July 21, 2020: A look at the top news today.
Good morning readers,
We will be looking at the progress of one of the most promising Covid vaccine candidates, the Rajasthan political storm, and J&K—one year after it special status was abrogated.
Big story
The race to develop a vaccine against coronavirus is heating up with Oxford University researchers reporting that their vaccine candidate had triggered a dual immune response in humans. However, it is important to note that these are early stage clinical trials; results of the larger Phase III trials will be crucial.
From the front page
A review undertaken by the J&K administration has found that only 49 per cent of the funds allocated from the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) has been utilised towards 54 projects (excluding Ladakh). The UT’s first Lieutenant Governor, G C Murmu, says allocation and completion of works, in fact, accelerated only in 2019.
Sanjay Bardia alias Jain, who was arrested for allegedly conspiring to topple the Ashok Gehlot government, was in a business partnership with the son of Ashok Parnami, a former president of the Rajasthan BJP unit. This has strengthened the Congress claim that Bardia is close to the BJP after circulating his photos with Vasundhara Raje. Parnami is a Raje loyalist and served as MLA for two terms.
After the Supreme Court underlined its “responsibility to maintain rule of law”, the Uttar Pradesh government agreed to expand the one-man inquiry committee constituted to probe the death of gangster Vikas Dubey in an encounter on July 10, to include an ex-judge of the apex court and a retired police officer.
The Pandemic
AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria, who is part of the core team monitoring the pandemic in India, has told The Indian Express that data from the national capital suggests that the Covid curve is flattening and the city “may have crossed the peak”.
West Bengal will be under complete lockdown for two days every week after community transmission of Covid-19 had been recorded in a few areas, the state government said. All offices, transport services will be shut down on those two days. The government has also announced that all banks would remain closed on Saturday and Sunday.
In just 60 days, India had emerged as the world’s second largest manufacturer of PPE kits, after China. But in the rush to boost production, quality norms were left behind, with these kits being dubbed as “sweat chambers” by medical professionals and “unfit” for domestic use or export by several stakeholders.
Beyond covid
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has turned the feud with his former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot quite personal. In his sharpest attack till date, Gehlot called Pilot a “nikamma” and a “nakara” (useless and worthless). This has left the Congress leadership in New Delhi squirming. Sources close to Pilot said Gehlot’s “venomous” outbursts proved Pilot’s point that Gehlot had never given him respect or treated him well.
Meanwhile, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, who has been accused by the Congress of taking active role in disrupting the Ashok Gehlot government, says he doesn’t see the two Congress leaders burying the hatchet anytime soon. “It’s a scripted story, and Gehlot is the producer and director (of it); he has decided the climax, too,” he says.
ICYMI
Former J&K CM Omar Abdullah said he would take Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel to court after the latter hinted that his release from detention may be linked to developments in Rajasthan.
The NCERT has replaced separatist politics in J&K with electoral politics and scrapping of its special status in a chapter in Class 12 textbook.
Hundreds of families affected by the Delhi riots are still struggling to pick up the pieces, with compensation announced by the government eluding them.
PB Mehta writes: Findings in Padmanabhaswamy case turn on specific facts. But there are wider political ramifications.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) postponed the 2020 T20 World Cup that was scheduled to be held in Australia in October-November.
Palasbari: Forest department officials capture a wild elephant after tranquilizing it, at Hudumpur village in Palasbari.The elephant had come from Orang National park and created havoc in the residential area. (PTI Photo)(
And Finally…
The floods in Assam have submerged 85 per cent of the Kaziranga National Park, famous for its one-horned rhinoceros. Already 113 animals, including 11 rhinos, have died — two of the rhinos succumbed to natural causes. And with this year’s deluge said to be the “sixth heaviest” in the park’s history, the fear is that the animal toll will rise.
No public invitation to L K Advani and Kalyan Singh for the ‘bhoomi pujan‘ at Ayodhya to start the Ram mandir construction has raised eyebrows among the cadres who fuelled the movement.
🎧 In the latest episode of Three Things podcast, we look at why Bengaluru is struggling to tackle the spread of COVID-19 after initially seeming to be on top of things.
Until tomorrow,
Leela Prasad G
