Daily NEWS Analysis | The Hindu Analysis 27th January | UPSC 2020 Exam

EU Parliament set to vote on Kashmir, citizenship Act

The European Parliament is getting ready to decide on as many as 6 resolutions around India. These would include the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), 2019. The issues will be discussed and voted upon this week. They will impact future ties between India and EU.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has declined an official comment on the resolutions.

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Draft resolutions B9-0077/2020 to B9-0082/2020 will be taken up during the plenary session of the European Parliament in Brussels on January 29 for discussion and January 30 for a vote. 6 political groups, who represent 626 of the total 751 members, will introduce these resolutions in the house.

The groups include the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) (PPE) with 182 members, the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament (S&D) with 154 members, the Renew Group with 108 members and smaller groups like the Greens/European Free Alliance (75), European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) (66), and the European United Left-Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) (41).

The resolutions points out actions by the Indian government which are against the country’s human rights’ commitments. The MEP gorups have criticised state actions which have resulted in loss of life for anti-CAA protesters and lift restrictions in J&K. 

India has received worldwide criticism over the current situation in Jammu and Kashmir and the CAA. It had facilitated a visit by 22 EU MEPs to the state in October 2019, but it has not soothed their concerns over the scenario.

India showcases A-SAT missile prowess

As part of a display of military might in the 71st Republic Day, India showcased its home-grown, anti-satellite (A-SAT) missile capability. The project, Mission Shakti has been developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). 

IAF’s latest Chinook heavy lift helicopters and Apache attack helicopters were also seen in the accompanying flypast. This was their debut performance at the Republic Day festivities.

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The A-SAT technology is major breakthrough, according to the Defence Ministry. DRDO had proved the technology’s credentials on March 27, 2019, when it shot down a live satellite in Low Earth Orbit (approx 300km) using a modified interceptor of the Ballastic Missile Defence.

This year’s 90-minute parade saw 16 marching contingents - 6 from Army and 22 tableaux. 41 aircraft from IAF and four helicopters of the Army Aviation were part of the flypast. This year also saw the PM Narendra Modi lead the salute to the fallen soldier at the new National War Memorial (NWM) instead of the Amar Jawan Jyoti.

It’s a long road to joy for these adopted children

The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) has recorded 246 instances of children being returned to the foster care system between 2014-15 to 2018-19. That’s six children in 100 adoptions at an advanced adoption stage. The children, who have faced such rejections are heavy with trauma and scarring from it all and required a lot of care and counselling.

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Many people are now coming in for adoptions, with an average of 4,000 legal adoptions annually, as per official data. The rejections are one of the problem areas that the system now faces and for which CARA has now begun a nationwide capacity building programme.

Last January, CARA formed a nine-member sub-committee of child rights activists, members of the SC-appointed child welfare committees (CWCs), and adoptive parents. The panel developed a training curriculum for their social workers and held three-day workshops in 12 States.

They covered basics like keeping abreast of vaccination, nutrition needs, medical assistance and addressing special needs of children. The area of disruptions (the cases where adopted children are returned by their adopted families) needs to be added to this bunch.

4 blasts rock Assam on Republic day-ULFA -1 claims

4 powerful grenade explosions shook Assam on the 71st Republic Day - 3 in Dibrugarh and 1 in Charaideo district. ULFA-1 rebels have taken responsibility for the act. 300 members from the group had recently surrended and laid down their arms in the presence of Assam CM Sarbanda Sonowal.

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The attack comes as a question mark on the inclinations of the remaining ULFA-1 rebels towards a lasting peace I the state. The explosions in different regions of upper Assam region did not result in any casualties.

The ULFA -1 one of the terror outfits currently active in Assam. The Myanmar based rebel group has called a dawn to dusk general strike in the state. The outfit issues a similar diktat to boycott Republic Day and Independence Day celebrations in the state every year.

Death toll rises to 56 in china with nearly 2,000 infected

China has confirmed 1,975 cases of patients infected with the new Corona virus. The outbreak is officially acknowledged and has resulted in travel curbs to the Wuhan region, in order to contain the spread of the virus.

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Very little is known about the newly identified Corona virus - including how dangerous it is and how easily it spreads between the people. Currently, it is known to cause pneumonia, which in few cases can turn out to be deadly. The symptoms include fever, difficulty breathing and coughing. Most of the fatalities have been from elderly patients with pre-existing conditions.

The current death toll of those infected by the deadly virus has reached 56 now. The virus is believed to have originated from a sea food market in the central Chinese market of Wuhan that was illegally selling wildlife and wildlife by-products.

The virus has now spread to the Chinese cities including Beijing and Shanghai and even to other countries like Singapore, Thailand, Japan, France and United States and Canada. 

The Chinese government has already sealed off Wuhan and other cities. Its hard-hit Hubei province affecting millions of people. It has put up travel curbs to affected areas and has stepped up screening to try and curb the spread of the virus further which emerged in December.

This is the peak season for tourism and travel to China but because of the epidemic outbreak, there has been many restrictions on international and domestic travel. Seeing the impact of the outbreak, the government has also scaled back traditional celebrations of the Lunar New year and closed down major tourist attractions.

The respiratory virus is posing a grave threat to the world. Canada has also declared its first case of the Corona virus, when a resident returned from Wuhan.

All The Best To All The UPSC 2020 Aspirants !