CURRENT AFFAIRS
15 February 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) 22-year-old activist arrested for ‘spreading toolkit’, faces conspiracy charge.
The Delhi Police cyber cell has arrested 21-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi from Bengaluru on Saturday after her alleged role in spreading a toolkit related to the farmers’ protests came to light. A senior police officer said that while trailing the toolkit related to the farmers’ protest, they tracked Ms. Ravi in Bengaluru. A police team was sent there for further investigation and she was picked up from her home. Police has also seized her laptop and mobile phone for further investigation. She was brought to Delhi where she was formally arrested and will be produced before a magistrate. They have found that she made several changes in the toolkit related to farmers protest and further spread it in certain groups on social media, added the officer. Recently, Delhi police had registered an FIR under Section 124A (sedition), 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) against the people who created and spread toolkit. A report from Bengaluru quoted sources close to Ms. Ravi, the arrested activist from ‘Fridays For Future’, as saying that her family and counsel were groping in the dark. She was picked up for questioning. The family was also told she was being taken for questioning. But she has been taken to Delhi and shown arrest. Even the FIR copy is not available in the public domain and not made available to the family and counsel. They don’t know what are the charges against her, said an activist who knew Ms. Ravi. Her family and her counsel have refused to speak to the media.
B) Twelve bodies recovered in ongoing Uttarakhand rescue operations.
Twelve bodies were recovered on Sunday in the ongoing rescue operations in Uttarakhand, according to an update from Uttarakhand Police. This brings the total number of bodies found to 50. About 154 are still believed missing. Rescue operations are on at the Tapovan hydropower station in Chamoli, Uttarakhand, where a torrential flood last Sunday from a glacier-linked landslide destroyed hydropower plants downstream, killing at least 50 and causing 204 to go missing. Of the bodies retrieved, 41 were found at Chamoli, seven at Rudraprayag, and one each at Pauri Garhwal and Tehri Garhwal. Only 25 of the recovered bodies have been identified. As part of rescue operations, a 30-cm diameter and 12-metre-deep borehole has been drilled to aid with removing silt. Many of those killed are believed to be workers at the tunnels of the Tapovan hydropower project, who were trapped in the massive pile of rubble and debris that resulted from the avalanche blocking the inlet tunnels. There are also operations on to divert the river’s course from the left bank to the right bank to aid in desilting operations. There are at least 325 engineers, officers, geologists and scientists engaged in rescue operations. Efforts are also on to monitor the size of a lake that has been forming on the upper portion of the Rishiganga because the natural course of the river is being obstructed due to a pile of debris from last week’s avalanche.
C) Congress will not implement CAA: Rahul Gandhi.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said his party will not implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and promised to hike the daily wage of tea plantation workers if his party comes to power in Assam. Launching the Congress campaign for the upcoming Assembly polls at Sivasagar in eastern Assam, he also took a swipe at the BJP for trying to divide Assam so that business tycoons from Gujarat take its wealth away. Mr. Gandhi recalled former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi as his guru who acquainted him with several key issues including the divisive CAA. Pointing to the crossed CAA printed on the Assamese gamosa around his neck, he said: Listen, ‘hum do hamaare do’! Come what may, we will not allow the CAA. Mr. Gandhi had coined ‘hum do’ for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and ‘hamaare do’ for corporate giants Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani. He devoted much of his speech to the tea workers, who are a deciding factor in a third of the 126 Assembly seats. He said their daily wage would be more than doubled. What can you buy with ₹167? We will add ₹200 to this figure and take away ₹2 to fix ₹365 as your daily wage, he told the crowd mostly comprising tea workers at the rally near a historic field where Prime Minister Narendra Modi had campaigned for the BJP a few days ago. The focus of the political parties has been on the workers. The BJP-led government has wooed them with cash and incentive schemes besides promising to hike their wages within a few days. Mr. Gandhi also promised to protect the principles of the Assam Accord signed between the All Assam Students’ Union and the Centre in 1985 at the end of a violent six-year agitation against illegal immigration. Assam has the issue of illegal immigration but the people of the State have the capability to resolve them through dialogue. The Congress will defend and protect the principles of the accord, he said, referring to the delay in implementing a vital clause that guarantees constitutional safeguards for the indigenous people.
D) Modi launches five projects in Kerala.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched five projects in Kerala on Sunday which he said would energise the growth trajectory of the country. Mr. Modi, who arrived at Kochi on Sunday afternoon, dedicated to nation, the Propylene Derivative Petrochemical Project of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), launched the Ro-Ro vessels to be operated between Bolghatty and Willingdon Island and inaugurated the Sagarika International Cruise Terminal. He also laid the foundation stone for the reconstruction of South Coal Berth, in Cochin Port besides inaugurating the Marine Engineering Training Institute, the only maritime training institute in India functioning within a Shipyard having extended training facilities for trainees on various vessels under construction or repair. In his address, Mr. Modi said the projects would go a long way in creating the Athmanirbhar Bharath. The Prime Minister urged people to travel locally and explore places. He suggested start-ups to consider developing projects for the tourism sector. A large number of people are writing about the local tourism destinations and posting pictures about the destinations as they cannot travel abroad due to COVID 19. Besides generating additional revenue for the people in the sector, it will also connect youth to the culture of the country, he said. India went up in its world tourism ranking. The country is in the 34th position from the earlier 65, he said.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Fire destroys 100 fuel tankers in Afghanistan.
At least 100 oil and gas tankers have been destroyed by a fire in a catastrophe at Afghanistan’s biggest trade crossing with Iran, causing millions of dollars of losses, officials said on Sunday. The huge blaze, which broke out Saturday afternoon at Islam Qala port, 120 km from the western city of Herat, has been contained and an investigation launched into its cause. They were told that 100 or 200 tankers have been destroyed, but this number could be higher, Jailani Farhad, spokesperson for the Governor of Herat province, said after visiting the scene. During the blaze, looters descended on the site, stealing goods that were being imported and exported across the border, Younus Qazi Zada, the head of the Herat Chamber of Commerce said. The catastrophe was much bigger than imagined, he said. Unfortunately, irresponsible people have looted a large number of goods, he added. Mr. Qazi Zada said initial estimates were of millions of dollars of losses. Mr. Farhad added that investigators needed more time to examine the extent of damage. Videos posted on social media on Saturday night showed the towering fire and huge clouds of thick black smoke billowing into the sky. Around 20 people were injured in the fire, according to Herat officials. Damage to power lines from the incident left large parts of Herat without power on Sunday. Islam Qala is one of the major ports in Afghanistan, through which most official trade with Iran is conducted. Kabul has waivers from Washington allowing it to import oil and gas from Iran despite U.S. sanctions.
B) UAE’s Hope Probe sends home first image of Mars.
The UAE’s Hope Probe sent back its first image of Mars, the national space agency said Sunday, days after the spacecraft successfully entered the Red Planet’s orbit. The picture captured the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons, emerging into the early morning sunlight, it said in a statement. The image was taken from an altitude of 24,700 km above the Martian surface on Wednesday, a day after the probe entered Mars’ orbit, it said in a statement. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, UAE Prime Minister and Dubai’s ruler, shared the coloured image on Twitter. The first picture of Mars captured by the first-ever Arab probe in history, he wrote. The mission is designed to reveal the secrets of Martian weather, but the UAE also wants it to serve as an inspiration for the region’s youth. Hope became the first of three spacecraft to arrive at the Red Planet this month after China and the U.S. also launched missions in July, taking advantage of a period when the Earth and Mars are nearest. The UAE’s venture is also timed to mark the 50th anniversary of the unification of the nation’s seven emirates. Hope will orbit the Red Planet for at least one Martian year, or 687 days.
C) Russia’s Foreign Minister holds talks on climate with U.S. envoy.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed climate change with U.S. envoy John Kerry and the two agreed to cooperate further within the Arctic Council, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. During the conversation, questions were raised about the implementation of the Paris climate accord, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement released late on Saturday. The Foreign Minister told Mr. Kerry, a former Secretary of State who is now the U.S. climate envoy, that he welcomed the decision by new U.S. President Joe Biden to rejoin the landmark Paris Agreement on curbing global emissions of greenhouse gases. Mr. Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump had pulled out of the 2015 accord. The two men also underlined the need for as wide a cooperation as possible in the area of the environment. They also agreed to develop cooperation within the Arctic Council a high-level intergovernmental forum that addresses various issues, including sustainable development and environmental protection in the Arctic region. The telephone conversation came at a time when already strained relations between Russia and the West have been further exacerbated by the arrest and imprisonment of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and Moscow’s merciless crackdown on the ensuing protests. Earlier this month, Mr. Biden said the U.S. would no longer be rolling over in the face of Russia’s aggressive actions and demanded Mr. Navalny’s release.
