CURRENT AFFAIRS
18 August 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) SC to examine in detail when corruption allegations against the judiciary can be made public.
The Supreme Court on 17 August has decided to launch a detailed examination under which circumstances, a person can make public allegations of corruption against the judiciary. This decision came out just a few days later on the very criticized judgment which held human rights lawyer Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court. A 3 Judge Bench has also decided to hear the arguments on laying down a procedure to be followed if such statements of corruption are made in public against the sitting as well as the retired judges. The Bench referred to the majority judgment delivered by Justice J.S. Verma in 1992 which concerned about the removal of a Supreme Court judge. That judgment had laid down the procedure to deal with allegations against a sitting judge and said the judge had to be given a fair opportunity to be heard, and the process had to be restricted to a limited circle of high judicial functionaries and parliamentarians. The Justice Arun Mishra bench said that the 1992 judgment was against publicly making allegations against judges.
B) Facebook public policy director alleges threat to life.
The public policy director of Facebook India, Ankhi Das, on Monday, registered a police complaint in South Delhi claiming that she has received threats and offensive messages on social media. She has filed the complaint and reported the matter to the senior police officers as well. Atul Thakur, DCP (South) said they have received the complaint and an FIR will be registered only after preliminary investigation. In her complaint, she has said that the threats were in connection to an article published in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on August 14, 2020. She also said that the WSJ report was published further in a distorted manner by many publications in India. She has also mentioned some Twitter and Facebook accounts in her complaint.
C) SC refuses to postpone NEET/JEE.
On 17 August, the Supreme Court has refused to take cognizance of a petition which is filed by the students who were asking to postpone the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). The students had sought a postponement due to pandemic-linked risks. But the SC refused the petition after recording the exam authorities’ assurance that all necessary precautions would be taken to ensure the safety of the candidates, whose numbers run into lakhs. “Education should be opened up. Covid-19 may continue for a year more. Are you going to wait for another year? The petition seeking postponement of the NEET and the JEE scheduled in September had been filed by 11 students from 11 States.
D) Heavy rains cause a flood-like situation in AP, Telangana
Heavy monsoon rains over the past 4 days have led to flood-like situations in several parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The water level at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage (SAC-Dowleswaram) on the Godavari is inching close to the danger mark, with the discharge of nearly 19 lakh cusecs of the floodwater. Thousands have been evacuated from low-lying areas in East and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh. In Telangana, if cropland gets submerged, farmers could be staring at huge losses.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) S. imposes more sanctions targeting Huawei
The administration of the U.S. on 17 August has expanded its sanctions on the Huawei company of China. This is a move that aims at further limiting the technology giant access to computer chips. The Commerce Secretary has said that Huaweihave worked through 3rd parties so as to harness the technology of the U.S. which undermines the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. The officials of the United States have argued that Huawei has a security risk because of its links to the Beijing government. However, this claim had been denied by the company. The Trump administration has banned Huawei from 5G wireless networks in the U.S. and has pressed allies to do the same.
B) New Zealand postpones poll to fight the second wave of the virus.
The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Ms. JacindaArdern on 17 August has postponed the elections of New Zealand. This step was taken to focus on fighting the second wave of COVID-19. The disease has killed more than 7,66,000 people globally. Many countries have also plunged into recession since COVID-19 first emerged in China late last year. This decision provides sufficient time for all the parties for campaigns. Moreover, the Election Commission also gets enough time for ensuring smooth conduct of the elections. The return of coronavirus has sent the largest city of New Zealand into lockdown again because of which people have discouraged from voting in September. The election is shifted to October.
C) Indian, Nepalese diplomats discuss bilateral projects.
The diplomats of India and Nepal on 17 August met in Kathmandu. They reviewed the status of a number of bilateral projects that are going on between both the countries. This is the first diplomat level meeting between both countries in the year 2020. The meeting relates to the Kalapani territorial dispute. The two teams which are led by the Foreign Secretary of Nepal, Shankar Bairagi, and Indian Ambassador in Kathmandu Vinay Mohan Kwatra, discussed cross-border railways, Arun-III hydropower project, Pancheshwar multipurpose project, construction of the Nepal Police Academy and Ramayana projects among other items.
