Tag: india

CURRENT AFFAIRS
10 February 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

A) ED raids premises of News Click and its promoters in Delhi on money laundering charges. 

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on February 9 conducted searches on the premises of a Delhi-based news portal and its promoters on charges of alleged money laundering, official sources said. They said the premises of the website, NewsClick, and its promoters in South Delhi’s Saidullajab and some other areas are being searched. The action is being undertaken to collect additional information to probe money laundering charges against the news company and its promoters, the sources said. They said the probe is linked to some suspect foreign funding. The homes of some of Newsclick’s senior management, including human resources head Amit Chakravarty, editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha, and one of the editors, Pranjal, were also raided. Senior journalists such as Abhisar Sharma, Urmilesh Singh, and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta have been regularly hosted by NewsClick. NewsClick is one of the news platforms that has, over the past three months, been relentless in its close coverage of the farmers protests. It is noted for its focus on working class issues, including labour rights issues, and problems faced by sanitation workers.

B) Uttarakhand flood disaster: Toll rises to 31, 175 remain missing. 

The death toll from the Uttarakhand flood disaster rose to 31, with five more bodies being recovered, officials said on Tuesday as multiple agencies raced against time to reach about 30 workers trapped inside a tunnel in a power project site and 175 people remained missing. Two of the bodies were recovered from the debris in Raini village, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) officials said, two days after a portion of the Nanda Devi glacier possibly burst its banks and triggered an avalanche and floods in the Alaknanda river system. The State Emergency Operation Centre said five bodies were found in the morning, taking the death toll to 31, and estimated that 175 people are still missing. With the hours ticking by inexorably, fears escalated about those missing since the disaster struck on Sunday morning, according to officials who stepped up efforts to locate survivors. The missing people include those working at NTPC’s 480 MW Tapovan-Vishnugad project and the 13.2 MW Rishiganga Hydel Project and villagers whose homes nearby were washed away. Teams of the Army, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) coordinated efforts to rescue about 30 people who were working in a tunnel at the Tapovan-Vishnugad project when the waters came rushing in. The workers are trapped in the 12-ft-high and about 2.5-km-long ‘head race tunnel’ (HRT). Clearing of debris and slush continued the whole night. About 120 metres of the tunnel entrance stretch is now clear, ITBP spokesperson Vivek Kumar Pandey said in Delhi. The height of the accumulated slush has reduced more. ITBP personnel are waiting to enter as soon as any movement deep inside the tunnel is possible, he said. A senior official added that the rescuers have not been able to make any contact with those stuck inside but are hopeful for signs of life.

C) Modi gives a tearful farewell to Azad; Why can’t he shed some tears for farmers, asks TMC. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke down several times in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday while reminiscing about his close association with Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, whose term is coming to an end next week. The prime minister was participating in the farewell speech for Leader of Opposition Azad and three other members from Jammu and Kashmir — Nazir Ahmad Laway, Shamsher Singh Manhas, Mir Mohammad Fayaz — whose terms in the Upper House are coming to an end. Modi said it would be difficult for anyone to fill the shoes of Azad as he cared not only about his political affiliation but also about the country and the House. He worry that after Azad whosoever will take over from him will have to fill very big boots because he cared not only about his party but about the country as well as the House. This is not a small thing, this a big thing, Modi said. Commenting on Modi’s tears, Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy said that Farmers have been on an agitation. Why can’t the PM withdraw the bill and not stand on ego? He heard PM cried in the other house. Why can’t he shed some tears for farmers?

D) Kashmir will soon have no representation in Rajya Sabha. 

With the retirement of four MPs this month, the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir, for the first time, will be left with no representation in the Rajya Sabha. The terms of two PDP Rajya Sabha MPs—Nazir Ahmed Laway and Mir Mohammed Fayaz— are ending on February 10 and 15 respectively, while Azad’s term ends on February 15. BJP MP Shamsher Singh Manhas’ term on February 10. Since J&K does not have an elected Assembly yet and elections are on hold, the Union Territory will remain without a voice in the Upper House of Parliament.

E) More than 6 lakh Indians renounced Indian citizenship in the last five years. 

In the years 2015-2019, as many as 6,76,074 Indians renounced Indian citizenship and took up citizenship of other countries, the Ministry of Home Affairs informed the Lok Sabha today. Interestingly, these are also the years that saw the rise of hyper-nationalism as a major force in national politics and culture. A 2018 report by an investment firm had reported that India had lost 23,000 dollar millionaires since 2014, ranking at top in the list of countries seeing an exodus of the well-to-do.

F) SC panel meets agribusinesses for views on farm laws. 

The Supreme Court-appointed panel to examine the three contentious farm reform laws met representatives of 18 agribusinesses on Tuesday, as part of its consultations with stakeholders. It has previously met some farmers’ associations and farmer-producer organisations that were largely in favour of reforms but is yet to meet any of the unions that have been protesting on Delhi’s borders for two and a half months, demanding the repeal of the laws. At its sixth round of consultations on Tuesday, the panel met representatives of Amul, ITC, Suguna Foods and Venkateshwara Hatcheries, as well as industry lobby groups such as the CII and the FICCI. Other stakeholders who gave their views included associations representing seafood exporters, rice millers and exporters, poultry feed makers, grain and pulses trader , cotton mills and traders, and manufacturers of tractors and fertilisers. State-run bodies such as the Food Corporation of India, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority and the Marine Products Export Development Authority were also asked to give their views on the laws.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Biden underscores desire to defend democratic institutions on call with Modi: White House. 

U.S. President Joe Biden discussed his democratic institutions and norms with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as per a White House readout of the call between the two leaders. While the White House said the two leaders talked about a free and open Indo-Pacific, it also said that Biden underscored his desire to defend democratic institutions and norms around the world. He also noted that a shared commitment to democratic values is the bedrock for the U.S.-India relationship. This is suggestive of an added emphasis in the bilateral relationship, relative to the Trump administration, which had focused on the security aspect, driven in large measure by growing Chinese aggression and assertiveness. The language of the readout is significant in the context of the farmers’ protest around Delhi as this has gained visibility in the U.S., with celebrities and members of the U.S. Congress making references to them on social media. The MEA readout of the call said the two leaders, noted that the India-U.S. partnership is firmly anchored in a shared commitment to democratic values and common strategic interests.

B) Coronavirus unlikely to have leaked from Chinese lab, says WHO team.

The coronavirus is unlikely to have leaked from a Chinese lab and is more likely to have jumped to humans from an animal, a World Health Organisation expert said on Tuesday. WHO food safety and animal diseases expert Peter Ben Embarek made the assessment at the end of a visit to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where a team of scientists is investigating the possible origins of the coronavirus. The first cases were discovered in the city in December 2019. The Wuhan Institute of Virology has collected extensive virus samples, leading to allegations that it may have caused the original outbreak by leaking the virus into the surrounding community. China has strongly rejected that possibility and has promoted other theories that the virus may have originated elsewhere. The team is considering several theories for how the disease first ended up in humans. Their initial findings suggest that the introduction through an intermediary host species is the most likely pathway and one that will require more studies and more specific, targeted research, Embarek said. However, the findings suggest that the laboratory incidents hypothesis is extremely unlikely to explain the introduction of the virus to the human population. Transmission through the trade in frozen products was also a likely possibility, Embarek said. Along with the institute, the WHO team that includes experts from 10 nations has visited hospitals, research institutes, a traditional market tied to the outbreak and other sites on their visit.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
09 February 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Parliament proceedings: PM sees ‘aandolan jeevi’ and a new ‘FDI’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday coined two terms, ‘aandolan jeevi’ (professional protesters) and ‘Foreign Destructive Ideology’ to lampoon the Opposition and certain protesters and foreign individuals who have tweeted in support of the ongoing farmers’ agitation. While replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha, Modi said that India was not merely the world’s largest democracy; it was the ‘mother of democracy’. A new kind of FDI had emerged in the country and it was ‘Foreign Destructive Ideology’. They need to be more aware to save the country from such an ideology, he stated. Modi spoke about a new breed of protesters, ‘aandolan-jeevi’, who could be seen at every agitation. These parasites feast on every agitation. When they are not in the front, they operate from behind the curtains, they cannot survive without agitation, he observed. Calling upon everyone to educate the youth about the glorious history of the country, he said that People who suspect India’s democracy, he want to ask them to learn to understand it. Our democracy is not a western institution, it is a human institution. India’s nationalism should be protected from multiple attacks. Recently, international pop star Rihanna shared a news article of the ongoing farmers agitation on Twitter, asking why it wasn’t discussed enough. This prompted an unusual response from the government: it issued a press statement, stating that it was unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on these protests, and derail them.

B) SKM condemns PM’s remarks, calls it an ‘insult to farmer’

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, which is spearheading the farmer protests, condemned Prime Minister Narendra’s remarks in Parliament on ‘andolan jeevi’. In a press statement, the SKM condemned PM Modi’s insult to farmers and said, Andolans liberated India from the British and therefore we are proud to be ‘andolan jeevi’. The BJP’s predecessors never did ‘andolan’ against the British and were always against andolans. That’s why they are still scared of public movements. Farmer leader Shiv Kumar Kakka, who is a senior member of the SKM, said they are ready for the next round of talks and the government should tell them the date and time of the meeting. They have never refused to hold talks with the government. Whenever it has called us for dialogue, they held discussions with Union ministers. They are ready for talks with them (government), Kakka said.

C) Super Bowl features 30-second TV advertisement on farmers’ protest.

This year’s Super Bowl, a football championship game that is also one of the most-watched events on American television, featured a 30-second commercial on the ongoing farmers’ agitation in India, terming it the largest protest in history. The advertisement was funded by the Sikh community of Fresno, a city in central California, according to a grateful tweet from the Kisan Ekta Morcha handle, which is the official voice of the protesters. The 30-second spot in this year’s Super Bowl cost $5.5 million, and last year’s viewership of the championship was around 100 million. The commercial begins with a quote from Martin Luther King: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Images from the farmers’ tractor parade and their border camps are overlaid with text alleging human rights violations against protesters. Punjabi music plays as No Farmers, No Food, No Future flashes on the screen. It includes a message from Fresno mayor Jerry Dyer. They want them to know, their brothers and sisters in India, that they stand with them, he says. Fresno has a large Sikh population, as high as 40,000, according to some local reports. Pop music icon Rihanna’s viral tweet on the protests also gets a mention.

D) Uttarakhand glacier disaster: Death toll crosses 15; setbacks to hydel power projects. 

Rescue operations underway at Tapovan Tunnel, after a glacier broke off in Joshimath causing a massive flood in Chamoli, on February 8, 2021.  At least 15 persons have been killed and over 150 are missing after a portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Sunday, triggering an avalanche and a deluge in the Alaknanda river system. The sudden flood in the middle of the day in the Dhauli Ganga, Rishi Ganga and Alaknanda rivers all intricately linked tributaries of the Ganga triggered widespread panic and large-scale devastation in the high mountain areas. Two power projects – NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project and the Rishi Ganga Hydel Project were extensively damaged, with scores of labourers trapped in tunnels as the waters came rushing in. The Uttarakhand glacier burst has caused an estimated loss of ₹1,500 crore at the NTPC’s 480 mw Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project and has put a question mark on its scheduled commissioning in 2023, Union Power Minister R.K. Singh said on Monday. The minister visited Tapovan on Monday to assess the extent of damage at the project site, a day after the glacier burst in Chamoli district. The project was scheduled to be commissioned in 2023. But there is a question mark now on how long it will take to desilt it as lakhs of tonnes of silt is lying at the project site, Singh told reporters in Tapovan. As of now it is difficult to say when we will be able to resume work at the site and when the project will be commissioned, he said. However, the Union Minister ruled out any possibility of the project being scrapped.

E) SC rejects plea for imposition of President’s rule in Uttar Pradesh. 

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea to direct the imposition of President’s rule under Article 356 in Uttar Pradesh, saying the lawlessness, especially against women, is higher than in other States. A Bench led by Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde asked petitioner-in-person, advocate C.R. Jaya Sukin, the basis of his claim and challenged him to produce his research, comparing the crime rate in Uttar Pradesh with other States, on record. The court asked him how the alleged situation in Uttar Pradesh affected his fundamental rights, prompting him to file the petition. The Bench cautioned him saying it would impose heavy costs on him for wasting time. A lot of extra-judicial killings, arbitrary killings are taking place in Uttar Pradesh, Sukin submitted. Have you studied the crime records of other States? Where is your research? Chief Justice Bobde asked the lawyer. Of the total number of crimes in India, more than 30% are in Uttar Pradesh, Sukin claimed. His petition pointed to several incidents in the recent past, including the alleged gangrape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl at Hathras in the State. It also highlighted the detention of Dr. Kafeel Khan, the police excesses in the AMU, the name-and-shame banners of the anti-CAA protesters. Sukin said the State was most unsafe for women. According to the National Crime Record Bureau’s Crime in India 2019 report, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of crimes against women. India reported 4,05,861 cases in 2019 and of these, Uttar Pradesh had 59,853 such incidents, the petition said.

F) HC dismisses Navlakha’s appeal challenging rejection of statutory bail.

The Bombay High Court on Monday dismissed the appeal filed by activist Gautam Navlakha from the Taloja Central Jail, challenging the rejection of his statutory bail by the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on July 12 in the Bhima Koregaon violence case. A division bench of Justices S.S. Shinde and M.S. Karnik was hearing the appeal filed through senior advocate Kapil Sibal on September 9. Sibal had argued that 34 of days of Navlakha’s house arrest were not considered as detention and the NIA did not file its charge sheet within the stipulated period of 90 days as per the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Hence Navlakha was eligible for default bail. However, senior advocate SV Raju, appearing for the Central agency, contended that the house arrest period could not be counted. Navlakha was a free man as he was neither in custody nor on bail, he had said. The bench had reserved the order on December 16. As per the charge sheet, Navlakha was involved in secret communications with Communist Party of India (Maoist) cadres.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) China calls V.K. Singh’s statement on LAC ‘an unwitting confession’

Responding to Union Minister of State for State Transport and Highways V. K. Singh’s comment on Sunday India has transgressed more times than China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), but the government does not announce it, China’s Foreign Ministry, at a press conference today described it as an unwitting confession. Let me assure you, if China has transgressed 10 times, we must have done it at least 50 times, Singh has said, adding, Today, China is under pressure, since we are sitting at places (along the border), where it does not like. Asked to respond to this comment, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that this is an unwitting confession by the Indian side. For a long time, the Indian side has conducted frequent acts of trespass in the border area in an attempt tp encroach on China’s territory and constantly created disputes and frictions, which is the root cause of the tensions at the China-India border. We urge the Indian side to follow through on the consensus, agreements, and treaties it reached with China. The Chinese state’s mouth piece Global Times, in an opinion piece published today, was quick to observe that the latest remarks from Singh not only embarrassed India, but also made the U.S. and other Western countries, which have been endorsing India for a long time, look bad. Just a few days ago, Emily J.Horne, spokesperson of the National Security Council, expressed Washington’s concern over Beijing’s pattern of ongoing attempts to intimidate its neighbors in the new U.S. administration’s first response to the China-India border standoff. Yet Singh quickly proved who the real intimidator is.

B) South Africa sets aside 1 million doses of Covishield sent by India; to use Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines instead. 

South Africa has suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 shot, Covishield, in its vaccination programme after data showed it gave minimal protection against mild to moderate infection caused by the country’s dominant coronavirus variant. AstraZeneca’s vaccine is produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and marketed under the name Covishield. It is one of the two vaccines – the other being Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin – that India is using in its anti-Covid-19 immunisation programme. South Africa had intended to roll out the AstraZeneca shot to healthcare workers soon, after receiving 1 million doses of it from SII. However, it will now offer vaccines developed by Johnson &Johnson and Pfizer in the coming weeks while experts consider how the AstraZeneca shot can be deployed. From next week for the next four weeks, they expect that there will be J&J vaccines, there will be Pfizer vaccines. So what will be available to the health workers will be those vaccines. The AstraZeneca vaccine will remain with them up until the scientists give them clear indications as to what they need to do, South Africa’s Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
08 February 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Nanda Devi glacier burst: Seven bodies recovered. 

Seven bodies have been recovered and more than 125 individuals are missing after a flash flood, reportedly caused by the splintering of a glacier, hit the site of the Rishi Ganga dam on the Rishi Ganga River in Uttarakhand on Sunday. A small hydro project on the Rishiganga river was also swept away. They will give ₹4 lakh as compensation to the families of the dead. Five local persons are reported to have been swept away in the flash flood. Missing persons are about 125 this figure could be more also, informed Uttarakhand Chief Minister T.S. Rawat at a press conference on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also approved an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh each from PMNRF for the next of kin of those who have lost their lives due to the tragic avalanche caused by a Glacier breach in Chamoli, Uttrakhand. ₹50,000 would be given to those seriously injured. At least 12 persons have been rescued so far by the ITBP from an open tunnel, according to a senior National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) official. Five NDRF teams, three of which have been air lifted from Hindon in Ghaziabad, are on way to the disaster site and will join rescue operations by late evening.

B) Forces abroad conspiring to tarnish image of Indian tea: PM. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said some forces abroad were conspiring to tarnish the image of Indian tea. The focus of his speech in poll-bound Assam’s Dhekiajuli, a tea-growing area, was on the tea plantation workers, a major chunk of voters that the Bharatiya Janata Party had weaned away from the Congress ahead of the 2016 Assembly election. He want to tell us about a conspiracy hatched to defame the country. The conspirators have not even spared Indian tea. They are saying the image of Indian tea has to be defamed worldwide, systematically, Mr. Modi said. He was addressing a crowd of largely tea plantation workers after remotely inaugurating and laying the foundation stones of a medical college each in eastern Assam’s Biswanath and Charaideo and Assam Mala, an expansive road project. The evidence that they have suggests the forces are seated abroad, ready to launch an attack on India’s tea-based identity, the Prime Minister said. He added the tea plantation workers and every individual who drank tea would seek an explanation from the political parties for maintaining silence on it. But he want to tell the conspirators that the country won’t allow you to succeed, however much you try. The tea workers will win this battle. Those who are conspiring to launch an attack on Indian tea are not strong enough to confront the strength of their tea workers, Mr. Modi said, without naming the forces.

C) Have full faith in judiciary: Faruqui

Stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui, who has been released from jail after 35 days in a case of allegedly hurting religious sentiments, has said he has full faith in the judiciary and hopes to get justice. Mr. Faruqui was released from the Indore Central Jail late Saturday night after prison authorities checked Friday’s bail order of the Supreme Court order of the Supreme Court on its website, a jail official earlier said. In a brief video message after he was set free, the 32-year-old comedian said that he don’t want to comment (on the case against him) now. But, he have full faith in the judiciary and he is hopeful of getting justice. Arrested for allegedly hurting religious sentiments, Mr. Faruqui was in the jail since January 1. On Friday, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail after the Madhya Pradesh High Court rejected his bail plea on January 28. The Supreme Court also stayed the production warrant issued against Mr. Faruqui by a court in Prayagraj in connection with an FIR lodged there. However, he was released late Saturday night only after a Chief Judicial Magistrate in Indore rang up the jail authorities and asked them to check the Supreme Court’s website for the bail order.

D) Sasikala, Dinakaran trying to incite violence, say AIADMK leaders.

Senior Ministers and AIADMK leaders on Saturday complained to Director General of Police J.K. Tripathy that V.K. Sasikala, aide of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, and T.T.V. Dhinakaran, general secretary of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, were trying to incite violence. Ministers D. Jayakumar, P. Thangamani, C.Ve. Shanmugam and party presidium chairman E. Madhusudhanan were among those who met Mr. Tripathy. On Thursday, they lodged a complaint seeking to prevent Ms. Sasikala from using the AIADMK flag. They have no objection to Ms. Sasikala’s return to the city on February 8. However, T.T.V. Dhinakaran said Ms. Sasikala would travel using the party flag. Mr. Dhinakaran said even if we complain to the DGP or the chiefs of armed forces, no one can prevent them. A few supporters of Ms. Sasikala said they would become 100 human bombs and reach Tamil Nadu, Mr. Shanmugam said on Saturday. Mr. Shanmugam alleged Mr. Dhinakaran issued a major threat, which would cause law and order problems in the State. To incite violence, Ms. Sasikala, Mr. Dhinakaran and their men have hatched a major conspiracy. The AIADMK government has been functioning successfully, he said.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) Pope Francis appoints first woman to senior synod post. 

Pope Francis has broken with Catholic tradition to appoint a woman as an undersecretary of the synod of bishops, the first to hold the post with voting rights in a body that studies major questions of doctrine. Frenchwoman Nathalie Becquart is one of the two new undersecretaries named on February 6 to the synod, where she has been a consultant since 2019. The appointment signals the pontiff’s desire for a greater participation of women in the process of discernment and decision-making in the church, said Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary-general of the synod. During the previous synods, the number of women participating as experts and listeners has increased, he said. With the nomination of Sister Nathalie Becquart and her possibility of participating in voting, a door has opened. The synod is led by bishops and cardinals who have voting rights and also comprises experts who cannot vote, with the next gathering scheduled for autumn 2022. A special synod on the Amazon in 2019 saw 35 female auditors invited to the assembly, but none could vote. The Argentinian-born pope has signalled his wish to reform the synod and have women and laypeople play a greater role in the church.

B) ‘Oxford vaccine less effective against South African variant’. 

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine fails to prevent mild and moderate cases of the South African coronavirus strain, according to research reported in the Financial Times. But in its study, due to be published on Monday, the pharma group said it could still have an effect on severe disease although there is not yet enough data to make a definitive judgment. None of the 2,000 participants in the trial developed serious symptoms, the FT said, but AstraZeneca said the sample size was too small to make a full determination. They may not be reducing the total number of cases but there is still protection against deaths, hospitalisations and severe disease, said Sarah Gilbert, who led the development of the vaccine with the Oxford Vaccine Group. It could also be some time before they determine its effectiveness for older people in fighting the strain, which is a growing presence in U.K., she said. Researchers are currently working to update the vaccine, and have a version with the South African spike sequence in the works that they would very much like to be ready for the autumn, said Ms. Gilbert.

C) Pope appoints more women to Vatican posts. 

Pope Francis has appointed two women to Vatican posts previously held only by men, in back-to-back moves giving women more empowerment in the male-dominated Holy See. He appointed Nathalie Becquart, a French member of the Xaviere Missionary Sisters, on Saturday as coundersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, a department that prepares major meetings of world bishops held every few years on a different topic. Earlier, the Pope named Italian magistrate Catia Summaria as the first woman Promoter of Justice in the Vatican’s Court of Appeals. Sister Becquart’s position, effectively a joint number two spot, will give her the right to vote in the allmale assemblies, something many women and some bishops have called for. She is 52, relatively young by Vatican standards. Women have participated as observers and consultants in past synods but only synod fathers, including bishops and specially appointed or elected male representatives, could vote on final documents sent to the pope. During a synod in 2018, more than 10,000 people signed a petition demanding that women get the vote. A door has been opened. They will see what other steps could be taken in the future, Cardinal Mario Grech, the synod’s secretary-general, said.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
07 February 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Farmers’ ‘chakka jam’ goes off peacefully.

The three-hour chakka jam or road blockade protest called by farm unions went off smoothly today, despite some people being detained at a solidarity protest site within Delhi, as well as reports of detentions in Madhya Pradesh, Bangalore and Hyderabad. With the fears of chaos and violence looming in the background, security forces had stepped up deployment, and farm unions called off protests in U.P. and Uttarakhand. Members of different farmer outfits in parts of Punjab and Haryana on Saturday blocked several national and State highways and squatted on roads between 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. The protests, which saw the participation of the elderly, women and youth, were peaceful and no untoward incident was reported. Slogans were raised against the Centre, demanding the repeal of the laws. Sukhdev Singh, general secretary of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan), one of the largest farmers’ outfit in Punjab, said that its members blocked roads in 13 districts. Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee (KMSC) general secretary Sarvan Singh Pandher said its members blocked roads at 57 places in Amritsar and Tarn Taran among other districts. In Rajasthan, farmers at many places including Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Dholpur and Jhalawar in the State blocked the highways and main roads and held demonstrations, police said. The Ministry of Home Affairs ordered the suspension of Internet services at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri borders of Delhi till Saturday night, officials said. Apart from the three sites, Internet services will remain suspended in their adjoining areas too till 11:59 p.m. on February 6. The protests were held on a call from the Samyukt Kisan Morcha, a joint front of farmer unions, which had been agitating against the farm laws.

B) SC judge hails PM as ‘popular, vibrant and visionary leader’

Supreme Court justice M R Shah on Saturday described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as our most popular, loved, vibrant and visionary leader, PTI reported. The praise for the prime minister by Justice Shah came during a function to celebrate the diamond jubilee of the Gujarat High Court. He is proud and privileged to participate in the function to celebrate the diamond jubilee of the Gujarat High Court and that too in the presence of their most popular, loved, vibrant and visionary leader, prime minister Narendra Modi, Shah said in his address. One of the essential features of the democratic republic established under the Indian Constitution is division of powers between Parliament, executive, and the judiciary,” the judge went on to say. He felt proud that the Gujarat High Court has never crossed the Lakshman Rekha (boundaries of power/code of conduct) and always delivered justice, he said. Last year, Justice Arun Mishra’s fulsome praise for Prime Minister Modi at an event had raised eyebrows. Justice Mishra, now a retired SC judge, had described Modi as internationally acclaimed visionary. In his address on Saturday, Justice Shah also said the Gujarat high court was his karmbhoomi where he practiced as a lawyer for 22 years and served as a judge for 14 years. Modi released a commemorative stamp at the function. He also hailed the country’s judiciary, saying it has performed its duty well in safeguarding people’s rights and upholding personal liberty.

C) Consensual sex between minors a legal grey area says Bombay HC, granting bail to teen convicted of rape. 

The Bombay High Court recently granted bail to a 19-year-old youth and suspended his 10-year sentence for raping his minor cousin. In its order, the court said that Incidents of consensual sex between minors has been a grey area under the law as minor’s consent is not valid in the eyes of law under Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act (POCSO). In September 2017, the minor was living in her paternal uncle’s house. She is reported to have told a friend that her cousin had touched her inappropriately and that her stomach hurts. The friend told their class teacher who inquired about the same from the victim, and she told the teacher about being sexually harassed by the male cousin and subjected to penetrative assault. The ordeal was then described to the school principal after which a FIR was registered against the boy under section 376 (2) (n) and 354 of the Indian Penal Code, along with sections 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the POCSO. After the trial he was sentenced to suffer 10 years rigorous imprisonment. However, Justice S.S. Shinde noted that in the case at hand, facts are distinctive in the sense, victim is first cousin sister of the appellant. At the relevant time, she was a 15-year-old and appellant was 19. Both were students and living in one house. A fact cannot be overlooked that the victim had resiled [retracted] from her statement under Section 164 recording of confessions and statements of the Code of the Criminal Procedure. Even her mother was unfriendly to prosecution. Opinions of doctor that victim was subjected to sexual assault was subject to Forensic Science Laboratory report was not obtained till the conclusion of the trial. The court suspended his sentence and recorded, Victim said, her statement to the police and narrative in statement under Section 164 was at the instance of the class teacher. Therefore, in the proceedings, wherein suspension of sentence is sought, this Court cannot ignore the ‘evidence of victim’ and ‘her mother’. While granting bail to the youth, the Bench held that he is conscious of the fact that the passing of POCSO has been significant and a progressive step in securing children’s rights and furthering the cause of protecting children against sexual abuse. The letter and spirit of the law, which defines a child as anyone less than 18 years of age, is to protect children from sexual abuse. He is also conscious of the fact that consensual sex between minors has been in a legal grey area because the consent given by minor is not considered to be a valid consent in eyes of law.

D) Today’s times can’t be exaggerated as Emergency: N. Ram. 

The present times should not be compared to the Emergency as there were still spaces where one could air strong opinions and fight repression, N. Ram, Director, The Hindu Publishing Group, said on Saturday. He was speaking in a webinar organised by Live Law on Criminalising Journalism and Cinema. Ram said uneven implementation of law, and the higher judiciary, on more than one occasion, has failed to protect press freedom. The recent arrests and filing of criminal cases against several journalists and also other creative persons, has exposed and widened the fault lines in our Constitution. We used to think we have pretty good protection, but actually we don’t. There are many escape clauses in law which is aggravated by executive overreach and failure of the judiciary to adequately protect. India, he stated, had regressed in terms of freedom of press. There was a time when, in terms of freedom of press, India was in an enviable position among the developing nations. But that was 40 years ago, we had just come out of the dark chapter of Emergency. Political scientist Robin Jeffrey, in a book dealing with the Indian language press, called it India’s newspaper revolution. Today if he has to claim that they are in an enviable position, then he will be accused of spreading fake news, he observed. He wouldn’t say that this is like an emergency, he said. That would be a mistake. He have lived under Emergency, when there was total censorship, detention of journalists. Let’s not rush out to conclusions. There are still spaces where you can express vigorous opinion, strong condemnation of the acts of the executive, criticise the judiciary and so on, he noted.

E) After oils, FSSAI caps transfats in foods. 

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has amended its rules to put a cap on trans fatty acids (TFAs) in food products, just weeks after it tightened the norms for oils and fats. Food products in which edible oils and fats are used as an ingredient shall not contain industrial trans fatty acids more than 2% by mass of the total oils/fats present in the product, on and from 01st January, 2022, as per the revised regulations notified recently and made public on Friday. In December, it capped TFAs in oils and fats to 3% by 2021, and 2% by 2022 from the current levels of 5%. The two percent cap is considered to be elimination of trans fatty acids, which we will achieve by 2022. We are happy to say that we will be reaching this goal a year sooner than the WHO deadline. We have held eight meetings with industry stakeholders and they are onboard to implement the rules, FSSAI CEO Arun Singhal told The Hindu. Trans fatty acids are present in baked, fried and processed foods as well as adulterated ghee, which becomes solid at room temperature. They are the most harmful form of fats as they clog arteries and cause hypertension, heart attacks, and other cardiovascular diseases.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) Myanmar shuts down Internet as thousands hit the streets.

Myanmar’s junta shut down Internet in the country on Saturday as thousands of.people took to the streets of Yangon to denounce this week’s coup and demand the release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. In the first such demonstration since the Generals seized power on Monday, activists chanted. Military dictator. fail, fail; Democracy. win. win and held banners reading against military dictatorship. Bystanders offered them food and water. Many in the crowd wore red, the colour of Ms. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), which won November 8 elections in a landslide, a result the Generals have refused to recognise claiming fraud. As the protest swelled and activists issued calls on social media for people to join the march, the country’s Internet crashed. Monitoring group Net Blocks Internet Observatory reported a national-scale Internet blackout. saying on Twitter that connectivity had fallen to 54% of ordinary levels. The junta has tried to silence dissent by temporarily blocking Facebook and extended a social media crackdown to Twitter and Instagram on Saturday. Norwegian mobile phone Company Telenor Asa said authorities had ordered lnternet providers to deny access to Twitter and Instagram until further notice.  Many had sidestepped the ban on sites such as Facebook by using virtual private networks to conceal their Icy cations, but the more general disruption to mobile data services would severely limit access to independent news. The lawyer for Ms. Suu Kyi and ousted President win Myint said he was unable to meet them because they were still being questioned. Ms. Suu Kyi faces charges of importing six walkie-talkies illegally while Mr. Win Myint is accused of flouting coronavirus restrictions.

B) U.S. moves to end terror designation of Houthis. 

The U.S. has moved to delist Yemen’s Houthi rebels as a terrorist organization, removing a block that humanitarian groups said jeopardized crucial aid as the country’s warring sides cautiously welcomed a push for peace by President Joe Biden. The grinding six-year war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions, triggering what the UN calls the world’s worst humanitarian disaster. Nearly 80% of Yemen’s population need some form of aid for survival, says UN. A State Department spokesperson said on Friday they had formally notified Congress of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s intent to revoke the terrorist designations. The move comes a day after Mr. Biden announced an end to U.S. support for the Saudi-led offensive operations in Yemen. This decision has nothing to do with our view of the Houthis and their reprehensible conduct, including attacks against civilians and the kidnapping of American citizens, the spokesperson said. Their action is due entirely to the humanitarian consequences of this last-minute designation from the prior administration, they said, adding the U.S. remained committed to helping Saudi Arabia defend its territory against attacks by the rebels. Mr. Blinken’s predecessor Mike Pompeo announced the designation days before leaving office last month, pointing to the Houthis’ links to Iran and a deadly attack on the airport in Yemen’s second city of Aden in December.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
06 February 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Massive farmers meeting in Shamli; Unions instruct farmers to keep tomorrow’s ‘chakka jam’ non-violent. 

Thousands of farmers turned up for a meeting in Shamli district in western Uttar Pradesh on Friday amid a growing clamour against the Centre’s agri-marketing laws in the region. People from Shamli and nearby districts started reaching Shamli’s Bhainswal village on tractors, two- and four-wheelers and on foot for a ‘kisan panchayat’ being held there by the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). The people gathered there despite the Shamli administration denying permission for the meeting and imposing prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC. This is the fourth major farmers’ meeting in western Uttar Pradesh after Muzaffarnagar, Mathura and Baghpat, besides some in Haryana, to support the ongoing stir against the farm laws. Scores of regional ‘khap’ leaders, Bharatiya Kisan Union members, and RLD vice president Jayant Chaudhary, among others, attended the event, even as security personnel were deployed in large number in the area. Chaudhary had on Thursday tweeted that there are 144 reasons why he will go to Shamli tomorrow, attaching to it a news article on the denial of permission for the event by the Shamli district administration. The RLD has already extended support to the ongoing peasants’ demonstrations at Delhi’s borders and in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. The party’s farmer outreach programmes, which began Friday in Shamli, are further scheduled to be held in Amroha, Aligarh, Bulandshahr, Mathura, Agra, Hathras, and Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, and at a couple of places in Rajasthan during the February month. Meanwhile, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha leadership has asked all protesting farm unions to ensure that chakka jam, or road blockage, from 12 noon to 3 pm, is a peaceful and non-violent protest. The SKM guidelines added that there will be no blockades within the entire National Capital Region of Delhi, except where protest sites are already located.

B) Comedian Munawar Faruqui, arrested for a joke he did not make, gets bail from Supreme Court. 

The Supreme Court on Friday granted bail to comedian Munawar Faruqui in a case registered by the Madhya Pradesh police for hurting religious sentiments. Interestingly, the police had argued that he was arrested because he was about to make a joke that would have offended religious sentiments. In a brief hearing, the three-judge Bench, led by Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, also stayed a production warrant issued by the Uttar Pradesh government against Faruqui in a separate case based on the same facts. Noting that the allegations against him were vague, Justice Nariman said police had not complied with the lawful procedure prescribed under Section 41 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) before arresting the comedian. Justice Nariman pointed out that the Supreme Court, in a scathing judgment in Arnesh Kumar versus State of Bihar in 2014, had warned State governments and their police from depriving personal liberty without following due process of law. Arrest was not a tool for harassment, the court had warned. Tell us, Mr. Kirpal, did the police follow Section 41 before they arrested him, Justice Nariman asked Faruqui’s lawyer. No, My Lord not at all, irpal replied. Then that is all is needed for granting bail, Justice Nariman said, before immediately issuing notice to the Madhya Pradesh police to explain their actions. The procedure under Section 41 was not followed despite the Supreme Court having adumbrated the necessity of it in the Arnesh Kumar judgment of 2014, Justice Nariman observed, before granting Faruqui ad-interim bail. On January 28, the Madhya Pradesh HC had refused bail, forcing the comedian to appeal to the top court. In the Arnesh Kumar judgment, the Supreme Court had delved into how arrest brings humiliation, curtails freedom and cast scars forever. The police had not learnt its lesson or shed its colonial image despite decades of Independence, the court had observed.

C) Govt’s U-turn on UPSC exams. 

The Union government on Friday informed the Supreme Court that it is agreeable to giving UPSC aspirants who had exhausted their last chance in the last October 4, 2020 preliminary exam but are not age-barred, another crack at the exam this year. The move marks a virtual U-turn from the government’s earlier position, when it informed the Supreme Court on January 22 that it would refuse to give the aspirants, including last-attempters, another crack at the exams. An affidavit filed by it in the court a month ago argued that any additional attempt or relaxation in age for some candidates would amount to extending differential treatment. It would lead to an un-leveling of the playing field. The aspirants who moved the court had pleaded for another chance, saying their exam preparations for and performance in the October 4 exam floundered due to the innumerable, inevitable circumstances suffered due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The government said the leeway was an ex-gratia, one-time, restricted relaxation to those who appeared in the Civil Services Exam-2020 as their last permissible attempt.  Appearing before a Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar in a virtual court hearing, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju read out from a note, which said that the candidates given the leeway should not be age-barred. The note observed that candidates whose number of attempts had not been exhausted cannot avail of this one-time relaxation. The Bench asked the government to circulate the note. This relaxation for the candidates, and to the extent as prescribed shall be a one-time relaxation only and shall apply only for appearing in CSE-2021 and shall not be treated as a precedent. The relaxation shall not create any vested right whatsoever or any other purported right on ground of parity or otherwise, in favour of any other set/class of candidates at any time in the future, the note said. The case has been further scheduled for Monday.

D) One nation, one ombudsman: RBI to integrate consumer grievance redressal scheme. 

The RBI has announced that it will be integrating consumer grievances redressal under a single ombudsman as against the three schemes working at present. There are dedicated ombudsman schemes devoted to consumer grievance redressal in banking, non-bank finance companies, and digital transactions respectively, at present. To make the alternate dispute redress mechanism simpler and more responsive to the customers of regulated entities, it has been decided to implement, inter alia, integration of the three Ombudsman schemes and adoption of the ‘One Nation One Ombudsman’ approach for grievance redressal, Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Friday. The move is intended to make the process of redress of grievances easier by enabling the customers of the banks, NBFCs, and non-bank issuers of prepaid payment instruments to register their complaints under the integrated scheme, with one centralised reference point, he said. The RBI is targeting to roll out the e-Integrated Ombudsman Scheme in June 2021, he said. Das said financial consumer protection has gained significant policy priority across jurisdictions and the RBI has been taking a slew of initiatives on the same. In line with global initiatives on consumer protection, RBI has taken various initiatives to strengthen Grievance Redress Mechanism of regulated entities, he said. The RBI had operationalised the complaint management system (CMS) portal as a one stop solution for alternate dispute resolution of customer complaints not resolved satisfactorily by the regulated entities.

E) India is ‘Internet shutdown’ capital of world, says Anand Sharma. 

Congress leader Anand Sharma today described India as the Internet shutdown capital of the world. He attacked the government in the Rajya Sabha over the recent spate of internet bans to black out coverage of the farmers agitation in the border areas of Delhi. The country had seen seven Internet shutdowns in the New Year, five of which were at the farmers’ protest site in Delhi-NCR. India is the largest democracy of the world. But today we have become the Internet shutdown capital of the world, Sharma said during the motion of thanks debate. The constitutionality of the farm laws was questionable since agriculture figured only in the state list, giving the State the sole power to legislate on the subject, he stated. He questioned the delay by the Supreme Court in disposing of the petitions in this regard. When constitutional matters demand urgent hearing and decisions, delays and kicking the bucket down the road create tension, distrust and conflict. Parliament should take notice of this, he said. Petitions regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) were also pending before the apex court. Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut slammed the government for branding farmers as anti-nationals and Khalistanis. He also criticised the heavy fortification of Delhi’s borders. If you would have built such barricades at the international borders, as those put up at Delhi borders, China would not have dared to come into Indian territory, he said. Satish Chandra Misra (BSP) wanted to know what was stopping the Centre from repealing the farm laws if it was ready to put their operation in abeyance for 18 months. You keep saying that you will give MSP [minimum support price] to farmers, what we don’t understand is then why not put it in writing, he said.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Hundreds protest in Myanmar amid arrest of key Suu Kyi aide. 

Several hundred teachers and students protested at a Myanmar university on Friday as the military widened a dragnet against officials ousted in a coup that has drawn global condemnation and the threat of new sanctions. The rally took place after the arrest Win Htein, a key aide to de facto leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi, who has not been seen in public since be ing detained along with President Win Myint. A representative of Ms. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy said on Friday she was being held at her residence in Naypyitaw, the country’s capital, and was in good health. As far as she know, she’s under house arrest and has not been taken to another place yet, NLD press officer Toe told AFP. Monday’s putsch ended the country’s 10-year dalliance with democracy that followed decades of oppressive junta rule, and sparked outrage and calls by U.S. President Joe Biden for the generals to relinquish power. On Friday, around 200 teachers and students at Yangon’s Dagon University staged a rally, where they displayed a three-finger salute borrowed from Thailand’s democracy movements, and sang a popular revolution song. Students chanted Long live Mother Suu and carried red the colour of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party. A similar protest took place across town in Yangon University. In Naypyitaw, dozens of employees from several Ministries posed for group photographs wearing red ribbons and flashing the democracy symbol. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 130 officials and lawmakers have been detained. Social media restrictions Twitter services experienced disruptions in Myanmar on Friday, with some saying it could not be used even with a VPN service. Twitter is now being restricted in #Myanmar on multiple network providers, said NetBIocks, which monitors Internet outages around the world. It also confirmed that other Facebook products Whatsapp and Instagram were facing disruptions.

B) Beijing warns off U.S. warship in S. China Sea.

China on Friday warned off a U.S. warship sailing near contested islands in the South China Sea, Beijing said, the first such encounter made public since the inauguration of President Joe Biden. The USS John S. McCain broke into China’s Xisha territorial waters without the permission of the Chinese government, Beijing’s military said in a statement, using its name for the disputed Paracel Islands. The People’s Liberation Army organised Naval and Air Forces to track, monitor and warn off the warship, the Chinese military said, blasting the U.S. for seriously violating China’s sovereignty and harming regional peace. The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer on Thursday also conducted a routine transit through the waterway separating the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, which Beijing says constitutes part of its territory. Washington has argued that such exercises are in line with international law and help defend right of passage through the region amid competing claims by China and other governments. China lays claim to nearly all of the South China Sea, including the Paracel Islands. Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also claim parts of the region, believed to hold valuable oil and gas deposits. The U.S. Navy in late January sent an aircraft carrier group into the South China Sea.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
05 February 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Delhi Police to probe ‘international conspiracy’ to ‘defame’ India. 

The Delhi police cyber cell has registered an FIR to investigate an “international conspiracy” to defame the country, said a senior police officer on Thursday. He said that they registered an FIR into the matter after 18-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg shared a ‘toolkit’ on Twitter, which she subsequently deleted. Thunberg’s name is mentioned in the FIR, but apparently not as an accused. More clarity on this issue is awaited from Delhi police. Soon after the news of the FIR came out, Thunberg on Thursday tweeted: I still #StandWithFarmers and support their peaceful protest. No amount of hate, threats or violations of human rights will ever change that. #FarmersProtest. She also tweeted an updated ‘toolkit’ in place of the one she had deleted. Typically, such tool kits are widely used by activists, PR agencies, and social movements in outreach campaigns. They are a handy way to educate a targeted audience about an issue, present a point of view, and motivate lay persons and ‘influencers’ to participate in the campaign. However, Praveer Ranjan, Special Commissioner of Police said that an FIR has been registered under section 124A (Sedition), 153 (Wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 153 A (Promoting enmity between different groups) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy). Delhi Police is monitoring social media in connection with the Kisan agitation. In the process, Delhi police has identified more than 300 SM [social media] handles, which have been used for pushing hateful and malicious content. These handles are being used by some organisations/ individuals having vested interest and they are spreading disaffection against Govt. of India,  said Ranjan.

B) MPs stopped from meeting farmers. 

Former Union Minister and Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal reached the Ghazipur border on Thursday to meet farmers protesting against the farm laws. She was accompanied by more than a dozen MPs from different parties. However, because of heavy barricading at the border, they could not meet the farmers. Badal told reporters that the Lok Sabha Speaker was not allowing a discussion on the farmers’ protest. The purpose of the visit, Badal said, was to inform the Speaker about the situation at the protest site. They are here so that we can discuss this issue in Parliament, she said. She took on the Delhi Police for heavily barricading the border that rendered any movement impossible. It is unprecedented. The fortification is like that at the Pakistan border, she said. Why they are being prevented from meeting their own people? They are treating farmers as foreigners. When they can’t go and meet them, how can they come to Delhi for dialogue? How will the ambulances and fire brigade move in case of an emergency? It seems the farmers have been left to die, she said. Badal was accompanied by NCP MP Supriya Sule, DMK MP K. Kanimozhi and TMC MP Sougata Roy, among others. She had resigned from the Union Cabinet in September against the government decision to implement the three farm laws.

C) AAP slams Bill that seeks to delineate powers of Delhi government and LG, calls it ‘unconstitutional’

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is all set to introduce a legislation in the Budget session of Parliament to amend a 1991 Act pertaining to the powers and functions of the Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor (LG). The proposed legislation received the Union Cabinet’s approval on Wednesday. The Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021 is among the 20 Bills proposed to be introduced in this Parliament session. The reason stated to move the legislation says, the Bill proposes to amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, in the context of judgment dated 14.02.2019 of Hon’ble Supreme Court (Division Bench) in Civil Appeal No. 2357 of 2017 and other connected matters. According to changes proposed in the new Act, the LG could act in his discretion in any matter that is beyond the purview of the powers of the Assembly of Delhi in matters related to the All India (Civil) Services and the ACB. Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, in a press conference on 4 February, slammed the Bill as unconstitutional and as an attempt by the BJP to take over the governance of Delhi through the backdoor. He said that it undermined the legitimate powers of the democratically elected government of Delhi by giving more power than to the LG, who is a representative of the Union government.

D) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments. 

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,08,02,571 with the death toll at 1,56,197. Over 21% of the population, aged 10 years and above, showed evidence of past exposure to Covid-19 in the Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) latest national serosurvey, the government said on Thursday, noting that a large proportion of people are still vulnerable to the infection. The ICMR’s third national serosurvey was conducted between December 7, 2020 and January 8, 2021. Presenting the survey findings, ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said 21.4% of the 28,589 people, aged 18 years and above, surveyed during the period showed evidence of past exposure to the coronavirus infection. Further, 25.3% of children aged 10 to 17 years from the same number of surveyed population have had the disease, he said. Urban slums (31.7%) and urban non-slums (26.2%) had a higher SARS-CoV-2 prevalence than rural areas (19.1%), Bhargava said, adding that 23.4% of individuals above 60 years of age had suffered from Covid-19. Blood samples of 7,171 healthcare workers were also collected during the same period and the seroprevalence was found to be 25.7%, the ICMR director general said. The survey was conducted in the same 700 villages or wards in 70 districts in 21 States selected during the first and second rounds of the national serosurvey.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) Farmers’ protest: U.S. calls for dialogue, recognises right to protest. 

Following expressions of support on social media to the farmers’ protest by several well-known personalities and celebrities, including pop icon Rihanna , climate activist Greta Thunberg and others, the U.S. government has also spoken, encouraging dialogue and supporting the right to peaceful protest. The U.S.’s reactions were recorded in a statement released by its Embassy in New Delhi and through a State Department statement released to a Wall Street Journal reporter on Thursday. Washington has also welcomed steps that would enhance the efficiency of India’s markets. They recognise that peaceful protests are a hallmark of any thriving democracy, and note that the Indian Supreme Court has stated the same. They encourage that any differences between the parties be resolved through dialogue. In general, the United States welcomes steps that would improve the efficiency of India’s markets and attract greater private sector investment, a statement from the U.S. Embassy said. Access to information was fundamental to democracy, the U.S. said, in reaction to the Haryana government temporarily shutting down mobile Internet services in several districts last week and earlier this week, stating law and order reasons. They recognize that unhindered access to information, including the Internet, is fundamental to the freedom of expression and a hallmark of a thriving democracy, the statement said. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) responded by saying that it has taken note of the U.S. statement. It is important to see such comments in their entirety. The U.S. has acknowledged steps taken by India in agricultural reform. India and the U.S. are both vibrant democracies, Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.

B) In first for Europe, Iran envoy sentenced to 20-year prison term over bomb plot. 

An Iranian diplomat accused of planning to bomb a meeting of an exiled opposition group was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday in the first trial of an Iranian official for suspected terrorism in the European Union since Iran’s 1979 revolution. Belgian prosecution lawyers and civil parties to the prosecution said Vienna-based diplomat Assadolah Assadi was guilty of attempted terrorism after a plot to bomb a rally of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) near Paris in June 2018 was foiled by German, French and Belgian police. The ruling shows two things: A diplomat doesn’t have immunity for criminal acts and the responsibility of the Iranian state in what could have been carnage, Belgian prosecution lawyer Georges-Henri Beauthier told reporters outside the court in Antwerp. Three other Iranians were sentenced in the trial for their role as accomplices, with 15, 17 and 18-year sentences handed down respectively. It was established that the Iranian regime uses terrorism as statecraft and the highest levels of the Iranian regime are involved, Shahin Gobadi, a Paris-based spokesman for the opposition People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, which is part of the NCRI, said outside the court.