CURRENT AFFAIRS
15 April 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) CBSE postpones Class 12 exams, cancels Class 10 exams due to spike in COVID-19 cases.
Due to the surge in COVID-19 cases, the Class 12 examinations of the CBSE have been postponed while the Class 10 examinations have been cancelled, the Education Ministry said on Wednesday. The decision was taken after a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to review the situation. Both exams were scheduled to be held from May 4 to June 14. With Class 12 results being the basis for admission into higher education institutions, it has been decided to postpone the exams. The CBSE will review the situation on June 1. A notice of at least 15 days will be given before the start of the examinations, said the Ministry statement. For Class 10 students, results will be prepared on the basis of an objective criterion to be developed by the Board. Any candidate who is not satisfied with the allocated marks will be allowed to write an exam as and when conditions are conducive, said the Ministry. The PM’s review meeting came amid rising demands from students, parents and State governments for the exams to be cancelled or postponed, given that the daily rate of infections is regularly crossing the 1.5-lakh mark. During the meeting, the Prime Minister reiterated that the well being of the students has to be the top priority for the government. He also said the Centre would keep in mind the best interests of the students and ensure that their health is taken care of and at the same time their academic interests are not harmed, said the statement. Schools have been shut down in 11 States due to the second wave of the pandemic. For many classes, schools have not reopened since the initial shut down of March, 2020. At least four State education boards scheduled to hold examinations in April have announced postponement. Unlike State Boards, the CBSE has an all-India character, and therefore, it is essential to hold exams simultaneously throughout the country, said the Ministry. However, no guidelines were given for State board exams, as had been demanded by some States.
B) Access to professional education is not government largesse, says Supreme Court.
Access to professional education is not a governmental largesse and the State has an affirmative obligation to facilitate its reach at all levels, the Supreme Court has said. This obligation assumes far greater importance for students whose background imposes formidable obstacles on their path to access quality education, the apex court said. A Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and M.R. Shah made these observations in a verdict on separate pleas filed by two students from Ladakh who were not admitted to the M.B.B.S. degree course in medical colleges in New Delhi despite due nomination by the Union Territory and in terms of the seats notified by the Centre. While the right to pursue higher [professional] education has not been spelt out as a fundamental right in Part III of the Constitution, it bears emphasis that access to professional education is not a governmental largesse. Instead, the State has an affirmative obligation to facilitate access to education, at all levels, the Bench said in its judgment delivered on April 9. This obligation assumes far greater importance for students whose background [by virtue of such characteristics as caste, class, gender, religion, disability and geographical region] imposes formidable obstacles on their path to accessing quality education, it said. While allowing the petitions filed by the two students, the top court directed that the admission formalities be completed immediately and, in any event, within a week. The Bench noted that both the petitioners were nominated by the Ladakh administration for admission to M.B.B.S. degree course under the ‘central pool’ seats set apart by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
C) BJP will not get even 70 seats in West Bengal: Mamata Banerjee.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said the BJP will not be able to win even 70 seats in the ongoing state assembly elections, which many expect to be a cliff-hanger. Speaking at a rally at Dabgram-Fulbari in Jalpaiguri district, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo ridiculed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent claim that BJP had already won 100 seats in the four phases of the election to the 294-seat assembly. Prime Minister Modi has said the saffron party has already won 100 out of the 135 seats where elections have been held. I can say that after the elections are over, BJP will not even get 70 out of total of 294 seats, she said. Banerjee today also met the families of those killed in the firing by security forces during the fourth phase of the Assembly elections and asserted that her government will launch a probe to bring the culprits to book. She lamented that she could not meet the next of kin of the deceased earlier owing to a 72-hour ban on entry of political leaders in Cooch Behar, where four people were gunned down by CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) personnel on April 10. Their inquiry will track everyone responsible for the cold-blooded killing and ensure they are punished as per law, she said. Banerjee said she will also ensure justice for the family of Ananda Burman, an 18-year-old first-time voter who was shot dead outside a polling booth in the same district.
D) Hope India reconsiders stance on RCEP, says Singapore Foreign Minister.
Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said he hoped India would reassess its stand on regional trading agreements such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) pact that India withdrew from and that Delhi had a crucial role to play in the region at a time of increasing global instability. Speaking on Wednesday at the Raisina Dialogue, held virtually this year and hosted by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in partnership with India’s Ministry of External Affairs, Balakrishnan said he was making a plea for India to revisit its stand on the trade front. He hope India will reassess regional trade pacts like RCEP and even the CPTPP [Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership], he said. These trade pacts will give Indian companies a platform to showcase their strengths across even larger markets. The RCEP came into force in November 2020 and is the world’s largest trading agreement, covering the ten ASEAN nations, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The CPTPP, the successor of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) which the U.S. withdrew from, includes Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam from ASEAN along with Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Chile and Peru. India withdrew from the RCEP largely because of concerns that it would open up India to Chinese goods amid an already wide trade imbalance with China, and the failure of the agreement to adequately open up to services. Balakrishnan said Singapore hoped India could help build a regional architecture that was open and inclusive. Rising U.S.-China tensions, he said, were deeply worrying for the region, with the pandemic resulting in heightened tension which had implications for us all, with a contest over emerging technologies, divergence on human rights, as well as tensions related to defence and cyber security issues.
E) India will raise its climate action targets but not under pressure: Prakash Javadekar.
Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has said India will raise its climate ambitions but not under pressure. He said India will also continue to ask developed countries for finance and support, and about their own climate actions. Javadekar made the remarks during a speech after a meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian at the French Embassy. He said India is the only G-20 country to walk the talk on the Paris climate agreement and they have done more than they promised. Many countries have forgotten their pre-2020 commitments and they are now talking of 2050, he said. Many countries are now saying don’t use coal but the alternative has to be much cheaper than coal, only then people will do away with coal, he said. He said India is suffering because of the actions of others. The U.S., Europe and China emitted (greenhouse gas) and therefore, the world is suffering, he said, adding that historical responsibility is a major aspect of the climate debate.
F) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.
The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stands at 1,40,00,437 with the death toll at 1,74,201. Over a 1,000 people at the Kumbh Mela have tested positive for COVID-19 in a span of 48 hours, agencies reported. Despite the sharp surge in COVID-19 cases, there are no plans to discontinue the mass religious gathering of predominantly mask-less pilgrims, which will go on till April 30, State government officials told the media. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said they had tested positive for COVID-19. He is under self-isolation and following the advice of doctors and carrying out all work virtually, Adityanath said on Twitter. The U.P. Chief Minister had recently campaigned in the West Bengal elections. Several officials in his office had tested positive on Tuesday. Former U.P. CM Akhilesh Yadav also took to social media site to announce that he had tested positive. He said he had self-isolated and was receiving treatment at home.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) NATO to exit Afghanistan along with U.S.
Foreign troops under NATO command will withdraw from Afghanistan in coordination with a U.S. pull-out by September 11, Washington’s top diplomat said on Wednesday, after Germany said it would match American plans to leave after two decades of war. Around 7,000 non-U.S. forces from mainly NATO countries, also from Australia, New Zealand and Georgia, outnumber the 2,500 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. A key reason for a coordinated withdrawal is the fact that NATO relies on U.S. airlift capabilities and shipping to move valuable equipment in and out of landlocked Afghanistan. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Brussels that it was time for NATO allies to make good on their mantra that allies went into Afghanistan together and would leave together. He was accompanied by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. An integral part of NATO’s current mission, Resolute Support, is to train and equip Afghan security forces fighting the Islamist Taliban, which was ousted from power by a U.S. invasion in late 2001 and has since waged an insurgency. With non-U.S. troop numbers reaching as high as 40,000 in 2008, Europe, Canada and Australia have moved in tandem with the U.S., also providing long-term funding to rebuild Afghanistan despite the resurgence of Taliban-led violence and endemic official corruption in the country.
B) Pak. to ban radical Islamist Party
Pakistan on Wednesday decided to ban a radical Islamist party under the Terrorism Act after its supporters clashed with the law enforcement agencies for the third consecutive day, leaving seven persons dead and over 300 policemen injured. Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told the media that the Pakistan (TLP) was being banned under the Rule Il-B of Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997. He have approved a proposal sent by the government of Punjab to ban the TLP, he said. They have also warned those who are funding the TLP. Mr. Ahmed said that at least two police officials were killed and 340 others injured in clashes with the protesters during the last two days. The announcement came hours after the Pakistani Rangers cleared the major thoroughfares of the country following sporadic clashes with TLP supporters in some towns and cities. The TLP had launched the country-wide protest on Monday after the arrest of its chief Saad Hussain Rizvi ahead of April 20 deadline the Islamists had given to the Imran Khan government demanding expulsion of the French Ambassador over the French government’s support for Charlie Hebdo magazine to republish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed a move deemed blasphemous by many.
