Junior Digest

Ahmednagar (Maharashtra) , January 29,2021: Social activist Anna Hazare on Thursday said he will begin from January 30 an indefinite fast at his hometown Ralegan Siddhi in Ahmednagar, district of Maharashtra over various demands related to farmers.

He has also urged his supporters to protest from their respective locations.
“I have been agitating for important demands of farmers for the last four years. It seems like the government is not taking proper decision on the issue of farmers. The government is not sensitive towards the farmers,” the 84-year-old activist stated in a press statement.
“We have kept our demands before the Central Government time and again. I have written letters to the Prime Minister and Union Agriculture Minister five times in the last three months. Representatives of the government are discussing the matter but they haven’t reached proper solution regarding the demands so far,” he added.

Genoa [Italy], January 27,2021: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has officially stepped down in order to try to form a government with wider support, and the consultations with the parties with a view to finding a new parliamentary majority will start on Wednesday afternoon, according to the official statement from the presidential palace.

“President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella received this morning the President of the Council of Ministers Giuseppe Conte, who handed in the resignation of the government that he presides. The president of the republic has decided to invite the government to remain in charge to handle the current affairs. The consultations [with the parties] will start in the afternoon of tomorrow, Wednesday, January 27,” Ugo Zampetti, secretary of the presidency of the republic, said in a press statement.

New Delhi , January 28,2021: The names of Punjabi actor Deep Sidhu and gangster Lakka Sadana have also been included in an FIR registered in connection with the violence at Red Fort in Delhi on January 26, Delhi Police said on Wednesday while adding that Sidhu was involved in the incident.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Chinmoy Biswal on Wednesday wrote to the organiser of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, Darshan Pal, urging him to answer why action should not be taken against him and his allies for breaking an agreement regarding the protest routes on Republic Day.
The reply has been sought within the next three days.
Nineteen people have so far been arrested and over 25 criminal cases registered by Delhi Police in connection with the violence that broke out during the farmers’ tractor march on Tuesday, Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava said on Wednesday.

New Delhi [India], January 28,2021: Bharti Airtel said on Thursday it has become the country’s first telecom operator to successfully demonstrate and orchestrate live fifth-generation (5G) service over a commercial network in Hyderabad city.
Airtel did this over its existing liberalised spectrum in the 1,800 MHz band through the NSA (non-standalone) network technology. Using dynamic spectrum sharing, Airtel seamlessly operated 5G and 4G concurrently within the same spectrum block.
This demonstration has emphatically validated the 5G readiness of Airtel’s network across all domains — radio, core and transport.
Airtel 5G is capable of delivering 10x speeds, 10x latency and 100x concurrency when compared to existing technologies. Specifically, in Hyderabad, users were able to download a full-length movie in a matter of seconds on a 5G phone.
Airtel said this demonstration has underlined the company’s technology capabilities. The full impact of the 5G experience, however, will be available to customers when adequate spectrum is available and government approvals received.
“Every one of our investments is future-proofed as this game-changing test in Hyderabad proves,” said Gopal Vittal, Managing Director and CEO.
“With Airtel being the first operator to demonstrate this capability, we have shown again that we have always been the first in India to pioneer new technologies in our quest for empowering Indians everywhere,” he said in a statement.
“We believe India has the potential to become a global hub for 5G innovation. To make that happen, we need the ecosystem to come together — applications, devices and network innovation. We are more than ready to do our bit,” said Vittal.

San Francisco [US], January 27,2021: For Dr Narinder Singh Kapany who has been awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award means much more than even the Nobel Prize, according to the kin of the man who is known as the ‘Father of Fiber Optics’.
Kapany who passed away in the US last month will be posthumously awarded the prestigious Padma Vibhushan, for his trailblazing work in the field of fiber optics. The second highest Indian civilian award recognized Kapany for his “exceptional and distinguished service” in the field of science and engineering.
Kapany’s son Rajinder and daughter Kiran Kaur Kapany told ANI, “This award provides our father the recognition he wanted from his homeland and means more to him than receiving the Nobel Prize from Sweden. He would have loved to receive the award and shake hands with all the dignitaries and his people and bask in the glory of being home being recognized and being honored, alongside his ancestors and family, by the country that matters most to him.”
In 1954, the Indian American physicist through his path-breaking research demonstrated for the first time the transmission of images over a bundle of optical fibres.
The pioneer proved that light can travel in bent glass fibres and was the first to even coin the word – fibre optics. This remarkable revelation half a century ago, laid the groundwork for today’s high-speed broadband internet that allows unfathomable volumes of text, images and video data to be transmitted around the globe in an instant.
Born in 1927 to a Sikh family in Moga, Punjab, Kapany studied in Dehradun. It was here that Kapany’s science teacher told him that light always travelled in straight lines. But the young boy was determined to learn how to bend light. After completing his education at Agra University, he first started work in technology and it was in India at an Ordnance factory he learned how to design and manufacture optical instruments.
At 31, Kapany’s quest took him to graduate school in London, at the Imperial College he began working with Professor Harold Hopkins on his project attempting to transmit light through flexible glass fibers. They became a powerful team: Hopkins provided the theory and Kapany with grit put that theory in practice, and together they were among the first to create fiber optics.

Kapany’s heart was set on coming back to India after completing his PhD in 1955 and setting up his own venture. In fact, India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wanted Kapany to work for the Indian government as a Scientific Advisor to the Ministry of Defence. “Our father waited five months and the offer never came through. So he settled in the Bay Area (San Francisco, California). A year after the PM’s recommendation, the offer from Union Public Service Commission finally arrived!” Kiran told ANI.
Kiran further added how different their lives would have been if Nehru’s offer had come through earlier. “He may not have had such a global impact had he resided in his homeland, so he gave up the comfort and beauty of being home, with his dear family and friends, to, in fact, make a greater impact abroad”.
Kapany settled in the US and started a number of businesses as well as teaching at colleges including the University of Rochester, Illinois Institute of Technology, and the University of California, Santa Cruz and Berkeley.
Kapany, an ace physicist, gathered more than 100 patents, turned into a noted philanthropist, deeply committed to championing Sikh culture and language Most notably, his daughter said, he has held a world renowned collection of Sikh Art which he has displayed all over the world in tremendous Sikh exhibits at the most prestigious museums including the Victoria Albert Museum in London, The Royal Ontario in Canada, the Smithsonian in DC, and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.”
“Our father was a devout Sikh always – a significant tenet of the religion is sewa or selfless service. Our mother, a huge follower of Mother Teresa, was a huge proponent of giving and giving back for all you receive. Our father realized that in doing so, the country would realize who the Sikhs were. And in giving to the country, he was actually educating the country,” Rajinder told ANI.
In 2009 when Charles Kuen Kao bagged the Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to Fiber optics., the scientific community were perplexed that Kapany was overlooked for the award. In fact, the Nobel Committee had even acknowledged Kapany’s work in a detailed publication. The man himself, however, wasn’t too perturbed by this oversight.
” Charles Kao did specific work for Bell Labs that related to the telecommunications/optical fiber field…our father proved the concept of capturing and bending light through fiber which informed transmission for purposes of biotech, sensors, telecom and data comm…he provided leadership for a broader base of usage of fiber optics.” Rajinder added.
The Wall of Inventions at the Massachusetts Institutes of Technology even today lists Kapany as the inventor of fibre optics and he was hailed by Fortune magazine in 1999 as one of the seven unsung heroes who have changed the face of the 20th century.
The Kapany siblings will release their father’s memoirs in June 2021 with the works that he was proud to be able to complete prior to his passing in December last year.

New Delhi, Jan 28,2021: The United States will provide leadership to the world to solve its problems and meet challenges, says Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

“America’s values are noble and powerful – and we will recommit to them.” Blinken said, assuring the international community, as he took charge of the State Department on Wednesday.

“The United States has enormous sources of strength – we’re going to build upon them.” he told colleagues at Foggy Bottom in Washington DC.

Blinken had a series of telephone conversations with his counterparts in Thailand, The Philippines and Australia and said the US would strengthen its defence and security partnership in the Indo-Pacific.

India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval also spoke with their respective counterparts Lloyd Austin and Jake Sullivan and discussed bilateral and regional security situation in the region.

Blinken, an old hand at the Department who has served as Deputy Secretary, said US leadership is needed around the world. and “we’ll provide it, because the world is far more likely to solve problems and meet challenges when the United States is there.

“America at its best still has a greater capacity than any other nation on Earth to mobilize others for the better.”

He said the world is watching the US intently right now.

“They want to see whether we will lead with the power of our example and if we will put a premium on diplomacy with our allies and partners to meet the great challenges of our time like the pandemic, climate change, the economic crisis, threats to democracies, fights for racial justice, and the danger to our security and global stability posed by our rivals and adversaries,” Blinken said.

The American people are watching too, he noted. “They want to see that we are safeguarding their well-being, that we care about their interests, that our foreign policy is about them and their lives,” he said.

“We will do right by them by pursuing a foreign policy that delivers real benefits to American families, protects their safety, advances their opportunities, honors their values, and leaves their children and grandchildren a healthier and more peaceful world. We have our work cut out,”

Berlin [Germany], January 28,2021: On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday (local time) asserted that antisemitism must be thwarted, “be it open or veiled, and against denial or diminishing of the Holocaust”.
The International Holocaust Remembrance Day is a memorial day on January 27, every year that commemorates the victims of the Holocaust, the genocide of European Jews by Nazi Germany between 1941 and 1945.
In a video address at the first commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust (translated from German), Merkel said that she was “deeply ashamed of the Shoah”, betrayal of civilised values perpetrated under the National Socialist regime.
The event was organised jointly by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, the UN and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

“76 years ago, on January 27, 1945, the concentration and extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated. What happened there and in many other places where atrocities were committed during the National Socialist period is and remains beyond belief. I am deeply ashamed of the Shoah, of that betrayal of civilised values perpetrated under the National Socialist regime,” Merkel said.
“We must stand with utmost determination against Antisemitism — be it open or veiled, and against denial or diminishing of the Holocaust. We are guided by this conviction also during the German presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance… We honour the victims of the Holocaust by remembering them and by learning from their plight. That is our everlasting responsibility — for today’s and future generations,” she added
The German chancellor said that it is Germany’s “everlasting responsibility” to remember “these events” and to commemorate the victims: the European Jews, the Sinti and Roma, the political prisoners and members of the intelligentsia in Poland, and many more
“We must never forget these people and their fates. My special thanks go to the survivours who muster the strength to tell the story of their lives. Their first-hand accounts show us how vulnerable human dignity is and how easily the values that underpin peaceful coexistance can be violated,” she said.
The German chancellor called for “constant vigilance” to ensure that “we cede no ground to antisemitism and racism.”

Jan 27,2021:A tropical cyclone that struck central Mozambique last week has affected 250,000 people, a sharp increase over initial estimates, according to a UN official.

Myrta Kaulard, the UN’s resident coordinator in Mozambique, added on Tuesday that 18,000 people were internally displaced after Cyclone Eloise made landfall in the early hours of Saturday.

“Yesterday, we were mentioning 170,000 people affected. Today, the official figures have climbed to 250,000,” Kaulard said in a video call with reporters at the UN, adding that 76 health centres and hundreds of classrooms were damaged.

“We also see widespread floods that are still there and a lot of people trying still to get out of the flooded areas,” she said.

Eloise brought winds of up to 150 kilometres per hour (90 miles per hour) followed by torrential rain over the port city of Beira, the capital of Mozambique’s Sofala province, and the adjacent Buzi district.

It weakened into a tropical storm as it moved inland to Zimbabwe, South Africa, eSwatini, formerly known as Swaziland and Botswana.

The death toll across the region rose to 14 on Tuesday after South Africa reported one more death.

In Mozambique, the cyclone hit an area already devastated by two successive super-storms in March and April 2019.

The first, Cyclone Idai, left more than 1,000 dead and caused damage estimated at about $2bn.
An international aid group warned on Tuesday that crowded centres for storm survivors created ideal conditions for the coronavirus to spread.

In the port city of Beira alone, 8,700 people are living in 16 temporary shelters after their homes were destroyed by the cyclone.

“Each tent I saw had at least 10 people packed into it and families are lacking access to safe water and essential items like soap and face masks,” said Marcia Penicela, project manager at ActionAid Mozambique following a visit to sites.

Espinola Caribe, head of the World Food Programme’s Beira sub-office, also said COVID-19 was a concern and people had to be moved out of danger.

“This was not a planned evacuation … this was running for your life,” he said.

Dantewada (Chhatisgarh) , January 27,2021: Residents of Pahunhar village in a Maoist-affected area across the Indravati river had earlier put up black flags on Republic Day, but this year they hoisted the tricolor.
The entire area across the Indravati river is the hotbed of Maoism. The people living in this part of Dantewada have been deprived of the fruits of government’s schemes and the village sarpanch lost his life when he took initiatives for development.
Speaking to ANI, Abhishek Pallav, Superintendent of Police (SP), Dantewada, said, “Maoists have always hoisted black flags in presence of the villagers on Republic Day and Independence Day in this village. But not this year.”

In an encouraging gesture, the administration decided to let the national flag be hoisted by the late Sarpanch’s son, Kesav Kashyap. The village echoed with patriotic songs and the SP distributed study materials to children and essential items to the villagers.
The people of Dantewada district have always been seen taking out rallies in protest against police camps, road and bridge construction under pressure from Maoist outfits. This year, the villagers took out a 2-3 km-long rally holding national flags in their hands. This was the first time a rally like this has been held in the Naxal belt.
Pallav said, “This is the changing face of Dantewada. A bridge is being constructed joining this village to the urban, more developed areas. The people are jubilant about these changes.”

BEIJING ,Jan 26,2021: China said on Tuesday it will conduct military exercises in the South China Sea this week, just days after Beijing bristled at a U.S. aircraft carrier group’s entry into the disputed waters.

A notice issued by the country’s Maritime Safety Administration prohibited entry into a portion of waters in the Gulf of Tonkin to the west of the Leizhou peninsula in southwestern China from Jan. 27 to Jan. 30, but it did not offer details on when the drills would take place or at what scale.

A U.S. carrier group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt entered the South China Sea on Saturday to promote “freedom of the seas,” the U.S. military said, days after Joe Biden began his term as president.

The contested waters have become another flashpoint in the increasingly testy bilateral relationship between Beijing and Washington. The U.S. military has steadily increased its activities there in recent years as China asserts its territorial claims in the area in conflict with neighbouring countries including Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan.

China on Monday complained that the United States frequently sends aircraft and vessels into the South China Sea, through which trillion dollars in trade flow every year, to “flex its muscles” and said such actions are not conducive to peace and stability in the region.

Jan 27,2021: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide has passed 100 million, according to data from Johns Hopkins University data, just over a year since the first cases of the then ‘mysterious’ new illness were reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

During the past 12 months, the pandemic has forced governments to order shutdowns, curfews, travel bans and other public health restrictions to try and stem the spread of infections. Economies have been hard hit and inequalities of all types have been exacerbated.

More than 2.1 million people around the world have died from COVID-19, and more than 55 million people have recovered from the disease.

Despite the development of more effective treatments for the coronavirus and the roll out of vaccines across dozens of countries, mutant strains of the virus recently detected in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil have created uncertainty about when the pandemic will end.

“Today the world crossed 100 million reported cases,” Caitlin Rivers, an epidemiologist and assistant professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said on Tuesday.

“A year ago, the novel coronavirus was barely making headlines. Where do we want to be a year from now? Let’s aim for robust vaccination coverage worldwide, and a transition from community mitigation to case-based management,” she tweeted.
‘Beat COVID-19’

The US has recorded the most cases of any country to date at more than 25.3 million – approximately one-quarter of the global total. With more than 424,000 deaths recorded, the US also has the highest death toll in the world.

US President Joe Biden, who officially took office last week and has promised to get surging infection rates under control, said in a news conference on Tuesday that his administration plans to buy 200 million more vaccine doses.

“The end goal is to beat COVID-19, and the way we do that is to get more people vaccinated,” Biden told reporters.

India has confirmed the second-highest total number of cases in the world, with more than 10.6 million infections reported. More than 153,000 people have died from the virus there.

Brazil has confirmed more than 8.8 million cases and has the second-highest death toll, with 217,000 fatalities.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has downplayed the threat of the virus, has faced growing protests over his government’s handling of the pandemic – and the particularly devastating toll it has taken on the Amazonian city of Manaus, where oxygen is in short supply and hospitals are full.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also under pressure over his government’s handling of the pandemic. On Tuesday, the country became the first in Europe – and the fifth in the world – to record more than 100,000 coronavirus-related deaths.

“I am deeply sorry for every life that has been lost and, of course, as prime minister, I take full responsibility for everything that the government has done,” Johnson said.
New variants

The discovery of new variants of the virus has caused governments around the world to impose fresh restrictions.

US pharmaceutical company Moderna said it believes its COVID-19 vaccine is effective against the new variants, although it will test a new booster shot aimed at the strain discovered in South Africa after tests showed the antibody response could be reduced.

The vaccine developed by American pharmaceutical firm Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech works against 15 possible virus mutations. However, E484K, another mutation in South Africa, is not among those tested, according to a study released on January 7.

US infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci said earlier this month that vaccines are designed to recognise multiple parts of the spike protein, which makes it unlikely a single mutation could be enough to prevent them from being effective.

However, he warned last week that current vaccines may not be as effective in protecting against the new and more contagious strains.

Dr Eric Feigl-Ding, a US-based epidemiologist and adjunct senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists, said while vaccine releases worldwide have been “the most positive news in this pandemic”, the new COVID-19 variants create new challenges.

He told Al Jazeera that mass vaccination programmes are critical, and that even if the virus mutates further, “we will eventually be able to get this under control”.

“The question is the final mile of eradication,” Feigl-Ding said. “It takes a lot of work and focus, control and discipline for countries and the world to eradicate it.”

Meanwhile, concerns are also mounting in Europe about delayed shipments of COVID-19 vaccines, with governments saying the supply issues were costing critical time during the early stages of the roll out to care homes and hospital staff.

The European Union on Tuesday warned pharmaceutical giants that have developed coronavirus vaccines with EU aid that it must get its shots on schedule, a day after the bloc threatened to impose export controls on vaccines produced within its borders.

The head of the World Health Organization has also called for more equitable vaccine distribution between nations, as wealthier countries have been accused of “hoarding” doses.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this month that prospects for equitable distribution are at “serious risk” as the COVAX vaccine-sharing scheme aims to start distributing inoculations to developing nations in February.

He said a “me-first approach” to distribution places the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities at risk and “will only prolong the pandemic”.

WASHINGTON Jan 26,2021: Janet Yellen won overwhelming Senate confirmation as the first woman to lead the U.S. Treasury on Monday, setting her quickly to work with Congress on coronavirus relief, reviewing U.S. sanctions policy and strengthening financial regulation.

The Senate voted 84-15 to confirm Yellen, with all opposition coming from Republicans, several of whom have expressed concerns about President Joe Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid plan, tax hikes and other spending initiatives.

Shortly after the vote, House of Representatives Democrats delivered to the Senate a charge of impeachment against former President Donald Trump, accusing him of inciting insurrection in a speech to supporters before the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol. The planned February trial has stoked some partisan divisions in the chamber, but those were largely absent on Monday.

“Secretary Yellen’s confirmation shatters another glass ceiling,” Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said in a statement. “In a field dominated by men, it’s refreshing to finally see a woman leading the Treasury Department.”

Yellen, 74, made history in 2014 when she became the first woman to chair the Federal Reserve. A portrait of the economist and daughter of a Brooklyn, New York, family doctor will join those of 76 other secretaries in Treasury’s hallways, dating back to the first, Alexander Hamilton.

The White House had no immediate comment on when Yellen would be sworn in, or by whom.

She won the votes of 34 Republicans in a strong bipartisan vote, with a number of them pledging to work with her.

Jerusalem, Jan 28 ,2021: Israel’s Ministry of Health reported 7,412 new Coronavirus cases, bringing the tally in the country to 620,698.

The death toll from the COVID-19 in Israel reached 4,574 after 73 new fatalities were added, while the number of patients in serious condition decreased from 1,173 to 1,160, out of 1,763 hospitalized patients.

The total recoveries rose to 541,339, with 6,877 newly recovered cases, while the active cases totalled 74,785.

According to the ministry, the number of people vaccinated against the COVID-19 in Israel has surpassed 2.8 million, or 30.1 percent of its total population, since the vaccination campaign began on Dec. 20, 2020.

The ministry also reported three new cases of a new COVID-19 strain.

New Delhi, Jan 26,2021: Republic Day celebration in the National Capital was marred by violence as thousands of farmers protesting against agriculture reforms breached the security cordon at the borders and clashed with police in an failed attempt to reach historic Rajpath for their tractor parade.

At least one person died while scores were injured.

However, hundreds of protestors managed to enter the Red Fort breaching police security and planted a religious and farm union flag on the pole where Tri-Colour is hoisted on Independence Day. The flag was later removed and the area cleared by the police.

The violence began at Singhu and Tikri border, when the protestors, who were massed in thousands, broke the police barricades before the scheduled time, to take out the tractor parade.

Police had to resort to lathi charge and fire tear gas shells to stop the rally, but failed as they were outnumbered. The cordon was broken at Ghazipur border as well.

A fierce battle took place at three places–Mukarba Chowk, Nangloi and ITO. The police and protestors attacked each other with sticks and stones. A 25-year-old protestor was killed in the ITO protest while scores of both– policemen and civilians– were injured. The police buses parked to stop the protestors were also vandalised.

At Nangloi, female constables formed a human chain to stop the protestors from moving ahead.

The protestors were seen pushing through all the borders of the National Capital and Akshardham and Pragati Maidan road dotted with tractors.

The Delhi-Noida Chilla border was closed for traffic and metro services suspended at various routes in central Delhi and other places. The Connaught Place was out of bounds for business.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah called a high-level meeting at his residence to take stock of the situation and ordered deployment of additional central security forces in various sensitive areas of Delhi, including Nangloi.

The Union Home Ministry suspended internet services in parts of the National Capital and surrounding areas to maintain public safety.

As per the order, the services have been suspended at Singhu, Ghazipur, Tikri, Mukarba Chowk and Nangloi and their adjoining areas in the NCT from 1200 hrs to 2359 hrs.

A high alert was later issued in Haryana and Punjab by the authorities.

Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body representing farmers, disassociated themselves from those who indulged in acts of violence.

“We condemn and regret the undesirable and unacceptable events that have taken place today and dissociate ourselves from those indulging in such acts, the body said in a press statement.

The farmer’s body appealed the protestors not to indulge in any violent action or anything that taints national symbols and dignity.

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh urged the protesting farmers to vacate the National Capital and return to the borders. “The violence by some elements is unacceptable. It’ll negate goodwill generated by peacefully protesting farmers. Kisan leaders have disassociated themselves & suspended #TractorRally,” CM said.

Yogendra Yadav, national president of pro-farmer party Swaraj India, through a video appealed to the protestors to return and warned that violence can harm their nearly two-month old protest against the farm laws.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi too condemned the violence but asked the central government to repeal the farm laws.

“Underlining violence is not the solution to any problem,” Mr Gandhi wrote on his official twitter handle.

Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP from Kerala, expressed his sadness over the flags being hoisted from Red Fort.

“Most unfortunate. I have supported the farmers’ protests from the start but I cannot condone lawlessness. And on #RepublicDay no flag but the sacred tiranga should fly aloft the Red Fort,” Mr Tharoor tweeted.

The Aam Aadmi Party said that it is regrettable that the Central government allowed the situation to deteriorate to such an extent.

“We strongly condemn the violence seen in today’s protest. It is regrettable that the Central govt allowed the situation to deteriorate to such an extent. The movement has been peaceful for the last two months,” AAP said in a statement.

Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Sambit Patra said those who were seen as ‘annadata’ (food providers) for so many days have turned out to be extremists.

“Those we had been calling annadata (food providers) for so many days have turned out to be extremists. Don’t defame annadata, call an extremist an extremist only,” Mr Patra tweeted.

Left leaders condemned the violence, but squarely blamed the government for letting the situation deteriorate.

“The situation has been brought to this pass by the Modi government. Farmers have been protesting peacefully in the cold for more than 60 days, not allowed to come into Delhi and more than 100 kisans are dead,” CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said in a tweet.

As per the plan approved by the police, the farmers were allowed to take a parade at three circular routes from Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri border only after the Republic Day parade at Rajpath.

The parade planned by farmers was to show their unity against the three recently passed farm laws which allows private players to enter the agriculture sector.

The farm unions called off the rally later in the evening.

Buenos Aires [Argentina], January 26,2021: Argentine President Alberto Fernandez on Monday called for a greater commitment against climate change from developed countries at the opening session of the Climate Adaptation Summit 2021.
“We have the opportunity to act collectively in response to climate change,” said Fernandez virtually at the high-level United Nations global conference, which is being hosted by the Netherlands on January 25-26, and seeks to promote an agenda to adapt societies and economies to climate effects in the next decade.
The Argentine President pointed out a need for a “greater commitment from developed countries to supply technical and financial resources.”

It is also necessary “to act with solidarity in the face of a problem that affects us all, but whose worst consequences are felt by vulnerable sectors,” he continued.
Adaptation is a priority for Argentina’s climate policy, “even though we are a developing country and particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change,” he said.
Fernandez pointed out that Argentina’s emissions mitigation goal for 2030 “represents an unconditional commitment, which includes all sectors of the economy,” and is more ambitious than the previous one.
Last month, Fernandez announced the country’s new commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Within the goals proposed for 2030, Argentina will limit its greenhouse gas emissions to 25.7 per cent, a number lower than the one committed to in 2015.