NATIONAL NEWS
A) It’s back to centralised vaccine procurement, announces PM Modi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced that the nation would revert to the system of centralised procurement of Covid-19 vaccines, with 25% of procurement kept open for the private sector, and that this system would be operationalised from June 21. In a televised broadcast to the country, Modi cited several chief ministers’ letters demanding the same. He declared a cap of ₹150 on the amount private hospitals could charge over the cost of the purchase of the vaccine from the manufacturer. He also announced the extension of the free ration distribution scheme to 80 crore beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana till November. We will be reverting to the old system where the Centre can procure upto 75% of the doses of vaccines and it will provide them free to state governments, even for the age group 18-44, he said. Those who want to go to private facilities, that too will be allowed, as private institutions can procure 25% of vaccines from manufacturers, but there will be a cap of ₹150 per dose as service charge over the cost of the vaccine, he said. Modi expressed the optimism that more vaccine candidates would be available in the country in the future, including a nasal vaccine that is under development. Trials of vaccines for children were also going on in the country, he pointed out, and urged people to spike rumours over vaccines and encourage as many people as possible to take the vaccine. The Centre’s vaccination policy had come under intense criticism, with the Supreme Court slamming it as arbitrary and irrational. It is left to be seen how the State governments view this reversal of policy.
B) Supreme Court urged to stop illegal adoption of children orphaned by Covid-19.
The Supreme Court on June 7 agreed to intervene after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) sounded the alarm on a spate of complaints about illegal adoption of children orphaned by Covid-19 through private individuals and organisations. The NCPCR informed a Bench led by Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose that it has received many complaints in May that private individuals and organisations have been actively collecting data on these children while claiming that they want to assist families and children in adoption. Social media posts are circulating that children are up for adoption. This is plainly illegal and violates the Juvenile Justice Act, advocate Shobha Gupta, for an intervenor, made an impassioned plea. The adoption of orphaned/abandoned/surrendered children is lawful only after the adoption procedure as given under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 is followed and the final adoption order is passed by the prescribed authority, Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraj, for NCPCR, submitted. The NCPCR statistics shows that 3,621 children were orphaned, 26,176 children lost either parent, and 274 children were abandoned during the period April 1, 2021 to June 5, 2021. The second wave of the pandemic was at its worst during this period, leaving a trail of death across the country. Justice Rao said the court would pass the necessary orders on the issue of illegal adoptions. The national child rights body said information about these children, including their personal details, are being leaked from within government sources to private bodies, which circulate them. The Commission is receiving intimation regarding disclosure of children’s identity/ information by government authorities to private NGOs and organisations. Care must be taken by the authorities to ensure that their action is not in violation of Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act, the NCPCR affidavit said. The provision prohibits the disclosure of identity of children with regard to the name, school, age, address or any information which would reveal the essential details of the child. The NCPCR urged the court to direct the States and Union Territories to not place any confidential information about children in the public domain which would make them susceptible to trafficking, The Commission is also concerned to note that several NGOs are seeking monetary support in the name of children impacted by COVID. However, there is no disclosure to authorities regarding actual beneficiaries, as mandated under the JJ Act, 2015, the NCPCR said. The Commission asked the court to direct the States and UTs to create State Juvenile Justice Funds to enable the credit of donations/ contributions/ subscriptions directly in the notified account.
C) CBSE schools told to finish internal, practical assessments online by June 28.
Schools which have pending internal and practical assessments for Class 12 must complete them through online mode only and submit the marks by June 28, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) said in a notification on Monday. This comes as a CBSE panel is deliberating on how to determine Class 12 results in lieu of the cancelled board examinations. It has been observed that some schools have not been able to complete the school-based assessments in various subjects due to the pandemic. Thus the schools with pending Practicals/Internal Assessments are permitted to conduct the same now in only online mode and upload marks on the provided link latest by 28.08.2021, said the notification issued by CBSE Controller of Examinations Sanyam Bhardwaj. For practical examinations of project evaluations, the CBSE had appointed an external examiner who would decide on a date and conduct online viva voces. For internal assessment, the subject teacher concerned would test students based on the instructions provided by the CBSE. The policy for conducting such assessments for private candidates would be issued soon, said Dr. Bhardwaj. Examiners were warned to keep in mind that the marks allotted should not bunch towards the maximum marks, which is highly unlikely in view of diverse levels of students. Dr. Bhardwaj is a part of the 12-member panel set up by the CBSE last week to decide what objective criteria to use to determine Class 12 results after the exams were cancelled. One of the options being considered is using the marks from internal assessments, unit tests, project and practical work that students had received through the year to determine their final results.
D) Domestic air travel likely to get easier for fully vaccinated.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation is examining a proposal to dispense with the need for a negative RT-PCR test report for fully vaccinated passengers for domestic air travel, a senior government official said. He added that the proposal to exempt passengers who have received both doses of vaccines is yet to be discussed with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Norms for incoming passengers vary from one State or Union Territory to another. While States like Odisha, Punjab and Rajasthan require all incoming passengers to have a negative RT-PCR test, others like Delhi and Maharashtra have this requirement only for passengers from selected States. Some States want a report not earlier than 48 hours, while others accept reports upto 72 hours before travel. It is a welcome move which will boost travel confidence and help ease any anxiety surrounding travel in the current environment. The decision will also inspire more people to get vaccinated against Covid-19, encouraging safe and free movement for all domestic travellers, travel booking portal ixigo’s CEO Aloke Bajpai said. So far, only 4.49 crore Indian citizens have received both doses of Covid-19 vaccines, and 18.55 crore have received a single dose. The idea is inspired from vaccine passports, which is a documentation proving that a person has been vaccinated against Covid-19 and will allow people to enter a country more easily. While it is exploring the concept for travel within the country, the Indian government, however, firmly opposed the adoption of Covid-19 vaccine passports at the G7 meeting of health ministers last week on the grounds that it was hugely discriminatory against developing countries that have lower rates of vaccination.
E) BJP channelled unaccounted money into Kerala during poll campaign: Pinarayi informs Assembly.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday told the Kerala Legislative Assembly that the BJP had channelled unaccounted money into the State during the 2021 Assembly election campaign. The Chief Minister was replying to an adjournment motion moved by Congress legislator Shafi Parambil. Parambil had demanded that the House discuss the case to ensure a truthful police investigation into the alleged movement and subsequent highway robbery of BJP’s unaccounted election funds at Kodakara in Thrissur on April 3, merely three days prior to the Assembly polls on April 6. Vijayan said the BJP had laid down a smokescreen of lies against the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government to cloak its illegal influence-creation operation fuelled by unaccounted money. The Congress had amplified the BJP’s false messaging, parroting the lies spread by unprofessional Central investigators, Vijayan said, without specifying the UAE gold smuggling controversy that dogged the previous LDF government at the fag end of its term. The State police have arrested 20 persons and recovered ₹1.12 crore out of the estimated ₹3.5 crore stolen during the highway robbery. They have also seized 347 gram of gold bought using the loot and recorded the statement of 96 witnesses. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had sought the details of the case. The State police complied on June 1. Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan cautioned the ruling front against using the Kodakara case to strike a detente with the BJP. He said the Central investigation into the gold case centred on the previous LDF government had sputtered and stopped after the hawala heist involving BJP leaders had surfaced, Satheesan said. The Speaker denied the Opposition’s motion after he found the Chief Minister’s reply satisfactory.
F) 12-hour hunger strike across Lakshadweep as residents demand Praful K. Patel’s recall.
People across the islands under the Lakshadweep administration observed a 12-hour hunger strike on Monday. The protests, which began at 6 a. m., were held from the confines of the islanders’ homes in observance of Covid-19 protocols as the number of cases continues to rise in the archipelago. Residents held up placards calling for the Centre to immediately recall the islands’ Administrator Praful K. Patel. The protestors also held placards underwater in the Arabian sea and outside their homes with slogans like Revoke LDAR (Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation) and Justice for Lakshadweep and posted pictures in social media. They also demanded the recall of Lakshadweep collector Asker Ali. While the people staged protests at their homes, panchayat council members from Kavaratti gathered at the panchayat office to register their protest in a peaceful manner. However, the police intervened and the protesters were turned away, said a spokesman for the Save Lakshadweep Forum (SLF), which organised the protests.
G) Rahul slams Centre for rising fuel prices, calls it ‘tax collection epidemic’
As the retail price of petrol crossed ₹100 in several cities, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday called it a ‘tax collection epidemic’ by the Central government. The process of unlocking has started in many States. While paying the bill at the petrol pump, you will see the growth in inflation by the Modi government. The waves of tax collection epidemic are coming continuously, Gandhi tweeted in Hindi. His colleague and party general secretary Randeep Surjewala also termed the rise in petrol prices as an excessive public loot and blamed the Modi government for it. Excessive public loot — in the last 13 months, petrol and diesel have risen by ₹25.72 and ₹23.93 per litre. In some States, petrol has crossed ₹100 per litre. The increase in taxes by the Modi government and not high crude oil price is responsible for this rise in petrol and diesel prices, Surjewala tweeted. The Congress has been regularly criticising the imposition of special excise duty on petroleum products by the Modi government and has argued for bringing petrol and diesel under the ambit of good and services tax (GST) regime.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Jeff Bezos to fly to space on July 20.
Billionaire entrepreneur Jeff Bezos will fly to space with his brother, Mark on Blue Origin’s first human flight on July 20, the aerospace firm said in a statement. Ever since I was five years old, I’ve dreamed of traveling to space. On July 20th, I will take that journey with my brother. The greatest adventure, with my best friend, Bezos wrote in an Instagram post. The Bezos brothers will join the auction winner of the very first seat on New Shepard, for which the three-phased auction commenced on May 5 with sealed online bidding. It will conclude on June 12 with a live online auction on the company’s website. The aerospace company said that the auction bidding is already at $2.8 million with nearly 6,000 participants from 143 countries. The winning bid amount will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, it noted. Blue Origin’s first human flight will be a major landmark for the company that is competing with other aerospace firms such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic in the commercial space industry.
B) Fujimori leads in tight Peru presidential poll over Castillo.
Right-wing populist Keiko Fujimori held a narrow lead on Monday in Peru’s presidential election, but the crisis-hit nation’s race was too close to call as votes were still being tabulated from countryside bastions of support for radical leftist Pedro Castillo. Ms. Fujimori had 50.2% of ballots to Mr. Castillo’s 49.8%, according to partial results from Peru’s electoral body, with about 90% of polling stations counted after voting on Sunday in a country battered by years of political turbulence. Whoever wins will take leadership of a nation in crisis, suffering from recession and with the worst coronavirus fatality rate in the world after recording more than deaths among its 33 million population. Peruvians will also look to the winner to end years of political turmoil after four Presidents in the last three years, and with seven of the last 10 of the country’s leaders either having been convicted of or investigated for corruption. Corvetto, warned that many polling stations from rural areas Mr. Castillo’s stronghold had yet to be tallied. They haven’t counted our votes yet, Mr. Castillo told supporters on Sunday in Tacabamba, in the northern Cajamarca region where he lives. Mr. Castillo, 51, had earlier urged his supporters to stay calm. Ms. Fujimori, 46, also called for caution, saying: Seeing how small the gap is, it is essential to maintain prudence and I say that for all Peruvians. Both candidates promised to respect the results as they cast their own ballots on Sunday. We’re not going to know (the winner) until the last vote is counted, political scientist Jessica Smith said.
