Tag: motivation

NATIONAL NEWS

A) Concerned by ‘intimidation tactics’ and threat to free speech of its users, says Twitter.

Micro-blogging platform Twitter on May 27 said it planned to advocate changes in core elements of India’s new IT Rules that inhibit free and open public conversation, while also expressing concern over intimidation tactics used by the Delhi Police against it recently in the ‘Congress toolkit’ case. A spokesperson said that Twitter was at present concerned by recent events regarding its employees in India and the potential threat to freedom of expression for its users. Twitter India suspends account impersonating CJI N V Ramana. We, alongside many in civil society in India and around the world, have concerns with regards to the use of intimidation tactics by the police in response to enforcement of our global Terms of Service, as well as with core elements of the new IT Rules, the company spokesperson added. According to Twitter, it is particularly concerned about the requirement to make an individual (the compliance officer) criminally liable for content on the platform, the requirements for proactive monitoring, and the blanket authority to seek information about its customers. It believes this represents dangerous overreach that is inconsistent with open and democratic principles. The company has also said that the Ministry of Electronic and IT should publish the Standard Operating Protocols on procedural aspects of compliance for public consultation. We also would like to reaffirm that Twitter continues to accept grievances from users and law enforcement via our existing grievance redressal channel available here under the new Rules, it said. As per Twitter, it was recently served with a non-compliance notice and has withheld a portion of the content identified in the blocking order under its ‘Country Withheld Content’ policy. Twitter maintains that the escalated content constitutes legitimate free speech. However, it has been compelled to withhold in response to a non-compliance notice due to the law’s limited scope under Section 69A, which gives limited room to an intermediary to defend the content. Not doing so poses penal consequences with many risks for Twitter employees.

 

B) Twitter not cooperating, says Delhi police.

Responding to Twitter’s statement, the Delhi Police on Thursday said the micro-blogging website is neither police nor judiciary and that it was refusing to cooperate with the law enforcement agency. Twitter Inc. is purporting to be both an investigating authority as well as an adjudicating judicial authority. It has no legal sanction to be either. The only legal entity, so empowered by the duly laid down law, to investigate is the police and to adjudicate is the Courts, Delhi Police spokesperson said. Terming the statement issued by Twitter mendacious, the police said Twitter was trying to adjudicate the truth. The Delhi Police said the website claims to have material information basis which it not only ‘investigated’ but arrived at a ‘conclusion’ and it must share that information with the law enforcement agency. There should not be any confusion about this logical course, the spokesperson said. The Delhi Police called Twitter’s conduct obfuscatory, diversionary and tendentious, adding that there is one simple thing to do which Twitter refuses to do. That is, cooperate with the law enforcement and reveal to the legal authority the information it has. According to police, they have registered a preliminary inquiry based on a complaint by the representative of the Indian National Congress. Hence, the efforts by Twitter Inc. that portray that this as an FIR filed at the behest of the Government of India is wholly and completely incorrect, the statement read.

 

C) States responsible for vaccine shortfall, claims govt release, but is silent on delay in vaccine procurement.

India’s top Covid-19 adviser Dr. V.K. Paul has said the States had coerced the Centre into expanding the availability of vaccines despite being aware of being inadequately prepared. The Centre has been facing heavy flak lately for falling vaccination rates primarily caused by vaccine shortage when the need of the hour is rapid vaccination of the populations at risk. Dr. Paul, Chairman, National Empowered Group on Vaccine Administration, in a press statement Thursday said that vaccine supply, which was managed by the Centre from January-April, was well administered but wasn’t upto the mark in May. The Centre did all the heavy-lifting, which included funding vaccine manufacturers, accelerating approvals, ramping up production and bringing foreign vaccines to India. The vaccine procured by the Centre is supplied wholly to the States for free administration to people. All this is very much in the knowledge of the States. The Government of India has merely enabled the States to try procuring vaccines on their own, on their explicit requests. The States very well knew the production capacity in the country and what the difficulties are in procuring vaccines directly from abroad, said his note, which was released by the PIB (Press Information Bureau)in the form of a ‘Myths Vs Facts’ questionnaire. States, who had not even achieved good coverage of healthcare workers and frontline workers in three months wanted to open up the process of vaccination and wanted more decentralisation. Health is a state subject and the liberalised vaccine policy was a result of the incessant requests being made by the States to give states more power. The fact that global tenders have not given any results only reaffirm what we have been telling the States from day one: that vaccines are in short supply in the world and it is not easy to procure them at short notice, the note said. The note, however, had no answer to the question, raised by many critics of its vaccination policy, as to why it delayed placing vaccine orders till January 2021, when so many other countries had placed procurement orders by mid-2020 itself. Also, there was no response as to why no foreign vaccines were given emergency use authorization in India until well into 2021.

 

D) Withdraw new rules in Lakshadweep, Rahul urges PM.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to intervene and withdraw the new orders and regulations introduced by Lakshadweep Administrator Praful Khoda Patel. In the letter, written on Wednesday and released by the Congress on Thursday, Gandhi alleged that the new regulations and orders threaten the heritage of the archipelago. Lakshadweep’s pristine natural beauty and its unique confluence of cultures have drawn people for generations. The custodians of its heritage seek to safeguard the archipelago for posterity. However, their future is threatened by the anti-people policies announced by the administrator of Lakshadweep, Shri. Praful Khoda Patel, he wrote. The Congress leader said the Administrator had unilaterally proposed sweeping changes without consulting elected representatives or the people of Lakshadweep who were protesting against ‘arbitrary’ actions. The administrator’s attempt to undermine ecological sanctity of the island is evident in the draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation issued recently. The provisions undermine safeguards pertaining to land ownership, dilute environmental regulations for certain activities, and severely limit legal recourse available to affected persons. Livelihood security and sustainable development are being sacrificed for short-term commercial gains, Gandhi said. The Congress leader said that the proposed rule in the draft panchayat regulation to disqualify members with more than two children was blatantly anti-democratic. Furthermore, proposed changes to regulations like Prevention of Anti-Social Activities (PASA) Regulation, the Lakshadweep Animals Preservation Regulation, and lifting of restrictions on sale of alcohol are a deliberate assault on the cultural and religious fabric of the local community. The attempt to cut ties with Beypore port strikes at the close historical and cultural ties with Kerala, added Gandhi who is a Lok Sabha member from Kerala. The Congress leader also said that the administration demolished structures used by the fisher folk, fired contractual workers in various government departments, and relaxed quarantine norms, causing a spike in Covid-19 cases. Arguing that draconian regulations had been brought in to penalise dissent and undermine grassroots democracy in the guise of development and maintaining law and order, Gandhi’s letter to Modi read, I request you to intervene in this matter and ensure that the above mentioned orders are withdrawn. The people of Lakshadweep deserve a developmental vision that respects their way of life and reflects their aspirations. Meanwhile, Lakshdweep BJP Chief Mohammad Kasim has also joined the protests against Patel.

 

F) Tarun Tejpal case: HC directs sessions court to remove anything that reveals identity of woman.

Referring to the Goa court judgment acquitting journalist Tarun Tejpal, the Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the sessions court judge to redact the email ID of the survivor and the name of her husband and mother from the judgment before uploading it on the court website. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared before a single Bench of justice S.C. Gupte through videoconferencing and said the judgment in the case of sexual assault and rape was to be pronounced on May 19 which got postponed to May 21 when it was only revealed that Tejpal was acquitted. The State of Goa immediately filed for an appeal before the High Court challenging the acquittal. He went on to say that the physical copy of the judgment was made available only on May 25. He pointed out the paragraphs in which the email ID of the survivor, the names of her partner, now husband, and her mother had been revealed. He, therefore, urged the High Court to pass a direction to the sessions court to delete all the details that may reveal the identity of the survivor before uploading the judgment on the court website. In its order, the HC said, considering the law against disclosure of identity of victim, the sessions court is directed to redact the email ID of the prosecutrix (victim), her husband and mother’s name. The court said it would adjourn the matter to be heard once vacation was over and regular court started on June 7. Mehta, however, requested the court to hear the matter before that and said, The system expects sensitivity over jurisprudence. We owe it to our girls. The court agreed and posted the matter to be heard on June 2. On May 21, special judge Kshama Joshi at the Mapusa District and Sessions Court, Goa, acquitted Tejpal from all charges of rape by a person in position of control, rape by a person in position of authority, assault with the intent of outraging modesty, assault with intent to disrobe and sexual harassment.

 

G) Seven non-BJP-ruled states seek GST loss compensation.

Seven States ruled by the Congress and other Opposition parties have demanded that the Centre compensate tax losses to the States under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax (GST) Act at the earliest and enhance the additional borrowing limit to 5% of the Gross State Domestic Product. The Finance Ministers of non-BJP-ruled States raised the demands at a virtual meeting hosted by Rajasthan Urban Development and Housing Minister Shanti Dhariwal ahead of the GST Council’s meeting scheduled for May 28. The States also sought waiving of all taxes on the goods purchased for fighting the Covid-19 pandemic. Dhariwal, who represents the Rajasthan government in the GST Council, said on Thursday that the Finance Ministers of all States would remain united on these issues and raise them effectively before Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at the GST Council’s meeting.

 

H) Revive MPLAD scheme in its true spirit and release funds, Om Birla urged.

Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to restart the Member of Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD) scheme and make MPLAD funds available to MPs. Chowdhury said it is critical to have access to MPLAD funds because of the second wave of Covid-19 and the devastation caused by the cyclonic storm Yaas that made its landfall in Odisha and impacted neighbouring Bengal. The MP from Bengal said the funds are the only way by which the Members of Parliament can truly come to the aid of their constituents in their hour of grief and extreme need. While the second wave of the pandemic has brought unimaginable miseries, the people of Odisha and West Bengal are on the verge of facing the devastating affects of Yaas. The critical impact the cyclonic storm would have on the intensity of the pandemic in West Bengal and Odisha in particular remains to be seen in the coming days. There is a distinct possibility of a significant increase in the Covid-19 infection rate in the region in the coming days, Chowdhury wrote. He said the funds should be made available without any restrictions so that the amounts are rightly channelled to address the health care needs of the people in these uncertain and extremely sad times.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) U.S.-China engagement era has come to an end: top U.S. official.

The more than three-decade long era of engagement between the United States and China that saw the world’s two largest economies develop closely interdependent relations has come to an end, a top official of the Biden administration has said. The period that was broadly described as engagement has come to an end, Kurt Campbell, who is the Coordinator for Indo Pacific Affairs and the top U.S. official for Asia, said at a Stanford University event. He said competition would henceforth be the dominant paradigm and U.S. policy would work under a new set of strategic parameters, Bloomberg News quoted him as saying. Mr. Campbell’s comments underline the shift in U.S. views on China from the time of the Obama administration as well as the broadly bipartisan consensus on the current direction of relations, following four turbulent years for the relationship under the previous Trump administration. Mr. Campbell said Chinese policies under [President] Xi are in large part responsible for the shift in U.S. policy, Bloomberg News reported, adding that he cited clashes on China’s border with India, an economic campaign against Australia and the rise of China’s wolf warrior’ diplomacy’ as examples that suggested China is determined to play a more assertive role. He de. scribed the Chinese President as deeply ideological but also quite unsentimental and said the two top Chinese diplomats who had held talks with top Biden administration officials in Alaska in March Politburo member Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Wang Yi – were nowhere near, within a hundred miles of Mr. Xi’s inner circle. He said the U.S. believed the best way to engage a more assertive China is to work with allies, partners and friends. Reacting to his comments, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Thursday that using ‘competition’ to define or dominate China-U.S. ties is a total mistake that will only lead to confrontation and conflict. Even if there is competition, it should be sound competition that helps to reinforce each other and pursue common progress, rather than a vicious competition to beat each other. China firmly rejects U.S. moves to exclude and contain China in the name of competition, he added.

B) Macron seeks forgiveness over Rwanda genocide.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he recognised his country’s role in the Rwandan genocide and hoped for forgiveness at a memorial in Kigali on Thursday, seeking to reset relations after years of Rwandan accusations that France was complicit in the 1994 atrocities. Only those who went through that night can perhaps forgive, and in doing so give the gift of forgiveness, Mr. Macron said at the Gisozi genocide memorial, where more than victims are buried. Rows of skulls lie there in a mass tomb and the names of the victims are inscribed on a black wall. I hereby humbly and with respect stand by your side today, I come to recognise the extent of our responsibilities, he said. Rwandan President Paul Kagame welcomed Mr. Macron’s speech, saying at a joint press conference later that his words were more powerful than an apology. Mr. Macron agreed in April to open the Rwanda archives of former President Francois Mitterrand, in office during the genocide. Later, Rwanda released its own report that found France was aware a genocide was being prepared and bore responsibility for enabling it, continuing in its unwavering support for Rwanda’s then President, Juvenal Habyarimana.

NATIONAL NEWS

A) As WhatsApp moves court against new IT rules, govt claims they are meant only for tracing messages linked to ‘very serious offences’

WhatsApp has moved the Delhi High Court against India’s new and stricter IT Rules that require instant messaging platforms to aid in identifying the ‘originator’ of messages. The petition challenging the constitutional validity of the rules, which come into force on May 26, was filed on May 25. Requiring messaging apps to ‘trace’ chats is the equivalent of asking us to keep a fingerprint of every single message sent on WhatsApp, which would break end-to-end encryption and fundamentally undermines people’s right to privacy, a WhatsApp spokesperson said. The spokesperson added that the messaging platform had consistently joined civil society and experts around the world in opposing requirements that would violate the privacy of its users. ‘The Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021’ were notified on February 25, giving social media platforms three months to comply. The rules state that intermediary providing messaging services will enable the identification of the first originator of the information on its computer resource following a judicial order passed by a court of competent jurisdiction or an order passed under section 69 by the Competent Authority as per the Information Technology Act. The government, meanwhile, has said it respects the right to privacy and the requirement of tracing origin of flagged messages under the new IT rules is for prevention and investigation of very serious offences related to the sovereignty of India or public order. In a statement, the IT Ministry termed WhatsApp’s last moment challenge to the intermediary guidelines as an unfortunate attempt to prevent norms from coming into effect. The UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada require social media firms to allow for legal interception, it said, adding, What India is asking for is significantly much less than what some of the other countries have demanded. Therefore, WhatsApp’s attempt to portray the Intermediary Guidelines of India as contrary to the right to privacy is misguided, the official statement said.

B) Govt cites national security to deny RTI request on Twitter notice.

The Union government has cited national security concerns to deny a Right to Information request seeking details of last month’s notice sent to Twitter directing it to block certain tweets. It said its notice was empowered by a legal provision allowing information to be blocked if it harmed the country’s sovereignty, defence, foreign affairs or public order. In response to an April 23 notice from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Twitter blocked 50-odd tweets on the Modi government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, including tweets by a West Bengal Minister, Congress leaders, and a film maker. Bihar-based RTI activist Kanhaiya Kumar filed an RTI application three days later, asking about the legal provisions under which the tweets were blocked. In its response on Wednesday, the MeitY said that Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2009 empowered the government to block information from public access in the interest of the country’s sovereignty, integrity, defence, security, friendly relations with foreign States, public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of any cognisable offence relating to the above. Kumar asked for a copy of the notice sent to Twitter and sought details of the Twitter handles, specific tweets and the total number of posts for which action was sought via the notice sent to Twitter. He sought a copy of all correspondence between Twitter and the government on the matter, a copy of the action taken report submitted by Twitter in response to the notice, and a copy of all file notings related to the issue. He further asked for information on whether a similar notice directing blocking of posts was sent to other social media platforms. The MeitY refused to provide any information in response to these questions, saying that as Section 69A of the IT Act and its matters are related to National Security, sovereignty and integrity, it attracted the provisions of Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act. This clause allows for the exemption of information, disclosure of which would prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security, strategic, scientific or economic interests of the State, relation with foreign State or lead to incitement of an offence. The Ministry response comes even as Twitter continues to defy the Centre’s latest notice to remove its manipulated media tag from BJP leaders’ tweets referring an alleged Congress toolkit on the government’s handling of the pandemic.

C) IMA sues Baba Ramdev for Rs.1,000 crore over disparaging remarks on allopathy.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has served a defamation notice on Baba Ramdev for making disparaging remarks against allopathy and allopathic doctors, and has demanded an apology from him within 15 days, failing which it said it will demand a compensation of Rs. 1,000 crore from the yoga guru. The six-page notice served on behalf of IMA (Uttarakhand) secretary Ajay Khanna by his lawyer Neeraj Pandey describes the remarks by Ramdev as damaging to the reputation and the image of allopathy and around 2,000 practitioners of it who are part of the association. Terming the remarks of the yoga guru a criminal act under Section of 499 of the Indian Penal Code, the notice demanded a written apology from him within 15 days of its receipt, or else a compensation of Rs. 1,000 crore will be demanded from him at the rate of $50 lakh per member of the IMA. The notice has also asked Ramdev to make a video clip contradicting all his false and defamatory allegations, and circulate it on all the social media platforms where he had uploaded his earlier video clip levelling the allegations. It has also asked the yoga guru to withdraw a misleading advertisement from all platforms endorsing Coronil kit, a product of his firm, as an effective medicine for Covid-19, failing which an FIR and a criminal case will be lodged against him by the IMA.

D) In major lapse, U.P. villagers who got Covishield in first dose vaccinated with Covaxin in second dose.

Twenty villagers in the eastern Uttar Pradesh district of Siddharthnagar were administered Covishield vaccine in their first dose and Covaxin in the second. The incident took place during a vaccination drive in a primary health centre in Barhni block. Ramsurat, a resident of Audahi Kala village, said he received Covishield on April 1. However, he was given a shot of Covaxin for his second dose on May 14. They did not check anything. The ASHA [worker] was standing elsewhere, he told reporters. Ramsurat said he is now afraid of possible side-effects. While 18 persons were from his village, the two others were from another village. A probe is being carried out. Chief Medical Officer Siddharthnagar Sandeep Chaudhary said a clarification was being sought from officials on the ground after a probe was conducted into the lapse. Action would be taken accordingly. It is a lapse because there is no guideline by the government of India that a cocktail [of vaccines] can be administered, the CMO said. While he said the 20 people did not face any problems, he was monitoring the issue.

E) Farmers hold nationwide protests, reiterate demands for repeal of three farm laws.

Nationwide demonstrations were held by farmers who burnt effigies of the Narendra Modi government and raising black flags to mark six months of their sit-in agitation at Delhi’s borders demanding the withdrawal of the three farms laws and the guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP). The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a coalition of hundreds of farmer unions, had given a call to observe a Black Day on May 26 across the country to mark six months of the farmers’ protest. Twelve Opposition parties had on Sunday issued a statement in support of the call. Led by the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) national president Ashok Dhawale, several leaders of the outfit held a Black Flag demonstration and burnt the effigy of the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in New Delhi. Among others, AIKS general-secretary Hannan Mollah and finance secretary P. Krishan Prasad were also present at the demonstration. Farmers, including women, also held black flags, raised slogans and burnt effigies of the Modi government at the Singhu and Ghazipur borders in Delhi.

F) Ignorant bigots in power destroying Lakshadweep, says Rahul; 8 local BJP leaders resign.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday threw his weight behind the people of Lakshadweep as he accused ignorant bigots in power of destroying the islands, PTI reported. His statement came a day after the Congress demanded the immediate removal of Lakshadweep administrator Praful Patel, alleging that he was not only destroying the peace and culture of the islands, but also harassing the people by imposing arbitrary restrictions. Lakshadweep is India’s jewel in the ocean. The ignorant bigots in power are destroying it. I stand with the people of Lakshadweep, Rahul Gandhi tweeted on Wednesday. The Congress has also alleged that the Administrator is allowing liquor on the islands, which is prohibited till now, and has brought in the Prevention of Anti-Social Activity (PASA) Act with the objective of harassing locals, besides taking away powers of panchayats, and was carrying out demolitions under new provisions brought in by him. Meanwhile, at least eight office-bearers of the Lakshadweep BJP unit have resigned from the party in protest against Patel’s arbitrary actions. The Lakshadweep unit of the BJP had written to Prime Minster Narendra Modi on April 20, conveying their grievances against Patel.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) Los Angeles Mayor may be next U.S. Ambassador to India: report.

U.S. President Joe Biden is reportedly preparing to name Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti as the next Ambassador to India. Mr Garcetti is a long-time political ally of the President. News of his imminent nomination was reported by Axios, which had, earlier in May, reported that Mr. Garcetti was being considered for the New Delhi job. Mr. Garcetti, a co-chair for the Biden campaign, was considered for a Cabinet post, according to Axios, but did not make it due to sexual harassment allegations against his former aide Rick Jacobs came to light. Two-term Mayor Mr. Garcetti is now approaching the end (December 2022) of his second term as Mayor of the country’s second largest city, a post he has held since 2013. The U.S.-India relationship enjoys bipartisan support in the U.S. with ties in trade, defence and the COVID-19 response growing across the Trump and Biden administrations. The two countries have also had to navigate their relationship in the context of growing Chinese assertiveness and aggression. The next U.S. Ambassador to India will inherit these issues as well as having to work with India in other forums such as the Quad. Mr. Biden is expected to send the Senate a number of Ambassadorial nominations next week. 

 

B) Defiant Lukashenko defends plane diversion, blasts critics acted lawfully to protect our people, says Belarus President.

A defiant President Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday defended Belarus’s diversion of a European flight and arrest of a dissident on board, lashing out at critics at home and abroad. In his first public statement since the Ryanair flight was diverted and Opposition journalist Roman Protasevich arrested on Sunday, Mr. Lukashenko dismissed the international outcry the incident provoked. He acted lawfully to protect our people, Mr. Lukashenko said in an address to Parliament, the Belta state-run news agency reported. The criticism was nothing more than another attempt by his opponents to undermine his rule, he said. Our ill-wishers at home and abroad have changed their methods of attacking the state, Mr. Lukashenko said. They have crossed many red lines and crossed boundaries of common sense and human morality. Mr. Lukashenko often dubbed Europe’s last dictator is facing some of the strongest international pressure of his 26-year rule of ex-Soviet Belarus. The strongman and his allies are already under a series of Western sanctions era brutal crackdown on mass protests that followed his disputed re-election to a sixth term last August. European leaders are now accusing authorities in Minsk of essentially hijacking the passenger flight, and they agreed this week to cut air links with Belarus and told airliners to avoid the country’s airspace. The Belarusian Opposition has called for further and stronger measures, and the UN Security Council was set to meet behind closed doors later on Wednesday. The Athens-to-Vilnius flight was diverted over a supposed bomb scare, with Mr. Lukashenko scrambling a MiG-29 fighter jet to accompany the aircraft. Belarus has released a transcript of communications between Minsk air traffic control and the Ryanair flight, in which the crew was told you have a bomb on board and urged to land in Minsk. Mr. Lukashenko denied that the fighter jet had forced the airliner to land, calling such claims an absolute lie.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
26 May 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Don’t mix Trinamool leaders’ personal liberty with CBI office ‘siege’: SC tells Centre.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to let the CBI use West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s siege of and dharna at the premier investigating agency’s premises as a pretext for curbing the personal liberty of four TMC leaders arrested in the Narada sting tapes case, forcing the CBI to drop its appeal for their custody. A Bench of Justices Vineet Saran and B.R. Gavai said the agency was free to separately proceed against Banerjee, her Law Minister Moloy Ghatak and other TMC leaders for allegedly barging into its offices on May 17. But it would not allow their alleged actions hurt the rights of the accused, presently under house arrest. Take it that we do not appreciate dharnas and all But if some Chief Minister or Law Minister takes law into their hands, should the accused suffer? We do not like to mix the issue of liberty of citizens with whatever illegal acts of politicians. We will not do that, Justice Gavai addressed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the CBI. Mehta replied, But they [CM] were doing it from them [accused]. Justice Gavai observed, So, therefore, you proceed against the (CM, Law Minister) for attempting to take the law into their hands. You have yourself quoted Lord Denning’s ‘Be ye never so high, the law is above you’. Mehta said, I used to believe in that. Well, we still believe in it! both Justices Saran and Gavai said in unison. The law officer said the incident suggested a larger malaise in the State. The role of the investigating agency was reduced to nothing. This is an extraordinary situation. There was a complete collapse of rule of law, and this is happening repeatedly. CBI offices with the arrested four men was in a state of siege on May 17. Unruly mobs pelted stones. Officers could not step out to produce the accused before the magistrate. If these facts cannot move My Lords’ conscience, there is nothing more I can say, he expressed his disappointment. The Bench, which refrained from commenting on the merits of the case, reacted to this by pointing out that a five-judge Bench of the Calcutta High Court was already examining every factor regarding the case following a split verdict on the question of bail. When the CBI argued that the four accused would influence witnesses in the comforts of their house arrest, the Bench replied there were two sets of accused in this case. One set is those against whom charge sheet has been filed. The other set is those against whom charge sheet has not been filed. Now, tell us, who of the two is more influential? Justice Gavai asked.

B) CBI chief selection: In dissent note, Adhir Ranjan questions conduct of DoPT.

The conduct of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has been obnoxious during the selection process of a new CBI director and the meeting of the selection panel should be deferred, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said in a dissent note that was submitted to the high-powered selection committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Chief Justice of India NV Ramana is the other member of the committee that decides on the appointment of the CBI chief. Objecting to the manner in which DoPT — the nodal ministry for all important positions in the Central institutions — had short-listed 16 names out of a list of 109 Indian Police Service (IPS) officers at the ‘eleventh hour,’ Chowdhury batted for cancelling the Monday meeting. However, as the CBI didn’t have a full-time director since February, the panel decided to go ahead with the meeting. The 16 names, whose dossiers were sent to the committee members on the day of the meeting, included present chief of the Border Security Force (BSF) Rakesh Asthana [Gujarat cadre:1984 batch] and the National Investigation Agency chief YC Modi [Assam-Meghalaya:1984 batch], both considered as favourite officers of the ruling dispensation. However, as The Hindu reported on Monday, they were excluded, as the CJI insisted on sticking to a rule that said a candidate should have six months or more for retirement. Chowdhury, too, is learnt to have strongly argued against these officials. The committee eventually short-listed three officers — VSK Kaumudi [Andhra Pradesh:86 batch], Kumar Rajesh Chandra [Bihar:85 batch] and Subodh Kumar Jaiswal [Maharashtra:85 batch] — from among whom one will be appointed as the new CBI chief. In his dissent note, Chowdhury cited the Supreme Court judgement in the Anjali Bharadwaj versus Union of India case concerning the appointment of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and argued for absolute transparency in the selection procedure of the CBI chief. The DoPT has no statutory backing to pick and forward only select names to the Selection Committee. Moreover, it seems, the DoPT, which is directly under the control of the Central Government, is deliberately trying to sabotage the purpose of this High Powered Selection Committee. The above conduct of the DoPT is most objectionable, he said in his dissent note.

C) As new IT rules come into force on May 26, Facebook says it ‘aims to comply’

Social media giant Facebook on Tuesday said it aimed to comply with the provisions of India’s new IT rules of intermediaries, which come into effect on Wednesday. The U.S.-headquartered firm added that it continued to discuss the issues related to the new guidelines with the government. Replying to a query on its readiness to comply with the new guideline, a Facebook spokesperson said, We aim to comply with the provisions of the IT rules and continue to discuss a few of the issues which need more engagement with the government. The three-month deadline for social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to comply with new, stricter rules for intermediaries ends on Tuesday even as at least five industry bodies, including the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the US-India Business Council (USIBC), have written to the government for up to a one-year compliance window, particularly in the view of the pandemic. The Centre on February 25 notified the ‘The Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021’, which make it mandatory for platforms such as WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram to aid in identifying the originator of unlawful messages, while also requiring social media networks to take down such messages within a specific time frame, set up grievance redressal mechanisms, as well as assist government agencies in investigation. The significant social media intermediaries were given three months for compliance.

D) Assembly polls prove BJP juggernaut is stoppable: Pinarayi Vijayan.

The recently concluded Assembly elections in various States have busted the myth that the BJP juggernaut is unstoppable, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said in an interview with The Hindu. After he led the Left Democratic Front (LDF) back to power for a second consecutive term in Kerala, Vijayan said the electoral victory of the LDF in Kerala and the ascension to power of the DMK alliance in Tamil Nadu had buoyed the prospects of a national alternative to the BJP at the Centre. So certainly, alternatives will emerge, he said. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is part of the DMK- led alliance in Tamil Nadu. In that sense, we are allies. Both States have often cooperated on a host of issues. I am sure we will continue to do so, he said.

E) Fugitive businessman Mehul Choksi goes missing: Antiguan media.

Fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi is understood to have gone missing in Antigua and Barbuda with the police launching a manhunt to trace him since Sunday, local media outlets reported. Antiguanewsroom, a local media outlet, quoted Commissioner of Police Atlee Rodney on Tuesday as saying that the police are following up on the whereabouts of Indian businessman Mehul Choksi, who is rumoured to be missing. The media reports say Choksi, who had taken citizenship of the Caribbean island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, was seen driving in the southern area of the island on Sunday. Later, his vehicle was found but there was no trace of Choksi, the reports said. Choksi and his nephew Nirav Modi are wanted for allegedly siphoning off ₹13,500 crore of public money from the state-run Punjab National Bank (PNB), using letters of undertaking. While Modi is in a London prison after repeated denial of bail and is contesting extradition to India, Choksi had taken the citizenship of Antigua and Barbuda in 2017 using the Citizenship by Investment programme, before fleeing India in the first week of January 2018. The scam came to light subsequently. Both are facing a CBI probe. Since Choksi already has an Interpol Red Notice pending against him, he can be detained in any of the Interpol member countries and deported to India.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) U.S. calls for ‘transparent’ new probe into COVID-19 origins. 

The United States called on Tuesday for international experts to be allowed to evaluate the source of the SARS-Cov-2 and the early days of the outbreak in a second phase of an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus. U.S. intelligence agencies are examining reports that researchers at Wuhan Institute of Virology were seriously ill in 2019 a month before the first cases of COVID-19 were reported, according to U.S. government sources who cautioned on Monday that there is still no proof the disease originated at the lab. Phase 2 of the COVID origins study must be launched with terms of reference that are transparent, science-based, and give international experts the independence to fully assess the source of the virus and the early days of the outbreak, U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a video message to the annual ministerial meeting of the World Health Organization. Mr. Becerra did not mention China directly, where the first known human cases of COVID-19 emerged in the central city of Wuhan in December 2019. The origin of the virus is hotly contested. In a report issued in March, written jointly with Chinese scientists, a WHO-led team that spent four weeks in and around Wuhan in January and February said the virus had probably been transmitted from bats to humans through another animal, and that introduction through a laboratory incident was considered to be an extremely unlikely pathway. A WHO spokesman, Tarik Jasarevic, asking about a follow-up mission, told Reuters on Monday that the agency was reviewing the recommendations from the report at the technical level. China on Monday dismissed as totally untrue reports that three researchers in Wuhan went to hospital with an illness before the coronavirus emerged in the city. Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that, according to a statement from the laboratory, it had not been exposed to COVID-19 before December 30, 2019, and a zero-infection record is kept among its staff and graduate students so far.

B) Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective in adolescents.

The possibility of children returning to normal life in the U.S. became stronger on Tuesday with vaccine manufacturer Moderna announcing that its Covid-19 vaccine mRNA-1273 is 100% effective in preventing symptomatic infections in 12-17 year olds after two doses. The company said that it would approach the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to extend the use of its vaccine to this age group, in early June. Two thirds of the 3,732 individuals aged 12-17 received two doses of the vaccine in Moderna’s latest clinical study. None of them developed serious Covid-19 (equivalent to 100% efficacy) while four developed Covid-19 in the placebo group, the company said. A single dose of the vaccine resulted in 93% efficacy based on the case definition of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is modified, given the lower overall rate of infections in adolescents. The teenagers in the study will be monitored for a year after their second dose, the New York Times reported. They are encouraged that mRNA-1273 was highly effective at preventing Covid-19 in adolescents, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said. Some have criticised the U.S. for vaccinating children who are less susceptible to serious Covid-19 infections while more vulnerable adult populations in countries across the world, including India, are yet to be vaccinated. The Pfizer- BioNTech vaccine was recently approved for emergency use in 12-15 years. Pfizer and Moderna are in the process of conducting vaccine trials on children in the 6 months to 11 years group.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
25 May 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) As Twitter adds ‘manipulated media’ tag added to tweets of five more BJP leaders, Delhi Police raids its offices.

Two days after the Centre wrote to Twitter asking the social media giant to remove ‘manipulated media’ tag from the post of BJP leader Sambit Patra on the ‘Congress toolkit’ issue, officers of the Delhi Police Special Cell raided its offices in Delhi and Gurgaon. A senior police officer said Twitter had been served a notice on the case. We want to know what information Twitter has about the toolkit and why they chose to give the ‘manipulated media’ label. Our team is conducting raids at their Delhi office in Mehrauli and their Gurgaon office on Golf Course Road, he added. India has been severely affected by the second wave of COVID-19 that has left people in several states scrambling for oxygen supplies, beds in hospitals, drugs and vaccines. Meanwhile, tweets related to the so-called ‘Congress toolkit’ from verified accounts of at least five BJP leaders, including Rajya Sabha MP Vinay Sahasrabuddhe and party’s national social media in-charge Priti Gandhi, in addition to national spokesperson Sambit Patra, continue to be labelled as ‘manipulated media’ though the government had asked Twitter to remove the tag. Other leaders whose tweets are on the same issue have been tagged as ‘manipulated media’ include BJP co-incharge of Andhra Pradesh Sunil Deodhar, party’s media panellist Charu Pragya, and Delhi general secretary Kuljeet Singh Chahal. The government had on Friday asked Twitter to remove the ‘manipulated media’ tag from certain tweets by its leaders, including Patra, with reference to a toolkit created to undermine, derail and demean the efforts of the government against COVID-19 pandemic. However, the microblogging website has not removed the label. According to experts, the government does not have the power under the Information Technology Act to direct Twitter to remove ‘manipulated media’ tag from certain tweets. Such a move by the Centre had also raised concerns of censorship, they said.

B) Widespread resentment in Lakshadweep over a slew of new law proposals.

Discontent is simmering in the Lakshadweep group of islands over a slew of regulations introduced by the new administrator, Praful Khoda Patel, in the last five months of his rule, which also saw the archipelago descend from being a ‘COVID-free region’ for nearly a year into one with 6,847 cases until May 24. The stipulation for mandatory quarantine of Dweep-bound travellers in Kochi was done away with under his stewardship. The ten inhabited islands of the Union Territory are under lockdown for two months now and the Dweep administration is accused of exploiting the inability of the public to mobilise to push what’s widely seen by the islanders as arbitrary legislations that are out of sync with the social, political and environmental realities of the archipelago. The latest draft regulation for the creation of a Lakshadweep Development Authority (LDA) is widely resented as the people suspect that this might have been issued at the behest of real estate interests seeking to usurp the small holdings of property owned by the islanders, a majority of them (94.8% as per the 2011 census) belonging to the Scheduled Tribes. Hundreds of islanders have written to the administrator demanding that the proposed regulation, which makes provision for the orderly and progressive development of land in both urban and rural areas and to preserve and improve the amenities thereof; for the grant of permission to develop land and for other powers of control over the use of land; to confer additional powers in respect of the acquisition and development of land for planning; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid be withdrawn. Further, proposals to bring real estate development concepts such as ‘transferable development rights’ to the island have raised the hackles of people who fear they would be forced to migrate en masse. The draconian regulation is neither ecologically sustainable nor socially viable and the people’s representatives were not consulted before drafting it. Also, it comes in the wake of a slew of bad law proposals including the ‘Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation’, a ‘goonda act’, in the Dweep which is known for the lowest crime rate in the country, says Mohammed Faizal, MP from the Dweep.

C) On-site registration, appointment enabled for 18-44 age group on CoWIN.

On-site registration and appointment for COVID-19 vaccination is now being enabled for 18-44 years age group on CoWIN, a statement issued by the Union Health Ministry on Monday said. However, this feature is being enabled only for government COVID Vaccination Centers (CVCs) now and would not be available for private CVCs presently. Private CVCs should publish their vaccination schedules exclusively with slots for online appointments, it stated. In case of sessions exclusively organised with online slots, towards the end of the day, some doses may still be left unutilised in case the online appointee beneficiaries did not turn up on the day of vaccination due to any reason, it noted. In such cases, on-site registration of a few beneficiaries may be necessary to minimize the vaccine wastage. This feature would be used only upon the decision of the respective State/Union Territory governments to do so. State/UT must decide on opening of on-site registrations/facilitated cohorts’ registration and appointments for 18-44 years age group based on the local context just as an additional measure to minimise vaccine wastage and for facilitating vaccination of eligible beneficiaries in the age group 18-44 years, stated the release.

D) Supreme Court raps Centre for delay in compiling database of migrant workers.

The Supreme Court today pulled up the government for the delay in completing a national database to identify and register migrant workers across the country in order to provide them benefits in times of dire need. A Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and M.R. Shah acknowledged submissions made by advocate Prashant Bhushan that such a database would have made it easier for the government to identify and provide essentials like food and dry rations to stranded migrant labourers during the second wave of the pandemic. The direction [for the database] was issued by this court in 2018. Your process is very slow. We are not satisfied. We will pass orders on this, Justice Bhushan addressed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the Centre. Prashant Bhushan, who represents activists seeking urgent measures to provide food and life support for migrant workers, said, People are dying… 24 crore people have been pushed below the poverty line. The situation is worse than last year… Government has said they have not been able to even put up a portal for the registration of workers. The civil rights lawyer said many of these destitute workers require immediate cash transfers to purchase essentials. The pandemic has left them with no means of livelihood. A uniform national data grid of migrant workers, in which both the Centre and States provide inputs should be there. This would ensure that benefits meant for migrant workers reach them and no other, Justice Bhushan said. The court asked the government to clarify what steps it had taken under the Code of Social Security of 2020. The government is spending thousands of crores, but is it [benefits] really reaching them [the workers]? Justice Shah asked Mehta, who promised to file a detailed affidavit in response. The Solicitor General said the Labour Ministry had already started work on the database. He assured the court that he would talk to the Labour Secretary and get the necessary information on its status.

E) In-flight wedding: DGCA derosters crew.

A wedding in the skies has invited the wrath of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). On Monday, it suspended the crew of a SpiceJet chartered plane after a wedding ceremony aboard the aircraft, over Madurai, in violation of COVID-19 norms. The airline has been ordered to file an FIR against the errant passengers. Pictures viral on social media show the bride and groom exchanging garlands surrounded by relatives and camerapersons. Many can be seen without masks. Screenshot from the wedding video that went viral.  Wedding rituals were performed as the aircraft hovered over Madurai Meenakshi temple in the presence of over 160 relatives in the flight. Aviation website flightradar24 showed the plane circling above the temple. We have derostered the crew and directed the airline to lodge a complaint against those not following COVID-19 appropriate behaviour with relevant authorities. We will take strict action, a DGCA official said, adding that they were examining if the use of cameras onboard violated safety protocols. In March, after being pulled up by the Delhi High Court, the DGCA ordered airlines to ensure that passengers comply with COVID-19 norms on mask-wearing and social distancing. It said that if passengers did not pay heed, they must be removed from the aircraft and put on a no-fly list. The client was clearly briefed on COVID-19 guidelines to be followed and denied permission for any activity to be performed on board. The approval for this flight was taken as a joy ride for the wedding group, the airline said in response to a query.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) Afghan security forces, Taliban clash near Kabul.

Afghan forces clashed with Taliban fighters in a provincial capital about 120 km from Kabul, officials and witnesses said, prompting the Defence Minister to take charge of a counter-offensive. Violence has soared in Afghanistan since U.S. forces began their final pull-out on May 1, as the insurgents press on with a campaign to seize new territory. Fierce fighting erupted on Sunday on the edge of Mihtarlam, a city of around people and the capital of Laghman province. At one point Defence Minister Yasin Zia took personal charge in the field, officials said. With the arrival of reinforcements, the enemy has sustained heavy blows, Gen. Zia, a former Army Chief of Staff, said. The Ministry said at least 50 Taliban fighters were killed in overnight fighting. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP the insurgents captured 37 security checkpoints on the outskirts of the city. Both sides frequently exaggerate their successes and minimise losses. Fighting continued in some parts of Mihtarlam on Monday, with hundreds of people displaced. A student, who gave just his first name Zabihullah, said he went to school after government forces assured him they had control, but had to flee when fighting resumed. I’m not sure which part of the city is safe now, he told AFP.

B) Nepal urges U.S. to provide vaccines on ‘priority’ basis. 

Nepal on Monday urged the U.S. to provide vaccines on a priority basis, according to an official statement. In a telephonic conversation with U.S.’s Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, Nepal’s Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali asked for a share of the surplus Oxford-AstraZeneca doses that the U.S. intends to distribute among the developing countries, according to the statement. Minister Gyawali conveyed the gratitude of the Government of Nepal to the United States for the generous COVID-related cooperation, which helped scale up the national capacity to address the pandemic. Commending the U..S leadership in garnering collaborative response against the global pandemic, the Foreign Minister requested the Deputy Secretary of State to accord due priority to Nepal during the distribution of surplus vaccines among the developing nations, the official statement said. This comes two days after Nepal received the first emergency support from the U.S., which included ventilators, protection gears and oxygen cylinders.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
24 May 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) India to push for Covaxin recognition by WHO and EU.

India is interested in ensuring that Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin gets the endorsements from the World Health Organisation without delay. Sources informed that top diplomats of the Ministry of External Affairs are studying the matter to ensure recognition from WHO and EU for the indigenous vaccine which is one of the doses chosen by the Government of India. Ministry sources however did not confirm that Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla will meet officials of Bharat Biotech on Monday but emphasised that they are focused on ensuring clearance from WHO for Covaxin. There is certainly an interest in getting Covaxin on WHO’s Emergency Use List, said an official familiar with the matter. WHO has recognised several vaccines from the makers like Oxford AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna which enables the vaccine makers to export the doses worldwide. That apart, recipients of the vaccines are also enabled to carry out international air travel. Covaxin has been delivered to a large number of Indian citizens and is expected to be delivered to a greater number of Indian citizens in the coming days. WHO has also cleared China’s Sinopharm vaccine that China has been exporting to various countries across the world. But without the necessary WHO endorsement, the Indian vaccine’s recipients may not be considered for air travel abroad. The source also informed that a separate process to get endorsement from the European Union may take longer but that is also on the cards. The double recognition will help scientific research and collaboration between the Indian and foreign vaccine producers as well as help citizens to travel smoothly. Bharat Biotech, maker of Covaxin has signed agreements with pharmaceutical companies from Brazil and the U.S. where the vaccine will be either co-produced or exported but the absence of endorsement from WHO and other multilateral bodies is creating difficulties for the vaccine.

B) Moderna refuses to sell vaccines directly to Punjab. 

Punjab government on Sunday said that COVID vaccine manufacturer Moderna has refused to send vaccines directly to the State government as according to their policy, they only deal with Government of India and not with any State government or private parties. Punjab’s nodal officer for vaccination Vikas Garg said that all vaccine manufacturers were approached for direct purchase of various COVID vaccines, including Sputnik V, Pfizer, Modern, and Johnson & Johnson, as per the directions of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to explore possibilities of floating a global tender for the procurement of vaccines from all possible sources to ensure early inoculation in the State. In a statement Mr. Garg said that reply was received from Moderna only in which the company refused to deal with State government. The statement added the State government was forced to stop vaccination for Phase I and Phase 2 categories in the last three days because of vaccines non-availability. All efforts would be made for procurement of vaccines to meet the acute shortage in the State, which had received fewer than 44 lakh vaccine doses so far from the Government of India, he said. As per government of India allocation for Phase III (18-44 age group), the State government has been able to buy only 4.2 lakh vaccine doses, including 66,000 received yesterday. A total of 3.65 lakh have already been used, leaving only 64,000 for use as of now, said Mr. Garg.

C) Centre wants to hold Class 12 exams with fewer subjects and reduced duration.

A broad decision has been taken that Class 12 board examinations must be held, but with fewer subjects, and a possible reduction in duration and staggered schedules, according to senior officials who attended Sunday’s online consultation of State and Central Ministers. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who chaired the meeting, has given States three more days to discuss their options before a final decision is taken, asking them to respond in writing by Tuesday. A vocal section of parents and students have been demanding that the exams be cancelled, due to the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Centre recommended that examinations only be held in about 20 major subjects. It offered two options, one to hold the regular three hour examinations, or to halve the duration of the examination using a question paper with only multiple choice or short answer questions, officials said. Delhi and Maharashtra representatives wanted vaccination of students and teachers to be done before the exams are held. Maharashtra’s Education Minister also said further consultations would be held by the State Chief Minister before coming to a position. Several States wished for the option to delay their examinations by several months, if needed. Kerala and Bihar have already held their State board examinations. Chhattisgarh has announced an open book examination to start on June 1, but Central officials warned that the validity of the results may not be accepted by universities. With regard to professional entrance examinations such as NEET and JEE, the Centre is prepared to hold them as late as September, as was done last year, in order to give time for Class 12 exams to be completed, according to a senior official.

D) Opposition backs farmers’ protests on May 26.

Twelve Opposition parties on Sunday issued a statement in support of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s (SKM) call for a national protest on May 26 to mark six months of the farmers’ protest began. We demand the immediate repeal of the farm laws and the legal entitlement to the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of C2+50 per cent as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission. The Central government must stop being obdurate and immediately resume talks with the SKM on these lines, the statement read. The statement was signed by party leaders Sonia Gandhi (Congress), H.D. Deve Gowda (Janata Dal-Secular), Sharad Pawar (Nationalist Congress Party), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena), M.K. Stalin (DMK), Hemant Soren (Jharkhand Mukti Morcha), Farooq Abdullah (Jammu and Kashmir National Conference), Akhilesh Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Tejaswi Yadav (Rashtriya Janata Dal), D. Raja (Communist Party of India) and Sitaram Yechury (CPI-Marxist). The leaders reiterated what they had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 12: Repeal farm laws to protect lakhs of our annadatas becoming victims of the pandemic so that they can continue to produce food to feed the Indian people.

E) Anxiety, depression top concerns on govt. helpline amid second wave.

Anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress have been among the most common problems reported by callers to the Social Justice Ministry’s mental health helpline, with many States seeing an increase in calls during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to officials. According to the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) data, a total of 26,047 calls were received by the KIRAN helpline till April 30 from September 16, 2020. While the number of calls overall saw a decrease from March (3,617) to April (3,371), there was an increase in some States, including Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Haryana, where the number of calls more than doubled from 73 in March to 170 in April. A senior official from one of the regional centres of the helpline, who wished not to be named, said most of the callers in the past month had raised concerns regarding the second wave of the pandemic after being diagnosed with COVID-19. The official added that the increase in calls could be partially due to the helpline being promoted as a COVID-19-related mental health resource during the second wave in the region. While most callers had concerns regarding the COVID-19 situation, some also enquired about vaccination and emergency services, the official said. The helpline — 1800-599-0019 — was launched by the Social Justice Ministry on September 7, 2020 as a mental health rehabilitation service. Callers are counselled first and are connected with psychiatrists and other experts depending on the need. The majority of the callers had been men and in the age-group of 15 to 40 years, the Ministry’s report on its functioning from September 16, 2020 to January 15, 2021 had said.

F) Health Minister asks Baba Ramdev to rescind statement on allopathic medicines.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has asked yoga guru Ramdev, the face of one of India’s biggest consumer goods and alternative medicine empires, to rescind remarks in which he ostensibly said more people died of modern medical treatments during the COVID-19 crisis than the coronavirus itself. The people of the country are very hurt with your remark on allopathic medicines. I have already told about this feeling over phone. Doctors and health workers are like gods for the people of the country for whom they are fighting against the coronavirus risking their lives, Dr Vardhan said in a two-page letter written in Hindi. You have not only insulted Corona warriors, but have hurt the feelings of the people of the country. Your clarification yesterday is not enough to make up for it… I hope you will think hard on it and withdraw your statements completely, he added. Ramdev had drawn outrage and a legal notice from the Indian Medical Association (IMA), demanding a written apology for the statement that it said damaged the reputation of practitioners of allopathy and modern medicine when they are striving to save lives during the pandemic. In a video that was widely shared on social media, Ramdev was heard saying at a recent event, Lakhs of people have died because of allopathic medicines, far more than those who died because they did not get treatment or oxygen. He also purportedly called allopathy a stupid and bankrupt science.

G) India challenges international arbitration award to Cairn Energy.

India has challenged an international arbitration tribunal asking it to return $1.2 billion to UK’s Cairn Energy Plc on grounds that it had never agreed to arbitrate over a national tax dispute, the finance ministry said today. In a statement, the ministry also refuted reports that the government has purportedly asked state-owned banks to withdraw funds from foreign currency accounts abroad in anticipation of the potential seizure of such accounts. While the government appointed a judge on the three-member arbitration panel and fully participated in the proceedings against India seeking ₹ 10,247 crore in back taxes from Cairn, the ministry said the tribunal improperly exercised jurisdiction over a national tax dispute that the Republic of India never offered and/or agreed to arbitrate. India had seized and sold shares of Cairn in its erstwhile India unit, confiscated dividend due and withheld tax refunds to recover the tax demand it had levied two years after passing a law in 2012 that gave it powers to levy tax retrospectively. In December last year, Cairn won an award that held the levy of taxes using the 2012 law unfair on the company and the tribunal asked the Indian government to return $1.2 billion plus cost and interest.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) Minor face-off with Chinese troops in Galwan Valley.

There was a minor face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in the no-patrolling zone at Galwan Valley in Eastern Ladakh in the first week of May, a senior government official told The Hindu. However, no clash occurred and the two sides disengaged quickly. A no-patrolling zone extending to around 3 kilometre, around 1.5 km each, on either side of the clash site near the Y-junction of the Galwan Valley, was created after the June 15, 2020 incident when 20 Indian army personnel were killed in violent clashes with the Chinese. A 30-day moratorium was also applied on foot-patrolling then. It was not known if it has been extended. After the no-patrolling zones were created last year, the two sides occasionally conduct reconnaissance to see if the other side has crossed the line. The patrols are sent at different times. On the particular day, the Indian and Chinese patrols reached the area at the same time, a minor face-off happened but they returned quickly, said the official. The official added that China still has camps beyond the no-patrolling zone and there has not been any reduction in troop deployment since last year. The official explained that both sides send periodical patrols out of suspicion. It may be recalled, that prior to April-May 2020, when China amassed troops at the particular location in Galwan, claiming it to be Chinese territory, Indian troops regularly patrolled the area that is said to be within India’s perception of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Earlier, the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) used to patrol and leave, but since April-May 2020 it made a permanent presence within 600-800 metres of India’s perception of the LAC. On February 11, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh informed both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha that India and China have reached an agreement for disengagement in the Pangong Lake area to cease their forward deployments in a phased, coordinated and verified manner, which would substantially restore the pre-April 2020. Since April 2020, Chinese troops blocked Indian troops from reaching at least 10 patrolling points (PPs) running from Depsang plains in the north to Pangong Tso (lake) in the south in Eastern Ladakh. In all, there are more than 65 PPs from the base of Karakoram to Chumar. India and China have held 11 round of talks so far after the clashes last year. While the troops partially disengaged on the north and south banks of Pangong Tso, phased disengagement is yet to take place at the other friction areas in Eastern Ladakh Gogra, Hot Springs, Depsang and Demchok.

B) Israeli police allow Jews to visit flashpoint Jerusalem site.

Israeli police escorted more than 250 Jewish visitors on Sunday to a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem where clashes between police and Palestinian protesters helped trigger a war in Gaza, according to the Islamic authority overseeing the site. The II-day conflict between Israel and Gaza’s militant Hamas rulers came to a fragile halt on Friday, but left behind immense ruin in Gaza, including hundreds of homes in that have been completely destroyed and many more that were badly damaged, according to the UN.  With tensions still high, police cleared young Palestinians out of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and barred entry to Muslims under the age of 45, according to the Islamic Waqf, which oversees the site. Muslims who entered were required to leave their IDs with police at the entrance. It said six Palestinians were detained, with four later released. Israeli police denied there was any age restriction and said they arrested five people who violated the public order. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the site was open for regular visits and that police had secured the area. The visits later ended without any further incident. Israeli police had briefly clashed with Palestinian protesters after Friday prayers in an early test for the truce, which had taken effect hours earlier. The ceasefire in Gaza has held, but violence in Jerusalem could set off another cycle of escalation. The Waqf said on Sunday was the first time Jews had been allowed to visit the site since May 4, a week before the war broke out. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam. It sits on a sprawling hilltop in Jerusalem’s Old City that is revered by Jews as their holiest site because it was the location of the biblical temples. The site has often been the scene of Israeli-Palestinian violence over the years.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
23 May 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Negative Covid-19 report isn’t the end of problem, warn doctors.

A negative Covid-19 report isn’t the end of the problems associated with the virus, warn doctors. They now say that since it affects multiple organs, those who were on mechanical ventilation, ICU or form into any high-risk category of lung fibrosis are the group of people who need to watch out for the need to have a re-admission. People with diabetes or obesity, prolonged illnesses are also much likely to go back to hospitals with symptoms like breathlessness and decrease in oxygen even after testing negative and getting discharged from hospital. Archana Dhawan Bajaj, gynaecologist obstetrician and IVF expert, Nurture IVF, said, The thrombosis and protein loss due to the virus can lead to delayed recovery. COVID re-infection is rare and people facing re-infection are mainly those with co-morbidities, healthcare workers and frontline workers. Hence, this is something to watch out for in people of these subgroups. On the signs to watch out for even after turning negative, Vikas Maurya, director and HOD, Pulmonology, FortisHospital, Delhi said Covid-19 causes inflammation in our lungs, kidney, heart, and other organs. Therefore, post-Covid-19, people can still experience extreme weakness, and it takes time to fully recover. But those who have mild symptoms can recover a bit faster than those who experience moderate to severe symptoms, he said. Hari Kishan Boorugu, consultant physician, Yashoda Hospitals, Somajiguda, Hyderabad, said people need to maintain adequate hydration and follow a healthy diet after recovery. Avoid eating outside food as it can be difficult for the body to take additional stress in case they develop food-borne gastroenteritis. Patients with diabetes and high blood pressure need to monitor their sugar and BP while making sure that they are in good control, as often they tend to fluctuate post-COVID, due to multiple factors change in diet, stress, and medication, he said.

B) Breach of Air India data poses litigation risk for airline, experts say.

The breach of passenger data at Air India may pose litigation risks for the airline that could further delay the privatisation process, warn experts, adding that the national carrier must prioritise efforts to contain the damage from the cyber attack by informing passengers about steps they can still take to prevent fraud. In a press statement, the airline said that its passenger processing system, supplied by multi-national information technology company SITA, was a target of a sophisticated cyber attack on February 25. Nearly 45 lakh data subjects registered over a period of 10 years, between August 2011 to February 2021, were affected around the world, including passengers of other airlines such as Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Cathay Pacific, United Airlines, among others. The attack was on SITA’s servers at its data centre in Atlanta, United States. A major impact it may have is that the current process of privatisation may go slow as there will always be fear of unquantified litigation risks. They (government) may be able to separate past versus future liabilities, but it opens up a new avenue for a discussion with potential bidders, said Sivarama Krishnan, Leader-Asia Pacific, Cybersecurity, PwC. The extent to which individual airlines were affected due to the cyber attack varied from one airline to another. Some airlines wrote to their passengers saying only passenger names and frequent flyer numbers were stolen. In the case of Air India, the theft pertained to name, date of birth, contact information, passport information, ticket information, Star Alliance and Air India frequent flyer data (but no passwords data were affected) as well as credit cards data (but no CVV data).

C) Majority mark in Rajya Sabha to remain elusive for BJP in Modi’s second term.

The majority mark in the Rajya Sabha will remain elusive for the BJP in the second term of the Narendra Modi government, and its performance in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly poll slated for early next year is crucial for it to maintain its current tally in the Upper House. At 93, the BJP is 30 members short of the majority mark of 123 in a House of 245 MPs. In the second term, with more than half a dozen Opposition MPs changing loyalty to the BJP, the ruling party had managed to pass controversial Bills, beginning with the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights of Marriage) Bill, 2019 or Triple Talaq Act, along with J&K Re-organisation Bill and the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. Three rounds of retirements in the year 2022 – April (18 members), June (20 members) and July (33 members) – will bring the last change in the political arithmetic of the Rajya Sabha in the second term of the Modi government. Major losses for the BJP will come from Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. This makes Uttar Pradesh crucial for the BJP’s strength in the Upper House. In July next year, 11 seats from Uttar Pradesh will fall vacant. As per the current tally, the BJP holds five of these, which includes two former Samajwadi Party MPs – Sanjay Seth and Surender Singh Nagar – who shifted their loyalties midway through their term. Without repeating its 2017 performance in the State, the BJP cannot hold on to these five seats. In Punjab, if the current anti-BJP sentiment because of the three controversial farm laws prevails till the polls, the BJP will lose one seat. The BJP allies will also be affected – the AIADMK strength is expected to be curtailed after its defeat in the recent Assembly poll in Tamil Nadu. Currently, the AIADMK has six members and its political adversary, the DMK, seven.

D) Stop release of funds to W.B. under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi, State BJP chief urges Modi.

West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging the Centre not to release any funds under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi without proper checking and verification of data approved by the State. The beneficiary list verified by the State Government needs thorough checking and verification at the level of Union Government so that any genuine beneficiary is not excluded from the benefits. Without proper checking and verification of the data of the beneficiaries as approved by the State on the part of Union Government, no further allotment should be released in the scheme, Ghosh said in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister earlier this week. Earlier this month, about seven lakh farmers received one instalment (₹2,000) as benefits under PM Kisan Samman Nidhi for the first time since the launch of the scheme in three years. During the run-up to the State Assembly polls, senior BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had promised ₹18,000 (all pending instalments for three years) under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi to about 70 lakh farmers in the State. The BJP leader, in the communication, has alleged that the Trinamool Congress government has perpetuated syndicate raj in all spheres of life in West Bengal where no work gets done without common people having to pay cut money in return for including them in the beneficiary lists of all the government schemes. We apprehend that the names of genuine beneficiaries might be found missing from the verified list made ready for payment by the state government for the present scheme, Ghosh has written in the letter. For almost three years, there was a tussle between the State government and the Centre over PM Kisan Samman Nidhi. The Trinamool Congress government maintained that its scheme of providing cash transfer to farmers ‘Krishak Bandhu’ was more inclusive. In an open letter dated May 13, a day before benefits under the PM Kisan were transferred to accounts of seven lakh farmers, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Centre of delaying the disbursal of the scheme and said the Trinamool Congress had first started ‘Krishak Bandhu’ scheme in 2018, which was a model for the entire country. You all were supposed to get ₹18,000 but have received a very small amount. Even this sum would not have been transferred had we not fought for it. We will continue this fight till you get the entire allocation, Banerjee had said in her letter addressed to people of the State.

E) Music director Raamlaxman, of ‘Hum Aapke Hain Kaun’ fame, dies at 78.

Veteran music director Raamlaxman, best known for his work on Rajshri Productions’ blockbuster movies Maine Pyar Kiya, Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! and Hum Saath Saath Hain died due to a cardiac arrest. He was 78. The composer, whose real name was Vijay Patil, passed away at his residence in Nagpur in the early hours of Saturday, his son Amar said. He had taken second dose of Covid-19 vaccine, Covishield, six days ago. There was no problem at that time… But when he came home he developed weakness. His parameters were dropping. Doctors were attending at home. He passed away at around 2 am on Saturday. He had a cardiac arrest, Amar told PTI. Patil, known by cinema aficionados as ‘Laxman’ of duo composers Raam-Laxman, started his journey in films with Marathi actor-comedian Dada Kondke’s 1975 film Pandu Hawaldar. He gave the music for the movie with his collaborator Surendra under the name Raam-Laxman. Surendra passed away in 1976, but Patil continued to compose under the same name, slightly changing it to Raamlaxman. In his over four decades-long career, he composed music for over 150 films in Hindi, Marathi and Bhojpuri and worked with famous film directors such as Manmohan Desai, Mahesh Bhatt, GP Sippy, Anil Ganguly and Sooraj Barjatya. Some of his other memorable works were for Agent Vinod, 100 Days, Anmol, Tarana, Patthar Ke Phool and Hum Se Badhkar Kaun.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Nepal President dissolves Parliament, announces mid-term polls in November.

Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari has dissolved the House of Representatives and announced mid-term polls on November 12 and 19 after she determined that both embattled Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli and the Opposition alliance were not in a position to form a government. Bhandari’s announcement came after Prime Minister Oli recommended dissolution of the 275-member House following an emergency midnight Cabinet meeting. Last year, on December 20, President Bhandari had dissolved Parliament but later it was reinstated by the Supreme Court in February. A press statement issued by the Office of President said the Parliament was dissolved and dates of midterm polls were announced in line with Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal. The council of ministers has recommended conducting the first phase of the poll on November 12 and the second phase on November 19. The move followed a notice from the Office of the President which said that it could appoint neither K.P. Sharma Oli, the incumbent Prime Minister, nor Sher Bahadur Deuba, Nepali Congress president, as claims made by both to form a new government were insufficient. With four lawmakers in the 275-member House of Representatives dismissed by their party after they chose to be part of another party, a prime ministerial candidate requires support of at least 136 lawmakers in Parliament to form a new government.

B) Egyptian mediators hold talks to firm up Israel-Hamas truce.

Egyptian mediators held talks on Saturday to firm up an Israel-Hamas cease-fire as Palestinians in the Hamas ruled Gaza Strip began to as the damage from Il days of intense Israeli bombardment. A 130-truck Convoy carrying urgent humanitarian aid headed to Gaza. Saturday marked the first full day of a truce that ended the fourth Israel-Hamas war in just over a decade. In the fighting, Israel unleashed hundreds of airstrikes against militant targets in Gaza, while Hamas and other militants fired more than 4,000 rockets toward Israel. More than 250 people were killed, the vast majority Of them Palestinians. Gaza City’s busiest commercial area, Omar al-Mukhtar Street, was covered in debris, smashed Cars and twisted metal. A Palestinian official said an initial assessment showed at least 2,000 housing units were destroyed in the Il-day fighting. Naji Sarhan, deputy of Gaza’s works and housing ministry, said that more than 15 000 other units were partly destroyed. Sticking points Both Israel and Hamas have claimed victory. There was a widespread expectation that the ceasefire would stick for now, but that another round of fighting at some point Seems inevitable. Underlying issues remain unresolved, including an Israeli Egyptian border blockade, now in its 14th year, that is choking Gaza’s more than 2 million residents and a refusal by the Islamic militant Hamas to disarm. The fighting began on May 10, when Hamas militants in Gaza fired rockets toe ward Jerusalem. The barrage came after days of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Heavy-handed police tactics at the compound and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers had inflamed tensions. The war has further sidelined Hamas’ political rival, the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, which oversees autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas’ popularity seemed to be growing as it positioned itself as a defender of Palestinian claims to Jerusalem. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to meet with Mr. Abbas and Israeli leaders when he visits in the coming week. Mr. Abbas is expected to raise demands that any Gaza reconstruction plans go through the Palestinian Authority to avoid strengthening Hamas.