CURRENT AFFAIRS
18 December 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) SC says farmers have a constitutional right to protest, but urges talks.
The Supreme Court on Thursday said farmers have a constitutional right to continue with their absolutely perfect protest as long as their dissent against the three controversial agricultural laws does not slip into violence. The court, however, said the purpose of the protesting farmers would not be served if they continued to sit without engaging in talks. Yes, there is a protest that is going on. Yes, the protest is constitutional as long as it does not damage property and lives. It is an absolutely perfect protest. But their purpose cannot be realised if they continue to sit without talking, the CJI observed. The court reiterated its suggestion of forming an impartial and independent committee of experts in agriculture to hear both farmers and the Union government on the laws. If farmers protest has a purpose other than just to sit in protest, we are thinking of an independent committee before whom both sides can state their case while the protest goes on. The committee can give its opinion after hearing them. Senior advocate P. Chidambaram, for Punjab, where most of the protesting farmers hail from, said the farmers actually wanted the Parliament to discuss amendments to the three laws.
B) Farmer leaders not in favour of impleading themselves in SC case, to seek legal opinion.
Farmers protest on new farm law issue at Singhu border on Thursday. Farmers protest on new farm law issue at Singhu border on Thursday. Protesting farmer leaders will seek legal opinion on Friday, before taking any position in the Supreme Court case on their agitation. Most farm leaders are not in favour of impleading themselves in the case, they said. After a meeting of the committee plus the Punjab leaders this afternoon, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha has decided to consult with four senior Supreme Court lawyers Dushyant Dave, Prashant Bhushan, Colin Gonsalves, and HS Phoolka before taking any position on the case, said K.V. Biju, national coordinator of the Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh. The leaders are not in favour of impleading themselves into the case, but we have decided to seek legal opinion first.It is the BJP which is behind this case, so why should we play into their hands?” Kisan Krantikari Union president Darshan Pal told this. In the meanwhile, the agitation will continue. The court itself made it clear that we have every right to continue our protests.
C) Will not be cowed down, says Mamata on Central deputation of IPS officers.
Describing the Government of India’s order of Central deputation for three serving IPS officers of West Bengal despite the State’s objection a colourable exercise of power and blatant misuse of emergency provision of IPS Cadre Rule 1954, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday that West Bengal was not going to cow down in front of expansionist and undemocratic force. Despite the objection of the State government, the Centre had called the three IPS officers on Central deputation. The officers were deployed in the security of BJP president J.P. Nadda when his convoy was attacked at Diamond Harbour on December 10. The three officers are Inspector General (South Bengal) Rajeev Mishra, Deputy Inspector General (Presidency Range) Praveen Kumar Tripathi, and Diamond Harbour Superintendent of Police Bholanath Pandey. Banerjee said such a move before the elections was against the basic tenets of the federal structure. This act is nothing but a deliberate attempt to encroach upon the State’s jurisdiction and demoralise the serving officers in WB. This move, particularly before the elections is against the basic tenets of the federal structure. It’s unconstitutional & completely unacceptable! Banerjee tweeted.
D) Yogasana to become a competitive sport.
The Sports Minister said yogasana will be inducted in future Khelo India Games programme. The Sports Minister said yogasana will be inducted in future Khelo India Games programme. Yogasana will be a competitive sport in the country, the Ministries of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Homoeopathy), and Youth Affairs and Sports announced at a joint press conference today. They said they planned to establish yogasana as a competitive sport globally. The Central government took the decision to promote yogasana as a competitive sport after extensive consultation with stakeholders over the last 3-4 years. The National Board of Promotion and Development of Yoga and Naturopathy in 2019 recommended that yogasana be recognised as a competitive sport, Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, said. He added an exhaustive document containing the rules, regulations and syllabus for yogasana competitions had been prepared, and the technical committee had also made a list of the asanas (compulsory and optional) after exhaustive research. Work for automation of the scoring system to introduce objectivity in marking has been initiated and district/ State/ national/ world championships in yogasana are proposed in 2021. A pilot championship of traditional yogasana by the name of ‘National Individual Yogasana Sports Championship’ (virtual mode) is proposed to be organised in February 2021, he said.
E) SC dismisses U.P. govt’s plea against HC order quashing Kafeel Khan’s detention.
Dr. Kafeel Khan addresses a press conference in Jaipur, on September 3 soon after his release from Mathura jail. Dr Kafeel Khan addresses a press conference in Jaipur, on September 3 soon after his release from Mathura jail. The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal by the Uttar Pradesh government against an Allahabad High Court decision quashing the detention of Dr. Kafeel Khan under the National Security Act (NSA). A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde, however, said any remarks made by the High Court on the facts of the case in its September order would not interfere in the ongoing prosecution of the case. Case will be decided on its own merits, the Bench observed. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, for Dr. Khan’s mother Nuzhat Perween, argued against the State’s appeal. The man has been out for three months now and there have been no problems, Jaising submitted. Chief Justice Bobde told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the court would not intervene against the quashing of the detention order and told the State to get on with whatever prosecution is pending. Dr. Khan had been in custody since January 29 for his remarks during a speech at an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) event in Aligarh Muslim University in December last year. The High Court had, in its order, said that his speech did not disclose any effort to promote hatred or violence and termed the three extensions of his detention illegal.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Top U.S. General meets Taliban negotiators in Doha.
The top U.S. general held unannounced talks with Taliban peace negotiators in Doha to urge a reduction in violence across Afghanistan, even as senior American officials in Kabul warned that stepped-up Taliban attacks endanger the militant group’s nascent peace negotiations with the Afghan government. Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met for about two hours with Taliban negotiators in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday, and flew Wednesday to Kabul to discuss the peace process with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Gen. Milley’s meetings came amid a new drawdown of U.S. troops, although under the current U.S. policy, a complete pullout hinges on the Taliban reducing attacks nationwide. The most important part of the discussions that he had with both the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan was the need for an immediate reduction in violence, Gen. Milley told reporters. Everything else hinges on that. Army Gen. Scott Miller, the top commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, said in an interview at his military headquarters in Kabul on Wednesday that the Taliban have stepped up attacks on Afghan forces, particularly in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar, and against roadways and other infrastructure. His assessment is, it puts the peace process at risk the higher the violence, the higher the risk, he said. Gen. Miller meets at least once a month with Taliban negotiators as part of Washington’s effort to advance a peace process.
B) Won’t step back from S-400 deal with Russia, says Turkey.
Turkey will not step back from its decision to deploy Russian air defence systems despite U.S. sanctions imposed on the country over the purchase, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday. In an interview with Turkey’s 24 TV television, Mr. Cavusoglu also said Turkey was mulling steps it would take to respond to the U.S. sanctions, but he did not say what the steps could entail. The U.S announced sanctions earlier this week over Turkey’s procurement of Russia’s advanced S-400 system, under a U.S. law known as CAATSA, aimed at pushing back on Russian influence. The sanctions target Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries, the head of the presidency and three other senior officials. The penalties block any assets the four officials may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar their entry into the U.S. They also include a ban on most export licenses, loans and credits to the agency. The Minister also described the sanctions as wrong both legally and politically, arguing that Turkey’s purchase of the Russian system in 2017 predated the CAATSA law. Mr. Cavusoglu said that an improvement of relations between Turkey and the United States would be conditional on President-elect Joe Biden’s ability to address Ankara’s grievances.
C) Cyberattack on govt. still going on: U.S. agencies.
U.S. intelligence agencies have warned that a significant cyberattack on several federal departments uncovered over the weekend remains ongoing as the government rushes to assess the extent of the breach. This is a developing situation, and while we continue to work to understand the full extent of this campaign, we know this compromise has affected networks within the federal government, the FBI, the director of national intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said in a joint statement late Wednesday. The March attack on software created by Texas Based IT company Solar Winds in which hackers installed malware continued for months until it was discovered by cybersecurity company FireEye. Both companies pointed fingers at hackers linked to the Russian government. Hackers reportedly breached software used by the U.S. Treasury Department and the Commerce Department, allowing them to view internal email traffic. The agencies did not confirm the targets of the cyberattack. U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, also pointed to Moscow on Monday, saying the Russian government had made repeated attempts to breach U.S. government networks.
SolarWinds said up to 18,000 customers, which included government agencies and Fortune 500 companies, had downloaded the compromised software updates, allowing hackers to spy on email exchanges. The content the hackers sought to steal, and how successful they were, remains unknown at this time.
After the attack was detected, CISA ordered federal agencies to power down the breached software. The agencies have created a coordination unit and talks are being held at the White House to discuss the government’s response. U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien cut short a trip to the Middle East and Europe this week to deal with the fallout from the hack.
