Month: December 2021

45 People Tested Omicron Positive: Tamil Nadu

By LokMarg

As many as 45 people have tested positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu, said State Health Minister Ma Subramanian.

The Minister said that 129 samples have been given to the National Institute of Virology for testing and 16 people are undergoing treatment.
Addressing a press conference, the Health Minister said that all these patients are asymptomatic and had received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“The cases of coronavirus are rising in Chennai. 15 thousand RTPCR tests were done in Chennai last week per day but on Tuesday alone 23,000 tests were conducted in Chennai and they will be ramped up in the coming days,” he said.

The Minister further said that 194 people tested positive for the COVID in Chennai yesterday and it is spreading rapidly.

“We started containment zones. In the Ashok Nagar area, 10 more people have been tested and this zone is containment zone street. Sanitisation program is being conducted in this area.”

The Tamil Nadu Health Minister and Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan also inspected the Ashok Nagar COVID-19 containment zone.

The Minister also appealed to the people to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

“This Sunday is the 17th mega vaccination camp in our state. 1600 camps in Chennai alone to be made for mega vaccination camp. Our target is to vaccinate 2.5 lakh people in the 17th mega vaccination drive. Chennai is targeting 100 per cent vaccination and people should cooperate with us,” said Subramanian.

He further said that the state has administered 86 per cent single-dose and 58 per cent of the people are fully vaccinated.

Further talking about the facilities, Subramanian said, “In Chennai, there are three places with 500 bedded facilities ready focussing on omicron variant. The Chief Minister has advised us to use trade centres as COVID care centre like we used in the second wave. The process is under process and within four to five days it will be ready.”

On students’ vaccination, he said that as of now officials are retrieving data of students under 15 to 18 years and from January 10 front line warriors will be vaccinated as per preference.

He further urged people to wear masks, to maintain social distance and to sanitise.

Meanwhile, Chennai Police released an order on Tuesday on the restriction of New Year celebrations in hotels and public places.

The Minister further said that on December 31, Chief Minister MK Stalin will hold a meeting on COVID-19 restrictions and will decide the next course of action. (ANI)

AFSPA Needs Constant Reviews, Not Knee-Jerk Repeal

By Lt Gen Ike Singha

The recent case of December 5, 2021 where the security forces in Mon, Nagaland killed 13 innocent civilians in an ambush and subsequent unrest and resulting in death of a soldier, has renewed the demand for repeal of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act -1958 or AFSPA. As per the presumably draconian act, Security Forces (including the para military forces of Assam Rifles and Rashtriya Rifles) and Central Police Organisations (CPOs) including BSF and CRPF, are given sweeping powers to search and seizure in civilian inhabited areas and arrest suspects without warrant for a limited period. Armed Forces can also open effective fire on terrorists or militants under this act.

AFSPA can only be applied by the Union Government where law and order has broken down and a defined area, district or the entire state has been declared disturbed, under the Disturbed Area Act, by the State Government. While the AFSPA gives special powers to the security forces and CPOs, the principle of minimum force and restraint is always exercised by commanders and troops at all levels. ‘One off’ actions like the incident at Mon happen due to the lack of judgment, scanty knowledge of the ground, and inept training at the junior level, and the actions by erring members of security forces never go unpunished.

Most of the areas where the Disturbed Area Act has been applied, fall in border areas wherein trans-border or trans-Line of Control (LoC) movement takes place with connivance of security forces of Pakistan, China and Myanmar. Immunity for acts of murder, rape, kidnapping, arson, looting or drug trafficking is not given under this Act to any security forces under the AFSPA; as is widely misunderstood by a section of the society. Because the security forces in these border areas have to intercept armed infiltrating and exfiltrating groups in real time, immunity to take action against such groups is covered under AFSPA.

In practice, invariably, the security forces are accompanied by local civil police who are handed over the captured terrorists, militants, suspects, weapons, ammunition and dead bodies after the encounters. Utmost care is taken to use minimum force against such terrorist or militant in order to avoid collateral damage. However, if some unfortunate collateral damage takes place in conduct of bona fide duty, then the security forces who had operated in good faith are immune from being apprehended by the civil police and tried by civil court. However, the actions of troops are scrutinised under the Army Act and departmental disciplinary action is taken against defaulting service persons without delay; in pursuit of justice for the innocents, as per the law of the land.

The AFSPA is required to defeat the machinations of the adversaries who sponsor proxy war on our borders in a bid to destabilise the Indian state. AFSPA has also been applied in counter insurgency operations in hinterland in our Northern and North Eastern States of J&K (now Union Territory), Punjab, Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. Without the legal shield provided by AFSPA, the security forces would be hesitant to take offensive actions against the armed insurgents and those groups may continue to operate with impunity.

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However, utmost care has to be taken to ensure fire is not opened on innocent civilians and warning and restraint need to be exercised. Normally, the security forces only open fire in self defence when the terrorists open fire on to them from the opposite direction or from a flank. This restraining action also ensures that innocent civilians are not targeted. The life of an active terrorist or militant is not more than an year after he starts indulging in violent actions against the population, civil police or security forces. Therefore, if the information about the movement of terrorists is not confirmed, they are given the benefit of the doubt with the hope that they will fall in the hands of the security forces if they continued perpetuating violence in the society.

An issue related to continuity of AFSPA in some border states is the state and quality of the civil police in that state. Due to coercion or sympathy for the terrorist groups, who may be seen as freedom fighters by a section of the local population, a portion of the civil police invariably gets compromised and may not be acting in the interest of the Indian State. There is a dire need for police reforms in the country wherein politicians are stripped from the powers of employing the civil police as per their whims and fancy resulting in employment of overwhelming strength of the police force only on protection of the VVIPs leaving a small portion of the force to do the extended police duties for the common man.

Whereas the need to have AFSPA is paramount for security forces operating in difficult terrain against armed groups in border areas, its continuation in hinterland in less disturbed areas needs to be constantly reviewed and the act should be lifted wherever semblance of normalcy start showing up. The Act was lifted from Punjab after about ten years of its imposition once the state dramatically returned to normalcy in 1995. Similarly, in the North East, the law has been lifted from Tripura and Meghalaya but continues to be applied in Nagaland from 1958 onwards. There is a case for identifying less threatened areas of Nagaland and Manipur and lift the Disturbed Area Act and AFSPA from those areas. The state governments and security forces need to be dynamically reviewing the situation every three to six months to decide if a particular area needs to be removed from the listed Disturbed area so that AFSPA is no more applicable in that area.

(Lt Gen Ike Singha was on the Kashmir desk in Military Operations Directorate from 1993 to 1997)

SP Promises Rs 5 Lakh Compensation For People Who Die From Bull Attacks

By LokMarg

The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Tuesday promised to give compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the families of all individuals who lost their lives in bull-fighting incidents if voted to power after the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections next year.

“If a person dies in a bull-fighting accident, Rs 5 lakh compensation will be given by the SP government,” the party said in a tweet. The Assembly election in the state is scheduled for next year.

In the 2017 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party bagged 312 seats out of the 403-seat Uttar Pradesh Assembly while Samajwadi Party (SP) bagged 47 seats, Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) won 19 and Congress could manage to win only seven seats. The rest of the seats were bagged by other candidates. (ANI)

Kejriwal To Visit Punjab Ahead Of Assembly Polls

By LokMarg

Aam Aadmi Party national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be on a three-day visit to poll-bound Punjab from December 30 to January 1, informed AAP. He will lead AAP’s ‘Victory March’ in Chandigarh on December 30 to celebrate his party bagging the maximum number of seats in the civic polls.
New entrant AAP put up a spectacular show in Chandigarh Municipal Corporation polls and won 14 of 35 wards while pushing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to second place.

On December 31, Kejriwal will start his trip in Patiala by garlanding the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at 2 pm, he will then go to Shri Kali Devi temple to offer his prayers. After that, the AAP convenor will lead a “Shanti March” (Peace rally), which will be joined by the party’s senior leader Bhagwant Mann.

Kejriwal will then pay his obeisance at Gurdwara Sri Dukhvaran Sahib. On his final day of the visit, Kejriwal will visit Ram Tirath Temple in Amritsar at 12 noon.

The Delhi Chief Minister has been making frequent visits to Punjab ahead of the 2022 Assembly elections. Assembly polls are set to be held in Punjab early next year.

In the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, Congress won an absolute majority in the state by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government after 10 years. Aam Aadmi Party emerged as the second-largest party winning 20 seats in 117 member Punjab Legislative Assembly. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) could only manage to win 15 seats while the BJP secured 3 seats. (ANI)

9,195 New COVID-19 Cases, Omicron Tally Rises To 781

By LokMarg

India has reported 9,195 new COVID-19 cases and 302 deaths in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Wednesday. With this the country’s COVID-19 case tally has risen to 3,48,08,886 and the death toll has climbed to 4,80,592.
The Ministry informed that India’s active caseload presently is at 77,002, constituting 0.22 per cent of the country’s total positive cases, which is the lowest since March 2020. The health ministry further said that there are 781 Omicron cases in India so far.

Delhi accounts for the highest number of Omicron cases (283), followed by Maharashtra (167), Gujarat (73), Kerala (65), Telangana (62), Rajasthan (46), Karnataka (34), Tamil Nadu (34), Haryana (12), West Bengal (11), Madhya Pradesh (9), Odisha (8), Andhra Pradesh (6), Uttarakhand (4), Chandigarh (3), Jammu and Kashmir (3), Uttar Pradesh (2), Goa (1), Himachal Pradesh (1), Ladakh (1) and Manipur (1).

With the recovery of 7,347 patients in the last 24 hours, the cumulative tally of COVID recovered patients, since the beginning of the pandemic, now stands at 3,42,51,292. The current recovery rate is at 98.40 per cent which is the highest since the beginning of the pandemic.

The weekly positivity rate is at 0.68 per cent and has remained less than 1 per cent for the last 45 days now. The daily positivity rate is at 0.79 per cent and has remained below 2 per cent for the last 86 days.

India conducted 11,67,612 COVID-19 tests in the last 24 hours, and so far the country has conducted 67,52,46,143 tests as per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data.

India has administered a total of 143.15 crore vaccine doses so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive. The COVID vaccination drive began on January 16, 2021. Cumulatively, 1,43,15,35,641 people have been vaccinated so far in the country of which 64,61,321 were administered vaccines in the last 24 hours. (ANI)

Omicron Risk Remains ‘Very High’, Says WHO

By LokMarg

The overall risk related to the new variant of concern Omicron remains “very high”, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday as the world continues to witness the surge in global COVID-19 cases.

The weekly epidemiological update by WHO revealed the week of December 20-26 saw the global number of new COVID-19 cases increase by 11 per cent as compared to the previous week.
“Consistent evidence shows that the Omicron has a growth advantage over the Delta with a doubling time of 2-3 days and rapid increases in the incidence of cases is seen in a number of countries, including those where the variant has become the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant,” WHO update said while citing examples of the UK and the US.

However, a decline in the incidence of cases has now been observed in South Africa, it added. The WHO noted that the rapid growth rate is likely to be a combination of both immune evasion and intrinsic increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant.

“Early data from the UK, South Africa and Denmark suggests there is a reduced risk of hospitalization for the Omicron compared to the Delta variant,” WHO weekly update said but added that further data are needed to understand the clinical markers of severity including the use of oxygen, mechanical ventilation and death, and how severity may be impacted by vaccination.

Omicron was first detected in South Africa last month. South African health authorities, but also health experts from other countries, have said the Omicron variant is much more transmissible but produces mild cases. (ANI)

Virat Kohli’s Public Comments on Losing ODI Captaincy

‘Kohli’s Captaincy Issue Should Have Been Resolved Inside BCCI Walls’

By LokMarg

Mirza Danish Alam, a cricketer and coach from Moradabad, UP, feels the media portrayal of Virat Kohli’s public comments on losing ODI captaincy as revolt of sorts is unfair

Ever since Virat Kohli held his candid press conference about his removal as ODI captain, and other issues, the media is having a field day. Many have tried to project this as Kohli coming out against the cricket control board. Being a cricketer myself (I have been playing professional cricket since 2008 and run a coaching centre since 2015) I would advise people and cricket fans to be kind to the players and do not judge. Let me explain why.

The selection of professional cricketers in national, state or premier league teams is dependent on a lot of factors, and the pandemic has made it even tougher. Athletes being confined at home or in bio bubbles, not being able to do proper practice, playing matches without any spectators present, the worry about when future matches or tournaments might take place… the pressure outside the field is also immense. Which is why I believe that everyone should be kind to Kohli and try to understand him and not see it as Kohli versus BCCI saga.

I have been a part of the U-16 National team, the U-19 Bengal State team, Bengal Ranji Team. I have played in various international premier leagues too. I have played with Kohli many a time and I feel he is a very passionate captain, even though Dhoni will always be my favourite.

Danish has played with Kohli on several occasions

If we speak purely statistically then Virat Kohli’s performance as captain hasn’t been very good in the past few years while Rohit Sharma has had a better track record. It is better for the team’s morale to have the same captain in similar formats. Kohli himself gave up the T20 captaincy, so I believe the matter of ODI captaincy could have been sorted out within the team and selectors rather than in public.

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I also know Dada (Sourav Ganguly) well and believe he has done a lot for players at every level, from domestic to international. He always puts players and the interest of the team first. You would agree with me when I say that the number of new players who have been given the chance, the exposure and the support in the last few years has been extraordinary.

Dada and Kohli both have a different kind of style and swag and I believe the media is making the issue bigger than it really is. The BCCI management has pulled up its socks in the past few years, corruption has come down and transparency has gone up. We have coaches who understand cricket well, be it Shashtri or Dravid.

Yet, it might take a few years for everything to fall properly in place, and until then we should not judge any side but understand them. There is no place for image management in cricket; only skills matter. The media should give matters a rest and let the future crop of players live easy. During the pandemic most budding cricketers could not keep up with their training and have lost two valuable years of their careers, their confidence and motivation too. We should concentrate on revival of their skills for we are all in this together.

Delhi Covid Cases

Online, Walk-in Booking For 15-18 Agegroup Jabs From Jan 3

By LokMarg

The government said on Tuesday that both walk-in and online registration through CoWIN would be available for vaccination of children in the 15-18 age group, who would start getting doses against COVID-19 on January 3.

Union Health Secretary on Tuesday chaired a workshop through video conference with all states and UTs to review the rollout of vaccination for the age group 15-18 and precautionary third dose for vulnerable categories – healthcare workers (HCW), frontline workers (FLW), and those in the 60+ age group who have co-morbidity.

As announced by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 25, 2021, the vaccination for the age-group 15-18 is scheduled to begin from January 3, 2022 while administration of precautionary third dose for the vulnerable categories will commence from January 10.

In the context of the vaccination of the age group 15-18 years, the Union Health Secretary informed the states and UTs that only ‘Covaxin’ is to be administered in this population category and additional doses of the vaccine will be sent to them.

A Health Ministry release said that the Union Government will share the supply schedule of Covaxin with all the States and UTs in the next few days.

“Potential beneficiaries can either register themselves on Co-WIN from January 1 , 2022 or avail of a walk-in registration when vaccination commences from January 3. Those with the birth year of 2007 or before will be eligible for vaccination under this category,” the release said.

It said all established protocols regarding vaccination are to be followed for the 15-18 age group and beneficiaries are to wait for half-an-hour when they will be monitored for AEFI. They will be eligible for the second dose only after 28 days.

States were informed that they have the option to designate some COVID Vaccination Center (CVC)s as dedicated CVC for the 15-18 age group exclusively which can also be reflected on Co-WIN. Dedicated CVCs would ensure that there is no confusion in administering the vaccines.

For CVCs that are intended to serve categories in addition to 15-18 age group, the States were requested to ensure separate queues for the 15-18 age group and separate vaccination teams.

States were advised to form two separate vaccination teams at the same CVC, one for 15-18 age groups and the other for all adults to avoid confusion in administration of the right vaccines.

With regards to the administration of the precautionary dose, Union Health Secretary highlighted that nine months (39 weeks) must have elapsed since the administration of the second dose to make the beneficiary eligible.

Drawing attention to misinformation being propagated through various media regarding the requirement of a doctor’s certificate to establish co-morbidity at the CVC, the Health Secretary categorically emphasized that the Union Government has not issued any directions “and prescriptions/certificates are not mandated to be produced at the CVC for the administration of the precaution dose”.

He also informed that CoWIN will send reminder messages to all those eligible for precaution dose and it will be reflected in the digital vaccination certificates.

States were advised to ensure the orientation of vaccinators and vaccination team members for vaccination of 15-18 years age-group and the identification of dedicated session sites for vaccination of 15-18 years age-group.

They were exhorted to undertake proper planning in advance for the distribution of Covaxin to identified session sites.

“To avoid the mixing-up of vaccines during administration, separate CVCs, separate session sites, separate queue (if at same session where adult vaccination is ongoing) and separate vaccination team (if at same session site) are to be strived for,” the release said.

States, UTs were also advised to share their requirement of vaccine doses through district wise estimation of beneficiaries using Co-WIN. They are to publicise sessions where vaccination will be available for the 15-18 year age group.

“Sufficient vaccines will be provided to states to cover these beneficiaries,” the release said. (ANI)

AIIMS Delhi RDA Takes Back Decision Of Holding Strike Tomorrow

By LokMarg

AIIMS Delhi Resident Doctors Association (RDA) on Tuesday announced that it has decided to take back the decision of holding a strike tomorrow.

In an official release, AIIMS Delhi RDA stated, “In a meeting with the Union Health Minister has met with the resident doctors and assured that the NEET PG 2021 counselling to be held at the earliest.”
It read, “Assuring the NEET PG 2021 counselling to be held at the earliest. AIIMS Delhi RDA has decided to take back the decision of strike on December 29. All services to be continued as normal.”

Earlier in the day, the Union Health Ministry held an emergency meeting with a 12-member delegation of Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) representatives.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also wrote to PM Modi to listen to the demands of the doctors.

Several resident doctors across the country continue their protest against the delay in NEET-PG counselling and warned to withdraw “all healthcare services” from Wednesday.

Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) calls for complete withdrawal from all healthcare services across the country from 8 am on December 29 “in protest against brute force by Delhi Police against doctors.”On December 24, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to resolve the NEET-PG counselling crisis and augment manpower to face a possible third wave of COVID-19 infections.

NEET PG exam was scheduled to be held in January 2021 but postponed in view of the first and second wave of COVID-19 and held on September 12, 2021, said the letter.

However, due to the legal impediments of the Supreme Court now the Counselling is withheld resulting in a shortage of 45000 doctors on the frontline, added the letter. (ANI)

Ex-Cricketer Mongia, Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal Leaders Join BJP

By LokMarg

Ahead of the 2022 Punjab Assembly Polls, former cricketer Dinesh Mongia and others joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Congress MLA Fateh Bajwa from Qadian and Balwinder Singh Laddi from Shri Hargobindpur Sahib joined the BJP in presence of Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.
Besides, Shiromani Akali Dal leader Gurtej Singh Gundhiyana, President of United Christian Front Punjab Kamal Bakshi, Advocate in Punjab and Haryana High Court Madhumeet, Civic body member from Nihal Singh Wala, Jagdeep Singh Dhaliwal and Ex-MP from Sangoor Rajdev Khalsi also joined the party.

“I want to serve the people of Punjab by joining the Bharatiya Janata Party. Today, there is no other party that can work better than the BJP for the development of the country,” said Mongia.

In the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls, Congress won an absolute majority in the state by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government after 10 years.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had emerged as the second-largest party winning 20 seats in the 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bharatiya Janata Pary (BJP) had won 15 and 3 seats respectively. (ANI)