Junior Digest

KUNMING, China Oct 13,2021: More than 100 countries pledged on Wednesday to put the protection of habitats at the heart of their government decision-making but they stopped short of committing to specific targets to curb mass extinctions.

Chinese Environment Minister Huang Runqiu told delegates to a U.N. Biodiversity Conference in the city of Kunming that the declaration they adopted was a document of political will not a binding international agreement.

The Kunming Declaration calls for “urgent and integrated action” to reflect biodiversity considerations in all sectors of the global economy but crucial issues – like funding conservation in poorer countries and committing to biodiversity-friendly supply chains – have been left to discuss later.

With plant and animal species loss now at the fastest rate in 10 million years, politicians, scientists and experts have been trying to lay the groundwork for a new pact on saving biodiversity.

In a previous agreement signed in Aichi, Japan, in 2010, governments agreed on 20 targets to try to slow biodiversity loss and protect habitats by 2020, but none of those targets was met.

Some environmental activists have complained that disagreement over the wording of the declaration had diverted delegates’ attention when urgent action was needed.

A first draft of the declaration, released in August, included political slogans associated with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which caused tension and underlined what some critics said was China’s inexperience in shepherding international agreements through to conclusion.

After feedback from more than 40 countries, Xi’s slogan “lucid waters and lush mountains” was removed from the text, though the Chinese concept of “ecological civilisation” was retained.

There were complaints, particularly from Japan, that such language lacked clarity, and that China had pushed the declaration through without sufficient discussion, sources familiar with the situation told Reuters.

“Basically they felt that there had been insufficient time for consultation on some of the declarations,” said Alice Hughes, a conservation biologist attending the talks on behalf of the Beijing-based China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation.

Huang told delegates that China had followed the same procedures used to adopt previous biodiversity agreements.

However, Li Shuo, senior climate adviser with environment group Greenpeace, said it remained to be seen whether China had the experience to drive through a new pact during a second phase of talks next year.

“Our global biodiversity crisis is urgent but so far the Convention on Biological Diversity’s progress has been too slow,” he said.

OCT 12,2021:North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said his country’s weapons development is necessary in the face of ‘hostile’ policies from the United States and a military buildup in South Korea that is destabilising the peninsula, state media reported.

Pyongyang was only increasing its military in self-defence and not to start a war, Kim said in a speech at the Defence Development Exhibition, according to a report on Tuesday by state news agency KCNA.
“The United States has been frequently signalling that it’s not hostile to our country, but there has been no behavioural ground to believe that it is not,” Kim was quoted as saying by KCNA.

“For our descendants we need to be strong. We need to first be strong. The military threats our country is facing is different from what we saw 10, five or three years ago,” he said, adding that tensions on the Korean peninsula will not be easily resolved “due to the US”.

Kim made the remarks standing in front of a variety of weapons, including a Hwasong-16 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), photos in the ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun showed.
The Hwasong-16 is North Korea’s largest ICBM and was unveiled at a military parade in October 2020, but not yet test fired.
The two Koreas have been in an accelerating arms race, with both sides testing increasingly advanced short-range ballistic missiles and other hardware.

Mumbai, Oct 13,2021: The equity market maintained its winning streak for the fifth consecutive session on Wednesday, as the BSE Sensex zoomed up 452.74 points to close at 60,737.05 following a spurt in stocks including Auto, Utilities, Power and Industrials.

IMF’s GDP forecast, shows India’s growth at 9.5 per cent in 2021-22 and at 8.5 per cent in 2022-23, boosting investor sentiment.

Other important indicators like the country’s retail inflation, which fell in September, falling to a five-month low of 4.35 per cent, while the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rising to 11.9 per cent YoY in August too, impacted the equity market.

The Nifty of National Stock Exchange (NSE) too rallied by 169.80 points at 18,161.75.

The market opened on a strong note as the Sensex edged up 325 points at 60,619.81.

During the day it spurted 552 points at 60,836.63, days high, before closing at 60,737.05, up by 452.74 points from its previous close.

The Sensex registered the day’s high and low at 60,836.63 and 60,452.29 pts respectively.

The Nifty recorded days high and low at 18,197.80 and 18,050.75 points, respectively.

The sectoral indices that shot up were Auto, Utilities, Power, Industrials and Metal stocks.

New Delhi, Oct 13,2021: The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday approved the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0 (AMRUT 2.0) till 2025-26,as a step towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat and with aim of making the cities ‘water secure’ and ‘self-sustainable’ through circular economy of water.

‘The cabinet understands that providing reliable and affordable water supply and sanitation services to urban households is a national priority. This will be achieved by providing functional tap connections to all households, undertaking water source conservation/ augmentation, rejuvenation of water bodies and wells, recycle/re-use of treated used water and rainwater harvesting,’ an official statement said.

‘The project shall lead to ease of living by providing piped water supply and sewerage/septage facility to urban households,’ it added.

Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), first focused national water Mission was launched in June 2015 to facilitate ease of living to citizens in 500 cities by providing tap connections and sewer connections.

So far, 1.1 crore household tap connections and 85 lakh sewer or septage connections have been provided. Six thousand MLD sewage treatment capacity is being developed, of which 1,210 MLD capacity is already created, with provision for reuse of 907 MLD treated sewage. Total 1,820 parks with area of 3,600 acre have been developed, while another 1,800 acres of area is under greening. So far, 1,700 flooding points have been eliminated.

Taking forward the remarkable strides made under AMRUT, AMRUT 2.0, targets universal

coverage of water supply by providing household tap connections in all 4,378 statutory towns. 100 per cent coverage of household sewerage and septage management in 500 AMRUT cities is other objective.

The Mission targets to provide 2.68 crore tap connections and 2.64 crore sewer and septage connections to achieve the intended outcomes.

Total indicative outlay for AMRUT 2.0 is Rs 2,77,000 crore including central share of Rs 76,760 crore for five years from FY 2021-22 to FY 2025-26, the statement said.
SWACHH BHARAT (Urban) 2.0
The extended scheme will target complete elimination of open defecation, including fecal sludge management in all cities with less than 1 lakh population, eradication of hazardous entry into sewers and septic tanks and will ensure untreated wastewater does not pollute water bodies.
The financial outlay for Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) till 2025-26 is ₹1,41,600 crore, including central share of ₹36,465 crore for 2021-22 to 2025-26. The outlay for the last phase of the mission was ₹62,009 crore.

The mission will require all cities to achieve at least 3-star garbage-free certification.

“There will be special focus on well-being on sanitation and informal waste workers through provision of personal protective equipment and safety kits, linkages with government welfare schemes along with their capacity building,” the government said.

Srinagar, Oct 13,2021: National Conference President and MP Farooq Abdullah on Wednesday said Kashmir will never become part of Pakistan and always remain with India come what may and even if the militants went to extent of gunning him down.

Abdullah said divisive politics must end in the country for it to survive and people must stop dividing society on religious lines.

“It will never become Pakistan here, remember it. We are a part of India and we will remain a part of India come what may,” said the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister as he met the family of a victim killed during the recent spree of terror attack targeting civilians.

“They (militants) cannot change it even if they shoot me,” Abdullah told mourners during the Antim Ardas of Principal Supinder Kaur at Gurudwara Shaheed Bungha, Baghat in Srinagar.

“We all have to fight them together with courage and not be afraid. …Killing a teacher who was teaching young students does not serve Islam,” he said.

Later talking to reporters Abdullah said divisive politics in the country should stop otherwise the country will not survive.

“A storm is brewing in the country. Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus are being divided. This divisive politics has to stop. If it is not, India will not survive or exist. If India is to be saved we have to join hands then only India will prosper,” Abdullah said.

Srinagar, Oct 9,2021: Former chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party leader Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday said that she has been placed under house arrest as she was planning to visit the family of a civilian who was killed in firing by security forces in Anantnag Thursday night.

Mufti took to twitter and alleged that the Government of India wants them to selectively condemn killings.

“Under house arrest for the umpteenth time today. Wanted to visit the family of the innocent civilian shot dead by CRPF. GOI wants us to selectively condemn killings. They are outraged only in cases where hate politics can be lapped up to polarise people,” she said.

“The situation in J&K has gone from bad to worse. My fears are compounded by the fact that instead of course correction, GOI will continue its muscular policy to reap political dividends in elections. Case in point being the upcoming UP polls,” she added.

On Thursday evening, a civilian was killed in firing by CRPF in Anantnag. Police had said the person was killed when CRPF personnel at a checkpost in Anantnag opened fire in “self defence” at a vehicle that did not stop despite being signalled to.

Meanwhile, security is on high alert across the valley. In Srinagar, security forces carried out surprise checking and frisking at various places. There have been two gunfights in Srinagar since Friday evening in which one local militant of Lashkar-e-Toiba was killed.

Oct 13,2021:Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that his country is not using energy as a weapon against Europe and that Russia stands ready to help the region as its energy crisis continues.

“We are not using any weapons,” Putin told CNBC in Moscow on Wednesday, according to a translation. “Even during the hardest parts of the Cold War Russia regularly has fulfilled its contractual obligations and supplies gas to Europe,” he said.

Describing reports that Russia has withheld gas supplies to Europe, Putin called such accusations as “politically-motivated blather” and there was “nothing to support it [the idea] that we use energy as a kind of weapon.” On the contrary, he said, Russia was “expanding its supplies to Europe.”
Putin’s comments came as he participated in a panel moderated by CNBC’s Hadley Gamble at the Russian Energy Week. Speaking ahead of the panel, Putin said Europe should “not deal in blame-shifting” over the energy crisis in the region and that European countries had not done enough to replenish gas reserves in the summer.
“Higher gas prices in Europe are a consequence of a deficit of energy and not vice versa and that’s why we should not deal in blame shifting, this is what our partners are trying to do,” he told delegates at Russian Energy Week, an annual event in Moscow which is now in its 20th year.

Tokyo, Oct 12,2021: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, during debate in parliament, said his country’s sovereignty extends, among other things, to the southern Kuril Islands.

“The sovereignty of our country extends to the Northern Territories [the way Japan calls southern Kurils]. It is necessary to resolve the issue of territories, not leaving it to the next generations,” Kishida said.

Oct 9,2021:Brazil has become only the second country in the world to record more than 600,000 coronavirus deaths, as far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s handling of the pandemic continues to face sharp criticism and scrutiny.

Bolsonaro, a coronavirus sceptic, has drawn the ire of health experts and many Brazilians for downplaying the severity of the virus, rejecting lockdowns and other public health measures, and failing to rapidly secure COVID-19 vaccines.

He has faced mass protests during the past several months, with demonstrators slamming his government’s COVID-19 policies and calling for his impeachment, and a Brazilian Senate committee in April launched an investigation into his pandemic policies.

But despite Friday’s sombre milestone, there were signs that infections in Brazil were finally ebbing, as the country ramped up vaccinations after a slow start.

More than 70 percent of Brazilians have received a first dose, compared with 65 percent in the United States, which passed the 600,000-deaths mark in June.

“The rejection rate of vaccines is really low, it makes other countries jealous,” said Alexandre Naime Barbosa, head of epidemiology at Sao Paulo State University. “That’s really important for Brazil to contain the pandemic.”

Brazil also appeared to have been spared the worst of the Delta variant so far, with registered deaths and cases falling despite the arrival of the more contagious strain.

Deaths were down 80 percent from their peak of more than 3,000 per day in April, and Brazil no longer has one of the world’s highest daily death tolls.

New Delhi [India], October 12,2021: As part of the corporatisation of the Ordnance Factories, the Central government will formally launch seven new companies on October 15, informed the Ministry of Defence on Monday.
The government is converting Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) into corporate entities.

These seven new defence companies will have 66 firm contracts worth Rs 65,000 crore from the three services and paramilitary forces.
The new companies are – Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited, Troop Comforts Ltd, Avani Armoured Vehicles, Munitions India Limited, India Optel Limited, Gliders India Limited, Yantra India Limited.

Oct 12,2021:Shia Muslim religious leader Muqtada al-Sadr’s party is set to be the biggest winner in Iraq’s parliamentary election, increasing the number of seats he holds, according to initial results, officials and a spokesperson for the Sadrist Movement.

Former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki looked set to have the next largest win among Shia parties, the initial results showed on Monday.

Iraq’s Shia groups have dominated governments and government formation since the US-led invasion of 2003 that toppled Sunni leader Saddam Hussein and catapulted the Shia majority and the Kurds to power.

Sunday’s election was held several months early, in response to mass protests in 2019 that toppled a government and showed widespread anger against political leaders whom many Iraqis said have enriched themselves at the expense of the country.

But a record low turnout of 41 percent suggested that an election billed as an opportunity to wrest control from the ruling elite would do little to dislodge sectarian religious parties in power since 2003.

A count based on initial results from several Iraqi provinces plus the capital Baghdad, verified by local government officials, suggested al-Sadr had won more than 70 seats, which if confirmed could give him considerable influence in forming a government.

A spokesperson for al-Sadr’s office said the number was 73 seats. Local news outlets published the same figure.

An official at Iraq’s electoral commission said al-Sadr had come first but did not immediately confirm how many seats his party had won.

The initial results also showed that pro-reform candidates who emerged from the 2019 protests had gained several seats in the 329-member parliament.

Iran-backed parties with links to militias accused of killing some of the nearly 600 people who died in the protests took a blow, winning fewer seats than in the last election in 2018, according to the initial results and local officials.

Al-Sadr has increased his power over Iraq since coming first in the 2018 election where his coalition won 54 seats.

The unpredictable populist religious leader has been a dominant figure and often kingmaker in Iraqi politics since the US invasion.

He has opposed all foreign interference in Iraq, whether by the United States, against which he fought an armed uprising after 2003, or by neighbouring Iran, which he has criticised for its close involvement in Iraqi politics.

Al-Sadr, however, is regularly in Iran, according to officials close to him, and has called for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, where Washington maintains a force of about 2,500 in a continuing fight against ISIL (ISIS).

Speaking from Baghdad, Iraq analyst Ali Anbori said that al-Sadr’s victory was not a surprise.

WASHINGTON, Oct 9,2021: The International Monetary Fund’s executive board ended a five-hour meeting about the future of Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva without a decision on Friday, saying it would seek more information about claims she pressured World Bank staff to alter data to benefit China in her previous role.
The IMF said the board had made “significant progress” in its review of the World Bank data-rigging scandal, but agreed to request “more clarifying details with a view to very soon concluding its consideration of the matter.”
It was not immediately clear if the board would meet again before the start of next week’s high-profile meetings of the IMF and World Bank, where Georgieva is due to play a prominent role in presenting the global lender’s newest economic forecasts.
Georgieva said she had answered all the board’s questions and remains at the board’s disposal as it concludes its review.

Mumbai, Oct 11,2021: Maharashtra statewide ‘Bandh’ called on Monday by state ruling parties to condemn the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in Uttar Pradesh commenced on a positive note.

The ‘bandh’ started with positive response from all walks of life, traders also supporting the bandh across the state.

In a recent incident, four farmers were crushed under a vehicle involving Union minister’s son Ashish Mishra.

A report from Kolhapur, a group of Shiv Sainik were detained by police as they were trying to close a national highway, however, shopkeepers spontaneously shut down their business establishment.

In Mumbai, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) run public transport BEST bus was seen running on roads, lifeline of Mumbai Local trains were also running as usual in the city. The Shops were closed. Even Autorickshaw and Taxis were moving on roads today. Shiv Sainik was a witness on the road to make Bandh successful in Metropolis. Some Shiv Sainik were taken into Custody by police at Ghatkopar and Chembur area in eastern suburb, who were trying to estern expressway.

In Pune also shops were closed, people of pune supported the bandh, hotels were also closed.

All APMC (Agricultural Produce Marketing Cooperation) markets across the state were also closed today.

The decision in regards to Bandh was taken in its last week’s cabinet meeting by the three ruling parties including Shiv sena, Nationlist Congress party (NCP) and Congress.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) both political parties, opposed the bandh.

BEIJING, Oct 9,2021: Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed on Saturday to realise peaceful “reunification” with Taiwan, though did not directly mention the use of force after a week of tensions with the Chinese-claimed island that sparked international concern.
Democratically ruled Taiwan has come under increased military and political pressure from Beijing to accept its sovereignty, but Taipei has pledged to defend their freedom and that only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.

Speaking at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, President Xi said the Chinese people have a “glorious tradition” of opposing separatism.

“Taiwan independence separatism is the biggest obstacle to achieving the reunification of the motherland, and the most serious hidden danger to national rejuvenation,” he said on the anniversary of the revolution that overthrew the last imperial dynasty in 1911.

“The historical task of the complete reunification of the motherland must be fulfilled, and will definitely be fulfilled.”

China’s air force mounted four straight days of incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone from October 1, involving close to 150 aircraft, though those missions have since ended.