Junior Digest

New Delhi [India], August 10,2021: New COVID-19 mutants can reach anywhere at any time, said the Central government on Tuesday, adding that it is monitoring Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Delta Plus variants.
Addressing media on the COVID-19 situation, National Centre for Disease Control Director Dr SK Singh said, “The variants of concern that we monitor are Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Delta Plus. There are two variants under investigation – Kappa and B1617.3.”
“We were doing two kinds of surveillance – to monitor variants of concern (coming from outside) and to monitor the impact of the Delta variant in the country. Today, we need to look for new mutants because they can reach anywhere any time,” he added.
He further explained that the World Health Organization (WHO) came out with a strategy that the sentinel sites need to be identified and representative samples from every district of every state be subjected to genome sequencing.
“WHO came out with a strategy that the sentinel sites need to be identified and representative samples from every district of every state be subjected to genome sequencing. It should be tested if there is any mutant that will cause a public impact in the time to come,” said Singh.
“Sentinel sites were affixed across the country and all states were asked to identify a minimum of 5 labs and 5 tertiary care hospitals and see if the sentinel sites represented samples of a representative district. Around 277 sentinel sites have been identified while 8,000 samples have been sent in July,” he added.
Further speaking about Kerala’s Covid situation, Singh said, “Central Team was sent to Kerala. First, to see how the ‘test-track-treat’ strategy is being implemented, second, surveillance of containment zones with contact tracing being an important factor, the third infrastructure of hospitals and fourth progress of vaccination.”
“The caseload and positivity trend was found to be more than 10. Some districts indicated an increasing trend of positivity rate – Malappuram, Kozhikode, Pathanamthitta. 80 per cent of cases were found to be positive for Delta variant, like other states,” he added.

Tokyo, Aug 9,2021: Japan has ordered the evacuation of some 300,200 people from the prefectures of Hiroshima, Shimane and Ehime over the Lupit typhoon, media reported on Monday.

Japanese airline canceled 63 flights in the southwestern part of the country over the typhoon, the NHK broadcaster reported.

The Lupit’s central atmospheric pressure is 985 hectopascals, with winds reaching 23 meters per second (51 miles per hour) and maximum gusts of up to 35 meters per second. The experts warn of stronger winds and higher waves.

Typhoon Lupit was reported to have lashed the coastal provinces of China on Thursday, causing heavy downpours in other regions.

Aug 9,2021: Extreme heat waves that previously only struck once every 50 years are now expected to happen once per decade because of global warming, while downpours and droughts have also become more frequent, a UN climate science report said on Monday.

The report found that we are already experiencing those effects of climate change, as the planet has surpassed more than 1 degree Celsius in average warming. Heat waves, droughts and torrential rains are only set to become more frequent and extreme as the earth warms further. read more

It is the first time that the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has quantified the likelihood of these extreme events in a wide variety of scenarios. read more

The report found that once-in-a-decade heavy rain events are now 1.3 times more likely and 6.7% wetter, compared with the 50 years up to 1900 when major human-driven warming started to occur.

Previously once-in-a-decade droughts could happen every five or six years.

Scientists emphasized that these effects of climate change are already here, with events like the heat wave in the U.S. Pacific Northwest killing hundreds in June and Brazil currently experiencing its worst drought in 91 years. read more

“The heat wave in Canada, fires in California, floods in Germany, floods in China, droughts in central Brazil make it very, very clear that climate extremes are having a very heavy toll,” said Paulo Artaxo, a lead author of the report and an environmental physicist and the University of Sao Paulo. (Graphic on warming planet)

The future looks even grimmer, with more warming meaning more frequent extreme events.

Heat waves show stronger increases in frequency with warming than all other extreme events. Twice in a century heat waves could happen roughly every six years with 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, a level which the report says could be surpassed within two decades.

Should the world become 4 degrees Celsius hotter, as could happen in a high-emissions scenario, those heat waves would happen every one to two years.

Carolina Vera, another report author and a physical climate scientist at University of Buenos Aires and Argentina’s main agency for science research (CONICET), said there is also an increasing likelihood that multiple extreme weather events could happen at the same time.

For example, extreme heat, drought and high winds – conditions that could feed wildfires – are more likely to happen at the same time.

The IPCC has a medium or high-level confidence that many important agricultural regions around the world will see more droughts or extreme rain. That includes parts of Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil that are major growers of soybeans and other global commodities.

“It is scary, sure, with the risk that fires, heat waves, droughts will affect humans in the form of weather and food insecurity, energy insecurity, water quality and health – mainly in poor regions,” said Jose Marengo, a climatologist at the Brazilian Science Ministry’s disaster monitoring center.

Marengo was a review editor for the IPCC report’s chapter on human influence on the climate system.

For example, regions that are already prone to drought are likely to experience them more frequently, including in the Mediterranean, southern Australia, and western North America, said Friederike Otto, IPCC author and climatologist at University of Oxford.

Increased frequency of drought and heavy rain also are not mutually exclusive and are predicted in places like Southern Africa, she said.

The projections on extreme weather events laid out in the report reinforce the importance of curbing climate change to the levels laid out in the Paris Agreement, scientists said.

“If we stabilize at 1.5 degrees, we can stop them from getting much worse,” Otto said.

Tehran, Aug 6,2021: Ebrahim Raisi was sworn in on Thursday as the new president of Iran in the parliament.

In the ceremony which was attended by Iranian lawmakers and guests from more than 70 countries and broadcast live on the state TV, Raisi vowed to protect the borders and political, economic and cultural independence of Iran.

As per rules Raisi has two weeks after the inauguration ceremony to introduce the cabinet and the ministerial plan to the parliament for one-week evaluation.

The reports said Raisi will probably introduce his cabinet to the parliament by Sunday.

Raisi was elected as Iran’s new president on June 18, and formally assumed office after the supreme leader’s decree on Tuesday and swearing-in ceremony in the parliament on Thursday.

Aug 7,2021:Public health experts warn that ‘vaccines do not eliminate all risk’ amid early signs jabs may not stop Delta transmission.

Hundreds of fully vaccinated people in England have been hospitalised with the highly contagious Delta coronavirus variant, scientists said on Friday.

In its latest COVID-19 update, Public Health England (PHE) also warned there were early signs that people who have been inoculated may be able to transmit the Delta strain as easily as those who have not received any jabs.

From July 19 to August 2, 55.1 percent of the 1,467 people hospitalised with the Delta variant were unvaccinated, PHE said, while 34.9 percent – or 512 people – had received two doses.

Dubbed “freedom day”, July 19 was the date England significantly eased lockdown restrictions.

All vaccines in use in the United Kingdom – those produced by AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech – require recipients to receive two doses to be fully inoculated.

About 75 percent of the UK’s adult population has received two shots to date.

“As more of the population gets vaccinated, we will see a higher relative percentage of vaccinated people in hospital,” PHE said.

Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, said the hospitalisation figures showed “once again how important it is that we all come forward to receive both doses of the vaccine as soon as we are able to do so”.

“Vaccination is the best tool we have in keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe from the serious disease risk COVID-19 can pose,” Harries said in a statement.

“However, we must also remember that the vaccines do not eliminate all risk: it is still possible to become unwell with COVID-19 and infect others.”
Dominant strain

PHE’s findings chime with those from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which last week raised concerns that vaccinated people infected with Delta could, unlike with other variants, readily transmit it.

Vaccines have been shown to provide good protection against severe disease and death from Delta, especially with two doses, but there is less data on whether vaccinated people can still transmit it to others.
The Delta variant has become the dominant form of coronavirus circulating globally, sustaining a pandemic that has already killed more than 4.4 million people, including more than 130,000 in the UK.

Kabul/Washington, Aug 7,2021: US President Joe Biden has ordered B-52 bombers and Spectre gunships to target Taliban positions in Afghanistan as the militants are advancing towards key cities.

The B-52s are flying into Afghanistan from an airbase in Qatar, hitting targets around Kandahar, Herat, and Lashkar Gah in Helmand province, The Times quoted sources as saying.

The bombers are being supported by AC-130 Spectre gunships which are armed with a 25mm Gatling gun, a 40mm Bofors cannon and a 105mm M102 cannon, which can provide pinpoint accurate fire from the air.

The move comes amid an increasingly dire situation in Afghanistan, as the Taliban continues to seize territory across the country as US-led forces withdraw.

Afghan security forces and the Taliban are engaged in fierce fighting in the capital cities of Kunduz, Takhar and Badakhshan provinces in the north of Afghanistan.

The Pentagon estimates that the Taliban now control half of Afghanistan’s 419 district centers.

On Friday, the Taliban seized Zaranj in Nimroz, making it the first provincial capital to be captured by the militants since they began their military campaign in May.

The Taliban also assassinated the government’s chief media officer, Dawa Khan Menapal, on Friday in Kabul.

The Public Health Directorate in Kunduz said that 11 civilians were killed and 39 more were wounded in a fresh spate of clashes in Kunduz that started on Friday evening, Tolo News reported.

In Badakhshan, police said Taliban attacks on the city of Faizabad were pushed back by Afghan forces.

The strategic city of Sheberghan, the capital of Jawzjan province in northern Afghanistan, fell to the Taliban after one week of clashes, sources confirmed.

Sources said that security forces are stationed only at the provincial airport in Khwaja Dako district, which is the hometown of former vice president Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum and is located 17 km from the city of Sheberghan.

Sheberghan is the second provincial capital to fall to the Taliban in the last two days.

This comes as President Ashraf Ghani met with former vice president Marshal Abdul Rashid Dostum on Saturday and discussed the country’s security situation, especially in the northern provinces, the Presidential Palace said.

In this meeting, Dostum vowed his full support to the Afghan forces and said the time has come to make an effort for improving the country’s security situation and for defending Afghanistan’s values.

Dostum’s spokesman Ehsanullah Nairo said that Dostum presented his plan for the improvement of the security situation to the president, and it was accepted by President Ghani.

Footage on social media shows dozens of Afghan security forces along with their military equipment and vehicles driving towards the border with Iran, leaving Zaranj city, the center of Nimroz province in southwestern Afghanistan, without any resistance.

Meanwhile, the US embassy in Afghanistan urged US citizens in the country to flee immediately.

“Given the security conditions and reduced staffing, the Embassy’s ability to assist U.S. citizens in Afghanistan is extremely limited even within Kabul,” the US said on Saturday.

It said it would provide citizens who could not afford to leave at once with a repatriation loan, which includes money to help return home. The US already recalled non-essential employees of its Kabul office back home in April.

Aug 5,2021: Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has constructed and black-topped the highest road in the world at Umlingla Pass in Eastern Ladakh. The highest motorable road in the world is situated at an altitude of 19,300 feet.

To put things in context, this is higher than the base camps of Mount Everest. The north base in Tibet is at 16,900 feet, whereas the south base camp in Nepal is 17,598 feet. The summit of Mount Everest is a little over 29,000 feet.

The road is constructed much above the altitude of Siachen Glacier which is at 17,700 feet. The Khardung La Pass in Leh is at an altitude of 17,582 feet. With this, India has bettered Bolivia’s record of a road at 18,953 feet.

The road itself is a 52-km long tarmac stretch through Umlingla Pass, connecting important towns in Chumar sector of Eastern Ladakh.

“It will prove to be a boon to the local population as it offers an alternate direct route connecting Chisumle and Demchok from Leh. It will enhance the socio-economic condition and promote tourism in Ladakh,” said Ministry of Defence in a statement on Wednesday.

Infrastructure development in places like Umlingla Pass is difficult due to the harsh and tough terrain coupled with extremely low temperatures. In winters, temperature dips 40 degrees below zero. The oxygen level at this altitude is almost 50 per cent less than at normal places.

“The BRO has achieved the feat due to the grit and resilience of its personnel who work in treacherous terrain and extreme weather conditions,” the ministry stated.

New Delhi, Aug 10,2021: Several MPs demanded lifting the 50 percent limit for reservations, and also demanded a caste based census as Lok Sabha discussed the The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Seventh) Amendment Bill.

The Bill restores powers of State governments to have their own list of Backward Classes.

Samajwadi Party MP Akhilesh Yadav demanded government to remove the 50 percent cap, and also to hold a caste census.

Yadav quoted an old Socialist slogan which demanded 60 percent reservation.

“Government should lift the 50 percent limit on reservation,” Yadav said.

He also demanded caste based census and said “If the center does not agree we (SP) will hold it when we come to power in Uttar Pradesh”.

Anupriya Patel, Apnal Dal MP and a minister in the central government, also demanded caste based census.

“If we want the backward groups to benefit out of schemes, it is important to know their exact population. I hope NDA government will do a caste based census in 2021 to find out exact number of backward groups,” Patel, whose party is an important ally for BJP in Uttar Pradesh, said.

AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi also urged government to do away with the 50 percent limit for reservations, and also demanded that Dalits among Muslims should get reservation.

“Government should take proactive steps to break the 50 percent ceiling for reservations. This is a golden opportunity,” Owaisi said participating in the debate.

He also urged government to neutralize the Presidential Order of 1950, which bars scheduled castes among Christians and Muslims from getting benefit of reservations.

“The 1950 Presidential Order should be neutralized. It is against equality. Make it religion neutral, why should the Dalit Muslims and Christian suffer,” he said.

Participating in the debate, Janata Dal (United) Leader Rajiv Ranjan demanded a caste based census. Supriya Sule of NCP demanded that the creamy layer should be reviewed every three years. At present Rs. 8,00,000 per annum is the limit for creamy layer for getting benefits of OBC reservations.

Pefki, Greece, Aug 9,2021:Thousands of individuals have fled their properties on the Greek island of Evia as wildfires burned uncontrolled for a sixth day on Sunday, and ferries had been on standby for extra evacuations after taking many to security by sea.

The blaze on Evia, Greece’s second-biggest island, rapidly burgeoned into a number of fronts, ripping by 1000’s of hectares (acres) of pristine forest throughout its northern half, and forcing the evacuation of dozens of villages.

The flames engulfed properties in 5 villages however the full extent of the injury was not instantly recognized.

“(It’s) like a horror movie,” stated a 38-year-old pregnant evacuee who gave her identify as Mina, after she boarded a rescue ferry on the city of Pefki, the place falling ash coated the port.

“But now this is not the movie, this is real life, this is the horror that we have lived with for the last week,” she stated.

Wildfires have damaged out in lots of elements of the nation throughout a week-long heatwave, Greece’s worst in three a long time, with searing temperatures and sizzling winds creating tinder-box situations. Across the nation, forest land has burned and dozens of properties and companies have been destroyed.

Since Tuesday, the coastguard has evacuated greater than 2,000 folks, together with many aged residents, from totally different elements of Evia, which is linked to the mainland by bridge, in dramatic sea rescues because the night time sky turned an apocalyptic crimson.

Others fled their villages on foot in a single day, strolling alongside roads dotted with bushes in flames.

“A house is burning over here,” one girl instructed emergency crews on the bottom within the settlement of Vasilika, pointing to a searing fireplace within the distance.

“Everywhere, everywhere, everywhere, everywhere,” one of many firefighters replied.

The governor for central Greece, Fanis Spanos, stated the state of affairs within the north of the island had been “very difficult” for practically every week.

“The fronts are huge, the area of burned land is huge,” he instructed Skai TV. More than 2,500 folks have been accommodated in inns and different shelters, he stated.

Greece has deployed the military to assist battle the fires and several other international locations together with France, Egypt, Switzerland and Spain have additionally despatched assist together with firefighting plane.

More than 570 firefighters are battling the blaze in Evia, the place two lively fronts had been burning within the north and south of the island.

In the village of Psaropouli, evacuated residents stated they had been indignant.

“I lost my home … nothing will be the same the next day,” one girl who gave her identify as Vasilikia stated.

“It’s a disaster. It’s huge. Our villages are destroyed, there is nothing left from our homes, our properties, nothing, nothing,” she stated.

Greece’s deputy civil safety minister, Nikos Hardalias, stated emergency crews had been endeavor “superhuman efforts” in opposition to a number of fronts.

“The night ahead will be difficult,” he stated throughout an emergency briefing late on Sunday. Earlier, he stated water-bombing plane within the area confronted a number of hurdles together with low visibility attributable to the thick plumes of smoke rising over the mountains and turbulence.

A fireplace within the foothills of Mount Parnitha that swept by suburbs north of Athens had been contained however climate situations meant there was nonetheless a excessive risk it may flare up once more.

Washington , August 6,2021: A new study has shed light on the dual beneficial effect of physical activity for people with depression. The study suggested that exercising not only reduces depressive symptoms but also increases the brain’s ability to change, which is necessary for adaptation and learning processes.
The findings of the study were published in the journal ‘Frontiers in Psychiatry’.
“The results show how important seemingly simple things like physical activity are in treating and preventing illnesses such as depression,” said study leader associate professor Dr Karin Rosenkranz.
Exercise programme promotes motivation and togetherness
People with depression often withdraw and are physically inactive. To investigate the effect of physical activity, Karin Rosenkranz’s working group enlisted 41 people, who were undergoing treatment at the hospital, for the study.
The participants were each assigned to one of two groups, one of which completed a three-week exercise programme. The programme, which was developed by the sports science team from the University of Bielefeld led by Professor Thomas Schack, was varied, contained fun elements, and did not take the form of a competition or test, but instead required teamwork from the participants.
“This specifically promoted motivation and social togetherness while breaking down a fear of challenges and negative experiences with physical activity – such as school PE lessons,” explained Karin Rosenkranz. The other group took part in a control programme without physical activity.

The study team ascertained the severity of the depressive symptoms, such as a loss of drive and interest, lack of motivation and negative feelings, both before and after the programme. The brain’s ability to change, known as neuroplasticity, was also measured. It can be determined externally with the help of transcranial magnetic stimulation.
“The ability to change is important for all of the brain’s learning and adaptation processes,” explained Karin Rosenkranz.
Ability to change increased – symptoms decreased
The results show that the brain’s ability to change is lower in people with depression than in healthy people. Following the programme with physical activity, this ability to change increased significantly and achieved the same values as healthy people. At the same time, depressive symptoms decreased in the group.
“The more the ability to change increased, the more clearly the clinical symptoms decreased,” summarised Karin Rosenkranz.
These changes were not so pronounced in the group who took part in the control programme.
“This shows that physical activity has an effect on symptoms and the brain’s ability to change. We cannot say to what extent the change in symptoms and the brain’s ability to change are causally linked based on this data,” said the doctor, referring to the limitations.
“It is known that physical activity does the brain good, as it, for instance, promotes the formation of neuron connections. This could certainly also play a role here,” concluded the doctor.

New Delhi, Aug 7,2021: In a big development, India and China have carried out disenagement in the Gogra area of Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh sector, marking yet another breakthrough nearly 6 months after a similar process was completed in Pangong Lake area.

The troops of India and China have moved back their troops from the eyeball-to-eyeball situation in which they were since May last year.

According to a statement issued by the Defence Ministry, the disengagement process in Gogra area was carried out on August 4 and 5, as per an agreement reached at a meeting of the Corps Commanders at Chushul Moldo Meeting Point in Eastern Ladakh on July 31.

After disengagement in Gogra area, such a process now remains to be carried out in Depsang and Hot Spring friction points.

‘As an outcome of the meeting, both sides agreed on disengagement in the area of Gogra,’ it said. ‘As per the agreement, both sides have ceased forward deployments in this area in a phased, coordinated and verified manner.’

All temporary structures and other allied infrastructure created in the area by both sides have been dismantled and mutually verified.

The landform in the area has been restored by both sides to pre-stand off period, the press release said.

This agreement ensures that the LAC in this area will be strictly observed and respected by both sides, and that there is no unilateral change in status quo.

‘With this one more sensitive area of face-off has been resolved. Both sides have expressed their commitment to take the talks forward and resolve the remaining issues along the LAC in the Western Sector,’ it said.

‘The Indian Army along with ITBP is totally committed to ensure the sovereignty of the nation and maintain peace and tranquility along the LAC in the Western Sector,’ the release said.

The two side had a ‘candid and in-depth exchange of views’ on resolution of remaining areas related to disengagement along the Line of Actual Control in the Western Sector of India-China border areas.

Patna, Aug 9,2021: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said the state government would ponder on carrying out exercise from its own resources to assess caste wise population in Bihar if Centre appeared reluctant on the issue but it would have been better, had the Centre got it done at national level.
Mr Kumar, after Janata Darbar organised in premises of CM secretariat, told media persons here that he had written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to give appointment for an all party delegation from Bihar to discuss on the issue of caste census for reconsideration of the decision taken by the Centre of not conducting caste census.

The letter written by him had reached Prime Minister Office (PMO) on August 4 but its reply was still awaited, he added.

Chief Minister, when asked about his next move if Centre remained reluctant on the issue and no reply came from Prime Minister, said that he would discuss on ways how to go for assessing caste wise population in Bihar.

It would be in fact exercise of caste wise counting to get figure as Census could be conducted only by the Centre, he added.

Mr Kumar said that a delegation of opposition parties had called on him with request to seek appointment with Prime Minister. On their request, he had written a letter to PM but a delegation of JD(U) MPs had already placed before Union Home Minister Amit Shah, all the issues relating to caste census.

They had sought appointment from Prime Minister but PMO advised them to meet Union Home minister, he added.

Tokyo, Aug 7,2021: Star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra on Saturday scripted history and became only the second individual Indian athlete after Abhinav Bindra to be crowned Olympic champion as he won gold in the men’s javelin throw at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics.

The 23-year-old Chopra, who hails from Khandra village near Panipat in Haryana threw a best of attempt of 87.58m in the finals to end India’s 100-year wait for a track and field medal in the Olympics.

Neeraj’s gold, a historic first for the country in track and field, the second for an individual ever and the first since Abhinav Bindra’s in 2008, took India’s medal count at Tokyo 2020 to seven – making it their best-ever haul at a single Olympics.

Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch won silver and fellow Czech Vitezslav Vesely bagged the bronze medal.

Neeraj Chopra – who had also finished top of qualifying – began with a 87.03m throw at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, the best of anyone after their first attempts.

The Indian javelin thrower then improved to 87.58m with his second throw to maintain his place at the top and went only 76.79m in his third attempt.

However, Chopra’s fourth and fifth attempts were foul throws but he finished strong with 84.24m.

With his historic achievement, Chopra has done something which the likes of late Milkha Singh and P T Usha could not do in 1960 and 1984 editions.

Notably, No Indian has won a medal in athletics since the country started taking part in the Games in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium.

Neeraj’s great show ensured that India ended the Tokyo Olympics on a high – with the men’s javelin throw being the last event that Indian athletes take part in at the Summer Games.

Chopra, who joined the Indian Army in 2016 and is currently serving as Junior Commissioned Officer with the rank of Naib Subedar.

He won the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, where he set a then new Indian national record of 88.06m, and was flag bearer at the opening ceremony. Neeraj Chopra has since broken his own record, throwing 88.07m at the Indian Grand Prix in 2021.

The javelin thrower also won gold at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, was 2016 IAAF World U20 champion, and set the world junior record, of 86.48m.

Aug 7,2021:The Taliban has captured the city of Zaranj in Afghanistan’s Nimruz province, making it the first provincial capital the group has taken from the Afghan government as it steps up offensives in two other provinces.

Multiple sources told Al Jazeera that Zaranj, the capital of the southern province of Nimruz, had fallen to the Taliban on Friday.

There have also been reports that the group has taken control of the city of Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province.

Fighting to reimpose strict Islamic law after being overthrown in 2001 by the US-led forces, the Taliban has intensified its campaign to defeat the US-backed government as foreign forces complete their withdrawal after 20 years of war.

The Taliban has taken dozens of districts and border crossings in recent months and put pressure on several provincial capitals, including Herat in the west and Kandahar in the south, as foreign troops withdraw.

Zaranj was the first provincial capital to fall to the group since the United States reached a deal with the Taliban in February 2020 for a troop pullout. The last time a provincial capital was captured by the Taliban was in 2016 when Kunduz was briefly taken.

A spokesperson for Nimruz’s police, who declined to be named for security reasons, told Reuters news agency that the Taliban had been able to capture the city because of a lack of reinforcements from the government.

Taliban sources said the group was celebrating, and Zaranj’s fall would boost the morale of their fighters in other provinces. A Taliban commander, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said it has strategic importance as it is on the border with Iran.

Aug 6,2021: President Joe Biden on Thursday offered temporary “safe haven” to Hong Kong residents in the United States, allowing what could be thousands of people to extend their stay in response to Beijing’s crackdown on democracy in the Chinese territory.

Biden directed the Department of Homeland Security to implement a “deferral of removal” for up to 18 months for Hong Kong residents currently in the United States, citing “compelling foreign policy reasons.”

“Over the last year, the PRC has continued its assault on Hong Kong’s autonomy, undermining its remaining democratic processes and institutions, imposing limits on academic freedom, and cracking down on freedom of the press,” Biden said in the memo, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China.

He said offering safe haven for Hong Kong residents “furthers United States interests in the region. The United States will not waver in our support of people in Hong Kong.”

It is not clear how many people the move would affect, but the vast majority of Hong Kong residents currently in the United States are expected to be eligible, according to a senior administration official.

Aug 9,2021:After weeks of standoff with the government resulting in a logjam in the Parliament, opposition parties have decided to support the Constitution amendment bill which will be tabled for passage. The bill seeks to restore the power that allowed states and UTs to make their own OBC lists.

The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill 2021 was cleared by the Union Cabinet last week and will be introduced in Parliament today.

Speaking to reporters at the Parliament on Monday, senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said, “In the interest of the community and the country, leaders of all opposition parties will support this bill which gives states the right to make additions to the OBC list. We want due discussion before the bill is passed on the floor of the house.”
At the same time, Mallikarjun Kharge clarified that the move to cooperate with the government in Parliament applies to the constitution amendment bill only and does not extend to other issues.

“Other issues are a different matter altogether, but we are ready to get this bill passed,” said the Rajya Sabha MP.

The decision was announced by Kharge shortly after leaders of 15 Opposition parties met at the Parliament complex on Monday. During the meeting, the MPs reportedly devised a common strategy to corner the government on a host of issues like the Pegasus spyware row and farmers’ concerns.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, along with legislators from DMK, TMC, NCP, Shiv Sena, SP, CPM, RJD, AAP, CPI, NC, etc were present at the meeting held in the chambers of LoP Mallikarjun Kharge.
WHAT IS THE CONSTITUTIONAL 127TH AMENDMENT BILL?

On May 5, the Supreme Court had ruled that the 102nd Constitution amendment took away states’ power to declare Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) for grant of quota in jobs and admissions.

The constitutional amendment took away states’ power to declare Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) for grant of quota in jobs and admissions. The verdict essentially vested sole power with the Centre to identify the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) list.

An appeal by the government seeking review of the majority verdict was dismissed by the apex court.
Opposition parties had accused the Centre of assaulting the federal structure by taking away the power of the states to identify and list the other backward classes (OBCs).

However, Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Virendra Kumar told Rajya Sabha last month that the government was in consultation with legal experts and the Ministry of Law and examining ways to protect the power of the states in determining the State list of OBCs.

As a workaround to the Supreme Court directive, the Constitutional 127th Amendment Bill is expected to amend Articles 342 A — clauses 1 and 2 — and introduce clause 342 A (3) specifically authorising states to maintain their state list.