The Indian Weekender, 29 July 2022

More documents

Recommendations

Info

14 INDIA Droupadi Murmu takes oath as 15th President of India Droupadi Murmu was sworn in as India’s 15th President at an impressive ceremony in the packed and historic Central Hall of Parliament Droupadi Murmu took oath of office as the 15th President of India on Monday and created history by being the first tribal head of State and the second woman to occupy the country’s highest constitutional post. “That I attained the post of President is not my personal achievement, it is the achievement of every poor person in India. My election is a proof of the fact that the poor in India can have dreams and fulfil them too."said Madam President after being sworn in by Chief Justice of India (CJI) N V Ramana at Parliament’s Central Hall. Ms Murmu, who succeeds Ram Nath Kovind, is India’s youngest President at 64 and the first to be born after Independence. She took her oath of office in Hindi and in the name of God to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution and the law". “It is a tribute to the power of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed concern over what he called an “increasing tendency of political parties” to put their ideology or interest above the country. Addressing an event via videoconference in Kanpur to mark the 10th death anniversary of former Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha member Harmohan Singh Yadav, the PM said political parties need to be mindful that opposing a party or an individual should not go against the country. “Ideologies have their own place, so do political ambitions, but the fact remains the country is first, society is first; Rashtra Pratham,” he said. A tendency of putting ideology and interest before the country was gaining currency, he said. “Many a time, the Opposition parties place obstructions before the government because they could not implement decisions when they were in power. Now, when they are implemented, they oppose. It is the duty of all political parties that opposing a party or a person is not going against the country,” he said. Most political parties, particularly the non- Congress ones, have fulfilled this thought of keeping the country first, he added. “During the 1971 war, the Opposition parties India’s 15th President Droupadi Murmu signs a register after taking oath in the Central Hall of Parliament, in New Delhi, Monday, July 25, 2022. “That I attained the post of President is not my personal achievement, it is the achievement of every poor person in India. My election is a proof of the fact that the poor in India can have dreams and fulfil them too." our democracy that a daughter born in a poor house in a remote tribal area can reach the highest constitutional position in India. That I attained the post of President is not my personal achievement, it is the achievement of every poor person in India,” she said in her address, marking her journey from Odisha’s Mayurbhanj – one of the most underdeveloped districts in India-- to the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Former President Ram Nath Kovind, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and CJI Ramana were on the dais while other dignitaries including ‘Ideologies have their place, but the country must come first,’ says PM supported the government of the day and strongly sided with the government after the (first) Pokhran nuclear test in 1974. Then, they came together to save democracy and the country when the Emergency was imposed,” he said. Paying tribute to Harmohan Singh Yadav, the PM said the SP leader started as a gram pradhan and reached a point where he used to guide UP’s politics from his village. He was a champion of farmers’ rights and fought against the emergency, the PM added. Friday, July 29, 2022 former President of India Pratibha Patil, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik seated in the front row seat of the historic Central Hall. Prime Minister Modi said that Ms Murmu assuming the Presidency is a “watershed moment” for the “poor,marginalised and downtrodden”. "In her address after taking oath, President Droupadi Murmu Ji gave a message of hope and compassion. She emphasised on India's accomplishments and presented a futuristic vision of the path ahead at a time when India is marking Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav,"Mr Modi said. The day began with outgoing President Kovind and Ms Murmu arriving in a majestic procession from the Rashtrapati Bhavan to the Parliament Building, escorted by the horse-mounted President’s Bodyguards. India’s new president was given a 21-gun salute after which she signed the oath register amid thunderous applause and thumping of desks. Premier higher educational institutions in the country should look to expand their campuses abroad, a government-constituted committee has recommended and pitched for the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to take the lead on this front, officials familiar with the development said. Tasked to prepare a framework for Indian universities to set up campuses abroad, the 16-member committee — headed by the chairman of standing committee of IIT council, K Radhakrishnan — was constituted by the Union education ministry after IIT-Delhi submitted a proposal last year for opening centres in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. According to ministry officials, the committee has recently submitted its draft report on “structure for opening campuses abroad by higher education institutions”. Read online www.iwk.co.nz Monkeypox: India on alert after reporting fourth case India's fourth case of monkeypox has been reported in a man in national capital Delhi who has no history of foreign travel. The federal health ministry has asked the Delhi government to trace the 34-year-old's contacts, local media has reported. States have been asked to carry out "close surveillance" for the virus. The government has also issued preventive guidelines on the disease. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the patient in the city is stable and recovering from the infection. "There is no need to panic," he added. The man had travelled to Himachal Pradesh state before he fell ill - surveillance teams are checking whether he could have contracted the infection there, or from a friend, The Indian Express newspaper reported. The first three cases in India were reported from the southern state of Kerala - all of them had travelled to the state recently from countries in the Gulf region. Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency. More than 16,000 cases have now been reported from 75 countries, said WHO director general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. "The WHO's assessment is that the risk of monkeypox is moderate globally and in all regions, except in the European region, where we assess the risk as high," he said. There had been five deaths so far as a result of the outbreak, he added. Premier higher educational institutes should expand campuses abroad: Panel The committee has strongly supported the idea that country’s top institutes establish “residential campuses” abroad and the ministry of external affairs and the Indian envoys facilitate the process, said a senior ministry official, requesting anonymity. “Discussions are underway on the draft recommendations submitted by the committee. It is recommended either to allow individual institutes to set up their campuses abroad or to do that in collaboration with other institutes or universities in India or in the host country,” the official said. “There is discussion that the top IITs may take the lead and start the expansion process.”
Read online www.iwk.co.nz Friday, July 29, 2022 WORLD 15 USAID chief says human rights, diversity part of India-US talks USAID chief Samantha Power said that issues such as human rights and diversity form part of the US administration’s dialogue with the Indian government, especially at a time of “headwinds in the face of freedoms” in many parts of the world. Power, who was on a three-day visit to India to advance the bilateral strategic partnership and to discuss the global food crisis, was responding to a question at a news conference on the US not raising such issues with India in view of New Delhi’s importance in countering Europe and the Americas have been affected the most by the monkeypox outbreak, Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told journalists. These two regions have reported 95 per cent of the diagnosed cases, he said, warning against stigma and discrimination in monkeypox messaging. O v e r 1 8 , 0 0 0 monkeypox cases have been reported to the WHO from 78 countries. More than 70 per cent of these came from the European region and 25 per cent from the Americas, he said. He said that 98 per cent of the reported cases have been among men who have sex with men, stressing that stigma and discrimination can be "as dangerous as any virus and can fuel the outbreak." "As we have seen with COVID-19 misinformation," it can spread rapidly online, he said, "so we call on social media platforms, tech companies and news organizations to work with us to prevent and counter harmful information." Last Saturday, the WHO officially declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). A PHEIC is the highest level of alert that the United Nations (UN) regional challenges such as China. There are “headwinds in the face of freedoms in many, many parts of the world”, and India’s civil society, its free press, free speech and free association are worthy of emulation by other countries, she said. “So, it is incredibly important in this country and in the US for human rights to be respected, for diversity to be celebrated, and of course, that is part of the dialogue that we have with the Indian government. It is also something we are struggling with back in the US,” she said. Power described India as an MONKEYPOX: Europe, US worst hit; account for 95% of the diagnosed cases, says WHO health body can give. The WHO has been urging countries to take the monkeypox outbreak seriously by taking the steps needed to stop transmission and protect vulnerable groups. "The best way to do that is to reduce the risk of exposure and make safe choices," he said. "For men who have sex with men, this includes, for the moment, reducing your number of sexual partners, reconsidering sex with new partners, and exchanging contact details with any new partners to enable follow-up if needed." Meanwhile, Canada, the European Union and the US have already approved the vaccine called MVA-BN (Modified Vaccinia Ankara - Bavarian Nordic) for use against monkeypox, and two other vaccines are also being assessed. However, due to the lack of data on the effectiveness and dosage of the vaccines, the WHO currently does not recommend mass vaccination against monkeypox. It also urges all countries that are administering such vaccines to collect and share critical data on their effectiveness. “absolutely critical actor” in the Indo- Pacific and all over the world, and said “India’s leadership beyond its borders” draws on the lessons and dynamism that it shows at home. “There’s no question that a major source of India’s strength has been the potency and vibrancy of its civil society, the pluralism, the debates that have occurred here over so many decades... the rollicking media debates,” she added. In a speech on the theme “The world is one family”, which was delivered before the news conference, Power said India has been positioned as a future development leader because of its values, and not just its assets. “It has been India’s multiethnic, multiparty democracy that has allowed it to withstand the challenges it has faced and come out ahead stronger and more resilient,” she said in her speech. “It has been its support for free expression over decades that has allowed injustices to come to light. It has been its tolerance for diversity and dissent that has allowed reforms to take hold, and institutions to progress. Aust inflation hits 21-year high Australia has recorded its highest rate of inflation in more than 20 years, with consumers paying more for everything. According to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Wednesday, the Consumer Price Index rose by 1.8 per cent in the June quarter and 6.1 per cent over the last 12 months. It is the highest figure since 2001 and the second-highest quarterly increase since the Goods and Services Tax (GST) was introduced in 2000. Automotive fuel prices rose by 32.1 per cent in the 12 months to June and the price of new houses by 20.3 per cent. "Shortages of building supplies and labour, high freight costs and ongoing high levels of construction activity continued to contribute to price rises for newly built dwellings," said Michelle Marquardt, head of Prices Statistics at the ABS. "The CPI's automotive fuel series reached a record level for the fourth consecutive quarter. Fuel prices rose strongly over May and June, following a fall in April due to the fuel excise cut." The cost of vegetables rose by 7.3 per cent in the June quarter alone and that of fruit by 3.7 per cent as a result of catastrophic flooding across much of the east coast earlier this year. The ABS said the supply chain disruptions due to flooding events, labour shortages, and rising freight costs contributed to higher prices. Responding to the data, Treasurer Jim Chalmers warned it would "get tougher" for Australians "before it gets easier" towards the end of 2022. Chalmers will on Thursday deliver a ministerial statement on the economy to Parliament, which he said would be "confronting." "It is not news to millions of Australians who feel its inflation challenge, every time they go to the supermarket and every time the bills arrive," he said. "This inflation outcome today mirrors the lived experience of Australians who are doing it tough right now."
Page 1 and 2: Friday, 29 July 2022 Volume 14 / Is
Page 3 and 4: Read online www.iwk.co.nz Friday, J
Page 13: Read online www.iwk.co.nz Friday, J
Page 19 and 20: Inviting nominations for The Kiwi I

The Indian Weekender, 29 July 2022

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?