‘BUREAUCRATIC INERTIA’ ON POOR AIR QUALITY DRAWS FLAK FROM SUPREME COURT

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refrained from passing any harsh directives on the worsening air pollution in the NCR and deferred the hearing on the issue to November 24 after the Centre said the condition would improve after Sunday. It asked the Centre and NCR states to implement in letter and spirit the decisions taken in the emergency meeting held by the Commission for Air Quality Management.

The Bench – which also included Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice Surya Kant – deferred the hearing to next Wednesday after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta urged it to postpone harsher steps as the Met Department had said the situation would improve after November 21. “Basically by November 21, nature will come to your rescue,” responded Justice Chandrachud.

During the hearing that went on for almost two hours, the top court pulled up the bureaucracy for its “don’t take any step” attitude in dealing with any situation, including air pollution. “They do not want to take any decision. They want courts to pass orders and they are happy to implement it,” it said. “What I am observing as a Judge and before it as an AG is that bureaucracy has gone into inertia and they don’t want to do anything, like using sprinklers or water buckets, we have to say. This is the attitude of the executive,” the CJI said. “It is apathy and just apathy,” added Justice Chandrachud.

“What we’re seeing is the plight of farmers. People sitting in Delhi in five, seven-star hotels criticise how they (farmers) contribute 4, 30 or 40% to pollution. Have you seen their (farmers’) earning per landholding?” it said. The Bench also said that debates on TV channels was creating more pollution than anything else.

In an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court yesterday, Punjab enlisted its “sincere efforts” to discourage farmers from burning paddy stubble. The “crucial aspects” that Punjab has flagged for the court’s intervention to reduce, prevent and prohibit burning of crop residue relate to diversification of crops and viability gap funding support of Rs 1,500 crore to set up 300 MW biomass power projects in the state. Besides, it also wants the Centre to provide an incentive of Rs 100 per quintal to farmers for mixing the paddy straw to the soil and stop burning it.

PAK PARLIAMENT GIVES KULBHUSHAN JADHAV RIGHT TO APPEAL AGAINST CONVICTION

The Pakistan Parliament, in a joint sitting on Wednesday, passed a bill that will give Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav the right to appeal against his conviction. Jadhav, a retired Indian Navy officer, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court in April 2017. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in its judgment on July 17, 2019, observed that Pakistan was under an obligation to provide by means of its own choosing effective review and reconsideration of the conviction and sentence of Mr Jadhav.

The ICJ had ruled that Pakistan was in breach of its international obligations because of the failure to provide consular access to Mr Jadhav.

Pakistan claims that Mr Jadhav was arrested from Balochistan in 2016 on charges of espionage. India has rejected Pakistan's allegations and said he was kidnapped from the Iranian port of Chabahar.The Pakistan National Assembly had on June 10 this year adopted a bill to give the right of appeal to Kulbhushan Jadhav.

India, however, is believed to have conveyed to Islamabad that the law has several “shortcomings”, and that steps are needed to implement the ICJ’s order “in letter and spirit”. “The Bill does not create a machinery to facilitate an effective review and reconsideration of Jadhav’s case,” a source said. “It invites municipal courts in Pakistan to decide whether or not any prejudice has been caused to Shri Jadhav on account of the failure to provide consular access. This is clearly a breach of the basic tenet, that municipal courts cannot be the arbiter of whether a State has fulfilled its obligations under international law… Not only this, it further invites a municipal court to sit in appeal, as it were, over a judgment of the ICJ.”

India believes the Bill reiterates a 2019 ordinance passed by Pakistan, without creating a machinery to facilitate an effective review and reconsideration in Kulbhushan Jadhav’s case.

‘CRITICISM OF INDIA’S STAND ON COAL UNFAIR’

Seeking to counter criticism from developed countries about India being the last-minute spoiler at the recent COP26 with regard to coal “phase out”, senior officials pushed back, saying such commentary is ill-informed and unfair. The term “phase down”, which replaced “phase out”, of coal emissions was taken from the US-China statement of the day before.

Officials said India objected to the fact that only coal was mentioned and not oil and gas, which are primarily used by developed countries. That puts countries like India and China in the dock while providing a loophole for western countries.

India and China worked together on the coal language, officials said. Unfortunately, India was in the spotlight as its environment minister was asked to read out the final outcome, said officials.

The final document removed “phase-out” of coal subsidies on the request of small island countries, and kept “phase down” for coal.

Critics have pointed to India’s “naïveté” through which China was let off the hook while India took the brickbat, despite showing the biggest commitment to climate mitigation goals at the Glasgow summit.

1ST TIME, FULLY-VAXXED NUMBERS HIGHER THAN THOSE JABBED ONCE

As the number of fully Covid-vaccinated individuals surpassed the partiallyjabbed eligible population for the first time, the govt has expressed confidence that every adult will be covered with at least the first dose by the end of the month-long ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign that was launched in the first week of November. Over114 crore doses have been administered so far — 38.4 crore people have received both doses, while 37.46 crore were jabbed once.

This assumes significance as it indicates that while majority of the country’s eligible adult population has now initiated vaccination, the second dose coverage has also increased substantially, particularly driven by the ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign.

PM Narendra Modi launched the ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign on November 3 urging health workers to knock every door and reach out to every household and immunize every citizen against Covid-19.

Currently, more than 80% of the adult population has received at least the first dose, whereas over 40% has got both doses.

COVID DASHBOARD – INDIA

As of 0800 IST 16/Nov

from mohfw.gov.in ,.

Total Cases / New Cases in last 24 Hrs 3,44,78,517 (+11,919)

Active  Cases 1,28,762 (+207)

Deaths 4,64,623  (+470) – (Of these 470 deaths, 388 are from Kerala but these include a large no. of old deaths that are now being attributed to Covid-19 as the data is being reconciled)

Total Vaccination : 1,14,46,32,851 (+73,44,739)

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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ALLEGATIONS THAT MOUNTBATTEN INFLUENCED INDIA-PAK BOUNDARY RAISED IN UK TRIBUNAL

A question mark has been raised at a tribunal in London over the impartiality of Lord Mountbatten and whether he sought to interfere with the boundary drawn between India and Pakistan at Partition.

The allegations were made during a first-tier tribunal (information rights) hearing as to whether all the private diaries of and correspondence between Lord and Lady Mountbatten — held by the University of Southampton within the Broadlands archives — should be made public. Clara Hamer, representing British author Andrew Lownie who has written a book on the Mountbattens and is seeking full disclosure of the Mountbatten papers, told the tribunal that Mountbatten’s diary entry on July 12, 1947 reveals that he had dinner with British judge Sir Cyril Radcliffe, the chair of the Boundary Commission, and Christopher Beaumont, its secretary, but his entry from the day after has been redacted on the basis that it could prejudice the UK’s relations with India and Pakistan.

Hamer said: “The issue of whether Mountbatten was impartial and the fact he met with Radcliffe and Beaumont on that date is a matter of importance as this was a time he was not supposed to be having contact with them and this could be evidence of a lack of impartiality by Lord Mountbatten. I would want to ask whether what is redacted on July 13, 1947, is linked to dinner the night before and is to do with drawing up of the boundary of Pakistan. If it is, there is a very strong public interest in full transparency.” Hamer also questioned why Mountbatten’s diary entry from August 6, 1947 — one week before independence — has been redacted. “This would be of particular public interest and importance for historians wishing to understand events at the time,” she said. She said Lownie had taken an educated guess that a meeting of the joint defence council was likely held, which Mountbatten would’ve attended.

US ADDS CHINA, PAK AND RUSSIA TO RELIGIOUS FREEDOM BLACKLIST

The US on Wednesday designated several nations, including Pakistan, China, Iran, North Korea and Russia, as countries of particular concern for violation of religious freedom. “I am designating Burma (Myanmar), the People’s Republic of China, Eritrea, Iran, the DPRK, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan as countries of particular concern for having engaged in or tolerated systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom,” US secretary of state Antony Blinken said.

The US also placed Algeria, Comoros, Cuba, and Nicaragua on a special watch list for govts that have engaged in or tolerated “severe violations of religious freedom.” And, it designated al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, IS, IS-Greater Sahara, IS-West Africa, Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin and the Taliban as ‘entities of particular concern’.

“The US will not waiver in its commitment to advocate for freedom of religion or belief for all and in every country,” Blinken said. “In far too many places around the world, we continue to see govts harass, arrest, threaten, jail, and kill individuals simply for seeking to live their lives in accordance with their beliefs.” The US, he said, will continue to press all govts to remedy the shortcomings.

THE REST

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IN LAKHIMPUR VIOLENCE, SUPREME COURT'S INSTRUCTIONS FOR NEW PROBE TEAM

The Supreme Court has directed the newly reconstituted Special Investigation Team or SIT looking into the deaths of four farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri to complete the investigation expeditiously. The Supreme Court today said it has added three IPS officers to the SIT who are not from Uttar Pradesh, though they are allocated to UP cadre. This was done after the team having most members from the local police, gave rise to concerns about partisanship.

The Supreme Court today also named a retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to monitor the probe.

During the last several hearings, the court had been pushing for judicial monitoring and it had even accused the state of trying to shield the accused.

YOU ARE HALF THE POPULATION, SEEK YOUR POLITICAL RIGHTS, PRIYANKA TO UP WOMEN

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday sought women’s support for her party in the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, and asked them why they should help a govt that is doing nothing for them. She urged women to come together and seek their rights in politics, pointing out that they comprise half the population.

Exhorting women to support her party weeks after it promised to reserve 40 per cent of its tickets for women candidates, Priyanka urged women at the Congress’s “Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti Hoon [I am a girl, and can fight]” campaign to rally behind her party. “I have come here to talk to you as you have to make up your mind. You are half the population, raise your voice. Come together and seek your rights in politics. If we are half in population then we should get the half share as well,” she said.

PROTESTS OVER KILLINGS IN AN ENCOUNTER IN KASHMIR

Protests were held at several places in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday over an encounter in  Hyderpora, on Monday, demanding an inquiry into the killing of the three persons accused of having terror links.

The kin of the three persons killed along with a Pakistani terrorist in the gunfight were among those who joined the protests held in Jammu, Srinagar, Banihal and Ramban district, where authorities imposed prohibitory orders banning any assembly of people.

The families refuted the police charge that they were terror associates.

National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah said he had a telephonic conversation with Lt Governor Sinha and had apprised him of the situation, including 'wavering' statements made by the police. "I informed the LG about the contradictory statements made by police. On Monday, they are civilians trapped in crossfire and Tuesday they are harbourers of terror. If they had so much of the so-called inputs about the deceased on Tuesday, they could have shared on Monday. This is a cooked-up story and needs to be probed," Abdullah said.

The former chief minister said that the LG assured him to look into this 'seriously'.

ACROSS THE DIVIDE IN GURGAON, GURDWARAS OFFER A WAY OUT

Days after the administration in Gurgaon cited “objections from local residents and RWAs” and withdrew permission for Friday prayers by the Muslim community at eight of the 37 sites agreed upon earlier, a committee overseeing five gurdwaras in this Haryana district bordering Delhi has offered their premises for the namaz.

“We are celebrating the birth anniversary of our first Guru (Guru Nanak Dev) on Friday. These gurdwaras can accommodate over 2,000 people, but we have proposed that people pray in small batches of 30-40 and maintain social distancing on account of Covid,” said president of one of the Gurudwaras.

Describing the offer as “gracious”, Mufti Mohammad Saleem, president of the Jamiat Ulama in Gurgaon, said they met representatives of the gurdwaras Wednesday. “This is a very welcome step and will go a long way in promoting harmony among communities,” said Saleem.

POLICE COMPLAINTS FILED AGAINST VIR DAS FOR US SHOW

Police complaints were filed against stand-up comic Vir Das in Mumbai and Delhi as a sharp debate emerged over one of his recent videos.

Das, who is in the United States right now, had on Monday uploaded a six-minute video on YouTube titled 'I come from two Indias'. It is part of his recent performance at the John F Kennedy Centre in Washington, DC. Das touched on various topics in the clip, including the farm protests, the battle against Covid, the duality in response to women, particularly rape, and the crackdown on comedians.

Das has issued a statement saying his comments weren't intended to insult the country.

As netizens aired their views on social media and elsewhere, the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE), a film body that claims to have have over 2.5 lakh registered members, said its members won't work with Das unless he issues a public apology.

Moving from just polemics, Delhi BJP vice president Aditya Jha from Delhi and Mumbai lawyer Ashutosh J Dubey went to the police with their complaints.

As the issue gathered steam, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday tweeted that none can doubt that there are two Indias. 'Just that we don't want an Indian to tell the world about it. We are intolerant and hypocritical,' he tweeted.

Tharoor praised Das as a stand-up comedian who knows that the real meaning of the term 'stand up' is not physical but moral. Tagging a tweet by a person who said he has filed a complaint against Das with Mumbai police, Tharoor said, 'We know which India this comes from.'

TMC MP Moitra also backed the comedian, thanking him for speaking truth about 'Two Indias'. 'Reactions also from 2 Indias -- one having a laugh & other filing complaints with police!' she tweeted.

There were plenty of voices on the other side too, reflecting the deep schisms in the discourse.

Congress leader Singhvi hit out at Das, saying that 'generalising the evils of a few individuals and vilifying the nation as a whole in front of the world is just not done'.

INDIA SCRAPE PAST NEW ZEALAND IN 1st T20I

India made heavy weather of what appeared an easy chase before beating New Zealand by five wickets, with two deliveries to spare, in the first T20 International, in Jaipur, on Wednesday.

Skipper Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav hit sublime fifties to put India on course, but the loss quick wickets saw them struggle in the death overs before recovering in time to emerge triumphant.

Martin Guptill (70 off 42) and Mark Chapman (63 off 50) had earlier set up New Zealand’s total of 164 for 6 on a good batting surface.

Rohit (48 off 36) and Suryakumar Yadav (62 off 40), who came in at number three in place of the rested Virat Kohli, put the hosts in a strong position with a 59-run partnership after opener K L Rahul was dismissed in the sixth over.

The home team was cantering, but Yadav’s dismissal in the 17th over, followed by Iyer’s exit in the 19th, made the finish tight.

In the end, with New Zealand running out of bowling options, the job was completed with just 2 balls to spare – Indian reached 166/5 in 19.4 overs.

The game marked the start of a new chapter in Indian cricket with Rohit as T20 skipper and Rahul Dravid as head coach.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

We must not indulge in unfavorable views of mankind, since by doing it we make bad men believe that they are no worse than others, and we teach the good that they are good in vain. - Walter Savage Landor

OFF TRACK

The 95 year old man at the old age home received a visit from one of those social workers. "How are you feeling, Sir?" the visitor asked.

"Oh," said the old man, "I'm just worried sick!"

"What are you worried about, Sir? You look like you're in good health. Are you in any pain?"

"No, I’m fine and I have never had a pain in my life."

"Well, what are you worried about then?"

The old man leaned back in his chair and slowly explained his major worry. "Every close friend I ever had has already died and gone on to heaven. I'm afraid they're all wondering where I went."