Tag: latest Current Affairs

CURRENT AFFAIRS
01 December 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Farmers urge PM to listen to their ‘mann ki baat’

It is time for the Prime Minister to listen to the “mann ki baat” of the farmers or pay a heavy price for not doing so, farmer leaders said on Monday, the fifth day of their protest on the borders of Delhi. Their demand for the repeal of the Centre’s three agricultural reform laws is non-negotiable, they added. The Centre may be softening its own stance. After the protesting farmers rejected Home Minister Amit Shah’s invitation for talks on the condition that the protest be moved from the Delhi borders to the Burari grounds, there have been at least two meetings among senior Ministers and Cabinet officials, and several unofficial contacts between the government and the Punjab union leaders. Shah and Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar met BJP President J.P. Nadda late on Sunday night, and Tomar was seen leaving Shah’s residence again on Monday afternoon. Tens of thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, have been massed outside the Tikri and Singhu border crossings for five days, and a crowd is now growing at the Ghazipur border point as well. Traffic into the city has been severely affected, and farmers have threatened to blockade more border points. A senior Cabinet Minister who hails from Punjab signaled that the Centre may be ready for an unconditional dialogue. Speaking at a joint press conference of protest leaders at the Singhu border, Bharatiya Kisan Union-Dakaunda chief Jagmohan Singh slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attitude. Singh accused the government of doublespeak and an authoritarian and fascist attitude, and warned that Modi would pay a heavy price if the farmers demands were ignored. He urged the government to engage with the farmers on the core agenda of the three laws, and stop distracting them with other issues. Gurnam Singh Chadhuni, head of another faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, denied the allegation that only Punjab farmers are protesting. 

B) Another BJP ally threatens to break off over farm laws. 

After the Akali Dal broke off ties with the ruling BJP, another ally has threatened to quit the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) over farm laws. In a tweet addressed to Home Minister Amit Shah, Rajasthan MP Hanuman Beniwal, chief of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP), has demanded that the three new agricultural laws at the core of massive farmer protests near Delhi be scrapped. Beniwal also urged the BJP-led central government to talk to the farmers immediately instead of Thursday, when a second round of ministerial talks has been scheduled over the protests.

 

C) After Cyclone Nivar, TN braces for Cyclone Burevi.

Just a few days after Cyclone Nivar battered the region, a depression has formed over the Bay of Bengal. It is likely to intensify further into a deep depression and bring widespread rainfall over Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and south coastal Andhra Pradesh from December 1, the India Meteorological Department said that a depression has formed over southeast Bay of Bengal, the department tweeted and in a subsequent post on pre-cyclone watch for south Tamil Nadu and south Kerala coasts, said it is very likely to intensify further into a deep depression during the next 12 hours. Once the system attains the strength of a cyclonic storm it will be named ‘Burevi’, it added. Scattered to widespread rainfall activity has already been forecast over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Karaikal, Kerala, Mahe, Lakshadweep, south coastal Andhra Pradesh and south Rayalaseema from December 1 to 3.

D) Audio feed in Rajya Sabha got disrupted during farm bills debate, claims CPWD. 

The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) on Sunday claimed that the audio feed in Parliament got disrupted for nearly 20 minutes when the three contentious Agricultural Bills were debated in the Rajya Sabha on September 20 during the monsoon session of Parliament. This comes against a background of allegations by Opposition leaders that the audio feed had been deliberately switched off. The three Bills were passed amid a din, with the entire Opposition up on its feet. Eight members were suspended following the pandemonium in the Upper House while others sat on a nightlong dharna. The CPWD’s clarification was prompted by an RTI query by transparency activist Saket Gokhale. CPWD, which maintains the facility, clarifies that the feed was disrupted between 13:05 Hrs to 13:35 Hrs on 20 Sept, 2020 due to the damages caused to the microphones (mics) at the Chairman’s seat by some of the Hon’ble MPs, the department tweeted. It laid the blame on Opposition members, some of whom pulled out the microphone at the Chairman’s table. At that time, Deputy Chairman Harivansh was in the chair. The disruption of the audio feed for Rajya Sabha TV also meant that many of the MPs who were sitting in the Lok Sabha chamber as part of Covid-19 protocol could not hear the proceedings or participate in the debate. He added that he will be seeking access to video footage of the Chairman’s camera in Rajya Sabha from the day of the Farm Bill debate between 13:05 to 13:35.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) Moderna seeks emergency use of its Covid-19 vaccine.

Vials with a sticker reading “COVID-19/Coronavirus Vaccine/Injection only” are seen in front of a Moderna logo. Moderna Inc. said it would ask U.S. and European regulators on Monday to allow emergency use of its Covid-19 vaccine as new study results confirm that the shots offer strong protection. Moderna is just behind Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech in seeking to begin vaccinations in the U.S. in December. Across the Atlantic, British regulators are also assessing the Pfizer shot and another from AstraZeneca. Moderna created its shots with the U.S. National Institutes of Health and already had a hint that they were working. But it said that over the weekend, it obtained the final needed results, which suggested that the vaccine was more than 94% effective. Of the 196 Covid-19 cases so far in its huge U.S. study, 185 were trial participants who received the placebo and 11 had got the real vaccine. The only people who got severely ill 30 participants, including one who died had received dummy shots, said Dr. Tal Zaks, the company’s chief medical officer.

B) PM holds virtual conference with vaccine companies. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a virtual conference with heads of three vaccine development and manufacturing companies: Gennova Biopharmaceuticals, Pune, Biological E Ltd, and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd., Hyderabad. Biological E got permission to begin human trials of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate in October. Gennova is scheduled to begin human trials of its proprietary m-RNA vaccine similar to that of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna later in December, and Dr. Reddy’s has tied up with Russia’s RDIF and Gamaleya to test the Sputnik V vaccine on Indian volunteers. If all steps go according to plan and pending regulatory approvals, these companies are expected to begin making millions of doses of vaccine by next year. The PM advised all the departments concerned to engage with the manufacturers and seek to resolve matters so that the efforts by these companies beat fruit in order to serve the needs of the country and the entire world, said a press statement on Monday. On Saturday, Modi had visited the manufacturing facilities of Serum Institute of India, Pune, Bharat Biotech, Hyderabad, and Zydus Cadilla, Ahmedabad. These are biotechnology firms whose vaccine candidates are at advanced stages of human trials in India.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
30 November 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Farmers reject Amit Shah’s early talks offer.

Farmers’ groups have rejected the Home Minister’s conditional invitation for talks, saying they will not shift to the designated protest grounds in Burari for now. Tens of thousands of farmers, mostly from Punjab and Haryana, remain parked at the borders of Delhi, demanding the repeal of the Centre’s three agricultural reform laws and withdrawal of an electricity Bill. In a letter dated November 28, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote to 31 farmers’ unions from Punjab, reiterating Home Minister Amiot Shah’s late night appeal to farmers to move to the grounds in northeastern Delhi, following which they would be called for a meeting by the Centre. The Punjab and Haryana unions held an internal consultation on Sunday morning, and decided they would stay put at the Singhu and Tikri border crossing points. Some demanded that the Centre allow them to protest at the high-profile Jantar Mantar site near Parliament rather than shunting them off to the Burari grounds on the outskirts of the city. Instead of responding to the main demands of repealing of three black laws and the withdrawal of the Electricity Bill 2020, the government is doing its best to move the debate to where the farmers should camp, said a statement from the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, one of the alliances leading the protest, which includes ten of the Punjab unions.

B) New farm laws have begun mitigating farmers problems: PM. 

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Mann ki Baat radio address on Sunday said the demands raised by farmers over the years had been met in the form of the recent agriculture reforms that have given them new opportunities. Mr. Modi said all political parties had been making promises to the farmers but now these promises had been fulfilled. The Prime Minister’s address came at the end of a week marked by protests by farmers in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi. against the four farm Bills passed by Parliament in September. The agricultural reforms in the past few days have also now opened new doors of possibilities for our farmers…These reforms have not only served to unshackle our farmers but also given them new rights and opportunities, Mr. Modi said.

C) U.P. files first case under new religious conversion law. 

The Uttar Pradesh Police have lodged the first case under the new ordinance against unlawful conversion a day after it was promulgated. An FIR was lodged by the police in Bareilly under Sections 3 and 5 of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, which was cleared by the State Cabinet earlier this week and promulgated on November 27 by Governor Anandiben Patel. Bareilly police said the FIR was lodged against a person in Deorania police station on charges of allegedly trying to coerce a 20-year-old girl to convert her to his religion and marry him. Sections 504 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code were also invoked. The FIR was lodged on the complaint of Tikaram Rathore, a resident of Sharifnagar village, late on Friday. Mr. Tikaram alleged that the accused person had developed a friendship with his daughter during their education and wanted to coerce, coax and allure her into converting.

D) DCGI investigates ‘Covishield’ volunteer claim over adverse effects, Serum institute rejects charge. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) and the institutional ethics committee at the implementation site are investigating if the adverse event as claimed to have been suffered by a COVID-19 vaccine trial participant in Chennai are related to the shot administered to him. A 40-year-old Chennai-based business consultant, who was a volunteer for the third phase of the vaccine trial conducted by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), has sought ₹5 crore compensation for allegedly suffering serious neurological and psychological symptoms after taking the dose. He was administered the shot at Chennai’s Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER), one of the trial sites on October 1. A law firm on his behalf has now sent a legal notice to Director General, ICMR, Drugs Controller General of India, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, CEO, Astra Zeneca U.K., Professor Andrew Pollard, Chief Investigator, Oxford Vaccine Trial and Vice Chancellor of Sri Ramachandra Higher Education and Research. The Serum Institute of India rejected the charges and threatened to seek heavy damages for “malicious” allegations. “The allegations in the notice are malicious and misconceived. While the Serum Institute of India is sympathetic with the volunteer’s medical condition, there is absolutely no correlation with the vaccine trial and the medical condition of the volunteer,” Serum Institute of India said in a statement.

E) We will form the next government in Telangana: Amit Shah. 

The BJP continues to go all in on the upcoming Hyderabad municipal elections, sending a full slate of heavyweights to campaign. On Sunday, Home Minister Amit Shah, addressing a press conference in the city, asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) “is certainly going to form the next government in Telangana as it has already become the main opposition to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS)”. They also have the support of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in the way in which he is running the government, he said, tongue firmly in the cheek, at a press conference. He said his party was well poised to make Hyderabad free of Nawab and Nizam culture to a modern mini-India where there is no appeasement or injustice to any community. They will bring about a transformation from dynasty to democracy from the likes or TRS and Owaisis without the rampant corruption being witnessed now. They have been receiving tremendous support from the people so it is no longer about increasing our strength, he claimed.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Iran will give a calculated response to scientist killing. 

Iran will give a calculated and decisive response to the killing of its top nuclear scientist, said a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, while a hardline newspaper suggested Tehran’s revenge should include striking the Israeli city of Haifa. Undoubtedly, Iran will give a calculated and decisive answer to the criminals who took Martyr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh from the Iranian nation, Kamal Kharrazi, who is also head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, said in a statement. Fakhrizadeh, long suspected by Western and Israeli government of masterminding a secret nuclear weapons program, was gunned down on a highway near Tehran on Friday. Iran’s clerical and military rulers have blamed the Islamic Republic’s longtime enemy, Israel, for the killing. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has declined to comment on the killing. An Israeli Cabinet Minister, Tzachi Hanegbi, said on Saturday he did not know who carried it out. Iranian hardline media called on Sunday for a tough revenge. The hardline Kayhan daily, whose editor-in-chief is appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for an attack on the Israeli port city of Haifa, if an Israeli role in Fakhrizadeh’s killing is proven. The attack should be carried out in such a way that in addition to destroying the facilities, it should also cause heavy human casualties, wrote Saadollah Zarei in an opinion piece. However, Iran’s rulers are aware of daunting military and political difficulties of attacking Israel. Such an attack would also complicate any effort by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to revive detente with Tehran after he takes office on January 20.

B) Chinese Defence Minister meets Nepal’s top leadership. 

China’s Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe on Sunday met Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and held talks with Nepal Army chief Generl Purna Chandra Thapa on various issues of bilateral interest, aimed at bolstering bilateral military cooperation and taking the existing friendly ties to a new height. Gen. Wei, who is also a State Councillor, held bilateral talks with Army chief Gen. Thapa at the army headquarters here during his day long working visit to Nepal, said a Statement issued by the Nepal Army. The two held a cordial discussion on various issues of bilateral interest, it said. Bilateral discussions were then held at the delegation-level mainly on issues pertaining to resumption of training and student exchange program and follow up on defence assistance that have been impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the statement said. The Chinese Defence Minister is leading a 21-member delegation. It said the Chinese Minister viewed both the proposals positively and affirmed that the bilateral cooperation should resume as soon as possible, including exchange of high level visits. The Nepali Army expressed confidence that the visit will help in further strengthening and expanding the cordial military-to military relations between the two countries. Gen. Wei also took part in various programmes organised at the Army Headquarters. After the bilateral meeting, General Wei and his delegation were given a short presentation On the history and roles of the Nepali Army, the army Statement said. He was also presented with a Guard of Honour. Gen. Wei’s visit also comes amidst an ongoing political rift in the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) that resurfaced following a meeting between Prime Minister Oli and his rival Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ China’s political profile in Nepal has been on the rise in recent years with billions of dollars of investments under Beijing’s multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), including the building of the Trans-Himalayan Multi-Dimensional Connectivity Network. In August, President Xi said that he attached great importance to the development of China-Nepal ties.

C) 31 Afghan soldiers killed in attack base. 

At least 34 people were killed on Sunday in two separate suicide bombings in Afghan, istan that targeted a military base and a provincial chief.  There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attacks, which took place as Afghan government representatives and the Taliban hold talks in Qatar for the first time to end the country’s decades long war. In eastern Ghazni province, 31 soldiers were killed and 24 others wounded when the attacker drove a military humvee full of explosives onto an Army commando base before detonating the car bomb. according to an official in Afghanistan’s National Security Council, who spoke anonymously. Ghazni provincial health department chief, Zahir Shah Nikmal also confirmed the death toll and casualty gures from the attack. Afghanistan’s Defence Ministry released a statement claiming 10 soldiers were killed and nine wounded. The Ministry also offered a different account or what happened than the official at the National Security Council, saying the vehicle exploded near the army base after security forces opened fire on the car. It was not clear why there was a discrepancy. Interior Ministry man Tariq Arian said a suicide bombing took place. though he did not provide further details. The soldiers stationed at the base were responsible for conducting night raids, providing support to the army. 

D) Trump loses another election challenge.

The U.S. state of Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court dismissed another legal challenge to the election by supporters of President Donald Trump on Saturday. further reducing his odds of overturning the results. A Republican lawsuit had sought to invalidate mail-in ballots in the battleground state that President elect Biden won by about 81.000 votes or to throw out all votes and allow the State legislature to decide the winner. The court dismissed both claims in a unanimous decision calling the second one an extraordinary proposition that the court disenfranchise all 6.9 million Pennsylvanians who voted in the general election. The lawsuit argued that a Pennsylvania law from 2019 allowing universal mail-in voting was unconstitutional. The judges said that their 21 challenge to the law was filed too late, coming more than a year after it was enacted and with the election results becoming seemingly apparent.  Pennsylvania officially certified Mr. Biden’s victory there on November 24. The lawsuit had also sought to stop certification. Saturday’s decision follows a long line of similar ones. including a ruling the day before in which a federal appeals court flatly dismissed Trump’s claim that the election was unfair and refused to freeze Mr. Biden’s Win in Pennsylvanian.

Mr. Trump has refused to give up on his claims of fraud in the November 3 election despite his repeated court defeats. tweeting bizarre conspiracy theories.

On Thursday. he said for the first time that he would leave the White House if Mr.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
29 November 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Farmers stay put at Delhi border, refuse to go to north Delhi protest site. 

Thousands of farmers marching to Delhi to protest the Centre’s new agri laws stayed put at the Singhu and Tikri border points for the third consecutive day on Saturday amid heavy police presence even after being offered a big ground in north Delhi’s Burari to hold peaceful demonstrations. They were insistent that they be given permission to protest at Jantar Mantar. At the Delhi-Ghaziabad border, hundreds of farmers of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) broke barriers and entered Delhi on Saturday afternoon. Despite heavy security presence, the Ghaziabad Police allowed them to proceed towards Delhi. The Delhi Police had given them permission to go to the Burari ground but again the farmers wanted to go to Jantar Mantar or Ramlila Maidan. Joint Commissioner of Police (Northern range) Surender Singh Yadav told reporters that around 600 to 700 farmers have so far reached the north Delhi ground. The farmers at the Tikri border seem to have come prepared for a long haul. They have brought utensils to cook food and are charging their phones in their vehicles. Jagtar Singh Bhagiwander, another farmer who is at Tikri, maintained that they would continue to fight for their rights from the national highway. 

B) Farmer who turned off water cannon tap charged with ‘attempt to murder’

A video of Navdeep Singh, a young farmer from Ambala, jumping from his tractor onto a police vehicle carrying a water cannon and turning it off to protect his fellow farmers had gone viral earlier this week. It led to him being hailed as a ‘hero’ and ‘braveheart.’ But today the police charged the 26-year-old with attempt to murder and breaking Covid-19 rules. Singh has been accused of attempting to run down a policeman with his tractor trolley. So far, no one has been reported injured in the incident.

C) Opposition targets Narendra Modi government over handling of farmers’ protests. 

Opposition leaders from across the political spectrum on Saturday targeted the Narendra Modi government for its handling of the ongoing farmers’ protests, with the Congress asking the Prime Minister to talk to the agitating farmers instead of getting himself photographed at corporate offices (a reference to his day-long tour today of different pharma companies to review the progress in Covid-19 vaccine development). In a joint statement, senior Opposition leaders of eight political parties, including Sharad Pawar (Nationalist Congress Party), T.R. Baalu (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), Sitaram Yechury (Communist Party India-Marxist), D. Raja (Communist Party of India) and Manoj Jha (Rashtriya Janata Dal), among others, described the Centre’s response as akin to waging war against the farmers.  Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, too, took to Twitter and shared a verse by poet Uday Pratap Singh in praise of farmers whose blood and sweat provide the pulse to the nation. Sharing a photograph of an elderly farmer facing the baton of a security person on his Twitter handle, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said farmers were paying the price for Modi’s arrogance. This is a very sad photo. Our slogan was ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’, but today a jawan (soldier) is standing against the farmer due to PM Modi’s arrogance. This is very dangerous, he said.

D) U.P. Governor promulgates ordinance on ‘unlawful’ religious conversion. 

Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel promulgated an ordinance on unlawful conversion days after it was passed by the Yogi Adityanath-led State cabinet, officials said on Saturday. The Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, was cleared by the State Cabinet earlier this week and promulgated on November 27. The ordinance makes religious conversion a cognisable and non-bailable offence, inviting penalties of up to 10 years in prison if found to be effected for marriage or through misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or other allegedly fraudulent means. Violation of the provisions of the law would invite a jail term of not less than one year, extendable to five years, with a fine of ₹15,000. However, if a minor, a woman or person belonging to the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribes communities was converted through the said unlawful means, the jail term would be a minimum of three years and could be extended to 10 years with a fine of ₹25,000. The ordinance, passed by the State Cabinet, also lays down strict action against mass conversions, which would invite a jail term of not less than three years and up to 10 years and a fine of ₹50,000. The court shall also grant appropriate compensation payable by the accused to the victim of said conversion, which may extend to a maximum of ₹5 lakh, said the ordinance. The ordinance says any marriage done with the sole purpose of unlawful conversion or vice-versa by a man of one religion with a woman of another religion, either by converting himself/herself before or after marriage, or by converting the woman before or after shall be declared void.

E) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.

The number of coronavirus cases reported from India stood at 93,84,430 with the death toll at 1,36,674. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits a facility of biotech firm Bharat Biotech on the outskirts of Hyderabad on November 28, 2020 to review development of indigenous COVID-19 vaccine candidate Covaxin. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday visited Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Pune to review coronavirus vaccine development work. He visited Zydus Cadilla’s manufacturing facility near Ahmedabad, Bharat Biotech’s vaccine manufacturing facility near Hyderabad, and the Serum Institute of India near Pune. The Prime Minister’s Office said the day-long visit was aimed at getting a first-hand perspective of the preparations, challenges and roadmap in India’s endeavour to vaccinate its citizens.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Six PMs to attend SCO summit hosted by India, but Imran Khan to skip. 

The prime ministers of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will attend the summit of the heads of government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Monday while Pakistan will be represented by its parliamentary secretary for foreign affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said. India is hosting the summit for the first time after it gained full membership of the influential grouping in 2017. The summit will take place in the virtual format. The MEA said Vice President Venkaiah Naidu will chair the 19th meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of Government, which is held annually with a focus on trade and economic agenda of the organisation. Apart from the SCO member States, the four observer States of the SCO, Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia will also participate in the summit. The MEA said the president of Afghanistan, the first vice president of Iran, the prime minister of Belarus and the deputy prime minister of Mongolia will represent their countries. India assumed the chair of the SCO Council of Heads of Government on November 2 last year as per rotation from the previous chair, Uzbekistan, and will complete its year-long tenure on November 30 by hosting the summit. It will be the first time that a summit-level meeting will be held under India’s chairmanship, since it gained full membership of the organisation in 2017, the MEA said.

B) Coimbatore start-up installs ATRS at 2 airports. 

SJK Innovations, a Coimbatore-based start-up, has installed Automatic Tray Retrieval Systems (ATRS) at two airports in the country and is looking at similar projects in India and other Asian countries. Managing Director Suraj Shantakumar said the company had installed the system at security checks in terminal 3 of Delhi airport for domestic departures. At Coimbatore airport, the company commissioned the system recently on a proof-of-concept basis to showcase the solution, which is used at cabin baggage checking points. The entire system has been designed, engineered, and assembled by the company. SJK supplies the hardware and software, installs, and maintains them. The investment is primarily for working capital as the ATRS are developed according to the layout at each airport. The company is looking at developing and providing technology-driven material handling solutions in sectors such as agriculture, logistics and e-commerce, apart from aviation.

C) Neighbours agree on intel sharing.

India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives on Saturday agreed to expand the scope of intelligence sharing. including terrorism and cyber security. after a meet in which they discussed -common security threats. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, who arrived in Colombo on Friday, called on Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday and participated in the discussions with the Indian Ocean neighbours. Maldivian Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi arrived in Colombo for the meeting while the Sri Lankan side was represented by Kamal Gunaratne, Secretary. Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena addressed the participants as the chief guest, a tweet from the Indian High Commission said. Mauritius and Sey chelles were represented virtually at the senior officials. Revived after six years in a joint statement following the meeting. Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence said the 4th National Security Adviser level trilateral Maritime Security Cooperation meeting, the practice has been revived after a six-year gap, sought to promote meaning- full cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region, with focus on common issues pertaining to maritime security. The three countries also exchanged views on common security threats and agreed to broad-base cooperation by expanding the scope to improve intelligence sharing and include is, sues like terrorism. radicalization, extremism, drugs. arms and human trafficking, money laundering, cyber security and effect of climate change on maritime environment , according to the statement. Mr. Doval also held bilateral discussions with Ms. Didi and with Sri Lankan officials.

D) China’s first domestically made nuclear reactor goes online. 

China has powered up its first domestically developed nuclear reactor the Hualong One, a significant step in Beijing’s attempts to become less dependent on Western allies for energy security and critical technology. The reactor, which was connected to the national grid on Friday, can generate 10 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year and cut carbon emissions by 8.16 million tons, according to China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). This marks China breaking the monopoly of foreign nuclear power technology and officially entering the technology’s first batch of advanced countries, CNNC said in a statement. Nuclear plants supplied less than five percent of China’s annual electricity needs in 2019, according to the National Energy Administration, but this share is expected to grow as Beijing attempts to become carbon neutral by 2060. Reducing its dependence on Western allies in critical high-tech sectors such as power generation is a key goal in Beijing’s Made in China 2025 plan. Billions of dollars in state subsidies have been given to Chinese companies to speed the process, a move that has angered China’s trade partners and sparked a protracted trade row with Washington. Work on the Hualong One reactor started in 2015 and there are currently six other reactors under construction at home and abroad, state owned plant operator CNNC said. The Hualong One, deployed at a plant in east China’s Fujian province, will be put into commercial use by the end of the year after undergoing tests.

China has 47 nuclear plants with a total generation capacity of 48.75 million kilowatts — the world’s third highest after the U.S. and France. Beijing has invested billions of dollars to develop its nuclear energy sector in recent years as it struggles to wean its economy from coal.

Thirteen nuclear plants are under construction, more than in any other country.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
28 November 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Farmers enter Delhi after braving tear gas, water cannons. 

Despite heavy security deployment, groups of farmers from Punjab managed to reach near two Delhi borders on Friday morning after breaking police barricades in Haryana as part of their protest march against the Centre’s farm laws. Delhi Police eventually gave them permission to enter the national capital and hold peaceful protests in the Nirankari Ground in Burari area of the city. All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee leader Kiran Kumar Vissa termed it a historic day and said they are prepared to stay and protest until the government repeals the farm laws. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the farmers agitation and said no government in the world can stop the farmers fighting the battle of truth. No government in the world can stop the farmers who are fighting the battle of truth, the former Congress chief said. The Modi government will have to agree to the demands of the farmers and take back the black laws. This is just the beginning! he tweeted, with the hashtag ‘IamWithFarmers’. Meanwhile, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar requested the farmers to end their protest, promising talks next week. The government has always been ready to discuss issues with farmers. We have invited farmers’ organisations for another round of talks on December 3. I appeal to them to drop the agitation in view of Covid-19 and winter, Tomar told news agency ANI.

B) Delhi govt denies permission to use stadiums as makeshift jails to hold agitating farmers. 

The Delhi government, on Friday, denied permission to use stadiums in the Capital as temporary jails as sought by Delhi Police earlier in the day. In a statement, said to have been signed by Delhi Home Minister Satyendra Jain, the Delhi government denied permission to the Delhi Police saying that the agitating farmers have a Constitutional right to peacefully protest. The demands of farmers are justified. The Central government should listen to the demands of the farmers. Sending them to jails is not an option, the statement said. Earlier in the day, Delhi Police had sought the permission of the Arvind Kejriwal government to use eight stadiums in the city as temporary jails to accommodate farmers in case they need to be arrested eventually.

C) Indian economy contracts by 7.5% in Q2, in ‘technical recession’. 

India’s GDP contracted 7.5% in the second quarter of 2020-21, following the record 23.9% decline recorded in the first quarter, as per estimates released by the National Statistical Office on Friday. The country has now entered a technical recession with two successive quarters of negative growth, which was preceded by seven quarters of declining growth. However, the economy’s contraction in the July to September period, during which lockdown restrictions were eased, is better than most projections of around 10% dip, and better than the 8.6% decline estimated by the RBI. Agriculture, which was the only sector to record growth between April and June this year, grew at the same pace of 3.4% in the second quarter, while manufacturing gross value-added (GVA) staged a sharp recovery to record 0.6% growth between July and September after collapsing by 39.3% in the first quarter. Electricity, gas, water supply and other utility services also recorded 4.4% growth in the second quarter, recovering from a 7% contraction in Q1. But it remained a bleak quarter for several sectors, including mining, retail trade, hotels, construction, and financial services. They should be cautiously optimistic as the economic impact is primarily due to the pandemic and the sustainability of the recovery depends critically on the spread of the pandemic. The government remains ready to come up with calibrated responses, said Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian, stressing that there was no room for either exuberance or pessimism at this point.

D) ‘Liberty is not a gift for the few, says SC in order extending Arnab Goswami’s interim bail. 

The Supreme Court on Friday gave a clarion call to judges to protect personal liberty and the right of ordinary people to bail, saying that liberty is not a gift for the few. Common citizens without the means or resources to move the High Courts or the Supreme Court were languishing in jails as undertrials, the Supreme Court reminded. Deprivation of liberty even for a single day is one day too many, a Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra declared in a 55-page order pronounced on Friday. It is through the instrumentality of bail that our criminal justice system’s primordial interest in preserving the presumption of innocence finds its most eloquent expression. The remedy of bail is the solemn expression of the humaneness of the justice system, Justice Chandrachud, who wrote the judgment, observed. The State should not be allowed to use criminal law as a ruse to harass citizens, he cautioned. The judgment said that liberty survives by the vigilance of her citizens, on the cacophony of the media, and in the dusty corridors of courts alive to the rule of [and not by] law. Yet, much too often, liberty is a casualty when one of these components is found wanting. 

E) Mehbooba Mufti placed under house arrest, says daughter. 

Iltija Mufti, daughter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti, on Friday said her mother has been placed under house arrest in Srinagar. Her mother is not being allowed to see the family of party leader Waheed Parra in south Kashmir’s Pulwama, she said. Parra was arrested two days ago by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in a militancy-related case. Is this what you call democracy where you don’t have any right to exercise your freedom of speech and expression? You are being threatened and intimidated for raising voice about anything, she said. Mehbooba Mufti had written two letters to the police department in the past two days and sought permission to visit Pulwama. Why is it that puppets and proxies can travel the length and breadth of Kashmir yet we can’t visit and express solidarity with a party worker’s family? Iltija asked. There has been no statement by the authorities on whether Mehbooba Mufti has been detained or not.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Top Iranian nuclear scientist killed.

An Iranian scientist long suspected by the West Of masterminding a secret nuclear bomb programme was killed in an ambush near Tehran on Friday that could provoke confrontation between Iran and its foes in the last weeks Of Donald Trump’s presidency. The military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed Israel for the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, and vowed to retaliate for his killing.  Fakhrizadeh died of injuries in hospital after armed tired on his car, Iranian State media reported. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Silence on attack Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Office de dined to comment on the killing. In the U.S., the pentagon declined to comment and the State Department and the White House did immediately respond to requests for comment. president-elect Joe Biden’s team also declined to comment. Fakhrizadeh has been described by Western and Israeli intelligence services for years as the leader Of a covert atomic bomb programme halted in 2003, which Israel and the United States accuse Tehran Of trying to restore in secret. Iran has long denied seeking to weaponise nuclear energy. Regardless of who was responsible for the attack, it is certain to escalate tension between Iran and the United States in the final weeks of Mr. Trump’s presidency. A U.S. official confirmed earlier this month that Mr. Trump had asked military aides for a plan for a possible strike on Iran. He decided against it at that time because of the risk it could provoke an uncontrollable Wider West Asia conflict.

B) China slaps 200% tax on Australian wine. 

China on Friday added wine to the growing list of Australian goods barred from its markets in a trade war against Australia over disputes including its support for a probe into the origin of the coronavirus. The Ministry of Commerce imposed import taxes of up to 212.1%, effective on Saturday, which Australia’s Trade Minister said make Australian wine unsellable in China, his country’s biggest export market. China increasingly is using its populous market as leverage to extract political concessions and increase its strategic influence. Earlier, China stopped or reduced imports of beef, coal, barley, seafood, sugar and timber from Australia after it supported calls for a probe into the origin of the pandemic, which began in China in December. China’s Communist Party is trying to deflect criticism of its handling of the outbreak, which plunged the global economy into its deepest slump since the 1930s, by arguing the virus came from abroad, without providing evidence. Meanwhile, Australia is working on a mutual defence treaty with Japan, which Chinese leaders see as a strategic rival, and has expressed concern about China’s construction of military facilities on islands in the disputed South China Sea.

C) Bolsonaro says he won’t take vaccine.

Brazil president lair Bolsonaro on said he win take a vaccine against the coronavirus even after it receives approval from his own government. Brazil has recorded over 1,70000 coronavirus deaths according to an AFP tally, behind only the U.S. Mr. Bolsonaro faces criticism his handling of the pandemic, which has included playing down the virus, opposing lockdown measures and relentlessly promoting the drug hydroxy chloroquine despite studies showing it is ineffective COVID- 19. He caught COVID- 19 himself at the beginning of July, and more than half of his Cabinet have tested positive for the virus in recent months. Once any treatment is approved by Brazil’s health regulatory authorities, his government will immediately organize its purchase and distribution to those who want it, he said. But he added he was sure that Brazil’s Parliament would not make immunisation mandatory. Brazil’s Health Ministry has already to buy 100 million doses of a different vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.

D) Trump says he will leave office if Biden’s victory is confirmed. 

President Donald Trump said on Thursday for the first time that he would leave the White House if Joe Biden is officially confirmed the winner Of the U.S. election, even as he railed against the rigged vote. Mr. Trump has made an unprecedented attempt to defy the results of the election by refusing to concede, spreading wild theories about stolen ballots and launching baseless legal challenges that have been thrown out by courts. Answering his first questions from reporters since the 3 vote, the President moved closer to accepting that he would serve only one term in office before Mr. Biden is inaugurated on January 20. When asked if he would leave the White House if the Electoral College confirmed Biden’s victory, Mr. Trump said that certainty he will. The Electoral College which determines the White House Winner, will meet on December 14 to certify Mr. Biden’s Victory. With Mr. Biden receiving 306 votes to Mr. Trump’s 232. This election was a fraud, Mr. Trump said, again without providing any evidence during his remarks to reporters at the White House after he spoke to military personnel via video link on Thanksgiving holiday. He described the U.S. voting infrastructure as -like a third-world co Earlier in the day, he tweeted that -this a 100% RIGGED ELECTION,while on Wednesday he called on his Republican supporters “to the ton over.-No proof of fraud President-elect Bi&n has said that Americans -won’t stand¯ for attempts to derail the vote outcome. Aruba Americans to unite to chines deliberately millions o’ he votes. the government election curiosity agency declared it —the secure- in US history.

pressure some senior Republicans, Mr. Trump this week ended his blockade of government assistance to ease Mr. Biden preparation  Mr. Trump said Thursday he would travel to Georgia to campaign ahead Of key run-off eclectics that “ill &iced touch party controls Senate.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
27 November 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Today is Punjab’s 26/11, says Sukhbir Singh Badal on police action against farmers marching to Delhi.

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Thursday slammed the Haryana government for trying to thwart farmers’ ‘Delhi Chalo’ march, terming the attempt as Punjab’s 26/11 . The SAD chief also lashed out at the BJP-led government in Haryana for using water cannons against farmers on the Punjab-Haryana border. The battle for the rights of Punjab farmers cannot be throttled by using water cannons against them, he said. Earlier in the day, undeterred by winter chill, overnight rainfall and police restrictions, at least half a lakh protesting farmers hit the roads and were set to reach Delhi’s borders on Thursday night, according to the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM). The alliance of farmers groups protesting against the Centre’s contentious new agriculture laws has issued a call for a Delhi Chalo campaign, and an indefinite siege of the capital. Thousands of farmers from Punjab surged across Haryana throughout the day, having broken through or bypassed police barriers at multiple locations. At other points in Haryana as well as along the Uttar Pradesh border, however, farmers were blocked from entry, while leaders were detained or arrested. Within Delhi, two protests were broken up by police, and hundreds of protestors detained. Although Delhi’s borders have not been sealed, barricades and pickets have been activated to prevent entry by the marching farmers on Friday. Five sand-laden trucks have been stationed at the Singhu border point to stop tractors, said senior Delhi Police officials, adding that drones have also been deployed for security purposes. The Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangh, All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee, and various factions of the Bharatiya Kisan Union are leading the protest under the SKM banner.

B) Cyclone Nivar makes landfall. 

Cyclone Nivar made landfall near Puducherry as a very severe cyclonic storm that lasted from 11.30 pm. on Wednesday till 2.30 a.m. on Thursday. It weakened into a severe cyclonic storm, still maintaining wind speeds of 85-95 kmph as it moved to interior areas. It is expected to weaken further into a cyclonic storm as it moves northwestward. Parts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, including State capital Chennai, saw persistent rains and strong winds, resulting in property damage due to water-logging and fallen trees. Thousands of people have been evacuated to storm shelters across Tamil Nadu. Many districts in Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry had declared a holiday on November 26 though Chennai resumed Metro and bus services by evening. Heavy rainfall ranging from 6 cm to 30 cm battered at least half of Andhra Pradesh under the influence of cyclone Nivar, leaving one dead.

C) Do not have a straw and sipper to give Stan Swamy, NIA tells court. 

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday told the special NIA court that they do not have a straw and sipper to give 83-year-old Father Stan Swamy. Special NIA Judge D.E. Kothalikar, presiding over the case, had directed the medical officer to reply to the requirement of a straw and sipper, along with winter clothes. The matter will now be heard on December 4. On November 6, Father Swamy had filed an application seeking permission to allow him a straw and sipper in Taloja Central Jail as he cannot hold a glass because he has Parkinson’s Disease. Father Swamy is an accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence of 2018 and is currently in the prison hospital.

D) India needs ‘One Nation, One Election’, says PM Modi. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday made a pitch for “One Nation, One Election’, saying it is what India needs, as polls every few months affect development work. Addressing the concluding session of the 80th All India Presiding Officers Conference via video conference, Modi also paid homage to the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and asserted that India is fighting terrorism now with new vigour. Pitching strongly for ‘One Nation, One Election’, Modi said that elections are held at different places every few months, and the impact it has on development works is known to all. Therefore, it is a must to have deep study and deliberation on ‘One Nation, One Election. The Prime Minister also suggested a single voters’ list for Lok Sabha, assembly and panchayat polls, saying separate lists are a waste of resources. Legislature, Executive and Judiciary should work with better coordination and national interest should be the basis for every decision, Modi said. 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Ajit Doval to visit Colombo tomorrow. 

National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval will be in Colombo on Friday for trilateral discussions among India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Maldivian Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi will also travel to Colombo, while the Sri Lankan side will be represented at the highest levels by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror reported on Thursday. This is Doval’s second official visit to Sri Lanka this year. He had visited in January on the heels of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resounding election victory last year and New Delhi visit soon after and held discussions on strengthening military ties and avoiding a debt trap. There is no official information yet on whether Doval will hold separate bilateral meetings with either partners, but Friday’s scheduled meeting of the Indian Ocean neighbours marks the resumption of NSA-level trilateral Maritime Security Cooperation talks after six years.

B) Trump pardons his former national security adviser Micheal Flynn. 

President Donald Trump on Wednesday pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Trump’s pardon, which could be the first of several after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden, drew condemnation from Democrats and other critics. A retired Army general, Flynn had pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about the interactions he had had with Russia’s ambassador to the United States in the weeks leading up to Trump’s inauguration in January 2017. He has since sought to withdraw the plea, arguing that prosecutors violated his rights and duped him into a plea agreement. His sentencing has been deferred several times.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
26 November 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) As Ni-var intensifies, Chennai suspends airport and metro services. 

The severe cyclonic storm ‘Nivar’ is likely to intensify further into a very severe cyclonic storm during the next 12 hours. It is expected to cross the Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts between Karaikal and Mamallapuram during midnight of November 25 and early hours of November 26, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The Tamil Nadu government has announced a public holiday in 16 districts, including Chennai, on Thursday, November 26. Chennai airport will remain shut from 7 p.m. on Wednesday till 7 a.m. on Thursday due to the cyclone. All international, domestic and cargo services remain suspended. This decision follows the afternoon update announcing the cancellation of 12 departures and arrivals from and to Chennai airport. Flights cancelled include those to Kannur, Kozhikode, Vijayawada, Tiruchi, Thoothukudi, Bengaluru, Mangalore and Hubli. Metro rail services, too, have been suspended from 8 p.m. today. Services will resume tomorrow depending on the weather conditions.

B) Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel passes away.

Rajya Sabha member and senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel died on Wednesday after a prolonged battle with complications arising out of a Covid-19 infection. He was 71. Patel had contracted the virus more than a month-and-a-half ago, on October 1, and was treated at a private hospital in Faridabad before being shifted to Gurugram’s Medanta Medicity after his condition deteriorated. Popularly known as ‘Ahmed Bhai’ or ‘AP’ in political circles, Patel, who served as the powerful political secretary to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, was the quintessential backroom strategist during the 10-year-rule of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Though he was never a part of the Manmohan Singh Cabinet, Patel was the crisis manager who firmly remained in the background and was known for his loyalty to the Gandhis. Patel served as a key link not just between the Congress and its allies but also between the party and Singh’s government. His ability to reach out to corporate as well as political leaders prompted the former party chief Rahul Gandhi, who was not known to share a great relationship with Patel, to bring him back as the party’s treasurer in August 2018.

C) Poshan Abhiyan: Server snag hits tracking of nutritional interventions. 

A massive portal developed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), which is used by the Centre as well as most States to record and monitor delivery of services to children and mothers across nearly seven lakh anganwadis, has been down for nearly three months, several State governments have confirmed. The snag is a big setback at a time when it is critical to intensify efforts to identify mothers and children in need of nutritional interventions due to rising levels of hunger and poverty. The software had been developed under the Poshan Abhiyaan scheme approved by the Cabinet in 2017. The ICDS-CAS server is down and we have written to the Central government to rectify it. It has been down for almost two months and we have requested for it to be rectified. But we continue to deliver dry rations to the beneficiaries, told Kavitha Ramu, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Chief for Tamil Nadu. Poshan Abhiyaan’s Integrated Child Development Services Common Application Software (ICDS-CAS) is a web and mobile-phone based application to improve service delivery and program management. The application facilitates Anganwadi workers (AWWs) in their daily tasks, helps supervisors to assess and provide feedback to the workers, and helps other program officials to track service delivery and take informed decisions. The server issue appears to have surfaced after the government insisted that the BMGF and its collaborator, US-based DIMAAGI, host India’s public data in India, leading to issues in managing capacity to anchor such vast quantities of data. India has a total 14 lakh anganwadis and nearly 10 crore ICDS beneficiaries.

D) Farmers begin march to Delhi from Ambala.

Thousands of farmers from Ambala began a march towards Delhi on Wednesday afternoon in response to a call by several farmers’ groups for “Dilli Chalo” on November 26. Haryana Police has set up barriers and diversions in the bordering districts on the highways leading to Delhi to prevent the agitating farmers from reaching the national capital. Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) member Balkar Singh said thousands of farmers started a march towards Delhi in tractors and trolleys from a food grains market near Ambala in the afternoon and broke the barriers put by the police to reach Shahbad. He claimed that the police used water cannons to stop the farmers. Singh said the farmers were scheduled to reach Rajiv Gandhi Education City in Sonipat around midnight before entering Delhi. Earlier, there were reports of arrests and detentions of farmer leaders from several parts of Haryana amid the continued crackdown for the second day in a row. In a related development, the Delhi Police reiterated that all requests from farmer organisations for protest permits on Thursday and Friday have been rejected, and warned that legal action would be taken if gatherings took place in Delhi amid the coronavirus pandemic.

E) Amaravati land scam case: SC stays A.P. High Court’s gag order to media. 

The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed an interim direction of the Andhra Pradesh High Court to gag the media from reporting on an FIR registered on the alleged illegal purchase of land in Amaravati. A three-judge Bench, led by Justice Ashok Bhushan, gave four weeks to former State Additional Advocate General and first respondent, Dammalapati Srinivas, to file his response. Srinivas is named in the FIR. Others named include the relatives of a sitting Supreme Court judge. The FIR shows offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, criminal breach of trust, and cheating under the Indian Penal Code. The allegations include abuse of official positions in the State, sharing of privileged information, and causing loss to the public exchequer during the previous Telugu Desam Party regime. The High Court had passed the gag order within hours of the registration of the FIR on September 15. It stayed the investigation and barred the State from taking any coercive action against the persons named in the FIR. The order was based on a writ petition filed by Srinivas. The Jaganmohan Reddy government had appealed to the Supreme Court. The Bench issued notice and posted the appeal for hearing in the last week of January 2021.

F) Cabinet approves amalgamation of Lakshmi Vilas Bank and DBS India. 

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the amalgamation of Lakshmi Vilas Bank with DBS India. The Centre had imposed a one-month moratorium on the Karur-based lender, temporarily capping withdrawals at ₹25,000. The RBI had proposed a draft scheme of amalgamation that entailed the Indian unit of Singapore’s DBS Bank taking over the capital-starved bank. The Union Cabinet on November 25, 2020 approved the merger of Lakshmi Vilas Bank with DBIL, providing comfort to 20 lakh customers of the bank which was put under the moratorium. The jobs of the 400 employees will be secure and the depositers will also be protected, said Union Minister Prakash Javadekar, during a press meet in New Delhi on Wednesday. Twenty lakh depositers and ₹20,000 crore of deposits are secure, he added. RBI has been told to act against those who brought the bank to the brink of closure. Liability will be fixed and those who have made mistakes will be punished, he said.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) China slams India’s ban on 43 more apps. 

China on Wednesday said it firmly opposes India’s use of national security as an excuse. It was reacting to New Delhi’s November 24 decision to ban 43 Chinese apps, which followed similar measures announced in June and September that barred 177 mostly Chinese apps amid continuing tensions along the border. India should immediately correct its discriminatory approach and avoid causing further damage to bilateral cooperation, said Zhao Lijian, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry. A separate statement from the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi on Wednesday said China firmly oppose[s] the Indian side’s repeated use of ‘national security’ as an excuse to prohibit some mobile apps with Chinese background.

B) Navy inducts 2 drones on lease from the U.S.

The Indian Navy has inducted two MQ-9B Sea Guardian unarmed drones procured from the U.S. on lease, two defence sources said on Wednesday. The drones are on lease for one year. All planning, execution and operations will be with the Indian Navy. The Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) will play a support role for maintenance as laid down in the agreement, one defence source said. The drones arrived in India in mid-November. The recently released Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020 has introduced an option for leasing military platforms. As part of its force restructuring to offset budgetary constraints, the Navy has been looking to induct more unmanned solutions, both aerial and underwater. As part of this, the requirement of additional P-81 maritime patrol aircraft has been cut down from 10 to six and was to be offset by procurement of long-endurance drones. UAV procurement A tri-service proposal to procure ten Unmanned Aerial vehicles (UAV) for each Service from the U.S., including armed drones, has been in the pipeline for some time but has been delayed due to budgetary considerations. Last year, the Navy asked General Atomics for details of the Sea Guardian, following which company offcials made presentations on its capabilities. The Guardian, which is the maritime variant of the Predator MQ-9 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), has a maximum endurance of 40 hours and a maximum flying altitude of 40,000 feet. It has a 3600 maritime surveillance radar and an optional multimode maritime surface search radar.

B) Pakistan Cabinet for strict punishment to rapists.

To combat rising cases of sexual attacks on women and children in Pakistan, the federal Cabinet has approved in-principle two anti-rape ordinances aimed at handing out exemplary punishment, including chemical castration and hanging, to rapists, according to a media report. A Cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad on Tuesday, also decided to change the definition of rape, the Dawn News reported on Wednesday. The Anti-Rape (Investigation and Trial) Ordinance, 2020, and the Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, would be finalized in a week to be promulgated, Information Minister Shibli Faraz said. Hailing the big decision, Mr. Faraz said the ordinances change the basic definition of rape and suggest severe punishment for gang-rape. For the first time in the history of Pakistan, the definition of rape has been changed by incorporating transgender and gangrape in it, the report said. The proposed laws also prohibit the controversial two-finger test performed on rape survivors. The World Health Organization has already declared the test as unscientific, medically unnecessary and unreliable.