Tag: dailycurrentaffairs

CURRENT AFFAIRS
20 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) India’s middle class may have shrunk by a third after pandemic, says Pew study. 

India’s middle class may have shrunk by a third due to 2020’s pandemic-driven recession, while the number of poor people earning less than ₹150 per day more than doubled, according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center. In a comparison, Chinese incomes remained relatively unshaken, with just a 2% drop in the middle class population, it found. The report, released on Thursday, uses World Bank projections of economic growth to estimate the impact of COVID-19 on Indian incomes. The lockdown triggered by the pandemic resulted in shut businesses, lost jobs and falling incomes, plunging the Indian economy into a deep recession. China managed to avoid a contraction, although growth slowed, the report said. The middle class in India is estimated to have shrunk by 3.2 crore in 2020 as a consequence of the downturn, compared with the number it may have reached absent the pandemic, said the report, defining the middle class as people with incomes of approximately ₹700-1,500 or $10-20 per day. Meanwhile, the number of people who are poor in India (with incomes of $2 or less a day) is estimated to have increased by 7.5 crore because of the COVID-19 recession. This accounts for nearly 60% of the global increase in poverty, the report added, estimating an increase from almost 6 crore to 13.4 crore poor people. It also noted the record spike in MGNREGA participants as proof that the poor were struggling to find work. The vast majority of India’s population fall into the low income tier, earning about ₹150 to 700 per day. Pew’s projections suggest this group shrank from 119.7 crore to 116.2 crore per day, with about 3.5 crore dropping below the poverty line. The middle income group is likely to have decreased from almost 10 crore to just 6.6 crore, while the richer population who earn more than ₹1,500 a day also fell almost 30% to 1.8 crore people.

B) Trinamool says free and fair elections not possible with ‘partisan and biased’ Election Commission. 

In a direct attack on the Election Commission (EC), the Trinamool Congress has said that the partisan and biased approach of the panel has made free, fair and transparent elections in West Bengal a distant reality. A six-member delegation met the EC in Delhi to raise the incident of clashes in Nandigram on Thursday. It is becoming increasingly clear that free, fair and transparent elections in the State of West Bengal is becoming a distant reality. This is evident from the partisan and biased approach taken by the Election Commission of India, the party’s memorandum submitted to the EC said. The TMC particularly flagged the EC’s decision of not permitting the State police within 100 metres of a polling station. The EC has noted that only Central forces will be deployed close to the polling stations. The TMC said that this was an unprecedented decision and cast aspersions on the reputation of the police administration in the State. The EC had not taken such a decision for the other three States and the Union Territory of Puducherry holding simultaneous polls. The TMC also sought to remind the Commission that the State police had worked with governments led by other political parties too. Propriety demands that there should be proper coordination between the State and Central forces to ensure free and fair elections and that combined groups of both State and Central police forces be deployed within 100 metres of the polling station, the memorandum said.

C) Centre asks Delhi High Court to restrain WhatsApp from implementing its new privacy policy. 

The Centre on Friday asked the Delhi High Court to restrain instant messenger app WhatsApp from implementing its new privacy policy, which is likely to take effect from May 15. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in an affidavit filed before the High Court, stated that WhatsApp’s new privacy policy was not in tune with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules, 2011. Notably, the Rules require a body corporate who collects, stores or otherwise deals with data to issue a privacy policy providing for certain safeguards, in addition to imposing various other obligations. The impugned Privacy policy violates the 2011 Rules.., MeitY said. The Ministry said WhatsApp’s new privacy policy fails to specify types of sensitive personal data being collected. Crucially there is no distinction between personal data or sensitive personal data which is being collected, the Ministry said, apart from WhatsApp failing to notify users on details of collection of sensitive personal information. The privacy policy mentions the involvement of third-party service providers who may have access to the data. However, the names of these service providers and other associated details have not been provided, it said.

D) Assam Elections | BJP selling hatred to divide people, says Rahul Gandhi.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday slammed the BJP for selling hatred to divide the people while reaffirming his party’s commitment to nullifying the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and raise the daily wage of tea plantation workers to ₹365 if the party was voted to power in Assam. On a two-day visit to campaign for the 10-party Mahajot or grand alliance, Gandhi’s programme ranged from interacting with college students at Lahowal and meeting tea plantation workers at Chabua both in eastern Assam’s Dibrugarh district to addressing a public rally at Doomdooma in the adjoining Tinsukia district. No religion teaches enmity. But the BJP uses religion to divide society. They sell and spread hatred wherever they go while the Congress tries to promote love and harmony, he told the students. He also took a swipe at the RSS, the BJP’s ideological fountainhead. There is one force in Nagpur [headquarters of the RSS] that is trying to control the country, but the youth must resist this attempt with love and confidence, Gandhi said. During the interaction and at the public rally later, the Congress leader asserted that the Congress and its allies, if voted to power in Assam, would ensure that the CAA was not implemented in the State.

E) Delhi High Court refuses to stay ED summons issued to Mehbooba Mufti.

The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to stay the summons issued to former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti by the Enforcement Directorate in a money-laundering case. A bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh declined any relief to the 61-year-old, saying that they are not giving any stay. They are not granting any relief. The court has posted the hearing on her petition for April 16. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the ED, said Mufti just has to appear before the officials. The ED has now summoned Mufti for March 22. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief, in her plea, has contended that ever since she was released from preventive detention following the formal abrogation of Article 370, she has been facing a series of hostile acts by the State. She has alleged that the ED is conducting a roving inquiry about her personal, political and financial affairs. She also pointed out her acquaintances and old family friends have also been summoned by the agency.

F) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,15,50,878 with the death toll at 1,60,932. India reported 39,726 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, the highest since November 29. There were 20,654 recoveries and 154 deaths in the last 24 hours, Health Ministry data said. Three states, Maharashtra, Kerala and Punjab, account for a little over three-fourths of the total active cases. All theatres, auditoriums and offices in Maharashtra will take in only 50% of their capacity till March 31 amid a surge in COVID-19 cases, the state government said in an order.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Biden urged to rescind H-1B ban.

Five Democratic senators on Thursday urged President Joe Biden to rescind his predecessor Donald Trump’s ban on some non-immigrant visas, including the H-1B visa, which is popular among Indian IT professionals. They said the ban creates uncertainties for U.S. employers, their foreign-born professional workers, and their families. In June 2020, Trump had instituted Proclamation 10052, halting the processing of non-immigrant H-1B, L-1, H-2B, and J-1 visas, based on the alleged potential risk to the labour market. Although Proclamation 10052 is set to expire on March 31, 2021, businesses have indicated that inaction will further harm their businesses and economic recovery. The senators said that because the visas that Proclamation 10052 halted either target low-unemployment professions or require that the visa holder does not displace an American worker, businesses that rely on foreign workers have struggled to fill jobs despite increased unemployment. Reports have suggested that jobs in fields such as information technology which H-1B visa holders would have filled have remained open or were moved overseas, said senators Michael Bennet, Jeanne Shaheen, Angus King, Cory Booker, and Bob Menendez. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technology companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China.

B) U.S., China spar at Alaska meet. 

The Biden administration’s first bilateral engagement with Beijing got off to a rocky start as the two sides traded barbs with each other in front of the press, during the opening session of their dialogue in Anchorage, Alaska. The U.S. side, led by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, opened with remarks that included references to China’s actions in Tibet, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and accused Beijing of economic coercion. The Chinese side, led by Director of Foreign Affairs YangJiechi and State Councilor Wang Yi, questioned the U.S. narrative of China’s role in the world and expressed, often sarcastically, its own concerns about U.S. actions domestic and international. Earlier this month, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price had said the U.S. would certainly not pull any punches while discussing its disagreements with China. Thursday’s opening re marks made evident that neither side was pulling any punches. In his opening remarks, Mr. Blinken spoke of the rules based-international order. The alternative to a rules-based order is a world in which might makes right and winners take all, and that would be a far more violent and unstable world for all of us, he said, apparently referring to a China-led world order. He also said the U.S. would like to discuss its deep concerns with China’s actions in Xinjiang, Taiwan, Hong Kong, cyber attacks on the U.S. and economic coercion with regard to U.S. allies. Each of these actions threaten the rules-based order that maintains global stability. That’s why they’re not merely internal matters and why we feel an obligation to raise these issues here today, he said. The main priorities of the U.S.’s approach to China and the world were the interests of the American people and protection of allies’ interests, Mr. Sullivan told the Chinese delegation. Mr. Yang said China and the international community were following a UN-led order not the so called ‘rules-based’ international order.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
19 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

A) Former CEA Arvind Subramanian resigns from Ashoka University after P.B. Mehta’s exit. 

Former Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian has resigned from his position as professor at Ashoka University. In his resignation letter, Subramanian said he had been devastated by the circumstances involving the ‘resignation’ of Professor Pratap Bhanu Mehta two days earlier. That someone of such integrity and eminence, who embodied the vision underlying Ashoka, felt compelled to leave is troubling, he wrote in his letter to Vice-Chancellor Malabika Sarkar. That even Ashoka with its private status and backing by private capital can no longer provide a space for academic expression and freedom is ominously disturbing. Above all, that the University’s commitment to fight for and sustain the Ashoka vision is now open to question makes it difficult for me to continue being part of Ashoka, Prof. Subramanian added. The university’s student newspaper The Edict reported that in Mehta’s email to his students, he said that after discussions with the university about prevailing circumstances, it became clear to me that it was best to move on. The paper also elaborated on the circumstances surrounding Mehta’s exit. A source, who wishes to remain anonymous, told The Edict that the resignation of Professor Pratap Bhanu Mehta was endorsed by the Founders of the University, said an article. This endorsement, according to a senior faculty member with whom our source spoke, was motivated by an understanding that if Prof. Mehta resigned, the University’s efforts to acquire a new plot of land to expand the campus would get much smoother. Additionally, formal recognition for the fourth-year post-graduate diploma, Ashoka Scholars’ Program, was also hinted at as being part of the deal, the article added.

B) Sexual assault: Supreme Court sets aside M.P. High Court’s ‘rakhi’ order. 

The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside a Madhya Pradesh High Court order asking a suspected sex offender to visit his victim at her home and allow her to tie a ‘rakhi’ on him as a condition for his bail. A Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar issued a slew of directions meant to sensitise the judiciary in cases concerning offences committed against women. Even a single utterance by a judge trivializing the sexual offence committed against a woman will show the judge’s lack of fairness. Comments like she did not behave like an Indian woman or remarks about a victim’s chastity or that she had previously consented to a sexual act diminishes the trauma of the victim, the Bench held in its judgment. It also likened the Madhya Pradesh High Court order to transforming a molestor into a brother by judicial mandate. The court had earlier sought the views of Attorney General K.K. Venugopal on the issue of courts imposing bail conditions for sex crime offenders which end up further harassing their victims. The judgment was based on a petition filed by nine women lawyers challenging the High Court bail order. The nine lawyers, led by advocate Aparna Bhat and represented by senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, had said the High Court order was a trivialisation of her [victim’s] trauma. Parikh had argued that there were many such instances of court orders which objectify women already traumatised by the crimes committed against them. Parikh had argued that such orders only succeeded in further victimising women and retard the years of work done to sensitise the courts about how damaging it would be to attempt a compromise by way of marriage or mediation between the accused and the survivor.

C) Supreme Court to hear on March 24 plea against sale of electoral bonds. 

Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde agreed with advocate Prashant Bhushan on Thursday to urgently hear a plea by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms to stay the sale of a new set of electoral bonds on April 1, before Assembly elections in crucial States such as West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Responding to an urgent mentioning made by Bhushan via video-conferencing, Chief Justice Bobde said the matter would require a detailed hearing and posted the case for March 24. Bhushan said the RBI and the Election Commission had both said the sale of electoral bonds had become an avenue for shell corporations and entities to park illicit money and even proceeds of bribes with political parties. Every time there is an election, the sale is opened. Every time this happens, we have moved the Supreme Court to stay it, Bhushan submitted. But hasn’t stay been refused earlier? Chief Justice Bobde asked. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the Chief Justice that Attorney General K.K. Venugopal would be appearing in the case. The NGO, also represented by advocate Neha Rathi, has voiced serious apprehensions that the sale of electoral bonds before elections in poll-bound States would further increase illegal and illicit funding of political parties through shell companies.

D) ‘India has assured Sri Lanka of support. 

India has assured Sri Lanka of its support at the UN Human Rights Council, Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Jayanath Colombage has said. just days before member countries vote on a new resolution on the island nation rights record. India’s Ministry of External Affairs declined to comment on the Sri Lanka Foreign Secretary’s statement. in the government told that no decision on the vote had been conveyed yet, while Mr. said Sri Lanka -greatly appreciates India’s position being the superpower they are.  The state-run Daily News Thursday reported the senior Foreign Ministry officials remarks, made at a recent -digital dialogue hosted by Sri Lanka’s Media Centre for National development, a month old initiative aimed at publicising the government’s efforts legally and internationally. Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva usually invoke sharp responses from nationalist forces within Sri Lanka’s Sinhala Buddhist majority. who see the process as targeting their country and interfering with its sovereignty.  The Rajapaksa government, whose core support comes from Sinhala Buddhist nationalists, has categorically rejected the UN Human Rights chief’s latest report, while accusing the Council of being politically motivated, even as a core group comprising the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, North Macedonia, Malawi and Montenegro tables the new resolution.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) U.S. Senator asks Secretary of Defence to raise concerns over eroding democratic values in India. Saying the Indian government is moving away from democratic values, the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Menendez has written to the U.S. Secretary of Defence, Lloyd Austin, asking him to raise concerns about democracy and India’s purchase of the S-400 Russian missile defence system during his visit to New Delhi. Austin is expected to meet Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and senior national security officials between March 19 and 21 when he is in New Delhi. He would like to see the U.S.-India partnership grow, but they must acknowledge that the partnership is strongest when based on shared democratic values and the Indian government has been trending away from those values, Menendez says in the letter dated March 17. Among his concerns, Menendez cites a crackdown on journalists and critics of the Indian government, the government’s handling of the farmer protests, the use of sedition laws, and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The Indian government’s ongoing crackdown on farmers peacefully protesting new farming laws and corresponding intimidation of journalists and government critics only underscores the deteriorating situation of democracy in India, Menendez says. Moreover, in recent years, rising anti-Muslim sentiment and related government actions like the Citizenship Amendment Act, the suppression of political dialogue and arrest of political opponents following the abrogation of Article 370 in Kashmir, and the use of sedition laws to persecute political opponents have resulted in the U.S. human rights group Freedom House stripping India of its ‘Free’ status in its yearly global survey, he says. India’s purchase of S-400 for just under $5.5 billion could attract sanctions under a 2017 law, the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) act. While India is not a treaty ally of the U.S. and is increasing its purchase of U.S. arms – mitigating circumstances as per U.S. law – the Menendez letter suggests that sanctions are still, an option as India is expected to take delivery of the S-400 later this year.

Pakistan Army chief calls for better relations with India. 

Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa said on Thursday that it was time for India and Pakistan to bury the past and move forward as he asserted that peace between the two neighbours would help to unlock the potential of South and Central Asia. Addressing a session of the first-ever Islamabad Security Dialogue in Islamabad, Gen. Bajwa also said that the potential for regional peace and development always remained hostage to the disputes and issues between Pakistan and India, the two nuclear-armed neighbours. They feel it is time to bury the past and move forward, he said, adding that the responsibility for a meaningful dialogue rested with India.

 

CURRENT AFFAIRS
18 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

A) Cancellation of 3 crore ration cards serious: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it was a very serious matter if the Centre has really cancelled around three crore ration cards, including those of tribals and the poor, solely because they could not be biometrically linked with Aadhaar. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde asked the Centre to respond to an allegation made in a petition by Koili Devi, represented by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, that such cancellations had led to starvation deaths across the country. The insistence on Aadhar and biometric authentication had led to the cancellation of nearly four crore ration cards in the country according to the Union of India. The Union of India casually gives an explanation that these cancelled cards were bogus. The real reason is that the technological system based on iris identification, thumb prints, non-possession of Aadhaar, non-functioning of the internet in rural and remote areas, etc, led to large-scale cancellation of ration cards without notice to the family concerned, a report submitted by the petitioner side said. Gonsalves said the petition is based on reports that an estimate of roughly two to four crore ration cards have been cancelled in the country without prior notice to the beneficiaries. Right to food, which the ration card symbolised, cannot be curbed or cancelled because of lack of Aadhaar.

B) Must act quickly to stop second ‘peak’ of Covid-19 cases, PM tells CMs. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday expressed concern over a rise in Covid-19 cases in parts of the country and called for quick and decisive steps to check the emerging second peak, PTI reported. In a virtual interaction with state chief ministers over the pandemic situation and the ongoing vaccination drive, Modi said in states like Maharashtra, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh, the number of Covid-19 cases has seen a rise, while nearly 70 districts in the country have seen an increase in the positivity rate by over 150% of late. If we do not stop it here, then a condition for a nationwide outbreak may emerge, he said and called for quick and decisive steps to stop it. Modi also spoke against wastage of vaccines. The average of Covid-19 vaccine wastage in India is 6.5%, with Telangana and Andhra Pradesh recording 17.6% and 11.6% wastage respectively, the Centre said today, as it called for optimal utilisation of the jabs.

C) Antilia bomb scare: Maharashtra police chief transferred. 

Under flak for ‘mishandling’ of the bomb scare outside Mukesh Ambani’s residence, the Maharashtra Government on Wednesday transferred Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh from the post. Senior IPS officer Hemant Nagrale, holding additional charge of Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP), will be the new Mumbai Police Commissioner and replace Singh, who has been posted to the State Home Guard, State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said. Deshmukh, who met Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray earlier in the day, made the announcement on Twitter amid speculation in media over Singh’s handling of the Sachin Vaze episode. Vaze is at the focus of a probe by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) in a case related to the recovery of an SUV with explosives near Ambani’s house in Mumbai. Vaze, arrested in the case on March 13 for his alleged role in the crime, was attached to the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of city police’s crime branch till recently.

D) Pilot killed in MiG-21 jet crash. 

A Group Captain of the IAF was killed on Wednesday morning when a MiG-21 Bison fighter jet crashed while taking off for a combat training mission from an airbase in central India. The IAF lost Group Captain A. Gupta in the tragic accident. The IAF expresses deep condolences and stands firmly with the family members, a statement said. The incident occurred at 10:50 a.m., it has been learnt. Wreckage of the Indian Air Force MiG-21 Bison fighter jet lies in a field in Gwalior on March 17, 2021. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered to determine the cause of the accident. The MiG-21 Bison is the only variant of the MiG-21 in service and is in the process of being phased out.

E) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,14,71,579 with the death toll at 1,61,680. Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu continue to report a high number of daily Covid-19 cases, accounting for 71.1% of the 28,903 new infections, the Union Health Ministry has said. It said 83.91% of the new cases are from Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Maharashtra alone accounts for 61.8% of the daily new cases, with 17,864 cases. It is followed by Kerala with 1,970, while Punjab reported 1,463 new cases, the Ministry said. Kerala is reporting a consistently declining trend over the last one month. India’s total active caseload has reached 2.34 lakh (2,34,406) comprising 2.05% of the total infections, the government said.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Peace with Pakistan will give India direct access to Central Asia, says Imran Khan. 

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said India will be benefit economically by having peace with his country as it will enable New Delhi to directly access the resource-rich Central Asia region through Pakistani territory. Delivering the inaugural address at the launch of the two-day Islamabad Security Dialogue, Khan also said that his government, after coming to power in 2018, did everything for better ties with India and it was for India to reciprocate. India will have to take the first step. Unless they do so, we cannot do much, he said. India last month said that it desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence. India has said the onus is on Pakistan to create an environment free of terror and hostility. India has also told Pakistan that talks and terror cannot go together and has asked Islamabad to take demonstrable steps against terror groups responsible for launching various attacks on India. Khan dwelt at length on the issue of peace in the region, including peace between Pakistan and India, saying the unresolved Kashmir issue was the biggest hurdle between the two countries. If India gives the Kashmiris their right under the UN (resolutions), it will be greatly beneficial for Pakistan as well as for India, he said and added, India can access Central Asia after peace. Khan said that having a direct route to the Central Asian region will economically benefit India. Central Asia is rich in oil and gas. Central Asia, in the modern context, generally includes five resource-rich countries — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

B) Georgia massage parlour shootings leave 8 dead; suspect captured. 

Shootings at two massage parlours in Atlanta and one in the suburbs Tuesday evening left eight people dead, many of them women of Asian descent, authorities said. A 21-year-old man suspected in the shootings was taken into custody in southwest Georgia hours later after a manhunt, police said. The attacks began around 5 p.m., when five people were shot at Youngs Asian Massage Parlour in a strip mall near a rural area in Acworth, about 50 km north of Atlanta. Two people died at the scene and three were transported to a hospital where two of them also died. Around 5:50 p.m., police in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta, responding to a call of a robbery in progress, found three women dead from apparent gunshot wounds at Gold Spa. While they were at that scene, they learned of a call reporting shots fired at another spa across the street, Aromatherapy Spa, and found a woman who appeared to have been shot dead inside the business. It appears that they may be Asian, Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said. The killings came amid a recent wave of attacks against Asian Americans that coincided with the spread of the coronavirus across the United States.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
17 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) Parliamentary panel flags slow pace of vaccinations. 

A parliamentary panel on home affairs observed that till now, less than 1% of the Indian population has been vaccinated and at this rate it will take many years to vaccinate the whole population.  The parliamentary standing committee on home affairs, headed by Congress leader Anand Sharma, tabled the report in Rajya Sabha on Monday. The Committee also expresses its concern that a large number of people are missing the second dose of the vaccine. The Committee believes that it is a very serious issue as the virus is mutating and new variants of Covid-19 are being reported in different parts of the world, the report said. The committee recommended that all frontline health workers and corona warriors, including central armed police force (CAPF) personnel and State police receive the recommended doses of vaccine. An attempt should be made to cover maximum people as early as possible, the report said. It added that that vaccination in Lakshadweep can be done for everyone as the population is very small (around 70,000) and the medical facilities are limited. Officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs also told the panel that a special campaign against vaccine hesitancy has been launched. Further, regular reviews are being undertaken with States and UTs for increasing the pace of vaccination drive and advisories have been issued to them on various operational aspects of Covid-19 vaccination, the Ministry said.

B) Census, NPR data to be ready before 2024 polls: MHA. 

The provisional data for the latest Census and National Population Register (NPR) will be available before the next general elections in 2024, according to information provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to a parliamentary committee. The MHA informed the committee that Census, updation of NPR, will be among the major thrust areas for the financial year 2021-22. The last Census was conducted in 2011 and NPR, which has a database of 119 crore residents, was last updated in 2015. The first phase of Census-House listing and Housing Census that was to be conducted along with NPR from April 1, 2020, was indefinitely postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The MHA shared a tentative time line with the parliamentary panel, saying that provisional Census results will be released in financial year 2023-24 and the primary Census abstracts (PCA) will provide village-level data on important indicators. A mobile application has been developed for collecting the Census details and NPR and residents can also self-enumerate. The fieldwork for the first phase of Census 2021 that will provide data on housing conditions, household amenities and assets possessed by the households is expected in 2021-22. The fieldwork for population enumeration phase to provide data on demography, religion, SC/ST, language, literacy and education, economic activity, migration and fertility will be done in 2023-24. The committee was informed that the mobile app through which Census will be conducted will be available in 16 languages. MHA said the NPR database has been created by collecting family-wise data and it can be strengthened by linking Aadhaar to each member.

C) P.C. Chacko to formally join NCP.

Former Congress leader P.C. Chacko, who quit the party last week, on Tuesday announced that he will formally join the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) headed by Sharad Pawar. Chacko, who quit the Congress over his differences with the party leaders in Kerala, said NCP is a partner of the CPI (M)-led LDF in the southern state and he would work for the victory of the Left candidates in the April 6 Assembly polls. Announcing his resignation from the Congress last week, Chacko had alleged group interest in deciding party candidates for the coming assembly elections.

D) Swapan Dasgupta resigns from Rajya Sabha. 

Rajya Sabha member Swapan Dasgupta on Tuesday resigned from Upper House after questions were raised about him contesting the West Bengal Assembly polls on a BJP ticket despite being a nominated MP. Dasgupta found himself in a tight spot after Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra pointed out that he, a nominated MP, should be disqualified from the Upper House of Parliament. Swapan Dasgupta is BJP candidate for WB polls. 10th Schedule of Constitution says nominated RS member to be disqualified if he joins any political party AFTER expiry of 6 months from oath. He was sworn in April 2016, remains unallied. Must be disqualified NOW for joining BJP, Moitra tweeted on Monday, sharing the specific clause of the 10th Schedule of the Constitution. Dasgupta was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in April 2016 and his term expires in April 2022. Congress chief whip Jairam Ramesh has reportedly written to Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu seeking clarification about the nominated MP contesting Assembly polls in Bengal on a party ticket.

E) Cabinet approves Bill to set up a Development Finance Institution. 

The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a Bill to set up a Development Finance Institution (DFI) to generate funds for investment in the infrastructure sector. The proposed legislation will give effect to the Budget announcement made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1. The government has proposed ₹20,000 crore to capitalise the institution. The Cabinet has cleared this Bill, through which we will have an institution and institutional arrangement, which will help in increasing long term funds, she said after the meeting of the Cabinet. The proposed DFI will have 50% non-official directors, Sitharaman added. In her Budget 2019-20 speech, Sitharaman had proposed a study for setting up DFIs for promoting infrastructure funding. About 7,000 projects have been identified under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) with a projected investment of a whopping ₹111 lakh crore during 2020-25.

F) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,14,10,302 with the death toll at 1,61,464. The Health Ministry has cautioned Maharashtra to plan for a worst-case scenario with sufficient lead time as the State continues to report the maximum number of new daily Covid-19 cases and deaths across India. It has also directed the resumption of death audits to support public health action and minimise mortality. In its communication to the State earlier this week, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that while the available health infrastructure was adequate, Maharashtra needed to look into vaccine hesitancy among front-line workers, as their services would be required if the trajectory follows the upward swing as is being witnessed now. The State should also expedite vaccinating those with co-morbidities and elderlies. After its visit, the Central team has recommended that treating physicians should be re-sensitised on clinical management protocols. The report was submitted after the Central team visited Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, Dhule, Jalgaon and Aurangabad. Previously, the team had covered the Vidarbha region.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) China to allow Indian travellers only if they take Chinese vaccines.

A number of China’s overseas missions, including its embassy in New Delhi, have announced they will begin facilitating travellers provided they have taken Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccines. Indians have been barred from travelling to China since November last year, when China suspended valid visas and residents permits not just for travellers from India but for most countries, citing Covid-19 concerns. The ban has been a particular concern for many Indian students enrolled in Chinese universities, who have been unable to return to China. There are at least 23,000 Indians studying in China, most in medical colleges. The March 15 announcement will bring little relief for them as Chinese-made vaccines are not available in India. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday China stands ready to advance mutual recognition of vaccines with other countries, but that process is expected to take time. For now, the limited easing of the travel ban will only apply to travellers who have taken Chinese vaccines. Indian students, who account for the fourth-largest segment of international students in China, have faced particular obstacles, the South China Morning Post reported last month, with many of the Chinese apps used for online teaching banned last year, when India restricted more than 200 Chinese apps in the wake of the June border clash in the Galwan Valley. After WeChat was banned and students complained to their colleges, one university, the newspaper reported, began to use the Alibaba-owned DingTalk and Tencent’s Meeting for online classes. Eventually, those apps were banned as well. The larger concern for the students, who will have to pass challenging exams in India after graduation to be able to practice, is their inability to receive laboratory training as they remain unable to return.

B) U.K. turns to Indo-Pacific in post-Brexit foreign policy. 

Britain wants to expand its influence among countries in the Indo-Pacific region to try to moderate China’s global dominance, a document laying out post-Brexit foreign and defence policy priorities said on Tuesday. The document sets out a planned increase of Britain’s nuclear warhead stockpile by more than 40% to weigh against evolving global security threats, and underlines the importance of strong ties with the U.S. while naming Russia as the top regional threat. Britain’s biggest foreign and defence policy review since the end of the Cold War sets out how Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to be at the forefront of a reinvigorated, rules-based international order based on cooperation and free trade. Calling the Indo-Pacific increasingly the geopolitical centre of the world, the government highlighted a planned British aircraft carrier deployment to the region. China and the U.K. both benefit from bilateral trade and investment, but China also presents the biggest state-based threat to the U.K.’s economic security, the report said.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
16 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) More than half of OBC and above 40% of SC/ST faculty positions in central institutions unfilled: Education Minister.

There are only nine professors from Scheduled Tribe communities across all 42 Central Universities, according to data presented in the Lok Sabha on Monday. At the 20 Indian Institutes of Management, only five of the posts reserved for STs have been filled. In a written response to a question from three Congress MPs on the vacancies in reserved positions at all central educational institutions, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank told the Lok Sabha that more than half of the positions reserved for OBCs, and about 40% of those reserved for Scheduled Castes and Tribes are vacant. The situation is particularly acute in the elite IIMs, where more than 60% of positions reserved for SCs and OBCs are vacant, while a whopping 80% of positions reserved for STs have not been filled. This means that out of 24 positions reserved for STs, only five have been filled. For the Indian Institutes of Technology, data has only been provided for non-faculty positions. Both IITs and IIMs have been lobbying for exemption from such faculty quota requirements. Nishank’s response to another question from Congress MP N. Uttam Kumar Reddy showed that within the Central Universities, vacancies are higher at the level of professors. Out of 709 assistant professor positions reserved for STs at the 42 universities, more than 500 have been filled. However, when it comes to professors, only nine positions have been filled out of the 137 reserved for ST candidates. This means 93% of these posts remain unfilled. Less than 1% of the 1,062 professors in central universities are from ST communities. Similarly, 64% of the 2,206 assistant professor positions reserved for OBCs have been filled at the Central Universities. However, less than 5% of the 378 professor positions reserved for OBCs have been filled. According to the data presented in the Lok Sabha on Monday, there are now 6,074 vacant positions at the 42 universities, of which 75% are in reserved categories.

B) MHA moves Bill to make L-G’s nod must for all Delhi govt. decisions; Kejriwal calls it ‘unconstitutional’

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) moved The National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2021 in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Bill proposes that government in the national capital territory of Delhi means the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. The Bill gives discretionary powers to the L-G of Delhi even in matters where the Legislative Assembly of Delhi is empowered to make laws. The proposed legislation also seeks to ensure that the L-G is necessarily granted an opportunity to give her/his opinion before any decision taken by the Council of Ministers (or the Delhi Cabinet) is implemented. Among other things, the Bill seeks to amend Section 33 of the Act that empowered the Delhi Assembly to make rules to conduct its business by inserting the clause that it shall not be inconsistent with the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in House of People. The amendment says that Legislative Assembly shall not make any rule to enable itself or its Committees to consider the matters of day-to-day administration of the Capital or conduct inquiries in relation to the administrative decisions and any such rules made before the commencement of the Act shall be void. Legal experts have opined that this particular amendment puts a question mark over the ongoing enquiry by the Delhi Assembly into the February 2020 Delhi riots. Reacting to the Bill, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of seeking to drastically curtail the powers of his elected government. He also said that the bill is contrary to Constitution Bench judgement.

C) Batla House encounter: Delhi court awards death penalty to Ariz Khan for killing inspector. 

A Delhi court Monday awarded death penalty to Ariz Khan for the murder of police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma in the 2008 Batla House encounter case. Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav also imposed a total fine of ₹11 lakh against Ariz in the case. The court said ₹10 lakh should be immediately released to the family members of Sharma. Police sought death penalty for Ariz, allegedly associated with the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen, saying it was not just any killing but a murder of a law enforcement officer who was a defender of justice. Additional Public Prosecutor A.T. Ansari, appearing for the police, said the case attracts exemplary punishment, which is capital punishment. Advocate M.S. Khan, appearing for Ariz, opposed the death penalty and said the incident was not premeditated. Additional Sessions Judge Sandeep Yadav also imposed a total fine of ₹11 lakh against Ariz Khan in the case. Inspector Sharma of the special cell was killed during the 2008 Batla House encounter in Jamia Nagar in south Delhi. The trial court had sentenced Indian Mujahideen terrorist Shahzad Ahmed in July 2013 to life imprisonment in connection with the case. His appeal against the verdict has been pending in the high court. Ariz Khan had fled from the spot and was declared a proclaimed offender. He was arrested on February 14, 2018, and faced the trial.

D) NCB moves Supreme Court against Bombay HC order granting bail to Rhea Chakraborty. 

The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Bombay High Court order granting bail to actress Rhea Chakraborty, arrested over drugs-related charges in actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case. A Bench of Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian will hear the plea on March 18. On October 7 last year, the Bombay High Court had granted bail to the actress and directed her to deposit a personal bond of ₹1 lakh. It had, however, rejected the bail plea of her brother Showik Chakraborty, who is also an accused in the case, and an alleged drug peddler Abdel Basit Parihar. Rhea, her brother and the other accused were arrested in September last year by the NCB in connection with its probe into the drugs angle related to the case of Rajput’s death. Earlier this month, in a chargesheet running into nearly 12,000 pages and containing statements from more than 200 witnesses, the NCB had named 33 people, including Chakraborty and Showik. The actress was accused of being an active member of a drugs syndicate and financing narcotics used by Sushant Singh Rajput.

E) SC asks Centre, EC to respond to plea for fresh polls if most votes are NOTA. 

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre and the Election Commission of India (EC) to respond to a plea that fresh elections should be conducted in constituencies where the maximum votes polled are NOTA. The petition said candidates ‘rejected’ by voters should not be fielded again in the fresh polls. During the hearing, Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde expressed doubts initially about the feasibility of the petition by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay to arm the electorate with the right to reject and nudge political parties to present voters with a better choice of candidates to pick from. Chief Justice Bobde said if voters kept rejecting candidates, Parliament/Assembly seats would continue to remain vacant, affecting legislative functioning. It is a constitutional problem. If your argument is accepted and there is a certain number of NOTAs, then the constituency will go unrepresented in the Parliament. How will the Parliament function then? Chief Justice Bobde asked senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, who represented Upadhyay. But Guruswamy replied that if voters are given the power to reject, political parties will take care to field worthy candidates in the first place.  The petition noted how parties spent crores of rupees on the candidates. The CJI also flagged during the hearing the issue whether a political party could influence voters to not vote in a particular constituency. However, Guruswamy prevailed, which led the court to agree to examine the issue raised in the petition.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Adani Ports confirms role in Colombo terminal project. 

In its first confirmation yet of investing in the Colombo Port, after much controversy within Sri Lanka and an apparent strain in Indo-Lanka ties, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones on Monday said it was bolstering its global footprint with the West Container Terminal (WCT) project in the island nation’s strategic port. The Group announced its expansion in the neighbourhood, even as the Bloomberg Billionaires Index showed group chairman Gautam Adani having accumulated more billions than anyone else in the world this year, with his net worth soaring by $16.2 billion in 2021. Tweeting on the Colombo Port investment, Mr. Adani said that he is Grateful to the leaders of Gol, GOSL, SLPA & John Keells for the opportunity to build wcr, Colombo. This partnership is a symbol of the deep strategic relations between countries with great intertwined history. It will launch decades of container growth. The Adani Group’s investment in the WCT project comes after the Sri Lankan government, in early February, ejected India and Japan out of a 2019 trilateral agreement to jointly develop the East Container Terminal (ECT) at the Colombo Port, as trade unions opposed foreign involvement in the country’s national assets. In what Colombo termed a compromise, the government offered the WCT instead, with higher stakes for the Adani Group, along with its local partner and Sri Lanka’s largest conglomerate John Keells Holdings, to execute the project with the Sri Lanka Ports Authority.

B) Pak. envoy raises concern over ‘burkha ban’ in Sri Lanka. 

The Pakistani High Commissioner in Colombo has raised concern over Sri Lanka’s recent announcement on outlawing the burkha, noting that such a ban would injure the feelings of ordinary Muslims in Sri Lanka and elsewhere. Sharing a news report on the development, head of the Pakistani mission Saad Khattak on Monday said in a Twitter thread : The likely ban on Niqab #SriLanka will only serve as injury to the feelings of ordinary Sri Lankan Muslims and Muslims across the globe. At today’s economically difficult time due to Pandemic and other image related challenges faced by the country at international fora, such divisive steps in the name of Security, besides accentuating economic difficulties, will only serve as fillip to further strengthen wider apprehensions about fundamental human rights of minorities in the country. Coming two days after Sri Lanka’s Public Security Minister announced his government’s decision to prohibit the wearing of the burkha, the Pakistani High Commissioner’s remark is the first reaction to the move from the international community. Mr. Khattak’s reference to other image related challenges faced by the country at international fora assumes significance just a week ahead of the vote on Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council, where Pakistan is currently a member.

C) Catholic Church cannot bless same-sex unions, says Vatican. 

The Vatican said on Monday that priests and other Roman Catholic Church ministers cannot bless same-sex unions and that such blessings are not licit if carried out. The ruling was a response to practices in some countries, such as the U.S. and Germany, where parishes and ministers have begun blessing same-sex unions in lieu of marriage, and calls for bishops to defacto institutionalize these. In response to formal questions from a number of dioceses on whether this practice was allowed, the Vatican’s doctrinal office, the Congregation for the doctrine of the Faith (CDF), issued the ruling Negative. Pope Francis approved the response, the CDF said, adding that it was not indiscrimination, but rather a reminder of the truth of the liturgical rite. It said such blessings were not permissible even though they were motivated by a sincere desire to welcome and accompany homosexual persons and help them grow in the faith.

CURRENT AFFAIRS
15 March 2021

NATIONAL NEWS:

 

A) BJP announces list of candidates for Assembly elections.

Eminent economist Ashok Lahiri and Rajya Sabha MP and journalist Swapan Dasgupta were among the 63 candidates the BJP announced on Sunday for the third and fourth phase of polls on April 6 and 10. The party released names of 112 candidates for Kerala, where it will be contesting in 115 out of 140 Assembly seats, 17 names for Assam and 63 candidates for the third and fourth phase of elections in West Bengal. Mr. Lahiri, member of the 15th Finance Commission, former Chief Economic Advisor to the government of India and former reader Delhi School of Economics, will be contesting from Alipurduar constituency in north Bengal. The economist who has also co-authored a book India Decides, Elections 1952-89 with David Butler and Prannoy Roy, is the most surprise inclusion in the BJP list. Mr. Dasgupta will be contesting from the Tarakeshwar Assembly seat in Hooghly district. The list included four MPs including Mr. Dasgupta. Union Minister and Asansol Lok Sabha MP Babul Surpiyo will contest from the Tollygunj seat in south Kolkata, Hooghly Lok Sabha MP Locket Chatterjee from Chunchura and Cooch Behar MP Nisith Pramanik from Dinhata. The Trinamool Congress has given nomination to only one MP. The BJP has also given the ticket to Trinamool Congress dissident leaders who recently switched sides. Prominent among them is former Minister Rajib Banerjee who will contest from Domjur in Howrah. Four-time TMC MLA from Singur Rabindranath Bhattacharya (88) will contest from the same seat. TMC MLA from Diamond Harbour Dipak Halder, who quit the party a few weeks ago, has been given a ticket from the same seat. Among the prominent names fielded by the party in Kerala meanwhile, are ‘metroman’ E Sreedharan from Palakkad and former Union Minister KJ Alphons from the Kanjirappally assembly seat.

B) BJP announces seventeen candidates for Tamil Nadu. 

The BJP announced a list of 17 candidates today for the Tamil Nadu Assembly poll to be held on April 6. The party had been allotted 20 seats by the AIADMK. Hours after DMK MLA from Thiruparankundram, P. Saravanan, joined the BJP, the national party rewarded him with a ticket to contest the Assembly poll from the Madurai North constituency. Mr. Saravanan had been elected to the State Assembly in a bypoll. He was denied a ticket by the DMK this time around. Mr. Saravanan is the second DMK MLA to switch to the BJP. Earlier, Thousand Lights MLA Ku. Ka. Selvam had joined the BJP but the seat has now been given to actor-politician Khushbu Sundar. BJP Tamil Nadu president L. Murugan said Mr. Selvam didn’t want to contest. As per the list announced by the BJP, Mr. Murugan will contest from Dharapuram (Reserved) constituency. He will be contesting against the DMK’s Kayalvizhi Selvaraj. Vanathi Srinivasan has been named as candidate for Coimbatore South, where she will be facing off against actor-politician Kamal Haasan and Congress’ Mayura Jayakumar. Ms. Khushbu Sundar, who had been campaigning hard at Chepauk-Triplicane as the party’s election in-charge of the constituency, will be taking on N. Ezhilan, a physician, of the DMK at Thousand Lights constituency.

C) EC suspends two IPS officers for failure to protect Mamata Banerjee in Nadigram incident.

The Election Commission on Sunday ordered the suspension of two IPS officers for their failure to protect West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee during an incident in Nandigram on March 10 that left her with injuries. Ms. Banerjee was campaigning for the ongoing state Assembly elections when she was allegedly pushed by unidentified people, leaving her with injuries to her leg. The EC met on Sunday to discuss the reports submitted to it by the West Bengal Chief Secretary and special general observer Ajay Nayak and special police observer Vivek Dube on the incident, the EC said in a statement. After going through the reports, the EC ordered the removal and suspension of West Bengal Director, Security Vivek Sahay and Purba Medinipur Superintendent of Police Pravin Prakash. Regarding Mr. Sahay, the EC said: The charges must be framed against him within a week for grossly failing in discharge of his primary duty as Director Security to protect the Z+ protectee. The EC also ordered charges to be framed against Mr. Prakash for major failure of bandobast and replaced him with 2009 batch IPS officer Sunil Kumar Yadav. The EC said the Chief Secretary, in consultation with the Director General of Police, was authorised to post a Director Security and was required to inform the Commission of the posting by 1pm on Monday. The EC also said the Chief Secretary and DGP should identify other security officials who failed to prevent the incident and take action against them by 5pm on Wednesday. The EC also transferred Purba Medinipur District Magistrate Vibhu Goel and appointed 2005 batch IAS officer Smita Pandey in place. The commission asked the Chief Secretary to make sure the case was investigated in the next 15 days.

D) We talked about strengthening Congress in Jammu, says Kapil Sibal.

The group of 23 letter writers (G-23), who had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi last August asking for reforms, were not dissenters but protectors of the Congress legacy, senior Congress leader and a key member of the G-23, Kapil Sibal, said on Sunday in an interview with The Hindu. Mr. Sibal spoke about their public meeting at Jammu on February 27 and asserted that the leaders spoke about strengthening the Congress at the Jammu meet. He claimed there may have been 23 signatories to their letter, submitted in August 2020, but many more people within the party support their views. An excerpt: We are not anti anybody, we are pro Congress. We believe that the Congress needs to be strengthened. And this exactly what we said in Jammu, that we must all strengthen the Congress party together. Because that is the only national alternative that can stem the rot that has set in at the instance of this government. The great legacy of this country, which is reflected in the Constitution of India, is being destroyed. The government is dismantling all Constitutional structures. In fact, in my speech at Jammu [on February 27], I attacked the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), saying that the assets of this country are in the hands of just a few people. We are not dissenters, we are protectors of the Congress party and that is what we displayed in Jammu in the course of our speeches, Mr Sibal said.

E) Antila scare: Vaze sent to NIA custody.

A special court on Sunday remanded assistant police inspector Sachin Vaze to the custody of National Investigation Agency (NIA) till March 25 in connection with the recovery of an explosives laden car found abandoned next to Mukesh Ambani’s residence on February 25. NIA’s spokesperson said Mr. Vaze was arrested at 11.50 pm on March 13 for his role and involvement in placing explosives laden vehicle near Carmichael Road. The SUV car was found with 20 gelatin sticks on February 25 and the police said the car was stolen from Airoli-Mulund Bridge on February 18. Mr. Vaze has been arrested under sections 286 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance), 465 (punishment for forgery), 473 (making or possessing counterfeit seal, etc., with intent to commit forgery punishable otherwise), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) 120 B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and The Explosive Substances Act. The car’s owner Mansukh Hiren, an auto parts dealer was found on March 5 in Kalwa creek. The case was transferred from Maharashtra Police to NIA on March 8. On March 12, a sessions court at Thane rejected Mr Vaze’s pre arrest bail in Hiren’s murder. Mr. Vaze is known as an ‘encounter specialist’ of the Mumbai police. He was suspended for 17 years after being arrested in the custodial death of a 27-year-old software engineer Khwaja Yunus. But he was granted bail after 58 days of being in custody. He was reinstated in June 2020 citing the requirement of officers in the force. He led the Raigad police team to arrest the editor-in-chief of Republic TV, Arnab Goswami, in the case of death of architect Anvay Naik and was probing the television rating points manipulation case as a crime branch officer.

F) RLSP merges with JD(U) as Kushwaha made parliamentary board chief.

After much flip-flop, the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) on Sunday merged with Bihar ruling Janata Dal (United) and its chief and former Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha was appointed as president of the JD(U) parliamentary board. The decision to merge with the JD(U) was taken at the party’s two-day meeting here and the people of Bihar too wanted it. It will make Bihar stronger and we’ll work under leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, said Mr. Kushwaha before rushing to the State JD(U) headquarters for the ceremony. Mr. Kumar and senior party leaders welcomed him into the party. We’ve worked together and will be together again. We welcome all RLSP leaders into the party to make Bihar strong. Though, he [Mr. Kushwaha] told us that he doesn’t have any ambition we’ve decided to appoint him as president of the JD(U) parliamentary board from now, said Mr. Kumar. We’re very happy with the merger, he said. Mr. Kumar also dwelt upon the prohibition policy and comments made on social media. Use social media for positive things, he urged. We all welcome you [Mr. Kushwaha] to the party which you nursed and expanded along with us, said senior JD(U) leader and party MP Rajeev Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh. A large number of RLSP and JD(U) workers were present.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

A) Crypto investor buys $70 mn digital artwork. 

The buyer of a $70 million digital-only artwork was named on Friday by auction house Christie’s as a crypto asset investor who goes by the pseudonym Metakovan. The auction to buy the work by digital artist Beeple was the first ever sale by a major auction house of a piece of digital art that does not exist in physical form. The work is in the form of a new kind of digital asset: a Non-Fungible Token (NFT). This means that it is authenticated by blockchain, which certifies its originality and ownership. Metakovan, whose real name was not disclosed, is the founder of Metapurse, the world’s largest NFT fund, Christie’s said in a statement. The work, called Everydays: The First 5000 Days is a collage of 5,000 individual images, which were made one-per-day over more than thirteen years. It sold for $69,346,250, which Metakovan paid in the form of cryptocurrency Ether. The sale put Beeple into the top three most valuable living artists, Christie’s said, trailing only David Hockney and Jeff Koons. When you think of highvalued NFTs, this one is going to be pretty hard to beat. And here’s why it represents 13 years of everyday work, Metakovan said in a statement.

B) Sri Lanka asks Amazon to not sell flag-themed items. 

Sri Lanka has asked retail giant Amazon to take down bikinis, briefs and doormats featuring the nation’s lion flag from its site, authorities said on Sunday, two days after it protested against the Chinese-made products. The country is highly sensitive to what it sees as any misuse of its national flag, as well as Buddhist symbols. Sri Lanka said it had lodged a formal protest with the online retailer and asked Chinese authorities to ensure an end to the manufacture and sale of similar products. The company which marketed the product on Amazon was requested by letter from the embassy to immediately cease selling the doormats and any such products, misusing the Sri Lanka flag, the Sri Lankan Embassy in China said. Sri Lanka’s Embassy in Washington said it had also complained to the U.S. government over what it called a violation of intellectual property rights of the South Asian nation. However, two days after Sri Lanka’s intervention, dozens of retailers were still selling the flag-themed items. Several Chinese vendors on Amazon were offering the doormat at prices ranging from $10 to $24, and the lion-printed briefs and bikini from $9.20 to $17.30. This is how the Chinese see Sri Lanka, said one Facebook user. Another suggested the doormat was a forewarning of how future relations might play out in light of Sri Lanka’s huge debt to China.

C) Ireland, Italian region halt AstraZeneca shots. 

Ireland on Sunday became the latest country to suspend the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine over concerns about patients developing post-jab blood clots, as nations across the world sought to step up their COVID-19 immunisation drives. Several countries including Denmark, Norway and Bulgaria last week paused the rollout of vaccines from the Anglo/Swedish pharma giant over fears of blood clots. The World Health Organization has said no causal link had been established between the vaccine and blood clotting. The manufacturer and Europe’s medicines watchdog have also insisted that the vaccine is safe. An AstraZeneca spokesman said that an analysis of our safety data that covers reported cases from more than 17 million doses of vaccine administered has shown no evidence of an increased risk in blood clot conditions. In fact, the reported numbers of these types of events for COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca are lower than the number that would have occurred naturally in the unvaccinated population. Shortfall in deliveries AstraZeneca’s shot is among the cheapest available, and forms a bulk of deliveries to poorer nations under the WHO-backed Covax initiative, which aims to ensure the equitable global distribution of vaccines. A spokesman for Ireland’s health ministry told AFP that the administration of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca is temporarily deferred from this morning, Sunday 14th March. The move came after Ireland’s National Immunisation Advisory Committee recommended suspending the rollout as a precaution after a report from the Norwegian Medicines Agency of four new reports of serious blood clotting events in adults after vaccination. Meanwhile, Italy’s northern region of Piedmont said on Sunday it would stop using a batch of AstraZeneca coronavirus shots after a teacher died following his vaccination on Saturday.