1. ‘It’s a Deterrent, Not a Sign of Aggression’: Rajnath After Rafale Sortie
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday, 8 October, took a sortie in Rafale fighter aircraft after an official handover ceremony of the first jet acquired by the Indian Air Force.
“By February 2021, we will get delivery of 18 Rafale aircraft and by April-May 2022 we will get all 36 aircraft. This is a part of our self-defence and not a sign of aggression against anyone. It is a deterrent,” the Defence Minister said.
Rajnath, who is on a three-day visit to France, said the handover event marks a new milestone in Indo-France relations. “I am happy that the delivery of Rafale aircraft is on schedule, I am confident that this will add further strength to our Air Force. I wish cooperation between our two major democracies further increases in all sectors,” he said.
(Source: The Indian Express)
2. Kejriwal Cancels Copenhagen Visit as Centre Sits on Request
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was forced to cancel his scheduled visit to Denmark to attend the C40 Climate Summit after the ministry of external affairs (MEA) did not respond to a request for political clearance for the visit, the Delhi government has said.
Officials in the chief minister’s office said Kejriwal was scheduled to leave for Copenhagen at 2 pm on Tuesday, 8 October, but cancelled the trip. “There was absolutely no communication from MEA on the political clearance for the C-40 summit.
The CM’s office did not even receive a ‘No’ from the ministry despite repeated attempts to communicate with them,” said a senior Delhi government official who asked not to be named.
(Source: Hindustan Times)
3. Lynching Not an Indian Word, Bid to Defame Country, Says RSS Chief
Underlining that “words like lynching” are “alien to Bharat and belong elsewhere”, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat Tuesday, 8 October, warned of a “conspiracy” and said “efforts are underway to defame our country and the entire Hindu society and create fear among the so-called minority communities”.
In his annual Vijayadashami address at the Sangh headquarters in Nagpur — it was attended among others by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, Minister of State VK Singh, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and HCL founder Shiv Nadar — Bhagwat said: “The so-called leaders who, in the name of advocating the interests of a specific community, create a clash between two communities of our society, and have made an industry of their pursuit for self-aggrandisement, should not be patronised.”
“Nowadays, there are reports that members of a community have been attacked by another community, making them victims of social violence. Such incidents have not been one-sided.”
(Source: The Indian Express)
4. China Snubs Imran, Says Resolve J&K Bilaterally
In what is being seen as a snub to visiting Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, China on Tuesday significantly modified its position on the Kashmir dispute by omitting its recent references to the UN charter and Security Council resolutions to the vexed issue and stressing that New Delhi and Islamabad should take the bilateral route to resolve all disputes.
“We call on India and Pakistan to engage in dialogue and consultation on all issues, including on Kashmir, and consolidate mutual trust. This is in line with interest of both countries and common aspiration of the world,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said.
(Source: The Times of India)
5. Thaw in Chill, Beijing to Delhi: Xi’s Visit is On
Ending days of suspense over the fate of the proposed second India-China informal summit, Beijing has officially confirmed to New Delhi about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India on 11-12 October. An official announcement will be made by both sides on Wednesday, 9 October, The Indian Express has learnt.
The official confirmation from China to India has been conveyed through diplomatic channels over the last 24 hours. This comes after a series of strong statements and moves that adversely impacted the bilateral space before the informal summit.
Beijing, too, gave positive signals on Tuesday through its Foreign Ministry spokesperson’s statement that China’s position on Jammu and Kashmir is “clear and consistent” to assuage Delhi’s concerns that the Chinese had made a departure from their stated position.
(Source: The Indian Express)
6. Traffic Offenders Can Be Tried Under Both IPC & MV Act: SC
The Supreme Court has held that those violating traffic rules and causing accidents by rash and negligent driving could be tried and punished separately under the Indian Penal Code (IPC), besides the Motor Vehicles Act.
Setting aside a Gauhati high court ruling that provisions of IPC cannot be invoked against traffic rule violators and they could be punished only under the MV Act, a bench of Justices Indu Malhotra and Sanjiv Khanna said ingredients of offences under both statutes are different and an offender can be tried and punished independently under them.
It said the principle that the MV Act, being a special law, should prevail over the general law has no application in cases of prosecution of offenders in road accidents under both the IPC and the MV Act.
(Source: The Times of India)
7. Three Scientists Find How Cells Use Oxygen, Get Nobel
Three researchers from the US and Britain on Monday, 7 October, shared the Nobel Medicine Prize for research into how human cells sense and adapt to changing oxygen levels, opening up new strategies to fight common diseases such as cancer and anaemia.
William Kaelin and Gregg Semenza of the United States and Britain’s Peter Ratcliffe split the nine million Swedish kronor ($914,000, 833,000 euros) award.
While the fact that humans need oxygen to survive has been understood for centuries, how the body registers and responds to oxygen was little known prior to the trio’s pioneering work.
(Source: Deccan Chronicle)
8. 65 Days After Lockdown, Officials in Valley Caution: Don’t Call This ‘Normal’
More than 60 days into the lockdown in the Valley, many officials on the ground, both in the civilian and security establishment, have begun to say that the political imperative, from New Delhi, to sustain an “everything-is-normal” narrative is turning out to be challenging — and could even be counterproductive.
Internet and cellphones are still down, the disruption caused by these touches virtually all aspects of life — from seeking health care to connecting with friends and family; schools and colleges are shut; hundreds are in detention; and although yesterday the Governor’s office withdrew the order restricting tourists, hardly any are visiting the Valley. All parties, barring the BJP, Tuesday, 8 October, announced they will not contest the 24 October Block Development Council (BDC) elections which the state announced late last month.
(Source: The Indian Express)
9. Task Force to Improve India’s Rights Record
The government is forming a task force to prepare a National Action Plan on Human Rights (NAPHR) as mandated under the UN Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) to improve India’s human rights record, government officials aware of the development said on condition of anonymity.
The task force will involve the Union home ministry and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and have representatives from ministries such as social justice and health, the officials added. Civil society organisations will also be consulted as part of the process at a later stage; the first draft of the NAPHR is likely to be ready by the end of November.
One of the officials said that Union home minister Amit Shah may announce NAPHR on NHRC’s foundation day on Saturday (12 October).
(Source: Hindustan Times)
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