HC asks state: How about school closure till corona subsides?

LUCKNOW:The Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court has ordered the state government to take a decision in the larger interest of public on a petition seeking closure of schools up to class 12 till a single patient of Covid -19 remains or its vaccine comes into the market.

The double judge bench of justices Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Narendra Kumar Johari passed the order on a writ petition filed by student Anuj Nishad. In the writ petition, Anuj Nishad had sought closure of all schools up to Class 12 till a single patient of Covid -19 remained or else its vaccine came into the market.

The order was passed on June 15 but was uploaded late on Tuesday night.

“With regard to the prayer made in this writ petition, this court is clearly of the opinion that the issue raised herein should be considered by the government itself,” said the court.

“Accordingly, we direct the state government to consider the grievance raised in this writ petition and take a decision thereon,” added the court.

“For the said purpose, this writ petition shall be treated to be a representation on behalf of the petitioner. It is needless to say that while taking decision in terms of this order, the state government shall be guided by the primary concern of the public interest at large,” observed the court.

The court also ordered the additional chief standing counsel to make available a copy of the writ petition to the state government to ensure speedy compliance of the order.

prevail (upon China). We have several options and we will not hesitate to exercise them depending on the situation,” one of the government officials said.

But New Delhi is hoping that the two countries will be able to work out a solution at the diplomatic level that doesn’t compromise India’s interests or position, the people cited in the first instance added. They described the call between the two foreign ministers as an effort to clear the air after the face-off .

THE DIPLOMATIC TOUCH

Though there have been behindthe-scenes contacts involving the two foreign ministries, the first public diplomatic contact between the two sides on the border stand-off was the video conference between joint secretary (East Asia) Naveen Srivastava and his Chinese counterpart Wu Jianghao on June 5.

This contact was under the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China border affairs. The people cited above said WMCC and the Special Representatives mechanism are among several bilateral mechanisms that can now be used to carry forward efforts. “If needed, there can also be bilateral contacts at a higher level,” said one of the people. India has traditionally kept away from multilateral forums to address bilateral issues, particularly border disputes. This was the reason why US President Donald Trump’s recent offers to mediate between India and China were immediately rebuffed. However, experts haven’t ruled out the possibility of quiet back channel contacts with other countries to get China to negotiate.

On Wednesday, the UK expressed concern, with the British high commission saying: “We encourage China and India to engage in dialogue on issues relating to the border...”

THE ECONOMIC HIT

Already, with this latest Chinese offensive, the chances of Chine telecom equipment maker Huawei’s participation in the multibillion dollar 5G project in India are bleak, a second official said. “Besides economic interests, this project also involves serious security concerns,” this person added.

A third official said Beijing’s aggression is ill-timed for China. “It came at a time when New Delhi is aggressively pursuing an economic policy of self-reliance, anti-China sentiments have gripped major global economies such as the US, and it is the prime suspect for spreading the Covid-19 virus,” he said.

Traders are also against China. The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), a powerful lobby of 70 million local traders, has decided to step up its nationwide movement against the boycott of Chinese goods, CAIT national secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said. Both ministries of finance and commerce are already taking action against the influx of Chinese goods that is injuring domestic industry. “Imports of more than 100 goods are under various stages of antidumping action,” a fourth official said. Email queries sent to ministries of finance and commerce did not elicit any response.

But Mohit Singla, chairman at the Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI), said economic decisions must be driven by pragmatism and practical consideration and that many industries are dependent on Chinese imports.

Anupam Manur, assistant professor at Takshashila Institution, said, “As much as the popular sentiment and political will dictates, India is not in a position to hurt China economically, and therefore we should carefully consider our economic position.”

India-China bilateral trade is heavily tilted in favour of China. According to trade figures released by General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) in mid-January 2020, India’s trade deficit with China was $56.77 billion in 2019; bilateral trade amounted to about $92.68 billion last year, a 1.6% annual increase.

HE MILITARY RESPONSE

The government has given financial powers to the armed forces to make critical purchases and emergency procurements are likely to be fast-tracked, said a military officer.

He added that the armed forces were prioritising key purchases. Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat is responsible for integrating and prioritising the acquisition requirements of the three services. The officer said that the possibility of China asserting its so-called claims in other sectors of the LAC cannot be ruled out.