Current Affairs in Short: 23 July 2020

India distances itself from Pakistan’s move to appoint a lawyer for Kulbhushan Jadhav

• India has distanced itself from Pakistan’s move of approaching the Islamabad High Court to appoint a lawyer for Kulbhushan Jhadav to review his death sentence by a military court. 
• Pakistan reportedly approached the Islamabad High court without the consent of the Indian mission in Islamabad. India views the move as another attempt to create a smokescreen of review and reconsideration of Jadhav’s death sentence.
• India has demanded to have a lawyer from outside Pakistan to represent Jadhav in his case. Pakistan has reportedly not agreed to India’s demand. It has though extended the deadline for India to file a review petition in the case.
• As per Pakistan’s May 20 ordinance, the review petition against Jadhav’s death sentence had to be filed within 60 days of the promulgation of the ordinance. India is seeking to get unconditional access to Jadhav.

Chandigarh to introduce ambulances to treat sick trees

• Chandigarh Environment Department has decided to launch ambulances for the treatment of sick trees in the Union Territory. 
• The announcement was made by Debendra Dalai, Director of Environment Department, who said that this will be an emergency service to treat trees affected by termites & other insects.
• Dalai also stated that the Department will be issuing a dedicated phone number where people can inform the department if they come across any such sick tree. The department will then send experts for the treatment of the tree.

By-elections deferred in 8 constituencies due to COVID-19 pandemic, flood

• The Election Commission of India (ECI) has decided to defer by-elections in eight constituencies up to September 7, 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and flood situation. 
• The EC informed that the elections will be held as soon as the situation becomes conducive. The eight constituencies include one in Bihar (1 Valmiki Nagar PC), Assam (108, Sibsagar AC), Tamil Nadu (10-Thiruvottiyur, AC and 46, Gudiyattam (SC) AC), Madhya Pradesh (166, Agar, (SC) AC), Uttar Pradesh (65, Bulandhahr AC and 95, Tundla AC) and Kerala (117, Chavara AC).
• As per the constitution provision, the vacancies are required to be filled through by-election within six months from the date of occurrence of vacancies provided that the remainder of the term in relation to the vacancy is one year or more.

Amazon to offer auto insurance in India

• Amazon India announced on July 23, 2020 that it will begin offering auto insurance, making India the e-commerce giant’s first market for the service.
• Amazon Pay, Amazon India’s payments arm, has partnered with private firm Acko General Insurance to offer car and motorbike insurance.
• The insurance is currently available on Amazon’s app and mobile website. The customers of Amazon Prime are expected to get extra benefits and more discounts.
• With this, Amazon will strengthen its competition with local rivals including digital payments firm Paytm and insurance aggregator Policybazar, which is backed by SoftBank. India is one the fastest growing markets for Amazon.

India, Maldives sign agreement to set up fish processing plants

• India signed a contract with the Maldives on July 22, 2020 to set up a fish processing plant at two of the islands in the Maldives.
• Maldives Foreign Secretary Abdul Ghafoor and other senior Ministry officials participated in the virtual contract signing ceremony along with the High Commissioner of India Sunjay Sudhir. The fish processing plants will be set up in Maradhoo and Hulhudhoo islands in the Maldives. 
• The contract is a part of the MoU signed between India and the Maldives in 2019 to set up three neighbourhood fish processing plants costing around USD 1.5 million in Maradhoo, Hithadhoo and Hulhudhoo.
• The Addu City Council, which was awarded the contract for construction of the fish processing plant in Hithadoo, has been chosen a the implementing agency for these projects.