9 PM Daily Current Affairs Brief – January 18, 2021

Good evening dear reader

Here is our 9pm current affairs brief for you today

GS- Paper 2

• Why Politicians should be given priority in Vaccination drive?

GS – Paper 4

• Contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s
  

  ---

Factly Articles – 18th January, 2021

Why Politicians should be given priority in Vaccination drive? 

Source: click here 

Syllabus: GS – 2 – Health-related issues

Synopsis: The policy of vaccinating health workers on priority is correct and justified. But, should elected representatives be given priority in vaccination drive? 

Introduction 

As the first phase of vaccination began on 16th January, nearly 2 lakh healthcare workers received Covid-19 Vaccination. It is an apt decision to give priority to the healthcare workers due to their contribution and vulnerability. 

Why Health Care Workers are getting priority? 

Providing priority to the healthcare workers in Vaccination drive is important due to the following reasons;

• Healthcare workers have been fighting the contagious virus from the frontline ever since the pandemic began; many frontline workers also lost their lives to the virus.  
• Including priority workers is also important due to the fact that health workers are more prone to infection, and it will curb the transmission rate.  

Should politicians be included in the priority list? 

Bihar, Odisha, and Telangana requested the Center to include elected representatives in the priority population. It would be a feasible step due to the following reasons:  

• Firstly, giving lawmakers the title of frontline workers won’t cost much. This would mean an addition of only 6000 people to the priority list, in the first phase. 
• Secondly, Parliamentary activities were restricted for the last 10 months but with the vaccine coming in, legislative functions could be resumed. 
• Third, vaccinating political leaders with permitted CVID vaccines will boost public confidence in them. 

• For example, leading figures of the country’s healthcare system including the director of AIIMS, Randeep Guleria, took the shots on the first day of the drive in India. 
  

  ---

Contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 

Source: click here 

Syllabus: GS – 4

Synopsis: Dr. King helped the U.S. to become a more inclusive society. His movements and ideas still have universal appeal. 

Introduction 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideas for a more inclusive society and polity assume significance amid the persisting racial discrimination in the US that resulted in the Black Lives Matter movement.  

What were the ideas Dr. king presented in his speech? 

Amid the persisting racial discrimination, he dreamt of an inclusive America and turned it into a movement in the 1950s and 1960s. 

• In 1963, he gave his most remembered “I have a dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial. There he expressed his vision for an inclusive and equitable America. 
• In his speech, he expressed his desire that one day America will live out the true meaning of its creed that all men are created equal.  

Importance of DR. king’s contribution to the Civil Rights Movement 

Dr. King’s involvement in the Civil Rights Movement was extraordinary. He was a unique leader among the ones who propagated freedom and dignity.  

• First, the Uniqueness of Dr. King’s movement lies in reforming the architecture of movements. He propagated his ideas by a relentless and nonviolent movement. 
• Second, the civil rights movement adopted ideas from India’s civil disobedience. For instance, the 381-day Montgomery bus boycott validated the potential of nonviolent mass protest and stimulated the Civil Rights Movement. 

• Third, his ideas renewed the benchmarks of equality, justice, and dignity in the US society and provided African-Americans with a better version of it. 
• Fourth, his movements ultimately resulted in path-breaking laws such as Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which ended several residues of racial discrimination and led to the empowerment of African Americans. 

Way forward 

Martin Luther King devoted his entire life to his dream of a better and inclusive America.  He was imprisoned almost 30 times, his house was bombed, he was stabbed once, and was finally assassinated, but he still remains an inspiration for America. 

India should also draw inspiration from his ideas and try making its society more inclusive, equal, and just because there is continuing violence on the SC/STs and minority communities due to a hierarchical social structure.

Factly Articles – 18th Jan. 2021

https://forumias.com/blog/77413-2/