Tag: latest Current Affairs

CURRENT AFFAIRS
19 December 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Farm laws not brought overnight, says PM Modi, accuses Opposition of spreading canards. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday quoted the raised MSPs and increased procurement through the existing mandis in his strongest defence of the new farm laws. The PM urged the agitating farmers to discuss all their doubts while hitting out at the Opposition for rumour-mongering and lies for political ends. Addressing the farmers in Raisen, Madhya Pradesh, the PM lashed out at the Opposition, primarily the Congress although he did not name the party, for the biggest lie and misinformation ever about the farm laws. He said he will address the issue once again on December 25. Those who are still suspicious, still have doubts he urge them to reconsider. The MSPs have not been abolished and will not be abolished. The mandis were around, are still there and continue to be there. That which has not happened, will not happen. But please beware of those who are spreading rumours, lies and canards. They have always cheated the farmer, said the PM. He said that the farm laws have not come overnight. They have been discussed for over 20-22 years by State and Central Governments as well as by various stakeholders, agriculture scientists and economists and progressive farmers.

B) PM ‘attacked’ farmers, lied about MSP, allege farmers’ groups.

Protesting farmers groups accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of attacking them in his speech on Friday, adding that his claims on minimum support prices were lies. With regard to the ongoing Supreme Court case, farm leaders have not yet decided on whether to implead themselves as proposed by the court. The Prime Minister has launched an open attack on the farmers of India by claiming that they are linked to opposition parties, said a statement from the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, responding to Modi’s address to Madhya Pradesh farmers. In place of addressing the issue of repeal of the three Farm Acts which erode farmers’ hold on land and farming and establish the MNCs and big business to grow in agriculture, he has reduced himself to a party leader, undermining his role as a responsible executive head of the country, expected to solve problems. The Bharatiya Kisan Union-Tikait dismissed the Centre’s claims of helping farmers by increasing minimum support prices. It pointed out that the MSPs of major crops had an average yearly increase of 8-12% in the UPA era, in comparison to only 1-5% under the NDA. These are Modi ji’s lies about MSP, said the group’s leader Rakesh Tikait, adding that most pulses were not being bought at MSP prices. Even with regards to paddy, a farmer in Bihar is still forced to sell his crop at half the rate of MSP because government procurement has not reached him.

C) Hathras victim was gang-raped, murdered: CBI.

The CBI on Friday filed a charge sheet against four accused persons for the gang rape and murder of a Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras in September. The 19-year-old was allegedly raped and assaulted by Sandeep, Luvkush, Ravi and Ramu on September 14 in Hathras. She was admitted to a hospital in Aligarh, from where she was shifted to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi. She died on September 29. The CBI has invoked sections 302 (punishment for murder), 376 (punishment for rape), 376A (punishment for inflicting injury while committing rape, resulting in the death of the woman) and 376D (gang rape) of the Indian Penal Code, besides the relevant provisions of the SC/ST Act. The four accused, who were arrested by the local police, are currently in judicial custody. On October 1, Uttar Pradesh’s Additional Director General of Police (Law & Order) Prashant Kumar had said that the forensic report from the government laboratory in Agra confirmed that the victim was not raped. He also cited the autopsy report to corroborate his point. The lab report clearly says that no sperm was found in the sample. However, he added that the victim first mentioned about rape on September 22 and that the samples were sent to the laboratory on September 25.

D) SC initiates contempt proceedings against Kamra, Taneja.

The Supreme Court on Friday initiated contempt proceedings against stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra and cartoonist Rachita Taneja for scandalising the court and the highest judiciary with their tweets. A three-judge Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, R. Subhash Reddy and M.R. Shah issued notice asking Kamra and Taneja to show cause why they should not be punished for contempt of court. Both Taneja and Kamra have been exempted from personal appearance in court. Usually, persons facing contempt action have to be present during the hearing. The notice to them is returnable in six weeks. On Thursday, the Bench had heard petitioners seeking contempt action against the duo and decided to pass its orders after a day. The petitioners, mostly law students and lawyers, had moved the Supreme Court after getting the statutory consent for contempt action from Attorney General (AG) K.K. Venugopal. In the case against Kamra, law student Shrirang Katneshwarkar’s counsel Nishant Katneshwarkar had submitted that the tweets by the comic were scandalous. Kamra had refused to apologise or retract the tweets. Instead, he had tweeted that he wished to volunteer the time that may be allotted for hearing his contempt case to others who have not been as lucky and privileged as he is to jump the queue. The AG had also found Taneja’s cartoons, which she had tweeted, to be scandalous and with an intent to undermine the judiciary. The cartoons concern the top court’s grant of bail to Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami.

E) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.

The number of coronavirus cases reported from India stood at 99,95,968 with the death toll at 1,45,066. Getting vaccinated for Covid-19 will be voluntary, the Union Health Ministry has said, while underlining that the vaccine introduced in India will be as effective as any vaccine developed by other countries. The ministry further stated that it was advisable to receive a complete schedule of the anti-coronavirus vaccine irrespective of past history of infection with Covid-19 as this will help in developing a strong immune response against the disease. Vaccination for Covid-19 is voluntary. However, it is advisable to receive the complete schedule of the vaccine for protecting oneself against this disease and also to limit the spread of this disease to close contacts, including family members, friends, relatives and co-workers, the ministry said in response to a question on whether it is mandatory to take the shot.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) India, China agree to hold next round of military talks on LAC. 

India and China on Friday agreed to hold another round of talks between senior military commanders to take forward the slow-moving process of disengagement on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). This was agreed to at the 20th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) held via video link on Friday. The WMCC is ordinarily convened twice a year since the mechanism was launched in 2012 with the aim of ensuring peace on the borders, but has now met six times since June this year, following the unprecedented crisis in Ladakh erupted in early May. This followed multiple transgressions by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and a clash in Galwan Valley mid-June that claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of Chinese soldiers.

B) In historic pick, Biden taps Native American Deb Haaland as interior secretary. 

President-elect Joe Biden selected New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland as his nominee for interior secretary on Thursday, a historic pick that would make her the first Native American to lead the powerful federal agency that has wielded influence over the nation’s tribes for generations. Tribal leaders and activists around the country, along with many Democratic figures, cheered Haaland’s selection after urging Biden for weeks to choose her to lead the Department of Interior. They stood behind her candidacy even when concerns that Democrats might risk their majority in the House if Haaland yielded her seat in Congress appeared to threaten her nomination. With Haaland’s nomination, Indigenous people will for the first time in their lifetimes see a Native American at the table where the highest decisions are made, and so will everyone else, said OJ Semans, a Rosebud Sioux vote activist who was in Georgia on Thursday helping get out the Native vote for two Senate runoffs. It’s made people aware that Indians still exist, he said.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
18 December 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) SC says farmers have a constitutional right to protest, but urges talks.

The Supreme Court on Thursday said farmers have a constitutional right to continue with their absolutely perfect protest as long as their dissent against the three controversial agricultural laws does not slip into violence. The court, however, said the purpose of the protesting farmers would not be served if they continued to sit without engaging in talks. Yes, there is a protest that is going on. Yes, the protest is constitutional as long as it does not damage property and lives. It is an absolutely perfect protest. But their purpose cannot be realised if they continue to sit without talking, the CJI observed. The court reiterated its suggestion of forming an impartial and independent committee of experts in agriculture to hear both farmers and the Union government on the laws. If farmers protest has a purpose other than just to sit in protest, we are thinking of an independent committee before whom both sides can state their case while the protest goes on. The committee can give its opinion after hearing them. Senior advocate P. Chidambaram, for Punjab, where most of the protesting farmers hail from, said the farmers actually wanted the Parliament to discuss amendments to the three laws.

B) Farmer leaders not in favour of impleading themselves in SC case, to seek legal opinion.

Farmers protest on new farm law issue at Singhu border on Thursday. Farmers protest on new farm law issue at Singhu border on Thursday. Protesting farmer leaders will seek legal opinion on Friday, before taking any position in the Supreme Court case on their agitation. Most farm leaders are not in favour of impleading themselves in the case, they said. After a meeting of the committee plus the Punjab leaders this afternoon, the Samyukt Kisan Morcha has decided to consult with four senior Supreme Court lawyers Dushyant Dave, Prashant Bhushan, Colin Gonsalves, and HS Phoolka before taking any position on the case, said K.V. Biju, national coordinator of the Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh. The leaders are not in favour of impleading themselves into the case, but we have decided to seek legal opinion first.It is the BJP which is behind this case, so why should we play into their hands?” Kisan Krantikari Union president Darshan Pal told this. In the meanwhile, the agitation will continue. The court itself made it clear that we have every right to continue our protests.

C) Will not be cowed down, says Mamata on Central deputation of IPS officers. 

Describing the Government of India’s order of Central deputation for three serving IPS officers of West Bengal despite the State’s objection a colourable exercise of power and blatant misuse of emergency provision of IPS Cadre Rule 1954, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Thursday that West Bengal was not going to cow down in front of expansionist and undemocratic force. Despite the objection of the State government, the Centre had called the three IPS officers on Central deputation. The officers were deployed in the security of BJP president J.P. Nadda when his convoy was attacked at Diamond Harbour on December 10. The three officers are Inspector General (South Bengal) Rajeev Mishra, Deputy Inspector General (Presidency Range) Praveen Kumar Tripathi, and Diamond Harbour Superintendent of Police Bholanath Pandey. Banerjee said such a move before the elections was against the basic tenets of the federal structure. This act is nothing but a deliberate attempt to encroach upon the State’s jurisdiction and demoralise the serving officers in WB. This move, particularly before the elections is against the basic tenets of the federal structure. It’s unconstitutional & completely unacceptable! Banerjee tweeted.

D) Yogasana to become a competitive sport. 

The Sports Minister said yogasana will be inducted in future Khelo India Games programme. The Sports Minister said yogasana will be inducted in future Khelo India Games programme. Yogasana will be a competitive sport in the country, the Ministries of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, Homoeopathy), and Youth Affairs and Sports announced at a joint press conference today. They said they planned to establish yogasana as a competitive sport globally. The Central government took the decision to promote yogasana as a competitive sport after extensive consultation with stakeholders over the last 3-4 years. The National Board of Promotion and Development of Yoga and Naturopathy in 2019 recommended that yogasana be recognised as a competitive sport, Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, said. He added an exhaustive document containing the rules, regulations and syllabus for yogasana competitions had been prepared, and the technical committee had also made a list of the asanas (compulsory and optional) after exhaustive research. Work for automation of the scoring system to introduce objectivity in marking has been initiated and district/ State/ national/ world championships in yogasana are proposed in 2021. A pilot championship of traditional yogasana by the name of ‘National Individual Yogasana Sports Championship’ (virtual mode) is proposed to be organised in February 2021, he said.

E) SC dismisses U.P. govt’s plea against HC order quashing Kafeel Khan’s detention. 

Dr. Kafeel Khan addresses a press conference in Jaipur, on September 3 soon after his release from Mathura jail. Dr Kafeel Khan addresses a press conference in Jaipur, on September 3 soon after his release from Mathura jail. The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal by the Uttar Pradesh government against an Allahabad High Court decision quashing the detention of Dr. Kafeel Khan under the National Security Act (NSA). A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde, however, said any remarks made by the High Court on the facts of the case in its September order would not interfere in the ongoing prosecution of the case. Case will be decided on its own merits, the Bench observed. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, for Dr. Khan’s mother Nuzhat Perween, argued against the State’s appeal. The man has been out for three months now and there have been no problems, Jaising submitted. Chief Justice Bobde told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the court would not intervene against the quashing of the detention order and told the State to get on with whatever prosecution is pending. Dr. Khan had been in custody since January 29 for his remarks during a speech at an anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) event in Aligarh Muslim University in December last year. The High Court had, in its order, said that his speech did not disclose any effort to promote hatred or violence and termed the three extensions of his detention illegal.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Top U.S. General meets Taliban negotiators in Doha.

The top U.S. general held unannounced talks with Taliban peace negotiators in Doha to urge a reduction in violence across Afghanistan, even as senior American officials in Kabul warned that stepped-up Taliban attacks endanger the militant group’s nascent peace negotiations with the Afghan government. Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met for about two hours with Taliban negotiators in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday, and flew Wednesday to Kabul to discuss the peace process with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Gen. Milley’s meetings came amid a new drawdown of U.S. troops, although under the current U.S. policy, a complete pullout hinges on the Taliban reducing attacks nationwide. The most important part of the discussions that he had with both the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan was the need for an immediate reduction in violence, Gen. Milley told reporters. Everything else hinges on that. Army Gen. Scott Miller, the top commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, said in an interview at his military headquarters in Kabul on Wednesday that the Taliban have stepped up attacks on Afghan forces, particularly in the southern provinces of Helmand and Kandahar, and against roadways and other infrastructure. His  assessment is, it puts the peace process at risk the higher the violence, the higher the risk, he said. Gen. Miller meets at least once a month with Taliban negotiators as part of Washington’s effort to advance a peace process.

B) Won’t step back from S-400 deal with Russia, says Turkey. 

Turkey will not step back from its decision to deploy Russian air defence systems despite U.S. sanctions imposed on the country over the purchase, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Thursday. In an interview with Turkey’s 24 TV television, Mr. Cavusoglu also said Turkey was mulling steps it would take to respond to the U.S. sanctions, but he did not say what the steps could entail. The U.S announced sanctions earlier this week over Turkey’s procurement of Russia’s advanced S-400 system, under a U.S. law known as CAATSA, aimed at pushing back on Russian influence. The sanctions target Turkey’s Presidency of Defense Industries, the head of the presidency and three other senior officials. The penalties block any assets the four officials may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar their entry into the U.S. They also include a ban on most export licenses, loans and credits to the agency. The Minister also described the sanctions as wrong both legally and politically, arguing that Turkey’s purchase of the Russian system in 2017 predated the CAATSA law. Mr. Cavusoglu said that an improvement of relations between Turkey and the United States would be conditional on President-elect Joe Biden’s ability to address Ankara’s grievances.

C) Cyberattack on govt. still going on: U.S. agencies. 

U.S. intelligence agencies have warned that a significant cyberattack on several federal departments uncovered over the weekend remains ongoing as the government rushes to assess the extent of the breach. This is a developing situation, and while we continue to work to understand the full extent of this campaign, we know this compromise has affected networks within the federal government, the FBI, the director of national intelligence and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) said in a joint statement late Wednesday. The March attack on software created by Texas Based IT company Solar Winds in which hackers installed malware continued for months until it was discovered by cybersecurity company FireEye. Both companies pointed fingers at hackers linked to the Russian government. Hackers reportedly breached software used by the U.S. Treasury Department and the Commerce Department, allowing them to view internal email traffic. The agencies did not confirm the targets of the cyberattack. U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, also pointed to Moscow on Monday, saying the Russian government had made repeated attempts to breach U.S. government networks.

SolarWinds said up to 18,000 customers, which included government agencies and Fortune 500 companies, had downloaded the compromised software updates, allowing hackers to spy on email exchanges. The content the hackers sought to steal, and how successful they were, remains unknown at this time.

After the attack was detected, CISA ordered federal agencies to power down the breached software. The agencies have created a coordination unit and talks are being held at the White House to discuss the government’s response. U.S. National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien cut short a trip to the Middle East and Europe this week to deal with the fallout from the hack.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
17 December 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Supreme Court proposes forming a panel to help resolve farmers’ protests.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said talks between the Centre and farmer leaders on the controversial agricultural laws have broken no ground and are bound to fail. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde proposed setting up a committee of farmer leaders from across the country, including the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), which has been at the forefront of the protests, and representatives of the Central government. The Committee can talk and resolve this issue. Secure the names of some farmers’ unions who want to join. It should include BKU and other farmer leaders. They should be drawn from across the country. It affects all and this will soon become a national issue, Chief Justice Bobde said. Reacting to the development, former minister and senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema alleged that the Central government was depending on motivated pleas in the Supreme Court to forcibly lift the congregation of peaceful farmers from the borders of Delhi. Such pleas only highlight the failure of the NDA government. Instead of doing this the government could have arrived at a solution in Parliament by discussing the issue threadbare and repealing the three agricultural acts, he said. The Bench scheduled the case for urgent hearing on December 17. December 18 is the last day before we close for vacations, Chief Justice Bobde said. Thousands of farmers from various parts of the country, mainly from Punjab and Haryana, have braved the onset of winter and blocked the entry points to the National Capital since late November.

B) British foreign secretary says he ‘discussed’ farmers’ protests with Jaishankar.

Agricultural reforms are India’s internal matter but the protests here are part of British politics too, said the visiting British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, who discussed the ongoing farmer protests at Delhi’s borders during talks with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. Raab, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, said the U.K. respected India’s heritage of protests and debates, and was watching the situation closely. UK government respect the fact that the reforms going through the Indian system here are domestic reforms, he said, in response to a question that whether the protests had come up in bilateral talks in Delhi. Indian politics is in some sense, because of the Indian diaspora in Britain, U.K.’s politics, Raab emphasised, in an interaction with journalists. India had a vibrant heritage of peaceful protests and vigorous debate, which the UK has watched with interest, he observed. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) did not refer to the issue in its press statement on the meeting between the India-U.K. Foreign Ministers on Tuesday. Nor did it respond to a request for a comment on Raab’s remarks. Earlier in the month, the MEA spokesperson had said that remarks by foreign leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other foreign politicians, on the farmers protests were ill-informed and unwarranted, and the matter was an internal issue for India. Raab, however, said that since members of the Indian diaspora had joined protests in the U.K. over the farm Bills, this was now an issue in British politics as well. Over the past two weeks, 36 British Members of Parliament, mostly from the Opposition Labour Party, had written to Raab, asking him to raise the issue of the new agricultural laws, which they called a death warrant for farmers.

C) No element in Bajrang Dal’s content that necessitates ban: Facebook India head.

Facebook’s India head Ajit Mohan deposed before a parliamentary panel on Wednesday and said that the social media company’s fact-checking team had so far found no such element that necessitated a ban on the Bajrang Dal, sources said. Mohan deposed before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, chaired by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. The panel had called him on the issue of citizens’ data safety. Mohan was accompanied by Shivnath Thukral, the public policy director of Facebook. Congress MP Karti Chidambaram, along with Tharoor, questioned Mohan about a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report suggesting that the social media giant was reluctant to ban the Bajrang Dal from its platform due to financial reasons and concerns over the safety of its staff, sources said. The WSJ report suggested that despite an internal assessment calling for a ban on the Bajrang Dal, Facebook did not crack down on the Hindu nationalist group due to these reasons. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey then asked if the Bajrang Dal content was not found to be in violation of its social media policies, then why did Facebook not deny the WSJ report and term it as fake.

D) Kerala local body elections: LDF headed for emphatic victory.

The counting of votes polled in the 2020 local body elections in Kerala is on at 244 centres across the State, with trends projecting an emphatic victory for the Left Democratic Front (LDF). While the BJP-led NDA scored some significant political points in different parts of the state, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) registered a decent performance. The results of the three-tier local body polls in the State are likely a template for the Assembly polls due in another four months. The local body elections were conducted in three phases on December 8, 10 and 14.

E) JEE Main to be held four times.

Four sessions of JEE Main will be held in 2021 in February, March, April and May to ensure that it does not interfere with board exams of different states, which would be held in a staggered manner on account of a Covid-19-disrupted academic calendar, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said on Wednesday. The first session of the engineering entrance examination will be held from February 23-26. Students will be allowed to attempt all four times if they wish, with the best score being used. The pattern of the exam has also been changed to accommodate Covid-19-driven changes to the syllabus. The CBSE reduced its syllabus for Class 12 board exams by 30%, and other state boards have also reduced their syllabus due to the lockdown. Therefore, the JEE-Main question paper will now have greater choice. In an online interaction with students last week, the Minister had announced that the government is considering the possibility of holding the JEE three or four times a year, and a proposal is being evaluated on reducing the number of questions that students can attempt in JEE (Main) 2021. The Minister has already clarified that there will be no change in the syllabus for medical entrance exam NEET or engineering entrance exam JEE-Main in 2021.

F) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.

The number of coronavirus cases reported from India stood at 99,42,134 with the death toll at 1,44,509. Covaxin, Bharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine, has been found to be well tolerated with no serious adverse events, and produced robust immune responses, as per interim findings from Phase-I trials. The World Health Organisation said Wednesday that a team of international experts would travel to China next month to help investigate the animal origins of Covid-19. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government has granted permission to hold public and political meetings, religious gatherings, sports and cultural events with 50% capacity in open places from December 19.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Russia denies role of FSB in opposition leader’s poisoning.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday denied recent media investigations that alleged the country’s Federal Security Service (FSB) had followed and poisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny. All this news is funny to read. But the manner in which this news is presented says only one thing: that our Western partners lack any ethical standards, Mr. Lavrov said. Several European labs in September concluded that Navalny, 44, was poisoned after he fell ill on a flight from Siberia to Moscow in August before being transported by medical aircraft to Berlin. A joint investigation published earlier this week by several media outlets claimed FSB chemical weapons experts had followed Mr. Navalny for years, including on the day he was poisoned. The investigative website Bellingcat together with CNN, Russian site The Insider and Germany’s Der Spiegel on Monday published names and photos of the alleged men who tailed Mr. NavaIny. Their investigation said the men are specialists in nerve agents and toxins, including the Soviet-designed poison Novichok, which European countries said was used against Mr. Navalny, Russia’s most prominent Kremlin critic. During a visit to the Croatian capital Zagreb, Mr. Lavrov said the media reports prove Western countries’ lack of any skills for normal diplomatic work and an unwillingness to comply with international legal norms when it comes to establishing facts. The joint report does not establish any direct contact between Mr. Navalny and the named agents and Russia has flatly denied any role in the Kremlin critic’s illness.

B) Erdogan says U.S. sanctions an attack on Turkey’s sovereignty.

President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that U.S. sanctions imposed on Turkey over its purchase of Russian defence systems were an attack on Ankara’s sovereign rights aimed at deterring its defence industry, a move which he said was bound to fail. On Monday, Washington imposed the sanctions targeting NATO member Turkey’s Defence Industry Directorate (SSB), its chief Ismail Demir and three other employees over its acquisition of Russian S-400 missile defence systems. In his first public comments on the move, Mr. Erdogan said that problems stemming from the sanctions would be overcome and vowed to ramp up efforts towards an independent defence industry, while criticising Washington for sanctioning a NATO ally. The real goal is to block the advances our country started in the defence industry recently and to once again render us absolutely dependent on them, he added. Surely there will be problems, but each problem will push open a door for us for a solution. Washington says the S-400s pose a threat to its F-35 fighter jets and to NATO’s broader defence systems. Turkey rejects this and says S-400s will not be integrated into NATO. On Wednesday, Erdogan repeated that the US. concerns had no technical basis.

He added that Ankara still produced close to 1,000 parts for the F-35 jets, despite being removed from the programme over the S-400 purchase. Turkey had also been due to buy more than 100F-35 jets.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
16 December 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) No legal guarantee for MSP, says govt; Farmers harden stance. 

Protesting farmer leaders have threatened to close the Delhi-Noida border crossing at Chilla on Wednesday if three contentious agricultural reform laws are not repealed. On the 20th day of protest, both the protestors and the Centre reiterated their positions and dialed up the rhetoric, but made no concrete efforts to resume negotiations. At a press conference on the Singhu border on the 20th day of the protest, farmer leaders said they were determined to win no matter what. The government is saying they will not repeal these laws, but we say that we will make them do it, said Jagjeet Singh Dallewal of the Bharatiya Kisan Union-Ekta, a Punjab farmers group. The Delhi-Noida border crossing at Chilla will be closed at 11 am on Wednesday, if the Centre continues to close the door for farmers, he said. BKU-Tikait group general secretary Yudhvir Singh had harsh words for Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. Responding to the PM’s allegation that the protests were being funded by foreign money, Singh asked how the hard-earned money sent by the children of farmers who are abroad could be counted as foreign money. The Prime Minister himself came to power using Gujarati NRI money, he said. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar met again with pro-reforms farmers of the BKU (Kisan) faction, and claimed that most of the agricultural community recognised the benefits of the laws. He said the Government is willing to continue dialogue with genuine farm unions and is willing to find a solution with an open mind. Dashing the hopes of those demanding a legal guarantee for minimum support prices, he added that MSP is an administrative decision and will continue as it is.

B) No winter session of Parliament. 

The government has said the winter session of Parliament will not be held this year in view of the Covid-19 pandemic and that it will be appropriate to convene the budget session in January next year. In a letter to leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that Winter months are very crucial for managing the pandemic because of recent spurt in cases during this period, particularly in Delhi. At present, we are in the middle of December and a covid vaccine is expected very soon. The minister said he had informally contacted floor leaders of various political parties and they have expressed their concerns about the ongoing pandemic and opined of doing away with winter session. Government is willing to have the next session of Parliament at the earliest; it would be appropriate to have the Budget Session, 2021 in January, 2021 keeping in mind the unprecedented circumstances created by Covid-19 pandemic, Joshi wrote. The winter session of Parliament normally starts from the last week of November or first week of December. The Constitution broadly stipulates one major rule that there should not be a gap of more than six months between two sessions of Parliament. However, it has been a convention to hold three sessions of Parliament budget, monsoon and winter in a year.

C) EC’s proposal for extending postal ballots to NRIs pending with Law Ministry.

The option of postal ballots would be available to those above 80 years of age. The option of postal ballots would be available to those above 80 years of age. The government is yet to take a decision on allowing the use of postal ballots for eligible overseas Indians to cast their votes, sources said on Tuesday. They also said the Election Commission’s (EC) proposal to amend election rules to allow the use of postal ballot by overseas Indians whose names figure in electoral rolls in India is still at a bureaucratic level, and is yet to be discussed with the political executive. The Indian Express had reported yesterday that non-Gulf NRIs those based in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Australia, Germany, France and South Africa may get postal voting rights first, triggering allegations, in some quarters, of discrimination. The a huge chunk of India’s NRI population is based in the Gulf countries. The EC had on November 27 written to the Ministry proposing to extend the voting facility to non-resident Indians, starting with the upcoming Assembly elections in Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The EC letter stated that the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 would need to be amended in order to send postal ballots to NRIs electronically and then have them sent back via post. The EC letter said the amendments should be made at the earliest in order to facilitate the right of overseas electors and boost the image of the country internationally. The Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS), which is used to send ballots to service electors, would be extended to overseas Indians if the proposal is adopted. An EC official, however, said the Law Ministry was yet to respond to the proposal. The official added that the EC had discussed the system with the Ministry of External Affairs officials at a recent meeting.

D) Pranab’s son objects to publication of final volume of memoir.

Abhijit Mukherjee, former Lok Sabha member and son of the former President of India Pranab Mukherjee, on Tuesday objected to the publication of the final volume of his father’s memoir, The Presidential Years, and has demanded to see the manuscript before its release. The book is scheduled to be released in January. On December 11, the publishers, Rupa, released an excerpt of the final volume, which has a portion in which he describes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s functioning in his first term as autocratic. The late President also talks about the Congress losing focus after his elevation as the President, and how Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were busy saving the government. Interestingly, Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee had tweeted excerpts of the final volume. According to the excerpts, he had said that many in the Congress believed that the 2014 Lok Sabha elections may have been different if he was the Prime Minister. Some members of the Congress have theorised that, had he become the PM in 2004, the party might have averted the 2014 Lok Sabha drubbing. Though he don’t subscribe to this view, he do believe that the party’s leadership lost political focus after his elevation as president. While Sonia Gandhi was unable to handle the affairs of the party, Dr. Singh’s prolonged absence from the House put an end to any personal contact with other MPs, read one excerpt.

E) AIIMS nurses continue indefinite strike; Delhi HC rules against it. 

The 5,000-strong nursing staff at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, have been on an indefinite strike from Monday over the administration’s refusal to meet their demands, including one on rectifying an anomaly in the earlier pay commission which resulted in the paramedical staff getting lesser pay. There was an anomaly in the Sixth Pay Commission which denied nursing cadres across the country two increments. In 2019, the Centre agreed to correct this. However, nothing was done to rectify this. In fact, the administration told us that it is impossible to implement this, forcing us to take this extreme step, said CK Fameer, General Secretary of the union. Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court today ruled that the strike cannot continue, and issued a notice asking the nurses to respond to the management’s appeal to end the strike in view of the pandemic. AIIMS had contended that the strike was illegal and violated the Industrial Disputes Act.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) US court terminates $100-million lawsuit against PM Modi, Amit Shah. 

A U.S. court has dismissed a $100-million lawsuit filed against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah after the litigants a separatist Kashmir Khalistan outfit and two associates failed to appear before it at two scheduled hearings. The suit was filed on September 19, 2019, days before Modi’s historic ‘Howdy Modi!’ event in Houston, Texas. It challenged the Indian Parliament’s decision on Jammu and Kashmir that abrogated the special privileges of the State and carved out two Union Territories and sought a compensation of $100 million from Modi, Shah and Lt. Gen. Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon. Gen. Dhillon is currently serving as the Director-General Defence Intelligence Agency and Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff under the Chief of Defence Staff. Other than that attempted service, Kashmir Khalistan Referendum Front have done nothing to prosecute this case, and have now failed to appear at two duly set Scheduling Conferences, US District Court Southern District of Texas Judge Frances H. Stacy said in his order dated October 6 and recommended that the case be dismissed. The case was terminated by Judge Andrew S. Hanen of the US District Court in Texas on October 22.

B) U.S. imposes CAATSA sanctions on Turkey over S-400 purchase.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on NATO-ally Turkey for its purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defence system, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Monday. The issue of sanctions under Section 231 of the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) for purchase of Russian arms is of particular interest to New Delhi, which is also in the process of buying the S-400 from Moscow. Today’s action sends a clear signal that the United States will fully implement CAATSA Section 231 and will not tolerate significant transactions with Russia’s defense and intelligence sectors, Mr. Pompeo said on Monday. Sanctions were imposed on Turkey’s main defence procurement agency, the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) for knowingly engaging in a significant transaction with Rosoboronexport (ROE), Russia’s main arms export entity the office of the U.S. State, Department spokesperson said in a statement. These SSB sanctions comprise a ban on granting specific U.S. export licences and authorizations for any goods or technology, a ban on loans or credits by U.S. financial institutions totalling more than $10 million in any 12-month period, a ban on U.S. Export-Import Bank assistance for exports and mandated U.S. opposition to loans by international financial organisations to SSB. Additionally, sanctions will include full blocking sanctions and visa restrictions on SSB President.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
15 December 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Hunger strikes and dharnas on 19th day of protests; Convenor ready for separate talks evicted from post.

On a day when farmers held hunger strikes and dharnas at the Delhi border and across the country, the Centre continued to engage with individual elements in the farmers’ movement in an effort to restart negotiations. The national convenor of one of the farmer groups leading the protest was evicted from his position after he said he was willing to engage in separate talks with the government and discuss a minimum support price (MSP) law rather than demand repeal of the three contentious laws. Tens of thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, have been protesting on the borders of Delhi for 19 straight days, demanding a repeal of the three laws. Leaders of the movement held a day-long hunger strike from 8 am to 5 pm on Monday. When Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal joined the fast in solidarity with the farmers, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh accused him of trying to fool farmers through dramatics. The Delhi government had notified the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020 one of the three farm laws on November 23, a fact pointed out by rival parties who have questioned the sincerity of Kejriwal’s support to farmer protests. Meanwhile, on the Uttar Pradesh border, protestors aligned with the Bharatiya Kisan Union-Tikait temporarily blocked the highway at Ghazipur. However, a farmer leader from U.P., V.M. Singh, seemed ready to engage with the Centre. Over the last month, Singh has repeatedly broken ranks with other leaders in the AIKSCC, which is an umbrella platform for 250 plus farm groups across the country, created in the wake of the Mandsaur protests of 2017. For instance, when the farmers first reached the Delhi border, he had urged acceptance of the government’s designated protest site in Burari, to the anger of many of the Punjab unions. His willingness to negotiate separately with the Centre seemed to be the last straw.

B) Telcos spar again, this time over farmer protests. India’s telecom majors have gotten into a sparring match over the farmer protests. Reliance Jio has written to telecom regulator TRAI seeking action against Airtel and Vi (Vodafone-Idea Ltd) for allegedly encouraging the public to show support for farmers by migrating from Jio. It has claimed that Airtel and Vi have been spreading frivolous rumours toward that end. Airtel has responded by asking the regulator to throw the complaint out with the contempt that it deserves. Vi, too, in a statement, described Jio’s complaint as baseless allegations to malign our reputation. In a letter dated December 10, Reliance Jio alleged that the two companies are directly or indirectly involved in supporting and furthering the insinuations and false and frivolous rumours of Reliance being an undue beneficiary of the farm bills. The company added that this has resulted in it receiving large number of port out requests from customers citing this as the sole reason for porting out of Jio without having any complaints or other issues related to Jio services. Meanwhile, strongly refuting the baseless charges made by Reliance Jio, Airtel on Monday shot off a letter to the regulator stating that, Despite being provoked by some competitors who we know will go to any length to make baseless allegations, adopt bullying tactics, and use intimidatory behaviour, we have always conducted our business with character and transparency, something that we are deeply proud of and known for.

C) Gmail, YouTube, other Google services hit by widespread outage.

A widespread outage of Gmail, YouTube, Google Docs and other Google services was reported globally on Monday. However, Google.com and Chrome appear to be working. Several users of YouTube, Gmail and other services posted their complaint about the issue on the social media. Google Docs users were welcomed with the message that the service has encountered an error, and that they should try reloading the page or try coming back in a few minutes. YouTube’s error page showed a monkey with the message, “Something went wrong”. More than 100,000 users have reported problems with YouTube on down detector from around the world. However, YouTube seemed to be working in an incognito browser without signing in. As per down detector website, almost all of Google’s services, including Hangouts, Meet, Play and Duo, were affected. In addition to this, users reported issues with smart home gadgets that are integrated with Google Assistant. Third party-apps that rely on Google’s back-end services were also affected. At the time of writing, it was not known what caused the outage. They are aware that many of us are having issues accessing YouTube right now their team is aware and looking into it. They will update us here as soon as they have more news, Youtube’s official handle tweeted. An hour later, it further updated that they are back up and running! They should be able to access YouTube again and enjoy videos as normal.

D) Tata Sons among multiple bidders in race to buy Air India.

The Tata Group was among multiple entities that on Monday put in preliminary bids for buying the government’s stake in loss-making carrier Air India, PTI reported. Multiple expressions of interest have been received for strategic disinvestment of Air India. The Transaction will now move to the second stage, the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey tweeted. He, however, did not reveal either the identity of the bidders or the number of bids received for buying the national carrier. Sources said Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, had put in an Expression of Interest (EoI) at the close of the deadline on Monday. It was not, however, immediately clear if the Tatas have bid alone or as part of a consortium. An official said the transaction advisor will inform bidders before January 6 if their bids have been qualified. Qualified bidders will then be asked to submit financial bids.

E) SC issues notice to govt. on plea seeking declaration of Emergency as ‘unconstitutional’. The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine whether a simplictor declaration that the Emergency of 1975 was unconstitutional will be feasible or desirable after the passage of 45 years. A Bench led by Justice S.K. Kaul reluctantly, and after much persuasion from senior advocate Harish Salve, agreed to consider the limited question on a request made by 94-year-old Veera Sarin, who said the errors of history should be corrected and never happen again. Something wrong may have happened at a particular point of history. But it has been 45 years now. Many of the persons are no longer with them, Justice Kaul, leading a three-judge Bench, expressed his doubts. But Salve, for Sarin, replied that this may perhaps be the right time to do it. There was abuse of powers. If we do not tend to correct the errors of history, it will go on. For 19 months, the fundamental rights of this country were under the jackboots. We have to revisit this error. She [Sarin] wants a declaration that the Emergency was unconstitutional. For that, she cannot go to any other court, Salve submitted. The court then issued notice to the government. During the hearing, Justice Kaul, amidst discussion with his Bench mates, tried to dissuade Salve, saying digging up the Emergency now would be odd as the people involved were no more. Hitler is dead and gone, but even now people in their eighties and nineties are pulled for their crimes against humanity, Salve replied. One cannot compare this with the Holocaust and its consequences, said Justice Kaul in response.

F) Delhi High Court slams CBSE for ‘anti-student attitude’, treating ‘students as enemies’. 

The Delhi High Court on Monday rapped the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for its anti-student attitude, saying it was treating students as enemies by dragging them all the way to the Supreme Court in certain matters. A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Prateek Jalan made the observation while hearing a plea moved by the Board challenging a single judge order, which said the CBSE’s reassessment scheme for students whose board exams got cancelled due to Covid-19 would apply to improvement candidates also. The Bench said that they don’t like this anti-student attitude of the CBSE. They are dragging students all the way to the Supreme Court. Should they be studying or going to court? They should start imposing costs on the CBSE. They are treating students as enemies. The Bench further said that if the scheme applies to all improvement students, “what is the harm in it?” The single-judge Bench had held on August 14 that the scheme approved by the Supreme Court for assessing students affected by the Covid-19-induced cancellation of CBSE exams will also apply to students who appeared for improvement examinations as they are equal victims of the pandemic.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) British spy thriller author John le Carre dies aged 89.

John le Carre, the British writer best known for his Cold War espionage novels Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, has died aged 89, his agent and family said on Sunday. The author, a former British intelligence officer whose real name was David Cornwell, wrote 25 novels and one memoir in a career spanning six decades, selling 60 million books worldwide. He is survived by his wife, Jane, and four sons. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy was adapted for television in 1979, with Alec Guinness starring as the enigmatic spycatcher George Smiley, and became a classic.  Oldman reprised the role in the 2011 film, winning an Oscar the following year. Le Carre once said he owed his career in the shadows and later literary success to an impulsive adolescent decision to flee an unhappy life. It involved a spell in Bern, Switzerland, learning German, where he took his first steps in British intelligence, doing odd-jobs across the border in Austria. He later returned to study at Oxford University. He later transferred to the overseas spy agency M16. It was as an M16 officer that he had his first success with The Spy Who Came in from the Cold in 1963. For obvious reasons, he had to use a pseudonym.

B) US Electoral College set to vote.

Electors will meet in each of the US.’s States and the District of Columbia to cast their votes on Monday and are expected to vote in favour of the presidential candidate who won the popular vote in their respective States. Normally a low. key affair, this year the process has garnered special attention with President Donald Trump repeatedly making unsubstantiated claims that large-scale voter fraud had resulted in his challenger, Democratic candidate Joe Biden, winning the election. Mr. Biden is expected to secure 306 electoral votes against Mr. Trump’s 232, further attenuating the efforts Of Mr. Trump and his allies to overturn the election. Trump supporters and anti Trump activists clashed on Saturday in cities across the country, resulting in four stabbings in Washington DC and one shooting in Washington State. This was prompted by the Supreme Court dismissing a lawsuit filed by the State of Texas seeking to invalidate the electoral outcome in key swing States won by Mr. Biden. Late on Sunday night (Washington time), Mr. Trump tweeted claims Of election fraud and appeared to threaten electors with prosecution. Swing States that have found massive voter fraud, which is all of them, cannot legally certify these votes as complete & correct without committing a severely punishable crime, he wrote in a post that also contained other unsubstantiated claims about large-scale electoral fraud. Therefore, VOTES CAN. NOT BE CERTIFIED. THIS ELECTION IS UNDER PROTEST! Mr. Trump said. Twitter tagged the comment with a ‘disputed’ label. The Electoral College will meet in groups across States usually in the Capitol building starting on Monday morning.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
14 December 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Farmer union leaders to sit on hunger strike on December 14.

Hundreds of farmers from Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab and several other states, including Maharashtra and Gujarat, sat on a dharna and blocked the Delhi-Jaipur highway after they were stopped by the Haryana Police. The farmers were headed to Delhi under the aegis of Samyukta Kisan Morcha, a joint front of farmer unions, in response to its call for Dilli Chalo. Later in the evening, Gurnam Singh of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Chaduni), at a press conference at Singhu border, announced that farmer leaders of all the agitating outfits would sit on a day-long hunger strike tomorrow (December 14) at places where they were protesting. He added that some farmer groups had announced their support to the new farm laws, but those were not associated with them. Rakesh Tikait of Bharatiya Kisan Union (Tikait) said farmers need to stay alert and ensure that no unwanted or wrong elements get involved in the agitation. If the Central government wants to talk and there’s any proposal for talks, they will constitute a committee, which will take a decision on it, he said. In a related development, Punjab Deputy Inspector General (Prisons) Lakhminder Singh Jakhar on Sunday said he has resigned from service in support of farmers protesting against three new farm laws. With the Delhi-Jaipur Highway also blocked, all highways leading to Delhi from Haryana now have farmers holding dharnas seeking repeal of the three contentious farm laws.

B) U.P. officials claim wife of arrested Muslim man did not have a miscarriage.

A 22-year-old Hindu woman whose alleged husband, a Muslim man, was arrested by the Moradabad police last week under the new unlawful conversion ordinance, was admitted to a hospital after complaining of abdomen pain, but was discharged on Sunday, an official said. The woman, identified as Pinki, who was lodged at the Nari Niketan centre, a government women’s shelter home, is three months pregnant. District probation officer, Moradabad, Rajesh Chandra Gupta denied a report published in U.K’s The Telegraph website quoting Pinki’s in-laws as saying she was forced into a miscarriage. Gupta told that the woman had complained of abdominal pain two days ago and was admitted to the district women’s hospital.  However, this could not be independently verified from Pinki’s family or from her. A neighbour of her in-laws in Kanth, Moradabad, said the family would visit Pinki on Monday at the Nari Niketan centre. Gupta claimed the girl was not facing any other issues. Her husband, identified as Rashid, and his brother were arrested by the police under the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020 on December 5, allegedly based on a complaint lodged by Pinki’s mother. The complaint said Rashid had induced Pinki into marriage and converted her under the garb of providing her a job, the police said. However, according to Rashid, he has been living with Pinki for the past few months; the couple have known each other for two years. Pinki said the two had got married on July 24 in Dehradun. The FIR was lodged under Sections 3 and 5 of the new ordinance against unlawful conversion. At the tehsil office, Pinki was also heckled and humiliated by members of a right-wing group.

C) IRCTC sends nearly 2 crore emails in 5 days flagging Modi’s relationship with Sikhs.

IRCTC sent out nearly 2 crore emails between December 8 and December 12 to its customers, listing 13 decisions taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to support the Sikh community, amidst the farmers’ protest against the Centre’s three farm laws. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, (IRCTC), a railway PSU, emailed to its customers the 47-page booklet, PM Modi and his government’s special relationship with Sikhs as part of the government’s public interest outreach to make people aware of the bills and also to squash myths about them, officials said. The booklets are in Hindi, English and Punjabi. The booklet PM Modi and his government’s special relationship with Sikhs was released by I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on the occasion of Guru Purab on November 30, 2020.  The emails, which were discontinued on December 12, were sent to the entire database of the IRCTC, obtained from passengers keying in their details while booking tickets, the officials said. The PSU denied reports that the emails had been sent to only members of the Sikh community. The mails have been sent to all, irrespective of any particular community. This is not the first instance. Earlier also such activities have been undertaken by IRCTC to promote government welfare schemes in public interest, an official statement from IRCTC said. The booklet speaks of the justice given to the 1984 riot victims, FCRA registration granted to Sri Harmandir Sahib, Jallianwala Bagh Memorial, no taxes on langar, and the Kartarpur corridor, among other things under 13 heads.

D) Congress, BJP demand action against Kerala CM for promising free vaccine.

The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and the BJP have demanded action against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for breaching the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) with his ‘announcement’ on Saturday that Covid-19 vaccination will be made available to everyone in the State free of cost. Multiple complaints were filed before the State Election Commission (SEC) on Sunday, asserting that the announcement was made with the sole intention of influencing voters in the local body elections. Demanding action against the Chief Minister, UDF convener M.M. Hassan noted in his complaint that the State government had not received any concrete information from the Centre regarding Covid-19 vaccination, nor had the State Health Department formulated a plan for its administration as and when it became available, Hassan pointed out. Emphasising that announcement ahead of the third phase of the local body polls amounted to a blatant violation of the MCC, he urged the SEC to initiate action against Vijayan. Meanwhile, LDF convener A. Vijayaraghavan defended the Chief Minister, saying the latter was merely explaining the Covid-19 management strategies adopted by the government while replying to a question raised at a press briefing. Vijayaraghavan termed the charge as ‘childish.’ Moreover, the promise of free vaccine found mention in the LDF election manifesto. A reference made by Vijayan to a promise in the manifesto cannot constitute an MCC violation, he said. Interestingly, the BJP had promised free vaccines during its campaign in the recently held Bihar assembly elections and also mentioned it in its manifesto.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks: U.S. court rejects bail plea of Tahawwur Rana.

A U.S. court has rejected the bail plea of Tahawwur Rana, key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack lodged in a Los Angeles prison, awaiting extradition to India. Rana had moved court seeking release from prison till the extradition hearing is finalised, on account of being reinfected with Covid-19. The next extradition hearing is in February 2021. He offered that his location could be monitored through ankle bracelet with GPS and either his daughter or mother-in-law could be made custodians to monitor his movement at home. Rana is wanted by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the 2008 terror attack case that claimed 166 lives. He was released from prison in June after an Illinois court commuted his jail sentence (scheduled to get over in September 2021) as he tested positive for Covid-19. He was provisionally arrested by the federal police in the wake of the pending extradition request from India. In this file courtroom artist’s drawing, Chicago businessman Tahawwur Rana (centre) appears before Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago’s federal court.In this file courtroom artist’s drawing, Chicago businessman Tahawwur Rana (centre) appears before Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago’s federal court. In his second bail plea, Rana invoked the fourth amendment of the U.S. Constitution that prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures of individuals and property. Dismissing his plea, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian said in an order dated December 10 that Rana continued to pose a significant risk of flight. Notwithstanding its consideration of such information, the Court ultimately concluded that even a location-monitoring condition combined with the proposed bond/other conditions would not negate the significant risk of flight. The Court’s view has not changed, the order accessed said. His first bail plea was rejected in July.

B) German envoy summoned after EU raps Iran over Zam.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday summoned Germany and France’s envoys to protest EU condemnation of the execution of an opposition figure, describing it as an unacceptable interference in Tehran’s affairs, state media reported. Ruhollah Zam was hanged on Saturday after Iran’s Supreme Court upheld his death sentence passed in June over his role in protests during the winter of 2017-18, among other charges. The EU in a statement on Saturday condemned the execution in the strongest terms and emphasised its irrevocable opposition to the use of capital punishment. The Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Europe director in turn told Germany’s Ambassador, Hans-Udo Muzel, that Tehran condemned the statement, which it deemed an unacceptable interference in Iran’s domestic affairs, state news agency IRNA said. Germany currently holds the European Union’s rotating presidency. IRNA reported later on Sunday that the Ministry also summoned France’s Ambassador after France called the execution an unacceptable and barbaric act and a serious attack on freedom of expression and freedom of the press.

C) China moon probe heads back to Earth.

A Chinese spacecraft carrying rocks and soil from the moon has begun its journey back to Earth, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday, putting China on course to become the first country to successfully retrieve lunar samples since the 1970s. Engines on the Change-5 probe were ignited 230 km from the lunar surface early on Sunday, Beijing time, before being shut down after 22 minutes with the craft on a trajectory towards Earth, Xinhua said, citing a China National Space Administration Statement.  A successful landing in Inner Mongolia would make China only the third country to haw retrieved lunar samples after the United States and the Soviet Union. The plan was to collect 2 kg (4.4 lbs) of samples, although it has been disclosed how much was actually gathered. The Change-5 was launched on Nov. 24 and a Lander vehicle touched down on the moon on Dec. 1. The mission was expected to take around 23 days in total.