CURRENT AFFAIRS
09 February 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Parliament proceedings: PM sees ‘aandolan jeevi’ and a new ‘FDI’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday coined two terms, ‘aandolan jeevi’ (professional protesters) and ‘Foreign Destructive Ideology’ to lampoon the Opposition and certain protesters and foreign individuals who have tweeted in support of the ongoing farmers’ agitation. While replying to the Motion of Thanks on the President’s address in the Rajya Sabha, Modi said that India was not merely the world’s largest democracy; it was the ‘mother of democracy’. A new kind of FDI had emerged in the country and it was ‘Foreign Destructive Ideology’. They need to be more aware to save the country from such an ideology, he stated. Modi spoke about a new breed of protesters, ‘aandolan-jeevi’, who could be seen at every agitation. These parasites feast on every agitation. When they are not in the front, they operate from behind the curtains, they cannot survive without agitation, he observed. Calling upon everyone to educate the youth about the glorious history of the country, he said that People who suspect India’s democracy, he want to ask them to learn to understand it. Our democracy is not a western institution, it is a human institution. India’s nationalism should be protected from multiple attacks. Recently, international pop star Rihanna shared a news article of the ongoing farmers agitation on Twitter, asking why it wasn’t discussed enough. This prompted an unusual response from the government: it issued a press statement, stating that it was unfortunate to see vested interest groups trying to enforce their agenda on these protests, and derail them.
B) SKM condemns PM’s remarks, calls it an ‘insult to farmer’
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha, which is spearheading the farmer protests, condemned Prime Minister Narendra’s remarks in Parliament on ‘andolan jeevi’. In a press statement, the SKM condemned PM Modi’s insult to farmers and said, Andolans liberated India from the British and therefore we are proud to be ‘andolan jeevi’. The BJP’s predecessors never did ‘andolan’ against the British and were always against andolans. That’s why they are still scared of public movements. Farmer leader Shiv Kumar Kakka, who is a senior member of the SKM, said they are ready for the next round of talks and the government should tell them the date and time of the meeting. They have never refused to hold talks with the government. Whenever it has called us for dialogue, they held discussions with Union ministers. They are ready for talks with them (government), Kakka said.
C) Super Bowl features 30-second TV advertisement on farmers’ protest.
This year’s Super Bowl, a football championship game that is also one of the most-watched events on American television, featured a 30-second commercial on the ongoing farmers’ agitation in India, terming it the largest protest in history. The advertisement was funded by the Sikh community of Fresno, a city in central California, according to a grateful tweet from the Kisan Ekta Morcha handle, which is the official voice of the protesters. The 30-second spot in this year’s Super Bowl cost $5.5 million, and last year’s viewership of the championship was around 100 million. The commercial begins with a quote from Martin Luther King: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Images from the farmers’ tractor parade and their border camps are overlaid with text alleging human rights violations against protesters. Punjabi music plays as No Farmers, No Food, No Future flashes on the screen. It includes a message from Fresno mayor Jerry Dyer. They want them to know, their brothers and sisters in India, that they stand with them, he says. Fresno has a large Sikh population, as high as 40,000, according to some local reports. Pop music icon Rihanna’s viral tweet on the protests also gets a mention.
D) Uttarakhand glacier disaster: Death toll crosses 15; setbacks to hydel power projects.
Rescue operations underway at Tapovan Tunnel, after a glacier broke off in Joshimath causing a massive flood in Chamoli, on February 8, 2021. At least 15 persons have been killed and over 150 are missing after a portion of the Nanda Devi glacier broke off in Uttarakhand’s Chamoli district on Sunday, triggering an avalanche and a deluge in the Alaknanda river system. The sudden flood in the middle of the day in the Dhauli Ganga, Rishi Ganga and Alaknanda rivers all intricately linked tributaries of the Ganga triggered widespread panic and large-scale devastation in the high mountain areas. Two power projects – NTPC’s Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project and the Rishi Ganga Hydel Project were extensively damaged, with scores of labourers trapped in tunnels as the waters came rushing in. The Uttarakhand glacier burst has caused an estimated loss of ₹1,500 crore at the NTPC’s 480 mw Tapovan-Vishnugad hydel project and has put a question mark on its scheduled commissioning in 2023, Union Power Minister R.K. Singh said on Monday. The minister visited Tapovan on Monday to assess the extent of damage at the project site, a day after the glacier burst in Chamoli district. The project was scheduled to be commissioned in 2023. But there is a question mark now on how long it will take to desilt it as lakhs of tonnes of silt is lying at the project site, Singh told reporters in Tapovan. As of now it is difficult to say when we will be able to resume work at the site and when the project will be commissioned, he said. However, the Union Minister ruled out any possibility of the project being scrapped.
E) SC rejects plea for imposition of President’s rule in Uttar Pradesh.
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea to direct the imposition of President’s rule under Article 356 in Uttar Pradesh, saying the lawlessness, especially against women, is higher than in other States. A Bench led by Chief Justice Sharad A. Bobde asked petitioner-in-person, advocate C.R. Jaya Sukin, the basis of his claim and challenged him to produce his research, comparing the crime rate in Uttar Pradesh with other States, on record. The court asked him how the alleged situation in Uttar Pradesh affected his fundamental rights, prompting him to file the petition. The Bench cautioned him saying it would impose heavy costs on him for wasting time. A lot of extra-judicial killings, arbitrary killings are taking place in Uttar Pradesh, Sukin submitted. Have you studied the crime records of other States? Where is your research? Chief Justice Bobde asked the lawyer. Of the total number of crimes in India, more than 30% are in Uttar Pradesh, Sukin claimed. His petition pointed to several incidents in the recent past, including the alleged gangrape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl at Hathras in the State. It also highlighted the detention of Dr. Kafeel Khan, the police excesses in the AMU, the name-and-shame banners of the anti-CAA protesters. Sukin said the State was most unsafe for women. According to the National Crime Record Bureau’s Crime in India 2019 report, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of crimes against women. India reported 4,05,861 cases in 2019 and of these, Uttar Pradesh had 59,853 such incidents, the petition said.
F) HC dismisses Navlakha’s appeal challenging rejection of statutory bail.
The Bombay High Court on Monday dismissed the appeal filed by activist Gautam Navlakha from the Taloja Central Jail, challenging the rejection of his statutory bail by the special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on July 12 in the Bhima Koregaon violence case. A division bench of Justices S.S. Shinde and M.S. Karnik was hearing the appeal filed through senior advocate Kapil Sibal on September 9. Sibal had argued that 34 of days of Navlakha’s house arrest were not considered as detention and the NIA did not file its charge sheet within the stipulated period of 90 days as per the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Hence Navlakha was eligible for default bail. However, senior advocate SV Raju, appearing for the Central agency, contended that the house arrest period could not be counted. Navlakha was a free man as he was neither in custody nor on bail, he had said. The bench had reserved the order on December 16. As per the charge sheet, Navlakha was involved in secret communications with Communist Party of India (Maoist) cadres.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) China calls V.K. Singh’s statement on LAC ‘an unwitting confession’
Responding to Union Minister of State for State Transport and Highways V. K. Singh’s comment on Sunday India has transgressed more times than China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), but the government does not announce it, China’s Foreign Ministry, at a press conference today described it as an unwitting confession. Let me assure you, if China has transgressed 10 times, we must have done it at least 50 times, Singh has said, adding, Today, China is under pressure, since we are sitting at places (along the border), where it does not like. Asked to respond to this comment, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that this is an unwitting confession by the Indian side. For a long time, the Indian side has conducted frequent acts of trespass in the border area in an attempt tp encroach on China’s territory and constantly created disputes and frictions, which is the root cause of the tensions at the China-India border. We urge the Indian side to follow through on the consensus, agreements, and treaties it reached with China. The Chinese state’s mouth piece Global Times, in an opinion piece published today, was quick to observe that the latest remarks from Singh not only embarrassed India, but also made the U.S. and other Western countries, which have been endorsing India for a long time, look bad. Just a few days ago, Emily J.Horne, spokesperson of the National Security Council, expressed Washington’s concern over Beijing’s pattern of ongoing attempts to intimidate its neighbors in the new U.S. administration’s first response to the China-India border standoff. Yet Singh quickly proved who the real intimidator is.
B) South Africa sets aside 1 million doses of Covishield sent by India; to use Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines instead.
South Africa has suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 shot, Covishield, in its vaccination programme after data showed it gave minimal protection against mild to moderate infection caused by the country’s dominant coronavirus variant. AstraZeneca’s vaccine is produced by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and marketed under the name Covishield. It is one of the two vaccines – the other being Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin – that India is using in its anti-Covid-19 immunisation programme. South Africa had intended to roll out the AstraZeneca shot to healthcare workers soon, after receiving 1 million doses of it from SII. However, it will now offer vaccines developed by Johnson &Johnson and Pfizer in the coming weeks while experts consider how the AstraZeneca shot can be deployed. From next week for the next four weeks, they expect that there will be J&J vaccines, there will be Pfizer vaccines. So what will be available to the health workers will be those vaccines. The AstraZeneca vaccine will remain with them up until the scientists give them clear indications as to what they need to do, South Africa’s Health Minister Zweli Mkhize said.
