CURRENT AFFAIRS
25 May 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) As Twitter adds ‘manipulated media’ tag added to tweets of five more BJP leaders, Delhi Police raids its offices.
Two days after the Centre wrote to Twitter asking the social media giant to remove ‘manipulated media’ tag from the post of BJP leader Sambit Patra on the ‘Congress toolkit’ issue, officers of the Delhi Police Special Cell raided its offices in Delhi and Gurgaon. A senior police officer said Twitter had been served a notice on the case. We want to know what information Twitter has about the toolkit and why they chose to give the ‘manipulated media’ label. Our team is conducting raids at their Delhi office in Mehrauli and their Gurgaon office on Golf Course Road, he added. India has been severely affected by the second wave of COVID-19 that has left people in several states scrambling for oxygen supplies, beds in hospitals, drugs and vaccines. Meanwhile, tweets related to the so-called ‘Congress toolkit’ from verified accounts of at least five BJP leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and party’s national social media in-charge Priti Gandhi, in addition to national spokesperson Sambit Patra, continue to be labelled as ‘manipulated media’ though the government had asked Twitter to remove the tag. Other leaders whose tweets are on the same issue have been tagged as ‘manipulated media’ include BJP co-incharge of Andhra Pradesh Sunil Deodhar, party’s media panellist Charu Pragya, and Delhi general secretary Kuljeet Singh Chahal. The government had on Friday asked Twitter to remove the ‘manipulated media’ tag from certain tweets by its leaders, including Patra, with reference to a toolkit created to undermine, derail and demean the efforts of the government against COVID-19 pandemic. However, the microblogging website has not removed the label. According to experts, the government does not have the power under the Information Technology Act to direct Twitter to remove ‘manipulated media’ tag from certain tweets. Such a move by the Centre had also raised concerns of censorship, they said.
B) Widespread resentment in Lakshadweep over a slew of new law proposals.
Discontent is simmering in the Lakshadweep group of islands over a slew of regulations introduced by the new administrator, Praful Khoda Patel, in the last five months of his rule, which also saw the archipelago descend from being a ‘COVID-free region’ for nearly a year into one with 6,847 cases until May 24. The stipulation for mandatory quarantine of Dweep-bound travellers in Kochi was done away with under his stewardship. The ten inhabited islands of the Union Territory are under lockdown for two months now and the Dweep administration is accused of exploiting the inability of the public to mobilise to push what’s widely seen by the islanders as arbitrary legislations that are out of sync with the social, political and environmental realities of the archipelago. The latest draft regulation for the creation of a Lakshadweep Development Authority (LDA) is widely resented as the people suspect that this might have been issued at the behest of real estate interests seeking to usurp the small holdings of property owned by the islanders, a majority of them (94.8% as per the 2011 census) belonging to the Scheduled Tribes. Hundreds of islanders have written to the administrator demanding that the proposed regulation, which makes provision for the orderly and progressive development of land in both urban and rural areas and to preserve and improve the amenities thereof; for the grant of permission to develop land and for other powers of control over the use of land; to confer additional powers in respect of the acquisition and development of land for planning; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid be withdrawn. Further, proposals to bring real estate development concepts such as ‘transferable development rights’ to the island have raised the hackles of people who fear they would be forced to migrate en masse. The draconian regulation is neither ecologically sustainable nor socially viable and the people’s representatives were not consulted before drafting it. Also, it comes in the wake of a slew of bad law proposals including the ‘Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation’, a ‘goonda act’, in the Dweep which is known for the lowest crime rate in the country, says Mohammed Faizal, MP from the Dweep.
C) On-site registration, appointment enabled for 18-44 age group on CoWIN.
On-site registration and appointment for COVID-19 vaccination is now being enabled for 18-44 years age group on CoWIN, a statement issued by the Union Health Ministry on Monday said. However, this feature is being enabled only for government COVID Vaccination Centers (CVCs) now and would not be available for private CVCs presently. Private CVCs should publish their vaccination schedules exclusively with slots for online appointments, it stated. In case of sessions exclusively organised with online slots, towards the end of the day, some doses may still be left unutilised in case the online appointee beneficiaries did not turn up on the day of vaccination due to any reason, it noted. In such cases, on-site registration of a few beneficiaries may be necessary to minimize the vaccine wastage. This feature would be used only upon the decision of the respective State/Union Territory governments to do so. State/UT must decide on opening of on-site registrations/facilitated cohorts’ registration and appointments for 18-44 years age group based on the local context just as an additional measure to minimise vaccine wastage and for facilitating vaccination of eligible beneficiaries in the age group 18-44 years, stated the release.
D) Supreme Court raps Centre for delay in compiling database of migrant workers.
The Supreme Court today pulled up the government for the delay in completing a national database to identify and register migrant workers across the country in order to provide them benefits in times of dire need. A Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and M.R. Shah acknowledged submissions made by advocate Prashant Bhushan that such a database would have made it easier for the government to identify and provide essentials like food and dry rations to stranded migrant labourers during the second wave of the pandemic. The direction [for the database] was issued by this court in 2018. Your process is very slow. We are not satisfied. We will pass orders on this, Justice Bhushan addressed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the Centre. Prashant Bhushan, who represents activists seeking urgent measures to provide food and life support for migrant workers, said, People are dying… 24 crore people have been pushed below the poverty line. The situation is worse than last year… Government has said they have not been able to even put up a portal for the registration of workers. The civil rights lawyer said many of these destitute workers require immediate cash transfers to purchase essentials. The pandemic has left them with no means of livelihood. A uniform national data grid of migrant workers, in which both the Centre and States provide inputs should be there. This would ensure that benefits meant for migrant workers reach them and no other, Justice Bhushan said. The court asked the government to clarify what steps it had taken under the Code of Social Security of 2020. The government is spending thousands of crores, but is it [benefits] really reaching them [the workers]? Justice Shah asked Mehta, who promised to file a detailed affidavit in response. The Solicitor General said the Labour Ministry had already started work on the database. He assured the court that he would talk to the Labour Secretary and get the necessary information on its status.
E) In-flight wedding: DGCA derosters crew.
A wedding in the skies has invited the wrath of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). On Monday, it suspended the crew of a SpiceJet chartered plane after a wedding ceremony aboard the aircraft, over Madurai, in violation of COVID-19 norms. The airline has been ordered to file an FIR against the errant passengers. Pictures viral on social media show the bride and groom exchanging garlands surrounded by relatives and camerapersons. Many can be seen without masks. Screenshot from the wedding video that went viral. Wedding rituals were performed as the aircraft hovered over Madurai Meenakshi temple in the presence of over 160 relatives in the flight. Aviation website flightradar24 showed the plane circling above the temple. We have derostered the crew and directed the airline to lodge a complaint against those not following COVID-19 appropriate behaviour with relevant authorities. We will take strict action, a DGCA official said, adding that they were examining if the use of cameras onboard violated safety protocols. In March, after being pulled up by the Delhi High Court, the DGCA ordered airlines to ensure that passengers comply with COVID-19 norms on mask-wearing and social distancing. It said that if passengers did not pay heed, they must be removed from the aircraft and put on a no-fly list. The client was clearly briefed on COVID-19 guidelines to be followed and denied permission for any activity to be performed on board. The approval for this flight was taken as a joy ride for the wedding group, the airline said in response to a query.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Afghan security forces, Taliban clash near Kabul.
Afghan forces clashed with Taliban fighters in a provincial capital about 120 km from Kabul, officials and witnesses said, prompting the Defence Minister to take charge of a counter-offensive. Violence has soared in Afghanistan since U.S. forces began their final pull-out on May 1, as the insurgents press on with a campaign to seize new territory. Fierce fighting erupted on Sunday on the edge of Mihtarlam, a city of around people and the capital of Laghman province. At one point Defence Minister Yasin Zia took personal charge in the field, officials said. With the arrival of reinforcements, the enemy has sustained heavy blows, Gen. Zia, a former Army Chief of Staff, said. The Ministry said at least 50 Taliban fighters were killed in overnight fighting. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP the insurgents captured 37 security checkpoints on the outskirts of the city. Both sides frequently exaggerate their successes and minimise losses. Fighting continued in some parts of Mihtarlam on Monday, with hundreds of people displaced. A student, who gave just his first name Zabihullah, said he went to school after government forces assured him they had control, but had to flee when fighting resumed. I’m not sure which part of the city is safe now, he told AFP.
B) Nepal urges U.S. to provide vaccines on ‘priority’ basis.
Nepal on Monday urged the U.S. to provide vaccines on a priority basis, according to an official statement. In a telephonic conversation with U.S.’s Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, Nepal’s Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali asked for a share of the surplus Oxford-AstraZeneca doses that the U.S. intends to distribute among the developing countries, according to the statement. Minister Gyawali conveyed the gratitude of the Government of Nepal to the United States for the generous COVID-related cooperation, which helped scale up the national capacity to address the pandemic. Commending the U..S leadership in garnering collaborative response against the global pandemic, the Foreign Minister requested the Deputy Secretary of State to accord due priority to Nepal during the distribution of surplus vaccines among the developing nations, the official statement said. This comes two days after Nepal received the first emergency support from the U.S., which included ventilators, protection gears and oxygen cylinders.
