CURRENT AFFAIRS
22 October 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Rajasthan could become second State to reject farm laws.
Rajasthan is likely to become the second Congress-ruled State after Punjab to formally reject the Centre’s Farm Acts, which are being opposed by large sections of agriculturists across the country. A special session of the State Assembly will be convened shortly to discuss the impact of the contentious laws on the farmers.Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has said that an Amendment Bill would be brought in the Assembly to nullify the applicability of the Central legislations and a resolution adopted against the Centre’s stand on the issue of farmers’ welfare. The Council of Ministers took the decision to call the Assembly session at its meeting held here. He said that Rajasthan would follow suit after the passage of Bills against the Central statutes in the Punjab Assembly. The Congress stands resolutely with our Annadatas (food providers) and will continue to oppose the anti-farmer laws passed by the NDA government. The Council of Ministers laid emphasis on a mandatory provision for procurement of agricultural produce at minimum support prices. It observed that the removal of ceiling on the stock of farm commodities in normal circumstances under the Essential Commodities Act after the implementation of new agricultural laws would lead to an increase in black marketing and hoarding.
B) Air pollution linked to 1,16,000 infant deaths in India in 2019: Report.
Outdoor and household particulate matter pollution contributed to the deaths of more than 1,16,000 Indian infants in their first month of life in 2019, according to State of Global Air 2020 report by the U.S.-based Health Effects Institute. More than half of these deaths were associated with outdoor PM2.5 and others linked to use of solid fuels such as charcoal, wood, and animal dung for cooking. Long-term exposure to outdoor and household air pollution contributed to over 1.67 million annual deaths from stroke, heart attack, diabetes, lung cancer, chronic lung diseases and neonatal diseases in India in 2019. For the youngest infants, most deaths were related to complications from low birth weight and preterm birth. Overall, air pollution is now the largest risk factor for death among all health risks, according to the report. The study highlights the ongoing challenge of high outdoor air pollution, with South Asian countries, including India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal featuring among the top 10 countries with the highest PM2.5 exposures in 2019. All of these countries experienced increases in outdoor PM2.5 levels between 2010 and 2019.
C) ICMR approves new, low-cost testing method developed at IIT-Kharagpur.
A new coronavirus diagnostic method, using a low-cost portable unit developed by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The approval came after tests with patient samples showed an accuracy level slightly lower than the gold standard RT-PCR method at a fraction of the cost. The machine cost less than ₹5,000 to make and the test kits would each cost about ₹500, IIT-Kharagpur researchers told journalists on Wednesday. Once the viral RNA was extracted, the testing process took about one hour. The IIT was in discussion with commercial manufacturers and start-ups, and hoped that the government would also subsidise the cost of test kits.
D) EC reiterates Covid-19 norms for campaigning after parties flout rules.
The Election Commission (EC) on 21 October has reiterated its guidelines for campaigning during the Covid-19 pandemic after finding that political parties and candidates had been lax in maintaining crowd discipline during the ongoing polls. With campaigning underway for the Bihar Assembly elections and by-polls across States, the EC wrote to all recognised national and State parties to reiterate its earlier advisory regarding social distancing, mask-wearing and other Covid-safe measures. Instances of such public meetings have come to notice of the Commission, where large crowds have assembled in utter violation of social distancing and the political leaders/campaigners are addressing the gathering without wearing masks in complete disregard of the guidelines/instructions. It added that it has taken a serious view of the laxity on the part of political parties and candidates on the ground in terms of maintaining crowd discipline and reiterated the need for parties to be careful during campaigning.
E) Calcutta High Court modifies order on puja pandals.
Calcutta High Court on 21 October has made minor modifications to its order passed on Monday by allowing a higher number of organisers to enter the Durga Puja pandals. But it maintained that pandals will remain no entry zones and visitors will not be allowed inside. Hearing a review petition, a Division Bench of Justices Sanjib Banerjee and Arijit Banerjee said that ‘dhakis’ (traditional drummers) may be permitted, but only in the no entry zone outside and not within the pandal area. ‘Dhakis’ will have to wear masks and maintain physical distancing norms, the court said. For smaller Durga Puja pandals whose area is less than 300 sq metres, now 30 organisers are allowed inside, while bigger ones can have up to 60 names in the list of organisers who are allowed inside. In the order issued on Monday, the numbers were 15 and 25 for smaller and bigger pandals respectively. The court added that the charts with the name of organisers or locals who will be allowed inside the pandals should be hung up by 8 a.m. every day and all the people (who are allowed inside) should not be present inside the pandal at one time. For bigger Durga Pujas, 45 persons can be present inside the pandal and for smaller ones, 25 people can be present at any given time.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) India-Germany flights resume after 3 weeks.
After a three-week impasse between India and Germany that led to the suspension of flights between the two countries, the Government of India on Wednesday announced the resumption of services. In continuance to the existing Air Bubble arrangement between India and Germany, the flight operations of @airindiain and @lufthansa between both the countries have recommenced. According to a senior DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation) official, both Lufthansa and Air India will run 10 flights each a week. This agreement is for 2 months. The disagreement between the 2 sides was primarily due to the fewer number of flights allowed to Air India (3 or 4 weekly) compared with those allowed to Lufthansa (20 weekly). Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri said that Lufthansa was using the air bubble agreement to ferry sixth freedom rights passengers, or passengers destined to travel beyond Germany.
B) Group of Senators backs Australia’s inclusion.
A bipartisan group of Senators has written to India’s Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu backing India’s decision to invite Australia to the annual Malabar naval exercise. The letter also asks India to join the Blue Dot Network, a U.S.-led collaboration with Australia and Japan that supports private-sector led infrastructure financing opportunities in response to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The letter says strengthening the Quad, the group comprising India, the U.S., Australia and Japan has become especially important in the face of China’s rising military and economic assertiveness. India’s invitation to Australia to join this year’s exercise comes three years after Canberra had asked to join the programme. The Senators’ letter called Australia a uniquely capable and stalwart partner, saying its addition to the Malabar exercise would provide increased interoperability, strengthen threat assessment abilities and enhance the maritime roles and missions of the 4 naval powers. However, of equal importance is the symbolic nature of Australia’s inclusion in Malabar, marking the first time that the United States, India, Japan and Australia will engage collectively at the military level since the formation of the Quad and the Quad-plus-Singapore naval exercises held in September 2007.
C) Thai PM may lift emergency as rival rallies rock nation.
Thailand’s embattled premier announced on 21 October that he might lift an emergency decree that has failed to stifle a growing protest movement demanding he steps down and also reforms to the monarchy. After a day of anti-government and rival royalist protests across the country, thousands of angry pro-democracy activists marched on Government House, defying an emergency decree imposed last week banning gatherings of more than 4 people. As they chanted for him to resign, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-Ocha addressed the nation, saying he would make the first move to de-escalate the situation. He said that he is currently preparing to lift the state of severe emergency in Bangkok and will do so promptly if there are no violent incidents, without specifying any timeframe. They must now step back from the edge of the slippery slope that can easily slide to chaos, calling on protesters to resolve their differences through Parliament.
Activists had massed at Bangkok’s Victory Monument, while counter-rallies attracted thousands of royalists in the southern province of Narathiwat and scores more in the capital.
Democracy activists have assembled daily in the capital since last week, flouting the emergency edict.
