Month: January 2022

Indian army and Chinese military commanders are going to hold the 14th round of military commanders-level talks on Wednesday.

On being asked about what could be expected from the meeting, Defence expert Maj Gen (R) SP Sinha told ANI, ” It’s my personal precision and belief that nothing substantial is going to come out. The primary reason for this is that China’s intention is not correct”.
“China believed in expansion policy and one palm and five finger policy. One palm is Tibet and fingers are Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Ladakh. China has not abdicated this thought process or strategy and therefore there can be no permanent peace in Ladakh,” said Sinha.

He further said, “We want a solution and peace, but China does not want peace. China is not prepared to give up its territorial design. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet. All this is a playground with history. There is no historical proof that this place of land has ever belonged to China and therefore what should we do.”

“We should reply to China in the language china understands. China only respects the power of the gun, the strength, military muscle power, and this was proved when in Pangong Tso. We occupied the mountain tops like blacktop, helmet top, Gurung Hill. China was forced to withdraw because that was a very strategic vantage point for us that gave us a view of Moldo Garrison,” said the Defence expert

“We were able to dominate Moldo Garrison. That was the worry point for China and therefore we should continue to deploy a matching capability in terms of developing infrastructure, troops deployment, quality of the military equipment that we deploy and with my appreciation of the 17 corps which was raised there is a need to make it fully operational so that the complete focus of 17 corps should be china centric and especially Ladakh centric,” added Sinha. (ANI)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated a Technology Centre of the MSME Ministry and Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Manimandapam – an auditorium with open-air theatre in Puducherry, through video conference.

According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the Technology Centre of the MSME Ministry is established at Puducherry with an investment of about Rs 122 crore. With the focus on the Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM) Sector, this Technology Centre will be equipped with the latest technology.
“It will contribute towards skilling youth and will be able to train around 6400 trainees per year,” the PMO stated.

Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Manimandapam – an auditorium with open-air theatre, constructed by the Government of Puducherry at a cost of about Rs 23 crores. It would primarily be used for educational purposes, and can accommodate more than 1000 people, the PMO stated.

The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the 25th National Youth Festival via video conferencing on the National Youth Day which is observed to mark the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.

The festival aims to shape the minds of India’s youth and transform them into a united force for nation-building. It is one of the biggest exercises in social cohesion and intellectual and cultural integration.

It aims to bring diverse cultures of India and integrate them into a united thread of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’. This year, in view of the emerging COVID situation, the festival has been scheduled to be held virtually from January 12-13. (ANI)

India recorded as many as 1,94,720 fresh COVID-19 infections and 442 fatalities in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Wednesday.

With this, the total tally of COVID-19 cases in the country rose to 3,60,70,510 including 9,55,319 active cases. The daily positivity rate due to this virus in the country is at 11.05 per cent. Active cases account for 2.65 per cent of the total cases.
As many as 69.52 crore total tests were conducted so far wherein a weekly positivity rate of 9.82 per cent was observed.

Maharashtra on Tuesday reported 34,424 new COVID-19 cases, Delhi added 21, 259 fresh cases, West Bengal added 21,098 fresh COVID-19 cases, Karnataka reported 14,473 new cases and the rest of the cases were reported from other states.

Of the fresh infections logged in today in the country, 4,868 infections are of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Maharashtra reported 1,281 cases, Rajasthan reported 645 cases, Delhi reported 546 cases, Karnataka reported 479 cases and Kerala reported 350 cases of the Omicron variant.

Following up, as many as 60,405 new recoveries from this virus were reported in the country. With this, the total recoveries who were infected with COVID-19 moved up to 3,46,30,536. Moreover, the recovery rate is currently at 96.01 per cent.

As far as the COVID-19 vaccination status is concerned, the health ministry informed that 153.80 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive. (ANI)

Preparations for Magh Mela, which is scheduled to be held on January 14, has been upscaled in Prayagraj.

Magh Mela is an annual festival that is held in the month of Magha (according to the Hindu calendar) near river banks and Hindu temples.
The devotees take the holy dip at Sangam, the confluence of Yamuna, Ganga, and mythological Saraswati, on the occasion of Paush Purnima.

During the entire month of Magh Mela, the pilgrims stay on the banks of Sangam in tents and take an early morning bath and participate in other religious duties.

Speaking to ANI regarding the preparations for the mela, Senior Superintendent of Police Rajeev N Mishra said, “The Magh Mela is going to commence from January 14. All the preparations by the police are in place. The police here will ensure that only those who have tested negative for COVID-19 will be allowed to enter the mela.”

“While carrying out the preparations, as many as seven police personnel tested positive for COVID-19. These police officials have self-isolated themselves and are adhering to the COVID-19 protocols,” he said.

The police official added, “There are 16 entry points for the mela. All the people involved in the mela have to be double vaccinated. It is a challenging task, but Uttar Pradesh Police is fully prepared.”

State Minister Sidharth Nath Singh also briefed about the preparations. He said, “COVID-19 protocols will be strictly observed. Several arrangements have been done to make it safest Magh Mela in view of COVID-19.”

Uttar Pradesh reported 11,089 fresh COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, raising the tally of active cases in the state to 44,466.

Further, as many as five more deaths were logged in thereby increasing the overall death toll to 22,937, the state health bulletin said. One death each was reported from Meerut, Moradabad, Kanpur, Gonda and Azamgarh, it said. (ANI)

As many as 1700 personnel of Delhi Police have tested positive for COVID-19 between January 1 and January 12, Delhi Police said on Wednesday.

Earlier, about 1,000 Delhi Police personnel tested positive for COVID-19, the Delhi Police informed on Monday.
Delhi Police sources informed that senior officers are holding virtual meetings without much emphasis on physical meetings.

In the Delhi Police Headquarters, all those who have tested positive for COVID-19 have been advised to stay in home isolation, sources said.

A separate health desk has been set up for the policemen at Delhi Police Headquarters and is updating information related to the health of all the policemen.

Delhi reported 21,259 new COVID-19 during the past 24 hours with a positivity rate of 25.65 per cent, the state health bulletin on Tuesday.

On May 5 last year, the positivity rate was 26.36 per cent in the national capital.

With the addition of 21,259 new cases, the active caseload in the city mounted to 74,881 which is the highest in the past eight months, according to the bulletin. So far, a total of 15,90,155 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the national capital. In the past 24 hours, Delhi also reported 23 deaths, taking the total number of fatalities to 25,200 here. (ANI)

Trinidad and Tobago Olympian Deon Lendore has died aged 29 in a car accident in Texas, USA.

The 400-meter sprinter competed in 3 Olympics — including the 2020 Tokyo games — and won the bronze medal in the 4×400 meter at the 2012 games in London.
The Texas Department of Public Safety told TMZ, Lendore was driving westbound on FM 485 in Milam County in his 2015 Volkswagen Jetta on Monday, when it crossed over the center line and “sideswiped a vehicle” coming the opposite way. Texas DPS said Lendore was pronounced dead at the scene.

Lendore also won silver in the World 4x400m in 2015. The one-lap sprinter also excelled indoors, winning three bronze medals at the World Indoor Championships.

Two-time Olympian Gwen Berry wrote took to social media and wrote: “Wow… Rest in Power.”

“One thing I learned last year was the importance of LIVING,” Berry said and added, “do what you want… deal with what you want… love who you want. Don’t DIE just to LIVE. You LIVE then DIE.. I’ve been happier ever since.” (ANI)

New Delhi [India], January 12 (ANI): Cold wave gripped parts of India on Wednesday morning leading to low visibility and dense fog in isolated pockets over Rajasthan, Punjab and Southwest Uttar Pradesh.

The India Meteorological Department on Wednesday said that fog was observed in pockets over Northwest Rajasthan, Punjab, Southwest Uttar Pradesh, east Bihar, Jharkhand and plains of Uttarakhand.
“Fog observed (at 0830 hours IST of today): Dense to very dense fog in isolated pockets over Northwest Rajasthan; Dense fog in isolated pockets over Punjab, Southwest UP, east Bihar, Jharkhand and plains of Uttarakhand and moderate fog at isolated pockets over NE Rajasthan,” tweeted the weather agency.

Visibility of 700 metres was reported at Delhi’s Palam area, whereas Punjab’s Amritsar, Uttar Pradesh’s Agra and Jharkhand’s Ranchi reported visibility of 50 metres.
“Visibility recorded (at 0830 hours IST of today)(in mt): Ganganagar -25; Bhatinda, Amritsar, Pantnagar, Agra, Purnea and Ranchi -50each; Churu and Jaipur -200 each; Delhi (Palam) is reporting 700m,” tweeted IMD.

Delhi’s air quality has slipped from the ‘satisfactory’ category to ‘moderate’, with the city recording an overall Air Quality Index (AQI) at 193, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

The air quality in the national capital was in the ‘moderate’ category for the last three days as the capital city and its adjoining areas witnessed heavy rainfall in the last few days.

The air quality in Gurugram has also slipped to the ‘moderate’ category, with AQI at 105. Meanwhile, the air quality in Noida has slipped to the ‘poor’ category. The AQI in the region stands at 211.

As per the government agencies, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

As per the regional meteorological departments of cities, Delhi reported a minimum temperature of 8 degrees Celsius, Rajasthan’s Churu reported a minimum temperature of 6 degrees Celsius. (ANI)

By Shalini Bhardwaj

With the high transmissibility of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, India is likely to witness a sharp spike in the number of cases in the coming days, however, following COVID appropriate behaviour and vaccination could help contain the spread of the disease, noted a top health expert.

India reported more than 1.5 lakh new COVID-19 cases for the third consecutive day on Tuesday. The country reported 1,68,063 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed today.

Speaking to ANI, Chairman of COVID-19 Working Group of National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) Dr NK Arora said, “The peak will depend on the virus transmission, and how well the community adheres to the COVID appropriate behaviour. If the COVID norms are violated, a faster and taller peak is likely to occur. On the other hand, vaccination and administrative actions like night curfews, and weekend curfews tend to flatten the curve.”

“The way that the IIT Kanpur model has shown, it looks like, the transmission is taking place very actively and we should be reaching our peak in the near future. But it is likely to last for several weeks before it subsides,” he added.

Asked about the kind of variant of COVID-19 mostly being detected in the country amid the ongoing third wave, Dr Arora said that by the behaviour of the virus, it seems that the wave is driven by the Omicron variant.

“It appears that most of the COVID cases being reported in the country now are of the Omicron variant. The initial experience from the genomic surveillance showed that from 10 days to two weeks, over 90 per cent of the virus is circulating in the big cities like Delhi, Pune, Mumbai which is the Omicron variant. The behaviour, mild illness, everybody in the family getting infected, it looks like the surge is driven by Omicron,” he said.

However, the expert added that the Delta variant responsible for the devastating second wave in the country in April-May 2021 can still be found in some parts of the country where the Delta epidemic was already going on.

“There will be some cases of Delta as well in the areas where Delta epidemic was already going on like some districts of Tamil Nadu and the areas of the Northeastern states. So in a situation like this, we should be more focused on taking care of Omicron and its management,” he stated.

Speaking on the deaths occurring due to COVID-19 in the country, the doctor said that most of the deaths are associated with patients with comorbidities.

“Most of the COVID deaths occurring on a daily basis are associated with comorbidities like heart attack, brain stroke or other problems. But yes, there are some deaths that are occurring because of the virus. But overall the situation is under control,” he said.

“About 85 per cent of the deaths being reported are from people above 60 years of age,” Dr Arora added.

Meanwhile, the tally of the active cases of COVID-19 in the country has reached 8,21,446. A total of 4,461 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus have been reported so far.

The country also witnessed 277 new COVID-related deaths in the last 24 hours. As many as 4,84,213 people have succumbed to the infection so far. (ANI)

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday questioned how the dignity of a married woman is not affected as an unmarried woman when the man imposes himself on her and remarked that relationship cannot put it on a different pedestal as a woman remains a woman.

The observation came when a Division Bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher and C Hari Shankar was hearing the petitions relating to the criminalization of marital rape.

Justices Rajiv Shakdher asked Delhi Government Counsel Nandita Rao why does it affect an unmarried woman’s dignity but does not affect a married woman’s dignity.

Justices Shakdher’s question came when the was court was informed by Delhi Government counsel that married women can seek remedy under section 498 A of IPC. Delhi Government counsel also apprised the court that as of today, FIRs are registered by the spouses under sections 377, 498A and 326 of IPC.

The court asked why a man forcing himself on a woman without her consent affects the dignity of an unmarried woman but does not affect the dignity of a married woman.

Justice Rajiv Shakdher also remarked that Section 375 of India Penal Code dealt with the situation that the offence has taken place and the exception creates firewall “Is that firewall is justifiable on the test of Article 14 and 21, it is only that particular narrow aspect that we have a look into,” the court said.

Justice Rajiv Shakdher further added that the only reason the accused is not visited by the penal provision is because of the exception, so the core issue, therefore, is would it stand Article 14 and 21.

The court also put an example saying that imagine a woman is having a menstrual cycle, husband says he wants to have sex and brutalizes her. Delhi Government counsel replied that

then it is an offence but not under Section 375 of IPC.

Justice Rajiv Shakdher remarked that when a girlfriend or live-in partner says no, it is an offence. “The relationship cannot put it on a different pedestal. A woman remains a woman,” Justice Shakdher said.

The court will continue hearing the matter on Wednesday relating to the criminalization of marital rape. The petitioners include NGOs RIT Foundation and All India Democratic Women’s Association who have challenged an exception to Section 375 and of the Indian Penal Code. (ANI)

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has directed all the states and Union Territories (UTs) to ensure the treatment and care of transgender persons in prisons.

Keeping in view the need for ensuring the safety of transgender persons and to protect them against any form of exploitation in the context of prisons and correctional facilities, the Ministry has suggested all state and UT Prison authorities that a transgender person shall have the right to be recognized as such, in accordance with the provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.

It is also directed that a person recognized as a transgender person under the provisions of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 shall have a right to self-perceived gender identity.

The MHA’s direction was circulated through written communication sent on Monday to all the chief secretaries and administrators of all states and Union Territories, Director General and Inspector General (Prisons) of all states and UTs.

In the order, there was a specific focus on appropriate arrangements for providing suitable accommodation and facilities in accordance with the gender identity of the transgender in the prisons.

A separate enclosure or ward for transgender inmates for transmen and transwomen is directed to be ensured and also such enclosures should be separate from male and female wards or enclosures.

However, while making provision for a separate enclosure for transgender prisoners, the Ministry emphasised due care by the prison authorities that “this may not result in their complete isolation or propagate social stigma among such prisoners”.

“There should also be adequate preservation of the right to privacy and dignity in regard to separate toilets for transmen and transwomen as well as shower facilities,” read the order.

As per the Ministry’s direction, “self-identity of transgender persons must be respected at all times in regard to admission procedures, medical examination, search, lodging, clothing, requisitioning of police escorts, treatment and care inside prisons”.

The prison department is suggested to facilitate the process of acquiring the transgender identity certificate under the provisions of The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 if such a request is made by the person concerned by registering them on the Online National Portal for Transgender Persons to avail welfare measures.

The Ministry advised that the prison admission register should be suitably revised to include ‘transgender’ as a category other than male and female gender.

“Similar provision may also be made in the Prison Management System in maintaining electronic records of the prisons. In case the Court Warrant does not mention the self-identified gender of the person or if the gender mentioned is disputed by the person, the Superintendent may, with the assistance of legal services authorities, assist the person to make an application for change in gender identity,” the order mentions.

The order also mentions that the search of a transgender person should be conducted by a person of their preferred gender or by a trained medical professional or a para-medic with necessary training on conducting the search.

The person conducting the search must ensure the safety, privacy and dignity of the person being searched, reads the order, adding “at the stage where the search procedure requires stripping, it must be done in a private room or partition”.

The search procedure should be confined to compliance with security protocols and restriction of contraband and should not be aimed at determining the gender of the person.”

Transgender prisoners shall enjoy the same standards of health care available to other inmates and should have access to necessary health-care services without discrimination on the grounds of their gender identity, reads the order.

“If in-house expertise of health professionals does not exist to assess and or provide appropriate care, the transgenders may be referred to doctors or professionals who specialize in this area of health care.”

The Ministry also focused that “every prisoner shall be allowed reasonable facilities of meeting or communicating with their family members (natal or chosen) relatives, friends and legal advisers for the preparation of appeal or for procuring bail or for arranging the management of their property and family affairs”.

“They shall be allowed to have interviews with their family members, relatives, friends and legal advisers,” it said.

It is further directed for aftercare planning by the probation, welfare and rehabilitation officer to include and affirm families of choice of the transgender person and their specific health needs with regard to their mental health and gender affirmative processes over and above the scope of rehabilitation, aftercare and welfare of prisoners.

“Training modules should be devised in collaboration with Ministry of Social Justice and

Empowerment, prison training institutes, state health department, human rights commission, Legal Services Authorities and with representatives from transgender communities, for developing an understanding of gender identity, gender dysphoria, Human Rights, sexual orientation and legal frameworks for transgender persons; training of medical officers on the standards of care for transgender persons, transgender person’s right to decide their self-identified gender and designing public and Prisoner awareness programs on the rights of transgender persons,” it added.

In the last, the order states that the state and UT authorities should suitably brief and sensitize the prison officials about all the directions and take appropriate action for the protection of the rights of transgender prisoners and their welfare.

The Centre’s move comes as per powers conferred under ‘The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.

The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019 provides for recognition of the identity of transgender persons, the prohibition against discrimination, and welfare measures to be taken by the government.

In exercise of the powers conferred under the Act, the government notified the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Rules, 2020 on September 25, 2020. These rules specify the procedure by which a transgender person can obtain a certificate of identity, welfare measures for transgender persons, their education, social security, health, and provisions for non-discrimination. (ANI)