NATIONAL NEWS
A) Centre places orders for 44 crore doses of Covishield, Covaxin.
The Centre on Tuesday said it has placed orders for 44 crore doses of Covishield and Covaxin, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Centre would take over the State procurement quota and provide free jabs to state governments for inoculation of all above the age of 18. These 44 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be delivered by their makers between August and December 2021, the Union Health Ministry said. In immediate follow-up of the prime minister’s announcement of these changes in the Guidelines of National COVID Vaccination programme yesterday, the Centre has placed an order with Serum Institute of India (SII) for 25 crore doses of Covishield and with Bharat Biotech for 19 crore doses of Covaxin. Additionally, 30% of the advance for procurement of both the COVID-19 vaccines has been released to Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech, an official said. The official said the Centre has been supporting the efforts of states and union territories for an effective vaccination drive under the whole of government approach since January 16 this year.
B) Supreme Court expresses concerns about role of private hospitals in vaccination.
The Supreme Court expressed concerns over the role of private hospitals in Covid-19 vaccination, and wondered whether they would prefer profit over public health. The court’s anxiety is real and present as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on Monday revealed that private hospitals would retain their capacity to buy 25% of vaccine stock from the manufacturers. The court had advised the government to maintain a strict vigil over private hospitals in a May 31 order. It had raised an apprehension that private hospitals would sell the vaccines they procure at higher prices unless they were regulated stringently. It had reminded the government that private hospitals, though they provide public health service, have profit at the core of their existence. A Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud, L. Nageswara Rao and S. Ravindra Bhat said, Further consequences of vaccination by private hospitals under the liberalised vaccination policy relate to a simple issue at the core of their existence: that while they provide a public health service, they still remain private, for-profit entities. Consequently, they may sell the vaccine doses procured at a higher price, unless regulated stringently. The court was also worried about transparency. Private hospitals also may not sell all their vaccine doses publicly through appointments on CoWIN, but rather sell them for lucrative deals directly to private corporations who wish to vaccinate their employees, it said. The Bench pointed out that many, especially those who live in small cities and villages, have limited access to private hospitals. Private hospitals are not equally spread out across a State/UT and are often limited to bigger cities with large populations. As such, a larger quantity will be available in such cities, as opposed to the rural areas, it stated. However, the court clarified that it was not against private hospitals playing a role in the vaccination drive. It accepted the Centre’s point that they would reduce the burden on government facilities.
B) Nepal stops the distribution of Patanjali’s Coronil kits.
After Bhutan, now Nepal has stopped the distribution of’ Coronil kits that were gifted by the Patanjali group of Indian yoga teacher and businessman Ramdev. Kathmandu’s order said that proper procedures were not followed while procuring the 1,500 kits of Coronil that Patanjali claims are useful in dealing with Covid-19 infection. The issue has drawn attention as it is being interpreted as a move to delink leading Madhesi political families from the Indian group. The latest order of the Government of Nepal says that the tablets and nasal oil that are part of the Coronil kit are not equivalent to medicines that are used to treat Covid-19. While pointing at shortcomings of the kits, Nepalese officials pointed to the recent statements against Coronil by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), which has challenged Ramdev to prove the efficacy of his products in dealing with Covid-19. Nepal is the second country after Bhutan to stop the distribution of Coronil kits. Bhutan’s Drug Regulatory Authority has already stopped distribution of Coronil in the kingdom. However, Nepal remains close to the Patanjali group as the organisation maintains a large production facility and distribution networks in Nepal. Monday’s order also sparked controversy within the Government of Nepal as the Coronil kits were received during the tenure of previous health minister Hridyesh Tripathi and the minister in charge of women and child development, Juli Mahato. Soon afterwards, Mahato and her husband Raghuvir Mahaseth tested positive, drawing attention to their support for the Patanjali group. The latest order is being interpreted as an attempt by the Oli government to distance itself from the Patanjali group as it is perceived to be close to Mahato’s brother, industrialist Upendra Mahato. Mahato is one of the biggest industrialists of Nepal and is widely known to be a partner of Patanjali group in the country. The development highlights the connection between the Indian group and Nepal’s current political leaders, especially the resurgent Madhesis.
C) Maratha quota: Uddhav requests PM Modi to take steps to lift 50% ceiling.
A delegation led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to lift the 50% ceiling on reservation to ensure that Marathas and OBCs continue to get benefits. Supreme Court scrapped the Maratha reservation and also the political reservation for OBCs in local civic bodies. We presented all the facts, and steps need to be taken for the same. He intently heard us and we are hopeful that positive steps will be taken, said Thackeray, addressing a press conference after a meeting with Modi which lasted for over 90 minutes. He was accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and Public Works Department Minister Ashok Chavan. Chavan heads the State Cabinet sub-committee on Maratha reservation. The Centre has moved the apex court on this issue. But merely giving rights to State to grant reservation will not be enough as the reservation ceiling limit is fixed at 50%. That needs to be changed and we appealed to him that the Centre should argue this point in the Supreme Court, said Chavan. Chavan said that the scrapping of political reservation of the OBCs is also a result of the 50% cap on reservation as it was mentioned in the court order. This has happened in Maharashtra today, but it could be a national issue tomorrow and needs to be addressed at the earliest. It is the Centre which is empowered to take the decision of changing the 50% reservation limit. If the Centre takes the position in court, then the State will be happy to support, he said, adding that the State too was moving the Supreme Court.
D) SC directs stringent action against illegal adoption notices.
The Supreme Court has directed the States and Union Territories (UTs) to take stringent action against private individuals and NGOs who invite people to illegally adopt children orphaned by the pandemic. A Bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose, in an 18-page order published on Tuesday, ordered the government to step in and prevent private entities from revealing the identities of Covid-19-affected children, usually on social media, with the aim of inviting people to adopt them. The State Governments/Union Territories are directed to prevent any NGO from collecting funds in the names of the affected children by disclosing their identity and inviting interested persons to adopt them. No adoption of affected children should be permitted contrary to the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, the court ordered. It was illegal to invite strangers to adopt children, already traumatised by their personal losses, without the involvement of the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), a statutory body under the Women and Child Development Ministry, it said. The order came after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), on Monday, raised the alarm on a spate of complaints about illegal adoption of COVID-19 orphans through private individual and organisations.
E) Monsoon session of Parliament likely to begin in July.
The monsoon session of Parliament is expected to begin as per the schedule in July, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi said on Tuesday. As per norms, the session is held in the second or third week of July. The last session of Parliament was curtailed and ended sine die on March 25, and as per the Constitutional norms, the next session has to be held within six months. This period ends on September 14. Three sessions have been curtailed since the pandemic began in March last year. First of these was the Budget session of 2020. The winter session of last year was also cut short because of the pandemic. Last year, the monsoon session, which usually starts in July, had begun in September. I am hopeful that the Parliament session will be held as per its normal schedule starting in July, Joshi told PTI. Sources said that with the spread of Covid-19 under control for now and the possibility of the third wave looming in the coming months, the government does not want to postpone the session to September. The monsoon session, sources also said, will be a short one. So far most of the parliamentarians have got at least one dose of the vaccine. However, the Covid-19 protocols that were followed in the last three sessions, including members sitting in galleries to maintain physical distance, is expected to continue.
F) FM asks Infosys to fix tech glitches on new income tax e-filing portal.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday asked Infosys and its chairman Nandan Nilekani to fix technical glitches being encountered on the income tax department’s new e-filing website, after users flooded her Twitter timeline with complaints. Infosys was in 2019 awarded a contract to develop the next-generation income tax filing system to reduce processing time for returns from 63 days to one day and expedite refunds. The portal went live last evening. Early on Tuesday morning, Sitharaman took to Twitter to announce the launch of the new portal, www.incometax.gov.in, saying that the important milestone to make the compliance experience more taxpayer-friendly went live at 2045 Hrs on Monday. But, soon, her timeline was flooded with user complaints. I see in my TL (timeline) grievances and glitches. Hope @Infosys & @NandanNilekani will not let down our taxpayers in the quality of service being provided, she tweeted later. Infosys had also developed the GST Network (GSTN) portal, used for GST payment and return filing. The software major had faced flak for slow functioning of the GSTN portal.
G) Schoolgirl gets plaudits from CJI for letter hailing SC’s intervention against Covid-19.
A 10-year-old schoolgirl from Kerala has written to Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, saying how happy and proud she felt to see the Supreme Court make vital interventions to alleviate the sufferings of her fellow citizens in the grip of the pandemic. I am happy and feel proud your honourable court has moved orders for supply of oxygen and saved many lives. I understood your honourable court has initiated effective steps in bringing down Covid-19 and death rate in our country, especially in Delhi. I thank Your Honour for this. Now I feel very proud and happy, Lidwina Joseph, a Standard V student from Thrissur in Kerala, wrote in her letter that the Supreme Court received towards May-end. Lidwina said she got the news from The Hindu. She said she had been much worried about the deaths caused by the virus. The hand-written letter, in the form of a scroll, is accompanied by a colourful illustration showing a bespectacled judge using his gavel to give the Coronavirus a knock on its head. A portrait of the Mahatma hangs from a wall behind the judge. Chief Justice Ramana replied to Joseph, saying, I have received your beautiful letter along with a heart-warming illustration of the judge at work. He particularly took note of the student’s concern for the well-being of her compatriots. I am sure you will grow up into an alert, informed and responsible citizen who will contribute immensely towards nation-building, Chief Justice Ramana wrote in his reply. Chief Justice Ramana also sent her a signed copy of the Constitution.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Several leading international news websites crash.
Several leading news websites, including The Guardian, The New York Times, Financial Times and Bloomberg News crashed earlier this afternoon following a major internet outage. The websites displayed an Error 503 Service Unavailable message. The Guardian’s website and app are currently being affected by a wider internet outage and will be back as soon as possible, the U.K-based publication said in a tweet. Other websites including Reddit, BBC News, Buzzfeed, Vox Media, and Amazon Web Services were also affected. The mass outage is said to have been caused by an issue with Fastly, a U.S-based cloud platform that powers several internet companies, according to Alex Hern, U.K. technology editor at The Guardian. The increasing centralisation of Internet infrastructure in the hands of a few large companies means that single points of failure can result in sweeping outages, he said in a tweet. The issue has been identified and a fix has been applied. Customers may experience increased origin load as global services return, Fastly updated in its status page.
B) UNSC grants Antonio Guterres second term as Secretary General.
The United Nations Security Council voted Tuesday to give Secretary General Antonio Guterres a second term, with conflict resolution set to top his agenda at the world body’s helm. The 72-year-old former Prime Minister of Portugal has held the office since 2017 and faced no competition for the next term in the job. Around 10 other people also sought the position, but they were not formal candidates because none of the 193 UN member states endorsed them. During a brief closed door session, the Security Council voted unanimously to recommend that the General Assembly give Guterres another term, said the council’s current president, Estonian ambassador Sven Jurgenson. Approval from the General Assembly is seen as a formality and is expected to take place soon. During his first term, Guterres was forced to concentrate on limiting the potential damage from the unilateral, nationalist and alliance-wary foreign policy of Donald Trump. Now, as he embarks on a new term, Guterres will need a battle plan for all the crises around the globe, one diplomat said.
