76-day lockdown last year. The mission has become politically charged, as China seeks to avoid blame for alleged missteps in its early response to the outbreak. A single visit by scientists is unlikely to confirm the virus’s origins. Pinning down an outbreak’s animal reservoir is typically an exhaustive endeavor that takes years of research including taking animal samples, genetic analysis and epidemiological studies.
B) Britain opens visa scheme for millions in Hong Kong.
A new visa scheme offering millions of people in Hong Kong a pathway to British citizenship went live on Sunday as the city’s former colonial master opens its doors to those wanting to escape China’s crackdown on dissent. Anyone with a British National (Overseas) passport and their dependents can now apply online for a visa allowing them to live and work in the U.K. After five years, they can apply for citizenship. The immigration scheme is a response to Beijing’s decision last year to impose a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong to snuff out the huge and often violent democracy protests. Britain has accused China of tearing up its promise ahead of Hong Kong’s 1997 handover that the financial hub would maintain key liberties and autonomy for 50 years, and has argued it has a moral duty to protect its former subjects. They have honoured our profound ties of history and friendship with the people of Hong Kong, and we have stood up for freedom and autonomy, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said of the scheme this week. The website for visa applications went online at 5 p.m. in Hong Kong (0900 GMT). China has reacted with fury to the visa offer, announcing that it would no longer recognise the passports as a legitimate travel or ID document. The move was largely symbolic as residents tend to use their own passports or ID cards to leave the city. But Beijing said it was prepared to take further measures, raising fears authorities might us to stop people from Hong Kong from leaving for Britain. On Sunday, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of China’s State Council said it strongly condemned the British violating its promise not to give BN(O) passport holders right of residence. This is a flagrant offence of China’s sovereignty, and we firmly oppose it, it said. In a commentary, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency accused Britain of having a colonial mentality.
