CURRENT AFFAIRS
08 February 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Nanda Devi glacier burst: Seven bodies recovered.
Seven bodies have been recovered and more than 125 individuals are missing after a flash flood, reportedly caused by the splintering of a glacier, hit the site of the Rishi Ganga dam on the Rishi Ganga River in Uttarakhand on Sunday. A small hydro project on the Rishiganga river was also swept away. They will give ₹4 lakh as compensation to the families of the dead. Five local persons are reported to have been swept away in the flash flood. Missing persons are about 125 this figure could be more also, informed Uttarakhand Chief Minister T.S. Rawat at a press conference on Sunday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also approved an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh each from PMNRF for the next of kin of those who have lost their lives due to the tragic avalanche caused by a Glacier breach in Chamoli, Uttrakhand. ₹50,000 would be given to those seriously injured. At least 12 persons have been rescued so far by the ITBP from an open tunnel, according to a senior National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) official. Five NDRF teams, three of which have been air lifted from Hindon in Ghaziabad, are on way to the disaster site and will join rescue operations by late evening.
B) Forces abroad conspiring to tarnish image of Indian tea: PM.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said some forces abroad were conspiring to tarnish the image of Indian tea. The focus of his speech in poll-bound Assam’s Dhekiajuli, a tea-growing area, was on the tea plantation workers, a major chunk of voters that the Bharatiya Janata Party had weaned away from the Congress ahead of the 2016 Assembly election. He want to tell us about a conspiracy hatched to defame the country. The conspirators have not even spared Indian tea. They are saying the image of Indian tea has to be defamed worldwide, systematically, Mr. Modi said. He was addressing a crowd of largely tea plantation workers after remotely inaugurating and laying the foundation stones of a medical college each in eastern Assam’s Biswanath and Charaideo and Assam Mala, an expansive road project. The evidence that they have suggests the forces are seated abroad, ready to launch an attack on India’s tea-based identity, the Prime Minister said. He added the tea plantation workers and every individual who drank tea would seek an explanation from the political parties for maintaining silence on it. But he want to tell the conspirators that the country won’t allow you to succeed, however much you try. The tea workers will win this battle. Those who are conspiring to launch an attack on Indian tea are not strong enough to confront the strength of their tea workers, Mr. Modi said, without naming the forces.
C) Have full faith in judiciary: Faruqui
Stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui, who has been released from jail after 35 days in a case of allegedly hurting religious sentiments, has said he has full faith in the judiciary and hopes to get justice. Mr. Faruqui was released from the Indore Central Jail late Saturday night after prison authorities checked Friday’s bail order of the Supreme Court order of the Supreme Court on its website, a jail official earlier said. In a brief video message after he was set free, the 32-year-old comedian said that he don’t want to comment (on the case against him) now. But, he have full faith in the judiciary and he is hopeful of getting justice. Arrested for allegedly hurting religious sentiments, Mr. Faruqui was in the jail since January 1. On Friday, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail after the Madhya Pradesh High Court rejected his bail plea on January 28. The Supreme Court also stayed the production warrant issued against Mr. Faruqui by a court in Prayagraj in connection with an FIR lodged there. However, he was released late Saturday night only after a Chief Judicial Magistrate in Indore rang up the jail authorities and asked them to check the Supreme Court’s website for the bail order.
D) Sasikala, Dinakaran trying to incite violence, say AIADMK leaders.
Senior Ministers and AIADMK leaders on Saturday complained to Director General of Police J.K. Tripathy that V.K. Sasikala, aide of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, and T.T.V. Dhinakaran, general secretary of Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam, were trying to incite violence. Ministers D. Jayakumar, P. Thangamani, C.Ve. Shanmugam and party presidium chairman E. Madhusudhanan were among those who met Mr. Tripathy. On Thursday, they lodged a complaint seeking to prevent Ms. Sasikala from using the AIADMK flag. They have no objection to Ms. Sasikala’s return to the city on February 8. However, T.T.V. Dhinakaran said Ms. Sasikala would travel using the party flag. Mr. Dhinakaran said even if we complain to the DGP or the chiefs of armed forces, no one can prevent them. A few supporters of Ms. Sasikala said they would become 100 human bombs and reach Tamil Nadu, Mr. Shanmugam said on Saturday. Mr. Shanmugam alleged Mr. Dhinakaran issued a major threat, which would cause law and order problems in the State. To incite violence, Ms. Sasikala, Mr. Dhinakaran and their men have hatched a major conspiracy. The AIADMK government has been functioning successfully, he said.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Pope Francis appoints first woman to senior synod post.
Pope Francis has broken with Catholic tradition to appoint a woman as an undersecretary of the synod of bishops, the first to hold the post with voting rights in a body that studies major questions of doctrine. Frenchwoman Nathalie Becquart is one of the two new undersecretaries named on February 6 to the synod, where she has been a consultant since 2019. The appointment signals the pontiff’s desire for a greater participation of women in the process of discernment and decision-making in the church, said Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary-general of the synod. During the previous synods, the number of women participating as experts and listeners has increased, he said. With the nomination of Sister Nathalie Becquart and her possibility of participating in voting, a door has opened. The synod is led by bishops and cardinals who have voting rights and also comprises experts who cannot vote, with the next gathering scheduled for autumn 2022. A special synod on the Amazon in 2019 saw 35 female auditors invited to the assembly, but none could vote. The Argentinian-born pope has signalled his wish to reform the synod and have women and laypeople play a greater role in the church.
B) ‘Oxford vaccine less effective against South African variant’.
The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine fails to prevent mild and moderate cases of the South African coronavirus strain, according to research reported in the Financial Times. But in its study, due to be published on Monday, the pharma group said it could still have an effect on severe disease although there is not yet enough data to make a definitive judgment. None of the 2,000 participants in the trial developed serious symptoms, the FT said, but AstraZeneca said the sample size was too small to make a full determination. They may not be reducing the total number of cases but there is still protection against deaths, hospitalisations and severe disease, said Sarah Gilbert, who led the development of the vaccine with the Oxford Vaccine Group. It could also be some time before they determine its effectiveness for older people in fighting the strain, which is a growing presence in U.K., she said. Researchers are currently working to update the vaccine, and have a version with the South African spike sequence in the works that they would very much like to be ready for the autumn, said Ms. Gilbert.
C) Pope appoints more women to Vatican posts.
Pope Francis has appointed two women to Vatican posts previously held only by men, in back-to-back moves giving women more empowerment in the male-dominated Holy See. He appointed Nathalie Becquart, a French member of the Xaviere Missionary Sisters, on Saturday as coundersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, a department that prepares major meetings of world bishops held every few years on a different topic. Earlier, the Pope named Italian magistrate Catia Summaria as the first woman Promoter of Justice in the Vatican’s Court of Appeals. Sister Becquart’s position, effectively a joint number two spot, will give her the right to vote in the allmale assemblies, something many women and some bishops have called for. She is 52, relatively young by Vatican standards. Women have participated as observers and consultants in past synods but only synod fathers, including bishops and specially appointed or elected male representatives, could vote on final documents sent to the pope. During a synod in 2018, more than 10,000 people signed a petition demanding that women get the vote. A door has been opened. They will see what other steps could be taken in the future, Cardinal Mario Grech, the synod’s secretary-general, said.
