Tag: latest Current Affairs

CURRENT AFFAIRS
22 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Mumbai Police ex-chief Julio Ribeiro can probe allegations against Maharashtra Home Minister, says Sharad Pawar. 

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Sunday said the charges against senior NCP leader and Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, made by former Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh, are ‘serious’ and any decision regarding him will be taken by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. Pawar, however, questioned the timing of the allegations levelled by Singh. On Saturday, in an email letter to Chief Minister Thackeray, Singh had alleged that the Home Minister had asked police officers, including the suspended officer, Sachin Vaze, to collect ₹100 crore every month from bars and hotels in the city. Pointing out that the allegations were made after Singh was removed as police chief over the ‘lapses’ in the probe into the security threat outside industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s residence, Antilia, Pawar suggested an in-depth probe by former Mumbai top cop, Julio Ribeiro, whose credibility is beyond questioning. He also claimed that Sachin Vaze, who remained suspended for over 16 years for his role in a custodial death case, was reinstated by Singh last year and neither the Chief Minister nor the State Home Minister was responsible for it. The NCP chief told reporters at his official residence in Delhi that Param Bir Singh did meet him but it was only when his transfer orders were about to be issued by the Maharashtra government. The episode has led to tensions in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government as the Shiv Sena leadership is reported to be against Deshkmukh’s continuance as a minister. Pawar is learnt to have convened a meeting of party leaders, including Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and State NCP chief Jayant Patil to discuss the issue. The NCP supremo also said the party must hear out Deshmukh, who has categorically denied all the allegations, before taking a final decision. There were allegations that he had directed the police to collect ₹100 crore. There is no information on actual transaction of money. No Information on any money being transferred to the Home Minister, he pointed out. The central leadership of the Congress party, the third partner in the MVA alliance, decided to adopt a ‘wait and watch approach’. Party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said the All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) Maharashtra in-charge, H.K, Patil, will speak on the issue soon.

B) West Bengal Assembly Elections | BJP manifesto promises CAA implementation. 

The BJP on Sunday promised implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), reservation of 33% for women in government jobs, and allocation of ₹18,000 pending to 75 lakh farmers under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi in its manifesto for the West Bengal Assembly polls. Releasing the party’s manifesto titled ‘Sonar Bangla Sonkolpo Potro 2021’, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that the manifesto is a vision of realising the party’s slogan of ‘Sonar Bangla (Golden Bengal)’. Along with 33% reservation for women in government jobs, the BJP promised free education for girls from kindergarden to post-graduation, free rides for women in public transport, and conditional cash transfer to school-going girls in Class VI,IX, XI and XII. The Trinamool Congress has a conditional cash transfer scheme for school-going girls called Kanyashree Scheme, which has received international acclaim. Shah promised the implementation of CAA in the first Cabinet meeting of the BJP government in West Bengal. The BJP had promised implementation of CAA in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, and the Bill was passed in the Parliament the same year. During the run-up to the election campaign, the BJP leadership, including Shah, have maintained that the rules for the CAA were being framed and the Act will be implemented after the vaccination for Covid-19 is completed. The refugees who have come to the State as early as 70 years ago are still awaiting their rights. We will implement CAA in the first Cabinet of the BJP government. Under the CM Refugee Welfare scheme ₹10,000 will be given to each of the refugee families for the next five years, Shah said. CAA is an emotive issue for Matuas, Hindu refugees who migrated from Bangladesh. Matuas can influence electoral results in 40 out of the 294 seats in West Bengal.

C) Allahabad High Court to consider transfer of Hathras gang-rape and murder case. 

Responding to an affidavit filed by the elder brother of the Hathras gang-rape and murder victim to stay the trial proceedings in view of the real and grave risk of a miscarriage of justice after he and his counsel were allegedly threatened in the courtroom of the Special Judge (SC/ST), Hathras, on March 5, the Allahabad High Court has asked the District Judge, Hathras, and the Inspector General Central Reserve Police Force to look into the allegations and submit a report within 15 days. After that, the two-judge Bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Jaspreet Singh said on Friday that it would consider whether trial in question before the Special Judge (SC/ST), Hathras is required to be stayed and is to be transferred elsewhere in the exercise of powers under Section 407 of CrPc. Policemen cremated the body of a 19-year-old Dalit gang rape victim in the early hours of September 30, 2020 in U.P.’s Hathras district. The affidavit submitted by the victim’s brother on March 18 said that on March 5, when he, accompanied by his wife, and counsel Seema Kushawaha, went to the Special Court of B.D. Bharti to record prosecution evidence, an advocate named Tarun Hari Sharma stormed into the courtroom and charged towards him and his counsel, shouting and issuing threats. Sharma seemed to be under the influence of alcohol and he said that Kushwaha could not represent the victim’s family. The affidavit further said a large mob, including lawyers, gathered inside the courtroom in order to threaten and intimidate the complainant and his counsel. On account of fear for their life and security, the affidavit said, the prosecution witness could not depose properly. When the proceedings resumed, the affidavit stated, another advocate, Hari Sharma, who is said to be the father of Tarun Hari Sharma, entered the courtroom and issued threats. After this, the affidavit said, the Presiding Judge was forced to stop the proceedings, ask police personnel present in the court to provide security cover within court premises, and direct the Station House Officer (SHO), Kotwali to provide safe and secure passage to Kushwaha.

D) Two PDP leaders resign from party.

Two PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) leaders including Khursheed Alam, who was named in the party’s political affairs committee last week, resigned from the party on Sunday. Alam, a former trade union leader who joined PDP after retiring from government service, said he has resigned from the party as it lacked any vision. Asked about his future course of action, he said he will make an announcement about it in due course. Alam, who rose through the ranks in the Consumer Affairs Department, was a surprise induction in the PDP as it tried to strengthen its base in Srinagar City. Another PDP leader Yasir Reshi, who had rebelled against party president Mehbooba Mufti two years ago, said he has also sent his resignation formally. Reshi, who hails from Bandipora district in north Kashmir, said he will consult his workers and well-wishers before deciding on his future course.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) India, Pakistan, China to participate in SCO joint anti-terrorism exercise this year. 

India, Pakistan, China and other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will hold a joint anti-terrorism exercise this year, the eight-member bloc said. The decision to hold the joint exercise, ‘Pabbi-Antiterror-2021’, was announced during the 36th meeting of the Council of the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on March 18. At the meeting, representatives of the SCO member states also approved the draft program of cooperation for 2022-2024 to counter terrorism, separatism and extremism. Decisions have been made to improve cooperation between the competent authorities of the SCO member states in identifying and suppressing channels that finance terrorist activities, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported, quoting a RATS statement. Delegations of the competent authorities of India, Kazakhstan, China, the Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and the RATS Executive Committee attended the meeting, Xinhua reported. RATS, headquartered in Tashkent, is a permanent organ of the SCO which serves to promote cooperation of member states against terrorism, separatism and extremism. The SCO is an economic and security bloc in which India and Pakistan were admitted as full members in 2017. Its founding members included China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The next meeting of the Council of the RATS SCO is scheduled to be held in September in Uzbekistan.

B) Myanmar border shut amid strains over refugee crisis. 

Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga held a virtual meeting on Sunday with Foreign Minister of Myanmar Zin Mar Aung amid the ongoing military crackdown following the February coup, even as India sealed all entry points along the border with the southeast Asian neighbour and is closely monitoring them to prevent any Myanmar national from entering the country. Had a fruitful meeting [online] this morning with Zin Mar Aung, Hon’ble Foreign Minister, Myanmar. Our thoughts and prayers are with Myanmar in these trying times, Mr. Zoramthanga said on Twitter. He had earlier written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging intervention so that political refugees from Myanmar are given asylum and food and shelter in the country. The tussle between the Centre and the State on the issue has created a tough time for New Delhi and security agencies in handling the situation on the ground, multiple officials said. In the letter dated March 18, Mr. Zoramthanga said the people residing on both sides have close linkages. India cannot turn a blind eye to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in front of us in our own backyard, the Chief Minister said. The letter comes after a series of exchanges between the State and the Central governments over the handling of the refugees. Stating that the whole of Myanmar is in turmoil and innocent hapless citizens are being persecuted by the military regime, who are supposed to be their guardians and protectors, Mr. Zoramthanga said the Myanmar area bordering Mizoram is inhibited by Chin communities, who are ethnically our brethren with whom we have been having close contacts throughout all these years even before India became independent. Following the February 1 coup when the Myanmar military overthrew the democratically elected government, around 300 Myanmarese nationals, including many policemen, have crossed into India and sought refuge.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
21 March 2021

INTERNATIONAL NEWS:

A) U.S., India resolve to intensify defence cooperation.

India on Saturday resolved to intensify defence cooperation with the U.S. Central Command in Florida and with the U.S. Commands in the Indo-Pacific region and Africa. The announcement in this regard was made by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh who held talks with U.S. Secretary of Defence General (Retd.) Lloyd James Austin III who described the partnership as a central pillar of the American policy for the Indo-Pacific. They reviewed the wide gamut of bilateral and multilateral exercises and agreed to pursue enhanced cooperation with the US Indo-Pacific Command, Central Command and Africa Command. Acknowledging that we have in place the foundational agreements, LEMOA, COMCASA and BECA, we discussed steps to be taken to realise their full potential for mutual benefit, said Mr. Singh at a joint meeting with the media at the Vigyan Bhavan. He said the bilateral discussion covered military-to-military engagement across services, information sharing, cooperation in emerging sectors of defence, and mutual logistics support. Mr. Austin’s visit is crucial as it comes in the midst of expectations that the U.S. is likely to deliver a message over India’s plans to acquire the Russian S-400 missile defence system in the coming months. The move could attract U.S. sanctions under a law named CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act). In a clear hint to Beijing’s growing military activities in the South China Sea region, Mr. Austin said the India-U.S. defence partnership will ‘grow’ in the coming years.

B) U.S. Defence Secretary brings up human rights concerns. 

The U.S. Defence Secretary also addressed the issue of human rights in India during his meetings with Cabinet Ministers here on Saturday. An informed source said the issue also came up during his conversation with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar which also covered a broad range of topics like the situation in Afghanistan and the West Asian tension. The Defense Secretary said as the two largest democracies in the world, human rights and values are important to us and they will lead with these values, said the source. Earlier, addressing a select group of American and Indian media outlets, Mr. Austin said he raised the violation of human rights of the Muslims in Assam with the Indian side. He did have a conversation with other members of the Cabinet on this issue, Mr. Austin was quoted saying by the NDTV. He however clarified that he did not have an opportunity to talk to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on reports of human rights violations targeting minority communities. They have to remember that India is their partner, a partner whose partnership they value. And he think partners need to be able to have those kinds of discussions. And certainly they feel comfortable doing that. And you can have those discussions in a very meaningful way and make progress, he said in a report that appeared on NDTV online.

C) China says it has agreed to work with U.S. on climate change, other issues.

China on Saturday said that it had agreed with the U.S. to take up climate change and a handful of other issues, signaling a possible modicum of progress at recently concluded talks that were otherwise marked by acrimonious public exchanges over the issues that divide the world’s two largest economies. The official Xinhua News Agency said in a dispatch from Anchorage, Alaska, where the two-day meeting wrapped up on Friday, that China and the U.S. had decided to set up a working group on climate change and hold talks to facilitate activities of diplomatic and consular missions and on issues related to each other’s journalists. The two countries feuded over journalist visas and consulates during the Trump administration, and climate change is seen as one area where they may be able to cooperate. Senior Biden administration officials held their first face-to-face meeting with their Chinese counterparts in Alaska since taking office earlier this year. The Xinhua report did not provide any details on the climate change working group, other than to say both countries were committed to enhancing communication and cooperation in the field.

D) Imran Khan tests positive for coronavirus. 

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday tested positive for the COVID-19 and is self-isolating at home, his top aide on health Dr. Faisal Sultan said, two days after he got the first shot of vaccination. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan receiving a dose of the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus, at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad on March 18. Mr. Khan, 67, was vaccinated on Thursday as part of the nationwide anti-coronavirus vaccination campaign which is underway in its first phase.

NATIONAL NEWS 

A) Assam Elections | Modi brings up ‘toolkit’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday accused the Congress of openly supporting forces that are out to finish the identity of Assam tea and destroy the tea industry. Addressing an election rally in this Upper Assam town, a day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi interacted with tea garden workers here, Mr. Modi alleged that the party is playing with the pride and glory of the oldest industry of the State. He said a toolkit recently sought to defame Assam tea, famous across the world, and Yoga, the legacy of our ancient saints, as part of a conspiracy. A conspiracy was hatched against Assam tea. You must have heard about a toolkit. It sought to destroy the tea gardens of Assam. No Indian will allow that, he said. The Prime Minister was apparently referring to Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg’s controversial toolkit, which she tweeted and then deleted, outlining ways in which people can participate in the farmers protest. Congress is supporting such forces. And while doing so it has the temerity to come here and seek votes of the tea garden workers. They have fallen so low. Who can understand the problems of tea workers better than a ‘chaiwala’, Mr. Modi said referring to his humble background when as a small boy he used to sell tea at a railway station and on trains in his native Gujarat.

B) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.

India reported 40,953 new coronavirus infections in the 24 hours ending 8 a.m. on March 20, the highest single-day rise in 111 days, taking the country’s cumulative COVID-19 tally to 1,15,55,284. The country also reported 188 deaths during this time taking the total death toll to 1,59,558, with 2,88,394 active cases currently, the Health Ministry said on March 20. As per data released by the Ministry, currently Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh continue to report a spike in new cases.

C) Police bust govt. job fraud nexus. 

Delhi police on Saturday claimed to have busted a gang that allegedly helped candidates for government jobs cheat in their examinations, and arrested four persons in connection with the crime. The accused posed as police officers and committed the crime in connivance with a private exam centre, they added. The gang has duped victims of around {20 lakhs till now. DCP (West) Urvija Goel said the accused Vaishali (26), alleged mastermind, Rohit (23), Love Kumar (26) and Himanshu (23) are all from Haryana. The police said they received information that illegal practices were taking place at 0m and Chander Associates Examination Centre in Naraina Industrial Area in the ongoing examination for the post of Forest Guard. Next, the police conducted a raid at the centre on March 4. When the phone was examined, evidence was recovered and the rest three persons were arrested from Delhi and Haryana, said an officer. The police said Vaishali along with her partner Anil Sharma who is absconding and other accomplices used to run the nexus in various States of north India and particularly in the rural areas to target unemployed youth. The accused asked the employees of the centre to provide phones to their candidates. The gang also used to send a dummy candidate, who would send the question paper to the kingpin. Next, Vaishali would use experts to solve the paper and send answers to their candidates sitting inside the centre with mobile phones, Ms. Goel explained.

D) Railway Ministry, others told to finalise parameters for locomotive engines.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Environment Ministry, Railway Ministry and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to finalise and approve parameters for locomotive engines. Taking note of a report filed by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF & CC), a Bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel said that since the issue has been pending for over three years, we direct that the same be finalised at the earliest. In its report dated February 4, the Environment Ministry had said the draft standard was submitted by the CPCB on June 2, 2020. It also said following meetings, the proposal would be worked out in consultation with the Railways with clarity on the implementing agency, monitoring protocol and reporting mechanism on compliance. It is prayed that in order to delineate the appropriate provision for effective compliance of the NGT’s order six months is required, which includes four months for wide circulation of draft notification for inviting comments and two months for incorporation of comments, finalisation of notification and obtaining approval from the Ministry of Law and Justice, the report read. The directions came when the green panel was hearing a plea moved by petitioner SK. Goyal seeking execution of a 2017 order of the NGT where it was directed that guidelines containing locomotive standards be put up on the CPCB website and expeditious efforts made by all stakeholders, including the MoEF & CC.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
20 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) India’s middle class may have shrunk by a third after pandemic, says Pew study. 

India’s middle class may have shrunk by a third due to 2020’s pandemic-driven recession, while the number of poor people earning less than ₹150 per day more than doubled, according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center. In a comparison, Chinese incomes remained relatively unshaken, with just a 2% drop in the middle class population, it found. The report, released on Thursday, uses World Bank projections of economic growth to estimate the impact of COVID-19 on Indian incomes. The lockdown triggered by the pandemic resulted in shut businesses, lost jobs and falling incomes, plunging the Indian economy into a deep recession. China managed to avoid a contraction, although growth slowed, the report said. The middle class in India is estimated to have shrunk by 3.2 crore in 2020 as a consequence of the downturn, compared with the number it may have reached absent the pandemic, said the report, defining the middle class as people with incomes of approximately ₹700-1,500 or $10-20 per day. Meanwhile, the number of people who are poor in India (with incomes of $2 or less a day) is estimated to have increased by 7.5 crore because of the COVID-19 recession. This accounts for nearly 60% of the global increase in poverty, the report added, estimating an increase from almost 6 crore to 13.4 crore poor people. It also noted the record spike in MGNREGA participants as proof that the poor were struggling to find work. The vast majority of India’s population fall into the low income tier, earning about ₹150 to 700 per day. Pew’s projections suggest this group shrank from 119.7 crore to 116.2 crore per day, with about 3.5 crore dropping below the poverty line. The middle income group is likely to have decreased from almost 10 crore to just 6.6 crore, while the richer population who earn more than ₹1,500 a day also fell almost 30% to 1.8 crore people.

B) Trinamool says free and fair elections not possible with ‘partisan and biased’ Election Commission. 

In a direct attack on the Election Commission (EC), the Trinamool Congress has said that the partisan and biased approach of the panel has made free, fair and transparent elections in West Bengal a distant reality. A six-member delegation met the EC in Delhi to raise the incident of clashes in Nandigram on Thursday. It is becoming increasingly clear that free, fair and transparent elections in the State of West Bengal is becoming a distant reality. This is evident from the partisan and biased approach taken by the Election Commission of India, the party’s memorandum submitted to the EC said. The TMC particularly flagged the EC’s decision of not permitting the State police within 100 metres of a polling station. The EC has noted that only Central forces will be deployed close to the polling stations. The TMC said that this was an unprecedented decision and cast aspersions on the reputation of the police administration in the State. The EC had not taken such a decision for the other three States and the Union Territory of Puducherry holding simultaneous polls. The TMC also sought to remind the Commission that the State police had worked with governments led by other political parties too. Propriety demands that there should be proper coordination between the State and Central forces to ensure free and fair elections and that combined groups of both State and Central police forces be deployed within 100 metres of the polling station, the memorandum said.

C) Centre asks Delhi High Court to restrain WhatsApp from implementing its new privacy policy. 

The Centre on Friday asked the Delhi High Court to restrain instant messenger app WhatsApp from implementing its new privacy policy, which is likely to take effect from May 15. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in an affidavit filed before the High Court, stated that WhatsApp’s new privacy policy was not in tune with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules, 2011. Notably, the Rules require a body corporate who collects, stores or otherwise deals with data to issue a privacy policy providing for certain safeguards, in addition to imposing various other obligations. The impugned Privacy policy violates the 2011 Rules.., MeitY said. The Ministry said WhatsApp’s new privacy policy fails to specify types of sensitive personal data being collected. Crucially there is no distinction between personal data or sensitive personal data which is being collected, the Ministry said, apart from WhatsApp failing to notify users on details of collection of sensitive personal information. The privacy policy mentions the involvement of third-party service providers who may have access to the data. However, the names of these service providers and other associated details have not been provided, it said.

D) Assam Elections | BJP selling hatred to divide people, says Rahul Gandhi.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed the BJP for selling hatred to divide the people while reaffirming his party’s commitment to nullifying the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and raise the daily wage of tea plantation workers to ₹365 if the party was voted to power in Assam. On a two-day visit to campaign for the 10-party Mahajot or grand alliance, Gandhi’s programme ranged from interacting with college students at Lahowal and meeting tea plantation workers at Chabua both in eastern Assam’s Dibrugarh district to addressing a public rally at Doomdooma in the adjoining Tinsukia district. No religion teaches enmity. But the BJP uses religion to divide society. They sell and spread hatred wherever they go while the Congress tries to promote love and harmony, he told the students. He also took a swipe at the RSS, the BJP’s ideological fountainhead. There is one force in Nagpur [headquarters of the RSS] that is trying to control the country, but the youth must resist this attempt with love and confidence, Gandhi said. During the interaction and at the public rally later, the Congress leader asserted that the Congress and its allies, if voted to power in Assam, would ensure that the CAA was not implemented in the State.

E) Delhi High Court refuses to stay ED summons issued to Mehbooba Mufti.

The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to stay the summons issued to former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering case. A bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh declined any relief to the 61-year-old, saying that they are not giving any stay. They are not granting any relief. The court has posted the hearing on her petition for April 16. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the ED, said Mufti just has to appear before the officials. The ED has now summoned Mufti for March 22. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief, in her plea, has contended that ever since she was released from preventive detention following the formal abrogation of Article 370, she has been facing a series of hostile acts by the State. She has alleged that the ED is conducting a roving inquiry about her personal, political and financial affairs. She also pointed out her acquaintances and old family friends have also been summoned by the agency.

F) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,15,50,878 with the death toll at 1,60,932. India reported 39,726 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the highest since November 29. There were 20,654 recoveries and 154 deaths in the last 24 hours, Health Ministry data said. Three states, Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab, account for a little over three-fourths of the total active cases. All theatres, auditoriums and offices in Maharashtra will take in only 50% of their capacity till March 31 amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, the state government said in an order.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Biden urged to rescind H-1B ban.

Five Democratic senators on Thursday urged President Joe Biden to rescind his predecessor Donald Trump’s ban on some non-immigrant visas, including the H-1B visa, which is popular among Indian IT professionals. They said the ban creates uncertainties for U.S. employers, their foreign-born professional workers, and their families. In June 2020, Trump had instituted Proclamation 10052, halting the processing of non-immigrant H-1B, L-1, H-2B, and J-1 visas, based on the alleged potential risk to the labour market. Although Proclamation 10052 is set to expire on March 31, 2021, businesses have indicated that inaction will further harm their businesses and economic recovery. The senators said that because the visas that Proclamation 10052 halted either target low-unemployment professions or require that the visa holder does not displace an American worker, businesses that rely on foreign workers have struggled to fill jobs despite increased unemployment. Reports have suggested that jobs in fields such as information technology which H-1B visa holders would have filled have remained open or were moved overseas, said senators Michael Bennet, Jeanne Shaheen, Angus King, Cory Booker, and Bob Menendez. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

B) U.S., China spar at Alaska meet. 

The Biden administration’s first bilateral engagement with Beijing got off to a rocky start as the two sides traded barbs with each other in front of the press, during the opening session of their dialogue in Anchorage, Alaska. The U.S. side, led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, opened with remarks that included references to China’s actions in Tibet, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and accused Beijing of economic coercion. The Chinese side, led by Director of Foreign Affairs YangJiechi and State Councilor Wang Yi, questioned the U.S. narrative of China’s role in the world and expressed, often sarcastically, its own concerns about U.S. actions domestic and international. Earlier this month, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price had said the U.S. would certainly not pull any punches while discussing its disagreements with China. Thursday’s opening re marks made evident that neither side was pulling any punches. In his opening remarks, Mr. Blinken spoke of the rules based-international order. The alternative to a rules-based order is a world in which might makes right and winners take all, and that would be a far more violent and unstable world for all of us, he said, apparently referring to a China-led world order. He also said the U.S. would like to discuss its deep concerns with China’s actions in Xinjiang, Taiwan, Hong Kong, cyber attacks on the U.S. and economic coercion with regard to U.S. allies. Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability. That’s why they’re not merely internal matters and why we feel an obligation to raise these issues here today, he said. The main priorities of the U.S.’s approach to China and the world were the interests of the American people and protection of allies’ interests, Mr. Sullivan told the Chinese delegation. Mr. Yang said China and the international community were following a UN-led order not the so called ‘rules-based’ international order.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
19 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

A) Former CEA Arvind Subramanian resigns from Ashoka University after P.B. Mehta’s exit. 

Former Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian has resigned from his position as professor at Ashoka University. In his resignation letter, Subramanian said he had been devastated by the circumstances involving the ‘resignation’ of Professor Pratap Bhanu Mehta two days earlier. That someone of such integrity and eminence, who embodied the vision underlying Ashoka, felt compelled to leave is troubling, he wrote in his letter to Vice-Chancellor Malabika Sarkar. That even Ashoka with its private status and backing by private capital can no longer provide a space for academic expression and freedom is ominously disturbing. Above all, that the University’s commitment to fight for and sustain the Ashoka vision is now open to question makes it difficult for me to continue being part of Ashoka, Prof. Subramanian added. The university’s student newspaper The Edict reported that in Mehta’s email to his students, he said that after discussions with the university about prevailing circumstances, it became clear to me that it was best to move on. The paper also elaborated on the circumstances surrounding Mehta’s exit. A source, who wishes to remain anonymous, told The Edict that the resignation of Professor Pratap Bhanu Mehta was endorsed by the Founders of the University, said an article. This endorsement, according to a senior faculty member with whom our source spoke, was motivated by an understanding that if Prof. Mehta resigned, the University’s efforts to acquire a new plot of land to expand the campus would get much smoother. Additionally, formal recognition for the fourth-year post-graduate diploma, Ashoka Scholars’ Program, was also hinted at as being part of the deal, the article added.

B) Sexual assault: Supreme Court sets aside M.P. High Court’s ‘rakhi’ order. 

The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside a Madhya Pradesh High Court order asking a suspected sex offender to visit his victim at her home and allow her to tie a ‘rakhi’ on him as a condition for his bail. A Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar issued a slew of directions meant to sensitise the judiciary in cases concerning offences committed against women. Even a single utterance by a judge trivializing the sexual offence committed against a woman will show the judge’s lack of fairness. Comments like she did not behave like an Indian woman or remarks about a victim’s chastity or that she had previously consented to a sexual act diminishes the trauma of the victim, the Bench held in its judgment. It also likened the Madhya Pradesh High Court order to transforming a molestor into a brother by judicial mandate. The court had earlier sought the views of Attorney General K.K. Venugopal on the issue of courts imposing bail conditions for sex crime offenders which end up further harassing their victims. The judgment was based on a petition filed by nine women lawyers challenging the High Court bail order. The nine lawyers, led by advocate Aparna Bhat and represented by senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, had said the High Court order was a trivialisation of her [victim’s] trauma. Parikh had argued that there were many such instances of court orders which objectify women already traumatised by the crimes committed against them. Parikh had argued that such orders only succeeded in further victimising women and retard the years of work done to sensitise the courts about how damaging it would be to attempt a compromise by way of marriage or mediation between the accused and the survivor.

C) Supreme Court to hear on March 24 plea against sale of electoral bonds. 

Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde agreed with advocate Prashant Bhushan on Thursday to urgently hear a plea by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms to stay the sale of a new set of electoral bonds on April 1, before Assembly elections in crucial States such as West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Responding to an urgent mentioning made by Bhushan via video-conferencing, Chief Justice Bobde said the matter would require a detailed hearing and posted the case for March 24. Bhushan said the RBI and the Election Commission had both said the sale of electoral bonds had become an avenue for shell corporations and entities to park illicit money and even proceeds of bribes with political parties. Every time there is an election, the sale is opened. Every time this happens, we have moved the Supreme Court to stay it, Bhushan submitted. But hasn’t stay been refused earlier? Chief Justice Bobde asked. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Chief Justice that Attorney General K.K. Venugopal would be appearing in the case. The NGO, also represented by advocate Neha Rathi, has voiced serious apprehensions that the sale of electoral bonds before elections in poll-bound States would further increase illegal and illicit funding of political parties through shell companies.

D) ‘India has assured Sri Lanka of support. 

India has assured Sri Lanka of its support at the UN Human Rights Council, Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Jayanath Colombage has said. just days before member countries vote on a new resolution on the island nation rights record. India’s Ministry of External Affairs declined to comment on the Sri Lanka Foreign Secretary’s statement. in the government told that no decision on the vote had been conveyed yet, while Mr. said Sri Lanka -greatly appreciates India’s position being the superpower they are.  The state-run Daily News Thursday reported the senior Foreign Ministry officials remarks, made at a recent -digital dialogue hosted by Sri Lanka’s Media Centre for National development, a month old initiative aimed at publicising the government’s efforts legally and internationally. Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva usually invoke sharp responses from nationalist forces within Sri Lanka’s Sinhala Buddhist majority. who see the process as targeting their country and interfering with its sovereignty.  The Rajapaksa government, whose core support comes from Sinhala Buddhist nationalists, has categorically rejected the UN Human Rights chief’s latest report, while accusing the Council of being politically motivated, even as a core group comprising the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, North Macedonia, Malawi and Montenegro tables the new resolution.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) U.S. Senator asks Secretary of Defence to raise concerns over eroding democratic values in India. Saying the Indian government is moving away from democratic values, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez has written to the U.S. Secretary of Defence, Lloyd Austin, asking him to raise concerns about democracy and India’s purchase of the S-400 Russian missile defence system during his visit to New Delhi. Austin is expected to meet Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and senior national security officials between March 19 and 21 when he is in New Delhi. He would like to see the U.S.-India partnership grow, but they must acknowledge that the partnership is strongest when based on shared democratic values and the Indian government has been trending away from those values, Menendez says in the letter dated March 17. Among his concerns, Menendez cites a crackdown on journalists and critics of the Indian government, the government’s handling of the farmer protests, the use of sedition laws, and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The Indian government’s ongoing crackdown on farmers peacefully protesting new farming laws and corresponding intimidation of journalists and government critics only underscores the deteriorating situation of democracy in India, Menendez says. Moreover, in recent years, rising anti-Muslim sentiment and related government actions like the Citizenship Amendment Act, the suppression of political dialogue and arrest of political opponents following the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, and the use of sedition laws to persecute political opponents have resulted in the U.S. human rights group Freedom House stripping India of its ‘Free’ status in its yearly global survey, he says. India’s purchase of S-400 for just under $5.5 billion could attract sanctions under a 2017 law, the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) act. While India is not a treaty ally of the U.S. and is increasing its purchase of U.S. arms – mitigating circumstances as per U.S. law – the Menendez letter suggests that sanctions are still, an option as India is expected to take delivery of the S-400 later this year.

Pakistan Army chief calls for better relations with India. 

Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Thursday that it was time for India and Pakistan to bury the past and move forward as he asserted that peace between the two neighbours would help to unlock the potential of South and Central Asia. Addressing a session of the first-ever Islamabad Security Dialogue in Islamabad, Gen. Bajwa also said that the potential for regional peace and development always remained hostage to the disputes and issues between Pakistan and India, the two nuclear-armed neighbours. They feel it is time to bury the past and move forward, he said, adding that the responsibility for a meaningful dialogue rested with India.

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS
18 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

A) Cancellation of 3 crore ration cards serious: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it was a very serious matter if the Centre has really cancelled around three crore ration cards, including those of tribals and the poor, solely because they could not be biometrically linked with Aadhaar. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde asked the Centre to respond to an allegation made in a petition by Koili Devi, represented by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, that such cancellations had led to starvation deaths across the country. The insistence on Aadhar and biometric authentication had led to the cancellation of nearly four crore ration cards in the country according to the Union of India. The Union of India casually gives an explanation that these cancelled cards were bogus. The real reason is that the technological system based on iris identification, thumb prints, non-possession of Aadhaar, non-functioning of the internet in rural and remote areas, etc, led to large-scale cancellation of ration cards without notice to the family concerned, a report submitted by the petitioner side said. Gonsalves said the petition is based on reports that an estimate of roughly two to four crore ration cards have been cancelled in the country without prior notice to the beneficiaries. Right to food, which the ration card symbolised, cannot be curbed or cancelled because of lack of Aadhaar.

B) Must act quickly to stop second ‘peak’ of Covid-19 cases, PM tells CMs. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday expressed concern over a rise in Covid-19 cases in parts of the country and called for quick and decisive steps to check the emerging second peak, PTI reported. In a virtual interaction with state chief ministers over the pandemic situation and the ongoing vaccination drive, Modi said in states like Maharashtra, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, the number of Covid-19 cases has seen a rise, while nearly 70 districts in the country have seen an increase in the positivity rate by over 150% of late. If we do not stop it here, then a condition for a nationwide outbreak may emerge, he said and called for quick and decisive steps to stop it. Modi also spoke against wastage of vaccines. The average of Covid-19 vaccine wastage in India is 6.5%, with Telangana and Andhra Pradesh recording 17.6% and 11.6% wastage respectively, the Centre said today, as it called for optimal utilisation of the jabs.

C) Antilia bomb scare: Maharashtra police chief transferred. 

Under flak for ‘mishandling’ of the bomb scare outside Mukesh Ambani’s residence, the Maharashtra Government on Wednesday transferred Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh from the post. Senior IPS officer Hemant Nagrale, holding additional charge of Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP), will be the new Mumbai Police Commissioner and replace Singh, who has been posted to the State Home Guard, State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said. Deshmukh, who met Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray earlier in the day, made the announcement on Twitter amid speculation in media over Singh’s handling of the Sachin Vaze episode. Vaze is at the focus of a probe by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) in a case related to the recovery of an SUV with explosives near Ambani’s house in Mumbai. Vaze, arrested in the case on March 13 for his alleged role in the crime, was attached to the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of city police’s crime branch till recently.

D) Pilot killed in MiG-21 jet crash. 

A Group Captain of the IAF was killed on Wednesday morning when a MiG-21 Bison fighter jet crashed while taking off for a combat training mission from an airbase in central India. The IAF lost Group Captain A. Gupta in the tragic accident. The IAF expresses deep condolences and stands firmly with the family members, a statement said. The incident occurred at 10:50 a.m., it has been learnt. Wreckage of the Indian Air Force MiG-21 Bison fighter jet lies in a field in Gwalior on March 17, 2021. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to determine the cause of the accident. The MiG-21 Bison is the only variant of the MiG-21 in service and is in the process of being phased out.

E) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,14,71,579 with the death toll at 1,61,680. Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu continue to report a high number of daily Covid-19 cases, accounting for 71.1% of the 28,903 new infections, the Union Health Ministry has said. It said 83.91% of the new cases are from Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Maharashtra alone accounts for 61.8% of the daily new cases, with 17,864 cases. It is followed by Kerala with 1,970, while Punjab reported 1,463 new cases, the Ministry said. Kerala is reporting a consistently declining trend over the last one month. India’s total active caseload has reached 2.34 lakh (2,34,406) comprising 2.05% of the total infections, the government said.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Peace with Pakistan will give India direct access to Central Asia, says Imran Khan. 

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said India will be benefit economically by having peace with his country as it will enable New Delhi to directly access the resource-rich Central Asia region through Pakistani territory. Delivering the inaugural address at the launch of the two-day Islamabad Security Dialogue, Khan also said that his government, after coming to power in 2018, did everything for better ties with India and it was for India to reciprocate. India will have to take the first step. Unless they do so, we cannot do much, he said. India last month said that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence. India has said the onus is on Pakistan to create an environment free of terror and hostility. India has also told Pakistan that talks and terror cannot go together and has asked Islamabad to take demonstrable steps against terror groups responsible for launching various attacks on India. Khan dwelt at length on the issue of peace in the region, including peace between Pakistan and India, saying the unresolved Kashmir issue was the biggest hurdle between the two countries. If India gives the Kashmiris their right under the UN (resolutions), it will be greatly beneficial for Pakistan as well as for India, he said and added, India can access Central Asia after peace. Khan said that having a direct route to the Central Asian region will economically benefit India. Central Asia is rich in oil and gas. Central Asia, in the modern context, generally includes five resource-rich countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

B) Georgia massage parlour shootings leave 8 dead; suspect captured. 

Shootings at two massage parlours in Atlanta and one in the suburbs Tuesday evening left eight people dead, many of them women of Asian descent, authorities said. A 21-year-old man suspected in the shootings was taken into custody in southwest Georgia hours later after a manhunt, police said. The attacks began around 5 p.m., when five people were shot at Youngs Asian Massage Parlour in a strip mall near a rural area in Acworth, about 50 km north of Atlanta. Two people died at the scene and three were transported to a hospital where two of them also died. Around 5:50 p.m., police in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta, responding to a call of a robbery in progress, found three women dead from apparent gunshot wounds at Gold Spa. While they were at that scene, they learned of a call reporting shots fired at another spa across the street, Aromatherapy Spa, and found a woman who appeared to have been shot dead inside the business. It appears that they may be Asian, Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said. The killings came amid a recent wave of attacks against Asian Americans that coincided with the spread of the coronavirus across the United States.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
17 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Parliamentary panel flags slow pace of vaccinations. 

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

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

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

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

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

D) Swapan Dasgupta resigns from Rajya Sabha. 

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

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

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

F) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.

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

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

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

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

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

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