CURRENT AFFAIRS
09 September 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) India says it was the PLA that opened fire along the LAC
Hours after the Chinese Army claimed that Indian troops opened fire along the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, the Indian Army said on the morning of 8 September that it was actually the troops of China which had fired some rounds in the air. Following fresh tensions, Army chief Gen Manoj Naravane briefed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the ground situation. As per an army spokesperson, in the instant case on September 7, it was the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops who were attempting to close-in with one of our forward positions along the LAC and when dissuaded by our troops, the troops of PLA had fired a few rounds in the air in an attempt to intimidate own troops. No shots have been fired along the disputed boundary between India and China since 1975. By stating that India was committed to disengagement and de-escalating the situation along the LAC, China continues to undertake provocative activities to escalate. In a late-night statement on 7 September, the PLA had accused the Indian Army of illegally crossing the LAC and entering the south bank of Pangong Lake and the Shenpao mountain area and outrageously firing warning shots.
B) NCB arrests Rhea Chakraborty.
On 8 September, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has arrested actress Rhea Chakraborty on charges of allegedly procuring drugs, in a case linked to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. She reached the office of NCB around 10.30 am, which is located at Ballard Estate in south Mumbai. She reached there in a car that was escorted by a Mumbai Police vehicle. She had been questioned by the NCB for about 8 hours on 7 September and 6 hours on 6 September. The NCB had started its inquiries based on WhatsApp chats retrieved from Chakraborty’s phone, which allegedly revealed conversations around procuring drugs. The agency, in its remand application, sought judicial custody of Chakraborty till September 21.
C) Opposition to put up a joint candidate for Deputy RS Chairman
On 8 September, the Congress has decided that the Opposition will put up a joint candidate for the post of Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman and it will reach out to various parties in this regard. The incumbent, Harivansh Narayan Singh from the Janata Dal (United), was elected to the post in 2018. He demitted office when his Rajya Sabha term ended this year. But he has since been re-elected to the House, making him eligible to hold the post again. While the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is expected to once again pick him as their candidate for the post, the Congress may ask the DMK to contest the election.
D) Maharashtra scraps 70:30 quota for medical admissions
The Maharashtra government has scrapped the 70:30 region-wise formula for admission in medical courses in the State. The formula implied reservation for 70% locals (from that region) in medical colleges and 30% from the rest of the State. Making an announcement in the State Assembly. The Minister of Medical Education said that the admissions would now be based on the results of students who have appeared for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). Instead of the 70:30 quota, it would be one Maharashtra, one merit. Under the quota, 70% of seats in medical colleges were reserved for students in their districts. The number of medical colleges in the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra are less compared to the other areas. Hence, students from these regions felt that they were at a disadvantage when it came to getting admission in medical colleges.
E) COVID Watch: Numbers and Developments
The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 43,38,106 with the death toll at 73,506. Notwithstanding the concerns raised about Russia’s vaccine development process, the Central government on 8 September said that Russia has requested the help of India in the manufacturing of its vaccine by Indian companies and for conducting phase three studies in India. Russia rolled out the first batch of its Sputnik V vaccine for public use on 8 September. Earlier in the day, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan wrote to Railways Minister Piyush Goyal urging him to resume the ‘Shramik Special’ trains from Odisha to other states to facilitate the return of migrant workers to their workplaces.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) PUBG Corp says China’s Tencent won’t publish the mobile game in India
PUBG Corporation which is the unit of a South Korean company behind Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), has decided that it will no longer give Tencent Games the rights to publish its popular mobile game in India. The announcement came after 1 week of India banned 118 apps, most of Chinese-origin and PUBG among them, to step up pressure on Beijing amidst tensions along the border. Moving forward, the company said that PUBG Corporation will take on all publishing responsibilities within India. It was also exploring some ways to provide gaming experiences to Indian users. Tencent Games, which ran its franchise in India has confirmed that the PUBG Corp will take the further responsibilities of publishing the mobile game in India. Their existing cooperation with PUBG Corporation in global markets other than India is not affected. India is the biggest market in the game by the number of users.
B) China has confirmed five youngsters from Arunachal are in PLA custody, says Rijiju
Union Minister of State for Sports and Youth Affairs Kiren Rijiju has said that the 5 youngsters from Arunachal Pradesh who were allegedly captured by the PLA less than a week ago have been found in China. The PLA of China has responded to the hotline message sent by the Indian Army. They have confirmed that the missing youths from Arunachal Pradesh have been found by their side. Further modalities to hand over the persons to our authority are being worked out. Rijiju is the BJP MP from the Arunachal West constituency that covers the Upper Subansiri district. Officials in Arunachal Pradesh hoped the PLA would return the five teenagers soon, just as the Indian Army had handed over 13 yaks and four calves to China on September 7. The animals had strayed into East Kameng district west of Upper Subansiri on August 31. The 5 teenagers from the Nacho area of Upper Subansiri district had gone hunting to the Tungdara Mountain or Sera-7, close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between India and China. They went missing on September 4 and members of their families claimed they were taken away by PLA personnel.
C) Scientists question Russia’s findings on the vaccine.
Just after 4 days of the results of the Phase-1/2 trials of the Sputnik V vaccine of Russia for the novel coronavirus was published in The Lancet, a group of 16 scientists has written an open letter to the authors of the paper and Dr. Richard Horton, editor of the journal, raising questions about the integrity of the published data. The letter by Enrico M. Bucci, Adjunct Professor at Temple University, who is well known for his work in biomedical scientific integrity, along with 15 other scientists from Italy, Japan, Germany, and France, has raised concerns over potential data inconsistencies in the published paper. With a group of colleagues, he found the data presented in the recent paper on The Lancet a bit puzzling. They need access to the original data. Stating that the scientific community should pay even more attention to the scientific evidence and the underlying data, they pointed out the importance of making data fully available for close scrutiny. In the lack of the original data, the research described in the article published by The Lancet presents several different points of concern. The points raised by the 16 scientists are valid. Without access to the actual data, the points and patterns on the graphs look too similar at multiple places. This raises concern about the data, and therefore the way this vaccine was tested,” virologist Dr. Shahid Jameel, CEO of the DBT-Wellcome Trust India Alliance.
