Month: July 2020

The Rajasthan High Court will pronounce on July 24 order on a petition filed by former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and 18 other MLAs from his camp against the disqualification notices issued against them, a lawyer said on Tuesday.

Advocate Prateek Kasliwal, appearing for Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Speaker CP Joshi, said that the arguments have been concluded in the matter.

“The arguments in the matter have been concluded. The court has heard the arguments from all the parties. The High Court has slated the matter for orders on July 24,” Kasliwal told reporters here.

He also said that the High Court requested the Speaker to defer the hearing before it till July 24.

Earlier today, advocate Mukul Rohtagi, who is representing Sachin Pilot in the High Court, had said that less time was given to the MLAs to file a reply in the matter than as stated in the rules.

“Disqualification notice by Assembly Speaker was issued to Sachin Pilot and other MLAs on the same day of complaint. Less time is given for reply than as stated in rules. No reasons recorded for issuing notice,” he had said while speaking to the media.

Pilot and the 18 MLAs from his camp approached the Rajasthan High Court over disqualification notice, seeking the quashing and setting aside of the show cause notice issued to them on July 14 by the Speaker of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly.

Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi had sent notices to Pilot and 18 MLAs under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, popularly known as the anti-defection law after chief’s whip application for their disqualification. MLAs were earlier asked to present before Assembly Speaker on July 17, but the same was deferred in view of the hearing before the court.

The Congress complaint and the Speaker’s notice came after Pilot and the lawmakers supporting him skipped Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meetings on July 13 and 14.

Rajasthan Congress continues to remain in turmoil after simmering differences between Pilot and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot came out in the open. Pilot was, on July 14, also sacked from the posts of Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister and state PCC president.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has blamed the BJP for attempting to destabilise the state government by poaching MLAs. (ANI)

The Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) said on Tuesday said that this year’s Amarnath Yatra has been cancelled due to conditions created by coronavirus.

The decision was taken at a meeting of Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) to discuss the conduct of the Yatra 2020. The meeting was presided by Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu, who is Chairman of SASB.

“Based upon the circumstances, the Board decided with heavy heart that it is not advisable to hold and conduct this year’s Shri Amarnathji Yatra and expressed its regret to announce the cancellation of Yatra 2020. The Board is aware of and respects the sentiments of millions of devotees and to keep the religious sentiments alive, the Board shall continue the Live Telecast/ Virtual Darshan of the morning and evening Aarti, read a release by Raj Bhavan.

Further, the traditional rituals shall be carried out as per past practice. Also, the Chhadi Mubarak shall be facilitated by the Government,” it added.

According to the release, the Board was informed that the arrangements were on track since February 2020, but due to nationwide lockdown and pandemic, State Executive Committee, J&K has still continued to keep religious places and places of worship closed for the public. These prohibitions continue till 31st July.

“The Board further discussed that pandemic has put the health administration system to its limit. The spike has been particularly very sharp in July. Health workers and security forces are also getting infected and the focus of entire Medical, Civil and Police Administration at the moment is on containing the local transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The health concerns are so serious that the strain on the health system, along with the diversion in resources to the Yatra, will be immense. This would also unnecessarily put the Yatris at risk of catching the COVID-19,” it said.

The Board also deliberated the considered views of the government.

“The Government made reasoned observations supported by facts which suggested that it would not be advisable to conduct Shri Amarnathji Yatra 2020 and it would be advisable to cancel it this year in larger public interest. This would enable the Health, Civil and Police Administrations to focus on the immediate challenges facing them rather than diverting resources, manpower and attention to the conduct of the Shri Amarnathji Yatra,” read the release.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking cancellation of this year’s Amarnath Yatra and directions to the Centre to provide “live darshan” of the Lord Amarnath to the devotees via the internet and television in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.

“The issue as to whether yatra is held should be left with the local administration. Undoubtedly, any decision arrived at must be based on law and all relevant statutory provisions… As per principles of separation of powers, we leave it to the executive,” the top court had said.

The Apex Court said that it is of the view that the decisions to whether the pilgrimage should be permitted and if so the conditions subject to which the safeguard should be observed are matters which fall within the executive domain of the state.

(ANI)

India’s COVID-19 recovery rate is increasing day by day and today it is 62.72 per cent, Rajesh Bhushan, Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

Addressing the press conference here, Bhushan said, “There are currently 4,02,529 active cases in India and 7,24,577 people have recovered. The recovery rate in India is increasing. Today it is 62.72 per cent.”

“The case facility rate in India is 2.43 per cent. A very important role in this is that of doctors and paramedical staff. AIIMS also has an important role. Case intensity rate is below the national average in many states,” added Bhushan.

Earlier in the day, Bhushan said that number of COVID-19 deaths per million population in India continues to be among the lowest in the world.

“COVID-19 cases per million population in India is 837 which is lowest in the world some countries are reporting 12-13 times cases per million population as compared to India. If we see the death rate according to per million population, it is 20.4 which is among the lowest in the world. Some countries are recording 21-33 times of deaths per million,” Bhushan added.

(ANI)

The United States on Monday (local time) announced sanctions against a new group of 11 Chinese companies for their alleged involvement in human rights violations in China’s western province of Xinjiang, home to about 1 million Uighurs Muslims.

The Commerce Department added those 11 companies to a trade blacklist, bringing nearly 50 Chinese entities on the list, and restrict them further from access to American technology as well as other goods, The Washington Post reported.

“Beijing actively promotes the reprehensible practice of forced labour and abusive DNA collection and analysis schemes to repress its citizens,” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in a statement.

“This action will ensure that our goods and technologies are not used in the Chinese Communist Party’s despicable offensive against defenceless Muslim minority populations,” the statement read.

The Department said nine of the companies were involved in forced-labour activities involving Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups.

Ross said the step was taken to ensure that American goods are not used by the “repressive” Beijing regime.

“Beijing actively promotes the reprehensible practice of forced labour and abusive DNA collection and analysis schemes to repress its citizens,” Ross said. “This action will ensure that our goods and technologies are not used in the Chinese Communist Party’s despicable offensive against defenceless Muslim minority populations.”

The restrictions hit Changji Esquel Textile Co. Ltd., Hefei Bitland Information Technology Co. Ltd., Hefei Meiling Co. Ltd., Hetian Haolin Hair Accessories Co. Ltd., Hetian Taida Apparel Co., Ltd., KTK Group, Nanjing Synergy Textiles Co. Ltd., Nanchang O-Film Tech and Tanyuan Technology Co. Ltd., over forced labour.

Xinjiang Silk Road BGI and Beijing Liuhe BGI were also sanctioned over conducting genetic analyses.

Xinjiang region is home to around 10 million Uighurs. The Turkic Muslim group, which makes up around 45 per cent of Xinjiang’s population, has long accused China’s authorities of cultural, religious and economic discrimination.

About 7 per cent of the Muslim population in Xinjiang, has been incarcerated in an expanding network of “political re-education” camps, according to US officials and UN experts. (ANI)

Ajit K Dubey

At a time when Indian Navy’s P-8I surveillance planes are carrying out frequent sweeps over the Eastern Ladakh sector, the Navy’s maritime fighter jets MiG-29K will be deployed in the Northern sector for operations.

The deployment of the naval fighter aircraft at the Indian Air Force (IAF) bases is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s directives for enhancing jointness between the three services and Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat’s call for the possibility of deployment of maritime combat aircraft along the northern or western borders with the Air Force.

“It is being planned to deploy the MiG-29K fighter aircraft at an Indian Air Force base in the northern sector. They might be used for carrying out operational flying in the Eastern Ladakh sector along the Line of Actual Control (LAC),” government sources told ANI.

The Indian Navy has a fleet of over 40 MiG-29K fighter jets that are deployed on the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya and carry out regular flying from the naval fighter base INS Hansa in Goa.

The Russian-origin fighters were procured by the Indian Navy along with the aircraft carrier over a decade ago.

Amid the ongoing dispute with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the Indian Navy has been playing an important role as its planes are being used for surveillance along the LAC for picking up the Chinese activities and positions there.

The surveillance aircraft were used extensively during the Doklam crisis as well. The Indian Navy is also carrying out an exercise close to the Malacca Straits from where the Chinese Navy enters into the Indian Ocean Region.

“The warships and submarines of the Western Fleet are carrying out wargames near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands territories as part of their deployment,” government sources said.

The nuclear submarines including the INS Chakra and INS Arihant are also out of their harbours, they added.

Aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya has also been out in the sea for missions with its carrier battle group. The Indian Navy has been keeping a constant eye on the activities of the Chinese Navy in the Indian Ocean Region where they come regularly with their warships including Landing Platform Docks and long-range frigates and destroyers.

Indian Navy warships also carried out a passage exercise with the American aircraft carrier USS Nimitz a few days ago amid the tensions with China.

(ANI)

The United States has listed Reliance Jio among the companies that are becoming “Clean Telcos”, saying they are rejecting doing business with “tools of the Chinese Communist Party’s surveillance state, like Huawei”.

According to US State Department, Clean Network is a comprehensive effort by a coalition of like-minded countries and companies to secure their critical telecommunications, cloud, data analytics, mobile apps, Internet of Things, and 5G technologies from “malign actors” by relying on only trusted vendors who are not subject to unjust or extra-judicial control by authoritarian governments such as the Chinese Communist Party.

“Some of the largest telecom companies around the globe are also becoming ‘Clean Telcos.’ Orange in France, Jio in India, Telstra in Australia, SK and KT in South Korea, NTT in Japan, and O2 in the United Kingdom are rejecting doing business with tools of the Chinese Communist Party’s surveillance state, like Huawei,” the State Department said in a statement.

Last week, Reliance Industries Limited Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced that Reliance Jio has designed and developed a complete 5G solution from scratch and the same will be ready for trials as soon as 5G spectrum is available.

He said the 5G solution can be ready for field development next year.

On April 29, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the US Department of State will begin requiring a Clean Path for all 5G network traffic entering and exiting US diplomatic facilities.

The 5G Clean Path is an end-to-end communication path that does not use any transmission, control, computing, or storage equipment from untrusted IT vendors, such as Huawei and ZTE, which are required to comply with directives of the Chinese Communist Party, the statement read.

The 5G Clean Path embodies the highest standards of security against untrusted, high-risk vendors’ ability to disrupt, manipulate or deny services to private citizens, financial institutions, or critical infrastructure.

The United States had designated Chinese telecom companies Huawei and ZTE Corp as national security threats, saying they have close ties with the Chinese Communist Party and China’s military apparatus.

(ANI)

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday termed his former deputy Sachin Pilot as “nikamma” (useless) and “nakara” (incompetent) and accused him of conspiring with the BJP for the past six months to topple the government in the state.

“Pichle saat salon me koi bhi aisa nahi milega jisne maang ki ho ki Pilot sahab ko hatana chahie Pradesh Congress Committee adhyaksh se. Hume pata tha vo Nikamma hai, Nakara hai. Kuch kaam nahi kar raha hai. Khali logon ko ladwa raha hai (In the past seven years, you won’t find anyone in the party who demanded the removal of Pilot as PCC president even though we knew he was useless, good for nothing and that he wasn’t doing anything except making people fight among themselves),” Gehlot told reporters here.

The Chief Minister said Sachin Pilot has a ‘masoom’ (innocent) face and has a strong command on Hindi and English language, with which he had impressed the media across the country. “The people of the state know his contribution. However, we never questioned him in the interest of the party,” he said.

Gehlot further added, “He was conspiring for the past six months with BJP’s support. Nobody believed me when I used to say that conspiracy is going on to topple the government. Nobody knew that a person with such an innocent face will do such a thing.”

He claimed that the MLAs in Sachin Pilot’s faction are being held captive.

“Our MLAs are staying without any restrictions but they have held their MLAs captive. They are calling us and crying over the phone while explaining their ordeal. Their mobile phones have been snatched. Some of them want to join us,” Gehlot said.

This comes even as Rajasthan Congress continues to remain in turmoil after simmering differences between Pilot and Gehlot came out in the open.

Pilot was, on July 14, sacked from the posts of Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister and state PCC president. Gehlot has blamed the BJP for attempting to destabilise the state government by poaching MLAs.

Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi had sent notices to Pilot and 18 MLAs under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, popularly known as the anti-defection law after chief’s whip application for their disqualification.

However, the disqualification notice was challenged by Sachin Pilot and MLAs from his faction in the Rajasthan High Court, which is hearing the matter. (ANI)

The e-ICU video-consultation program, initiated by the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in New Delhi to hold case-management discussions with doctors dealing with COVID-19 patients across the country, is gaining traction and has covered 43 big hospitals in 11 states across the country so far.

According to an official statement, four e-ICU sessions have been held to date covering 43 institutions in Mumbai, Goa, Delhi, Gujarat, Telangana, Assam, Karnataka, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.

“The primary objective of these discussions is to reduce mortality from COVID-19 by learning from shared experience and strengthening best practices among hospitals with 1000 beds including isolation beds, oxygen supported and ICU beds,” the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement on Monday.

The program, which aims to strengthen the central government’s efforts to reduce COVID-19 mortality by holding case-management discussions among doctors who are at the frontline in treating COVID-19 patients, was kicked off on July 8.

The video consultations in the coming weeks will cover ICU doctors from smaller healthcare facilities, including those having 500 beds or more, across the country.

Physicians who manage COVID-19 patients can raise queries, present their experience, and share knowledge with other physicians and experts from AIIMS, New Delhi on this video consultation platform.

“Each of these sessions conducted through Video Conference span over 1.5 to 2 hours. The discussions have covered the entire range of issues related to the management of COVID-19 patients,” the statement said.

“Some of the important issues that have been stressed upon are the need for rational use of ‘investigational therapies’ like Remdesevir, convalescent plasma, and Tocilizumab. The treating teams have discussed the current indications and possible harm due to their indiscriminate use and the need to limit social-media pressure based prescriptions,” it said.

The use of proning, high flow oxygen, non-invasive ventilation, ventilator settings for advanced disease, and the role of various testing strategies in diagnosis have also been a common discussion point in the video consultations.

The Ministry said that issues like the need for repeat testing, admission and discharge criteria, management of post-discharge symptoms, and return to work have also been addressed in these consultations.

“Some of the other common concerns have been the methods of communication with patients, screening of health-care workers, managing new-onset diabetes, uncommon presentations such as stroke, diarrhoea, and myocardial infarction, etc,” the Ministry said.

“The team from AIIMS, New Delhi was able to act as a bridge for new knowledge from one group to the other at each VC, apart from advising from its own experience and the extensive literature reviews done by the domain experts,” it added. (ANI)

India’s COVID-19 case tally crossed the 11 lakh mark with the highest single-day spike of 40,425 new cases and 681 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, informed the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry on Monday.

Total cases in the country now stand at 11,18,043 while the death toll is 27,497.

The Health Ministry said the total number of cases includes 3,90,459 active cases and 7,00,087 patients have been cured/discharged/migrated.

Maharashtra remains the worst affected state with 3,10,455 cases reported until Sunday.

Meanwhile, as per the information provided by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 1,40,47,908 samples have been tested for COVID-19 till July 19, of these 2,56,039 samples were tested yesterday. (ANI)

India is among the 10 worst countries for working people, according to the seventh edition of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Global Rights Index that ranks 144 countries on the degree of respect for workers’ rights.

The others include Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Honduras, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Turkey and Zimbabwe.

The Middle East and North Africa is the worst region in the world for working people for seven years running due to the ongoing insecurity and conflict in Palestine, Syria, Yemen and Libya coupled with the most regressive region for workers’ representation and union rights.

The ITUC report concludes that 85 per cent of countries violated the right to strike and 80 per cent of countries violated the right to collectively bargain.

The number of countries that impeded the registration of unions has increased. Three new countries — India, Egypt and Honduras — have entered the list of ten worst countries for workers.

The number of countries that denied or constrained freedom of speech increased from 54 in 2019 to 56 in 2020. Workers were exposed to violence in 51 countries. Workers had no or restricted access to justice in 72 per cent of countries.

At the same time, workers experienced arbitrary arrests and detention in 61 countries.

“These threats to workers, our economies and democracy were endemic in workplaces and countries before the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted lives and livelihoods,” said ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow.

In many countries, the existing repression of unions and the refusal of governments to respect rights and engage in social dialogue has exposed workers to illness and death and left countries unable to fight the pandemic effectively.

“As we look towards the recovery and build resilient economies, the 2020 ITUC Global Rights Index is a benchmark against which we will hold governments and employers to account,” he said in a statement.

“If the findings of the Rights Index are not shocking enough, we are already seeing some countries take things further. Under the cover of measures to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, they are advancing their anti-workers’-rights agenda. This has got to stop and be reversed,” said Burrow.

The Global Rights Index exposes a breakdown in the social contract that governments and employers have with working people. “There is a trend to restrict working rights through violations of collective bargaining, withholding the right to strike and excluding workers from unions.”

(ANI)