| Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day's biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying safe. Donald Trump tests positive for Covid-19 U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday confirmed that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for coronavirus. "Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!" the President wrote on Twitter. Trump had earlier announced that he will begin the quarantine process after his close aide Hope Hicks tested positive for the virus. A White House doctor told AP that Trump will continue carrying out duties 'without disruption'. For now, however, the development stands as the most serious known health scare encountered by a sitting American President. The Covid diagnosis marks a major blow for Trump, who has been trying desperately to convince the American public that the worst of the pandemic is behind them even as cases continue to surge in the U.S. The President is also a known sceptic of mask-wearing, one of the most basic steps to help prevent the spread of the disease. He has previously disparaged reporters and his opponent in the upcoming elections, former Vice-President Joe Biden, for always appearing in public with a mask. Trump has also consistently played down concerns about being personally vulnerable to contracting Covid-19, even as White House staff and allies caught the infection and fell sick. "I felt no vulnerability whatsoever," he told reporters back in May. Hundreds gather at Jantar Mantar to demand justice Security was beefed up in Delhi's Jantar Mantar area as hundreds of civil society activists and students, and some politicians gathered to protest against the Hathras gang-rape and murder case. While the police order had permitted a gathering of only 100 people, several hundred turned up, with many standing with candles after sunset.  Demonstrators belonging to various organisations join a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on October 2, 2020 against the Hathras gang rape. Senior lawyer Prashant Bhusan, actor Swara Bhasker, CPI(M) leaders Brinda Karat and Sitaram Yechury, and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj were among those who gathered at Jantar Mantar, demanding justice for the Hathras victim.  Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad speaks as Bollywood actor Swara Bhaskar looks on during a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi on October 2, 2020 against the Hathras gang rape. Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad had called for a protest at India Gate. But after the Delhi Police imposed restrictions on crowds in the area, Azad said the agitation had been shifted to Jantar Mantar, 3 km away. Bhim Army supporters joined the protesters at Jantar Mantar on Friday evening. "I will visit #Hathras. Our struggle will continue till the time UP CM doesn't resign, & justice is served. I urge SC to take cognizance of the incident," Azad tweeted. U.P. Police block Trinamool delegation from meeting Hathras victim's family A day after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were stopped and briefly detained while going to the meet the woman's family, a four-member delegation of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), led by senior party leader Derek O'Brien, was on Friday stopped by the police from going to the village of the 19-year-old gang-rape victim in Hathras of Uttar Pradesh. In a statement, the party said that the delegation of TMC MPs was stopped by police around 1.5 km from the victim's home. "A delegation of Trinamool MPs has been stopped by UP Police from entering Hathras. The delegation had travelled about 200kms from Delhi. The Trinamool MPs were on their way to the village in Hathras, travelling separately, to express solidarity with the grieving family and convey their condolences," the statement said. The delegation included Derek O'Brien, Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Pratima Mondal and former MP Mamata Thakur. One of the MPs who were stopped said, "We are peacefully proceeding to Hathras to meet the family and pay our condolences. We are travelling individually and maintaining all protocols. We are not armed. Why are we stopped? What kind of jungle raj is this that elected MPs are prevented from meeting a grieving family." Family alleges intimidation by district administration Meanwhile, the family of the Hathras victim on Friday alleged that the district administration was intimidating them and not letting them leave their area in the village or talk to the media. "Police have blockaded us from all sides, roofs, lanes, and in the village. They are not letting us out," the victim's brother told reporters. He was able to speak to the media after sneaking past the police cordon and taking a route through fields.  Family members and relatives of the Harithas gang rape victim mourn her death. The boy also said that the administration had snatched the mobile phones of all family members and that they were unable to contact others. He also alleged that the District Magistrate had kicked his uncle in the chest, following which he fainted. Another Dalit teen murdered in U.P., three arrested After the death of the Hathras gang-rape victim on Tuesday and the death of the Balrampur gang-rape victim on Wednesday, police on Thursday said that a 14-year-old, also a Dalit, was found murdered in Gopiganj area in eastern Uttar Pradesh. On Friday, Bhadohi police said that they had arrested three people on charges of smashing the head of the Dalit minor with bricks and killing her. Police are waiting for the autopsy report for confirmation of sexual assault. According to the police, previous animosity between the family of the girl and the accused was behind the murder. On September 28, the accused had threatened to destroy them and abused the victim's family, said the police. When she went to the fields to answer a call of nature on October 1, the accused found her alone and murdered her, the police said. Relief for Indian IT workers as U.S. judge blocks H-1B visa ban In a major relief to thousands of Indian IT professionals, a federal judge in the U.S. on Thursday blocked the enforcement of a temporary visa ban by the Trump administration on a large number of work permits, including the most sought after H-1B visas. The judge ruled that President Donald Trump had exceeded his constitutional authority. The order, issued by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of Northern District of California, applies to members of organisations that had filed a lawsuit against the Department of Commerce and Department of Homeland Security — the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, National Retail Federation, TechNet, a technology industry group, and Intrax Inc., which sponsors cultural exchanges.  Application for United States of America work visa H1B The ruling places an immediate hold on a series of damaging visa restrictions that prevent manufacturers from filling crucial, hard-to-fill jobs, the National Association of manufacturers said. In June, Trump had issued an executive order that had halted the issuing of new H-1B visas, which are widely used by major American and Indian technology companies, and other work visas till the end of the year. He had argued that the U.S. needed to save and protect jobs for its domestic work force at a time when millions of them had lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 64,66,732 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll crossing the 1-lakh mark. The Kerala government imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which prohibits the assembly of more than four people, to control the rising coronavirus cases. Chief Secretary Vishwas Mehta said the order will come into force on October 3 and will be implemented till October 31. Also, Covid-19 patients and those quarantined in Kerala can exercise their franchise through postal votes in the forthcoming elections to local bodies. The voting time has also been increased and the polling stations will remain open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. for the voters to exercise their franchise. The sweeping changes to allow postal ballots and increase the voting time were made through the Kerala Panchayat Raj (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2020. Meanwhile, global markets fell after news broke of the U.S President and first lady testing positive for Covid-19. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. | 
Post a Comment