NATIONAL NEWS
SC pushes armed forces to let women compete for admission to NDA in November
The Supreme Court on Wednesday pushed the armed forces to live up to its reputation as the best response team we have to stand up to an emergency, iron out creases, and make history happen by allowing women to write the exam for admission to the National Defence Academy (NDA) in November this year. The court was responding to a statement made by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in an affidavit that it would have the mechanism to induct women into the NDA ready by May 2022. Senior advocate Chinmoy Pradip Sharma and advocate Mohit Paul, for petitioner Kush Kalra, countered that if the NDA entrance exam is announced in May 2022, the actual exam would take place later in September. This would mean that the actual induction of women cadets into the prestigious military academy, the gateway to the three Services and a male bastion, would happen in 2023 — a delay of a whole year. A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and B.R. Gavai said it was time the armed forces buckle up and make a beginning. The court refused to vacate its order of August 18 that women would write the NDA entrance exam in 2021 itself. The exam is scheduled for November. The MoD, represented by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, urged the court to let the November 2021 exam go on as before, without women taking it. It stated that the military establishment would need at least six months to prepare for the start of the process for induction of women into the NDA. Bhati submitted that a study group had been formed to look into the infrastructure and course requirements for women cadets in the NDA. But the court made it plain that though it was in favour of giving time to the study group, it did not want to delay women from taking the exam. We do not accept this situation. The armed forces treat everything as an emergency. They are the best response team we have. They deal with far more difficult situations in the country’s borders, they can deal with this. Do not ask us to vacate our order [of August 18], Justice Kaul addressed the MoD.
NDMA for ₹50,000 ex-gratia to kin of those who lost lives to COVID-19, Centre tells Supreme Court The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has recommended that ₹50,000 be given to the kin of those who died of COVID-19, the Centre informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday. It said that ex-gratia assistance will also be given to the kin of those who died of the virus due to involvement in COVID-19 relief operations or activities associated with the preparedness for dealing with the pandemic. The ex-gratia assistance will be given subject to the cause of death being certified as COVID-19 as per the guidelines issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and ICMR, the government said. It added that the ex-gratia assistance will be provided by States from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). On September 3, the top court had expressed displeasure over delay in framing of guidelines for issuance of death certificates to the families of those who died of COVID-19. The apex court had in its June 30 verdict directed the NDMA to recommend within six weeks the guidelines for ex-gratia assistance on account of loss of life to the family members of persons who died due to COVID-19.
Rahul likely to visit Chhattisgarh where a leadership tussle is on
Amid the leadership tussle in Chhattisgarh, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit the Congress-ruled State by the end of September. After the change of guard in Punjab, speculation has gained ground that Chhattisgarh is likely to be the next State that could see a leadership change. It is not clear if the Congress high command will take a call on the leadership question before Gandhi’s visit but the issue is wide open. The arrival of State Health Minister T.S. Singh Deo in Delhi on Monday and Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu meeting party general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal on Tuesday has further fuelled talks of a possible change of leadership and Cabinet reshuffle. Top party sources, however, claimed that talks about an impending reshuffle are not correct. The date or other issues of rotating chief ministership have not been finalised. Both the leaders have been told to keep quiet and not issue statements against each other. The high command will let them know when it takes a call on the issue, said an All India Congress Committee (AICC) functionary. According to a rotation formula agreed in December 2018 when Gandhi was the party president, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was to handover his position to Deo by June 16 this year. Though both the leaders have avoided making direct public statements, Baghel has been using various public events to show his strength and support among the MLAs. On Tuesday, Baghel hosted a dinner for the tribal MLAs from the Bastar region, comprising seven districts, at the Chief Minister’s residence. Last week, 36 Congress MLAs are said to have expressed their support by pledging to resign if the Chief Minister is changed. The central leaders have not yet decided but such antics won’t go down well, said another AICC leader who is familiar with the Chhattisgarh situation.
DTU VC Yogesh Singh appointed Vice Chancellor of Delhi University
Delhi Technological University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh has been appointed as the VC of Delhi University, Ministry of Education officials said on Wednesday, PTI reported. Singh, who will be the 23rd Vice-Chancellor of DU, will succeed Yogesh Tyagi, who was suspended last October over allegations of irregularities and dereliction of duty. Tyagi was the first VC in the university’s history to face such action. Pro Vice-Chancellor PC Joshi was holding charge of the top post since then. President Ram Nath Kovind who is the Visitor to central universities has approved the appointment of two Vice Chancellors. While Yogesh Singh will be the VC of Delhi University, Neelima Gupta has been appointed to the post at Dr Hari Singh Gaur Vishwavidyalaya, Sagar, a ministry official said.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Turkish President Erdogan again makes reference to Kashmir in UN General Assembly address Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has again referred to the issue of Kashmir in his address to world leaders at the high-level UN General Assembly session. Last year also, Erdogan in his pre-recorded video statement to the General Debate had made a reference to Jammu and Kashmir. India at that time termed it as completely unacceptable, saying Turkey should learn to respect the sovereignty of other nations and reflect on its own policies more deeply. Erdogan in his address to the General Debate on Tuesday said, We maintain our stance in favour of solving the ongoing problem in Kashmir for 74 years, through dialogue between the parties and within the framework of relevant United Nations resolutions. The Turkish President, a close ally of Pakistan, had repeatedly raised the issue of Kashmir in his address to the high-level General Debate. He had also raised the Kashmir issue during his visit to Pakistan last year. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) at that time had said Erdogan’s remarks reflected neither an understanding of history nor of the conduct of diplomacy and that they will have strong implications on India’s ties with Turkey. It said India rejected the repeated attempts by Turkey to justify the cross-border terrorism practised so blatantly by Pakistan. In his address on Tuesday, the Turkish President also referred to China’s minority Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang and Myanmar’s Rohingya during his address. Erdogan said that within China’s territorial integrity perspective, we do believe that more efforts need to be displayed regarding the protection of the basic rights of the Muslim Uyghur Turks. The U.S. and the European Union, besides many other countries, have accused China of committing genocide against the Uyghurs in resource-rich Xinjiang and called for an international probe by human rights groups. We also support ensuring the safe, voluntary, dignified return of Rohingya Muslims, who are living in difficult conditions in camps in Bangladesh and Myanmar, back to their motherland, Erdogan said.
U.K. includes Covishield in list of recognised vaccines, but India remains on ‘Amber’ list
The United Kingdom on Wednesday formally recognised Covid-19 vaccine Covishield produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII). The recognition will become effective from 4 a.m. of October 4. It was, however, told to The Hindu that discussion on vaccination certificates was still on. Wednesday’s announcement did not include any change in India’s position in the ‘Amber List’, while the U.K. has cleared 18 countries for the ‘Green List’. The development came a day after External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met his British counterpart Liz Truss in New York on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly and urged the U.K. to address the issue around the status of Covishield and the requirement of quarantine for 10 days in case of Indian travellers. The Hindu reported on Wednesday that recognition of Covishield is not a problem for the U.K. and the real challenge has been about India’s vaccination certificates. U.K. High Commission officials said they were still in discussion over vaccination certification with the Government of India, indicating that a final decision on whether to include India in the list of recognised vaccine administrators has not yet been made. British High Commissioner Alex Ellis in an interview with NDTV on Wednesday highlighted that lots of people were travelling from India to the U.K. and that his country had conducted detailed conversation internally on India’s vaccine certificates. From 4 a.m. of October 4, the U.K. will do away with the traffic light system of ‘Red, Amber and Green’ lists and create a single ‘Red List’ to ensure greater ease. London has cleared 18 nations, including Canada, Denmark, Antigua and Barbuda, for the ‘Green List’, which will allow doubly vaccinated travellers from these countries to fly to the U.K. without quarantine requirement. The current rules and the recognition of Covishield means that a traveller from the ‘Green List’ countries can use Covishield vaccine before flying to the U.K., but an Indian traveller from India will still have to undergo quarantine lasting 10 days despite using the same vaccine. According to the latest announcement, the U.K.-approved vaccines will have to be administered 14 days before travelling to that country. Britain took India out of the ‘Red List’ and placed it in the ‘Amber List’ on August 8 that removed the requirement of hotel or institutional quarantine for Indian travellers but retained the need for home quarantine for 10 days. There were no changes in India’s position in the ‘Amber List’ and the requirement of quarantined private stay lasting 10 days has also been retained. On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla stated that India could impose reciprocal measures if the U.K. continued with its policy on Covishield. He termed it discriminatory.
