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On March 10th, 2019 Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 crashed near the town Bishoftu while on its way to Addis Ababa from Nairobi. It is reported that six minutes into the journey the fatal accident took place and an estimated death toll is 157 out of which 35 belong from different nationalities. The casualties consist 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, 9 Ethiopian, 8 Italians, 8 Americans, 7 Britons, 7 French, 5 Germans, 4 Indians and 4 Slovaks. The aircraft carrier was Boeing 737 Max 8 jets and the reason of the crash is not clear yet.
Amidst the disaster the company faces immense pressure as a similar incident occurred in October last year when Lion Air Flight 610 plunged into the Java sea shortly after taking off from the Jakarta, Indonesia causing 189 casualties. After the Ethiopian Airline crash major countries like China have grounded their Boeing 737 Max jets. In a statement Boeing said that it will be travelling to the crash site and will provide technical assistance under the direction of the Ethiopia Accident Investigation Bureau and US National transportation Safety Board.
A span of 6 months saw two Boeing aircrafts of the new series 737 Max jets going down causing hysteria among commuters and the authorities. As a safety precaution most Boeing 737 Max jets are grounded. Although the incidents are different but there are uncanny similarities which leads to suspicion. The investigation for both the cases is underway and but the safety of the daily flyers is compromised.
Earlier this week, Washington in an official press release informed that India and Turkey have been debarred from the GSP list. Trump has taken this decision just before a very important Sino-US meeting over a deliberation of ending the expensive trade war. The decision comes as a move to balance out trade relations with countries with untenable trade terms.
The Washington said as a reason to terminate the status of India as a preferential partner because India does not comply with the trade eligibility criteria. The point which says that India has to open up certain sectors of the economy for US firms. USA's decision to remove India from the list shows how much the Trump administration is emphasising on resolving the China trade deal.
This move also shows that USA wants to portray itself to be willing to side with China on many issues, especially after side-lining India from the preferential trade system. However, this comes as a blow to India as it will affect the food sector as the exports of food grains for the country will become expensive and it will adversely affect the agriculture production. India has to assess the situation and come up with a plan especially when the country faces elections next month.
A new controversial move by the US has come in the wake of major changes in their diplomatic mission in Palestine and Israel. The U.S consulate in West Jerusalem which had been providing consular services to the Palestinians has been absorbed by the new US embassy to Israel. This move has changed the consular services into a single diplomatic mission to Israel which had been announced in October 2018 by the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. The consulate had been in place for 175 years and has been acting as a de-facto consulate for the Palestinians. This has been seen as a downgrade in diplomatic relations by many. The US consulate has been acting as the main channel of communication between the US administration and the Palestinian leadership.
Trump's new diplomacy has been seen as looking at the Israel-Palestine conflict through the prism of Israel, excluding the counter-perspective. Now the Palestinians will have to go to the US embassy in Jerusalem to address their problems. This move can be seen as an arm-twisting tactic against Palestine. The two diplomatic missions of Israel and Palestine has become one single mission through the embassy in Jerusalem which the US had recognized to be the capital of Israel in December 2017.
The move to recognize Jerusalem was condemned by many world leaders considering the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict. The ongoing conflict was taken into consideration when independent UN investigators had found that Israeli security forces may have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by killing almost 200 Palestinians and wounding countless more who were protesting in Gaza in 2018. The next move by the US administration has to be kept on a close watch as the story is still unfolding in the current circumstances.
The Election Commission of India announced the dates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on the 11th of May. Lok Sabha elections are held every five years to elect the next Prime Minister of India. The Lok Sabha elections, also known as the general elections, have a total of 552 members. Party with at least 273 seats is eligible to form the central government. The country will vote in seven phases from the 11th of April to 19th of May. The results will be released on the 23rd of May. The Model Code of Conduct was put into effect immediately after the elections were declared as confirmed by the Chief Election Commissioner, Sunil Arora.
The Model Code of Conduct is issued by the Election Commission to regulate the campaigning, political parties and civilians. It explains the 'do's' and 'don'ts' for political parties during election time. One of the major 'don'ts' is to not declare any potential policy decision. The Code comes in effect at the point elections are announced to the date the elections are declared over, which includes the manifestos, campaigns, speeches, polling booths, polling etc.
Indians are extremely eager to know the result of what is coming to be known as the "Modi against the Rest" battle. The recent Pulwama, J&K attacks have pumped up the much-needed support for the current ruling party but, it will be challenging to keep the spirits up till the voting ends. An opinion poll survey estimated a major win for the BJP-led NDA. Current Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address has surely kicked off BJP's campaign.
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