Foreign students post open letter to China for their return

The first meeting of the Committee appointed by the Supreme Court to deliberate with concerned stakeholders on recently notified three Farm Laws, was held on Tuesday. Former Chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices Dr. Ashok Gulati, President of Shetkari Sanghatana Anil Ghanwat and Former Director for South Asia, International Food Policy Research Institute Dr. Pramod Joshi participated in the meeting and discussed the roadmap of activities for the Committee for two months to prepare their recommendations after discussion with farmers, farmers’ bodies, farmers’ unions and other stakeholders. Addressing the media, Ghanwat said, as per the direction of the Supreme Court, the Committee will hold discussion with farmers and farmers’ bodies in the country who are both pro and against the Farm Laws. The Committee will also hold discussions with State Governments, State Marketing Boards and other stakeholders such as Farmer Producer Organizationsand Cooperatives. The Committee is keen to understand the opinion on the subject of all concerned so that it can give suggestions which will definitely be in the interests of the farmers of India.

-The Government has asked WhatsApp to withdraw the recent changes in its privacy policy saying the unilateral changes are unfair and unacceptable. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has written a strongly worded letter to WhatsApp CEO Will Cathcart saying the proposed changes to the WhatsApp Terms of Service and Privacy Policy without giving users an option to opt-out, raise grave concerns regarding the implications for the choice and autonomy of Indian citizens. It said, India is home to the largest user base of WhatsApp globally and is one of the biggest markets for its services. The IT Ministry has asked WhatsApp to withdraw the proposed changes and reconsider its approach to information privacy, freedom of choice and data security. It said, with over 400 million users in India, the changes will have a disproportionate impact on the country's citizens. The Ministry has asked WhatsApp to provide details of the services provided by it in India, categories of data collected and permissions and consents sought. WhatsApp has also been asked to explain if it conducts profiling of Indian users on the basis of their usage, as well as explain the difference between the privacy policy in India and other countries. WhatsApp has also been asked to provide policy on data and information security, privacy and encryption.

-Andaman and Nicobar Tri-Service Command on Tuesday started the COVID-19 vaccination drive at INHS Dhanvantri Hospital in Port Blair. Commander-In-Chief, A&N Command, Lt. General Manoj Pande inaugurated the drive. He praised the efforts done by health workers in managing the pandemic. He also urged the personnel not to believe in rumors regarding the vaccine and trust the experts.Under the first phase, today 36 Health Workers and Senior Health Officers were inoculated. A total 370 dozes of the vaccine have been received from Directorate of Health Services. The drive will be extended to Health Workers at outer posts of the Command in Northern and Southern Islands. Later, the front line workers will be vaccinated.Meanwhile, the vaccine has reached Car Nicobar and Nancowry in Nicobar district by helicopter. Southernmost islands Campbell Bay will also be covered soon. The vaccination drive is also going to start at Rangat, Mayabunder and Diglipur in North and Middle Andaman district by this week as well. The vaccination drive is moving smoothly at two designated centers in Port Blair. A total of 645 health workers have been vaccinated in three days.

-Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu has called for measures to prevent agro brain drain and attract educated youth to take up farming as a profession. He opined that the future of Indian agriculture lies in the hands of technology-driven farming practices, powered by well- informed and modern-minded farmers. Inaugurating the National Dialogue on Indian Agriculture Towards 2030 through video conference, Naidu said, agriculture is the pillar of India’s ecology, culture and civilisation. He also called for changing focus from food security to nutrition security. The Vice President stressed on the need to reduce agri-input costs and called for promoting organic farming in a big way.
 =Tens of thousands of international students waiting for the last one year to return to their universities in China have written an open letter to the Chinese government demanding a clear schedule for their phase wise return to their campuses. The letter posted on Facebook claimed to be signed by tens of thousands of overseas students demanded that their case may be treated like an education emergency and they be allowed to come back like other international travelers and business people as it's been more than a year of uncertainty.They said, it's practically not possible to continue the studies in online mode due to lack of lab experiments, issues related to time zone differences, lack of direct communication between teachers and students, slow internet and bad electricity supply in many countries. They said their scholarship has also been suspended by Chinese Scholarship Authority, without giving any reason and without them breaking any regulations which has also caused great difficulty to many. Chinese Foreign Ministry without giving any clarity said that China attaches high importance to the protection of rights of the overseas students. Chinese universities are required to handle their legitimate concerns. The ministry said, China will handle that matter in a coordinated and overall manner. It said, we have to take into account many factors and priority for us is to join hands to fight against the COVID-19.