Morning Digest: December 27, 2022

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi via phone line, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv on December 26.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

COVID-19 | Mock drill across States, UTs on December 27 to ensure readiness of health facilities

A drill will be held on December 27 across a number of health facilities in several States and Union territories to ensure their readiness to deal with any eventuality related to COVID-19, following an advisory by the Centre. Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will visit Safdarjung Hospital on Tuesday to take stock of the drill to be conducted there.

Centre makes digitally capturing MGNREGA attendance universal from January 1

Digitally capturing the attendance of workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGREGS) has been made universal by the Centre from January 1, 2023. The Union government, arguing for transparency and accountability in May 2021, had started a pilot project to capture attendance via a mobile application, the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS). 

Ukrainian President Zelenskyy speaks to PM Modi about G20, thanks India for aid and UN support

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday, to discuss India’s ongoing G-20 Presidency, and asked for support for his “10-point Peace Plan”. The call marked the fourth telephone conversation between the two leaders this year and came days after Mr. Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington, his first trip abroad since the war in Ukraine began in February. Apart from discussing the G20, Mr. Zelenskyy thanked India for its help during the war. 

Expedite categorisation of denotified, nomadic, semi-nomadic tribes: House panel

The Parliamentary panel on Social Justice and Empowerment has pulled up the Union government over the “very slow” process to categorise over 260 denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes under either the SC/ST/OBC lists, which government officials have pointed to for the delay in the approval of benefits under the SEED (Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs) scheme launched in February this year. 

NCPCR warns NGOs against depiction of vulnerable children for fundraising

The practice of civil society organisations using representative visuals for fundraising activities concerning development issues such as malnutrition now faces new scrutiny with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) issuing a directive to NGOs to not depict vulnerable children.

Congress, BJP spar over Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Vajpayee’s memorial

A war of words broke out between the Congress and the BJP over former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the memorial of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. While the BJP accused Mr. Gandhi of doing a ‘drama’ by visiting  Sadaiv Atal, the Congress hit back by stating that the BJP is rattled by the popularity of the yatra.

Concocted narratives created a sense of inferiority: PM Modi at  Veer Bal Diwas event

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 26 said a nation like India with such a glorious history must be full of self-confidence and self-respect, but lamented that concocted narratives taught till now had created a sense of inferiority in the country. Mr. Modi said there was a need to get free from the narrow interpretation of the past to move forward.

Mehrauli murder | Accused Aftab taken to forensic lab to record voice sample

Mehrauli murder accused Aftab Amin Poonawala was on Monday taken to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in New Delhi to record his voice sample after the police, during their investigation, came across an audio clip in which he was purportedly heard fighting with Shraddha Walkar. The accused, currently lodged in Tihar Jail, was taken to the CFSL to record his voice sample which will be checked if it matches with the male voice in the clip, they said.

Former Maldives president Yameen to appeal 11-year jail term

Former Maldives president Abdulla Yameen will appeal as soon as possible against his conviction and jailing for 11 years on corruption and money laundering charges, said his lawyer. Mr. Yameen, the opposition Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM) candidate for the next election due in 2023, was sent to a prison on Maafushi island on Sunday to start his sentence following the order from the Maldives criminal court.

Overthinking is a perception that has followed me since my debut: Ashwin

Ravichandran Ashwin has taken a slight dig at people who perceive him as an “overthinker” of the game following his match-winning performance against Bangladesh in the second Test in Mirpur. Batting alongside Shreyas Iyer, Ashwin played one of the best Test innings of his career to steer India to a famous three-wicket win from an improbable situation. His 42 not out came after a match haul of six wickets, making him the player of the match.

Stokes hits out at ICC for not paying enough attention to Test Cricket, scheduling

“The scheduling doesn’t get enough attention that it should. A great example is England’s one-day series against Australia after the T20 World Cup. That was shoving three games in there. It made sense to someone to schedule a series which meant nothing,” said Stokes in an interaction with the legendary Ian Botham on BBC on Monday.