Truth behind the secret meeting between Saudi and Israil :
There
is nothing wrong with muslim States pursuing ties with Israil as long as
Palestine issue is resolved.
REPORTS
that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a clandestine visit to the
northern Saudi city of Neom to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday
have sparked a firestorm of rumours. The Saudis have flatly denied that the
Israeli leader set foot on their soil; however, officials in Tel Aviv — in
typically Israeli fashion — have adopted a more ambiguous tone. Several media
outlets in Israel say the visit indeed took place, while a member of the
state’s security cabinet has said on record that “the meeting happened”.
While
over the past few months of UAE, Bahrain and Sudan have stuck Peace deals with
Israil it would be the game changer were Saudi Arabia to do so. Officially
Riyadh sticks to the position that there would be no peace deal with Israil
Unless the Palestinian question is resolved but it is difficult to believe that
the Gulf states would have gone ahead with KSA's blessing .
Moreover,
because Islam's holiest sites are in Saudi soil, Riyad's recognition of Tel
Aviv would have a great impact on the Muslim world.
There
is nothing wrong with the Muslim States pursuing ties with Israil as long as
Palestine issue is resolved to the Arab side's satisfaction. Unfortunately that
doesn't seem to be a possibility as the Palestinians have rejected the peace
deal between Arab states and Israil. The reasons remain clear, those who rule
Israil have no intention to go back to 1967 borders and living in harmony with
Palestinians by giving back them land that was stolen by them.
Iran
has said that it will Automatically return to its Nuclear Commitments if
U.S.President-elect Joe Biden lifts sanctions imposed over the past two years.
Background:
•
Decades old U.S.-Iranian tensions escalated after U.S. President Donald Trump
unilaterally withdrew from a landmark nuclear agreement in 2018 and then
reinforced Crippling Sanctions.
•
Iran has since May 2019 gradually suspended most of its key obligations under
the Agreement.
What’s the Way Ahead for Iran?
•
While Mr. Trump has sought to Maximise Pressure on Iran and isolate it
globally, Mr. Biden has proposed to offer the Islamic republic a “credible path
back to diplomacy”.
•
Besides, America is also obligated to implement Resolution 2231 as a member of
the United Nations and its Security Council.
•
On 20 July 2015, the Security Council unanimously adopted resolution 2231
(2015) endorsing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
•
Resolution 2231 provides for the termination of the provisions of previous
Security Council
Resolutions
on the Iranian nuclear issue and establishes specific restrictions that apply
to all States without exception.
What was the Iran Nuclear Deal?
•
Iran agreed to rein in its nuclear programme in a 2015 deal struck with the US,
UK, Russia,
China,
France and Germany.
•
Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) Tehran agreed to
significantly cut its stores of centrifuges, enriched uranium and heavy-water,
all key components for Nuclear Weapons.
• The JCPOA established the Joint Commission, with the negotiating parties all represented,
To
monitor Implementation of the Agreement.
Why has US Pulled out of the Deal
Now?
•
Trump and opponents to the deal said it is flawed because it gives Iran access
to billions of dollars but does not address Iran’s support for groups the U.S.
considers terrorists, like Hamas and Hezbollah. They noted it also doesn’t curb
Iran’s development of ballistic missiles and that the deal phases out by 2030.
They said Iran has lied about its nuclear program in the past.
At UNSC, India calls for immediate ceasefire in
Afghanistan.
India
has told the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that it calls for an
“immediate comprehensive ceasefire” in Afghanistan, while welcoming all
opportunities to bring peace to the country.
India’s
position was articulated by its Permanent Representative to the United Nations,
at a UNSC convened under the Arria Formula (informally convened at the request
of a UNSC member).
Current
and incoming members of the UNSC spoke on how the Council could support the
Afghan peace process.
The
timing of the remarks is significant as India is weeks away from beginning a
two-year term at the Council and comes days after U.S. President Donald Trump’s
announcement this week that he would dramatically cut the number of U.S. troops
in Afghanistan by January 15.
It
is an act that could potentially jeopardise the fragile peace process underway
in the country.
India
has been concerned that the Afghan peace process and premature withdrawal of
NATO/ U.S. coalition forces could leave opportunities for terrorist networks
that could target both Afghanistan and India.
Four
requirements for peace and stability in Afghanistan outlined by India:
First,
the process had to be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned.
Third,
the gains of the last two decades cannot be lost Fourth, the transit rights of
Afghanistan should not be used by countries
Raghuram Rajan red-flag concerns for Corporate owning
banks.
The
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) working group’s recommendation to allow corporate
houses to own banks has drawn sharp reactions from experts, who have
red-flagged risks associated with such a move.
About:
Former
RBI governor Raghuram Rajan and ex-deputy governor Viral Acharya argued against
allowing companies to own banks because it would allow non-financial businesses
to gain easy access to financing and encourage connected lending and because it
could lead to further concentration of economic and political power in certain
business houses.
They
are also laid out likely motivations for the recommendations, the first being
to enable the privatisation of PSU banks.
Key objectives
This
objective is better achieved by professionalising governance and letting the
broader public own larger stakes in these banks, they argued.
The
other possibility, they said, is that a particular corporate house which holds
a payments bank licence now wants to convert into a full-service bank.
The
two were surprised the working group had recommended corporate ownership of
banks even though only one among all the experts they consulted favoured such a
move. “Why is there urgency to change the regulation? After all, committees are
rarely set up out of the blue. Is there some dramatic change in perception that
it is responding to?” they asked.
Community
Cord Blood Banking, a stem cell banking initiative, has recently helped save
the life of a girl child making it India’s first dual cord blood transplant
through an Unrelated Donor.
Cord Blood Banking:
•
Community Banking is a new sharing economy model of stem cell banking that was
pioneered by LifeCell in India.
•
Parents who choose to store their child’s cord blood in a community bank will
have access, in the event of medical need, to all of the other cord blood units
in the bank.
•
A community bank is like a public cord blood bank in that the members are
supporting each other, but it is also like a private bank because the members
pay for this service and outsiders cannot participate.
•
It can fill an unmet health need in a country like India, where there is no
national network of public banks and the population has unique genetics that
are not covered by banks elsewhere in the world.
•
It is different from “hybrid” banking where both public and family banks share
a laboratory, because in hybrid banks the pubic and family sides operate
separately.
•
In a community bank the public and family functions are blended.
Benefits of Cord Blood:
•
It gives Protection to a Baby against all conditions treatable using stem cells
(own & donor).
•
It gives protection to the baby’s siblings, parents and grandparents (maternal
& paternal) by providing Unrelated Donor Stem Cells.
Stem Cell Therapy:
•
It is a type of treatment option that uses a patient’s own stem cells to repair
damaged tissue and repair injuries.
•
Stem cells are usually taken from one of the two areas in the patient’s body:
bone marrow or adipose (fat) tissue in their upper thigh abdomen.
•
Because it is common to remove stem cells from areas of stored body fat, some
refer to stem cell therapy as “Adipose Stem Cell Therapy” in some cases.
Chapare Virus.
Recently,
the researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
have discovered a rare Ebola-like illness that is believed to have first
originated in rural Bolivia in 2004. It is named Chapare after the province in
which it was first observed.
Highlights:
•
Chapare Virus belongs to the same Arenavirus family that is responsible for
illnesses such as the Ebola virus disease (EVD). It causes Chapare Hemorrhagic
Fever (CHHF). It is a rural province in the northern region of central Bolivia.
•
The virus is generally carried by rats and can be transmitted through direct
contact with the infected rodent, its urine and droppings, or through contact
with an infected person.
•
A disease vector is any agent which carries and transmits an infectious
pathogen into another living organism.
•
The Symptoms of Chapare Hemorrhagic Fever (CHHF) are Hemorrhagic fever much
like
Ebola,
Abdominal pain, Vomiting, Bleeding gums, Skin rash and Pain behind the eyes.
•
Viral hemorrhagic fevers are a severe and life-threatening kind of illness that
can affect multiple organs and damage the walls of blood vessels.
• It can spread from person to person. Chapare spreads only through direct contact with bodily fluids. It is also found fragments of Ribonucleic acid (RNA) associated with Chapare, in the semen of one survivor 168 days after he was infected.
•
It is much more difficult to catch than the coronavirus as it is not
transmissible via the respiratory route. Instead, Chapare spreads only through
direct contact with bodily fluids.
•
New sequencing tools will help develop an RT-PCR test — much like the one used
to diagnose Covid-19 to help detect Chapare.
ICC Men’s Player of the Decade Award.
Virat
Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin were nominated for the coveted ICC Men’s Player
of the Decade Award with the Indian captain featuring in all five men’s
categories for his incredible run in the last 10 years.
Kohli
and veteran off-spinner Ashwin are the two Indians among seven players
nominated for the most prestigious award.
Besides
the Indian duo, Joe Root (England), Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Steve Smith
(Australia), AB de Villiers (South Africa), and Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka)
are the other contenders in this category.
In
the Men’s ODI Player of the Decade category, former India skipper Mahendra
Singh Dhoni and run-machine Rohit Sharma also found a place alongside Kohli,
Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka), Mitchell Starc (Australia), de Villiers and
Sangakkara.
Focus
on mains:
Inter State River Water Disputes.
The
Bill aims to deal with the risks of India’s ageing dams, with the help of a
comprehensive federal institutional framework comprising committees and
authorities for dam safety at national and state levels.
Nearly
92% of these dams are on inter-State rivers, and accidents at many of them have
spurred concerns as to the frequency and efficiency of their maintenance.
Highlights of the Bill
Objective:
The Bill provides for the surveillance, inspection, operation, and maintenance
of all specified dams across the country. These are dams with height more than
15 metres, or height between 10 metres to 15 metres with certain design and
structural conditions.
It
constitutes two national bodies: The National Committee on Dam Safety, whose
functions include evolving policies and recommending regulations regarding dam
safety standards; and the National Dam Safety Authority, whose functions
include implementing policies of the National Committee, providing technical
assistance to State Dam Safety Organisations (SDSOs), and resolving matters
between SDSOs of states or between a SDSO and any dam owner in that state.
It
also constitutes two state bodies: State Committee on Dam Safety, and SDSO.
These bodies will be responsible for the surveillance, inspection, and
monitoring the operation and maintenance of dams within their jurisdiction.
Power
of Union Government: Functions of the national bodies and the State Committees
on Dam Safety have been provided in Schedules to the Bill. These Schedules can
be amended by a government notification.
Penal
Provisions: An offence under the Bill can lead to imprisonment of up to two
years, or a fine, or both.
Key Issues and Analysis of Dam
Safety Bill:
Issue of Federalism:
The
Bill applies to all specified dams in the country. This includes dams built on
both inter and intra state rivers.
The
question is whether Parliament has the jurisdiction to regulate dams on rivers
flowing entirely within a state.
Since
‘water’ comes under the State list, the bill is criticised as being an
unconstitutional move aimed at taking control of state’s dams.
State’s
see it as an attempt by the Centre to consolidate power in the guise of safety
concerns
Opposition
by Tamil Nadu
The
State which has fours dams — the Mullaperiyar, Parambikulam, Thunakkadavu and
Peruvaripallam — that are owned by it, but are situated in neighbouring Kerala.
Currently,
the rights on these dams are governed by pre-existing long-term agreements
among the States.
The
provisions in the Bill implies that the dam-owning State would not have rights
over the safety and maintenance of the dam located in another State.
Thus,
Tamil Nadu will lose the rights over the safety of above four dams which is
violative of pre-existing agreement with Kerala State.
Due Process
The
functions of the National Committee on Dam Safety, the National Dam Safety
Authority, and the State Committee on Dam Safety are listed in Schedules to the
Bill.
These
Schedules can be amended by the government through a notification.
The
question is whether core functions of authorities should be amended through a
notification or whether such amendments should be passed by Parliament.
In
the absence of a proper legal framework, safety and maintenance of these large
number of dams are a cause of concern. Hence, the bill has to be passed by
taking on board the concerns of States.
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