CURRENT AFFAIRS
23 JULY 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Rajasthan Speaker moves SC in a Pilot case.
On 22 July, Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi challenged a State High Court order directing him to defer the Tenth Schedule proceedings against former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot till 24 July. Joshi described the court’s order as an interference by the judiciary in the Speaker’s exclusive domain. His petition, filed by advocate Sunil Fernandes, said the High Court order was an affront to the powers of the Speaker. Meanwhile, Pilot and 18 other MLAs filed a caveat in the apex court by urging that no order should be done ex-parte without informing their side. Joshi, too, has moved the Supreme Court, asking it to stop the Rajasthan High Court from pronouncing a verdict on the disqualification notices on Friday.
B) Former SC judge B.S. Chauhan to head Vikas Dubey probe.
The Supreme Court on 22 July, approved the Uttar Pradesh government’s choice of retired apex court judge Justice B.S. Chauhan to head the commission that will probe the gunning down of eight police officers and the encounter killings of their alleged assailants, history-sheeter Vikas Dubey, and his associates. Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad A. Bobde said that the single most important aspect of the commission’s inquiry should be how Dubey came to be released on bail or parole.
C) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.
The number of coronavirus cases reported from India stood at 12,35,388 with the death toll at 29,887. India reported its highest ever a number of recoveries on a single day, with 28,472 COVID-19 patients having been cured or discharged from hospitals in 24 hours, according to a statement from the Union Health Ministry on June 22. With this, the number of recovered patients stands at 7,53,049. This has strongly boosted the recovery rate to 63.13%
D) Writer and critic Kovai Gnani pass away.
Eminent writer, Tamil Marxist scholar and literary critic Kovai Gnani died on 22 July at his home in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. He was 85. His son Pari Vallal said that he died at 11.15 am due to age-related health problems. His eyesight had been impaired for more than 20 years. A key figure in the Vanambadi poetry movement in Coimbatore and an author of more than 50 books, Gnani promoted Tamil literature through several little magazines, including the likes of Parimanam, Nigazh, and Tamizhneyam.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) U.S. to buy 100 million doses of vaccine.
if Britain will able to successfully develop the vaccine, the U.S. government will pay $1.95 billion to buy 100 million doses of Pfizer Inc and the German biotech COVID-19 vaccine. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense said that the agreement allows the U.S. government to acquire an additional 500 million doses. Pfizer and BioNTech have been testing vaccines that require two injections in clinical trials. Pfizer will deliver the doses if the product receives emergency use authorization or licensing from the U.S.
B) The US shuts down the Chinese consulate in Houston as tensions rise.
The United States has told China to shut down its consulate in Houston by 24 July. China has described this move as a political provocation. The Houston consulate is one of five in the U.S, not counting the embassy in Washington DC. The U.S. justified its decision by citing a need to protect American intellectual property and information from Chinese spying. Beijing condemned the order and threatened retaliation. China was considering closing the U.S. consulate in the city of Wuhan. China warns the U.S. to immediately withdraw its decision, otherwise, China will definitely take proper and necessary measures against this.
C) India, China not to use UAVs at friction points.
The armies of both Indian and China have agreed to not use unmanned aerial vehicles at the friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), other than for mutually agreed short time periods. The confidence-building measure has impacted real-time verification of the de-escalation process, as aerial objects cannot be used within 10 km of the face-off sites, a senior government. Earlier, the two armies had agreed to a 30-day moratorium on foot patrolling at all the friction points while they pulled back from their positions. The official said that as of now, they were not engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation at any of the points, but a continuous verification was required and they were prepared for the long haul.
D) Facebook to set up two teams for evaluation of its policies and algorithms.
Acknowledging that it needs to do more to combat racism on its platforms, Facebook has said that it is setting up two teams to evaluate its policies and algorithms. The equity team of Instagram and the Inclusive Product Council of Facebook will look for bias in algorithms and work to make both the platforms fair and safe for all. Recently, against the backdrop of the Black Lives Matter movement, Facebook has been under fire for its failure to crack down on racist content and groups on its platforms.
