CURRENT AFFAIRS
30 August 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Coronavirus unlocks 4.0: Metro rail services to resume from September 7.
Announcing the guidelines for Unlock 4.0 on 29 August, the center said that Metro rail can resume its services from September 7, while social, cultural, religious, academic, sports or political gatherings will be permitted with a restriction of allowing only 100 persons from September 21. The guidelines also stated that the state governments will not impose any local lockdown except the containment zones without prior consultation. The Ministry of Home Affairs said that after discussing with the States and Union Territories, it has decided that all the educational institutions will remain closed for students till September 30, 2020.
B) Congress reiterates demand for Parliamentary panel probe into the Facebook issue.
On 29 August, the Congress has reiterated their demand that the government constitutes a joint parliamentary committee to investigate an unholy intimacy between Facebook’s India operations and the BJP. The Congress has flagged a Time magazine story, for which they said that it confirmed a piece by The Wall Street Journal and pointed out that WhatsApp as well, which is owned by Facebook. The Congress alleged that WhatsApp, which was used by 40 crore Indians, had been compromised and controlled indirectly by the BJP.
C) COVID Watch: Numbers and Developments
The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 35,33,939 with the death toll at 63,631. Meanwhile, for every 1 million population, India’s coronavirus cases and fatalities are one of the lowest compared to the global averages. As of 29 August, 8 states which include Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Karnataka, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu contribute around 73% of the active caseload. 7 states including Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal account for 81% of total deaths due to coronavirus infection. The media and protocol division of AIIMS, New Delhi said that Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was admitted to AIIMS for post-COVID care has recovered and is likely to be discharged soon.
D) Democracy is getting overwhelmed by dictatorship: Sonia Gandhi.
On 29 August, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said that Anti-national and anti-poor forces are spreading the poison of hatred and violence in our country, democratic institutions are being destroyed, and democracy is getting overwhelmed by a dictatorship. Without naming anyone, she further said that they want to suppress the voice of the people of the country. What do they want? They want the people of the country, the youth, the tribal people, the women, the farmers, the shopkeepers, the small traders, and the jawans will keep their mouths shut. They want to keep the nation’s mouth shut.
E) Facebook news service to launch in the UK, India, Brazil.
The Timepiece alleged that Shivnath Thukral, who is the current Public Policy director of WhatsApp used to operate websites and Facebook pages for the Bhartiya Janta Party in 2013. It claimed that on hate speeches on its platform, WhatsApp was going slow as it wants to launch its own payment platform soon. The spokesperson of Congress, Pawan Khera said that there is a need for an unbiased investigation by a joint parliamentary committee between the links of Facebook employees and the ruling establishment which is unended. The investigation must include how Facebook has manipulated the opinion of the voters and allowed hate speech. Congress demanded that until the inquiry is complete, WhatsApp must not be granted approval for its payment operations.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Xi Jinping calls for building an impregnable wall for Tibet.
The President of China, Xi Jinping on 29 August has outlined some plans so as to solidify border defense and also to build an impregnable wall so that the stability of Tibet can be ensured. His statements in Beijing were underlining the need to solidify the border defense, but he did not specifically mention the ongoing tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Earlier in August, the Foreign Minister along with the State Councilor had rarely visited to inspect the border infrastructure in Tibet. Mr. Xi Jinping has said that the efforts were made to ensure national security, peace, and stability, and also to steadily improve the lives of people and to maintain a good environment, strengthen the border defense and to ensure frontier security.
B) UAE puts an end to the economic boycott of Israel
An economic boycott against Israel has been ended by the President of the United Arab Emirates by allowing trade and financial agreements between both countries. Israel and the UAE said on August 13 that they would normalize the diplomatic relations in a deal brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump that reshapes the order of West Asia’s politics, from the Palestinian issue to the fight against Iran. The announcement came because the Israeli flag carrier El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. has prepared to operate the first direct flight between capital Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport and the capital of United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi.
The Agriculture Minister of Israel has said that Israel was working on potential joint projects which can help to improve the oil-rich Gulf nation’s food security, such as water desalination and crop cultivation in the desert.
SPORTS NEWS
A) Chess Olympiad: Humpy wins Armageddon, helps India reach final
India staged a magnificent comeback to defeat Poland and move into the final of the online Chess Olympiad on 29 August. After the teams were level at the end of the two matches in which there were 6 games apiece the winner had to be decided by Armageddon (tie-breaker). Koneru Humpy is the women’s world no. 2 from Vijayawada. That meant she had 4 minutes to make her moves against her rival’s five. Humpy did more than what was required, winning in 73 moves. After losing the opening match with 2-4, the Indians had to win the second match. They did that in some style, with a 4.5-1.5 victory. In the final which will be held on 30 August, India will take on the winner of the second semi-final to be played between top seed Russia and the United States.
