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DS-test- COVID-19 Compendium (November 2021): Official Information on COVID-19 Released by India and the WHO [HTML and PDF]

May 03, 2022 22:17 IST

Updated: May 04, 2022 13:50 IST

Crowds at Juhu Beach in Mumbai on November 14, 2021, in total disregard for the safety norms that are in place to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic

Congress party chief in Rajasthan, Sachin Pilot, makes out a litany of charges against the incumbent Vasundhara Raje Government, accusing it, among other things, of irregularities in allotting mines and neglect of critical agriculture issues leading to, for the first time in Rajasthan, a spate of farmer suicides. On the Congress’s national vision, and whether his party has a counter to the BJP’s aggressive Dalit-OBC outreach, his answer is: “I think it is wrong to put people in baskets and say this is an issue of Dalits, or Dalit votes. The way I look at it, tribals, Hindus, Muslims, Dalits, forwards, backwards, if you leave these categories, there are only two categories in India. There are the extremely well-off and the not well-off. People who have access to resources and those who don’t. In the don’ts, the majority may be Dalits, backwards, tribals and minorities” Excerpts from an interview to Vidya Subrahmaniam, Senior Fellow, The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy.

An up-to-date compilation of more than 1,300 official statements by the Government of India from January 17, 2020. Links to articles published by The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy on COVID-19, daily State-wise Status by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, all-India SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) Testing Status by the Indian Council of Medical Research, and the WHO’s ‘Global Situation Reports’ and ‘India Updates’ are also provided on this page.

I. Introduction

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

- Bert Lance (U.S. Politician, 1931-2013) ¹

On June 10, 2021, the Government of India put out the draft of the Indian Ports Bill 2021 for public discussion ². This was the third time since July 2, 2020, that the Bill has been sent for consultation with stakeholders. The draft Bill continues to flounder in the choppy waters of India’s politics and law-making as it has failed to win support not only from the political leadership of the country’s maritime States but also from sections representing trade and commerce. ³

The larger objection is that despite the legalese that the draft Bill seeks “to empower a national council fostering structured growth and development of the port sector” ⁴; its real aim is to curtail the freedom and powers of the maritime States to develop and administer their ports. In its own way, the draft Bill is a throwback to central planning and inspector raj in the port sector. This, despite international experience and India’s own history having proven that such moves are self-defeating. Moreover, certain provisions in the draft Bill are likely to choke future port capacity addition, thereby hampering India’s economic development. It is, therefore, not surprising that the draft Bill has been objected to strongly by all the maritime States.

Source: Basic Port Statistics of India, 2018-19. Transport Research Wing, Ministry of Shipping, Government of India. 2020. (Table 1.1) p. 1

The terms ‘Major’ and ‘Non-Major’ are historical baggage; they are misnomers now because some Non-Major Ports like Mundra, Sikka, and Pipavav – all of which are located in Gujarat - have higher levels of investment and greater cargo volumes than Major Ports such as Kolkata, New Mangalore and Tuticorin.

“The terms ‘Major’ and ‘Non-Major’ are misnomers now because some Non-Major Ports have higher levels of investment and greater cargo volumes.”

The legal architecture of India’s ports

Two key Union legislations governed the port sector: (1) the Indian Ports Act, 1908, which is common to all ports and deals with port conservancy, port charges, pilotage services, etc., and (2) the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963, which is specific to the governance of Major Ports. Seven maritime States have enacted legislation creating their State Maritime Boards – Gujarat (1981), Tamil Nadu (1995), Maharashtra (1996), West Bengal (2000), Karnataka (2015), Kerala (2017) and Andhra Pradesh (2018) ⁸. Each Maritime Board serves as a State-wide Port Authority which develops, regulates, and oversees the management of Non-Major Ports. Recently, the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963, was repealed and replaced with the Major Port Authorities Act, 2021. The Indian Ports Bill, 2021, proposes to do the same with the Indian Ports Act, 1908, and subsumes the State enactments on Maritime Boards.

Year	No. of inspections	No. of prosecutions	No. of convictions
2007	363,927	12,705	617
2008	355,629	11,318	763
2009	317,083	11,418	1,312
2010	239,612	8,998	1,308
2011	84,935	4,590	774

The section of Yajur Veda, now recognised as the Ishovasya Upanishad (Isa Upanishad), begins with the famous dictum,

“(Know that) all this, whatever moves in this moving world, is enveloped by God. Therefore find your enjoyment in renunciation; do not covet what belongs to others.”

Long Lasting Dreams in Different Language-Styles

“Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us --– that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion –-- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain –-- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom –-- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” (November 19, 1863).”

References:

[ All URLs are last accessed on May 14, 2021 ]

1. Radhakrishnan, S. 1953.The Principal Upanishads , George Allen & Unwin, London, p. 567. [https://ia802507.us.archive.org/10/items/PrincipalUpanishads/129481965-The-Principal-Upanishads-by-S-Radhakrishnan.pdf]. Return To text.

2. Panda, N.C. (Ed). 2014:Manusmirti (Text with Sanskrit Commentary and English Translation) , Volume-I Bharatiya Kala Prakashan, Delhi. p. 41. Return to Text.

3. Kosambi, D.D. 1965.The Culture and Civilisation of Ancient India . London: Routledge and KeganPaul. pp. 97-103. Return to Text.

4. Abraham Lincoln Online [n.d.]: The Gettysburg Address , November 19, 1863. [http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm].

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