The India COVID-19 Weekly Trends & Analysis document for the week between October 25, 2021 and October 29, 2021 shows a decrease in active cases by 8.42%. Fatalities during this period increased by 0.92%.
The Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) leadership stated on October 27 that its supporters had resumed their long march to Islamabad after talks with the Pakistani government failed. The talks were initiated by the Pakistani government in an effort to address TLP’s demands, including release of its chief and expulsion of the French ambassador, through negotiations (see details in next section).
The India COVID-19 Weekly Trends & Analysis document for the week between September 13, 2021 and September 17, 2021 shows an decrease in active cases by 10.62%. Fatalities during this period increased by 0.31%.
Employee protests have been around ever since companies have been around. The methods adopted in conducting protests have been quite diverse; right from maintaining a moments silence to silent gatherings, sit-ins, walkouts, joint petitions, sloganeering etc. However over the recent few years, the evolution of employees using social media to voice their concerns has increased significantly.
India felt the impact of the global energy crisis in October, 2021 as coal shortages brought the country to the brink of a power crisis. The energy crisis is mainly a result of a faster than expected recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. This recovery has resulted in demand for energy skyrocketing as industries try to maximise production and cover up losses incurred in 2020. Simultaneously, energy producers and policy makers failed to account for this surge in demand, which has led to production-side shortages and supply bottlenecks.
On October 27, the US President announced killing of the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi in the north western Syrian province of Idlib in an intelligence driven security operation.
Reports from August 27 announced the arrest of Jamaat ul Mujahideen (JMB) cadre, Ejaz Ahmad alias Taufique Raza by the Kolkata Special Task Force (STF) from Bihar’s Gaya district on August 26. While arrests of the members of this Bangladesh based militant group have become a common feature, the latest announcement remains highly notable given the fact that Ejaz was one of the senior most members of the India affiliate- Jamaat ul Mujahideen India (JMI). The JMI was announced by the JMB in February 2018.
In the backdrop of a surge in geopolitical tensions in the Persian Gulf, hostilities between the US and Iran seems to have recorded a notable uptick. This view is further bolstered by the additional troop deployment by the US in the region which was preceded by deployment of air and naval assets, including aircraft carrier battle group in the region in May.