Editorial

Unlike the annual UN conferences on climate change, the G-20 meetings generally do not see serious disagreements between developed and developing countries on actions to be taken to address this problem.

But this time in the G-20 conference, the picture regarding this looks different. In the meeting of environment ministers of G-20 countries, no consensus seems to be reached on achieving the goals like gradually reducing the use of fossil fuels, increasing the targets of renewable energy and reducing greenhouse emissions.

Whereas G-20 countries are responsible for 75% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. At the G-20 conference, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia and India have opposed the goal of developed countries to triple the capacity of renewable energy by 2030.

News agency Reuters, quoting official sources, has said that in the Sherpa level meeting on September 6, 2023, these countries disagreed with the goal of developed countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent by 2035.

China has rejected media reports that it had obstructed the consensus on steps to be taken to control climate change at the G-20 environment ministers' meeting held in July 2023.

China had appealed to developed countries to work according to their capacity, responsibilities and duties to eliminate the problem of climate change.

Fast-growing economies like China and India say that developed countries should fulfill their historical responsibility to reduce carbon emissions.

Whereas developing countries say that this task is difficult without the major economies coming together. The countries on both sides of the G-20 are adamant. This gives an indication of what is going to happen at COP 28, the annual UN conference on climate change.

China has said that 'exchanges and mutual cooperation between countries should be to improve mutual understanding and trust, not to harm a third party and its interests'.

The statement came from China on Friday, March 12, 2021, hours before the first meeting of the 'Quad Group' between India, the US, Australia and Japan.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Chao Lijian said in response to a question related to the quad-meeting, "We hope that these countries will take care of openness and inclusiveness, so that all is well." Apart from this, they will avoid creating any 'exclusive block' and will do the same works which are compatible with regional peace and stability. ''

The first meeting of the Quad Group was very closely covered in China. China's official media has written several reports on this, widely describing it as 'an effort led by the US to stop China from joining together'.

At the same time, some Chinese experts have advised to spend less energy on this meeting and said that 'there is no need to take a quad meeting more seriously'.

Colonel Chow Bo, a former senior People's Liberation Army who is also a noted commentator on strategic affairs in China, said in a conversation with the government broadcaster 'China Global TV Network' that "China should not take it too seriously."

He said, "I can give you my comment on the quad in one sentence." None of these four countries would want to sacrifice their own interests (in relation to China) for the interests of the other three countries.''

He said this while citing the existing trade relations with China of the four countries.

He said, "If you ask the four countries involved in the quad," Are you against China "or" are you an anti-China club ", they flatly deny it. In such a situation, my conclusion is that the quad is definitely established because of China, but they cannot say that it is against China. If it is seen as a military alliance, India will categorically deny it completely.''

"Quod is still evolving and taking shape." But at present it is not decided which path it will go, military or economic.''

However, a high-level meeting is scheduled to take place between China and the US on 18 March 2021, in which representatives of the foreign ministries of the two governments will talk among themselves. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has called it a 'high-level strategic dialogue'.

China has said that it wants to negotiate with the Biden administration afresh, but it has laid the blame for the strained relations of the last four years on the US itself.

At the same time, the Biden administration has indicated in its statements so far that it can continue some policies of the previous administration with respect to China.

According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Chao Lijian, China's position on the US-China relationship is quite clear.

He said, "We want America to see its relations with China in a purposeful and rational manner." Overcome the Cold War situation and learn to respect China's sovereignty, security and development interests. At the same time, it should stop interfering in China's internal affairs.''

In an important decision, the Allahabad High Court in an order dated 11 November 2020 stated that the right to live with the person of their choice, whatever their religion, is a natural element of the right to life and personal liberty.

It has been 15 days since the order, but its copy has been available this week, after which it is being discussed a lot. The bench of Justice Pankaj Naqvi and Justice Vivek Agrawal of Allahabad High Court has given this important decision.

On the orders given in Priyanshi alias Samreen and others, vs. Government of Uttar Pradesh and others, and Noor Jahan Begum alias Anjali Mishra and others vs. Government of Uttar Pradesh, the Allahabad High Court stated in its remarks, "Any of these Even the order has not seen the right of two mature people to choose their own freedom. "

The court ordered, "We do not consider the decisions given in the cases of Noor Jahan and Priyanshi to be good law".

Let us see what important things the Allahabad High Court has done in its decision…

- The court said in its order, "We do not see Priyanka Kharwar and Salamat as Hindus and Muslims. Instead we see them as two adult people who are living together peacefully and happily by their will and choice. ''
- "The right to live with the person of their choice, whatever their religion, is rooted in the right to life and personal liberty. Interference in personal relations will be a serious violation of the freedom of two people to make choices."
- The court has said, "The decision of an adult person to live with a person of his choice is tied to the right of a person and when this right is violated, then it is a fundamental right of the person to live life and the fundamental right to personal liberty." Violates because it contains Article 21 principles of the Constitution of freedom of election, choice of partner and living with dignity. ''
- The court in its judgment referred to the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Shafeen Jahan vs. Ashokan KM. The Allahabad High Court said that the Supreme Court has consistently respected the freedom of an adult person.
- Allahabad High Court also referred to the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Shakti Vahini v. Government of India. Apart from this, the court also cited the decision in Nand Kumar v. Government of Kerala and said that it is clear in these decisions that the adult person has the freedom to make his choice.
- The court also referred to the Supreme Court's decision in KS Puttaswamy vs Government of India regarding the right to privacy and said that the right to choose a partner has nothing to do with caste, creed or religion and this article-21 The integral part lies in living life and personal freedom.
- Commenting on the decisions in Nur Jahan and other similar cases, the court said that ignoring the will of an adult person would not only be contrary to the freedom of elections, but it would also threaten the principle of unity in diversity.
- On the decisions in the Priyanshi and Nur Jahan cases, the court said that in any of these decisions, two mature people have to choose their partner or whom they want to live with. The issue of freedom to choose it and the issue related to freedom has not been taken into consideration. The court further said that the decisions in Noor Jahan and Priyanshi cases are not good in terms of law.
- The bench of Justice Pankaj Naqvi and Justice Vivek Agrawal of Allahabad High Court remarked in this same order, "We are unable to understand that if the law allows two gay people to live together peacefully, neither can any person Neither any family or even the state has the right to object to two adult people living together at their will. ''

Allahabad High Court's decision and background

Advocate Arvind Kumar Tripathi in Allahabad High Court says, "The FIR dismissed in the recent judgment of the Allahabad High Court is based on whether two adults can live together under Article-21?"

Tripathi says that "As far as marriage is concerned, marriage has nothing to do with religion." It is related to desire. And desire is related to article-21 Liberty. In this case, there is more clarity in this decision compared to earlier decisions.

Supreme Court Advocate Shashwat Anand says that the Allahabad High Court has a very good judgment and it has made the basis of freedom of privacy and freedom of will.

The background of the case is that a petition was filed in the Allahabad High Court on behalf of Salamat Ansari and three others. Salamat Ansari and his wife Priyanka Kharwar alias Aaliya along with two others had sought the dismissal of the FIR lodged against them in the High Court.

In this case Priyanka had converted to Alia and converted and married Salamat Ansari. In protest, Priyanka's father had filed an FIR. Sections 7 and 8 of the Poxo Act were also imposed in this FIR, including 363, 366, 352. Salamat, his brother and his mother were accused in this.

The court observed the birth date of Priyanka aka Alia and it was found that she is an adult. Anand says that in such a situation all the acts of Poxo were dismissed. At the same time, the court admitted that the forced sections have been imposed to trap them.

It was argued in the High Court on behalf of Salamat Ansari that Salamat Ansari and Priyanka Kharwar aka Alia are adults and are eligible to marry. This side said that after Priyanka left her Hindu identity and converted to Islam, both of them married Muslim customs on 19.8.2019.

Both people have been living together as husband and wife for the past one year. They both said that Priyanka's father had lodged this FIR to end her marriage with the wrong intention and since both of them have not committed any crime, this FIR should be dismissed.

The other side said that conversion to marriage was prohibited and there was no legal recognition of such marriage. In such a situation, the court should not give any relief to these people.

Anand says that the government had demanded not to give relief to Salamat based on the last two decisions. Anand says, "The court said that when these two adult people have decided to live together, then we should respect article-21." With this, the court dismissed this FIR.

Nur Jahan and Priyanshi cases

In the case of Priyanshi in September 2020, the single bench referred to the case of Nur Jahan Begum alias Anjali Mishra and others v. State of Uttar Pradesh in 2014, stating that mere conversion to marriage was unacceptable.

In the Nur Jahan Begum case, the Allahabad High Court dismissed the petitions filed for the need of protection as a married couple. In this case too, the girl left Hinduism and converted to Islam and then married.

Four other similar cases also came before the court.

In these cases women were unable to prove their alleged conversion because they failed to prove their understanding of Islam. In such a situation, the court ordered that these alleged marriages are illegal because it was done after a conversion that cannot be justified according to the law.

Anand says, "But, the Allahabad High Court has said in its judgment that once it was proved that both the people getting married are adults, the court should not have gone to their denomination."

In its recent decision, Allahabad High Court has referred to similar decisions in its previous cases.

Yogi government's ordinance to stop forced conversion

However, in spite of the Allahabad High Court order, the Yogi Adityanath government of Uttar Pradesh has approved the 'Uttar Pradesh Law Against Religion Transformation Prohibition Ordinance, 2020' on 24 November 2020.

According to this law, 'forced conversion' will be punishable in Uttar Pradesh. It can be imprisoned from one year to 10 years and a fine ranging from 15 thousand to 50 thousand rupees.

According to this ordinance of the Yogi government, if 'illegal conversion' happens to a minor or women belonging to a scheduled caste or tribe, then there will be a fine of three to 10 years and a fine of Rs 25,000.

Advocate in the Allahabad High Court, Vinod Mishra, says, "The government has tried to curb forced conversions or other illegal activities through this law. The government wants to curb the alleged 'love jihad'".

Will a confrontation arise?

Can a conflict situation arise in the coming days between the Uttar Pradesh government's law to stop 'illegal conversion' and the Allahabad High Court's decision?

Advocate Arvind Kumar Tripathi in the High Court on this issue says, "It would not be right to say that because the ordinance passed by the government which has not yet become the subject of judicial review. It did not say until the case is filed on it." It is possible that these two decisions may hit each other or not. "

Tripathi says, "The interesting thing is that the alleged love jihad created by the Uttar Pradesh government has introduced this ordinance will not survive the judicial review. But, when it is challenged, the situation will be clear."

Advocate Shashwat Anand in the Supreme Court says that the law brought by the Yogi government is actually on forced conversion and it would not be right to call it the law of 'Love Jihad'.

He says, "The ordinance of the Uttar Pradesh government is linked to forced conversions. Now, if this law is misused, this decision of the Allahabad High Court will work as a wall."

He says that in such cases one side will say that it is forcible conversion while the other party will say it by consent. In such a situation, the Yogi will act as a decision of the High Court on the wrong use of the law of the government.

In the coming time, it will be clear that how will the Allahabad High Court's decision affect the ordinance brought by the Yogi government?

Disclaimer: ''The current law of India does not define the word 'love jihad'. No case of 'Love Jihad' has been reported by any central agency.''

There is a special reference to such disclaimers at the beginning of the report. Many political leaders are using the term, but the above sentence is part of the reply to a starred question in the Lok Sabha on 4 February 2020 from the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Shri Kishan Reddy.

The Yogi Adityanath government of Uttar Pradesh has approved an ordinance against inter-religious marriage. Four other state governments of the Bharatiya Janata Party have spoken of bringing similar ordinances.

There is a strong debate on this issue in India.

The international media has also placed on its pages the opposition to the ordinance of this alleged forced inter-religious marriage (which the BJP calls Love Jihad).

The Strat Times newspaper in Singapore has underlined in one of its reports that the five states that talk of bringing "love jihad" are those where the BJP has governments. According to the newspaper, the ordinance brought in Uttar Pradesh and the proposal on it in other four states will give rise to the issue of "Love Jihad".

The newspaper has given a lot of space to the statements of Yogi Adityanath in his report. An ordinance on this has been approved in Uttar Pradesh on 24 November 2020.

The newspaper prominently featured a statement dated 31 October 2020 of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister. The newspaper wrote, "Yogi Adityanath, a Hindu priest who is the Chief Minister of India's largest populous state Uttar Pradesh, says in an election meeting on 31 October 2020 that the government should take a decision to stop 'Love Jihad'". Has been We give warning to those who hide their identity and insult our sisters. If you do not hawk, your funeral will be done soon. ''

A US media outlet named 'US News' wrote in its report on the latest ordinance from the Lucknow Dateline, "The Indian state blamed forced conversions for marriage".

Citing critics, the report reads, "Critics say that the unlawful proselytizing ordinance approved by the Yogi's cabinet is aimed at separating India's 17 crore Muslims from the mainstream."

The newspaper has also included a statement by Trinamool Congress MP Nusrat Jahan in this report in which he has said that there is no such thing as "Love Jihad" and this is only a political ploy of BJP.

Al-Jazeera has given it a place on its website and many newspapers of western countries have also published this news.

Most media outlets are also sharing issues related to this in India. Al-Jazeera cited an incident in October 2020 in which the Tanishq jewelry store had to remove an advertisement showing a Hindu daughter-in-law with her Muslim husband.

The firstpost website reported on the growing intolerance in India by linking the controversy over a kiss scene inside a temple with the ordinance of "Love Jihad" in Mira Nair's film A Suitable Boy, which was shown on Netflix.

In this kissing scene, a Muslim youth is seen kissing his Hindu girlfriend inside a temple against which some Hindu organizations have filed a police complaint. An FIR has been registered against some Netflix officials in Madhya Pradesh.

what is love jihad?

Hindu right-wing organizations call 'Love Jihad' a love marriage in which a Muslim man marries a Hindu woman and forces her to convert to Islam. If the opposite is true, if a Muslim woman marries a Hindu man, then some Hindu institutions are silent on this, some organizations strongly support such marriages.

The Indian government and private social institutions do not have figures for these marriages, but according to one estimate, such marriages are less than three percent.

In several reports of government agencies, the allegations of 'jihad' in marriage between a Hindu woman and a Muslim man have been found to be wrong, but in spite of this the five state governments of BJP are resorting to the law to stop it.

Where and when was the word first used? It is difficult to say, but around 2009, Karnataka and Kerala find an example of the use of the term, where some Hindu and Christian institutions refer to the conspiracy by Muslim men to cheat and marry Hindu or Christian women to convert to Islam. has been done.

In India, inter-religious marriages are held under the Special Marriage Act, which requires the court to register a marriage and before that the court issues a month's notice so that anyone can object to this marriage and tell the court.

For years before the term "love jihad" was practiced, right-wing Hindu institutions had been protesting such marriages in courts in which couples were given dhamikas, but this was not done so publicly.

Hindu-Muslim marriages began to be openly opposed to the campaign against "Love Jihad", especially in Uttar Pradesh, which human rights institutions and the media have described as an attack on the fundamental rights of a citizen.

Charity institution Oxfam has warned that up to 12,000 people may die every day due to starvation related to Covid-19 by the end of this year.

This figure will probably be more than the number of people dying from the disease every day.

Oxfam says that there are many reasons for increasing starvation, including large numbers of unemployment, problems with food producers due to lockdown, and difficulties in providing assistance.

The hotspots mentioned by Oxfam in its report are starvation hotspots - DR Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela, West African Sahel, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Syria, Sudan and Haiti.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, among the five most affected countries from Corona, India has the lowest incidence of infections at 538 per million population and the number of deaths is only 15. While the global average of infections is 1,453 and the average of deaths is 68.7.

However, the corona test has also decreased in India. Last week, the Corona Test figures in India had crossed 10 million. However, in Thursday's press conference, Nivedita Gupta, Senior Scientist of the Indian Council of Medical Research, said that there has been an increase in the corona test cases in India and now two thousand 60 thousand tests are being conducted daily across the country.

According to Nivedita Gupta, more tests can be done in the coming days using the antigen test technique.

By the way, India's population is more than 130 crores. So far more than seven and a half million people have been infected with corona, while the number of people who have died has crossed 21 thousand.

The cases of corona infection are steadily increasing in the United States. In view of this, America's top epidemiologist Dr. Anthony Fauchi said that the situation is becoming increasingly serious. This is the latest update about Corona infection in the United States -

Many states in the US have extended the idea of ​​opening lockdown further. The latest name has been added to the Greater Miami area of ​​Florida in this list. Indoor dining in the restaurant was closed on Monday, with the decision to close the gym.

California, Texas and Florida are among the two dozen provinces in the United States where cases of infection have increased rapidly in the last few days. California hospitals have seen a 50 percent increase in the number of corona infections during the past two weeks.

In the rest of the states, the infection is also increasing, according to officials, in many areas the beds of hospitals have been completely filled.

America's top epidemiologist Dr. Anthony Fauchi said that a serious situation has arisen across the country and this needs immediate attention.

Universities and colleges in the US have also deferred plans to open campuses.

Harvard University said that the classes for the upcoming semester will be online and other institutes are also going to follow it.

In the US, the number of corona infections has exceeded 2.9 million, while more than 1.30 million people have died.

In view of the Corona infection in India, CBSE has announced to reduce syllabus from ninth to 12th class, giving relief to the students.

The press statement issued by CBSE said that the decision has been taken in view of the conditions arising out of the corona infection as class room classes are not being held due to the closure of schools.

Due to this, the board has decided to reduce the syllabus from ninth to 12th by 30% in the 2020-21 season.

The parts which will be reduced from the syllabus will not be asked questions in internal assessment and board examination.

According to the Indian Ministry of Health, there have been a total of 6,97,213 cases of Covid-19 infection in the country. Of these, 2,53,287 cases are active. A total of 19,693 people have died due to the infection so far.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the worldwide death toll due to corona virus infection has increased to more than 5.35 million. At the same time, there are a total of 11,51,6,782 cases of infection in the world.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, India has overtaken Russia in the third place in the total number of infection cases.

240 scientists of the world claim that the corona virus infection can also spread through the air. Scientists have asked the World Health Organization to take it seriously.

A United Nations environment body says that if humans do not stop killing animals, they may have to face more terrible diseases like corona infection.

In view of the corona epidemic, the Government of India is about to start the standard operation of film shooting soon so that film production can be resumed quickly.

Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting in India Prakash Javadekar has said, "In view of the epidemic, the Indian government is going to soon issue the standard operating procedure of film shooting so that film production can be resumed at a rapid pace due to Kovid. Has stopped The government is also bringing incentives for all production work including TV serials, film making, co-production, animation, gaming. These will be announced soon. ''

The total cases of corona infection in Odisha have exceeded ten thousand. So far 42 people have died in Odisha from Kovid-19.

The Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) has said that more than five thousand of their coronas have been infected so far and a total of 27 CAPF personnel have died from Kovid-19.

The Karnataka government has said that so far no such signal has been found, on the basis of which it can be said that community transmission has started in the state.

Police in Satara district of Maharashtra has released a CCTV footage in which some thieves are seen stealing wearing PPE kits. According to the police, "the thieves broke the lock of the goldsmith shop and fled with about 780 grams of gold."

Officials of the Meghalaya government have said that an 8-month-old baby brought to Meghalaya from Arunachal Pradesh has died after traveling nearly 400 km for treatment. The child died just hours after the Kovid test was found positive.

A telephonic conversation between India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi took place on Sunday amid efforts to restore peace on both sides following violent clashes in the Galvani Valley between India and China.

The details of the talks between India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi have been issued by the Chinese Embassy in India.

In his statement, Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Waidong has given details of the interaction between the two Special Representatives. He has said that the Chinese Foreign Minister told Ajit Doval that the relationship between India and China is 70 years old.

According to the Chinese Foreign Minister, what has happened in the Galvan Valley on the western sector border between India and China, it is clear what is right and what has gone wrong.

The Chinese Foreign Minister also said that China wants to protect its sovereignty as well as restore peace in the area.

Wang Yi also stressed in his talk that development is the top priority of both China and India, so both countries should focus on reducing tensions.

According to the Chinese ambassador, there was a detailed discussion between the two representatives. In this conversation, broadly agreed on four things -

- The consensus between the top leaders of the two countries will be implemented. The two leaders have agreed to work together for a long time for peace and development in the border areas.

- The two countries will jointly try to reduce the tension on the border according to mutual agreement.

- Through dialogue between special representatives, both sides will improve mutual dialogue. The system of working mechanism for advising and combining border matters between India and China will be improved by regularizing it. This will strengthen the trust between the two sides.

The two sides welcomed what was agreed in the recent Commander-level meeting. At the Commander-level meeting on July 1, the two sides agreed to reduce the tension on the border.

Earlier, the Indian Foreign Ministry had issued a statement saying that there has been a clear and detailed talk between Doval and Wang Yi about the recent activities on the western sector border between India and China.

It has been agreed on both sides that to strengthen bilateral relations, both countries must restore peace on the border and prevent differences from taking the form of a dispute.

In this direction, both sides have worked on the process of reducing the tension on the border, that is, the situation is not as it was when the soldiers of both sides came face to face. Both sides have agreed to do it step by step in a phased manner.

The statement also said that in this conversation of the two special representatives, it has been agreed to continue the dialogue between the military and diplomatic officials of the two countries.

Apart from this, there has been an agreement to keep regular interactions between Doval and Wang Yi.

At the same time, according to news agency AFP, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing on Monday, "There has been positive progress on both sides to reduce the tension on the border."

Lijian has expressed hope that the Indian side will step forward with China to implement the things that have been mutually agreed upon.

Officials watching the India-China border dispute have told the BBC that the process to reduce the border tension has started from Monday morning.

Officials said that this work is going on in three places, these places are Galvan, Gogra and Hot Springs. The official briefing the BBC made it clear that they were not talking about Depsang or Pangong Tso Lake.

Another official said, "Both the tents and temporary structures are being removed and the troops are retreating. But this does not mean the withdrawal or the end of the episode."

Indian officials said that these activities are constantly being monitored, for which the help of satellite images and high platforms is being taken.

In response to the question of how many Chinese soldiers have been withdrawn, several media reports said, the official refused to give any distance.

He said this much, "This is the beginning of the process that was decided after the meeting of the commanders of both sides in Chusul on 30 June".

However, according to reports coming in the media, the Chinese soldiers are going backwards two kilometers from where the violence took place in Galvan.

It is noteworthy that on June 15, there was a violent clash between the soldiers of India and China in the Galvan Valley, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed.

Subsequently, on July 1, there was a commander-level dialogue between the armies of the two countries and in that negotiation, it was agreed to reduce the tension on the India-China LAC.

Then a week ago, the Government of India announced the closure of 59 mobile apps, including UC Browser of WeChat Ali Baba Group, the well-known social platform TikTok.

Although the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of India did not take the name of China, it was clear that the complaint was received that these apps on Android and iOS were also interfering with the personal data of the people. Restrictions on these apps will secure India's mobile and Internet users. It is essential for India's security, integrity and sovereignty.