Right to freedom of speech and expression is one of the fundamental right provided by our Indian constitution. This right comes under Article 19 (1)A; which states that every person living in India belonging to any caste, creed, colour or status has an equal right to express themselves, that means every person has the right to express their views, thoughts, creations or idea though any media without any interference or obstacles. But this right is imposed with certain reasonable restrictions or limitations which comes under Article19(2). This law is one of the most important part of the whole democracy as it describes how the democracy of the particular nation works.

But now the question arises ‘Are we really getting the right to freedom of speech and expression?’ Well! the answer can be both yes or no because this right to freedom of speech and expression has positive impact on society as people can reach to the world easily by sharing their views or idea and an individual’s idea can incarnate thousands of lives but it can also have negative impact on society as people misuse, violate and misinterpret this right by abusing or defaming others image through their words. Even though many popular journalists, reporters, cartoonist were arrested under this law on the charge on defaming other party.

 There are cases where people are arrested under the law of freedom to speech and expression:

• Teenage student of Uttar Pradesh was arrested on 17^th march 2015 because he commented against Azam Khan on Facebook.
• A cartoonist of Mumbai was jailed on September 2012 on publishing drawings which were based on anti-corruption. So, he was arrested in the charge of sedition of the drawings.
• A teacher in West Bengal was arrested in 2012 because he mailed a cartoon to his friends that was against Mamta Banerjee-chief minister of Bengal.
• Recently one of the most popular journalist of India Arnab Goswami-Chief-in-editor of Republic tv was arrested by Maharashtra police. FIR was registered on him for showing inappropriate content on his channel which created disputes between communities and groups.
• According to Supreme court the ‘Tablighi Jamaat’ case is most abused case of freedom of speech and expression in recent times.

There are many other cases which proves that how much this law is threatened in India.

 Lastly, I want to conclude that, Positive and negative impacts does not end here, there are many other reasons which lead to the violation of this right so giving right to freedom of speech and expression does not mean giving right to use abusive and bad language which   can harm others and can create disputes between communities, groups or individuals. If this right will be taken positively and as responsibility by every citizen of the country, it would give us better results as it will lead to the development and sake of the society as well as the whole nation. So, you decide freedom of speech and expression still exists?

In a first of its kind policy consultation, Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan interacted with the highly-skilled Indian diaspora to facilitate channels for them to contribute to India’s Science Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP) 2020.
 
The Minister stressed that India aims to connect the diaspora with Indian scientific and economic ecosystem to accelerate the growth in Science technology and innovation.

In Cricket, Delhi Capitals entered their first-ever IPL final with a convincing 17-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the second qualifier in Abu Dhabi last night. Opting to bat first, Delhi posted a massive total of 189 for three in 20 overs riding on Shikhar Dhawan’s 78 off 50, Shimron Hetmyer’s unbeaten 42 off 22 and Marcus Stoinis’s 38 off 27 balls.
 
In reply, Hyderabad were restricted on 172 for 8 as pacer Kagiso Rabada took 4 wickets and Stoinis claimed three scalps. For Hyderabad, Kane Williamson scored 67 off 45 and Abdul Samad made 33 runs off 16 balls. Stoinis was adjudged as the Player of the Match.
 
With this win, Delhi will now face Mumbai Indians in the summit clash tomorrow.
 
In the Women’s T20 Challenge Cricket tournament, Supernovas defeated Trailblazers by two runs at Sharjah. Supernovas will take on Trailblazers again in the final which will be played today. Supernovas have won both the earlier editions of the Women’s T20 Challenge. 

US President-elect Joe Biden has announced a 12-member coronavirus task force to mount an effective response to the pandemic that has infected millions and damaged the US economy.
 
In his victory speech in Wilmington, Delaware, Mr Biden said he will spare no effort to turn around this pandemic. He said, the panel will convert his coronavirus-fighting plan into an action blueprint that will be built on bedrock of science.
 
The task force will be co-chaired by former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler and Marcella Nunez-Smith, a professor of public health at Yale University. It will also include Ezekiel Emanuel, a former Obama administration health adviser. Mr Biden has promised a much more muscular response to the pandemic than President Donald Trump has made.
 
The virus has infected 9.8 million people in the US and killed more than 2 lakh 37 thousand people as daily case counts continue to rise.

In Assam, the Education department will start Aadhaar enrolment drive from tomorrow for nearly 70 lakh students. The drive will cover all government and private school students aged between 6 and 18 years.
 
All the Deputy Commissioners will launch the free Aadhaar enrolment drive tomorrow in their respective districts. The drive is expected to be completed by March next year.

India’s total cases have risen to 85,53,657 today with nearly 46 thousand cases reported in the last 24 hours The death toll from the virus has reached 1,26,611 with 490 new fatalities being registered.
 
The number of active cases remained below 6 lakh for the 11th consecutive day. The total active cases are 5,09,673 after a decrease of 2,992 in last 24 hours. Total cured cases are 79,17,373 with 48,405 new discharges. The national recovery rate is 92.56 per cent.
 
A total of 8 lakh 35 thousand 401 samples were tested for COVID yesterday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of various development projects in Varanasi this morning. The total cost implication of these projects is 614 crores rupees. The Prime Minister is presently interacting with the beneficiaries of these projects during the event.

PM spoke with well known basketball player Prashanti Singh. While talking to Prashanti Singh, PM Narendra Modi said that people of Kashi changed the challenges into opportunities and the facilities at housing complex for players in Sampurnanand Stadium will provide ease of sporting to the players and people of Kashi.

While interacting with the PM, Vipin Kumar Agrawal, a businessman from Varanasi thanked the Prime Minister for the basic infrastructure work in the industrial area.

PM suggested to maintain cleanliness in the premises and and provide better facilities to the workers also in the industrial areas.

Earlier, Speaking on the occasion Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi adityanath termed it as a pre Diwali Gift by the Prime Minister to the people of Kashi.  Mr.Yogi said Currently projects worth around 8900 crore rupees are going on in Kashi. Till date Prime Minister has given projects worth 18 thousand crores to his constituency Varanasi, Mr Yogi said.

Around 1500 people are taking part in the program through video conferencing. Arrangement of live display of the program is made at 6 places in the city on big screens and through 5 LED mobile vans. The 16 projects inaugurated include Sarnath Light and Sound show. The show will be a major attraction for the tourists who reach this heritage site from all over the world. The first light and sound show will be organised for the public at 7.15 evening.

During the event, Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for projects including the redevelopment of Dashashwamedh Ghat and Khidkiya Ghat, barracks for PAC police force, along with upgradation of the multi-purpose hall in Girija Devi Sanskritik Sankul, and development of tourist places.

Based on the Report of 2020 Global Hunger Index GHI), few important findings are presented here. Also it is noteworthy to mention that for the 2020 GHI, data on the proportion of undernourished are for 2017–2019; data on child stunting and wasting are for the latest year in the period 2015–2019 for which data are available; and data on child mortality are for 2018. GHI scores could not be calculated for the countries for which data were not available, as mentioned in the Report.

1)    According to the 2020 Global Hunger Index, worldwide hunger is at moderate level.

2)    Around 690 million people are undernourished; 144 million children suffer from stunting, a sign of chronic under -nutrition; 47 million children suffer from wasting, a sign of acute under-nutrition; and in 2018, 5.3 million children died before their fifth birthdays, in many cases as a result of under- nutrition. It is evident that under-nutrition is a great issue in the world. In view of this, I suggest different organisations of the world also the organisations of different countries should see that this issue is tackled.

3)    According to 2020 GHI scores, three countries have alarming levels of hunger – Chad, Timor-Leste, and Madagascar. Hunger is also alarming in eight countries viz., Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria and Yemen.  

4)    It is evident from the Report that, in both Africa South of the Sahara and South Asia, one in three children was stunted in 2019. In other words, 32.7 percent of children in Africa South of the Sahara and 33.2 percent of children in South Asia were too short for their age, reflecting chronic under-nutrition.

5)    Unfortunately, child mortality in Africa South of the Sahara is awfully high. The region’s under-five mortality rate, at 7.8 percent in 2018 was highest among the regions of the world.

6)    South Asia’s child wasting rate is the highest of any world region. In 2019 the child wasting rate for South Asia was 14.8 percent, compared with 6.9 percent in Africa South of the Sahara. For the benefit of readers, it may be mentioned that wasting in this context means low weight for height, which is a strong predictor of mortality among children under five and is usually the result of acute significant food shortage.

7)    The high child stunting rate in South Asia is driven by multiple factors. South Asia’s child stunting rate in 2019 was 33.2 percent, down from 51.3 percent in 2000. The key factors that contribute to stunting in the region are poor infant and young child feeding practices, poor nutrition among women before and during pregnancy, and also poor sanitation practices.

8)    Although in recent years’ child mortality rate has declined in South Asia even then, the same in South Asia is very high. The mortality rate of children under age five in South Asia in 2018 was 4.1 percent, compared to 9.2 percent in 2000. In view of this, improvement in child nutrition is suggested.

Hope academicians and researchers will take up academic research study in our county based on the points presented here.

 The following websites have been consulted while writing the article in addition to the Report Global Hunger Index, 2020.                                

1. www.nourishscotland.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Nourish-Magazine-Issue-6-Boyd-Orr
2. https://health.gov/our-work/food-nutrition
3. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1949/orr/biographical/
4. https://www.globalhungerindex.org/results.html

Dr Shankar Chatterjee, Hyderabad

We are living in the year 2018 and the 21st and the world is developing rapidly. People travel from place to place with innovation, technology, and science. The concept of humanity itself attests to a radical change and in this case it is about equality, gender rights and justice for all. The age-old debate between the sexes continues and we are still fighting for dominance between men and women and recently the spirit has been driven by certain events and events.

The recent debate and topic on femininity impressed me. By all accounts, any ordinary person and public servant knows the meaning of femininity and respects and wholeheartedly supports it. This generation is aware of all the challenges and stands in the fact that women are beautiful when they are no better than men and we see the change happening in front of us.

The country’s COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 92.49 per cent. The Health Ministry said, during the last 24 hours, more than 49 thousand COVID patients have recovered. The total number of recoveries has gone up to over 78 lakh 68 thousand. The actual caseload currently comprises only 6.03 per cent of the total positive cases. Presently, the total number of active cases in the country is around five lakh 12 thousand.

During the past 24 hours, 45 thousand 674 new cases were reported taking the total number of positive cases in the country to over 85 lakh. The Ministry said that effective implementation of the strategic and graded Test, Track and Treat approach has led to higher recoveries and lower fatality. Currently, India’s Case Fatality Rate is at 1.48 per cent, which is one of the lowest globally. During the last 24 hours, 559 deaths were reported taking the toll to one lakh 26 thousand 121.

According to Indian Council of Medical Research, more than 11 lakh 94 thousand tests were conducted during the last 24 hours. The total number of samples tested so far has reached 11 crore 77 lakh.

In IPL cricket, SunRisers Hyderabad will take on Delhi Capitals in the second qualifier match in Abu Dhabi today. The winner of the match will face Mumbai Indians in the final on Tuesday.

Earlier, SRH beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets in the eliminator match to reach the second qualifier. On Thursday, DC had lost the first qualifier to MI. They will now have another chance to qualify for the final.

In the Women’s T20 Challenge Cricket tournament, Supernovas defeated Trailblazers by 2 runs at Sharjah yesterday. Supernova will take on Trailblazers again in the final which will be played on Monday. Supernova has won both the earlier editions of the Women’s T20 Challenge.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today virtually inaugurated the Ro-Pax ferry service between Gogha and Hajira in Gujarat. Speaking on the occasion Prime Minister Modi termed this service as the ‘genext’ transport and infrastructure for the people of Gujarat. He said that it will improve the ‘Ease of Living’ and boost economic prosperity in the region. Prime Minister Modi also interacted with the people who will be immensely benefited by this service.

AIR Ahmedabad correspondent reports that the Ro-Pax service marks a big step towards harnessing water ways and integrating them with the economic development of the country. There will be many benefits of the Hazira-Ghogha Ro-Pax ferry service. It will work as a Gateway to South Gujarat and Saurashtra region. It will reduce the distance between Ghogha and Hazira from 370 Km to 90 Km. The reduced cargo travel time from 10 to 12 hours to about 4 hours will result in huge savings of fuel approx 9000 litres per day and lower the maintenance cost of vehicles drastically. The ferry service, while making 3 round trips per day  on the Hazira-Ghogha route, would annually transport about 5 lakh passengers, 80,000 passenger vehicles  50,000 two wheelers and 30000 trucks. It will also lead to reduction in  CO2 emission by approximately 24 MT per day and net saving of approximately 8653 MT per annum. It will give an impetus to the tourism industry with ease of access to Saurashtra region and lead to creation of new jobs.

India’s Vidisha Maitra was elected to the UN body – Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ)  with strong support of the member states.

India’s permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador T. S. Tirumurti expressed gratitude to the member states in reposing faith in India’s candidate. He added that India has a stellar record of bringing its professional auditing experience to the UN. He affirmed that India takes the responsibility very seriously.

President Ram Nath Kovind has congratulated Joseph R. Biden on his election as US President and Kamala Harris, as Vice President. In a tweet, Mr Kovind wished Mr Biden a successful tenure and said he is looking forward to working with him to further strengthen India-US relations.

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has greeted President-elect, Joe Biden and the Vice-President-elect, Kamala Harris on their remarkable victory in elections. In a tweet, Mr Naidu said, he is confident that Indo-American relations will become much stronger in the coming years as both the nations with shared democratic values strive to make the world more peaceful and prosperous.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated US President-elect Joe Biden on his victory in the elections. In a tweet, Mr Modi said, as the US Vice President. Mr Biden’s contribution to strengthening Indo-US relations was critical and invaluable. The Prime Minister said he is looking forward to working closely together once again to take India-US relations to greater heights.

Congratulating US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Mr Modi said, her success is pathbreaking and a matter of immense pride not just for her chittis, but also for all Indian-Americans. The Prime Minister expressed confidence that the vibrant India-US ties will get even stronger with her support and leadership.