The year 2020 has indeed been a roller coaster ride for India as well as the global economy. COVID-19 pandemic had sparked off an unprecedented crisis of significant proportions with economic activities coming to a screeching halt.

When big giants from different industries in India were struggling with their production & sales, JSPL decided to keep its mills running as it turned its focus to export markets like South East Asia, Middle East and Europe to offset the loss in domestic volumes.

The company’s DNA of searching for opportunities in the face of challenges not only allowed JSPL to report a Year on Year growth in shipments in 1QFY21 when the domestic peers reported a sharp drop in volumes but also help support the Indian economy by earning valuable forex.

With the nation gradually unlocking in phases, the recovery has been equally surprising. JSPL has benefited from the sharp economic revival with the company posting 16% Year on Year growth in standalone steel production and 50% Year on Year EBITDA growth in 1HFY21. 

Chart showing unmatched growth of JSPL :

JSPL stock price has also mirrored the economic ups and downs during the year with the scrip rising by 4.3x since hitting 52 weeks low in early April.

“JSPL’s unflinching focus to grow volumes by sweating assets coupled with an unwavering commitment to strengthening the balance sheet has helped the company emerge as the largest wealth creator (from the Apr’20 bottom) in the global steel sector in 2020. With more legs to the economic recovery, we firmly believe JSPL’s outlook to be even brighter”, said Amit Dixit, Vice President Institutional Equities at Edelweiss Securities.

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Apart from the United Kingdom, Canada and the USA has started with the administration of the covid vaccinations, Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine which is being provided on a priority basis to the health service workers and elder people. 

In the United Kingdom, a 91-year old woman, Margaret Keenan had received the first dose as her ‘early birthday present’. A few days later, an American nurse became the first person to receive the coronavirus vaccine in the United States.

The USA president Joe Biden had decided to get vaccinated against Covid-19 in public next week. Being 78 years he is in the high-risk group for the disease followed by Kamala Harris and Mike Pence. Joe Biden is supposed to start his office from January 20 and is considering the fight against corona his top priority. 

The Food and Drug Administration earlier had approved the vaccine on emergency use against Covid-19 among people above 16 years of age. The FDA has issued the Emergency Use Authorisation after approving the effectivity and safety data of the vaccine. While the vaccine is administered on an emergency basis, some of the vaccines are being used in phase 3 of the clinical trials. 

These have been some prominent side effects of the Pfizer vaccine. Such as pain in the injection area. The Pfizer vaccine is supposed to be given in two doses in three weeks. Among the thousands of participants, a common side effect has turned out to be pain and swelling in the injection site. 84% People have complained of redness, firmness, tenderness and warmth in the administered area. 

Around 63% of the participants had been experiencing fatigue, while 55% have complained about muscle pain and 38% of headaches. In the majority of situations, the effects were mild and not serious. Some people informed about joint pain and fever after the administration of the vaccine. 

Dr Matthew Heinz in Arizona said that the effects after the second vaccination are more intense ad the immune system ‘has already been exposed. It gets hit with another dose and it has a sort of quicker and more robust response. That makes a lot of sense immunologically,” he added.

In rare cases, patients have reported adverse effects. 0.5% of the patients have reported bell’s palsy basically facial paralysis. In these four cases, although there were no indications that the reason for the paralysis is the vaccine. 

People have also faced allergies due to vaccination. The FDA has also advised people that they should consider taking vaccines only if they are not allergic to any of its components. 

Dr Heinz suggested people schedule their doses to efficiently manage the fatigue and other effects. In case of pain, it can be controlled using medication or under a doctor’s advisement. 

However, it is imperative to understand that these side effects are normal and can be resolved. The immunity towards Covid-19 becomes ineffective if a person leaves the second dose. 

Recently, Brazil’s president, Bolsonaro had been reportedly considering the coronavirus as the mere flu while for the world it is a pandemic. He has announced that the corona vaccines especially the Pfizer-BioNtech will ‘turn people into crocodiles and bearded ladies’. 

While launching a vaccination program in the country, he mentioned that he will not be the injection. He stated that the Pfizer has clearly mentioned that they would not be held responsible for any side effects or other repercussions of the vaccines, this pushed him to not get vaccinated. 

Although no one is said to be forced into getting vaccinated, it is also mandatory to an extent in order to wipe out the virus from the world. There will be side effects, according to the FDA, however, it is not serious and can be controlled.

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The US court has rejected the case filed against the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah as the plaintiff did not appear in the court for the last two hearings. 

The USD 100 million lawsuit was filed in September 2019 by a separatist Kashmir Khalistan Front and his two companions prior to the Trump and Modi’s event in Texas. It had demanded a compensation of 100 million dollars from Amit Shah, Narendra Modi and Lieutenant General Kanwal Jeet Singh Dhillon after the government had abolished the provision that gave Jammu and Kashmir special provisions and divided it into two union territories. 

The Kashmir Khalistan was able to serve summons to Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Dhillon in Houston on February 18, 2020. The District Court of Texas said that the Kashmir Khalistan Referendum Front has not even attempted to participate in the prosecution of the case. Additionally, they have failed to appear in the hearing of the court and on October 6 they had suggested for the case to be dismissed. 

The other two associates of the Kashmir Khalistan Front were not identified only their initials were used for the case, ‘SMS’ AND ‘TFK’, while they were represented by the lawyer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. 

The Indian Parliament had passed the law stating that it was in collective economic and political interest. The new modified provisions would not be an obstacle in the functioning of the country and prevent to promote the spread of the hostile feeling of detachment in the country.

The abrogation of Article 370 had led to violence and riots in several parts of the country especially Jammu and Kashmir, many politicians of Kashmir were put into house arrest for their attempt of creating the sense of belligerence and separatism. However, the lawsuit was an unusual reaction to the abolishment of Article 370 as instead of compensation the plaintiffs were expected to demand the restoration of the law. 

It can also be implied that the United States of America has been helping the country in many instances. The United States has been providing ammunitions and warships including assistance in diplomatic settlements in the international forum with regard to Pakistan and China, however, the allegation can be denied as the US court had given a valid justification for the dismissal of the lawsuit.

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Since May, when news about Chinese incursions into eastern Ladakh started coming up, there were calls from various quarters to enforce an economic blockade on Chinese trade, goods, and industrial engagement. They initially originated from several motley groups and individuals, including the Ladakh-based innovator and entrepreneur Sonam Wangchuk, who came up with the #BoycottMadeinChina hashtag on Twitter. However, since the second week of June, after the Chinese army killed 20 Indian soldiers at Galwan Valley, the campaign has gathered greater momentum also People are angry about the cover-up of CoronaVirus by the Chinese Government For not being transparent about the information, as it leads to Human rights violation, and muting the whistleblowers. 

Since China is India’s largest source of imports by some distance. In 2018-’19, India imported goods worth $88 billion from China (including Hong Kong). This was more than 17% of India’s total imports but by seeing the repercussions of the call to boycott China from various quarters; Indian consumers have mostly sidestepped from purchasing China-made products this festive season. According to a LocalCircles survey, 71% of local consumers did not purchase goods that carried a ‘Made in China’ tag. Hence this movement will provide boost towards local manufacturing and enable native companies to make money and provide employment.

The survey conducted by the community social media platform among 14,000 Indian consumers spread over 204 districts shows that only 29 percent of consumers purchased one or more China-made products. Of these, 11 percent were unaware while purchasing them, while 16 percent were informed, buyers.

China-made products from smartphones and electrical components to home décor items gained traction here since the mid-2000s when they flooded the markets with their cheaper alternatives. 

Among consumers who purchased Chinese goods this Diwali, 75% said they preferred China-made ones as they offered value-for-money and were superior in terms of quality and/or uniqueness when compared to locally made goods.

The tectonic shift towards locally made products has also been registered by traders. According to the country’s leading industry body Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), the estimated loss to Chinese manufacturers this Diwali could be as high as Rs 40,000 crore. Subsequently, CAIT said, Country is all set to achieve our target of reducing imports from China to the tune of Rs 1 trillion by December 2021.

According to most consumers, products by Indian manufacturers like light-emitting diode bulbs, candles, plastic are generally more expensive and wanting in quality. This may have pushed them towards cheaper Chinese alternatives. Similarly, for products like mobile handsets, air purifiers, gadgets, and home appliances, consumers have reported China-made products to be equal or better in quality. Hence the “monitoring, surveillance and enforcement of the trade remedies and other trade rules in the country requires more attention”. The government needs to work in this direction with more urgency and alarm.”

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On Saturday night Kamala Harris acquired her place with a speech honoring the women who she said “paved the way for this moment tonight” when the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants would stand before the nation as the vice-president-elect of the United States.

She is the first female, first Black, first Indian-American, and first Asian vice president-elect of the US.

With her alliance to the nation’s second-highest office, Harris, 56, will become the first woman and the first woman of color to be elected vice president, a reality that shaped her speech and brought tears to the eyes of many women and girls watching from the hoods of their cars in the parking lot of a convention center in Wilmington, Delaware.

Wearing an all-white pantsuit, in an apparent tribute to the suffragists who fought for a woman’s right to vote, Harris smiled, exultant, as she waved from the podium waiting for the blare of car horns and cheers to subside. Joe Biden, the president-elect, would speak next. This was a moment all her own. Yesterday night she made a promise to the country, she might be the first woman in this office,” Harris vowed, “I will not be the last, because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.”

She started her remarks with a tribute to the legacy of the late congressman and civil rights activist John Lewis.

Harris quoted, “Protecting our democracy takes struggle.” “It takes sacrifice. But there is joy in it. And there is progress. Because we, the people, have the power to build a better future.”

With Harris poised to become the highest-ranking woman in the history of the American government, this milestone marks the extraordinary arc of a political career that has broken racial and gender barriers at nearly every turn. As a prosecutor, she rose to become the first Black woman attorney general of California. When she was elected to the Senate in 2016, she became only the second Black woman in history to serve in the chamber.

In her remarks, Harris paid tribute to the women across the country and through history who paved the way for this moment. She specifically honored the contributions of Black women to the struggle for suffrage, equality, and civil rights – leaders who are “too often overlooked, but so often prove that they are the backbone of our democracy”.

As a candidate for president, Harris spoke often of her childhood spent attending civil rights marches with her parents, who were students at the University of California, Berkeley. When protests erupted in the aftermath of the police killing of George Floyd this summer, Harris joined activists in the streets to demand an end to police brutality and racial injustice.

As Biden searched for a running mate, pressure built to choose a Black woman in recognition not only of the role they played in salvaging his presidential campaign – which Biden acknowledged in his remarks on Saturday night – but of their significance to the party as a whole. Yet a narrative began to form that Harris was a somewhat conventional choice, a senator and one-time Democratic rival who brought generational, ideological, and racial balance to the Democratic ticket.

But Harris disagreed emphatically, saying that her presence on the stage was a testament to “Joe’s character – that he dared to break one of the most substantial barriers that exist in our country and select a woman as his vice-president”.

Yet Harris’s presence on the ticket was not only a reflection of the nation’s demographic future but a repudiation of a president who relentlessly scapegoated immigrants and repeatedly attacked women and people of color.

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Keith Raniere, the founder of the cult-like group NXIVM. He is sentenced to 120 years in prison at a Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday for running NXIVM, a self-help organization prosecutors labeled a “criminal enterprise” exploited by Raniere as women were kept on starvation diets, branded with his initials, and ordered to have sex with him.

The sentence was inflicted by US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn, after a hearing where 15 former NXIVM members raised his voice in opposition to Raniere, 60. Garaufis said “no words can appropriately convey the lasting pain” Raniere has given to his victims by harming people’s psyches, their self-esteem, their belief in themselves, and their experience of sanity and well being.

He also fined Raniere $1.75 million, the maximum allowed by the law.

Before being sentenced Raniere said, “I do believe strongly that I’m innocent of these crimes”. He said some of the victims’ statements were false, but that he was “truly sorry” for causing them pain. After hearing this, the judge quoted “We’re not sentencing him based on a perspective; we’re sentencing him based on his behavior.”

Raniere even entrenched a clique within the NXIVM group called DOS, a pyramid structure in which the women were female “slaves” turned over nude photos and other compromising materials that could be used for blackmail if they tried to leave.

After Raniere’s conviction, Acting US Attorney for Eastern District of New York Seth DuCharme released a statement that “Keith Raniere will not be able to victimize people anymore after today’s sentence and we’re very grateful for that. He added It struck me in listening to the victims that Raniere really twisted people’s trust and their need to find some meaning and hope in their lives in just the most insidious and devious ways.”

The victims, most of whom were women, described what they called Raniere’s devastating impact on their lives.

TOI reported, Raniere was sentenced in June 2019 on all seven charges brought against him, including racketeering, sex trafficking, extortion, criminal conspiracy, and the sexual exploitation of a 15-year-old girl Camila, The first speaker, identified in court, recounted a 12-year sexual relationship with Raniere starting when she was 15 and he was 45.

Camila said, “He screwed with my mind for so long that trying to find the strength and clarity to tell my story has been a slow and painful journey.” Further her sister Daniela, who testified at the trial about her own abusive relationship with Raniere, called Raniere “pathetic” and said he “deserves no mercy.” Their brother Adrian and mother Adriana, who was also part of NXIVM, lamented how his father and oldest sister remained loyal to Raniere.

“Before being part of NXIVM, my family was close,” Adrian said. “He destroyed my family.”

Another former member, the actress India Oxenberg, told Raniere at the hearing: “You stole seven years of my life that I’ll never get back.”

A total of 15 people, 13 of them women addressed the Brooklyn court Tuesday while more than 90 victims wrote letters to Judge Nicholas Garaufis. Several other people affiliated with NXIVM have pleaded guilty to criminal charges.

They included Seagram liquor heiress Clare Bronfman, actress Allison Mack, former NXIVM President Nancy Salzman, and her daughter Lauren Salzman, who became a star prosecution witness. Bronfman was accused of helping bankroll NXIVM and was sentenced last month to more than six years in prison.

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By Archita Srivastava

With no room for the ‘same-sex’ marriage ceremony in the Sikh tradition, the Akal Takht took a strong view of the homosexual knot achieved under the patronage of Sri Guru Granth Sahib ‘saroop’ in the USA. 

Akal Takht, officiating Jathedar Giani Harpreet Singh, has given strong directions to the US couple—Sarbjeet Singh Neel and his wife Leela—who are said to have received this ‘unholy’ ceremony in Sacramento recently in the presence of a ‘saroop’ in their possession. 

Giani Harpeet Singh ordered the North American Sikh Gurdwara leadership to take the ‘saroop’ out of their possession immediately and put it in the gurdwara. 

Confirming the development, Harpreet Singh’s personal assistant said that a strongly worded letter was sent to the ‘erring’ US couple because the Sikh code of conduct did not allow such marriages. 

“They were told to hand over the saroop to the designated Sikh activists. It was a blasphemous act of accomplished marriage of two males performed in the presence of this ‘saroop’. It was also a violation of the Akal Takht’s directions,” he said.

He added that numerous complaints were earlier received at the Akal Takht Secretariat about the same couple who often indulged in acts of sacrilege. “The US gurdwara management has also been directed to make them accountable for the explanation which would be sent directly to the Akal Takht for further course of action,” he said.

Sources said that the same couple is considered to have violated the Akal Takht edicts on a number of earlier occasions. He performed a variety of destination weddings by taking ‘saroop’ in flights, taking care of two hoots to the ‘Maryada.’

In January 2005, the then Jathedar of Akal Takht Joginder Singh Vedanti released a ‘Hukumnama’ (edit) denouncing same-sex marriages and urging the world-wide Sikh community not to allow such marriages to take place in any Gurdwara. Same-sex unions have been criticized as anti-Sikh, with the idea of same-sex marriages coming “from twisted minds” and being “anti-human.” 

Earlier, in January 2016, SGPC was also on a fix when Ontario Premier Kathleeen Wynne, who was openly gay and had announced her support for same-sex marriages, visited the Golden Temple. Her visit was full of controversy, but the SGPC claimed to refrain from honoring her with the traditional ‘siropa’ (the robe of honor).

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By Archita Srivastava

Pakistani authorities removed the names of more than 5,000 people from the travel blacklist after the government took note of the problems faced by citizens whose names have been blacklisted for a long time, according to a Sunday media report. 

At a recent meeting, Interior Minister Ijaz Shah instructed the review committee of the Directorate-General for Immigration and Passport to meet on a biannual basis to review cases of blacklisted individuals. 

The meeting was held after a gap of almost four years. The previous meeting was held in December 2016. 

Taking note of problems faced by the blacklisted citizens, the minister directed the Immigration and Passports director-general to immediately convene a meeting of the periodical review committee to consider cases on merit and remove names from the blacklist after the due process, according to a report in the Dawn newspaper. 

The committee reviewed the names of citizens falling in category B of the blacklist and removed the names of 5,807 individuals out of a list of 42,725 people. 

The committee will consider the rest of the cases in its forthcoming periodic review, the report said. 

There are two main blacklist categories- Category ‘A’ includes names of those involved in serious crimes like terrorism, money laundering, and anti-state activities, whereas the ‘B’ category mainly has names of deportees who had either travelled abroad on forged documents or were found involved in crime in the host country, it said.

(Inputs from PTI) 

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By Archita Srivastava

The Indian mission in Pakistan has approached the Islamabad High Court demanding the release of four Indian prisoners who have been convicted and sentenced by military courts. 

The petition — which was filed in the High Court by Aparna Ray, the first secretary of the Indian Mission, through three Pakistani advocates — identified the prisoners as Birju Dung Dung, Vigyan Kumar, Satish Bhog and Sonu Singh, and said they were currently being held in jails in Lahore and Karachi. 

Both prisoners completed the sentences handed down to them by the Pakistani army’s field martial courts — Dung in 2007, Singh in 2012, Kumar in 2014, and Bhog in 2015, according to the petition. 

The petition, which named Pakistan’s foreign and internal secretaries as respondents, stated that the prisoners had been detained by the Pakistani army and charged under the Pakistan Army Act and the Official Secrets Act. It also said that the prisoners had claimed that they had committed no crime, and that “the whole course initiated from the arrest to the conclusion of the final conviction is a misuse of the judicial process.” 

The petition also pointed out that the Pakistan Constitution states that “no person shall be deprived of life or liberty in compliance with the law” and asked the High Court to facilitate the release of the prisoners. 

The Indian Mission noted in the petition that it had formally written to the Pakistan Foreign Office on 18 May to remind the authorities that the issue of the release of these four prisoners had been dealt with through 31 verbal or unsigned notes of diplomatic correspondence between October 2019 and May 2020. The communication stated that the nationality of the prisoners had also been confirmed. 

India and Pakistan actually have hundreds of each other’s nationals in their prisons, most of whom are fishermen detained for straying across the maritime frontier. The strained bilateral relations in recent years have influenced the work of identifying and releasing these prisoners through a joint judicial commission. 

In addition to exchanging lists of prisoners on two occasions each year, the two sides were unable to make progress on the proposed measures to speed up the release and repatriation of prisoners. 

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By Archita Srivastava

Pakistan and Nepal have been re-elected to the UN Human Rights Council, while China has gained a small seat, indicating a steep decline in standing. 

By Tuesday’s vote at the General Assembly, China received just 139 votes compared to the 180 votes it received in 2016, the last time it was elected to the Council, and its number of votes was the lowest of the 15 countries elected. 

UN Director Louis Charbonneau, Human Rights Watch, tweeted that it “shows that more states are troubled by China’s abysmal record of rights.” 

Saudi Arabia was defeated in the four-seat election to represent the Asian and Pacific countries with just 90 votes, seven short of the 97 needed for the election. Its reputation also showed a sharp decline since it won 152 votes in 2016 when it was last elected to the Council. 

Russia, which was defeated in 2016 by two votes having received just 112 votes, returned 158 votes, while Ukraine, its regional rival, ran unchallenged to the other seat. 

Pakistan obtained 169 votes in the elections conducted by secret ballot, with COVID-19 safeguards, and Nepal 150. 

The two countries of South Asia are members of the Council with their current terms ending on 31 December and will now serve for three more years. 

India and Bangladesh are both members of the Council last elected in 2018, beginning in 2019 and running out at the end of next year. 

The downfall of Saudi Arabia was a surprise, and while its human rights record has been criticized, it is perceived to have been generally endorsed by the fact that it earned 152 votes in 2016 when it was last elected. 

Despite its human rights record, in particular, its treatment of the Uighur Muslim minority and the opposition of many countries and human rights organizations, China won by a smaller margin. 

The critics cite the 2006 resolution, which said, “The members of the Human Rights Council shall uphold the highest standards for the promotion of human rights.” 

A community of 39 countries led by Germany last week issued strong criticism of China at the UN. 

The statement said that they were “gravely concerned about the human rights situation in Xinjiang and the recent developments in Hong Kong.”  

(Inputs from IANS)

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