The Evening Wrap: COP26 climate meet formally opens in Glasgow

The U.N. climate summit in Glasgow has formally opened, kicking off two weeks of intense diplomatic negotiations by almost 200 countries on how to tackle the common challenge of global warming. Following Sunday’s opening gavel, officials began addressing a raft of procedural matters before leaders from around the world gather in Scotland’s biggest city Monday to lay out their countries’ efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and deal with the effects of climate change. Many of the issues being discussed during the October 31 to November 12 talks have been on the agenda for decades, including how rich countries can help poor nations tackle emissions and adapt to a hotter world. The slow pace of action has angered many environmental campaigners, who are expected to stage loud and creative protests during the summit. The meeting will see negotiators from almost 200 countries try to tackle issues left hanging since the 2015 Paris climate accord was forged. Scientists say the chances of meeting that goal, agreed in the French capital six years ago, are slowly slipping away. India, the world’s third biggest emitter, has yet to follow China, the U.S. and the European Union in setting a target for reaching ‘net zero’ emissions. Negotiators are hoping India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will announce such a goal in Glasgow. The outgoing president of the meeting, Chile’s Carolina Schmidt, started the talks by asking officials to observe a minute’s silence for those who have died due to the coronavirus pandemic since the last U.N. climate conference was held in late 2019, shortly before the outbreak began. On Monday, Charles is due to welcome leaders to COP26 in Glasgow. His 95-year-old mother Queen Elizabeth II was due to attend but has been advised to rest by her doctors. The opening day of the talks is expected to focus on procedural issues. One big worry is that not all the delegates will be able to meet in person, as the venue and room capacities have been limited due to COVID concerns. Criminal law should not be set in motion without proper probe: Supreme Court Criminal law should not be set into motion without adequate investigation of facts, on mere suspicion, the Supreme Court has said while quashing a criminal case against the director of a company. A Bench of Justices R.S. Reddy and Sanjiv Khanna said vicarious liability is attracted when the offence is committed with the consent, connivance, or is attributable to the neglect on the part of a director, manager, secretary, or other officer of the company. In law, vicarious liability is the responsibility assigned to an employer, resulting from the actions of an employee. “Criminal law should not be set into motion as a matter of course or without adequate and necessary investigation of facts on mere suspicion, or when the violation of law is doubtful. “It is the duty and responsibility of the public officer to proceed responsibly and ascertain the true and correct facts. Execution of law without appropriate acquaintance with legal provisions and comprehensive sense of their application may result in an innocent being prosecuted,” the apex court said. On the issue of summons, the Bench said it is the court’s duty not to issue summons in a mechanical and routine manner. “It is the duty of the Magistrate to apply his mind to see whether on the basis of the allegations made and the evidence, a prima facie case for taking cognisance and summoning the accused is made out or not,” the Bench said in its October 29 judgment. The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by Dayle de Souza challenging an order of Madhya Pradesh, which dismissed his plea seeking quashing of the case against him. Resultantly, and for the reasons stated above, we would allow the present appeal and quash the summoning order and the proceedings against the present appellant. COVID vaccine booster dose not for all, say experts Doctors in India advocating against COVID vaccination booster doses for all have said healthy individuals may not need them. The Union Health Ministry has also indicated that vaccination coverage for all is their current focus, with optional COVID vaccination booster dose to specific individuals needing it for medical conditions. The indication comes at a time when the World Health Organisation (WHO), with support of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunisation and its COVID-19 Vaccines Working Group, continues to review the emerging evidence on the need for and timing of a booster dose for the currently available COVID-19 vaccines which have received Emergency Use Listing (EUL). A senior Health Ministry official, speaking about whether the government plans to roll out booster doses for all, said: “Experts are definitely looking into research and suggestions from across the world and we are open to this evolving situation. Currently our main focus is to ensure that we extend our ongoing vaccination programme to all. Booster doses, in case a recommendation comes in, would be first offered to those who medically need it.” Doctors say that following COVID-19 infection, the immune system retains a memory of the virus. If a person gets exposed to the SARS COV-2 virus again, the immune cells recognise the viral pathogen and kill the pathogen. This is called immunological memory. This is the basis for durable protective immunity after COVID-19 infection or vaccination. Dr. Hari Kishan Gonuguntla, consultant interventional pulmonologist at Yashoda Hospitals in Hyderabad, said most studies have shown that durable memory can last more than 12 months. However, this will not protect everyone from re-infection. People can still have re-infection with SARS CoV-2 virus. However, the severity of illness and rates of hospitalistion is less in people with prior infection. “Emergence of new strains pose a substantial risk of re-infection, which may go undetected in PCR tests. Hence vaccinating these populations, who had the previous infection, is a strategy to enhance immune response and can develop strong resistance against the new emerging strains which are of concern. Booster vaccinations, if recommended in the coming days, will be more of use for people who are vaccinated alone, than people who had SARS COV-2 infection followed by vaccination,” he added. Dr. Rajeev Jayadevan, vice-chairman, Research Cell, Indian Medical Association (IMA), Kerala, said vaccines remain highly effective at preventing severe diseases and are critical to pandemic control. However, he added that emerging data now suggests that vaccination alone isn’t enough to prevent infections with COVID virus variants needing sustained measures to curb the transmission to continue. “Healthy individuals are able to generate a robust immune response after two exposures to the antigen; that is either by two doses of vaccine or by one bout of infection and one dose of vaccine,” said Dr. Jayadevan. According to him, the second dose is actually the booster dose, while the first dose is called a priming dose. “Whether adding a third dose will increase the existing protection from severe disease and death is not known in the case of healthy individuals,” he said. He added that in case of immune compromised individuals, giving a third dose is agreed upon because two doses are not always enough to generate a sufficient immune response. Further studies and careful observation are needed to see if older people will benefit from a third dose, in terms of better survival. Mamata Banerjee now criticising Congress that always supported her: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Senior Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury has lashed out at Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee for her comments against the Congress in Goa and said she was doing so to a party now that had always come out in her support and wondered if she was working as an “agent of BJP”. Continuing his diatribe, Chowdhury, at a press meet on Saturday demanded to know why Banerjee, who is trying to cobble up opposition unity, had entered into an alliance with the BJP in the past and was a Minister in an NDA government. Incidentally Banerjee’s criticism of the Congress came on the day its leader Rahul Gandhi was also in Goa to kickstart the party's campaign in the State. Chowdhury made the comments after the Trinamool supremo on Saturday trained her guns on the Congress during her Goa visit, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will become more powerful as the grand old party is not serious about politics and alleged that the country is suffering because that party does not take decisions. Reacting sharply to Banerjee’s comments, the Berhampore MP said “I wonder if you are not working as the agent of BJP now. Please recall who had entered into alliance with BJP in past and was part of the NDA cabinet. And you are now criticising Congress that has always come to your support. “If Congress cannot satisfy you after all the support with our resources, will the people of Bengal be able to do so? Will you behave in the same way with those who have elected TMC for three consecutive times as you have done with Congress?” Chowdhury asked. Speaking about the grand old party, Banerjee had said on Saturday, “I cannot say everything right now because they didn’t take politics seriously. Modi ji is going to be more powerful because of the Congress...If one cannot take decision, why the country should suffer for that? They (Congress) got opportunity (in the past). Instead of fighting against BJP, they contested against me in my State.....” Her party has announced that it will contest all 40 seats in Goa, where Assembly polls are due early next year. When asked about what decisions she thinks the Congress should be taking, she said, “I am not going to discuss about the Congress because it is not my party. I have set up my regional party and without any support of anybody, we formed three times government. “Let them decide. That is my system also, I don’t interfere into any other political party’s business, I can say about my political party and our fight will continue. We are not going to bow down our head to BJP,” she added. Chowdhury, a vociferous critic of the West Bengal Chief Minister, has been more vocal against her for the past one month ever since the TMC has projected Banerjee as the spearhead of the anti-BJP campaign and said only the Trinamool Congress can take the mantle as the main adversary capable to oust Narendra Modi. Banerjee had claimed in an article titled ‘Dillir Dak’ (Call of Delhi) in the puja edition of the party mouthpiece ‘Jago Bangla’ that as the Congress has miserably failed to put up a fight against the BJP, the people of India have put the onus on the Trinamool Congress to create a new India by ousting the “fascist” saffron party. “But the fact is, in the recent past, the Congress has failed to put up a fight against the BJP. In the last two Lok Sabha polls, it was proved. If you can’t provide a fight at the Centre, it breaks the confidence of the masses, and the BJP gains a few more votes in states. We cannot allow this to happen this time,” she said in the article. Taliban supreme leader Akhundzada makes first public appearance in Afghanistan Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, made a rare public appearance in the southern city of Kandahar, Taliban sources said on October 31, belying widespread rumours of his death. Akhundzada, known as the leader of the faithful or Amir ul Momineen, had not been seen in public even after the Taliban’s August takeover of the country, giving rise to the speculation. A senior Taliban leader who was present with Akhundzada during the appearance told Reuters the supreme leader had visited Jamia Darul Aloom Hakimia, a religious school in Kandahar on October 30. As the Islamist movement unveiled its interim government in September after U.S.-led forces withdrew, mysterious Akhundzada retained the role he has held since 2016 of supreme leader, the ultimate authority over the group’s political, religious and military affairs. Though some officials say that Akhundzada has made unpublicised public appearances before, this was the first confirmed appearance of a man who has long kept a low public profile. The only photo Reuters has been able to verify of him was an undated image posted on a Taliban Twitter feed in May 2016. This shadowy existence has led to constant speculation about his whereabouts and health. Previously, the Taliban had not confirmed the death of their founder, and original supreme leader, Mullah Omar, for years. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,42,72,423 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,58,212. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 31 OCTOBER 2021 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Two-week long COP26 climate meet formally opens in Glasgow The [U.N. climate summit in Glasgow has formally opened]( kicking off two weeks of intense diplomatic negotiations by almost 200 countries on how to tackle the common challenge of global warming. Following Sunday’s opening gavel, officials began addressing a raft of procedural matters before leaders from around the world gather in Scotland’s biggest city Monday to lay out their countries’ efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and deal with the effects of climate change. Many of the issues being discussed during the October 31 to November 12 talks have been on the agenda for decades, including how rich countries can help poor nations tackle emissions and adapt to a hotter world. The slow pace of action has angered many environmental campaigners, who are expected to stage loud and creative protests during the summit. [United Nations General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid (left) shakes hands with COP26 President Alok Sharma as United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa (second from left) and Chile’s Minister of the Environment Carolina Schmidt look on during the COP26 opening ceremony at SECC in Glasgow, Scotland on October 31, 2021.]  The meeting will see negotiators from almost 200 countries try to tackle issues left hanging since the 2015 Paris climate accord was forged. Scientists say the chances of meeting that goal, agreed in the French capital six years ago, are slowly slipping away. India, the world’s third biggest emitter, has yet to follow China, the U.S. and the European Union in setting a target for reaching ‘net zero’ emissions. Negotiators are hoping India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will announce such a goal in Glasgow. The outgoing president of the meeting, Chile’s Carolina Schmidt, started the talks by asking officials to observe a minute’s silence for those who have died due to the coronavirus pandemic since the last U.N. climate conference was held in late 2019, shortly before the outbreak began. On Monday, Charles is due to welcome leaders to COP26 in Glasgow. His 95-year-old mother Queen Elizabeth II was due to attend but has been advised to rest by her doctors. The opening day of the talks is expected to focus on procedural issues. One big worry is that not all the delegates will be able to meet in person, as the venue and room capacities have been limited due to COVID concerns. [underlineimg] Criminal law should not be set in motion without proper probe: Supreme Court Criminal law should not be set into motion without adequate investigation of facts, on mere suspicion, [the Supreme Court has said]( while quashing a criminal case against the director of a company. A Bench of Justices R.S. Reddy and Sanjiv Khanna said vicarious liability is attracted when the offence is committed with the consent, connivance, or is attributable to the neglect on the part of a director, manager, secretary, or other officer of the company. In law, vicarious liability is the responsibility assigned to an employer, resulting from the actions of an employee. “Criminal law should not be set into motion as a matter of course or without adequate and necessary investigation of facts on mere suspicion, or when the violation of law is doubtful. “It is the duty and responsibility of the public officer to proceed responsibly and ascertain the true and correct facts. Execution of law without appropriate acquaintance with legal provisions and comprehensive sense of their application may result in an innocent being prosecuted,” the apex court said. On the issue of summons, the Bench said it is the court’s duty not to issue summons in a mechanical and routine manner. “It is the duty of the Magistrate to apply his mind to see whether on the basis of the allegations made and the evidence, a prima facie case for taking cognisance and summoning the accused is made out or not,” the Bench said in its October 29 judgment. The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by Dayle de Souza challenging an order of Madhya Pradesh, which dismissed his plea seeking quashing of the case against him. Resultantly, and for the reasons stated above, we would allow the present appeal and quash the summoning order and the proceedings against the present appellant. [underlineimg] COVID vaccine booster dose not for all, say experts Doctors in India advocating against COVID vaccination booster doses for all have said [healthy individuals may not need them](. The Union Health Ministry has also indicated that vaccination coverage for all is their current focus, with optional COVID vaccination booster dose to specific individuals needing it for medical conditions. The indication comes at a time when the World Health Organisation (WHO), with support of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunisation and its COVID-19 Vaccines Working Group, continues to review the emerging evidence on the need for and timing of a booster dose for the currently available COVID-19 vaccines which have received Emergency Use Listing (EUL). A senior Health Ministry official, speaking about whether the government plans to roll out booster doses for all, said: “Experts are definitely looking into research and suggestions from across the world and we are open to this evolving situation. Currently our main focus is to ensure that we extend our ongoing vaccination programme to all. Booster doses, in case a recommendation comes in, would be first offered to those who medically need it.” [Medics administer doses of Covid-19 vaccine to beneficiaries during a free vaccination drive organized by Vivanta Hospital at Goregaon in Mumbai.]  Doctors say that following COVID-19 infection, the immune system retains a memory of the virus. If a person gets exposed to the SARS COV-2 virus again, the immune cells recognise the viral pathogen and kill the pathogen. This is called immunological memory. This is the basis for durable protective immunity after COVID-19 infection or vaccination. Dr. Hari Kishan Gonuguntla, consultant interventional pulmonologist at Yashoda Hospitals in Hyderabad, said most studies have shown that durable memory can last more than 12 months. However, this will not protect everyone from re-infection. People can still have re-infection with SARS CoV-2 virus. However, the severity of illness and rates of hospitalistion is less in people with prior infection. “Emergence of new strains pose a substantial risk of re-infection, which may go undetected in PCR tests. Hence vaccinating these populations, who had the previous infection, is a strategy to enhance immune response and can develop strong resistance against the new emerging strains which are of concern. Booster vaccinations, if recommended in the coming days, will be more of use for people who are vaccinated alone, than people who had SARS COV-2 infection followed by vaccination,” he added. Dr. Rajeev Jayadevan, vice-chairman, Research Cell, Indian Medical Association (IMA), Kerala, said vaccines remain highly effective at preventing severe diseases and are critical to pandemic control. However, he added that emerging data now suggests that vaccination alone isn’t enough to prevent infections with COVID virus variants needing sustained measures to curb the transmission to continue. “Healthy individuals are able to generate a robust immune response after two exposures to the antigen; that is either by two doses of vaccine or by one bout of infection and one dose of vaccine,” said Dr. Jayadevan. According to him, the second dose is actually the booster dose, while the first dose is called a priming dose. “Whether adding a third dose will increase the existing protection from severe disease and death is not known in the case of healthy individuals,” he said. He added that in case of immune compromised individuals, giving a third dose is agreed upon because two doses are not always enough to generate a sufficient immune response. Further studies and careful observation are needed to see if older people will benefit from a third dose, in terms of better survival. [underlineimg] Mamata Banerjee now criticising Congress that always supported her: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Senior Congress leader Adhir Chowdhury has [lashed out at Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee]( for her comments against the Congress in Goa and said she was doing so to a party now that had always come out in her support and wondered if she was working as an “agent of BJP”. Continuing his diatribe, Chowdhury, at a press meet on Saturday demanded to know why Banerjee, who is trying to cobble up opposition unity, had entered into an alliance with the BJP in the past and was a Minister in an NDA government. Incidentally Banerjee’s criticism of the Congress came on the day its leader Rahul Gandhi was also in Goa to kickstart the party's campaign in the State. Chowdhury made the comments after the Trinamool supremo on Saturday trained her guns on the Congress during her Goa visit, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will become more powerful as the grand old party is not serious about politics and alleged that the country is suffering because that party does not take decisions. Reacting sharply to Banerjee’s comments, the Berhampore MP said “I wonder if you are not working as the agent of BJP now. Please recall who had entered into alliance with BJP in past and was part of the NDA cabinet. And you are now criticising Congress that has always come to your support. “If Congress cannot satisfy you after all the support with our resources, will the people of Bengal be able to do so? Will you behave in the same way with those who have elected TMC for three consecutive times as you have done with Congress?” Chowdhury asked. Speaking about the grand old party, Banerjee had said on Saturday, “I cannot say everything right now because they didn’t take politics seriously. Modi ji is going to be more powerful because of the Congress...If one cannot take decision, why the country should suffer for that? They (Congress) got opportunity (in the past). Instead of fighting against BJP, they contested against me in my State.....” Her party has announced that it will contest all 40 seats in Goa, where Assembly polls are due early next year. When asked about what decisions she thinks the Congress should be taking, she said, “I am not going to discuss about the Congress because it is not my party. I have set up my regional party and without any support of anybody, we formed three times government. “Let them decide. That is my system also, I don’t interfere into any other political party’s business, I can say about my political party and our fight will continue. We are not going to bow down our head to BJP,” she added. Chowdhury, a vociferous critic of the West Bengal Chief Minister, has been more vocal against her for the past one month ever since the TMC has projected Banerjee as the spearhead of the anti-BJP campaign and said only the Trinamool Congress can take the mantle as the main adversary capable to oust Narendra Modi. Banerjee had claimed in an article titled ‘Dillir Dak’ (Call of Delhi) in the puja edition of the party mouthpiece ‘Jago Bangla’ that as the Congress has miserably failed to put up a fight against the BJP, the people of India have put the onus on the Trinamool Congress to create a new India by ousting the “fascist” saffron party. “But the fact is, in the recent past, the Congress has failed to put up a fight against the BJP. In the last two Lok Sabha polls, it was proved. If you can’t provide a fight at the Centre, it breaks the confidence of the masses, and the BJP gains a few more votes in states. We cannot allow this to happen this time,” she said in the article. [underlineimg] Taliban supreme leader Akhundzada makes first public appearance in Afghanistan Taliban’s reclusive supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, [made a rare public appearance in the southern city of Kandahar]( Taliban sources said on October 31, belying widespread rumours of his death. Akhundzada, known as the leader of the faithful or Amir ul Momineen, had not been seen in public even after the Taliban’s August takeover of the country, giving rise to the speculation. A senior Taliban leader who was present with Akhundzada during the appearance told Reuters the supreme leader had visited Jamia Darul Aloom Hakimia, a religious school in Kandahar on October 30. As the Islamist movement unveiled its interim government in September after U.S.-led forces withdrew, mysterious Akhundzada retained the role he has held since 2016 of supreme leader, the ultimate authority over the group’s political, religious and military affairs. Though some officials say that Akhundzada has made unpublicised public appearances before, this was the first confirmed appearance of a man who has long kept a low public profile. The only photo Reuters has been able to verify of him was an undated image posted on a Taliban Twitter feed in May 2016. This shadowy existence has led to constant speculation about his whereabouts and health. Previously, the Taliban had not confirmed the death of their founder, and original supreme leader, Mullah Omar, for years. [underlineimg] Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,42,72,423 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,58,212. [underlineimg] Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.  Today's Top Picks [[In pictures | Puneeth Rajkumar’s final journey] In pictures | Puneeth Rajkumar’s final journey]( [[First in Telugu States, gay couple to announce their wedding in December] First in Telugu States, gay couple to announce their wedding in December]( [[Explained | How is Facebook embedding the real world in computing?] Explained | How is Facebook embedding the real world in computing?]( [[How StayUncle overcame social taboos to be successful] How StayUncle overcame social taboos to be successful]( Copyright @ 2021, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please [try here]( If you do not wish to receive such emails [go here](