CURRENT AFFAIRS
10 JULY 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Govt. ‘watching’ WHO alert on airborne spread of virus.
Continuing to rule out community transmission of COVID-19 in the country, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday said it is “closely watching the dynamic evolution of the virus situation in India, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) now indicating that the virus may be airborne”. After earlier denials, the WHO on Tuesday said there is evidence emerging of the airborne spread of the coronavirus, after over 230 scientists across the world urged the global body to update its guidance. “Presently, there are 2,69,789 active cases under active medical supervision with India’s recovery rate now at 62.09 %. It would not be fair to compare India with other countries in terms of absolute numbers. India has only 195.5 cases per 1 million population which is amongst the lowest in the world. India currently has a fatality rate of 2.75%.
B) U.P. gangster Vikas Dubey arrested.
Gangster Vikas Dubey, wanted for allegedly shooting dead eight policemen in Kanpur’s Bikru village last week, was arrested in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. Dubey, on the run since the night of July 2, was arrested near a temple in Ujjain. Whether he surrendered or was arrested after receiving a tip from a guard at the Mahakal temple who recognized him and informed the nearest police outpost, the exact details are still awaited. Mishra has told the police that our police doesn’t leave anyone, they have arrested Vikas Dubey as well and he is in our custody. The arrest is a huge success for Madhya Pradesh.
C) Free grains will be given till Aug. 31.
The Narendra Modi government has extended the deadline for distribution of free food grains under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission allocated to State governments, which was aimed at migrant workers who didn’t have ration cards, by a month, till August 31. Union Minister for Food and Public Distribution Ramvilas Paswan said the scheme was launched on May 15 and the identification process of genuine beneficiaries took some time. “This scheme is for anyone who doesn’t have a ration card. The beneficiary may or may not be a migrant worker. Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Package, 5 kg of free food grains per person and 1 kg of free whole gram per family has been distributed to migrant labourers, stranded and needy families, who are not covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) or State scheme PDS cards. Issuing a State-wise allocation order on Wednesday, the Department of Food and Public Distribution in the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution made it clear that the allocation would be in addition to the regular monthly allocation to the States and Union Territories under the NFSA. Unlike in the north and Maharashtra where both wheat and rice have been allotted more or less in equal measure, the southern region has been given predominantly rice with minimum amount of wheat.
D) PM touts ‘green shoots of growth’
Observing that the Indian economy is seeing a revival, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that global investors should consider investing in the world’s “most open economies”. PM Modi in his speech said that India remains one of the most open economies in the world. He also listed the gains India had made in “total financial inclusion, record housing and infra construction, ease of doing business, and bold tax reforms, including the GST”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the India Global Week conference organised by London-based NRI group Indian Inc on July 9, 2020.
E) Centre claims workers returning to cities to reclaim jobs.
On July 9, the Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that the migrant workers were returning to cities to reclaim their old jobs as lockdown is over and the situation is turning very healthy. The Supreme Court was hearing compliance reports by the Centre and States on the return of migrant workers to their native states, which it had earlier directed the government to ensure. Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the Bihar government, said trains from Patna were running full. “Reverse migration is happening.
F) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.
The number of coronavirus cases reported from India stood at 7,92,281 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 21,606. According to an AFP tally, more than 12 million coronavirus infections have now been recorded across the world. Despite India recording over 25,000 cases in a day for the first time on Wednesday, the Health Ministry continues to attempt a positive spin on things. The Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan after chairing the 18th meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on coronavirus said that India has one of the lowest cases per million i.e. 538 cases and 15 deaths per million as compared to the global average of 1,453 and 68.7, respectively. This was swiftly followed by a now standard denial that India had community transmission of the disease. There are outbreaks in some localised areas, and just 49 districts account for 80% of the Covid-19 cases, the Health Minister said.
G) ICMR plans new survey to estimate actual prevalence of Covid-19.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is set to begin a new survey to estimate the true prevalence of coronavirus infections. The organisation is yet to make public the details of its earlier survey in 60 districts, which found that 0.73% of the population may have been exposed to the virus. This survey, which had begun on May 12, appeared to suggest, that at least seven lakh people were exposed to the virus across 21 States even in early May. This number suggested that the true extent of infections were 20 times higher than the 35,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 reported then in the entire country.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) WHO says pandemic accelerating, launches independent panel.
The World Health Organisation, which has faced fierce U.S. criticism over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, launched an independent panel on Thursday to review its response to the pandemic. The panel will also review the responses of governments. While sharing details about the review panel, Ghebreyesus painted a grim picture of the pandemic’s trajectory: “In most of the world the virus is not under control. It is getting worse. The pandemic is still accelerating. After weeks of incessantly criticising the WHO’s response to the pandemic, the U.S. had on Tuesday given a formal one-year notice of its intent to withdraw from the WHO. The U.S is the WHO’s biggest donor, accounting for $400-500 million of the body’s funds annually.
