The Evening Wrap: Excise duty on petrol cut by ₹5, diesel by ₹10

The Central government has announced an excise duty cut on petrol and diesel of ₹5 and ₹10 per litre, respectively, effective from November 4. The Union Finance Ministry on November 3 said the reduction “will boost consumption and keep inflation low, thus helping the poor and middle classes”, while adding that the States have also been urged to 'commensurately reduce VAT' on petrol and diesel to give relief to consumers. "In recent months, crude oil prices have witnessed a global upsurge. Consequently, domestic prices of petrol and diesel had increased in recent weeks exerting inflationary pressure. The world has also seen shortages and increased prices of all forms of energy," the Ministry explained. Arguing that the excise duty on diesel has been lowered by twice the amount as petrol, the Ministry said this will particularly help farmers in the upcoming Rabi season. “The Indian farmers have, through their hard work, kept the economic growth momentum going even during the lockdown phase...,” it noted. WHO nod to COVAXIN After months of will it, won’t it, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday finally granted emergency use listing for Bharat Biotech COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin. “WHO has granted emergency use listing (EUL) to COVAXIN (developed by Bharat Biotech), adding to a growing portfolio of vaccines validated by WHO for the prevention of COVID19. “The Technical Advisory Group, convened by WHO and made up of regulatory experts from around the world, has determined that the Covaxin vaccine meets WHO standards for protection against COVID-19, that the benefit of the vaccine far outweighs risks & the vaccine can be used,” the organisation tweeted. The organisation added that the vaccine should be administered in two doses, with a dose interval of four weeks, in all age groups 18 and above. “Covaxin vaccine was also reviewed by WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), and recommended use of this vaccine in two doses, with a dose interval of four weeks, in all age groups 18 and above. “Available data on vaccination of pregnant women with the Covaxin vaccine are insufficient to assess vaccine safety or efficacy in pregnancy; studies in pregnant women are planned, including a pregnancy sub-study and a pregnancy registry,” the organisation tweeted. The TAG-EUL is an independent advisory group that provides recommendations to WHO on whether a COVID-19 vaccine can be listed for emergency use under the EUL procedure. Covaxin has demonstrated 77.8% effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 and 65.2% protection against the new Delta variant. In June, the company said it concluded the final analysis of Covaxin efficacy from Phase 3 trials. Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and AstraZeneca and Oxford University's Covishield are the two widely used vaccines in India. SC to examine whether Education is a service The Supreme Court has agreed to examine whether education is a service within the Consumer Protection Act. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and BV Nagarathna noted that a similar legal issue is pending adjudication in another case and tagged the matter along with it. “Having regard to the pendency of Civil Appeal No 3504 of 2020 (Manu Solanki and Others vs Vinayaka Mission University), the issue as to whether education is a service within the Consumer Protection Act, is pending before this Court. Leave granted. Tag with Civil Appeal,” the bench said in its October 29 order. The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by Lucknow resident challenging an order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCRDC) which said educational institutions do not fall within the ambit of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and education which includes co-curricular activities such as swimming, is not a “service” within the meaning of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. In this case, the man's son was studying at a school which offered various 'Summer Camp' activities in 2007 including swimming, and invited students to participate by paying ₹1,000. On May 28, 2007 at about 9.30 am, he received an urgent call from the school requesting him to come immediately as his son was unwell. Upon reaching the school, the man was informed that his son had been taken to hospital as he had drowned in the school's swimming pool. He then rushed to the hospital where he learnt that his son was brought dead. Thereafter, he filed a consumer complaint in the State Commission alleging negligence and deficiency in service on part of the School and claimed ₹20 lakh as compensation for the death of his son as well as ₹2 lakh on account of mental agony suffered by him and ₹55,000 towards the cost of litigation. The State Commission dismissed the complaint on the ground that the complainant is not a consumer. This order was challenged in NCDRC. The NCDRC held that education which includes co-curricular activities such as swimming, is not a “service” within the meaning of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. It concurred with the State Commission's view that the complainant is not a consumer and the complaint not being covered under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is not maintainable. PM urges districts with low vaccination coverage to speed up Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday held a review meeting with senior officials of districts having low COVID vaccination coverage. The meeting included districts with less than 50% coverage of the first dose and low coverage of the second. The Prime Minister interacted with the District Magistrates of over 40 districts in Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya and other States. Directing officials to prepare region-wise timetables for local goals, the Prime Minister said, “You will have to do your best to take your districts nearer the national average.” According to a release by the Central Government, Mr. Modi spoke about the issue of rumours and misunderstandings about vaccination. He suggested that awareness is the only solution for this and asked the officials to take help from religious leaders. The Prime Minister noted that religious leaders are very enthusiastic about the vaccination campaign and urged for a special emphasis on taking their message to the public.He also asked the officials to change gears from making arrangements for taking people to the vaccination centre safely to administering the jabs door-to-door. Urging health workers to reach every house with passion “har ghar tika, ghar ghar tika” (vaccine at every doorstep), the Prime Minister asked them to go in the spirit of “Har Ghar Dastak” knocking on every doorstep. “Now we are preparing to take the campaign to each household. With the mantra of ‘Har Ghar Dastak’, knock on every door, every household lacking the security net of a double dose of vaccine.” The Prime Minister cautioned that equal attention needed to be paid to the second dose because whenever the cases of infection start decreasing, sometimes the feeling of urgency decreases. “You will have to contact those people who have not taken the second dose despite the stipulated time on a priority basis...ignoring this has created problems for many countries.” He emphasised that under the free vaccine for all campaign, India created a record of administering about 2.5 crore doses in a day which bears testimony to its capabilities. Asking the officials to learn from the good practices of their colleagues in better performing districts, the Prime Minister emphasised that approaches should be suitable for the local needs and the environment. The District Magistrates gave an account of the issues and challenges they are facing which has resulted in low coverage. The Prime Minister discussed the issue of vaccine hesitancy and the local factors behind it in detail. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan gave an overview of the vaccination coverage. Pakistan refuses airspace for Srinagar-Sharjah flight Pakistan denied use of its airspace to Go First, earlier known as GoAir, forcing the flight from Srinagar to Sharjah to take a longer route, and fly over Gujarat to reach its destination in the UAE, government officials said. Government and airline sources said that other west-bound flights using Pakistan's airspace, including those flying to the US and UK, were unaffected. "MEA and MHA officials are working to resolve the issue," a person in the know said. The Go First flight, G81595, was flying via Lahore until October 30, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24. The data for October 31 is not available on the website, but the next flight on November 2 was forced to flew via Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat to reach its destination. The operates this flight four times in a week. The detour also means that the flight that was originally three- hour long, now takes additional 30 minutes to reach Sharjah. Reacting to Pakistan's action, former J&K chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah took to Twitter and said, it was "very unfortunate. Pakistan did the same thing with the Air India Express flight from Srinagar to Dubai in 2009-2010. I had hoped that @GoFirstairways being permitted to overfly Pak airspace was indicative of a thaw in relations but alas that wasn’t to be." Blaming the Centre, PDP chief and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti tweeted “puzzling that GoI didn’t even bother securing permission from Pakistan to use its airspace for international flights from Srinagar. OnlyPR extravaganza without any groundwork.” Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,43,17,392 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,59,581. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 03 NOVEMBER 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]( Excise duty on petrol cut by ₹5, diesel by ₹10 The Central government has announced [an excise duty cut on petrol and diesel of ₹5 and ₹10 per litre, respectively,]( effective from November 4. The Union Finance Ministry on November 3 said the reduction “will boost consumption and keep inflation low, thus helping the poor and middle classes”, while adding that the States have also been urged to 'commensurately reduce VAT' on petrol and diesel to give relief to consumers. "In recent months, crude oil prices have witnessed a global upsurge. Consequently, domestic prices of petrol and diesel had increased in recent weeks exerting inflationary pressure. The world has also seen shortages and increased prices of all forms of energy," the Ministry explained. [The Finance Ministry said the duty cut will particularly help farmers in the Rabi season.]  Arguing that the excise duty on diesel has been lowered by twice the amount as petrol, the Ministry said this will particularly help farmers in the upcoming Rabi season. “The Indian farmers have, through their hard work, kept the economic growth momentum going even during the lockdown phase...,” it noted. [underlineimg] WHO nod to COVAXIN After months of will it, won’t it, the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday [finally granted emergency use listing for Bharat Biotech COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin]( “WHO has granted emergency use listing (EUL) to COVAXIN (developed by Bharat Biotech), adding to a growing portfolio of vaccines validated by WHO for the prevention of COVID19. “The Technical Advisory Group, convened by WHO and made up of regulatory experts from around the world, has determined that the Covaxin vaccine meets WHO standards for protection against COVID-19, that the benefit of the vaccine far outweighs risks & the vaccine can be used,” the organisation tweeted. The organisation added that the vaccine should be administered in two doses, with a dose interval of four weeks, in all age groups 18 and above. “Covaxin vaccine was also reviewed by WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), and recommended use of this vaccine in two doses, with a dose interval of four weeks, in all age groups 18 and above. “Available data on vaccination of pregnant women with the Covaxin vaccine are insufficient to assess vaccine safety or efficacy in pregnancy; studies in pregnant women are planned, including a pregnancy sub-study and a pregnancy registry,” the organisation tweeted. The TAG-EUL is an independent advisory group that provides recommendations to WHO on whether a COVID-19 vaccine can be listed for emergency use under the EUL procedure. [A health worker shows a vial of (SARS-CoV-2) Covaxin vaccine. File]  Covaxin has demonstrated 77.8% effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 and 65.2% protection against the new Delta variant. In June, the company said it concluded the final analysis of Covaxin efficacy from Phase 3 trials. Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and AstraZeneca and Oxford University's Covishield are the two widely used vaccines in India. [underlineimg] SC to examine whether Education is a service The Supreme Court has [agreed to examine whether education is a service]( within the Consumer Protection Act. A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and BV Nagarathna noted that a similar legal issue is pending adjudication in another case and tagged the matter along with it. “Having regard to the pendency of Civil Appeal No 3504 of 2020 (Manu Solanki and Others vs Vinayaka Mission University), the issue as to whether education is a service within the Consumer Protection Act, is pending before this Court. Leave granted. Tag with Civil Appeal,” the bench said in its October 29 order. The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by Lucknow resident challenging an order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCRDC) which said educational institutions do not fall within the ambit of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 and education which includes co-curricular activities such as swimming, is not a “service” within the meaning of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. In this case, the man's son was studying at a school which offered various 'Summer Camp' activities in 2007 including swimming, and invited students to participate by paying ₹1,000. On May 28, 2007 at about 9.30 am, he received an urgent call from the school requesting him to come immediately as his son was unwell. Upon reaching the school, the man was informed that his son had been taken to hospital as he had drowned in the school's swimming pool. He then rushed to the hospital where he learnt that his son was brought dead. Thereafter, he filed a consumer complaint in the State Commission alleging negligence and deficiency in service on part of the School and claimed ₹20 lakh as compensation for the death of his son as well as ₹2 lakh on account of mental agony suffered by him and ₹55,000 towards the cost of litigation. The State Commission dismissed the complaint on the ground that the complainant is not a consumer. This order was challenged in NCDRC. The NCDRC held that education which includes co-curricular activities such as swimming, is not a “service” within the meaning of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. It concurred with the State Commission's view that the complainant is not a consumer and the complaint not being covered under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is not maintainable. [underlineimg] PM urges districts with low vaccination coverage to speed up Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday [held a review meeting with senior officials of districts]( having low COVID vaccination coverage. The meeting included districts with less than 50% coverage of the first dose and low coverage of the second. The Prime Minister interacted with the District Magistrates of over 40 districts in Jharkhand, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya and other States. Directing officials to prepare region-wise timetables for local goals, the Prime Minister said, “You will have to do your best to take your districts nearer the national average.” According to a release by the Central Government, Mr. Modi spoke about the issue of rumours and misunderstandings about vaccination. He suggested that awareness is the only solution for this and asked the officials to take help from religious leaders. The Prime Minister noted that religious leaders are very enthusiastic about the vaccination campaign and urged for a special emphasis on taking their message to the public.He also asked the officials to change gears from making arrangements for taking people to the vaccination centre safely to administering the jabs door-to-door. Urging  health workers to reach every house with passion “har ghar tika, ghar ghar tika” (vaccine at every doorstep), the Prime Minister asked them to go in the spirit of “Har Ghar Dastak” knocking on every doorstep. “Now we are preparing to take the campaign to each household. With the mantra of ‘Har Ghar Dastak’, knock on every door, every household lacking the security net of a double dose of vaccine.” The Prime Minister cautioned that equal attention needed to be paid to the second dose because whenever the cases of infection start decreasing, sometimes the feeling of urgency decreases. “You will have to contact those people who have not taken the second dose despite the stipulated time on a priority basis...ignoring this has created problems for many countries.” He emphasised that under the free vaccine for all campaign, India created a record of administering about 2.5 crore doses in a day which bears testimony to its capabilities. Asking the officials to learn from the good practices of their colleagues in better performing districts, the Prime Minister emphasised that approaches should be suitable for the local needs and the environment. The District Magistrates gave an account of the issues and challenges they are facing which has resulted in low coverage. The Prime Minister discussed the issue of vaccine hesitancy and the local factors behind it in detail. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan gave an overview of the vaccination coverage. [underlineimg] Pakistan refuses airspace for Srinagar-Sharjah flight Pakistan [denied use of its airspace to Go First]( earlier known as GoAir, forcing the flight from Srinagar to Sharjah to take a longer route, and fly over Gujarat to reach its destination in the UAE, government officials said. Government and airline sources said that other west-bound flights using Pakistan's airspace, including those flying to the US and UK, were unaffected. "MEA and MHA officials are working to resolve the issue," a person in the know said. The Go First flight, G81595, was flying via Lahore until October 30, according to flight tracking website Flightradar24. The data for October 31 is not available on the website, but the next flight on November 2 was forced to flew via Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat to reach its destination. The operates this flight four times in a week. The detour also means that the flight that was originally three- hour long, now takes additional 30 minutes to reach Sharjah. Reacting to Pakistan's action, former J&K chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah took to Twitter and said, it was "very unfortunate. Pakistan did the same thing with the Air India Express flight from Srinagar to Dubai in 2009-2010. I had hoped that @GoFirstairways being permitted to overfly Pak airspace was indicative of a thaw in relations but alas that wasn’t to be." Blaming the Centre, PDP chief and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti tweeted “puzzling that GoI didn’t even bother securing permission from Pakistan to use its airspace for international flights from Srinagar. OnlyPR extravaganza without any groundwork.” [underlineimg] Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,43,17,392 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,59,581. [underlineimg] Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.  Today's Top Picks [[Tamil Nadu teenager Vinisha Umashankar makes a clarion call at COP26] Tamil Nadu teenager Vinisha Umashankar makes a clarion call at COP26]( [[Bangladesh's villages bear the brutal cost of climate change] Bangladesh's villages bear the brutal cost of climate change]( [[A breakdown of Netflix’s gaming strategy in terms of content, tech and economics] A breakdown of Netflix’s gaming strategy in terms of content, tech and economics]( [[Watch | Polar bears return to Pacific Arctic for the first time in 20 years] Watch | Polar bears return to Pacific Arctic for the first time in 20 years]( Copyright @ 2021, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. 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