CURRENT AFFAIRS
15 March 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) BJP announces list of candidates for Assembly elections.
Eminent economist Ashok Lahiri and Rajya Sabha MP and journalist Swapan Dasgupta were among the 63 candidates the BJP announced on Sunday for the third and fourth phase of polls on April 6 and 10. The party released names of 112 candidates for Kerala, where it will be contesting in 115 out of 140 Assembly seats, 17 names for Assam and 63 candidates for the third and fourth phase of elections in West Bengal. Mr. Lahiri, member of the 15th Finance Commission, former Chief Economic Advisor to the government of India and former reader Delhi School of Economics, will be contesting from Alipurduar constituency in north Bengal. The economist who has also co-authored a book India Decides, Elections 1952-89 with David Butler and Prannoy Roy, is the most surprise inclusion in the BJP list. Mr. Dasgupta will be contesting from the Tarakeshwar Assembly seat in Hooghly district. The list included four MPs including Mr. Dasgupta. Union Minister and Asansol Lok Sabha MP Babul Surpiyo will contest from the Tollygunj seat in south Kolkata, Hooghly Lok Sabha MP Locket Chatterjee from Chunchura and Cooch Behar MP Nisith Pramanik from Dinhata. The Trinamool Congress has given nomination to only one MP. The BJP has also given the ticket to Trinamool Congress dissident leaders who recently switched sides. Prominent among them is former Minister Rajib Banerjee who will contest from Domjur in Howrah. Four-time TMC MLA from Singur Rabindranath Bhattacharya (88) will contest from the same seat. TMC MLA from Diamond Harbour Dipak Halder, who quit the party a few weeks ago, has been given a ticket from the same seat. Among the prominent names fielded by the party in Kerala meanwhile, are ‘metroman’ E Sreedharan from Palakkad and former Union Minister KJ Alphons from the Kanjirappally assembly seat.
B) BJP announces seventeen candidates for Tamil Nadu.
The BJP announced a list of 17 candidates today for the Tamil Nadu Assembly poll to be held on April 6. The party had been allotted 20 seats by the AIADMK. Hours after DMK MLA from Thiruparankundram, P. Saravanan, joined the BJP, the national party rewarded him with a ticket to contest the Assembly poll from the Madurai North constituency. Mr. Saravanan had been elected to the State Assembly in a bypoll. He was denied a ticket by the DMK this time around. Mr. Saravanan is the second DMK MLA to switch to the BJP. Earlier, Thousand Lights MLA Ku. Ka. Selvam had joined the BJP but the seat has now been given to actor-politician Khushbu Sundar. BJP Tamil Nadu president L. Murugan said Mr. Selvam didn’t want to contest. As per the list announced by the BJP, Mr. Murugan will contest from Dharapuram (Reserved) constituency. He will be contesting against the DMK’s Kayalvizhi Selvaraj. Vanathi Srinivasan has been named as candidate for Coimbatore South, where she will be facing off against actor-politician Kamal Haasan and Congress’ Mayura Jayakumar. Ms. Khushbu Sundar, who had been campaigning hard at Chepauk-Triplicane as the party’s election in-charge of the constituency, will be taking on N. Ezhilan, a physician, of the DMK at Thousand Lights constituency.
C) EC suspends two IPS officers for failure to protect Mamata Banerjee in Nadigram incident.
The Election Commission on Sunday ordered the suspension of two IPS officers for their failure to protect West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during an incident in Nandigram on March 10 that left her with injuries. Ms. Banerjee was campaigning for the ongoing state Assembly elections when she was allegedly pushed by unidentified people, leaving her with injuries to her leg. The EC met on Sunday to discuss the reports submitted to it by the West Bengal Chief Secretary and special general observer Ajay Nayak and special police observer Vivek Dube on the incident, the EC said in a statement. After going through the reports, the EC ordered the removal and suspension of West Bengal Director, Security Vivek Sahay and Purba Medinipur Superintendent of Police Pravin Prakash. Regarding Mr. Sahay, the EC said: The charges must be framed against him within a week for grossly failing in discharge of his primary duty as Director Security to protect the Z+ protectee. The EC also ordered charges to be framed against Mr. Prakash for major failure of bandobast and replaced him with 2009 batch IPS officer Sunil Kumar Yadav. The EC said the Chief Secretary, in consultation with the Director General of Police, was authorised to post a Director Security and was required to inform the Commission of the posting by 1pm on Monday. The EC also said the Chief Secretary and DGP should identify other security officials who failed to prevent the incident and take action against them by 5pm on Wednesday. The EC also transferred Purba Medinipur District Magistrate Vibhu Goel and appointed 2005 batch IAS officer Smita Pandey in place. The commission asked the Chief Secretary to make sure the case was investigated in the next 15 days.
D) We talked about strengthening Congress in Jammu, says Kapil Sibal.
The group of 23 letter writers (G-23), who had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi last August asking for reforms, were not dissenters but protectors of the Congress legacy, senior Congress leader and a key member of the G-23, Kapil Sibal, said on Sunday in an interview with The Hindu. Mr. Sibal spoke about their public meeting at Jammu on February 27 and asserted that the leaders spoke about strengthening the Congress at the Jammu meet. He claimed there may have been 23 signatories to their letter, submitted in August 2020, but many more people within the party support their views. An excerpt: We are not anti anybody, we are pro Congress. We believe that the Congress needs to be strengthened. And this exactly what we said in Jammu, that we must all strengthen the Congress party together. Because that is the only national alternative that can stem the rot that has set in at the instance of this government. The great legacy of this country, which is reflected in the Constitution of India, is being destroyed. The government is dismantling all Constitutional structures. In fact, in my speech at Jammu [on February 27], I attacked the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), saying that the assets of this country are in the hands of just a few people. We are not dissenters, we are protectors of the Congress party and that is what we displayed in Jammu in the course of our speeches, Mr Sibal said.
E) Antila scare: Vaze sent to NIA custody.
A special court on Sunday remanded assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze to the custody of National Investigation Agency (NIA) till March 25 in connection with the recovery of an explosives laden car found abandoned next to Mukesh Ambani’s residence on February 25. NIA’s spokesperson said Mr. Vaze was arrested at 11.50 pm on March 13 for his role and involvement in placing explosives laden vehicle near Carmichael Road. The SUV car was found with 20 gelatin sticks on February 25 and the police said the car was stolen from Airoli-Mulund Bridge on February 18. Mr. Vaze has been arrested under sections 286 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance), 465 (punishment for forgery), 473 (making or possessing counterfeit seal, etc., with intent to commit forgery punishable otherwise), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) 120 B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and The Explosive Substances Act. The car’s owner Mansukh Hiren, an auto parts dealer was found on March 5 in Kalwa creek. The case was transferred from Maharashtra Police to NIA on March 8. On March 12, a sessions court at Thane rejected Mr Vaze’s pre arrest bail in Hiren’s murder. Mr. Vaze is known as an ‘encounter specialist’ of the Mumbai police. He was suspended for 17 years after being arrested in the custodial death of a 27-year-old software engineer Khwaja Yunus. But he was granted bail after 58 days of being in custody. He was reinstated in June 2020 citing the requirement of officers in the force. He led the Raigad police team to arrest the editor-in-chief of Republic TV, Arnab Goswami, in the case of death of architect Anvay Naik and was probing the television rating points manipulation case as a crime branch officer.
F) RLSP merges with JD(U) as Kushwaha made parliamentary board chief.
After much flip-flop, the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) on Sunday merged with Bihar ruling Janata Dal (United) and its chief and former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha was appointed as president of the JD(U) parliamentary board. The decision to merge with the JD(U) was taken at the party’s two-day meeting here and the people of Bihar too wanted it. It will make Bihar stronger and we’ll work under leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, said Mr. Kushwaha before rushing to the State JD(U) headquarters for the ceremony. Mr. Kumar and senior party leaders welcomed him into the party. We’ve worked together and will be together again. We welcome all RLSP leaders into the party to make Bihar strong. Though, he [Mr. Kushwaha] told us that he doesn’t have any ambition we’ve decided to appoint him as president of the JD(U) parliamentary board from now, said Mr. Kumar. We’re very happy with the merger, he said. Mr. Kumar also dwelt upon the prohibition policy and comments made on social media. Use social media for positive things, he urged. We all welcome you [Mr. Kushwaha] to the party which you nursed and expanded along with us, said senior JD(U) leader and party MP Rajeev Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh. A large number of RLSP and JD(U) workers were present.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Crypto investor buys $70 mn digital artwork.
The buyer of a $70 million digital-only artwork was named on Friday by auction house Christie’s as a crypto asset investor who goes by the pseudonym Metakovan. The auction to buy the work by digital artist Beeple was the first ever sale by a major auction house of a piece of digital art that does not exist in physical form. The work is in the form of a new kind of digital asset: a Non-Fungible Token (NFT). This means that it is authenticated by blockchain, which certifies its originality and ownership. Metakovan, whose real name was not disclosed, is the founder of Metapurse, the world’s largest NFT fund, Christie’s said in a statement. The work, called Everydays: The First 5000 Days is a collage of 5,000 individual images, which were made one-per-day over more than thirteen years. It sold for $69,346,250, which Metakovan paid in the form of cryptocurrency Ether. The sale put Beeple into the top three most valuable living artists, Christie’s said, trailing only David Hockney and Jeff Koons. When you think of highvalued NFTs, this one is going to be pretty hard to beat. And here’s why it represents 13 years of everyday work, Metakovan said in a statement.
B) Sri Lanka asks Amazon to not sell flag-themed items.
Sri Lanka has asked retail giant Amazon to take down bikinis, briefs and doormats featuring the nation’s lion flag from its site, authorities said on Sunday, two days after it protested against the Chinese-made products. The country is highly sensitive to what it sees as any misuse of its national flag, as well as Buddhist symbols. Sri Lanka said it had lodged a formal protest with the online retailer and asked Chinese authorities to ensure an end to the manufacture and sale of similar products. The company which marketed the product on Amazon was requested by letter from the embassy to immediately cease selling the doormats and any such products, misusing the Sri Lanka flag, the Sri Lankan Embassy in China said. Sri Lanka’s Embassy in Washington said it had also complained to the U.S. government over what it called a violation of intellectual property rights of the South Asian nation. However, two days after Sri Lanka’s intervention, dozens of retailers were still selling the flag-themed items. Several Chinese vendors on Amazon were offering the doormat at prices ranging from $10 to $24, and the lion-printed briefs and bikini from $9.20 to $17.30. This is how the Chinese see Sri Lanka, said one Facebook user. Another suggested the doormat was a forewarning of how future relations might play out in light of Sri Lanka’s huge debt to China.
C) Ireland, Italian region halt AstraZeneca shots.
Ireland on Sunday became the latest country to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine over concerns about patients developing post-jab blood clots, as nations across the world sought to step up their COVID-19 immunisation drives. Several countries including Denmark, Norway and Bulgaria last week paused the rollout of vaccines from the Anglo/Swedish pharma giant over fears of blood clots. The World Health Organization has said no causal link had been established between the vaccine and blood clotting. The manufacturer and Europe’s medicines watchdog have also insisted that the vaccine is safe. An AstraZeneca spokesman said that an analysis of our safety data that covers reported cases from more than 17 million doses of vaccine administered has shown no evidence of an increased risk in blood clot conditions. In fact, the reported numbers of these types of events for COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca are lower than the number that would have occurred naturally in the unvaccinated population. Shortfall in deliveries AstraZeneca’s shot is among the cheapest available, and forms a bulk of deliveries to poorer nations under the WHO-backed Covax initiative, which aims to ensure the equitable global distribution of vaccines. A spokesman for Ireland’s health ministry told AFP that the administration of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca is temporarily deferred from this morning, Sunday 14th March. The move came after Ireland’s National Immunisation Advisory Committee recommended suspending the rollout as a precaution after a report from the Norwegian Medicines Agency of four new reports of serious blood clotting events in adults after vaccination. Meanwhile, Italy’s northern region of Piedmont said on Sunday it would stop using a batch of AstraZeneca coronavirus shots after a teacher died following his vaccination on Saturday.
