CURRENT AFFAIRS
15 January 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Modi to launch vaccination drive on January 16.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the pan-India rollout of COVID-19 vaccination drive on January 16 at 10:30 am via video conferencing, said a release issued by the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday. It added that this will be the world’s largest vaccination programme covering the entire length and breadth of the country. A total of 3006 session sites across all States and UTs will be virtually connected during the launch. Around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site on the inaugural day, said the release. The vaccination programme will use Co-WIN, an online digital platform developed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which will facilitate real time information of vaccine stocks, storage temperature and individualised tracking of beneficiaries for COVID-19 vaccine. This digital platform will assist programme managers across all levels while conducting vaccination sessions. A dedicated 24×7 call centre – 1075 – has also been established for addressing the queries related to COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine rollout and the Co-WIN software. Adequate doses of both COVISHIELD and COVAXIN have already been delivered across the country to all States/UTs with the active support of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. These have been further delivered by the State/UT governments to the districts. All preparations are in place to initiate the programme on the principles of Jan Bhagidari, added the release.
B) No foreign leader as chief guest for Republic Day this year.
For the first time in several decades, India’s Republic Day festivities will be held at Rajpath without a foreign leader as chief guest. Due to the global COVID-19 situation, it was decided not to have a foreign head of state or head of government as R-Day chief guest, Anurag Srivastava, Spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs said at a regular media briefing in New Delhi on Thursday. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson was supposed to be the chief guest for this year’s Republic Day event. However, he had to cancel his visit owing to the COVID-19 situation in his country. Foreign leaders have graced the Republic Day parades every year barring 1952, 1953 and 1966. The then Indonesian President Sukarno was the first chief guest to grace Republic Day in 1950. In 2020, Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro was the chief guest. In 2018, the entire Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leadership comprising 10 heads of states were present in the Republic Day parade.
C) BKU leader Mann recuses himself from SC committee on farm laws.
Bhartiya Kisan Union president Bhupinder Singh Mann on Thursday said he is recusing himself from the four-member committee appointed by the Supreme Court to resolve the impasse between farmers and the Centre over the new agri-marketing laws. Farmer unions and opposition parties had raised doubts over the composition of the panel, insisting that its members have been in favour of the three laws in the past. Mr. Mann said he is thankful to the apex court for nominating him on the panel but would give up any position to prevent farmers’ interests from being compromised. As a farmer myself and a union leader, in view of the prevailing sentiments and apprehensions amongst the farm unions and the public in general, he is ready to sacrifice any position offered or given to him so as to not compromise the interests of Punjab and farmers of the country, he said in a statement. The apex court had on Tuesday stayed the implementation of the three central laws till further orders and announced the formation of a committee to hear the grievances of the farmers and the opinion of the government. Apart from Mr. Mann , Shetkari Sanghatana (Maharashtra) president Anil Ghanwat, International Food Policy Research Institute’s Pramod Kumar Joshi and agriculture economist Ashok Gulati were appointed on the panel.
D) Google removes some personal loan apps from Playstore amidst concerns.
Google on Thursday said it had removed some personal loan apps from its application store after reviewing hundreds of such apps for violation of user safety policies. The move follows reports over many such applications, who are not authorised lenders, targeting vulnerable borrowers to offer loans at very high interest rates and then using extreme measures for recovery of money. They have reviewed hundreds of personal loan apps in India, based on flags submitted by users and government agencies. The apps that were found to violate their user safety policies were immediately removed from the Store, and they have asked the developers of the remaining identified apps to demonstrate that they comply with applicable local laws and regulations, Suzanne Frey, vice-president, Product, Android Security and Privacy, said in a blog post. She added that the apps that failed to do so would be removed without further notice. Google, she said, would continue to assist the law enforcement agencies in their investigation of this issue. Personal loan apps have received attention recently, and we wanted to clarify the action we have taken on these apps on Google Play, she said.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Donald Trump becomes first U.S. President to be impeached twice.
President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House for a historic second time on January 13, charged with incitement of insurrection over the deadly mob siege of the Capitol in a swift and stunning collapse of his final days in office. With the Capitol secured by armed National Guard troops inside and out, the House voted 232-197 to impeach Mr. Trump. The proceedings moved at lightning speed, with lawmakers voting just one week after violent pro-Mr. Trump loyalists stormed the U.S. Capitol, urged on by the President’s calls for them to fight like hell against the election results. Ten Republicans voted to impeach Mr. Trump, joining Democrats who said he needed to be held accountable and warned ominously of a clear and present danger if Congress should leave him unchecked before Democrat Joe Biden’s inauguration Jan. 20.
B) Mr. Trump is the only U.S. President to be twice impeached.
The Capitol insurrection stunned and angered lawmakers, who were sent scrambling for safety as the mob descended. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi invoked Abraham Lincoln and the Bible, imploring lawmakers to uphold their oath to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. She said of Mr. Trump: He must go, he is a clear and present danger to the nation that they all love. The soonest Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell would start an impeachment trial is next Tuesday, the day before Mr. Trump is already set to leave the White House, Mr. McConnell’s office said. The legislation is also intended to prevent Mr. Trump from ever running again.
