Tag: Latest Affairs

NATIONAL NEWS 

Pegasus issue: SC agrees to Centre’s request to adjourn hearing of pleas for independent probe

The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to the Centre’s request to adjourn the hearing of petitions for an independent probe into allegations of the government using Israeli-based Pegasus spyware to snoop on citizens. A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana adjourned the hearing to September 13 after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said he could not meet with officials to discuss the issue. Mehta indicated that the government may be filing an affidavit in the case, and he needed time to meet with the officials concerned. Earlier, in August, the government had filed a two-page affidavit denying all and any allegations. Haven’t you already filed an affidavit? the CJI referred to the August affidavit. Mehta submitted that the court had left it open for the government to file another, detailed affidavit, if necessary. The court had issued pre-admission in the case on August 17. In fact, on that day, the government had argued against a public hearing of the case, citing national security concerns. The Centre had asked the court, instead, to allow it to form an independent committee of experts to look into Pegasus snooping reports. As a responsible government, we are submitting that we will form a Committee of neutral experts, whose report will be placed before the Supreme Court… I repeat, it is not my case that I will not divulge anything. All will be revealed before the Committee… Let me do that before a Committee… Permit us to form a Committee… We will place its report before the Supreme Court itself, Mehta had urged the court on August 17. The court had, however, made it clear that there was no question of compromising national security. We are not going to ask you to divulge anything that will harm the defence of the nation… We are extremely reluctant to say anything on that. But the question here is that there are some persons of eminence who have come here, saying there has been interception of their phones… That can be done, but with the permission of the competent authority… What is the problem if that competent authority filed an affidavit before us? In the affidavit we don’t want a single word on any aspect that relates to the security of the nation… All we are saying is that we are issuing simple notice… Let the competent authority say to what extent what information can be disclosed, Justice Surya Kant had explained. 

Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel’s father arrested for ‘derogatory’ remarks against community 

The Raipur Police have arrested Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel’s father, Nand Kumar Baghel, from Delhi in a case registered against him for allegedly making derogatory remarks against a community, an official said here on Tuesday. After being brought from the national capital, Nand Kumar Baghel was produced in a local court which sent him to jail under judicial remand for 15 days, he said. The CM had strongly disapproved of the objectionable remarks allegedly made by his 86-year-old father and asserted nobody is above law. Nand Kumar Baghel was arrested and brought from Delhi to Raipur on Tuesday, Raipur Additional Superintendent of Police Tarkeshwar Patel said. He was produced in the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Janak Kumar Hidko, who sent him to 15-day judicial custody, he added. According to police, the octogenarian did not apply for bail. The case against Nand Kumar Baghel was lodged on Saturday night at the DD Nagar police station in Raipur on a complaint filed by the ‘Sarv Brahmin Samaj’ against him. He was charged under Indian Penal Code Sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) and 505(1)(b) (with intent to cause, or likely to cause, fear or alarm to public, or to any section of public whereby any person may be induced to commit offence against the State or against public tranquility), police had said. The outfit, in its complaint, alleged that the CM’s father recently made a controversial appeal to people to boycott Brahmins by calling them foreigners, and asked people to not let them enter their villages. The organisation also accused Nand Kumar Baghel of asking people to evict Brahmins from the country. The organisation had said a video of the purported comments of the CM’s father was available on social media platforms. According to the police, Nand Kumar Baghel reportedly made the remarks while addressing an event in Uttar Pradesh recently. After a controversy erupted over the alleged remarks of his father, the Chief Minister had said he was pained and asserted nobody was above law and police will take appropriate action in the matter. The remarks made by my father Nand Kumar Baghel against a specific class have come to my attention. The comments have hurt the sentiments of the class as well as (affected) social harmony and I am also pained by them, Bhupesh Baghel had said in a statement. Nobody is above law under my government even if he is the chief minister’s 86-year-old father, the Congress CM had added. The statement further reiterated that Chhattisgarh government respects every religion, caste and community and their sentiments, and gives equal importance to everyone. 

Rona Wilson granted 14 days bail for father’s last rites 

A special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on Tuesday granted 14 days bail to activist Rona Wilson to complete his father’s last rites. Wilson, accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence case, was arrested on March 6, 2018, and is currently lodged at Taloja Central Jail. He will be released on a personal bond of ₹50,000 with one or two sureties. Special Judge D.E. Kothalikar directed that Wilson be released from September 13 to September 27 so that he could go to his home in Kerala and attend a mass for his father scheduled on September 16. Wilson’s father passed away on August 18 and he moved the special court seeking permission on September 1 to go home. His plea, filed through advocate R. Satyanarayan, sought interim bail of two weeks on humanitarian grounds as meeting his family would bring him some solace. The court granted bail on condition that Wilson would submit details of travel to the NIA Superintendent with address of stay at Kerala; he would submit details of at least three blood relations with proof of residential and work addresses; he would surrender his passport before the court; he would mark his presence on September 14 and September 24; and he would surrender on September 27 at 6 p.m. The NIA opposed the plea and said, Neither is his [Mr. Wilson’s] presence necessary nor has he proved that the ceremonial mass at the church could not happen in his absence. He is simply creating a ground to be released. 

Farmers gather in Karnal for mahapanchayat, talks with officials ‘fail’ 

Farmers gathered in large numbers in Karnal for a mahapanchayat as the local authorities braced themselves for a possible gherao of the district headquarters by protesters after talks between farm leaders and officials appeared to yield no result. Farmer unions had demanded action against officials over the lathicharge against protesters on August 28 in Karnal. Otherwise, they had threatened, farmers will lay siege to the Karnal mini-Secretariat. As farmers gathered for the mahapanchayat, an 11-member delegation was invited by the local administration to discuss their demands and dissuade them from marching towards the secretariat. The administration did not agree to our demands, Haryana Bhartiya Kisan Union [Chaduni] leader Gurnam Singh Chaduni told reporters three hours after the talks began. He said the talks had failed to yield results. Now, the next course of action will be decided at the mahapanchayat, he said when asked if the protesters will go ahead with their plan to gherao the district headquarters, a few kilometres away. BKU leader Rakesh Tikait told reporters that they had demanded the suspension of the IAS officer who was caught on tape allegedly telling policemen to break heads of protesting farmers if they crossed the line. Rakesh Tikait, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Joginder Singh Ugrahan, Darshan Pal and Yogendra Yadav were among the senior Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) leaders who had reached Karnal for the rally being held days after a huge mahapanchayat in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar. Farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have been protesting for months over the three farm laws enacted by the Centre, claiming that the legislation will lead to the erosion of the minimum support price (MSP) system.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Taliban disperse Kabul rally, arrest journalists 

As many Afghans took to the streets staging small, isolated demonstrations in various cities, including the capital Kabul, Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif, the Taliban on Tuesday fired shots into the air to disperse crowds. The protesters, mainly women, had gathered for an anti-Pakistan rally in the capital, the latest protest since the hardline Islamist movement swept to power last month. Tuesday’s demonstration comes after the Taliban claimed total control over Afghanistan a day earlier, saying they had won the key battle for the Panjshir Valley, the last holdout of resistance against their rule. The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA), however, rejected their claim and said the NRF forces are present in all strategic positions across the valley to continue the fight against the Taliban. Panjshir, which was the last hideout of the escapee enemy, is captured, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid had said in a press conference on Monday. However, Ahmad Massoud, son of a hero of the resistance to the Soviets and the Taliban, remained defiant and said that the NRFA is still fighting strategically and that the valley is still not captured by Taliban. Earlier on Monday, Taliban announced that Mullah Baradar, the militant group co-founder, would head the government. Hours after this announcement, however, the Taliban postponed the formation of the government by a week.

 

Germany protests to Russia over pre-poll cyberattacks. 

Germany has protested to Russia over attempts to steal data from lawmakers in what it suspects may have been preparation to spread disinformation before the upcoming German election, the Foreign Ministry in Berlin said Monday. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Andrea Sasse said that a hacker outfit called Ghostwriter has been Pcombining conventional cyberattacks with disinformation and influence operations, and that activities targeting Germany have been observed for some time. She said that, ahead of Germany’s parliamentary election on Sept. 26, there have been attempts – using phishing emails, among other things — to get hold of personal login details of federal and state lawmakers, with the aim of identity theft. These attacks could serve as preparations for influence operations such as disinformation campaigns connected with the parliamentary election, she told reporters in Berlin. The German government has reliable information on the basis of which Ghostwriter activities can be attributed to cyber-actors of the Russian state and, specifically, Russia’s GRU military intelligence service, Sasse said.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Vacancies in key tribunals: ‘Not interested in confrontation but you are testing our patience,’ SC tells govt.

A Special Bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana said it was not interested in a confrontation with the government but the court was running out of patience and the Centre should conform and fill long-pending vacancies to key tribunals by the next hearing on September 13. The Bench, also comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and L. Nageswara Rao, said tribunals across the country were on the verge of collapse. Cases were being adjourned by a year. Many tribunals operated with just one member as no appointments had been made for months, if not years. You have no respect for the judgments of this court… You are testing our patience, Chief Justice Ramana addressed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the government, on Monday. The court said it had three options. One, close the tribunals. Two, to itself make the appointments. Three, to initiate contempt. Everybody is happy with the quick way in which the government cleared the Supreme Court appointments. We do not want any confrontation with the government. But if you can so quickly make appointments to the Supreme Court, you can very well do so with these small tribunals. The tribunals have virtually collapsed… Why are you being so particular about the tribunals? Chief Justice Ramana asked Mehta. Mehta, who asked and was refused an adjournment by the Bench as soon as the hearing began, showed a screenshot of a letter addressed to him by the Finance Ministry on September 6. In this letter, the Ministry said a new law — Tribunal Reforms Act of 2021 — has come into effect and would pave the way for filling of vacancies in the tribunals. The letter promised that the government will ensure that within next two weeks, a decision on appointments to all the tribunals is taken where the Search-cum-Selection Committees have already given their recommendations to the government. But Justice Chandrachud said the new Act hosted an astonishing replica of provisions expressly struck down by the Supreme Court in multiple judgments recently. This seems to continue. that when we strike down a law, they bring a replica, Justice Chandrachud expressed his annoyance. The judge said the legislature could bring a law which took away the basis of a judgment but could not bring a law simply to contradict a judgment.

Bombay High Court extends Varavara Rao’s interim medical bail to September 24 

The Bombay High Court on Monday extended the interim medical bail of Telugu poet Varavara Rao (81) till September 24. It posted the matter for hearing on September 27. Rao, an accused in the Bhima Koregaon caste violence, was granted the bail on February 22 for six months on a cash bond of ₹50,000 by a Division Bench of justices S.S. Shinde and Manish Pitale. However, due to a delay in obtaining a solvency certificate, he was released on March 6. From then on, he has been residing with his wife P. Hemalatha at Malad East. The bail expired on September 5. Senior advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Rao, informed a Division Bench of Justices Shinde and N.J. Jamadar that Rao was living in a rented flat with his wife. His plea urged the court to allow him to reside in Hyderabad with his family instead of Mumbai. The National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the case, filed an affidavit that read, The Taloja jail authorities have been following the jail code and providing the best medical facilities as per jail manual. The surgery for cataract and hernia can be done in judicial custody under the supervision of doctors of government hospitals at Mumbai and there is no need for an extension of medical bail. Rao seeks an extension on the grounds that he takes 13 medicines daily for neurological problems, cholesterol, blood pressure, prostate, acidity, gastroesophageal reflux, constipation, cardiac issues, and pain relief. He has been suffering from constant headaches, known as cluster headaches, and needs further examination and constant supervision. A neurologist at Jaslok Hospital said he has asymptomatic Parkinson’s ailment and has retention problems, movement disorders with tremors, and gait instability. 

Shiv Sena unhappy with Javed Akhtar’s comparison of RSS with Taliban 

Noted poet-lyricist Javed Akhtar’s comparison of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with the Taliban was utterly misplaced, said the Shiv Sena on Monday. Analogising a fanatical movement with Hindutva constituted an insult to Indian culture, it noted. An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana observed that despite being a Hindu majority country, Indian governments had successfully raised the flag of secularism. How can you say those who favour the concept of a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ are of Talibani mindset? We [the Sena] do not agree with this…The proponents of Hindutva only want that Hindus should not be sidelined. While you can have differences with the RSS, to call their philosophy Talibani is completely wrong, said the editorial, rebuking Akhtar. At the moment, anyone perceived to be intolerant is labelled ‘Taliban’ because the Taliban regime in Afghanistan is the biggest threat to society and mankind presently. Nations like Pakistan and China have supported the Taliban regime because in these two countries, human rights, democracy and individual freedom have no value. But this is certainly not the case with India and we are an incredibly tolerant country. That is why it is not appropriate to compare the RSS with the Taliban, the editorial stated. Akhtar, in an interview with a television channel, had taken a thinly veiled jibe at the RSS without naming the outfit, by remarking there was an uncanny resemblance between the Taliban and those who wanted a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu-dominant nation). As the BJP clamoured for an apology from Akhtar, security was increased outside his home in Mumbai’s Juhu area. 

Delhi riots case: Umar Khalid withdraws bail plea after police objects to maintainability, files fresh appeal 

Former JNU student leader Umar Khalid, arrested under the stringent anti-terror law UAPA in the 2020 Delhi riots conspiracy case, has withdrawn his bail application and filed a fresh one after the city police objected to its maintainability. Senior advocate Trideep Pais, appearing for Khalid, told Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat that the application seeking bail under section 439 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) has been substituted with the one under Section 437 after the police objected to it. Special Public Prosecutor Amit Prasad, representing the police, objected to the fresh plea that purportedly accused the prosecution of adopting dilatory tactic and called it not fair. In the interim application you have filed, you have made certain allegations that the objections taken by the prosecution are dilatory tactics. Therefore, to paint the prosecution by saying that it is dilatory tactics is not fair, the prosecutor said. The fresh application was filed after Prasad submitted that the court hearing the plea is a special court designated under the UAPA Act and therefore exercises all powers that are before the Court of Magistrate within the rigours of section 437 of CrPC. ASJ Rawat sought the police reply on the fresh bail application and posted the matter to September 8. In the last hearing on the bail plea on September 3, Khalid told the court that the charge sheet in the case has made hyperbolic allegations without any factual basis and reads like a script from a web series and news channels. Delhi Police had earlier said the bail plea had no merit and that it will demonstrate the prima facie case against him before the court by referring to the charge sheet filed in the case. Khalid, along with several others, has been booked under the anti-terror law in the case. They are accused of being the masterminds of the February 2020 violence, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured. He has sought bail in the case. 

NIA files charge sheet against 13 Bangladeshis in Bengaluru human trafficking case 

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on September 5 filed a charge sheet before a Special Court in Bengaluru against 13 Bangladeshi nationals for their involvement in trafficking women and children from the neighbouring country after illegally crossing over to India, an official said. The accused have been charged with sections of the IPC, the Foreigners Act and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, an NIA official said. The case was registered in June in Bengaluru city against the 13 accused based on a raid conducted by the police at a rented house where seven women and one child of Bangladeshi nationality were rescued from the custody of four human traffickers, the official said. The NIA took over the case and found that the 13 charge-sheeted accused had illegally crossed over to India from Bangladesh, the official of the premier investigation agency said. They were luring women from Bangladesh and trafficking them to India with promise of jobs, the NIA official said. The women were then confined in rented accommodations and subjected to sexual exploitation, the official said. The accused had also forged identity cards and used these forged documents as genuine to obtain Indian identity cards such as Aadhaar and PAN for themselves and their victims, the NIA official said.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Taliban claim complete control of Afghanistan’s Panjshir province 

The Taliban claimed victory on Monday over opposition forces in the Panjshir valley northeast of Kabul, completing their takeover of the country following the stunning capture of Kabul last month and the chaotic withdrawal of foreign troops. Pictures on social media showed Taliban members standing in front of the gate of the Panjshir provincial governor’s compound after fighting over the weekend with the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA), led by Panjshiri leader Ahmad Massoud. Panjshir province completely fell to the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, the Islamist militant group’s spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in a tweet on Monday, adding that some enemy fighters had been killed in battle and others had fled. With this victory and latest efforts our country has come out of the whirlpool of the war and our people will have a happy life in peace, liberty and freedom in the entire country. The Taliban assured the people of Panjshir, who are ethnically distinct from the Pashtun-dominated Taliban and fought against the Islamists during their 1996-2001 rule, that there would be no discriminatory act against them. They are our brothers and would work together for a joint purpose and welfare of the country, Mujahid said. There was no immediate word from Massoud, who leads a force made up of remnants of the regular Afghan army and special forces units as well as local militia fighters. Ali Maisam Nazary, head of foreign relations at the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRFA), said the Taliban’s claim of victory was false and opposition forces continued to fight. The NRF forces are present in all strategic positions across the valley to continue the fight, he said on his Facebook page. The Taliban earlier said their forces had made it into the provincial capital, Bazarak, and had captured large quantities of weapons and ammunition. The Taliban seized control of the rest of Afghanistan three weeks ago, taking power in Kabul on August 15 after the Western-backed government collapsed and President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. Panjshir was the last pocket of armed resistance against the Taliban. It has a history of being difficult for enemies to take. The rugged mountain valley is still littered with the wreckage of tanks destroyed during the long war against the Soviet Union in the 1980s. The NRFA said on Sunday its main spokesman, Fahim Dashti, had been killed in the fighting. Dashti had survived the suicide attack that killed Massoud’s father, Ahmad Shah Massoud, on September 9, 2001, just days before the September 11 attacks on the United States. The Panjshir fighting has been the most prominent example of resistance to the Taliban.

Israel searches for 6 Palestinians after rare prison break

Israel launched a massive manhunt in the country’s north and the occupied West Bank early Monday after six Palestinian prisoners tunneled out of their cell and escaped from a high-security facility in the biggest prison break of its kind in decades. The escape marks an embarrassing security breach just ahead of the Jewish New Year, when Israelis flock to the north to enjoy beaches, campsites and the Sea of Galilee. The prisoners appear to have gone into hiding and there was no indication Israeli authorities view them as an immediate threat. Palestinians consider prisoners held by Israel to be heroes of their national cause, and many celebrated the escape on social media. Efforts to capture the escapees will likely draw attention to the Palestinian Authority’s security coordination with Israel, which is deeply unpopular among Palestinians. There was no immediate comment from the PA, but President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party praised the escape. Israeli officials said they have erected roadblocks and are conducting patrols in the area. Israel’s Army Radio said 400 prisoners are being moved as a protective measure against any additional escape attempts. The radio said the prisoners escaped through a tunnel from the Gilboa prison, just north of the West Bank, which is supposed to be one of Israel’s most secure facilities. A photo released by the prison service showed a narrow hole in the floor of a cell, and Israeli security forces could be seen examining a similar hole on a stretch of gravel just outside the walls of the prison. It appeared to be the biggest Palestinian escape from an Israeli prison since 1987, when six Islamic Jihad militants broke out of a heavily guarded prison in Gaza months before the outbreak of the first intifada, or Palestinian uprising against Israel.war in May, and it has cracked down on a wave of protests following.

 

NATIONAL NEWS 

Foreign militants outnumber locals in north Kashmir, pose security challenge

Taking the security agencies by surprise, foreign militants outnumber local militants in north Kashmir — comprising three districts of Baramulla, Bandipora and Kupwara — in a changing trend, according to official figures. The sudden spike in numbers has forced the police to restrict the movement of mainstream leaders and elected grassroots representatives because of fears of an increase in attacks on them, top police sources said. According to the latest data of the police, there are between 40 to 50 foreign militants active in north Kashmir compared to just 11 local militants. It is for the first time in a decade that north Kashmir is witnessing heightened militant activities compared to south Kashmir, which remained the hub of militants after the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru in 2013. The foreign militants build-up was taking place for a long time and cannot be connected with the recent situation in Afghanistan. The changing trend was visible in the past two months, a police officer said. The presence of foreign militants in the ranks of the groups such as the Jaish-e-Muhammad, Al-Badr, Lashkar-e-Taiba and The Resistance Front (TRF) had dried up in the first quarter of 2021. In fact, the first foreign militant, Hamas alias Asrar alias Saria, who was active since March 2018, was killed on May 4 in north Kashmir’s Sopore, according to the police. Against 32 foreign militants killed in 2020, only nine foreign militants have been killed this year so far, according to official figures. A total of 102 militants, mostly commanders, were killed, 88 youth recruited, 30 arrested and 425 over ground workers held this year, according to the police data. The biggest success against foreign militants in Kashmir this year was the killing of Saifullah alias Adnan alias Lamboo, an IED expert who played a role in the 2019 Pulwama attack on July 31, a police officer said. The rising numbers of militants in north Kashmir, which is already over 50 militants, has forced the security agencies to re-strategise their response. A senior official said most mainstream leaders and elected grassroots representatives have been asked to lie low and provided with dos and don’ts when they plan to move around. In fact, the police investigation into the grenade attack on a sarpanch, Narinder Kour, on August 22 in Baramulla’s Shrakwara Kreeri area was traced to TRF’s non-local recruit Ali Bhai. The police said the two suspected attackers held in the case were in contact with LeT terrorist Hilal Sheikh and Usman, a foreign terrorist.

Congress voices support for ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’, Rahul Gandhi says ‘unjust govt’ will have to listen 

The Congress on Sunday voiced support for the ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’ in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar, with party leader Rahul Gandhi saying the call of truth is echoing and an unjust government will have to listen. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that the arrogance of power cannot withstand the roar of the farmers. Thousands of farmers from Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states on Sunday gathered in Muzaffarnagar for the ‘Kisan Mahapanchayat’, just months ahead of the crucial Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. The event was organised by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) at the Government Inter College ground in Muzaffarnagar in protest against the Centre’s contentious farm laws. The call of truth is echoing. You have to listen, unjust government! Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi. Priyanka Gandhi also voiced support for the mahapanchayat, saying, Farmers are the voice of this country. Farmers are the pride of the country. Arrogance of any power cannot withstand the roar of the farmers. The whole country is with the farmers in the fight to save agriculture and in demanding their dues in lieu of their hard work, the Congress general secretary said. Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said those stealing the farms of farmers are traitors. Voicing support for the mahapanchayat, senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot expressed confidence that the mahapanchayat organised under the leadership of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha will strengthen farmers’ interests. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, an amalgam of several farmer unions, has been spearheading the agitation against the farm laws since last year.

Across parties, U.P. MLAs push to promote Hindu sites 

An analysis of a tourism development scheme launched in Uttar Pradesh has shown that most of the MLAs — especially those of Opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) — have chosen Hindu religious, spiritual and cultural sites for promotion. In the rare instances, where an MLA picked a shrine linked to Muslims or sufism, one of them belongs to the BJP, going against political expectations. Most of the Muslim MLAs of the main Opposition Samajwadi Party also preferred Hindu sites. There were only two dargahs in the list; one dedicated to a Sufi saint Latif Shah in Chandauli, which was nominated by a BJP MLA. To put it in context, while the BJP has aggressively pushed the narrative of Hindutva nationalism, in recent times even its opponents, charged with allegations of Muslim appeasement and alarmed by communal polarisation in the elections, have tried to keep pace with what some observers have described as soft Hindutva while trying to maintain distance from Muslim symbolism. While U.P. has 403 elected legislators, the State Tourism Department received proposals for development of sites in 373 constituencies. The proposals were sent as part of the Mukyamantri Paryatan Samvardhan Yojana launched by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath earlier this year to develop and promote local heritage and tourism sites, centres of spiritual, historical, cultural, natural and religious importance. A booklet published by the Tourism department shows that a majority of the MLAs have picked sites associated with Hindu faith, most of them temples, dhams, ashrams, pilgrimage sites and shrines and ghats considered holy. The legislators were asked to nominate the most important site in their constituency to be developed into a high-level tourism site, according to officials. A sum of ₹50 lakh was allotted to each constituency while the additional funds would come from the MLA funds and CSR funds. The government earmarked a budget of ₹180 crore for the scheme.

Indian athletes soar high in best ever Paralympics

Inspirational, incredible and indomitable. India’s paralympians managed to be all these and much more in an epoch-making campaign at the Tokyo Games where an unparalleled 19 medals, including five gold, helped them sign off 24th in the overall tally — the highest position ever. The tally also included eight silver and six bronze medals but most importantly, it was a performance during which history was scripted almost everyday with the contingent living up to the ‘Spirit in Motion’ motto of the Games. Even on the last day of competitions, the medal rush did not stop and Krishna Nagar won a gold after Noida’s District Magistrate Suhas Yathiraj signed off his brilliant run with a silver to complete a remarkable badminton show. The duo’s performance was like icing on the cake for the contingent, which found new heroes, celebrated some established ones, and brought para-sports firmly into the mainstream in India. In all, 54 came to Tokyo and 17 of them left with medals around their necks. It was an improved performance, no doubt, but calling it just improvement would be an understatement given that India’s overall Games haul was a mere 12 before this edition. To put things in perspective, at the 2016 Rio Games, India had 19 athletes across five disciplines with four returning with medals in the end.

Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments 

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,29,39,534 with the death toll at 4,40,593. Following the World Health Organization’s (WHO) warning that it has identified counterfeit versions of the Covishield vaccine in Southeast Asia and Africa, the Union Health Ministry has written to all States and Union Territories to identify counterfeit/falsified Covishield vaccines in India. Monitoring teams for Covid-19 vaccination in States are being provided with details for due diligence. The Ministry said in its letter: The States have been told to carefully authenticate vaccines before use. The Centre has provided details for identification of original labels of three vaccines being administered in India (Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik V). The Ministry has issued guidelines to ensure fake Covid-19 vaccines are not administered in India. The WHO noted that falsified Covishield (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 Corona Virus Vaccines-Recombinant) has been identified in the WHO’s African Region and South-East Asia Region. The falsified products were reported to WHO in July and August 2021. The genuine manufacturer of COVISHIELD (Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.) has confirmed that the products listed are falsified. These falsified products have been reported at the patient level in Uganda, India and Myanmar, the global health body said. The Union Health Ministry in its recent letter has indicated various features to ascertain genuine products. The anti-counterfeit features in the Covaxin label include an invisible helix (DNA-like structure) on the label that’s only seen under UV light; micro text hidden in the label claim Dots, which is written as Covaxin; the green foil effect in the ‘x’ of Covaxin; and the holographic effect on Covaxin.

 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Berlin Faces Expropriation Vote: What Happens If The People Say ‘Yes’?

With a purple-yellow colour scheme and multilingual slogans, the posters calling for a yes vote in Berlin’s upcoming property referendum are hard to miss. So that Berlin remains our home is printed in various languages. In the bottom corner of each poster is the logo of the group behind the campaign: DW and Co. Enteignen (Expropriate Deutsche Wohnen and Company). They want voters to back their appeal for the Berlin Senate to devise a law which would allow for the expropriation of what they call private real estate companies, specifically those that own more than 3,000 housing units. The campaigners say the companies would be compensated at a rate well below market value. They believe such legislation would be constitutionally compatible with Germany’s Basic Law under the never-before-used Article 15, which states: Land, natural resources and means of production may, for the purpose of nationalization, be transferred to public ownership or other forms of public enterprise by a law that determines the nature and extent of compensation. Deutsche Wohnen, which owns around 113,000 housing units in the city, is clearly the main target. But plenty of other companies would be affected, such as Vonovia (which is currently trying to buy Deutsche Wohnen) and the Pears Group. On September 26 — the same day as Germany’s federal election — Berliners will vote on the radical proposal. To get that far, the organizers had to collect 175,000 valid, handwritten and fully verified signatures of citizens eligible to vote in Berlin. They achieved that within a few months, a reflection of the strength of views in the city around its escalating housing crisis. Recent polls suggest a slim majority of eligible voters in the capital support an expropriation law.

 

UK Visits Japan For Naval Drill Amid China’s Growing Influence In Indo-Pacific Region

Japan’s defence minister on Monday welcomed the British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth as it made its first Japanese port call, saying the involvement of European nations in the Indo-Pacific region is key to peace and stability as China’s military strength and influence grow. Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi met the strike group’s commander, Commodore Steve Moorhouse, on board the carrier. The ship arrived at the US Navy base in Yokosuka near Tokyo on Saturday. Japan is seeking to expand its military cooperation beyond its traditional alliance with the United States as China’s navy expands and increasingly presses its territorial claims. The Queen Elizabeth participated in a joint exercise with warships from the United States, the Netherlands, Canada and Japan before arriving in Yokosuka. The exercise was part of efforts to achieve a free and open Indo-Pacific vision led by Washington and Tokyo. European countries’ interest in (China’s) unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas contributes to the peace and stability in this region, Kishi told reporters. I expect the port call will contribute to a further development of Japan-British defense cooperation. Japan has become increasingly worried about China’s growing military influence in the region as well as Beijing’s escalating tensions with Taiwan and rivalry with the United States. Japan has repeatedly protested to China over its increased activity near the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, which are also claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu.

 

NATIONAL NEWS 

Election Commission announces date for Bhabanipur bypoll

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Bannerjee is ready to hit the mats with the Election Commission’s announcement of the schedule for bypoll in the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency while keeping by-polls to three Lok Sabha and 31 other Assembly seats pending. Banerjee, who lost from Nandigram in May, has time until November to get elected in order to continue as Chief Minister. The Bhabanipur Assembly Constituency by-election will be held on September 30 and votes will be counted on October 3. Nominations will be filed from September 6 till September 13. Polls for Samserganj and Jangipur in West Bengal and Pipli in Odisha, which had been adjourned due to the death of candidates during the Assembly elections, were deferred due to the COVID-19 situation in May.  The EC announced polling for these three seats will also be held on September 30 and counting on October 3 after meeting state officials on Wednesday. Chief Secretaries of Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and the adviser to Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu informed the EC of flood-related constraints, festivals and the COVID-19 situation, the EC statement said. They suggested that it would be advisable to have byelections after the end of the festive season, the Election Commission said. Some States also stuck a note of caution with the possibility of a third wave predicted by scientists in October. The Chief Secretaries of Odisha and West Bengal, however, told the EC that the COVID-19 situation in their States were under control. The Bengal Chief Secretary also told the panel that the State was ready to hold elections and that the floods had not affected the poll-bound constituencies. The official also cited Article 164 (4) of the Constitution, saying that a Minister who is not an MLA for six consecutive months shall cease to be a Minister at the end of that period. He has also informed that in view of administrative exigencies and public interest and to avoid a vacuum in the State, byelections for 159-Bhabanipur, Kolkata from where Ms. Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister intends to contest, may be conducted, the EC said. It said it had decided not to hold bypolls in the 31 Assembly seats and three Lok Sabha seats after considering the inputs of the Chief Secretaries and Chief Electoral Officers of those States. Considering the constitutional exigency and special request from State of West Bengal, it has decided to hold byelection in 159-Bhabanipur AC, the EC said. The poll panel said stricter norms had been put in place, including limiting indoor meetings to 30% of allowed capacity or 200 persons, whichever is less.

Gold and more for athletes at the Tokyo Paralympics

At the Tokyo Paralympics, it’s been raining medals for India. While reigning world champion Pramod Bhagat on Saturday claimed a gold medal in men’s singles SL3 class, Manoj Sarkar bagged the bronze for India after badminton made its debut at the Paralympics this year. Shooter Manish Narwal snagged India’s third gold while Singhraj Adana took the silver in the P4 Mixed 50m Pistol event. Bhagat beat Great Britain’s Daniel Bethell in the summit clash while Sarkar defeated Japan’s Daisuke Fujihara in the third place play-off, with both the Indians winning in straight games. In SL3 classification, athletes with lower limb impairment are allowed to compete. Bhagat, the current world No. 1, thus became the first Indian to win a gold medal in the sport. Indian gold medallist Pramod Bhagat poses on the podium at the medal ceremony for the Men’s Singles SL3 on day 11 of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at Yoyogi National Stadium on September 4, 2021 in Tokyo.  Bhagat and his partner Palak Kohli will have a face-off with the Japanese pair of Daisuke Fujihara and Akiko Sugino in the bronze medal match on Sunday. They had lost the semi-finals 3-21 15-21 to Indonesian combination of Hary Susanto and Leani Ratri Oktila earlier in the day. Bhagat, who is afflicted with polio, contracted when he was four, picked up the sports after watching his neighbours play, emerging as one of the country’s   best para shuttlers with 45 international medals under his belt, including four world championship gold medals and a gold and a bronze in 2018 Asian Para Games. Like Bhagat,  31-year-old Sarkar,  whose right leg was affected after he contracted polio at age one, vanquished Fujihara 22-20 21-13. Earlier in the day, Suhas Yathiraj who is also an IAS officer, and Krishna Nagar  sailed into the men’s singles finals of SL4 class and SH6 class respectively raising the hopes of more medals in the coming days. History under making! Suhas L Y, IAS, DM GB Nagar (Noida), UP, India in Men’s singles para-badminton SL4 finals. He beats Indonesia’s S Freddy 2-0 in semifinals. Now will be playing for Gold on September 5, the IAS Association, a group of serving and retired administrative officers, tweeted earlier in the day.

Dengue outbreak in Firozabad

More than 60 people, including 50 children have died of ‘dengue haemorrhagic fever’  – in western Uttar Pradesh over the past 10 days. With a majority of case being reported from Firozabad district,  authorities are treating the cases in the district  as a dengue outbreak. Union Health Ministry sources also confirmed that more than 50 % of the approximately 200 samples collected from Firozabad and nearby areas had tested positive for dengue. A six-member team from the NCDC, or National Centre for Disease Control – consisting of entomologists and experts in vector-borne diseases – has been rushed to the affected areas. The team is expected to submit its report on Monday. Sixty kilometers away from Firozabad in Mathura, 11 children died in 15 days – all from one village. The state government said the deaths were due to vector-borne diseases, primarily dengue. Fifteen people have died in the district so far. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took to Twitter to lash out at the state government. On Twitter, she claimed over 100 people had died from viral fever across the state, and questioned whether Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had learned anything from the horrific consequences of disastrous Covid management. The chief minister has visited Firozabad and has promised that all measures will be taken to help patients.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

Panjshir still holding up

Taliban sources have claimed that they have seized control over Panjshir valley, the last standing province that the Taliban has not been able to capture, however,  a Resistance leader denied that the province had fallen. Panjshir valley is the only province that had resisted the first Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001. After the withdrawal of the US troops, and with the Taliban which is inching close to forming a government questions remain on whether such a government will be recognised by the world. Qatar’s ambassador to Afghanistan said a technical team was able to reopen Kabul airport to receive aid, according to Qatar’s Al Jazeera news channel, which also cited its correspondent as saying domestic flights had restarted. The airport’s runway has been repaired in cooperation with authorities in Afghanistan, the ambassador said, according to Al Jazeera. The channel said two domestic flights were operated from Kabul to the cities of Mazar-i-Sharif and Kandahar, Reuters reported.

Facebook mistakenly labels Black men ‘primates’

Facial recognition software has been criticised by civil rights advocates who point out problems with accuracy, particularly when it comes to people who are not white. Facebook on September 3 said it disabled its topic recommendation feature after it mistook Black men for primates in a video at the social network. A Facebook spokesperson called it a clearly unacceptable error and said the recommendation software involved was taken offline. We apologize to anyone who may have seen these offensive recommendations, Facebook said in response to an AFP inquiry. We disabled the entire topic recommendation feature as soon as we realized this was happening so we could investigate the cause and prevent this from happening again. Facial recognition software has been criticised by civil rights advocates who point out problems with accuracy, particularly when it comes to people who are not white. Facebook users in recent days, who watched a British tabloid video featuring Black men, were show an auto-generated prompt asking if they would like to keep seeing videos about Primates, according to the New York Times. The June 2020 video in question, posted by the Daily Mail, is titled White man calls cops on black men at marina. While humans are among the many species in the primate family, the video had nothing to do with monkeys, chimpanzees or gorillas. A screen capture of the recommendation was shared on Twitter by former Facebook content design manager Darci Groves. This ‘keep seeing’ prompt is unacceptable, Ms. Groves tweeted, aiming the message at former colleagues at Facebook. This is egregious.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Promote yoga break among staff, says Centre.

The Ministry of Ayush had designed and developed five minutes duration yoga protocol, named Y-break, for workplace. The Centre has asked all its departments to promote five-minute yoga break or ‘Y-break’ among employees working under them, with a view to refresh, distress and refocus with enhanced efficiency at workplaces, according to a personnel Ministry order. The Ministry of Ayush had designed and developed five minutes duration yoga protocol, named Y-break, for workplace by an expert committee in 2019 and the module was launched in January 2020 on pilot project basis in six major metro cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kolkata) with the help of various stakeholders. Feedback of the same was very encouraging, it said. Consequent to this success, the Ministry of Ayush developed an android based application Y-break and the same was made available recently in Google Play Store for access by public, said the order issued to all Central government departments. In order to spread awareness about access and usage of Y-break protocol/app among workforce for all sectors (public/private), all Ministries/departments of government of India are requested to promote the usage of Y-break protocol among the employees, it said. A campaign was launched to spread awareness of the same to provide access and usage of Y-break protocol/app among people at workplaces , the order added.

President Kovind lauds teachers for responding to new challenges

President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday greeted educators across the country on the eve of Teachers’ Day and lauded them for their efforts to enable uninterrupted education of students during the COVID-induced lockdown. He said the occasion honoured the dedicated services of all the teachers who played a leading role in the intellectual and moral development of children. In the Indian tradition, teachers are placed on the same pedestal as God, Mr. Kovind said. Since the onset of the pandemic, the pedagogy adopted by teachers also underwent a major change, the President said. During lockdown, our teachers accepted every challenge associated with the introduction of online medium of education. They took effective steps to enable uninterrupted education of the students, he said. On this occasion, let us all express our gratitude to the entire teaching community for its invaluable contribution towards building a strong and prosperous nation, Mr. Kovind said. Teachers’ Day is observed on the birthday of a great educationist, philosopher and former President of India, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. I extend my warm greetings and best wishes to all teachers on the occasion of Teachers’ Day, the President said.

India, Singapore conduct 3-day naval exercise 

India and Singapore have carried out a mega naval wargame in the southern fringes of the South China Sea over the last three days, in reflection of their growing congruence of interests in the strategically key region. The Indian Navy deployed its guided-missile destroyer INS Ranvijay, anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kiltan and guided-missile corvette INS Kora and one P8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft for the ‘SIMBEX’ exercise from September 2-4, officials said. The Singapore Navy was represented by formidable class frigate RSS Steadfast, victory class missile corvette RSS Vigour, one Archer class submarine and one Fokker-50 maritime patrol aircraft, they said. Four F-16 fighter aircraft of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) also participated in the exercise during the air defence drills. It was the 28th edition of the Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX). Initiated in 1994, SIMBEX is the Indian Navy’s longest uninterrupted bilateral maritime exercise with any foreign navy. Sustaining the continuity of this significant engagement despite the challenges of the ongoing pandemic further underscores the strength of bilateral defence ties, Indian Navy Spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said. Despite these constraints during the planning stages, both navies could achieve seamless and safe execution of several challenging evolutions including live weapon firing and advanced naval warfare serials, including anti-submarine, anti-air and anti-surface warfare drills, he said. Commander Madhwal said the scale and complexity of the drills is a testimony to the interoperability achieved between both Navies. This year’s edition of SIMBEX is also a special occasion as it takes place during the ongoing celebrations of the 75th year of India’s independence, he said. The success of SIMBEX-2021 is yet another demonstration of the mutual resolve on both sides to strengthen the bilateral partnership further in the years ahead, he added. India-Singapore defence ties remain a very significant aspect of the overall engagement between the two countries. Both navies have a representation in each other’s Maritime Information Fusion Centres and have also recently signed an agreement on mutual submarine rescue support and coordination.

Chief Justice of India unhappy with less representation of women at the top

Chief Justice of India (CJI) N.V. Ramana on Saturday lamented that very few women find representation at the top and admitted that even a mere 11% representation of women on the Bench of the Supreme Court was achieved with great difficulty. Ideally, women should have got at least 50% representation at all levels after 75 years of Independence, he said. The CJI’s remarks come within days of the Supreme Court Collegium led by him scripting history by successfully recommending three women judges to the court in one go. The court has four women judges now, the highest ever. After 75 years of Independence, one would expect at least 50% representation for women at all levels, but I must admit, with great difficulty, we have now achieved a mere 11% representation of women on the Bench of the Supreme Court, he stated at an event organised by the Bar Council of India to felicitate him. A majority of women lawyers suffered within the profession and continued to face significant challenges even after they reached the top. Women lacked basic amenities in court complexes. Women do not have restrooms in lower courts… It is difficult for them to wait for long hours in the court corridors, the CJI pointed out. The reality remained that the legal professions was yet to whole-heartedly welcome women into its fold, he noted. The CJI refused to accept sole credit for the recent appointment of nine judges to the Supreme Court in one shot. The Collegium, led by the CJI, had followed this feat by recommending a whopping 68 judges to 12 High Courts, again in one go. Lawyers had referred to him as Sachin Tendulkar for repeatedly creating history within so short a time of taking charge as top judge in April 2021. A while ago, I was referred to as Sachin Tendulkar. I must correct the perception here. Like any game, it’s a team effort. Unless all the members of the team perform well, it is difficult to win. Here, I must place on record my sincere thanks to my colleagues in the Collegium – Brothers U.U. Lalit, A.M. Khanwilkar, D.Y. Chandrachud and L. Nageswara Rao – who have become active and constructive partners in this endeavour, he observed. Judicial appointments was an ongoing process. The Collegium intended to live up to the herculean task of filling up 41% of vacancies existing in all the High Courts, he asserted. At one point, commending the young and dynamic Law Minister, Kiren Rijiju, who was present on the dais, and the government, for quickly approving the nine names recommended for the Supreme Court, the CJI said in another one month, we expect 90% of the vacancies filled in this country.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Sri Lanka offers help with New Zealand knife attack probe. 

Sri Lanka will cooperate with New Zealand’s investigation into a knife rampage by an Islamic State-inspired assailant from the South Asian nation, authorities said Saturday. Police shot dead the 32-year-old Sri Lankan after he attacked seven people in an Auckland supermarket on Friday. The man had been living in New Zealand since 2011. Sri Lanka condemns this senseless violence, and stands ready to cooperate with New Zealand authorities in any way necessary, foreign ministry spokesman Kohularangan Ratnasingam said in the Sri Lankan government’s first comment on the incident. Ratnasingam commended the quick response of New Zealand authorities in dealing with the attacker. Sri Lankan police sources said criminal investigators had already interviewed the attacker’s brother, who lives in Colombo, and were looking into all possible links. We are collecting information about him as well as anyone else who may have had contacts with him, a top police official said, adding there were no records of the attacker visiting Sri Lanka recently. The South Asian country is still scarred by suicide attacks on three churches and three hotels on Easter Sunday in 2019 that left 279 dead. Some of the attackers came from the same eastern province as the Auckland attacker. The 2019 bombings were blamed on a group that pledged allegiance to the then Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Sri Lanka’s Muslim Council has condemned the Auckland attack as a barbaric act of terrorism and thanked New Zealand police for their swift response. This reminds all of us to come together and be united and fight against terrorism and violent extremism locally and internationally for the betterment of everybody, council member Mohamed Hisham told AFP.

 

UN Secretary-General: Mercenaries and foreign fighters must leave Libya

Antonio Guterres urged Libyan parties to exert every effort to ensure that parliamentary and presidential elections are held on December 24. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is again urging countries to withdraw all foreign fighters and mercenaries from Libya, saying they continue to operate throughout the conflict-stricken North African country in violation of last October’s ceasefire agreement with no discernible abatement of their activities. The United Nations chief also urged countries supplying arms and military equipment to the foreign fighters to stop violating the United Nations arms embargo, saying, the movement of aircraft providing logistical support also continued unabated at airbases in central Libya in the strategic city of Sirte and nearby Jufra area. In a report to the United Nations Security Council circulated September 3, Mr Guterres called for the implementation of a comprehensive plan for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all mercenaries and foreign forces from Libya, with clear timelines. He also urged Libyan parties to exert every effort to ensure that parliamentary and presidential elections are held on December 24 in accordance with the political road map that ended hostilities last year. Libya has been wracked by chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011 and split the country between a U.N.-supported government in the capital, Tripoli, and rival authorities loyal to commander Khalifa Hifter in the east. Each have been backed by different armed groups and foreign governments. Hifter launched a military offensive in 2019 to capture the capital, a campaign backed by Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Russia and France. But his march on Tripoli ultimately failed in June 2020 after Turkey sent troops to support the government, which also had the backing of Qatar and Italy. Subsequent United Nations-sponsored peace talks brought about a ceasefire last October and installed an interim government that is expected to lead the country into December elections, but the Libyan parliament has so far failed to agree on a legal framework to hold elections. Mr. Guterres cited initial differences over whether presidential elections should be carried out by direct voting or indirectly by the elected parliament, whether a referendum on the draft permanent constitution should be held first, and eligibility criteria for candidates including military personnel and dual citizens. The U.N. chief urged the parties and institutions to clarify the constitutional basis for elections and to adopt the necessary electoral laws.

NATIONAL NEWS 

Certain sections of media communalise everything, says CJI

Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana on Thursday said certain sections of the media communalised everything and this would ultimately result in giving the country a bad name. The remark from the CJI came while hearing petitions highlighting how some media outlets aired communal content linking the spread of the coronavirus to a Tablighi Jamaat meet held at Nizamuddin in Delhi. The problem is, everything in this country is shown with a communal angle by a section of media. The country is going to get a bad name ultimately, Chief Justice Ramana, heading a three-judge Bench, observed orally. The hearing witnessed Chief Justice Ramana upbraid the lack of accountability on the part of social media platforms. The CJI said social media platforms only responded to powerful people, while complaints made by ordinary people, institutions and judges over content were ignored. These web channels, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube. They never respond. There is no accountability. About the institution they write badly and then they do not respond. This is the condition of institutions, forget individuals. They consider only people who are powerful. Institutions, common man, judges, they do not. This is the reality, Chief Justice Ramana noted.

Lok Sabha without a Deputy Speaker for 830 days With the Delhi High Court asking the Central government on Wednesday to explain its stand on a petition that claimed that keeping the post of Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha vacant is a violation of Article 93 of the Constitution, the issue is once again in the spotlight. Petitioner Pawan Reley pointed out that the position had been vacant for the last 830 days. Congress’s floor leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said, It is a constitutionally mandated position and not a ceremonial one. During each session, the Congress has demanded that the election to the post be held, but our demands have been ignored. Senior TMC leader Derek O’ Brien pointed out that the longest time that this post had remained vacant was in the 12th Lok Sabha, and even then on the 59th sitting of Parliament, election to the post was held. Modi-Shah is dismantling every institution, including Parliament. We have been screaming ourselves hoarse. Angry. Sad, he said. Congress Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha Kodikunnil Suresh said that by convention, this post went to the Opposition. During the Budget Session of Parliament, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla contracted Covid-19. The panel of chairpersons are not equipped to handle the job, he noted. As of now, there are nine members who are part of the Panel of Chairpersons from the BJP, DMK, YSR Congress, BJD, TMC and the Revolutionary Socialist Party. A Deputy Speaker enjoys the same legislative powers as the Speaker. And in the absence of the Speaker because of death, illness or any other reason, the Deputy Speaker also assumes the administrative powers. Soon after the 2019 general election, the government had made some effort to fill the position. It approached the YSR Congress, who turned down the offer since it would have been difficult to align their protest against the government for not according special status to Andhra Pradesh while occupying the post. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi and his Deputy in the Lok Sabha Arjun Ram Meghwal were both not available for their comment. Birla had said that it is for the House to elect a Deputy Speaker and it’s not the Speaker’s job. BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, who is a member of the Panel of Chairpersons, said the Lok Sabha functioning was not affected by lack of a Deputy Speaker. Currently, the Maharashtra Assembly is functioning without an elected Speaker after the resignation of Nana Patole, he pointed out. As the combined Opposition did not have the strength to elect a member of their choice, the choice fell on the government. The fact that there was no recognised leader of the Opposition also hampered the process, he stated. In 1984, when Rajiv Gandhi came to power with an overwhelming majority, the Deputy Speaker’s position was given to the AIADMK, he noted.

Long-COVID now forces hospitals to offer rehabilitation programme 

Medical care facilities across the country are now offering rehabilitation programmes for COVID-survivors, with the hospitals continuing to report cases of Long-COVID while India is registering a downward trend of new COVID cases. The most common symptoms reported include muscle weakness/fatigue, sleep problems, and hair loss though hospitals are also seeing cases of COVID-related development of tuberculosis and fungal pneumonia, and cases of increased heart rate, especially among those between 30-65 years. The rehabilitation programme includes physiotherapy, psychological counselling, pulmonologist consultation, and lung function tests. Dr. Akshay Budhraja, Pulmonologist, Aakash Healthcare, said: We are seeing issues with those over 30 years and aggravated complaints among the elderly. A study published recently in medical journal Lancet, titled 1-year outcomes in hospital survivors with COVID-19: A longitudinal cohort study,’ — conducted among COVID survivors in Wuhan, the epicentre of the first coronavirus outbreak in China — found that a number of survivors continued to have lower health status a year after symptom onset. Survivors continued suffering from at least one post-COVID medical complication even a year after COVID. While most survivors returned to their original work and life, the baseline health status of some continued to be lower, said the study, which followed the cases of 1,276 patients admitted at the Jin Yin-tan Hospital in Wuhan over one year. G.S. Chabbra, director, Respiratory Medicine, QRG Hospital, Faridabad, said while admissions due to Long COVID have slowed down now, the hospital has been in constant touch with their patients via tele-medicine and the hospital app. After the second wave we did have patients with complaints of hair fall, episodes of breathlessness, and joint and muscle pain, which are typical symptoms of post-COVID patients, he said.

Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments 

The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,29,01,257 with the death toll at 4,39,900. Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Thursday said that with reports of new mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the rising number of variants of concern and interest, international passengers coming in from South Africa, Bangladesh, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, etc., will now undergo RT-PCR tests on arrival in India. Passengers from the U.K., Europe and the Middle East are already required to take this test. International passengers are to undergo pre-arrival RT-PCR testing at least 72 hours before boarding and only asymptomatic passengers are allowed to board a flight to India. Now, these latest revisions have been communicated to the States to ensure strict compliance so that the import of variants into India may be prevented, he explained. He added that in case of symptomatic and/or positive international travellers, States must continue to implement stringent public health measures of contact tracing, quarantine, testing and ensuring COVID-19-appropriate behaviour. The Ministry has also written to States and Union Territories asking them to strengthen their Whole Genome Sequencing activities, which are critical to establishing clinical epidemiological correlations. The Health Secretary stated that the second COVID-19 surge is far from over and that, currently, 69% of Covid-19 cases are from Kerala. He added that Kerala currently has more than 1 lakh active cases, while four States — Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh — have between 10,000 to 1 lakh active cases. Forty-two districts in the country are still reporting more than 100 new cases each day, which is a cause of concern. However, India has now managed to fully vaccinate 16% of its adult population, while 54% has got one shot, Bhushan said.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS 

New York City Mayor declares state of emergency after record-breaking rain 

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency on September 1 night due to what he called a historic weather event, with record-breaking rain across the city leading to flooding and dangerous conditions on the roads. Nearly all New York City subway lines were suspended late on September 1 as the remnants of Tropical Storm Ida brought drenching rain and the threat of flash floods and tornadoes to parts of the northern mid-Atlantic. At least five flash-flood emergencies were issued on September 1 evening by the National Weather Service, stretching from just west of Philadelphia through northern New Jersey. Earlier in the night, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy also declared a state of emergency in response to Ida. Storm damage from Ida astounded officials on Wednesday three days after the powerful hurricane pounded southern Louisiana, as reconnaissance flights revealed entire communities devastated by winds and floods. Tornadoes spawned by the storm ripped through parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, images on social media showed. At least nine homes were destroyed in Mullica Hill, New Jersey. New Jersey’s Newark Liberty Airport said on Twitter it was experiencing severe flooding. It said it resumed limited flight operations close to midnight after all flight activity was suspended late on Wednesday. New York City also experienced flooding, with social media images showing water gushing over subway platforms and trains. Subway service was extremely limited due to the flooding, the Metropolitan Transit Authority said. The New York City Mayor urged people to not go outside.

Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzada to be named Afghanistan’s Supreme Leader 

The Taliban’s top religious leader Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzada will be named as Afghanistan’s supreme authority, a senior member of the group has said. Consultations are almost finalised on the new government, and the necessary discussions have also been held about the cabinet, Mufti Inamullah Samangani, a senior official in the Taliban’s information and culture commission, said on Wednesday. He said the group is all set to announce the formation of the new government in Kabul in the next three days. In the new set-up, 60-year-old Mullah Akhundzada will be the Supreme Leader of the Taliban government, which will follow the pattern of the Iranian leadership. In Iran, the supreme leader is the highest political and religious authority of the country. He ranks above the president and appoints the heads of the military, the government, and the judiciary. The supreme leader has final say in the political, religious and military affairs of the country. Mullah Akhunzada will be the leader of the government and there should be no question on this, he said, indicating that the president will work under his oversight. Mullah Akhunzada is the top religious leader of the Taliban and has been serving at a mosque in Kachlaak area of Balochistan province for 15 years.