CURRENT AFFAIRS
04 February 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) No informal talks with farmer unions, says Agriculture Minister Tomar.
The Union government is not holding any informal talks with protesting farm unions, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told The Hindu on the sidelines of a press conference on February 3. They will inform them when formal talks will be held, he said. Asked about the farm unions’ stance that they will not hold talks with the government until the barricades at the protest sites are removed and farmers in police custody released, the Minister said he did not want to comment on a law and order issue. That is not his job, he stated. He suggested that unions should talk to the Delhi Police Commissioner regarding such concerns instead. On February 1, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a joint front of the farm unions, decided that talks will be held only after the unconditional release of the farmers who are in illegal police custody and police and administration harassment of different kinds against the farmers’ movement is immediately stopped. In the early days of the protest in November and December, several farm union heads engaged in informal, back channel conversations with multiple BJP leaders and Ministers, even before formal talks began. However, that pattern seems to have ended. Although the Prime Minister and the Agriculture Minister have both said the government’s previous offer still stood and the doors were open for resumption of dialogue, unions said they have not received any direct outreach from the government post Republic Day. Tomar confirmed this on Wednesday. Asked whether the government was informally engaging with the unions, he said, No. They will inform them when formal talks will be held.
B) Western celebrities’ comments on farmers’ protest not accurate: MEA.
India on Wednesday said comments from Western celebrities in support of farmers’ protest was neither accurate nor responsible. The official statement was issued in response to a series of social media posts by singer Rihanna, activist Greta Thunberg, Meena Harris, niece of U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris, and other western social media influencers. Before rushing to comment on such matters, we would urge that the facts be ascertained, a proper understanding of the issues at hand be undertaken. The temptation of sensationalist social media hashtags and comments, especially when resorted to by celebrities and others, is neither accurate nor responsible, said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a detailed response. The response came hours after Rihanna said that why aren’t they talking about this [farmers protest]? Her tweet was followed by one from Swedish climate activist Thunberg. She said that they stand in solidarity with the farmers protest in India. Meena Harris commented, It’s no coincidence that the world’s oldest democracy was attacked not even a month ago, and as they speak, the most populous democracy is under assault. This is related. They all should be outraged by India’s internet shutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters. Meena Harris is the daughter of Maya Lakshmi Harris, sibling of Kamala Harris. The comments were followed by U.S. lawmaker Jim Costa of California. He described the developments around the farmers’ protest as troubling. In a social media post, he said, As a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, he is closely monitoring the situation. The right to peaceful protest must always be respected. The comments from the U.S. came days after Canadian and British lawmakers raised the issue of farmers’ rights in public outreach repeatedly. The new Biden-Harris administration has not yet issued any official statement on the ongoing protests.
C) Former Supreme Court judge Madan Lokur raises concerns over provisions of DNA Technology Bill.
Allowing investigating agencies to collect DNA samples from suspects as laid down in the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019 will give them unbridled power that is easily capable of misuse and abuse and amount to a threat to the life, liberty, dignity and privacy of a person, retired Supreme Court judge Justice Madan Lokur has observed in a written submission to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology. The panel, headed by senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, tabled its report in Parliament on Wednesday. DNA testing is currently being done on an extremely limited scale in India, with approximately 30-40 DNA experts in 15-18 laboratories undertaking less than 3,000 cases a year. The standards of the laboratories are not monitored or regulated. The Bill aims to introduce the regulation of the entire process from collection to storage. The preamble of the Bill says that it aims to provide for the regulation of use and application of Deoxyribonucleic Acid [DNA] technology for the purposes of establishing the identity of certain categories of persons, including the victims, offenders, suspects, undertrials, missing persons and unknown deceased persons. Justice Lokur has questioned the need to collect DNA of a suspect. In his submission, he has argued that in a blind crime or a crime involving a large number of persons (such as a riot), everybody is suspect, without any real basis. This would mean that thousands of persons can be subjected to DNA profiling on a mere suspicion. Such an unbridled power is easily capable of misuse and abuse by targeting innocents, against whom there is not a shred of evidence. Such an unbridled police power ought not to be conferred on anybody or any agency as it would amount to a threat to the life, liberty, dignity and privacy of a person, he has said. Many members of the committee have also expressed concern over including suspects in this list, flagging that it could lead to misuse and targeting certain categories of people. In two dissent notes, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi and CPI leader Binoy Viswam have said the Bill will lead to targeting of Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis. Justice Lokur has stated that the provisions of the bill can lead to targeting of select groupings, including social, linguistic, religious and other minorities on the ground of being suspects.
D) Government notice to Twitter for refusing to comply with order to block accounts.
The Union government has issued a notice to Twitter to comply with its order of removal of content related to ‘farmer genocide’. The Centre alleged that the material was designed to spread misinformation to inflame passions and hatred and warned that refusal to do so may invite penal action. On Tuesday evening, Twitter restored over 250 accounts, hours after blocking them due to a legal demand. The platform, in a meeting with government officials, contested the order, arguing that these accounts were not in violation of Twitter policy, and declined to abide by the government order. A source in the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), which has sent the notice to the U.S.-headquartered firm, said Twitter was an intermediary and was obliged to follow the directions of the government and refusal to do so may invite penal action.
E) India does not agree with USTR’s report on ecommerce tax: Commerce Secretary.
India does not agree with the United States Trade Representative (USTR) report that the country’s 2% equalisation levy on foreign e-commerce firms discriminates against American companies, Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan said on Wednesday. Last month, an USTR investigation concluded that India’s 2% digital services tax on e-commerce supply discriminates against U.S. companies and is inconsistent with international tax principles. They do not agree with that conclusion, Wadhawan told reporters when asked whether India has responded to the USTR report. Basically, if there is an economic benefit from a certain jurisdiction then there has to be some taxation in that jurisdiction. OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) is also moving in that direction that if you have an economic presence and economic gain, then you must have taxation in that jurisdiction. You have billions of dollars of revenue in a certain jurisdiction, you have to pay taxes, he said. Some countries are protesting because they have huge domination in that kind of activity whether it is Facebook, Google or Amazon, he added.
F) Defectors are corrupt, says Mamata.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday came down heavily on the leaders who have defected from her Trinamool Congress (TMC) to the BJP, saying they were corrupt and her government would start an investigation against such people. There are some people who are running from here to there. Those who are involved in corruption will run away. Let them run away. He know very well who is into what. After the Assembly polls, all their shops will be shut down, she said at a party workers’ convention at Alipurduar in north Bengal. Banerjee, who did not name any of the defectors, referred to alleged irregularities in certain appointments in the Forest Department. She had ordered an investigation, she said. Rajib Banerjee was the Forest Minister before resigning from the TMC and joining the BJP. There is one boy who is making tall claims after going to the BJP. He has run away to the BJP after being involved in corrupt practices. We are investigating irregularities in recruitment of ‘Bana Sahayak’ in the Forest Department, she said.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Myanmar police file charges against Aung San Suu Kyi after coup.
Police have filed charges against ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi for illegally importing communications equipment. She will be detained until February 15 for investigations, according to a police document. Myanmar’s army seized power on Monday, detaining Nobel laureate Suu Kyi and cutting short a transition to democracy in a takeover that has drawn condemnation from the United States and other Western countries. A police request to a court detailing the accusations against the 75-year-old Nobel laureate said walkie-talkie radios had been found in a search of her home in the capital Naypyidaw. It said the radios were imported illegally and used without permission. The document reviewed on Wednesday requested Suu Kyi’s detention in order to question witnesses, request evidence and seek legal counsel after questioning the defendant. A separate document showed police filed charges against ousted President Win Myint for offences under the Disaster Management Law. Suu Kyi endured about 15 years of house arrest between 1989 and 2010 as she led the country’s democracy movement. She remains hugely popular at home despite damage to her international reputation over the flight of Muslim Rohingya refugees in 2017. Her National League for Democracy (NLD) party said earlier in a statement that its offices had been raided in several regions and urged authorities to stop what it called unlawful acts after its victory in a November 8 election. Army chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power on the grounds of fraud in the election, which the NLD won in a landslide. The electoral commission had said the vote was fair.
B) Joe Biden’s Homeland Security chief confirmed.
Joe Biden’s immigration reform push received a boost on Tuesday when the Senate confirmed his pick to head the Department of Homeland Security, as the U.S. President seeks to roll back Donald Trump’s hardline policies. Cuban-born Alejandro Mayorkas, confirmed on a modestly bipartisan vote, becomes the first Latino and the first immigrant to head up DHS. His approval gives the expansive agency its first permanent leadership in nearly two years, and came ahead of Mr. Biden’s signing of three executive orders aimed at streamlining immigration. including an effort to reunite children separated from their parents at the border with Mexico. They are a follow-up to the executive orders that Mr. Biden signed on his first day in office as he takes aim at U.S. immigration policy after four years of Mr. Trump’s ‘America First’ approach. The new action by the Democratic President is aimed at streamlining the U.S. immigration process, officials said, with Mr. Biden to order a review of all the legal obstacles to immigration and integration put in place under Mr. Trump. The review will likely lead to dramatic changes in policies, according to a senior government official, who said the goal is to restore faith in our legal immigration system, and promote integration of Americans. President Trump was so focused on the (Mexico border) wall that he did nothing to address the root cause of why people are coming to our southern border, the official said. It was a limited, wasteful and naive strategy, and it failed.
C) U.S. extends New START nuclear treaty with Russia.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration on Wednesday extended the New START nuclear treaty with Russia by five years, saying it hoped to prevent an arms race despite rising tensions with Moscow. One day before the treaty was set to expire, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States was extending New START by the maximum allowed time of five years. President Biden pledged to keep the American people safe from nuclear threats by restoring U.S. leadership on arms control and nonproliferation, Mr. Blinken said in a statement. The United States is committed to effective arms control that enhances stability, transparency and predictability while reducing the risks of costly, dangerous arms races. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed off on legislation extending the accord on Friday, meaning that the treaty signed by then-President Barack Obama in 2010 will run until February 5, 2026. The last remaining arms reduction pact between the former Cold War rivals, New START caps to 1,550 the number of nuclear warheads that can be deployed by Moscow and Washington. Former President Donald Trump’s administration tore up previous agreements with Moscow and unsuccessfully sought to expand New START to cover China. Mr. Blinken said the U.S. would use the coming five years to pursue diplomacy that addresses all of Russia’s nuclear weapons and to reduce the dangers from China’s modern and growing nuclear arsenal.
