INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Global warming likely to blow past Paris limit, says UN report
Earth’s climate is getting so hot that temperatures in about a decade will probably blow past a level of warming that world leaders have sought to prevent, according to a report released August 9 that the United Nations calls a code red for humanity. It’s just guaranteed that it’s going to get worse, said report co-author Linda Mearns, a senior climate scientist at the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research. I don’t see any area that is safe. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. But scientists also eased back a bit on the likelihood of the absolute worst climate catastrophes. The authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which calls climate change clearly human-caused and unequivocal, makes more precise and warmer forecasts for the 21st century than it did the last time it was issued in 2013. Each of the five scenarios for the future, based on how much carbon emissions are cut, passes the more stringent of two thresholds set in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. World leaders agreed then to try to limit warming to 1.5° C since the late 19th century because problems mount quickly after that. The limit is only a few tenths of a degree hotter than now because the world has already warmed nearly 1.1° C in the past century and a half. Under each scenario, the report said, the world will cross the 1.5° C warming mark in the 2030s, earlier than some past predictions. Warming has ramped up in recent years, data shows. In three scenarios, the world will also likely exceed 2° C over pre-industrial times — the other, less stringent Paris goal — with far worse heat waves, droughts and flood-inducing downpours unless deep reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades, the report said. This report tells us that recent changes in the climate are widespread, rapid and intensifying, unprecedented in thousands of years, said IPCC Vice Chair Ko Barrett, senior climate adviser for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The changes we experience will increase with further warming. The 3,000-plus-page report from 234 scientists said warming is already accelerating sea level rise, shrinking ice and worsening extremes such as heat waves, droughts, floods and storms. Tropical cyclones are getting stronger and wetter, while Arctic sea ice is dwindling in the summer and permafrost is thawing. All of these trends will get worse, the report said. For example, the kind of heat wave that used to happen only once every 50 years now happens once a decade, and if the world warms another degree Celsius, it will happen twice every seven years, the report said. As the planet warms, places will get hit more not just by extreme weather but by multiple climate disasters that occur simultaneously, the report said. That’s like what’s now happening in the Western U.S., where heat waves, drought and wildfires compound the damage, Mearns said. Some harm from climate change — dwindling ice sheets, rising sea levels and changes in the oceans as they lose oxygen and become more acidic — are irreversible for centuries to millennia, the report ssaid
Australia signals democracies’ trade swing from China to India.
Australian special envoy and former Prime Minister Tony Abbott said a free trade agreement between his nation and India would signal the democratic world’s tilt away from China. Mr. Abbott visited New Delhi last week as Australia’s special trade envoy for India as the Australian government gives priority to sealing a bilateral trade deal. In an opinion piece likely to anger Beijing that that was published in The Australian newspaper on Monday, Mr. Abbott said the answer to almost every question about China is India. With the world’s other emerging superpower becoming more belligerent almost by the day, it’s in everyone’s interests that India take its rightful place among the nations as quickly as possible, Mr. Abbott wrote. Because trade deals are about politics as much as economics, a swift deal between India and Australia would be an important sign of the democratic world’s tilt away from China, as well as boosting the long-term prosperity of both our countries, Mr. Abbott added. Mr. Abbott was Prime Minister when China and Australia finalised a bilateral free trade deal which took effect in 2015. He also hosted a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping a year earlier. Relations have since soured over issues, including Australia banning Chinese telecom giant Huawei from major communications infrastructure projects, outlawing covert foreign interference in Australian politics and calling for an independent investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Abbott accused Beijing of capricious boycotts of Australian exports including coal, barley, wine and seafood that demonstrated Chinese use of trade as a strategic weapon.
NATIONAL NEWS
Jharkhand judge death: Supreme Court not happy with CBI’s ‘sealed cover’ report
The Supreme Court on Monday said there was no word in the CBI’s sealed cover report about the motive behind the murder of Jharkhand district judge Uttam Anand, whose death saw Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana voice his concern over the mounting attacks on judges and total disregard shown by Central agencies and State police forces to these criminal acts which threaten judiciary’s independence. Special Investigating Team (SIT) investigates the accident spot of Additional District Judge Uttam Anand’s alleged murder case, in Dhanbad. You have filed a report in a sealed cover. It says ‘we went there’, ‘we went here’, etc. But your people have not indicated the motive… We wanted something concrete, the CJI said, expressing the court’s dissatisfaction to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI. Mehta said two people have been arrested in the case. They are under interrogation cannot reveal anything now, he submitted. The top court directed the CBI to file a weekly status report on the investigation with the Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court. The Chief Justice of the High Court will monitor every week, the CJI said. The gravity of the matter, that is, the murder of a sitting judge, required the CBI to report to the Chief Justice of the High Court, he stated. The previous hearing had seen the CJI lash out at Central agencies such as the CBI, the Intelligence Bureau and State police forces for ignoring complaints from judges about abusive messages and threats even as attacks on the judiciary are on the rise. The court, which has taken suo motu cognisance of the rising number of attacks on judicial officers and even High Court judges, has suggested the formation of a special force to protect judges, especially trial court judges who decide criminal cases involving high-profile accused.
Amid Opposition protests, Lok Sabha passes three bills in quick time without any discussion
The government on Monday pushed through six bills, three of which were passed, in Lok Sabha despite the unrelenting Opposition protests over the Pegasus snooping row and other issues, prompting the Congress to hit out at the treasury members for violating constitutional and democratic norms. However, Lok Sabha also witnessed some rare moments of opposition members withdrawing their protests, which have been continuing since the beginning of the Monsoon Session, and returning to their seats when the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2021 to restore the states’ right to identify Other Backward Classes (OBCs) was introduced. Members of the Congress, DMK and the BSP, among others, supported the bill even as they slammed the government over the manner in which it has pushed forth its legislative agenda amid disruptions and ruckus. The House should be in order during the passage of a constitutional amendment bill as it requires mandatory division of votes, and no party will like to be seen opposing a bill that seeks to protect the interests of the OBCs. However, all other bills were introduced and passed amid noisy protests from opposition members. The bills that were passed amid the din were –The Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill 2021, The Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2021, and The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill 2021. The RSP’s NK Premachandran said the three bills were passed in 10 minutes and likened it to cooking dosas. Lok Sabha proceedings were repeatedly disrupted following uproar by the Opposition, but amid the protests, the government also introduced two other bills — The National Commission for Homoeopathy (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and The National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (Amendment) Bill, 2021. Congress leaders Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Manish Tewari alleged that democratic and constitutional norms were being violated with the government pushing ahead with its legislative agenda when the House was not in order. Some of their comments were later expunged by the Chair.
Ministry of Defence says no transaction with Pegasus spyware maker NSO
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) informed Parliament on Monday that it did not have any transaction with NSO Group Technologies, the Israeli company that developed the Pegasus spyware, in the first pointed reference to the company from the government since the controversy broke. The government response so far had shied away from mentioning the company. Ministry of Defence has not had any transaction with NSO Group Technologies, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha to a question from CPI(M)’s V. Sivadasan. However, the response is specific to the MoD and does not exclude other Ministries or agencies that may have engaged with the firm. Pegasus was used to snoop on civilians, journalists, Ministers, parliamentarians and activists across the world, including India, according to the reports by a consortium of 17 international media organisations based on an investigation conducted by Paris-based media non-profit organisation Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International into a leaked list of over 50,000 phone numbers that are believed to be been targeted through Pegasus or of interest for potential snooping. In India, more than 300 mobile numbers, including that of two serving Ministers, three Opposition leaders, one sitting judge, journalists and activists among others were targeted by Pegasus, reports stated. The Supreme Court is currently hearing petition on the matter filed by senior journalists and the Editors Guild of India among others. Last week, the court observed that allegations of the government using Pegasus to snoop on citizens, if true, were no doubt serious and observed that the truth has to come out. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet had termed the revelations extremely alarming and called on governments to immediately cease their own use of surveillance technologies in ways that violate human rights.
Withdraw P-G medical education regulations bill, says IMA
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has demanded that the National Medical Commission (NMC) withdraw the draft post-graduate medical education regulations 2021 bill, which notes that there shall be common counselling for admission in all medical educational institutions to all Post-graduate Broad-Specialty courses (Diploma/MD/MS) on the basis of the merit list of the National Exit Test. Calling the move anti-student and anti-patient care’, it said on Monday the NMC should withdraw the move and initiate dialogue with the stakeholders to understand the ground reality and do course correction to ensure uniform standards of education. The Association has also demanded that the existing system of admission and selection criteria must continue for the P-G seats, because the State medical colleges are staffed and managed by the budget of the State governments and when not even 50% seats are earmarked for the respective States, the maintenance and running of the institution will lose its charm and priority. As of date, the broad specialty post-graduation course admission is through PG NEET and 50% admission is done by the all-India quota and the rest 50% seats were admitted by the State governments as per the social justice norms with NEET PG marks by the Directorate of Medical Education of the respective State. But now the draft regulation says there shall be common counselling for admission in all medical educational institutions to all post-graduate broad-specialty courses (Diploma/MD/MS) on the basis of merit list of the National Exit Test and to all post-graduate super-specialty courses (DM/MCh) on the basis of the merit list of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test. India being a federal state, leaving the role of States in medical education will be disastrous. The Association demands the existing system of admission and selection criteria must continue for the PG seats, because the State medical colleges are staffed and managed by the budget of the State governments and when not even 50% of seats are earmarked for the respective State, the maintenance and running of the institution will lose its charm and priority, said the release. Also, this notification says when a student writes his exam, the marks he scores will be valid for three years and he can re-write the exam only after three years. This is a great injustice to the students. As it has proposed to conduct the NEXT exams in 2023, the NMC should come out with the pattern and type of examination after having wider democratic consultation with the students’ body, faculty, States and the largest professional body IMA. The release said the Association in principle welcomes the district residency. However, making it for a three-month period will result in overcrowding and impact the works in the medical college departments. The Association has demanded that the NMC should withdraw this anti-federal, anti-student and anti-democratic, draft bill and try to initiate dialogue with the stakeholders to understand the ground reality.
Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments
The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,19,74,856 with the death toll at 4,28,481. Foreign nationals residing in India have been allowed to register on the CoWin portal to take Covid-19 vaccines. The Health Ministry on Monday said foreign nationals can use their passport as an identity document to register. A significant number of foreign nationals are living in India, especially in large metropolitan areas. In these areas, the potential of spread of Covid-19 is high due to higher population density. To counter any possibility of such occurrence, it is important to vaccinate all eligible persons, the Ministry said in a release. It added that the initiative will ensure the safety of foreign nationals residing in India and also bring down the possibility of further transmission from unvaccinated persons. It will also ensure overall safety from further transmission of Covid-19 virus, said the Ministry.
