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India launched its mammoth vac-cination drive on Saturday to
bringthe pandemic under control with twolocally-produced vaccines
—Covishield and Covaxin — withnearly two lakh out of tragetted
threelakh taking shot against the pathogenon the first day on
Saturday.
Launching the “world’s largestvaccination drive” against
Covid-19,Modi congratulated citizens and sci-entists for the feat
but cautioned peo-ple against being careless and not tak-ing
precautions after taking the firstdose of the vaccination.
The Prime Minister also alertedpeople against the rumours
spreadabout the vaccines. He said Indianvaccines are the “cheapest
and thebest in the world”.
Modi, in a televised addressbefore the vaccine rollout, said
thereare several nations whose entirepopulation is less than 3
crore, butIndia will be vaccinating as many
people in just the first phase. Hesaluted scientists for
developing thevaccines in such a short span of time.
The PM cautioned people toensure that they take both the dosesat
one month’s gap and show patienceas the country begins to give the
anti-dote to its huge population.
“Don’t make the mistake of tak-ing one dose and then
forgettingabout dose two and don’t forget coro-navirus appropriate
behaviour aftergetting the dose. The patience withwhich you fought
coronavirus, showthe same patience during vaccinationnow,” Modi
said.
As the PM kicked off the vaccinerollout with a click of a
button, avideo message played the Sanskritchant — sarve bhavantu
sukhinah,sarve santu niramaya (All be happy,all be free of
illness).
The Covid-19 vaccination drivewas successfully conducted on
thefirst day, Additional Secretary in theUnion health Ministry
ManoharAgnani said during a press briefing
here organised late evening after thedrive was wrapped up for
the day. Ofthree lakh planned to be inoculated,around 1,91,181
beneficiaries weregiven the shot of Covid-19 vaccineson first day
involving 16,755 per-sonnel at 3,351 vaccination sessions.
Agnani said that Covid-19 vac-cines Covaxin and
Covishield(developed by Bharat Biotech andSerum Institute of India
(SII) respec-tively) were given at 3,351 sessionacross the country.
He refused to take any questions from thereporters.
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It was neither the age, nor the wayto go. Usha Srivastava, 59,
whoheaded the Hindi Pioneer since itsbirth in 2011, passed away at
11.30at the Max hospital, Saket, in NewDelhi on Saturday.
She left behind a grieving fami-ly, shell-shocked colleagues, a
largenumber of friends, well-wishers,and acquaintance who would
foundit difficult to accept that (the) cheer-ful, friendly, demure
face of Hindijournalism is no more.
Usha was suffering from a liverailment and had undergone a
livertransplant. She could never recoverfrom the post-operation
complica-tions.
A host of political leaders andjournalists have mourned her
death.
An emotional Chandan Mitra,the Editor-in-Chief of The
Pioneer,nearly broke down on hearing thenews of Usha’s demise. “She
nurtured
the Hindi Pioneer like her own baby.She was a spirited,
committed, andlively colleague, whose absence can-not be filled
easily. I’m speechlesswith grief,” he said.
Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath mourned Usha’sdeath
and conveyed his condolencesto her family. Union Minister
NitinGadara and Haryana Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar were amongthose who mourned Usha’s
death.
The Pioneer CEO ShoboriGanguly described Usha as a “valu-able”
colleague who also cared foreveryone around her. “I find it so
dif-ficult to come to terms with her pass-ing away. She was such a
noble soul,”she said. When her wait for a liverdonor ended on
December 25 afternearly a fortnight of a wait duringwhich she was
bedridden in the hos-pital, in and out of the ICUs, at ThePioneer
we took a sigh of relief.
Many of us met her before shewas wheeled into the operation
the-atre the next day. Little did we knowthat it would be the last
time wewould see her.
Her valiant fight for survival, ourprayers, and doctors’ efforts
couldnot change what destiny had instore for her. She left us
without aword, without even opening her eyesfor nearly three
weeks.
Turn to Page 4
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Adead owl in the Delhi zoohas been infected with birdflu as the
samples were foundpositive for H5N8 avianinfluenza virus under
RT-PCRtest done by ICAR-NationalInstitute of High SecurityAnimal
Disease (NIHSAD),Bhopal, on Friday, officialssaid on Saturday.
“The zoo witnessed thedeath of a brown fish owl in itscaptivity.
Its cloacal, trachealand ocular swabs were sent tothe animal
husbandry unit ofthe Delhi Government for sero-logical
examination,” zooDirector Ramesh Pandey said.
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The Bhartiya Kisan Union Lokshaktiapproached the Supreme Court
onSaturday, requesting it to remove theremaining three members of a
com-mittee it had set up to hold talks withthe farmers protesting
against the threecontentious farm laws.
The BKU (Lokshakti) has request-ed the court to nominate people
to thecommittee who can do the job “on thebasis of mutual
harmony”.
The BKU (Lokshakti) is one of the40-odd farmer unions
spearheading theagitation on various border points ofDelhi for
about 50 days now, demand-
ing repeal of the farm laws.In an affidavit, the BKU
(Lokshakti)
said the principle of natural justice isgoing to be violated as
those appoint-ed to the four-member committee “have already
supportedthese laws”.
“It is important to mention herewith great regret that the
principle ofnatural justice is going to be violated bymaking these
persons as members of thecommittee.... how they will hear
allfarmers on equal parameters whenthey have already supported
theselaws,” it said.
The union also sought dismissal ofa plea of the Central
Government, filedthrough the Delhi Police, seeking aninjunction
against the proposed tractormarch or any other kind of protest
byfarmers that could disrupt the gather-ing and celebrations of the
Republic Dayon January 26.
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On day one of the launch of India’shistoric nationwide
vaccinationdrive against Covid-19, Delhi,Maharashtra and Haryana
recordedcases of adverse events — though noneof them fatal — even
as the Centreasserted that the inoculation drive wassuccessfully
conducted and no case ofpost-vaccination hospitalisation report-ed
so far. In Delhi, 52 healthcare work-ers developed minor adverse
event fol-lowing immunisation (AEFI), while 1severe case was
reported as per dataavailable from the Government.
Haryana recorded 13 adverse eventcases following the
immunisation.
Officials from Maharashtra saidthey are further investigating
the 14
cases of adverse events. At some sites like RML hospital in
the national Capital, a section of doc-tors were apprehensive of
an adverseevent as they doubted the efficacy of theCovaxin
developed by the BharatBiotech, which is yet to complete thephase
three trials.
The Drugs Controller General ofIndia (DCGI) had earlier this
monthapproved Oxford Covid-19 vaccineCovishield, manufactured by
the SerumInstitute, and indigenously developedCovaxin of Bharat
Biotech for restrict-ed emergency use in the country.
The Resident Doctors’ Association(RDA) of the Central
Governmenthospital, RML refused to take the shotand requested the
MedicalSuperintendent to vaccinate them withOxford Covid-19 vaccine
Covishield.
In a letter to the MS, the associa-tion said the resident
doctors were “a bitapprehensive” about Covaxin and mightnot
participate in the immunisationdrive in large numbers.
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Serum Institute CEO AdarPoonawalla was administered thefirst
dose of the Covishield coron-avirus vaccine on Saturday
afternoon,hours after Prime Minister NarendraModi launched India’s
nationwidevaccination drive.
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Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan has said that the
creationand use of indigenous vaccine to pre-vent corona is a
matter of pride. It is theresult of the visionary leadership
ofPrime Minister Modi that from todaythe countrymen will be able to
avail the“Made in India Vaccine”. It has rightlysaid that “Modi hai
to mumkin hai”.
Chief Minister Chouhan was inau-gurating the Covid
VaccineImmunisation Campaign at CovidBlock 1 of Hamidia Hospital
onSaturday. The first vaccine was admin-istered to ward boy Sanjay
Yadav, work-ing in Hamidia Hospital on the occa-sion. In the first
phase, 2 lakh 25 thou-sand vaccines are being administered inthe
state today.
Chief Minister Chouhan congrat-ulated ward boy Sanjay Yadav who
gotthe first vaccine. Sanjay Yadav thankedChief Minister
Chouhan.
Medical Education MinisterVishwas Sarang, Public Health
andFamily Welfare Minister PrabhuramChaudhary, Finance Minister
JagdishDeora, Additional Chief SecretaryMohammad Suleman,
CommissionerBhopal Kavindra Kiawat and DirectorPublic Relations
Ashutosh Pratap Singhwas present in the vaccination cam-paign.
Chouhan gave detailed informationabout the vaccination programme
inMadhya Pradesh. Chief Minister
Chouhan said that Prime MinisterModi is a “Man of Ideas”. He
recognizedthe crisis in time. The efforts made byhim for the
country for the control ofCorona are historical. The making
ofindigenous vaccines to protect againstCorona and the introduction
of acountrywide vaccine has started as acampaign from today. For
this, our sci-entists certainly deserve special thanks,who worked
day and night to producethe vaccine. I salute the scientific
com-munity.
The Chief Minister said that todayit is natural to remember the
sacrificesof the matyrs who treated Corona vic-tims at a time when
people were afraideven by the name of someone infectedby Corona.
Many doctors lay down theirlives while giving treatment
services.Vaccination is being started by payingobeisance to
them.
Turn to Page 4
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� What made you say yes toplay Farishta in Naagin 5?
I have never done asupernatural fantasy showearlier and also I
was gettinga chance to work with Balajiafter three-and-a-half
years, sothat’s what attracted me to therole. Not to mention, that
it isan interesting character anddifferent from what I havedone
till date.� What all can the audienceexpect from this new
entry?
There is a lot of craze forNaagin among the audience. Ican’t
reveal the track but I amsure it will be as interesting asit has
been all these years withme joining the show as acameo. � Did the
role offer anychallenges?
The role is challengingbecause the technique toshoot a fantasy
thriller isdifferent from a daily soap. Ihave never joined a
showmidway and believe it will befun and also a
learningexperience.� In all these years, what hasbeen your biggest
takeawayfrom the industry?
I am growing andevolving with every projectthat I do, not only
as an actorbut also as a human being.That’s my biggest takeaway.
Iam fortunate enough to havebeen able to work with suchgood people
all through. I amgrateful for whatever I haveachieved and my
journey isnothing short of amazing.� You have been a part of afew
music videos as well.How did that happen?
I got an offer, I had timeand so I did it. I didn’t give itmuch
thought. And the lastmusic video that I did — EkDafa To Mil, was
shot anddirected very well.� How did acting happen toyou?
It happened after school.I always wanted to act. I toldmy
parents that I want to goto Mumbai. They weresupportive and
encouragedmy decision. They were happyof what I wanted to do. I
cameto Mumbai and started
auditioning. Thankfully,within two months of comingto Mumbai, I
got work. Therewas no struggle that I had togo through because of
myparents or any other thing. Itall went smooth for me.� Did you
have anyapprehensions?
Not at all. I knew what Iwanted to do and I just wentwith my
intuitions. A lot ofpeople are worried about thefuture and they do
want to
have a back-up plan if thingsdidn’t go their way. But I
wasdedicated enough to this craftand that is all I cared about.
Iwas sure things will work outon their own and there wasnothing
that I was worriedabout.� What next?
There are a few things inthe pipeline and I will talkabout it
and share more detailssoon as things wil l getconfirmed.
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The Bansal Super SpecialtyHospital of Bhopal has alsoachieved a
new status in thefield of transplantation bytransplanting 100
kidneys in avery short time.
Kidney transplant is themain option for a long and bet-ter life
in kidney failurepatients, for a long time it wascommon practice to
getpatients treated outside thestate for high level
medicalfacilities, but in such a shorttime to establish High
levelinstitute for kidney transplantby Bansal Hospital in the city
is a matter of pride for thestate.
Dr Vidyanand Tripathi,nephrologist at Bansal Hospitaland head of
the kidney trans-plant department, said thatkidney failure patients
have togo to the hospital for dialysistwo to three times a week
and
life is not very long, In terms ofexpenses the cost of dialysis
inthe long run is much higherthan that of kidney transplant,so
kidney transplant is like giv-ing new life for these patients.
Dr Santosh Agrawal, ChiefSurgeon, Department ofKidney Transplant
and Head ofUrology Department said thatthe specialty of these
trans-plants is that they contain allthose complex transplants
likecadaver transplant, swap trans-plant, transplant without
bloodgroup matching, pediatric
transplants and multivessaldonor transplants. Donor kid-neys
have been extracted fromlaparoscopic method in allpatients. All
these facilities areequivalent to the facilities avail-able only in
big transplant cen-ter in the country.
Dr Ganesh Dhanuka, anephrologist and transplantphysician at
Bansal Hospital,explains that the success ofBansal Hospital's
transplantprogram is equivalent to trans-plant centers of major
cities inIndia.
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Observing birth anniver-sary of SwamiVivekananda, the
NationalYouth Day was celebratedenthusiastically in theRadharaman
Group Campus.An event was organised here onSaturday.
Lectures were organizedin the college auditorium.Following the
CoronaGuideline, on one hand, teach-ers and management peoplejoined
it live maintaining socialdistancing, while on the otherhand it was
broadcast throughFacebook Live and GoogleMeet for students and
parents.
The keynote speaker ofthe programme, VishwasChauhan,
AdministrativeMember, Madhya PradeshPrivate University
RegulatoryCommission, told that byadopting the thoughts ofSwami
Vivekananda in life, aperson can succeed. IndianGovernment
celebratesNational Youth Day every yearon the birthday of
SwamiVivekananda.
This decision was taken bythe Indian government toinspire Swami
Vivekananda'sphilosophy and his youthtowards his ideal. He
furthersaid that it was decided to cel-ebrate the birthday of
SwamiVivekananda as National Youth
Day to fulfill the goal ofimproving the future of thecountry by
encouraging theyouth through SwamiVivekananda's ideas
andlifestyle.
Speaking about the impor-tance of Youth Day, RR Saxena,Chairman
of RadharamanGroup said that the main goalof celebrating it is to
spread theimportance of SwamiVivekananda's ideals and ideasamong
the youth of India. Thisis a great way to awaken theeternal energy
of the youthalong with their great efforts tomake India a developed
country.
����������� -,.��+
In a joint effort district policeand excise departmentdestroyed
and dumped 35,000kg of raw material and 1,800litres county raw
country madeliquor worth �28 lakh fromover Tarawali Kanjar
Dera,accused escaped in forest area.
The special campaign tocurb illegally manufacturing ofliquor in
the region continuedand under which teams wereformed and raided
severalplaces and recovered raw mate-rial and country made
liquorwhich was destroyed by theteams.
The police have registereda case under section 34(1) ofthe
Madhya Pradesh Excise Act1915 and started further
inves-tigation.
During the raid conductedpolice and Excise Departmentteam
jointly taking action inTarawali Kanjar Dera and near-by areas.
The police would takeaction under NSA against theabsconding
accused.
Meanwhile, the BhopalCrime Branch nabbed twomiscreants who were
engagedin transportation of liquor ille-gally in car and recovered
130liters of country made liquorworth �4.75 lakh from
theirpossession near Khajuri onFriday.
Police said that after receiv-ing tip off regarding
miscreantsusing car involved in trans-porting liquor illegally
crimebranch team reached the spotand seized the car and liquor.
The three miscreants were in acar bearing registration num-ber
MP 04 CD 2395.
Nabbed accused were iden-tified as Ramswaroop Meena(40) and
Kumer Meena (30)who were carrying liquor ille-gally.
The accused used old car toevade suspicion as police couldnot be
misled. Police have reg-istered a case under section34(2) of the
Excise Act was reg-istered and further investiga-tion has been
started.
����������� -,.��+
A28-year-old man who wasinjured in Ratibad area inthe early
morning hours onSaturday, died while undergo-ing treatment at a
HamidiaHospital.
According to the policethe deceased Rambabu Meena0of Bilkisganj
was on his way toBhopal when he met accidentand was rushed to
hospitalwhere he died during treat-ment.
The police have registereda case under section 174 of theCrPC
and have started furtherinvestigation.
The accident took place ata deserted place and localsinformed
police and ambu-lance to take injured to hospi-tal.
Meanwhile, a 2-year-oldboy died late in the night atKamla Nehru
Hospital whowas hit by unidentified vehicleat Karbala area;
Koh-e-Fizapolice have started investiga-tion.
����������� -,.��+
Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan has said that theMahila
Samman Abhiyan isbeing conducted by the StateGovernment in
collaborationwith the society to protect thehonour of girls and
women.The general public must extendsupport to the campaign.
The Freedom of ReligionBill 2020 has been passed bythe State
Government for theprotection of girls and women.The people of the
State are ourGod. For them, I am soft likea flower for them, and
hard asthunderbolt for goons ad mis-creants. Mafia will be
destroyedin the state. The Governmenthas decided to provide
thefarmers and poor people withtheir rights and benefits
ofGovernment schemes so thatthe State can progress at a
faast pace. Chouhan wasaddressing a programmeorganised at
Beohari districtheadquarters of Shahdol dis-trict.
Chouhan administered theoath to the people present onthe
occasion to support thedevelopment of MadhyaPradesh and urged them
toassist State Government in de-addiction and to save the dig-nity
of women. Chouhan saidthat the State Government wasformed during
the corona peri-od, during which all arrange-ments for prevention
of coro-na infection were made. Nowthe State Government is work-ing
with the resolve to providefood, clothing, shelter, educa-tion, and
medicines to everypoor in the State.
Yearly Samman Nidhi of�6,000 is being given to farm-ers by Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi and a Samman Nidhi of�4,000 is given by the StateGovernment
which totals to�10,000. He said that treatmentis being ensured to
every per-son, pucca houses to everypoor by the year 2024 andwater
through tap-waterscheme in every house is beingprovided under the
AyushmanYojana.
The Chief Minister per-formed bhoomi-pujan of 46works costing
�48 crore 29 lakh28 thousand in Beohari. Alongwith this, he also
dedicated 547construction works worth �24crore 45 lakh and 58
thousand.Chief Minister Chouhan dis-tributed benefits worth
�14crore 66 lakh to 9,324 benefi-ciaries of various welfareschemes
in the programme.Chouhan released the booklet“Aapada ko badla avsar
mein”in Shahdol district.
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Darshan Desale launchedhis first literary work titled'Manu'. The
book is about theProtagonist Manu, a com-monplace young boy who
liveda life just like you and I. Heloved to learn the secrets
fromour ancient scriptures andbooks. He tried to learn moreabout
the meaning of life andexistence. Manu’s life changesone day when a
character fromMahabharata appears in frontof him in person, with an
invi-tation to visit a secret place inan ancient lost city and
thestory unfolds after that.
Desale shares his Journeyof penning his first Novel, “The
journey of writing a bookon Manu started when I was in12th grade. I
wrote my firststory when I was in 8th grade.I was always attracted
to mys-terious things and the myster-ies of the universe. That’s
wheremy research started. My timewas running out to find evi-dence
of what is the truth, whatis half-truth? it increased mycuriosity
about certain things.So, if those things didn’t attract
me at that time, I might nothave written this ‘MANU’
booktoday.”
The author unravels histhoughts, “My writing processis simple. I
write inflow.Writing must have done inflow.When you are writing in
flow,when you are in perfect align-ment with the universe, theideas
flow automatically frominside. To give an example ofme, in the book
Manu, I haveshown that heroes have a lot ofdreams. That dreams are
notimaginary but real.As I had adream while writing the bookManu, I
wrote those in thebook. This thing happenedautomatically, inflow.
And sur-prisingly, whenever I had adream, I write it.”
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On the first day of the three-day National CanoeMarathon
Championshipwhich started on Saturday incity. The players of the
WaterSports Academy bagged 4 goldmedals to Madhya Pradesh ina
spectacular performance. Theboys and girls players won themedals in
the 15 km juniorclass and 21 km senior classmarathons.
Minister of Sports andYouth Welfare, YashodharaRaje Scindia
congratulated thefour gold medal winners andappreciated the great
perfor-mance of the players in theNational Canoe
MarathonChampionship. He expressedconfidence that our playerswill
make the state proud bywinning more medals in thisthree-day
championship.
Director Sports and YouthWelfare Pawan Jain said that itis a
matter of pride, pride andhonor that our players aredoing best in
national compe-
titions and are increasing thevalue of Madhya Pradesh bywinning
medals.
On Saturday 15 km of thechampionship The marathonwas won by the
academy'sKaveri Dheemer with a time of1 hour 25 minutes 48
secondsand Shivani Verma with1.29.42 and Akshit Baroi fin-ishing
the race with a time of1.10.15. 21 km of the champi-onship Academy
player BalvirJat completed the marathon inone hour 25 minutes 09
sec-onds and earned the goldmedal.
It is noteworthy that theNational Canoe MarathonChampionship is
being orga-nized at the small lake in thecity from January 16 to
18under the joint aegis of theIndian Kayaking and
CanoeingAssociation and MadhyaPradesh Amateur Kayakingand Canoeing
Association.
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Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh onSaturday said he
would gethimself vaccinated for Covid-19 vaccine in the next phase
ashe rolled out the inoculationdrive here.
Four healthcare workers,including three doctors,
wereadministered the first dose ofCovishield vaccine in the
pres-ence of the chief minister atcivil hospital. Capt
Amarinderalso gifted saplings to these fivehealthcare workers as a
tokenof appreciation.
The Chief Minister said itwas his desire to get vaccinat-ed
first but in accordance withthe directives of theGovernment of
India onlyhealthcare workers could becovered in the first phase.
“Iwould definitely get myself
vaccinated in the next phase,”he said.
The CM said the vaccinewould be administered to thehealth
workers first, followedby the Army and police per-sonnel, in line
with the guide-lines of the Government ofIndia. In the first phase,
1.74lakh health workers would beinoculated.
He said he had written tothe Prime Minister for per-mission for
free distributionamong the people belonging tothe lower income
groups. Inresponse to a query on vaccinesafety, the Chief Minister
saidthe vaccine will not have beenapproved unless the
scientistswere sure of its safety.
He noted that Covid vac-cines around the world hadbeen taken by
many eminentpersonalities, including QueenElizabeth of the UK who
is 93
and her husband who is 99,without any side effects.
Earlier, in his address, thechief minister said he was
delighted to announce thestate-wide launch of the Covidvaccine,
while appealing to thepeople to continue to wear
masks and observe all social distancing and othersafety
norms.
He noted that all the
restrictions imposed duringlockdown, curfew and there-after had
been aimed at delay-ing the peak of the pandemicso that the vaccine
could beavailable.
The CM thanked the peo-ple for their patience and coop-eration
during this difficultphase. Hoping that the vacci-nation would pave
the way forthe complete eradication ofthe Covid pandemic fromPunjab
and the rest of India,the CM said it was undoubtedlya memorable day
when thelong awaited vaccine hadarrived after getting all
themandatory approvals fromhealth experts in theGovernment of
India.
He prayed to the almightyfor the success of the vaccina-tion
drive to ensure the safetyand protection of every citizen.
Amarinder lauded the
healthcare workers and othersresponsible for keeping thespread
of the pandemic incheck in the State, where thenumber of daily
cases hadcome down from the peak of3,700 to 242.
The target was to bringthem down to zero, he said,asserting that
his Governmentwould continue its endeavourto safeguard the
interests of allPunjabis.
Capt Amarinder said thefirst Covid case in the countrywas
reported from Kerala onJanuary 20, 2020, while the firstinstance of
Covid -19 came to notice in Punjab onMarch 5, 2020 with a travel
his-tory of Italy.
Since then, in Punjab about1.20 crore persons have beenscreened
for symptoms andover 41 lakh persons have beentested so far, he
said, adding
that nearly 1.7 lakh peoplehave been diagnosed withCovid-19.
The CM pointed out thatPunjab was the first state toimpose
lockdown and curfew,besides ensuring home deliveryof food items and
medicinesduring curfew.
Health Minister BalbirSingh Sidhu said all arrange-ments had
been put in place forsmooth vaccination, includ-ing online portal
for registra-tion, operationalisation of sitesfor administering the
dose,etc. in the State.
In the initial stage, as manyas 408 vaccination teams hadbeen
constituted and 59 teamswere working to inoculate thehealthcare
workers, he added.Sidhu said 729 cold chainpoints had been
established inthe state for adequate storage ofvials at the desired
temperature.
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Stating that the vaccinationprogramme would prove tobe an
effective step in over-coming global Covid-19 pan-demic, Haryana
Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar onSaturday said the
StateGovernment has made all nec-essary arrangements for
thesuccessful implementation ofCovid-19 vaccination pro-gramme
commencing todayat 77 sites in the State.
He said two vaccinesnamely Covishield of SerumInstitute of India
and Covaxinof India Biotech are authorisedfor emergency use in
Haryana.He said that on January 13, theState had received more
than2.4 lakh doses of Covishieldvaccine and the first supply
of20,000 doses of Covaxin.
Khattar was interactingwith the Covid vaccinationbeneficiaries
and serviceproviders of Medanta-TheMedicity, Gurugram and
othergovernment and private healthinstitutions in the State
throughvideo conferencing here inChandigarh.
The address of ChiefMinister was telecast live at all77 sites in
the State includingtwo-way connectivity at CivilDispensary,
Sector-4, Panchkulaand Government PrimarySchool, Wazirabad,
Gurugram.
He said the population hasbeen prioritised in view of thehigh
demand of vaccines ini-tially. Several groups have been
included in the vaccination ofCovid-19 and the vaccinewould be
administered sequen-tially starting from Health CareWorkers.
Khattar said those whohave been included in Group 1include
health workers (doc-tors, nurse, ANM, pharma-cists, sweeper, lab
technician,helper, ASHA, Anganwadiworkers, etc).
Similarly, those who havebeen included in Group-2include
frontline workers suchas municipal and sanitationworkers, state and
central policeforces, civil security, prison staffand armed forces
like armed lineworkers. Now the revenue staffhas been added to it.
He said thatthe population above 50 years ofage and Population
below 50years with co-morbidities havebeen included in Group-3.
The Chief Minister saidthat to ensure smooth, effectiveand
target based implementa-tion of vaccination programme,beneficiaries
have beenenrolled in the digital platform(CoWIN software).
He said for the successfulimplementation of the vacci-nation
programme, health careworkers and health facilitieshave been
registered on theCoWIN platform.
This includes about twolakh health workers, 5,044 vac-cinators,
765 Public Healthfacilities, 3,634 Private healthfacilities, 18,921
session sitesand 1,005 observers.
He said that Haryana has
adequate cold chain space tostore the Covid-19 vaccine. AState
Level Vaccine Store hasbeen set up in Kurukshetra.Apart from this,
four regionallevel stores have been set up inHisar, Rohtak,
Kurukshetraand Gurugram.
Also, 22 vaccine stores (onein each district) have also beenset
up. Apart from this, arrange-ment of 22 insulated vaccinevans has
been made for thetransportation of vaccine to 659cold chain points
acrossHaryana.
Khattar said that Haryanahad enough Covid hospitals totreat
Corona patients and allthe hospitals are equipped withoxygen beds,
ICU beds andventilators. He said that theHealth Department has also
setup a 1075 helpline for theassistance of citizens of theState.
Today the recovery ratein Haryana is more than 98percent and the
mortality rateis about 1 percent which ismuch lower than most
states,he asserted.
He said however, cases ofCoronavirus are decreasingand the
Covid-19 vaccine hasalso come up, the people stillneed to be
vigilant to preventthe further spread ofCoronaVirus by following
pre-cautionary measures like wear-ing a mask, maintaining
handhygiene and a physical distanceof two yards. He also urged
thepeople not to panic fromCorona as it is completely cur-able.
Citing his own example,
the Chief Minister said that heremained admitted in
Medanta,Gurugram for 17 days due toCorona. As a result of
strongwill power and dedication ofdoctors, he successfully
recov-ered from Covid.
Additional Chief Secretary,Health and Family Welfare,Rajeev
Arora said that Saroj Balawas the first Healthcare workerto have
been successfully vacci-nated at GovernmentDispensary, Sector-4,
Panchkula.
He said that DirectorGeneral Health Services SurajBhan Kamboj,
AdditionalDirector General HealthServices, Dr Veena Singh,Director,
National HealthMission, Haryana Dr VK Bansal,Civil Surgeon,
Panchkula DrJasjeet Kaur, State ImmunizationOfficer Dr. Virender
Ahlawat,were among the few who cameforward and got themselves
vac-cinated so as to infuse confidenceamong other people of the
Statetowards the vaccination.
Dr Naresh Trehan ofMedanta-The MedicityGurugram who was
alsoamong the doctors of Medantathat got vaccinated on Saturdaytold
the Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar thatCovid vaccination is
neces-sary for the safety of people,their family and the society.
Hesaid that mild fever and bodypain after the vaccination isnormal
and people should notworry about these symptoms.
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!,���(�8,A20-year-old sanitationworker received the first
shot of the coronavirus vaccineas the inoculation drive
commenced in Chandigarh onSaturday.
Arun, who works as asweeper at the GovernmentMulti-Specialty
Hospital atSector 16, said he was feelinggood and had no worry
beforebeing administered the jab.After administering the vac-cine,
the youth was kept forobservations for 30 minutes tocheck any side
effects.
“There’s no anxiety, rather Iam feeling good,” said Arun,who was
also given a bouquet offlowers. Arun, whose mother
came to meet him when he wasvaccinated, said he was told thathe
was the first one to get thevaccine in the Union territory.
The vaccination drive wasconducted at five sites in
Chandigarh. One was at theGovernment Multi-SpecialtyHospital at
Sector 16, civilhospital at Sector 45, two sitesat Government
MedicalCollege and Hospital at Sector
32 and one at advanced paedi-atric centre at the PostGraduate
Institute of MedicalEducation and Research(PGIMER).
Around 500 healthcareworkers will be vaccinated onthe first day
of the drive.Chandigarh Health ServicesDirector Amandeep Kang
wasamong those who got the jab. Adoctor working at the PGIMERwho
also received the shot saidhe was happy that the vaccinehad finally
come and would beadministered to all healthcareand frontline
workers.
The Union territory hasreceived 12,000 doses ofCOVID-19 vaccine
and healthauthorities provided 1,000doses to the PGIMER.
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Himachal Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur started theCovid-19
vaccination cam-paign in the State from IGMCShimla and said in the
firstphase of Covid-19 vaccina-tion, 93,000 doses would
beadministered to the front linewarriors including health
careworkers of the State.
He said that 2,529 healthcare workers were administereddose
through 27 identified sitesin the State on Saturday, addingthat
about 74,500 health work-ers would be vaccinated andeach
beneficiary would be pro-vided two doses and a seconddose would be
administeredafter an interval of 28 days.
Thakur said the StateGovernment had constituted aState Level
SteeringCommittee, State Task Force,District Task Force and
BlockTask Force to monitor effectiveadministration of vaccinationof
Covid-19.
He said the StateVaccination Store had beenset up at Shimla
while theRegional vaccine store had
been established at Mandi andDharamshala. He said thatDistrict
Vaccine Stores hadbeen set up in all the 12 dis-tricts of the State
besides 386cold chain points in the State.
The CM said AD syringesin sufficient quantity as perbeneficiary
has also beenreceived by the State and hasbeen distributed to the
districtsand additional stock of 0.5 mlAD syringes had been stored
atState Vaccine Store, Parimahal,Shimla, Regional Vaccine
Store,Mandi and Regional VaccineStore Dharamshala to meetout any
situation.
He added Adverse EventsFollowing Immunization(AEFI) management
traininghad been given to the sessionsite vaccinators for
establishingreferral mechanisms andreports on COWIN app.
Thakur said AEFICommittees at State andDistrict level had also
beennotified with additional mem-bers of Pulmonologist andMedicine
Specialists for casu-alty assessment of AEFI cases.
The CM added to ensurethe success of the vaccination
campaign dry run had alsobeen organised at various iden-tified
sites. He also urged thepeople of the State to ensurethat all
precautions are main-tained despite having admin-istered Covid 19
vaccine.
Urban DevelopmentMinister Suresh Bhardwaj,Secretary Health
AmitabhAwasthi, Mission DirectorNHM Dr. Nipun Jindal,Director
Medical EducationDr. Ravi Sharma, PrincipalIGMC Rajneesh
Pathania,Deputy Commissioner ShimlaAditya Negi and other
digni-taries were also present on theoccasion.
Later on, Thakur visitedthe identified site underRegional
Hospital at Mandi and also reviewed thework plan for Covid-19
vacci-nation and bird flu situation in
the district. He expressed satisfaction
over the decline of Covid-19cases in the State and said that the
Covishield vaccinewould give safe and expectedresults in
eradicating covidcases in the State.
On the first day of vacci-nation, he took stock of
theestablished Covid vaccine cen-ters at Vijay Senior
SecondarySchool, Lal Bahadur ShastriMedical College and
Hospital,Civil Hospital Sundernagarand Karsog, where 360 health
workers were adminis-tered the vaccine.
He directed the officersconcerned regarding microplan of
vaccination campaignwhich would be completed in161 phases in 111
centres of thedistrict covering 11,877 bene-ficiaries upto February
1, 2021.
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To promote livelihood,Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh
on Saturdayvirtually kicked off a state-widepro-poor scheme for
Allotmentof 7,219 Fair Price Shops (FPS)under his Government’s
flag-ship “Ghar Ghar Rozgar teKarobaar Mission”.
As a token gesture, theChief Minister handed overallotment
letters to five bene-ficiaries. The event was markedby simultaneous
distribution of370 allotment letters to the ben-eficiaries in 64
MunicipalCommittees by variousMinisters, MLAs and otherdignitaries
across the State, inthe first phase of the scheme.
The CM said the initiativewill be instrumental in improv-ing the
economic condition ofpeople, besides furtherstrengthening public
distribu-tion system to ensure seamless,fair and timely
distribution.
He asked the allotees toensure that the ration meant for
the poor reaches the genuinebeneficiaries without
illegaldiversion of food grains. Headded nearly 30,000
beneficiaries(average family of four) would bebenefitted through
the scheme.
Amarinder asked the FoodDepartment to look into waysand means to
supplement theincome of FPS owners by facil-itating these outlets
as points ofsale for additional consumeritems. He complemented
theRation Depot Holders for theircontribution to the
StateGovernment’s relentless battleagainst Covid-19 by
operatingtheir shops during lockdownthus ensuring hassle-free
supplyof free food grains to the peoplein the State. During the
lock-down period, 17 lakh free foodkits were distributed to the
poor.
He also lauded the endeav-our of the Food and CivilSupplies
Department to plugleakages in Public DistributionSystem with the
introduction ofePOS machines using biomet-rics, to ensure that
ration onlygoes to the rightful beneficiaries.
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Haryana Government onSaturday approved 218new schemes costing Rs
245crore and six schemes costingRs 49.27 crore of Public
HealthEngineering Department inthe 52nd meeting of HaryanaState
Drought Relief and FloodControl Board held under theChairmanship of
ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattarhere in Chandigarh.
Deputy Chief MinisterDushyant Chautala andAgriculture and
Farmers’Welfare MinisterJP Dalal werealso present in the
meeting.
During the meeting, theChief Minister directed theDeputy
Commissioners in theState and SuperintendingEngineers (SEs) of line
depart-ments to ensure speedy imple-mentations of these schemeswith
a target to complete all shortterm schemes by June 30, 2021.
The Chief Minister alsodirected the officers of PublicHealth
EngineeringDepartment to coordinate withthe Deputy Commissionersand
District Municipal
Commissioners to draft sepa-rate dewatering plans for thoseareas
which have not beenincluded in the schemesapproved in today’s
meeting soas to deal with the problem ofwater logging in such
areas.
During the meeting,Additional Chief Secretary,Irrigation and
Water ResourcesDepartment, Devender Singhsaid that the
IrrigationDepartment by taking furtherthe State Government’s
visionof water conservation has laidmore thrust on water
conser-vation and land reclamation inaddition to its mandate to
savethe state from fury of floods.He informed that the 218
schemes approved in today’smeeting include water con-servation,
reclamation, pro-tection of Abadi/AgricultureLand, Procurement of
Flood Machinery andRepair/Reconstruction ofBridges/Structures
etc.
He informed that last yearno flood situation along RiverYamuna
though some districtslike Hisar, Sonipat, Ambala,Jhajjar Jind,
Julana experiencedwater logging due to localizedheavy rains. He
said that all theflood protection schemes pro-posed were reviewed
and rec-ommended by the HaryanaState Advisory Committee inthe
meeting held on January 6,
2021 under the Chairmanshipof Additional Chief Secretaryand
Financial Commissioner,Revenue and DisasterManagement Sanjeev
Kaushal.
He further intimated thesuccess of last year’s executedland/soil
reclamation pilotschemes and said that the samehave been proposed
to be repli-cated on a wider scale to otherdistricts to reclaim the
sub-merged areas whereby savingcrops and increasing agricul-ture
produce.
During the meeting, theChief Minister also launched aweb portal
for “MicroIrrigation Initiative” on theweb site https://cada-
haryana.nic.in for invitingapplications from the
farm-ers/WUA.
The launch is with themotto “Suksham Sinchai SeHar Khet Mein
Pani” which isa step towards automation. Aproject, inclusive of
water-course for installation ofCommunity Based Solar/GridPowered
Integrated MicroIrrigation with subsidy at therate of 95 percent on
MicroIrrigation (MI) system will betaken up through the portal.
Farmers or groups of farm-ers have to come forward withthe chak
of minimum 25 acresto adopt MI in their fields.Further 100 percent
consent ofstakeholders (Farmers) foradaptation of MI system with
5percent MI cost contributionand free land for tank at the rateof 2
kanal for 25 acres chak willbe main requirement fromfarmers end.
Therefore con-struction of storage tanks, solarpumps and on farm
micro irri-gation components like drip andsprinkler shall be
provided byGovernment on subsidised ratesin a transparent
mannerthrough this web portal.
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From Page 1When she first fell ill in end
of October last year, none of usever thought in two-monthtime we
would lose her forev-er. After all, we were so used toher presence,
her friendly ban-ters and intense politicaldebates, that we thought
noth-ing could ever defeat her. Alas!We were so wrong.
Usha completed her studyfrom Kashi HinduVishwavidyalaya and
thenstarted her journalist careerfrom Hindi daily Aaj as a
cor-respondent from Varanasi.Later, she moved to Delhi andworked
with Amar Ujala,Rajasthan Patrika and DainikBhaskar before she
joined asthe Resident Editor of theHindi Pioneer in 2011.
She would be always thelast to leave the office.
But when it came to leaveus for one last time, she seemedto be
in such a tearing hurry.
Goodbye, Usha...
������������
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From Page 1The Chief Minister said that
the order of priority for vaccina-tion has been set. In the
firstphase, Corona warriors includ-ing medical and paramedicalstaff
apart from doctors fromgovernment and private hospitals
will be vaccinated. In the nextorder, frontline workers
includ-ing revenue workers, policemen,employees of urban bodies
etc.will get vaccinated. Citizensabove 50 and those under 50years
but suffering from multiplehealth issues will be vaccinated.
Chief Minister Chouhan said thatsmall health problems may
ariseafter vaccination for whicharrangements have been made.This
vaccine is safe. After the firstdose, the second dose will
beadministered after 28 days of thefirst vaccination. After this,
anti-
bodies will develop in 14 days.Those vaccinated will be
keptunder observation for 30 minutesafter the vaccination, to see
if theconcerned person develops anyAEFI symptoms for which
nec-essary arrangements have beenmade.
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The CBI has re-registeredJ&K ACB FIR in connec-tion with the
alleged irregu-larities committed in transferof land under the
RoshniScheme against 13 persons ofPulwama, including seventhen
officials posted in the dis-trict l ike the DeputyCommissioner,
Pulwama andhis subordinates.
The then DeputyCommissioner, Pulwama,Mehraj Ahmad Kakroo,
thethen Additional DeputyCommissioner, PulwamaIftikhar-ul Hasnain,
the thenAssistant Commissioner,Revenue, Mohammad RajabBhatt, the
then TehsildarMohammad Hussain, the thenNaib Tehsildar,
Kakpora,Mohammad MaqboolAhanger, the then Girdawar,Kakpora, Ghulam
AhmadSheikh and the then PatwariHalqa , Kakpora, Abdul RazakWagey
have been named inthe FIR.
In addition, private per-sons named in the FIR areAhmad Pandith,
Nabi Naikoo,Mohammad Amin Pandith,Dr Farhat Pandith, Abdul
Majid Sheikh and GhulamRasool Wani.
The accused have beenbooked under Section 120-B(criminal
conspiracy) of theRanbir Penal Code and rele-vant provisions of
thePrevention of Corruption Act.
“In pursuance of the J&KHigh Court, FIR No 29/2015OF Police
Station-VOK, nowACB, J&K is re-registered,”reads the FIR.
An audit report of thePrincipal Accountant General(Audit)
alleged irregularitiescommitted in the transfer ofland under the
Roshni scheme.The report revealed that theoff icers and off icials
ofRevenue department ofPulwama have by abuse and
misuse of their official positionas public servants
conferredundue pecuniary benefit uponthe illegal occupants of
stateland by arbitrarily fixing theprice of land which was
lowerthan the prevailing marketrate of the area,
incorrectapplication of rates and unau-thorised change of
classifica-tion of land from residential toagricultural.
Verification revealed thatthe ownership rights of thestate land
measuring sixKanals, 10 Marlas and fourSirsai was transferred in
thename of the six accused per-sons under Jammu andKashmir State
Land (vesting ofownership) Act, 2001, itadded.
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Former Union Minister PChidambaram on Saturdayhit out at the
Centre over theimpasse on the farm laws, alleg-ing that “no one”
was consultedfor the legislations, and assert-ed that the only way
out for theGovernment was to agree tostart on a “clean slate”.
Hisremarks came a day after theCentre asked protesting farmersto
form an informal group toprepare a concrete proposalabout their
objections and sug-gestions on the farm laws for fur-ther
discussion at their nextmeeting on January 19 to endthe
long-running protest at var-ious Delhi borders.
The protesting farmerunions, however, stuck to theirmain demand
of a completerepeal of the three legislations.In a series of
tweets,Chidambaram said that asexpected, another round of
talksbetween the farmers and gov-ernment has failed.
The fault lies with theGovernment because it will notagree to
get rid of the disputedlaws, the former Union minis-ter said. “RTI
responses haveexposed as a lie the government’s
claim that there were extensiveconsultations before the FarmLaws
Ordinances were promul-gated. The truth is that no onewas
consulted. In particular,state governments were notconsulted,” he
alleged.
The only way out of theimpasse is for the government toadmit its
mistake and agree tostart on a clean slate,Chidambaram said.
Thousandsof farmers, mostly from Haryanaand Punjab, have been
protest-ing at several border points ofDelhi since November 28
lastyear, demanding a repeal of thethree laws and a legal
guaranteeto the minimum support price(MSP) system for their
crops.
Enacted in September lastyear, the three laws have beenprojected
by the Centre as majorreforms in the agriculture sectorthat will
remove middlemen andallow farmers to sell their pro-duce anywhere
in the country.
However, the protestingfarmers have expressed theirapprehension
that the new lawswould pave the way for elimi-nating the safety
cushion of theMSP and do away with the“mandi” (wholesale market)
sys-tem, leaving them at the mercyof big corporates.
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To promote toy manufac-turing among domesticplayers,
particularly amongrural entrepreneurs, theCommon Service
Centre(CSC), an SPV under theMinistry of Electronics andIT
Ministry, has joined handswith the All India Council forTechnical
Education (AICTE)to organise ‘Toycathon-2021’.
“Toycathon-2021 is aimedat understanding the creativi-ty among
start-ups in ruralareas, students and profes-sionals for developing
andmanufacturing toys. It is aunique opportunity for stu-dents,
teachers, start-ups andtoy experts/professionals inIndia to submit
their innovativetoys/games concepts and winprizes worth Rs.50
lakhs,” saidCSC Managing Director DrDinesh Tyagi.
Toycathon-2021 is aninter-ministerial initiativeinvolving six
ministries.Organised by the Ministry ofEducation’s Innovation
Cellwith support from AICTE,the initiative is being support-ed by
the Ministry of Womenand Child Development,Ministry of Commerce
andIndustry, Ministry of MSME,Ministry of Textiles andMinistry of
Information and
Broadcasting.Toycathon-2021 will be
conducted through CSCAcademy, an arm of CSC, at6,000 block and
taluka levelwhere CSC Academies arepresent. “CSC Academy, a
not-for-profit society which deliv-ers specialized
courses/trainingprogrammes, and promotesentrepreneurship among
therural masses, is best suited for
this unique initiative due to itsreach and expertise.
CSC Academies are beingutilised to create awareness,promote and
conductToycathon-2021 in rural areas.The new concepts of toys
gen-erated from Tyocathon-2021might also be useful in solvingour
societal problems,” saidTyagi, who is also Secretary ofthe CSC
Academy.
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Traders’ body CAIT onSaturday filed a petition inthe Supreme
Court, making aplea to direct WhatsApp towithdraw its new privacy
pol-icy
The body issued a state-ment claiming that the newWhatsApp
privacy policyencroaches upon various fun-damental rights of the
citizens.
About the petition, thetraders’’ body said it “has alsoprayed
that Union of Indiamust frame guidelines to gov-ern big technology
companieslike WhatsApp and frame poli-cies which would protect
theprivacy of citizens and busi-nesses”.
“The Confederation of AllIndia Traders (CAIT) hastoday filed a
petition in theSupreme Court with the prayerto direct WhatsApp to
with-draw its new privacy policy,which is encroaching uponvarious
fundamental rights ofthe citizens granted byConstitution of India,”
thestatement said.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp hasannounced delaying by threemonths the
implementationof the new privacy policy thathas faced a massive
backlash
with tens of millions of its usersmoving from the platform
torivals like Signal and Telegram.
The policy change wasoriginally scheduled to comeinto effect on
February 8, theFacebook-owned companysaid.
It has clarified that theupdate does not affect datasharing with
Facebook withregard to personal conversa-tions or other profile
infor-mation and only addressesbusiness chats in the event auser
converses with a compa-ny’’s customer service plat-form through
WhatsApp.
“The petition especiallyhighlights the difference ofapproach in
EU and Indiacountries with respect to theprivacy policy of
WhatsAppand how the data of Indianusers can be misused by suchbig
tech companies,” CAITsaid.
'������$��������������+1��������������������������������������
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on Gujarat for wasting judicialtime, irked over the “lethargyand
incompetence” of thestate government in filing apetition before it
after a delayof over a year.
A bench, headed byJustice Sanjay Kishan Kaul,pulled up the state
forapproaching the apex court ina “casual manner” and dis-missed
the plea on the groundof delay.
It observed that such kindof “certificate cases” are filedwith
the only objective toobtain a quietus from the topcourt on the
ground thatnothing could be donebecause the highest court
haddismissed the appeal.
The petition was filed inthe the top court by the
stategovernment after a delay of427 days against an order ofthe
Gujarat High Court passedin March 2019 in a case.
“The objective is to com-plete a mere formality andsave the skin
of the officerswho may be in default in fol-lowing the due process
ormay have done it deliberate-ly. We have deprecated suchpractice
and process and wedo so again.
“We refuse to grant suchcertificates and if the govern-ment
suffers losses, it is timewhen concerned officersresponsible for
the same bearthe consequences,” said thebench, also
comprisingJustices Dinesh Maheshwariand Hrishikesh Roy.
“The irony, emphasisedby us repeatedly, is that noaction is ever
taken against theofficers and if the court push-es it, some mild
warning is allthat happens,” the bench saidin its order passed
earlier thisweek.
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Former president of theSupreme Court BarAssociation (SCBA)
andsenior advocate Vikas Singhon Saturday requested ChiefJustice S
A Bobde to constitutea bench to resolve the electionstalemate of
the professionalbody of lawyers.
He said Dushyant Dave,who resigned from the post ofSCBA
president on Thursday,was to constitute the electioncommittee in
the first week ofNovember last year as theterm of the executive
com-mittee was ending onDecember 13.
“He delayed the decisionby a month. Even after decid-ing on
December 4, hedelayed communicating tothe election committee
byanother week. When the EChad already decided to con-duct the
election virtually,there was no occasion forhim to call an EC to
ratify theelection committee decision ofappointing NSDL,” Singh
saidin a letter to the RegistrarGeneral of the SupremeCourt.
“If a hybrid mode (of elec-tion) was what they wanted,they
should have decided onDecember 4. Now asking theelection committee
to deferthe election to third week ofFebruary is again an attemptby
Dave to prolong his tenuretill then creating a drama ofresignation
and then makingthe EC to reject his decision toresign,” the letter
stated.
The senior lawyer said allthe three members of the theelection
committee resignedon Friday night as the SCBArefused to accept its
decisionto hold elections throughNSDL, a digital firm.
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Nepal does not acceptinterference in itsdomestic politics as it
is capa-ble of handling its internalproblems, Nepalese
ForeignMinister Pradeep KumarGyawali said on Saturday, incomments
that came againstthe backdrop of China wad-ing into the political
turmoilin the Himalayan nation fol-lowing the dissolution of
itsparliament.
Gyawali’s assertion cameat a media interaction whenasked about
China’s attemptto play a role in the after-math of fast-paced
politicaldevelopments in Nepal lastmonth.
“We never accept inter-ference in our domestic pol-itics. We are
able to settleour own problems. As aclose neighbour, there maybe
some concerns or ques-tions but we never accept
interference,” the Nepaleseforeign minister said.
Nepal plunged into apolitical turmoil followingPrime Minister K
P SharmaOli’s sudden decision to dis-solve parliament and callfor
fresh elections in view ofinternal feud in the rulingNepal
Communist Party(NCP).
As the crisis deepened,China rushed a high-levelte am he ade d
by ViceMinister of the InternationalD ep ar t ment of t heCommunist
Party of China(CPC) Guo Ye zhou toKathmandu to hold talkswith the
rival factions with-in the NCP after the Chineseambassador in the
countryfailed to sort out differ-ences.
The team held talks withalmost all top Nepalese lead-ers but had
to return emptyhanded. The Chinese med-dling in Nepalese
politicaldevelopments triggered strong
criticism within Nepal.Gyawali said Nepal’s rela-
tions with both India andChina are excellent and that itnever
compares ties with eachother.
Asked about the politicalcrisis and role of NCP leaderPushpa
Kamal Dahal who ispopularly known asPrachanda, Gyawali refused
tomake any direct commentand said as foreign minister ofthe
country, he representseveryone in Nepal.
At the same time, theNepalese foreign minister jus-tified Oli’s
decision to dissolveparliament saying he followedthe democratic
principle ofseeking fresh mandate fromthe people whose decisions
aresupreme in a democracy.
“In democracy, people arethe final authority to decideabout who
will govern. I thinkdissolution of the parliamentis a reflection of
the internalissue. It is not wise to blameanybody,” Gyawali
said.
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Days after booking its fourpersonnel for allegedlyreceiving
bribe to compromiseon investigation against com-panies accused of
bank fraud,the CBI has suspended two ofthem —Inspector KapilDhankad
and StenographerSamir Kumar Singh — and rec-ommended
administrativeaction against the other two.
Officials said on Saturdaythat the agency has recom-mended to
the Department ofPersonnel and Training to ini-tiate administrative
actionagainst deputy superintendentsof police R K Rishi and R
KSangwan.
The Department ofPersonnel and Training is thenodal ministry for
the CBI,they said.
According to the chargeslevelled in the eight-page FIR,made
public on Friday after thecompletion of a search opera-tion by the
agency, InspectorDhankad received bribe moneyfrom Sangwan and
Rishi, whowere soliciting favours forShree Shyam Pulp and
BoardMills, accused in a Rs 700-crorebank fraud case, and
FrostInternational, accused in a Rs3,600-crore bank fraud case.
The CBI has booked itsfour personnel, besides twoadvocates,
Additional Directorof Shree Shyam Pulp and BoardMills Mandeep Kaur
Dhillonand Directors of FrostInternational Sujay Desai andUday
Desai.
“The CBI has a zero tol-erance policy towards corrup-tion, be it
other departments orwithin the organisation. Thecase is a result of
strict vigil andaction on any input whichindicates involvement of
ourofficials in corrupt practice,” anofficial said.
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The Centre on Saturday saidbird flu in poultry has beenconfirmed
in nine districts ofMaharashtra, while cullingoperation in poultry
is under-way in one district each inMadhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh.
Apart from poul-try, the viral disease has beenconfirmed in crow
inUttarakhand, Gujarat and UttarPradesh, while in pigeon,brown fish
owl and Heron inDelhi.
The Ministry of AnimalHusbandry on Saturday saidthat Avian
Influenza has beenconfirmed in Chhatarpur dis-trict of Madhya
Pradesh(crow); Surat, Navsari andNarmada districts of
Gujarat(crow); Dehradun district ofUttarakhand (crow);
Kanpurdistrict of Uttar Pradesh (crow).Additionally, in Delhi,
Pigeonand brown fish owl inNajafgarh and Heron in Rohinihave tested
positive for avianinfluenza. “Till 16 January,
2021 cases of Avian Influenzahave been confirmed in poul-try in
Latur, Parbhani, Nanded,Pune, Solapur, Yavatmal,Ahmednagar, Beed
and Raigaddistricts of Maharashtra,” itsaid.
However, the ministryagain requested state govern-ments to
“rethink” their deci-sions to impose ban sale ofpoultry products
and allowsale of poultry items sourcedfrom the
non-infectedareas/states.
As per the report, receivedfrom Central PoultryDevelopment
OrganisationMumbai, unusual mortality ofpoultry have been found in
thefarm. The samples have beensent to the designated labora-tory
for testing.
The ministry has againasked the states to rethinktheir decisions
to impose banon sale of poultry and poultryproducts and allow
selling ofpoultry and poultry productssourced from the
non-infectedareas/States.
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There will be no letup in theintense cold and dense tovery dense
fog conditions in thenorth and north western partsof the country at
least the nextthree to four days. Dense tovery dense fog over north
andcentral India has delayed sev-eral trains and rescheduledflights
in Delhi, Amritsar andLucknow on Saturday due topoor to zero
visibility.
According to the IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD), zero
visibility wasreported over Delhi, Lucknowand Amritsar due to
variableand calm lower-level windson Saturday. “Zero
visibilityshown over Delhi, Lucknowand Amritsar...,” the IMD saidin
a tweet. This is the third timeduring this winter season thatthe
visibility has dropped tozero in several cities. Densefog-induced
low visibility con-ditions led to delay of over 40flights from the
Indira GandhiInternational Airport (IGIA)here on Saturday.
According toairport sources, poor visibilityconditions and
non-compli-ant CAT III B trained pilots ledto the delays.
According to IMD,Ludhiana, Patiala, Karnal andAligarh reported
visibility-50meters each at 5.30 pm onSaturday and
Bahraich,Gangtok, Cooch Behar-200each. As regards Delhi
andSafdarjung have reported visi-bility 500 meters while
visibil-ity in Palam was reported1000meters.
The dense fog is likely topersist on Sunday and Mondayas well.
“Dense to very densefog at some/many pockets verylikely over
Punjab, Haryana,Chandigarh & Delhi, UttarPradesh, north
Rajasthan; atisolated pockets over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal
&Sikkim, Bihar during the next
two-three days,” the IMD said.“This will also lead to
dense fog conditions with vis-ibility at below 200 metres inthe
morning hours, which canimpact the transport and powersectors,” it
said.
Due to the prevalence ofdry north and north-westerlywinds,
minimum temperaturesare likely to fall by 2-4 degreesover most
parts of northwestIndia during the next two days.The cold and
chilly winter thisyear is due to the prevailing LaNina condition
which is aweather phenomenon causeddue to the cooling of the
PacificOcean. This has led to the dropin temperature and long
spellsof cold. Also, the western dis-turbances brought rains
andsnowfall in the first week ofJanuary which has also impact-ed
the weather.
Kuldeep Srivastava, head ofregional forecasting at theRegional
MeteorologicalDepartment in Delhi, said thattemperatures will begin
to risefrom January 19. “The La Ninaconditions will persist till
thefirst week of February 2021. Weexpect day temperatures
togradually increase fromJanuary-end which will givesome respite to
people,” hesaid.
Dense fog also added toextreme cold in Jammu &Kashmir on
Saturday, and theweather office forecast nomajor change during the
next
five days in the prevailingweather conditions. Srinagarcity —
the summer capitalofJammu and Kashmir --recorded a low of minus
8.2degrees Celsius, down fromminus 7.6 degrees Celsius theprevious
night.
Cold wave conditions pre-vailed in Punjab and Haryanaon
Saturday, with Bathindaregistering a minimum tem-perature of 4
degrees Celsius.Among other places in Punjab,Amritsar, Ludhiana and
Patialabraved the chill at 6.5, 7.8 and6.7 degrees Celsius,
respec-tively, up to three degreesabove normal.
In Uttar Pradesh, the low-est temperature in UttarPradesh was
2.6 degreesCelsius, recorded at Churkobservatory, while Jhansi
reg-istered a high of 24.2 degreeCelsius -- the highest in
thestate.
Cold wave conditions con-tinued in Himachal Pradeshwith Keylong
shivering atminus 6.8 degrees Celsius.IMD has predicted dry butcold
weather in the state tillJanuary 22. Tribal Lahaul andSpiti’s
administrative centreKeylong continued to be thecoldest place in
the state atminus 6.8 degrees Celsius,Shimla MeT centre
directorManmohan Singh said. Kalpain Kinnaur district recorded alow
of zero degrees Celsius, headded.
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With the RBI raising con-cern over the issuance ofzero coupon
bonds for recap-italisation of public sectorbanks (PSBs), the
FinanceMinistry is examining otheravenues for affordable
capitalinfusion including setting up ofa Bank Investment
Company (BIC), sourcessaid. Setting up a BIC as a hold-ing
company or a core invest-ment company was suggestedby the P J Nayak
Committee inits report on ‘Governance ofBoards of Banks in
India’.
The report recommendedtransferring shares of the gov-ernment in
the banks to theBIC which would become theparent holding company of
allthese banks, as a result of this,
all the PSBs would become‘limited’ banks. BIC will beautonomous
and it will havethe power to appoint the boardof directors and make
otherpolicy decisions about sub-sidiaries.
The idea of BIC, whichwill serve as a super holdingcompany, was
also discussed atthe first Gyan Sangam bankers’retreat organised in
2014,sources