Junior Digest

New Delhi, Oct 23,2020: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday suggested that after the full roll out of the new National Education Policy (NEP), the board examination of classes 10 and 12 should discontinue.

Speaking at the 57th General Council meeting of NCERT, Mr Sisodia gave some important suggestions to realise the vision of NEP 2020, the Delhi Government said in a statement here.

He also gave inputs on the current academic session, which has been seriously disrupted due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Concurring with Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ on ‘transformative value of NEP 2020’, Mr Sisodia said that ‘transformation should be holistic and not piecemeal’.

Elaborating the point, he said, ‘It is about time that we introduce muti-year stage wise classes and external assessment at the end of each stage, replacing the existing year wise classes and two board exams in classes 10 and 12.’

Mr Sisodia pointed out that the 5+3+3+4 model recommended in the NEP can attain its full potential, if the existing one year per grade system is removed.

It means instead of the existing class system, where all children of a class move together in all subjects, despite being at different learning levels, the multi-year stage will help them move as per their learning need in different subjects, at their own pace, said the Minister.

He added that a stage-wise curriculum with a clearly stated learning goal in terms of knowledge, skill and values be created.

Going by the logic of the stage, Mr Sisodia said that after the full roll out of NEP, board exams of classes 10 and 12 should also discontinue.

MOSCOW,Oct 22,2020: Russia has granted U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden permanent residency rights, the TASS news agency cited Snowden’s lawyer Anatoly Kucherena as saying on Thursday.

Snowden fled the United States and was given asylum in Russia after he leaked secret files in 2013 that revealed vast domestic and international surveillance operations carried out by the U.S. National Security Agency.

Snowden’s Russian lawyer, Kucherena, told TASS his client was not yet considering applying for a Russian passport.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in August he was considering a pardon for Snowden.- Russia has granted U.S. whistleblower Edward Snowden permanent residency rights, the TASS news agency cited Snowden’s lawyer Anatoly Kucherena as saying on Thursday.

Snowden fled the United States and was given asylum in Russia after he leaked secret files in 2013 that revealed vast domestic and international surveillance operations carried out by the U.S. National Security Agency.

Snowden’s Russian lawyer, Kucherena, told TASS his client was not yet considering applying for a Russian passport.

U.S. President Donald Trump said in August he was considering a pardon for Snowden.

Patna (Bihar), October 22,2020: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday released its manifesto for three-phased Bihar elections and promised that after the approval of the coronavirus vaccine from ICMR, every person in the State will get vaccinated free of cost.
“In the fight against coronavirus, the NDA government has set an example in the country. It is our resolution that as soon as the vaccine will be approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), every person in the State will be vaccinated,” the manifesto said.
Union Finance Minister and BJP leader Nirmala Sitharaman released the party’s manifesto.
“As soon as COVID-19 vaccine will be available for production at a mass scale every person in Bihar will get free vaccination. This is the first promise mentioned in our poll manifesto,” Sitharaman said.
The senior BJP leader said that Bihar is one State where all citizens are politically sensitive and well informed.
“They know and understand the promises a party makes. If anyone raises questions on our manifesto, we can answer them with confidence as we fulfill what we promised,” she added.

New Delhi, Oct 21,2020: With the onset of festival season, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday made an impassioned appeal to people to follow COVID-19 guidelines, saying this is not the time to be careless as the virus is still around and even a small negligence can dampen the festive spirit.

In his seventh address to the nation following the COVID-19 outbreak, Modi cited examples of the US and several European countries to note that the coronavirus cases there have seen a sudden and worrisome rise after witnessing a fall, as he cautioned citizens against any laxity until an effective cure is found.

He said pictures and videos have of late emerged showing that many people have either stopped following precautions like wearing masks or have become negligent.

“This is absolutely not right. Those who have become negligent and are moving around without masks are putting themselves and their families, including children and elderly, at risk,” he said in his televised speech.

He noted that people have been getting on with their lives after the lockdown was lifted while economic activities are picking up and crowds are slowly returning to markets in the festive times.

At one point in his speech, he folded his hands to impress upon people to take precautions like wearing masks, sanitising their hands and maintaining social distance and said he wants to see them safe and their families happy.
Modi invoked sages like Kabir and the holy scripture of Ramcharitmanas to make his point about not taking a disease lightly until it is fully overcome.

People should continue to be careful and not be callous until a vaccine is found, Modi said.

Countries across the world are working at a war-footing to develop a vaccine, and scientists in India have also been working hard in this regard.

The prime minister said the government is making all efforts to ensure that a vaccine, whenever it is launched, reaches every Indian.
Modi also highlighted India’s “success” in saving lives in the fight against the disease compared to resourceful countries like the US, Spain, Brazil and Britain.

While there are 25,000 COVID cases for one million population in countries like the US and Brazil, the corresponding figure in India is only 5,500. The number of fatalities in India is 83 for a million population against more than 600 in nations like the US, Brazil, Spain and Britain, he said.

India now has more than 90 lakh beds for COVID-19 patients, 12,000 quarantine centres, 2,000 labs for testing, the prime minister said, adding that the total number of tests will soon cross 10 crores.

Festivals are a time of happiness but even a small amount of negligence can dampen our spirits, he said.

While Navratra and Durga Puja festivities have already begun, festivals like Diwali and Chhath will be celebrated next month.

Modi also greeted people for various festivals, including Eid-Milad-un-Nabi and Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary.

The number of new coronavirus infections reported daily in India dropped below 50,000 for the first time in nearly three months, taking the COVID-19 caseload to 75,97,063 on Tuesday, according to the Union Health Ministry.

A total of 46,790 fresh infections were reported in a day, while the death toll climbed to 1,15,197 with 587 fatalities being registered in a span of 24 hours, the data updated showed.

The number of new fatalities reported daily across the country was recorded below 600 for the second consecutive day.

The total recoveries crossed 67 lakh while active cases of coronavirus infection remained below 8 lakh for the fourth consecutive day. A total 67,33,328 people have recuperated from the disease so far pushing the national recovery rate to 88.63 per cent while the case fatality rate due COVID-19 stands at 1.52 per cent.

London [UK], October 22,2020: People who consume a diet including flavanol-rich foods and drinks, including tea, apples and berries, could lead to lower blood pressure, according to the first study using objective measures of thousands of UK residents’ diet.
The findings, published in Scientific Reports, studied the diet of more than 25,000 people in Norfolk, UK and compared what they ate with their blood pressure. In contrast to most other studies investigating links between nutrition and health, the researchers did not rely on study participants reporting their diet but instead measured flavanol intake objectively using nutritional biomarkers – indicators of dietary intake, metabolism or nutritional status that are present in our blood.
The difference in blood pressure between those with the lowest 10% of flavanol intake and those with the highest 10% of intake was between 2 and 4 mmHg. This is comparable to meaningful changes in blood pressure observed in those following a Mediterranean diet or Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. Notably, the effect was more pronounced in participants with hypertension.
Professor Gunter Kuhnle, a nutritionist at the University of Reading who led the study said:
“Previous studies of large populations have always relied on self-reported data to draw conclusions, but this is the first epidemiological study of this scale to objectively investigate the association between a specific bioactive compound and health. We are delighted to see that in our study, there was also a meaningful and significant association between flavanol consumption and lower blood pressure.

“What this study gives us is an objective finding of the association between flavanols – found in tea and some fruits – and blood pressure. This research confirms the results from previous dietary intervention studies and shows that the same results can be achieved with a habitual diet rich in flavanols. In the British diet, the main sources are tea, cocoa, apples and berries.
“The methodology of the study is of equal importance. This is one of the largest ever studies to use nutritional biomarkers to investigate bioactive compounds. Using nutritional biomarkers to estimate intake of bioactive food compounds has long been seen as the gold standard for research, as it allows the intake to be measured objectively. The development, validation and application of the biomarker were only possible because of the long-term commitment of all collaborators. In contrast to self-reported dietary data, nutritional biomarkers can address the huge variability in food composition. We can therefore confidently attribute the associations we observed to flavanol intake.”
An international team from the University of Reading, Cambridge University, the University of California Davis, and Mars, Incorporated studied 25,618 participants from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer (EPIC) Norfolk study and found that the biggest difference was observed in participants with the highest blood pressure. This suggests if the general public increased its flavanol intake, there could be an overall reduction in cardiovascular disease incidence.
Hagen Schroeter, Chief Science Officer at Mars Edge, said:
“This study adds key insights into a growing body of evidence supporting the benefits of dietary flavanols in health and nutrition. But, perhaps even more exciting was the opportunity to apply objective biomarkers of flavanol intake at a large scale. This enabled the team to avoid the significant limitations that come with past approaches which rely on estimating intake based on self-reported food consumption data and the shortcomings of current food composition databases.”

Barcelona [Spain], October 21,2020: Lionel Messi achieved a new milestone as Barcelona defeated Ferencvaros in the Champions League here.
Barcelona registered an impressive 5-1 win over Ferencvaros. Messi scored one goal during the match and he became the first player in the Champions League to score in 16 consecutive seasons.

“Leo #Messi is the first player in @ChampionsLeague history to score in 16 consecutive seasons! #UCL,” Barcelona tweeted.
After the opening goal from Messi in the 27th minute, Ansu Fati netted a goal in the 42nd minute. Philippe Coutinho, Pedri, and Ousmane Dembele then scored one goal each in the second half to hand Barcelona a comfortable win.
Barcelona will now take on Juventus in the Champions League on October 29.

Washington DC, October 23,2020: Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora (GKPD) and several other community organisations held a car protest rally in front of the Embassy of Pakistan in the U.S on Thursday (local time), remembering Pak’s invasion of Kashmir in 1947.
Scores of people were seen chanting slogans calling Pakistan to vacate the illegally occupied Kashmir. “Pakistan vacate occupied Kashmir. Kashmir is an integrated part of India,” one of the posters read.
Another poster said, “The jihadist invasion of 1947 in Kashmir didn’t happen overnight, it was planned strategically by Pakistan.”
Dr. Mohan Sapru, the rally organizer and Washington, DC GKPD coordinator said: “While using masks and current practice of social distancing, the rally protesters have gathered to voice their anguish and strong condemnation of Pakistan’s 73-year long perpetual policy of cross-border terrorism and overt operations in Kashmir, which have especially targeted the minority communities i.e., Kashmiri Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists.”
DC GKPD coordinator also said that Cross-border aggression against peaceful Kashmir by Pakistan-trained and sponsored militia called Kabalis on the fateful day of October 22, 1947 marked the birth of the Kashmir problem.
“The brutality of cross-border Islamic terrorism has continued unabated and resulted in the genocide and forced exodus of indigenous Kashmiri Hindus during the dark period of 1989-1991. Whether heinous terrorist acts happen in Kashmir, or US or any other part of the world, at the end of the day, terrorism is a blot on the conscience of humanity and cannot be a legitimate means to settle disputes in a civilized world,” Sapru said.
He further said that the agony and hardships of a few hundred Kashmiri Hindu families, who continued to live in the Kashmir valley, still remain largely unaddressed.”

Washington, October 21,2020: Lack of sleep significantly impairs human ability to stop unwanted and unpleasant thoughts from entering the mind, a new study reveals.
The authors of the study say the findings could have implications for people suffering from psychiatric conditions associated with unwanted thoughts – such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and schizophrenia.
The study, from the University of York, tested the ability of participants to suppress intrusive thoughts when they were either sleep deprived or well rested. Sleep deprived participants suffered an increase in unwanted thoughts of nearly 50 percent compared to those who had a good night’s sleep.
“In everyday life, mundane encounters can remind us of unpleasant experiences. For example, a car driving too fast on the motorway might cause us to retrieve unwanted memories from a car accident many years ago. For most people, thought intrusions pass quickly, but for those suffering with psychiatric conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder, they can be repetitive, uncontrollable, and distressing,” Lead author of the study, Dr Marcus Harrington, from the Department of Psychology at the University of York, said.
“It is clear that the ability to suppress unwanted thoughts varies dramatically between individuals, but until now the factors that drive this variability have been mysterious. Our study suggests sleep loss has a considerable impact on our ability to keep unwanted thoughts out of our minds,” added Harrington.

For the study, sixty healthy participants learnt to associate faces with photographs of emotionally negative scenes (such as an image from a war zone) or neutral scenes (such as an image of a cityscape).
The following morning, after a night of either sleep or total sleep deprivation, participants were shown the faces and asked to try to suppress thoughts related to the scenes with which they were paired.
Compared to the sleep group, the sleep deprived participants had much more difficulty keeping unwanted thoughts of the emotionally negative and neutral scenes from their minds. While the task became easier with practice for the rested participants, for those who had gone without sleep, thought intrusions remained consistently high.
The sleep group’s success at suppressing unwanted thoughts caused them to view the negative scenes more positively after the suppression task, and they also showed a reduced sweat response when the negative scenes were presented. In contrast, the sleep deprivation group’s failure to keep unwanted thoughts out of mind meant that they did not experience this positive change in their responses.
“This study offers an important insight into the impact of sleep on mental health. Besides post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, our findings might have implications for our understanding of other disorders linked to sleep disturbances, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia,” Senior author of the study, Dr Scott Cairney, from the Department of Psychology at the University of York, said.
“The study also suggests that the onset of intrusive thoughts and emotional disturbances following bouts of poor sleep could create a vicious cycle, whereby upsetting intrusions and emotional distress exacerbate sleep problems, inhibiting the sleep needed to support recovery,” added Cairney.

Vatican City, Oct 22,2020: Pope Francis has made his clearest remark yet on gay relationships and said that he thinks same-sex couples should be allowed to have civil unions.

“Homosexual people have a right to be in a family,” he said in a documentary directed by Evgeny Afineevsky, which premiered on Wednesday.

“They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or made miserable over it. What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered,” the head of the Catholic Church said.

He added that he “stood up for that”, apparently referring to his time as Archbishop of Buenos Aires when, although opposing same-sex marriages in law, he supported some legal protections for same-sex couples.

The film Francesco, about the life and work of Pope Francis, premiered as part of the Rome Film Festival.

As well as the Pope’s comments on civil unions, the film also shows him encouraging two gay men to attend church with their three children.

Pope Francis’s biographer, Austen Ivereigh, told media he was “not surprised” by the latest comments, and said, “This was his position as Archbishop of Buenos Aires.”

“He was always opposed to marriage being for same-sex couples. But he believed the church should advocate for a civil union law for gay couples to give them legal protection,” he added.

Under current Catholic doctrine, gay relationships are referred to as “deviant behaviour”.

In 2003, the Vatican’s doctrinal body, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said that “respect for homosexual persons cannot lead in any way to approval of homosexual behaviour or to legal recognition of homosexual unions”.

Earlier in 2014, it was reported that Pope Francis had expressed support for civil unions for same-sex partners in an interview, but the Holy See’s press office denied this.

Then in 2018, Pope Francis said he was “worried” about homosexuality in the clergy, and that it was “a serious matter”.

Washington [US], October 23,2020: During his Asia trip from October 25 to 30, US State Department Secretary Michael Pompeo will be urging the Sri Lankan officials to make decisions about its relationship with China and to review the option that the United States offers for transparent and sustainable economic development, an official said.
“Right now, we think [Sri Lanka is] at a point to make some choices about where they head,” Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Dean Thompson on Thursday (local time) said while replying to a question on Sri Lanka’s growing relationship with China.
“In the interest of strengthening our longstanding partnership with Sri Lanka and reinforcing our long-term commitment to the region, we encourage Sri Lanka to review the options we offer for transparent and sustainable economic development in contrast to discriminatory and opaque practices,” he said.

Thompson said that the US appealed to Sri Lanka to make necessary decisions to secure its economic independence for long-term prosperity.
Pompeo will be travelling to India, Colombo, Male and Jakarta from October 25 – 30.

Moscow, Oct 24,2020: Russia expects to hold a face-to-face summit of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to discuss the most pressing issues, Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said, adding that it was crucial to continue the dialogue on the matter of handling nuclear weapons.

In his article dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the United Nations published on the RT channel’s website, Medvedev noted that a number of fundamental international agreements were adopted at the 1978 Disarmament Conference to ensure security and build confidence among states.

“The USSR played a special role in that process. Today there is an urgent need for us to continue working towards this end … We hope that the UN Security Council will hold a face-to-face summit of the nuclear five to discuss the most pressing problems of humankind,” Medvedev said.

New Delhi, October 20,2020: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said that International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) headquarters could be shifted from the US to China as indicated by the current growth projection made by the global organisation after the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic.
“Is the IMF’s relocation to Beijing imminent?” Tharoor posed the question on his Twitter handle.
“The International Monetary Fund’s by-laws specify that its headquarters will be located in the world’s largest economy. For 75 years this placed it in Washington, DC. With the way the US and Chinese economies are moving after #Covid-19, is the IMF’s relocation to Beijing imminent?”
Citing the IMF data, the Congress leader further said that China will be the only major economy to grow this year while the US would shrink by 4.3 per cent.
“The IMF itself says China will be the only major economy to grow this year. It predicts that China will expand 1.9 per cent in 2020, while the U.S. would shrink by 4.3 per cent. China’s growth will accelerate to 8.4 per cent next year, says the IMF, compared to 3.1 per cent in the United States. Challenging!” he said in a tweet.

Siliguri (WB),Oct 20,2020: J P Nadda Monday said the execution of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act has been delayed due to the pandemic and asserted that the law will be implemented soon.

Nadda, who was speaking at a meeting of social groups of north Bengal, accused the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal of indulging in “divide and rule politics” in the state to serve the political interests of her party – the TMC, unlike BJP which works for the development of all.

All of you will get the benefits of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. It has been passed in Parliament. We are committed to it,” he said at the meeting.

“Due to COVID-19 pandemic, implementation of CAA got delayed. But as the situation is slowing improving, work has started and rules are now being framed. It (CAA) will be implemented very soon. Nadda added.

PARIS,October 19, 2020: French President Emmanuel Macron and Iraq Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi both highlighted the importance of the fight against terrorism following a meeting in Paris, a statement from Macron’s office said on Tuesday.

Macron hosted the meeting on Monday, which followed the French leader’s own trip to Iraq in September, when he expressed his support for Iraq’s sovereignty and said Iraq’s main challenges were Islamic State militants and foreign interference in its affairs.

The statement from the French president’s office also said the two leaders had also welcomed French group Alstom’s plans to work on a Baghdad metro project.

New Delhi, Oct 22,2020: The Supreme Court has sought response from the Centre on a plea seeking formulation of standard operating procedure (SOP) for mandating pre-litigation mediation across the country to reduce pendency of cases.

A bench of Chief Justice S A Bobde, A S Bopanna, and V Ramasubramanian issued notices to the Ministry of Law and Justice and various high courts on the plea.

Issue notice returnable in four weeks, the bench said.

The apex court was hearing a petition filed by Youth Bar Association of India and advocate Sanpreet Singh Ajmani which suggested that alternate and pre-litigation processes be made mandatory to reduce pendency of cases in various courts.

According to the petition, use of alternate dispute resolution mechanisms will help to control frivolous matters coming up for hearing by giving an opportunity to parties to settle their disputes amicably before any litigation can start.

The plea contended that pre-litigation mediation is an attempt to resolve the dispute among the parties amicably with the help of neutral third party called Mediator before going to the court or even before filing litigation or sending a notice.

It gives a chance to both the parties to end the dispute in a win-win position. In it issues can be sorted out sooner and this process is inexpensive compared to the expenditure incurred at every stage of the case/issues in litigation.

To reduce the number of pending cases, the Government should work on a mechanism to introduce a pre-litigation mediation process, so that avoidable cases can be prevented from reaching the courts and settle the issue effectively, the plea said.

Oct20,2020:The poll spending limit for candidates contesting Lok Sabha and assembly elections has been enhanced by 10 per cent based on the recommendation of the Election Commission that contestants be allowed to spend more on campaigning keeping in mind difficulties they may face due to COVID-19 curbs.

The hike in expenditure limit will help candidates contesting Bihar assembly poll as well asbypolls to one Lok Sabha and 59 assembly seats.

Over a month ago, the Election Commission had recommended a 10 per cent hike in expenditure for all elections to be held during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The hike was recommended keeping in mind the difficulties candidates may face in campaigning amid the restrictions imposed, including those on holding rallies amid the pandemic.

The notification issued by the Law Ministry on Monday night said the maximum expenditure a candidate can incur for campaigning in Lok Sabha polls is now Rs 77 lakh. It was so farRs 70 lakh.

For assemblies, it has been hiked from Rs 28 lakh to Rs 30.8 lakh.

The maximum expenditure limit for candidates to spend for their campaigning varies from state to state.

The notification, which amended the Conduct of Elections Rules, does not mention that the limit has been hiked keeping in mind the pandemic and whether it is limited for polls being held amid COVID-19.

The amended rules, the notification said,”Shall come into force on the date of their publication in the official Gazette and shall remain in force till such date as may be notified by the Central Government.”

“The maximum expenditure limit was enhanced for a reason. But the notification need not mention the reason,” explained a senior EC functionary.

The last time the expenditure ceiling was enhanced was in 2014 just ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Assembly polls in Bihar will be held on October 28, November 3 and November 7.Most of the assembly bypolls will be held on November 3.

Bypolls to the Valmiki Nagar Lok Sabha seat in Bihar and some assembly seats in Manipur will take place on November 7.

Washington, Oct 23,2020: US President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden during their final debate sparred and traded allegations over the pandemic, foreign election meddling, scandals, North Korea nuclear talks, racism, and climate change, among other issues.

Trump opened the debate defending his record against the pandemic, saying that his administration would announce a vaccine within weeks. Trump also said that Americans are learning to live with COVID-19 and the US needs to open schools. Trump again blamed China for US woes due to the virus.

Biden in response said Trump still has no comprehensive plan to fight COVID-19. The former vice president called Trump’s approach “tragic.”

Trump reiterated that he wants to open schools and the country while Biden said “we want a safe opening.”

On the topic of foreign interference, Biden said Iran and Russia will pay a heavy price for meddling in the US election if he is elected president.

“It’s been overwhelmingly clear this election… that Russia has been involved, China has been involved to some degree, and now we learn that Iran is involved,” Biden said on Thursday night. “They will pay a price if I’m elected.”

Trump accused Biden of being paid by “Russians.” Biden responded by saying he never took “a penny” from any foreign source.

The Hunter Biden scandal was also raised. Biden said nothing was unethical about Hunter’s business dealings in Ukraine. He said his son never made any money on China.

When the topic moved to North Korea, Trump said there was a possibility of nuclear war and that millions of people would have been dead if not for him. Biden said he would negotiate with Kim Jong Un if North Korea reduced its nuclear capabilities.

“On the condition that [Kim] would agree to drawing down his nuclear capacity,” Biden said on Thursday, responding to moderator Kristen Welker’s question under what condition the Democratic candidate would meet with the North Korean leader should he assume presidency.

With respect to healthcare, Trump called for entirely terminating Obamacare and accused Biden of planning to socialise medicine. The former vice president promised to reduce drug prices if he wins the November 3 election.

Trump said Democratic administrations have built cages for migrants while Biden slammed the president for separating families at the border.

When the issue of racism came up, Trump claimed he has done more for the Black community than any other president and boasted about his record on criminal reform. Biden said during the Obama administration they commuted 1,000 prison sentences compared to Trump’s 20. The former vice president also said that in total he they got 38,000 people out of federal prison.

The candidates traded more insults over the Russia probe and the Ukraine scandals. Biden claimed the information regarding the Hunter Biden scandal was part of a Russian plan, prompting Trump to say “Russia, Russia, Russia, again.”

Regarding climate change, Biden warned that the US cannot handle four more years of Trump rolling back environmental regulations. Biden said after a transition to clean Industry, he would stop giving subsidies to the oil industry.

Brasilia, Oct 21,2020: The Brazilian government said on Wednesday that they plan to use a Chinese-made coronavirus vaccine as part of its nationwide immunisation programme against the virus.

This was confirmed by São Paulo Governor João Doria who said that the federal government has agreed to buy some 46 million doses of the vaccine CoronaVac, a BBC report said.

He further said that the immunisation programme would be the first of its kind in the world against COVID-19 and could begin as early as January 2021.

Brazil has been third worst affected country in the world from the coronavirus pandemic in terms of number o cases, after the United States and India.

The country has so far recorded nearly 5.3 million confirmed cases, and is second only to the US in terms of deaths, with nearly 155,000 registered so far.

If the drug is approved by the country’s health regulator, CoronaVac – which is being developed by the Chinese company Sinovac Biotech – will be one of two vaccines included in Brazil’s immunisation programme.

The other vaccine is the one being created by England’s Oxford University and the drug giant AstraZeneca.

Mr Doria has previously touted Sinovac’s experimental vaccine, announcing plans to use it to inoculate residents of São Paulo.

The Chinese vaccine is being tested by São Paulo state’s research centre Butantan Institute.

The institute announced on Monday that the two-dose vaccine appeared to be safe in a late-stage clinical trial.

However, it warned the result was only preliminary, with testing still ongoing. It said data on how effective the vaccine is will not be released till the trial is over.

INDONESIA,Oct 21,2020: Japan opposes any actions that escalate tension in the South China Sea, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Monday as he wrapped up a trip to Vietnam and Indonesia, and stressed the need for peaceful resolution of disputes.

Suga’s four-day visit to the two key Southeast Asian countries comes amid concerns about China’s growing assertiveness in the region.

Washington, Oct 20:2020: The Trump campaign wrote a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates in which it demanded that the final round of presidential debates to be focused on foreign policy and dismissed as unacceptable proposals to allow the moderator to shut off the candidates’ microphones.

“For the good of campaign integrity and for the benefit of the American people, we urge you to rethink and reissue a set of topics for the October 22 debate, with an emphasis on foreign policy. This is what the campaigns had agreed to and it has been the tradition in past campaigns,” Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien wrote in a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates.

Stepien said that only a few of the topics announced by moderator Kristen Welker – Fighting COVID-19, American Families, Race in America, Climate Change, National Security, and Leadership – barely touch on foreign policy and almost all were discussed at length during the first debate.

Stepien sent the letter ahead of the Commission’s meeting on the issue of allowing the moderator to shut off the candidates’ microphones during the debate.

“It is completely unacceptable for anyone to wield such power and a decision to proceed with that change amounts to turning further editorial control of the debate over to the Commission which has already demonstrated its partiality to [Democratic nominee Joe] Biden,” Stepien said.

The second round of presidential debates was canceled last week after Trump contracted the novel coronavirus and quickly recovered, but refused to debate Biden virtually.

The third and last debate is scheduled to take place in Nashville, Tennessee on Thursday.