CURRENT AFFAIRS
01 January 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Covid-19 vaccine close to approval, hints Drug Controller General India.
Ahead of a meeting on Friday to review the Serum Institute’s vaccine candidate application, V.G. Somani, Drug Controller General of India (DGCI), at a discussion organised by the Department of Biotechnology, hinted that a vaccine was close to being available. Somani was speaking in a webinar that saw vaccine experts, infectious disease experts, and representatives of vaccine companies discussing Covid-19 vaccine development. We will probably have a Happy New Year with something in hand, Somani said, while discussing the regulatory process as well as the participation by academicians, industry, and infectious disease experts in the development of vaccine candidates. The DGCI’s body of experts that is perusing applications by companies is expected to review tomorrow applications by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech (BB) for emergency use authorisation. Under this provision, companies are given permission to market the vaccine even if they haven’t furnished all the evidence normally required to establish the product’s safety and efficacy. SII has partnered with AstraZeneca to bring to market the Oxford vaccine, which was approved by health authorities in the U.K. on Wednesday. Both SII and BB are testing the vaccine in ongoing phases-3 trials whose results are yet to be publicized. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also indicated today that a vaccine was at hand. Earlier, he said that ‘Dawai nahi toh dheelai nahi’ (No laxity till a cure is found). Now, he is saying ‘Dawai bhi aur kadaai bhi’ (Along with the medicine, be vigilant). Our mantra for the year 2021 is ‘Dawai bhi aur kadaai bhi’, he said, after laying the foundation stone of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Rajkot through video-conferencing.
B) Core sectors output shrink by 2.6% in November, hitting three-month low.
Output from India’s eight core sectors hit a three-month low in November, contracting 2.6% in the festive month. Coal, fertilisers and electricity were the only sectors to record positive growth on a year-on-year basis, suggesting that the economy is still not out of the woods. The good news is that the Index of Eight Core Industries was revised upwards for both August and October, based on updated data received by the Office of Economic Adviser in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade that compiles the data. Core sectors’ output shrank by just 0.9% in October, compared to an earlier estimate of 2.5% contraction. The index had contracted 0.1% in September, while revised final numbers for August reflect a 6.9% contraction in August compared to the original estimate of a far-sharper 8.5% contraction. Electricity output rose for the third month in a row, albeit at a slower pace of 2.2%, while coal production rose year-on-year for the fourth month in a row at 2.9%. Fertilizers production continued to grow, rising 1.6% in November. The fertilizer sector remains the only one to have recorded growth in the first eight months of 2020-21, growing 3.8% between April and November. On a cumulative basis from April to November, the eight sectors’ index has declined 11.4% from the same period a year ago. These sectors account for around 40% of the Index of Industrial Production or IIP. Steel, after recording three consecutive months of positive growth, and cement, after recording a positive growth in October 2020, slipped into contraction in November 2020. This shows that the industrial recovery continues to be uneven and fragile, said Sunil Kumar Sinha, principal economist at India Ratings and Research. Given the performance of eight core sectors in November 2020, we expect the IIP growth to remain weak in November 2020. Also, it will be interesting to see whether the momentum recorded in factory output due to pent up, festive demand for consumer durables and non-durables during the past two months continues in November 2020, Sinha said.
C) Resolution against farm laws passed unanimously in Kerala Assembly.
The Kerala Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution demanding that the BJP-led government at the Centre scrap the contentious farm laws. The resolution was passed unanimously, with the Opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) supporting it. The lone BJP member O. Rajagopal expressed his reservations against the points in the resolution, but did not oppose it during voting. Rajagopal said that he abstained from voting as he supported the State government’s resolution. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan presented the resolution in the House, which convened for a special session to discuss the laws. The laws would weaken the bargaining power of the farmers before the combined strength of the corporates, the resolution noted. The laws lack provisions for ensuring the protection of farmers. In a scenario where the government withdraws from procurement, it will jeopardise the distribution of food and food security and lead to an increase in hoarding and black marketeering, the resolution said. Moreover, agriculture is a State subject under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. As a matter that seriously affects the States, the Bills should have been discussed in a meeting of the inter-State council. That the Bills were passed in haste without even referring them to the Standing Committee of the Parliament is a serious matter, the resolution noted.
D) ‘1% advancement, 99% deadlock’, say farmer leaders on talks with Centre.
Farmer leaders today clarified that the government has not given them any timeline for removing the penal provisions against farmers in the stubble-burning ordinance, despite agreement on the issue at yesterday’s talks. It was only a verbal commitment, with no written agreement, they said. The Centre also characterised it as an in-principle agreement. In any case, this was a peripheral issue for farmers, and with no agreement yet on repeal of the three farm laws, it is still 1% advancement, and 99% deadlock, they said. Meanwhile, some young farmers broke through the police barricades at the Rajasthan-Haryana border today and began moving on the road towards Delhi. The Haryana Police attempted to stop them, using water cannons and tear gas. Protest leaders said they had appealed to these farmers not to break the barricades.
E) CBSE Class X, XII exams from May 4 to June 10. Board examinations for Class 10 and 12 students under the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will be held from May 4 to June 10, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank announced today. The final results will be released by July 15. Practical examinations have also been given additional flexibility. Schools will be allowed to conduct practicals as well as project and internal assessment at any time starting from March 1 until the last date of conduct of the theory examinations for the same class, Nishank said. The examination schedule has been delayed due to the disruptions caused by the pandemic to the 2020-21 academic calendar.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Amazon gets into the podcast business.
Amazon is jumping into the podcast business. The online shopping giant is buying Wondery, a 4-year-old producer of popular, true crime podcasts such as Dr. Death and Dirty John. An explosion of new podcasts has led to a number of acquisitions as competing platforms try to grow their audiences and their ad revenue. The music streaming platform Spotify bought two podcast companies in 2019 and has added high-profile hosts to its roster, including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Wondery podcasts will be part of Amazon’s music streaming service, but it will still be available on other platforms as well. This is a pivotal moment to expand the Amazon Music offering beyond music as listener habits evolve, Amazon said in a blog post Wednesday.
B) Iran honours ‘martyr’ Soleimani.
Iran this week honours military commander Qasem soleimani, who was killed a year ago by the United States, an arch enemy. He is revered as a heroic warrior across the Islamic republic. Since his death in a drone strike in Baghdad on January 3, the “martyr” Soleimani has entered the ranks Of Iran’s glorious generals, immortalised in portraits, sculptures, ballads and an upcoming TV series. The strike had sparked mourning across Iran. The commemorations on Sunday come only weeks be fore U.S. president Donald Trump, Who ordered the killing, leaves the White House, and Joe Biden takes over, offering hopes of a somewhat less bellicose relationship. Soleimani’s killing at the age of 62 sharply tensions Washington and Tehran, whose decades-old animosity deepened When Mr. Trump withdrew from Iran’s nuclear deal and launched a maximum pressure- campaign to isolate Iran. Within days, Iran retaliated to the killing of the military lealer who was deemed untouchable by firing rockets at Iraqi bases housing US forces. Though the attack claimed no lives, it caused injuries and preceded a tragedy. In the hours that followed the strikes, When it appeared that the conflict could escalate further, Iran accidentally shot down a Ukrainian plane Tehran, claiming the lives of all 176 abroad.
