Tag: latest Current Affairs

CURRENT AFFAIRS
25 September 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) CBSE to declare results by October 10.

On 24 September, the CBSE has stated in the Supreme Court that it would declare the compartment exam results for Class 12 on or before October 10. The UGC informed a Bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and Sanjeev Khanna that its admission process would close by October 31, giving ample time for students to apply for varsity admissions amid the pandemic. The court closed the case expressing gratitude to both the CBSE and the UGC. On September 22, the Supreme Court had asked both the academic bodies to coordinate and time the declaration of the compartment exam results before the admission process began in varsities. The last compartment exam is scheduled for September 30. The last date for completing the University admissions process is October 31 and the last date for admissions to fill up the remaining vacant seats shall be November 30, 2020. Further, the Guidelines contemplate provisional admissions wherever necessary with the relevant documents of the qualifying examinations being accepted up to 31.12.2020. The court was insistent during the case hearings that the academic future of nearly 2 lakh students taking the exams should not be blighted by the extraordinary circumstances created by the pandemic.

B) Supreme Court tells jailed activist Sudha Bharadwaj she has a good case on merits. 

On 24 September, the Supreme Court has asked activist and lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, who has been languishing in jail for 2 years in the Bhima Koregaon case, why she is seeking bail on medical grounds when she had such a good case on merits. Justice U.U. Lalit asked advocate Vrinda Grover, who was appearing for Bharadwaj that why is her client not applying for bail on merits. Justice Ajay Rastogi also asked Grover that she have such a good case on merits, why is she seeking bail on medical grounds.

Bharadwaj agreed to withdraw the current plea for bail on medical conditions. She had sought bail over concerns about her heart disease. Grover submitted that her client’s co-morbidities also made her susceptible to Covid-19 infection. But Justice Lalit asked Grover to explain more about the case against her client. Grover then drew a detailed picture of how her client has been a noted lawyer, globally recognized for her work. The prosecution agencies have claimed that there is a criminal conspiracy, but nothing has been recovered from me. Charges have not been framed. 2 years are over. She said that her father passed away in the meantime. She had never abused the process of law. She needs bail to get herself diagnosed medically. 

C) ‘Rail roko’ in Punjab against farm Bills.

Several farmers in parts of Punjab on 24 September has started a 3-day‘ rail roko’ agitation, under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Samiti, against the Union government’s 3 agriculture sector Bills. The State president of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangarsh Samiti, Sarvan Singh Pandher said that the ‘rail roko’ agitation will continue till September 26 in the first phase. And if their demands are not met, they will intensify the agitation. They will also support the ‘Bharat bandh’ call given by the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC). Other farmers’ unions have also extended support to their agitation. Terming the Bills Singh said that the new legislation were completely anti-farmer and their implementation would ultimately lead to the exploitation of big corporate houses. This will also lead to the ending of the Minimum Support Price regime.

D) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 57,27,995 with the death toll at 91,189. The Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal has claimed that the national capital has already witnessed the second wave of Covid-19 and has now turned the corner. The sudden daily spike in the coronavirus cases crossing 4,000, was the second wave of the disease. On September 16, Delhi recorded approximately 4,500 cases. After that, the cases started to decline and in the last 24 hours, 3,700 cases have come up in the national capital. 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Enormous divisions over UN Security Council rejig, says China.

On 24 September, China said that there were enormous divisions and a lack of consensus on taking forward the stalled reforms of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), a day after the G4 group : India, Brazil, Japan and Germany called for an early push for text-based negotiations. The meeting of the G4 took place during the 75 session of the UN General Assembly, which is happening virtually this year due to the pandemic. The foreign ministers of the 4 countries that are seeking UNSC reforms and permanent membership of the body had met virtually on 23 September and expressed their frustration at the repeated attempts to stall the reforms process. In a statement, they had reiterated support for each other’s membership to the UNSC given the capacity and willingness to take on major responsibilities with regard to the maintenance of international peace and security. India, which begins a 2-year term as one of the 10 non-permanent UNSC members in January, has been batting for an expansion of the permanent and the non-permanent membership of the Security Council. On 24 September, however, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson of China, Wang Wenbin suggested that China’s long-held stance that the reforms process cannot go ahead quickly is unlikely to change. They believe the reforms should increase the representation and voice of developing countries and allow more small and medium-sized countries to enter the Security Council and participate in decision making. They believe the reform of the Security Council is an important issue which concerns the long term development and all the immediate interests of its members. 

B) Harley-Davidson decides to exit from India; to lay off 70 employees.

Harley-Davidson, the iconic motorcycle major from the U.S., has announced their decision to discontinue its sales and manufacturing operations in India, as part of its restructuring plan necessitated by the pandemic. On September 24, the firm shared information with its employees about additional restructuring actions related to the set of actions that it refers to as The Rewire. In a filing with the United States Securities & Exchange Commission, Harley-Davidson Inc. said that the action in India will include an associated workforce reduction of approximately 70 employees. A formal statement from the Indian unit is expected.

C) Dean Jones passes away.

Former Australia batsman Dean Jones has died of a cardiac arrest in a Mumbai hotel, IPL broadcasters Star Sports said. Jones, 59, was in Mumbai with the Star Sports’ commentary team for the IPL. Jones had played 52 Tests and 164 ODIs so far for Australia and was part of the 1987 World Cup-winning team. Star Sports said in a press release that it is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing away of Mr. Dean Mervyn Jones AM. He died of a sudden cardiac arrest.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
24 September 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Opposition parties hold a series of protests in Parliament.

Opposition parties held 3 rounds of protests in Parliament on the last day of the monsoon session. Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad met President Ramnath Kovind and urged him not to give his assent to the three farm Bills passed in Parliament. At noon on 23 September, over 75 Rajya Sabha MPs belonging to the Congress, Trinamool Congress (TMC), DMK, Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), CPI, CPI-M, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Samajwadi Party and the NCP took out a silent protest march from the Gandhi statue to the Ambedkar statue, both located within the Parliament complex. A few hours later, another bunch of lawmakers from the TRS and the TMC held a short dharna. In the evening, MPs from the Lok Sabha MPs took out another march. The Opposition parties also held 2 rounds of meetings to chalk out a strategy to continue the campaign against the three farms Bills. The parties had sent a common memorandum to President Ram Nath Kovind, urging him to return the bills on the grounds that their passage in the Rajya Sabha was flawed. This petition is expected to form the basis for further legal action. Sources said the Opposition parties were divided on whether to move Supreme Court on the subject. After meeting with President Kovind, Azad told reporters that it is wrong to blame the Opposition for the pandemonium witnessed on Sunday in the upper House. 

B) Leaders slam passage of Bills without discussion.

A day after Rajya Sabha passed the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 and six other bills, Opposition leaders criticised the government for rushing through legislation in a near-empty house without due discussions. Trinamool Congress floor leader Derek O’ Brien said the monsoon session of Parliament was a “sham”, with no discussions on any of the important issues, while senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that the amendment to the Essential Commodities law, which would only help hoarders and black-marketers, was passed in an empty house. Ramesh, who is also the chief whip of the party in the Rajya Sabha, said the amendments to the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, are highly centralising and will erode the constitutional rights of States.

C) NCB summons Deepika Padukone, and 5 others in drug nexus case. 

Actors Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan, Shraddha Kapoor and Rakul Preet Singh have been summoned by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in a stunning twist to the drugs probe linked to the Sushant Singh Rajput investigation. They have all been asked to appear in the next three days. These are the most high-profile names to come up in a widening probe into allegations of drug use linked to the film industry. Padukone has been summoned on Friday and Rakul Preet on 23 September. Ali Khan and Kapoor will be questioned on Saturday, and fashion designer Simone Khambatta will also be questioned tomorrow.

D) No coercive steps intended against Facebook says Delhi Assembly

The Delhi Legislative Assembly clarified in the Supreme Court that no coercive steps were intended against Ajit Mohan, vice-president and managing director of Facebook India when he was summoned to appear before its Committee of Peace and Harmony as a witness in connection with allegations linked to the Delhi riots. The person was only called as a witness. No coercion was intended. They wanted to get some safeguard suggestions from Facebook. They wanted to find out how Facebook was misused and did not say Facebook misused, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Assembly, submitted in court. Justice S.K. Kaul, heading a three-judge Bench, pointed out that there is a disparity between what Singhvi is submitting in court about the nature of the summons, and what is actually said in them. In their petition, Mohan and Facebook, represented by senior advocates Harish Salve and Mukul Rohatgi, respectively, accused the Assembly of threatening him with breach of privilege if he did not appear before the Committee and testify. They said the Committee had no authority to compel him to testify. Rohatgi argued that the Delhi Assembly panel had predetermined that Facebook colluded in the Delhi riots. Mohan had been summoned to appear before the Committee on September 23. After Singhvi told the court that the Committee has deferred the meeting, the court asked the Assembly to not fix any further meeting with the Facebook official for now since it is seized of the case. Issuing notice, the court asked Singhvi to file its counter, putting the clarifications on record. The next hearing of the matter has been scheduled for October 15.

E) Government issues notice to Sudarshan TV

The Union government on 23 September informed the Supreme Court that a show-cause notice has been issued to Sudarshan TV under the Cable TV Network Act against the content of its programme, ‘Bindas Bol’, which accuses Muslims of “infiltrating” the civil services with the help of funding from terror-linked organisations abroad. On September 15, a three-judge Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud had stayed further telecast of the programme episodes. Four episodes had been telecast by the time the court issued the injunction. Had the court not intervened, the programme would have been over by now, Justice Chandrachud told the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who informed the court about the notice issued to the Hindi channel on September 23. Mehta said the court’s intervention is usually seen as a last resort. The court agreed to the law officer’s submission to defer further hearings in the case. The channel has been given time till September 28 to respond to the show-cause notice. Meanwhile, the September 15 injunction on the telecast of the programme would continue. The Bench is examining various questions, including the point beyond which free speech in the media breaches the dignity of a community. The court is also examining the larger aspect of strengthening the self-regulatory mechanism for electronic media. It had observed that the manner of the portrayal of the Muslim community in ‘Bindas Bol’ was plainly hurtful.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Saudi Arabia banned flights from and to India. 

Saudi Arabia has banned all the flights to and from India from Tuesday onwards amid an increase in novel coronavirus cases. In a circular issued on 22 September, the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) of Saudi Arabia said they were suspending travel to and from India, Brazil and Argentina as well as any person who has been in any of these countries in the past 14 days prior to their arrival to the country. However, they had excluded those passengers who have official government invitations. The GACA circular titled ‘Suspension of travel to countries where the coronavirus has outbreak’, was marked to all the airlines and chartered flight companies operating in the airports of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates host a significant Indian migrant population. 

B) CAG’s rafale vendors yet to confirm tech transfer. 

French aerospace major Dassault Aviation and European missile maker MBDA have till date not confirmed the transfer of technology for the indigenous development of an engine for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), under the offset contract relating to the crore deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) said in a report tabled in Parliament on 23 September. The report on offset clauses in defence deals observed that in October 2019, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) informed that the vendor had not yet been able to confirm their capability for doing the requisite up-gradation. Thus, it is not clear whether this technology transfer will take place, and there is a need for MoD/DRDO to identify and acquire the right technologies in order to comply with the directions of Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) given in September 2016.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
23 September 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Opposition parties boycott both Houses of Parliament.

On 22 September, opposition parties had boycotted both the Houses of Parliament, first walking out of Rajya Sabha in the morning, and from the Lok Sabha around 4 pm, in protest against the flawed passage of the 2 farm bills in the upper House on Sunday. The Bill’s passage by voice vote had resulted in violent protests by Opposition members and the suspension of 8 Parliamentarians. The Parliament is expected to end sine die on 23 September. Congress, Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazgham, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, Aam Aadmi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Nationalist Congress Party, CPI (M), CPI, and other smaller parties boycotted both houses of Parliament. Bahujan Samaj Party, Biju Janata Dal, and YSR Congress did not participate in the boycott. Though the BSP did walk out of Lok Sabha, they made it clear it had nothing to do with the rest of the Opposition.

B) Academic session to start from November 1 as per the new UGC calendar. 

Students entering colleges and universities will begin classes from November 1, with the new academic session getting off to a delayed start, according to the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) calendar for 2020-21, which was released on Tuesday. Holiday breaks will be curtailed and classes will run 6 days a week to compensate for the time lost due to the Covid-19 pandemic. UGC approved the guidelines for the new academic calendar for first-year students of both undergraduate and postgraduate programs at its meeting on Monday. The admissions schedule has been delayed by the fact that schools and colleges were shut in mid-March due to the pandemic-linked lockdown, and board examinations, as well as entrance examinations for professional courses such as medicine and engineering, were postponed multiple times. The delays have also caused admission cancellations and migration of students. In a statement, the Education Ministry directed that in order to avoid causing financial hardship to parents already hit by the lockdown and economic recession, there will be a full refund of fees made in such cases. On cancellation/withdrawal of admissions up to 31 December 2020, the entire fee collected from a student should be refunded in full after deduction of not more than ₹1,000 as processing fee. This is a special measure for this academic year only.

C) Suspended Opposition MPs end dharna.

The 8 suspended MPs on 22 September had ended their sit-in at the Mahatma Gandhi statue inside the Parliament premises after Opposition parties took a joint decision to boycott the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha for the remainder of the monsoon session. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi had told Rajya Sabha that the suspension will be withdrawn if the 8 MPs express regret. The opposition parties did not agree to this proposal. Now they will take their fight for the rights of the farmers to every town and village in the country. On 21 September, the TMC’s Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen, CPI(M) are Elamaram Kareem and K.K. Rajesh, Congress’s Rajeev Satav, Syed Naseer Hussain and Ripun Bora, and AAP’s Sanjay Singh were suspended from the Rajya Sabha for unruly behavior in the House. The 8 MPs had been on a sit-in protest from Monday 12:45 pm till Tuesday at 10:30 am. The MPs spent the night in the Parliament premises, sleeping on bedsheets on the lawn next to the Gandhi statue.

D) Government working on amending IT rules. 

The government is working on amending the IT rules for intermediaries such as Facebook and Google in order to make them more responsive and accountable, Parliament was informed on 21 September. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is in the process of amending the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011, to make the intermediaries more responsive and accountable, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Sanjay Dhotre said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. The rules are currently being finalized. Dhotre said Section 79(1) of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, grants intermediaries a conditional immunity with regard to any third-party content uploaded on their platforms. However, this immunity is subject to provisions of certain other sections of the Act. Section 79 of the IT Act already provides safe harbor protection to intermediaries subject to their following due diligence as prescribed in IT (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2011 notified under this section. The government respects the right of freedom of speech and expression as enshrined in the constitution of India.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) India-China: No breakthrough after the 6th round of talks.

The sixth round of Corps Commander talks between India and China, which went on for 14 hours, failed to yield a breakthrough on de-escalation along the disputed boundary in Ladakh. The talks were quite positive despite the lack of apparent results. There will be more rounds of talks as issues are complex. The talks that began on 21 September at 9 a.m. in Moldo went on till 11 p.m. The talks were held in line with the 5 point plan agreed upon by the 2 Foreign Ministers in Moscow earlier this month. There are different positions and the issues are complex, so it will take more rounds of talks to reach an understanding. Details of the talks would be discussed within the government and the future course of action decided, it has been learned. India has pressed for a roadmap for complete disengagement and de-induction of Chinese troops from all friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the source added. For the first time, a Joint Secretary from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was present at the talks.The situation on the ground has remained quiet since the Foreign Ministers’ meeting, the second source added. Officials said that for India, mutual disengagement would not be acceptable and China would have to pull back its troops from the stand-off areas.

B) US judge blocks Commerce Department order to remove WeChat from app stores.

Early on 20 September, a judge of the United States has blocked the Commerce Department from requiring Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc. Google to remove the messaging app WeChat which was owned by China for downloads. The Magistrate Judge of United States Laurel Beeler in San Francisco has said in an order that WeChat users who had filed a lawsuit have shown serious questions going to the merits of the First Amendment claim. Parents are discovering how increased screen time has led to the change in behavioral patterns of the children. They are bad for the environment and responsible for a large number of pedestrian deaths. The Commerce Department had issued an order which was citing national security grounds to block the application from the app stores of the United States which was owned by Tencent Holding and Justice Department had urged Beeler not to block the order. The Commerce Department of the United States did not comment immediately.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
20 September 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) NIA arrests 9 suspected al-Qaeda operatives in Kerala and West Bengal.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested nine suspected al-Qaeda operatives in raids conducted at several locations in Kerala and West Bengal on the morning of 19 September. The 6 persons arrested from West Bengal belonged to Murshidabad, while those picked up in Kerala were from Ernakulam. The arrested persons will be produced before the courts concerned in Kerala and West Bengal for police custody and further investigation, according to a release issued by the NIA. The agency learned about an inter-State module of Al-Qaeda operatives at various locations in the country, including West Bengal and Kerala. The module was allegedly planning to undertake terrorist attacks at vital installations. The investigating officials recovered large quantities of incriminating materials, including digital devices and documents from their possession. The arrests have pre-empted possible terrorist attacks in various parts of the country, the agency claimed.

B) Arrested scribe Rajeev Sharma was passing the info on border strategy to Chinese intelligence: Delhi Police

Delhi Police, which arrested freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma on September 14, claimed that he was passing sensitive information about India’s border strategy and Army deployment to Chinese intelligence. Sharma was also in contact with a Chinese intelligence officer, the police officer claimed, adding the freelance journalist got ₹40 lakh in one-and-a-half years and getting $1,000 for each piece of information. Sharma was arrested based on inputs from central intelligence. Police have seized classified defense documents from him, the DCP said, adding that a Chinese woman and her Nepalese associate have also been arrested for allegedly paying Sharma large amounts of money routed through shell companies.

C) COVID Watch: Numbers and Developments. 

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 53,83,991 with the death toll at 86,668. India has overtaken the U.S. and become the top country in terms of global Covid-19 recoveries, said the Union Health Ministry on 19 September, adding that the country has reported the highest number of total recoveries, with more than 42 lakh (42,08,431) Covid-19 patients having recovered. Rapid antigen test of Covid-19 virus in progress near a testing van in New Delhi on September 19, 2020, Rapid antigen test of Covid-19 virus in progress near a testing van in New Delhi on September 19, 2020. India now accounts for close to 19% of the total global recoveries. It has registered the highest-ever single-day recoveries in the last 24 hours. A total of 95,880 recoveries have been recorded. 90% of the new recovered cases are being reported from 16 States/UTs, including Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Delhi. 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Iconic judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg passes away. 

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a diminutive yet towering women’s rights champion who became the court’s second female judge, died on 18 September at her home in Washington. She was 87 years old. Besides civil rights, Ginsburg took an interest in capital punishment, voting repeatedly to limit its use. During her tenure, the court declared it unconstitutional for states to execute the intellectually disabled and killers younger than 18. Ginsburg authored powerful dissents in cases involving abortion, voting rights, and pay discrimination against women. She said that some were aimed at swaying the opinions of her fellow judges while others were in favor of an appeal to the intelligence of another day in the hopes that they would provide guidance to the future courts.

B) Taiwan scrambles fighter jets because 18 Chinese planes buzz island

On 18 September, Taiwan has scrambled fighter jets because 18 Chinese aircraft has buzzed the island. They had also crossed the sensitive mid-line of the Taiwan Strait in an escalation of tensions. Earlier, China had announced the start of combat drills near the Taiwan Strait. They called it a collision between the island as part of their territory and the United States. The survey was conducted across 68 countries, which shows that vaccine hesitancy has ranged from 74% in Azerbaijan to 25% in India.  US Undersecretary for Economic Affairs Keith Krach was also there in Taipei on 17 September for a 3-day visit. With the presidential election looming in the United States in November, Sino-US relations are under huge strain from a trade war to US digital security concerns. Taiwan said that 18 Chinese aircraft were involved in it. The ministry has shown a map of the flight paths of those Chinese jets which crossed the Taiwan Strait mid-line.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
19 September 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Media cannot make a religious minority community target of its attacks: Supreme Court.

A message needs to go out to the media that it cannot make a religious minority the target of its attacks, the Supreme Court said on 18 September. The dignity of a community is as important as journalistic freedom. They want a cohesive nation. They, as citizens and judges, are concerned about national security but they are also equally concerned about protecting human dignity. They, as a court, know what happened in the Emergency. So, they want a free flow of ideas. But they are also equally conscious about the right to dignity of a community. This was observed by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, while heading a 3 judge Bench, on hearing a plea for a pre-telecast ban on a program partially aired on Sudarshan TV on UPSC Jihad. The show, anchored by the editor-in-chief of the channel Suresh Chavhanke, claims that members of the Muslim community are attempting to infiltrate the civil services. Describing media regulatory bodies such as the News Broadcasters Association as toothless, the court asked them, as well as the government, to suggest measures that could strengthen media self-regulation. The court added that it would not have stepped in and ordered an injunction on the Sudarshan TV show recently had there been a strong self-regulatory mechanism.

B) People being misled over farm bills: PM.

On 18 September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asserted that some people in the country were trying to mislead farmers over reforms introduced by his government in the agricultural sector. He said that misinformation is being spread in the country today by some people that farmers will not be getting the right prices for their produce. But the government is committed to helping farmers get fair prices, now they can sell their products anywhere in the country without any restrictions. He said this while inaugurating a railway project in Bihar. While referring to the new farm Bills, Modi further said that the farmers of the country will get freedom from brokers and they will get more options and opportunities to sell their produce. These Bills have come as a Raksha Kawachi [protective shield] for them. But some people are spreading different kinds of misinformation about farm Bills. They are protesting for the sake of protest. On 17 September, the Lok Sabha passed two Bills: The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020, and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020. On 15 September, The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was passed. Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and the party’s lone representative in the Union Cabinet Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned yesterday over these Bills pushed by the government.

C) SAD to take a call on staying a part of NDA.

The SAD will be holding a video consultation with its leaders on 18 September to decide on whether to continue in the NDA alliance. A SAD leader and former minister in the SAD-BJP government in Punjab, however, told that the consultation would not be the decisive factor and that feedback from our people in Punjab would need to be taken, possibly once the Parliament session is over. Rajya Sabha MP from the party Naresh Gujral said the decision was yet to be taken but that the party is mindful of the fact that our Army is eyeball to eyeball with China on the northern and eastern borders and that Pakistan has been trying to foment trouble for India in Punjab. They are mindful of the need to stand together and not undermine the government as it faces these challenges. The SAD-BJP alliance has been one of the oldest and most durable in the NDA. The 3 farm Bills have hit the SAD in its rural base, which is unsettled over what the legislation could mean to their incomes. Political analysts are of the view that the SAD’s decision to quit the Union government may be a last-ditch effort to save its core farmer vote bank.

D) Don’t cross borders while criticizing judiciary, Madras High Court Chief Justice advises individuals.

Individuals should express themselves without crossing the border of just and fair criticism. Likewise, it is not the job of a constitutional court to use a sledgehammer for something which may not even amount to contempt, the Madras High Court observed. Chief Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy made the observations after accepting the opinion of Advocate General Vijay Narayan that there was no necessity to initiate criminal contempt proceedings against actor Suriya. Justice S.M. Subramaniam of the High Court had written to the Chief Justice by taking exception to the actor’s statements against the judiciary. The actor, involved in educating poor students through his Agaram Foundation, was critical of the judiciary’s refusal to cancel the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for medical admissions in view of the pandemic. He had said that the court, which was functioning virtually because it feared threat to life, was expecting students to physically go out and write examinations without any fear of Covid-19. 

E) Army finds prima facie evidence of AFSPA violations in the Shopian encounter.

The Army has found prima facie evidence that its troops violated powers under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) during an encounter in Kashmir’s Shopian district in which 3 men were killed in July this year, by adding that disciplinary proceedings have been initiated. On July 18, the Army had claimed that three militants were killed in Amshipura village in the higher reaches of south Kashmir’s Shopian district. The Rajya Sabha on 18 September passed the Salary, Allowances, and Pension of Members of Parliament (Amendment) Bill, 2020. Opposition parties attacked the government saying that it was using the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse to curtail MPs’ salaries while it seemed to have enough funds for seeming extravagances, including over ₹20,000 crores for revamping the Central Vista and erecting a new Parliament building.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) Google pulls Paytm from Play Store, restores it after a few hours.

On 18 September, Google restored the listing of Paytm on its application store, a few hours after it had pulled down the popular financial services platform for violating its policies related to gambling. In a blogpost, Paytm said that it had recently introduced the ‘Paytm Cricket League’ on its consumer app, where users receive player stickers after each transaction, collect them, and receive Paytm Cashback, and it was because of this feature that Google had removed the application from Play Store. While assuring users that their account balance was safe, Paytm, which competes with Google’s digital payments application GPay in India, said all activities on Paytm are completely lawful. It added, however, that it had temporarily removed the cashback component to meet the Play Store policy rules. It is a violation of their policies. Earlier on 18 September, Google removed the Paytm app from its Play Store. After the app was restored, Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma tweeted: Thanks everyone for their support! Paytm App is back, live in Play Store. They have launched a UPI CashBack campaign this morning. Their app got suspended by Google for this. 

B) Trump will not attend the UN General Assembly in person. 

The President of the United States, Donald Trump will not attend the UN General Assembly gathering in person next week. His chief of staff told the journalists that aboard Air Force. This decision marks an about-face for Mr. Trump, who last month said that he wanted to deliver his speech in the General Assembly hall in New York, even if other world leaders are staying away due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Chief of White House,  Staff Mark Meadows had ended the debate once and for all by telling reporters a route to Wisconsin, where Mr. Trump was to hold a campaign rally, that he would not physically attend the General Assembly’s 75th session, which will take place mainly by videoconference due to the health crisis. The main part of this year’s UNGA, when world leaders take turns to give speeches, runs through the week starting September 21 and ends on September 29. In opening remarks on 15 September, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has emphasized this year’s focus on the global response to the coronavirus pandemic plus peace and security, disarmament, human rights, gender equality, and sustainable development.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
18 September 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Delhi riots: Opposition leaders meet President, demand independent probe into police role.

On 17 September, opposition leaders met President Ram Nath Kovind and demanded an independent probe by a commission headed by a retired or sitting judge into the role of the Delhi police in the February riots and the ongoing probe into the incident. The Delhi police have set up special investigation teams, and its Special Cell has been probing the aspect of conspiracy behind the riots, in which 53 people lost their lives. In a memorandum, the leaders voiced concern over the probe being conducted by the police. The memorandum said the investigation by the police did not inspire confidence as there were serious questions about its “impartiality”.  It criticized the police for the reference made to CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury in a supplementary charge sheet, citing disclosure statements made by the accused. This is a disturbing trend that raises serious questions over the manner of such investigations. Congress Treasurer and MP Ahmed Patel, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI general secretary D. Raja, DMK leader and MP Kanimozhi and RJD leader and MP Manoj K Jha were part of the delegation that met the President.

B) Chidamabaram wonders if there are two governments or one.

Pointing out divergent statements from different functionaries, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram posted a series of tweets taking a dig at the Centre and wondering if there were 2 governments or one under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian, at a recent press conference, had claimed the economy had reported a V-shaped recovery, while RBI Governor Shaktikant Das on 16 September said that the country would see a gradual recovery. Chidambaram said that RBI Governor squashes hopes of a V-shaped recovery and says recovery will be prolonged and gradual. Sharing the same page with him is the CEA, the author of the V-shaped recovery theory that he sells in every interview. On the ongoing tension between India and China too, different ministers have said different things about the situation in Ladakh. Chidambaram pointed out that Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai had said that there had been no infiltration along India-China border in the last 6 months. The Defence Minister and External Affairs Minister, meanwhile, in statements made on various platforms, have warned China to vacate its illegal occupations for peace and tranquillity to return on the border. Makes you wonder whether we have two governments or one under PM Modi.

C) Protests erupt again in Kerala over gold smuggling.

Anti-government protests continued to buffet Kerala for the sixth consecutive day on 17 September. The presence of Higher Education Minister K. T. Jaleel at the office of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for questioning in connection with the gold smuggling case appeared to have catalyzed the protests led by Congress and BJP workers. Police removing activists of BJP who staged a march to the office of National Investigation Agency in Kochi on 17 September demanding the resignation of KT Jaleel, Minister for Higher Education. Police removing activists of BJP who staged a march to the office of National Investigation Agency in Kochi on 17 September demanding the resignation of KT Jaleel, Minister for Higher Education. Protestors broke Covid-19 protocols and grappled with the police in Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur, resulting in injuries on both sides. In Palakkad, police used pressurized water jets and swung batons to disperse Congress workers. Several persons, including an MLA, were injured in the melee. Overlapping investigations by Central agencies into the smuggling of gold via air freight addressed to foreign officials at the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram has become a major flashpoint in the politics of state and opened a Pandora’s box of allegations against the office of Chief Minister, ministers and kin of ruling party politicians.

D) Mp. Harsimrat Kaur resigned from the cabinet of PM. 

Union Minister for Food Processing and Shiromani Akali Dal MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal resigned from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet today as her party faced massive protests in Punjab over its support to ally BJP’s agri-sector Bills. She had resigned from Union Cabinet in protest against anti-farmer ordinances and legislation.  On 17 September, senior advocate Anup Chaudhuri, for petitioner Firoz Iqbal Khan, urged the court to initiate contempt proceedings against Suresh Chavhanke, Sudarshan TV’s editor-in-chief and anchor of the show ‘Bindas Bol’, for his tweets following a court order staying the broadcast of the show. Mr. Chaudhuri has said something, we will ignore responded Justice D.Y. Chandrachud responded. It was only recently that the court had convicted civil rights lawyer Prashant Bhushan of contempt over a couple of tweets.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) No power on earth can stop Indian soldiers from patrolling: Rajnath

No power on earth can stop Indian soldiers from patrolling along the normal routes, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh asserted in the Rajya Sabha on 17 September in response to questions over reports that Chinese troops were blocking the Indian Army patrols along the disputed boundary in eastern Ladakh. Patrolling patterns are traditional and well-defined. No force on earth can stop our soldiers from patrolling and our soldiers have sacrificed their lives for that. There will be no change in the patrolling pattern, he said to a question from former Defence Minister A.K. Antony. Face-offs happened because patrols were interrupted. Starting a war is within one’s reach, but its outcome cannot be predicted. India has always sent out a message of peace. However, it is amazing that efforts are being made to disturb that peace. Briefing the Rajya Sabha on the situation along the Line of Actual Control, Singh said China continues to be in illegal occupation of land along the eastern border. Blaming China for the situation in Ladakh, he said it was the Chinese Army that provoked the Indian Army. With China having upped its infrastructure along the border, we have also ramped up our infrastructure, he said and lauded ITBP for its role in protecting the border.

B) Committee to look into ‘monitoring’ of Indians by a Chinese company.

In a letter to Congress leader K.C. Venugopal on 17 September, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said the government had constituted an expert committee to look into allegations that a Chinese company monitored online activity and data of thousands of Indians, including politicians, bureaucrats and journalists. The letter included details of the committee under the National Cyber Security Coordinator to investigate any illegalities in the surveillance carried out, reportedly by Shenzhen-based Zhenhua Data Information Technology Company. Zhenhua reportedly built a database of dossiers on about 2.4 million people worldwide. The government also said that they had asked Chinese Ambassador Sun Weidong to explain the activities of the company but that he had said the Chinese government had nothing to do with Zhenhua, calling it a private company.  Venugopal, who had questioned the government in the Rajya Sabha about its response to the allegations about Zhenhua’s activities, confirmed receiving the letter. Replying to my zero-hour intervention on Chinese surveillance, EAM Dr Jaishankar informed us that the government has taken the matter seriously and constituted an expert committee to assess this within 30 days. We expect quick action on this. In Beijing, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) sought to defend Zhenhua’s activities. Instead of collecting data, it only mobilises data which is open and available online. I would like to stress that as a staunch defender of cybersecurity, China opposes and fights all cybercrimes.