Expresso News Highlights of the week

Power Minister Satyendar Jain wrote to the Centre Thursday, requesting it to ensure adequate coal availability to power plants that supply electricity to the national capital. He also held a meeting with department officials to assess the situation.

A government statement read: “Due to disruption of power supply from Dadri-II and Unchahar power stations, there may be a problem in 24-hours power supply to many essential institutions, including Delhi Metro and Delhi government hospitals.”””
“Meanwhile, after resigning from the bureaucracy in January 2019, Kashmiri IAS officer Shah Faesal claimed it was “a small act of defiance” and there were several “provocations” that led to the decision. He had said: “I am putting across a small act of defiance to remind the central government of its responsibilities towards the people of Jammu and Kashmir.”

Faesal’s resignation was never accepted by the government and on Thursday Union Home Ministry officials confirmed to The Indian Express that he had been reinstated in the civil services.

”
“Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari said on Thursday that The Indian Air Force (IAF) needs to prepare itself for intense and short duration operations at a moment’s notice, and also be ready for short swift wars and long standoffs, like the one in Eastern Ladakh.

Addressing a conference on logistics management in the IAF, Chaudhari said, “The current geopolitical situation necessitates the Indian Air Force to prepare for intense and small duration operations at a short notice. This new paradigm of high-intensity operations, coupled with minimal build-up time would require major changes in terms of (operational) logistics.”

Logistics support in such a scenario would be extremely challenging, he said, because the Air Force has a “fairly vast and diversified inventory”.”
“Meanwhile, as fuel prices continue to soar across the country, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of “abdicating responsibility” by ‘blaming’ states for the inflation despite the Centre taking 68 per cent of all fuel taxes. Gandhi tweeted saying: Modi’s federalism is not cooperative, “it’s coercive”.

He also added: “High Fuel prices – blame states. Coal shortage – blame states. Oxygen shortage – blame states, 68 per cent of all fuel taxes are taken by the centre. Yet, the PM abdicates responsibility.””
“Moving on, The Crime Investigation Department of the Bengaluru Police, which is probing the alleged irregularities in the examination to recruit 545 police sub-inspectors, arrested BJP leader Divya Hagaragi late on Thursday. This comes in the wake of allegations against Gyan Jyothi institute that is run by Divya and her husband Rajesh Hagaragi. The CID on Thursday also arrested a government employee, who allegedly helped a woman candidate in the exam.

”
“Let us now move on to some international news: Dr. Anthony Fauci, US government’s top infectious disease expert, said that the United States seems to be out of the “pandemic phase,” at least for the moment.

In comments to Washington Post and on “PBS NewsHour” this week, Fauci said that the country has entered a new phase of the pandemic, because daily counts of confirmed new cases, hospitalizations and deaths are far lower than they were during the omicron surge over the winter.

He also said: “We’re really in a transitional phase, from a deceleration of the numbers into hopefully a more controlled phase and endemicity”””
“Meanwhile, the Biden administration is unlikely to invite the leaders of Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba to the upcoming Summit of the Americas, according to senior State Department official.
The summit, to take place in Los Angeles in early June, will focus on defending democracy and human rights in the Western Hemisphere as well as addressing irregular migration, climate change and efforts to ensure equitable growth as the region emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The top U.S. diplomat in the Western Hemisphere said invitations had yet to be sent but ventured that neither Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega or Cuba’s Miguel Diaz-Canel would make the cut and are considered by most of the countries in the region to be undemocratic.”
“In some other news: Germany was the biggest buyer of Russian energy during the first two months since the start of the war in Ukraine, according to an independent research group.

A study published by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air calculates that Russia earned 63 billion euros from fossil fuel exports since Feb. 24, the date Russian troops attacked Ukraine.

Using data on ship movements, real-time tracking of gas flows through pipelines and estimates based on historical monthly trade, the researchers reckoned Germany alone paid Russia about 9.1 billion euros for fossil fuel deliveries in the first two months of the war.”
“We end this bulletin with some news from Haiti: Criminal violence in Haiti has worsened this week with fighting among gangs in part of the capital chasing thousands from their homes and killing at least 20 people, including children.

Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency said the fighting began Sunday in four neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince, north of the international airport. At least a dozen homes were burned downand many of those who fled initially took shelter in the yard of a local mayor’s office.

The eruption comes amid a spike in violence and kidnappings as gangs grow more powerful and seek to control more territory amid the power vacuum following the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.”

“You were listening to the Expresso News Update by The Indian Express. Ask your digital assistant device to play the latest news from the Indian Express to
stay up to date with the most accurate and reliable updates.”