CURRENT AFFAIRS
18 JULY 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Human trials for Covaxin
Three volunteers were administered Covaxin, the indigenous Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by Bharat Biotech, at Post-Graduate Institute (PGI) of Medical Sciences in Rohtak today. The Senior Professor and Head of Department of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine told that three volunteers were picked from a shortlist of eight people. The candidates were given health checks to ensure proper liver function and the absence of infection and then administered the vaccine. Dr. Chaudhry said that all three persons tolerated it well. There were no complaints. They observed them for two hours before releasing them. The immediate component of any type of allergic reaction has been taken care of. They will now look for any soreness at the local site over the next 24-48 hours.
B) No one can touch an inch of India’s territory: Rajnath Singh.
Defence Minister of India, Rajnath Singh, who is on a two-day visit to Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir to review the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and the Line of Control (LoC), said on July 17 that no country in the world can occupy or even touch the Indian territory. He also said that while talks should resolve the border issue with China, there was no guarantee about the extent to which they may do so. His comments came during his address to the troops at Lukung Border Observation Post (BOP) near Pangong Tso. He said that if anyone tries to harm India through any means then we will not tolerate that and will give a befitting response to them.
C) Opposition parties oppose the digital-only campaign in Bihar.
Just after one day, the Election Commission announced its decision to extend postal ballot facility to voters above 65 years of age, 9 Opposition parties met in Delhi in order to oppose the panel’s move to permit only digital campaigns for the upcoming Bihar Assembly election in view of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Together, the parties came up with a joint memorandum opposing the decision of the election commission to prohibit the traditional mode of the campaign and allow only a virtual election campaign. The memorandum contended that as per TRAI, only 34% of Bihar voters are having a smartphone.
D) COVID Watch: Numbers and Developments.
The number of coronavirus cases reported from India stood at 10,37,267 till 16 July with the death toll at 26,279. The Health Ministry today said that less than 1.94% of all Covid-19 cases are in ICUs, 0.35% are on ventilators, and 2.81% are on oxygen beds. Meanwhile, the ICMR has asked the States and Union Territories to identify and approve all government and private facilities for conducting rapid antigen testing for Covid-19.
E) Pilot saga: The plot thickens
The Congress has alleged that ₹500 crores is being readied by Maharashtra BJP leaders to help topple the Rajasthan government. Maharashtra Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant has demanded that the state home department probe this allegation. Meanwhile, the move to disqualify Sachin Pilot and other rebel MPs has been put off for now, with the Rajasthan High Court deferring any action against them by the Speaker till Tuesday. It’s evident that Gehlot and the party apparatus in Rajasthan are determined to ensure his removal from the party. At the same time, there also seem to be constant overtures from the party’s central command and its senior leadership. Sachin Pilot was reported to have spoken to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on 15 July and to former Finance Minister P Chidambaram on 16 July.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Nepal’s Ayodhya claim takes archaeological turn.
The Department of Archaeology in Nepal is holding various cross-ministerial meetings in order to find an archaeological site in Thori, which is situated near the border town of Birgunj. The development comes just four days after Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli said the original birthplace of Lord Ram is not located in India but in Thori village around Birgunj. Thori village is known to have a group of ancient Hindu religious sites that seeks attraction of pilgrims from different parts of Nepal. In a interview, the l historian of Nepal, Jagman Gurung said that as per the geographical descriptions provided in Valmiki’s Ramayana, it seems that Ayodhya was situated near Janakpur. With different ministries, the department has been holding several meetings so as to discuss the possibility of starting archaeological studies in Thori village.
B) U.S. officials have ‘lost their minds’: China.
In the latest verbal outburst between the two superpowers, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson on 16 July said that U.S. officials have lost their minds and they have gone mad in their dealings with Beijing. Huge tensions have run high between Washington and Beijing this year and some of the most outspoken critics of China in American Congress were this week hit with sanctions. This happened some days after the U.S. imposed visa bans and asset freezes on several officials of China. U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr accused Beijing as well of mounting an economic onrush so as to replace Washington as the world’s pre-eminent power and also to spread its political ideology around the world, this added fuel to the fire.
C) Security agencies can’t have unfettered access to online data: German court.
On 16 July, Germany’s highest court said that the security services had too much free access to people’s online data and ordered legislation to be revised to set higher hurdles. German intelligence services and police agencies currently possess the right to ask telecom and Internet companies for info of their users which can be their names, birth dates, passwords and IP addresses as well. This was done to help their investigations. But the Constitutional Court situated in Karlsruhe agreed with complaints which are brought by privacy activists. They contended in their complaints that the access to data was unconstitutional and is a violation of the right to telecoms privacy of the citizens. Judges held that the current powers to retrieve data were unreasonable. They further contended that they agreed that intelligence bodies are sometimes needed to get personal data from smartphones or other devices to maintain public security, but this should only be done in cases in which there is a specific danger and not in general. Until the end of 2021,German legislators have amended the telecommunications law in order to include thresholds for the use of these powers.
