CURRENT AFFAIRS
23 May 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Negative Covid-19 report isn’t the end of problem, warn doctors.
A negative Covid-19 report isn’t the end of the problems associated with the virus, warn doctors. They now say that since it affects multiple organs, those who were on mechanical ventilation, ICU or form into any high-risk category of lung fibrosis are the group of people who need to watch out for the need to have a re-admission. People with diabetes or obesity, prolonged illnesses are also much likely to go back to hospitals with symptoms like breathlessness and decrease in oxygen even after testing negative and getting discharged from hospital. Archana Dhawan Bajaj, gynaecologist obstetrician and IVF expert, Nurture IVF, said, The thrombosis and protein loss due to the virus can lead to delayed recovery. COVID re-infection is rare and people facing re-infection are mainly those with co-morbidities, healthcare workers and frontline workers. Hence, this is something to watch out for in people of these subgroups. On the signs to watch out for even after turning negative, Vikas Maurya, director and HOD, Pulmonology, FortisHospital, Delhi said Covid-19 causes inflammation in our lungs, kidney, heart, and other organs. Therefore, post-Covid-19, people can still experience extreme weakness, and it takes time to fully recover. But those who have mild symptoms can recover a bit faster than those who experience moderate to severe symptoms, he said. Hari Kishan Boorugu, consultant physician, Yashoda Hospitals, Somajiguda, Hyderabad, said people need to maintain adequate hydration and follow a healthy diet after recovery. Avoid eating outside food as it can be difficult for the body to take additional stress in case they develop food-borne gastroenteritis. Patients with diabetes and high blood pressure need to monitor their sugar and BP while making sure that they are in good control, as often they tend to fluctuate post-COVID, due to multiple factors change in diet, stress, and medication, he said.
B) Breach of Air India data poses litigation risk for airline, experts say.
The breach of passenger data at Air India may pose litigation risks for the airline that could further delay the privatisation process, warn experts, adding that the national carrier must prioritise efforts to contain the damage from the cyber attack by informing passengers about steps they can still take to prevent fraud. In a press statement, the airline said that its passenger processing system, supplied by multi-national information technology company SITA, was a target of a sophisticated cyber attack on February 25. Nearly 45 lakh data subjects registered over a period of 10 years, between August 2011 to February 2021, were affected around the world, including passengers of other airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific, United Airlines, among others. The attack was on SITA’s servers at its data centre in Atlanta, United States. A major impact it may have is that the current process of privatisation may go slow as there will always be fear of unquantified litigation risks. They (government) may be able to separate past versus future liabilities, but it opens up a new avenue for a discussion with potential bidders, said Sivarama Krishnan, Leader-Asia Pacific, Cybersecurity, PwC. The extent to which individual airlines were affected due to the cyber attack varied from one airline to another. Some airlines wrote to their passengers saying only passenger names and frequent flyer numbers were stolen. In the case of Air India, the theft pertained to name, date of birth, contact information, passport information, ticket information, Star Alliance and Air India frequent flyer data (but no passwords data were affected) as well as credit cards data (but no CVV data).
C) Majority mark in Rajya Sabha to remain elusive for BJP in Modi’s second term.
The majority mark in the Rajya Sabha will remain elusive for the BJP in the second term of the Narendra Modi government, and its performance in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly poll slated for early next year is crucial for it to maintain its current tally in the Upper House. At 93, the BJP is 30 members short of the majority mark of 123 in a House of 245 MPs. In the second term, with more than half a dozen Opposition MPs changing loyalty to the BJP, the ruling party had managed to pass controversial Bills, beginning with the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights of Marriage) Bill, 2019 or Triple Talaq Act, along with J&K Re-organisation Bill and the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Three rounds of retirements in the year 2022 – April (18 members), June (20 members) and July (33 members) – will bring the last change in the political arithmetic of the Rajya Sabha in the second term of the Modi government. Major losses for the BJP will come from Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. This makes Uttar Pradesh crucial for the BJP’s strength in the Upper House. In July next year, 11 seats from Uttar Pradesh will fall vacant. As per the current tally, the BJP holds five of these, which includes two former Samajwadi Party MPs – Sanjay Seth and Surender Singh Nagar – who shifted their loyalties midway through their term. Without repeating its 2017 performance in the State, the BJP cannot hold on to these five seats. In Punjab, if the current anti-BJP sentiment because of the three controversial farm laws prevails till the polls, the BJP will lose one seat. The BJP allies will also be affected – the AIADMK strength is expected to be curtailed after its defeat in the recent Assembly poll in Tamil Nadu. Currently, the AIADMK has six members and its political adversary, the DMK, seven.
D) Stop release of funds to W.B. under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, State BJP chief urges Modi.
West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging the Centre not to release any funds under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi without proper checking and verification of data approved by the State. The beneficiary list verified by the State Government needs thorough checking and verification at the level of Union Government so that any genuine beneficiary is not excluded from the benefits. Without proper checking and verification of the data of the beneficiaries as approved by the State on the part of Union Government, no further allotment should be released in the scheme, Ghosh said in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister earlier this week. Earlier this month, about seven lakh farmers received one instalment (₹2,000) as benefits under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi for the first time since the launch of the scheme in three years. During the run-up to the State Assembly polls, senior BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had promised ₹18,000 (all pending instalments for three years) under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi to about 70 lakh farmers in the State. The BJP leader, in the communication, has alleged that the Trinamool Congress government has perpetuated syndicate raj in all spheres of life in West Bengal where no work gets done without common people having to pay cut money in return for including them in the beneficiary lists of all the government schemes. We apprehend that the names of genuine beneficiaries might be found missing from the verified list made ready for payment by the state government for the present scheme, Ghosh has written in the letter. For almost three years, there was a tussle between the State government and the Centre over PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. The Trinamool Congress government maintained that its scheme of providing cash transfer to farmers ‘Krishak Bandhu’ was more inclusive. In an open letter dated May 13, a day before benefits under the PM Kisan were transferred to accounts of seven lakh farmers, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Centre of delaying the disbursal of the scheme and said the Trinamool Congress had first started ‘Krishak Bandhu’ scheme in 2018, which was a model for the entire country. You all were supposed to get ₹18,000 but have received a very small amount. Even this sum would not have been transferred had we not fought for it. We will continue this fight till you get the entire allocation, Banerjee had said in her letter addressed to people of the State.
E) Music director Raamlaxman, of ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’ fame, dies at 78.
Veteran music director Raamlaxman, best known for his work on Rajshri Productions’ blockbuster movies Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! and Hum Saath Saath Hain died due to a cardiac arrest. He was 78. The composer, whose real name was Vijay Patil, passed away at his residence in Nagpur in the early hours of Saturday, his son Amar said. He had taken second dose of Covid-19 vaccine, Covishield, six days ago. There was no problem at that time… But when he came home he developed weakness. His parameters were dropping. Doctors were attending at home. He passed away at around 2 am on Saturday. He had a cardiac arrest, Amar told PTI. Patil, known by cinema aficionados as ‘Laxman’ of duo composers Raam-Laxman, started his journey in films with Marathi actor-comedian Dada Kondke’s 1975 film Pandu Hawaldar. He gave the music for the movie with his collaborator Surendra under the name Raam-Laxman. Surendra passed away in 1976, but Patil continued to compose under the same name, slightly changing it to Raamlaxman. In his over four decades-long career, he composed music for over 150 films in Hindi, Marathi and Bhojpuri and worked with famous film directors such as Manmohan Desai, Mahesh Bhatt, GP Sippy, Anil Ganguly and Sooraj Barjatya. Some of his other memorable works were for Agent Vinod, 100 Days, Anmol, Tarana, Patthar Ke Phool and Hum Se Badhkar Kaun.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Nepal President dissolves Parliament, announces mid-term polls in November.
Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari has dissolved the House of Representatives and announced mid-term polls on November 12 and 19 after she determined that both embattled Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli and the Opposition alliance were not in a position to form a government. Bhandari’s announcement came after Prime Minister Oli recommended dissolution of the 275-member House following an emergency midnight Cabinet meeting. Last year, on December 20, President Bhandari had dissolved Parliament but later it was reinstated by the Supreme Court in February. A press statement issued by the Office of President said the Parliament was dissolved and dates of midterm polls were announced in line with Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal. The council of ministers has recommended conducting the first phase of the poll on November 12 and the second phase on November 19. The move followed a notice from the Office of the President which said that it could appoint neither K.P. Sharma Oli, the incumbent Prime Minister, nor Sher Bahadur Deuba, Nepali Congress president, as claims made by both to form a new government were insufficient. With four lawmakers in the 275-member House of Representatives dismissed by their party after they chose to be part of another party, a prime ministerial candidate requires support of at least 136 lawmakers in Parliament to form a new government.
B) Egyptian mediators hold talks to firm up Israel-Hamas truce.
Egyptian mediators held talks on Saturday to firm up an Israel-Hamas cease-fire as Palestinians in the Hamas ruled Gaza Strip began to as the damage from Il days of intense Israeli bombardment. A 130-truck Convoy carrying urgent humanitarian aid headed to Gaza. Saturday marked the first full day of a truce that ended the fourth Israel-Hamas war in just over a decade. In the fighting, Israel unleashed hundreds of airstrikes against militant targets in Gaza, while Hamas and other militants fired more than 4,000 rockets toward Israel. More than 250 people were killed, the vast majority Of them Palestinians. Gaza City’s busiest commercial area, Omar al-Mukhtar Street, was covered in debris, smashed Cars and twisted metal. A Palestinian official said an initial assessment showed at least 2,000 housing units were destroyed in the Il-day fighting. Naji Sarhan, deputy of Gaza’s works and housing ministry, said that more than 15 000 other units were partly destroyed. Sticking points Both Israel and Hamas have claimed victory. There was a widespread expectation that the ceasefire would stick for now, but that another round of fighting at some point Seems inevitable. Underlying issues remain unresolved, including an Israeli Egyptian border blockade, now in its 14th year, that is choking Gaza’s more than 2 million residents and a refusal by the Islamic militant Hamas to disarm. The fighting began on May 10, when Hamas militants in Gaza fired rockets toe ward Jerusalem. The barrage came after days of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Heavy-handed police tactics at the compound and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers had inflamed tensions. The war has further sidelined Hamas’ political rival, the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, which oversees autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas’ popularity seemed to be growing as it positioned itself as a defender of Palestinian claims to Jerusalem. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to meet with Mr. Abbas and Israeli leaders when he visits in the coming week. Mr. Abbas is expected to raise demands that any Gaza reconstruction plans go through the Palestinian Authority to avoid strengthening Hamas.
