Month: March 2021

As India is witnessing a continuous surge in COVID-19 cases in many of its states, the total number of positive cases in the country reached 1,14,74,605 on Thursday.

According to a statement issued by the union health ministry, as many as 35,871 new COVID-19 cases and 17,741 recoveries were reported in the country in the last 24 hours. Currently, there are 2,52,364 active cases in India.
The death toll stands at 1,59,216, including 172 in the last 24 hours.

The ministry also informed that at least 23,03,13,163 samples were tested as of Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, the cumulative national positivity rate continues to remain less than five per cent and stands at 4.98 per cent.

As the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive reached its 62nd day, India has administered over 3.89 crore vaccine doses, the ministry said.

Delhi reported 607 new COVID-19, 384 recoveries, and one death in the last 24 hours, informed the health department of the national capital on Thursday evening.

With these cumulative cases in Delhi now stands at 6,45,632, total recoveries on 6,31,759 and death toll stand at 10,949. There are 2,924 active cases in the national capital.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra reported 25,833 fresh COVID-19 cases, 2,764 discharges and 58 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the state health department.

Out of the new cases reported in Maharashtra, 2,877 were reported in Mumbai.

As many as 4965 new cases and 31 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours in the Pune district of Maharashtra.

Tamil Nadu reported 989 COVID-19 cases, 569 discharges, and nine deaths on Wednesday.

The state health department said that the total count for the COVID-19 cases in the state increased to 8,63,363. The tally of discharges and deaths stand at 8,44,568 and 12,573 respectively while the active case stands at 6,222.

Madhya Pradesh reported 917 new COVID-19 cases, 500 recoveries, and one death. Total cases: 2,71,957 Total recoveries: 2,62,031 Death toll: 3,894 Active cases: 6,032.

Punjab reported 2,387 new COVID-19 cases, 1,291 discharges and 32 deaths in the last 24 hours. Total cases: 2,05,418 Total discharges: 1,84,848 Active cases: 14,366 Death toll: 6,204.

Karnataka reported 1488 new COVID-19 cases, including 925 cases in the Bengaluru Urban district, 341 recoveries, and eight deaths in the last 24 hours.

To curb the surge in the COVID-19 cases, the Centre and state authorities are re-introducing lockdowns and night curfews at several cities and districts.

Section 144 has been imposed in the Barwani district of Madhya Pradesh. The district administration has also advised the people coming from Maharashtra to stay in seven-day home quarantine mandatorily.

Gujarat government has also instructed the night curfew to remain in force from 9 pm to 6 am in Ahmedabad from Friday. The malls and cinema halls are instructed to remain close on Saturday and Sunday in Ahmedabad.

The administration of Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad districts in Uttar Pradesh’s have imposed fresh restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPC. (ANI)

By Tarak Sarkar

Ahead of West Bengal assembly polls, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters vandalised its party office in Jalpaiguri and set it on fire. According to sources, they were upset over ticket allocation to candidates in the upcoming polls.
Speaking to ANI, sources said: “As soon as his name was announced in the list of candidates, the BJP leaders and workers got angry. They vandalised the BJP office and set it on fire, demanding a change of candidate.”

Advocate Sujit Sinha has been elected as the BJP candidate for the Jalpaiguri’s Sadar assembly constituency.

The BJP supporters alleged that a previously appointed BJP leader has been nominated as a new candidate instead of new party workers. The Jalpaiguri city witnessed an uproar by the party workers near the DBC Road area that is near to the party’s office.

Minutes after this incident, a huge police force arrived at the spot to handle the situation. A fire engine too arrived at the spot to put down the fire.

Elections to the 294-member state assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. (ANI)

The Rajya Sabha on Thursday passed the Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2021, which aims to raise the limit of foreign investment in an Indian insurance company from the existing 49 to 74 per cent.

While addressing the House, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, “FDI limit is not a compulsion; it only sets the upper limit. Increasing the limit does not mean automatic foreign investment to that level to all companies. Every company will decide for themselves, whether they want that money, to what extent, and so on.”
She added, “This enabling amendment is only to allow them to receive some money but not exceed 74 per cent. The policyholders’ money that is going to be collected will have to be invested within India only. It cannot be crossing our boundaries.”

She further said that when money comes and when there is more competition, the common people of India will have a better deal given to them and a better negotiating premium and better package.

“Competition is strictly for betterment,” she added.

Sitharaman introduced the Bill for amendments in the Insurance Act, 1938. The Union Cabinet on Wednesday had given its nod for amendments in the Insurance Amendment Bill 2021.

Earlier, the permissible FDI limit in life and general insurance stood at 49 per cent with ownership and management control with Indians. (ANI)

World Uyghur Congress President Dolkun Isa on Thursday lauded European Union’s decision to sanction Chinese officials involved in the human rights abuses in the Xinjiang province.

“Deeply pleased and grateful for the EU… to come to the agreement to sanction Chinese officials responsible for the Uyghur Genocide. This… showcases that the international community will hold China accountable,” said WUC President Dolkun Isa, as quoted by the World Uyghur Congress Twitter handle.

This comes after European Union members agreed to impose sanctions on four Chinese officials and one entity over Beijing’s treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, Radio Free Asia reported.

The penalties were approved at preparatory meetings for next week’s Foreign Affairs Council, according to people familiar with the discussions. The penalties will be formally adopted at a meeting of the bloc’s top diplomats on Monday, South China Morning Post reported.

These will be the first sanctions against Beijing since an EU arms embargo in 1989 following the Tiananmen Square crackdown. The embargo is still in place. China is the EU’s second-largest trading partner.

China has been rebuked globally for cracking down on Uyghur Muslims by sending them to mass detention camps, interfering in their religious activities and sending members of the community to undergo some form of forcible re-education or indoctrination.

Beijing, on the other hand, has vehemently denied that it is engaged in human rights abuses against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang while reports from journalists, NGOs and former detainees have surfaced, highlighting the Chinese Communist Party’s brutal crackdown on the ethnic community. (ANI)

Pakistani Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Thursday said that a stable relationship between India and Pakistan is key to unlocking the potential of South and Central Asia by ensuring connectivity between East and West Asia.

Speaking at an event in Islamabad, Bajwa noted that this potential has always remained hostage to the disputes and issues between the two “nuclear neighbours”, Dawn reported.
“The Kashmir issue is at the heart of this. It is important to understand that without the resolution of the Kashmir dispute through peaceful means, the process […] will always remain susceptible to derailment to politically motivated bellicosity,” Bajwa said.

“We feel it is time to bury the past and move forward,” he said, adding that the onus for meaningful dialogue rests with India.

The Pakistani Army chief also stated that unsettled issues in South Asia are dragging the entire region back into poverty and underdevelopment.

“It is sad to know that even today it [South Asia] is amongst the least integrated regions of the world in terms of trade, infrastructure, water and energy cooperation. On top of it, despite being impoverished, we end up spending a lot of our money on defence, which naturally comes at the expense of human development,” he said.

In recent weeks, Pakistani leadership and the army seem to have tone down rhetoric against India.

On Wednesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said that India would have to take the first step for improving bilateral relations by addressing the Kashmir issue.

Last month, India and Pakistan had announced that they have agreed to a ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC).

India last month said that it desires “normal neighbourly” relations with Pakistan in an environment free of terror, hostility and violence.

India has also told Pakistan that “talks and terror” cannot go together and has asked Islamabad to take demonstrable steps against terror groups responsible for launching various attacks on India. (ANI)

Actor-turned-politician Jaya Bachchan has expressed her disappointment over Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat’s ripped jeans comment, saying this is the “mindset that encourages crimes against women”.

“Such statements don’t befit a chief minister. Those on higher posts must think before making public statements. You say such things in today’s times. Will you decide who’s cultured and who’s not on the basis of clothes? Rajya Sabha MP from Samajwadi Party, Jaya Bachchan said on Thursday while talking to ANI.
“It’s bad mindset and encourages crimes against women,” she added.

The newly appointed Uttarakhand chief minister recently stirred a row by saying that women wearing ripped jeans send the wrong message to society and children.

Speaking at a workshop organised by the Uttarakhand State Commission for Protection of Child Rights in Dehradun, Rawat said that he was shocked to meet a woman, who runs an NGO, wearing ripped jeans on a flight with her kids. “What kind of message are we giving out to society,” he said.

Amid widespread condemnation of Rawat’s comments, several women, including politicians and celebrities, posted photos in ripped jeans with the hashtag #RippedJeansTwitter.

“Rapes happen not because women wear short clothes but because men like Tirath Singh Rawat propagate mysogyny and fail to do their duty. Stand in solidarity with the women in #RippedJeansTwitter (sic),” tweeted Swati Maliwal. (ANI)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday released a list of 148 candidates for the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth phases of the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections.

BJP vice-president Mukul Roy will contest from Krishnanagar Uttar assembly constituency. He will be facing off against TMC candidate Kaushani Mukherjee.
On Wednesday, the BJP had announced the names of four more candidates for the polls.

The party has fielded Bidhan Parui from the Falta assembly seat, Paapia Adhikari from Uluberia Dakshin, Anupam Ghosh from Jagatballavpur and Chandan Mandal from the Baruipur Purba assembly seat.

Elections to the 294-member state assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. (ANI)

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has declared that under his government no Khalistani or Pakistani or any other terrorist activity will be allowed to disturb the peace of the state.

According to Punjab CMO, “Taking serious note of perceptible increase in drone movement from across the border, Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh declared that “as long as I’ am here, no Khalistani or Pakistani or any other terrorist activity will be allowed to disturb the peace of the state.”
Singh also said, “I have read media reports about Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister wanting me to restrict the movement of people from Punjab to Himachal for religious purposes. I’m not in favour of restricting such movements. I haven’t received a formal communication from him on this yet.”

The Punjab Chief Minister also said, “Night curfew will now be in place from 9 pm-5 am, instead of 11 pm-5 am, in the districts of Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Ropar. All these districts are reporting more than 100 cases daily.”

It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday said that the government is keeping an eye on the supply of weapons sent through drones from across the Pakistan border.

“Certain instances of supply of weapons through drones from across the Pakistan border have come to the notice of security and law enforcement agencies. The government has been taking various steps to meet such challenges, which include round-the-clock effective surveillance, streamlining the intelligence set up, capacity building of forces, patrolling on the borders along with sensitization of local population in border areas, the establishment of observation posts, border fencing, floodlighting, deployment and use of modern and hi-tech surveillance equipment, etc,” the MHA replied to a question asked by an MP regarding the matter in the Rajya Sabha.

“The government has adopted a multi-pronged approach to stop cross-border intrusions and secure our territories, which inter-alia includes the deployment of Border Guarding Forces along the international borders, effective domination of the borders by patrolling, laying Nakas, manning observation posts along the borders, vulnerability mapping of Border Out Posts (BOPs), deployment of surveillance equipment, strengthening of the intelligence network, erection of border fencing and floodlighting and deployment of technological solutions in non-feasible areas like riverine gaps, etc,” the ministry added. (ANI)

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday received his first dose of coronavirus vaccine. This comes a day after the South Asian nation received half a million doses of coronavirus vaccines donated by China.

The second consignment of the Sinopharm vaccine was received by Pakistan health officials at the Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi. Sinopharm, the only vaccine currently available in the country, requires two doses.
Earlier, China donated 500,000 doses of Sinopharm to Pakistan on February 1, enabling the country to launch a vaccination drive a day later.

The country, which has reported 615,810 COVID-19 cases so far, launched COVID-19 vaccinations for the public on March 10, starting with older people. Health workers started receiving shots in early February.

According to Al Jazeera, vaccination uptake has been slow in Pakistan, where authorities have faced a significant amount of vaccine hesitancy among the general public and healthcare workers.

Pakistan is expecting to get GAVI’s first batch of 2.8 million doses of AstraZeneca sometime later this month, officials said.

Besides Sinopharm and AstraZeneca, Pakistan has approved Russia’s Sputnik and China’s CanSino Biologics Inc’s (CanSinoBIO) vaccines for emergency use. (ANI)

Challenging Mamata Banerjee’s ‘Khela Hobe’ slogan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday promised jobs, development and education in the poll-bound state of West Bengal.

Addressing a public meeting in West Bengal’s Purulia ahead of the state assembly elections, PM Modi said, “Didi bole khela hobe, BJP bole chaakri hobe. Didi bole khela hobe, BJP bole vikas hobe. Didi bole khela hobe, BJP bole shiksha hobe. Khela shesh hobe, vikas aarambh hobe.”
“First, the Left government and then the TMC government didn’t let industries develop here. The kind of work that should’ve been done for irrigation, didn’t take place. I know the problems faced in rearing livestock due to less water. TMC govt was busy in its ‘khel’ by leaving farming on their own,” he added.

He further questioned, “Didi, year after year, you haven’t been able to build even one Setu, and now you’re talking about industry and development?”

PM Modi assured people that after the formation of the BJP government, the development will take place in West Bengal which will make the life of the people easy and their problems will be dealt with on priority.

“After the formation of the BJP government in Bengal, your problems will be removed on a priority basis. When a double engine government will be formed in Bengal, there will be development here and your life will also become easier,” he added.

The Prime Minister accused the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government of depriving the people of Purulia of water and giving them migration and discriminatory governance due to which the region is identified as one of the most backward areas of the country.

“The TMC government is just playing its game. These people have given Purulia a life riddled with the water crisis. They have given Purulia, migration. They have given the poor of Purulia, discriminatory governance. They have given Purulia an identity of being one of the most backward areas of the country,” the Prime Minister said.

Terming Purulia as “the land that is a witness to Lord Ram and Goddess Sita’s exile”, the Prime Minister stated that it is an irony that the land that once quenched the thirst of Goddess Sita now faces a water crisis.

“This land is a witness to Lord Ram and Goddess Sita’s exile. This land has Sitakund. It is also said that when goddess Sita was thirsty, Lord Ram got water from the ground by hitting it with an arrow. It is an irony that Purulia faces a water crisis today. Today, the water crisis is a big problem in Purulia. The farmers and tribal-forest dwellers here do not even get enough water to cultivate properly. The women here have to go far to fetch drinking water,” he said.

PM Modi also said that the BJP established pipelines and built ponds to tackle the water crisis in BJP governed states.

A similar water crisis was there in other places in the country. Wherever the BJP got a chance to serve, hundreds of kilometres of pipeline was laid, ponds were built. Now the water crisis is going away. The farmers there have started growing different crops.

He further alleged that the TMC government did not do any work to develop infrastructure for irrigation and was “busy in its ‘khel’ leaving farmers on their own”.

Elections to the 294-member state Assembly will be held in eight phases starting from March 27 with the final round of voting taking place on April 29. The counting of votes will take place on May 2. (ANI)