CURRENT AFFAIRS
07 October 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) UP police arrests journalist on way to Hathras.
On 6 October, a Delhi-based journalist, who was working for a Malayalam news portal was among the 4 people which were arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police when they were on their way to Hathras. The arrests came after some hours of the State police, which are under fire for their handling of the Hathras rape and murder case, claimed that there was an international conspiracy to defame the state government and trigger caste riots over the Hathras incident. The 4 were taken into custody at a toll plaza in Mathura when they were travelling in a car from Delhi to Hathras, the police said. Mathura police said that suspicious literature, one that could have an adverse impact on peace, was recovered from the 4. However, it is yet to reveal the content or state the laws that the literature violated. The 4 persons which were taken into custody were identified as Ateeq-ur-Rehman, Siddiqui Kappan, Masood Ahmed and Alam. Kappan is a journalist working for several Malayalam media houses and had reportedly gone to Hathras to cover the case. The Kerala Union of Working Journalists, in a letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, has demanded the release of Kappan, saying he was trying to perform his duty as a reporter. Miji Jose, who is the president of the KUWJ has said that the Hathras police station and State police department have not provided any information so far on taking him into custody.
B) Supreme Court asks UP govt for affidavit on witness protection.
The Supreme Court on 5 October said that it would ensure that the investigation into the alleged gang-rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl by upper caste men in Hathras would is conducted smoothly. Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde, who was heading the 3 Judge Bench, has said that they will ensure the investigation part is smooth. The court has ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to file an affidavit to place on record that the witnesses in the case are protected. They want it on affidavit on how Hathras case witnesses are protected. They wanted to ascertain whether the victim’s family has chosen a lawyer. They want to know the scope of the ongoing proceedings in the case before the Allahabad High Court, and how they can widen and make it more relevant. The Chief Justice of India said that there was no doubt that what transpired with the victim was horrible and shocking. There was no doubt that the case was extraordinary.
C) Give me a free press and this government will not last long, says Rahul Gandhi.
On October 6, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi at a press conference in Patiala, which was in response to a question on whether the Central government was able to take unilateral decisions only because of a weak Opposition has said that give him a free press and other key institutions and this [NDA] government will not last long. He noted that the Opposition in any country functioned within a framework, including the media, the judicial system, and institutions that protected the voice of people. In India, that entire framework has been controlled and captured by the Bharatiya Janata Party government; the entire architecture designed for giving voice to the people has been captured. Gandhi has termed the control of institutions by the government a big problem. No other country in the world today was faced with a situation where even the media did not question the government when its land had been seized by another nation. PM Modi is not interested in the people of India but is only concerned about protecting and promoting his image, which would have got dented had he admitted to China’s incursion.
D) Bihar Assembly elections: BJP, JD(U) split seats evenly.
On 6 October, after several rounds of talks, the major NDA partners in Bihar JD(U) and BJP has announced a seat-sharing formula for the upcoming Assembly election. The JD(U) will contest 122 seats while the BJP will fight one seat less, at 121, for the 243-member Assembly. The JD(U) will contest on 122 seats and give 7 seats out of it to alliance partner, Jitan Ram Manjhi-led Hindustani Awam Morcha (secular), and BJP would contest on 121 seats while accommodating the Vikashil Insaan Party from its own quota, JD(U) president and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced this at a crowded joint press meet where BJP leaders were also present. Stating that there was no confusion in the NDA in Bihar, Kumar said that they have been working since long to make Bihar a saksham (capable) State and will keep working for it. Senior State BJP leader and Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi has reiterated that those who will not accept the leadership of Nitish Kumar would not be a part of NDA in Bihar. Nitish Kumar is the face of NDA in Bihar poll and he will be the CM face of NDA as well. PM Modi said that whoever BJP and JD-U gets what number of seats, Nitish Kumar will be the Chief Minister of the State, there is no ifs and buts over it.
E) Cinema halls to open; I&B Ministry issues guidelines.
After a span of more than 6 months, cinemas will open their doors on October 15. But it will not be the same again, with the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry issuing a set of protocols that permit only 50% seating, and no delivery of food inside the halls. As per the guidelines, only packaged food will be allowed, face masks and thermal screening will be mandatory, show timings will be staggered, and your contact number will be taken to facilitate contact tracing later. Other than the usual physical distancing norms of 6 feet distance between 2 persons and providing hand sanitizers in the common area as per the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) issued by the Ministry, every alternate seat has to be kept vacant, which means that when a person and his loved ones go to watch a movie together, they will have to sit apart, with a minimum gap of 1 seat between each other. The cinema halls will also have to ensure that there is no overcrowding in the common areas, lobbies, and washrooms during the intermissions. This could even mean no moving out of the hall during the interval. During the exit, too, the halls will have to ensure staggered row-wise movement to avoid crowding. And unlike pre-Covid times, when multiplexes would have many movies running in many screens simultaneously, the I&B Ministry has suggested that the commencement time, intermission period, and finish time of a show at any screen shall not overlap with the commencement time, intermission period, or finish time of a show at any other screen at a multiplex.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) India committed to rules-based world order, says Jaishankar at Tokyo Quad meet.
On 6 October, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at the start of a meeting of the 4 Foreign Ministers of Australia-India-Japan-U.S. in the Quadrilateral dialogue or ‘Quad’ which was held in Tokyo has said that likeminded countries should coordinate to counter the novel coronavirus pandemic which has brought a profound transformation globally. Jaishankar said that as a member of the U.N. Security Council next year, India would seek collective solutions to global challenges, including the pandemic and U.N. reform. As vibrant and pluralistic democracies with shared values, their nations have collectively affirmed the importance of maintaining a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. They remain committed to upholding the rules-based international order, underpinned by the rule of law, transparency, freedom of navigation in the international seas, respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, and peaceful resolution of disputes, addressing his counterparts Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. While he made no direct reference to the situation at the Line of Actual Control with China, it is understood that the ongoing standoff between Indian and Chinese troops was among subjects to be discussed during the meeting, along with the issues outlined by Jaishankar, connectivity and infrastructure development, security, including counter-terrorism; cyber and maritime security; and the stability and prosperity in the region.
B) 3 share Physics Nobel for their discoveries about black holes.
On 6 October, the Nobel Prize for physics was awarded to 3 scientists for their research into black holes, one of the most exotic objects in the universe, which have become a staple of science fact and science fiction and where time seems to stand still, as per the Nobel Committee. Briton Roger Penrose, 89, was honoured for showing that the general theory of relativity leads to the formation of black holes. Whereas Reinhard Genzel, 68, of Germany and Andrea Ghez, 55, of the U.S. were jointly awarded for discovering that an invisible and extremely heavy object governs the orbits of stars at the centre of our galaxy. Incidentally, Ghez is just the fourth woman to receive the physics prize since 1901, when the first Nobel prizes were handed out.
