1. PM on farmers’ protest: PM Narendra Modi while addressing a crowd in Gujarat’s Kutch on Tuesday said the farmers who are protesting have been misguided and that the new farm laws are exactly what the farmers and the opposition parties have been demanding for a long time. The statement comes amid the on-going farmers’ protest, which entered it’s 21st day on Wednesday.
2. US terminates suit against Modi: A US court has dismissed a $100m lawsuit filed against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah after the litigants failed to appear at two scheduled hearings. The suit, filed in September 2019, challenged the Indian Parliament’s decision to abrogate the special status of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state.
3. India Covid count dips: The share of India’s active Covid-19 cases in the total number of infections further shrunk to 3.57 per cent, the lowest after 149 days, according to a government statement. Ministry of external affairs secretary (West) Vikas Swarup said India has emerged as a net provider of health security and successfully shouldered its responsibility as the pharmacy of the world.
4. Ambani to ‘aid’ vaccine distribution: As India gears up to roll out one of the largest vaccination programmes, billionaire Mukesh Ambani has said his group is working with authorities to provide technology tools and backbone for mass inoculation against Covid-19.
5. US warns India: Days ahead of President-elect Joe Biden taking charge as the new President of the US, the Trump administration has imposed sanctions on Turkey for buying Russian-made S400 Triumf anti-missile system and also warned India and other countries on buying arms manufactured by Russia.
6. Republic Day chief guest: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has accepted India’s “very generous” invite to be the Republic Day chief guest at next month’s celebrations in Delhi. He said: “I am absolutely delighted to be visiting India next year at the start of an exciting year for Global Britain, and look forward to delivering the quantum leap in our bilateral relationship that Prime Minister Modi and I have pledged to achieve.”
7. China tagged ‘world’s worst jailer’: A United States-based watchdog has revealed China jailed a record number of journalists this year, making it “world’s worst jailer for the second year in a row”. The second in the list was Turkey that according to CPJ “continues to try journalists free on parole and arrest new ones”. It was trailed by Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
8. US slams China: Amid the rising tensions between Washington and Beijing, US secretary of state Mike Pompeo has criticised China over curtailing the religious freedom of Uighurs. He also equated the treatment of the minority community in China with Nazi’s Germany ethnic cleansing of the Jews in the 1930s.
9. K’taka deputy Speaker manhandled: The deputy chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council was manhandled and dragged off his chair by Congress lawmakers on Tuesday. The ruckus began over a no-confidence motion against Chairman of Legislative Council Prathap Chandra Shetty who belongs to the Congress.
10. Wistron violence FIR: Owing to the violence that broke out at Wistron’s iPhone manufacturing plant, an FIR has been registered against 7,000 unknown people, including 5,000 contract workers. However, the vandalism incident has taken a new turn with the labour department claiming the firm had been regularly paying salaries to its employees and there was only a 4-day delay this month.
