Tag: currentaffairs

CURRENT AFFAIRS
17 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Parliamentary panel flags slow pace of vaccinations. 

A parliamentary panel on home affairs observed that till now, less than 1% of the Indian population has been vaccinated and at this rate it will take many years to vaccinate the whole population.  The parliamentary standing committee on home affairs, headed by Congress leader Anand Sharma, tabled the report in Rajya Sabha on Monday. The Committee also expresses its concern that a large number of people are missing the second dose of the vaccine. The Committee believes that it is a very serious issue as the virus is mutating and new variants of Covid-19 are being reported in different parts of the world, the report said. The committee recommended that all frontline health workers and corona warriors, including central armed police force (CAPF) personnel and State police receive the recommended doses of vaccine. An attempt should be made to cover maximum people as early as possible, the report said. It added that that vaccination in Lakshadweep can be done for everyone as the population is very small (around 70,000) and the medical facilities are limited. Officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs also told the panel that a special campaign against vaccine hesitancy has been launched. Further, regular reviews are being undertaken with States and UTs for increasing the pace of vaccination drive and advisories have been issued to them on various operational aspects of Covid-19 vaccination, the Ministry said.

B) Census, NPR data to be ready before 2024 polls: MHA. 

The provisional data for the latest Census and National Population Register (NPR) will be available before the next general elections in 2024, according to information provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to a parliamentary committee. The MHA informed the committee that Census, updation of NPR, will be among the major thrust areas for the financial year 2021-22. The last Census was conducted in 2011 and NPR, which has a database of 119 crore residents, was last updated in 2015. The first phase of Census-House listing and Housing Census that was to be conducted along with NPR from April 1, 2020, was indefinitely postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The MHA shared a tentative time line with the parliamentary panel, saying that provisional Census results will be released in financial year 2023-24 and the primary Census abstracts (PCA) will provide village-level data on important indicators. A mobile application has been developed for collecting the Census details and NPR and residents can also self-enumerate. The fieldwork for the first phase of Census 2021 that will provide data on housing conditions, household amenities and assets possessed by the households is expected in 2021-22. The fieldwork for population enumeration phase to provide data on demography, religion, SC/ST, language, literacy and education, economic activity, migration and fertility will be done in 2023-24. The committee was informed that the mobile app through which Census will be conducted will be available in 16 languages. MHA said the NPR database has been created by collecting family-wise data and it can be strengthened by linking Aadhaar to each member.

C) P.C. Chacko to formally join NCP.

Former Congress leader P.C. Chacko, who quit the party last week, on Tuesday announced that he will formally join the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) headed by Sharad Pawar. Chacko, who quit the Congress over his differences with the party leaders in Kerala, said NCP is a partner of the CPI (M)-led LDF in the southern state and he would work for the victory of the Left candidates in the April 6 Assembly polls. Announcing his resignation from the Congress last week, Chacko had alleged group interest in deciding party candidates for the coming assembly elections.

D) Swapan Dasgupta resigns from Rajya Sabha. 

Rajya Sabha member Swapan Dasgupta on Tuesday resigned from Upper House after questions were raised about him contesting the West Bengal Assembly polls on a BJP ticket despite being a nominated MP. Dasgupta found himself in a tight spot after Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra pointed out that he, a nominated MP, should be disqualified from the Upper House of Parliament. Swapan Dasgupta is BJP candidate for WB polls. 10th Schedule of Constitution says nominated RS member to be disqualified if he joins any political party AFTER expiry of 6 months from oath. He was sworn in April 2016, remains unallied. Must be disqualified NOW for joining BJP, Moitra tweeted on Monday, sharing the specific clause of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution. Dasgupta was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in April 2016 and his term expires in April 2022. Congress chief whip Jairam Ramesh has reportedly written to Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu seeking clarification about the nominated MP contesting Assembly polls in Bengal on a party ticket.

E) Cabinet approves Bill to set up a Development Finance Institution. 

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a Bill to set up a Development Finance Institution (DFI) to generate funds for investment in the infrastructure sector. The proposed legislation will give effect to the Budget announcement made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1. The government has proposed ₹20,000 crore to capitalise the institution. The Cabinet has cleared this Bill, through which we will have an institution and institutional arrangement, which will help in increasing long term funds, she said after the meeting of the Cabinet. The proposed DFI will have 50% non-official directors, Sitharaman added. In her Budget 2019-20 speech, Sitharaman had proposed a study for setting up DFIs for promoting infrastructure funding. About 7,000 projects have been identified under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) with a projected investment of a whopping ₹111 lakh crore during 2020-25.

F) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,14,10,302 with the death toll at 1,61,464. The Health Ministry has cautioned Maharashtra to plan for a worst-case scenario with sufficient lead time as the State continues to report the maximum number of new daily Covid-19 cases and deaths across India. It has also directed the resumption of death audits to support public health action and minimise mortality. In its communication to the State earlier this week, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that while the available health infrastructure was adequate, Maharashtra needed to look into vaccine hesitancy among front-line workers, as their services would be required if the trajectory follows the upward swing as is being witnessed now. The State should also expedite vaccinating those with co-morbidities and elderlies. After its visit, the Central team has recommended that treating physicians should be re-sensitised on clinical management protocols. The report was submitted after the Central team visited Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon and Aurangabad. Previously, the team had covered the Vidarbha region.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) China to allow Indian travellers only if they take Chinese vaccines.

A number of China’s overseas missions, including its embassy in New Delhi, have announced they will begin facilitating travellers provided they have taken Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccines. Indians have been barred from travelling to China since November last year, when China suspended valid visas and residents permits not just for travellers from India but for most countries, citing Covid-19 concerns. The ban has been a particular concern for many Indian students enrolled in Chinese universities, who have been unable to return to China. There are at least 23,000 Indians studying in China, most in medical colleges. The March 15 announcement will bring little relief for them as Chinese-made vaccines are not available in India. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday China stands ready to advance mutual recognition of vaccines with other countries, but that process is expected to take time. For now, the limited easing of the travel ban will only apply to travellers who have taken Chinese vaccines. Indian students, who account for the fourth-largest segment of international students in China, have faced particular obstacles, the South China Morning Post reported last month, with many of the Chinese apps used for online teaching banned last year, when India restricted more than 200 Chinese apps in the wake of the June border clash in the Galwan Valley. After WeChat was banned and students complained to their colleges, one university, the newspaper reported, began to use the Alibaba-owned DingTalk and Tencent’s Meeting for online classes. Eventually, those apps were banned as well. The larger concern for the students, who will have to pass challenging exams in India after graduation to be able to practice, is their inability to receive laboratory training as they remain unable to return.

B) U.K. turns to Indo-Pacific in post-Brexit foreign policy. 

Britain wants to expand its influence among countries in the Indo-Pacific region to try to moderate China’s global dominance, a document laying out post-Brexit foreign and defence policy priorities said on Tuesday. The document sets out a planned increase of Britain’s nuclear warhead stockpile by more than 40% to weigh against evolving global security threats, and underlines the importance of strong ties with the U.S. while naming Russia as the top regional threat. Britain’s biggest foreign and defence policy review since the end of the Cold War sets out how Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to be at the forefront of a reinvigorated, rules-based international order based on cooperation and free trade. Calling the Indo-Pacific increasingly the geopolitical centre of the world, the government highlighted a planned British aircraft carrier deployment to the region. China and the U.K. both benefit from bilateral trade and investment, but China also presents the biggest state-based threat to the U.K.’s economic security, the report said.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
16 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) More than half of OBC and above 40% of SC/ST faculty positions in central institutions unfilled: Education Minister.

There are only nine professors from Scheduled Tribe communities across all 42 Central Universities, according to data presented in the Lok Sabha on Monday. At the 20 Indian Institutes of Management, only five of the posts reserved for STs have been filled. In a written response to a question from three Congress MPs on the vacancies in reserved positions at all central educational institutions, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank told the Lok Sabha that more than half of the positions reserved for OBCs, and about 40% of those reserved for Scheduled Castes and Tribes are vacant. The situation is particularly acute in the elite IIMs, where more than 60% of positions reserved for SCs and OBCs are vacant, while a whopping 80% of positions reserved for STs have not been filled. This means that out of 24 positions reserved for STs, only five have been filled. For the Indian Institutes of Technology, data has only been provided for non-faculty positions. Both IITs and IIMs have been lobbying for exemption from such faculty quota requirements. Nishank’s response to another question from Congress MP N. Uttam Kumar Reddy showed that within the Central Universities, vacancies are higher at the level of professors. Out of 709 assistant professor positions reserved for STs at the 42 universities, more than 500 have been filled. However, when it comes to professors, only nine positions have been filled out of the 137 reserved for ST candidates. This means 93% of these posts remain unfilled. Less than 1% of the 1,062 professors in central universities are from ST communities. Similarly, 64% of the 2,206 assistant professor positions reserved for OBCs have been filled at the Central Universities. However, less than 5% of the 378 professor positions reserved for OBCs have been filled. According to the data presented in the Lok Sabha on Monday, there are now 6,074 vacant positions at the 42 universities, of which 75% are in reserved categories.

B) MHA moves Bill to make L-G’s nod must for all Delhi govt. decisions; Kejriwal calls it ‘unconstitutional’

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) moved The National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Bill proposes that government in the national capital territory of Delhi means the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. The Bill gives discretionary powers to the L-G of Delhi even in matters where the Legislative Assembly of Delhi is empowered to make laws. The proposed legislation also seeks to ensure that the L-G is necessarily granted an opportunity to give her/his opinion before any decision taken by the Council of Ministers (or the Delhi Cabinet) is implemented. Among other things, the Bill seeks to amend Section 33 of the Act that empowered the Delhi Assembly to make rules to conduct its business by inserting the clause that it shall not be inconsistent with the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in House of People. The amendment says that Legislative Assembly shall not make any rule to enable itself or its Committees to consider the matters of day-to-day administration of the Capital or conduct inquiries in relation to the administrative decisions and any such rules made before the commencement of the Act shall be void. Legal experts have opined that this particular amendment puts a question mark over the ongoing enquiry by the Delhi Assembly into the February 2020 Delhi riots. Reacting to the Bill, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of seeking to drastically curtail the powers of his elected government. He also said that the bill is contrary to Constitution Bench judgement.

C) Batla House encounter: Delhi court awards death penalty to Ariz Khan for killing inspector. 

A Delhi court Monday awarded death penalty to Ariz Khan for the murder of police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma in the 2008 Batla House encounter case. Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav also imposed a total fine of ₹11 lakh against Ariz in the case. The court said ₹10 lakh should be immediately released to the family members of Sharma. Police sought death penalty for Ariz, allegedly associated with the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen, saying it was not just any killing but a murder of a law enforcement officer who was a defender of justice. Additional Public Prosecutor A.T. Ansari, appearing for the police, said the case attracts exemplary punishment, which is capital punishment. Advocate M.S. Khan, appearing for Ariz, opposed the death penalty and said the incident was not premeditated. Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav also imposed a total fine of ₹11 lakh against Ariz Khan in the case. Inspector Sharma of the special cell was killed during the 2008 Batla House encounter in Jamia Nagar in south Delhi. The trial court had sentenced Indian Mujahideen terrorist Shahzad Ahmed in July 2013 to life imprisonment in connection with the case. His appeal against the verdict has been pending in the high court. Ariz Khan had fled from the spot and was declared a proclaimed offender. He was arrested on February 14, 2018, and faced the trial.

D) NCB moves Supreme Court against Bombay HC order granting bail to Rhea Chakraborty. 

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court order granting bail to actress Rhea Chakraborty, arrested over drugs-related charges in actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case. A Bench of Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian will hear the plea on March 18. On October 7 last year, the Bombay High Court had granted bail to the actress and directed her to deposit a personal bond of ₹1 lakh. It had, however, rejected the bail plea of her brother Showik Chakraborty, who is also an accused in the case, and an alleged drug peddler Abdel Basit Parihar. Rhea, her brother and the other accused were arrested in September last year by the NCB in connection with its probe into the drugs angle related to the case of Rajput’s death. Earlier this month, in a chargesheet running into nearly 12,000 pages and containing statements from more than 200 witnesses, the NCB had named 33 people, including Chakraborty and Showik. The actress was accused of being an active member of a drugs syndicate and financing narcotics used by Sushant Singh Rajput.

E) SC asks Centre, EC to respond to plea for fresh polls if most votes are NOTA. 

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre and the Election Commission of India (EC) to respond to a plea that fresh elections should be conducted in constituencies where the maximum votes polled are NOTA. The petition said candidates ‘rejected’ by voters should not be fielded again in the fresh polls. During the hearing, Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde expressed doubts initially about the feasibility of the petition by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay to arm the electorate with the right to reject and nudge political parties to present voters with a better choice of candidates to pick from. Chief Justice Bobde said if voters kept rejecting candidates, Parliament/Assembly seats would continue to remain vacant, affecting legislative functioning. It is a constitutional problem. If your argument is accepted and there is a certain number of NOTAs, then the constituency will go unrepresented in the Parliament. How will the Parliament function then? Chief Justice Bobde asked senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, who represented Upadhyay. But Guruswamy replied that if voters are given the power to reject, political parties will take care to field worthy candidates in the first place.  The petition noted how parties spent crores of rupees on the candidates. The CJI also flagged during the hearing the issue whether a political party could influence voters to not vote in a particular constituency. However, Guruswamy prevailed, which led the court to agree to examine the issue raised in the petition.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Adani Ports confirms role in Colombo terminal project. 

In its first confirmation yet of investing in the Colombo Port, after much controversy within Sri Lanka and an apparent strain in Indo-Lanka ties, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones on Monday said it was bolstering its global footprint with the West Container Terminal (WCT) project in the island nation’s strategic port. The Group announced its expansion in the neighbourhood, even as the Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed group chairman Gautam Adani having accumulated more billions than anyone else in the world this year, with his net worth soaring by $16.2 billion in 2021. Tweeting on the Colombo Port investment, Mr. Adani said that he is Grateful to the leaders of Gol, GOSL, SLPA & John Keells for the opportunity to build wcr, Colombo. This partnership is a symbol of the deep strategic relations between countries with great intertwined history. It will launch decades of container growth. The Adani Group’s investment in the WCT project comes after the Sri Lankan government, in early February, ejected India and Japan out of a 2019 trilateral agreement to jointly develop the East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Colombo Port, as trade unions opposed foreign involvement in the country’s national assets. In what Colombo termed a compromise, the government offered the WCT instead, with higher stakes for the Adani Group, along with its local partner and Sri Lanka’s largest conglomerate John Keells Holdings, to execute the project with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

B) Pak. envoy raises concern over ‘burkha ban’ in Sri Lanka. 

The Pakistani High Commissioner in Colombo has raised concern over Sri Lanka’s recent announcement on outlawing the burkha, noting that such a ban would injure the feelings of ordinary Muslims in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. Sharing a news report on the development, head of the Pakistani mission Saad Khattak on Monday said in a Twitter thread : The likely ban on Niqab #SriLanka will only serve as injury to the feelings of ordinary Sri Lankan Muslims and Muslims across the globe. At today’s economically difficult time due to Pandemic and other image related challenges faced by the country at international fora, such divisive steps in the name of Security, besides accentuating economic difficulties, will only serve as fillip to further strengthen wider apprehensions about fundamental human rights of minorities in the country. Coming two days after Sri Lanka’s Public Security Minister announced his government’s decision to prohibit the wearing of the burkha, the Pakistani High Commissioner’s remark is the first reaction to the move from the international community. Mr. Khattak’s reference to other image related challenges faced by the country at international fora assumes significance just a week ahead of the vote on Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council, where Pakistan is currently a member.

C) Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions, says Vatican. 

The Vatican said on Monday that priests and other Roman Catholic Church ministers cannot bless same-sex unions and that such blessings are not licit if carried out. The ruling was a response to practices in some countries, such as the U.S. and Germany, where parishes and ministers have begun blessing same-sex unions in lieu of marriage, and calls for bishops to defacto institutionalize these. In response to formal questions from a number of dioceses on whether this practice was allowed, the Vatican’s doctrinal office, the Congregation for the doctrine of the Faith (CDF), issued the ruling Negative. Pope Francis approved the response, the CDF said, adding that it was not indiscrimination, but rather a reminder of the truth of the liturgical rite. It said such blessings were not permissible even though they were motivated by a sincere desire to welcome and accompany homosexual persons and help them grow in the faith.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
15 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) BJP announces list of candidates for Assembly elections.

Eminent economist Ashok Lahiri and Rajya Sabha MP and journalist Swapan Dasgupta were among the 63 candidates the BJP announced on Sunday for the third and fourth phase of polls on April 6 and 10. The party released names of 112 candidates for Kerala, where it will be contesting in 115 out of 140 Assembly seats, 17 names for Assam and 63 candidates for the third and fourth phase of elections in West Bengal. Mr. Lahiri, member of the 15th Finance Commission, former Chief Economic Advisor to the government of India and former reader Delhi School of Economics, will be contesting from Alipurduar constituency in north Bengal. The economist who has also co-authored a book India Decides, Elections 1952-89 with David Butler and Prannoy Roy, is the most surprise inclusion in the BJP list. Mr. Dasgupta will be contesting from the Tarakeshwar Assembly seat in Hooghly district. The list included four MPs including Mr. Dasgupta. Union Minister and Asansol Lok Sabha MP Babul Surpiyo will contest from the Tollygunj seat in south Kolkata, Hooghly Lok Sabha MP Locket Chatterjee from Chunchura and Cooch Behar MP Nisith Pramanik from Dinhata. The Trinamool Congress has given nomination to only one MP. The BJP has also given the ticket to Trinamool Congress dissident leaders who recently switched sides. Prominent among them is former Minister Rajib Banerjee who will contest from Domjur in Howrah. Four-time TMC MLA from Singur Rabindranath Bhattacharya (88) will contest from the same seat. TMC MLA from Diamond Harbour Dipak Halder, who quit the party a few weeks ago, has been given a ticket from the same seat. Among the prominent names fielded by the party in Kerala meanwhile, are ‘metroman’ E Sreedharan from Palakkad and former Union Minister KJ Alphons from the Kanjirappally assembly seat.

B) BJP announces seventeen candidates for Tamil Nadu. 

The BJP announced a list of 17 candidates today for the Tamil Nadu Assembly poll to be held on April 6. The party had been allotted 20 seats by the AIADMK. Hours after DMK MLA from Thiruparankundram, P. Saravanan, joined the BJP, the national party rewarded him with a ticket to contest the Assembly poll from the Madurai North constituency. Mr. Saravanan had been elected to the State Assembly in a bypoll. He was denied a ticket by the DMK this time around. Mr. Saravanan is the second DMK MLA to switch to the BJP. Earlier, Thousand Lights MLA Ku. Ka. Selvam had joined the BJP but the seat has now been given to actor-politician Khushbu Sundar. BJP Tamil Nadu president L. Murugan said Mr. Selvam didn’t want to contest. As per the list announced by the BJP, Mr. Murugan will contest from Dharapuram (Reserved) constituency. He will be contesting against the DMK’s Kayalvizhi Selvaraj. Vanathi Srinivasan has been named as candidate for Coimbatore South, where she will be facing off against actor-politician Kamal Haasan and Congress’ Mayura Jayakumar. Ms. Khushbu Sundar, who had been campaigning hard at Chepauk-Triplicane as the party’s election in-charge of the constituency, will be taking on N. Ezhilan, a physician, of the DMK at Thousand Lights constituency.

C) EC suspends two IPS officers for failure to protect Mamata Banerjee in Nadigram incident.

The Election Commission on Sunday ordered the suspension of two IPS officers for their failure to protect West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during an incident in Nandigram on March 10 that left her with injuries. Ms. Banerjee was campaigning for the ongoing state Assembly elections when she was allegedly pushed by unidentified people, leaving her with injuries to her leg. The EC met on Sunday to discuss the reports submitted to it by the West Bengal Chief Secretary and special general observer Ajay Nayak and special police observer Vivek Dube on the incident, the EC said in a statement. After going through the reports, the EC ordered the removal and suspension of West Bengal Director, Security Vivek Sahay and Purba Medinipur Superintendent of Police Pravin Prakash. Regarding Mr. Sahay, the EC said: The charges must be framed against him within a week for grossly failing in discharge of his primary duty as Director Security to protect the Z+ protectee. The EC also ordered charges to be framed against Mr. Prakash for major failure of bandobast and replaced him with 2009 batch IPS officer Sunil Kumar Yadav. The EC said the Chief Secretary, in consultation with the Director General of Police, was authorised to post a Director Security and was required to inform the Commission of the posting by 1pm on Monday. The EC also said the Chief Secretary and DGP should identify other security officials who failed to prevent the incident and take action against them by 5pm on Wednesday. The EC also transferred Purba Medinipur District Magistrate Vibhu Goel and appointed 2005 batch IAS officer Smita Pandey in place. The commission asked the Chief Secretary to make sure the case was investigated in the next 15 days.

D) We talked about strengthening Congress in Jammu, says Kapil Sibal.

The group of 23 letter writers (G-23), who had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi last August asking for reforms, were not dissenters but protectors of the Congress legacy, senior Congress leader and a key member of the G-23, Kapil Sibal, said on Sunday in an interview with The Hindu. Mr. Sibal spoke about their public meeting at Jammu on February 27 and asserted that the leaders spoke about strengthening the Congress at the Jammu meet. He claimed there may have been 23 signatories to their letter, submitted in August 2020, but many more people within the party support their views. An excerpt: We are not anti anybody, we are pro Congress. We believe that the Congress needs to be strengthened. And this exactly what we said in Jammu, that we must all strengthen the Congress party together. Because that is the only national alternative that can stem the rot that has set in at the instance of this government. The great legacy of this country, which is reflected in the Constitution of India, is being destroyed. The government is dismantling all Constitutional structures. In fact, in my speech at Jammu [on February 27], I attacked the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), saying that the assets of this country are in the hands of just a few people. We are not dissenters, we are protectors of the Congress party and that is what we displayed in Jammu in the course of our speeches, Mr Sibal said.

E) Antila scare: Vaze sent to NIA custody.

A special court on Sunday remanded assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze to the custody of National Investigation Agency (NIA) till March 25 in connection with the recovery of an explosives laden car found abandoned next to Mukesh Ambani’s residence on February 25. NIA’s spokesperson said Mr. Vaze was arrested at 11.50 pm on March 13 for his role and involvement in placing explosives laden vehicle near Carmichael Road. The SUV car was found with 20 gelatin sticks on February 25 and the police said the car was stolen from Airoli-Mulund Bridge on February 18. Mr. Vaze has been arrested under sections 286 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance), 465 (punishment for forgery), 473 (making or possessing counterfeit seal, etc., with intent to commit forgery punishable otherwise), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) 120 B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and The Explosive Substances Act. The car’s owner Mansukh Hiren, an auto parts dealer was found on March 5 in Kalwa creek. The case was transferred from Maharashtra Police to NIA on March 8. On March 12, a sessions court at Thane rejected Mr Vaze’s pre arrest bail in Hiren’s murder. Mr. Vaze is known as an ‘encounter specialist’ of the Mumbai police. He was suspended for 17 years after being arrested in the custodial death of a 27-year-old software engineer Khwaja Yunus. But he was granted bail after 58 days of being in custody. He was reinstated in June 2020 citing the requirement of officers in the force. He led the Raigad police team to arrest the editor-in-chief of Republic TV, Arnab Goswami, in the case of death of architect Anvay Naik and was probing the television rating points manipulation case as a crime branch officer.

F) RLSP merges with JD(U) as Kushwaha made parliamentary board chief.

After much flip-flop, the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) on Sunday merged with Bihar ruling Janata Dal (United) and its chief and former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha was appointed as president of the JD(U) parliamentary board. The decision to merge with the JD(U) was taken at the party’s two-day meeting here and the people of Bihar too wanted it. It will make Bihar stronger and we’ll work under leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, said Mr. Kushwaha before rushing to the State JD(U) headquarters for the ceremony. Mr. Kumar and senior party leaders welcomed him into the party. We’ve worked together and will be together again. We welcome all RLSP leaders into the party to make Bihar strong. Though, he [Mr. Kushwaha] told us that he doesn’t have any ambition we’ve decided to appoint him as president of the JD(U) parliamentary board from now, said Mr. Kumar. We’re very happy with the merger, he said. Mr. Kumar also dwelt upon the prohibition policy and comments made on social media. Use social media for positive things, he urged. We all welcome you [Mr. Kushwaha] to the party which you nursed and expanded along with us, said senior JD(U) leader and party MP Rajeev Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh. A large number of RLSP and JD(U) workers were present.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Crypto investor buys $70 mn digital artwork. 

The buyer of a $70 million digital-only artwork was named on Friday by auction house Christie’s as a crypto asset investor who goes by the pseudonym Metakovan. The auction to buy the work by digital artist Beeple was the first ever sale by a major auction house of a piece of digital art that does not exist in physical form. The work is in the form of a new kind of digital asset: a Non-Fungible Token (NFT). This means that it is authenticated by blockchain, which certifies its originality and ownership. Metakovan, whose real name was not disclosed, is the founder of Metapurse, the world’s largest NFT fund, Christie’s said in a statement. The work, called Everydays: The First 5000 Days is a collage of 5,000 individual images, which were made one-per-day over more than thirteen years. It sold for $69,346,250, which Metakovan paid in the form of cryptocurrency Ether. The sale put Beeple into the top three most valuable living artists, Christie’s said, trailing only David Hockney and Jeff Koons. When you think of highvalued NFTs, this one is going to be pretty hard to beat. And here’s why it represents 13 years of everyday work, Metakovan said in a statement.

B) Sri Lanka asks Amazon to not sell flag-themed items. 

Sri Lanka has asked retail giant Amazon to take down bikinis, briefs and doormats featuring the nation’s lion flag from its site, authorities said on Sunday, two days after it protested against the Chinese-made products. The country is highly sensitive to what it sees as any misuse of its national flag, as well as Buddhist symbols. Sri Lanka said it had lodged a formal protest with the online retailer and asked Chinese authorities to ensure an end to the manufacture and sale of similar products. The company which marketed the product on Amazon was requested by letter from the embassy to immediately cease selling the doormats and any such products, misusing the Sri Lanka flag, the Sri Lankan Embassy in China said. Sri Lanka’s Embassy in Washington said it had also complained to the U.S. government over what it called a violation of intellectual property rights of the South Asian nation. However, two days after Sri Lanka’s intervention, dozens of retailers were still selling the flag-themed items. Several Chinese vendors on Amazon were offering the doormat at prices ranging from $10 to $24, and the lion-printed briefs and bikini from $9.20 to $17.30. This is how the Chinese see Sri Lanka, said one Facebook user. Another suggested the doormat was a forewarning of how future relations might play out in light of Sri Lanka’s huge debt to China.

C) Ireland, Italian region halt AstraZeneca shots. 

Ireland on Sunday became the latest country to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine over concerns about patients developing post-jab blood clots, as nations across the world sought to step up their COVID-19 immunisation drives. Several countries including Denmark, Norway and Bulgaria last week paused the rollout of vaccines from the Anglo/Swedish pharma giant over fears of blood clots. The World Health Organization has said no causal link had been established between the vaccine and blood clotting. The manufacturer and Europe’s medicines watchdog have also insisted that the vaccine is safe. An AstraZeneca spokesman said that an analysis of our safety data that covers reported cases from more than 17 million doses of vaccine administered has shown no evidence of an increased risk in blood clot conditions. In fact, the reported numbers of these types of events for COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca are lower than the number that would have occurred naturally in the unvaccinated population. Shortfall in deliveries AstraZeneca’s shot is among the cheapest available, and forms a bulk of deliveries to poorer nations under the WHO-backed Covax initiative, which aims to ensure the equitable global distribution of vaccines. A spokesman for Ireland’s health ministry told AFP that the administration of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca is temporarily deferred from this morning, Sunday 14th March. The move came after Ireland’s National Immunisation Advisory Committee recommended suspending the rollout as a precaution after a report from the Norwegian Medicines Agency of four new reports of serious blood clotting events in adults after vaccination. Meanwhile, Italy’s northern region of Piedmont said on Sunday it would stop using a batch of AstraZeneca coronavirus shots after a teacher died following his vaccination on Saturday.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
14 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Yashwant Sinha joins Trinamool Congress.

Former Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha on Saturday joined the Trinamool Congress (TMC). Senior TMC leaders such as Sudip Banerjee and Derek O’ Brien welcomed Sinha in the party. You will be surprised at today’s development as to why at this age he is joining a party when he had withdrawn himself from party politics. This is because the country is passing through crucial times, Sinha said. The 83- year-old politician said that democracy does not only mean elections every five years. The strength of democracy lies in the strength of institutions and he say it with regret that these institutions, including the judiciary, have been weakened, he said. Before officially joining the party, Sinha spoke to TMC chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for nearly 45 minutes at her Kalighat residence. Sinha quit the BJP in April 2018. The BJP of Atalji (Atal Behari Vajpayee) and the BJP now are poles apart. Atalji believed in consensus, but the BJP today believes in conquering, he said. Showering praises on Banerjee, Sinha said she is a fighter and expressed the hope that TMC will return to power with a thumping majority. A message should go from Bengal that what Modi (Narendra Modi) and Shah (Amit Shah) are doing from Delhi cannot go on, he said, adding that a victory of TMC would strengthen the call for parivartan (change) in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Sinha had also campaigned for the party during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal.

B) DMK manifesto promises law against NEET, 75% jobs for locals, special court to try cases against AIADMK ministers. 

The DMK manifesto for the April 6 Assembly elections, released today, made a slew of promises, including a law to provide 75% jobs in the state to locals, financial assistance of ₹25,000 to one lakh persons going on pilgrimage to major Hindu temples, increase in the maternity leave period and assistance, cut in fuel prices, steps to ban NEET (National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test), and establishing a special court to try corruption charges against Ministers in the AIADMK government. Describing the party’s manifesto as the second hero of the DMK, party president M.K. Stalin said a separate government department would be set up to implement the promises made in the manifesto. DMK President M. K. Stalin releasing the election manifesto at the party headquarters in Chennai on Saturday. The first copy was received by Duraimurugan, general secretary. MP T. R. Baalu looks on DMK President M. K. Stalin releasing the election manifesto at the party headquarters in Chennai on Saturday. The first copy was received by Duraimurugan, general secretary. MP T. R. Baalu looks on. At a time when the rise in the price of petroleum products has become a cause for concern, Stalin announced a ₹100 subsidy per cooking gas cylinder. The price of petrol and diesel will be reduced by ₹5 and ₹4 per litre respectively; the price of Aavin milk will be reduced by ₹3 per litre and there will be no increase in the property tax till the economy revives from the impact of Covid-19, the manifesto said.

C) The manifesto also said the DMK would urge the Centre to make Tirukkural a national book.

Passengers who don’t wear mask properly can be deboarded, put on ‘no-fly’ list: DGCA order to airlines. Passengers refusing to wear a mask properly or follow social distancing norms during a flight despite repeated warnings could be put on a no-fly list for a period of three months to two years or more, according to an order issued by aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The DGCA has also said that if a passenger refuses to comply with the instructions before a flight takes off, then he or she should be deboarded. In case, any passenger on board an aircraft refuses to wear mask or violates the COVID-19 protocol for passengers even after repeated warnings during the course of the flight, such passenger may be treated as ‘unruly passenger’ and the procedure in respect of handling such unruly passenger as provided in CAR shall be followed by the concerned airline, said the DGCA circular issued on March 13. The civil aviation requirements on unruly passengers provides for an offender to be put on a no-fly list for varying periods three months for verbal abuse, six months for physical assault and two years or more for life threatening behaviour. The internal committee constituted by an airline to look into the incident will decide in which category the offence falls, a senior official of the DGCA explained. If a passenger is found violating the protocols before boarding a flight, then the DGCA order requires that airport staff hand them over to security personnel after sufficient warnings. The move follows a Delhi High Court order that passengers without a mask be put on a no-fly list after the judge observed the callous attitude of passengers while he was on an Air India flight from Kolkata to Delhi earlier this month.

D) Kunal Kamra a haughty man ‘puffed up with conceit’, petitioner tells Supreme Court. 

Stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra is a haughty man puffed up with conceit who wants to justify his scandalous tweets about the Supreme Court as jokes, law student Shrirang Katneshwarkar told the Supreme Court in an affidavit. Mr. Kamra is facing criminal contempt proceedings in the apex court on a plea filed by the student. In his response to the contempt petition, Kamra had said the Supreme Court should trust the public not to form opinions on the basis of a few jokes cracked by him on Twitter. Kamra said taking offence to comedy or satire had become a much-loved indoor sport in a growing culture of intolerance. He had refused to apologise or retract his tweets. Countering in his rejoinder affidavit, Katneshwarkar said, he (Kamra) says the tweets were funny. An ordinary prudent man can gather they are obnoxious. The law student said Kamra has forgotten in his hubris as an alleged/so-called comedian that jokes are meant to cause amusement or laughter. A joke is a story with a punchline, Katneshwarkar noted. He quoted Socrates when the debate is lost, scandal becomes the tool of the loser” — to push his point across.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) U.N. rights panel slams detention of Safoora Zargar. 

Taking note of the detention of Jamia Millia Islamia University student Safoora Zargar, who was pregnant when Delhi police arrested her in April 2020 over the Citizenship law protests and the Delhi riots, the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council’s (HRC’s) Working Group against Arbitrary Detentions (WGAD) has adopted an opinion critical of the government’s workings, and referred the case to three Special Rapporteurs for action. In the opinion, based on a complaint from a source who was not identified by the human rights body, Zargar had suffered a deprivation of liberty contravening universally recognized human rights, in particular the right to freedoms of opinion, expression and peaceful assembly and several articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It also asked the government to ensure a full and independent investigation of the case and take measures against those responsible for the violation of her rights, including Zargar’s allegedly irregular detention despite her pregnancy, where she said she was made to sign blank sheets of paper. Zargar and her lawyers declined to comment on the WGAD report. In the disposition, the WGAD also said it was referring the case to Special Rapporteurs on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the situation of human rights defenders; and on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, for appropriate action. The WGAD report said it had written to the Indian government on July 22, 2020, with a request for a reply for information in the Zargar case within three months, but the government had not responded nor requested an extension of time.

B) Sri Lanka announces burqa ban, to shut 1,000 madrasas. 

Sri Lanka will soon ban the burqa (face veil), a Cabinet Minister said on Saturday, as he announced the Rajapaksa administration’s latest policy decision impacting the minority Muslim community. Public Security Minister Sarath Weerasekara said authorities would henceforth use the controversial Prevention of Terrorism (PTA) law that human rights defenders have termed draconian to deal with religious extremism, with wide-ranging powers to detain suspects for up to two years, to ‘deradicalise’ them. At a media conference, Weerasekara said that the burqa is something that directly affects our national security, this [dress] came into Sri Lanka only recently. It is a symbol of their religious extremism. While the Minister said he had signed the documents outlawing the burqa, the move awaits Cabinet approval. Over 1,000 madrasas would be shut, he said. A new Dutch law has come into force banning face-covering clothing including the burqa and niqab worn by conservative Muslim women on public transport, in government buildings and at health and education institutions. Following the IS-inspired Easter terror bombings in Sri Lanka in April 2019, attributed to a local Islamist radical network, the government temporarily banned the face veil using emergency laws. A small section of Sri Lankan Muslim women wears the burqa, and some of them reported harassment in public spaces at that time, when they were barred entry into banks and commercial establishments. The announcement on the burqa ban comes after a year-long controversy over the government’s policy of mandatory cremation of Covid-19 victims, based on unsubstantiated claims that the bodies would contaminate ground water. The government reversed its decision recently, amid persistent calls for burial rights from Muslims, who make up about 10% of the 21-million population, as well as international bodies including the U.N.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
13 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Govt staff should not be appointed as Election Commissioners, says Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court on Friday held that independent persons, and not government employees, should be appointed Election Commissioners. A Bench led by Justice Rohinton F. Nariman, in a judgment, said giving government employees additional charge as Election Commissioners was a mockery of the Constitution. The Bench held that people holding public office could not be appointed Election Commissioners and directed States to comply with the constitutional scheme of independent and fair functioning of election commissions. It said the independence of the panels could not be compromised. The court said it was disturbing to see government employees manning election commissions as an add-on job. The judgment came on an appeal against an order of the Bombay High Court, which had set aside the election notification issued by the Goa State Election Commission in the municipalities of Margao, Mapusa, Mormugao, Sanguem and Quepem.

B) Quad is a force for global good, says PM Modi. 

We are united by our democratic values and our commitment to a free open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the first Quad summit on March 12. Our agenda today, covering areas like vaccines, climate change and emerging technologies, makes Quad a force for global good, he said, adding that the Quad will be a pillar of stability in the region. Invoking the Indian philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, the Prime Minister said that he see this positive vision as extension of India’s Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam philosophy, which regards the world as one family. In his remarks, U.S. President Joe Biden announced the launch of a partnership to boost vaccine manufacturing. The Quad is going to be a vital arena for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, he said. Biden also described Quad as a new mechanism to enhance cooperation and raise mutual ambition as they address accelerating climate change. We know our commitments. Our region is governed by international law, committed to all the universal values and free from coercion but I am optimistic about our prospect, he said, in an apparent reference to China which is flexing its muscles in the region. The Quad is going to be a vital arena of cooperation in the Indo Pacific and he look forward to working closely with all of you in the coming years, Biden told Quad leaders. Known as the ‘Quadrilateral Security Dialogue,’ representatives for the four member nations have met periodically since its establishment in 2007. The four countries plan to establish a series of working groups that will focus on climate change; critical and emerging technologies, including working to set technology standards and norms; and jointly developing some of the critical technologies of the future, officials said.

C) Trinamool submits memorandum to ECI on Nandigram Mamata incident. 

A six-member delegation of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Friday submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission of India (ECI) on the alleged attack on party president and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The memorandum quoted various comments made by BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the run-up to the Wednesday incident in Nandigram. Calling it a deep-rooted conspiracy, it alleged that the attack was premeditated. The party demanded an immediate, thorough and unbiased investigation into the incident. To underline their claim that the alleged attack was pre-planned, the party, in the memorandum, listed eight instances. Among them it said that two days before the incident, on March 8, as per the TMC, BJP State president Dilip Ghosh put up a caricature of Banerjee, depicting she would be hit at Nandigram. The removal of the State Director General of Police was also a part of this conspiracy, it claimed. On March 9, a day before the incident, without consulting the State government, it said, the DGP was removed by the ECI. Importantly, the memorandum cited a speech of Modi as evidence.  The memorandum also quoted a conversation between BJP MP Saumitra Khan and Minister of State Babul Supriyo on Twitter to support their theory. On the very day of the incident, the TMC said, the BJP complained against the police personnel responsible for Banerjee’s security. By 6.30 p.m. that day, it claimed, the Superintendent of Police and the local police were suspiciously absent when the attack took place. It also alleged that eye-witnesses were planted. There is a clear nexus between the post by Dilip Ghosh on Facebook, multiple complaints by BJP seeking removal of DGP, the unilateral decision of the ECI to remove the erstwhile DGP, the plan revealed by Saumitra Khan on Twitter, and the BJP’s request to suspend security personnel of Banerjee, the memorandum said. After the meeting with the ECI, Rajya Sabha floor leader Derek O’ Brien, Lok Sabha members Saugata Roy, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Pratima Mandal and Satabdi Roy, and Rajya Sabha member Santanu Sen, speaking to reporters, said the ECI’s credibility was at stake. Dastidar said the public perception in West Bengal was that the ECI was not a neutral body. Roy said, It is not for us to repose faith in the Commission, it is for them to at least appear fair in the eyes of the general public.

D) SC seeks govt’s response on plea against Places of Worship Act.

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the government to respond to a plea challenging a special law enacted in 1991 by the Congress government, which freezes the status of places of worship as it was on August 15, 1947. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde issued notice to the Union Ministries of Home, Law and Culture on a plea filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay against various provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act of 1991. Upadhyay said the arbitrary, irrational and retrospective cut-off date bars Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs from approaching courts to re-claim their places of worship which were invaded and encroached upon by fundamentalist barbaric invaders. The Act declared that the character of places of worship-pilgrimage shall be maintained as it was on August 15, 1947 and no suit or proceeding shall lie in court in respect of disputes against encroachment done by fundamentalist barbaric invaders and law breakers and such proceeding shall stand abated, the petition said. The petition said Sections of the Act that dealt with the bar on legal claims were against the principles of secularism. Section 2, 3, 4 not only offend right to pray, practice and propagate religion (Article 25), right to manage maintain administer places of worship-pilgrimage (Article 26), right to conserve culture (Article 29) but are also contrary to State’s duty to protect historic places (Article 49) and preserve religious cultural heritage (Article 51A), the petition said.

E) DMK releases list of candidates. 

The DMK on Friday retained most former Ministers and MLAs in its list of 173 candidates for the Assembly election, while fielding party president M. K. Stalin’s son Udhayanidhi Stalin from the Chepauk-Thiruvallikeni constituency in Chennai. In all, 187 candidates will contest on the DMK’s ‘Rising Sun’ symbol. DMK president M.K. Stalin, who released the candidates’ list, said it was a list of victors. He said the DMK alliance was not a political alliance or created just for the purpose of the election: It is an alliance of principle, he said. DMK president M.K. Stalin announces the list of candidates on Friday, for the TN Assembly Election DMK president M.K. Stalin announces the list of candidates on Friday, for the TN Assembly Election. Stalin will contest from the Kolathur constituency. Candidates of MDMK, Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi, Tamilaga Vazhurimai Katchi, Forward Bloc, Makkal Viduthalai Katchi and one candidate of Manithaneya Makkal Katchi will contest with the ‘Rising Sun’ symbol.

F) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments. 

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,13,31,416 with the death toll at 1,59,839. Novavax Inc’s coronavirus vaccine was 96% effective in preventing cases caused by the original version of the coronavirus in a late-stage trial conducted in the United Kingdom, the company said on Thursday, moving it a step closer to regulatory approval. There were no cases of severe illness or deaths among those who got the vaccine. The vaccine was also about 86% effective in protecting against the more contagious virus variant first discovered and now prevalent in the U.K. It was about 90% effective overall, combining data from people infected with both versions of the coronavirus. Novavax has a licensing agreement with the Serum Institute of India for commercialisation of its vaccine.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Premadasa slams invite to Myanmar junta’s Minister. 

Sri Lanka’s Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa vehemently condemned the Rajapaksa administration’s invitation to the Myanmar junta’s Foreign Minister, for a virtual meet of regional body BIMSTEC early April. The invitation basically legitimised the military takeover, Mr. Premadasa said, describing the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena’s move as distasteful and dastardly. In a letter sent earlier this month, Mr. Gunawardena invited the junta-appointed Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin for a ministerial meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation that Sri Lanka now chairs. Amid mounting criticism from hundreds of social media users and pro-democracy activists from Myanmar, Colombo sought to justify its invitation, saying it was extended to all members, and limited to the BIMSTEC meet. The government is yet to decide on its stance on the military power grab in Myanmar, Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Jayanath Colombage earlier told this. Urging the Foreign Minister to withdraw his invitation, and apologise to the people of Myanmar, Mr. Premadasa told media persons on Thursday that the Foreign Minister had the audacity to invite an illegally appointed Minister, despite Aung San Suu Kyi’s party securing a resounding win in the last elections. Her party, Mr. Premadasa said, came to power by the ballot and not the bullet, adding: But today bullets are being used by the military administration on the people of merely for attempting to restore democracy. Meanwhile, former PM Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party has called on the government to impress upon the Myanmar delegation, scheduled to participate in the meet, to revert to the democratically elected President, State Counsellor and Parliament.

B) WHO says no reason to stop using AstraZeneca vaccine. 

The World Health Organization said on Friday there was no reason to stop using AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after several countries suspended the rollout over blood clot fears. The WHO, which said its vaccines advisory committee was examining the safety data coming in, stressed that no causal link had been established between the vaccine and clotting. The UN agency also said that after the injection of more than 260 million vaccine doses so far around the world, no deaths had yet been attributed to a COVID-19 jab. Denmark, Norway and Iceland paused the use of the AstraZeneca jab as a precaution after isolated reports of recipients developing blood clots. Italy and Austria have banned the use of shots from separate batches of AstraZeneca, and Thailand and Bulgaria said they would delay the rollout of the shot. A range of health authorities around the world have insisted the jab is safe, including the European Medicines Agency and the WHO. AstraZeneca is an excellent vaccine, as are the other vaccines that are being used, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris told reporters in Geneva. Yes, we should continue using the AstraZeneca vaccine, she added, stressing though that any concerns over safety must be investigated. We must always ensure that we look for any safety signals when we roll out vaccines, and we must review them, she said. But there is no indication to not use it.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
12 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) 44% of MLAs who switched parties joined BJP: ADR report. 

An analysis of MLAs who switched parties and recontested elections from 2016 to 2020 has found that the BJP was the biggest gainer, while the Congress accounted for the most MLAs who quit a party to join another, revealed a report released today by democracy watchdog Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The ADR report analysed the election affidavits of 443 MLAs and MPs who switched parties and recontested polls in the past five years. Out of the 405 MLAs across the States who quit and switched parties, 42% were from the Congress, the report found, while the BJP came a distant second with 4.4%. On the other hand, the BJP was the party of choice for 44.9% of the recontesting MLAs, followed by the Congress with 9.4%. The report noted that the defection of MLAs was the cause of governments falling in the recent past in Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh and Karnataka. Out of the 12 Lok Sabha members who switched parties, five were from the BJP. In the Rajya Sabha, out of 17 who quit, seven were from the Congress, the report said. The average assets of the recontesting MLAs and MPs had grown by 39%. The ADR report stated that the most plausible cause of defections was the nexus of money and muscle, absence of laws on the functioning of parties, and the lack of honest leaders, among others.

B) PM’s photo removed from vaccine certificates in poll-bound States. 

The Health Ministry on Tuesday informed the Election Commission (EC) that the necessary filters were added to the Co-WIN software in the four poll-bound states and one union territory, removing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s photo from the Covid-19 vaccine certificates given to recipients in Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala. The EC had written to the Ministry on March 5 reiterating its standing instructions on the use of photos of political leaders in government advertisements during elections. The EC had taken up the issue after the Trinamool Congress complained that the Prime Minister’s photo on the certificates while the Model Code of Conduct was in place for the ongoing elections was a violation of the EC’s rules.

C) Mamata hopes to return to ‘her field in next two or three days’

A day after she was hospitalised owing to injuries she sustained in Nandigram, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday released a video from the hospital urging her supporters to exercise restraint. She expressed the hope that she would return to her field in next two or three days and the developments would not affect her political meetings. The Trinamool Congress chairperson said that It is true that she suffered serious injuries. There are injuries in her leg bone and ligament. She also felt pain in the head and chest. She appeal to everyone to maintain restraint. In the next two-three days, she will be able to return to her field. Maybe, she will have to use a wheelchair for the next few days, but she will manage.  Banerjee said she was greeting people when her foot was squeezed by the car door. The Trinamool Congress had to cancel the release of its manifesto and the leadership was not sure what will happen to her scheduled events in districts. Meanwhile, the Trinamool Congress alleged in a letter to the Election Commission (EC) that the removal of the State DGP at the behest of BJP had put the Chief Minister under threat. The attack on Banrejee, the party said, was a deep-rooted conspiracy. On Tuesday, the EC had ordered the removal of the West Bengal Director General of Police Virendra following an adverse report from its special observers posted in the poll-bound State.

D) Plea seeks SC intervention for release of over 150 Rohingya refugees ‘detained’ in Jammu. 

An application was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking urgent intervention to release and protect over 150 Rohingya refugees reportedly ‘detained’ in Jammu. The application was filed by a member of the Rohingya community, Mohammad Salimullah, represented by advocates Prashant Bhushan and Cheryl d’Souza. Salimullah is already a petitioner in the Supreme Court against the deportment of refugees who had fled from religious persecution and violence in their native Myanmar. He said that his application was based on reports in The Hindu and other media outlets that Rohingya members had been detained in a sub-jail in Jammu. This follows the Union Minister Jitendra Singh’s statements two months ago that the Rohingya (identified as Muslim refugees by the government) would not be able to secure citizenship. These refugees have been illegally detained and jailed in the Jammu sub-jail, which has been converted into a holding centre with the IGP (Jammu) Mukesh Singh stating that they face deportation back to Myanmar following verification by their embassy, the application said. It urged the court to release the detained Rohingya refugees immediately and direct the Union Territory government and the Ministry of Home Affairs to expeditiously grant refugee identification cards through the FRRO [Foreigners Regional Registration Office] for the Rohingyas in the informal camps.  The application said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees should be asked to intervene and determine the protection needs of the Rohingya refugees not just in the Jammu but also in camps across the country and complete the process of granting them refugee cards.

E) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments. 

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,13,05,425 with the death toll at 1,59,731. India’s indigenous Covid-19 vaccine, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, has been taken off the clinical trial mode and is now authorised for emergency use at par with Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield, developed by the Serum Institute of India, said V.K. Paul, member (Health) NITI Aayog on Thursday at a Health Ministry press conference. Meanwhile, health authorities in Denmark and Norway said on Thursday they had suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine shots after reports of the formation of blood clots in some who have been vaccinated, Reuters reported. The move comes after Austria stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism. Danish health authorities said the country’s decision to suspend the shots for two weeks came after a 60-year old woman in Denmark, who was given an AstraZeneca shot from the same batch that was used in Austria, formed a blood clot and died.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) China’s new Five-Year Plan outlines push for key strategic projects.

China on Thursday formally approved the outline of its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025)approved the outline of its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), which highlights a number of key strategic projects to be pursued as a priority, including the first dam in Tibet on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo or Brahmaputra, a Sichuan-Tibet railway line near the India border, and a push for self-sufficiency in emerging industries such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). The draft outline of the Five-Year Plan (FYP) and objectives through the year 2035 were passed by the National People’s Congress, the ceremonial legislature, as it closed its six-day annual session. Among the key projects is the building of a hydropower base on the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo, which refers to the sections of the river in Tibet just before it enters India in Arunachal Pradesh. While four dams have been approved on the upper and middle reaches, this is the first project in the lower reaches of the river. India has in the past expressed concerns over the four previously announced dams on the upper and middle reaches, the first of which, in Zangmu, was operationalised in 2015.

B) ‘We’re not racist’, Prince William says after Meghan and Harry interview.

Prince William said on Thursday that Britain’s royals were not racist after Meghan, wife of his younger brother Harry, said one unnamed member of the family had asked how dark their son Archie’s skin might be. The revelation emerged during an explosive tell-all interview that Harry, 36, and Meghan, 39, gave to Oprah Winfrey which was aired on Sunday, plunging the British monarchy into its biggest crisis since the 1997 death of Princess Diana, William and Harry’s mother. During a visit to a school in east London, William said he had not talked to Harry since the interview was broadcast just over three days ago. He haven’t spoken to him yet but he will do, Prince William, 38, said. Asked by a reporter if the royal family was racist, Prince William said, they are very much not a racist family. In the two-hour show, Meghan also said the royals had ignored her pleas for help when she felt suicidal, while Harry said his father, heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, had let him down and that he had felt trapped. On Tuesday, Buckingham Palace issued a statement on behalf of Queen Elizabeth, the princes’ grandmother, in which she said the family was saddened by how challenging the couple had found the last few years. The statement added that the issues of race were concerning and would be treated very seriously, but pointedly stated that some recollections may vary.