Tag: latest Current Affairs

CURRENT AFFAIRS
10 JULY 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Solar energy will play big role in ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’: PM

On July 10, the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that solar energy would play a major role in achieving self-reliance in energy which is essential for an ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’.  It will be a big energy medium for 21st century. Inaugurating a 750 MW solar power project in Rewa district, Madhya Pradesh, he said that we won’t be able to use solar power completely unless we have improved solar panels, improved batteries and best quality storage within the country.  We need to work in this direction now. He also asserted that Solar energy would be a big medium to meet the energy needs of the 21st century.

B) 14% excess rain in India so far this monsoon.

Monsoon rainfall since June has been 14% more than what is normal for this time of the year. Till now, India has received 28.7 cm rainfall as compared to the typical rainfall of 25.2 cm. Only on nine of the 40 days of monsoon so far has rainfall been less than the daily average, according to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). About 40% of districts received excess rain while 27% others have seen deficient rain, having received at least 20% less rain than usual. There are 29 districts in Uttar Pradesh, 17 in Gujarat and 16 in Jammu and Kashmir that have received deficient rain. Paradoxically, Uttar Pradesh also leads in the number of districts with excess rain (35), followed by Bihar (32) and Madhya Pradesh (28). Currently, the rainfall data has been collected from 681 districts of the country by IMD. 

C) It will take at least 12 months for commercial vaccine of coronavirus, say officials. 

A group of government officials informed the Parliamentary Panel on Science and Technology that novel coronavirus vaccine will take at least 12 months to be commercially available and a realistic deadline for it would be some time next year. This timeline is contrary to the letter sent out by Dr. Balram Bhargava who is the Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research, who earlier said that the Covaxin trial will be  ready for public health use by August 15.  The ICMR later backtracked from this. The officials also indicated that when the vaccine is developed, it will first be made available to vulnerable groups before distribution for public use.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) China, U.S. in new spat over Uighur crackdown. 

On July 10, China said that it will impose tit-for-tat measures after the U.S. accuses Chinese officials for their involvement in a crackdown on Muslim minorities. This has raised tensions between the superpower countries. Both the countries have traded barbs and sanctions on a number of issues since President Donald Trump hold office, from trade to more recent clashes over the coronavirus pandemic and a security law in Hong Kong and the Chinese policies in the far west regions of Tibet and Xinjiang. The latest response from China followed a U.S. announcement of visa bans and it assets freeze on three officials against restive minorities. China has decided to impose reciprocal measures against the relevant U.S. institutions and individuals who behave badly on these issues. 

B) U.S. bans Pakistan’s PIA over pilot license scandal. 

European Union aviation regulators have also barred the carrier for six months. After the carrier said that nearly 150 pilots would be grounded over fake licenses, the United States has banned Pakistan International Airlines from operating chartered flights. The ban was announced by the U.S. Department of Transportation after knowing of the fact that approximately one-third of Pakistani pilots are not properly certificated in accordance with international standards. In June, the Aviation Minister of Pakistan revealed that a government review had found that around 260 of the 860 active pilots in the country hold fake licenses or they had cheated in exams. PIA at that time said that it would immediately ground about one third of its 434 pilots. This was announced some weeks after one of its plane crashed in Karachi killing 98 people due to the error of pilot. 

C) IAF gets last of 5 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters from Boeing. 

Boeing handed over the last five AH-64E Apache attack helicopters to the Indian Air Force (IAF) by completing the contract for 22 Apaches. The Apaches were deployed at the Leh air base as part of the forward movement of assets, amid the stand-off with China in Ladakh. Earlier in March, Boeing handed over the last five of the 15 CH-47F(I) Chinook heavy-lift helicopters to the IAF. The IAF inducted the first batch of Apaches in September 2019 and based them at Air Force Station, Pathankot, Punjab. While the last five Apaches arrived in India early this year, the handover was delayed slightly because of the global covid19 situation. India had contracted 22 Apache helicopters and 15 Chinook helicopters from Boeing through the Foreign Military Sales programme of the U.S. government in September 2015. The deal was for $3 billion. 

CURRENT AFFAIRS
10 JULY 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Govt. ‘watching’ WHO alert on airborne spread of virus.

Continuing to rule out community transmission of COVID-19 in the country, the Union Health Ministry on Thursday said it is “closely watching the dynamic evolution of the virus situation in India, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) now indicating that the virus may be airborne”. After earlier denials, the WHO on Tuesday said there is evidence emerging of the airborne spread of the coronavirus, after over 230 scientists across the world urged the global body to update its guidance. “Presently, there are 2,69,789 active cases under active medical supervision with India’s recovery rate now at 62.09 %. It would not be fair to compare India with other countries in terms of absolute numbers. India has only 195.5 cases per 1 million population which is amongst the lowest in the world. India currently has a fatality rate of 2.75%.

B) U.P. gangster Vikas Dubey arrested. 

Gangster Vikas Dubey, wanted for allegedly shooting dead eight policemen in Kanpur’s Bikru village last week, was arrested in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh. Dubey, on the run since the night of July 2, was arrested near a temple in Ujjain. Whether he surrendered or was arrested after receiving a tip from a guard at the Mahakal temple who recognized him and informed the nearest police outpost, the exact details are still awaited. Mishra has told the police that our police doesn’t leave anyone, they have arrested Vikas Dubey as well and he is in our custody. The arrest is a huge success for Madhya Pradesh.

C) Free grains will be given till Aug. 31.

The Narendra Modi government has extended the deadline for distribution of free food grains under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Mission allocated to State governments, which was aimed at migrant workers who didn’t have ration cards, by a month, till August 31. Union Minister for Food and Public Distribution Ramvilas Paswan said the scheme was launched on May 15 and the identification process of genuine beneficiaries took some time. “This scheme is for anyone who doesn’t have a ration card. The beneficiary may or may not be a migrant worker. Under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Package, 5 kg of free food grains per person and 1 kg of free whole gram per family has been distributed to migrant labourers, stranded and needy families, who are not covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) or State scheme PDS cards. Issuing a State-wise allocation order on Wednesday, the Department of Food and Public Distribution in the Union Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution made it clear that the allocation would be in addition to the regular monthly allocation to the States and Union Territories under the NFSA. Unlike in the north and Maharashtra where both wheat and rice have been allotted more or less in equal measure, the southern region has been given predominantly rice with minimum amount of wheat.

D) PM touts ‘green shoots of growth’

Observing that the Indian economy is seeing a revival, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said that global investors should consider investing in the world’s “most open economies”. PM Modi in his speech said that India remains one of the most open economies in the world. He also listed the gains India had made in “total financial inclusion, record housing and infra construction, ease of doing business, and bold tax reforms, including the GST”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the India Global Week conference organised by London-based NRI group Indian Inc on July 9, 2020.  

E) Centre claims workers returning to cities to reclaim jobs. 

On July 9, the Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that the migrant workers were returning to cities to reclaim their old jobs as lockdown is over and the situation is turning very healthy. The Supreme Court was hearing compliance reports by the Centre and States on the return of migrant workers to their native states, which it had earlier directed the government to ensure. Senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the Bihar government, said trains from Patna were running full. “Reverse migration is happening. 

F) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments. 

The number of coronavirus cases reported from India stood at 7,92,281 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 21,606. According to an AFP tally, more than 12 million coronavirus infections have now been recorded across the world. Despite India recording over 25,000 cases in a day for the first time on Wednesday, the Health Ministry continues to attempt a positive spin on things. The Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan after chairing the 18th meeting of the Group of Ministers (GoM) on coronavirus said  that India has one of the lowest cases per million i.e. 538 cases and 15 deaths per million as compared to the global average of 1,453 and 68.7, respectively. This was swiftly followed by a now standard denial that India had community transmission of the disease. There are outbreaks in some localised areas, and just 49 districts account for 80% of the Covid-19 cases, the Health Minister said.

G) ICMR plans new survey to estimate actual prevalence of Covid-19. 

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is set to begin a new survey to estimate the true prevalence of coronavirus infections. The organisation is yet to make public the details of its earlier survey in 60 districts, which found that 0.73% of the population may have been exposed to the virus. This survey, which had begun on May 12, appeared to suggest, that at least seven lakh people were exposed to the virus across 21 States even in early May. This number suggested that the true extent of infections were 20 times higher than the 35,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 reported then in the entire country.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) WHO says pandemic accelerating, launches independent panel. 

The World Health Organisation, which has faced fierce U.S. criticism over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, launched an independent panel on Thursday to review its response to the pandemic. The panel will also review the responses of governments.  While sharing details about the review panel, Ghebreyesus painted a grim picture of the pandemic’s trajectory: “In most of the world the virus is not under control. It is getting worse. The pandemic is still accelerating. After weeks of incessantly criticising the WHO’s response to the pandemic, the U.S. had on Tuesday given a formal one-year notice of its intent to withdraw from the WHO. The U.S is the WHO’s biggest donor, accounting for $400-500 million of the body’s funds annually.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
09 JULY 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Three NGOs linked to Congress under Home Ministry scanner.

An inter-ministerial committee has been constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to probe alleged violation of various legal provisions by 3 NGOs — the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation (RGF), the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT) and the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust (IGMT). All the three non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are linked to the Congress, and party president Sonia Gandhi is the chairperson of the RGF and the RGCT. The violations mentioned in the spokesperson’s tweet pertain to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Income Tax Act and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA). The Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust is not a FCRA registered association. The RGCT website says that it is a “registered, not-for-profit organisation” and was “established in 2002 to address the development needs of the underprivileged of the country, especially the rural poor.”

B) BJP’s charge

Recently, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had alleged that the RGF continuously received donations from the Chinese embassy between 2006 and 2009. The allegations came in the middle of a build-up of Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh and the June 15 incident at the Galwan Valley, during which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.

C) Chinese troops move out of PP15 area of eastern Ladakh. 

Aas part of the disengagement underway to reduce tensions on the border, Chinese troops have fully moved out of the Patrolling Point (PP) 15 of the Hot Springs area in eastern Ladakh. Separately, on Tuesday, Chinese Consul General in Mumbai Tang Guocai acknowledged Chinese casualties, without revealing any numbers, during the Galwan clash on June 15, which resulted in the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers. “At PP15, they have fully gone back. The disengagement is complete there. At PP17, the pullback is underway. At the Finger 4 area of Pangong Tso, some more people and vehicles have gone back but there is no pull back as yet. A complete disengagement at Pangong Tso is expected to take time. On the buffer zone that is being created, the source stated that it was not a buffer zone as being described, but it was decided only to prevent Galwan-like clashes during the disengagement process in future.

D) UAE is in support of open skies agreement with India. 

On July 8, the UAE Ambassador, A.R. Albanna told that the UAE is eager to have an open sky agreement with India.  India has a policy of open skies with SAARC countries. Those countries which are beyond the radius of 5,000-km need to enter into a bilateral agreement. They can determine mutually the number of flights that can be operated by their airlines between the two countries. Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary at Ministry of Civil Aviation, while addressing the webinar, said that though 2.7 million passengers have been flown on domestic airlines since May 25, yet there have only been 800 COVID-19 positive cases.

E) Amazon boosts India unit with $308 million.  

Amazon.com has invested 23.10 billion rupees ($308.02 million) in Amazon Seller Services, an Indian unit. It is strengthening the business at that time when more and more people are doing their shopping online so as to avoid crowded public places. Amazon Singapore has made a significant portion of financing, data from business intelligence firm Tofler showed. The company’s Indian branch in May said that it would hire 50,000 temporary workers to meet a surge in online shopping in India. The company, which competes with Flipkart in India, has also been expanding its seller network in our country. Indian laws allows foreign e-commerce companies to operate as market places by connecting buyers with sellers online. Because of the imposition of lockdown in India, Amazon encouraged small shops sellers to join as sellers on its platform so as to boost local businesses and expand its reach even in this harsh time. In January, Jeff Bezos headed Amazon.com announced a $1 billion investment so as  to bring more than 10 million small businesses online in India by 2025.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Trump starts withdrawal of U.S. from WHO. President Donald Trump on Tuesday formally started the withdrawal of the U.S. from the World Health Organization (WHO). This step is making good threats on the WHO to deprive of its top funding source over its response to the coronavirus. Public health advocates and Mr. Trump’s political opponents voiced outrage at the exit from the Geneva-based body, which leads the global fight on maladies from polio to COVID-19. Trump threatens to suspend the $400 million in annual U.S. contributions and afterwards announcing a withdrawal, Donald Trump administration formally sent a notice to UN Secretary-General.  The withdrawal is effective in one year i.e. July 6, 2021. Joe Biden, Mr. Trump’s presumptive Democratic opponent in the November elections, vowed he would end the pullout if he won.

 

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS
08 JULY 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:  

A) Army pulls back 1.5 km from clash site. 

Indian troops have moved back 1.5 km from the site of the June 15 clash at the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, creating a buffer zone, which will be off-limits for foot patrolling by them for the next 30 days. This is as per the agreement reached during the Corps Commander-level talks on June 30. According to a defence source, the Chinese have fully moved out of the Patrol Point 14 area, the clash site, and thinning down of troops is under way at Hot Springs and Gogra, which could take two or three days to complete.

However, the disengagement by China at Pangong Tso as marginal. The primary objective of the first phase of disengagement was to have no eyeball-to-eyeball positions, which has been achieved through this arrangement. The next layer of deployment of 50 personnel on each side is about 1 km further behind. Within 6 km, there are just 80 people on both sides. The Indian Army, which used to patrol till Patrol Point 14 until the recent stand-off, could lose that right if a final solution is not found. The official said this was a cause of concern as the Chinese had entered well within the Indian perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The defence source cited above said that the initial process of disengagement at several places and the verification is expected to take two weeks, stating that it is going to be a long process for full disengagement. Another round of talks will be held after that to take the process forward.

B) Top priority’ to complete strategic roads.

On July 7, 2020, the defense Minister of India, Mr. Rajanth Singh directed the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) that the work on the strategic Darbuk Shyok Daulat Beg Oldi (DSDBO) road to be completed by October. This was conveyed at a meeting to review the progress of the construction activities in the border areas with BRO Director-General Lieutenant General Harpal Singh. On the 255-km DSDBO road, the ongoing construction is almost done.  Stating that an alternative route is also being made here, there was full focus on connectivity, terming it a “top priority”.  

C) Revenue collection through excise drops by 50%. 

As per the data, the liquor shops across the State are doing around 60,000-65,000 home deliveries daily. “Of these deliveries, 90% are in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The largest share is from the areas within the MMR limits as shops have not been allowed to open yet.” The demand for beer and country liquor has gone down considerably leading to a drop in revenue collection. “One of the reasons for the decreased demand for beer is hotels and restaurants have not been opened. Besides, the loss of employment and migration of labour class has resulted in a drop in consumption of country liquor.”  Excise duty is one of the major revenue sources of the State, outside the Goods and Services Tax. According to State Budget 2020-21, the State collected revenues worth ₹17,977 crore in 2019-20 as per the revised estimates. According to budget estimates for 2020-21, the State was to earn ₹19,225 crore in the ongoing fiscal. The move to reopen alcohol shops had come under criticism after long queues were observed outside the shops despite the lockdown. As a result, the State government allowed online delivery of alcohol from May 15.

D) Centre to lay down vaccine trial norms guidance document on anvil: DBT

India has five promising vaccine candidates. The government is readying a document that will lay down guidelines for companies and institutions working on potential COVID-19 vaccines. Ms. Swarup who is the secretary in the department of Biotechnology told that there are five promising candidate vaccines from India, including Covaxin from Bharat Biotech and one from Zydus Cadilla.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) TikTok may be banned in U.S.: Pompeo. 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said on July 6 that the United States is “looking at” banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok,. Pompeo told that they are taking this matter very seriously.  When Pompeo was asked whether the United States should be considering a ban on Chinese social media apps, especially TikTok. He said that with respect to Chinese apps on people’s cell phones, he can assure that the United States will get this one right too. He do not want to get out in front of the President, but it’s something they are looking at.

B) China censors Internet in Hong Kong

China has unveiled new powers to censor Hong Kong’s internet and access user data using its feared national security law  but US tech giants have put up some resistance citing rights concerns. The online censorship plans were contained in a government document of 116 pages which was released on the night of 6 July. It also revealed the expanded powers for police, allowing warrantless raids and surveillance for some national security investigations. A week ago, China imposed the law on semi-autonomous Hong Kong by targeting subversion, secession, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces. Despite assuring  that only a small number of people would be targeted by this law, the new details shows that it is the most radical change in the freedoms and rights of Hong Kong since Britain handed the city back to China in 1997.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
07 JULY 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:  

 

A) 1.4 lakh families reach MGNREGA’s annual work limit. 

At least 1.4 lakh poor rural households have already completed their quota of 100 days of work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the first three months of the year, and will not be eligible for further benefits under the scheme for the rest of the year. Another seven lakh households have completed 80 days and are on the verge of running out of work as well, according to the scheme’s database.

As per a provision in the scheme of MGNREGA,  the districts that are affected by drought or any other natural disasters can request an expansion of the scheme to allow for 150 days of work per household. Since the pandemic of novel coronavirus was declared a national disaster, activists have demanded that this period shall be increased to 200 days. Till now, 23 lakh households have already completed 60 days of their work.

B) Final year exams by September-end: UGC. 

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided that the final year university examinations may be postponed until the end of September, but must be conducted in either online or offline mode.  Students who will not be able to give these examinations will be given an opportunity to appear for special examinations which will be conducted afterwards. In a letter to the Ministry of Human Resources Development, the Home Ministry has given its approval for the conduct of the pending examinations and directed that the final term exams must be compulsorily conducted as per the guidelines issued by the UGC. 

C) Oil PSUs implementing ₹3.57 lakh-cr. Projects. 

As per the Petroleum Ministry, oil public sector undertakings (PSUs) such as IOC and ONGC are implementing about ₹3.57 lakh crore worth of projects across the entire hydrocarbon value chain which will enhance energy accessibility, create jobs and boost the economy further. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has told in a twitter post that ₹3.57 lakh crore will spent on 859 projects and more than ₹60,000 crore will be invested during the fiscal year 2020-21. While Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) is busy to implement projects to upgrade oil refineries and to expand the pipeline network to take fuel to every corner, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is exploring for oil and gas from deserts to the deep sea. Out of this, more than 3.5 crore man-days of employment is expected to be generated in fiscal year ending March 2021 itself. 

D) Reopened monuments wear a deserted look on first day. 

Monuments that reopened to the public on Monday after being closed in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic wore a deserted look on the first day, with more media persons than visitors at the sites. Culture Minister Prahlad Singh Patel had announced on July 2 that all Centrally protected monuments of the Archaeological Survey of India that were located outside containment zones would open starting Monday, subject to the guidelines of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

Keeping in view the safety of visitors and staff, the ASI had announced online-only ticket booking for restricted number of slots at each monument. The ASI’s ticket booking platform showed that only a handful of visitors booked for major tourist attractions like Qutub Minar etc. 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) PLA pulls back from Galwan clash site. 

After three weeks of the worst military clashes in decades, India and China have begun the process of disengagement at contentious locations along the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC). The disengagement is in process and it is commenced after Special Representatives of Indian and China Ajit Doval and Wang Yi, were assigned the work to find a solution to the boundary dispute. They spoke over telephone on July 5 in the evening. 

The Chinese troops have moved back some distance and dismantled their tents at some locations along the LAC. In the Galwan Valley, the Chinese troops have shifted about 2 kilometers from the site of the clashes held on Juje 15. Some tents had also been removed by the PLA in the Finger 4 area of Pangong Tso.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
06 JULY 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:  

 

A) China doubles down on claims on eastern boundary of Bhutan. 

Some days after Bhutan sent China a demarche protesting against Chinese claims to the Sakteng wildlife sanctuary in eastern Bhutan, Beijing has doubled down, including eastern sectors of Bhutan to the boundary dispute between the two countries for the very first time. The Minister of Foreign affairs in China said that the boundary between China and Bhutan has never been delimited. For a long time, there have been disputes over the eastern, central and western sectors. So far, the talks have been about three specific areas, including Jakarlung and Pasamlung in the north, and the Chumbi Valley, where Doklam is situated, in west Bhutan.The negotiations have not been held since the Doklam stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops in 2017. 

B) The Embassy and Bhutan Government declined to comment on the issue with China. 

Bhutan has always maintained a silence on its boundary negotiations with China. It does not have any formal diplomatic relations with Beijing as well. Bhutan had issued a demarche to the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi in June, protesting against the Chinese statement at the Global Environmental Facility meeting that decides on global grants for various projects. The Sakteng sanctuary has in the past, too, received such grants, including in 2018-2019 for a project on preventing soil erosion, without any objection from China.

C) Vaccine trials take 6 to 9 months: WHO Chief Scientist. 

Days after the Indian Council of Medical Research issued a letter calling for fast-tracking the trial process of Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine, Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization, Soumya Swaminathan said that a vaccine trial usually takes at least six months to complete. On the specific question of whether Phase-3 trials can be skipped for making the vaccine available for public use in light of the pandemic, Dr. Swaminathan said that any vaccine must demonstrate efficacy and safety on a sizeable number of participants. The WHO has published target product profiles for a COVID vaccine and immunogenicity data alone would be insufficient for a vaccine use policy. It is possible to have protocols which flow seamlessly from Phase-2 to Phase-3 based on interim analysis of data. Experts globally have been saying it would take at least 12 to 18 months to launch a vaccine for COVID-19. Bharat Biotech has got an approval to conduct only the Phase-1 and Phase-2 trials.

D) Students in limbo as UGC yet to decide on final year exams. 

The Centre had asked the UGC to review its guidelines eleven days ago. Eleven days after the Centre asked the University Grants Commission (UGC) to review its guidelines on final year university examinations, there is still no clarity for many anxious students across the country. Seven States have cancelled their college and university examinations — Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Odisha, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal — without waiting for the UGC’s fresh guidelines. However, some private universities will continue to conduct online examinations in these States.

E) Food grain offtake by States rises sharply. 

Relief measures being implemented in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic have paved the way for States and Union Territories in the country to draw more than double the quantity of rice for distribution during April to June this year, compared to the corresponding period last year. In the corresponding three months of 2019, the total amount of rice lifted by the States and Union Territories from the Food Corporation of India (FCI) under the Centre’s various schemes was 90.71 lakh tonnes. This year the figure was 192.34 lakh tonnes. After the breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Central government had announced that Priority Household (PHH) and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) cardholders in the country, regarded as the poor, would receive free additional entitlement of 5 kg per person per month, initially for three months (April to June) and now up to November. This was in addition to their entitlement under the National Food Security Act (NFSA).

F) Issue compulsory licences for generic Remdesivir: CPI(M).

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) on Sunday said the government should issue compulsory licences for the manufacture of a generic version of remdesivir, an anti-viral drug being used to treat COVID-19 patients. In a statement, it said the government should invoke Clause 92 of the Patent Act that allows it to issue compulsory licences so that Indian manufacturers can produce a more affordable generic version. “Gilead Sciences’ anti-viral drug Remdesivir has shown efficacy in treating COVID-19 patients. Media reports indicate that the U.S., which is hoarding all drugs found to be useful in combating the pandemic, has bought the entire stock of Remdesivir from Gilead for the next three months. It will therefore not be available for the rest of the world,” the statement said. The statement said while the price of the drug was ₹2.25 lakh or $3,000 in the U.S., Indian companies were in talks for manufacturing under a Gilead’s licence for sale at ₹30,000-₹35,000.