Month: January 2021

As many as 10 children died in the fire that broke out at the Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) of Bhandara District General Hospital at 2 am on Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the loss of young lives.

“Heart-wrenching tragedy in Bhandara, Maharashtra, where we have lost precious young lives. My thoughts are with all the bereaved families. I hope the injured recover as early as possible,” Prime Minister tweeted.

Union Ministers Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh also expressed their condolences to the families of the children who died in the incident.

“The fire accident in Bhandara district hospital, Maharashtra is very unfortunate. I am pained beyond words. My thoughts and condolences are with bereaved families. May God gives them the strength to bear this irreparable loss,” Shah tweeted.

Defence Minister Singh tweeted, “Deeply saddened by the death of infants in a tragic fire at the District Hospital Bhandara, Maharashtra. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families.”

The Maharashtra government has announced ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of dead children and also ordered an investigation into the cause of the fire. (ANI)

India’s low-cost airline GoAir on Saturday terminated its senior pilot from services over his derogatory remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter.

“GoAir has a zero-tolerance policy and it is mandatory for all GoAir employees to comply with the company’s employment rules, regulations and policies, including social media behaviour. The airline does not associate itself with personal views expressed by any individual or an employee. GoAir has terminated the services of the Captain with immediate effect,” a GoAir spokesperson said.

Taking cognisance of the matter, the airline parted itself from the pilot’s tweet and took action against him.

Meanwhile, the terminated GoAir pilot tendered his apology on Twitter. “I apologise for my tweets about the prime minister and other offensive tweets, which may have hurt sentiments of anyone associated. I convey that GoAir is not associated with any of my tweets directly or indirectly as they were personal views. I take full responsibility for my actions and would like to apologise for my mistakes and willingly accept the consequences,” the pilot said.

The GoAir pilot had made derogatory remarks against Prime Minister on January 7 that the management found offensive and against the company policy. (ANI)

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has allowed 100 per cent occupancy in cinema halls in the state but asserted following precautionary measures in the view of Covid-19.

She was speaking at the inauguration of the 26th edition of the Kolkata International Film Festival 2021 via video conference on Friday.

“Due to the pandemic, only 50 per cent occupancy in cinema halls is allowed. Now I am allowing 100 per cent occupancy but proper care needs to be taken,” she said.

Actor Shahrukh Khan also participated in the event virtually. The Kolkata Film Festival, which was started in the year 1995, is being organised virtually in the view of Covid-19 pandemic.

Recently a similar notification was issued by the Tamil Nadu government to increase the occupancy in cinemas, theatres, and multiplexes to 100 per cent capacity.

However, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla has written to Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary stating that the state government’s move is the dilution of the Ministry of Home Affair’s order.

Bhalla asked the chief secretary to immediately issue the necessary order to bring their guidelines in line with the MHA guidelines dated December 28, 2020, and inform compliance to this Ministry. (ANI)

Amid the Chinese claims of COVID-19 containment, another Wuhan awaits in Hebei province, a geographical buffer zone around the capital Beijing, reported Asia Times.

“Sparkles of cases here and there setting an entire prairie ablaze”, said National Health Commission (NHC) and provincial authorities on Thursday after sporadic outbreaks since the New Year in Hebei’s capital of Shijiazhuang has grown into bigger clusters that now threaten to spread through the entire city.

Frank Chen writing for Asia Times opined that though strict new lockdown measures imposed on Hebei province’s Shijiazhuang but virus may have already spread to the nearby national capital and beyond.

Shijiazhuang and the rest of Hebei recorded more than 100 local infections since Monday, with 53 new cases alone on Thursday, marking arguably the biggest wave seen in China after Beijing lifted its lockdown on the original epidemic epicentre of Wuhan in early April, reported Asia Times.

Shijiazhuang, home to more than ten million residents has been put under sweeping and draconian anti-virus measures, just like Wuhan’s 76-day lockdown. It is a clear indicator of the grave situation, said Frank.

Shijiazhuang has shut its main train station with all Beijing-bound departures suspended until February 4. Expressways to Beijing and Tianjin from the city were also closed on Wednesday evening, but one-way trips from Beijing to the city are for now still allowed. Most flights to and from Shijiazhuang have also been cancelled, with passengers from the city facing the prospect of mandatory quarantine in their destinations, even if they have negative virus test results. China Post and SF Express have stopped the collection and delivery of parcels in the city, reported Asia Times.

The outbreaks are putting China’s anti-virus response mechanism to a crucial new test, one that threatens to undercut the country’s so far successful containment of the disease. More surveillance cameras have been installed to check on residents given shelter-at-home orders, with police constables in the streets on the lookout for lockdown violaters, said Frank.

Meanwhile, NHC director Ma Xiaowei has blamed an asymptomatic carrier of the virus for the outbreaks. Undetected by layers of screening in place, the carrier reportedly crisscrossed Hebei and Beijing, reported Asia Times.

Moreover, Ma’s deputy Feng Zijian, who oversees the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention said, “Insufficient Covid-19 detection and diagnosis in frontline hospitals and clinics have become a weakness in China’s efforts to keep the infection curve flat”.

Panic is already spreading despite the modest numbers, with shelves at supermarkets stripped bare of food and daily necessities as Beijingers fear they may too soon be told to stay at home.

Panic-buying hoards have ironically sparked fears of more infections. Beijing’s government has assured people of ample supplies of food and said that stores must ensure people are spaced out and admissions are staggered, reported Asia Times. (ANI)

Even as the central government is struggling to reach a consensus regarding the ongoing farmer protest, a farmer on Friday said the tractor parade that took place on Thursday was just a trailer and they will block entire Delhi if there demands are not met.

“Yesterday, it was just a trailer, the whole movie is yet to play. We will block whole Delhi,” threatened another farmer Balvinder Singh Raju while speaking to ANI.

Farmers on Thursday took out a tractor rally as a rehearsal for a more massive rally they have planned for January 26 if their demands are not met.

Baldev Singh Sirsa, who is protesting against the newly enacted farmers laws for over a month at Delhi’s border said there is no solution to the ongoing stalemate after several rounds of talks between the farmers and the government representatives.

“I appealed to the government to take back all the three laws and let farmers go home peacefully,” he said.

Demanding a complete repeal of the laws, another farmer said the government want them to fight amongst themselve and leave halfway.

“We will not go back until the the laws are rolled back. Why the government do not provide the securities to us like corporates?” asked Talindar Singh who has come from Jalandhar.

Already there were eight rounds of talks between the farmers and the central government, which remained inconclusive. The next round of meeting is underway today.

“We will carry out the tractor parade on January 26 (Republic Day) to tighten the screws of the Central government,” said a farmer.

Farmers have been protesting at different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws – Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. (ANI)

Taking a step forward, the Indian Army has been organizing free tuition classes for needy students in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

Tuition classes for meritorious students of families below the poverty line have been started at Government Middle School at Tarzoo area of Sopore in Baramulla district of North Kashmir.

The classes are being conducted for the students of class 9th so as to bridge any capability gap in academic learning due to the COVID-19 lockdown period and prepare them for the future board exams.

A total of 50 students (30 girls and 20 boys) from nearby villages of Sopore attending the coaching classes. “We are thankful to the Indian Army for providing us free tuitions,” a student, Nelofar Rashid said.

Five local teachers having vast experience in the field have been selected to teach all mandatory subjects including English, Social Science, Mathematics, Science, and Urdu.

“I am teaching Urdu here, with these free tuition facilities to students we got employment opportunities,” said Hilal Ahmad.

During the course of the two months long coaching, fortnightly tests will be conducted to check the assimilation level and a final test will be conducted at the termination of the classes.

Free stationery items will also be provided to the students for the coaching classes. All COVID-19 precautions are being followed including daily temperature screening, provision of face masks, hand sanitizer, and regular fumigation of the classrooms. The initiative will be bridging the learning gap in the students having a weak financial background and propel them towards a brighter and promising future. Moreover, it will go a long way in strengthening the bond of mutual respect, friendship, and understanding between the Awaam and Jawan.

The aim of conducting tuition classes is to provide free education to needy children of the far-flung areas in order to create better future prospects for the students.

The novel initiative has been undertaken by Ningli Army Camp of Uplona Rashtriya Rifles Battalion under the aegis of Haiderbeg Sector Headquarters. (ANI)

After a chaotic situation unfolded at the US Capitol following a pro-Trump mob swarming the House and Senate chambers on Wednesday, calls for the removal of President Donald Trump using the 25th Amendment have intensified in the country.

The rarely invoked 1967 amendment to the Constitution is the primary means for ensuring the government remains in operation if a sitting president is deemed unable to perform their duties while in office, reported The Hill.

Representative Adam Kinzinger on Thursday became the first GOP lawmaker to call for invoking the Constitution’s presidential removal mechanism, blaming him for Wednesday’s insurrection in Washington.

“Here’s the truth: The president caused this. The president is unfit and the president is unwell. And the president now must relinquish control of the executive branch voluntarily or involuntarily. It’s time to invoke the 25th Amendment and to end this nightmare,” Kinzinger said in a videotaped statement.

Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan on Thursday said that the US would be “better off” if Trump either resigned or was removed from office to allow Vice President Pence to serve out the final days of the president’s term.

Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly today said he would vote to invoke the 25th Amendment if he was still serving in Trump’s Cabinet, reported CNN.

“The behavior yesterday and in the weeks and months before that has been outrageous from the President… What happened on Capitol Hill yesterday is a direct result of his poisoning the minds of people with the lies and the frauds,” he said.

24 hours after the incident, Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had called for using the constitutional mechanism to bring about a premature end to Trump’s presidency.

Pelosi said that in case of failure to invoke the Amendment, Congress would consider moving forward for the impeachment of the President.

On the other hand, some of Trump’s staunchest opponents say it’s absurd to think such a process could succeed in stripping Trump of his power before Inauguration Day, according to The Hill.

John Bolton, Trump’s onetime national security adviser-turned-critic, said attempting to remove Trump at this late stage could make the nation’s problems worse, rather than better.

“Section Four of the 25th Amendment, which I guess is the flavor du jour, is probably the worst written provision of the Constitution. It has never been used before, and the idea that you’re going to try to trigger it now for the first time and risk having two presidents simultaneously I just think is a fool’s errand,” Bolton told The Hill.

The involuntary removal provision of the amendment authorises the vice president and a majority of Cabinet members to declare a president “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.”

If used successfully against Trump, it would elevate Pence to the position of acting president.

However, the statute also allows for the sitting president to challenge his Cabinet’s determination. To retake the reins of power, Trump would only need to declare to congressional leaders that he is able to do so. To override Trump’s challenge, the Cabinet would again have to declare him unfit, only this time with backing by a two-thirds vote in both the House and Senate.

Meanwhile, Trump has been asking aides and lawyers, including White House counsel Pat Cipollone, about his self-pardon power, multiple sources tell CNN. He has also asked for legal opinions on whether he has the authority to issue a self-pardon and has been advised on the potential political consequences.

This comes after Trump supporters swarmed the building to protest the Electoral College vote, forcing a lockdown and confrontations with police. Several police officers sustained injuries, while at least four people died during the scuffle.

Despite the violence, Congress reconvened in a late-night session after police secured the Capitol to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory. (ANI)

Pakistan’s declining relations with its two biggest sources of foreign remittances and foreign exchange– Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)– is “bad news” for its already ailing economy of the country, said scholar Salman Rafi Sheikh.

In an opinion piece in Asia Times, Sheikh said Pakistan is tentatively reorienting its foreign policy away from Saudi Arabia and the UAE towards China’s New Silk Roads.

Last August, Saudi Arabia asked Pakistan to repay early a USD 3 billion soft loan, Islamabad tried to defuse the tensions by quickly dispatching its current army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

However, Saudi Arabia did not budge from its demand.

Sheikh said that the incident underscored “fast-shifting South Asia-Middle East relations, with several Gulf states that previously habitually sided with Muslim majority Pakistan now instead prioritizing growing their commercial and economic ties with India”.

He added that the mounting dynamic is pushing Pakistan even closer to China, which provided funds to repay part of the Saudi loan.

On December 17, Pakistan repaid $1 billion as the second tranche of its accelerated repayment schedule.

Significantly, the scholar pointed out that the Saudi’s demand comes at a time of extreme economic and financial stress in Pakistan.

The UAE, which is Pakistan’s second-largest source of foreign remittances, has recently banned issuing work visas for Pakistani workers.

“While the ban was nominally imposed due to Covid-19, India, which has a much higher number of Covid cases, notably has not been banned,” he wrote.

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s recent visit to the UAE failed to lift the ban, reportedly to Islamabad’s severe disappointment.

“Pakistan’s declining relations with its two biggest sources of foreign remittances and foreign exchange is bad news for its already ailing economy. While Pakistan dutifully repaid the Saudi loans, its rising reliance on China showed that it is not only an important but also Islamabad’s only available option in a time of financial need,” he said.

Sheikh pointed out that Kashmir is not the only reason “Pakistan’s relations with its traditional allies in the Gulf are on a downswing”.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan recently admitted that he was under pressure from “friendly countries” to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.

Islamabad’s initial refusal to follow the UAE’s lead in normalizing relations with Israel reportedly contributed to the UAE’s imposition of a ban on Pakistani work visas.

“Pakistan’s bubbling tensions with the Gulf states is also a reflection of its own changing foreign policy orientation, seen in slowly but surely growing ties with Gulf state rivals Turkey and Iran,” he stated.

The Khan regime’s lean towards Turkey is reflected in his recent foreign policy choices, including its stated willingness to revive the dormant transnational rail service linking Istanbul, Tehran and Islamabad in 2021.

The ITI transnational railroad is expected to enhance connectivity via China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) by providing a direct rail connection between China and Turkey via Iran. China’s presence in the line’s revival is of central importance.

“While Pakistan tentatively expands its ties with Iran and Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have applied clear pressure on Pakistan’s two biggest sources of foreign remittances at a delicate economic juncture, undermining – at least for now – Islamabad’s ability to chart a truly independent and perhaps more forward-looking foreign policy,” the scholar noted. (ANI)