📰 Jharkhand is now ODF, says CM
•Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das on Thursday announced the entire State as open defecation free (ODF). The ODF target for the State was October 2, 2019, but Jharkhand has achieved it a year in advance, Mr. Das said at the Statehood Day function here.
•Jharkhand was carved out from Bihar on November 15, 2000, by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
•The Chief Minister also announced Lohardaga, Hazaribagh and Deoghar as totally electrified districts, joining Ranchi, Dhanbad, Ramgarh and Bokaro.
•The electrification target for the entire State was December, 2018, he said.
•He said Jharkhand is second in country in terms of development growth.
📰 ‘Super-Earth’ found orbiting Sun’s nearest single star
Barnard’s star b orbits around its host star once every 233 days
•Astronomers have discovered a frozen planet with a mass over three times that of the Earth, orbiting the closest solitary star to the Sun.
•The potentially rocky planet, known as Barnard’s star b, is a ‘super-Earth’ and orbits around its host star once every 233 days, said researchers from Queen Mary University of London.
•The findings, published in the journal Nature, show the planet lies at a distant region from the star known as the ‘snow line’ This is well beyond the habitable zone in which liquid water, and possibly life, could exist, researchers said. The planet’s surface temperature is estimated to be around -170°C, they said. However, if the planet has a substantial atmosphere the temperature could be higher and conditions potentially more hospitable.
‘Infamous object’
•“Barnard’s star is an infamous object among astronomers and exoplanet scientists, as it was one of the first stars where planets were initially claimed but later proven to be incorrect. Hopefully we got it right this time,” said Guillem Anglada Escude from Queen Mary’s School of Physics and Astronomy.
•At nearly six light-years away Barnard’s star is the next closest star to the Sun after the Alpha Centauri triple system. It is a type of faint, low-mass star called a red dwarf. Red dwarfs are considered to be the best places to look for exoplanet candidates, which are planets outside our solar system.
•Barnard’s star b is the second closest known exoplanet to our Sun. The closest lies just over four light-years from Earth. That exoplanet, Proxima b, orbits around the red dwarf Proxima Centauri.
•The researchers used the radial velocity method during the observations that led to the discovery of Barnard’s star b. This technique detects wobbles in a star which are likely to be caused by the gravitational pull of an orbiting planet. These wobbles affect the light coming from the star.
📰 Ice age crater discovered beneath Greenland glacier
At over 31 km in diameter, it is bigger than the area of Paris
•Buried beneath a kilometre of snow and ice in northern Greenland, scientists have uncovered an asteroid impact crater, bigger than the area of Paris.
•This is the first time that a crater of any size has been found under one of Earth’s continental ice sheets, said researchers from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. The researchers worked for the past three years to verify their discovery, initially made in the 2015.
•The crater measures more than 31 km in diameter, placing it among the 25 largest impact craters on Earth, according to the study published in the journalScience Advances . It was formed when a kilometre-wide iron meteorite smashed into northern Greenland.
•“The crater is exceptionally well-preserved, and that is surprising, because glacier ice is an incredibly efficient erosive agent that would have quickly removed traces of the impact,” said Professor Kurt H. Kjaer from the Natural History Museum of Denmark.
•“So far, it has not been possible to date the crater directly, but its condition strongly suggests that it formed after ice began to cover Greenland, so younger than 3 million years old and possibly as recently as 12,000 years ago — toward the end of the last ice age,” he said.
•The crater was first discovered in July 2015 as the researchers inspected a new map of the topography beneath Greenland’s ice-sheet.
•They noticed an enormous, but previously undetected circular depression under Hiawatha Glacier. “We immediately knew this was something special but at the same time it became clear that it would be difficult to confirm the origin of the depression,” said Mr. Kjaer.
•The 20-tonne iron meteorite sits in the courtyard at the Geological Museum in Copenhagen.
📰 A research hub for antibiotics resistance
Centre to open in Denmark in 2019
•Denmark said on Thursday it would create an international research centre focused on the fight against resistance to antibiotics, a scourge affecting almost half a million people worldwide.
•Danish Health Minister Ellen Trane Norby signed a memorandum of understanding in Seattle, in the United States, with the international network of research centres CGIAR, to establish the centre, her office said.
•Denmark aims to lead “future global work on finding new solutions for the serious challenges with antimicrobial resistance we are facing today,” Ms. Norby said in a statement.
•The International Centre for Interdisciplinary Solutions on AMR (Antimicrobial Resistance), financed by Denmark and private investors, will open in 2019 and is expected to employ up to 500 people.
•In 2016, 4, 90,000 people developed a resistance to antibiotics, according to figures from the World Health Organisation. The growing problem causes 33,000 deaths in Europe each year, a recent study by the Stockholm-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said. “The burden of these infections is comparable to that of influenza, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS combined,” the ECDC said.
•Discovered in the 1920s, antibiotics have saved tens of millions of lives by defeating bacterial diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis and meningitis.
📰 SC pulls up States for delay in recruitment of judges
CJI-led Bench takes note of over 5,000 vacancies in subordinate judiciary
•The Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up various State governments and the administrative side of the High Courts for delay in filling vacancies in subordinate judicial services.
•A Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, had taken suo motucognisance of more than 5,000 vacancies for subordinate judicial posts even as pendency touched crores.
Poor infrastructure
•It found that the source of the problem lay in poor infrastructure, from courtrooms to residences for judges, and a sheer lackadaisical approach to conducting the appointment process on time.
•“We want our judges. We will put them in their posts, and if they cannot work, it is because the government is not giving them the infrastructure... Enough is enough,” Chief Justice Gogoi said. The Supreme Court had earlier warned of centralising appointments to the subordinate judiciary. The court found there were more than 1,000 vacancies in Uttar Pradesh alone.
Bengal services hit
•It discovered that a lack of infrastructure and staff plagued the West Bengal judicial services. “We will get the Chief Secretary and pin him down. The State should tell us why courtrooms and residential houses are not being provided for judges and support staff. Is it not their duty to do so?” the Chief Justice asked.
•The court took note of an undertaking given by the Uttar Pradesh government that it would provide adequate housing arrangements for judicial officers.
•The Bench found that the recruitment process was under way for only 100 vacancies in Delhi, which has over 200 vacancies.
•The move taking suo motu cognisance of the chronically ailing condition of the lower judiciary was only recently highlighted by Chief Justice Gogoi as one which required immediate attention.
•More than three crore cases are pending in the lower courts.
Five-page order
•In a five-page order earlier, the Supreme Court had recorded that there were a total of 22,036 posts in the district and subordinate judiciary, ranging from district judges to junior civil judges, across the States.
•It said 5,133 out of the 22,036 posts were vacant.
📰 Searching for an elusive peace
India must remain engaged with the multiple processes underway on Afghan reconciliation
•Russia hosted a regional conference on Afghanistan last week to nudge the reconciliation process between the Taliban and the Afghan authorities. The Taliban were represented by the political council chief, Sher Mohammad Stanikzai. Representatives from Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, the U.S. and India were also present at the meeting, making it the first time that all stakeholders were present in the same room.
•Considerable political manoeuvring preceded the meeting. It was earlier planned for September, but failed to materialise. The Taliban were opposed to attending since the Afghan government insisted on co-chairing the meeting. The diplomatic solution was to have Afghanistan represented by the High Peace Council (HPC), set up and supported by the government with the specific aim of furthering peace talks, though formally not part of government. India sent two seasoned former diplomats, with the Ministry of External Affairs describing its participation as “non-official”. The U.S. was represented by its Moscow embassy officials. Aware of the differences, the Russians refrained from attempting a final statement or even a group photograph. Nevertheless, with this meeting, Russia has sent a clear signal that it is back in the game in Afghanistan.
Beginnings of reconciliation
•The idea of reconciliation with the Taliban has been around for over a decade. As the Taliban insurgency grew 2005 onwards, the British, deployed in Helmand, soon found merit in doing side deals with local Taliban commanders by turning a blind eye to opium production in the area. With the help of the Germans and the Norwegians, they began to persuade the U.S. to work for a political outcome.
•After being elected in 2008, President Barack Obama ordered a full-scale review of the U.S.’s Afghanistan policy. After extracting an assurance from the generals that the insurgency would be defeated in 18 months, Mr. Obama announced a shift to counter-insurgency mode with a surge of over 40,000 troops, but added that phased drawdown of troops would begin in end-2011. Operation Enduring Freedom formally ended in December 2014, handing over primary responsibility for combat operations to the Afghan security forces even as the insurgency gained ground.
•The U.S. soon realised that it had run out of options. Insurgency could not be contained as long as sanctuaries existed in Pakistan and the carrot and stick policy with Pakistan had cost the U.S. $33 billion but failed to change Pakistan’s policy. A total cut-off was not possible as long as U.S. troops in Afghanistan depended on supply lines through Pakistan. In 12 years, the U.S. had lost 2,300 soldiers and spent $105 billion in rebuilding Afghanistan, more than $103 billion (in inflation-adjusted terms) spent under the Marshall Plan on rebuilding West Europe after World War II. War weariness demanded an exit and a political solution was unavoidable.
Taliban’s growing visibility
•After prolonged negotiations, a Taliban office opened in Doha in June 2013 to promote talks and a peace process. However, when the office started flying the Taliban flag, calling itself the political bureau of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, it angered both the U.S. and Afghan governments. The office was closed down though the Qatar authorities continue to host Taliban leaders.
•Coming to power in 2014 after a bitterly contested election, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani moved to improve relations with Pakistan, even calling on then Army Chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif, at the GHQ, to push for reconciliation. Preliminary talks were held in Murree but derailed in July 2015 when Mr. Ghani asked for a supportive audio/video (instead of a written statement) by Taliban leader Mullah Omar and learnt that he had died over two years earlier.
•An internal power struggle within the Taliban erupted with Mullah Akhtar Mansour emerging as the leader. Insurgency grew with the Taliban briefly taking over Kunduz and Ghormach districts and threatening Ghazni. Mr. Ghani felt betrayed and lashed out, accusing Pakistan of “waging war”.
•A new initiative (Quadrilateral Coordination Group) involving the U.S., China, Pakistan and Afghanistan was launched in January 2016. After a couple of meetings, there was a roadmap; Pakistan was to use its influence to get the Taliban to the negotiating table. Hopes were dashed when the Taliban demanded exit of foreign troops, release of detainees from Guantanamo, and removal of its leaders from international blacklists. Frustrated with Pakistan’s inability to get Mullah Mansour to fall in line, the U.S. eliminated him in a drone strike in May 2016 in Balochistan. Maulvi Haibatullah was appointed as his successor.
•Meanwhile, there were signs that the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan were converging under the banner of the Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan’s northern and eastern provinces. In December 2015, Russia publicly acknowledged that it had “communication channels with the Taliban for exchange of information” and “a shared interest with the Taliban to counter the threat posed by the IS”. Clearly, it was getting back into the game. Preliminary consultations were held in 2017, at which Afghan officials (and senior Indian diplomats) were present but the Taliban declined to share the table with the Afghan government.
Remaining engaged
•Mr. Ghani launched the Kabul Process for Peace and Security Cooperation, and in February, made an unconditional dialogue offer to the Taliban. The Taliban rejected his overture, declaring that they were ready to engage in direct talks only with the Americans. Mr. Ghani persisted, resulting in a three-day ceasefire during Eid. The U.S. softened its stand on an “Afghan-led and Afghan owned peace process”, and in July, senior State Department official Alice Wells was in Doha for a meeting with the Taliban. In September, the State Department announced the appointment of Zalmay Khalilzad (former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan) as Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation. Mr. Khalilzad, a pushy go-getter, has since been making the rounds in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Pakistan and Afghanistan.
•Meanwhile, the situation continues to worsen. Today, the Afghan government controls barely half the country, with one-sixth under Taliban control and the rest contested. Most significant is the ongoing depletion in the Afghan security forces because of casualties, desertions and a growing reluctance to join. U.S. President Donald Trump’s South Asia policy announced last August aimed at breaking the military stalemate by expanding the U.S. and NATO presence, putting Pakistan on notice and strengthening Afghan capabilities has clearly failed, and this is why multiple processes are underway. Everyone agrees that the war has to end; the question for the U.S. is how to manage the optics of the exit while not conceding victory to the Taliban.
•Since July 2011, when the former President and Chair of the HPC, Burhanuddin Rabbani, visited Delhi, India has supported an ‘Afghan-led and Afghan-owned’ peace process. Last month, during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s India visit, both countries expressed their commitment to the Moscow Format. India doesn’t have the leverage to play spoiler but its presence is recognition that its economic cooperation programmes make it the most widely accepted development partner. Pragmatism dictates that India remain engaged with the multiple processes underway. Peace remains elusive but India’s engagement demonstrates commitment to the idea of a stable, independent and peaceful Afghanistan.
📰 Sabarimala, and the quest for equality
The debate on opening the shrine to all women is revealing deep casteism and misogyny
•Sabarimala, it appears, could be our new touchstone for understanding liberals, especially from Kerala. The intellectual emptiness in the arguments of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and former Foreign Secretary Nirupama Menon Rao on the Sabarimala imbroglio require both investigation and introspection.
•Mr. Tharoor contends dangerously that “abstract notions of constitutional principle also have to pass the test of societal acceptance”. Would he also recommend that the triple talaq pronouncement be rethought if conservative Muslims took to the streets in large numbers? And it scares me to think of what his position will be on the Ayodhya case if it does not satisfy his prescription.
The court’s mandate
•The Supreme Court does not, and should not, take into account mystical notions and practices as the foundation for its considered opinion. While it does consider the culture of people, every practice of culture or faith must pass the test of the Constitution of India. It is a cultural document in the sense that within its intentions, principles, pronouncements and guidelines lies the fibre of the people who make up this land. Hence its limitations are also our own social, cultural and political wrinkles. But the makers of the Constitution wished and hoped that the fundamental rights would represent an ideal of India. They were, and we are, yearning for an India where all forms of discrimination and segregation cease to be practiced. The Constitution is not a heartless, emotionless document; it is a passionate seeking for human upliftment.
•Therefore, the court should respond with care, compassion and empathy for the citizens of India, especially those who are at the receiving end of a discriminative practice, disregarding society’s majoritarian impulses. Simply put, if the wishes of Ayyappa lead to an unjust limitation of access for women between the ages of 10 and 50 who want his blessing, then his wishes have to be set aside. The cornerstone of the Hindu tradition is bhakti. And there is nothing more sacred than the unconditional love of the devotee. Ayyappa has to surrender to its power. Philosophically, this is in alignment with the Supreme Court judgment of September 28. It was remarkable, reminding us of the profound vision of the architects of our Constitution. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud put it succinctly when he said, “Religion cannot be cover to deny women the right to worship.”
•Mr. Tharoor and the Congress, meanwhile, are playing a dangerous game in Kerala. Please do not cry foul when the BJP uses exactly the same arguments you are making to oppress certain sections of society. This duplicity will come back to haunt you.
•Soon after Mr. Tharoor’s observations came a series of tweets from Ms. Rao. She argues that we should leave Ayyappa and his world of male-purification, self-control, abstinence alone. Shockingly, she makes the case that barring Dalits from temples was the result of upper-caste hegemony, but the Sabarimala practice is founded on the legend of Ayyappa and is, therefore, acceptable. But isn’t it that very same ‘purity’ that forbid Dalits from entering temples being perpetrated here in the name of Naishtika Brahmachari-ism? Even today, women are advised not to enter places of worship when they are menstruating. Esoteric arguments of positive/negative energies and purity are expounded in order to cultivate fear and restrict women — a result of discriminative legends, stories, tales, social rituals, manuscripts and treatises.
•Ms. Rao went on to say, “the men bond together, beyond class and hierarchy and status during the pilgrimage, while the women are left free and unhindered in a blessed sisterhood.” People of all castes do throng to Sabarimala but that does not mean it dissolves caste. By that argument, every temple is then casteless because today people from every section of society offer prayers and undertake pilgrimages. But we all know that this is entirely untrue. Most temples in their traditions, ritual practices, control and organisation are inherently casteist. And “sisterhood” in this context is unmistakably patriarchal.
•She makes the celibacy of Ayyappa central to her reasoning, forgetting that if she is going to grant Ayyappa that right, then the devotee has as much right to question his nature. Very soon, Hindu fundamentalists and conservatives from every religion will be expressing exactly these notions of tradition in varied contexts to justify the unjustifiable. Which is exactly why bigoted Islamic groups are lending support to the Sabarimala agitation.
•Be that as it may, Mr. Tharoor and Ms. Rao have also brought into focus the inherently casteist and patriarchal nature of Kerala society. Social reformers Narayana Guru and Ayyankali fought this deeply entrenched caste discrimination and untouchability in Malayali society — the success of reservations and positive social indices suggest that they made a big dent in casteism. But it is obvious from the upper-caste noise being generated in Kerala today that much work remains to be done. Within every one of us hides casteism, and it reveals itself in such situations. Patriarchy and male hegemony are the foundations on which caste operates, and Kerala is no exception.
•Mr. Tharoor’s misguided attempt to reconcile his prejudices on the Sabarimala issue — and that of his constituents, presumably — with his liberal interior undermines the Constitution. What he should be doing is grapple with his own implicit, unconscious acceptance of casteist and patriarchal religious practices. Ms. Rao, who has implied that Sabarimala is a mythologically sanctioned male domain for self-purification, should look at every domain that women have challenged and succeeded within. There was always some form of supernatural or socio-ritualistic restriction blocking all those avenues for women. It is just too convenient for caste-privileged liberal feminists to be selective in their idea of feminism.
📰 When judges legislate
Neither is the broad separation of powers among the three organs of the state maintained nor is the law clear
•In many recent judgments, the Supreme Court has become hyper-activist in making laws. But can judges legislate?
•This question has already been answered in the past by the court. In Ram Jawaya v. The State of Punjab (1955), the court observed: “Our Constitution does not contemplate assumption, by one organ or part of the state, of functions that essentially belong to another.” This implies that there should be a broad separation of powers in the Constitution among the three organs of the state, and that one organ should not encroach into the domain of another. If this happens, the delicate balance in the Constitution will be upset and there will be chaos.
•Making laws is the function of the legislature. As observed in Union of India v. Deoki Nandan Aggarwal (1991), “The power to legislate has not been conferred on the courts.” In Suresh Seth v. Commissioner, Indore Municipal Corporation (2005), the court observed: “Under our Constitutional scheme, Parliament and Legislative Assemblies exercise sovereign power to enact laws.” Is judicial discipline being observed? Let us examine some recent decisions of the court.
•First, in Arun Gopal v. Union of India (2017), the Supreme Court fixed timings for bursting Diwali fireworks and prohibited the use of non-green fireworks, although there are no laws to that effect. Second, in M.C. Mehta v. Union of India (2018), the court annulled the statutory Rule 115(21) of the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, when it directed that no BS-4 vehicle should be sold after March 30, 2020, and that only BS-6 vehicles can be sold after that date. Third, in Subhash Kashinath Mahajan v. State of Maharashtra (2018), the court amended the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, by annulling Section 18 which said that no anticipatory bail will be granted to persons accused under the Act; by requiring a preliminary enquiry; and by prohibiting arrest under the Act except with permission in writing by the appropriate authority. Fourth, in Rajesh Sharma v. The State of Uttar Pradesh (2017), the court felt that Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code was being misused. So it amended that Section by requiring complaints under that provision to be sent to a Family Welfare Committee constituted by the District Legal Services Authority, although there is no such requirement in Section 498A. Finally, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered that no 15-year-old petrol-driven or 10-year-old diesel-driven vehicle will ply in Delhi, and the Supreme Court has directed impounding such vehicles, though neither the NGT nor the Supreme Court are legislative bodies. If judges are free to make laws of their choices, not only would that go against the principle of separation of powers, it could also lead to uncertainty in the law and chaos as every judge will start drafting his own laws according to his whims and fancies.
📰 Modi calls for inclusive Indo-Pacific
At Singapore summit, he calls for enhancing multilateral cooperation, economic and cultural ties
•India was committed to a peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday, as he called for enhancing multilateral cooperation and economic and cultural ties among member-nations at the 13th East Asia Summit in Singapore.
•It was Prime Minister Modi’s 5th East Asia Summit (EAS). India has been participating in the EAS since its very inception in 2005.
•“At the East Asia Summit in Singapore, I shared my thoughts on enhancing multilateral cooperation, economic and cultural ties among member nations. Also reiterated India’s commitment to a peaceful and prosperous Pacific region,” the Prime Minister tweeted.
•The EAS consists of 10 ASEAN nations (Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos), Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the U.S. It was formed to further the objectives of regional peace, security and prosperity.
•Mr. Modi reiterated India’s vision of a peaceful, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific region, strengthening maritime cooperation and commitment to a balanced Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) pact, Ministry of External Affairs spokesman Raveesh Kumar said.
•The RCEP, involving 10 ASEAN members as well as China, Japan, Australia, India, New Zealand and South Korea, would cover about half the world’s population and a third of its GDP. Mr. Modi also interacted with leaders of other countries, including his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, before the summit retreat.
Interacts with cadets
•Mr. Modi also met with the NCC cadets who got the opportunity to visit Singapore as a part of a cadet exchange programme. “Wonderful moments with my young friends... They shared their memorable learnings and experiences with me,” he tweeted.
•Mr. Modi began his two-day visit to Singapore on Wednesday.
📰 Vietnam opposes military alliances in region: envoy
Nation’s stand on Quad ‘ambivalent’, says Ambassador Chau
•Vietnam has an “ambivalent” position on the Quad grouping comprising India, Australia, Japan, and the U.S., Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau said on Thursday. Elaborating, he said while Vietnam welcomed any country’s initiative to preserve freedom of navigation and overflight in the region, it was opposed to any military alliance that could undermine regional peace and security.
•Sounding an “ambivalent” note on the Quad grouping between India, Australia, Japan, and the U.S., Vietnam Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau said on Thursday that they welcome any initiative by any country to preserve freedom of navigation and over flight in the region but do not want any military alliance that is not conducive for peace and security.
Differences in Singapore
•The Vietnamese Ambassador’s comments came even as officials from the Quad grouping met in Singapore on Thursday. In a sign that the four countries continued to have differences on the objectives of the grouping, each of the four sides issued separate statements.
•“If any country wants to gang up, use force or trying to use force, then it goes against the position of Vietnam,” Mr. Chau, who just assumed charge in New Delhi, said in response to questions on the Quad. The Ambassador added that Vietnam did not want the region to become a “theatre” for power play by major powers.
•“We will not join any alliance in order to fight any third country,” he asserted.
•According to a release from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in Delhi, the Quad countries agreed to “strengthening connectivity and quality infrastructure” in the region according to principles of sovereignty and economic viability. While India and Japan are already cooperating on a number of projects in South Asia, which are seen as a counter to projects China is planning under the Belt and Road Initiative, there are as yet no ‘Quad’ level projects.
•“They agreed to partner with other countries and forums in the region to promote a free, open, rules-based and inclusive order in the Indo-Pacific that fosters trust and confidence,” the MEA said in the statement. That suggests that the Quadrilateral would not be an exclusive grouping on maritime security in the region, with the ministry stressing “ASEAN centrality as the cornerstone of a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.”
Kovind to address assembly
•Briefing the media on President Ramnath Kovind’s upcoming visit to Vietnam, from November 18 to 20, Mr. Chau said the President would address the Vietnamese national assembly. “He is only the second foreign head of state ever to address the assembly,” he said.
•Chinese President Xi Jinping was the first foreign leader to do so.
Priorities
•Mr. Chau said his major priorities in India would include helping establish a direct flight between the two countries, bringing Vietnam’s national television service to New Delhi, and clearing hurdles to improved bilateral trade especially in certain fruits.
•Observing that the Vietnamese media and Indian media were yet to provide a better understanding of the people of India and Vietnam, Mr. Chau said he hoped to introduce Vietnam Television to New Delhi.
•“Right now we buy news from western media, which is very biased,” Mr. Chau said, adding that they did not talk about the diversity in India, the country’s development, and its middle power status.
📰 There can’t be a ban on use of word ‘Dalit’ in media: PCI
•There cannot be a complete ban on use of word “Dalit” in media, the Press Council of India, the body that regulates print media, has ruled.
•The Information and Broadcasting Ministry had issued an advisory to all media outlets to not use the word “Dalit” to refer to members belonging to the Scheduled Castes. The advisory was based on an order of the Bombay High Court on June 6 this year, on a petition filed by Pankaj Meshram.
•In an earlier order on March 15 this year, the Ministry of Social Justice too had issued a similar advisory to all the State governments and Union Territories that in all official transactions, the constitutional term “Scheduled Caste” should be used instead of the word “Dalit”.
•In its advisory, the I&B Ministry said: “It is accordingly advised that media may refrain from using the nomenclature “Dalit” while referring to members belonging to the Scheduled Caste in compliance with Bombay High Court..”
•“Our reading of the Bombay High Court order is that it did not seek a ban on the word ‘Dalit’. We deliberated on the order and have come to the conclusion that it is advisable not to issue directions/orders prohibiting the use of word ‘Dalit’,” PCI chairman Justice C.K. Prasad said.
•He added that it had to be adjudicated on case-to-case basis. “If say a man is injured in an accident and he turns out to be from the Scheduled Caste, then identifying him as a Dalit will be unnecessary,” he added.
📰 India, China agree to expand military ties
Cadets and mid-level officers from both sides will meet each other regularly
•India and China are set to expand their military ties, in tune with the spirit of the Wuhan informal summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April.
•During talks between visiting Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra and his Chinese counterpart Shao Yuanming, both sides agreed to add another layer of exchanges between the military personnel of the two countries.
Wuhan spirit
•For the first time, cadets from Indian and Chinese military academies, as well mid-level officers, will meet each other regularly. “We are expanding military exchanges between our personnel at all levels in the aftermath of the Wuhan summit,” official sources told The Hindu. The two senior officials also agreed to continue with visits at the level of military commands and civilian officers of the Ministry of Defence.
•“The atmosphere during Tuesday’s talks was excellent, which reflected the visible and gradual easing of tensions following the Doklam crisis and the Wuhan informal summit,” the source said. “During the dialogue, a decision has been taken to add new confidence-building measures to maintain peace and tranquillity on the borders,” the official said.
•An Indian Embassy statement noted that “specific additional confidence-building measures at the operational level” have been included in view of the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in the India-China border areas. These decisions have been taken for “implementing the consensus of Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping” — an obvious reference to the Wuhan informal summit.
•The two sides stressed the need to “further strengthen military-to-military ties in order to strengthen political and strategic mutual trust between the two countries,” the statement said.
•The statement pointed out that the two delegations forked a timetable on “specific defence exchanges for 2019”. The sources confirmed that the regular hand-in-hand joint military exercise between India and China will be held before the year-end.
•Mr. Mitra also called on State Councilor and Defence Minister of China, General Wei Fenghe on Thursday.
•The Defence Secretary’s visit precedes the arrival of National Security Adviser Ajit Doval later this month for boundary talks with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Mr. Xi and Mr. Modi are then expected to meet on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Argentina next month.
📰 Another orbit: on GSAT29 launch
The GSLV-GSAT launch enhances India’s capacity to meet its communication needs
•The Indian Space Research Organisation has marked a big milestone by successfully testing its heavy-lift launcher while launching an advanced communication satellite. It plans to use this for the Chandrayaan-II moon mission in the early months of 2019. On Wednesday the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle MarkIII (GSLV MkIII) launched GSAT29, an advanced communications satellite, into a geosynchronous transfer orbit where the satellite’s closest approach to earth would be 190 km and the farthest 35,975 km. The launcher bearing the 3,423 kg satellite took off from a launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota. Seventeen minutes later, after various stages, the vehicle injected the satellite into the transfer orbit. Taking over smoothly, ISRO’s master control facility at Hassan assumed the command and control of the satellite, and it will be manoeuvred into a geostationary orbit, its final destination, in days. Once placed, the satellite’s solar panels and antennae will unfold and work will begin. With a liftoff mass of 640 tonnes, the GSLV MkIII is the heaviest launch vehicle made in India, and GSAT29 is the heaviest satellite to take off from Indian soil. Both launcher and satellite have other characteristics that make them stand out. The launcher can carry payloads up to 4 tonnes to the geosynchronous transfer orbit and up to 10 tonnes to a low-earth orbit. The multi-band, multi-beam satellite can cater to the communication needs of people in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast.
•The first successful experimental flight of the GSLV MkIII was in 2014 when it carried a dummy crew module as a payload. This proved its capacity in the atmospheric flight regime. Its first developmental flight was on June 5, 2017, when it launched GSAT19, weighing 3,136 kg. The present launch marked the second developmental flight of the MkIII. With these two successes, the launcher is declared ‘operational’ and joins the ranks of the working vehicles, the PSLV and the GSLV. This is far fewer than the number of developmental flights the older launch vehicles were subjected to. This is because the solid and liquid propellant stages had been tested before. The third cryogenic stage could establish its performance in just two developmental flights. Of course, these were preceded by numerous experimental flights and ground-based tests. This success sets the stage for trying out variations such as other types of engines, different fuel combinations and higher launch capacity. The GSLV MkIII has not just boosted the satellite into its orbit, but also restored morale at ISRO, which had been dented by the GSAT 6A setback.
