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  • 2021/01/22  · vaccine groups, and 75 were randomly assigned to the con-trol group. Two intramuscular doses of vaccines were administered 14 days apart. “BBV152 led to …
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T wo days after the Government offered to keep in abeyance the three farm laws, the rift widened between the Government and farmers’ unions on Friday. In the 11th round of meet- ing, farmer unions rejected the Government’s offer and insisted on complete repeal of the three laws. Both sides hardened their stands and could not even reach a decision on the date of the next meeting. In the very beginning of the meeting, farmer leaders said that they have decided to reject the proposal to put off farm laws for 18 months. Hardening its stand, the Government asked farmers’ unions that the next round of talks will only continue if they agree to accept the proposal by Saturday. Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said the Centre has asked farmers to consider its proposal on the temporary suspension of the implemen- tation of the farm laws. The Minister added that the next meeting would be scheduled only after farmers’ unions come back with a response. He blamed external “forces” for their rigid stand and said no resolution is pos- sible when the sanctity of agi- tation is lost. Meanwhile, farmer leaders alleged even as the meeting lasted for nearly five hours, the two sides sat face to face for less than 20-25 minutes and for the rest of the time, they were in a separate rooms. Farmers’ lead- ers said they felt “insulted” by the manner in which the Ministers treated them. “The Minister made us wait for three and a half hours. This is an insult to farmers. When he came, he asked us to consider the Government’s pro- posal and said that he is end- ing the process of meetings,” said SS Pandher of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, adding that the agitation will continue peace- fully. At the meeting, the Union Ministers told farmers’ unions that they have been given all possible options and they must discuss internally the propos- al of suspending the laws. Sources said the Ministers were not happy with the farmers’ decision to continue their demand to hold tractor rally on Republic Day in Delhi. “The Government has given the best, solution-ori- ented proposal to farmer organisations. We asked them to reconsider our proposal as it is in the interest of farmers and the country. Talks remained inconclusive as farmers’ welfare was not at the heart of talks from the unions’ side. I am sad about it. Farmers’ unions said that they only want the repeal of the laws despite the Government asking for alter- natives. We should remain hopeful. We asked them to convey their decision tomor- row (Saturday). Let’s wait to hear farmer unions’ final deci- sion,” Tomar said after the meeting. Taking a hardline posi- tion, the Minister said some external force was definitely trying to ensure that the agita- tion continues and those were obviously against the interests of farmers. “The Government gave many proposals to end the protest, but no resolution is possible when the sanctity of an agitation is lost,” he said. Asked whether he expects farmers to agree to the Government offer, he said, “I don’t want to speculate, but we are hopeful that farmer unions will consider our proposal pos- itively.” On whether he saw any division among the union lead- ers on the Government pro- posal, Tomar did not give a direct reply but said, “We thanked all farmer leaders, including those who support our proposal and those who are against it.” During the meeting, farm- ers alleged the Delhi Police is trying to harass their leaders. One of the union leaders alleged that the rear wind- shield of his car was smashed by the Delhi Police. The car belongs to one Ruldu Singh Mansa. Darhsan Pal one of its leaders received a threatening phone call while Hannan Mollah was manhandled by police. As the 11th round of talks remained inconclusive, farmer leaders have threat- ened to intensify their protest. The break, during which farmer leaders had their langar (community kitchen) food, lasted for more than three hours. The break also saw 41 farmer leaders holding con- sultations among themselves, at times in smaller groups, while the three Union Ministers wait- ed in a separate room at Vigyan Bhawan. Farmer leader Shiv Kumar Kakka who was the first to leave the talks said there was no headway in the discussions and the Government asked unions to deliberate on its pro- posal again. After the meeting, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) leader Joginder Singh Ugrahan said the dis- cussions have broken down as the unions rejected the Government’s proposal. Harpal Singh, president of Bhartiya Kisan Union Asli Arajnaitik, said, “Even if we accept the Government’s offer, our fellow brothers sitting at Delhi borders will not accept anything other than a repeal of the laws. They will not spare us. What achievement will we show to them?” He also ques- tioned the Government’s cred- ibility, alleging it was difficult to believe that they will keep their word on putting the laws on hold for 18 months. W hile a section of health experts have raised questions about the efficacy of the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech’s anti-Covid-19 vac- cine, Covaxin, a report in The Lancet Infectious Disease journal has said the vaccine showed enhanced immune response without any serious side effects in the partici- pants enrolled for the phase 1 trials. Bharat Biotech has devel- oped the vaccine in collabo- ration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. Covaxin has been granted emergency use authorisation (EUA) in clinical trial mode by the Government. Covaxin, which is now undergoing phase-3 trials, had raised concerns among experts over its emergency approval earlier this month by drug regulator DCGI. The vaccine, codenamed BBV152, was well tolerated in all dose groups with no vac- cine-related serious adverse events, noted the authors of the study funded by Bharat Biotech.The same results were earlier published in the preprint server medRxiv in December. However, there has been no new data released in the public domain which could demonstrate further safety and efficacy of the preventive. The authors said all adverse events were mild and moderate, and were more fre- quent after the first dose, adding that one adverse event was reported but was unre- lated to the vaccine. The randomised phase 1 trial to assess the safety and immunogenicity of BBV152 was carried at 11 hospitals across the country. Adults aged 18-55 years who were deemed healthy by the inves- tigator were eligible. Between July 13 and 30, last year, 827 participants were screened, of whom 375 were enrolled. Among the enrolled par- ticipants, 100 each were ran- domly assigned to the three vaccine groups, and 75 were randomly assigned to the con- trol group. Two intramuscular doses of vaccines were administered 14 days apart. “BBV152 led to tolerable safety outcomes and enhanced immune responses. The vaccine was well tolerat- ed in all dose groups with no vaccine-related serious adverse events,” the authors of the study said. A week after the first dose of anti-coronavirus vaccines was given to front-line health workers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday interacted with those involved in the Covid-19 vaccination drive in Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency, and assured those anxious about the safety of the desi vaccines. Instilling confidence among those who were vacci- nated in the first phase of the vaccination drive in the coun- try, the PM said there are no major side-effects of the vac- cine and that India is absolute- ly self-reliant in regard to jabs. The beneficiaries said they have experienced no side effects, mental or physical. “If anything it feels like a normal injection,” they said. The Prime Minister, Ministers and other elected leaders or “key functionaries” are expected take shot of the vaccine in the second phase to boost the public confidence in the ongoing vaccination . The second phase of vac- cination would focus on the priority group above the age of 50 in the country. Of the two available vaccines — Civaxin or Covishield — every benefi- ciary will need to receive two doses of the same vaccine, 28 days apart. Addressing the beneficia- ries and those administrating the shots through video con- ference, Modi also expressed pride over the development of two vaccines in the country to tackle coronavirus pandemic. “The biggest vaccination programme in the world is going on in our country. Today, the nation has the willpower to manufacture its own vaccine - not one but two Made in India vaccines. Vaccines are reaching every corner of the country. India is absolutely self-reliant in this regard,” the PM said. Modi sought to dispel fears and misconceptions over the efficacy and safety of Covid vaccines in an interaction with health workers in Varanasi, his Lok Sabha constituency. “When doctors and health workers give a clean chit to the vaccine, it sends a very strong message among people about the efficacy of the jab,” he said. The PM said politicians or pol- itics has no role in deciding the efficiency of the vaccine. T he Congress on Friday announced that the grand old party will have an elected president by this June. The schedule announced by the party’s working committee will ensure that the new president will escape responsibility for the outcome of the five State Assembly elections that will be held in May or before. After three and a half hours meeting, the CWC authorised incumbent interim party chief Sonia Gandhi to schedule the internal election after the con- clusion of Assembly polls in five States. Addressing a joint Press conference to brief details of the CWC, Congress leaders KC Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala said elections to the CWC will also be held, but it remains to be seen whether they can be scheduled before or after the election to the Congress chief’s post. AICC sources said the Central Election Authority has pro- posed the holding of polls for electing the party president and AICC session on May 29 and the working committee discussed the dates but autho- rised Sonia Gandhi to schedule them after the Assembly polls. The CWC passed three resolutions demanding a repeal of the three agriculture laws, a time-bound JPC probe into the alleged violations of national security and Official Secrets Act and another to ensure that the Government ensures free time-bound Covid-19 vacci- nation for the poor and oppressed sections. “The CWC decided that there will be an elected Congress president by June 2021 at any cost,” AICC general secretary KC Venugopal said. He said the little change in schedule depending on the State elections will be decided soon. “The CWC discussed the schedule of Congress pres- ident’s elections in May-end, proposed by its election author- ity. All CWC members unani- mously requested the Congress president that the internal elec- tions should not interfere with the Assembly elections.” He said the Congress pres- ident was requested unani- mously to reschedule AICC Plenary Session to the end of June 2021 and the Congress chief’s election would be con- cluded by June 2021. “We will conduct elections as per the Constitution of the party. We need a change of schedule due to Assembly polls as counting would be underway in May,” he said. Asked about any dissent- ing notes on the holding of elections, Surjewala said, “There was no dissent at the meeting.” He added that lead- ers like Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma or P Chidambaram were not dis- senters but senior members of Congress and were all unani- mous in deciding to extend election schedule a little. T he CBI has registered a case against two UK-based firms — Global Science Research Limited (GSR), UK, represented by Dr Aleksandr Kogan and Cambridge Analytica, UK, represented by Alexander Nix — under IPC Sections relating to criminal conspiracy and cyber crime under the Information Technology Act for the alleged illegal harvesting of personal data of 5.62 lakh Indian Facebook users for commercial purposes. Earlier, a Preliminary Enquiry was conducted by CBI based on a complaint from Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology. “It was revealed in the enquiry that the founder and director of first UK-based com- pany “Global Science Research Limited had allegedly created an app “this is your digital life” and this app was authorised to collect specific data of its users in Facebook (FB) as per their platform policy. It was alleged that the app illegally harvested additional data of FB users and of their friends on FB,” the CBI said in a statement. B arabarti-Cuttack Congress MLA Mohammed Moquim on Friday filed a criminal defamation suit against BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra at the SDJM Court here for the latter’s alleged defama- tory remarks against him on November 30 last year. Moquim stated in his peti- tion that Patra had told the media that all the nine Congress MLAs of the State received money from the rul- ing BJD for keeping quiet on the Pari murder case. This has damaged his rep- utation severely.He has further stated in his prayer before the court that the allegation is baseless and was made with malicious intention. To give an opportunity to Patra to with- draw his statement, he had sent a legal notice to Patra on December 7 last seeking his unconditional apology at the earliest, but Patra did not respond. T he Covid-19 caseload fur- ther surged to 3,34,020 in the State after 154 more per- sons testing positive for dead- ly virus in last 24 hours. Of total fresh cases detected from 21 districts, 89 were reported from different quarantine cen- tres while 65 were local contact cases. The contact tracing and follow-up action were under- way, said Information and Public Relation (I&PR) Department. Sambalpur recorded day’s highest 19 fresh cases followed by Sundargarh and Puri with 18 cases each. The number of total active cases in State stood at 1,519 and recovered cases at 3,30,545. A 59-year-old woman Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Supervisor was on Friday hos- pitalised after administration of anti-Covid-19 vaccine. The ICDS Supervisor of Bijepur in Bargarh district had been administered the vac- cine, following which she developed weakness in lower limbs after 20 minutes.She was initially treated at the Bijepur Community Health Centre and later shifted to the VIMSAR in Burla for better treatment. Her condition was stated to be sta- ble. Earlier, the State had reported two cases of Adverse Event Following Immunisation (AEFI) as two healthcare work- ers were hospitalised after administration of the vaccine. A 27-year-old staff nurse of Bargarh district received the vaccine shot on January 16. She developed fever the same day and was admitted to the VIKASH Hospital in Bargarh for observation. I f everything goes as planned, the temple city Bhubaneswar would be beggar-free soon. After ensuring shelter to home- less and destitute, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decid- ed to rehabilitate beggars. As directed by BMC Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary, measures would be taken to identify the beggars, shift them to shelter homes and make them self-reliant as per their abilities through various schemes. The civic body would open a rehabilitation centre under the jurisdiction of each of its three regional offices and each centre would have 100 beds. The centres would be operat- ed by professional agencies. Tender has already been float- ed for the project, BMC sources said. The centre would accom- modate people of all groups, including senior citizens, women, children and differ- ently-abled. After the guide- lines were approved by the State Government, the BMC has invited Expression of Interest (EOI) for the purpose, said BMC Deputy Commissioner Kamalakant Behera. Recently, some beggars from the Ram Mandir area were accommodated in various shelter homes. Besides, sever- al homeless labourers, who used to sleep under open sky even on cold winter nights, have also been lodged in var- ious shelter homes. P opular “bhajan” singer Narendra Chanchal, best known for his songs “Chalo bulawa aaya hai” and “Tune mujhe bulaya sherawaliye”, died following prolonged illness at a hospital here on Friday, sources in the hospital said. Chanchal, 76, breathed his last at 12:15 pm at the Apollo Hospital after suffering from brain complications, the sources said. The singer, who is survived by his wife Namrata, had been admitted to the south Delhi hospital on November 27, they said. Born to a Punjabi family in Namak Mandi, Amritsar, Chanchal’s growing up years in a religious atmosphere inspired him to start singing “bhajans” and “aartis” (devotional songs) from a very young age.In Hindi cinema, he found fame with the song “Beshak Mandir Masjid” for the 1973 film “Bobby”, the blockbuster debut of Rishi Kapoor and Dimple Kapadia. He won the Filmfare Best Male Playback Award in 1974 for the song. One of his most popular tracks was “Chalo Bulawa Aaya Hain Mata Ne Bulaya Hain” from Rajesh Khanna’s 1983 drama“Avtaar”. In 2009, Chanchal released his autobi- ography “Midnight Singer”, chronicling his life from his early struggles and hardships to his achievements.

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    Two days after theGovernment offered tokeep in abeyance the threefarm laws, the rift widenedbetween the Government andfarmers’ unions on Friday.

    In the 11th round of meet-ing, farmer unions rejectedthe Government’s offer andinsisted on complete repeal ofthe three laws.

    Both sides hardened theirstands and could not evenreach a decision on the date ofthe next meeting.

    In the very beginning ofthe meeting, farmer leaderssaid that they have decided toreject the proposal to put offfarm laws for 18 months.

    Hardening its stand, theGovernment asked farmers’unions that the next round oftalks will only continue if theyagree to accept the proposal bySaturday. Union AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar said the Centre hasasked farmers to consider itsproposal on the temporarysuspension of the implemen-tation of the farm laws.

    The Minister added thatthe next meeting would bescheduled only after farmers’unions come back with a

    response. He blamed external“forces” for their rigid standand said no resolution is pos-sible when the sanctity of agi-tation is lost.

    Meanwhile, farmer leadersalleged even as the meetinglasted for nearly five hours, thetwo sides sat face to face for less

    than 20-25 minutes and for therest of the time, they were in aseparate rooms. Farmers’ lead-ers said they felt “insulted” bythe manner in which theMinisters treated them.

    “The Minister made uswait for three and a half hours.This is an insult to farmers.

    When he came, he asked us toconsider the Government’s pro-posal and said that he is end-ing the process of meetings,”said SS Pandher of KisanMazdoor SangharshCommittee, adding that theagitation will continue peace-fully.

    At the meeting, the UnionMinisters told farmers’ unionsthat they have been given allpossible options and they mustdiscuss internally the propos-al of suspending the laws.Sources said the Ministers werenot happy with the farmers’decision to continue theirdemand to hold tractor rally onRepublic Day in Delhi.

    “The Government hasgiven the best, solution-ori-ented proposal to farmerorganisations. We asked themto reconsider our proposal as itis in the interest of farmers andthe country. Talks remainedinconclusive as farmers’ welfarewas not at the heart of talksfrom the unions’ side. I am sadabout it. Farmers’ unions saidthat they only want the repealof the laws despite theGovernment asking for alter-natives. We should remainhopeful. We asked them toconvey their decision tomor-row (Saturday). Let’s wait tohear farmer unions’ final deci-sion,” Tomar said after themeeting.

    Taking a hardline posi-tion, the Minister said someexternal force was definitelytrying to ensure that the agita-tion continues and those wereobviously against the interests

    of farmers.“The Government gave

    many proposals to end theprotest, but no resolution ispossible when the sanctity of anagitation is lost,” he said.

    Asked whether he expectsfarmers to agree to theGovernment offer, he said, “Idon’t want to speculate, but weare hopeful that farmer unionswill consider our proposal pos-itively.” On whether he saw anydivision among the union lead-ers on the Government pro-posal, Tomar did not give adirect reply but said, “Wethanked all farmer leaders,including those who supportour proposal and those who areagainst it.”

    During the meeting, farm-ers alleged the Delhi Police istrying to harass their leaders.One of the union leadersalleged that the rear wind-shield of his car was smashedby the Delhi Police. The carbelongs to one Ruldu SinghMansa. Darhsan Pal one of itsleaders received a threateningphone call while HannanMollah was manhandled bypolice. As the 11th round oftalks remained inconclusive,farmer leaders have threat-ened to intensify their protest.

    The break, during which

    farmer leaders had their langar(community kitchen) food,lasted for more than threehours. The break also saw 41farmer leaders holding con-sultations among themselves, attimes in smaller groups, whilethe three Union Ministers wait-ed in a separate room at VigyanBhawan.

    Farmer leader Shiv KumarKakka who was the first toleave the talks said there was noheadway in the discussionsand the Government askedunions to deliberate on its pro-posal again. After the meeting,Bharatiya Kisan Union(Ugrahan) leader JoginderSingh Ugrahan said the dis-cussions have broken down asthe unions rejected theGovernment’s proposal.

    Harpal Singh, president ofBhartiya Kisan Union AsliArajnaitik, said, “Even if weaccept the Government’s offer,our fellow brothers sitting atDelhi borders will not acceptanything other than a repeal ofthe laws. They will not spare us.What achievement will weshow to them?” He also ques-tioned the Government’s cred-ibility, alleging it was difficultto believe that they will keeptheir word on putting the lawson hold for 18 months.

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    While a section of healthexperts have raisedquestions about the efficacy ofthe Hyderabad-based BharatBiotech’s anti-Covid-19 vac-cine, Covaxin, a report inThe Lancet Infectious Diseasejournal has said the vaccineshowed enhanced immuneresponse without any seriousside effects in the partici-pants enrolled for the phase 1trials.

    Bharat Biotech has devel-oped the vaccine in collabo-ration with the Indian Councilof Medical Research (ICMR)and the National Institute ofVirology (NIV), Pune.Covaxin has been grantedemergency use authorisation(EUA) in clinical trial modeby the Government.

    Covaxin, which is nowundergoing phase-3 trials,had raised concerns amongexperts over its emergencyapproval earlier this month bydrug regulator DCGI.

    The vaccine, codenamedBBV152, was well tolerated inall dose groups with no vac-cine-related serious adverseevents, noted the authors of

    the study funded by BharatBiotech.The same results wereearlier published in thepreprint server medRxiv inDecember.

    However, there has beenno new data released in thepublic domain which coulddemonstrate further safetyand efficacy of the preventive.

    The authors said al ladverse events were mild andmoderate, and were more fre-quent after the first dose,adding that one adverse eventwas reported but was unre-lated to the vaccine.

    The randomised phase 1trial to assess the safety andimmunogenicity of BBV152was carried at 11 hospitalsacross the country. Adults

    aged 18-55 years who weredeemed healthy by the inves-tigator were eligible. BetweenJuly 13 and 30, last year, 827participants were screened,of whom 375 were enrolled.

    Among the enrolled par-ticipants, 100 each were ran-domly assigned to the threevaccine groups, and 75 wererandomly assigned to the con-trol group.

    Two intramuscular dosesof vaccines were administered14 days apart. “BBV152 led totolerable safety outcomes andenhanced immune responses.The vaccine was well tolerat-ed in all dose groups with novaccine-related seriousadverse events,” the authors ofthe study said.

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    Aweek after the first dose ofanti-coronavirus vaccineswas given to front-line healthworkers, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Fridayinteracted with those involvedin the Covid-19 vaccinationdrive in Varanasi, his LokSabha constituency, andassured those anxious aboutthe safety of the desi vaccines.

    Instilling confidenceamong those who were vacci-nated in the first phase of thevaccination drive in the coun-try, the PM said there are nomajor side-effects of the vac-cine and that India is absolute-ly self-reliant in regard to jabs.

    The beneficiaries said theyhave experienced no sideeffects, mental or physical. “Ifanything it feels like a normalinjection,” they said.

    The Prime Minister,Ministers and other electedleaders or “key functionaries”are expected take shot of thevaccine in the second phase toboost the public confidence inthe ongoing vaccination .

    The second phase of vac-cination would focus on thepriority group above the age of50 in the country. Of the two

    available vaccines — Civaxinor Covishield — every benefi-ciary will need to receive twodoses of the same vaccine, 28days apart.

    Addressing the beneficia-ries and those administratingthe shots through video con-ference, Modi also expressedpride over the development oftwo vaccines in the country totackle coronavirus pandemic.

    “The biggest vaccinationprogramme in the world isgoing on in our country.Today, the nation has thewillpower to manufacture itsown vaccine - not one but twoMade in India vaccines.Vaccines are reaching everycorner of the country. India isabsolutely self-reliant in thisregard,” the PM said.

    Modi sought to dispel fearsand misconceptions over theefficacy and safety of Covidvaccines in an interaction withhealth workers in Varanasi, hisLok Sabha constituency.

    “When doctors and healthworkers give a clean chit to thevaccine, it sends a very strongmessage among people aboutthe efficacy of the jab,” he said.The PM said politicians or pol-itics has no role in deciding theefficiency of the vaccine.

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    The Congress on Fridayannounced that the grandold party will have an electedpresident by this June. Theschedule announced by theparty’s working committee willensure that the new presidentwill escape responsibility forthe outcome of the five StateAssembly elections that will beheld in May or before.

    After three and a half hoursmeeting, the CWC authorisedincumbent interim party chiefSonia Gandhi to schedule theinternal election after the con-clusion of Assembly polls infive States.

    Addressing a joint Pressconference to brief details ofthe CWC, Congress leaders KCVenugopal and RandeepSurjewala said elections to theCWC will also be held, but itremains to be seen whetherthey can be scheduled before orafter the election to theCongress chief ’s post. AICC

    sources said the CentralElection Authority has pro-posed the holding of polls forelecting the party presidentand AICC session on May 29and the working committeediscussed the dates but autho-rised Sonia Gandhi to schedulethem after the Assembly polls.

    The CWC passed threeresolutions demanding a repealof the three agriculture laws, atime-bound JPC probe into thealleged violations of nationalsecurity and Official SecretsAct and another to ensure thatthe Government ensures freetime-bound Covid-19 vacci-nation for the poor andoppressed sections.

    “The CWC decided thatthere will be an electedCongress president by June2021 at any cost,” AICC generalsecretary KC Venugopal said.

    He said the little change in

    schedule depending on theState elections will be decidedsoon. “The CWC discussedthe schedule of Congress pres-ident’s elections in May-end,proposed by its election author-ity. All CWC members unani-mously requested the Congresspresident that the internal elec-tions should not interfere withthe Assembly elections.”

    He said the Congress pres-ident was requested unani-mously to reschedule AICCPlenary Session to the end ofJune 2021 and the Congresschief ’s election would be con-cluded by June 2021. “We willconduct elections as per theConstitution of the party. Weneed a change of schedule dueto Assembly polls as countingwould be underway in May,” hesaid. Asked about any dissent-ing notes on the holding ofelections, Surjewala said,“There was no dissent at themeeting.” He added that lead-ers like Ghulam Nabi Azad,Anand Sharma or PChidambaram were not dis-senters but senior members ofCongress and were all unani-mous in deciding to extendelection schedule a little.

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    The CBI has registered a caseagainst two UK-basedfirms — Global ScienceResearch Limited (GSR), UK,represented by Dr AleksandrKogan and CambridgeAnalytica, UK, represented byAlexander Nix — under IPCSections relating to criminalconspiracy and cyber crimeunder the InformationTechnology Act for the allegedillegal harvesting of personaldata of 5.62 lakh IndianFacebook users for commercialpurposes. Earlier, a PreliminaryEnquiry was conducted by CBIbased on a complaint fromMinistry of Electronics &Information Technology.

    “It was revealed in theenquiry that the founder anddirector of first UK-based com-pany “Global Science ResearchLimited had allegedly createdan app “this is your digital life”and this app was authorised tocollect specific data of its usersin Facebook (FB) as per theirplatform policy. It was allegedthat the app illegally harvestedadditional data of FB users andof their friends on FB,” the CBIsaid in a statement.

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    Barabarti-Cuttack CongressMLA Mohammed Moquimon Friday filed a criminaldefamation suit against BJPnational spokesperson SambitPatra at the SDJM Court herefor the latter’s alleged defama-tory remarks against him onNovember 30 last year.

    Moquim stated in his peti-tion that Patra had told themedia that all the nineCongress MLAs of the Statereceived money from the rul-ing BJD for keeping quiet onthe Pari murder case.

    This has damaged his rep-utation severely.He has furtherstated in his prayer before thecourt that the allegation isbaseless and was made withmalicious intention. To give anopportunity to Patra to with-draw his statement, he had senta legal notice to Patra onDecember 7 last seeking hisunconditional apology at theearliest, but Patra did notrespond.

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    The Covid-19 caseload fur-ther surged to 3,34,020 inthe State after 154 more per-sons testing positive for dead-ly virus in last 24 hours. Oftotal fresh cases detected from21 districts, 89 were reportedfrom different quarantine cen-tres while 65 were local contactcases. The contact tracing and

    follow-up action were under-way, said Information andPublic Relation (I&PR)Department. Sambalpurrecorded day’s highest 19 freshcases followed by Sundargarhand Puri with 18 cases each.The number of total activecases in State stood at 1,519 andrecovered cases at 3,30,545.

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    A59-year-old womanIntegrated ChildDevelopment Services (ICDS)Supervisor was on Friday hos-pitalised after administration ofanti-Covid-19 vaccine.

    The ICDS Supervisor ofBijepur in Bargarh district hadbeen administered the vac-cine, following which shedeveloped weakness in lowerlimbs after 20 minutes.She wasinitially treated at the BijepurCommunity Health Centre and

    later shifted to the VIMSAR inBurla for better treatment. Hercondition was stated to be sta-ble. Earlier, the State hadreported two cases of AdverseEvent Following Immunisation(AEFI) as two healthcare work-ers were hospitalised afteradministration of the vaccine.

    A 27-year-old staff nurse ofBargarh district received thevaccine shot on January 16. Shedeveloped fever the same dayand was admitted to theVIKASH Hospital in Bargarhfor observation.

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    If everything goes as planned,the temple city Bhubaneswarwould be beggar-free soon.After ensuring shelter to home-less and destitute, theBhubaneswar MunicipalCorporation (BMC) has decid-ed to rehabilitate beggars. Asdirected by BMCCommissioner Prem ChandraChaudhary, measures would betaken to identify the beggars,shift them to shelter homes andmake them self-reliant as pertheir abilities through variousschemes.

    The civic body would opena rehabilitation centre underthe jurisdiction of each of itsthree regional offices and eachcentre would have 100 beds.The centres would be operat-ed by professional agencies.Tender has already been float-ed for the project, BMC sourcessaid. The centre would accom-modate people of all groups,including senior citizens,women, children and differ-ently-abled. After the guide-

    lines were approved by theState Government, the BMChas invited Expression ofInterest (EOI) for the purpose,said BMC DeputyCommissioner KamalakantBehera.

    Recently, some beggarsfrom the Ram Mandir areawere accommodated in variousshelter homes. Besides, sever-al homeless labourers, whoused to sleep under open skyeven on cold winter nights,have also been lodged in var-ious shelter homes.

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    Popular “bhajan” singerNarendra Chanchal, bestknown for his songs “Chalobulawa aaya hai” and “Tunemujhe bulaya sherawaliye”, diedfollowing prolonged illness ata hospital here on Friday,sources in the hospital said.

    Chanchal, 76, breathed hislast at 12:15 pm at the ApolloHospital after suffering frombrain complications, thesources said.

    The singer, who is survivedby his wife Namrata, had beenadmitted to the south Delhihospital on November 27, theysaid. Born to a Punjabi familyin Namak Mandi, Amritsar,Chanchal’s growing up years ina religious atmosphere inspiredhim to start singing “bhajans”and “aartis” (devotional songs)from a very young age.In Hindicinema, he found fame with thesong “Beshak Mandir Masjid”for the 1973 film “Bobby”, the

    blockbuster debut of RishiKapoor and Dimple Kapadia.He won the Filmfare Best MalePlayback Award in 1974 for thesong. One of his most populartracks was “Chalo Bulawa AayaHain Mata Ne Bulaya Hain”from Rajesh Khanna’s 1983drama“Avtaar”. In 2009,Chanchal released his autobi-ography “Midnight Singer”,chronicling his life from hisearly struggles and hardships tohis achievements.

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    Former Chief Secretary AsitTripathy has taken charge asChairman of the WesternOdisha Development Council(WODC). The post had fallenvacant after untimely death ofSubash Chauhan, a BJD leaderwho was the Chairman ofWODC for a brief period fromSeptember 2019 to May 2020.Tripathy is the second non-political man now after ProfNiranjan Panda (2006-2011) to

    head the WODC. InNovember, 1998, theGovernment of Odisha hadestablished the WODC withthe objectives of removingregional imbalances by under-taking accelerated develop-ment in western Odisha.

    The jurisdiction of theWODC spread over 89 blocksof 10 districts such asSundargarh, Jharasuguda,Deogarh, Sambalpur,Subarnapur, Bargarh, Boudh,Nuapada, Bolangir, Kalahandiwith Athmalik sub- divisionunder Angul district.

    The Government ofOdisha also enacted a lawcalled 'Western OdishaDevelopment Council Act,2000' clearly defining objec-tives, powers, functions andorganisational structures ofWODC. Kalahandi of westernOdisha once was the cause ofglobal embarrassment for Indiadue to its high number of star-vation deaths. For long 20years upto the year 2000, it wasan agonising period for

    Kalahandi. The famines,droughts and other naturalcalamities had gripped thisland. There was no food, nowater then.

    Two out of three childrenwere being born dead.Unknown fever, cholera anddiarrhoea had created panic.Everywhere there was the pic-ture of hell. Women wereabandoned; they had to selltheir children out of despera-tion for their own survival.People had to leave their vil-lages in search of job and food.Those who could not leave,sometimes, they had to live onpoisonous roots, mango kerneland wild tubes.

    Mediamen from differentparts of the country and abroadhad thronged the region, cov-ered its news extensively andshown the poverty picture ofKalahandi. ‘Children are soldcheaper than chanas. TheGovernment, instead of rescu-ing the poor from hunger ispressurising them to deny thesale stories', then a report said.

    In 1985, the then PrimeMinister, Rajiv Gandhi visitedKalahandi and famously said,"of every rupee spent by theGovernment, only 17 paisareach the intended beneficia-ries’. Kalahandi along with itsperipheries was the labarotoryof poverty, a spot of hunger andstarvation.

    In the backdrop of its longtwenty years of agony, theWODC was set up to bringdevelopment in the backwardwestern Odisha regions. TheWODC has already lived a lifeof 20 years. The Government ofOdisha gives regularly a hugeamount of grants- in -aid.Experts nominated by theGovernment having experi-ence and expertise in the fieldof social service, administration, irrigation, public health,forestry, mining and publicworks help the Council in itsfunctioning. But developmentin the region as expected hasnot happened yet.Backwardness still exists.

    The latest audit report of

    the Comptroller and AuditorGeneral (CAG) of India giventhrough the AccountantGeneral( General and SocialSector Audit ), Odisha for theyear, 2020 has revealed howthere has been serious declinein activities of the WODCover the past several years.The Accountant General (AG)has conducted a complianceaudit of the WODC duringApril to August, 2018 coveringthe period from 2015 to 2018.The units for audit were select-ed on the basis of stratified ran-dom sampling methods. TheAG has noticed plenty of irreg-ularities and infirmities in boththe accounts and decision mak-ing of the WODC.

    The report says, there isdeficiency in planning and'inadequate allocation of funds'has been made to the prioritysector contrary to the instruc-tion that highest priority is tobe given to the irrigation sec-tor. Instead, the report laments,other projects which are notcritical to the development of

    the region are given prioritywith allocation of funds to thetune of ?159.41 crore.

    For example, funds havebeen allotted for constructionof community centres and eveninstallation of statues in theRourkela smart city area andconsequently, the other criticalprojects are left to suffer due topaucity of funds, the reportreveals.

    Irrigation has become thefirst casualty.When the WODCwas formed, it was the unani-mous view of all lawmakersthat the remedial measureswould be taken immediatelyfor the socio- economic, cul-tural and educational develop-ment of western Odisha andplans to be made accordingly.

    But the CAG in its reportshas very critically observedthat the WODC providesfinancial assistance to certainprivate educational institutionsdisregarding the statutoryinstructions. The quality edu-cation in the Governmentschools is in a mess and the MP

    / MLA Lad funds are not suf-ficient for the purpose, thereport says. After 20 years offormation of the WODC, dis-appointingly backwardness inthe region still remains.

    As per the audit report, outof total 89 blocks, 34 blocks arenow still 'very backward' and 25blocks are backward and ade-quate priority has not beengiven to bring these blocks atpar with developed blocks.The road connectivity to tar-geted villages is in a bad shape.The Government has veryoften given lofty promises thatthe modern healthcare facilitiesare to be given to the people ofthe western Odisha region andthe Government cannot affordto see the repetition of theneglected healthcare whichhappened during the period of1980s.

    The CAG report says,'Advance medical facilitiescould not be provided to thepeople of the region due to non-functioning of medical col-leges and hospitals at

    Kalahandi, Rourkela andBolangir and thereby theobjectives of providing goodmedical facility to the people ofthe WODC area could not beachieved'. The CAG in itsreport,2020 thus recommends, ' To achieve the objectives setout for the WODC, it needs toidentify the critical gaps indevelopment and prepare longterm and short term perspec-tive plans to bridge these gapsfor implementation.

    Absence of long term planshas prevented the WODC fromadopting a focused approachto achieve special objectivesover a fixed period.' As a result,misplaced priority in utilisationof funds has jeopardised thepriority sectors. The reporthas now, therefore, unfoldedchallenges for the newChairman of the WODC. But,certainly this time there is asplendid performer.

    (A Gandhian author andcolumnist and lawyer, who isbased in Puri. M-9861469328)

    ������������(���#3,�+#5

    The Inspector-in-Charge ofthe Jaleswar police stationand two civil society bodies arereceiving huge applause afterthey did some Good Samaritanworks in their areas.

    They performed the lastrites of a man who had noneother than a 12- year-olddaughter. IIC Manas Deo saidthat after learning that thedeceased had no one in thefamily except a minor daugh-ter, he was prompted to help inthe performance of the last ritesof the deceased. Two local

    NGOs too actively participat-ed in the job. The incidentoccurred in Padasahi underPatharapura panchayat inJaleswar block and thedeceased was Shyama Murmu.Shyama’s wife had died a fewmonths back after sufferingfrom some diseases while hetoo died owing to an illness.Deo after learning the pathet-ic condition not only offeredhis shoulder to the bier to takebody to the cremation ground,but also he made other arrange-ments required for cremationin association with the twoNGOs. By seeing active par-ticipation of Deo, the other vil-lagers joined the cremationlater on. Since the minor girlwas left an orphan without anymeans of eking out a living, theNGO members said that theywere taking steps to admit herto a childcare institution andlook after other aspects.

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    The Lokayukta of Odishashowing its displeasure onthe reports submitted by theABDO of Mahakalapada andPEO of Badakul gram pan-chayat on the alleged IAY scamin Badakul, recently directedthe former BDO ofMahakalapada and the com-puter programmer to remainpresent before it with theirreports on February 24.

    According to sources, lateRanjan Kumar Das, formerdistrict convenor of the OrissaSoochana AdhikarAbhijan(OSAA), had filed acomplaint on January 27 lastyear before the Lokayukta urg-ing to intervene in the IAYscam at Badakul gram pan-chayat and sought actionagainst the corrupt employees.Das had alleged that the hous-

    ing scheme had been in a messin some villages under Badakulpanchayat.

    An RTI revelation byDRDA office in 2014-15informed that 22 persons ofBadakula GP received 32 IAYwork orders and six out ofthem received two to threework orders each.

    Even, the RTI reportsexposed that the IAY workorders had been provided tothe Government employees.Again while the Badakula grampanchayat office provided thenumber of IAY beneficiaries as121 in 2014-15, the block officeprovided the number of ben-eficiaries as 28, who got IAY in2014-15 in the GP. Though theOSAA members on March 20,

    2018 had brought the matterbefore the notice of the districtCollector by submitting TRinformation and had demand-ed action against the employ-ees involved in irregularities,but the district Collector hadnot taken any steps, for whichthey had resorted to an indef-inite agitation in front of theCollectorate from April 9, 2018.

    Even, the activists of OSAAhad staged an agitation in frontof the district vigilance officeprotesting the callous and indif-ferent attitude of the Vigilancein conducting an inquiry in theIAY scam. Failed to get justice,activist late Das had knocked atthe doors of Lokayutka ofOdisha seeking an interventionin the issue.

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    Six cricketers from Odishahave been nominated bythe Odisha Cricket Association(OCA) for their auction in theIndian Premiere League (IPL)2021. OCA recommended tothe Board of Control forCricket in India (BCCI) namesof Subhransu Senapati, RajeshDhupar, Rajesh Mohanty, PapuRay, Gourav Choudhury andTarini Sa for the IPL auction.Subhransu and Gourav havebeen nominated as batsmen,

    Mohanty and Tarini as medi-um pacers and Dhupar andPapu as wicket keeper-batsmanand tweaker, respectively.

    The 14th edition of the pre-mier league is scheduled to beheld between April and Maythis year while the auction forthe same is scheduled inFebruary.

    Earlier, two players fromthe State, Biplab Samantrayand Haladhar Das, have playedthe league for SunrisersHyderabad and DeccanChargers, respectively.

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    The people of Keonjhar dis-trict, particularly of themining areas of Joda andBarbil, are leading a miserablelife due to not only dust of themines including dust generat-ed from reckless plying ofheavy trucks on the road butalso due to violation of envi-ronmental laws by some facto-ry and mines owners.

    On Thursday onePurnachandara Behera of

    Bilaipada brought a complaintbefore the Regional PollutionControl Officer that CrackersIndia Private Ltd, a sponge iron

    unit, was dumping waste mate-rials of the factory on aGovernment plot near hishouse creating massive air pol-lution.Behera, a native ofBilaipada village under Jodablock has been under con-stant mental stress since last

    two months due to acute pol-lution in the area.It is allegedthat gradually accumulation ofthe coal dust has already takenthe shape of a small mountainand dusts are flying in the sur-rounding and pouring intonearby houses.Behera was

    threatened of dire conse-quences when he objected todumping of dust by PrafullaBarik and Bhakata BandhuBarik. When contacted,Regional Pollution ControlOfficer Puskar Behera toldthat he would inquire into thematter. Behera also aired griev-ances before Tehsildar, Barbiland Beat house in charge ,Bilaipada.

    Beat house in charge AjharKhan told he would definitelylook in to the matter. However,Crackers India Group ofCompanies GM BD Sahoo saidif dumping was creating pol-lution, the transport ordersmight be cancelled.

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    The lawyers of Puri BarAssociation have filed agrievance petition with districtCollector Samarth Vermaagainst Tehsildar RabindraPradhan here Thursday formisbehaviour and non coop-eration with them.

    With around 50 lawyers assignatories, the petition urgedthe Collector to take actionagainst Pradhan. The petitionhanded over to Sub CollectorBhabatran Sahu says thatPradhan is always non coop-erative towards the lawyersand disallowing them to meethim. Giving a plea of him ofbeing busy always, he is avoid-ing the lawyers, which is caus-ing undue problems to theircases already pending in thetehsil office, the petitionerssaid. The noncooperative atti-tude of the Tehsildar is unnec-essarily making inordinatedelays of their cases also, theysaid. Worthwhile to note that,a week ago, a lawyer had alsoalready filed an 1 CC case at theSDJM against the Tehsildar.

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    The National Human RightsCommission (NHRC) hasrecently directed the OdishaChief Secretary of to pay Rs 1lakh each as compensation tothe two victims who werewrongly transfused HIV bloodin 2016 at the VIMSAR inBurla. The NHRC has alsoasked the Chief Secretary sub-mit the proof of payment with-in eight weeks.

    The commission passedthe order taking cognisance ofa petition by human rightsactivist and lawyer RadhakantaTripathy.

    The NHRC had earlierdirected the Health and FamilyWelfare Department to paythe compensation but thedepartment authorities saidthey could disburse it as thevictims address was to notfound.

    The commission asked thedistrict Collectors ofSambalpur and Jharsuguda topublish notice in local news-papers in favour of the victimsregarding the commission.Earlier, Tripathy had alleged to

    the a 70-year-old person hail-ing from Rairakhol was admit-ted to the surgery ward ofVIMSAR on June 9, 2016. Hehad undergone operation onJune 13, 2016.

    Similarly, a 60-year-oldperson of Brajarajnagar wasadmitted to the hospital onJune 12, 2016 for a leg surgery.Both of them were infectedwith HIV infected blood dueto negligence of the doctorsand staffs of the VIMSAR..

    Later, following an inquirya Medical Officer Dr RajendraPattnaik, Blood Bank in-charge Dr Susanta Kar, a DataEntry Operator and LabTechnician were suspended.

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    Alife-size statue of legendaryfreedom fighter VeerSurendra Sai would be unveiledin front of the VSS Airport hereon his 113th birth anniversaryon Saturday (January 23).

    The MCL has taken all theresponsibility for the installa-tion of the statue. The statuewould be inaugurated by UnionMinister for Petroleum &Natural Gas and SteelDharmendra Pradhan with

    Union Minister ofParliamentary Affairs, Coaland Mines Pralhad Joshi beingpresent in virtual mode.

    State Health Minister NabaKishore Das, Bargarh MPSuresh Pujari, BrajrajnagarMLA Kishore Kumar Mohantyand MCL CMD PrabhatKumar Sinha were present at ameeting held here on Friday forpreparations for unveiling ofthe statue. VSS AirportDirector Kishore KumarSenapati said Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had inaugu-

    rated airport on September22, 2018 and the StateGovernment named the airportafter Veer Surendra Sai, free-dom fighter of region. Fromthen, efforts were made toinstal a life-size statue of Sai inthe airport complex.

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    Over 2.28 lakh healthcareworkers and frontlineworkers received the Covid-19vaccine shots across the Stateson Friday, the seventh day ofthe mega immunisation exer-cise that was launched onJanuary 16 in the country. Ittook the total tally of peoplewho have been given the vac-cine to 12,72,097.

    “The Covid-19 vaccina-tion programme was conduct-ed successfully on the seventhday of the countrywide massiveexercise. The cumulative num-ber of healthcare workers vac-cinated has surpassed 12.7 lakh(12,72,097) (till 6 p.m. today)through 24,397 sessions, asper the provisional report,” theUnion Health Ministry said ina statement.

    A total of 267 cases ofAdverse Effect AfterVaccination (AEFI) have beenreported till 6 pm on the sev-

    enth day of the vaccinationdrive.

    On Friday, 2,28,563 bene-ficiaries were vaccinated till 6p.m. through 6,230 sessions.On Thursday, 1,92,581 peoplewere vaccinated and 1,12,007 aday before.

    In Karnataka, 1,82,503have been vaccinated so far,highest amongst all states,followed by 1,27,726 inAndhra Pradesh, 1,21,004 inOdisha and 1,02,724 inTelangana, according to thedata avai lable from theGovernment.

    On the testing front too,India continues to registergrowing numbers. The cumu-lative testing has crossed 19Crore, said a statement fromthe Union Health Ministrywith 8,00,242 samples testedin the last 24 hours itself.

    The Ministry also saidthat steadily following thetrend set over the past weeks,India’s active caseload has

    fallen to 1.78% of the totalactive cases. India’s activecaseload presently stands at1,88,688.

    18,002 new recoverieswere registered during thepast 24 hours. This has led toa net decline of 3,620 casesfrom the total Active Caseloadin the last 24 hours.

    The total recovered casesare 10,283,708 as on Thursdaypushing the growing gapbetween the recovered and theactive cases to 1,00,95,020 (

    54.5 times). The RecoveryRate has improved to 96.78%.

    Around 85 per cent of thenew recovered cases are con-tributed by ten States/UTswith Kerala reporting 6,229persons recovering from theinfection. Maharashtra andKarnataka reported 3,980 and815 new recoveries, respec-tively.

    At least 14,545 new posi-tive cases were registered in thelast 24 hours. Eight States/UTshave contributed 84.14 per

    cent of the new cases. Keralareported 6,334 cases in the last24 hours. Maharashtra record-ed 2,886 new cases whileKarnataka registered 674 dailycases on Wednesday.

    As many as 82.82 per centof the 163 case fatalities thathave been reported in the past24 hours are from NineStates/UTs with Maharashtrareported the maximum newdaily deaths at 52. Kerala alsosaw a fatality count of 21, asper the statement.

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    Bharat Biotech has suc-cessfully administered thesecond dose of its COVID-19vaccine Covaxin to 13,000volunteers as part of its ongo-ing phase-3 clinical trials ofthe jab, Suchitra Ella jointmanaging director of BharatBiotech said on Friday.

    She said in a tweet,“13,000 volunteers have beensuccessfully administered the2nd dose in the phase-3 clin-ical trials of Covaxin. Myheartfelt thanks to all of themfor their pro-vaccine publichealth voluntarism.

    The city-based vaccinemaker has successfully com-pleted enrollment of25,800volunteers for the Phase-3 tri-als of Covaxin, Ella had ear-lier said.

    The DCGI has grantedpermission for the sale or dis-tribution of Covaxin forrestricted use in emergencysituations in public interest asan abundant precaution, inclinical trial mode.

    The vaccine-maker in thefact sheet on Covaxin, post-ed in its website, had said the clinical efficacy of thevaccine is yet to be estab-lished and is being studied in

    Phase 3 clinical trial andhence it is important toappreciate that receiving thevaccine does not mean otherprecautions related toCOVID-19 need not be fol-lowed.

    Covaxin is India’s totallyindigenous COVID-19 vac-cine developed in collabora-tion with the Indian Councilof Medical Research andNational Institute of Virology.

    The inactivated vaccine isdeveloped and manufacturedin Bharat Biotech’s BSL-3(Bio-Safety Level 3) bio-con-tainment facility, one of itskind in the world.

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    New Delhi: The Centre onFriday told the Supreme Courtthat it was not in favour ofgranting one extra opportuni-ty to those civil services aspi-rants who could not appear intheir last attempt in the examsconducted by the UPSC lastyear due to the COVID-19pandemic.

    A bench headed by JusticeA M Khanwilkar took note ofthe submissions of AdditionalSolicitor General S V Raju,appearing on behalf of theDepartment of Personnel andTraining (DoPT).

    “We are not ready to giveone more chance. Give me thetime to file an affidavit... lastnight I received instructionthat we are not agreeable,” Rajutold the bench, which alsocomprised justices B R Gavaiand Krishna Murai.

    The bench has now post-ed the plea of a civil servicesaspirant Rachna Singh forhearing on January 25 and

    asked theCentre to file anaffidavit duringthe period andserve it to theparties.

    E a r l i e r ,S o l i c i t o rGeneral TusharMehta had told

    the bench that the governmentwas considering the issue ofgranting one more opportu-nity to those civil servicesaspirants who could notappear in their last attempt tocrack the UPSC exam.

    The top court, onSeptember 30 last year, hadrefused to postpone the UPSCcivil services preliminaryexam, which was held onOctober 4, because of COVID-19 pandemic and floods inseveral parts of the country.

    However, it had directedthe Central Government andthe Union Public ServiceCommission to considergranting an extra chance tocandidates who otherwisehave their last attempt in 2020,with corresponding extensionof the upper age-limit. Thebench was then told that a for-mal decision can be taken bythe Department of Personneland Training (DoPT) only.

    PTI

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    The Centre has accordedthe top category ‘Z+’ VIPsecurity cover to former ChiefJustice of India (CJI) RanjanGogoi, official sources said onFriday.

    They said Gogoi, 66, will beprotected by armed comman-dos of the Central ReservePolice Force (CRPF) during histravel all across the country.

    A Rajya Sabha membernow, Gogoi was earlier beingprovided with a security coverof Delhi Police

    He retired in November,2019 and was later nominatedto the upper house ofParliament by the Government.

    The CRPF has a VIP secu-rity unit and Gogoi is its 63rdprotectee, sources said.

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    The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on Fridayattached assets worth �5.45crore of Ramanand Divya, for-mer Chief Engineer, WaterResources Department,Chhattisgarh and his familymembers under money laun-dering charges.

    The attached assets are inthe form of agriculture landand plots in Raipur, Bilaspur,Korba and Janjgir-Champa dis-tricts and bank balances to thetune of �55.95 lakhs held by theaccused Ramanand Divya andhis family members.

    The ED had initiated inves-tigation under Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act(PMLA) on the basis of FIRregistered by ACB,Chhattisgarh under relevantsection of Prevention ofCorruption Act which dis-closed the disproportionateassets to the tune of �5.45crore amassed by Divya and hisfamily members.

    “Investigation underPMLA revealed that most ofthe immovable properties werepurchased in the name ofPriyadarshini Divya wife ofRamanand Divya, few being inthe name of accusedRamanand Divya himself aswell. The properties wereacquired through various waysof money laundering. In fewcases, property was purchaseddirectly in cash or through cashdeposits in bank accounts ofself as well as other relatives,”the ED said in a statement.

    In some cases, routing offunds was done throughaccounts of relatives and per-sons with meagre sources ofincome in the form of gift orunsecured loan. For purchasingsome properties, fake sale agree-ments of other properties show-ing receipt in cash were also pre-pared, to project the source ofcash as untainted, it said.

    Also, there were frequentsale and purchase of propertiesto project the source of moneyfor purchase as genuine where-as the very source of initial pur-chase was unexplained andtainted money, it further said.

    Investigation furtherrevealed that �2.13 crore waspaid in cash for purchase ofproperties.

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    Raising hopes, scientists of theSchool of BiochemicalEngineering of IIT-BHU in col-laboration with the Institute ofMedical Sciences, BHU have test-ed a vaccine that halts the progressof the Kala Azar, a neglected trop-ical disease caused by Leishmaniaparasite.

    Currently there is no vaccineyet available in the market forhumans against this disease and thetreatment depends on drugs withlimitations which is a serious con-cern towards its complete elimina-tion.

    In India which has postponedKala Azar disease elimination goalthrice with 2025 new deadline, 54districts in Bihar, Jharkhand, UttarPradesh, and West Bengal are stillaffected by the disease with spo-radic cases in other states likeAssam, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala,Sikkim, and Uttarakhand.

    The scientists including ProfVikash Kumar Dubey of the Schoolof Biochemical Engineering andProf Shyam Sundar of the depart-ment of medicine, IMS, investigat-ed and tested the new recombinant

    vaccine on the mice infected withthe disease.

    Dr Sunita Yadav, a NationalPostdoctoral Fellow and ProfDubey who are investigator in thestudy said that the prophylacticpotential of this vaccine was eval-uated in preclinical studies inmice model that showed a signif-icant reduction in parasite load inliver and spleen organs of vacci-nated infected mice than infectedcontrol mice. The research hasbeen recently reported in the pres-tigious journal “CellularImmunology”.

    “Clearance of the parasite bur-den in vaccinated challenged miceis correlated with immuneresponse expected in a vaccinecandidate,” said Professor VikashKumar Dubey. It is a type ofdefence mechanism that happensin our body after vaccination andhelpful for prevention of diseaseprogression.

    He said this study providesinsight towards the evaluation ofvaccine molecules againstLeishmania infection. In future, itmight be utilised as a vaccine can-didate against the pathogen.However, more study is needed tobetter understand its mode ofaction. The team next plans to fur-ther evaluate its potential in otherclinical trials.

    As of November 2020, 12blocks in Jharkhand and 4 blocksin Bihar reported more than 1 caseof Kala Azar per 10,000 popula-tion. Uttar Pradesh and WestBengal have also managed to sig-nificantly achieve their eliminationtarget.

    Kala Azar is the 2nd largest par-asitic killer in the world afterMalaria and results in a 95 percentfatality rate if the patients are nottreated. Additionally, up to 20 percent of the patients who are cor-rectly treated and cured, develop askin condition called Post-Kala-Azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL)which surfaces within months toyears after treatment. These patientscan contain large amounts of par-asites in their skin lesions, makingthem an important source of trans-

    mission, Dr Harsh Vardhan, UnionHealth Minister recently pointedout at a meeting held to review thestatus of the disease.

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    Prime Minister NarendraModi on Friday said thecountry’s students should worktowards building a self-reliantIndia. He said that by the timeIndia celebrates its 100thIndependence day, the nationwould also be celebrating theefforts of the students whowould be graduating now.

    “The universities of futurewill be entirely virtual and stu-dents from any part of theworld would be able to studyanywhere at anytime,” Modiaddressing students and fac-ulty at the 18th convocation ofTezpur University in Assam.

    “We need to have a regu-latory framework for suchtransformation and we arecontinuously trying to achievethat goal with the NewEducation Policy. The NEP2020 aims at a flexible andinterdisciplinary educationsystem,” he said. The NEPfocuses on data and analytics.It has the power to improvethe admission, teaching, andevaluation system,” he addedin the virtual address.

    Referring to the incuba-tion centre of the universityand innovative technologiesemerging out of it, Modi toldstudents that they have greatopportunities ahead of them.“Your efforts tell that youhave potential,” said the PrimeMinister. He also applaudedthe efforts of varsity in the

    documentation of tribal lan-guages and culture, wasteenergy among others.

    “During the freedomstruggle, many brave heartsfrom Assam have given theirlives now you have to live forthe AtmaNirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India),” Modi toldgraduating students askingthem to spread the tej (light)of Tezpur University acrossthe nation and the world.

    In this pandemic circum-stances, the AtmaNirbharBharat programme hasbecome a nomenclature inour dictionary but we need tounderstand what is thischange brought by the initia-tive, said Modi. The biggestchange is of perspective – theattitude of the entire nationhas changed, said Modi.

    Union Education MinisterRamesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’,Assam Chief MinisterSarbananda Sonowal, andTezpur Lok Sabha MP PallabLochan Das also attended theconvocation.

    Citing the Indian cricketteam’s recent win againstAustralia, the Prime Ministersaid the youth needs to takeinspiration from them. “Theyoung team was inexperi-enced and injured, but thatdidn’t deter their determina-tion and beat one of the bestteams in the world,” he men-tioned. A total of 1,218 stu-dents received their degreesand diplomas in the convoca-tion.

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    The outbreak of avianinfluenza, also known asbird flu, has been confirmed inpoultry birds in as many asnine States across the country,and in crows, migratory/wildbirds in a dozen-odd 12 states,the Union Ministry of AnimalHusbandry informed onFriday.

    In Rajasthan, bird flu hasbeen confirmed in 17 districtsof Rajasthan.

    As many as 6,290 birdshave been found dead in thestate between December 25,2020, and January 22, 2021, thestate Animal HusbandryDepartment informed.

    In Punjab, 11,200 birds

    were culled at the Alfa PoultryFarm in village Bhera inDerabassi, Aashika JainAdditional DeputyCommissioner told a newsagency.

    About a hundred men wereengaged in the operation who

    worked for around eight hoursto conduct the exercise.

    The team began the jobwith sedation of birds, fol-lowed by culling via cervicaldislocation. Thereafter thebirds were buried in deep pitsand covered with lime.

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    The 9-feet statue of GovindBallabh Pant insideParliament premises has beentemporarily relocated and thestatue of Motilal Nehru will bemoved in the next two-threedays to make way for the con-struction of the new building.Meanwhile, the Central PublicWorks Department has putthe central vista redevelop-ment design in public domainand has sought views andobjections till January 31.

    Earlier this week, theCentral Public WorksDepartment had shifted the16-feet bronze statue ofMahatma Gandhi to a spotbetween Gate 2 and 3 of theParliament. The constructionwork of the new Parliamentbuilding started on January 15after the HeritageConservation Committee gaveits approval to the ambitiousproject under the Central Vistaredevelopment plan.

    “The statue of PanditGovind Ballabh Pant has beentemporarily relocated by theCPWD. The statue of MotilalNehru, which is also coming inthe way of construction of thenew building, will also bemoved in the next two-threedays,” official sources said.They said the statues beingmoved temporarily will beshifted to a prominent locationonce the construction com-pletes. There is also a statue ofB R Ambedkar which will bemoved temporarily, they said.

    The new parliament build-ing will have a triangular shapeand is expected to be com-pleted by the 75th anniversary

    of India’s independence in2022. The Government plansto hold the monsoon session ofParliament in 2022 in the newbuilding. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had laid thefoundation stone for the newbuilding, being constructedby Tata Projects Ltd, onDecember 10 last year. Theproject is estimated to cost Rs971 crore.

    Besides the newParliament building, the rede-velopment of the Central Vista— the nation’s power corridor—envisages a common centralsecretariat, revamping of the 3-km Rajpath from RashtrapatiBhavan to India Gate, newprime minister’s residence andprime minister’s office, and anew Vice-President Enclave.

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    Actor Sonu Sood movedthe Supreme Court Fridaychallenging the Bombay HighCourt order which dismissedhis appeal against a BMCnotice over alleged illegal con-struction at his residentialbuilding in Mumbai’s Juhuarea.

    Advocate Vineet Dhanda,who has filed the plea in thetop court, told PTI that Soodhas challenged the high courtorder.

    As per the BMC, theBollywood actor had carriedout structural changes in thesix-storey residential building‘’Shakti Sagar’’, and converted

    it into a hotel without takingrequisite permissions.

    The BMC earlier thismonth also filed a complaint atthe Juhu police station, seekingan FIR to be lodged againstSood for allegedly convertingthe residential building into ahotel without permission.

    The complaint letter wassent to the police after theBMC inspected the buildingand found that Sood hadallegedly not complied with therequisitions and was continu-ing unauthorised constructioneven after the notice wasserved to him in October lastyear.

    The police is yet to regis-ter FIR in the case.

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    The Supreme Court onFriday refused to accordearly hearing to the plea relat-ed to mining major Vedanta’’sSterlite copper unit at Tuticorinin Tamil Nadu which is closedsince May 2018 over pollutionconcerns.

    The top court, onDecember 2, last year hadrejected the interim plea ofVedanta Ltd that it be permit-ted to inspect its Sterlite cop-per plant and to operate it fora month to assess the pollutionlevel.

    Vedanta had sought hand-ing over of the plant for threemonths saying it requires twomonths to start the unit and thecompany should be allowed torun it for four weeks to ascer-tain whether its polluting ornot.

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    Agra: About 21 prisoners from Jammu and Kashmir,presently lodged in various jails of Uttar Pradesh, havebeen shifted to the high security Agra jail.

    This is being done on the orders of the Union HomeMinistry (MHA). The prisoners being shifted now arebelieved to be “pro-Pakistan” separatists, of which 10are associated with Hurriyat leader Syed Ali ShahGeelani.

    These inmates were booked under Public Safety Act(PSA) and were arrested in the wake of the revocationof special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu andKashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution in August2019.

    According to Senior Superintendent of Agra cen-tral jail, V.K. Singh, “While eight prisoners werealready lodged in Agra Central Jail, 17 more have beenshifted from Naini, Bareilly and Ambedkar Nagar jails.Four more are scheduled to be transferred fromVaranasi Central Jail. All of them will be kept in a high-security cell, away from the other prisoners.”

    The entire cell is soundproof and under constantCCTV surveillance. Sources said that the jail staff onduty at the special cell have been strictly directed notto speak to any prisoner. Only senior officials wouldcommunicate with them, if needed.

    They would be taken out of the lock-up one by oneat a fixed time every day and allowed to walk for a fewminutes.

    Visitors and staffers would be thoroughly checkedat the main gate. The entire premises is being monitoredby police and provincial armed constabulary (PAC)round-the-clock.

    In 2019, over 200 prisoners booked under the PSAwere transferred to the Agra Central Jail. A year later,most of them were 'temporarily' released on the direc-tives of the MHA.The high-security cell at Agra cen-tral jail was constructed 23 years ago and has a capac-ity to lodge 30 prisoners. IANS

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    Mathura: An organisation herehas demanded the installation ofa statue of demon king Ravan atthe Ram temple in Ayodhya.

    In a letter to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, the LankeshBhakta Mandal made thedemand.

    “The Lankesh Bhakta

    Mandal will bear the costincurred on the installation ofthe statue,” Omveer Saraswat,president of the outfit said onFriday.

    A similar letter has alsobeen dispatched to the presidentof the Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas,he said. PTI

    Coimbatore: Panic gripped residentsof Madukkarai, near here, when theysaw a leopard attacking a dog in theearly hours of Friday, police said.

    The visuals of the attack and ear-lier incidents have gone viral in thesocial media.

    At least 20 goats and five dogs werekilled by the big cat in the last one year,though the forest department person-nel denied the presence of any leopardin the area, the police said.

    Adding to the fear of straying wildelephants, the movement of the leopardhas made the residents anxious.

    The incident, wherein the leopardwas seen attacking a dog at 1 AM onFriday near the house of a governmenttransport driver, made them even morescary, they said.

    The residents managed to scare theleopard away while the dog with deepinjury in the neck is battling for life, theysaid.

    The leopard then entered a near-by house and killed three out of 17 goats,they said.

    The residents fear the leopard maykill them too, as the human habitats areon the foothill with the easy access towildlife, they added. Meanwhile, for-est officials visited the spot and noticedthe pugmarks of the leopard. Theyplaced a cage to trap it and cameras tomonitor its movement. PTI

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    Bengaluru: Karnataka ChiefMinister B S Yediyurappa onFriday said five people werekilled in the powerful explosionof a truckload of gelatin sticksat a stone crushing unit inShivamogga district andassured action against unlaw-ful mining and those respon-sible for the mishap.

    Conceding illegal miningin Shivamogga, his native dis-trict, Yediyurappa said thequarry owner and two of hisassociates have been arrestedfor the explosion that occurredon Thursday night and hewould inspect the blast site onSaturday. While police lastnight said at least six labourersin the truck were killed in theexplosion that left the bodiesdismembered beyond recogni-tion, Yediyurappa toldreporters that five people weredead.

    Announcing an ex-gratiaof Rs five lakh each to the fam-

    ilies of the victims, he said aprobe into the explosion was onand a team of officials, includ-ing those from bomb disposal,mines and geology depart-ments, were on the job. Aclear picture on the casualtywas expected to emerge soonwith the authorities not rulingout the possibility of the deathtoll increasing, citing reportsthat there may have been morepeople at the site when themishap occurred.

    In a tweet, the ChiefMinister said: “My deepestcondolences to the bereavedfamily members. I wish aspeedy recovery to the injured.”

    He told reporters here thathe would direct the deputycommissioner of Shivamoggadistrict to release a solatium ofRs five lakh to the families ofthe victims. “Tomorrow I amgoing there. There are illegalmining activities going on. Iwill try to take steps to prevent

    the repetition of such incidentsin future,” he said.

    Yediyurappa assuredappropriate action againstthose responsible for the explo-sion, the cause of which wasunder investigation. To a ques-tion on allegations of increasein illegal mining, he said suchactivities have been stopped atfour to five places and stringentaction would be initiated to endthe menace altogether.

    The chief minister said thenewly inducted Mines andGeology Minister MurugeshNirani would soon inspect thearea. Yediyurappa''s son andShivamogga MP B YRaghavendra has already visit-ed the spot.

    The booming sound of theblast initially made local peo-ple mistake it for an earthquakeand it was heard in nearby areasin neighbouring Davangere,Chikkamagaluru and UttaraKannada districts too. PTI

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    Chitrakoot (UP): A 15-year-old girl was hacked to deathwith an axe allegedly afterbeing raped and her four-year-old nephew killed in a villagehere, police said on Friday.

    A 30-year-old man fromthe girl's village has been arrest-ed in connection with thecrime which took place onThursday, they said.

    “The body of the girl wasfound in a village on Thursday.She was hacked to death withan axe,” Superintendent ofPolice Ankit Mittal said.

    Her nephew was alsoattacked. He was rushed to the

    hospital where he died duringtreatment, he said.

    Circle Officer SubodhGautam said the girl wasattacked when she was return-ing home after giving food toher father in the field.

    “Accused Chilua has beenarrested by the police. Themotive behind the crime isbeing probed,” the officer said.

    Gautam said the teenager'sfamily has alleged that she wasraped before being murdered.It will be confirmed after thepost-mortem examination.

    “The post-mortem reportis awaited,” he said. PTI

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    The Administrative Council (AC), whichmet here under the chairmanship ofLieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha on Fridayapproved the adoption of Jammu & KashmirIndustrial Land Allotment Policy, 2021-30 toevolve a highly structured industrial landbank for promoting equitable industrialgrowth in Jammu and Kashmir.

    The new policy attempts to address var-ious land-related issues impeding industri-al development in J&K by laying down aframework to regulate zoning of industrialareas, project appraisal and evaluation, andthe subsequent process flow.

    According to the official spokesperson,“Under the policy, land will be allotted to theinvestors on lease for an initial period of 40years, extendable to 99 years.

    The allotted land will be liable to be can-celled in case of failure of the investor to takeeffective steps within the stipulated time of2 years, failure of the industrial unit to comeinto production within 3 years, violation ofprovisions under the lease deed, and non-cooperation of an enterprise for a period of5 years”.

    Further, the policy also provides rentingout of 60% of the built-up area of a businessenterprise for setting up an ancillary indus-

    trial enterprise through a tripartite agree-ment.

    The spokesperson said, “the policy aimsat achieving inclusive growth through sus-tainable industrialization and employmentgeneration, and includes provisions forevolving a fair and transparent mechanismfor land allotment for industrial use”.

    “The new policy proposes zoning ofindustrial areas at block/ municipality levelafter taking into consideration various fac-tors including the existing level of industri-al development, location of the proposedzone, and level of urbanization. The Jammuand Kashmir Industrial Land AllotmentPolicy, 2021-30 will also cover land allotmentfor health institutions/medi-cities and edu-cational institutions/edu-cities”, officialspokesperson added.

    The policy provides for constitution ofDivisional Level Project Appraisal andEvaluation Committees to scrutinize appli-cations received for allotment of industrialland within 30 days; Apex Level LandAllotment Committee, High Level LandAllotment Committee and Divisional LevelLand Allotment Committee to decide andallot industrial land to the applicant within45 days in cases of projects worth Rs. 200crore, Rs. 50-200 crore and up to Rs. 50 crore,respectively.

    ,8(�%������������������������ �&9&0/:9���������Kolkata: The Election

    Commission of India on Fridayasked the Bengal political partiesto exercise restraint while choos-ing their words particularly forarmed forces.

    While it termed the allega-tions made by TrinamoolCongress against the BorderSecurity Forces without producingevidence as “unfortunate” andavoidable, it also called the BJP’contentions that the names of 4-5 lakh Rohingyas had been ille-gally included in the electoral rollsas unsubstantiated.

    Describing allegations madeby a political party against the BSFas “unfortunate,” Chief ElectionCommissioner Sunil Arora saidthat it was “one of the finestforces in the country,” adding thepolitical party concerned shouldcome up with facts to support itsallegations.

    Earlier the TrinamoolCongress alleged that the BSF wasthreatening people living (within15 km) of the international bor-der to make them cast their votesin favour of a particular politicalparty.

    On BJP’s allegations that thenames of 4-5 lakh Rohingyas hadbeen incorporated in the electoralrolls he said such allegations werebaseless adding the full bench ofthe EC which was currently trav-eling Bengal had asked the StateChief Secretary and HomeSecretary to look into the issues offake information in the socialmedia raised by political parties.

    Talking tough on the bureau-crats particularly the police topbrass the CEC said that poll panelhad “zero-tolerance” insofar as“money and muscle power andmisuse of the government machin-ery” was concerned. He also said nocivic police volunteers will bedeployed during the elections.

    Sources said that the ECI wasmulling “transfer, suspensionsand even charge-sheets” againstofficials acting with bias. “TheCommission may blacklist offi-cials and even suspend, transfer orcharge-sheet them,” sources said,adding, “like on earlier occasionsany complaint, instead of beingresponded with show causenotices will be followed up withprompt removal.” PNS

    Raipur: Breaking thepaddy procurementrecord of last 20years, ChhattisgarhState has recordedhighest quantity ofpaddy procurementthis year. In the ongo-ing procurement sea-son this year, nearly 84 lakh 44thousand metric tons of paddyhas been procured till January21, which is 50 thousand met-ric tons more than the quanti-ty of paddy procured last year.It is noteworthy that nearly83.94 lakh metric tons of paddywas procured in the season oflast year.

    Under the leadership ofChief Minister Mr. BhupeshBaghel, the quantity of paddyprocurement as well as thenumber of farmers and agri-culture yield has consistentlyincreased in last two years. Asa result of State Government’s

    pro-farmer policy,Chhattisgarh isemerging as amodel state for thecountry in the agri-culture sector.C h h a t t i s g a r hGovernment’s RajivGandhi Kisaan

    Nyay Yojana has boosted thecrop production in the state. Inthe current fiscal year, StateGovernment has distributedthe incentive amount of Rs5750 crore to 19 lakh farmers ofthe state under Rajiv GandhiKisaan Nyay Yojana. Till date, 19lakh 54 thousand 332 farmershave sold paddy at supportprice till date.

    DO of 27 lakh 70 thousand693 metric tons of paddy hasbeen issued to the millers forcustom milling, against whichnearly 25 lakh 45 thousand512 metric tons of paddy hasbeen transported already.

    Amaravati (AP): At least 22people Fell ill in Eluru city anda nearby mandal headquarters inWest Godavari district ofAndhra Pradesh on Friday butDeputy Chief Minister (Health)A K K Srinivas suspected therecould be a “conspiracy” behindit.

    This comes more than amonth after several hundredpeople in Eluru fell ill withsymptoms of nausea in the firstweek of December last year.

    The Deputy Chief Minister,who visited Poolla in WestGodavari district and enquiredabout the situation from the vic-tims' families,said they could not

    rule out a conspiracy behind theoutbreak of the mysterious ill-ness. “We are thinking if thereis a conspiracy.We have this sus-picion, going by what the peo-ple here said.So, we can't rulethat out.But we can't confirmthat as well,” Srinivas told aTelugu television news channel.

    Official sources said the 22persons suddenly fell uncon-scious as froth oozed from theirmouths and they complained ofgiddiness.

    “Six of these patients havebeen discharged after treatmentwhile 15 were admitted to theDistrict Hospital inEluru.Another person was get-

    ting treated in the local hospi-tal in Poolla mandal headquar-ters,” a senior official said.

    “We have collected waterand food samples from thehouses of the victims and alsonearby hotels and the wholesalevegetable market atGundugolanu.We are collectingsamples of meat, chicken, milk,rice and fertilisers used in paddycultivation,” he added.

    Chief Secretary Aditya NathDas, Principal Secretary(Health) Anil Kumar Singhal,Health CommissionerKatamaneni Bhaskar rushed toEluru to take stock of the situ-ation. PTI

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    Aday after a massive fireclaimed five lives and gut-ted its equipment and productsat the proposed BCG andRotavirus vaccine manufac-turing facility, Serum Instituteof India (SII) on Friday peggedthe losses suffered by it at Rs1,000 crore, even asMaharashtra chief ministerUddhav Thackeray visited thefire ravaged SII premises.

    Addressing a joint newsconference with the chief min-ister, SII’s Chief ExecutiveOfficer (CEO) Adar Poonawalasaid that there was no damageto the place where Covishieldwas manufactured and stored.“The mishap took place at abrand new facility. It was for thefuture production of BCG andRotavirus,” he said.

    “Equipment and products

    worth Rs 1,000 crore weredamaged in the fire... The lossis mainly financial. There is noloss to supplies as such,”Poonawalla said.

    Poonawala said that at theplace where the fire broke out,“no actual vaccine was actual-ly being produced there, sothere was no damage to anyvaccine”.

    While the fire sweptthrough the third and fourthfloors of the upcoming facilityin Manjari that was scheduledto become operational withina month, the CovishieldVaccine that is currently beingmanufactured at its other plantwhich is one km away.

    The chief minister, accom-panied by Tourism MinisterAditya Thackeray, DeputyChairperson of MaharashtraLegislative Council NeelamGorhe, Pune MP Girish Bapat,

    visited the SII facility and metthe company Chairman CyrusPoonawalla and his son Adar.

    Declining to comment onthe progress of investigationsinto the circumstances leadingto Thursday’s fire, Uddhavsaid: “We have ordered a thor-ough probe. There cannot beany conclusions till the fullinvestigations are complete andthe report is available. It is thenwe will know whether it was anaccident or sabotage” the chiefminister said.

    The chief minister saidthat Poonawallas had repeat-edly assured him that therewould be no impact on theCovishield Vaccine produc-tion, stocks and rollout whichwould continue unhindered.

    After the chief minister’svisit to the mishap-hit SII facil-ity, Adar Poonwala tweeted:“Thank you Shri Uddhav Ji@ C M O M a h a r a s h t r a a n d@AUThackerayfor visiting@SerumInstIndiaand extend-ing your help and support dur-ing this terrible crisis. As you

    have seen, the production of#COVISHIELD is on scheduleand remains unaffected by thistragedy.

    Meanwhile, the SII hasannounced a compensation ofRs 25 lakh to the next of kin ofeach of the five labourers,including 3 migrants, killed inthe blaze.

    On his part, the chief min-ister said that if any moreassistance was needed to beextended to the bereaved fam-ilies, the state governmentwould consider it.

    In a related development,Pune’s Hadapsar Police haveregistered an accidental death,the Pune MunicipalCorporation, PuneMetropolitan RegionDevelopment Authority andMaharashtra IndustrialDevelopment Corporationhave launched simultaneousinvestigations into the fire.

    It may be recalled that fivepersons were killed and othersevacuated safely after a massivefire broke out in an under-con-

    struction building at the Covid-19 vaccine manufacturerSerum Institute of India (SII) inPune on Thursday afternoon.

    The fire, which broke outat around 2.30 pm, sweptthrough the fourth and fifthfloors of an under-constructionbuilding at Manjari, which isone kilometer away from theSII facility where Covid vac-cines are being manufactured.Manjari is a complex in SpecialEconomic Zone where SII’shalf a dozen buildings arebeing constructed. The firewas brought under controlwithin three hours.

    The five deceased labour-ers were identified as RamaShankar Harijan and BipinSaroj, both from Uttar Pradesh,Sushil Kumar Pandey, whohails from Bihar andMahendra Ingle and PratikPashte, both residents of Pune.All of them were contractuallabourers. They were carryingout some electrical work at thesite, when the mishap occurred.

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    As part of its ongoing inves-tigations into the Punjab &Maharashtra Cooperative(PMC) Bank Ltd. scam, theEnforcement Directorate (ED)on Friday raided five premisesbelonging to the Viva Groupand its associates in Mumbaiand Palghar and seized a cashof Rs 73 lakh.

    Following upon the leadsgot it by that a large amount ofmoney had allegedly beentransferred from HDIL toMehul Thakur-controlled com-panies and trusts the ED raid-ed Viva Group’s offices atAndheri and Virar in Palghardistrict, residences of its topofficials at Andheri, Juhu andChembur in Mumbai.

    In the raids conducted onthree premises linked to theViva Groups’ head and twoothers connected with char-

    tered accountants/financialconsultants, the ED seized Rs73 lakh in cash and incrimi-nating documents.

    It may be recalled thatafter the PMC bank scam brokeout in September 2019, theEconomic Offences Wing(EOW) of Mumbai Police hadarrested two promoters of theHousing Development andInfrastructure Limited (HDIL)Sarang Kumar Wadhawan andRakesh Wadhawan in connec-tion with 5366 crore PMCBank scam.

    Subsequently, the EDlaunched a probe againstHDIL’s promoters RakeshWadhawan and SarangWadhawan, PMC Bank’s for-mer Chairman Waryam Singhand MD Joy Thomas, in con-nection with the same scam.

    The ED seized severalproperties of RakeshWadhawan and Wadhawan

    Family Trust worth Rs.293crore, while it also seized jew-ellery worth Rs.63 crore wereseized and attached andlaunched proceedings againstthem under the Prevention ofMoney-laundering Act(PMLA).

    The investigations hadrevealed that the Wadhawansand Viva Group connived todivert over Rs.160-crore fromHDIL to many companies ofthe latter (Viva Group) dis-guised as ‘commission’, thoughthe funds were apparently anillegal diversion from the PMCBank.

    Simultaneously, the EDstarted probing another caseagainst Rakesh Wadhawan andSarang Wadhawan for siphon-ing off a long of Rs.200 croresanctioned by Yes Bank to theMack Star Marketing Pvt. Ltd.,by allegedly showing some fic-titious purposes.

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    Dhaka: Bangladesh PrimeMinister Sheikh Hasina hasthanked her Indian counter-part Narendra Modi for send-ing over two million doses ofCovid-19 vaccine as a gift toBangladesh.

    India on Thursday offi-cially handed over 2 milliondoses of domestically pro-duced Covishield vaccine toBangladesh. The vaccines wereprovided at a crucial timewhen the number of coron-avirus cases in Bangladesh isrising.

    “I thank Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for sending thevaccine (batch) as a gift,”Hasina said at an online inter-national conference held on theoccasion of the 100th foundinganniversary of the University ofDhaka on Thursday.

    She said the governmenthas already planned how itwould proceed with the vac-cine, the Dhaka Tribunereported.

    “We have taken all thesteps to face the COVID-19 sit-uation in the country,” Hasina

    said. Apart from the currentdelivery of vaccines,Bangladesh is also set to pur-chase 3 crore doses of India-made coronavirus vaccine.

    Hasina hoped that the vac-cine that Bangladesh procuredfrom India would arrive byJanuary 25-26, the report said.

    Bangladesh has so farrecorded 7,966 COVID-19deaths since the outbreak of thepandemic in March last year,while the total number ofinfections have surged to over530,270. PTI

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