CURRENT AFFAIRS
15 JULY 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Sachin Pilot sacked from all posts
There have been rapid developments in the Rajasthan story but the summing up is as follows :
Sachin Pilot, the rebel in this case, has been sacked as Deputy Chief Minister and as state party chief, offices that he had held simultaneously. The move came soon after he failed to attend a second meeting of party MLAs, to which he had been invited to make peace. Sachin Pilot is now scheduled to hold a press meet tomorrow at 10 am where he will presumably present his side of the story in more detail. Randeep Surjewala announced the decision to remove Sachin Pilot from party and Cabinet posts, in Jaipur.
Meanwhile, incumbent Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who seems to have, with great effort, foiled Pilot’s attempt to bring down his government, held a Cabinet meeting at his residence at 7.30 pm and a meeting of the Council of Ministers at 8 pm on July 14.
One complication is that Gehlot’s numbers are far from straightforward. After three MLAs decamped this morning, the Congress now has the support of 100 MLAs, which is the half-way mark in the 200-member assembly. Yesterday, Gehlot had claimed the support of 106 MLAs. The ball is now in the BJP’s court. Given the new numbers, the party has said that Gehlot must face a floor test. It has also sent a senior leader, Om Mathur, to Jaipur.
B) Centre limits duration of online school sessions.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development on 14 July released guidelines that schools can hold live online classes for a maximum of 1.5 hours per day for Classes 1-8, and three hours per day for Classes 9-12. For kindergarten, nursery and preschool, the guidelines don’t recommend any screen time for children; they only recommend that teachers spend a maximum of 30 minutes per day to interact with parents and guide them. These guidelines, prepared by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), are only advisory in nature, and State governments have been asked to build on them and formulate their own rules based on local needs.
Over 25 crore students have been out of school since mid-March. The Pragyata guidelines acknowledge that these students live in households which fall into different categories: those having computers or smartphones with 4G, those with smartphones but limited or no internet access, those with TV with cable or DTH, those with a radio set or a basic phone with FM radio, and those with no communication devices at all.
Noting that members from different categories may be present in the same class, the guidelines advise schools to survey students before making decisions on the mode of teaching. The goal is NOT to try and recreate face-to-face classrooms over the internet. Schools should not assume that teaching-learning through synchronous communication is the only requirement or even desirable in order to support effective digital learning. Synchronous or real-time communication could be the Zoom classes that many private schools have begun, or other video or audio conferencing, allowing instant feedback. The guidelines said that children exposed to digital technologies or gadgets for a longer time are prone to severe health issues.
C) Sattankulam deaths: CBI gets custody of accused.
The CBI has been granted custody of the five Sattankulam police man till 16 July who were involved in the custodial deaths of traders P. Jayaraj and J. Benicks. The five accused were produced before the Madurai Chief Judicial Magistrate on July 13. The CBI has to produce the accused before the court on July 16.
D) CBI indicates panel probe in Dubey’s case.
On 14 July, the Supreme Court hinted at the possibility of setting up a commission, headed by a retired judge, to probe the UP police’s encounter killing of history-sheeter Vikas Dubey and his associates last week, as well as the murder of eight police officers at Bikru village in Kanpur. Responding to the PILs seeking a court-monitored CBI or NIA probe into both the incidents, the Court gave the UP government time till 16 July to tell the court what kind of committee it wanted. The case will be taken up next on July 20.
E) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.
The number of coronavirus cases reported from India stood at 9,32,445 till July 14 with the death toll at 24,271. With cases rising steadily, there is no bend in sight for the India’s new infections curve. The Union Health Ministry said today that recovery rates in 20 states is more than the national average of 63%. Of these, Uttar Pradesh has a recovery rate of 64%, Odisha 67%, Assam 65%, Gujarat 70%, and Tamil Nadu, 65%. The Ministry added that 86% of India’s active coronavirus cases are confined to 10 states. Meanwhile, the Bihar government announced that the complete lockdown in the state will be extended from July 16 to July 31.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Another round of LAC disengagement talks
On 14 July, the military commanders of India and China began a crucial round of negotiations to finalize a time-bound disengagement process for friction points such as Pangong Tso and Depsang. The talks would also cover the modalities of pulling back a large number of troops and weapons from rear bases along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. Around 11:30 a.m., the fourth round of Lt General-level talks began. The meeting was held at a designated meeting point in Chushul on the Indian side of the LAC which is the de-facto border between both the countries.
B) Britain bans Huawei from future role in 5G network
On 14 July, the Britain government backtracked on plans to give Chinese telecommunications company Huawei a limited role in the U.K.’s new high-speed mobile phone network in a decision with broad implications for relations between London and Beijing. Mr. Dowden conceded that this announcement means more Britons will have to wait longer to get full access to the speedy new network.
The UK’s mobile service providers will not be allowed to buy new Huawei 5G equipment after 31 December, and they must also remove all of Huawei’s 5G kits from their networks by 2027. The decision gives British telecom operators until 2027 to remove Huawei equipment already in Britain’s 5G network. The UK’s Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden made this announcement in the House of Commons. The move, coming on the heels of Washington’s security concerns over the Chinese’s firm’s 5G technology, could delay the roll-out of 5G in the UK by a year.
