9 million people risk displacement in Ethiopia: UN

United Nations has  warned that nine million people risk displacement from an escalating conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region.It said that the Ethiopian government’s declaration of a state of emergency was blocking food and other aid. In a report, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA said that clashes between federal troops and Tigrayan forces had broken out in eight locations in the region.The OCHA report said about 600,000 people in Tigray depend on food aid to survive, while another 1 million receive other forms of support, all of which are disrupted.

-The next phase of the Central Vista redevelopment project will require contractors to install air purifiers and keep construction noise under preset thresholds. This phase will involve redevelopment and restructuring the Central Vista Avenue, which includes the majority of the Rajpath stretch and the row of government offices that are parallel to it. In addition to the air and noise pollution limits for work in this area, which is one of the Capital’s best known landmarks, the Union government has put a 300-day deadline and the work will need to be carried out in patches in order to minimise the portion of the avenue that is out of bounds at any given time. In its tender, Centre has said the bidder shall follow all green construction practices and shall get periodic green audit conducted as per extant guidelines. “The contractor will also have to install air quality monitors, required number of air purifiers to maintain air quality index below acceptable levels of PM 2.5 -- within 150 [for] up to 500m from the site of work -- during the entire construction period,” the tender documents say.

-Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday warned people not to lower their guard, as the second wave could prove to be a ‘tsunami’. “We will have to follow the three-point protocol of social distancing, masking the face and washing hands to keep the spread of the virus at the bay. Diwali is coinciding with the onset of winter which sees a drop in the temperature. Countries like Italy, Spain, England and the Netherlands have been witnessing the second wave of Covid-19 that are more severe than the first ones. We do not want it to emerge in Maharashtra and it is possible only if we continue our disciplined appearance in public life. The state machinery is ready to take up the burden of the surge, but common people too should adopt Covid-appropriate behaviour,” he said during his public address through social media on Sunday.

-Ministry of Labour and Employment in a statement said that submitting claims through Affidavit Form is now no longer required under Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana (ABVKY) of Employees' State Insurance Corporation- ESIC. The Ministry said, while analysing the response of the beneficiaries to the Scheme under relaxed conditions, it was found that the condition of submitting the claim in Affidavit Form is causing inconvenience to the claimants.It said, considering the difficulties faced by the beneficiaries, it has now been decided that the claimant who has submitted the claim under Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana online and uploaded the scanned copies of the required documents need not submit the physical claim. The Ministry said, if the documents are not uploaded at the time of online filing of the claim, claimant will submit the printout of the claim duly signed along with the required documents.It said, condition for submitting the claim in Affidavit Form has been dispensed with.The ESI Corporation in its meeting held in August this year had extended the Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana’ from 1st of July, 2020 to 30th June,2021.-

-Attorney General K K Venugopal has refused to reconsider his November 2 decision declining consent to BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Upadhyay to initiate contempt proceedings against the Andhra Pradesh chief minister and his principal advisor for making allegations against judges. However, he stated that his refusal to grant consent will not come in the way of the Supreme Court taking suo motu contempt action on Y S Jaganmohan Reddy’s allegations contained in a letter written to Chief Justice of India (CJI) on October 6. The demand to initiate contempt against Reddy and Kallam was made by BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay in a letter addressed to AG on October 25 which the latter rejected on November 2. AG maintained that the alleged contempt arose out of a letter written by Reddy to Chief Justice of India (CJI) on October 6 and since the CJI was seized of the matter, it would not be appropriate for him to interfere. Upadhyay replied to Venugopal on November 5 seeking reconsideration.