NATIONAL NEWS
Centre expresses regret over Nagaland firing incident:
Amit Shah Expressing regret over the Nagaland firing incident, Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said that a probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) will be completed within a month and asserted that all agencies must ensure such happenings do not recur while taking action against insurgents. In his statement in Lok Sabha, Shah offered condolences to the families of those killed in the incident on December 4. Security forces opened fire on civilians killing 14 and injuring 11 more in Nagaland’s Mon district in three consecutive episodes, the first of which was a case of mistaken identity, police said on Sunday. One soldier also died in the rioting which followed. Shah said that in self defence and to disperse the crowd, the troops had to open fire in which seven civilians were killed. He said that on Sunday evening, an agitated crowd targeted Assam Rifles company operating base and forces had to open fire in which one civilian was killed. It has been decided all agencies must ensure such incidents do not happen in the future during action against insurgents, the minister said. Expressing dissatisfaction with the statement, opposition parties including the Congress, DMK, SP, BSP and the NCP walked out of the House. Earlier in the day, Lok Sabha members condemned the Nagaland incident and demanded an impartial probe. Members also called for the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).
Rajya Sabha: Protests over suspension of MPs to intensify
Opposition parties have decided to intensify protests inside the Rajya Sabha on the suspension of 12 House members, overruling a view that House disruption should be calibrated to allow them to have their say but to stop the government from having its way. Opposition leaders have decided that the protests in the Upper House should not spill over to the Lower House. It has been a week since the 12 MPs have been on a sit-in at the Gandhi statue in Parliament during its working hours. The government wants an individual apology on the floor of the House from them for their misconduct during the monsoon session but they are not willing to relent. The first adjournment on Monday came within 10 minutes after the House sat down for the day in the morning. At 12:00, when the House reconvened, it worked for 18 minutes amidst cacophonous protests from the Opposition. Later in the day, the House saw two more adjournments before winding up for the day at 4:00 p.m. The Opposition did not participate in a debate on price rise that was listed for the day. The Opposition parties had two rounds of meetings before the session and another one during the lunch break.
India signs military deals with Russia, raises ‘unprovoked aggression’ from China
India had faced ‘unprovoked aggression’ on its northern borders for more than a year, said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday during the first-ever India-Russia ‘2+2’ dialogue here. Both sides renewed the military-technical cooperation agreement for another 10 years till 2031, and also signed the deal for the manufacture of Ak-203 assault rifles, a defence official said. The deal for 6.1 lakh Ak-203 assault rifles is estimated at over ₹5,000 crore and will be manufactured by a Joint Venture, Indo-Russian Rifles Private Ltd. (IRRPL) at Korwa, Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. The IRRPL was set up jointly between the erstwhile OFB [now Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited and Munitions India Limited] of India and Rosoboronexport and concern Kalashnikov of Russia. The deal has been stuck over the high cost of each rifle and the high incidental costs of the Ordnance factory. As part of efforts to bring down costs, Russia dropped the royalty to be charged in the deal, officials confirmed. With the $5.43 bn S-400 as well as other big-ticket deals, defence trade between India and Russia has crossed $15 bn since 2018.
With Omicron, third wave projected to hit India by Feb. but may be milder than second, says IIT scientist
With Omicron, the new variant of SARS-CoV2, the third wave of coronavirus could hit the peak by February with cases likely to be reaching up to 1-1.5 lakh a day in the country, but it will be milder than the second wave, Manindra Agarwal, IIT scientist involved in the mathematical projection of trajectory of COVID-19, said. He said in the new forecast, the new Omicron variant has been factored in. With the new variant, our current forecast is that the country could see the third wave by February but it will be milder than the second wave. So far we have seen that the severity of Omicron is not like the one seen in the Delta variant, Agarwal told PTI. Photo used for representation purpose only. File He, however, said a close eye is being kept on cases in South Africa where many cases of this variant have been recorded. Agarwal added that as of now South Africa has not seen a rise in hospitalisation. He said a fresh set of data on the virus and hospitalisations would help in getting a more solid picture. It looks like although the new variant has shown high transmissibility, its severity is not like the one seen in the Delta variant, Agarwal said.
Ex-Waqf Board chief in U.P. Wasim Rizvi converts to Hinduism
The controversial former chairman of the Shia Waqf Board Wasim Rizvi on Monday converted to Sanatan Dharm at a religious ceremony performed at the Dasna temple of Ghaziabad. The rituals were conducted by the priest of the temple, Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, who is also the Mahamandleshwar of the influential Juna Akhada. After the ceremony, Rizvi was renamed as Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi. Tyagi said it was his choice what religion to follow.The former Waqf official was in the news for filing a petition in the Supreme Court demanding the removal of 26 verses from the Koran, which he alleged taught violence. While Muslim clerics flayed the move, the top court threw out his petition and imposed a penalty of ₹50,000 on him, describing his petition as absolutely frivolous. Later, he wrote a controversial book on the Prophet Muhammad that also faced the ire of clerics. Since then, Tyagi has claimed that his life was under threat. Narsinghanand Saraswati, who is known for his hate speech against Islam, said Tyagi had approached him in November for embracing Santana Dharm and had said he wanted his body to be cremated after death.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Myanmar court sentences ousted leader Suu Kyi to 4 years in prison
A special court in Myanmar’s capital sentenced the country’s ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to four years in prison on Monday after finding her guilty of incitement and violating coronavirus restrictions, a legal official said. The sentencing was the first in a series of cases in which the 76-year-old Nobel laureate is being prosecuted since the army seized power on Feb. 1, preventing her National League for Democracy party from starting a second five-year term in office. The incitement case involved statements posted on her party’s Facebook page after she and other party leaders had already been detained by the military, while the coronavirus charge involved a campaign appearance ahead of elections in November last year which her party overwhelmingly won. The army, whose allied party lost many seats in the election, claimed massive voting fraud, but independent election observers did not detect any major irregularities. The court’s ruling was conveyed by a legal official who insisted on anonymity for fear of being punished by the authorities. Suu Kyi’s trials are closed to the media and spectators, and her lawyers, who had been the sole source of information on the proceedings, were served with gag orders in October forbidding them from releasing information.
Tougher restrictions in Italy for unvaccinated people amid Omicron concern
The Government of Italy has introduced tougher restrictions for unvaccinated individuals amid the concern over the Omicron Covid variant and the potential spike in new infections. Many public activities in Italy will be off-limits to anyone without a Covid Super Green Pass which is proof of vaccination and recovery from the virus within the last six months. The new measures in Italy will also help in strengthening the existing covid green passes which can be easily obtained after a COVID negative test. Italy has been grappling with a spike in new COVID-19 infections which are rising gradually since mid-October 2021. In the last few weeks, various countries in Europe have placed stricter measures on unvaccinated people due to the increasing number of infections.
