Tag: gkindia

NATIONAL NEWS

A) Supreme Court bats for one price for Covid-19 vaccines.

The government on Monday said it will inoculate the entire eligible population in the country by the end of 2021, but the Supreme Court raised questions about achieving such a milestone with a policy that allows the Centre to procure only 50% of the vaccines while leaving the States to fend for themselves. The court also challenged the differential vaccine pricing policy, saying there needs to be one price for vaccines across the nation. A three-judge Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud also asked the government to please wake up and smell the coffee about the farfetchedness of an illiterate villager from rural India crossing the digital divide to register for Covid-19 vaccination on the CoWIN portal where slots disappear in the blink of an eye. Justice Chandrachud said the government should be aware of the ground realities in ‘Digital India’. Vaccination policy today is entirely exclusionary of the rural areas, the court said. One of the judges on the Bench, Justice S. Ravindra Bhat said he had received distress calls from across the country from people unable to register on CoWIN. The court asked why marginalised sections should not be treated on par with people having co-morbities for early vaccination. The virtual hearing, however, began on a positive note with Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assuring that on vaccination, as per our estimate, from the domestic market and Sputnik V, we expect the entire eligible population to get vaccinated by the end of this year. Mehta said the government was in talks with other manufacturers like Pfizer. If the discussions succeed, the government would be able to advance its deadline for completing the immunisation drive. The Solicitor General said he would file an affidavit with the latest updates. But the court highlighted the difference in vaccine prices between the Centre and the States. When the Centre can purchase vaccine in bulk for Rs.150 per dose, the States have to pay Rs.300 to Rs.600. Justice L. Nageswara Rao, on the Bench, asked why even the two vaccines — Covaxin and Covishield — were differentially priced. What is the rationale for this dual pricing policy? Why is the Centre procuring at a lower price and what has the Centre fixed its vaccine purchase at 50% and left the States to their own devices? Justice Bhat asked. Article 1 of the Constitution says Bharat is a Union of States. When the Constitution says that, we will follow the federal rule. Then the Government of India has to wholly procure the vaccines and distribute them. Here, individual States are left in a lurch, Justice Chandrachud said.

 

B) Delhi HC dismisses plea seeking to halt Central Vista work, imposes Rs. 1 Lakh fine on petitioners.

The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a petition seeking to halt the construction activities at the Central Vista Avenue Redevelopment Project in view of the recent surge in Covid-19 cases. A Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh remarked that there was no reason for the court to suspend the construction activities as the workers were staying at the project site, and COVID-19 protocols are adhered to and COVID-19 appropriate behaviour is being followed. We are of the view that this is a motivated petition preferred by the petitioners and not a genuine public interest litigation [PIL], the court said while imposing a cost of ₹1 lakh on petitioners Anya Malhotra, who works as a translator; and Sohail Hashmi, a historian and documentary film maker. The petitioners had argued that the project was not an essential activity and hence, it could be put on hold for now during the pandemic. The court noted that the work at the Central Vista Avenue Redevelopment was part and parcel of the Central Vista Project and of vital public importance and the legality of the project had been upheld by Supreme Court. By no stretch of imagination, it can be said that Central Vista Project or Central Vista Avenue Redevelopment Project is not an essential project, the court said, adding, If this type of project is stopped by the court, the main project cannot be completed within the stipulated time. It noted that the work at the Central Vista Avenue Redevelopment Project had to be completed by November, 2021. While the petitioners argued that the time limit be extended, the court said, Such kind of arguments cannot be accepted by this court, keeping in view that the construction activity of this essential project or of a project of national importance cannot be stopped especially when the conditions imposed by the order of the DDMA dated 19th April, 2021 are not flouted or violated. Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, for the petitioners, had stated that his clients were only delivering a message of health and safety for the people of Delhi and if the government could not see it, then it was a sorry reflection of their concern for the lives of the citizens. Luthra had referred to the ongoing project work as not Central Vista, rather central fortress of death, comparing it to Auschwitz, a German concentration camp during World War II. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta objected to the comparison, saying one could criticise but such terms should not be used.

 

C) It’s time to define limits of sedition, SC says.

The Supreme Court on Monday said it is time to define the limits of sedition even as it protected two Telugu channels from any coercive action by the Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh government for their reportage of the Covid-19 pandemic in the State. A three-judge Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud flagged indiscriminate use of the sedition law against critics, journalists, social media users, activists and citizens for airing their grievances about the government’s Covid-19 management, or even for seeking help to gain medical access, equipment, drugs and oxygen cylinders, especially during the second wave of the pandemic. This is muzzling the media, Justice L. Nageswara Rao, another judge on the Bench along with Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, said about the manner in which Andhra Pradesh had tried to silence channels TV5 and ABN. It is time to define the limits of sedition, Justice Chandrachud said. He pointed out that the Court had categorically told the States not to initiate penal action against the critics of Covid-19 management measures in an April 30 order. Both channels urged the Supreme Court to initiate contempt proceedings against the senior officials of the State government for violating the April 30 order of the Supreme Court to immediately cease any direct and indirect threats of prosecution and arrest to citizens, who air their grievances.

 

D) India’s GDP recorded its worst contraction since independence in 2020-21, shrank by 7.3%

India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted 7.3% in 2020-21, as per provisional National Income estimates released by the National Statistical Office on Monday, marginally better than the 8% contraction in the economy projected earlier. GDP growth in 2019-20, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, was 4%. The fourth quarter of 2020-21 recorded a growth of 1.6% in GDP, the second quarter of positive growth, after the country had entered a technical recession in the first half of the year. The Gross Value Added recorded 3.7% growth in Q4, compared to 1% in Q3. GVA had contracted 22.4% and 7.3% in the first and second quarters of 2020-21. GDP had contracted 24.4% in the April to June 2020 quarter, followed by a 7.4% shrinkage in the second quarter. It had returned to positive territory in the September to December quarter with a marginal 0.5% growth.

 

E) West Bengal Chief Secretary opts to retire, joins Mamata as chief adviser.

Soon after West Bengal government decided not to release its Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, who was asked by the Centre to report to Delhi on Monday, the latter decided to retire from the civil service. He will, however, continue to serve the State as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s chief adviser. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier in the day written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, informing him that the State won’t release Bandyopadhyay and urging him to rescind the order. Last week, the Union government issued an order asking the Chief Secretary to report to the Central government at 10 a.m. on Monday. The government of West Bengal cannot release, and is not releasing, its Chief Secretary at this critical hour on the basis of our understanding that the earlier order of extension, issued after lawful consultation in accordance with applicable laws, remains operational and valid. The latest order is also clearly in violation of applicable laws and against public interest: it is in any case ab initio void, Banerjee wrote in the letter addressed to the Prime Minister. She thus humbly appeal to your conscience and good sense, on the behalf of people of West Bengal, and request you to rescind the latest order, she added. She really and sincerely hope that this latest order is not related to my meeting with you at Kalaikunda. If that be the reason, it would be sad, unfortunate and would amount to sacrificing public interest at the altar of misplaced priorities, she wrote referring to the incident where she skipped the review meeting on cyclone ‘Yaas’chaired by the Prime Minister. Bandyopadhyay had accompanied the Chief Minister.

 

F) Kerala Assembly passes resolution seeking recall of Lakshadweep administrator.

The Kerala Legislative Assembly on Monday unanimously passed a resolution demanding the recall of Lakshadweep administrator Praful Khoda Patel and withdrawal of the controversial orders issued by him. The house also expressed solidarity with the people of Lakshadweep, who have been protesting against the decisions of the administrator and have demanded immediate steps to safeguard the culture and livelihood of the people of the island. It is the first resolution moved in the Assembly after the second LDF government under Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan came to power in the April 6 Assembly elections and the first in the 15th Legislative Assembly. The Chief Minister, who moved the resolution under Rule 118 in the House after obituary references and presentations of the reports, said the administrator was taking many measures to alienate the peace-loving people of the island. In the name of development, even their livelihood is threatened. Even coconut trees are painted with saffron colour in the name of beautification. This can’t be allowed at any cost. The attempt is to impose and implement the saffron agenda and corporate interests in Lakshadweep. The Sangh Parivar is making the island another laboratory and people of the country will not allow that to happen, the resolution said. After the recall of the administrator, the resolution said all controversial decisions taken by him should be withdrawn.

 

G) Twitter has to comply with new digital rules, says Delhi High Court.

Twitter has to comply with the new Information Technology Rules for digital media if they have not been stayed, the Delhi High Court said on Monday. Justice Rekha Palli issued notice to the Centre and social media platform Twitter seeking their stand on a plea by a lawyer, Amit Acharya, claiming non-compliance of the Rules by it. While Twitter claimed before the court that it has complied with the rules and appointed a resident grievance officer, the Central government disputed the claim. They have to follow it [rules], if it has not been stayed, the court said. In his plea, filed through advocate Akash Vajpai and Manish Kumar, Acharya said that he came to know about the alleged non-compliance when he tried to lodge a complaint against a couple of tweets. During the hearing, Central government standing counsel Ripudaman Singh Bhardwaj told the court that Twitter has not complied with the rules. Acharya, in his plea, said that the new IT Rules took effect from February 25 and the Centre had given three months to every social media intermediary, including Twitter, to comply with them. He contended that the three-month period got over on May 25, but no resident grievance officer was appointed by Twitter to deal with complaints regarding tweets on its platform. The petition has sought a direction to Twitter to appoint a resident grievance officer without further delay. It has also sought a direction to the Centre to ensure that the IT rules are complied with. Twitter had recently said it was committed to India as a vital market, but criticised the new IT rules and regulations, saying they inhibit free, open public conversation.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) As births decline, China to allow couples to have third child.

China’s ruling Communist Party said on Monday that it will ease birth limits to allow all couples to have three children instead of two in hopes of slowing the rapid aging of its population, which is adding to strains on the economy and society. The ruling party has enforced birth limits since 1980 to restrain population growth but is now worried that the number of working-age people is falling too fast while that of 65-plus is rising. That threatens to disrupt its ambitions to transform China into a prosperous consumer society and global technology leader. A ruling party meeting led by President Xi Jinping decided to introduce measures to actively deal with the aging population, the official Xinhua News Agency said. It said leaders agreed that implementing the policy of one couple can have three children and supporting measures are conducive to improving China’s population structure. Leaders also agreed that China needs to raise its retirement age to keep more people in the workforce and improve pension and health services for the elderly, Xinhua said. Restrictions that limited most couples to one child were eased in 2015 to allow two, but the total number of births fell further, suggesting rule changes on their own have little impact on the trend. Couples say they are put off by high costs of raising a child, disruption to their jobs, and the need to look after elderly parents. China, along with Thailand and some other Asian economies, faces what economists call the challenge of whether they can get rich before they get old. The Chinese population, which is 1.4 billion already, was expected to peak later this decade and start to decline. Census data released on May 11 suggest that is happening faster than expected, adding to burdens on under-funded pension and health systems and cutting the number of future workers available to support a growing retiree group. The share of working-age people (15 to 59 years) in the population fell to 63.3% last year from 70.1% a decade earlier. The group aged 65 and older grew to 13.5% from 8.9%. The 12 million births reported last year was down nearly one-fifth from 2019.

 

B) ‘Many obstacles’ remain in bid to oust Netanyahu, says Lapid.

Israeli Opposition leader Yair Lapid on Monday said many obstacles remain before a diverse coalition can be built to oust veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but voiced hope it will achieve the greater goal. Mr. Lapid, a secular centrist, has been locked in talks with the right-wing nationalist Naftali Bennett on the terms of a change alliance that also hinges on an array of other parties ahead of a Wednesday midnight deadline. Former TV anchor Mr. Lapid’s chances of success rose when tech millionaire Mr. Bennett, despite their ideological differences, said on Sunday he would join a national unity government in which the two men would take turns to serve as premier. Israel’s latest political turmoil comes more than two months after Israel’s fourth inconclusive election in less than two years and could topple the right-wing leader known as Bibi who has ruled for a total of 15 years. It also follows Israel’s bloody Il-day conflict with Islamist group Hamas in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza that ended with a May 21 ceasefire. A viable anti-Netanyahu coalition would still need the support of other parties and lawmakers to gain a majority of 61 seats in the 120-member Knesset, Israel’s legislature. But while Mr. Lapid warned of remaining hurdles, he also sought to strike a cautiously upbeat note. We’ll have to overcome them together, he told members of his Yesh Atid (There is a Future) party. That’s our first test to see if we can find smart compromises in the coming days to achieve the greater goal. Mr. Netanyahu warned on Sunday that a left-wing government would be ‘dangerous to the state of Israel.

NATIONAL NEWS

A) The government used ‘Indian double mutant strain’ in the Supreme Court affidavit.

The government used the term Indian double mutant strain in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court just days before it officially objected to affixing nationality to the virus variant. A May 9 affidavit refers to the Indian double mutant strain while detailing the steps taken by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology to develop Covaxin. The affidavit was filed in the court three days prior to a Ministry of Health statement on May 12, taking exception to media reports which referred to the B.1.617 variant as an Indian variant. The Ministry condemned these media reports as baseless and unfounded. It said the World Health Organisation (WHO) had not associated B.1.617 with the term Indian variant. Instead, it considered the virus a variant of ‘global concern’. The WHO had also clarified in a tweet that it does not identify viruses or variants with names of countries they are first reported from. We refer to them by their scientific names and request all to do the same for consistency. But the May 9 affidavit runs contrary to WHO even in this aspect. In fact, the affidavit calls variants UK variant, Brazil variant, South African variant and caps the list with the Indian double mutant strain. The Ministry of Health was one among the many Ministries consulted before the May 9 affidavit was filed in the apex court. The introductory paragraph in the affidavit filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs said the document was filed in compliance with the instructions received from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce, Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Ministry of Railways. Congress leaders like Pawan Khera and Jairam Ramesh pointed out the anomaly between the May 9 affidavit and the official objection of the Health Ministry on May 12. My colleague @Pawankhera found a Govt of India affidavit to Supreme Court using the term ‘Indian double mutant strain’. And they tell the world not to. Govt also uses the UK variant, Brazil variant, etc. in its official communication, Mr. Ramesh tweeted.

B) COVID patient’s body thrown into the river in Uttar Pradesh, the family booked.

The family of a person who died of COVID was booked in Uttar Pradesh’s Balrampur district after they were caught in a video dumping his body into a river in broad daylight. The video, shot by someone driving on the bridge from where the body was dumped, was widely shared on social media. This comes on the heels of the Uttar Pradesh government trying to fend off criticism over countless bodies of suspected COVID-19 victims found floating in the Ganga in several districts. In the video from Balrampur, two men, including one wearing a PPE kit are seen mounting the body, which is wrapped in a bag, to be thrown over the bridge on the Rapti river. V.B. Singh CMO Balrampur said an FIR had been lodged against the family of the person whose body was thrown into the river. Mr. Singh said the body was of one Premnath Mishra of Siddharthnagar, who was admitted to hospital on May 25 and died three later on May 28. The body was handed over to his family as per COVID protocol, the CMO said. Mr. Singh said that the prima facie it came to light that the family had thrown the body into the river and appropriate action would be taken in the matter. Ever since bodies were seen floating in the Ganga, the police have set up pickets and patrolling by boats to prevent such disposals and even offered people a support sum of ₹5,000 for cremation if they cannot afford it. 

C) Public sector banks to lend up to ₹5 lakh to individuals for COVID-19 treatment.

Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have announced that they will provide unsecured loans of up to ₹5 lakh to individuals to meet their and family members’ COVID-19 treatment cost. This comes in the wake of the ongoing second wave of the pandemic that has swept across the country unleashing untold miseries on families across income groups. This forms part of three new loan products announced by them on Sunday to provide fresh lending support to vaccine manufacturers, hospitals/dispensaries, pathology labs, manufacturers and suppliers of oxygen, ventilators, importers of vaccines & COVID-related drugs logistics firms, and individuals suffering from COVID-19. As per these announcements made at a joint press conference by the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) and State Bank of India (SBI), individuals including salaried, non-salaried, and pensioners can avail of unsecured personal loans from ₹ 25,000 to ₹ 5 lakh to meet COVID-19 treatment. The repayment tenure is 5 years and SBI would charge interest of 8.5% per annum. Other banks are free to decide their interest rate. The PSBs have also offered to provide up to ₹2 crores as healthcare business loans to existing hospitals, nursing homes for setting up oxygen plants along with a power backup system under the ECGLS. Capped at an interest rate of 7.5% these loans are backed by a 100% guarantee cover of National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd (NCGTC) under ECLGS 4.0 which was announced by the Department of Financial Services and Government of India. The loan tenure is 5 years. The banks have also come out with business loans for healthcare facilities. Up to ₹.100 crore, each would be advanced to firms in Metro cites to set up/expand healthcare infrastructure and to manufacturers of healthcare products such as vaccines and ventilators. While firms in Tier 1 and urban centers can avail loans of up to ₹ 20 crores, the ones in Tier II to Tier IV can avail up to ₹ 10 crores. The loan tenure is 10 years. All these schemes being offered by PSBs will form part of the COVID loan book and are under priority sector lending.

D) Congress releases a seven-point charge sheet against Modi’s seven years in charge.

The Congress on Sunday released a seven-point ‘charge sheet against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government which has now completed seven years in power. The party accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of reversing all economic gains made by the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, insensitive treatment of the farmers, inept handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and failing to protect the country against threats from China. Randeep Surjewala, Congress general secretary and in-charge of the communication department, in a virtual press conference, said the Modi government was the weakest government India had had in 73 years. When the UPA government demitted office in 2014, the GDP was 8.1%, Mr. Surjewala said. Even before the pandemic hit in 2019-20 the GDP had fallen to 4.2%. In the first quarter of 2020-21, the GDP was down to minus 24.1%, and in the second quarter, it is now minus 7.5%. It is estimated that in 2020-21 the GDP will be close to minus 8%, he said. The government came to power on the promise of providing two crore employment. In seven years they should have provided 14 crore jobs. Forget about 14 crore jobs, the unemployment rate is at a 45-year high, he added. The Congress leader also slammed the government for its insensitive attitude towards the farmers. He said that the BJP government wanted big corporations to replace small farmers. He also accused the government of going back on their promise of implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report. This government is not against poverty, they are against the poor, he said pointing at the World Bank report that claimed that during the UPA years 27 crore persons overcame extreme poverty while the PEW Research Centre in 2020 said the middle class had shrunk in India with nearly 3.20 crore people being pushed off the grid.

E) Serum Institute promises 9-10 crore Covishield doses in June.

Serum Institute of India (SII) has informed the government that it will be able to manufacture and supply nine to 10 crore doses of Covishield in June, official sources said on Sunday amid complaints by States about the shortage of anti-coronavirus vaccine jabs. In a recent letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, SII said its employees have been working round the clock in spite of various challenges because of the pandemic. We are pleased to inform you that in the month of June we will be able to manufacture and supply nine to 10 crore doses of our Covishield vaccine to the country as compared to our production capacity of 6.5 crore doses in May, Prakash Kumar Singh, the Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at SII, said in the letter. Mr. Singh also thanked Mr. Shah for his valuable guidance and continuous support at various stages of their endeavor to make India ‘aatmanirbhar’ (self-sufficient) in COVID-19 vaccines and making it available for the people of the country. Serum Institute of India has always been sincerely concerned about the protection of the citizens of our country and the world at large from COVID-19. Under the leadership of our CEO, Adar C Poonawalla, our team has been working relentlessly shoulder to shoulder with our government to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, he said in the letter. We assure you that with the support of the Government of India and under your kind guidance, we are trying our best by utilizing all of our resources to increase our production capacity of Covishield in the coming month also. In early May, SII had communicated to the Centre that production of Covishield would be ramped up to 6.5 crores in June, seven crores in July, and 10 crores each in August and September.

F) India has sent a jet to Dominica for Mehul Choksi’s extradition, says Antigua PM.

The government has maintained its silence on the Mehul Choksi deportation case in the Caribbean islands, even as the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda claimed that he had information that India has sent a jet to Dominica to provide documentation and take custody of the fugitive businessman. Antiguan Prime Minister Gaston Browne said India is going all out to ensure that Mr. Choksi, who is wanted for the ₹13,578 crores Punjab National Bank fraud case, is deported to India, and indicated that Indian officials were in Dominica’s capital Roseau to escort him back on a Qatar Airways private jet parked now at the Douglas-Charles airport nearby, that landed there on May 28. Yes, I can confirm there is a jet there. My understanding is that the Indian government has sent certain documentation from the courts in India to confirm that Mr. Choksi is indeed a fugitive and my understanding is that the documentation will be used in the court case that will be heard at the court next Wednesday, Mr. Browne told Pointe FM radio channel, where he broadcasts his own show, on Sunday. According to publicly available information on Flight tracker sites, the jet, a Qatar Executive flight-A7CEE arrived traveled to Dominica from Doha to Delhi to Madrid, indicating it began its journey on May 27, the day before Mr. Choksi was produced in Dominica’s Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. The Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Home Affairs declined to comment on the issue. Mr. Choksi, who has been on the run from India since 2018, disappeared from Antigua last Wednesday and was arrested by Dominican authorities on Friday bearing grievous injuries from what his lawyers claimed was a kidnap attempt.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) Israel, Egypt officials meet in a bid to solidify the Gaza ceasefire.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted Egypt’s intelligence chief and sent Israel’s Foreign Minister to Cairo on Sunday, amid efforts to build on a ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas a week ago that ended the worst violence in Egypt helped broker the truce that has held since May 21, a diplomatic success that thrust it into the spotlight, and is working with the United States and other regional partners to expand it into a more permanent ceasefire. Mr. Netanyahu said his meeting with Abbas Kamel in Jerusalem dealt with regional security issues and ways to prevent Hamas, the Islamist militant group that rules Gaza, from siphoning off civilian aid to strengthen its capabilities. Palestinian officials put reconstruction costs at tens of millions of dollars from Israeli strikes in Gaza, where medical officials said 248 people were killed during 11 days of fighting. Israel is also repairing damage caused by Palestinian rockets and missiles, which killed 13 people in Israel. Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi’s trip to Cairo was the first such visit in 13 years. Mr. Ashkenazi said he would discuss with Egyptian counterparts establishing a permanent ceasefire with Hamas, along with ways to help rebuild Gaza. Egypt announced on Saturday that Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry would receive Mr. Ashkenazi, but did not give further details of the talks. Both Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Ashkenazi said a key aim for Israel was to secure the return of two Israeli civilians and the remains of two soldiers held for years in Gaza. Hamas has refused to hand them over. 

B) China’s space station plans gather pace with cargo docking

China took another step towards completing the construction of its first space station by the end of next year following the launch and docking of a cargo spacecraft early on Sunday. The Tianzhou-2 cargo spacecraft, described by China’s state media as the delivery guy for China’s space station, was launched late on Saturday on a Long March-7 rocket from the island of Hainan and docked eight hours later with the space station’s first core module called Tianhe, or heavenly harmony. The launch was the third landmark for China’s space program in recent weeks. China landed a spacecraft on Mars on May 15 carrying its first Mars rover, Zhurong. The Tianhe module, which the cargo spacecraft docked with on Sunday, was launched on April 29. The Tianzhou-2 spacecraft carried a range of supplies, the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) said, and will be followed by the launch of another cargo spacecraft, Tianzhou-3, and two manned missions, Shenzhou-12 and Shenzhou-13, later this year, each carrying three astronauts who will spend several months in orbit. The Shenzhou-12 launch is slated for mid-June. The six missions to follow this year, including for the space station’s second and third modules, Wentian and Mengtian, will close to complete the construction of China’s first space station, expected to be finished in 2022. The CMSA said Tianzhou-2, with a maximum takeoff weight of 13.5 tons and 6.9 ton-payload capacity, is the largest cargo spacecraft in service. The spacecraft is carrying cargo and propellant that will replenish the supplies of the Tianhe module, the agency said. Official broadcaster China Global Television Network said its supplies include food for the crew that will follow in the Shenzhou-12 and Shenzhou-13 missions, including famous stir-fried Chinese dishes like shredded pork with garlic sauce and Kung Pao chicken.

NATIONAL NEWS

A) Withdraw the ‘unconstitutional’ recall order of Chief Secretary: Mamata tells Centre.

Describing the Union government’s order to recall West Bengal Chief Sectary Alapan Bandyopadhyay as unconstitutional, unilateral and a result of political vendetta, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday urged the Centre to withdraw the order. I appeal to you to withdraw this letter and allow him to work for the people of the State. I will appeal to you Prime Minister, Home Minister, do not indulge in political vendetta when it comes to IAS and IPS officers, she said. Banerjee pointed out that she did meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and before leaving for Digha sought his permission three times. I feel insulted and humiliated, but they should not insult my officers. What was his (Mr Bandyopadhyay’s) fault? He went with me to meet PM, the Chief Minister said. Hours after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did not participate in the review meeting on cyclone Yaas chaired by the Prime Minister, the appointments committee of the Cabinet attached the State’s top bureaucrat to the Centre. Referring to photographs of empty chairs at the Prime Minister’s meeting, Banerjee said she spoke to him for several minutes, which was not photographed and circulated. Since last night so many political leaders made unjust comments to tarnish my image, the image of my government, she said. The Chief Minister also raised the issue that the Leader of Opposition was not present when the Prime Minister visited Gujarat or Odisha. It was supposed to be a PM-CM meeting. Then, later it was revised with the presence of central ministers, Leader of Opposition and the Governor, Banerjee pointed out.

 

B) Recall of Bengal chief secretary is ‘malicious’, spells the death knell of federalism, says Congress.

The Congress on Saturday decried the recall of the West Bengal Chief Secretary by the Centre, alleging it was an unpardonable attack on the Constitution and federalism that will create anarchy in the country, PTI reported. Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the abrupt, malicious and unilateral recall of West Bengal’s chief secretary by the Modi Government has shocked the conscience of the entire nation. This is a double whammy when viewed in light of the fact that the chief secretary was granted an extension for three months by the Modi Government itself as recently as four days ago, he said and called it a death knell for federalism. This is a lethal blow to the Constitution of India, as also federalism. If the Union Government is permitted to recall the All India Service Officers i.e. IAS and IPS from the states for partisan political considerations and at its whims and fancies, the entire architecture of the rule of law and the Constitution will crumble, Surjewala said in a statement. He said if the head of bureaucracy in a state is summarily removed by the Union Government, why would any IAS or IPS officer, whether a district magistrate or a secretary or a police officer, listen to and follow the orders of state government or implement any policy or programme devised by the state government. This would lead to complete and total anarchy in the country, he alleged. Will the prime minister, the DPOT and the BJP Government disclose the reason for the U-turn in recalling the chief secretary within four days of granting him a three months extension, he demanded. The Congress leader also said the ongoing saga in the Calcutta High Court is grossly disturbing and bodes ill for an independent judiciary. Surjewala said equally shocking for every individual having faith in the Constitution is the recent letter written by Justice Arindam Sinha, a sitting Judge of the Calcutta High Court. Barely four days after he was granted an extension, the Centre on Friday night sought the services of West Bengal Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay and asked the state government to relieve the officer immediately, a move termed by the ruling Trinamool Congress as a forced deputation. Bandyopadhyay, a 1987-batch IAS officer of the West Bengal cadre, was scheduled to retire on May 31 after completion of 60 years of age. However, he was granted a three-month extension following a nod from the Centre.

 

C) 13 more District Collectors empowered to grant citizenship to applicants from 3 countries.

The Home Ministry empowered 13 more District Collectors in five States Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab to grant citizenship certificates to applicants belonging to six minority communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. The latest notification is a reiteration of similar orders issued in 2016 and 2018 and is not related to the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) that is yet to come into effect. The CAA passed in 2019 seeks to grant Indian citizenship to six undocumented communities that came to India till December 31, 2014. The May 28 notification intends to benefit legal migrants (who entered on passport/visa) from the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who have already applied for Citizenship under Section 5 (by registration) and Section 6 (naturalisation) of the Citizenship Act, 1955. The only way CAA could have helped the legal minority migrants is in fast-tracking their applications as it reduced the mandatory requirement of 11 years aggregate stay in India to five for citizenship. While the rules for CAA are yet to be framed, a minority applicant from the three countries, even if he or she came in 2014, becomes eligible for citizenship in the year 2025. Many of them, however, have been residing in India for more than 20 years on long-term visas (LTV). An LTV is a precursor to Citizenship. The applicants will have to apply online and a citizenship certificate will be provided after a security check by Central agencies and State police. Under the existing system, minority communities from the three countries who entered India before December 31, 2009, may or may not choose to provide a copy of their passports but they have to provide the date of the visa and may upload the visa document in place of the passport while applying for citizenship. The Home Secretaries of Punjab (except Jalandhar) and Haryana (except Faridabad) have also been given such powers. Citizenship is a Central subject and the Home Ministry periodically delegates powers to States through gazette notification under Section 16 of the Citizenship Act, 1955.

 

D) Vairamuthu to ‘return’ ONV Kurup literary prize.

Popular Tamil lyricist Vairamuthu on Saturday announced ‘returning’ the ONV literary prize, instituted in memory of Jnanpith laureate Malayalam poet late ONV Kurup, following protests from various quarters against the award to the songwriter, who is facing sexual harassment charges. Though he said he was ‘returning’ the award, in effect he was declining the honour, saying he did not want the jury to face embarrassment and blamed ‘vendetta’ behind the decision to reconsider the award by the ONV Cultural Academy. He requested that the cash prize of ₹3 lakh announced by the academy be given to the Kerala Chief Minister’s Public Relief fund and announced his own contribution of ₹2 lakh towards the same as a token of his love for Kerala and its people. Due to the interference of those with vendetta the award has been subject to reconsideration is what I have come to know. Wondering if the protests were aimed at belittling him and Kurup, Vairamuthu said he wanted to make sure that the scholarly jury should not be pushed to embarrassment. Therefore, I only desire to avoid receiving the award amid controversies, he said. On Friday, the ONV Cultural Academy had said it has decided to review the decision to grant the fifth ONV Literary Prize to Vairamuthu. The academy’s decision came in the wake of mounting protests from various quarters against the decision to give the award to the Tamil songwriter and poet who is facing accusations of sexual harassment. Actors Parvathi Thiruvothu and Geetu Mohandas and singer Chinmayi Sripada, who was among the women who accused Vairamuthu of sexual harassment, had objected to the Kerala honour for the lyricist. Vairamuthu had earlier denied the allegations levelled against him, calling them totally false and motivated.

 

E) As Jaishankar’s visit concludes, vaccine procurement challenges still being worked out.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed a range of issues on Friday including Covid-19 vaccine procurement, India-China border issues (according to the U.S.), climate change, the Quad, and the bilateral relationship. Discussions around vaccine procurement for India and related issues such as indemnity for vaccine manufacturers are still being resolved. I’m not going to get into the very specific angles of what was discussed, but certainly, vaccine manufacturing, procurement, delivery the larger question of how we can cooperate together both bilaterally and on the larger Quad context were covered today, Acting Assistant Secretary Dean Thompson who was present at the meeting said in response to a question from The Hindu. Both he and Jaishankar addressed the Indian press separately after the bilateral meeting. Asked whether there was a discussion on the allocation of vaccines from the U.S. stockpile, Jaishankar said the topic came up but did not get into details. The Biden administration has committed to sharing 60 million AstraZeneca doses and 20 million additional vaccine doses with the rest of the world by the end of June. American officials have said they will work with COVAX an international effort to equitably distribute vaccines in arriving at the allocation. Expanding vaccine manufacturing in India, Jaishankar said, was one of the goals of his visit to Washington. In a tweet on Friday, he said his meeting with Blinken and the team also focused on the Indo-U.S. vaccine partnership aimed at expanding access and ensuring supply. Resolving issues around U.S. demands for indemnity and early Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) were central to Jaishankar’s agenda in Washington, The Hindu had reported. However, regulatory, legal, commercial and supply-side aspects were still under discussion, the Minister told members of the Indian press on Friday. These [discussions] are going on between the companies concerned and the authorised people in India.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) As Putin hosts Lukashenko, U.S. hits Belarus with sanctions. 

The United States on Friday announced punitive measures against Belarus targeting the regime of strongman President Alexander Lukashenko, who met with Russian leader Vladimir Putin amid a global outcry over the forced diversion of a European plane. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki called for a credible international investigation into the events of May 23, which she called a direct affront to international norms. Belarus scrambled a military jet to divert a Ryanair plane and arrested 26-year old opposition journalist and activist Roman Protasevich who was on board, triggering a global outcry. The White House announced it was working with the EU on a list of targeted sanctions against key members of Mr Lukashenko’s regime. Meanwhile, economic sanctions against nine Belarusian state-owned enterprises, reimposed by Washington in April following a crackdown on pro-democracy protests, will come into effect on June 3. The further U.S. moves on Belarus could target those that support corruption, the abuse of human rights, and attacks on democracy, Ms Psaki said. The White House also issued a Do Not Travel warning for Belarus to U.S. citizens and warned American passenger planes to exercise extreme caution if considering flying over Belarusian airspace.

 

B) Sri Lanka faces marine disaster after ship fire.

Sri Lanka faces an unprecedented pollution crisis as waves of plastic waste from a burning container ship hit the coast and threaten to devastate the local environment, a top environment official warned Saturday. Thousands of Navy ratings using mechanical diggers scooped tonnes of tiny plastic granules on the beaches that had come from the Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl that has been smouldering on the horizon for ten days. Sri Lanka’s Marine Protection Authority (MEPA) said the microplastic pollution could cause years of ecological damage to the Indian Ocean island. This is probably the worst beach pollution in our history, MEPA chairman Dharshani Lahandapura said. The tiny polyethene pellets threaten tourism beaches and fish-breeding in shallow waters. Fishing has been banned along an 80 km stretch of coast near the ship that has been burning for 10 days despite an international firefighting operation.

NATIONAL NEWS

A) Supreme Court expresses anguish over the plight of children orphaned by COVID-19.

 

The Supreme Court on Friday said precious time was being lost as children orphaned, abandoned and traumatised by the Covid-19 pandemic were starving without food on the streets of this large country. The apex court ordered district authorities across the country to immediately fan out and identify these children in need of care and provide them with basic needs like food, shelter and clothes. Days are passing by without children getting any food. Hope you will understand [to the Centre and the State governments] the agony these children are undergoing on the streets. We do not know the age of these children starving on the streets or how many of them are there in such a large country, a visibly anguished Justice L. Nageswara Rao, accompanied by Justice Aniruddha Bose on the Bench, said. Justice Rao said the actual number of children abandoned or orphaned may be much more than what has been cited in official and news reports. Bhati and advocate Swarupama Chaturvedi, for the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, said the Commission had an online portal ‘Bal Swaraj’ wherein district authorities could individually upload the figures of orphans and children in need of care and protection within their respective jurisdictions. District authorities have already been given the password to operate the portal. The court directed the district authorities in every State to upload the details of children who were orphaned and in a position requiring care and protection after March 2020, the month when the pandemic began in India. The court asked the States to separately provide the facts and figures of such children by Sunday evening. The court scheduled a hearing on Tuesday. The hearing on Friday was based on an urgent application filed by the amicus curiae, advocate Gaurav Agrawal, who placed on record a report in The Hindu about the plight of children during the pandemic. Agrawal said the pandemic has wreaked havoc in the lives of many children who had either lost both parents or guardians to the virus. He said, quoting the newspaper report, that there has been a marked increase in child trafficking, especially of girls. Agrawal said the government had an obligation to protect children.

 

B) The current rate of vaccination guarantees a third wave, which will be much worse: Rahul Gandhi.

In a virtual press conference, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today said that the current rate of vaccination will guarantee a third Covid-19 wave and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, through his nautanki [theatrics], has created space for the virus to evolve and spread in India. He also lambasted Modi for not having understood the virus, for not having a vaccination strategy, and for waiting till 2021 to order vaccines when he could have done it last year. He also attacked the Prime Minister for deprioritising India’s needs by exporting millions of vaccines before a sufficient number of Indians could be vaccinated. Gandhi also claimed that the Covid-19 mortality figures put out by the Centre were big lies. Though Modi was worried about his image, it is gone; it’s dead, he said. He also accused the government of shutting down the feedback and information system. The pressure against social media companies such as Twitter and Facebook should be viewed in that context, he observed. Mr Modi is responsible for the second wave of Covid-19; it’s a result of his ‘nautanki’ [theatrics] and lack of his responsibility. It’s time for him to be a leader, display leadership skills and show courage and not come out with excuses and blame others, he said. The Prime Minister doesn’t think strategically. He is an event manager. He thinks one event at a time. You don’t need events now as events will kill people, you need a strategy. The aim of the strategy should be to shut the space for corona, he noted. With only 3 % of India’s population fully vaccinated and 97 % potentially exposed to the virus, the situation was alarming not just to the country but a ‘liability to the entire planet. As the virus mutated very fast, there could come a time when even vaccines may not be as effective as they were now. If 50-60% of India’s population was vaccinated, then the threat of a third wave would greatly subside and certainly won’t be a fourth or fifth wave, he said. You are the Prime Minister, the buck stops with you, Gandhi said, adding, Did Chhattisgarh export vaccines? No, the Prime Minister of India exported vaccines. Because he fundamentally misunderstood what is going on. The government may believe that their fight against coronavirus involved a fight with its political rivals as well, but the Opposition parties were actually a warning system. The tragedy is that the government is not understanding the nature of what they are fighting. The government is under the impression that they are fighting the Opposition. When it comes to corona, we are on the government’s side, he pointed out.

 

C) Narada case: All four TMC leaders get interim bail.

Four West Bengal leaders, including two Ministers, who were arrested by the CBI in the Narada case, were granted interim bail by a five-judge Bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday on a personal bond of ₹2 lakh each. One of the conditions of the bail granted by the Bench of Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justices I.P. Mukerji, Harish Tandon, Soumen Sen and Arjit Banerjee was that the accused persons shall not give any press interview or make any public comments in connection with the cases pending in this court or in the trial court, pertaining to the alleged offence concerning themselves or any other co-accused. The aforesaid accused persons shall make themselves available for interrogation in the course of further investigation, if any, of the alleged offence, as and when required by the CBI. Considering the lockdown imposed in the State of West Bengal, the interrogation may be carried out by virtual mode, the order said. The CBI arrested Ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, MLA Madan Mitra and former Minister Sovan Chatterjee on May 17 and they were granted bail by a Special CBI court the very same day. But it was stayed by a Division Bench of the High Court. The court later placed them under house arrest and constituted the five-judge Bench. The matter will now come up for hearing on May 31.

 

D) More pre-term babies during the second wave, say doctors in Bengaluru hospital.

More pregnant women appear to be testing positive for Covid-19 and developing complications during the ongoing second wave. As a result, gynaecologists in Karnataka are seeing a rise in pre-term deliveries and stillbirths. Although there is no statewide data available as yet, doctors said they are seeing many pregnant women reporting severe breathing problems. There is a rapid deterioration in the condition of such patients making urgent intervention and premature births inevitable, they said. A premature/pre-term delivery is one in which the baby is born before the 37th week of pregnancy. Patients and their families too readily give consent for a premature delivery, when the situation demands urgent intervention. If such patients need to be put on ventilators or require pruning, anaesthetists and treating physicians recommend that the deliveries be conducted before starting the treatment. We had to do this in 45 of the 276 positive women who delivered in our hospital since March, said D Tulasi Devi, Medical Superintendent of Hajee Sir Ismail Sait (HSIS) Gosha Hospital, Bengaluru. This State-run hospital is a dedicated Covid-19 facility for pregnant women. A total of 524 pregnant women had been admitted here since March. Among these, 276 women delivered at the hospital and the rest who were in their first or second trimesters were treated and discharged. Five of the 45 women who delivered pre-term succumbed to Covid-19. The hospital has seen a total of 22 maternal deaths during the second wave so far. While five were the ones who delivered pre-term, three died after giving birth at 32 weeks. The remaining 14 mothers, who had come with severe Covid-19 complications and precariously low oxygen saturation levels, died despite intervention. Chikkanarasa Reddy, professor of Paediatrics, Bowring and Lady Curzon Medical College and Research Institute, said although seven of the babies born to these COVID-positive mothers tested positive, all of them have recovered.

 

E) NCB arrests Sushant Singh Rajput’s flatmate Siddharth Pithani from Hyderabad.

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Friday arrested Siddharth Pithani in Hyderabad for his alleged involvement in the drugs procurement case linked to the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Confirming the arrest, a senior NCB official said Pithani would be produced before a competent court later on Friday. The accused, a flatmate of the actor, was among the four persons who were present at Sushant’s Mumbai residence when his body was found on June 14 last year. In the same case, the NCB earlier arrested several persons, including Sushant’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Show, Sushant’s housekeeping manager Samuel Miranda and staff member Dipesh Sawant, drug peddlers. The NCB has instituted the case based on the initial information shared by the Enforcement Directorate on text exchanges among the suspects and its own preliminary findings. Sushant’s death is being probed by the CBI, which took over the case from the Patna Police in August last year.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Germany recognises colonial killings in Namibia as genocide.

Germany has agreed to officially recognise the colonial-era killings of tens of thousands of people in Namibia as genocide and to spend a total of 1.1 billion euros ($1.3 billion), largely on development projects. The accord with Namibia announced Friday is the result of more than five years of talks on the events of 1904-1908, when Germany was the southern African country’s colonial ruler. Historians say German Gen. Lothar von Trotha, who was sent to what was then German South-West Africa to put down an uprising by the Herero people in 1904, instructed his troops to wipe out the entire tribe. They say that about 65,000 Herero were killed and at least 10,000 Nama. In the light of Germany’s historical and moral responsibility, we will ask Namibia and the descendants of the victims for forgiveness, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement. Our aim was and is to find a joint path to genuine reconciliation in remembrance of the victims, he said. That includes our naming the events of the German colonial era in today’s Namibia, and particularly the atrocities between 1904 and 1908, unsparingly and without euphemisms. We will now officially call these events what they were from today’s perspective: a genocide. Germany says that representatives of the Herero and Nama were involved in the negotiations, though Berlin’s direct dealings have been with the Namibian government. Talks between Germany and Namibia opened in 2015, more than a decade after a 2004 visit to Namibia in which then-Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul offered Germany’s first apology for the killings, which she said were what today would be labelled as genocide. Maas said that as a gesture of recognition of the incalculable suffering, Germany plans to support Namibia and the descendants of the victims with a 1.1 billion-euro rebuilding and development program in whose design and implementation the communities affected by the genocide will take a decisive role. At the same time, he said that legal claims to compensation cannot be derived from this. That reflects Germany’s position that the Genocide Convention of 1948 cannot be applied retroactively, and that its liability is political and moral rather than legal. The projects Germany agreed to fund are expected to stretch over a 30-year period and will cover areas such as land reform, including land purchases, agriculture, rural infrastructure, water supply and vocational training. They will be separate from continuing development aid to Namibia.

 

B) As India watches keenly, Sri Lanka seeks FDI in Port City.

Sri Lanka on Friday invited international investment into the Colombo Port City that it described as a fully Sri Lankan project, while official sources in New Delhi said they were keeping a close eye on the project and its security implications. If it is only a commercial venture then that is their (Sri Lanka’s] choice. We will continue to engage Sri Lanka while watching our national interest, said a government source in New Delhi, awaiting the final version of the Bill whose blueprint the Sri Lankan Parliament’s Speaker signed on Thursday. The ‘Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act’ is yet to be made public. Addressing concerns around the recently passed legislation on laws governing the Colombo Port City, which critics fear might be a Chinese enclave in the Sri Lankan capital, a team of government Ministers said the China-backed $1.4 billion. Port City, pitted as a financial hub, had the potential to create 83,000 jobs and bring in up to $15 billion in investments. Constitutional experts and opposition legislators argue that the 269-acre financial hub, coming up on reclaimed land adjoining Colombo’s seafront, would enjoy, besides a tax-free status, immunity from Sri Lankan law. Sections within Sri Lanka, including the political opposition, trade unions and the influential Buddhist clergy, see it as a threat to Sri Lanka’s sovereignty. Apart from the high geopolitical stakes in the big-ticket investment project in the strategically located island nation, the Colombo Port City has sparked a raging debate within the country over its China policy. Instances of official signage excluding Tamil, an official language, while including Mandarin, drew wide criticism from the public. China has been among the top lenders to Sri Lanka, especially since the pandemic struck, offering a $1 billion in loan and a nearly-S 1.5 billion currency swap facility. Earlier this week, Sri Lanka’s Cabinet awarded a project to build an elevated highway in the capital’s suburbs estimated to cost S 1 billion to the State-owned China Harbour Engineering Corporation (CHEC), on a Build-operate-transfer basis, for 15 years.

NATIONAL NEWS

A) Concerned by ‘intimidation tactics’ and threat to free speech of its users, says Twitter.

Micro-blogging platform Twitter on May 27 said it planned to advocate changes in core elements of India’s new IT Rules that inhibit free and open public conversation, while also expressing concern over intimidation tactics used by the Delhi Police against it recently in the ‘Congress toolkit’ case. A spokesperson said that Twitter was at present concerned by recent events regarding its employees in India and the potential threat to freedom of expression for its users. Twitter India suspends account impersonating CJI N V Ramana. We, alongside many in civil society in India and around the world, have concerns with regards to the use of intimidation tactics by the police in response to enforcement of our global Terms of Service, as well as with core elements of the new IT Rules, the company spokesperson added. According to Twitter, it is particularly concerned about the requirement to make an individual (the compliance officer) criminally liable for content on the platform, the requirements for proactive monitoring, and the blanket authority to seek information about its customers. It believes this represents dangerous overreach that is inconsistent with open and democratic principles. The company has also said that the Ministry of Electronic and IT should publish the Standard Operating Protocols on procedural aspects of compliance for public consultation. We also would like to reaffirm that Twitter continues to accept grievances from users and law enforcement via our existing grievance redressal channel available here under the new Rules, it said. As per Twitter, it was recently served with a non-compliance notice and has withheld a portion of the content identified in the blocking order under its ‘Country Withheld Content’ policy. Twitter maintains that the escalated content constitutes legitimate free speech. However, it has been compelled to withhold in response to a non-compliance notice due to the law’s limited scope under Section 69A, which gives limited room to an intermediary to defend the content. Not doing so poses penal consequences with many risks for Twitter employees.

 

B) Twitter not cooperating, says Delhi police.

Responding to Twitter’s statement, the Delhi Police on Thursday said the micro-blogging website is neither police nor judiciary and that it was refusing to cooperate with the law enforcement agency. Twitter Inc. is purporting to be both an investigating authority as well as an adjudicating judicial authority. It has no legal sanction to be either. The only legal entity, so empowered by the duly laid down law, to investigate is the police and to adjudicate is the Courts, Delhi Police spokesperson said. Terming the statement issued by Twitter mendacious, the police said Twitter was trying to adjudicate the truth. The Delhi Police said the website claims to have material information basis which it not only ‘investigated’ but arrived at a ‘conclusion’ and it must share that information with the law enforcement agency. There should not be any confusion about this logical course, the spokesperson said. The Delhi Police called Twitter’s conduct obfuscatory, diversionary and tendentious, adding that there is one simple thing to do which Twitter refuses to do. That is, cooperate with the law enforcement and reveal to the legal authority the information it has. According to police, they have registered a preliminary inquiry based on a complaint by the representative of the Indian National Congress. Hence, the efforts by Twitter Inc. that portray that this as an FIR filed at the behest of the Government of India is wholly and completely incorrect, the statement read.

 

C) States responsible for vaccine shortfall, claims govt release, but is silent on delay in vaccine procurement.

India’s top Covid-19 adviser Dr. V.K. Paul has said the States had coerced the Centre into expanding the availability of vaccines despite being aware of being inadequately prepared. The Centre has been facing heavy flak lately for falling vaccination rates primarily caused by vaccine shortage when the need of the hour is rapid vaccination of the populations at risk. Dr. Paul, Chairman, National Empowered Group on Vaccine Administration, in a press statement Thursday said that vaccine supply, which was managed by the Centre from January-April, was well administered but wasn’t upto the mark in May. The Centre did all the heavy-lifting, which included funding vaccine manufacturers, accelerating approvals, ramping up production and bringing foreign vaccines to India. The vaccine procured by the Centre is supplied wholly to the States for free administration to people. All this is very much in the knowledge of the States. The Government of India has merely enabled the States to try procuring vaccines on their own, on their explicit requests. The States very well knew the production capacity in the country and what the difficulties are in procuring vaccines directly from abroad, said his note, which was released by the PIB (Press Information Bureau)in the form of a ‘Myths Vs Facts’ questionnaire. States, who had not even achieved good coverage of healthcare workers and frontline workers in three months wanted to open up the process of vaccination and wanted more decentralisation. Health is a state subject and the liberalised vaccine policy was a result of the incessant requests being made by the States to give states more power. The fact that global tenders have not given any results only reaffirm what we have been telling the States from day one: that vaccines are in short supply in the world and it is not easy to procure them at short notice, the note said. The note, however, had no answer to the question, raised by many critics of its vaccination policy, as to why it delayed placing vaccine orders till January 2021, when so many other countries had placed procurement orders by mid-2020 itself. Also, there was no response as to why no foreign vaccines were given emergency use authorization in India until well into 2021.

 

D) Withdraw new rules in Lakshadweep, Rahul urges PM.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to intervene and withdraw the new orders and regulations introduced by Lakshadweep Administrator Praful Khoda Patel. In the letter, written on Wednesday and released by the Congress on Thursday, Gandhi alleged that the new regulations and orders threaten the heritage of the archipelago. Lakshadweep’s pristine natural beauty and its unique confluence of cultures have drawn people for generations. The custodians of its heritage seek to safeguard the archipelago for posterity. However, their future is threatened by the anti-people policies announced by the administrator of Lakshadweep, Shri. Praful Khoda Patel, he wrote. The Congress leader said the Administrator had unilaterally proposed sweeping changes without consulting elected representatives or the people of Lakshadweep who were protesting against ‘arbitrary’ actions. The administrator’s attempt to undermine ecological sanctity of the island is evident in the draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation issued recently. The provisions undermine safeguards pertaining to land ownership, dilute environmental regulations for certain activities, and severely limit legal recourse available to affected persons. Livelihood security and sustainable development are being sacrificed for short-term commercial gains, Gandhi said. The Congress leader said that the proposed rule in the draft panchayat regulation to disqualify members with more than two children was blatantly anti-democratic. Furthermore, proposed changes to regulations like Prevention of Anti-Social Activities (PASA) Regulation, the Lakshadweep Animals Preservation Regulation, and lifting of restrictions on sale of alcohol are a deliberate assault on the cultural and religious fabric of the local community. The attempt to cut ties with Beypore port strikes at the close historical and cultural ties with Kerala, added Gandhi who is a Lok Sabha member from Kerala. The Congress leader also said that the administration demolished structures used by the fisher folk, fired contractual workers in various government departments, and relaxed quarantine norms, causing a spike in Covid-19 cases. Arguing that draconian regulations had been brought in to penalise dissent and undermine grassroots democracy in the guise of development and maintaining law and order, Gandhi’s letter to Modi read, I request you to intervene in this matter and ensure that the above mentioned orders are withdrawn. The people of Lakshadweep deserve a developmental vision that respects their way of life and reflects their aspirations. Meanwhile, Lakshdweep BJP Chief Mohammad Kasim has also joined the protests against Patel.

 

F) Tarun Tejpal case: HC directs sessions court to remove anything that reveals identity of woman.

Referring to the Goa court judgment acquitting journalist Tarun Tejpal, the Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the sessions court judge to redact the email ID of the survivor and the name of her husband and mother from the judgment before uploading it on the court website. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared before a single Bench of justice S.C. Gupte through videoconferencing and said the judgment in the case of sexual assault and rape was to be pronounced on May 19 which got postponed to May 21 when it was only revealed that Tejpal was acquitted. The State of Goa immediately filed for an appeal before the High Court challenging the acquittal. He went on to say that the physical copy of the judgment was made available only on May 25. He pointed out the paragraphs in which the email ID of the survivor, the names of her partner, now husband, and her mother had been revealed. He, therefore, urged the High Court to pass a direction to the sessions court to delete all the details that may reveal the identity of the survivor before uploading the judgment on the court website. In its order, the HC said, considering the law against disclosure of identity of victim, the sessions court is directed to redact the email ID of the prosecutrix (victim), her husband and mother’s name. The court said it would adjourn the matter to be heard once vacation was over and regular court started on June 7. Mehta, however, requested the court to hear the matter before that and said, The system expects sensitivity over jurisprudence. We owe it to our girls. The court agreed and posted the matter to be heard on June 2. On May 21, special judge Kshama Joshi at the Mapusa District and Sessions Court, Goa, acquitted Tejpal from all charges of rape by a person in position of control, rape by a person in position of authority, assault with the intent of outraging modesty, assault with intent to disrobe and sexual harassment.

 

G) Seven non-BJP-ruled states seek GST loss compensation.

Seven States ruled by the Congress and other Opposition parties have demanded that the Centre compensate tax losses to the States under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act at the earliest and enhance the additional borrowing limit to 5% of the Gross State Domestic Product. The Finance Ministers of non-BJP-ruled States raised the demands at a virtual meeting hosted by Rajasthan Urban Development and Housing Minister Shanti Dhariwal ahead of the GST Council’s meeting scheduled for May 28. The States also sought waiving of all taxes on the goods purchased for fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. Dhariwal, who represents the Rajasthan government in the GST Council, said on Thursday that the Finance Ministers of all States would remain united on these issues and raise them effectively before Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the GST Council’s meeting.

 

H) Revive MPLAD scheme in its true spirit and release funds, Om Birla urged.

Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to restart the Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme and make MPLAD funds available to MPs. Chowdhury said it is critical to have access to MPLAD funds because of the second wave of Covid-19 and the devastation caused by the cyclonic storm Yaas that made its landfall in Odisha and impacted neighbouring Bengal. The MP from Bengal said the funds are the only way by which the Members of Parliament can truly come to the aid of their constituents in their hour of grief and extreme need. While the second wave of the pandemic has brought unimaginable miseries, the people of Odisha and West Bengal are on the verge of facing the devastating affects of Yaas. The critical impact the cyclonic storm would have on the intensity of the pandemic in West Bengal and Odisha in particular remains to be seen in the coming days. There is a distinct possibility of a significant increase in the Covid-19 infection rate in the region in the coming days, Chowdhury wrote. He said the funds should be made available without any restrictions so that the amounts are rightly channelled to address the health care needs of the people in these uncertain and extremely sad times.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) U.S.-China engagement era has come to an end: top U.S. official.

The more than three-decade long era of engagement between the United States and China that saw the world’s two largest economies develop closely interdependent relations has come to an end, a top official of the Biden administration has said. The period that was broadly described as engagement has come to an end, Kurt Campbell, who is the Coordinator for Indo Pacific Affairs and the top U.S. official for Asia, said at a Stanford University event. He said competition would henceforth be the dominant paradigm and U.S. policy would work under a new set of strategic parameters, Bloomberg News quoted him as saying. Mr. Campbell’s comments underline the shift in U.S. views on China from the time of the Obama administration as well as the broadly bipartisan consensus on the current direction of relations, following four turbulent years for the relationship under the previous Trump administration. Mr. Campbell said Chinese policies under [President] Xi are in large part responsible for the shift in U.S. policy, Bloomberg News reported, adding that he cited clashes on China’s border with India, an economic campaign against Australia and the rise of China’s wolf warrior’ diplomacy’ as examples that suggested China is determined to play a more assertive role. He de. scribed the Chinese President as deeply ideological but also quite unsentimental and said the two top Chinese diplomats who had held talks with top Biden administration officials in Alaska in March Politburo member Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi – were nowhere near, within a hundred miles of Mr. Xi’s inner circle. He said the U.S. believed the best way to engage a more assertive China is to work with allies, partners and friends. Reacting to his comments, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Thursday that using ‘competition’ to define or dominate China-U.S. ties is a total mistake that will only lead to confrontation and conflict. Even if there is competition, it should be sound competition that helps to reinforce each other and pursue common progress, rather than a vicious competition to beat each other. China firmly rejects U.S. moves to exclude and contain China in the name of competition, he added.

B) Macron seeks forgiveness over Rwanda genocide.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he recognised his country’s role in the Rwandan genocide and hoped for forgiveness at a memorial in Kigali on Thursday, seeking to reset relations after years of Rwandan accusations that France was complicit in the 1994 atrocities. Only those who went through that night can perhaps forgive, and in doing so give the gift of forgiveness, Mr. Macron said at the Gisozi genocide memorial, where more than victims are buried. Rows of skulls lie there in a mass tomb and the names of the victims are inscribed on a black wall. I hereby humbly and with respect stand by your side today, I come to recognise the extent of our responsibilities, he said. Rwandan President Paul Kagame welcomed Mr. Macron’s speech, saying at a joint press conference later that his words were more powerful than an apology. Mr. Macron agreed in April to open the Rwanda archives of former President Francois Mitterrand, in office during the genocide. Later, Rwanda released its own report that found France was aware a genocide was being prepared and bore responsibility for enabling it, continuing in its unwavering support for Rwanda’s then President, Juvenal Habyarimana.

NATIONAL NEWS

A) As WhatsApp moves court against new IT rules, govt claims they are meant only for tracing messages linked to ‘very serious offences’

WhatsApp has moved the Delhi High Court against India’s new and stricter IT Rules that require instant messaging platforms to aid in identifying the ‘originator’ of messages. The petition challenging the constitutional validity of the rules, which come into force on May 26, was filed on May 25. Requiring messaging apps to ‘trace’ chats is the equivalent of asking us to keep a fingerprint of every single message sent on WhatsApp, which would break end-to-end encryption and fundamentally undermines people’s right to privacy, a WhatsApp spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that the messaging platform had consistently joined civil society and experts around the world in opposing requirements that would violate the privacy of its users. ‘The Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021’ were notified on February 25, giving social media platforms three months to comply. The rules state that intermediary providing messaging services will enable the identification of the first originator of the information on its computer resource following a judicial order passed by a court of competent jurisdiction or an order passed under section 69 by the Competent Authority as per the Information Technology Act. The government, meanwhile, has said it respects the right to privacy and the requirement of tracing origin of flagged messages under the new IT rules is for prevention and investigation of very serious offences related to the sovereignty of India or public order. In a statement, the IT Ministry termed WhatsApp’s last moment challenge to the intermediary guidelines as an unfortunate attempt to prevent norms from coming into effect. The UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada require social media firms to allow for legal interception, it said, adding, What India is asking for is significantly much less than what some of the other countries have demanded. Therefore, WhatsApp’s attempt to portray the Intermediary Guidelines of India as contrary to the right to privacy is misguided, the official statement said.

B) Govt cites national security to deny RTI request on Twitter notice.

The Union government has cited national security concerns to deny a Right to Information request seeking details of last month’s notice sent to Twitter directing it to block certain tweets. It said its notice was empowered by a legal provision allowing information to be blocked if it harmed the country’s sovereignty, defence, foreign affairs or public order. In response to an April 23 notice from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Twitter blocked 50-odd tweets on the Modi government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, including tweets by a West Bengal Minister, Congress leaders, and a film maker. Bihar-based RTI activist Kanhaiya Kumar filed an RTI application three days later, asking about the legal provisions under which the tweets were blocked. In its response on Wednesday, the MeitY said that Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2009 empowered the government to block information from public access in the interest of the country’s sovereignty, integrity, defence, security, friendly relations with foreign States, public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognisable offence relating to the above. Kumar asked for a copy of the notice sent to Twitter and sought details of the Twitter handles, specific tweets and the total number of posts for which action was sought via the notice sent to Twitter. He sought a copy of all correspondence between Twitter and the government on the matter, a copy of the action taken report submitted by Twitter in response to the notice, and a copy of all file notings related to the issue. He further asked for information on whether a similar notice directing blocking of posts was sent to other social media platforms. The MeitY refused to provide any information in response to these questions, saying that as Section 69A of the IT Act and its matters are related to National Security, sovereignty and integrity, it attracted the provisions of Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act. This clause allows for the exemption of information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence. The Ministry response comes even as Twitter continues to defy the Centre’s latest notice to remove its manipulated media tag from BJP leaders’ tweets referring an alleged Congress toolkit on the government’s handling of the pandemic.

C) IMA sues Baba Ramdev for Rs.1,000 crore over disparaging remarks on allopathy.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has served a defamation notice on Baba Ramdev for making disparaging remarks against allopathy and allopathic doctors, and has demanded an apology from him within 15 days, failing which it said it will demand a compensation of Rs. 1,000 crore from the yoga guru. The six-page notice served on behalf of IMA (Uttarakhand) secretary Ajay Khanna by his lawyer Neeraj Pandey describes the remarks by Ramdev as damaging to the reputation and the image of allopathy and around 2,000 practitioners of it who are part of the association. Terming the remarks of the yoga guru a criminal act under Section of 499 of the Indian Penal Code, the notice demanded a written apology from him within 15 days of its receipt, or else a compensation of Rs. 1,000 crore will be demanded from him at the rate of $50 lakh per member of the IMA. The notice has also asked Ramdev to make a video clip contradicting all his false and defamatory allegations, and circulate it on all the social media platforms where he had uploaded his earlier video clip levelling the allegations. It has also asked the yoga guru to withdraw a misleading advertisement from all platforms endorsing Coronil kit, a product of his firm, as an effective medicine for Covid-19, failing which an FIR and a criminal case will be lodged against him by the IMA.

D) In major lapse, U.P. villagers who got Covishield in first dose vaccinated with Covaxin in second dose.

Twenty villagers in the eastern Uttar Pradesh district of Siddharthnagar were administered Covishield vaccine in their first dose and Covaxin in the second. The incident took place during a vaccination drive in a primary health centre in Barhni block. Ramsurat, a resident of Audahi Kala village, said he received Covishield on April 1. However, he was given a shot of Covaxin for his second dose on May 14. They did not check anything. The ASHA [worker] was standing elsewhere, he told reporters. Ramsurat said he is now afraid of possible side-effects. While 18 persons were from his village, the two others were from another village. A probe is being carried out. Chief Medical Officer Siddharthnagar Sandeep Chaudhary said a clarification was being sought from officials on the ground after a probe was conducted into the lapse. Action would be taken accordingly. It is a lapse because there is no guideline by the government of India that a cocktail [of vaccines] can be administered, the CMO said. While he said the 20 people did not face any problems, he was monitoring the issue.

E) Farmers hold nationwide protests, reiterate demands for repeal of three farm laws.

Nationwide demonstrations were held by farmers who burnt effigies of the Narendra Modi government and raising black flags to mark six months of their sit-in agitation at Delhi’s borders demanding the withdrawal of the three farms laws and the guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP). The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a coalition of hundreds of farmer unions, had given a call to observe a Black Day on May 26 across the country to mark six months of the farmers’ protest. Twelve Opposition parties had on Sunday issued a statement in support of the call. Led by the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) national president Ashok Dhawale, several leaders of the outfit held a Black Flag demonstration and burnt the effigy of the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in New Delhi. Among others, AIKS general-secretary Hannan Mollah and finance secretary P. Krishan Prasad were also present at the demonstration. Farmers, including women, also held black flags, raised slogans and burnt effigies of the Modi government at the Singhu and Ghazipur borders in Delhi.

F) Ignorant bigots in power destroying Lakshadweep, says Rahul; 8 local BJP leaders resign.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday threw his weight behind the people of Lakshadweep as he accused ignorant bigots in power of destroying the islands, PTI reported. His statement came a day after the Congress demanded the immediate removal of Lakshadweep administrator Praful Patel, alleging that he was not only destroying the peace and culture of the islands, but also harassing the people by imposing arbitrary restrictions. Lakshadweep is India’s jewel in the ocean. The ignorant bigots in power are destroying it. I stand with the people of Lakshadweep, Rahul Gandhi tweeted on Wednesday. The Congress has also alleged that the Administrator is allowing liquor on the islands, which is prohibited till now, and has brought in the Prevention of Anti-Social Activity (PASA) Act with the objective of harassing locals, besides taking away powers of panchayats, and was carrying out demolitions under new provisions brought in by him. Meanwhile, at least eight office-bearers of the Lakshadweep BJP unit have resigned from the party in protest against Patel’s arbitrary actions. The Lakshadweep unit of the BJP had written to Prime Minster Narendra Modi on April 20, conveying their grievances against Patel.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) Los Angeles Mayor may be next U.S. Ambassador to India: report.

U.S. President Joe Biden is reportedly preparing to name Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti as the next Ambassador to India. Mr Garcetti is a long-time political ally of the President. News of his imminent nomination was reported by Axios, which had, earlier in May, reported that Mr. Garcetti was being considered for the New Delhi job. Mr. Garcetti, a co-chair for the Biden campaign, was considered for a Cabinet post, according to Axios, but did not make it due to sexual harassment allegations against his former aide Rick Jacobs came to light. Two-term Mayor Mr. Garcetti is now approaching the end (December 2022) of his second term as Mayor of the country’s second largest city, a post he has held since 2013. The U.S.-India relationship enjoys bipartisan support in the U.S. with ties in trade, defence and the COVID-19 response growing across the Trump and Biden administrations. The two countries have also had to navigate their relationship in the context of growing Chinese assertiveness and aggression. The next U.S. Ambassador to India will inherit these issues as well as having to work with India in other forums such as the Quad. Mr. Biden is expected to send the Senate a number of Ambassadorial nominations next week. 

 

B) Defiant Lukashenko defends plane diversion, blasts critics acted lawfully to protect our people, says Belarus President.

A defiant President Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday defended Belarus’s diversion of a European flight and arrest of a dissident on board, lashing out at critics at home and abroad. In his first public statement since the Ryanair flight was diverted and Opposition journalist Roman Protasevich arrested on Sunday, Mr. Lukashenko dismissed the international outcry the incident provoked. He acted lawfully to protect our people, Mr. Lukashenko said in an address to Parliament, the Belta state-run news agency reported. The criticism was nothing more than another attempt by his opponents to undermine his rule, he said. Our ill-wishers at home and abroad have changed their methods of attacking the state, Mr. Lukashenko said. They have crossed many red lines and crossed boundaries of common sense and human morality. Mr. Lukashenko often dubbed Europe’s last dictator is facing some of the strongest international pressure of his 26-year rule of ex-Soviet Belarus. The strongman and his allies are already under a series of Western sanctions era brutal crackdown on mass protests that followed his disputed re-election to a sixth term last August. European leaders are now accusing authorities in Minsk of essentially hijacking the passenger flight, and they agreed this week to cut air links with Belarus and told airliners to avoid the country’s airspace. The Belarusian Opposition has called for further and stronger measures, and the UN Security Council was set to meet behind closed doors later on Wednesday. The Athens-to-Vilnius flight was diverted over a supposed bomb scare, with Mr. Lukashenko scrambling a MiG-29 fighter jet to accompany the aircraft. Belarus has released a transcript of communications between Minsk air traffic control and the Ryanair flight, in which the crew was told you have a bomb on board and urged to land in Minsk. Mr. Lukashenko denied that the fighter jet had forced the airliner to land, calling such claims an absolute lie.