CURRENT AFFAIRS
02 August 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Gehlot says he has no problem welcoming back Pilot.
On 1 August, by reversing his earlier stand, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that if the Congress high command forgives the rebels, which include former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot, then he will also welcome them back in the fold. Gehlot on earlier occasions had used harsh words for Pilot, calling him “nikamma” or useless, at a time when the Congress leadership was working hard to mend bridges with the rebel camp.
B) Congress internal rift out in open as 3 former ministers defend UPA-2.
Following Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Satav’s recent comments at a virtual party meeting, 3 former Union ministers, Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor, and Milind Deora, defend former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and the UPA-II government. During a recent meeting of the party’s Rajya Sabha members with President Sonia Gandhi, when former Union Minister Kapil Sibal remarked that the party needed to introspect, Satav had retorted that introspection should begin from the UPA-2 period, focussing on how the Congress fell to 44 Lok Sabha seats in
2014.
C) Prashant Bhushan and 2 others move the apex Court against Contempt of Court Act.
Senior journalists N. Ram, A Shourie and advocate Prashant Bhushan have moved the Apex Court against a law that allows criminal contempt proceedings to be initiated on the ground that a publication may tend to or even scandalize or lower the authority of a court of law. They said that the contempt of Court law was unconstitutional, Their petition focusses on the legality of Section 2(c)(i) of the Contempt of Court Act. This section deals with criminal contempt of Court by publishing any matter which tries to bring down the reputation of a Court.
D) COVID Watch: Numbers and Developments.
The number of coronavirus cases reported from India stood at 17,33,580 with the death toll at 36,982. Since the things are getting better, the Centre has decided to allow the export of indigenously made ventilators to India. The decision was taken because of the continuous decline of fatality among Covid-19 patients. The debate about whether to reopen schools was going on, meanwhile, a new study has found that children who are younger than five years have much higher levels of the novel coronavirus genetic material in their nose as compared to older children and adults.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) ICMR gave fast-tracks approvals for Israeli research on test kits.
The government has approved the Israel conduct COVID-19 research on patients who were admitted to 4 hospitals of Delhi. This also includes the transfer of saliva samples and data of patients to Israel. The Defense Research and Development Organization of India (DRDO) is collaborating with the Directorate of Defense Research and Development of Israel (DRDD) in order to conduct the trials on Indian patients which includes various tests such as: audio test, breath test, thermal testing and a polyamine test to isolate proteins related to COVID-19. The trial obtained expedited approval by the Health Ministry’s Screening Committee (HSMC). The head of HSMC is Dr. Balram Bhargava who was appointed on July 28.
B) Arab world’s first nuclear plant achieves criticality UAE announces the launch of Barakah.
The oil-rich United Arab Emirates on 1 August announced the start-up of its Barakah nuclear power plant, scoring another first for the Arab world. The announcement coincides with the Muslim holiday of Id. This is a historic milestone for the country with a vision set to deliver a new form of clean energy for the nation. The UAE Premier and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, tweeted that the work at Barakah had started and they are successful in loading the nuclear fuel packages and carrying out comprehensive tests and successfully completing the operation.
C) Trump says he will ban TikTok from the U.S.
On 31 July President Donald Trump said that he will bar fast-growing social media app TikTok from the U.S. because American authorities have raised concerns relating to the service that could be a tool for Chinese intelligence. U.S. officials and lawmakers in the past few days have raised concerns about the popular video platform being used by Beijing for some alternative purposes. But the company has denied that they are having any links to the Chinese government.
