SUPREME COURT ALLOWS WIDENING OF ROADS UNDER CHAR DHAM PROJECT

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed construction of all-weather 10-meter wide road under the Char Dham Road Project in Uttarakhand in view of its strategic importance for armed forces.

A Bench led by Justice D Y Chandrachud -- which had on November 11 reserved its verdict on the issue -- said it has struck a delicate balance between requirement of widening strategic roads crucial to national security and deep-rooted sustainable development principle crucial to environment. Some of the roads under the Char Dham road expansion i.e. double lane paved shoulder (DLPS) -- are strategic feeder roads leading to India-China border.

Noting that recent past has thrown up serious challenges to national security along the borders, the Bench said, "This court can't second-guess infrastructural needs of armed forces."

The Bench -- which had wondered if environmental concerns can override national security -- modified its September 8, 2020 order that restricted the width of Chardham projects - Rishikesh to Mana; Rishikesh to Gangotri and Rishikesh to Pithoragarh. It allowed the three strategic roads to be DLPS -- crucial for the armed forces.

However, it set up an oversight committee headed by Justice (Retd) AK Sikri to report to court on the project. The panel has been asked to ensure that all remedial measures are taken in the interest of environment and recommendations of the high power committee are implemented while widening the roads under the project. It clarified that the panel will not do any fresh environmental assessment of the project.

The project is meant to connect the four holiest places in Uttarakhand through 900-km all-weather roads and the Centre has contended that it will also facilitate rapid deployment/movement of Armed Forces along India-China border.

Citing environmental concerns, petitioner Citizens for Green Doon – an NGO -- had challenged the widening of roads in the eco-sensitive Himalayan area.

LAKHIMPUR KHERI CASE: SIT SAYS KILLING OF FARMERS WAS PLANNED

Firming up the case against Union MoS Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra and the 12 other accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, a local court Tuesday accepted several new charges raised by the revamped Special Investigation Team, including attempt to murder. The SIT has submitted that the killing of four farmers and a journalist on October 3 was a “planned conspiracy”.

On Monday, the SIT submitted in the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court that the killings “did not happen due to negligence or callousness” and that actions of the accused were “deliberate with an intention to kill”.

The new charges come at a crucial time for Ashish Mishra whose bail application is pending with the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court. The matter has been listed for January.

SONIA REACHES OUT TO OPP LEADERS FOR UNITY; TMC ‘NOT INVITED’

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday met senior leaders of some opposition parties, including NCP chief Sharad Pawar, in a bid to send out a message that she is serious about keeping opposition parties together. Besides Pawar, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, DMK’s T R Baalu, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut and National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah were among those who attended the meeting. Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Kharge were also present.

The meeting came on a day West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee was in Goa and Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao met his Tamil Nadu counterpart and DMK chief M K Stalin, reviving talks of attempts to forge an anti-BJP front.

Sonia had last convened a meeting of Opposition leaders in August. In the last few days, the Congress chief has shown signs of getting more active. Over the weekend, she travelled to Jaipur to attend a party rally, something she has not done for a while. On Monday, she spoke in Lok Sabha after a long gap and raised the issue of a “misogynistic” passage in CBSE class X Board examination paper.

2 JABS TO ALL PRIORITY NOW, NO NORMS YET ON BOOSTER DOSE: CENTRE TO HC

The Centre on Tuesday told Delhi High Court that the current priority of the national Covid-19 vaccination programme is to cover the entire eligible population with two vaccine doses and there are no guidelines on administering booster dose from the two expert panels, as its appropriateness or necessity is to be decided.

In response to last month’s court order on booster dose of Covid-19 vaccine, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare told the court that the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) and National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 are considering scientific evidence related to the vaccine dose schedule as well as the need and justification of booster doses.

“The current knowledge about duration of immunity offered by Covid-19 vaccines in India is limited and will clearly be known over a period of time only,” the government stated in its reply.

On November 25, the division bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Jasmeet Singh had said that the decision on administering booster doses should not be based on economics and directed the Centre to apprise it on need for administration of booster dose. The court had also sought the timeline within which this is proposed to be rolled-out, if it is considering necessary. The court had asked why shots to boost waning immune response were not being made available in India when other countries such as the United States and those in Europe were permitting and encouraging such inoculation.

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST 15/Dec

from mohfw.gov.in ,

New Cases on Tuesday 6,838

Active Cases 87,562 (-1,431)

Total Deaths (Deaths Yesterday) 4,76,135 (101)

Total Vaccination: 134.61 Crores (+68,89,025)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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BLINKEN VOWS MORE US MILITARY MIGHT IN INDO-PACIFIC

The US will expand its military and economic relationships with partners in Asia to push back against China’s increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Tuesday. Blinken said the Biden administration is committed to maintaining peace and prosperity in the region and will do that by boosting US alliances, forging new relationships and ensuring that the US military maintains “its competitive edge”.

“Threats are evolving, our security approach has to evolve with them. To do that, we will lean on our greatest strength: our alliances and partnerships,” Blinken said in a speech in Indonesia, outlining the administration’s Indo-Pacific plans. “We’ll adopt a strategy that more closely weaves together all our instruments of national power — diplomacy, military, intelligence — with those of our allies and partners,” he said. That will include linking US and Asian defence industries, integrating supply chains and cooperating on technological innovation, he said.

“It’s about reinforcing our strengths so we can keep the peace,” he said.

At a daily briefing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Blinken’s comments showed the US was contradicting itself by “playing up the so-called China threat on the one hand while claiming that it has no intention to seek conflict with China on the other”. He criticised the US for “frequently sending ships and aircraft to the the area to flex muscles and stir up trouble”.

OMICRON SPREAD RAPID, SHEER NUMBERS CAN OVERWHELM: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday warned that highly transmissible Omicron variant is spreading at a rate not seen with any previous variant of Covid-19 — underlining that even if it causes less severe disease, “the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems”.

On Tuesday, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, during the media briefing on Covid-19, also flagged that while 77 countries have now reported cases of Omicron, the reality is that Omicron is probably in most countries, even if it hasn’t been detected yet. “Omicron is spreading at a rate we have not seen with any previous variant,” Tedros said.

While some countries are rolling out booster programmes for their adult population, WHO has expressed concern at the lack of evidence for effectiveness of boosters against Omicron. It could lead to vaccine hoarding and exacerbate inequity, WHO says.

Highlighting that “vaccines alone will not get any country out of this crisis”, Tedros said, “It’s not vaccines instead of masks. It’s not vaccines instead of distancing. It’s not vaccines instead of ventilation or hand hygiene. Do it all…”

THE REST

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CONTRIBUTIONS OF SAINTS TO FREEDOM STRUGGLE NOT RECORDED PROPERLY: PM

India is so unique that whenever it faces adverse times, a saint emerges to change the course of time, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday. Giving the example of the freedom struggle, he said many saints left their spiritual passion to join the movement but their contributions were not recorded in history as they should have been. He was addressing a gathering at an event to mark the 98th anniversary celebrations of Sadguru Sadafaldeo Vihangam Yog Sansthan at Swarved Mahamandir Dham in Varanasi.

Elaborating on the glory and significance of Varanasi, his constituency, Modi said cities like Varanasi have preserved the India’s identity even in the toughest of times. “Where there is a seed, the tree begins to expand from there. And that is why today when we talk about the development of Varanasi, it also forms the roadmap for the development of the whole of India,” he said.

POOR RURAL ROADS IN BIHAR: ALLIES BJP, JD(U) SPAR IN LOK SABHA

In what points to simmering differences between the BJP & JD(U) which run a coalition government in Bihar, Lok Sabha members from the two parties took swipes at each other for the lack of progress in rural roads projects and other developmental activities in the state.

During the question hour in Lok Sabha Tuesday, BJP MP Ram Kripal Yadav criticised the Bihar government and said it had not been able to complete works under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, whereas other states have moved ahead.

Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Giriraj Singh also cited the statistics which showed the state had indeed failed to meet the target under the PMGSY scheme.

Not taking this lightly, JD (U) MP Kaushalendra Kumar questioned Minister Giriraj Singh if had held any meeting with state government officials to take decisive steps for completing the works.

ARRIVALS FROM ‘AT-RISK’ NATIONS: FOR 6 CITIES, PRIOR RT-PCR BOOKING NEEDED

The Centre has mandated pre-booking of RT-PCR tests for passengers arriving from ‘at-risk’ countries or those who have been in such countries in the preceding 14 days. This is on the lines of the norms in the UK, where arriving flyers must pre-book RT-PCR tests, sans which they aren’t allowed to board flights to British airports.

However, as per Indian rules, passengers won’t be denied boarding if they do not have the pre-booking. It will be the responsibility of the airline to register the passenger for pre-booking.

In India, the system would be implemented with effect from December 20 for those arriving into six airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — in the first phase.

OVER 8 LAKH INDIANS HAVE GIVEN UP THEIR CITIZENSHIP SINCE 2015

A total of 8,81,254 Indians have given up their citizenship since 2015, the Ministry of Home Affairs informed the Lok Sabha Tuesday. The question in this regard was raised by Telangana Rashtriya Samiti leader Kotha Prabhakar Reddy and was responded to by Minister of State (Home), Nityanand Rai.

India does not offer dual citizenship so people seeking citizenship in other countries must give up their Indian passport. However, Indians who renounce citizenship can still apply for an Overseas Citizen of India card, which gives them the benefit of residing and even running a business in India.

UPI PAYMENTS GREW 200% ANNUALLY OVER LAST 5 YEARS

Unified Payments Interface (UPI) has made possible digital payment transactions worth trillions of rupees since it was first launched in India five years back, said Ritesh Shukla, Chief Executive Officer of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Tuesday. Such has been the ease of transaction that UPI payments have grown at an annual rate of about 200 per cent since its launch in the country, he added.

“In the year 2020, UPI as a platform achieved about $457 billion worth of commerce, which is about 15 per cent of India’s GDP,” said Shukla. He added: “Compared to the first year of our operation, that is 2017, where we had $8 billion worth of commerce on the platform, we have grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 200 per cent in a short span of time.”

“Armed with what we have achieved in India, coupled with the knowledge that we have gained while running the platform, we are ready to collaborate with other countries in the world," said Shukla.

CARS ROLL ON TO THE ELECTRIC WAGON: MANUFACTURERS ANNOUNCE BIG PLANS

India’s electric mobility goal, which has so far been riding on two wheels, is all set to graduate to four wheels. At least, the journey has begun.

Last week, Hyundai Motor India said it would invest Rs 4,000 crore till 2028 to launch half-a-dozen electric vehicles (EVs) in India. It would eventually straddle premium and mass segments. The first of these — the electrified version of an internal combustion engine (ICE)-powered model — will go on sale as early as next year.

On Friday, MG Motor India said it would drive in an affordable EV priced between Rs 10 to 15 lakhs, by the end of the next financial year. It currently sells the MG ZVS — its premium EV offering in two variants priced at Rs 21 Rs 24.68 lakhs (ex-showroom) respectively.

An aggressive policy push through centralised and state subsidy schemes has nudged automakers to announce plans to launch affordable EVs. With these schemes, EVs are expected to account for just 30 per cent of total vehicle sales in India by FY30.

For luxury carmakers such as Mercedes, Audi and BMW it has been a “foot in the door” strategy with imported models addressing the top end of the market (Rs 1 crore-plus).

For the rest, as they seek to align themselves with the global powertrain strategy of the parent companies it’s only a matter of time before they announce India EV plans.

So far, Tata Motors, which sells the e-Nexon and e-Tigor, has a monopoly with over 70 per cent share in the segment. It plans to launch a total of 10 models by 2025. Most of these will be the electrified versions of the ICE-powered models.

CHANEL APPOINTS UNILEVER CHRO LEENA NAIR AS CEO

Leena Nair, Unilever’s chief human resources officer (CHRO) will step down in January to join French luxury brand-Chanel as global CEO and will be based out of London. Nair started her career at Hindustan Unilever (HUL) 30 years ago, as management trainee and became the first woman on HUL’s management committee. During her stint at the company, Nair progressed through roles in factories, sales and human resources.

Nair completed her Master in Business Administration from XLRI- Jamshedpur as a gold medalist in 1991-1992.

IN SOUTH AFRICA, KOHLI, ROHIT TRYING NOT TO PLAY UNDER EACH OTHER?

The incidents of the past few days have given some credence to the fact that all is possibly not well between the Virat Kohli, the Indian Test Cricket captain and Rohit Sharma, the newly appointed captain for ODIs and T20s.

When BCCI tweeted to say Rohit Sharma has been named captain of India's ODI and T20I sides going forward, the terse, one-line was a shocker. Kohli did not want to give up his ODI captaincy but BCCI wasn't having any of it. After hours of silence, the BCCI president Sourav Ganguli said the board had requested Virat Kohli to stay on as T20I captain, and that the selectors were not in favour of splitting the captaincy in the shortest format. It was understood thereafter that losing the ODI captaincy then was a foregone conclusion for Kohli.

Following the announcement, there was radio silence from the Virat Kohli camp while Rohit Sharma, in an interview with bcci.tv, heaped praise on the former and underlined India's grit and determination to win every match.

And then, Rohit Sharma pulled out of the Test series in South Africa, due to a hamstring injury. And it has been mentioned that he'll be available for all white ball matches..

And yesterday, reports emerged that Virat Kohli is set to make himself unavailable for the ODI series, as his daughter is turning one around that time. But she turns 1 on January 11. And that is when the third Test starts and there is no word of Kohli not playing the final Test. It is the ODI series Kohli is considering missing - the first match will be played on January 19.

BADMINTON WORLDS: CONTRASTING WINS FOR SINDHU, SRIKANTH

Kidambi Srikanth had to work hard to record a win and advance at the BWF World Championships on Tuesday. He battled past Li Shi Feng to advance to the 3rd round of the ongoing BWF World Championships in Huelva, Spain, on Tuesday. The former World No 1 Indian defeated the Chinese shuttler 15-21, 21-18, 21-17 in a thrilling contest that lasted 70 minutes.

Defending champion PV Sindhu breezed past Slovakia's Martina Repiska 21-7, 21-9 to make a resounding start in the BWF World Championship in Huelva, Spain, on Tuesday.

The fast-rising Lakshya Sen prevailed over 15th seeded Japanese Kenta Nishimoto 22-20, 15-21, 21-18 and also progressed to the third round.

In men's doubles, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty beat Chinese Taipei's Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan 27-25, 21-17 in 43 minutes.

INDICATORS

Sensex 58,117 (-166), Nifty 17,325 (-43), Trading Value NSE (Rs.crores) 57,813

Nasdaq 15,238 (-176) Dow 35,544 (-107), S&P 4,634 (-35)

US$-Rs. 75.84 GBP-Rs. 100.27, Euro-Rs. 85.55, UAE Dhm-Rs.20.64, Can$-Rs. 59.10, Aus$- Rs. 53.94

GBP 0.75 /US$, Euro 0.88 /US$, Jap.Yen 113.64 /US$, Aus$ 1.40 /US$, Sing 1.36 /US$, Bang Taka 84.13 /US$, Can$ 1.28 /US$, Mal Ring 4.22 /US$,

Pak Re 177.45 /US$, Phil Peso 50.28 /US$, Russian Rouble 73.59 /US$, NZ$ 1.48 /US$, Thai Baht 33.37 /US$, Ukraine Hryvnia 26.74 /US$

Bitcoin - USD 47,992

Dollar Index 96.48 Brent Crude 73.22 BDI 2,932

Gold world Spot Price USD/aoz 1,772 India (Rs. per gm 24k/22k) 4,816 / 4,716, Silver (Rs. Per KG) 65,200

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

You don't love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear. - Oscar Wilde

OFF TRACK

A little girl walks into a pet shop and asks in the sweetest little lisp: "Excuthe me, mithter, do you keep wittle wabiths?"

And the shopkeeper gets down on his knees, so that he's on her level, and asks: "Do you want a wittle white wabby or a soft and fuwwy bwack wabby?"

She in turn puts her hands on her knees, bends forward and says,  "I don't fink my pyfon gives a damn!"