CURRENT AFFAIRS
31 October 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Centre asks States to form committees for smooth Covid-19 vaccination drive.
The Centre has asked States to constitute committees for coordinating and overseeing the Covid-19 vaccination drive so that disruptions in other routine healthcare services remain minimal. It also stressed the early tracking of social media to dispel rumours which could impact the community acceptance of coronavirus inoculation. Stating that the vaccination drive will span over a year with multiple groups being included sequentially starting from health care workers, the Health Ministry has sought the constitution of committees at state and district levels to review preparatory activities in terms of cold chain preparedness, operational planning, and strategies for state-specific challenges such as geographical terrain and hard-to-reach areas. In a letter to States and Union Territories, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has suggested the setting up of State steering committees (SSC) chaired by the chief secretary, a State task force (STF) led by additional Chief Secretary or principal secretary (health), and a district task force (DTF) to be headed by the district magistrate.
B) Self-reliance mission is not ‘protectionist’ says Niti Aayog, proposes more PLIs to boost manufacturing.
Any tariff protection to promote local manufacturing in India will come with an in-built sunset clause, Niti Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar said on Friday, asserting that the country’s self-reliance mission must not be equated to it becoming a ‘protectionist’ closed economy. He also said that the government is set to extend the production-linked incentive scheme (PLIs) for manufacturing of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and electronics announced under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat package, to six more sectors, Kumar said. Explaining the rationale for the PLI schemes that he said will soon become valid for ‘nine to ten’ sectors from four at present, the Niti Aayog vice chairman said they were meant to incentivise investors already in the country to put up globally comparable capacities in scale and competitiveness. He emphasised that India’s efforts towards self-reliance are not dissimilar to what other nations are doing to insulate themselves from global supply chain shocks and revive the economy.
C) Parliamentary panel questions Paytm about Chinese investment, storing of data in servers abroad.
A parliamentary panel on 29 October has questioned Paytm representatives about the quantum of Chinese investment in the company and told them that the servers on which customer data is stored should be in India. Top officials of Paytm appeared before the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Personal Data Protection Bill and submitted their suggestions on key aspects of the proposed legislation, including the management and transfer abroad of sensitive personal data. Members of the panel from different political parties asked Paytm why its servers that store customer data are located abroad when it claims to be an Indian firm. The panel members told Paytm representatives that the server on which customer data is stored should be based in India, adding that they also wanted to know about the quantum of Chinese investments in the digital payment service and specifics about its backend linkages. Questions were also raised about a possible conflict of interest, considering that Paytm also sells its own products on its e-commerce platform. In its submission before the panel, Paytm said sensitive and personal data may be transferred outside India for the purpose of processing when explicit consent is given by the data principal for such transfer. Facebook, Twitter and Amazon have deposed before the panel, while representatives of telecom operators Reliance Jio and Airtel, and cab aggregators Ola and Uber have been asked to appear before it.
D) Malabar naval exercise to begin next week off Visakhapatnam
The first phase of the Malabar Naval Exercise with Australia, Japan and the U.S. is scheduled to be held next week off Visakhapatnam. This is the first time Australia will be joining the exercise after 2007, and the event will bring all four countries of the Quadrilateral grouping for military games. Over three years after Canberra’s request to join the exercise, India last week announced that the Australian Navy would participate in Malabar 2020. Phase 1 of the Exercise Malabar 2020 involving participation by Indian Navy, United States Navy, Japan Maritime Self Defence Force, and Royal Australian Navy is set to commence off Visakhapatnam in Bay of Bengal from November 03 to 06, the Navy said in a statement. The second phase is scheduled to be held from November 17 to 20 in the Arabian Sea.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) At least 8 dead in Turkey, Greece as strong quake strikes Aegean Sea.
At least six people were killed in Turkey after a strong earthquake struck the Aegean Sea on October 30, bringing buildings crashing down and setting off tidal waves which slammed into coastal areas and nearby Greek islands. The tremor could be felt as far away as in Istanbul and on Greek islands, where officials said eight people suffered light injuries on the island of Samos. High tidal waves were seen in both countries and led to flooding on parts of the Izmir coast. People work on a collapsed house in an earthquake-hit area of Izmir on October 30, 2020 after major earthquake struck off western Turkey. People work on a collapsed house in an earthquake-hit area of Izmir on October 30, 2020 after major earthquake struck off western Turkey. In Samos, two teenagers were found dead, an emergency official said. The two, a boy and a girl, were confirmed dead after being found unconscious in an area where a wall had collapsed in an area of Vathy, a town on the island.
B) Malabar naval exercise to kick off next week.
Australia to join navies of India, U.S., Japan in Bay of Bengal. The first phase of the Malabar Naval exercise with Australia, Japan and the U.S. is scheduled to be held next week off the Visakhapatnam. This is the first time Australia will be joining the exercise after 2007 and it will bring all four countries of the Quadrilateral grouping together for military games. More than three years after Canberra’s request to join the exercise, last week India announced that the Australian Navy would participate in Malabar 2020. Phase 1 of the Exercise Malabar 2020 involving participation by Indian Navy, United States Navy, Japan Maritime Self Defence Force, and Royal Australian Navy is set to commence off Vishakhapatnam in Bay of Bengal from November 3 to 6. The second phase is scheduled to be held from November 17 to 20 in the Arabian Sea, another official said. The planning conference for the exercise was held virtually to work out the modalities.
C) Pompeo wraps up ‘anti-China’ tour of Asia.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrapped up a visit to Asia in Vietnam on Friday after a tour marked by his repeated calls for help for the U.S. in confronting security threats posed by China. Vietnam, which also shares concern about an increasingly assertive China, was a late addition to the trip that included Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives and Indonesia. They look forward to continuing to work together to build on our relationship and to make the region throughout Southeast Asia, Asia and the Indo-Pacific safe and peaceful and prosperous, said Mr. Pompeo, who greeted Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc with an elbow bump before their meeting. Mr. Phuc said he sought sincere cooperation in support of a peaceful region and progress in trade ties. While there was no mention of China on Friday, Mr. Pompeo has urged Southeast Asian countries to stand up to its bullies and to reassess business deals with its state firms.
The main concern in Vietnam is China’s claims in the South China Sea.
