Author: Shivali Varshney, Vidhyarthi Darpan

CURRENT AFFAIRS
13 JULY 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Punjab farmers find a better way to grow paddy. 

Labour shortage after the exodus of pandemic-struck migrant labourers forced Gurteg Singh in Punjab to plant paddy using the direct seeding of rice (DSR) technique in the kharif season, rather than do traditional transplanting. A month later, he is upbeat about his crop yield, and relieved at being spared of a major problem: handling crop residue after harvest. Farmers and agricultural experts say that large scale use of DSR to plant paddy could solve the staggering problem of stubble burning, a key cause of air pollution across the northern region. After harvest, the farmers usually burn the stubble to get rid of it. A short window of 20-25 days is the key reason for stubble burning, rather than opt for other ways of disposal. This year, the Punjab government relaxed sowing schedules, and many farmers chose direct seeding. Punjab could see paddy crop in 27 lakh hectares this season, with DSR used in about six lakh hectares, said K.S. Pannu, Agriculture Secretary. DSR was employed in some 60,000 hectares last year.

B) Pakistani militant among 3 killed in Kashmir. 

Three militants were killed in a day-long operation in north Kashmir’s Baramulla on Sunday. Pakistani militant Usman of the Lashkar-e-Taiba was among the killed militants. He was involved in a recent attack at Sopore, in which one CRPF jawan and one civilian were killed. It’s a big success for police and the security forces. The gunfight between the hiding militants and the security forces erupted early Sunday morning when a team of the Army, the police and the CRPF cordoned off the Reban area of Sopore. The police said the hiding militants opened fire on the search party. While one militant was killed earlier in the day, two more were killed in the afternoon. A civilian’s house also got damaged during the operation. An Army spokesman said some militants attacked a Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) patrol on Sunday evening.

Terrorists made an abortive bid to attack CAPF around 4:45 p.m. at Chersoo, Awantipora [in south Kashmir]. Suspects moving on a bike threw two grenades on the CAPF. However, the grenades did not explode. Efforts are on to nab the terrorists. Over 127 militants have been killed in Kashmir in operations so far this year.

C) Disabled are entitled to same benefits as that of SC/ST quota: Supreme Court. 

The Supreme Court, in a significant decision, confirmed that persons with disabilities are also socially backward and entitled to the same benefits of relaxation as Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates in public employment and education. A three-judge Bench led by Justice Rohinton Nariman upheld a 2012 judgment of the Delhi High Court in Anamol Bhandari (minor) through his father/Natural Guardian v. Delhi Technological University. “In Anamol Bhandari, the High Court has correctly held that people suffering from disabilities are also socially backward, and are therefore, at the very least, entitled to the same benefits as given to the Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe candidates,” the Supreme Court held in a judgment on July 8. The decision by the Justice Nariman Bench came on a petition by Aryan Raj, a special needs person represented by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, and advocate Rajan Mani, against the Government College of Arts, Chandigarh. The college denied Mr. Raj relaxation in minimum arks in the Painting and Applied Art course.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Xi’s mobilisation order, months of planning ahead of border moves. 

China’s moves into the Galwan Valley, Pangong Lake area and several other spots along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), starting in early May, were likely planned for months and followed a new mobilization order issued by President Xi Jinping. Several Chinese incursions across the LAC took place almost simultaneously in locations several hundred kilometres apart — some even hours apart on the same day — leading to skirmishes in early and mid-May. The timing of the incidents suggested a high level of coordination and planning. In Galwan Valley and Pangong Lake, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) deployments appeared to have been aimed at pushing India back from the LAC and redrawing it to more closely align with China’s official borders. A buffer zone that both sides have temporarily agreed to in Galwan has, on China’s insistence, been structured around Beijing’s new LAC perception, shifting the line around 1 km west. In Pangong Lake, China has thinned its presence from its LAC perception at Finger 4 but moved only to Finger 5, still much deeper inside from the Indian claim line at Finger 8 which is about 8 km from Finger 4. Starting in late January and early February, the PLA began what was viewed as routine mobilisation for annual exercises in Xinjiang, which borders Ladakh. This year, however, in a major departure from the earlier annual exercises, PLA troops that used to train far inside their territory, while border frontier troops remained in forward areas, for the first time moved close to the border. Due to this, there was huge mobilisation since April and the move was very evident. 

In January 2020, President Xi signed a new Training Mobilisation Order (TMO) for strengthening military training in real combat conditions and “to maintain a high level of readiness”. The new order updated the 2019 TMO, which was the first such order to be signed by Mr. Xi, and had called for implementing new military training guidelines announced by him in 2018 to improve combat readiness. While the announcement was seen as routine at the time, Indian officials believe it dramatically altered the pattern of annual exercises and China’s forward deployments, not just with India but also in other theatres, where tensions have flared this summer with Japan, Taiwan and in the South China Sea.

B) US Navy welcomes his first Black female Tactical Aircraft pilot. 

The US Navy has welcomed his first Black female Tactical Aircraft pilot, Swegle. The Naval Air Training Command gave this information by tweeting that Swegle is the Navy’s first known Black female TACAIR pilot. Swegle belongs to Burke, Virginia, and she was graduated from the US Naval Academy in 2017. She was assigned the Redhawks of Training Squadron 21 in Kingsville, Texas. Swegle’s milestone comes after more than 45 years. Earlier Rosemary Mariner in 1974 became the first woman to fly a tactical fighter jet.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
12 JULY 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Kashmiris pitch in to charter flights home from Dubai. 

While the Vande Bharat Mission has brought home thousands of people stranded abroad, the preference for the elderly, pregnant women and persons with medical emergencies meant that not everyone got a ticket to fly. Two government-run flights brought back many Kashmiris from Dubai to Srinagar on May 22 and June 11. However, over 800 stranded Kashmiris continued to suffer. Scores of companies stopped hiring and started thinning out staff in April, with many Kashmiris losing their jobs. The growing number of distress videos and appeals on social media platforms by jobless youth in Dubai and their families in Kashmir forced the community to work on a novel idea i.e. pooling money and arranging the logistics for charter flights with the financially less stressed buying their own ticket and others being fully or partially funded from the pool. Two such flights, one on June 25 and the other on July 3, have helped around 385 desperate youth and their families escape the Dubai lockdown and the growing unemployment there due to the economic slump induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. A third such flight is scheduled for next week, tentatively July 14. The entire initiative was the brainchild of six Dubai-based employees and businessmen — Kaiser Zargar, Alim Banday, Sajad Wani, Irfan Wani, Sadia Dehlvi and Mr. Peerzada. Their ‘Fly Kashmir Team’ collaborated with Miraj Islamic Art Centre, a carpet company, on the charter flights.

B) UGC to take action if States cancel exams. 

As Delhi became the latest State to cancel final year university examinations in defiance of UGC guidelines, both the Centre and the regulatory agency reiterated that guidelines were legally binding on the States and must be followed. As per the UGC Act, State governments cannot take the ln decision contrary to the decision of UGC. Unlike school education, which is on the State list, higher education is on the concurrent list. UGC and AICTE [All India Council for Technical Education] directives have to be implemented. It is not permissible for States to do like this. UGC have the power to take action against this.

C) We are still in a crisis and need a full reset of India-China relations.

On July 11, the former National Security Adviser of India, Shivshankar Menon said that India and China must fully reset ties. He said this by cautioning that any move to allow buffer zones mutual pull-outs and suspending patrols at the LAC sends out the wrong message that both the sides are equally responsible for the aggression. According to him, after this, India-China relations will be reset, as there is no going back on the situation before [the Ladakh stand-off]. What China did this time pressing forward on multiple points along the LAC, then changing the definition of LAC claims, the deaths for the first time since 1975 [in the June 15 Galwan clash] represents a significant change in Chinese behavior. This actually calls into question the whole structure of agreements and confidence building measures that were put in place since 1988, and with the 1993 agreement, which had kept the peace on the border for some time. But this is still a crisis. He is also sure that India-China relations will have to be reset after this. 

D) 2 armed infiltrators killed along LoC in Kupwara.

Major General Virender Vats, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Army’s Baramulla-based 19 Infantry Division told that the Army on Saturday killed two armed infiltrators along the Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Kupwara and warned that Pakistan was trying hard to push more and more militants into the Valley in an attempt to instigate people. Two heavily armed militants were killed in Nowgam sector in Kupwara, owing to the swift and appropriate response by our alert troops on the ground. These militants had used the route through Pakistan Army posts, which clearly indicates that Pakistan is pushing militants into India. The infiltrators were trying to cut the anti-infiltration fence and were dressed in combat fatigues. Two AK-47 rifles, 350 rounds and some electronic switches were spotted at the site. In addition to the food and medicines, around ₹1.5 lakh in Indian and Pakistani currency were also recovered. A search operation is still underway to sanitise the area. The Army did not rule out the possibility of the militants being on a suicide attack mission in the Valley. The counter-infiltration grid in Jammu and Kashmir was “spotting similar infiltration attempts in the Rajouri and Kupwara sectors in the recent past. Pakistan is trying hard to push more and more militants into the Valley, in an attempt to instigate the people, which they have failed to do for long now. Launchpads across the LoC are fully occupied by militants and around 250 to 300 militants are ready to infiltrate. Unlike south Kashmir, the militancy and their narratives were largely discarded by the people and have not got any sort of traction in north Kashmir. 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) Amazon revokes ‘ban’ on TikTok in five hours.

On July 11, a mail was sent to the employees of amazon telling them to delete tik tok application from their devices. Later approximately within five hours of this email, the online retailing giant called the ban a mistake. Amazon reported that the mail sent to some of our employees this morning was in error. Right now there is no change in our policies with regard to Tik Tok. The initial internal email, which was sent widely online, told the employees to delete TikTok. The email cited the app’s security risks. After Walmart, Jeff Bejos owned Amazon is the second-largest U.S. private employer. Banning TikTok by amazon could have escalated pressure on the app in a big way, particularly if other companies also did the same. The U.S. military already bans TikTok on the phones of their employees. Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State said  that the US government was certainly looking at banning the app by setting off confused posts as well as jokes by TikTok users.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
10 JULY 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Solar energy will play big role in ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’: PM

On July 10, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that solar energy would play a major role in achieving self-reliance in energy which is essential for an ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’.  It will be a big energy medium for 21st century. Inaugurating a 750 MW solar power project in Rewa district, Madhya Pradesh, he said that we won’t be able to use solar power completely unless we have improved solar panels, improved batteries and best quality storage within the country.  We need to work in this direction now. He also asserted that Solar energy would be a big medium to meet the energy needs of the 21st century.

B) 14% excess rain in India so far this monsoon.

Monsoon rainfall since June has been 14% more than what is normal for this time of the year. Till now, India has received 28.7 cm rainfall as compared to the typical rainfall of 25.2 cm. Only on nine of the 40 days of monsoon so far has rainfall been less than the daily average, according to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). About 40% of districts received excess rain while 27% others have seen deficient rain, having received at least 20% less rain than usual. There are 29 districts in Uttar Pradesh, 17 in Gujarat and 16 in Jammu and Kashmir that have received deficient rain. Paradoxically, Uttar Pradesh also leads in the number of districts with excess rain (35), followed by Bihar (32) and Madhya Pradesh (28). Currently, the rainfall data has been collected from 681 districts of the country by IMD. 

C) It will take at least 12 months for commercial vaccine of coronavirus, say officials. 

A group of government officials informed the Parliamentary Panel on Science and Technology that novel coronavirus vaccine will take at least 12 months to be commercially available and a realistic deadline for it would be some time next year. This timeline is contrary to the letter sent out by Dr. Balram Bhargava who is the Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research, who earlier said that the Covaxin trial will be  ready for public health use by August 15.  The ICMR later backtracked from this. The officials also indicated that when the vaccine is developed, it will first be made available to vulnerable groups before distribution for public use.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) China, U.S. in new spat over Uighur crackdown. 

On July 10, China said that it will impose tit-for-tat measures after the U.S. accuses Chinese officials for their involvement in a crackdown on Muslim minorities. This has raised tensions between the superpower countries. Both the countries have traded barbs and sanctions on a number of issues since President Donald Trump hold office, from trade to more recent clashes over the coronavirus pandemic and a security law in Hong Kong and the Chinese policies in the far west regions of Tibet and Xinjiang. The latest response from China followed a U.S. announcement of visa bans and it assets freeze on three officials against restive minorities. China has decided to impose reciprocal measures against the relevant U.S. institutions and individuals who behave badly on these issues. 

B) U.S. bans Pakistan’s PIA over pilot license scandal. 

European Union aviation regulators have also barred the carrier for six months. After the carrier said that nearly 150 pilots would be grounded over fake licenses, the United States has banned Pakistan International Airlines from operating chartered flights. The ban was announced by the U.S. Department of Transportation after knowing of the fact that approximately one-third of Pakistani pilots are not properly certificated in accordance with international standards. In June, the Aviation Minister of Pakistan revealed that a government review had found that around 260 of the 860 active pilots in the country hold fake licenses or they had cheated in exams. PIA at that time said that it would immediately ground about one third of its 434 pilots. This was announced some weeks after one of its plane crashed in Karachi killing 98 people due to the error of pilot. 

C) IAF gets last of 5 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters from Boeing. 

Boeing handed over the last five AH-64E Apache attack helicopters to the Indian Air Force (IAF) by completing the contract for 22 Apaches. The Apaches were deployed at the Leh air base as part of the forward movement of assets, amid the stand-off with China in Ladakh. Earlier in March, Boeing handed over the last five of the 15 CH-47F(I) Chinook heavy-lift helicopters to the IAF. The IAF inducted the first batch of Apaches in September 2019 and based them at Air Force Station, Pathankot, Punjab. While the last five Apaches arrived in India early this year, the handover was delayed slightly because of the global covid19 situation. India had contracted 22 Apache helicopters and 15 Chinook helicopters from Boeing through the Foreign Military Sales programme of the U.S. government in September 2015. The deal was for $3 billion. 

CURRENT AFFAIRS
10 JULY 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Govt. ‘watching’ WHO alert on airborne spread of virus.

Continuing to rule out community transmission of COVID-19 in the country, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday said it is “closely watching the dynamic evolution of the virus situation in India, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) now indicating that the virus may be airborne”. After earlier denials, the WHO on Tuesday said there is evidence emerging of the airborne spread of the coronavirus, after over 230 scientists across the world urged the global body to update its guidance. “Presently, there are 2,69,789 active cases under active medical supervision with India’s recovery rate now at 62.09 %. It would not be fair to compare India with other countries in terms of absolute numbers. India has only 195.5 cases per 1 million population which is amongst the lowest in the world. India currently has a fatality rate of 2.75%.

B) U.P. gangster Vikas Dubey arrested. 

Gangster Vikas Dubey, wanted for allegedly shooting dead eight policemen in Kanpur’s Bikru village last week, was arrested in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. Dubey, on the run since the night of July 2, was arrested near a temple in Ujjain. Whether he surrendered or was arrested after receiving a tip from a guard at the Mahakal temple who recognized him and informed the nearest police outpost, the exact details are still awaited. Mishra has told the police that our police doesn’t leave anyone, they have arrested Vikas Dubey as well and he is in our custody. The arrest is a huge success for Madhya Pradesh.

C) Free grains will be given till Aug. 31.

The Narendra Modi government has extended the deadline for distribution of free food grains under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission allocated to State governments, which was aimed at migrant workers who didn’t have ration cards, by a month, till August 31. Union Minister for Food and Public Distribution Ramvilas Paswan said the scheme was launched on May 15 and the identification process of genuine beneficiaries took some time. “This scheme is for anyone who doesn’t have a ration card. The beneficiary may or may not be a migrant worker. Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Package, 5 kg of free food grains per person and 1 kg of free whole gram per family has been distributed to migrant labourers, stranded and needy families, who are not covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) or State scheme PDS cards. Issuing a State-wise allocation order on Wednesday, the Department of Food and Public Distribution in the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution made it clear that the allocation would be in addition to the regular monthly allocation to the States and Union Territories under the NFSA. Unlike in the north and Maharashtra where both wheat and rice have been allotted more or less in equal measure, the southern region has been given predominantly rice with minimum amount of wheat.

D) PM touts ‘green shoots of growth’

Observing that the Indian economy is seeing a revival, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that global investors should consider investing in the world’s “most open economies”. PM Modi in his speech said that India remains one of the most open economies in the world. He also listed the gains India had made in “total financial inclusion, record housing and infra construction, ease of doing business, and bold tax reforms, including the GST”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the India Global Week conference organised by London-based NRI group Indian Inc on July 9, 2020.  

E) Centre claims workers returning to cities to reclaim jobs. 

On July 9, the Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that the migrant workers were returning to cities to reclaim their old jobs as lockdown is over and the situation is turning very healthy. The Supreme Court was hearing compliance reports by the Centre and States on the return of migrant workers to their native states, which it had earlier directed the government to ensure. Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the Bihar government, said trains from Patna were running full. “Reverse migration is happening. 

F) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments. 

The number of coronavirus cases reported from India stood at 7,92,281 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 21,606. According to an AFP tally, more than 12 million coronavirus infections have now been recorded across the world. Despite India recording over 25,000 cases in a day for the first time on Wednesday, the Health Ministry continues to attempt a positive spin on things. The Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan after chairing the 18th meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on coronavirus said  that India has one of the lowest cases per million i.e. 538 cases and 15 deaths per million as compared to the global average of 1,453 and 68.7, respectively. This was swiftly followed by a now standard denial that India had community transmission of the disease. There are outbreaks in some localised areas, and just 49 districts account for 80% of the Covid-19 cases, the Health Minister said.

G) ICMR plans new survey to estimate actual prevalence of Covid-19. 

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is set to begin a new survey to estimate the true prevalence of coronavirus infections. The organisation is yet to make public the details of its earlier survey in 60 districts, which found that 0.73% of the population may have been exposed to the virus. This survey, which had begun on May 12, appeared to suggest, that at least seven lakh people were exposed to the virus across 21 States even in early May. This number suggested that the true extent of infections were 20 times higher than the 35,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 reported then in the entire country.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) WHO says pandemic accelerating, launches independent panel. 

The World Health Organisation, which has faced fierce U.S. criticism over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, launched an independent panel on Thursday to review its response to the pandemic. The panel will also review the responses of governments.  While sharing details about the review panel, Ghebreyesus painted a grim picture of the pandemic’s trajectory: “In most of the world the virus is not under control. It is getting worse. The pandemic is still accelerating. After weeks of incessantly criticising the WHO’s response to the pandemic, the U.S. had on Tuesday given a formal one-year notice of its intent to withdraw from the WHO. The U.S is the WHO’s biggest donor, accounting for $400-500 million of the body’s funds annually.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
09 JULY 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Three NGOs linked to Congress under Home Ministry scanner.

An inter-ministerial committee has been constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to probe alleged violation of various legal provisions by 3 NGOs — the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF), the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT) and the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust (IGMT). All the three non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are linked to the Congress, and party president Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of the RGF and the RGCT. The violations mentioned in the spokesperson’s tweet pertain to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Income Tax Act and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). The Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust is not a FCRA registered association. The RGCT website says that it is a “registered, not-for-profit organisation” and was “established in 2002 to address the development needs of the underprivileged of the country, especially the rural poor.”

B) BJP’s charge

Recently, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had alleged that the RGF continuously received donations from the Chinese embassy between 2006 and 2009. The allegations came in the middle of a build-up of Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh and the June 15 incident at the Galwan Valley, during which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.

C) Chinese troops move out of PP15 area of eastern Ladakh. 

Aas part of the disengagement underway to reduce tensions on the border, Chinese troops have fully moved out of the Patrolling Point (PP) 15 of the Hot Springs area in eastern Ladakh. Separately, on Tuesday, Chinese Consul General in Mumbai Tang Guocai acknowledged Chinese casualties, without revealing any numbers, during the Galwan clash on June 15, which resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers. “At PP15, they have fully gone back. The disengagement is complete there. At PP17, the pullback is underway. At the Finger 4 area of Pangong Tso, some more people and vehicles have gone back but there is no pull back as yet. A complete disengagement at Pangong Tso is expected to take time. On the buffer zone that is being created, the source stated that it was not a buffer zone as being described, but it was decided only to prevent Galwan-like clashes during the disengagement process in future.

D) UAE is in support of open skies agreement with India. 

On July 8, the UAE Ambassador, A.R. Albanna told that the UAE is eager to have an open sky agreement with India.  India has a policy of open skies with SAARC countries. Those countries which are beyond the radius of 5,000-km need to enter into a bilateral agreement. They can determine mutually the number of flights that can be operated by their airlines between the two countries. Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary at Ministry of Civil Aviation, while addressing the webinar, said that though 2.7 million passengers have been flown on domestic airlines since May 25, yet there have only been 800 COVID-19 positive cases.

E) Amazon boosts India unit with $308 million.  

Amazon.com has invested 23.10 billion rupees ($308.02 million) in Amazon Seller Services, an Indian unit. It is strengthening the business at that time when more and more people are doing their shopping online so as to avoid crowded public places. Amazon Singapore has made a significant portion of financing, data from business intelligence firm Tofler showed. The company’s Indian branch in May said that it would hire 50,000 temporary workers to meet a surge in online shopping in India. The company, which competes with Flipkart in India, has also been expanding its seller network in our country. Indian laws allows foreign e-commerce companies to operate as market places by connecting buyers with sellers online. Because of the imposition of lockdown in India, Amazon encouraged small shops sellers to join as sellers on its platform so as to boost local businesses and expand its reach even in this harsh time. In January, Jeff Bezos headed Amazon.com announced a $1 billion investment so as  to bring more than 10 million small businesses online in India by 2025.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Trump starts withdrawal of U.S. from WHO. President Donald Trump on Tuesday formally started the withdrawal of the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO). This step is making good threats on the WHO to deprive of its top funding source over its response to the coronavirus. Public health advocates and Mr. Trump’s political opponents voiced outrage at the exit from the Geneva-based body, which leads the global fight on maladies from polio to COVID-19. Trump threatens to suspend the $400 million in annual U.S. contributions and afterwards announcing a withdrawal, Donald Trump administration formally sent a notice to UN Secretary-General.  The withdrawal is effective in one year i.e. July 6, 2021. Joe Biden, Mr. Trump’s presumptive Democratic opponent in the November elections, vowed he would end the pullout if he won.

 

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS
08 JULY 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:  

A) Army pulls back 1.5 km from clash site. 

Indian troops have moved back 1.5 km from the site of the June 15 clash at the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, creating a buffer zone, which will be off-limits for foot patrolling by them for the next 30 days. This is as per the agreement reached during the Corps Commander-level talks on June 30. According to a defence source, the Chinese have fully moved out of the Patrol Point 14 area, the clash site, and thinning down of troops is under way at Hot Springs and Gogra, which could take two or three days to complete.

However, the disengagement by China at Pangong Tso as marginal. The primary objective of the first phase of disengagement was to have no eyeball-to-eyeball positions, which has been achieved through this arrangement. The next layer of deployment of 50 personnel on each side is about 1 km further behind. Within 6 km, there are just 80 people on both sides. The Indian Army, which used to patrol till Patrol Point 14 until the recent stand-off, could lose that right if a final solution is not found. The official said this was a cause of concern as the Chinese had entered well within the Indian perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The defence source cited above said that the initial process of disengagement at several places and the verification is expected to take two weeks, stating that it is going to be a long process for full disengagement. Another round of talks will be held after that to take the process forward.

B) Top priority’ to complete strategic roads.

On July 7, 2020, the defense Minister of India, Mr. Rajanth Singh directed the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) that the work on the strategic Darbuk Shyok Daulat Beg Oldi (DSDBO) road to be completed by October. This was conveyed at a meeting to review the progress of the construction activities in the border areas with BRO Director-General Lieutenant General Harpal Singh. On the 255-km DSDBO road, the ongoing construction is almost done.  Stating that an alternative route is also being made here, there was full focus on connectivity, terming it a “top priority”.  

C) Revenue collection through excise drops by 50%. 

As per the data, the liquor shops across the State are doing around 60,000-65,000 home deliveries daily. “Of these deliveries, 90% are in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The largest share is from the areas within the MMR limits as shops have not been allowed to open yet.” The demand for beer and country liquor has gone down considerably leading to a drop in revenue collection. “One of the reasons for the decreased demand for beer is hotels and restaurants have not been opened. Besides, the loss of employment and migration of labour class has resulted in a drop in consumption of country liquor.”  Excise duty is one of the major revenue sources of the State, outside the Goods and Services Tax. According to State Budget 2020-21, the State collected revenues worth ₹17,977 crore in 2019-20 as per the revised estimates. According to budget estimates for 2020-21, the State was to earn ₹19,225 crore in the ongoing fiscal. The move to reopen alcohol shops had come under criticism after long queues were observed outside the shops despite the lockdown. As a result, the State government allowed online delivery of alcohol from May 15.

D) Centre to lay down vaccine trial norms guidance document on anvil: DBT

India has five promising vaccine candidates. The government is readying a document that will lay down guidelines for companies and institutions working on potential COVID-19 vaccines. Ms. Swarup who is the secretary in the department of Biotechnology told that there are five promising candidate vaccines from India, including Covaxin from Bharat Biotech and one from Zydus Cadilla.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) TikTok may be banned in U.S.: Pompeo. 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said on July 6 that the United States is “looking at” banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok,. Pompeo told that they are taking this matter very seriously.  When Pompeo was asked whether the United States should be considering a ban on Chinese social media apps, especially TikTok. He said that with respect to Chinese apps on people’s cell phones, he can assure that the United States will get this one right too. He do not want to get out in front of the President, but it’s something they are looking at.

B) China censors Internet in Hong Kong

China has unveiled new powers to censor Hong Kong’s internet and access user data using its feared national security law  but US tech giants have put up some resistance citing rights concerns. The online censorship plans were contained in a government document of 116 pages which was released on the night of 6 July. It also revealed the expanded powers for police, allowing warrantless raids and surveillance for some national security investigations. A week ago, China imposed the law on semi-autonomous Hong Kong by targeting subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces. Despite assuring  that only a small number of people would be targeted by this law, the new details shows that it is the most radical change in the freedoms and rights of Hong Kong since Britain handed the city back to China in 1997.