| 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. CBI court finds Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy guilty of murder in Sister Abhaya case of 1992 Twenty-eight years after the death of Sister Abhaya, a student nun belonging to the Knanaya Catholic community, at a convent hostel in Kottayam, a Special Court of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in Thiruvananthapuram has found the first and third accused in the sensational case, Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy, guilty of murder. The much-awaited verdict was pronounced by the Special Court judge J. Sanal Kumar on December 22. The second accused in the case, Father Jose Poothrukayil, was let off last year as the court held that the prosecution did not provide sufficient evidence to proceed against him and a key witness (whose statement was not properly recorded) had died before the trial. A plea challenging this decision of the CBI court too was subsequently rejected by the Kerala High Court. On March 27, 1992, the body of the 19-year-old nun was found inside the well of the St. Pius X Convent Hostel in Kottayam. The local police and the Crime Branch investigated the case, but both the agencies concluded that it was a case of suicide, against the popular perception in Kerala at that time. At the time of the incident, Sister Abhaya was a second-year pre-degree student at the BCM College, Kottayam, where Father Thomas Kottoor was a teacher at the BCM College. Sister Sephy was the person in temporary charge of the convent hostel. What followed the death of the nun was nearly three decades of controversial inquiries by various agencies, the disappearance or death of suspects and witnesses, and unbelievable efforts to distort the case at every stage by "unseen hands" with political backing. Kerala Governor disallows special Assembly session on new farm laws Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan today declined approval for a special assembly session planned on Wednesday to discuss and pass a resolution against the three contentious central farm laws, PTI reported. Khan's decision evoked a sharp response from the government side, with Agricultural Minister V S Sunil Kumar calling it "undemocratic", while opposition Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said it was unfortunate and against "democratic values". Assembly Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan said the Governor's decision was unprecedented and added the state government can take a decision after considering all legal aspects. The decision to convene the special one-day session was taken by the CPI-M led LDF government at a Cabinet meeting presided by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday. The session would not be held on Wednesday since the Governor did not accord sanction, assembly sources told PTI. While Vijayan's office had said the session was proposed to discuss the agricultural acts against which farmers have held country-wide agitations, Finance Minister Thomas Isaac in a tweet had said Kerala was in "total solidarity" with the farmers' struggle and the session would discuss and "reject" the laws. The government had in December last year convened a similar special session of the assembly, which passed a resolution demanding scrapping of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, becoming the first state in the country to take such a measure then. Gupkar Alliance takes lead in J&K DDC polls The Gupkar Alliance, a grouping of six parties, has taken a significant lead over the BJP in the District Development Council (DDC) polls held last week in J&K. Counting is still under way. Officials said the Alliance has won 52 DDC segments out of 280, while the BJP has won 33. The Alliance is leading in another 52 other seats, while the BJP is leading in 31. The official figures suggested that PDP has won 19 seats, NC 27, Peoples Conference (PC) one and the CPI(M) five. The Congress has won 13 seats and is leading in 10 others. The BJP, however, managed to win four seats from the bastions of the regional parties in Srinagar, Shopian and Bandipora. U.P. Police 'prevent' Sisodia from visiting govt. school in Lucknow Delhi Deputy Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party leader Manish Sisodia was on Tuesday allegedly prevented from visiting a government school in Lucknow by the Uttar Pradesh police. Sisodia was on his way to check out a state-run school when police blocked his vehicle. The AAP leader said he had landed in Lucknow after accepting a challenge by Uttar Pradesh Education Minister Satish Dwivedi, who recently in a war of words between the two parties had invited Sisodia to visit schools in his State to compare the models of education in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. As quoted by a news agency, Dwivedi had on December 15 invited Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his Deputy Sisodia to visit schools in Uttar Pradesh, and said it would open their eyes. On Tuesday, Sisodia's car was not allowed to pass by the police, following which he spoke to a senior police officer on phone, kept on speaker mode. "I can't roam free in Lucknow? Am I a criminal?" Sisodia asked the police officer on the phone, before telling journalists that the police commissioner had told him he needed to seek permission if he wanted to roam freely in the Uttar Pradesh capital. Sisodia alleged that the police were preventing him from visiting the school as the government wanted to hide the "Yogi Model." "They don't want us to see the schools. It means BJP government, Yogi Model ... is admitting that even the schools in the capital [Lucknow] are bad," Sisodia said from his car. He added that he had come to Lucknow, accepting Dwivedi's challenge, to debate on the "Kejriwal Model vs Yogi Model." In 2019, 1.7 million deaths in India attributable to air pollution, says study In India, 1.7 million deaths were attributable to air pollution in 2019. This was 18% of the total deaths in the country, while the economic loss due to the lost output from premature deaths and morbidity from air pollution was 1.4% of the GDP (equivalent to ₹260,000 crore) during this time. This is as per a scientific paper titled 'Health and economic impact of air pollution in the States of India: The Global Burden of Disease Study 2019'. The study, published in the The Lancet Planetary Health, documents the trends in health loss due to air pollution and its economic impact in every State of India using the latest improved methods and data. The data released indicated that household air pollution was decreasing in India, resulting in 64% reduction in the death rate attributable to it from 1990 to 2019, whereas the death rate from outdoor ambient air pollution increased during this period by 115%.  "The economic loss due to air pollution as a percentage of the state GDP was higher in the northern and central India states. It was the highest in Uttar Pradesh (2.2% of GDP) and Bihar (2% of GDP). India would benefit from investing further in state-specific air pollution control strategies, as this will facilitate its aspiration of reaching a US$5 trillion economy by 2024," said the paper. "The findings in this analysis show that while 40% of the disease burden due to air pollution is from lung diseases, the remaining 60% is from ischemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and neonatal deaths related to pre-term birth, highlighting the broad-ranging impact of air pollution on human health," noted Balram Bhargava, Director General, ICMR. PM Modi awarded 'Legion of Merit' by Donald Trump Prime Minister Narendra Modi was awarded the 'Legion of Merit' by U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday for his role in advancing the India-U.S. relationship. The award was also presented to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. India, the U.S., Japan and Australia constitute the 'Quad' group of countries – seen as an alternative to Chinese dominance in the Indo-Pacific region. "President @realDonaldTrump presented the Legion of Merit to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his leadership in elevating the U.S.-India strategic partnership," U.S. National Security Adviser (NSA) Robert C. O'Brien wrote on Twitter. The award was presented by O'Brien to India's U.S. Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who accepted it on Modi's behalf.  The award was presented by Mr. O'Brien to India's U.S. Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who accepted it on Mr. Modi's behalf. The Legion of Merit, instituted in 1942 by former U.S President Franklin D. Roosevelt, is awarded to members of the U.S. armed forces and also members of foreign (i.e., non-U.S.) armed forces and sometimes heads of state or government. The award is presented to foreign recipients in four categories: Chief Commander, Commander, Officer and Legionnaire. Other Indians who have won the award include Field Marshal K.M. Cariappa who received the Legion of Merit (Degree: Chief Commander) in 1949 from then U.S. President Harry S. Truman. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of coronavirus cases reported from India stood at 1,01,01,060 at the time of writing this newsletter, with the death toll at 1,46,472. The new strain of Covid-19 reported in the U.K. seems to increase transmissibility and infection rate but the mutation has so far not affected the severity and case fatality of the disease, V.K. Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog, said today at a press conference. He added that, as of now, the mutation had not been detected in India, and that it had no impact on the potential of the emerging vaccines being developed in India or available internationally. "There is no cause for concern, no need to panic, as of now. But we have to stay vigilant," he said. Dr. Paul cautioned that SARS-CoV-2 was a "a smart virus" which changes its behaviour. "The new strain in the U.K. has undergone 17 changes, increasing its transmissibility by 70%. In a way, it has become a super-spreader. We are keeping a close watch on the developments and the recently collected virus samples are being prioritised for genetic sequencing," he explained.  Passengers arriving from the U.K. wait to register their details at the Chennai International Airport on December 22, 2020. Replying to a question on some passengers from the London-Delhi Air India flight on Monday who tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival in India and the precautions in place for more incoming flights, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said the Union Health Ministry has issued comprehensive guidelines with respect to the passengers who came from, or through, U.K. from November 25 to December 23. "Their lists will be shared with the States/UTs so that their samples are collected for conducting tests. Contact tracing will be done in positive cases," he said. In Brief: Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank said today that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class X and Class XII examinations would only be held after February 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Minister said it was not possible to hold the exams in January and February, which is when the practical and theory exams, respectively, usually start. He added that the schedule for the exams, to be held sometime after February 2021, was yet to be decided. Rahul Gandhi will lead a delegation of Congress MPs to Rashtrapati Bhavan on December 24 and submit around 2 crore signatures against the three farm laws. The Congress said. "In the sustained opposition to the anti-farmer laws, around 2 crore signatures from across India, urging their withdrawal have been collected & the same will be submitted to Hon'ble President by a delegation of Congress leaders led by Shri @RahulGandhi on 24th Dec '20," said the Congress party's Twitter handle. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. | 
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