CURRENT AFFAIRS
04 December 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Amarinder meets Shah to help end deadlock between Centre and farmers.
While the ongoing talks between farmers’ groups and the Centre remained inconclusive, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday appealed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the protesting farmers to find an early resolution to the impasse over the new farm laws, saying the agitation is affecting Punjab’s economy and the nation’s security. The Centre and farmers groups are holding their fourth round of talks today and reportedly met for over five hours at Vigyan Bhavan. Singh, after meeting Shah at his residence here, said common ground must be found soon and the two sides should not take rigid positions on the matter. He came to meet the Home Minister to reiterate our position and to make a request to him and the farmers to resolve this soon because this (agitation) affects the economy of Punjab as well as the security of the nation, the Congress leader told reporters after the meeting. He said he urged the home minister to find an early solution to the issue. The meeting was held at the same time as the interaction between the agitating farmer leaders and the government at Vigyan Bhawan in Delhi, sources said. The protesting farmers, a large number of whom are from Punjab, have been holding sit-ins on the borders of the national capital. They are demanding that the government withdraw the new farm laws if it wants them to end their stir.
B) Farmers refuse food provided by government.
Farmer leaders who met with Central Ministers today at Vigyan Bhavan declined the government’s offer of lunch and tea, preferring to bring in their own food from a nearby gurdwara. The government said they would not repeal the three laws, and there is much anger about that, and a lot of heated arguments going on in the meeting room. In that situation, how can they eat the government’s food during the lunch break?” said one farmer leader on the Singhu border, whose colleagues were inside Vigyan Bhavan. So they brought lunch for themselves from a gurdwara langar instead. Just regular chapati and dal. A few minutes ago, during the tea break, chai was also taken in from outside, he added.
C) Congress seeks winter session of Parliament to discuss key issues.
A day after protesting farmers demanded a special Parliament session, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Thursday wrote to Speaker Om Birla to convene a short winter session. In his letter, Chowdhury mentioned a number of issues such as farmers’ agitation, status/preparation of Covid-19 vaccine, Chinese intrusion, economic slowdown and the unemployment scenario to press for the session. Chowdhury is likely to raise this issue at Friday’s all-party meeting on Covid-19, to be chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He would like to draw their kind attention that there are a number of very important issues that the nation is facing in the present times. The most notable among them are the ongoing farmers’ agitation, status/preparation of Covid-19 vaccine, the economic slowdown, unemployment scenario, the continuous stand-off on India-China border, unabated ceasefire violations on the Indo-Pak border. There is a need for a thorough and transparent debate/discussion on all the above mentioned important issues, Chowdhury wrote in his letter to Birla. In view of the above, he shall request them that a short Winter Session may be convened taking all COVID precautions. This will help the nation at large to understand and appreciate current important issues that the country is grappling with, he added.
D) Rajinikanth to launch political party in January.
Actor Rajinikanth today said that he will launch a political party in January 2021 to contest in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly elections and that the date of the launch will be announced on December 31. In a tweet in Tamil, Rajinikanth said that in the upcoming elections, they will achieve a big victory with the support of the people. A spiritual politics will emerge in Tamil Nadu that will bring transparency, honesty, a politics with no corruption and one that is free of caste and religious bias. He further said that miracles would happen. In December 2017, the actor had declared that his political entry was a certainty. However, last month, Rajinikanth raised doubts over his much-awaited political plunge when he confirmed that doctors have advised him against meeting people and campaigning during the elections as it would increase the risk of contracting Covid-19. Elaborating on his fragile health, Rajinikanth said that everybody knows that he have had a kidney transplant. The natural (body’s) immunity needs to be reduced to enable the body to accept a new organ. However, the body needs immunity to fight Covid-19. This is a big problem. Doctors advised that it was dangerous to meet people and campaign. But now he had decided to take the plunge, he added. Rajinikanth said that prominent political activist Tamilaruvi Manian will supervise party activities while R. Arjunamoorthy, who was serving as president of the State unit of the BJP’s intellectual wing, has been made the chief coordinator of RMM. Though the BJP has relieved Arjunamoorthy of his responsibilities in the party, his appointment to this key post has sparked speculation regarding Rajinikanth’s possible leanings towards the BJP.
E) Cyclone Burevi: IMD predicts heavy rains in southern T.N., Kerala.
The Burevi tropical cyclone is headed towards southern India, authorities confirmed today, after it slammed Sri Lanka’s east coast earlier this week but caused little damage. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), ‘Burevi’ lay centred over north Sri Lanka and adjoining Gulf of Mannar, and 310 km east-northeast of Kanniyakumari. It was likely to move west-northwestwards and emerge into Gulf of Mannar. Heavy rains lashed parts of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry as the cyclonic storm approached closer. Southern Tamil Nadu and Kerala are on red alert.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Turkey makes plans with Chinese vaccine.
Turkey has announced a vaccination plan starting with an experimental inactivated vaccine later this month to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, according to reporting by the Associated Press. Turkey’s health minister Fahrettin Koca had previously announced an agreement with Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech for 50 million doses of CoronaVac, which is currently in Phase 3 trials. Koca said in a statement late Wednesday that the first shipment of the inactivated vaccine will arrive in Turkey after Dec. 11. Inactivated vaccines are made by growing the whole virus in a lab and then killing it. It is an older method for vaccine development compared to the mRNA technology used by firms like Pfizer or Moderna, which instruct the body’s cells to make a spike protein that could potentially train the immune system to recognise and destroy the virus. The mRNA technology is as yet untested for widespread use. The minister said early use authorization would be granted after Turkish labs confirm vaccine safety and initial results from Phase 3 trials are assessed. If developments continue positively as they expect, Turkey would be among the first countries in the world to begin vaccinations in the early phase, Koca said.
B) China plays down plan to build dam on Brahmaputra river.
China on Thursday played down its plan to build a major dam in the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra river in Tibet, saying there is no need to have any anxiety over the project and Beijing will continue to have good communication with lower riparian states, India and Bangladesh. China’s plan to build the dam over Brahmaputra river, reportedly at Medog in Tibet, which borders Arunachal Pradesh, was disclosed by Yan Zhiyong, chairman of the Power Construction Corp of China, at a conference recently. The over 3,800-km-long Brahmaputra, one of the longest rivers in the world, passes through China, India and Bangladesh and has several tributaries and sub-tributaries. Yan had said China will implement hydropower exploitation in the downstream of the Yarlung Zangbo River (the Tibetan name for Brahmaputra) and the project could serve to maintain water resources and domestic security, the Global Times reported on Sunday.
