Author: Shivali Varshney, Vidhyarthi Darpan

CURRENT AFFAIRS
26 August 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Prashant Bhushan hearing: Is it a sin to apologize, asks SC.

In a sentencing hearing on 25 August, the Supreme Court wondered at the consistent resolve shown by civil right lawyer Prashant Bhushan not to offer an apology in the face of contempt by saying that if you have hurt someone, you must remove the hurt. On his continuous statements, Justice Arun Mishra asked that is it wrong to apologize or whether apologizing is a sin. A chance has been given earlier to Mr. Bhushan that the matter can be sorted out if he apologizes before the Court. But he clearly stated that he won’t apologize for the same. Meanwhile, the top law officer of India, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, has urged the court not to give punishment to Mr. Bhushan instead they should warn him and let him go. He said this when the Court asked him for his advice on the matter. 

B) Monsoon session of Parliament likely from September 14-October 1

It was recommended by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs that the monsoon session of Parliament can be held from September 14 to October 1. There will be a total 18 sittings. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Parliament is likely to see several first-time measures, such as a staggered sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, and the use of both chambers and galleries to accommodate members, besides strict physical distancing norms etc. According to the Secretariat of the Rajya Sabha, members of the Upper House will be seated in both chambers and galleries during the session.

C) Seven lakh users affected by Rail Yatri security breach, report says.

As per a security report by Safety Detectives research lab, a data breach at the online travel marketplace RailYatri has affected about 7 lakh users. The Safety Detectives said that it reported a breach to RailYatri and to Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) as well. In an official statement by RailYatri, the server was a test server. It was immediately plugged out from the network after the security issue was brought into their notice by CERT-In. They clarified that the report says that approximately 7 lakh email addresses were leaked in those 3 days. Factually seeing it was not correct because it is not possible because the capacity of the server to hold data was at most for a day. 

D) Greta Thunberg speaks up for students protesting exams amid pandemic. 

On 25 August, Greta Thunberg, who is a climate activist spoke up in support of the nationwide student movement to postpone JEE NEET. She said that conducting the exams during a pandemic was truly unfair to the students. Across the whole country, the parents and students have been calling for a postponement of the engineering and medical entrance exams. This is because of the ongoing pandemic in the whole country and also due to floods in many states of India. But the government has so far remained quiet and still on their decision of conducting the examinations on their scheduled time. From September 1, the entrance exams for undergraduate engineering courses (JEE) will begin and from 13 September, the entrance exam for medical courses (NEET) will begin.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A) China floats BRICS 5G base as India mulls ban. 

China has proposed the creation of a BRICS innovation base. This will take forward 5G and Artificial Intelligence (AI) cooperation among the 5 countries. There was also a virtual meeting of the Ministers of these countries which was held on 24 August. The Minister of Industry and Information Technology of China has urged its fellow nations to boost cooperation in areas including 5G and Artificial Intelligence. He urged the same to India as well. He added that China was considering the establishment of a BRICS innovation base in China very actively. This will help to strengthen cooperation with the BRICS. The Foreign Minister of Russia said that they are ready to work on 5G with China. The Vice President of Brazil has also indicated the same. India is not likely to allow the participation of China in 5G, particularly after banning 59 Chinese apps.

B) Facebook vows to challenge the forced removal of the Thai group. 

On 25 August, Facebook said that it would file a case against the Thai government because they have ordered to remove a group in which pro-democracy activists were having discussions about the monarchy, which is a taboo subject in Thailand. The group which was removed on 25 August was having more than one million members. The name of that group was Royal Marketplace. As per Facebook, the government has forced the network to remove the group. Facebook said that they will work to protect and defend the rights of all its internet users. They are preparing to legally challenge the government for pressurizing them. The details of the legal action are not yet provided by the company. Prime Minister of Thailand has also warned that they will take legal action against Facebook under their laws. 

C) Kremlin slams German doctors. 

On 25 August, the Kremlin accused the  German doctors because they were too hasty as they said that tests on Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who is one of the critics of President Putin indicated that he had been poisoned. Before transferring to Germany, he was treated in a hospital in Siberia. His supporters claimed that he was given some poison in his teacup at the Siberian Airport from where he was about to take a flight to Moscow. They put this blame on Putin. The spokesman of Kremlin has said that Russian doctors had diagnosed the condition of Mr. Alexei same as the German doctors. However, they are unaware of what caused it. They told me that the medical analysis of both the doctors is the same but how can their conclusion is coming out to be different. After completion of reports and investigations, criminal cases will be filed against those who have done this.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
25 August 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) DNA Bill can be misused for caste-based profiling, says parliamentary panel’s draft report.

The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Act, 2019 proposes DNA sampling and profiling of citizens accused of the crime. It also proposes storing their unique genetic information for administrative purposes. But a draft report of the parliamentary standing committee on science and technology has said that the Bill has some alarming provisions that could be misused for caste or community-based profiling. The committee which was headed by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh met on 24 August, but for want of quorum, the draft report, which has been circulated among the committee members, was not finalized. The committee, in its draft report, pointed out that DNA profiles can reveal extremely sensitive information about an individual, including descent, skin colour, behaviour, illnesses, health status, and susceptibility to diseases. 

B) C to consider ‘effect’ of Bhushan’s supplementary statement tomorrow.

Noted human rights lawyer, Mr Prashant Bhushan told the Supreme Court on 24 August that tendering an insincere apology for his tweets, which were an expression of his bona fide beliefs, would amount to contempt of his conscience and of an institution that he holds in the highest esteem. A 3 Judge Bench, which was led by Justice Arun Mishra had given the lawyer time till 24 August to tender an unconditional apology. Now the SC will consider the effect of the supplementary statement of Prashant Bhushan on 25 August. In an earlier statement which was given by the lawyer during the contempt hearings on 20 August, he refused to apologize for this tweet on Judiciary. 

C) Unlock 4.0: Metros could reopen. 

The Ministry of Home Affairs is likely to allow the restarting of Metro rail services in the issuing of Unlock 4.0 guidelines. Since there had been a huge demand from many States to reopen Metro rail services, the government thinks that Metro services can also be resumed. Moreover, domestic flights having a span over 3 hours are also operating, but a passenger will not spend more than 1 hour inside the train. Public transport buses and air-conditioned buses were already operating by following the strict social distancing norms. Educational institutions, bars, and cinema halls would remain shut.  The Ministry of Home Affairs is likely to issue fresh guidelines under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 by the end of August.

D) Consider holding online NEET from next year, SC tells MCI.

The Supreme Court on 24 August has asked the Medical Council of India to consider providing an online option for taking the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance (NEET) from the next year. They raise the query that if Joint Entrance Exam can be conducted online then why not NEET. Since both the examinations are conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA), so they should think of conducting NEET online too. However, the court has refused to order the authorities to set up examination centres abroad or to conduct the NEET online this year in order to facilitate the candidates abroad. The NEET is fixed for September 13, 2020. 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) India and China prepare for fresh talks.

The stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh has entered in the 17th week and India and China are preparing for another round of military talks so as to resolve the ongoing tensions between both the countries. Both the countries have agreed to conduct the next round of military talks. Discussions are on the way on the issue but dates have not been fixed till now. This follows the diplomatic-level talks at the Joint Secretary level last week of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs. Following those talks, the Defence Minister of India, Mr Rajnath Singh has reviewed the situation with National Security Adviser along with the Chief of the Defence Staff and the three service chiefs as well.

B) China launches warship for Pakistan Navy.

China has launched first of the 4 advanced naval warships. China is building for Pakistan because of the deepening defence ties between both the countries. The launching ceremony for the first warship was held at the Hudong Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai on 23 August. The first that was launched is Type 054 class frigate. It is equipped with the latest technologies and sensors. It will be one of the most technologically advanced surface platforms of the Pakistan Navy. Pakistan has signed a contract with China Shipbuilding Trading Company Ltd. for the delivery of these 2 frigates back in 2017. 

C) White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway to resign. 

Kellyanne Conway who is a Senior White House counsellor has announced that she is stepping down from her position at the end of the month in order to focus on her family. She made this announcement because of a weekend tweet from her daughter Claudia Conway in which she said that said her mother’s job had ruined her life. Mrs Conway said that she will be transitioning from the White House at the end of this month. Her 4 children are teens and every parent worldwide knows that their kids require more attention because of their school from home. Her husband who is a lawyer and one of the biggest critic of Donald Trump has said that he will also support her wife and will also devote more time to his family.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
24 August 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Tablighi Jamaat cases become a diplomatic headache. 

5 months after the government ordered all the members of the Tablighi Jamaat to present at their headquarters in New Delhi, the matter is becoming a diplomatic headache for the government. The action ordered in March by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). This has included more than 2.5k foreigners from the ultra-orthodox Islamic sect.  Furthermore, several countries have expressed their concern to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the matter of continued custody of their nationals in India. The MEA has to coordinate several cases with real-time coordination with the MHA and the Bureau of Immigration as well.  The Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh Masud Bin Momen said that he had raised the issue of about 173 Bangladeshis still being held in India. He raised this issue at the time when he had met the Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla in Dhaka on 19 August. 

B) AG refuses consent for contempt action against Swara Bhasker.

The Attorney General of India, Mr. K.K. Venugopal has refused to give consent to a plea that was filed in order to initiate criminal contempt action against actor Swara Bhasker for scandalizing the Supreme Court. This plea was filed against her comments relating to the Ram Janmabhoomi.  She mentioned in her comment that the disputed verdict “appears to be a factual one” and her “perception”. If anyone wants to initiate a criminal contempt action in any case, then the prior consent of the Attorney General is required for the Supreme Court. The contempt plea was filed by a resident of Karnataka, M/s. Usha Shetty. She has now approached the Solicitor General of India, Mr. Tushar Mehta for his consent. The contempt plea is in relation to a public address by Ms. Swara Bhaskar in a meeting organized by Mumbai Collective by following the Judgment of the Supreme Court in the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute case. In the Judgment, the court handed over the disputed land to the Hindus in order to build a temple. On that Judgement, Swara Bhaskar said that we are living in a country where the Supreme Court of our country states that the demolition of Babri Masjid was unlawful and it also rewards the same people who brought down the mosque. 

C) MHA had warned of a plot to trigger blasts in Indian cities.

One day after an alleged terror suspect was arrested from Delhi, a team of Delhi police special cell unit seized a large number of explosives along with an ISIS flag from the house of Mohammad Mustakim Khan in Balrampur, Uttar Pradesh.  The Ministry of Home Affairs had warned of terror modules of religious fundamentalists, backed by Pakistan intelligence, to trigger blasts in one of the cities in India. The MHA has issued an alert to all States 2 days before the Independence day celebrations by acting on intelligence inputs that the members of some banned outfits had planned to cause IED blasts in Jammu & Kashmir, West Bengal and some other places in the north-east along the border of Indo-Myanmar and Indo-Bangladesh.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) China has been administering the covid19 vaccine. 

China has been administering its COVID-19 vaccines that are made domestically to a broad range of people since the month of July. The number of persons who have been given the vaccine may soon be in the hundreds of thousands. These persons include medical workers, the armed forces, and employees of the companies who are working overseas on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects. China has 8 different types of vaccines that are going through clinical trials but none of them have been approved in the market. Authorities have given permission to administer the vaccines to the people including the medical workers, border officers, and the overseas employees. Vaccines are provided in 2 doses. The second dose is given after one month of the first shot.

B) Trump team releases an ad featuring Modi. 

The Trump campaign in order to specifically win the votes of Indian American voters has released footage of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump in which they were together approximately a year ago. The data shows that the Indian Americans mostly vote for the Democratic party. So the Republican party is trying harder to gain those voters who are likely to switch their decision based on the Modi-Trump relationship party has also been trying to pursue the Indian-American vote. In mid-July, the Chairman of Democratic National Committee (DNC) spoke at a virtual Indian Americans to draw the attention of the voters towards the battleground States. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris also sent out the greetings of the Independence Day during a Democratic event organized on August 15. 

 

SPORTS NEWS 

A) India stuns China, reaches quarters. 

India has shocked China by winning a Pool A at the online Chess Olympiad held on 23 August. The juniors helped the team to pull off the memorable win because R. Praggnanandhaa and Divya Deshmukh took full points off. All the 4 boards which were featuring the seniors were drawn. Earlier, India has also beaten Georgia and Germany as well. Thus, India has won a total 8 of its 9 matches held in the league.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
23 August 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Bombay HC quashes FIRs against foreign Tablighis, says they were made “scapegoats”

The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court has quashed the FIRs against 29 foreign nationals who were accused of participating in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation at Delhi without permission amid the Covid-19 pandemic. It said that the action against them was taken in order to make them scapegoats during a pandemic. The Government tries to find out that whenever there are any such calamity and the circumstances also show that there is a probability that these foreigners were guilty. These circumstances show that such action against present petitioners should not be taken. Justice TV Nalawade by slamming the media for carrying propaganda about the Tablighis has said that there was big propaganda in print media and electronic media against the foreigners who had come to Markaz Delhi. There was virtually persecution against these foreigners.

B) CBI visits Sushant Singh Rajput’s Bandra flat to recreate the death scene.

The members of the CBI team probing the actor Sushant Singh Rajput case visited the residence of the late actor in Bandra on 22 August along with forensic experts to reconstruct the sequence of events leading to his death. The actor was found dead at his flat on June 14. The team along with forensic experts reached the residence in the afternoon and his cook and flatmate also accompanied the team. Another CBI team has also visited the Cooper Hospital in the city on 22 August, where the autopsy on Sushant’s body had been performed. Another CBI team has also visited the Bandra police station to meet the Mumbai who had investigated the death of the actor. The Supreme Court on 20 August upheld the transfer of an FIR to the CBI which was lodged in Patna against actress Rhea Chakraborty and others for allegedly abetting the suicide of Sushant. 

C) Bloomsbury withdraws book on Delhi riots after backlash.

Bloomsbury India on 22 August withdrew the publication of their new book, Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story by following public opposition. The opposed the inauguration ceremony of the book because the company has invited BJP leader Kapil Mishra for the inauguration, who was the one who instigates the riots by giving an inflammatory speech. The publishing house in a statement said that the book was written on the riots held in Delhi in February 2020. But because of huge criticism on the launch program organized for the virtual launch of the book by Kapil Mishra. The publishing house has now decided to withdraw publication of the book. 

D) COVID Watch: Numbers and Developments

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 30,26,847 at with the death toll at 56,642. Union Health Ministry said that  India has crossed a milestone of testing more than 10 lakh samples in a single day and this has taken the cumulative tests to more than 3.4 crores. The Ministry further said that with 10,23,836 tests done on 21 August, India has achieved its resolve to test 10 lakh samples daily. It further added that enhanced diagnostic lab network has also led to this achievement. At present, the country has a network of 1,511 labs, comprising 983 in the government sector and 528 private labs.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Pakistan puts Dawood, Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi on terror list

After decades of denial, Pakistan has added the names of Dawood Ibrahim, as well as 26/11, LeT operations chief Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, and some leaders of the Taliban to its own list of terrorists and declared an assets freeze and travel ban as per the U.N. Security Council’s (UNSC) designations. This is the first time the Mumbai blasts mastermind has been acknowledged as a terrorist by Pakistan, albeit as a part of the UNSC list. The move is part of Pakistan’s commitment to the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which continues to scrutinize the country’s actions. 

B) Pompeo, Kushner likely to visit West Asia as the U.S. presses Arab-Israeli peace.

This administration of Trump will send 2 of its top officials to West Asia in a bid to capitalize on the momentum from the agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. This visit was taken in order to establish diplomatic relations. The Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to depart on 23 August for Israel, Bahrain, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Sudan. This information was received from the diplomats. They also spoke on the present condition of anonymity because the journey has neither been finalized nor publicly announced.

C) Protests intensify in Belarus

A huge crowd of protesters had swarmed the streets and thousands of workers have rallied outside industrial plants on 22 August in Belarus in order to criticize a police clampdown on demonstrations over a disputed election which extended the rule of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko which was going on from past 26 years. Since the morning, many women thanks started forming long lines of solidarity in various areas of Minsk, which is the capital of Belarus. Many people were dressed in white and carried flowers and portraits of loved ones who have been detained during protests that began shortly after Sunday’s vote, which they said was rigged. The human chains grew throughout the whole day by filling the main central squares and avenues as motorists honked in support. In many other cities of Belarus, thousands of factory workers rallied against the violence by the police. More than 50 news media websites have been blocked by the authorities in Belarus who were reporting about the protests. 

D) Canada’s conservatives vote wholly by mail for a new leader

The opposition Conservative Party of Canada is holding an entire mail-in ballot election for a new leader to carry it into the next general election. The results are going to be announced on 23 August. Over 269,000 party members are eligible to vote in the elections. The candidate is Peter MacKay. He was a Cabinet minister under former Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and Erin O’Toole.  He was also a longtime member of Parliament and Royal Canadian Air Force veteran who had finished his third in the 2017 leadership race.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
22 August 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) EC issues guidelines for the conduct of polls amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

For the Bihar Assembly elections, the Election Commission on 21 August has approved the guidelines for polls during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic by allowing public meetings and roadshows subject to the restrictions of social distancing and some other safety norms. The guidelines of the Election Commission made it mandatory to wear masks and gloves by voters, protective gear for polling staff, and limiting the number of people allowed for campaigning to 5, including the candidate.  Sanitizers would be kept at the entry and inside the booths as well. The electors who have tested positive for Covid-19 will cast their votes in the last hour of polling by following the preventive measures.

B) Nine dead in Telangana Srisailam power plant fire. 

9 bodies have been recovered from the fire-ravaged 6×150 MW Srisailam Left Bank underground hydel station in Telangana. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) confirmed this news. They said that a 39-member Fire Rescue and Disaster Management team was rushed to the Srisailam Dam. As per the information reaching Hyderabad, a short-circuit in the terminal panel of the fourth unit of the hydel station on the night of 20 August is said to be the immediate cause of the accident. But the authorities said that they would arrive at a conclusion only after finding out what exactly had happened there. 

C) COVID Watch: Numbers and Developments

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 29,64,587 with the death toll at 55,851. India on Friday reported 68,898 new cases. On 21 August, the Haryana government has announced that all offices and shops in the state, except those selling essential items, will remain closed every Saturday and Sunday. This decision is in view of the increasing coronavirus outbreak. Meanwhile the Assembly Speaker of Punjab, Rana Singh has said that it is mandatory for the ministers to have their latest corona negative reports in hand for attending the assembly session which will begin on 28 August. 

D) Bloomsbury in controversy after inviting Kapil Mishra for Delhi Riots’ book inauguration. 

Publisher Bloomsbury was stuck in a controversy after it emerged that he has invited BJP leader and former Delhi MLA Kapil Mishra to be the chief guest for the launch of a book on the riots that had occurred in north-east Delhi in February this year. Kapil Mishra has been blamed for allegedly inciting the riots through an inflammatory speech. The book, titled Delhi Riots 2020: The Untold Story, and published by Bloomsbury India, is written by Monika Arora, Sonali Chitalkar, and Prerna Malhotra.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Will be an ally of light, not darkness, says Biden as he accepts Presidency nomination. 

Joe Biden who was a candidate for Democratic Presidential election said in a speech of his nomination acceptance that the country would overcome from this season of darkness. The current President of the USA has covered the whole of America in darkness for too long. Too much anger. Too much fear. Too much division. He further said that if the people will entrust him with the presidency, he will draw on the best of them and not the worst. He will become an ally of the light and not of the darkness. They will choose hope over fear, facts over fiction, and fairness over privilege.

B) Our policies on hate speech are uniformly applied : Facebook

Asserting that Facebook has tolerated toxic content by Indian politicians and failed to enforce its policies fairly, the company’s employees have asked the top management to review the handling of hate speech in India, the Wall Street Journal has reported. In a letter sent by members of the firm’s internal group for Muslim employees, staffers from India, the U.S., and the Middle East said Facebook’s policy enforcement process for high profile users needed to be more transparent and less susceptible to political influence, the WSJ report said.

C) ‘Shipments to China driving export recovery’. 

The improvement in the export numbers of India in the month of July was led by a 78% spike in shipments to China and other Asian countries.  These destinations constitute 16% of the overall export basket. The contraction in export rate narrowed to -10.2% in July from -60.2% in April when India was under a strict lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A contraction in shipments rate has improved to 50% in May and 30% in June. While July shipments to China jumped a full 78%, the same to Malaysia jumped 76%, Vietnam (43%), and Singapore (37%). East Asian economies constitute 16% of the total export basket.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
21 August 2020

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Failing to speak up would’ve been a dereliction of duty, Prashant Bhushan tells SC.

The Supreme Court has given civil rights lawyer Prashant Bhushan 2 or 3 days in order to reflect on, and possibly modify, a statement he read out to the judges on 20 August in which he refused to apologize for his tweets. When the Attorney General urged the court not to punish him, Justice Arun Mishra replied that Mr. Prashant Bhushan might have done a lot of good work but he should not cross the line. We can be lenient but only in the case if a person seeks an apology in the real sense. Prashant Bhushan was convicted of contempt for 2 tweets. On 20 August, he read out a statement by saying that he has served it for 3 decades not as a courtier or a cheerleader but as a humble guard of its majesty. He said that his tweets were nothing but a small attempt to discharge what he considered to be his highest duty at that juncture in the history of our republic. He did not tweet in a fit of absent-mindedness. It will be insincere on his part to seek an apology for the tweets.  After a 2 -hour hearing, the Supreme Court has gave him 2-3 days in order to reconsider his statement.

B) If PM-CARES is not under RTI, how was it cleared for CSR donations, asks Chidambaram

Former Finance Minister of India, Mr. P. Chidambaram has accused the BJP on 20 August on PM cares fund. He said that BJP is trying to shield the PM-CARES fund from inspection because he has asked a lot of questions relating to the establishment of the fund. According to a report, Chidambaram pointed out that although the government claimed that PM CARES Fund was not a public authority under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, yet in March, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) had justified allowing donations to PM-CARES under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on the basis that it had been set up by the Central government. He asked that the fund has been set up by whom, who made the PM and 2 people its trustee etc. The Supreme Court on 19 August gave the Judgment that the PM-CARES fund does not require any auditing by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) because it is only a public charitable trust for voluntary donations. It does not get any kind of government support.

C) Kerala govt calls the all-party meeting to discuss the award of airport contract to Adani Group

The Government of Kerala on 20 August had called an urgent all-party meeting.  The meeting was to discuss the decision of the Union Cabinet to hand over the Thiruvananthapuram international airport to Adani Enterprises Ltd. (AEL) of the Adani Group. The bid to manage and operate the airport under a public-private partnership (PPP) framework for 50 years has won by the Adani Group. The decision of the center to give the rights of the Trivandrum airport to Adani comes when the privatization of the airport was under litigation. This was done as per the directions of the Supreme Court. Kerala has been opposing the privatization step. They had demanded that the management of the airport should be given to a special purpose vehicle in which the major stakeholder will be the state government. 

D) Covid watch: Numbers and Developments

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 29,00,892 with the death toll at 54,966. Nearly one-third of the population of Delhi has been exposed to Covid-19. They have developed antibodies the details were according to a 2nd serological survey. Furthermore, the Punjab government has ordered a daily night curfew from 7 pm to 5 am and a weekend lockdown in the state, starting from 21 August. The emergency measures will be in place till August 31. It will include certain restrictions on public and private transport and a ban on all public gatherings. This ban on gatherings does not include weddings and funerals. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat who is a Union Minister of Jal Shakti was also infected from the coronavirus on 20 July. 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Kamala Harris formally accepts the VP nomination.

The first black woman and an Indian descent person, Kamala Harris who was nominated on a major political party ticket in the U.S. have accepted the nomination as Vice-President candidate of the Democratic Party. She said that her mother had taught her that providing services to others gives them purpose and meaning for our life.  On that day, her mother probably has not imagined that she would be standing before her mother by speaking the words that she had accepted the nomination for Vice President of the United States of America. 

B) India and China hold fresh talks

On 20 August, India and China had another round of talks on border. The aim was to break the pass along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). This was a step that needs to be taken to ensure complete disengagement. As far as 10 rounds of high-level talks had been held. This includes 5 rounds between the Corps Commanders and the conversations between the Special Representatives and the Foreign Ministers of both the countries as well. The Ministry of External Affairs of India has said that there is still some gaps that are remaining between both sides. The process of complete disengagement along the line of actual control is going on sincerely. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of China has said that both the countries have positively evaluated the progress on the front line forces and along the Line of Actual Control. 

C) India, Bangladesh to monitor projects

India and Bangladesh are going to set up a mechanism that will monitor the bilateral projects. This information was given by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on 20 August. This was announced when both the countries are agreed to jointly deal with killings on the border and also to jointly overcome the crisis caused because of the pandemic of the novel coronavirus. The mechanism of monitoring will assist in several ongoing projects that will complete on time. The project includes Rampal Maitree Power Plant, India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline, and rail links which will be completed by 2021.