NATIONAL NEWS
Tri-service inquiry ordered into IAF chopper crash, says Rajnath Singh
A tri-service inquiry has been ordered by the IAF headed by Air Marshal Manvendra Singh, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief Training Command, to investigate the Mi-17V5 helicopter crash that killed Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen. Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 other military personnel, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in a statement in Parliament on Thursday. The Flight Data Recorder (FDR) of the crashed helicopter has been recovered from the wreckage, an IAF official said. It will be sent for analysis to find out what happened in the last moments before it went down in the jungle. Giving out the details of the incident, Singh said Gen. Rawat was on a scheduled visit to the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, to interact with the student officers. The IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter took off from the Sulur Air Base at 11:48 a.m. on Wednesday and was expected to land at Wellington by 12:15 p.m. The Air Traffic Control at the Sulur Air Base lost contact with the helicopter at approximately 12:08 p.m. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh briefs the Parliament on the Indian Air Force chopper crash in Tamil Nadu, on December 8, in the Lok Sabha during the Winter Session, in New Delhi, on December 9. Subsequently, a few locals noticed a fire in the forest near Coonoor and rushed to the spot where they saw the wreckage of the military helicopter engulfed in flames, he said. Rescue teams from the local administration in the vicinity reached the site and attempted to recover the survivors from the crash site. All those recovered from the wreckage were rushed to the Military Hospital, Wellington, and 13 of the 14 persons onboard the ill-fated helicopter have succumbed to their injuries. Group Captain Varun Singh is on life support in the Military Hospital at Wellington and all efforts are being made to save his life, Singh said, ending the statement by paying homage to the deceased persons and expressing condolences to the bereaved families.
Farm agitation called off as SKM leaders accept Centre’s proposal
Thousands of protesting farmers camped out on the borders of Delhi for 380 days are set to go home on Saturday, after marking a ‘vijay diwas’ to celebrate the achievement of most of their demands. On Thursday, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), a joint platform of protesting farm unions, announced that it had accepted the Central government’s proposal to resolve pending demands and called off the year-long agitation. The unions will meet again on January 15 in the capital to monitor and review whether the government has kept its promises to unconditionally withdraw cases filed against protestors, provide compensation for the kin of farmers who died at the protests, and form a committee to ensure that all farmers can avail remunerative rates for their produce. A decision will also be taken at that time on whether to campaign against the BJP in the upcoming UP and Uttarakhand polls — an issue which different farmer factions have diverse views about. This is a historic victory for Indian farmers after a historic movement both in terms of size as well as unity and peaceful nature of the protest, said All India Kisan Sabha leader Hannan Mollah. Farmers waiting for the SKM meeting to begin on December 9, 2021 morning The Centre’s formal proposal, which was signed by Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Agarwal despite the fact that farm leaders said most negotiations on the document were held with Home Ministry representatives, was received on Thursday morning. It included the same five points as in Wednesday’s draft, with major concessions on case withdrawal and compensation. On the issue of MSP, it said a promised committee would have a specific mandate to ensure all farmers get MSP and promised that SKM leaders would be among the representatives. After discussing the proposal in an hour-long meeting at the Singhu border protest site, SKM leaders emerged to announce their acceptance.
Lok Sabha passes bills to extend CBI, ED directors’ tenures up to maximum of 5 years
Two bills were passed by Lok Sabha on Thursday to extend the tenures of directors of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate up to a maximum of five years from the present two years. The Central Vigilance Commission (Amendment) Bill, 2021 and the Delhi Special Police Establishment (Amendment) Bill, 2021 were passed separately by voice vote after the House rejected various amendments moved by Opposition members on the two bills. Congress MPs walked out of the House, saying they were not satisfied with the reply of Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh. These bills seek to replace two ordinances issued last month. The Opposition and the BJP sparred over the government’s move to extend the tenures of the directors of the CBI and the ED up to a maximum of five years, with the Opposition alleging that it would completely undermine the autonomy of these institutions, and the ruling party defending the step as being necessary to fight large scale corruption.
Shah misled House on Mon incident, says Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhary, leader of the Congress legislative party in the Lok Sabha, said on Thursday that Union Home Minister Amit Shah came out with a misleading statement in the Lok Sabha on Monday saying the victims of the firing in Mon district of Nagaland on December 4 had been shot after they continued to flee after being asked to stop by the armed forces. Raising the issue at the start of the zero hour, Chowdhary stated that there were now statements by survivors of the incident that they had been directly shot. Chowdhary noted that Congress president Sonia Gandhi had constituted a delegation comprising Lok Sabha members Gaurav Gogoi and Anto Antony to visit Mon village in Nagaland and share the grief of the locals whose family members were killed in the firing. But they are not being allowed to enter the State. Even after the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, our party leaders were prevented from providing sympathy to the families of the victims, he observed. Responding to Chowdhary, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Arjun Ram Meghwal said the issue raised by him pertained to the State government and not the Lok Sabha. On Monday, the Home Minister expressed regret over the death of 14 civilians in three consecutive episodes of firing by security forces, the first of which was a case of mistaken identity. Narrating the sequence of events, Mr. Shah told the House that the Army had received information on movement of insurgents in Mon and ’21 Para Commando’ unit had laid an ambush.
Bhima Koregaon case: Sudha Bharadwaj released from Byculla jail
Human rights lawyer and trade unionist Sudha Bharadwaj was released on Thursday from Byculla jail after spending over three years there in connection with the Bhima Koregaon caste violence case of 2018. The other co-accused Shoma Sen and Jyoti Jagtap are still in jail. Bharadwaj, 61, was arrested on August 28, 2018 from her residence in Faridabad where she lives with her daughter Maaysha, 24. After repeatedly denying Bharadwaj default bail, medical bail and bail on merits, the Bombay High Court granted her bail on December 1. The court held, On the touchstone of the guarantee of personal liberty under Article 21 (Right to Life) of the Constitution, in our view, to deprive Ms. Bharadwaj of the indefeasible right of bail would be taking a too technical and formalistic view of the matter. In our view, all the requisite conditions to release Ms. Bharadwaj on default bail stood fully satisfied. Soon after this order, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the case filed an appeal challenging the order of granting her bail. One of the grounds was that she has been charged with the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The Supreme Court, however, dismissed the plea and paved way for Bharadwaj’s release. On December 8, the special NIA court laid the conditions for her bail and directed her to furnish a cash bond of ₹50,000 with one or two sureties. In jail, she suffered from pre-existing medical conditions of diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension and a history of pulmonary tuberculosis. She has also had an extremely painful swelling in her joints and a frozen shoulder that restricted her movement.
WHO warns fears of omicron could spark new vaccine hoarding
The World Health Organisation expressed concerns Thursday that rich countries spooked by the emergence of the omicron variant could step up the hoarding of COVID-19 vaccines and strain global supplies again, complicating efforts to stamp out the pandemic. The UN health agency, after a meeting of its expert panel on vaccination, reiterated its advice to governments against the widespread use of boosters in their populations so that well-stocked countries instead can send doses to low-income countries that have largely lacked access to them. What is going to shut down disease is for everybody who is especially at risk of disease to become vaccinated, said Dr. Kate O’Brien, head of WHO’s department of immunization, vaccines and biologicals. We seem to be taking our eye off that ball in countries. Months of short supplies of COVID-19 vaccines have begun to ease over the last two months or so, and doses are finally getting to needier countries — such as through donations and the UN-backed COVAX programme — and WHO wants that to continue. It has long decried vaccine inequity by which most doses have gone to people in rich countries, whose leaders locked down big stockpiles as a precautionary measure. Dr. O’Brien urged a rational, global perspective about what’s actually going to shut down this pandemic. We have the tools at hand, we have the choices we can make, and the next days and weeks are really going to determine what direction the world decides it’s going to go in, on omicron, she said.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
RSF report says China is world’s biggest captor of journalists
According to the report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), China is the world’s biggest captor of journalists. Currently, 127 journalists have been detained. However, China has justified the arrests of citizens and journalists, and reporters by accusing them of provoking trouble. RSF report titled ‘The Great Leap Backwards of Journalism in China’ has revealed China’s violations against its own international commitment to freedom of expression and opinion. The report also demonstrates how Beijing has viewed journalism not as a tool of providing information to the public but as an instrument of state propaganda. Reporters Without Borders has ranked China 177th out of 180 in the World Press Freedom Index 2021 which is just two places above North Korea
US, India, Israel, UAE Quad meeting might happen in early 2022
The Ambassador of Israel to India, Naor Gilon informed that the Quad meeting between India-US-Israel-UAE can happen in early 2022 in Dubai. The Sherpas from the four nations identified for the meet will identify the fields of cooperation in infrastructure.
Observer Status granted to International Solar Alliance by UNGA
The United Nations General Assembly has granted an Observer Status to the International Solar Alliance. The news was shared by the Ambassador of India to UN TS Tirumurti. In a tweet, Tirumuti mentioned that ISA has become an example of positive global climate change action through partnerships.
