CURRENT AFFAIRS
25 January 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Farmers’ tractor rally allowed, but with multiple conditions.
At a press conference organised by Delhi Police on Sunday, Special Commissioner of Police Intelligence, Deependra Pathak stated that after several meetings with farmer unions, Delhi Police has come to an in-principle understanding with them regarding the tractor rally on Republic day. It will begin after the Republic Day parade ends on Rajpath. Mr. Pathak said that farmers will not be allowed to enter central Delhi and their presence will be restricted to areas near the city border. Thus, three circular routes from Ghazipur, Singhu, and Tikri borders have been proposed by the Delhi Police. Farmers will be able to take a circular route from the three entry points into the city, which will be approximately 60 kilometres each. There will be high level of security for the rally to ensure that no anti-social elements breach upon the peaceful nature of the protests, he assured. They will work together with the farmers to create a secure environment for the rally. They have faith and trust that the farmers will exit the route from where they entered and will not try to create any confusion within the Capital, said Mr. Pathak. There is a threat perception that some Pakistan-based extremist terror groups are trying to create problems during the farmer rally. They have identified and blocked 308 Pakistan-based Twitter handles after doing a professional analysis on social media over the past few days. Over 100km of the route permitted is within the limits of the National Capital, he added. Authorities estimate that around 12,000-13,000 tractors are present right now at Delhi’s borders and they anticipate the numbers to go up in a short span of time.
B) HAL claims that many countries interested in procuring Tejas aircraft.
The delivery of the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) to the Indian Air Force under a ₹48,000-crore deal will begin from March 2024 and around 16 aircraft will be rolled out annually till the completion of the total supply of 83 jets, Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited R. Madhavan said on Sunday. In an interview to PTI, Mr. Madhavan also said that a number of countries have shown keen interest in procurement of the Tejas aircraft and that the first export order is likely to come by in the next couple of years. Mr. Madhavan said that Tejas Mark 1A jet has superior performance levels compared to China’s JF-17 combat aircraft as it has a better engine, radar system and electronic warfare suit, besides an edge in the overall technology. The biggest difference, of course, is the air-to-air refueling which is non-existent in the competitor’s plane, he said. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 13 approved the ₹48,000-crore deal to procure 73 Tejas Mk-1A variants and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-1 trainer aircraft from the HAL to boost the Indian Air Force’s combat prowess. Giving a break-up of the cost components, Mr. Madhavan said the basic price of the aircraft will be around ₹25,000 crore while Rs.11,000 crore will be used for ground support equipment and other required infrastructure at the bases and around ₹7,000 for basic customs duty and output GST. The HAL chairman said the cost for each fighter version of the aircraft will be ₹309 crore and ₹280 crore for the trainer.
C) Telangana healthcare worker dies four days after getting vaccinated.
A 45-year-old female healthcare worker in Telangana died in the early hours of Sunday, four-days after undergoing vaccination at Urban Primary Health Centre (UPHC) in New Shayampeta, Warangal Urban. This is the second death of a healthcare worker in Telangana who has received the vaccination.The woman received the vaccine on January 19 afternoon. It has come to the notice of the undersigned that she expired in the early hours of January 23, said Telangana’s Director of Public Health Dr. G. Srinivasa Rao. The District Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI) committee is examining the matter. Four days ago, a 42-year-old male healthcare worker who received the COVID-19 vaccine in Kuntala Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC), Nirmal district, on January 19, was brought dead to a government hospital on Wednesday early morning. Citing preliminary report of Post-mortem Examination on him, senior officials from the State Health department stated that he suffered from Myocardial Infarction. Senior officials from the State Health department said that viscera, body fluids, a part of various organs, collected from him were sent to Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), and National Institute of Virology (NIV)-Pune, to know the cause of his death. The procedure is followed for any AEFI death.
D) Covid watch: Numbers and Developments.
The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stands at 1,06,61,838 with the death toll at 1,53,497. India took only six days to administer one million COVID-19 vaccine doses, a count which is higher than that of countries like the U.S. and the U.K., the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday as the number of beneficiaries who have received the anti-coronavirus shots inched close to 16 lakh. The U.K. took 18 days whereas the U.S. took 10 days to reach the one million mark, the ministry said. As on January 24, till 8 a.m., nearly 16 lakh (15,82,201) beneficiaries have received COVID-19 vaccination. In a span of 24 hours, close to 2 lakh (1,91,609) people were vaccinated across 3,512 sessions. A total of 27,920 sessions have been conducted so far, the ministry said. India took only 6 days to roll out one million vaccine doses. This count is higher than countries like the U.S. and the U.K.. The U.K. took 18 days whereas U.S.A. took 10 days to reach the one million mark, the ministry highlighted. In a testament to the successful test-track-treat-technology strategy, India continues on its steady trajectory of reporting a sustained downfall in the daily new cases and consequential decline in the active cases, the ministry underlined.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) India, China hold ninth round of Corps Commander-level talks.
The ninth round of Corps Commander talks between India and China are underway on Sunday at Moldo border personnel meeting point on the Chinese side opposite Chushul in Eastern Ladakh as both sides attempt to work out a phased disengagement and de-escalation plan to end the nine-month-long standoff. A defence official said that the talks began at Moldo at 10 a.m. Officials said a broad disengagement plan had been worked out but had been held up over some specific issues. Both sides would attempt to work that out at the talks, a second official said. This was the reason for the delay in scheduling the ninth round of talks. The eighth round of talks were held on November 6 last year. It has to be a comprehensive disengagement plan beginning with all friction point in Eastern Ladakh and then de-escalation along the Line of Actual Control, the second official said referring to China’s insistence for discussions centred around South Bank of Pangong Tso first and take up other friction areas later. Officials have stated on several occasions that any withdrawal will be phased and will take time, given the large number of troops and equipment deployed by both sides and also verify compliance on the ground by the Chinese side at each step. The talks are guided by the five-point-plan for disengagement and de-escalation agreed between External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow on September 10 last year.
B) Vaccinated people may still translate COVID-19, U.K. health official warns.
One of England’s leading medical officers on Sunday urged the public to continue to follow the strict lockdown rules because any vaccine-related immunity from COVID-19 takes at least three weeks to kick in. Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, also warned that there is no clear evidence yet to show that vaccinated people cannot transmit the deadly virus on to others. Regardless of whether someone has had their vaccination or not, it is vital that everyone follows the national restrictions and public health advice, as protection takes up to three weeks to kick in and we don’t yet know the impact of vaccines on transmission, said Prof. Van-Tam. His warning comes as the UK registered another high daily death toll from the virus of 1,348 this weekend, taking the country’s total to 97,329.
