Tag: latest Current Affairs

CURRENT AFFAIRS
28 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) West Bengal, Assam witness over 70% turnout in first phase.

The Election Commission on Saturday said the first phase of polling in the West Bengal and Assam Assembly elections went off peacefully, with 79.79% and 72.14% turnout respectively as of 5 p.m. Voting was carried out at 21,825 polling stations in a total of 77 Assembly constituencies in the two states. About 74 electors were eligible to vote for the polls in 30 constituencies of West Bengal and 81 lakh in 47 constituencies of Assam. The EC said in a statement that the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPATs) used for the phase one polls malfunctioned less than previous polls. Non-functioning rate during the poll is lesser than experienced in last few polls. (sic), the EC said. The EC added that live monitoring and webcasting was carried out for over 50% of the polling stations, including critical and vulnerable polling booths. The EC said COVID-19 safety protocols like sanitising all polling stations a day before voting, thermal scanning, hand sanitisers and face masks were available at the locations.

B) Modi meets Hasina; India, Bangladesh sign five MoUs. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his Bangladeshi counterpart Sheikh Hasina today and discussed the progress achieved in areas like connectivity, energy, trade, health and developmental cooperation following which the two countries signed five MoUs covering a number of areas of bilateral cooperation. Modi, who is visiting Bangladesh on his first trip to a foreign country since the outbreak of the coronavirus, held one-on-one talks with Hasina, which was followed by a delegation-level meeting that continued for over an hour. Relationship going from strength to strength! Prime Minister @narendramodi and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina discussed the progress achieved in areas of health, trade, connectivity, energy, developmental cooperation and many more, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted after the talks. The two sides signed five Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) covering areas such as connectivity, commerce, information technology and sports. In a humanitarian gesture, Modi handed over a representational key of 109 ambulances to his counterpart Hasina. He also handed over a representational box to her as a symbol of India’s gift of 1.2 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Bangladesh.

C) NIA official tortured my nephew in custody, says ex-police officer. 

A 31-year-old man was allegedly tortured by an officer of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Jammu on Friday, his family has claimed. The federal anti-terror probe agency ordered an inquiry today. Yugraj Singh, who works for a food delivery app, was called by the NIA for questioning in a narco-terror case on Friday. It is alleged that Singh was beaten in NIA’s custody and was later admitted in a government hospital in Jammu. Sewak Singh, maternal uncle of the victim and a retired police officer, claimed that his nephew was abused by the NIA officials for wearing a kirpan (sword). The family released a video of Singh from the hospital which showed severe injuries on his back, legs and hands. His father is paralysed for the past four years. He is the one who takes care of his parents. We do not know why he was called for questioning. If he was involved in any crime, why was he released after being tortured? he said. Singh alleged that they had submitted a complaint but the police were not registering an FIR. They are saying the officer has been suspended and transferred to Nagaland. We want that a case be registered against him, Singh said.

D) Using social media to troll judges is a concern, says Law Minister. 

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday flagged the government’s concern over social media campaigns conducted against individual judges for their judicial opinions and judgments. The Minister, who is also in charge of the Information Technology, Electronics and Communications portfolios, criticised some people who file PILs in court, campaign on social media for a particular judgment, and later troll judges when the verdict does not meet their expectations. He termed it campaign justice. Judiciary should be free to work in accordance with the rule of law, Prasad said. Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde said judges had become quite used to the PIL route being used for filing frivolous petitions. The administration of justice is often tried to be made difficult by some vested interests. But that is something we as judges have got used to, CJI Bobde said. They were speaking in Goa at the inaugural function of the new building of the Bombay High Court. Some people file PILs, then they start a campaign on social media ‘that only this type of judgment is possible in this case’. And, if the judgment does not come in accord with what they perceive to be their right, then they start not only criticising the judges but also trolling judges. 

E) President Kovind to undergo bypass procedure on March 30. 

President Ram Nath Kovind was on Saturday shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi for a planned bypass procedure which is expected to be performed on Tuesday, a statement issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan said. The President’s health condition is stable and he is under the care of experts, it said. Kovind, 75, had undergone a health check-up at the Army Hospital (R&R) in New Delhi following chest discomfort on Friday morning. The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind, has been shifted to the AIIMS, Delhi, in the afternoon today (March 27, 2021). Post investigations, doctors have advised him to undergo a planned bypass procedure which is expected to be performed on the morning of March 30, Tuesday. The President’s health is stable and he is under the care of the experts at the AIIMS, the statement said. Earlier in the day, the Army Hospital said Kovind was shifted to the AIIMS for further treatment.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Myanmar forces kill dozens in deadliest day since coup.

As Myanmar’s military celebrated the annual Armed Forces Day holiday with a parade Saturday in the country’s capital, soldiers and police elsewhere reportedly killed dozens of people as they suppressed protests in the deadliest bloodletting since last month’s coup. A count issued by an independent researcher in Yangon who has been compiling near-real time death tolls put the total as darkness fell at 93, spread over more than two dozen cities and towns. The online news site Myanmar Now reported the death toll had reached 91. This screengrab from a UGC video provided to AFPTV from an anonymous source and taken on March 27, 2021 shows protesters watching as smoke rises from a burning makeshift barricade during a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon’s Thaketa township. Both numbers are higher than all estimates for the previous high on March 14, which ranged in counts from 74 to 90. Figures collected by the researcher, who asked not to be named for his security, have generally tallied with the counts issued at the end of each day by the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners, which documents deaths and arrests and is widely seen as a definitive source. Up through Friday, the Association of Political Prisoners had verified 328 people killed in the post-coup crackdown. Junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing did not directly refer to the protest movement when he gave his nationally televised Armed Forces Day speech before thousands of soldiers in Naypyitaw. He referred only to terrorism which can be harmful to state tranquility and social security, and called it unacceptable.

B) John Kerry to visit India in April ahead of Biden’s climate summit.

U.S. President Joe Biden will host a virtual ‘Leaders Summit on Climate’ on April 22 and 23 with 40 world leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and U.S. Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry will visit India in early April in the run-up to this meeting, sources told. Other guests at the climate summit will include President Xi Jinping of China and President Vladimir Putin of Russia, both of whom have a challenging relationship with Biden. With America’s re-entry into the Paris Agreement on climate, the summit seeks to put Biden’s stamp on the fight against climate change, after the U.S. largely took itself out of the international dialogue on climate action when Trump, climate change sceptic, withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement. The U.S. summit will highlight the urgent need to address climate change and the economic benefit of doing so, the White House said in a statement on Friday. It is also a prelude to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) which will be held in Glasgow in November, the White House said. The former Secretary of State had also said that he intends to work very, very closely with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others in India on climate change.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
27 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

A) Supreme Court refuses to stay sale of electoral bonds ahead of key Assembly polls. 

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the sale of electoral bonds before Assembly elections in crucial States like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. The judgment by a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde said the scheme began in 2018 and continued in 2019 and 2020 without any impediments. Chief Justice Bobde, who read out the judgment, said the court found no reason to stall the sale of electoral bonds now. The judgment came on an urgent application moved by the NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), represented by advocate Prashant Bhushan, to stay the sale scheduled between April 1 and 10. The NGO, also represented by advocate Neha Rathi, voiced serious apprehensions that sale of electoral bonds before Assembly elections would further increase illegal and illicit funding of political parties through shell companies. Attorney General K.K. Venugopal had said the sale was announced after getting permission from the Election Commission of India (ECI). The ECI registered its support for the electoral bonds scheme during the last hearing in the case earlier this week.

B) Supreme Court rules in favour of Tata Sons, sets aside NCLAT judgment restoring Cyrus Mistry as chairman.

The Supreme Court on Friday ruled completely in favour of multi-billion dollar salt-to-software conglomerate, Tata Sons Private Limited, by setting aside a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) decision to re-instate minority shareholder Shapoorji Pallonji group’s scion, Cyrus Mistry, as its chairman. A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde rejected arguments that the ouster of Mistry as chairman by the Tata Sons Board was oppressive. Chief Justice Bobde, who read out the judgment, said every question of law raised in the dispute falls in favour of the Tatas. The court dismissed the appeals filed by the Shapoorji Pallonji group. The Bench said the question of a fair compensation for Shapoorji Pallonji group cannot be adjudicated in the Supreme Court in this case. The apex court, by ruling in favour of the Tatas, seemed to have acknowledged their argument that NCLAT judgment effectively amounted to vesting the control of the company with minority (Shapoorji Pallonji group). Minority with 18% holding has been effectively given power to rule over all the Tata Companies, senior advocate Harish Salve for Tata Sons had submitted during the extensive hearings. The NCLAT decision had served a blow to corporate democracy and rights of the board of directors, Tata Sons had argued in its appeal. Tata Sons said the Tribunal crossed its jurisdiction by terming the appointment of current incumbent N. Chandrasekaran as illegal while restoring Mistry as chairman.

C) Modi praises 1971 martyrs, meets minority leaders in Dhaka. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday paid rich tributes to the martyrs of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 at Dhaka’s National Martyrs Memorial and said the sacrifice of the participants in the historic war will remain a lasting legacy in South Asia. Modi reached the memorial soon after landing at Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport where he was received by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her council of ministers. The Indian leader also planted an ‘Arjun’ sapling at the memorial grounds which contain the unmarked graves of the martyrs. Beginning his interactions, Prime Minister Modi met with the leaders of the ruling alliance in Dhaka and interacted with a delegation of the Muktijoddhas or former guerrillas who fought in the war of 1971. He also met with the leaders of the religious minorities of Bangladesh. Earlier, Modi arrived in Dhaka on a two-day visit to Bangladesh during which he will attend the celebrations of the golden jubilee of the country’s independence, the birth centenary of ‘Bangabandhu’ Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and hold talks with his counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

D) Centre extends validity of driving licenses, vehicle documents till June 30.

Considering the grim pandemic situation that continues now and the need to prevent the spread of Covid-19 across country, the Road Transport Ministry has again advised enforcement authorities to treat as valid all the vehicle related documents – like fitness, permit, registration and driving license whose validity has expired since February 1, 2020 or would expire by June 30, 2021. Enforcement authorities are advised to treat such documents valid till June 30, 2021. This will help out citizens in availing transport related services, while maintaining social distancing, stated a Road Ministry advisory. Earlier, in the backdrop of Covid-19 in 2020, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had issued advisories on March 30, June 9, August 24, and December 27. It was advised that the validity of Fitness, Permit (all types), License, Registration or any other concerned document(s) might be treated to be valid till March 31, 2021. It had issued such advisory as citizens were facing long queues in front of transport offices. Now, the Road Ministry has said that all the above referred documents may be treated to be valid till June 30, 2021. This covers all documents whose validity has expired since February 1, 2020 or would expire by June 30, 2021. It may be the last advisory in this regard, it added.

E) Partial response to Bharat Bandh; police disrupt farm union’s press conference in Ahmedabad. 

Farmers protesting the three contentious agricultural laws disrupted road and rail transport, and closed down shops in much of Punjab and Haryana in response to the Samyukt Kisan Morcha’s (SKM) call for a Bharat bandh on Friday. Parts of Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan also saw shutdowns, while there was a scattered impact in other States. SKM leaders were detained by police in Ahmedabad and Bengaluru, and some local farmer leaders were placed under precautionary house arrest in Uttar Pradesh. In Ahmedabad, police entered a press conference being addressed by the BKU-Tikait group’s general secretary Yudhvir Singh and detained him along with eight other farmer leaders. This is wrong. This is a dictatorship. It is not a crime to speak to the press. It is a right in a democracy, he told journalists, even as the police pulled leaders out of their chairs and led them to police vans. In Bengaluru, farmer leaders attempted to hold a mock funeral procession for the three farm laws, but were detained by city police at multiple locations. In which democracy does the police not allow citizens to hold a peaceful protest? We have even withdrawn the bandh, but not allowing us to hold a demonstration is undemocratic, rued farmer leader Kodohalli Chandrashekhar, detained at a protest in front of Town Hall.

F) Elections not on a level playing field, says N. Ram. 

Elections are not on a level playing field owing to distortion of democracy by money power, said The Hindu Publishing Group Director N. Ram. Speaking at the panel discussion of political party representatives on elections and the launch of a publication on Assembly election 2021 ‘Ippodhu’, Ram said media had the duty of discussing such issues. A huge proportion of electoral bonds has gone to the BJP, he said. Pointing to the conduct of the Supreme Court on the question of constitutional validity of electoral bond scheme ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections, Ram said the issue has to be discussed.  Quoting from Ambedkar’s speech in the Constituent Assembly, he said the leader had warned against internal threat to democracy by bhakti or hero worship.

G) Ramesh Jarkiholi CD scandal: Woman files complaint through lawyer. 

Hours after releasing a video, the woman in the CD scandal involving BJP MLA and former Minister in the Karnataka government Ramesh Jarkiholi submitted a complaint through a lawyer to the Commissioner of Police, Kamal Pant, seeking action against the leader. Taking cognisance, Pant asked lawyer K.N. Jagadish Kumar to approach Cubbon Park police station to file a complaint. In the complaint, the woman accused Jarkiholi of sexually assaulting, cheating, and threatening her after promising a government job. The woman said that the MLA had assaulted her twice and even forced her to share private pictures and talk to him. She further stated in the complaint that he made the video to defame her, thinking that she may file a complaint.

H) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments. 

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,18,63,815 with the death toll at 1,62,495. There is no direct causal relation established between deaths and Covid-19 vaccination, with adverse events reported being well within the anticipated numbers, said the expert group investigating the adverse events following immunisation (AEFI). The national committee looking at AEFI examined 412 cases of severe adverse events, including 79 deaths (recorded until March 13) and found that deaths happened in cases where the person had underlying conditions, including heart problems, high blood pressure, diabetes, N.K. Arora, member, National Task Force on COVID-19 told.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Beijing sanctions Britons over Xinjiang. 

China slapped sanctions on several British politicians and organisations on Friday after the U.K. joined the European Union and others in sanctioning Chinese officials accused of human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region. The U.K. responded by accusing China of violating human rights on an industrial scale. China sanctioned four British institutions and nine individuals, including prominent lawmakers who have criticised the treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority in Xinjiang. It said they would be barred from visiting Chinese territory and banned from having financial transactions with Chinese citizens and institutions. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the censure imposed by the EU, the U.S., Britain and Canada was based on lies and disinformation, flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs, and severely undermines China-U.K. relations. China does not stir up trouble, but China is not afraid when others do, Yang Xiaoguang, China’s charged affaires in London, said at a news conference. China is not the first to shoot, neither will we be passive and submissive to threats from the outside, he said. Today’s world is not the world of 120 years ago. The Chinese people will not be bullied.

B) Egypt races to dislodge giant vessel blocking Suez Canal.

Tugboats and a specialised suction dredger worked on Friday to dislodge a giant container ship that has been stuck sideways in Egypt’s Suez Canal for the past three days, blocking a crucial waterway for global shipping. The Ever Given, a Panama-flagged ship that carries cargo between Asia and Europe, ran aground in the narrow canal that runs between Africa and the Sinai Peninsula. It got stuck in a single lane stretch of the canal, about 6 km north of the southern entrance, near the city of Suez. The ship, owned by the Japanese firm Shoei Kisen KK, has blocked traffic in the canal. Around of world trade flows through the canal. The closure also could affect oil and gas shipments to Europe from the West Asia. At least 237 ships were waiting for the Ever Given to be cleared. A team from Boskalis, a Dutch firm specialised in salvaging, started working with the canal authority on Thursday. The rescue efforts have focused on dredging to remove sand and mud from around the port side of the vessel’s bow.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
26 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

A) Budget session of Parliament concludes two weeks ahead of schedule. 

Both Houses of Parliament were adjourned sine die on Thursday, nearly two weeks before schedule keeping in mind requests made for curtailment of the second part of the Budget session by MPs belonging to West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry and Kerala owing to the Assembly polls. The session that started on January 29 (first part) was to run till April 8 in the second part after having recommenced on March 8 after a break. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi, briefing after the end of the session, said that it was curtailed ahead of schedule due to the demands made by various political parties and Assembly elections in four States and one Union Territory. The overhang of the contests of the Assembly polls was seen during the session with frequent references to poll issues in West Bengal during the debates. Earlier in the day, Bhratruhari Mahtab, who was presiding officer in the Lok Sabha, gave a valedictory address in which he revealed that despite disruptions, the session clocked 114% in productivity with 24 sittings, which lasted over 132 hours. Seventeen government bills were introduced and 18 passed, including the finance and appropriations Bills. Around 171 reports were tabled by various parliamentary committees and 84 starred questions were answered orally. The tally for the Rajya Sabha was also impressive with again, 23 sittings, in which the House sat for 104 hours and clocked 90% productivity. The Upper House passed 19 Bills, spending 42% of the functional time on legislative business.

B) Supreme Court asks government to clarify on 55 pending High Court appointments.

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the government to clarify on the status of 55 recommendations made by the Collegium for judicial appointments to various High Courts six months to nearly a year-and-a-half ago. Forty-four of the pending recommendations were made to fill vacancies in the Calcutta, Madhya Pradesh, Gauhati, Rajasthan and Punjab High Courts. These recommendations have been pending with the government for over seven months to a year. The remaining 10 names have been pending with the government despite their reiteration by the Collegium. They include five for the Calcutta High Court pending with the government for one year and seven months. The recommendations of four names made by the Collegium to the Delhi High Court have been pending for seven months. The total sanctioned judicial strength in the 25 High Courts is 1,080. However, the present working strength is 661 with 419 vacancies as on March 1. The Supreme Court has been repeatedly conveying to the government its growing alarm at the judicial vacancies in High Courts. The court asked Mr. Venugopal to enquire with the Union Ministry of Law and Justice and make a statement on April 8 about their status. The Bench handed over to Mr. Venugopal a chart containing the details of the 55 recommendations.

C) Army’s evaluation process discriminates against women seeking permanent commission, says SC. 

The Supreme Court on Thursday held that the Army’s selective evaluation process discriminated against and disproportionately affected women officers seeking permanent commission. A Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud observed that the pattern of evaluation inherently caused economic and psychological harm to short service commission women officers. The judgment, authored by Justice Chandrachud, said what appeared to be harmless on the face hid insidious patriarchy. They must recognise here that the structures of our society have been created by males for males. Superficial face of equality does not stand true to the principles enshrined in the Constitution, the top court said. The court said the case of women officers who had applied for permanent commission should be reconsidered in a month and a decision on them should be given in two months. The Supreme Court had recently expressed annoyance at the roadblocks placed by bureaucrats in the way of women officers seeking permanent commission, promotion and consequential benefits. The court was exasperated with a medical criterion by which women officers with 10 to over 20 years of service and in the age bracket of 35 to 50 had to compete with gentlemen officers aged between 25 and 30 for permanent commission.

D) Supreme Court quashes hate crime proceedings against Shillong Times Editor.

The Supreme Court on Thursday quashed hate crime proceedings initiated against Padma Shri awardee and senior journalist Patricia Mukhim for a Facebook post. A Bench led by Justice L. Nageswara Rao agreed with Ms. Mukhim, Editor of Shillong Times, that her social media post was only an expression of truth in the face of persecution. The decision came in Ms. Mukhim’s appeal against the Meghalaya High Court’s refusal to quash the proceedings against her under Sections 153a (hate), 500 (defamation) and 505(c) (incite a community or caste to commit an offence against another). The offences are non-bailable. Ms. Mukhim, represented by advocates Vrinda Grover, Soutik Banerjee and Prasanna S., said her Facebook post had only alerted the authorities to enforce the law against the perpetrators of a brutal attack against six non-tribal boys in the State. A plain reading of the petitioner’s Facebook post makes it clear that the intent and purpose of this post is to appeal for impartial enforcement of rule of law; equal treatment before the law of all citizens; condemnation of targeted violence against members of a minority group; and end to impunity for violence, Ms. Mukhim had argued.

E) 67 coal mines offered for sale in second tranche of auction. 

The government on Thursday offered 67 coal mines for sale, launching the second tranche of commercial coal mining auction and termed it a step towards ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. This is the highest number of mines on offer in a particular tranche after commencement of the auction regime in 2014. India launched its 2nd tranche of auction for commercial coal mining, offering 67 mines for sale of coal, today. Union Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi launched the auction process in a programme held in New Delhi, Ministry of Coal said in a statement. Out of the total 67 mines offered by the ministry, 23 are under Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act and 44 under Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act. The blocks on offer are a mix of mines with small and large reserves, coking and non-coking mines and fully and partially explored blocks spread across 6 States – Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) In signal to China, U.S. raised India ties during Alaska talks.

The Joe Biden administration highlighted the strength of U.S.-India ties in its March 19 meeting with Chinese officials in Alaska, underlining how it has increasingly come to view India as central to its broader objectives in dealing with China in the Indo-Pacific region. The reference to India, it is learnt, was not favourably received by China’s two offlcials in Alaska top diplomat and Politburo member Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and is being seen as reflecting how U.S. India relations, only two months into the new administration, are developing The speed with which the new Biden administration has pushed closer ties with India has come in sharp contrast to expectations in some quarters, both in New Delhi and Washington, that relations would not be as smooth as they were with the Trump administration.

B) N. Korea launches ‘ballistic missiles’.

North Korea fired two suspected ballistic missiles into the sea on Thursday in its first substantive provocation to the new U.S. administration of Joe Biden. The nuclear-armed North has a long history of using weapons tests to ramp up tensions, in a carefully calibrated process to try to forward its objectives. Donald Trump’s first year in office was marked by a series of escalating launches, accompanied by a war of words between him and North Korean leader Kim Jongun. Pyongyang had been biding its time since the new administration took office, not even officially acknowledging its existence until last week. But Seoul’s joint chief of staff said the North fired two short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan, known as the East Sea in Korea, from South Hamgyong province. They travelled 450 km and reached a maximum altitude of 60 km, the JCS added, and after an meeting South Korea’s National Security Council expressed deep concern at the launch. North Korea is banned from developing any ballistic missiles under UN Security Council resolutions and is under multiple international sanctions over its weapons programmes. It had been a year since the last such incident, he added, saying, This threatens the peace and security of our country and the region. It is also a violation of the UN. Tokyo said they came down outside the waters of Japan’s exclusive economic zone. Pyongyang has made rapid progress in its capabilities under Mr. Kim, testing missiles capable of reaching the entire continental United States as tensions mounted in 2017.

C) Biden chooses Harris to lead efforts to tackle migration. 

U.S. President Joe Biden has tapped Vice-President Kamala Harris to lead the White House effort to tackle the migration challenge at the U.S. southern border and work with Central American nations to address the root causes of the problem. Mr. Biden made the announcement as he and Ms. Harris met at the White House on Wednesday with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandra Mayorkas and other immigration advisers to discuss the increase in the number of migrants, including many unaccompanied minors, arriving at the border in recent weeks. When she speaks, she speaks for me, Mr. Biden said, noting that her work as California’s Attorney-General makes her specially equipped to lead the administration’s response. Ms. Harris is tasked with overseeing efforts to deal with issues spurring migration in the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, as well as pressing them to strengthen enforcement on their own borders, officials said. She is also tasked with developing and implementing a long-term strategy that gets at the root causes of migration from those countries. Mr. Biden suggested former President Donald Trump’s decision to cut $450 million funding in 2019 to the region was partly to blame for the situation.

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS
25 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

A) CJI Bobde recommends Justice Ramana as successor. 

Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde has recommended Justice N.V. Ramana, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court, as the next top judge. The CJI’s recommendation to the government was followed by the publication of a short statement on Wednesday informing that a complaint sent by Andhra Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy against Justice Ramana to the CJI on October 6 last year was dismissed under an in-house procedure after due consideration. Reddy had complained that Justice Ramana was influencing the Andhra High Court judiciary to destabilise his government. The complaint was sent shortly after a Bench led by Justice Ramana started hearing and fast-tracking hundreds of criminal cases against Ministers, legislators and politicians pending in trial courts across the country. In an affidavit filed with election nomination papers in 2019, Reddy had declared there were 31 criminal cases pending against him with the CBI, the Directorate of Enforcement, and different police stations in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

B) Justice Ramana is now set to take over as the 48th Chief Justice of India from April 24.

Chief Justice Bobde handed over a copy of his letter of recommendation to Justice Ramana on Wednesday after sending it to the government. The Centre had recently asked Chief Justice Bobde, who is retiring on April 23, to initiate the transition process to the top judicial office. Justice Ramana would be the CJI till August 26, 2022. He was elevated to the Supreme Court on February 17, 2014 when he was the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court.

C) Mutating coronavirus: Health Ministry flags two new ‘variants of concern’

Two new ‘variants of concern’ (VOC) and a new ‘double mutant’ Covid-variant have been found in India, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday. Variants of concern are mutated types of coronavirus associated with either an increase in transmission, a reduction in neutralising antibodies, or severe disease. However, the government said that none of the recent spikes in Maharashtra and Punjab were attributable to the VOC. Genomic sequencing and epidemiological studies are continuing to further analyse the situation, the Ministry statement added. An analysis of samples from Maharashtra has revealed that compared to December 2020, there has been an increase in the fraction of samples with the E484Q and L452R mutations. Such mutations confer immune escape (evade neutralising antibodies) and increased inactivity, it added. Worryingly, the Ministry has also noted that these mutations have been found in about 15-20% of samples and do not match any previously catalogued VOCs. These have been categorised as VOCs but require the same epidemiological and public health response of increased testing, comprehensive tracking of close contacts, prompt isolation of positive cases and contacts as well as treatment as per National Treatment Protocol by the States/UTs, said the Ministry.

D) Lok Sabha passes The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021. 

Lok Sabha on Wednesday gave its nod to a bill which seeks to strengthen the provisions relating to protection and adoption of children. The amendment bill would address various issues flagged by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, which had looked into the working of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said while moving it for consideration and passage. She said the proposed law seeks to make the district magistrate a synergising officer for issues related to protection of children. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021, which seeks to amend the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, proposes to increase the role of district magistrates and additional district magistrates on issues concerning child care and adoption, she said. The minister said the panel had found various shortcomings in the implementation of the Act and the object of the proposed changes in the law is to ensure that action is taken without waiting for a child to become a victim.

E) Attorney General denies consent for initiation of contempt proceedings against Rahul Gandhi. 

Attorney General of India K.K. Venugopal has denied consent for the initiation of contempt proceedings against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on the basis of a plea that he had scandalised the judiciary in the course of an interview. Venugopal said Gandhi’s statements were too vague to be said to have lowered the authority of the institution in the eyes of the public. Raising an interesting point, the Attorney General said Gandhi’s statements had referred generally to the judiciary and no specific mentions were made about the Supreme Court or its judges. Venugopal said his prior consent as the Attorney General for initiating contempt was necessary only if the contempt had been made against the Supreme Court. Then the question of my granting consent would not arise, he said. Venugopal was responding to a petition filed by advocate Vineet Jindal, who alleged that Gandhi had scandalised the judiciary by commenting that the ruling party in the Centre has inserted its people into judiciary. 

F) Eight parties condemn police action against Opposition MLAs in Bihar assembly.

Eight opposition parties issued a joint statement condemning the events of Patna assembly on Tuesday, where Opposition members were brutally beaten up and dragged out of the state assembly by the police following chaotic scenes over the Bihar Special Armed Police Bill, 2021. RJD MP Manoj K Jha tried to raise this issue in the Rajya Sabha but Chairman Venkaiah Naidu did not allow him to speak. Security personnel remove a Grand Alliance legislator during the budget session of the Bihar Assembly in Patna on March 23, 2021. In a joint statement signed by the RJD, Congress, Samajwadi Party, DMK, TRS, TMC and Shiv Sena, the Opposition said that the Bihar Armed Police Bill is an insidious conspiracy to enforce a police raj in Bihar. This law, the parties said, confers unbridled powers upon the Bihar Military police to conduct raids and arrests without warrants. This is an unconstitutional bill that effectively transforms the police force into an armed militia to harass, suppress and crackdown on academics, activists, journalists, the political opposition, and all those who dare to speak truth to power, the joint statement said. The events in the Patna assembly, the joint statement said, also indicated what the BJP wants to do in the rest of the country, employing the sheer tyranny of power.

G) Congress demands probe into audio clip on corruption in West Bengal.

Demanding an inquiry, the Congress on Wednesday played an audio clip at a press conference in which serious allegations of corruption were levelled against BJP leaders in West Bengal. The party said it could not verify the authenticity of the clip that was 1 minute and 28 seconds long. It asked the BJP to investigate the issue. The purported clip relates to a conversation between two persons discussing getting a BJP ticket in Bengal in exchange for money. The clip also talks of misconduct by BJP’s Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh and the party in-charge for Bengal, Kailash Vijayvargiya. The voices on the audio clip, however, were not that of Ghosh or Vijayvargiya. The Congress claimed that it received the clip from an independent journalist and the identities of the persons taking part in the conversation could not be ascertained. At the press conference, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate questioned the silence of top BJP leaders on the audio clip that was circulating on social media platforms. Stating that the matter was in the public domain now, Rajya Sabha member Amee Yagnik asked why the Election Commission had not taken note of the matter so far.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Massive cargo ship turns sideways, blocks Egypt’s Suez Canal. 

A massive cargo ship has turned sideways in Egypt’s Suez Canal, blocking traffic in a crucial East-West waterway for global shipping, according to satellite data accessed Wednesday. Traffic on the narrow waterway dividing continental Africa from the Sinai Peninsula stopped Tuesday after the MV Ever Given, a Panama-flagged container ship with an owner listed in Japan, got stuck. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the Ever Given to turn sideways in the canal. GAC, a global shipping and logistics company, described the Ever Given as suffering a blackout while transiting in a northerly direction, without elaborating. The Ever Given’s bow was touching the canal’s eastern wall, while its stern looked lodged against its western wall, according to satellite data from MarineTraffic.com. Several tug boats surrounded the ship, likely attempting to push it the right way, the data showed. Cargo ships and oil tankers appeared to be lining up at the southern end of the Suez Canal, waiting to be able to pass through the waterway to the Mediterranean Sea, according to Marine Traffic data. A United Nations database listed the Ever Gren as being owned by Shoei Kisen KK, a ship-leasing firm based in Imabari, Japan. The ship had listed its destination as Rotterdam in the Netherlands prior to getting stuck in the canal. Opened in 1869, the Suez Canal provides a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo being shipped from East to West. Around 10 % of the world’s trade flows through the waterway and it remains one of Egypt’s top foreign currency earners.

B) Uncertainty hangs over Israel election outcome. 

Israelis awoke on Wednesday to find that after their fourth general election in less than two years, there was still no clear indication of who would form the next government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party won the most votes, boosting his chances of building a coalition with a majority in the 120 seat Knesset. But a rival Anyone but Netanyahu camp of parties was running neck-and-neck, spelling more uncertainty ahead as the official vote count continued. Mr. Netanyahu, 71, Israel’s longest-serving premier after 12 years in power, had hoped that Tuesday’s election would finally allow him to unite a stable right-wing coalition behind him, after three inconclusive elections since 2019. Analysis by state broadcaster Kan showed that with close to 90% of ballots counted, the combined strength of the declared pro-Netanyahu parties was 52 seats while the rival front commanded 56. This leaves both camps short of the 61 seats required to build a government. The kingmaker, down the road, could be the hard-right Yamina party led by Mr. Netanyahu’s estranged former protege Naftali Bennett, which, by Kan’s projection, won seven seats. Mr. Bennett, a former entrepreneur, has so far not declared which way he will jump.

C) Taliban slam Afghan President’s proposal for new election. 

The Taliban on Wednesday rejected a proposal by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to hold elections later this year, after months of peace talks between the two sides have made little progress. Although he hasn’t made details public, Mr. Ghani will announce the election plan at a stakeholder conference in Turkey next month, according to two government officials. The move is likely an attempt to undercut a U.S. proposal, supported by Russia, for the formation of an interim government involving the Taliban to rule the country once the last U.S. troops withdraw. The government will go to Turkey with a plan for an early election, which is a fair plan for the future of Afghanistan, said an official. The Taliban immediately rejected the proposal. Such processes [elections] have pushed the country to the verge of crisis in the past, said Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid. They are now talking about a process that has always been scandaIous, he said, adding that any decision on the country’s future must be hammered out in ongoing talks between the two sides. The U.S. is due to withdraw the last of its troops by May 1 under a deal finalised last year, although President Joe Biden said earlier this month the deadline would be tough to meet.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
24 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) All those above 45 can get vaccinated for COVID-19 from April 1.

The government has announced that from April 1, people above 45 will be eligible to get COVID-19 vaccines. It has requested them to get registered for the inoculation. Briefing reporters on the decisions taken by the Cabinet after its meeting, Union Minster Prakash Javadekar said that even people without comorbidities who are more than 45 can get vaccinated. Javadekar said the Cabinet also decided that the second dose of the vaccine can be taken between four and eight weeks, on the advice of doctors. It was allowed to be taken between four to six weeks earlier, but scientists have now said that taking the second dose between four and eight weeks gives improved results.

B) 81% of samples in Punjab turn out to be positive for U.K. variant

With 81% of the latest batch of 401 COVID-19 samples sent by the State for genome sequencing testing positive for the U.K. variant, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday appealed to the people to get themselves vaccinated, even as he urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to widen the vaccination ambit since this mutant had been found to be infecting young people more. Expressing concern over the emerging situation, the Chief Minister stressed the need for the Central government to urgently open up vaccination for a bigger section of the populace. The process needed to be expedited, he said, pointing to the fact that experts had found the existing Covishield vaccine to be equally effective against the U.K. variant. It was essential to vaccinate more people to break the chain of transmission, he added. Capt. Singh also urged people to strictly adhere to all Covid-19 safety protocols, including wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. The appeal came after the State’s Covid expert committee head, K.K. Talwar, apprised him of the developments on the new variant in the State, which has been witnessing a surge in the number of Covid-19 positive cases during the last few weeks. Singh said Dr. Talwar had informed him that though the UK variant B.1.1.7 was more infectious, it was not more virulent. The B.1.1.7 variant is spreading rapidly in many parts of the world, representing 98% of the new cases in U.K. and 90% in Spain. Authorities in the U.K. have suggested it was up to 70% more transmissible than the original virus.

C) Turmoil in Bihar Assembly over Bill that empowers police to arrest anyone without warrant. Vehement opposition to a Bill introduced in the Bihar assembly by the Nitish Kumar government on Tuesday led to unprecedented turmoil in the House, with police being called in to physically evict legislators who had laid siege to the Speaker’s chamber. Members of the opposition Grand Alliance, comprising the RJD, the Congress and the Left, were agitated over the Bihar Special Armed Police Bill, 2021. The RJD legislators moved a motion against the Bill, raising slogans against it. The Bill, which was introduced last week, seeks to rename the Bihar Military Police and empowers it to arrest people without a warrant. Leader of the opposition Tejashwi Yadav, who courted arrest while participating in a procession taken out against the ‘black law’, had given an inkling of what was in store at an early morning press conference. Today is the birth anniversary of Ram Manohar Lohia who famously said that if the streets go empty, the legislature goes rogue, said Yadav, who also tweeted an Urdu couplet in the memory of revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru who were executed on this date in the year 1931. When the Bill came up for debate, agitated Opposition members trooped into the well, where marshals tried to prevent them from clashing with those in the treasury benches. Speaker Vijay Kumar Sinha adjourned the House till 4.30 p.m. but ended up being held hostage inside his chamber as Grand Alliance members surrounded it from all sides, shouting slogans.

D) Loan moratorium case: SC asks lenders to refund penal interest on EMIs. 

The Supreme Court has directed banks and financial institutions to refund compound interest/penal interest collected on EMIs during the period of moratorium granted during the Covid-19 lockdown, from March 1 to August 31 last year. It is directed that there shall not be any charge of interest on interest/compound interest/penal interest for the period during the moratorium, a Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R. Subhash Reddy and M.R. Shah ordered in a 148-page judgment. The court said the amount accumulated as compound/penal interest or interest on interest during the six-month moratorium on term loan EMIs should be given as credit/adjusted in the next instalment of the loan account. Justice Shah, who authored the judgment, reasoned that additional interest in the form of compound or penal interest is usually collected from loan defaulters. When the payment of installments had already been deferred during the moratorium, what was the need to burden borrowers, who were already reeling under the financial loss of a pandemic and lockdown, the court asked. The judgment also spelt relief for banks and lenders, with the court lifting its nearly six-month bar on them from declaring accounts of borrowers as non-performing assets (NPAs). In October last year, the apex court had stopped banks and lenders from declaring accounts of borrowers as NPAs. The court refused to entertain complaints from petitioners that the government did not do enough to ease the burden of financial strain during the pandemic.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) AstraZeneca may have used outdated info in vaccine trial: U.S.

Results from a U.S. trial of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine may have used outdated information, U.S. federal health officials said in a statement early on March 23. The Data and Safety Monitoring Board said in a statement that it was concerned that AstraZeneca may have provided an incomplete view of the efficacy data. AstraZeneca had reported on Monday that its Covid-19 vaccine provided strong protection among adults of all ages in a long-anticipated U.S. study, a finding that could help rebuild public confidence in the shot around the world and move it a step closer to clearance in the U.S. The company aims to file an application with the Food and Drug Administration in the coming weeks. The government’s outside advisers will publicly debate the evidence before the agency makes a decision.

B) India abstains from vote on Sri Lanka resolution at UNHRC. 

India on Tuesday abstained from a crucial vote on Sri Lanka’s rights record at the UN Human Rights Council. The resolution on ‘Promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka’ was, however, adopted after 22 member states of the 47-member Council voted in its favour. The government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the main grouping representing war-affected Tamils of the island’s north and east, had sought opposite outcomes on the passage of the resolution. They had both been hopeful of getting India’s support to their respective calls. In a pre-vote statement, the Indian delegation said India’s approach to the question of human rights in Sri Lanka was guided by the two fundamental considerations of support to the Tamils of Sri Lanka for equality, justice, dignity and peace, and ensuring the unity, stability and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. They have always believed that these two goals are mutually supportive and Sri Lanka’s progress is best assured by simultaneously addressing both objectives, India said, reiterating its earlier position. India said it supports the call by the international community for the government of Sri Lanka to fulfill its commitments on the devolution of political authority, including through the early holding of elections for Provincial Councils and to ensure that all Provincial Councils are able to operate effectively, in accordance with the 13th amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
23 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

A) Centre asks States to increase interval between Covishield doses. 

The Centre on Monday wrote to States/Union Territories to increase the interval between two doses of Covishield to 4-8 weeks (from 4-6 weeks), stating that there is evidence of increased protection if the second dose of Covishield is administered between 6-8 weeks after the first dose. In a press release, the Health Ministry said that in view of the emerging scientific evidence, the interval between two doses of a specific Covid-19 vaccine i.e. Covishield, has been revised by the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) and subsequently by National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) in its 20th meeting. During this meeting, the recommendation has been revised to provide second dose of Covishield at 4-8 weeks’ interval after the first dose, instead of earlier practiced interval of 4-6 weeks. This decision of revised time interval between two doses is applicable only to Covishield and not to Covaxin Vaccine, the Ministry said. The letter written by the Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan to the Chief Secretaries of States/UTs noted that the Ministry has accepted the recommendations of NTAGI and NEGVAC and has thereafter advised the States and UTs to ensure the administration of second dose of Covishield to beneficiaries within this stipulated time interval of 4-8 weeks after first dose.

B) Lok Sabha passes Bill that empowers L-G of Delhi at expense of elected government.

The Lok Sabha today passed a Bill that seeks to make it clear that the government in Delhi means the Lieutenant Governor. The Bill was passed amidst strong Opposition from the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which described the legislation as unconstitutional. Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021 has become necessary as there has been ambiguity in certain issues related to the functioning of the Delhi government and several cases were also filed in courts. Please do not say that it is a political Bill. It is being brought to end ambiguity in certain issues as Delhi is a Union Territory. It will end certain confusion or technicality and enhance the efficiency of the administration, he said. According to the Bill, the government in Delhi means the Lieutenant Governor. The Bill also makes it mandatory for the Delhi government to take the opinion of the L-G before any executive action. Delhi’s ruling AAP government has opposed the Bill. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had even urged the central government to take back the Bill and said the AAP dispensation was ready to fall at the Modi government’s feet for its withdrawal.

C) Lok Sabha clears Bill to allow upto 74% FDI in insurance sector.

The Lok Sabha today passed The Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which seeks to raise the limit for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in insurance companies from 49% to 74%. The Bill had earlier been cleared by the Rajya Sabha and now requires Presidential assent to become law. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who piloted the Bill in both Houses, said the move was aimed at solving some of the long term capital availability issues in the insurance sector which was a capital-intensive industry. She added that stakeholders had been consulted by the insurance regulator, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), before a decision was taken to go ahead with the move. In her response to the debate on the Bill in the House, Sitharaman said that apprehensions over the gradual taking over of public sector insurance companies was ill-founded, as the banking and insurance industry has been designated as a strategic sector, and the 74% cap is just a limit posed on the FDI. Responding to Congress MP Manish Tewari’s apprehensions that the public sector undertakings were going to be disinvested and that it was akin to selling the family silver, the Minister said it was not, and the previous UPA government had also pushed for raising the FDI limit. Nobody is taking the money outside India. The Bill has safeguards that some of the profit has to be invested within the country, she said.

C) Bhima Koregaon case: NIA court rejects bail plea of 83-year-old Fr. Stan Swamy.

The special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court today rejected the bail plea filed by Jesuit priest Stan Swamy in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case. Judge D.E. Kothalikar held that Fr. Swamy was found in possession of objectionable material and there was sufficient evidence to connect him to the activities of the banned organisation. While rejecting his bail, the court relied upon letters allegedly written by co-accused Shoma Sen and Rona Wilson. Fr. Swamy, 83, an activist, has been working with tribals since decades and is currently lodged at Taloja Central Jail after being arrested from Ranchi on October 9, 2020. He has Parkinson’s disease and has lost the ability to hear from both his ears and suffers from intense pain from lumbar spondylosis. Special public prosecutor Prakash Shetty had previously pointed out that during the investigation it was established that Fr. Swamy was a staunch supporter of the activities of organisations such as Vistapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan and People’s Union for Civil Liberties which are allegedly working as fronts of CPI (Maoists). Advocate Sharif Shaikh, appearing for Fr. Swamy, had previously argued that the prosecution had not brought anything on record to suggest that Fr. Swamy was involved in any kind of terrorist activity. Therefore, Section 16 (punishment for terrorist act), 20 (punishment for being member of terrorist gang or organisation), 39 (offence relating to support given to a terrorist organisation) of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act were not applicable to him.

D) Transferred after exposé of Home Minister: Ex-Mumbai police chief Param Bir Singh.

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh today informed the Supreme Court that his transfer order arrived immediately after he complained to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and other senior leaders about the corrupt malpractices of State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. Singh alleged that Deshmukh held meetings with officers of lower rank like Sachin Vaze, now in custody in connection with the Mukesh Ambani residence bomb scare case, and Sanjay Patil, an ACP with the Social Service Branch, at his residence in February. This was done bypassing their seniors. The Home Minister had instructed the duo to accumulate ₹100 crore every month. For achieving this target, the Home Minister had told Vaze that there are about 1,750 bars, restaurants and other establishments in Mumbai and if a sum of ₹two-three lakh each was collected from each of them, a monthly collection of ₹40-50 crore was achievable, the petition by Singh said. The former top cop said the Minister, besides using police officers for his malicious intent of extorting money, interfered with investigations, ordering them to be conducted in a particular manner. He also indulged in corrupt practices in official postings and transfers of officers. Singh said he had conveyed his apprehensions to senior leaders and the Chief Minister. Immediately thereafter, on March 17, he (Singh) was transferred from the post of the Mumbai Police Commissioner to the Home Guard Department in an arbitrary and illegal manner without the completing of the minimum fixed tenure of two years, the petition said. The 1988 IPS batch officer said his allegations against Deshmukh, which also form the content of an explosive letter, required an unbiased, uninfluenced, impartial and fair investigation by the CBI. Singh said the court has to act quickly before the evidence against Deshmukh is destroyed.

E) Governor must send factual report to President: Maharashtra BJP. 

In a related development, the Maharashtra unit of the BJP today said the party will meet Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Wednesday to request him to send a factual report to the President regarding the developments following the letter by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh accusing Home Minister Anil Deshmukh of demanding ₹100 crore per month. Allegations levelled against Anil Deshmukh are extremely serious in nature. These need to be probed by a Supreme Court or High Court judge or by the CBI. The Governor should seek a detailed report from the Chief Minister and send it to the President after verifying it, said senior leader Sudhir Mungantiwar. Meanwhile, the Congress, which is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government (with the Shiv Sena and the NCP), accused the BJP of trying to destabilise the coalition government. Addressing a press conference, Maharashtra Congress spokesman Sachin Sawant said it was not for the first time in India that a serving officer has leveled allegations against those in power. Questioning Singh’s claims, Sawant said, Deshmukh was in hospital after he tested positive for the novel coronavirus in February. I had had online interactions with Deshmukh on two occasions when he was indisposed. If Singh’s allegations are believed to be true then why did he wait till March and till he was transferred, to raise them. Sawant said Singh could be under pressure from the Central agencies since his close aide Sachin Vaze is in the custody of the NIA. Mr. Singh’s allegations raise several questions. All this is scripted. How did leaders of the BJP give sound bytes to news channels minutes after Singh’s letter became public? he asked.

F) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 11,652,756 with the death toll at 1,61,410. Pharma major AstraZeneca has said that advanced trial data from a U.S. study on its Covid-19 vaccine showed that it was 79% effective. Although AstraZeneca’s vaccine has been authorised in more than 50 countries, it has not yet been given the green light in the U.S. The U.S. study comprised 30,000 volunteers, 20,000 of whom were given the vaccine while the rest got dummy shots. The results were announced on March 22. In a statement, AstraZeneca said its Covid-19 vaccine had a 79% efficacy rate at preventing symptomatic Covid-19 and was 100% effective in stopping severe disease and hospitalisation. Investigators said the vaccine was effective across all ages, including older people which previous studies in other countries had failed to establish. The early findings from the U.S. study are just one set of information AstraZeneca must submit to the Food and Drug Administration. An FDA advisory committee will publicly debate the evidence behind the shots before the agency decides whether to allow emergency use of the vaccine.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) U.K. to unveil global focus in defence modernisation plans. 

The U.K. government will on Monday unveil much-anticipated military modernisation plans, vowing to bolster its defence of British interests across multiple domains and in all corners of the globe. The long-awaited proposals, detailed in a report entitled defence in a Competitive Age, focus heavily on boosting the country’s Navy and global footprint, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said. New commando force It promises more ships, sub marines and sailors and the transformation of the Royal Marines into a new unit called the Future Commando Force. The force will be deployed on an enduring basis to secure shipping lanes and uphold freedom of navigation, the MOD said. However, reports said the size of the Army would be reduced by around 10,000 to about 70,000 soldiers, the latest in a series of reductions in the last decade. The cut comes as the military shifts towards investment in robots, drones, and cyber warfare, the reports added. Despite that, the Army will create a new special operations Ranger Regiment, which would be able to operate discreetly in highrisk environments and be rapidly deployable across the world, the MOD said.

B) Riyadh presents ceasefire plan to Yemen’s Houthis.

Saudi Arabia presented a new peace initiative on Monday to end the war in Yemen, which would include a nationwide ceasefire under UN supervision and the reopening of air and sea links, the kingdom’s Foreign Minister said. The initiative includes the reopening of Sana’a airport, and would allow fuel and food imports through Hodeidah port, both of which are controlled by Riyadh’s enemies, the Iran-aligned Houthi movement. Political negotiations between the Saudi-backed government and the Houthis would be restarted, said Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud. The initiative will take effect as soon as the Houthis agree to it, Prince Faisal said, calling on the group and the government to accept the offer. The Houthis have demanded the lifting of an air and sea blockade, which has contributed to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen, as their main precondition before any deal. The Saudi-led coalition has said the port and airport must be restricted to prevent weapons from reaching the Houthis, who control the capital and most populous areas. The announcement did not specify which routes would be permitted for aircraft flying to Sana’a, or whether food or fuel imports through Hodeidah port would be subject to additional pre-authorisations.