- The BJP central leadership held meetings expressing concerns over UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's disconnect with state leaders and MLAs and imbalance in caste representation in the cabinet. - Changes are expected in the UP cabinet that could see inductions like former bureaucrat AK Sharma and Jitin Prasada to balance caste equations ahead of the 2022 state elections. - The Delhi Police revised maximum speed limits for vehicles in the capital, capping it at 70/60 kmph for cars on highways and 60 kmph for two-wheelers on national highways. - The US FDA rejected an emergency use authorization for Bharat Biotech's Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin

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As political heat increased
here with Uttar Pradesh
occupying the centre stage, a
Cabinet expansion at the
Centre is on the cards with
Prime Minister holding a flur-
ry of meetings on Friday with
top leaders, including Union
Home Minister Amit Shah and
BJP president JP Nadda.
According to sources,
among others Aapna Dal (S)
leader Annupriya Patel, LS MP
from Mirzapur, may be induct-
ed into the Cabinet.
This apart, former
Congress leader Jyotiraditya
Scindia is also waiting for the
“reward” after joining the BJP.
Modi is reviewing the per-
formance of select ministries,
in the second wave of Covid-
19, in a series of meetings,
sources said amid reports of a
possible Cabinet expansion.
A meeting in Friday
evening between the BJP’s Big
Three — Prime Minister Modi,
Home Minister Amit Shah and
party chief JP Nadda — signals
big changes ahead based on the
assessment of how the
Ministers performed. Some
other Ministers were also pre-
sent at Friday’s meeting.
There is also talk of a
major social scheme to be
announced in the next few days
as the party prepares for impor-
tant elections next year, includ-
ing in Uttar Pradesh.
The Prime Minister held a
similar meeting for well over
five hours on Wednesday at his
7 Lok Kalyan Marg home with
seven Ministries and assessed
the work done by them during
the April-May Covid crisis,
when the scale of virus cases
and deaths were seen to have
caught the Government unpre-
pared. Dharmendra Pradhan,
Prakash Javadekar and
Hardeep Puri were among the
Union Ministers he met.
Sources said it is an annu-
al exercise that usually takes
place before the anniversary of
the Modi Government but was
delayed this time due to the
pandemic.
Since it is a performance
review, it has fuelled specula-
tion of a Cabinet expansion,
said to be long overdue. There
are around half a dozen
Ministers who hold more than
one ministry.
The Prime Minister can
have up to 79 Ministers, which
means there are more than two
dozen vacancies in the Union
Cabinet.
The review meeting comes
days after the Prime Minister
announced that the Centre
would take back control of vac-
cination from States and pro-
vide vaccines free of charge to
all above 18 from June 21.
Wednesday’s meeting,
sources said began at 5 pm and
continued till 10 in the night.
Nadda was also present.
The Ministries made brief
presentations on various deci-
sions taken by them, sources in
the Government said.
Under review were
Petroleum Ministry, Steel
Ministry, Ministry of Jal Shakti,
Ministry of Skill Development
and Entrepreneurship,
Ministry of Civil Aviation,
Ministry of Heavy Industries
and the Ministry of
Environment, Forest and
Climate change.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
The maximum speed limits
for all vehicles have been
revised in view of the traffic
scenario and safety of road
users in the national Capital.
The Delhi Traffic Police on
Friday said the maximum
speed limit of 70/60 kmph has
been fixed for private cars,
taxis and jeeps plying on
national highways, Ring Road,
Outer Ring Road and IGI
Airport roads.
The maximum speed limit
for two-wheelers on NHs has
been revised to 60 kmph from
70 kmph.
On some roads, it remains
to be at 50 kmph to bring uni-
formity with other categories of
vehicles.
According to the revised
notification by the Delhi Traffic
Police, the maximum speed
limit for M1 category passen-
ger vehicles comprising not
more than eight seats in addi-
tion to driver’s seat like cars,
jeeps and cabs, has been noti-
fied as 70/60 kmph for high
speed/access controlled roads,
including stretches of the
national highways passing
through Delhi, Noida Toll
Road, Saleemgarh bypass road,
Barapullah Nallah, Northern
Access Road, Central Spine
Road, Ring Road, Outer Ring
Road, Pusta Road and IGI
Airport road.
?=BQ =4F34;78
In a setback to the
Hyderabad-based Bharat
Biotech, the US FDA has reject-
ed its proposal for an emer-
gency use authorization (EUA)
of its Covid vaccine, delaying
the company’s vaccine launch
in that country. The Indian
Government here, however,
asserted that it will have no
impact whatsoever on India’s
vaccination programme.
Ocugen, the US partner of
Bharat Biotech, had recently
said the company will now be
seeking a full approval of
Covaxin. This is after the US
FDA asked the company to
launch an additional trial so
that it can file for a Biologics
Licence Application (BLA),
which is a full approval.
“The FDA provided feed-
back to Ocugen regarding the
Master File the company had
previously submitted and rec-
ommended that Ocugen pur-
sue a BLA submission instead
of an EUA application for its
vaccine candidate and request-
ed additional information and
data,” said a statement from
Ocugen, adding that the com-
pany is in discussions with the
FDA on the additional docu-
ments required to clear its
application.
?=BQ =4F34;78
After scathing criticism from
the Supreme Court, former
Mumbai Police Commissioner
Param Bir Singh withdrew his
petition seeking shifting of
probe against him to an inde-
pendent agency outside
Maharashtra. The apex court
reminded Singh that after serv-
ing 30 years in Maharashtra, it
is shocking that an officer say-
ing he has no trust in the force
he served.
“It is commonly said, the
person who lives in a glass
house should not throw stones
at others,” said a vacation bench
of Justices Hemant Gupta and
V Ramasubramanian, react-
ing to Singh’s allegations against
the State Police. The apex
court, which was hearing
Singh’s plea seeking transfer of
all inquiries against him to an
independent agency outside
Maharashtra, said the peti-
tioner should not have doubt
on the police force in which he
has served.
“Your lordships are assum-
ing that I (Singh) am living in
a glass house,” senior advocate
Mahesh Jethmalani, appear-
ing for Singh said, adding that
false cases have been lodged
against the police officer.
After the SC observed that
it would dismiss the petition,
Singh’s counsel withdrew the
plea and said he would avail
other appropriate remedy.
?C8Q =4F34;78
The Supreme Court on
Friday termed as “arbi-
trary” the fixing of June 16 for
conducting INI CET 2021 and
directed All India
Institute of Medical
Sciences (AIIMS) to
hold the post-graduate
medical entrance test
after one month.
A vacation bench of
Justices Indira Banerjee
and MR Shah disposed
of a plea filed by doctors
seeking admission in PG med-
ical and challenging the notifi-
cation of fixing June 16 as date
of INI CET 2021.
“Having regard to the cir-
cumstances pleaded, the fixing
of the INI CET on June 16, 2021
is arbitrary and discriminatory,
more so since other important
examinations including Joint
Entrance Examinations, Board
Examinations have been post-
poned.
“The impugned notice is,
therefore, set aside. The INI
CET is directed to be postponed
by at least a month from June
16, 2021,” the bench said.
The bench said having
regard to the diffi-
culty faced by candi-
dates due to exami-
nation and many
places far away due to
Covid duty from the
examination centre,
the exam needs to be
postponed. Around
80,000 candidates are
vying for 815 seats in the
national level examination
which is being held by AIIMS.
The 815 seats are spread
across 8 institutes of AIIMS
and JIPMER, Puducherry,
NIMHANS, Bengaluru and
PGIMER, Chandigarh.
The INI CET 2021 was ini-
tially scheduled to be held on
May 8 but was rescheduled to
June 16 due to the
Covid pandemic.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
The Crime Branch of the
Delhi Police has arrested
Anirudh, a close aide of
Olympic medallist and inter-
national wrestler Sushil Kumar,
in connection with the
Chhatrasal Stadium brawl in
which a 23 year-old wrestler
died and two of his friends
were injured.
Police said Anirudh, arrest-
ed on Thursday, was involved
in the alleged assault. Police
said 10 people, including
Kumar, have been arrested so
far in connection with the
incident.
Kumar and his associates
had allegedly assaulted wrestler
Sagar Dhankar and two of his
friends Sonu and Amit Kumar
on the intervening night of
May 4 and 5 over a property
dispute. Dhankar, 23, suc-
cumbed to injuries later.
The wrestler was arrested,
along with co-accused Ajay
Kumar, on May 23 from outer
Delhi’s Mundka area. The two-
time Olympic medallist faces
charges of murder, culpable
homicide and kidnapping.
Police have called Kumar
the “main culprit and master-
mind” behind the alleged mur-
der and said there is electron-
ic evidence in which he and his
associates could be seen beat-
ing Dhankar with sticks.
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Adeeply worried BJP central
leadership through a series
of high-level meetings asked
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath to amend his “dis-
connect” with State MLAs,
Ministers and State leaders and
effect changes in his Cabinet
to balance the caste equa-
tions.
The CM who met Prime
Minister Narendra Modi here
at his residence for about 75 to
80 minutes defended his track
record in governance and
Covid-19 management with
“lot of evidence and docu-
ments”, according to sources.
The changes in the UP
Cabinet may make room for
former bureaucrat AK
Sharma, known close to Modi,
and Jitin Prasada, the former
Congress Brahmin leader
from UP . The four MLC
vacant seats could help elec-
tion of those who may be
inducted in the council of
Ministers. According to
sources, Yogi’s inaction on
Sharma’s induction into the
Ministry had become sore
point between the two leaders.
With UP polls only seven
months away, Yogi is to remain
the face of the BJP but under
guidence of BJP’s central lead-
ership, sources said alluding to
the “outcome” of marathon
meetings of last two-days.
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According to data shared by
the Delhi Police, in 2020,
there were 4,178 road acci-
dents, including 1,163 fatal
accidents, across the city.
Accidents and fatalities on the
streets of the national capital
saw a significant decrease in
2020 due to the nation-wide
lockdown amid the Covid-19
pandemic, compared to the
previous year 2019 which wit-
nessed 5,610 accidents, includ-
ing 1,433 fatal ones.
Meanwhile, from January
1, 2020 to June 6, 2021 the
police had issued 1,620,834
challans and sent 14,473,296
notices for traffic violations, as
per police data.
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New Delhi: The Road Ministry
on Friday notified rules for
accredited driver training cen-
tres where candidates will be
provided high-quality driving
courses, and once test is
cleared, they will be exempted
from driving test at the time of
obtaining driving licence.
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New Delhi: The ICMR will
start national-level sero surveys
to assess the spread of Covid-
19 and all States/UTs should
also be encouraged to conduct
them so that information from
all geographies can be collect-
ed, the Union Health Ministry
said on Friday.
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After the Union Health
Ministry and Family
Welfare’s Directorate General of
Health Services (DGHS)
dropped “life-saving drugs”
such as hydroxychloroquine,
ivermectin, doxycycline, antivi-
ral drug favipiravir,
zinc and multivitamins in the
new revised Covid-19 man-
agement guidelines, doctor
have limited choice to treat
Covid-19 patients.
Plasma and Remdesivir are
already on the “No list” of the
World Health Organisation.
These drugs were earlier
prescribed by many doctors
and patients were also taking
them on their own. However,
the Indian Council of Medical
Research ( ICMR) is yet to
remove them from its adviso-
ry, creating confusion among
the people.
Left with limited choice,
the doctors say they will follow
DGHS guidelines, but based on
their clinical experiences they
will continue to recommend
drugs like remdesivir
and ivermectin which have
been found to be useful in cer-
tain situations.
The nine-page DGHS
guidelines released on Monday
also stresses on a healthy bal-
anced diet with proper hydra-
tion while advising patients and
their families to stay connect-
ed and engage in positive talks
through phone, video-calls,
etc.
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Moments after BJP nation-
al vice president Mukul
Roy rejoined the Trinamool
Congress in her presence, Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee on
Friday said there were many
more saffron leaders who were
willing to change track.
Roy’s son Subhrangshu, a
former MLA, too joined the
TMC back with his father.
Almost four years after quitting
the Trinamool Congress to
join the BJP in 2017, Roy a
founder member of the
Trinamool, said, “I could not
continue in the BJP… in the
present circumstances it is not
possible for anyone to contin-
ue in the BJP.”
A former Railway Minister,
Roy was seen as a Man Friday
of Mamata till he left the
TMC. Sources said Roy was
unhappy with the BJP after
being denied the post of
Opposition Leader in the State
Assembly.
The post went to compar-
atively new entrant in the BJP
Suvendu Adhikari who left the
TMC just before the elections.
And the reasons for his home-
coming, he said, “I will explain
the reasons in a written state-
ment soon. I want to be with my
leaderMamatawhotookBengal
forward.”
On reports that many more
saffron functionaries were will-
ing to join the Trinamool, Roy
said, “I have not taken stock of
that as of now but hope some
people will take a decision.”
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Teerth Purohits linked with
the Devbhumi Teerth
Purohit Mahapanchayat wore
black armbands and protested
at Badrinath, Kedarnath,
Gangotri and Yamunotri in
support of their demand for
dissolution of the Char Dham
Devasthanam Management
Board.
The priests performed
Pooja at Gangotri temple on
Friday wearing black arm-
bands and warned of intensi-
fying their protest if the gov-
ernment doesn’t act on their
demand.
Gangotri temple commit-
tee secretary Deepak Semwal
and co-secretary Rajesh
Semwal said the state govern-
ment is misleading the Char
Dham temple priests on the
issue of the Devasthanam
board. He said that if the gov-
ernment does not dissolve the
board soon, they will be forced
to launch an intense agitation
from June 15.
M a h a p a n c h a y a t
spokesman Brijesh Sati said
that Teerth Purohits protested
at all the Char Dham shrines
while their family members
also registered their protest.
In addition to this, protests
demanding dissolution of the
Devasthanam Board were also
held at Joshimath, Maithana,
Girgaon, Karnprayag,
Devprayag, Dehradun,
Rishikesh and Haridwar.
He said that the board has
elicited opposition since its
formation.
After Tirath Singh Rawat
was made the chief minister, he
spoke of reconsidering the
continuation of the board.
Later, after the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad Margdarshak Mandal
meeting, he had said that 51
temples would be brought out
of the board’s ambit.
However, a recent state-
ment by the Tourism and
Culture minister and the
board’s vice chairman Satpal
Maharaaz has made the Teerth
Purohits step up their protest,
said Sati.
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National Association for
Parents and Students
Rights (NAPSR) book bank ini-
tiative in Dehradun is proving
to be a big support to unpriv-
ileged students amidst the pan-
demic. This book bank pro-
vides books from kindergarten
level to competitive exam level
for students coming from
underprivileged backgrounds
for free. Students can keep the
books and return them after
use so that later they can be
used by someone else in need.
Students who have com-
pleted their studies are encour-
aged to donate their used and
new books for the needy ones.
Those who are donating can go
to the book bank or can call
them to pick books from their
place.
Last year during the
national lockdown when every-
one was confined in their
homes NAPSR delivered books
to homes according to the
people's demands. This book
bank initiative was started in
2018 and now has more than
50,000 books. Thousands of
students got benefits in their
studies through the book bank.
President of NAPSR, Arif khan
said that demands for books
have increased nowadays due
to the financial crisis as many
parents have lost their jobs
amidst the pandemic. He said,
“In this gloomy time, some par-
ents have lost their jobs and
then the cost of rent, fees of
schools and expensive school
books for their children seems
a big burden to them so, we
welcome them too to come and
take books free of cost.
He added, The objective of
the book bank is to support stu-
dents so that no student is
deprived of their right to edu-
cation.”
The book bank already
has eight branches in
Dehradun at Nehru Colony,
Premnagar, Vikasnagar,
Chandrabani, Kargi, Vasant
Vihar and Sahastradhara Road
while two new ones will be
opened soon for the public in
ISBT and Prince Chowk. The
book bank is open from 11 AM
to 2 PM daily.
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The Congress held symbolic
protests at petrol pumps
across Punjab and Haryana on
Friday against the rise in fuel
prices,anddemandedanimme-
diate rollback of the hikes.
Besides the steep hikes in rates
of diesel and petrol, prices of
other commodities of daily use
likecookingoilandgashavealso
registered a manifold increase,
the party said.
Protestswereheldatvarious
places like Amritsar, Mohali,
Kurali, Patiala, Bathinda,
Ludhiana,Jalandhar,Panchkula,
Hisar, Gurgaon, Kaithal,
Ambala, Panipat, Karnal,
Fatehabad, Rohtak and
Faridabad. In Amritsar, some
protesters set fire to an old car,
saying they wanted to send a
messagetotheCentre that com-
mon people are unable to afford
vehicles because of the high cost
of fuel.
Carrying posters and plac-
ards that read “Jumlon Ki
Sarkar”,“TelKiMar”and“TelKa
Khel”, Congress workers raised
slogans against the Centre and
demanded a rollback of the
price hikes. The party's workers
staged a street play in Panchkula
to highlight the plight of the
commonpeopleasaresultofthe
rise in prices of fuel and other
essential commodities. Some
even rode bullock carts and
horse carts as a mark of protest.
In Kaithal, Congress gen-
eral secretary Randeep Singh
Surjewala led the protest. A
bullock cart was seen pulling a
tractor there. Surjewala said
prices of diesel and petrol are
being increased at a time when
the people of the country are
battling the pandemic. He said
the sharp rise in fuel prices has
adversely hit various sections,
including the farmers.
Haryana Congress presi-
dent Kumari Selja led a protest
in Ambala City. She said the
BJP-ledgovernmentwas“insen-
sitive” to the plight of the com-
mon people and was putting
more burden on them when
theywerealreadygoingthrough
a difficult time.
Leading a protest in Kurali,
PunjabCongresspresidentSunil
Jakhar said, “The arrogant gov-
ernment at the Centre has con-
stantly been increasing fuel
prices instead of providing relief
to the people during the current
crisis. During the Congress-led
UPA regime, despite interna-
tionalcrudeoilpricesbeingvery
high, diesel prices hovered
aroundRs50,whichisnownear
Rs 90 per litre, while petrol is
touching Rs 100 per litre, he
said.
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In a strategic move aimed at
cashing in on almost 32 per-
cent Scheduled Caste (SC)
population in Punjab, the
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) is
all set to tie up with the
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for
contesting the 2022 State
Assembly polls.
The move comes about
nine months after the Akali Dal
severed its ties with its decades-
old alliance partner, Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP), following
differences over the Centre’s
three contentious farm laws.
Notably, as per the 2011
Census, Punjab at 31.94 per-
cent has the highest popula-
tion of SCs in the country,
including Ad-dharmi, Valmiki
and Mazhbi Sikhs.
Punjab’s all major polit-
ical parties have been mak-
ing attempts to woo the
state’s SC population. In fact,
SAD has already announced
to appoint a Dalit as state’s
Deputy Chief Minister when
elected to power. Going a
step further, the saffron
party — whose image has
suffered a huge blow in
Punjab due to the ongoing
farmers’ agitation against farm
legislations — went to the
extent of saying that the party
would be led by a Dalit Chief
Minister when elected to
power in the state.
As some sweeping devel-
opments are expected in the
state Congress unit consider-
ing the prevailing infighting
and subsequent deliberations,
Punjab’s ruling party is also
going all out to woo the SC
population by not only ear-
marking funds and organizing
a virtual state-level function on
Ambedkar Jayanti besides pri-
oritizing filling of SC-reserved
vacancies, but also planning to
appoint Dalit leaders on key
positions both in the party and
the government.
With the political
observers underscoring the
significance of Dalit issues in
the ensuing assembly elec-
tions besides the farmers’ agi-
tation, sacrilege, drugs, unem-
ployment, among others; the
SAD has taken the lead by tak-
ing on board the BSP, which
has a considerable support
base on state’s Doaba region
largely represented by the SC
population.
SAD, which has been con-
testing elections in coalition
with the BJP since 1997 in
Punjab, snapped its ties with
the saffron party after the
passage of contentious farm
legislations in the parliament
in September last.
Though the party worked
hard to emerge as a ‘martyr’
out of the entire controversy
around farm laws by ‘sacrific-
ing’ the lone Union Cabinet
berth to show its support to
the farmers, the SAD was still
struggling to make an impact.
After almost routing out in
2017 elections, the SAD was
still fighting against the alle-
gations of sacrilege cases. Left
alone and while gearing up for
the polls, SAD had called
upon the “like-minded” polit-
ical parties to come together
for the 2022 elections.
Now taking the advan-
tage of the Congress infight-
ing, and Aam Aadmi Party’s
almost nil presence in the
state, Akali Dal is set to seal
the deal with the BSP.
Political observers have
all along been projecting the
2022 polls to be held amidst
changed political equations,
and the alliance between SAD
and BSP is expected to be a
first step towards the same.
Sources have informed
The Pioneer that already a
series of meetings have been
held between the leadership of
both the parties, including
with BSP supremo Mayawati.
It has been learnt that the
BSP’s national general secre-
tary Satish Mishra has also
reached Chandigarh to put the
final seal of approval on the
alliance — the announcement
f o r
which could be made anytime
now.
It has been learnt that the
talks were going on between
the two parties since long but
the reason behind the delay in
the announcement was that
the BSP was asking for a lion’s
share in reserve seats, while
the Akalis are waiting for the
right time.
At the same time, BSP was
also seeing this alliance as a
golden chance of its revival
since 1992, when its nine
MLAs had won in Punjab.
Available information sug-
gests that as a part of the deal,
the BSP will be contesting on
something between 20 and
30 seats, out of the total 117 in
Punjab.
Notably, SAD used to con-
test 94 and BJP 23 of the seats
earlier.
The term of the current
Congress government in
Punjab, led by Captain
Amarinder Singh, is going to
expire on March 27, 2022, after
which Punjab will once again
go to the polls most probably
in the month of March to elect
117 members of the legislative
assembly.
It would be after decades
that BSP would enter into an
alliance with any political party
in Punjab.
BSP, which had always
gone solo, never managed to
get seats in double digits in
Punjab.
However, with the new
alliance, BSP and SAD are
expected to complement one
another as both parties have
different core constituencies
among the voters.
SAD has managed to build
its base among the Dalits as
well. Out of its four MLAs in
the Doaba region, three are
from reserved constituencies.
At the same time, the BSP also
has its pocket of strength in the
Doaba region.
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Haryana Chief Minister
Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday
said that Pragatisheel Kisan
Samman would be given at the
State-levelaswellasdistrict-wise
to the farmers.
While calling upon the
farmers,hesaidthattheyshould
focus on doing qualitative and
quantitative farming. Adopting
qualitativeandquantitativefarm-
ing is the need of the hour and
in view of the present circum-
stances, farmers have to move
ahead in the agriculture sector
only by accepting the challenge
of providing quality. Also, if
farmers wish to increase their
income, then they have to move
towards natural farming,” said
theChiefMinisterwhileaddress-
ing the progressive farmers of
Haryana who were present in a
one-day agriculture workshop
organized in Panchkula.
On this occasion, the Chief
Minister launched Khushal
Horticulture Portal and a book-
letcontaininginformationrelat-
edtopost-harvestmanagement.
Gujarat Governor Acharya
Devvrat,HaryanaVidhanSabha
Speaker Gian Chand Gupta,
Power Minister Ranjit Singh
and State Agriculture and
Farmers’ Welfare Minister JP
Dalal were also present on the
occasion. He called upon the
progressivefarmerstogivetrain-
ing to 10 more farmers every
year. With this, the number of
progressivefarmerswillincrease
manifold in two to three years,
he said. The Chief Minister said
that focused schemes should be
made to increase the income of
farmers.
He asked the officers of the
AgricultureandFarmers’Welfare
Department to make small
groups of progressive farmers
andtrainthemandthissequence
should be run continuously.
This will bring a paradigm shift
in the agriculture sector, he
added. According to the present
time, we have to change, for this
notonlythefertilepowerofagri-
cultural land will have to be
increased but also we have to be
awareofwaterconservationtoo,
he said. He further said that
keeping this in mind, the ‘Meri
Fasal Mera Byora’ scheme has
beenimplementedtoupdatethe
data of crop sown in every acre.
Similarly, ‘Mera Pani Meri
Virasat’ is being implemented
with a focus on proper manage-
ment of water.
?=BQ 270=3860A7
The Board of School
Education, Haryana
(BSEH)onFridaydeclaredthe
results of the class X exami-
nationswithapasspercentage
of 100 percent.
This time, the Board
decided that there will be no
topper in the examination,
which has happened for the
firsttimesince1970,whenthe
first examination under the
state board was held in
Haryana.Incontrasttothefull
pass percentage this year, the
last year's pass percentage for
class X was 64.59 percent in
the state.
BSEH chairman, Prof
Jagbir Singh said that this exam-
ination was to be conducted in
the month of April, but could
not be conducted due to Covid-
19 pandemic and the examina-
tion was cancelled as per the
instructions of the Education
Department.
He informed that the result
of secondary examination (reg-
ular) candidates was sent by the
concerned schools on the basis
of internal assessment.
The result of compartment
candidates has been declared on
the basis of taking the propor-
tionately of marks scored in
internal assessment and practi-
cal examination and taking the
average of the marks of other
passed subjects obtained by the
candidate, he said.
Singh informed that the
result of about 3,13,345 candi-
dates of the secondary (regular)
examination has been declared
including 1,72,059 boys and
1,41,286 girls appeared. The
results of 11,278 candidates for
compartment examination have
been declared including 5,884
boys and 5,394 girls candi-
dates.
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The number of new cases of
Covid-19 in Uttarakhand
slipped to 287 on Friday. The
state now has 3,36,153 cumu-
lative cases of Covid-19. The
state health department also
reported 1614 recoveries from
the disease on Friday.
A total of 3,18,235 patients
have so far recovered from the
disease and the recovery per-
centage has climbed to 94.67
percent. The authorities also
reported the death of 21
patients of Covid-19 on Friday
which increased the death toll
from the disease to 6909 in the
state. The samples of 23,234
suspected patients were sent for
testing on Friday and the sam-
ple positivity rate is at 6.63 per-
cent.
Out of the 21 deaths
reported on Friday, four
occurred at All India Institute
of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)
Rishikesh while three patients
died at Government Doon
Medical College (GDMC)
Dehradun. The authorities also
added 10 deaths in the toll
which had occurred in the
past but were not reported
earlier. Seven such deaths were
reported from Haridwar dis-
tricts.
The provisional state cap-
ital Dehradun reported 93,
Haridwar 44, Pithoragarh 37,
Champawat 26, Bageshwar 15,
Almora and Tehri 13 each,
Chamoli 11, Tehri nine,
Uttarkashi eight, Nainital
seven, Udham Singh Nagar six
and Rudraprayag five new
cases of the disease on Friday.
The state now has 5,277
active patients of the disease.
Pauri district is at top of the
table in the list of active cases
with 897 cases while Haridwar
is in second position with 710
active cases. Pithoragarh has
639, Almora 524, Nainital 435,
Tehri 413, Chamoli 304,
Bageshwar 268, Rudraprayag
253, Dehradun 236,
Champawat 226, Udham Singh
Nagar 198 and Uttarkashi 174
active cases of the disease.
The state reported 13 new
cases of Mucormycosis (Black
fungus) on Friday after which
it now has 369 patients of the
disease. Death of two patients
from Black Fungus was also
reported on the day. A total of
58 patients have so far died
from this disease while 35 have
recovered.
In the ongoing vaccination
drive, 43,824 people were vac-
cinated in 417 sessions in dif-
ferent parts of the state on
Friday. A total of 6,92,470 peo-
ple have been fully vaccinated
while 25,50,398 have received
the first dose of the vaccine in
the state.
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?=BQ 347A03D=
The district health depart-
ment of Dehradun has
issued a show cause notice to
the Max hospital here for
alleged irregularities in the
vaccination against the Covid-
19. Acting on a complaint
lodged by a retired Professor of
Delhi university, the district
immunisation officer, Dr Rajiv
Kumar Dixit has asked the
Director of Max hospital to
submit its reply within 24
hours on the issues raised in the
complaint. In the complaint
Professor T N Jowhar had
alleged that the Max hospital is
deliberately overbooking the
vaccination slots of 18 plus
population.
He said that the hospital is
booking 3000 to 4000 slots
daily while in the Doon club
campus about 1200 people are
being vaccinated. He also
alleged that Covid-19 SOPs
are not being followed and
there is no provision of thermal
scanning of those visiting the
vaccination site.
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The small Himalayan state
of Uttarakhand has less
than one percent of the pop-
ulation of the country but a
significant percentage of per-
sonnel in the armed forces of
the country belong to the
state.
The contingent of
Gentlemen Cadets (GC)
belonging to 148 Regular and
131 Technical Graduate
course of Indian Military
Academy (IMA) which would
pass out from the portals of
academy on June 12 would
have 37 youngsters from
Uttarakhand.
A total of 341 Gentlemen
Cadets (GCs) of the passing
out course would become
proud officers of Indian army
on Saturday when they step
on the Antim Pag (last step)
of the Academy after the
Passing out Parade (POP).
Uttar Pradesh with 66
GCs leads the table of state
wise representation of GCs.
Another small state Haryana
with 38 officers is at second
place among the list of young
officers while Uttarakhand is
in third position.
Punjab with 30, Bihar
with 29 and Delhi and Jammu
and Kashmir with 18 GC
each are some of the other
major contributors. Himachal
Pradesh, Maharashtra and
Himachal Pradesh would
have 16 officers each in the
passing out contingent.
The disinterest of the
people of Gujarat in serving
in the armed forces is clearly
evident as this time also as
there is only one GC from this
state.
The states of Chhattisgarh
and Jharkhand which were
created along with
Uttarakhand in the year 2000
also have meagre representa-
tion with zero and five GCs
this time, despite being much
bigger in area and population
than Uttarakhand.
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In protest against the spi-
ralling prices of diesel and
petrol, the Uttarakhand
Congress organised a state
wide protest at petrol pumps on
Friday.
The Pradesh Congress
Committee (PCC) president
Pritam Singh led
Congressmen in the protest.
He along with other leaders of
the party held a vehement
protest at a petrol pump on
busy Rajpur road and at
Dehradun Cant on the day.
Holding placards the
Congress workers demanded
the government should reduce
the prices of diesel and petrol
and provide relief to the peo-
ple.
The PCC president Singh
said that the increase in fuel
prices have a cascading effect
on the prices of every com-
modity. He said that the peo-
ple are reeling under twin
onslaught of the Covid-19
and increase in prices.
The PCC president said
that the BJP government has
increased the prices of petrol
and diesel 43 times in the last
five months due to which the
price of petrol has gone
beyond Rs 100 and diesel Rs
90 per litre. He said that the
edible oil has become dearer
by three times in the NDA
regime than in UPA’s time.
The Vice President of
Uttarakhand Congress Surya
Kant Dhasmana said the peo-
ple are not in mood to spare
BJP and are waiting for the
opportunity to teach a lesson
to it.
The general secretary
organisation Vijay Saraswat,
Mahanagar president
Lalchand Sharma, Garima
Dasauni, Jasvinder Singh Gogi
and others were present in the
protest.
8]RaTPbTS_aXRTb^U_Tca^[SXTbT[)2^]VW^[SbBcPcTfXST_a^cTbc
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The Bharatiya Janata Party
state president Madan
Kaushik said that the Congress
and opposition parties protest-
ing against rise in price of
petrol and diesel is akin to pur-
posely averting eyes from the
facts.
He said that the price
dynamics of crude oil in the
international market has clear-
ly affected the domestic market
in India. It is a known fact that
India imports 80 per cent of its
requirements. The price rise
effect is faced by the consumer
for some time but instead of
raising hue and cry over it, the
Congress should reduce VAT in
states with its government in
office to provide relief to the
public but there is no such
example, he said.
Kaushik said that VAT on
petrol and diesel is quite high
in Congress administered states
like Maharashtra, Rajasthan,
Chhattisgarh and Punjab. It is
38 per cent in Rajasthan, upto
42 per cent in Maharashtra and
36 per cent in Punjab. In States
with BJP governments the VAT
is considerably lower- 27.15 per
cent in Uttarakhand and 26.90
per cent in Uttar Pradesh. The
leaders who are protesting at
petrol pumps have never pro-
posed to their high command
about reducing VAT to provide
relief to the public. “Instead of
serving the public amidst the
Covid pandemic, the Congress
is viewing this as an opportu-
nity.
It is protesting against the
price of petrol-diesel but is
unconcerned about the prob-
lems of the people. The
Congress is making news
across the nation due to its
internal factionalism. In view of
the elections, it is trying to
divert focus and build an
atmosphere with this type of
propaganda.
The people understand the
reality but the Congress lead-
ers in Uttarakhand should also
guide their leaders on how to
provide relief to the people,”
said Kaushik.
3_^WbUccYW^_bY^WVQSdc`b_dUcd
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Afew days after the state gov-
ernment announced can-
cellation of class XII board
examination of the
Uttarakhand Vidhyalayi
Shiksha Parishad (UVSP), the
state administration issued the
formal order for cancelling the
examinations on Friday.
In the order directed to the
Director General (DG) educa-
tion, director education, all dis-
trict magistrates and secre-
tary UVSP, the secretary school
education, R Meenakshi
Sundaram said that the UVSP
would prepare an objective
criteria based on which the
result of class XII would be
declared.
He said that the students
who are not satisfied with the
marks awarded by the board
would have an option to sit in
the examination which could
be held by the board after the
situation normalises.
It is worth mentioning
here that the education minis-
ter Arvind Pandey while
announcing cancellation of
the board examination had
said that no student would be
marked a failure in the class
XII board examination this
year.
The class X and XII exam-
inations of UVSP were sched-
uled to start from May 4 but in
view of the second wave of
pandemic the class X exami-
nations were cancelled and
class XII were deferred. The
class XII examination too have
been cancelled now.
A total 123485 students
were enrolled for Class XII
examination of Uttarakhand
board.
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Chief Minister Tirath Singh
Rawat has directed the for-
est department to remove inva-
sive weed species like lantana
from forest areas and plant
native grasses, bamboo and
fruit trees.
This activity is to be under-
taken in mission mode to
enhance the quality of the
forests. The wildlife habitat
should be developed as per the
requirements of the wild fauna.
The principal chief con-
servator of forests (head of for-
est force) Rajiv Bhartari has
issued instructions to all the
divisional forest officers in this
regard. Bhartari said that lan-
tana has spread across thou-
sands of acres in forest areas
which has affected the native
grass species. A work plan
should be prepared for remov-
ing lantana and grass nursery
should be established. A sum of
Rs 38 crore has been approved
from Compensatory
Afforestation Fund
Management and Planning
Authority (CAMPA) for this
purpose. Replacing lantana
with native grass species will
not only improve the quality of
the jungles but will provide
employment to about 5,000
people, added the PCCF.
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Professor Shailesh Ganpule
from Mechanical and
Industrial Engineering
Department (MIED), Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT)
Roorkee has been conferred
with the ‘NSG Counter-IED
Counter-Terrorism Innovator
Award 2021' for his contribu-
tion and innovation in the
design and development of
blast-resistant helmet. The
award was conferred in a cer-
emony held at NSG Campus,
Manesar, Haryana.
Blast-induced traumatic
brain injury has been identified
as a signature wound in recent
asymmetric conflicts.
Military helmets are clas-
sically designed for protection
against ballistic impact, with lit-
tle to no attention for protec-
tion against blast. The blast-
resistant helmet is an advanced
version of conventional helmets
to protect military personnel
from IED-induced blast waves.
Ganpule said, “Although I
am not the one among the priv-
ileged countrymen, who guard
our country on the frontline, I
feel proud to have made my
contribution to protect many
precious lives of our security
forces who face continuous
threats and do perilous jobs
while handling explosives and
IEDs.
The design of blast resis-
tant helmet posed significant
challenges as it involved trade-
offs between
v a r i o u s
aspects. We
focused on
mitigating the
effects of blast
waves beneath
the helmet and
violent head
rotation, while
uncompromis-
ing on ballistic
prote c t ion.
Using compu-
tational mod-
elling and
e x t e n s i v e
experiments,
we have
demonstrated
that a face
shield can mit-
igate the effects
of wave focus-
ing beneath the
helmet, and
soft material
with the ability
to slide between the head and
helmet can help mitigate the
rotational motion of the head.
The technology works as
active mitigation just before the
arrival of IED-induced blast
waves.”
A faculty in the
Department of Mechanical and
Industrial Engineering of IIT
Roorkee, Ganpule is the coor-
dinator of the extreme mechan-
ics laboratory. Work in his
laboratory is supported by
DST, DRDO, and ISRO.
IIT Roorkee director Ajit K
Chaturvedi said, “Professor
Ganpule's invention is an
important step towards
strengthening India’s defence
and bolstering counter-terror-
ism efforts. I am happy that IIT
Roorkee is taking up research
problems which address the
needs of the country.”
It should be mentioned
here that the NSG Counter-
IED Counter-Terrorism
Innovator Award is instituted
by National Security Guard
for deserving innovators who
have made an outstanding con-
tribution towards innovation in
counter IED and counter-ter-
rorism fields to safeguard
national security.
99DB`b_VUcc_bgY^cC7Y^^_fQd_bQgQbTV_bRQcdbUcYcdQ^dXU]Ud
?=BQ 347A03D=
The chief of the State
Commission for
Protection of Child Rights
(SCPCR), Usha Negi
expressed her skepticism
about the recently released
report of NITI Ayog that stat-
ed that Uttarakhand is among
the states with the worst child
sex ratio in the country.
According to the NITI Aayog's
Sustainable Development
Goals (SDG) Index 2020-21,
the child sex ratio in the State
stands at 840 as compared to
the national average of 899.
Talking about this report, Negi
said that she is a bit skeptical
about NITI Aayog's SDG
index report as she believes
that the State has definitely
made progress in improving
the child sex ratio at birth. I
think State should verify these
figures as more apt data can be
collected by the State
Government here, said Negi.
However, she also added
that if the updated child sex
ratio report of Uttarakhand
matches with the Aayog's
report then it is a matter of
concern for everyone in the
State.
In such a scenario, Negi
added, it is crucial to know the
root cause of the falling child
sex ratio in the State.
The State Government
runs various programmes to
spread awareness among citi-
zens about gender equality
across Uttarakhand. It is also
illegal to determine the sex of
an unborn child then what is
the reason for this decline in
child sex ratio? This indicates
that something wrong is going
on, stated Negi.
The SCPCR chief further
said that the authorities should
monitor the situation and
identify such culprits at the
district level who help others
to determine the sex of an
unborn child which might be
the major cause of this falling
child sex ratio here.
Meanwhile, the Women
Empowerment and Child
Development (WECD)
department minister, Rekha
Arya also claimed recently
that NITI Aayog's report of
Uttarakhand child sex ratio is
different from the State's data.
She has said that she would
write to the vice chairman of
NITI Aayog and present the
State's child sex ratio report.
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Officials from the Ministry
of Road Transport and
Highways (MoRTH) along
with Border Roads
Organisation (BRO) inspected
the works under all-weather
road Char Dham project on
Rishikesh-Chamba highway.
The residents of Guldi and
Mathiyan villages affected by
the project in Chamba
demanded early resolution to
their pending demands.
The officials assured that
the problems would be resolved
soon. Union Road Transport
and Highways minister Nitin
Gadkari's private secretary
Sanket Bhondve inspected the
highway and the tunnel just
below Chamba town. The res-
idents of Mathiyan village
affected by the tunnel
expressed their dissatisfaction
over the lack of action on the
demands even after several
years.
Villagers Akhilesh Kothiyal
and Jagdish Prasad Kothiyal
said the tunnel boring had
caused cracks in their houses
and fields which are posing
risks to the lives of the villagers.
District Panchayat members
Yalma Sajwan and Ankit
Sajwan said that the damaged
footpaths of Guldi village are
yet to be repaired due to the all-
weather project construction
work.
The villagers said that have
not received compensation for
the dumping zone. The debris
of the dumping zone are reach-
ing the fields of the villagers
during heavy rains. Bhondve
assured the villagers of imme-
diate action.
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The Agricultural Produce
Market Committee
(APMC) of Dehradun took
action against those violating
Covid-19 guidelines in
Niranjanpur Mandi as per the
recent orders of the Agriculture
minister and Dehradun district
magistrate.
On Thursday, Agriculture
Minister Subodh Uniyal and
district magistrate Ashish
Kumar Srivastava had sepa-
rately visited Niranjanpur
Mandi premises to check the
condition and work process as
most of the city's vegetables and
fruits are supplied from this
Mandi.
Both expressed their dis-
appointment over unhygienic
conditions in the Mandi
premises and directed the
APMC secretary to maintain
hygiene and take action against
those who violate Covid norms.
In view of this, the committee
on Friday penalised 12 people
for not wearing masks and 10
people for encroachment in
Mandi premises with the help
of police, informed Mandi
inspector Ajay Dabral. He said
that his team collected a total
of Rs 6,500 by penalising 22
people and warned them to
strictly follow the rules. Besides
this, the APMC team also vis-
ited various small vegetables
and fruits markets and shops
across the city to ensure that
consumers are not being over-
charged during the Covid cur-
few in Dehradun, informed
Dabral.
He added that the com-
mittee is taking all the possible
measures to ensure the imple-
mentation of Covid guidelines
and proper sanitation is also
being maintained in Mandi
premises.
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Apparently sensing trouble post-with-
drawal of the US troops from
Afghanistan and in the midst of its contin-
uing standoff with India, China is conduct-
ing the final trials of H-20 strategic stealth
bombers at its Hotan airbase, opposite east-
ern Ladakh, before their deployment in the
area.
The testing exercise that began on
Tuesday will continue till June 22, the day that
marks 100 years of formation of the
Communist Party of China (CPC) and its
rule.
Top sources privy to the development said
at least three H-20 bombers, developed as an
area-specific asset, are aimed at blunting the
edge India acquired through the acquisition
of Rafale jets.
The stealth feature and long endurance
coupled with the capability to carry heavy
payloads could potentially dodge the “detect
and disable radar” capability of Rafales,
they said.
The H-20, though officially not
announced by China yet, is likely to be
deployed after the assessment of the final test
runs and possible tweaks at bases opposite
Ladakh.
The induction of H-20 bombers could be
a game changer as China is the third coun-
try after the US and Russia to possess stealth
technology for fighters, sources said. The
move could have repercussions for geopoli-
tics in the region as also powerplay by the US
and its allies in the disputed South China Sea
and Taiwan.
“The stealth feature makes the Chinese
strategic supersonic jets undetectable by
any radar and Beijing seems to be going
aggressive in protecting its investments in the
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
as also Afghanistan,” a counter-terrorism
expert said.
The Chinese jets’ enhanced “beyond
visual range” (3,000 km) and significant pay-
load can make these bombers hit targets in
Balochistan, Afghanistan or Ladakh even
without crossing the boundary, he said.
The project for development of the H-20
bombers was undertaken by China in 2010
when India was negotiating with the French
Dassault Aviation to buy 126 Rafale jets.
Within a span of over a decade, China
reached the manufacturing stage. In contrast,
India, in fact, curtailed the order size of the
Rafales from 126 to just 36 without technol-
ogy transfer despite the depleting sanc-
tioned squadron strength.
The Chinese intention of making these
strategic bombers an area-specific asset is
clear from Beijing’s decision to designate the
Hotan base for testing these stealth machines.
The development also marks a significant
shift in Chinese strategy of deploying troops
on the ground in areas bordering Ladakh as
well as ramping up air defences to respond
to any challenges with full might, officials
said.
Earlier, the H-20 bombers were slated to
be inducted in 2025. However, the timeline
has been compressed which signals a shift in
China’s approach in the region and the larg-
er geopolitical space.
The H-20s are also estimated to be
capable of carrying nuclear payloads and
carry stealth missiles to defy air defences of
enemy forces.
According to a 2020 Pentagon report on
Chinese military power, the H-20s are esti-
mated to have a range of 5,281 miles and a
lift capacity of 10 tons of
munitions.
A094B7:D0AQ =4F34;78
Amid the Centre and Delhi
Government’s tussle over the
latter’s proposed door-step delivery
of ration scheme, it turns out, the
Ministry of Consumer Affairs wrote
19 times to the Arvind Kejriwal
Government since January 23, 2018
and requested four times through
video conferencing in 2020 during
the Covid pandemic to implement
the ‘one-nation, one-ration card
(ONORC)’ scheme in the national
Capital.
Besides, the Union Home
Secretary and Principal Secretary to
the Prime Minister have also been
regularly holding meetings on the
issue via video conferencing with all
States including Delhi.
Union Food Minister Piyush
Goyal onFriday alsourged the Delhi
Government to not create obstacles
for poor migrants in availing PDS
grains and implement the ONORC
scheme.
Goyal had written to Delhi
Government on February 18 too
this year but the Delhi Government
has not responded, sources said.
Union Food Secretary Sudhanshu
Pandey had on June 8 written to the
Delhi Government requesting it
again to resume distribution of
ration via e-PoS machines, enabling
smooth implementation of
ONORC.
A mail trail between the two
sides shows the Centre’s insistence
on implementing ONORC and e-
POS-based ration distribution and
the Delhi Government’s insistence
on its own door-step delivery
scheme.
In its letter dated January 23,
2018 to Delhi government’s
Principal Secretary-cum-
Commissioner Food and Civil
Supplies, the Centre asked it to share
details of proposal of door-step
delivery of ration.
On February 23, 2018, the
Centre wrote to the Delhi govern-
ment on its decision to put on hold
the requirement of Aadhaar for dis-
tribution of ration to eligible ben-
eficiaries. To this, the Delhi gov-
ernment shared details via letter
March 21, 2018. The Centre
responded on the same day saying
the food grains are required to be
delivered and distributed through
ration shops. On June 18, 2018, the
Centre again asked the Kejriwal
government for resumption of ePoS
devices at ration shops but it did not
respond, sources added.
On July 17, the then Union
Food and Consumer Affairs min-
ister Ram Vilas Paswan wrote to
Kejriwal for use of ePoS for bene-
ficiaries of the National Food
Security Act at the earliest. On
January 11, 2019, Paswan then
wrote to Lieutenant Governor of
Delhi for resumption of ePoS.
Manisha Sensarma , economic
advisor to the ministry of food and
consumer affairs, also wrote to
Principal Secretary-cum-
Commissioner, Food and Supplies
for resumption of ePoS. Delhi Food
and Supplies minister Imran Hussain
responded to Paswan on February 2,
but raised the issue of transfer of
Commissioner Food and Supplies
and sought an inquiry against him.
On June 28, Joint Secretary S
Jagnathan wrote a letter to Delhi
government on use of ePoS. On
December 26, Paswan again
reminded the Kejriwal government
on the same issue. Responding to
Paswan, Delhi government's Food
Minister Imran Hussain on March
4, 2020 stated that Commissioner
Food and Supplies was directed to
roll out the ePoS based door step
delivery system in a time bound
manner.
Paswan on March 19, again
wrote to Kejriwal again requesting
him to utilise ePoS infrastructure
along with ONORC before March
31, 2020. Paswan followed it up on
May 23. Hussain reiterated on June
17 that he directed the
Commissioner to roll out ePoS-
based doorstep delivery system.
On October 7, minister of state
of consumer affairs Raosaheb Patil
Danve wrote to Kejriwal on resump-
tion of ePoS devices with biomet-
ric or Aadhaar authentication facil-
ities in all 2200 ration shops for
implementation of ONORC. A sim-
ilar letter was also written to Delhi
Chief Secretary by Secretary,
Consumer Affairs.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Situation on the Line of Actual Control (LAC)in Ladakh
and relative calm at the Line of Control(LOC)in Jammu
and Kashmir will figure prominently during the three-day
Army Commanders’ conference starting here on June 16.
Incidentally, the conference will take place a year after
20 Indian army per-
sonnel including the
commandingofficeron
June 15 werekilled in a
bloody brawl with the
Chinese soldiers in the
Galwan valley in east-
ernLadakh. Morethan
40 Chinese soldiers
were also killed but
Beijing is yet to offi-
cially confirm number
of casualties.
Moreover, the
conclave comes at a
time when the
Chinese are conducting their air force exercise compris-
ing fighter jets on their side of the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.
Recently, they also conducted large scale army drills in
the Tibetan plateau there.
The aerial and ground exercises took place more than
100 km away from the LAC, sources said here. However,
given the continuing stand-off at some friction points for
the last one year, India is not taking any chances and keep-
ing a watchful eye on the Chinese activities.
More than one lakh troops from both the sides are
deployed on the LAC for the last one year since the face-
offs began in early May. Eleven rounds of talks between
the Corps Commanders of both the sides have taken place
so far to defuse tension.
The Army commanders will review their operational
preparedness during the conference to deal with any chal-
lenge from China, sources said here on Friday.
The top brass will also review the situation on the LOC
after India and Pakistan agreed to ceasefire on February
25 this year. No bullet has been fired since then besides
nil infiltration bids by terrorists from across the LOC.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Pointing out that India
accounts for more than 11
per cent of road accidents in
the world, Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh on Friday
termed it as a “silent pandem-
ic”.
Voicing his concern, he
said 4-4.5 lakh accidents claim
1.5 lakh lives every year in the
country. Though India has less
than three per cent of the
world’s total vehicles, the acci-
dent rate is more than 11 per
cent, he outlined and said: “It
is no less than a silent pan-
demic.”
The Minister made these
observations after dedicating
to the nation two centres of
excellence established by the
Broder Roads
Organisation(BRO).
These Centres have been
established to achieve excel-
lence in road safety and fos-
ter growth in construction of
roads, bridges, air fields and
tunnels. The Centre of
Excellence for Road Safety
and Awareness (CoERSA)
aims to create awareness about
road safety through analysis
sharing of road accidents and
suggesting methods to save
precious lives.
CoERBAT focuses on
institutionalising the knowl-
edge gained over the years in
development of almost 60,000
km of roads, 56,000 metres of
bridges, 19 airfields and four
tunnels in the eastern and
north-western part of the
country.
Flagging his concern over
the fatalities in road mishaps,
Rajnath said the government
has taken a number of initia-
tives such as National Road
Safety Policy, Motor Vehicle
Act 2020 and identification of
black spots on national high-
ways to tackle the problem
and the setting up of these
Centres is another step in
that direction.
Singh also launched four
software developed to opti-
mise the work efficiency of the
BRO personnel, their human
resource management,
recruitment management,
enrolment and works man-
agement.
The first ever Solo
Woman Motorcycle
Expedition by Kanchan
Ugursandi to Umling La Pass,
Ladakh and back was also
flagged off on the
occasion.
?=BQ =4F34;78
The Government on Friday
announced its plans to
start a nationwide Covid-19
sero-survey this month, but at
the same time also asked the
States to carry out their own
localised surveillance exer-
cises to assess the real extent
of the infection's
spread.
The Indian Council for
Medical Research (ICMR)
will start the fourth round of
the project in the coming
days to determine the preva-
lence of coronavirus anti-
bodies in the community,
said V K Paul, member,
health, Niti Aayog who also
heads the national Covid-19
task force. Simply put, it will
help determine the percentage
of population which
got Covid-infected.
“Preparation for national
serosurvey is done. ICMR
will begin work for the next
sero-survey this month. But if
we want to protect our geo-
graphies, we won't have to
depend on national sero-sur-
vey alone, we'll have to
encourage States for sero-
surveys too,” said Paul at a
routine presser here on
Friday.
The serosurveillance pro-
ject being planned by the
health research body will be
carried out in 70 districts --
the same where the previous
rounds had been carried out
-- across 21 states and will
also include children above
six years apart from adults,
a senior official
added.
In addition, blood sam-
ples of health care workers in
district hospitals will also be
collected for the survey. The
21 states where the samples
would be collected for the
sero survey include Andhra
Pradesh, Assam, Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, Gujarat,
Jharkhand, Karnataka,
Maharashtra, Madhya
Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab,
Haryana, Rajasthan, Tamil
Nadu, Telangana and Uttar
Pradesh.
The overall percentage of
people above 18 years with
antibodies against the virus
in India was 21.4 people, as
per the third national sero-
survey by the ICMR to assess
the true spread of Covid-19.
The findings had also
revealed that while sero-
prevalence among children
aged 10-17 years was 25.3 per
cent, it was 25.7 per cent
among healthcare
workers.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Two doses of Covid-19 vaccine offer
high protection against infection and
hospitalisation even among healthcare
workers who have a high risk of being
infected.
A study conducted by CMC Vellore
found vaccination to be protective, but
did not investigate the proportion of
cases caused by the beta (B.1.1.7) and
delta (B.1.617.2) variants that were
responsible for the second wave.
The study has been posted on a
preprint server. Preprints are yet to be
peer-reviewed.
“Our study shows that Covid-19 vac-
cines have a great benefit in reducing
infection and severity of disease.
Vaccination helps in breaking the chain
of transmission,” said Dr Joy J Mammen,
Professor at the Department of
Transfusion Medicine, CMC Vellore
and the corresponding author of the
preprint.
“We were not able to individually
study the efficacy of Covishield and
Covaxin as only a few received Covaxin,”
he added. Though over 93 per cent
received Covishield, the study only
shows that vaccinated individuals are
better protected compared with unvac-
cinated individuals.
The study found that among the
7,080 health-care workers who received
two doses, the vaccines offered 65 per
cent protection against infection, 77 per-
cent protection against hospitalisation,
92 per cent protection against the need
for oxygen and 94 percent protection
from ICU admission.
?=BQ =4F34;78
More than 8 million people
died in 2018 from fossil
fuel pollution, according to a
new research by the Harvard
University published in the
recent edition of journal
Environmental Research. The
study greatly increases esti-
mates of the numbers killed by
air pollution when compared to
the most recent Global Burden
of Disease Study, which had put
the total number of global
mortalities from all outdoor air-
borne particulate matter —
including dust and smoke from
wildfires and agricultural burns
— at 4.2 million.
Researchers estimated that
exposure to particulate matter
from fossil fuel emissions
accounted for 18 percent of
total global deaths in 2018
with Eastern North America,
Europe, and South-East Asia
regions having the highest con-
centrations of fossil fuel-relat-
ed air pollution having the
highest rates of mortality.
The findings underscore
the detrimental impact of fos-
sil fuels on global health. “Our
study adds to the mounting evi-
dence that air pollution from
ongoing dependence on fossil
fuels is detrimental to global
health. We can’t in good con-
science continue to rely on fos-
sil fuels, when we know that
there are such severe effects on
health and viable, cleaner alter-
natives,” said the researchers.
Previous research relied on
satellite and surface observa-
tions to estimate the average
global annual concentrations of
airborne particulate matter,
known as PM2.5. However, the
researchers were not impressed.
“With satellite data, you’re see-
ing only pieces of the puzzle,”
said Loretta J. Mickley, Senior
Research Fellow in Chemistry-
Climate Interactions at the
HarvardJohnA.PaulsonSchool
of Engineering and Applied
Sciences (SEAS) and co-author
of the study. “It is challenging for
satellites to distinguish between
types of particles, and there can
be gaps in the data.”
“Rather than rely on aver-
ages spread across large regions,
we wanted to map where the
pollution is and where people
live, so we could know more
exactly what people are breath-
ing,” said Karn Vohra from
University of Birmingham and
first author of the study.
A094B7:D0AQ =4F34;78
Against the backdrop of the
row over the prediction of
Cyclone Tauktae and its change
of path as claimed by the
ONGC after the vessel tragedy
which claimed 86 lives, the
India Meteorological
Department (IMD) on Friday
came out with a report detail-
ing how it warned through var-
ious means the impending
trouble “six days prior to the
landfall over Gujarat coast”.
“A total of 41 national bul-
letins, 30 Regional Specialized
Meteorological Centre (
RSMC) bulletins to World
Meteorological Organization
(WMO)/Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the
Pacific (ESCAP) panel member
countries, nine Press Releases,
15 hourly bulletins on the day
of landfall, 18 bulletins for
International Civil Aviation,
83 lakh SMS to fishermen,
farmers coastal population,
and very frequent updates on
social networking sites were
sent to trigger mass response
and sensitise masses about the
impending disaster in associa-
tion with the system,” the IMD
said.
The IMD said that the
warnings and updates were
being constantly issued since
May 11 onwards -- six days
prior to landfall over Gujarat
coast on May 17 late evening.
The report said that the
bulletins for the maritime inter-
est were issued by area cyclone
warning centres of IMD at
Mumbai, Chennai,
Thiruvanthapuram and
Ahmedabad to all stakeholders
including coastal and high sea
shipping community well in
advance.
The IMD’s report, howev-
er, did not name ONGC as one
of the recipients of those con-
stant warnings on the cyclone’s
track and intensity. A probe has
been ordered into the vessel
tragedy even as it led to ques-
tions and counter-questions
over the quality of prediction
and required actions on the
warnings.
The IMD had on May 13
indicated that the system would
move towards Gujarat coast
and would “impact the areas
including southeast, east-cen-
tral northeast Arabian Sea”
and areas along an off Kerala,
Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra
and Gujarat coasts.
“The cyclone was moni-
tored with the help of available
satellite observations from
INSAT 3D and 3DR, SCAT
SAT, polar orbiting satellites
and available ships buoy
observations in the region.
The system was also monitored
by Doppler Weather RADARs
(DWR) Thiruvananthapuram,
Kochi and Goa. Various
numerical weather prediction
models run by Ministry of
Earth Sciences (MoES) insti-
tutions, global models and
dynamical-statistical models
were utilized to predict the gen-
esis, track, landfall and inten-
sity of the cyclone,” it said.
The report said that first
information about develop-
ment of low pressure area over
southeast Arabian Sea and
adjoining areas was given in the
extended range outlook issued
on May 6 (about 7 days prior
to the formation of low pres-
sure area over southeast
Arabian Sea adjoining
Lakshadweep area on 13th
May and eight days prior to
formation of depression over
Lakshadweep area on 14th
May).
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The Supreme Court on
Friday asked the West
Bengal Government to imple-
ment the ‘one-nation, one-
ration card’ (ONORC) scheme
immediately “without any
excuses further”. It said all
States must implement it for
the benefit of migrant labour-
ers who can get ration bene-
fits from any part of the coun-
try, irrespective of the place
where their ration card is reg-
istered.
Rejecting the objections
by the West Bengal
Government on grounds of
problems in data and Aadhaar
Card seeding, the Bench com-
prising Justices Ashok
Bhushan and MR Shah said
that “no excuses further” and
all statements must imple-
ment them. “You can’t cite one
or the other problem. This is
for migrant workers,” the
Bench said.
Reserving the orders on
the migrant labourers’ prob-
lems and welfare due to the
Covid pandemic, the bench
reminded the State
Governments that the court
had only one concern limited
to those migrant workers
without any form of identifi-
cation being able to avail the
benefits of the scheme.
The Bench also ques-
tioned the Centre on its delay
in preparing a national data
base which had been sanc-
tioned in October 2020. The
Maharashtra and Punjab gov-
ernments informed the Court
that they had implemented the
ONORC scheme. The AAP-
ruled Delhi Government,
however, hasn’t implemented
the Centre’s scheme.
Noting that about Rs. 417
crore had been disbursed for
the making of the database,
the Court expressed displea-
sure at the snail's pace adopt-
ed by the Centre. What is
your project for National
Database of Unorganised
Workers? Rs 417 crore has
been released but not even a
module is created. How much
time will you take? Process
has not even started, the
Bench said expressing its dis-
pleasure.
Solicitor General Tushar
Mehta said that the National
Informatics Centre (NIC) has
taken over the project and that
it would take another three to
four months to form the data-
base. In response, the Bench
stated that it should take a
shorter time since it is just a
module, and that states need
not be consulted at this stage.
However, Senior Advocate
Colin Gonsalves urged the
Bench to reject the excuse by
Centre since three years have
passed and nothing has been
done.
Additional Solicitor
General Aishwarya Bhati
informed the court that the
Prime Minister Garib Kalyan
Yojna was extended till
November and that 80 crore
people were identified as ben-
eficiaries under it.
However, the Court
sought to know whether the
benefit of the scheme can be
reaped by migrants who don't
have ration cards. Senior
Advocate Dushyant Dave
argued that the Atmanirbhar
Scheme should be extended
and that the PM Garib Kalyan
Yojna be also extended to
migrant workers who do not
possess ration
cards.
:^a]V^V_edTYV^V
2D2AD4e`H38`ge ?=BQ =4F34;78
Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Ravi
Shankar Prasad on Friday accused the Delhi
Government of being under the control of the
ration mafia, as the tussle between the Centre and
State Government continued over the latter's pro-
posed scheme to deliver subsidised food grains to
people's houses.
Arvind Kejriwal
is talking about home
delivery of ration when
he even failed to pro-
vide oxygen to the
people of Delhi. The
Delhi Government is
under the control of
the ration mafia,
Prasad said, adding
that the Delhi
Government is yet to
adopt the Union
Government's 'one-
nation, one-ration card' scheme.
Thirty four states/UTs have adopted the
'one-nation, one-ration card' scheme. Only three
states — Delhi, West Bengal and Assam have not
adopted it. Kejriwal should answer why the
scheme has not been implemented in Delhi, he
questioned.
Terming Kejriwal's 'doorstep ration delivery
scheme a jumla, Prasad accused the Delhi gov-
ernment of working under the control of the ration
mafia.
You want to break the law. You want to throw
dust into the eyes of the people of Delhi. The cen-
tral government procures and spends money on
the scheme and you have to follow the law, he
said.
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With economists and man-
agement experts pointing
out the lacuna in the 2021-2022
State Budget proposal present-
ed early this month in the
Legislative Assembly, the dark-
er side of Kerala economy has
come out in the open.
Though the number of
educated youth registered with
the employment exchanges in
the State has crossed the 3.7
million mark, the Budget pro-
posal is silent about employ-
ment potentials in Kerala.
Adding insult to injury is the
warning issued by Prof D
Aravindakshan, noted econo-
mist, that Kerala is on its way
to a debt trap as the public debt
has crossed Cfour lakh crores.
“The Public Service
Commission would not be able
to offer jobs for 2.5 lakh persons
even in the next five years and
the promise made by the Left
Democratic Front in its 2022
election manifesto would
remain an unfulfilled dream,”
said Prof Aravindakshan. The
LDF had promised 45 lakh
jobs in the next five years
though its track record during
2016 to 2021 remains poor, he
pointed out.
K N Balagopal, the finance
minister has claimed in his bud-
get speech that five lakh job
opportunities would be created
through Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises (MSME)
and Kudumbasree (self help
groups for women) missions.
“There are 1,40,000 MSME
units in the State out of which
only less than 50,000 units are
functioning. Kerala’s minimum
wage per day is C700/- where-
as the Kudumbasree workers
are paid C200 per day. The max-
imum the State could do is cre-
ate five lakh jobs in informa-
tion technology sector and
other avenues in the next five
years but that itself would be
realized if investors pitch in
with working capital which is
highly unlikely,” said
Aravindakshan.
Prof B Vijayakumar, man-
agement expert and former
director board member of the
fertilizer giant FACT pointed
out that the State’s track record
in industrialization is anything
but encouraging. “The LDF
Government purchased 450
acres of prime land from FACT
at a cost of C1,000 crore in 2017
and declared that they would
set up a giant petrochemical
complex. Though it is more
than five years, the land remains
as it was earlier and no action
has been taken by the govern-
ment till date,” said Prof
Vijayakumar.
The traditional industries
of Kerala, cashew nut, coir and
handloom are in deathbed,
according to Dr Rajmohan
Pillai, chairman, Beta Group,
who once headed the biggest
cashew processing industry in
the State. “ Huge operational
costs and unfriendly govern-
ment policies led to the closure
of the cashew processing units
and 3.5 lakh people have been
left jobless. Remember that
cashew nuts belonged to the
four top agricultural exports
along with basmati rice, spices
and tea,” said Dr Pillai.
There were 840 registered
cashew factories in the State. But
eighty per cent had pulled down
the shutters by 2020 . “Kollam
district, the cashew capital of the
State, has seen 700 processing
units downing shutters and
there is no possibility of them
resuming works,” said Pillai.
Owners of four cashew pro-
cessing factories committed sui-
cide in the last two years in
Kollam alone, said Pillai, son of
late Janardhanan Pillai,
described as India’s cashew
king. Hari Kartha, economist-
turned-political commentator
said he was watching with
curiosity the big time industri-
alists preferring to set up shops
in Tamil Nadu and Andhra
Pradesh while they shunned
Kerala. “There is not a single
major manufacturing unit that
has set shop in Kerala during
the last 15 years. The situation
is grim in the State even as peo-
ple from North East prefer to be
in Kerala.” Said Kartha.
Hike in unemployment will
result in crime rating going up
and the State figuring promi-
nently in the National Crime
Records Bureau.
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Hundreds of rare and cost-
ly species of trees have
been illegally cut down and
removed from reserve forests of
Wayanad in northern Kerala.
This has resulted in massive
deforestation of the ecologically
fragile Western Ghats in the
State.
Though illegal felling of
trees have been going on in
Wayanad for the last two years
with the patronage of politi-
cians, civil servants and the for-
est mafia, neither Rahul
Gandhi, the parliament mem-
ber representing Wayanad nor
the legislators have reacted to
the incident.
John Peruvanathanam,
Kerala’s own Sundarlal
Bahuguna, said that the defor-
estation had the blessings of
former Revenue Minister E
Chandrasekharan and Forest
Minister K Raju, both belong-
ing to the CPI.
“Both the Ministers sup-
ported the forest mafia’s plan to
cut down trees worth crore of
rupees because the CPI was in
need of funds to face the 2021
Assembly election. They sub-
verted a 1964 order that had
banned the felling of trees
from the region. Though the
land was earmarked for the
tribals, felling of trees has been
banned in the Government
order and this was what was
sabotaged by the axis consist-
ing of politicians, civil ser-
vants and forest mafia dons,”
said Peruvanthanam.
But former Minister
Chandrasekharan, a suave and
soft spoken CPI leader, told the
media that he issued the order
with good intentions. “This was
as per the requests of the trib-
als living in this land because
they were not in a position to
extend the area of agriculture
operations. The trees were
planted three decades ago and
it was time for their felling,”
said the Minister.
P K Ramachandran , for-
mer senior scientist in the
Rubber Board and member of
Bio Diversity Board said that
the Minister’s order was dis-
torted by the mafia and they
felled trees like teak and rose-
wood which should have been
left untouched. “It was slaugh-
ter tapping with the connivance
of politicians who were under
the impression that the LDF
Government would not return
to power after the 2021 elec-
tion. This has been a prece-
dence and the CPI leaders
were no exception,” said
Ramachandran.
On Friday, Dhanesh
Kumar, the divisional forest
officer, who had ordered a
probe into the felling of trees
was transferred to an unim-
portant position. But A K
Saseendran, the forest minister
in the Pinarayi Vijayan led-
Government feigned ignorance
when media persons asked
him about the unceremonious
shunting out of the forest offi-
cial.
“It may be noted that
Saseendran had expressed his
unhappiness and dissatisfaction
during the allocation of port-
folios. He was not at all inter-
ested in taking over as minis-
ter of forests,” said
Peruvanathanam. He said mas-
sive felling of trees was hap-
pening in Ranni in the central
Travancore region with official
connivance. “In another couple
of years we will see the destruc-
tion of whatever green cover
exists over Kerala and the State
becoming a desert,” said
Peruvananthanam.
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The next two days will see
Kerala going under total
lockdown as the Covid-19 con-
tinued unabated and claimed
more lives on Friday. The State
administration has asked the
police not to allow people to
come out of their houses unless
it is an emergency situation.
Since the State is not show-
ing any drop in the number of
daily cases of new patients and
the death rate remains on the
higher side, Chief Minister
Pinarayi Vijayan resumed his
media briefing after a gap of
one week on Friday.
According to Vijayan,
14,233 new people were diag-
nosed with the coronavirus
and 173 people fell victim to
the disease.
The Test Positivity Rate at
the end of the day was 13.29
and there were 1.34 lakh per-
sons under treatment across
the State. Vijayan said the
Government has made it
mandatory that people staying
indoors too wear face masks.
Even couples and husband and
wives have been told, though
indirectly, not to cross the
Lakshman Rekha without face
masks.
“People who stay inside the
houses are advised to follow
Covid-19 guidelines and main-
tain social distancing between
each other,” said the Chief
Minister with a fatherly touch.
He said the Government was
planning to extend the interval
between the second and third
waves so as to bring down the
fatality rate.
Vijayan said that the lock
down has helped the State to
control the transmission of the
pandemic. “Though the num-
ber of cases have not shown
signs of coming down and the
death rate remains high, Kerala
is well ahead of other States.
We have become a role model
for other countries and they
are following the Kerala style in
regulating the pandemic,” he
said.
The Chief Minister
claimed that 25 per cent of the
population in the State has
been vaccinated despite the
indifferent attitude of the
Centre. Only those people who
have taken the two doses of the
vaccine would be allowed to
travel across the State, he said.
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Continuing his tirade against the ruling
BJP, former minister in the Yogi
Cabinet and chief of Suheldev Bhartiya
Samaj party (SBSP) Om Prakash Rajbhar
said that the saffron party is a sinking
ship.
He questioned the BJP on non-imple-
mentation of recommendations of the
Social Justice Committee and asserted that
his party would not join hands with the
BJP for the 2022 Assembly elections in
Uttar Pradesh. The SJC set up by the Yogi
Government in 2017 had recommended
a quota within quota of 27 per cent for the
OBCs.
In a series of tweets on Friday, Rajbhar
said: “Elections are round the corner, so
the BJP has again discovered the impor-
tance of the OBCs. The party has started
dishing out assurances to these leaders
inviting them to Delhi figuring on how to
get the votes of their communities. When
will the BJP give the due share in power
to the OBCs ? Those who robbed the back-
wards of reservation should answer when
the report of the Social Justice Committee
would be implemented. If the report is not
implemented, then the exit of the BJP from
power is a foregone conclusion in
2022.”
?=B Q ;D2:=F
Sleuths of the UP Anti-Terrorists
Squad (ATS) reached Malda in
West Bengal on Friday to take cus-
tody of a Chinese spy arrested along
the Indo-Bangladesh border in West
Bengal by Border Security Force
(BSF) personnel.
The spy was to be handed over
to the ATS after it surfaced that the
Chinese man and his wife already
had a case registered against them in
Uttar Pradesh.
Sources said that a five-member
team of UP ATS travelled to Malda
to take custody of the alleged spy
from the BSF on Friday.
According to a statement issued
by the BSF (South Bengal Frontier),
Han Junwei (36) of Hebei province
in China was a “wanted criminal”
and might have been working in
India for some Chinese Intelligence
agency as the electronic equipment
found on him indicates.
This apprehension is a big
achievement for the BSF and the
matter will be investigated in depth.
Many startling details may surface.
All Intelligence agencies are now
working together in the case.
?=BQ =4F34;78
In view of the shortage of Covid-
19 vaccines, the Government, on
Friday, issued a detailed statement
enlisting the initiatives taken by it
to reduce the jab wastage across the
country.
“We are using the Covid-19
Vaccine Intelligence Network (Co-
WIN) with the inbuilt eVIN
(Electronic Vaccine intelligence net-
work) system, a digital platform,
'which not only registers the bene-
ficiaries but also tracks the vaccines
and facilitates real-time monitoring
of storage temperatures across
29,000 cold chain points at the
National, State, and District level',”
said Luv Agarwal, joint secretary
with the Union Health Ministry at
a press conference here.
The current vaccines do not
have an 'open vial policy', he said.
In a bid to limit vaccine wastage and
ensure optimum utilisation of vials,
the State Governments have thus
been advised to carry out vaccina-
tion sessions with at least 100 ben-
eficiaries. The requirement has
been given an exception in cases
where the camps are being organ-
ised in remote areas.
“The vaccinator is advised to
mark the date and time of opening
each vial and all open vaccine vials
need to be used/discarded within 4
hours of opening. Several States have
organized Covid-19 Vaccination in
such a way, that not only there is no
wastage but they are able to extract
more doses from the vial and thus
show a negative wastage,” Agarwal
said, justifying that the expectation
to limit vaccine wastage below one
per cent is not unreasonable.
?=BQ =4F34;78
The Supreme Court on Friday
agreed for the closure of all pro-
ceedings in India against the Italian
marines accused of killing two fish-
ermen off the Kerala coast in
February 2012, saying said the case
against marines, Massimilano
Latorre and Salvatore Girone, for the
offences would be now pursued by
Italy there.
The apex court will pass orders
on June 15 in this regard as also the
compensation of C10 crore to the
families of the two deceased fisher-
men.As per the scheme on disbur-
sal of compensation, the apex court
was informed by the Kerala
Government that Rs 4 core each
would be given to the heirs of the two
deceased fishermen and the rest C2
core would be paid to the owner of
the fishing vessel St. Antony on
which the two were shot dead by the
Italian marines. Keeping the plea of
the Centre seeking closure of the case
here pending for orders on Tuesday,
a vacation bench comprising Justices
Indira Banerjee and M R Shah said
it was of the view that the compen-
sation money be transferred to the
Kerala High Court for disbursal,
ensuring that the amount does not
fritter away.
In February 2012, India had
accused the two marines on board
the MV Enrica Lexie —an Italian
flagged oil tanker — of killing two
Indian fishermen who were on a fish-
ing vessel in India's Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ). Solicitor
General Tushar Mehta, appearing for
the Centre, told the bench that
Republic of Italy has deposited Rs 10
crore with it over and above the ex-
gratia paid earlier and the same has
been deposited by the Union
Ministry of External Affairs with the
apex court's registry as directed.
“There was an award by
International Tribunal, which we as
a Nation have accepted. The agree-
ment is among Republic of Italy,
India and the Kerala Government,”
the law officer said.The dispute
before the international tribunal
was as to which country, Italy or
India, has the jurisdiction to prose-
cute the marines and it was decided
that both the nations have the “con-
current jurisdiction”, Mehta
said.
C=A067D=0C70Q D108
In a development that sparked
intense speculation in
Maharashtra political circles, poll
strategist Prashant Kishor on Friday
met NCP chief Sharad Pawar over
lunch at the latter’s south Mumbai
residence and spent nearly three and
a half hours with him.
Fresh from his success as a
strategist for TMC chief Mamata
Banerjee and DMK leader M K
Stalin in the recent Assembly elec-
tions West Bengal and Tamil Nadu
respectively, Kishor reached Pawar’s
residence “Siliver Oak” located on
upmarket Bhulabhai Desai in south
Mumbai, at 10.30 am.
The meeting went on till 2 pm.
With neither of them speaking to
the media after the meeting, what
transpired at the meeting between
Pawar and Kishor remained in the
realm of speculation.
Interestingly enough, Kishor
was to meet Bollywood star Shah
Rukh Khan at the latter’s Bandra
Bungalow “Mannat” over dinner
later in the night.
Speculation has it that one of
the main reasons behind the Pawar-
Kirshor is to initiate the process of
cobbling a national Opposition
alliance to take on the Narendra
Modi-led BJP in the 2024 Lok
Sabha polls.
West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee —who is emerg-
ing as the leader of the united
Opposition front after her party
scored an emphatic victory over the
BJP and dwelt a body blow to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and Union
Home Minister Amit Shah— is
believed to have prodded Kishor to
evolve a strategy for the Opposition
in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, espe-
cially in the light of waning popu-
larity of Modi.
As much as Mamata Banerjee
and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi,
Pawar will play vital role in bring-
ing together the Opposition parties
on the same page and agree to con-
test the polls as one Opposition enti-
ty as it happened in the post-
Emergency period when late
Jayprakash Narayan played a pivotal
role in the Janata Party unseating
Indira Gandhi in the 1977 Lok
Sabha elections.
Given that the seat-sharing
among the Opposition parties will
be a major issue in the 2024 Lok
Sabha elections, there cannot be bet-
ter than Prashant Kishor to analyse
the past poll data and come up with
an acceptable seat-adjustment for-
mula for the Opposition parties.
Kishor, who had announced
after the West Bengal polls
announced that he wanted to quit
the poll strategy “space”, take a break
and do something else in life,
appears to have changed his mind,
after his recent interactions with
Mamata.
With the Lok Sabha polls three
years away, Kishor has — if his
three-and-a-half- hour meeting
with the NCP chief is anything to
go by – has plunged himself head-
long into the exercise of building an
Opposition front for the 2024 polls
through backroom interactions, in
an effort to create a common meet-
ing ground for the various
Opposition leaders in terms of seat
sharing and a workable strategy to
take on the formidable publicity
machinery of Team Modi in the LS
polls. Kishor enjoys a good rapport
with leaders of various opposition
parties across the country. He had
met Shiv Sena president Uddhav
Thackeray in 2019 before the lat-
ter became the Chief Minister of
Maharashtra. He enjoys good rela-
tions with Uddhav.
New Delhi: Vaccine hesitancy even among health work-
ersinruralareashasthrownaspannerintheGovernment’s
plan to reach out to the rural areas of the country where
vaccination has become urgent in view of the rapid surge
in Covid-19 cases.
In fact, many healthcare workers (HCWs), frontline
workers (FLWs) and the elderly too haven't taken the sec-
ond dose with the national average stuck at 56 per cent.
Stating that vaccine hesitancy is common among the rural
health workers, the Union Health Ministry on Friday said
it is working closely with States and Union Territories to
address the issue. “We have been supporting the efforts
of States and UTs for an effective vaccination drive under
the'WholeofGovernment'approachsinceJanuary16this
year,” it said in a statement here.”Vaccine hesitancy is a
globally accepted phenomenon and should be addressed
by scientifically studying and addressing the issue at the
community level,” it said adding that a 'Covid-19 Vaccine
Communication Strategy' covering details on vaccine hes-
itancyhasbeensharedwithallstatesandUTsatthebegin-
ning of the Covid-19 vaccination drive.
All States and UTs are following the same and adopt-
ing the strategy as per the local requirement, the state-
ment said. PNS
Lucknow: Finance Minister Suresh
Khanna said that the Uttar Pradesh
Government favoured reducing the
Goods and Services Tax (GST)
levied on Covid-19 essentials to
minimise the costs borne by people
to cope with the pandemic.
The GST Council that met on
May 28 had formed a Group of
Ministers (GoM) to review demands
for slashing tax rates or exempting
Covid-19 supplies. Khanna was
part of the GoM that submitted its
report to Union Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman earlier this
week. Sitharaman had given the
GoM ten days’ time to firm up its
views so that if there were any fur-
ther reductions needed, they would
be done. However, no date has
been set for the council to take up
the GoM’s report yet.
“The UP Government is in
favour of reducing taxes in order to
reduce Covid-19 treatment costs for
patients,” Khanna said while
responding to a query on the pos-
sibility of levying a 0.1 per cent GST
on Covid-19 material ranging from
vaccines (currently taxed at 5 per
cent) and drugs, oxygen concen-
trators and cylinders that are taxed
at 12 per cent or 18 per cent.
Khanna also asserted that the State
had not raised taxes on petroleum
products, similar to other States,
despite fiscal difficulties posed by
the pandemic. On states’ GST com-
pensation dues, he said that UP had
no pending dues from 2020. PNS
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Taking suo motu cognisance of the
building crash at Malad in north
Mumbai on Wednesday which it said was
a “man-made-disaster” and an offshoot of
“lawlessness in civic wards”, the Bombay
High Court on Friday ordered a judicial
probe into the tragedy an sought a pre-
liminary report within a fortnight.
Upbraiding the Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation (BMC) for its
failure to take action to avert recurring
building collapses in the country’s com-
mercial capital, a HC division bench
comprising Chief Justice Dipankar Datta
and Justice Girish Kulkarni observed that
the lives of citizens are not “so cheap that
they can be left to die in such incidents”.
After ordering a judicial probe into the
Malad building collapse, in which 24 per-
sons were killed and 23 other injured, the
HC bench directed the BMC
Commissioner to submit to the court “at
least a preliminary report is placed before
June 24, 2021”. It directed the Mumbai
suburban collector to extend full co-
operation to the Commissioner of Inquiry.
The HC bench also granted liberty to
the BMC Commissioner to seek help from
the relevant departments of the BMC to
probe into the issues of accountability. It
also allowed the Municipal Commissioner
to seek help from Senior Advocate Sharan
Jagtiani, amicus curiae appointed by the
Court
Without mincing words about its dis-
pleasure over the manner in which the
BMC was dealing matters relating to the
dilapidated buildings in Mumbai, the HC
bench wondered: “What poor impression
is being given to the country (of Mumbai
and surrounding corporations)? That
such collapses are happening only in the
Mumbai region and the surrounding
regions...We appreciate the efforts taken in
COVID management, but why is the
(BMC) Commissioner not taking action
in such issues?”.
“We are deeply pained that the stake-
holders are not doing their job and hence
this is happening. If there is will at the
higher level (of administration), then
something can happen. This is nothing but
lawlessness in the wards. You can realise
the pain which we are feeling for the peo-
ple who have died. The corporators and
people manning the wards should also feel
the pain,” Justice Kulkarni said.
Having taken suo motu cognisance of
the Malad building collapse, the HC
bench had earlier in the day said that it
would take up the matter in the afternoon
and directed the BMC officials to remain
present for the hearing.
At the afternoon hearing, the HC
bench came down heavily on the BMC
administration and also the corporators for
their failure to stop the recurring collaps-
es in Mumbai.
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