NATIONAL NEWS
Charanjit Singh Channi takes oath as Punjab Chief Minister
Congress leader and MLA Charanjit Singh Channi on September 20 took oath as Chief Minister of Punjab. Two Deputy Chief Ministers — O.P. Soni and Sukhjinder Randhawa — also took oath along with the Chief Minister. Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy, with Congress leaders, including former party president Rahul Gandhi, State unit president Navjot Singh Sidhu and others present on the occasion. Former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh skipped the event though he had extended his best wishes to Channi. Channi, 58, is the first Dalit to head the government in the State. He was Technical Education Minister in the Amarinder Singh Cabinet. A close aide of Sidhu, he was among the ministers who had rebelled against Capt. Amarinder, expressing lack of faith in the former Chief Minister’s ability to fulfill the party’s election promises. He had attacked him on several issues — the Bargari sacrilege issue, failure to curb the drugs and transport mafias, and other unkept election promises made in 2017. Meanwhile, the turmoil in Punjab Congress seems to be far from over as former Punjab Congress State president Sunil Jakhar raised questions on the party’s strategy of going to the upcoming Assembly poll under the leadership of Sidhu rather than Channi, saying it undermined the Chief Minister’s authority. Taking to Twitter, Jakhar said, On the swearing-in day of Sh @Charnjit_Channi as Chief Minister, Rawats’s statement that elections will be fought under Sidhu, is baffling. It’s likely to undermine CM’s authority and also negates the very raison d’être of his selection for this position. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Channi on being sworn-in as Punjab Chief Minister. Congratulations to Shri Charanjit Singh Channi Ji on being sworn-in as Punjab’s Chief Minister. Will continue to work with the Punjab government for the betterment of the people of Punjab, Modi tweeted.
COVID-19 vaccine export to be resumed next month
India would resume the export of COVID-19 vaccines under ‘Vaccine Maitri’ in order to fulfill the commitment towards COVAX, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced on Monday. We are resuming Vaccine Maitri next month in line with our motto ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,’ he said. The surplus supply of vaccines would be used to fulfill India’s commitment towards the world for the collective fight against the virus. COVAX is co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organisation. Speaking about increased vaccine production in the coming months, he stated that more than 30 crore doses would be made in October. More than 100 crore doses would be produced in the coming quarter, he added. Highlighting the importance of indigenous research and production of COVID-19 vaccines, he observed that India’s vaccination drive had been a role model for the world and it was marching ahead with great speed. More than four times, we have crossed one crore vaccination administration on a single day since the drive commenced on January 16, he noted.
Won’t interfere with States’ decisions on school reopening: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court on Monday said the judiciary will not interfere with State governments’ decisions on whether or not to open schools. A Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and B.V. Nagarathna said the decision to open schools is entirely that of individual States and the court will not queer the pitch. The judiciary has neither data nor the expertise to pass omnibus directions to States to open schools and resume physical classes, especially when the lives of children are at stake. Governments have to tread with the greatest care when opening schools and exposing children to the virus… If so, the courts have to take greater care, that too, with no data at hand, Justice Chandrachud observed. The court was dealing with a petition filed by a student who wanted governments to take time-bound decisions to open up schools for physical classes. Justice Chandrachud said the child who is the petitioner here should focus on his studies rather than file public interest petitions with no or little data to support his contentions. Different States have different situations regarding COVID-19. The situation may vary according to factors like the size of the State and density of the population. It is the decision of each State to see the areas where there is a spike in cases and act accordingly. Ultimately, it is best to leave it for the governments to decide. We cannot take over governance, Justice Chandrachud said. Justice Nagarathna pointed out that teachers have to be vaccinated and children have not been vaccinated yet. The government is ultimately responsible to bring children back to school. Government is answerable. We cannot direct them to open up in a time-bound manner. We have just come out of the second wave. There may be a third wave, though it may not be as devastating, Justice Chandrachud said. The issue of whether to send children to school for physical classes or not and when to do that concerns the complexities of governance which makes it eminently a case on which the court should not interfere. Let us leave something to the democratic way of life we have chosen. Let us leave it to every State to decide this issue, Justice Chandrachud addressed the petitioner. Advocate Ravi Prakash Mehrotra, appearing for the student-petitioner, said the petition was not meant to be publicity seeking. Instead, it had focused on the psychological and physical damage children are being subject to by not going to school. More seriously, Mehrotra said, many thousands of children depend on school to provide them with a mid-day meal. Justice Chandrachud agreed that there was a need to balance the need to keep the children safe from the virus with the requirement to keep them physical and mentally healthy. The court said many State governments, in this case, have decided to open schools in a phased manner.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Shooting at Russian university leaves 8 dead, 28 hurt
A gunman opened fire on Monday at a university in Russia, leaving eight people dead and 28 hurt, officials said. The suspect was detained after being wounded in an exchange of fire with the police, the Interior Ministry said. There was no immediate information available on his identity or possible motive. During the attack, students and staff at Perm State University locked themselves in rooms, and a video posted on Russian news sites showed some students jumping out of second-storey windows. In some footage, a black-clad, helmeted figure could be seen striding on a campus sidewalk cradling a long-barreled weapon. Russia’s Investigative Committee said the gunman fired a smoothbore hunting weapon. That could indicate he used a shotgun. A traffic police unit was the first to reach the scene, and the suspect opened fire on them, according to the Interior Ministry. He was wounded when police returned fire and then was disarmed, the ministry said. Although firearms laws are strict in Russia, many people obtain permits for hunting weapons. News reports cited officials as saying the suspect had a permit for a pump-action shotgun, although it was not clear if it was for the weapon used. The university, which has 12,000 students enrolled, said about 3,000 people were on the campus at the time of the shooting. The school is in the city of Perm, which is about 1,100 kilometers east of Moscow with a population of about 1 million. The Investigative Committee said 28 people were injured, and some of them were hospitalized. The Health Ministry said 19 of them were shot. It was not clear how the others were injured. In May, a gunman opened fire at a school in the city of Kazan with a registered weapon, killing seven students and two teachers.
