NATIONAL NEWS
UAPA: Supreme Court agrees to fix date to hear plea to quash FIRs by Tripura police
The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to fix a date and hear a petition filed by several persons to quash the FIRs registered against them under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for social media posts alleging communal violence in Tripura. Tripura Police have booked 102 social media users, including journalists and activists, under the UAPA and accused them of criminal conspiracy and forgery. The police have sent notices to Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to freeze their accounts and sought information on them. The State police had registered a case under UAPA against Supreme Court lawyers who were part of a fact-finding team which released a report on the alleged instances of communal violence in Tripura. These lawyers were part of the fact-finding team which investigated these incidents in Tripura. Social media users who posted messages like ‘Tripura is burning’ have also been charged under UAPA, advocate Prashant Bhushan addressed a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana during the mentioning of the case for urgent hearing. Chief Justice Ramana suggested the petitioners could approach the High Court first. Bhushan replied that the petition had also challenged the constitutionality of certain provisions in the UAPA. The Editors Guild of India had recently condemned the Tripura Police’s invocation of the draconian UAPA in the case.
India demands $1 trillion as ‘climate finance’
India has demanded a trillion dollars over the next decade from developed countries to adapt to, and mitigate, the challenges arising from global warming, and has kept this as a condition for delivering on climate commitments made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a senior official who is part of ongoing climate agreement negotiations in Glasgow told The Hindu. India’s five-fold plan, as Modi spelt out on November 2, is as follows — India’s non-fossil energy capacity would reach 500 GW by 2030; it will meet 50% of its electricity requirements with renewable energy by 2030; reduce its total projected carbon emissions by a billion tonnes by 2030; it will reduce the carbon intensity of its economy to less than 45% and achieve net zero by 2070. Net zero is when a country’s carbon emissions are offset by taking out equivalent carbon from the atmosphere, so that emissions in balance are zero. However, achieving net zero by a specific date means specifying a year, also called a peaking year, following which emissions will begin to fall. Nationally Determined Contributions are voluntary targets that countries set for themselves, which describe the quantum and kind of emission cuts they will undertake over a fixed period to contribute to preventing runaway global warming. India’s last NDC was submitted following the Paris Agreement of 2015. Before COP26 began on November 1, countries were expected to provide updated NDCs. India, however, did not furnish one. He added that developing countries, as a group, had demanded $1 trillion annually. Gupta did not, however, clarify the members of this group, or if India had formally communicated these demands, or if they had emerged as part of the negotiations. Delivering on climate finance is among the stickiest points of contention between developed and developing countries because developed countries, as a group, have failed to provide $100 billion annually by 2020, as promised from a decade ago. With the conference scheduled to draw to an end on Friday, nearly 200 countries are yet to finalise a final text of an agreement.
Jairam Ramesh moves privilege motion against Culture Minister Kishan Reddy
Congress chief whip in the Rajya Sabha Jairam Ramesh on Thursday moved a privilege motion against Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy over the appointment of former MP Tarun Vijay as the chairperson of the National Monuments Authority, a post for which, Ramesh said, Vijay was not qualified. In a letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu ahead of the winter session of Parliament from November 29, Ramesh cited a section of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (Amendment and Validation) Act, 2010 that says the chairperson of the NMA should have proven experience and expertise in the field of archaeology, country and town planning, architecture, heritage, conservation architecture or law…. The Congress leader wrote that for the first time, the government had appointed a chairperson whose educational and professional background does not meet the requirements of law passed by Parliament in March 2010. That the appointee is a former MP is irrelevant and makes no difference whatsoever. I would like to move a privilege motion against the Union Minister of Culture in this regard for wilfully disregarding the provisions of law passed by Parliament. He has, in fact, made a mockery of this law, Ramesh wrote. Vijay had been a member of the Rajya Sabha from 2010 to 2016 and his profile on the House website says he is a journalist and writer by profession, having served as the chief editor of the RSS magazine Panchjanya for about two decades. He holds a B.A. degree from Osmania University, Hyderabad, the profile says. When reached for response, Vijay declined to comment, saying he was busy and that the matter pertained to the Minister. Reddy took over the Culture portfolio from Prahlad Singh Patel after the Cabinet expansion in July last.
Delhi HC seeks Centre’s stand on plea to label all products as vegetarian or non-vegetarian
The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the Centre’s stand on a plea for labelling all items used by the public, including home appliances and apparel, as vegetarian or non-vegetarian on the basis of their ingredients and items used in manufacturing process. A bench headed by Justice Vipin Sanghi observed that everyone has the right to know and follow their belief and asked the Central Government to seriously examine the plea by Ram Gaua Raksha Dal — a trust working towards the welfare of cows — which claims that there are certain non-vegetarian products that are unknowingly used or consumed by those professing vegetarianism due to absence of proper disclosures. There can be no denying the fact that every person has the right to know which springs from right to free speech. The issue raised by the petitioner has a bearing on a person’s right to life in as much as the person is entitled to profess and follow his beliefs, said the bench, also comprising Justice Jasmeet Singh. It said a copy of the order be given to the concerned secretaries of Ministries of Health and Consumer Affairs for their consideration and directed that a response be filed in three weeks. The petitioner, represented by lawyer Rajat Aneja, has highlighted in the petition that there are several items and commodities which are used in everyday lives without those professing vegetarianism realising that they are either derived from animals or processed using animal-based products. Aneja told the court that bone char or natural carbon is used for polishing or refining white sugar, which is not fit for the consumption of people professing vegetarianism. Bone china products and even crayons have ingredients of animal origin, he added. The petition has asserted that the information regarding the usage of any non-vegetarian component ought to be disclosed and be considered as a factor to declare that product as non-vegetarian.
Won’t have airlines in India to board if fare limits not increased: Aviation Minister
There won’t be any airline in India to board if limits on domestic airfares are not increased as oil prices have jumped from $22 each barrel to $85 in the last eight months, Union Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday. At the ‘Times Now Summit 2021’, he said aviation turbine fuel (ATF) is about 40% of an airline’s cost structure in the country. Domestic air travel became costlier on August 12 this year when the Aviation Ministry raised the lower and upper caps on domestic fares by 9.83% to 12.82%. The Ministry had increased the lower limit for flights under 40-minute duration from ₹2,600 to ₹2,900 — an increase of 11.53%. The upper cap for flights under 40-minute duration was increased by 12.82% to ₹8,800. The reason for the Aviation Ministry raising the fare bands is that airlines must be given some cushion when there is a 400% jump in the prices of raw materials. If you are not able to give a 12.5% hike on the revenue side then you and I won’t have an airline to board, he added. India had imposed lower and upper limits on airfares based on flight duration when services resumed on May 25, 2020, after a two-month Covid lockdown. The lower caps were imposed to help the airlines that have been struggling financially due to coronavirus-related travel restrictions. The upper caps were imposed so that passengers are not charged huge amounts when the demand for seats is high. The caps mentioned by the government in its order does not include the passenger security fee, user development fee for the airports and the GST. These charges are added on top when a ticket is booked.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Taliban welcomes NSA meeting by India on Afghanistan
Taliban on November 11, 2021, welcomed the Delhi regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan. The Taliban group claimed that they have already fulfilled all the demands mentioned for the India conference on Afghanistan. The Taliban group said it welcomes the India meeting. We are trying to make solid steps in governance, and countries should not be worried about Afghanistan soil being used against anyone, said the Taliban Group in media reports. The National Security Adviser (NSAs) of the National Security Councils of eight countries including India participated in the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan. India’s NSA Ajit Doval chaired the meeting.
UN Security Council calls for immediate end to violence in Myanmar
The UN Security Council in a statement dated November 10, 2021, called for an immediate end of violence across Myanmar following the reports of clashes between the armed forces and militant groups. The UNSC while expressing concern over the violence noted that the ‘recent developments pose particular serious challenges for the voluntary, safe, dignified, and sustainable return of Rohingya refugees and internally displaced persons’. The Council highlighted the need for improving the health and humanitarian situation in Myanmar. The UN Relief Chief Martin Griffiths said that the humanitarian situation in Myanmar is deteriorating. The USD 385 million humanitarian support for Myanmar is less than half funded as of yet.
